text:
Why do App Locker apps need so many permissions? Am i safe?
I've been trying to password protect an app, and it seems that the permissions vary from app to app for App Lockers.
Why do so many of them require full phone access?
Is there any danger if i use a popular and well known on such as https://market.android.com/details?id=com.morrison.applocklite?

Password protecting an app probably does require some amount of system-level access. What specific permissions are you bothered by? What would you consider acceptable for something that is effectively modifying the overall behavior of your system?

That part that worries me is: YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
READ SENSITIVE LOG DATA
Allows an application to read from the system's various log files. This allows it to discover general information about what you are doing with the device, potentially including personal or private information.
I know that had to be there if it accessing a certain part of the phone, just not sure what that is, and how that info is being used. I'm not a programmer, just trying to understand these things better.

Use Smart App Protector.. Believe me, you'll be more than happy with this. It provides Gesture lock too.

The first part of your question "Why do so many of them require full phone access?". This is for 2 reasons.

The granularity of the Android permission system groups many system APIs under a small number of permissions.
App lockers need low level access to disable/enable apps.

I assume that by "full phone access" you mean something like the "modify global system settings" permission. This permission is probably going to be required by app locker applications to prevent someone from disabling the lock without authorization, but it's hard to say, since I didn't write the app. In the context of this question there are a few other permissions that make sense to me, e.g., "retrieve running applications" and "automatically start at boot". It's likely that most app locker apps will request at least those permissions.
The rest of the permissions would be unnecessary just for locking an app, but may be used for other reasons. For example, I don't know why the app needs to intercept outgoing calls.
For what it's worth, I ran the apk through http://android-permissions.org, and the tool reported that this app is not over privileged, meaning that inside the app, there is code that makes use of all the permissions requested. This isn't good or bad, it just means that the developer probably isn't requesting unneeded permissions.
To answer the second part of your question, you are probably ok if you install that app, but we can never be sure. An update might make the app start doing something different that you find unacceptable, or the app may already be transmitting your phone number or IMEI to some remote server. Who knows.


text:
Does SuperOneClick flash a kernel?
Does SuperOneClick need to flash a kernel to the phone to root it, thus incrementing the custom kernel counter in the Samsung Galaxy S2?

Yes, it seems so:

Many (but not all) Galaxy SII are supported by installing a patched kernel.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Phone stops using 3G when Wifi hotspot nearby
I have a HTC Desire with the latest legit firmware.  I have Wifi and 3G enabled, and it's usually fine; at home it connects to my (WPA2 protected) router, and when I go outside it switches to 3G.  But sometimes, as I pass other Wifi hotspots it stops using 3G so I lose data.  I've disabled the 'tell me about open wifi' option. I'm not sure if these Wifi hotspots are open or encrypted but really I'd like to only use Wifi routers I've entered the details of (such as my own).  Is this possible?

If you didn't explicitly configure your device to automatically use "open" and unprotected networks, it will only connect to those you explicitly tell it to -- so you needn't worry about this.
As for your "3g turning off" issue: That's very strange. Something in your device still seems to think that, as soon as some Wifi is near, you're going to use that. Probably you can avoid this by turning Wifi off. You needn't do that manually everytime (you might forget, and you might be annoyed when it's not on when you need it) -- but rather let Smart WiFi manage this for you. This app remembers Wifi networks you connected to. When you get disconnected, it will switch Wifi off. As soon as it detects you get close to it (it remembered the cell towers near, so this is it detects the area where you've been connected to some Wifi), it switches Wifi back on.
It just could get weird with "mobile Hotspots", if you connect to another Android device's Hotspot functionality in the middle of a desert, it would always turn Wifi on at that place, even if nothing's around. Oh, well: No cell towers close? So this won't happen :)

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


text:
Is my battery faulty
I've had my HTC Desire (latest legit firmware) for 18 months or so, and I believe this problem has existed for a while but it getting worse.  It might just be time for a new battery but in case there's something I can do to fix it I'll explain.
I charge the phone overnight, everynight.  If I use it for surfing/texting on the way to work (25-50 mins) plus leave it checking for emails every 15 mins or so, plus with data enabled, then there's a good chance it'll have less than half the charge left by lunchtime.  If I don't charge it in the afternoon then there's a good chance the commute home will make the phone power down due to lack of power.
Looking at the battery graph it seems that the phone gets to about 15% power then runs out, often without warning or just the one warning.  And when I charge it, the charge on the graph climbs from zero up to about 85% then jumps to 100%.  It's as if there's 10/15% which isn't available for me to use or charge any more.
I've read - and tried, unsuccessfully - some "trick" when you charge the phone, turn it off and charge it, then turn it on and charge it. It made no difference at all.
My phone's not rooted and I'm not desperate to do so.

Do you have any reason to believe it's not the battery?

I've had similar trouble with batteries.  Someone once told me that if you don't fully charge the phone before first using it, you'll hose the battery and it cannot be recovered.  I don't know if this is true, but this person is to this day happily using an old G1 -- which model I owned in 2007 and got rid of because the battery life was so bad.  He fully charged before first use; I didn't.

I think you should get a new battery.

It could be that the battery is not calibrated correctly. This can cause the phone to think that the battery level is much lower than it actually is, as well as the "jump" when you disconnect from the charger. I'm not sure how to fix this without rooting, but if you do decide to root, the Battery Calibration app in the market can reset the calibration, then guide you through recalibration.


text:
Just how secure is a pattern lock?
I recently had a phone stolen. It's been replaced, I've changed my passwords, the phone company has shut down connectivity for the stolen one... I think I'm pretty much as safe as I can be.
However, it did get me wondering. How secure is the pattern lock? My phone had a pattern lock, so I assume that means that the casual user can't pick it up and do anything.
But if one had all the time in the world and some technical know-how, could they circumvent it?
Or is the phone only useable if the person wipes it and starts over?
Note 1: I know the data on the SD card is a separate issue, I'm just wondering about the phone and it's internally stored data.
Note 2: I've seen other questions about recovery of the password via one's Google account, but the person who has taken my phone (presumeably) doesn't have the ability to reset my pattern that way, so I believe this question is a separate issue.

As it has been said before, when your hardware falls into the wrong hands, all bets are off -- there's virtually no protection against a sufficiently skilled and motivated hacker.

Without listing exactly how valuable the contents of your phone are, such question is impossible to answer. When you ask "How secure?", do you mean: "how secure" for your kid, for your neighbour, for a professional programmer, for an Android guru or for an intelligence agency? General questions call for general answers.

@MartinTapankov: Right. Thus: Generally speaking, fearing the absolute extremes of possibility is unrealistic and unneccessary. Do I really have to specify that I'm not an international spy in order to get a straight answer?

Generally speaking, unless the person stole your phone with specific intentions of getting at your data then they probably don't care about it. Even if they knew how to circumvent it. Typically they are more interested in the hardware. Of course if they do circumvent it and take a look and spot something really tempting, then you may be in trouble.

You don't even need much technical know how to crack most touch screen phones. There was a white-paper written recently about the security of touch screen lock mechanisms (and pattern locks in particular) and breaking into these devices using purely the greasy smudges on the screen to get the unlock code.

8 Conclusion In this paper we explored smudge attacks using residual oils on touch screen devices. We investigated the feasibility
  of capturing such smudges, focusing on its effect on the password
  pattern of Android smartphones. Using photographs taken under a
  variety of lighting and camera positions, we showed that in many
  situations full or partial pattern recovery is possible, even with
  smudge “noise” from simulated application usage or distortion caused
  by incidental clothing contact. We have also outlined how an attacker
  could use the information gained from a smudge attack to improve the
  likelihood of guessing a user’s patterns.
  ...

Smudge Attacks on Smartphone Touch Screens (PDF)
The rest of the paper is well worth a read too.

Thats what I mentioned above, but I cant find the paper at this time.

@DaveMG I think the "Variety of lighting and camera positions" were actually just so that they could simulate in a repeatable way how you'd hold the phone up to the sun and change its angle until all of the smudges are clear. That said they also did a bit of contrast changes and colour enhance on some of the photos to make things easier to see in some cases (Figure A6 is a good example). Personally I think, whilst unlikely, this sort of thing is far more likely than a casual thief using the ADB debug tools to inspect the phone's internal memory.

@DaveMG Have a look at this piece of work about getting PINs off an ATm using IR: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/08/17/stealing-atm-pins-with-thermal-cameras/

@GAThrawn Relating to the paper you posted if you read it they don't really use that realistic an attack scenario "We based our usage simulation on the telephone application;" If you look at the picture they didn't really use it much in terms of swiping up and down for a start and for myself at least the telephone app is actually one of the least used.

It is insecure depending on a few cases*.
Here's a sample of an exploit that a hacker or an above average user can do (with the adb tool and the phone connected to a PC) :-
 Exploit 2
******May only apply on rooted devices. (not all adb commands require root though) "USB debugging" should also be set prior to using the adb tool*.
But as eldarerathis said, some devices can also be rooted through the ADB. In fact, a skilled hacker may also find loopholes for gaining access to the internal data. (perhaps even find a way to utilize the adb without the usb debugging option)
The Android Pattern lock also has many glitches making it relatively unsecure. Here's an example..
While the exploits mentioned above and certain glitches may be fixed by Google in the upcoming versions, a pattern lock remains a pattern lock. ie, It can be considered as a mere solid gateway to using the android's user interface.
A pattern lock does not encrypt the contents of a phone.
It will not stop a hacker from playing around using the adb shell. He can view the internal memory of the phone etc using the adb tool which is freely provided in the Android SDK
Also, the internal memory is pretty much compromised as there may be other ways to mount it or read it.
All I can say for now is it would be better if you disable "usb debugging" unless you need it, as an added security measure.

I don't understand where the hacker would input this. Wouldn't they need to gain access by USB, and to do that, wouldn't they need to grant access from the device? Or is this executed by some kind of recovery boot or something?

This work only, if the phone is rooted. (Just want to say)

The phone was not rooted, so does this particular attack not apply?

No, this will not work if the phone isnt rooted.

@Dave: This also won't work if USB debugging is disabled, since the lock would prevent you from accessing the setting to turn it on. Given a rooted and debugging-enabled phone, though, this does work (and in your case it sounds like this does not apply).

@DaveMG: Theoretically, an attacker could attempt to root your device via adb if debugging was turned on, then. Whether or not they succeeded would depend on the specific device and Android version, I suppose, since some have easily exploitable vulnerabilities (like Gingerbreak) and others do not.

This method don't work! The row lock_pattern_autolock doesnt exists. Just my 2 cents

At least on most phones you can just hold down the volume key/keys to get to the fastboot/recovery. From there one can easily get adb connection, even if you don't have usb debugging on, and access straight to the internal memory. From there it is even possible to root the phone to make it possible to edit internal files and disable the lock, like Power-Inside suggested. All this can be done in several minutes!

By holding down the volume key/keys while booting, you can get to fastboot/recovery, like I said. I believe that this gives you instant adb access. You can even root (at least most phones) from there

Phones do it slightly differently. On galaxy 2 you seem to have to hold volume down and home.

The pattern is not very safe, because you can simply do a data wipe in recovery. And you're in the phone.
In addition the pattern can often seen in the screen, because you swipe everytime you unlock your phone this pattern.

recovery and format are always accessible afaik, but the poster is more concerned about his internal data being accessible "..I'm just wondering about the phone and it's internally stored data."


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Do task killers actually work?

Possible Duplicate:
Do I really need to install a task manager?

I am using ASUS Transformer. I think it uses Ice Cream sandwich, from the UI. I tried many task killers but wonder if they actually work. When I kill tasks, I still see them when I click the "Window selector" 3rd button of the bottom left screen (the 2 boxes). They do appear to take a while to load, so I suppose the tasks were killed but the thumbnails are still there?

Dont use Taskkillers! The android Framework is designed to manage app lifecycle on its own.

I don't think the button is a "window selector" (like alt+tab in Windows), but rather a "recent apps" list.

The Android Framework works well for well behaved apps. And for badly behaving apps, the uninstall button works best.

See: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9/do-i-really-need-to-install-a-task-manager

For a note, even using third party launcher causes poor memory management on my galaxy nexus.

Task Killers do generally "work" in that they kill tasks.
They don't "work" in that most apps that you'd want to kill due to running constantly will simply be restarted by the OS, and Android already has appropriate task management built in.  A task manager will mostly just drain your battery and waste your time.
See also: How can I stop applications and services from running? and the question eldarerathis links in the comments.

Please read this informative article written in September 2010 for LifeHacker entitled "Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn’t Use Them". In the article it will outline:
-How Task Killers work
-When you should/shouldn't use them
-What you can do as an alternative
http://lifehacker.com/5650894/android-task-killers-explained-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them

Considering the date of your question you it can't be Ice Cream Sandwitch (released on 24th Feburary 2012) but it is instead Honeycomb 3.2
As already suggested in comments by @onik the button you call "Window Selector" display the list of recent opened apps, it does not have any link with apps actually executing on your tablet.

task killer will save battery life on some androids, and makes battery like worse on others. if i were you i would do a test, one day without using task killer and another day using task killer and see if you can find a difference

Proof? Every trustworthy source I've read on the subject says task killers are mostly a waste of time.

I agree with @AlEverett. All the info out there that I have read says that they don't help.

They definitely help on older Androids. I have a HTC Tattoo that sometimes becomes to sluggish to use, even in the home screen and simple menus. I find that killing tasks manually immediately restores responsiveness. I guess this is a combination of 1) the low memory of the device and 2) bad apps. On newer devices, I never needed a task killer.

They really do help if you want your battery drained faster. At least with Android 2.3 and up, most of the tasks you killed are simply restarted -- which needs more battery than letting them run. Summary: Task killer != Battery saver. Use them to kill mis-behaving apps you cannot get rid of otherwise, that's what they are for.


text:
Disable Android Market localization
I'm using LG GT540 with (LG) official Android 2.1. The market has never been updated, but months ago, the top apps show my local (Vietnam) apps.
Those top rated are actually very bad, can I disable it, use old international version?

If your phone is rooted, you can install Market Enabler from Android Market and choose another location. Sometimes you may need to change the language settings on your device.


text:
What are my most frequently used apps?
As I want to optimize my workflow, how do I determine my most frequently used apps?, so I can put them on start screen. Of course I guess the 3-5 most frequently used apps by myself, but as there space for upto 16 icons on the first screen, it's hard to tell whether some apps are frequently used or not. As for SMS, MMS there are apps generating statistics, is there someway I can determine the most frequently or often used app?

Related: Android SE: How can I track app usage?

See How do I know when an app was used in Android?

Spare Parts does this. It's included in CyanogenMod and some other custom ROMs, but the Market version should work as well, I think. One of the menu options on the main page is "Usage statistics" which  you can then order by launch count, time used, and app name:

This doesn't work on Samsung Alpha after upgrade to lollipop. Used to work before

There is the app called "Frequency".
But for me, a better solution was to have launchers for only the ~10 most frequently used app and to launch the rest using Google Gesture App

A link to the app you're recommending would be useful.


text:
Send multiple files via Bluetooth to PC from gallery
I wanted to send about 30 photos from Gallery to PC by selecting them all, clicking Share\Bluetooth and then selecting the target computer.
It didn't work. All transfers failed. But if I selected a single photo I have been able to send it. Around 99MB.
I've been able to workaround by zipping (thanks ES File Manager!) and sharing the zip file only.
Is there something that I should know about sending multiple files via Bluetooth?

What are you using the send the files via bluetooth?

Plain Gallery's share button

I use Bluetooth File Transfer app. Its worked really well to send file to my computer. you can check multiple files to send at the same time and this has worked well for me. It also works well to send file back and forth between two phones if they both have it installed.


text:
How to circumvent the market compatibility check?
Sometimes I would like to install some App on my Notion Ink Adam but the Android Market says that my device is not compatible with the App. ATM I simply google for the specific App and search some file hoster where I can download the apk, but this has several disadvantages (you never know if it is a hacked version, you don't receive updates, etc).
Therefore I would like to simply tell the market that I know about the incompatibility, but I want to simply install the App anyway. Does someone of you know a solution?

Typically these things are defined in the android_manifest by the developer if it's because it requires certain hardware (e.g., NFC, bluetooth, Android version, etc. etc.). The developer can also choose to not support specific devices when they publish in the Android market. It could be possible there is a valid reason why it isn't compatible. Which app is it?

Yes.  Unfortunately the Market appears to pull the version of Android directly from the system somehow, so I'm not sure how to get around apps that are limited by version.  However you can get around apps being limited to specific devices by editing your build.prop file.  See my answer here: How can I modify the phone model in build.prop to get unsupported apps?

There's an app called Market Unlocker (which requires root).

I tried it, but AFAIK the unlocker is more about the country and provider but not about the compatibility check, doesn't it?

A little leg-work is preferable in answers. "There's this app, look for it on Google" is far less helpful than a link to the app.

I would have posted the link, but my network's being filtered (proxy).


text:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc randomly reboots
I realise this might be a repeat question, or discussed at length in some related posts, please don't hesitate to discipline me if I'm being redundant.
I just really want to know not only if anyone else is experiencing random reboots on their Xperia Arcs (or any similar phone), but also if they've successfully resolved the issue? This is driving me completely insane, and I'm really disappointed because I really love my phone!
I've done a hard-reset, deleted everything off the SD card, and updated the phone to the latest available software from Sony Ericsson (Android v2.3.4). I've installed only 1 application, the logcat application mentioned in this answer, but that was after my phone rebooted TWICE today, and I also have no idea what log information I'm looking for...
I've read this post by Zano, as well as this one by ninjaPixel with no avail.
I refuse to believe that 'jimmy-ing' in a piece of paper to make the battery make contact better is the solution - as the battery in my phone is pretty tight already, and I've witnessed my phone reboot while simply lying on the desk - but I've tried that too and will continue to monitor...
ANY help will be greatly appreciated, and I'll continue to research and post back any additional information I find. Thanks in advance!
UPDATE #1:
So far so good, no additional apps have been installed, and I've removed the logcat app that was on there as it wasn't helping assess anything. I've also installed a very professional piece of paper between the battery and the outside cover to help keep it more secure than usual. Holding thumbs..!
UPDATE #2:
Almost 2 weeks after my previous update, and still no reboot. It seems that although I wouldn't believe it to be as a result of the battery not connecting properly, it didn't mean that it wasn't the battery...I'll make this the last update, and say, in my case, the problem was because the battery wasn't connecting properly and adding a small piece of paper between the battery and the outside cover has done the trick. Thanks all for reading, and for your time and patience!

In my case it didn't seem to have anything to do with any software configuration or combination on my phone and was purely hardware related. This is not to say that in some cases the software you may or may not have on your device would be causing a memory leak / stack overflow and causing your device to reboot as a result.
I couldn't, and wouldn't, believe it, but after adding a small piece of paper between the battery and the phone under the back cover, my Xperia Arc hasn't rebooted for 3 weeks, whereas before it would reboot around twice a day.
Once again, thanks all for the suggestions and comments. I'll continue to monitor my phone, but I don't foresee any future reboots...related to the battery anyway...

I have tried all the things mentioned here to stop my phone from the reboot problem but still to now since yesterday the error is recurring. More suggestions please.

Has your phone always rebooted, or is it something you did yesterday specifically that's causing it, such as installing a new application or dropping it? Sorry if this seems strange, but reboots on the Arcs seem to be so specific..!

You need to update your phone to the latest firmware 4.0.2.A.0.62. I bet yours is 4.0.2.A.0.58
If you can't update the phone over OTA or PC Suite, use WOTAN to update the phone to 4.0.2.A.0.62. The reboot problem occurred on nearly all SE Xperia Models.

Thank you so much for your suggestion! I've actually got version 4.0.2.A.42, and after running the update service I was informed that I already have the latest version running and I don't need to update. I suspect it's possible global region version limitation...thanks again for the help though!

I had this problem and even sent my arc to a service centre for repair who said it's fine.
I was about to send the battery in for examination when I noticed black marks on the gold contacts. I cleaned the contacts and it's never restarted since (in around 7 months)

Awesome, good tip and good to know...thanks for the answer Callum!


text:
Full screen android clock
Is it possible to get a full screen clock for an android phone which looks something like the clock on the desktop of the computer in this link?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_b/3381120183/in/pool-421216@N24/

Night Clock works well for me (screenshot below), and there are probably plenty of others in the Market. A search for "big clock" turns up a fair number of hits that seem relevant.


text:
Is Samsung Galaxy Tab P7300 upgradable to Android 4?

Possible Duplicate:
When will my device get the Android 4.0 update (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

I am looking into buying this: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/GT-P7310MAAXAR
I am wondering if I can upgrade the 3.2 version of Android to 4.0?

The answer is yes:

Samsung Electronics plan to provide the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  update for GALAXY devices. The platform update for GALAXY S II and
  GALAXY Note will start in the first quarter 2012, and other GALAXY
  devices will soon follow.
The ICS-upgradable devices are the GALAXY S II, GALAXY S II LTE,
  GALAXY Note, GALAXY R, GALAXY Tab 10.1, GALAXY Tab 8.9, GALAXY Tab
  7.7, and GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus.
For upgradable models, Samsung will make separate announcements on
  details of OS updates schedule for each market according to market
  situation and carriers' requirements. [December 20, 2011] From AT&T:
  We plan for both the [HTC] Vivid and [Samsung] Galaxy S II Skyrocket
  to be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich.

http://www.engadget.com/updates/which-devices-will-get-ice-cream-sandwich/


text:
Why are "word suggestions" of keyboards not shown in some apps?
I'm using Hacker's and SwiftKey X keyboard on GingerBread. Suggestion line is shown in most apps above the keyboard. But when opening the keyboard in Android Market (now Play Store) or DroidEdit (code editor), the suggestions aren't shown for any keyboard I use.
What determines this behaviour? How can I switch on/force suggesting words?

Most likely the app has chosen not to show them for that particular input box. From a technical perspective, this is controlled by flags on the TextView object that represents the text area control (e.g. the TYPE_TEXT_FLAG_NO_SUGGESTIONS option). I don't believe there is any way to override this setting if the app chooses to disable it.
It's probably also important to note that it's a bit of a one-way street. Suggestions are enabled by default on all text areas, but will obey the global setting, so an app can't forcibly enable suggestions in any way. If you have the global setting turned off, they're off everywhere.
The logic that the developer documentation provides for allowing apps to forcibly disable suggestions is that in some cases they simply aren't very useful. The specific relevant quote would be (from the above link):

... This is useful for text views that do not contain words from the language and do not benefit from any dictionary-based completions or corrections ...

I'd wager the Market disables them because app names and such have no obligation to be dictionary words, so suggestion attempts would often prove rather futile. I would also understand the same being true of your second example, which sounds like a source code editor (I assume that's what you mean by "syntax highlighting"). It would be sort of akin to Visual Studio underlining misspelt words in source code - it provides no benefit since most of the text will not be dictionary words.

So same as with statusbar, the distinct app "decides" whether to show statusbar in a app or keyboard suggestions. Does this make sense? The app settings would be filled with such settings to switch on/off. It's like showing task bar in Windows is determined by program? Whats the point of this android "feature"? Same in ICS? Will wait for more opinions/vote before I accept.

of course, it is reasonable in parts, but for example overiding statusbar showing in every single app creates more chaos than order. I think the user should make this decision, not android or app devs. The point of the statusbar is to use e.g. the clipboard in any app. A lot of my apps dont show it, that's poor and big design error.

@Hauser: Added my previous comment to the text of my answer instead, which expands on the reasoning to some extent.


text:
How can I transfer my contacts from an iPhone to an Android device?
I tried to transfer data from my 3 year old iPhone to my new HTC Inspire via bluetooth but it keeps saying the two are "paired but not connected". Seems I can't get past this problem.
How can I transfer info from my old phone to the new?

You can use Google's Contact Sync to transfer them.
It's kind of complex to describe, but you can find Google
s official guide here

+1 use the cloud, any contacts that you sync up to GMail from an iOS device will appear in Android's Contacts (as long as you have the same Google Account setup on your phone).


text:
How to Change the Filename Prefix (DSC) of Camera Photos
I have a android mobile with 5 MP camera. I use the default camera app to capture photos.
All the pictures captured by camera has DSC prefix in their name - DSC_XXXX.
I want to remove DSC prefix and add the date prefix in DEFAULT CAMERA APPLICATION
How to do it ?

A possible solution is using [Tasker][1] or some equivalent to rename the files. Would that be acceptable? (I'll write up a more in-depth answer, if so)

I second the Tasker idea.

I third it LOL Shouldn't be too long, but why invent the wheel again. So please elaborate, @Jeeva!

I am struggling to find a way to do this with tasker ;)

@LiamW - Tasker won't trigger off a "picture taken" event AFAICT.  I'm seeing a partway solution (Trigger tasker off the camera app start to get the current time (%TIMES), then trigger it again off the camera app exit to go into the DCIM folder and rename anything newer than the previously saved time.), but I can't figure out a way to edit the filename in that manner rather than appending or wholly replacing the existing filename.  Any ideas?

You can't do that since it has been coded in program level you can't change the prefix DSC in all photos. You need to have the code for the apk and change the prefix string and build an apk then only you can do that cheers......


text:
Music player with labelled regions or time markers
Do you know a music player that allows to add labels to parts of the audio file so later on I can easily find the region and play just that part of the audio file?(Like in Audacity.)
Or at least time-markers?

I found a way: a simple html document using the html5 audio tag opened in the readily available Android Browser is sufficient for my modest needs.


text:
How can I make my phone/tablet ring remotely without a SIM card?
I appear to have lost my Streak somewhere in my apartment, and I can't call it since I don't have a SIM card in it.  I've remotely installed Plan B just because, but unfortunately the GPS coordinates are not specific enough to find it inside my apartment :P.  Is there any app I can install remotely that will start making noise so I can find the device?

Is it possible to remote-install apks? Also can the apps be started remotely? That way if there are no apps to be found, somebody could make one.

If account sync is on, you can try and create a calendar event with alarm on a desktop computer, and hope that your audio notifications are turned on.

@MartinTapankov That's interesting, I think calendar sync is off but I'll try it later.  varesa, I don't think so apart from the Market or having something like WiFi adb installed.

Bahh! Just found a way to do this! I'm so excited!
First, install AndroidLost from the online Google Play Store.

this is the app you can use to control/wipe/access info about your lost device, yadayada

Give it a little time to install to your device, then install AndroidLost Jumpstart from the online Google Play Store as well

This app will wake up the registration process on the androidlost app
  when ever a phone call is made, an SMS received, battery is low, a
  package is added, removed or changed.

So you have to install an arbitrary app from the Play Store as well to activate the service, but you can then go to androidlost.com to access functions to control your lost device! Including ringing an alarm ;)
I haven't tested this yet, but I will as soon as I can I tested this on my own phone (although the page for Jumpstart only specifies tablets), and it works! It says it will register on SMS or app install, I did both first, and the activation worked. This is an awesome utility.

AndroidLost Jumpstart will not work on the newer versions of Android.

Where's my Droid does that and is the best free app on the market:
Instructions:

To use the app, text "wmd ring" to make the device ring

Taken from http://wheresmydroid.com/
EDIT:
I'm sorry, my answer above assumes you have some other way SIP or Google Voice to send an SMS, which you would have already had setup!
I'm not aware of any app that does this without initiation from an SMS. Sorry.

I just hope you don't run out of batteries first! That's always your enemy, at that point.

You're right about the batteries, if I lost my phone over night I'd have a 4-5 hour window in the morning to remotely find it!

Okay, well, I created an app that does this, but I wont be able to upload it to market until I hear back from Google.

Where's My Droid can send a ring request from their website, or app on another device, once you are logged into your account.


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Android restore bootstrap nandroid backup after a failed rom flash
I was trying to flash my Droid X2 to CM7, but it failed. Before I attempted the flash, I did a nandroid backup using an app called "system recovery" (MOTODX2_Bootstrap_signed.apk).
I want to restore to that backup, but I cannot seem to boot into the same recovery menu.
Someone please help me. My phone gets to the boot animation and keeps resetting.

Sigh. You are bricked. Not an easy fix. You have options, though.:

Flash the stock ROM via PC, and see if it is a soft brick. If that works, you'll be at step 1 again, but that's better than a unusable phone. This is assuming you can aaccess a mode to flash ROMS via PC.
1.5. Make a USB jig (look up one, it varies on device). Use it, and it will make option 1 easier.

1.7. Take apart your phone, grab the hard drive, load it into anything that will take it(again, look it up, I know someone asked about it here a while back) and grab the backup, then do option 1.

Keep trying to get it to boot up, and keep it charged. You may just get lucky.
Take it to the manufacturer, and say it just stopped working. Provided they don't work out what you did, it''ll be at stock again.
Throw it in a bin :(

Some of those may be crazy, but there is often little available for bricked devices. I have lost two devices like this.


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How to open text files with DropBox on Android?
I have the DropBox app on my Samsung Galaxy S 2.
It seemed to me that before, when I clicked on a text file, it would open a text editor. I think Dropbox had its own internal editor.
Now, however, when I open any plain text file, I get a message that says:

Can't open textFileName
Please download an app that can open this file.

I tried downloading numerous text editors from the market, but none of them linked with Dropbox.
How do I get text editing ability in Dropbox on Android?

I have Dropbox 2.0.1 and when I click on a text file (extension .txt), it offers to open it with "DB Text Editor", or with "HTMLViewer". It won't work for files without extensions, or with extensions that are not recognized. It doesn't use the file mime-type to determine whether it can be displayed with the text editor regardless of the extension.

In Dropbox 2.0.1 (and in pre-2.0 versions, IIRC), you can tap on a text file and it can offer to open it in "DB Text Editor" which comes with the app (or some other editor which has been assigned to open files with .txt extension). Note that this won't work on just about any other file -- Dropbox does not recognize mime types, but rather uses the extension to pick a program to open a file with, even if the file in question contains text.
This also works with other file types -- for example, I am able to open my password database from KeepassDroid (extension .kbdx).


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Why does Android Wi-Fi not get disabled?
I have Android 2.3.4.
I have noticed that even When I turn off Wi-Fi, I still keep getting notifications, like - Gmail, Gtalk and Google+ notifications. If I open the said App then it says that it is not connected to internet.
So, my hypothesis is that maybe when I disable Wi-Fi, Android does not terminate currently established connections. It only denies new connections. But this does not explain why in this case the notifications are usually delayed, sometimes, by few hours or a full day.
What is happening and how do I actually disable the Wi-Fi?
PS: I use the "Status Switch" widget to turn/off the Wi-Fi.
UPDATE: the phone doesn't have a data plan, so data isn't coming in that way.

Turning off your wifi actually disables the wifi radio hardware, so it can't be that it's maintaining existing connections unless you have an extremely unusual build of Android.

Hmm.. I am not sure, but it does keeps on sending notifications. More weird is that sometimes I get the notifications after many hours. I have Sony Ericssion Xperia. Maybe it is isolated to Sony phones.

my best guess currently is that "Status Switch" does not work properly on your phone; check that the Wifi is really disabled through the Settings app.

Yes there it shows up unchecked.

Are you sure, your 2G/3G/4G connection is not running? Put a random string in your APN...

Yes I am sure else I would have got a huge bill.

I belive it is because you gained the data during the period Wi-Fi was activated, so when you swithced off your Wi-Fi, there was still some unread data  you hadn't seen (in the form of mail and G+ notifications). Also I recomed, if you are seriously worried about this, and it perseveres, to turn off Wi-Fi via wireless communications in the settings app.

All the data, e.g. notifications were generated after I switched off the Wifi from Settings. I seems this is a Sony Ericsson build specific issue (or feature?). I have noticed that even after Wifi is disabled it turns itself on briefly on some seemingly random time.

If you turn off Wi-Fi, but you have a data plan with your carrier, you'll still be accessing the internet using your cellular mobile radio.
Opening the app and having it say that it is not connected to the internet could thus be because you have poor signal, or you haven't used your phone in a while and it's been auto-disconnected from the mobile network to save battery/bandwidth by either the phone or your carrier.
You can use Airplane Mode to turn off both cellular and Wi-Fi radios.

My Data traffic too is disabled. If my phone uses carrier data then that would reflect in my bill. My carrier charges too much for data usage. Also, I have strong network signal.

You should definitely mention that in your question then.

Oops. Sorry about that.


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How to remove Google Account that is set for Android Market in device?
In my Device I have entered the the xyz@gmail.com as google account and I have also set that account as the Market account.
Now I want to use abc@gmail.com as my market account but I am not able to do that.
So how to set that another account for the android market.
I also want to remove the account xyz@gmail.com from my device completely. That Account I have set at the First time in to my device and now I am not able to remove it from the Device.
So what should I have to do for it?

If you only want to change the account you use for the Market, and don't need to remove your current primary account from your phone, then see also this question: How to change the account for Android Market?

You can't currently remove the primary Google account that you used to set up your Android device, the quickest way to switch to your new Google account would be to restore factory defaults and set up your device to use the new account.
The location of the factory reset depends on the Android version of the device. On ICS (4.0+) devices it's in Settings -> Backup & reset -> Factory data reset. On Honeycomb (3.x) devices it's in Settings -> Privacy -> Factory data reset. The same goes for Froyo + Gingerbread (2.0-2.3.x) if i remember correctly.
Note that this will clear your apps and their data, and depending on your device, MAY wipe your internal and/or external SD card, as TryTryAgain mentioned.

Note that this will clear your apps and their data, but won't clear your internal or external SD card. isn't entirely true. Many phones come with an option to wipe the SD as well. This, if I remember correctly, is the default option sometimes too. So, be careful and be sure not to COMPLETELY wipe everything.

@TryTryAgain OK, thanks for the info, will add to the answer. I've only used Samsung's and Google's devices, which don't wipe the SD from here.

as GAThrawn said, you just need to add another google account in Options -> Accounts&Sync, and in Google Play application press Menu -> Accounts and link it to this new-linked account..

That does not remove it.

When you are on the home screen, click the Menu Key, then choose 'Settings', select 'Accounts and sync', click on the account which you want to remove, and finally press 'Remove Account' ... no big deal, no factory reset :)


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How to check support for ext2 filesystem on android device
I have a android mobile with gingerbread 2.3.4 installed.
I want to know if my device(kernel) supports ext2 filesystem. Is there any terminal command to check the support for ext2 filesystem ?

cat /proc/filesystems is the typical Linux/Unix way of determining this. It works fine on CyanogenMod, but I'm not sure about other ROMs. If you want to filter out all of the other supported filesystems you could grep the output, too (assuming you've got grep, of course):
# cat /proc/filesystems | grep 'ext*'
    ext2
    ext3
    ext4
#

Thanks. The output is showing nodev word before some filesystems, what is nodev???

@sam: Taken from Redhat's documentation: "The first column signifies whether the file system is mounted on a block device. Those beginning with nodev are not mounted on a device." You'll usually see "virtual" filesystems with the nodev flag, I believe (like sysfs or rootfs).

Download Debian Tools to check which ext your phone supports

This might be a useful recommendation if you add a link to the tool you're recommending.


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Synchronizing skype contacts with android
I installed skype on my android 2.3 samsung galaxy and all skype contacts were added to pnone contacts. Later in PC while using skype I renamed some of skype contacts and removed few of them. After that I ran skype on samsung again to find out the changes made in skype using it from PC were not applied to the skype version on samsung.
Do I need to manually synchronize skype contacts changes made in skype while using it on PC? And how to do it?


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ICS on Desire HD

Possible Duplicate:
Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

I'm planning to wipe my phone and in the process I also decided to try some alternative ROM.
From what I understand MIUI 4 and CyanogenMod 9 should be ICS based, but I can't find these ROMs in a pure form. On XDADevelopers forums, there is gazilion of MIUI and CM ROMS, but all of them seem to have some custom modifications.
I want to go for something reasonably stable right now. So where do I find some ICS ROMs for Desire HD without crazy modifications?

CM9 doesn't have a stable release yet at all.

...and according to this Meta post, the question is off topic.


text:
How to root my HTC Thunderbolt?
How can I root my HTC Thunderbolt?

Please don't vote to close this questions as duplicate.

There's a forum post at xda-developers  which details a fairly involved and definitely for the faint at heart. However, do not follow that guide, it's included only for posterity, and there is an easier way to skin your particular cat.
At this point, cue the huge disclaimer that a lot of things might go wrong when doing this, and always be sure to follow the instructions as closely as possible. When in doubt, ask. Also, while this guide probably won't change much between versions of the recovery tool, always read the official documentation first and use this as a handy checklist.

Revolutionary
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is Revolutionary?
Brought to you by the same guys that worked on unrevoked and AlphaRev which have been traditionally used to root HTC devices, Revolutionary is a new S-OFF and recovery tool for next-generation devices.  The list of currently supported devices is here.
Okay, what do I need to do?

Download Revolutionary. Versions for Windows and Linux are available.
Windows users: Download and install also these fastboot drivers.
When downloading, also request a beta key. Select your device type, and put in your serial number.
If you are running the stock ROM, your device S/N should be in Settings->About Phone->Phone Identity->Device Serial Number. If you are running a custom ROM, this number might not be there, so you can either check the box your device came from, or (better) find it on a sticker below your battery. It's a good idea to also write this down somewhere for future reference.
You can find the HBOOT version of your device, in case there are several, by booting it into recovery mode: turn your device off, then turn it on while holding simultaneously the Volume down key and the power button. The HBOOT version should be visible somewhere on the recovery screen.
Okay, now you have everything you need.

Make a backup of your phone. No, seriously, MAKE A BACKUP of your SD card and any application information you'd like to keep. Contacts, SMSes, and everything you can think of. Better safe than sorry. There are free tools on the Market that can help you.
If you are going to install custom ROMs, now would be the time to copy them to the device's SD card.
Extract the Revolutionary archive in a convenient location on your computer, and run the executable (revolutionary or revolutionary.exe, depending on your platform).
Connect your device to the computer. Remember to enable USB debugging when doing so (Settings->Applications->Development).
When prompted for the beta key, supply what your key, and then follow the instructions on screen (basically, confirm a few times that you do indeed know what you are doing). It might take a few minutes, and your device will reboot a few times.

It worked, and my phone's not even bricked!
Welcome to the club! Flash a snazzy new ROM like a king, and enjoy responsibly your newly-gained privileges. Some things you might want to do, though:

Before doing anything else, make a backup of your stock ROM from the recovery mode, in case you'd like to restore it later (for example, to take advantage of the device warranty, or when selling it).
If you are only after a root without installing a custom ROM, then you'll also need to install the Superuser application from the recovery. If you'd rather flash a custom ROM, you won't need this, most ROMs also includes Superuser as a part of their base install. For information how to install your ROM of choice, consult the documentation supplied by the ROM vendor.

The HTC Thunderbolts recently received an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. This wouldn't have any effect on the effectiveness or safety of the method above, would it? I imagine not, since rooting must be independent of the O/S, but as someone just beginning to look into rooting, I'd rather be safe than sorry...

@acheong87: This answer was written more than one year ago. Most of the stuff should be still relevant, but do verify the information here before trying to root your phone. Good luck!

I have HBoot 1.08.000. The revolutionary tool only gives keys for up to 1.05.000. Am I stuck with a non-root phone (I was able to get the bootloader unlocked)?


text:
Why do apps legitimately purchased from Android Market warn about missing license?
A few weeks ago I purchased two paid apps, 3G Watchdog Pro (3GWP) and The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE). Both of them displayed warnings that the license is missing, and advised to visit Android Market for purchasing the product. 3GWP issues the warning at startup and won't start unless I buy the app. TPE does start, but issues the warning occasionally.
I had actually bought 3GWP a few months earlier but soon uninstalled it, then decided to install it again a few weeks ago. I purchased the app again after the developer, whom I had contacted, refunded the previous purchase for troubleshooting. He said that refunding/repurchasing usually fixes the issue, and had no other suggestions.
I thought this issue was app-specific, then it occurred with a different app, TPE. I posted a query to the Google Mobile help Forum and was contacted by the TPE developer. He did some troubleshooting, i.e. checked the aLogcat output and whitelisted my account. But the problem persisted.
Today I launched the Wolfram Alpha paid app, which I hadn't used in a while, and it displayed the warning "Application Not Licensed - This Wolfram | Alpha app has not been licensed. Please login to the phone using correct credentials or purchase it from the Android Market", and didn't start.
Why do unrelated, legitimately purchased apps report licensing issues? I suspect the problem is at Google's end.
I have a Nexus S phone with Android 2.3.6. My mobile carrier is Vodafone IT.

This does sound like Google has messed up your account.  One thing I would try: Uninstall the apps in question, clear the data for the Market, then go into the Market again and re-install them.

I'm an Android developer and this bug drives me NUTS.
The only thing we've found that always fixes it is to open the main Settings app, Manage Applications, Google Play app, and then tap the Clear Data button. Then restart your phone and open the app in question and it'll be able to properly check your license.


text:
How can I get TV-out from a Galaxy Tab 8.9?
I am using a Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. I would like to mirror the screen on my TV but I could not find TV-out in the Settings.
How can I do this?

Since the Tab 8.9 uses a proprietary connector (as do other Samsung tablets), you need to use an adapter that they provide. These could previously be purchased direct from Samsung, but have since been discontinued. Resellers now list a wide range of pricing on sites such as eBay. There was also an even older RCA adapter made by Samsung, but the Tab 7 Plus, 8.9 and 10.1 don't support it, to my knowledge.
At that point, I believe it works like other Honeycomb tablets in that it will simply mirror to the TV automatically after being plugged in.
The only real alternative would be to use your computer as an intermediary device, along wish some software that allows you to cast/record your screen. There are a number of options in How do I project the screen of my Android phone for a presentation? that may be worth investigating.

My parents' TV does not have HDMI. So screaming to their TV. So it is impossible to have the image from Tablet with Composite cable with 8.9.

@Masi: Unfortunately, no, I don't think the 8.9 supports composite output natively. The best you could probably do is to get an HDMI to RCA/S-Video converter, but the video image may very well get distorted (I know Amazon sells some but have never tried them).

Link is broken.

@DJClayworth Looks like they no longer manufacture or sell the adapter,  likely since the tablet is not supported anymore.


text:
Is z4Root infected?
I downloaded One Click Lag Fix and it requested z4Root, I also downloaded from the computer, because it was not on the market and installed, but AVG reported me that is infected.
I downloaded with multiple sites including xda-developers, and all were infected.
Should I proceed with installation?

Does AVG provide any informations?

OCLF has nothing to do with z4root.  Can you be more clear about what exactly you're doing and what exactly is being flagged?

My phone isn't rooted and I can't do lag fix without rooting phone! OCLF asks me to install z4root from market but did't find it there. I downloaded it from xda-developers.com and installed but OCLF insists to download from the market and does't recognized z4root that I downloaded from computer and installed. I installed again z4root and AVG is marked as a threat but it doesn't showed no further information. I have a Samsung Galaxy Y android version 2.3.6 Gingerbread.

Can I do lag fix? This is the picture which shows what happens when I turn on the application http://www.mobile-dev.co.za/screens/oclfscreen1.png

z4root is in fact infected.
It is infected with an often used root exploit for Android 2.2 Froyo which allows you (or any malicious app) to gain root rights by executing it on a vulnerable phone. z4root is neutral if you have the original benign one however: It's only used to gain root. It does nothing else on its own.
AVG (and other antivirus vendors) flag this because it is a root exploit. They don't care if you like it or not and if you want to use it in a benign way (to install lag fix). It bypasses Android's security by exploiting a known vulnerability and this is enough to label it as infected.
To give an example:
Let's assume some app piggypacks this exploit to gain root to be able to start wreaking havoc on your phone (or with your data by formatting/wiping it. whatever).

Antivirus applications use special algorithms to scan, take apart and analyze files on your computer and network. If they are certain chunks in the files that it finds suspicious, then it gets flagged as malware.
Now, certain applications like one click root applications use hacks similar to the ones that some malware do. This causes the antiviruses to wrongly flag such software.
Most likely, z4root isnt infected but you can always use a secondary anti virus app to check or go on the xda forum thread and look for comments on infected files.


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How can you tell if your Nexus S is CDMA?
I am trying to flash ICS onto my Samsung Nexus S, but I'm getting the error E:failed to verify whole-file signature.  Really irritating since this is described by many to work.
I'm guessing that my phone is the CDMA version, but how do you know for sure?

CDMA phones don't use SIM cards, that's the most obvious way to tell.  (Some world phones are both CDMA and have GSM hardware and SIM cards, but that's not relevant here).  Most carriers are only one or the other so your carrier should be a good indication as well.

Good news, I have an AT&T SIM card in mine

@Styler There you go, it's definitely not CDMA then.  AFAIK only the T-Mobile version has been updated to ICS though, so that might be the source of your problem.

Yea I'm all about blazing trails today, thanks again

so... how would one fix this verification error?

@liho1eye You would use a package released and signed for your device.


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Can't install custom rom: "Can't mount SD card"
I've some trouble with my HTC Desire and I'd like to ask for help.
I've recently rooted it with unrevoked and turned in S-off mode. All went well, or so it seemed, until I decided to flash a custom rom. I get problem either while doing nandroid backup and backup using rom manager (free version). Both cases give the following error:

can't mount sd card

I'm pretty sure my sd card is working well cause I'm using link2sd and it works well. The sd card has 2 partitions done with g-parted: Ext3 and FAT32.
Moreover I have trouble downloading a custom rom via rom manager, it gives a download error.

What order are the partitions in (as in, which is first in the partition list)?

the first is ext3, the smallest one used as 'second rom'

You may want to try putting the FAT32 partition first and the ext3 second, if possible. Android might only be looking at the first partition on the SD card.

Finally I did it, the problem was the partitions' order. Thank you @eldarerathis !!!

@eldarerathis Your comment hould become a answer :)

As I noted in a comment, one thing to be aware of is that (typically) the order of the partitions matters. Android basically only looks at the first partition in the table, so you need to make sure the FAT one is first on the disk and the ext2/3/4 one is second. Otherwise Android will see the ext partition and won't know what to do with it.


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Too many password attempts
While I was out, someone attempted to guess my phone password. They couldn't guess it and now it displays the 'too many password attempts' screen, which needs to be unlocked with a google account. However, my google account is not working. I enter the username and password correctly, and have attempted to do so about 10 times. So why is it not unlocking? Do I need an internet connection to unlock it?

You won't need an internet connection.
Also, when typing the username/email, make sure you have either @gmail.com or @googlemail.com at the end, depending on what it was when you added the account.
If you didn't add anything, the default for android <= 2.3 is @googlemail.com

This is probably a stupid question, but how can it connect to the internet without being unlocked?

Sorry - typo error. It doesn't actually connect to the internet. It checks the entered details with the details entered on the device. It does however, connect to the internet sometimes to confirm the password.

No password with the @googlemail.com account?

Actually, the whole point of the question is to circumvent this password screen. If this is not possible, please say.

The only way would be to wipe it - recovery or otherwise. If you do not have recovery, it would be impossible.

OK, I guess I'll just enter random names and hope something works.

@liamwli is there a way to cancel this feature at all?? my kids are locking it daily and I'm using 2 step verification so I have to regenerate passwords over and over.

I'm afraid not, unless you completely edit the android system (but then you would be making a custom rom). You would have to disable the lock - or do what I do, and write you 2 step passwords down :)

Is there a way to get rid of this annoying "feature"!?

"It checks the entered details with the details entered on the device." - it caches the credentials locally? Everything I read on the internet begs to differ, could you link to the source of this info if possible?

Go Here and sign in with your google account:  https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager
Lock it from the WEB and then use that password to open you device - I just did it on my son's and we saved everything!   I thought I was going to have to wipe it, but didn't.  Good luck


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How to set CPU Affinity for android tasks
I have a dual core android device.
Is there any way to set CPU Affinity for android tasks ?

No, I suspect that there isn't any app that can do the job. You could write it yourself, it shouldn't be too hard. It seems that the best way to do it is using the NDK but it should be possible even in Java.

And the Java method uses JNI, so even Java needs to get help from the native side of things.


text:
Must I install ClockworkMod to install CyanogenMod on Samgung Galaxy SII?
I want to install CyanogenMod on my Samsumg Galaxy S II. If I install ClockworkMod I think I will void the warranty provided by Samsung.
Must I install ClockworkMod or can I just install CyanogenMod?

Two things are important here:
1.) Even if you wouldn't install ClockworkMod, you'd lose your warranty since you replaced the pre-loaded operating system with unsupported one.
2.) ClockworkMod (or any other alternative recovery) is what actually installs CyanogenMod on your phone so it is required.
In short: Replacing your phone OS with Cyanogen will void your warranty in any case. You'll need some way of installing CM and Clockwork is probably the easiest around.

ClockModWork only works with Cyanogen images?

Nope, pretty much all 3rd party ROMs prefer ClockWork Recovery as their way of installation - just point it to the .zip file.

Well, I know ClockworkMod is installed prior to CM, and remains on device with CM, but I wonder if it is possible to install CM instead of ClockworkMod, to boot CM directly? I know it's more convenient to have CWR installed, just I have a security requirement to disable CWR boot


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What exactly is superuser.apk and su?
I've done a lot of reading into rooting of Android devices. I really want to know exactly what is going on at each step before I commit to the process.
I'm a little confused as to where the superuser.apk and su files come from. It doesn't look like they are official Google files, but rather files created by a (random) individual. That said, how safe are these files?
From research, I have a general understanding of their purpose. I was wondering if anyone knew what these files were (executables? scripts?), what they contained and how they generally work.
Thanks!

Related: How Magisk works?

su (short for Switch User) is a binary executable. It's used by Android and other *nix based systems to allow a process to change the user account it is associated with. The reason it's important from a rooting standpoint is that su without any other parameters will switch to the root user, meaning that processes that require root permission for their functionality need to invoke su (since by default they are not being run by root).
Superuser is an Android application (.apk is an Android application package). It works as a sort of "gatekeeper" to the su binary. Applications which attempt to invoke su will be forced to route through Superuser, which will then prompt the user if it is an unknown or new application. The user then has the option of approving or denying the access to su and optionally having Superuser remember their decision so it can automatically apply it for subsequent calls by that app. By doing this, the only apps which are granted root permissions are ones that the user chooses.
The source of both applications is available on Github, and can be examined/audited by anyone who wishes to look at it (Superuser here, su here).
You can find further details - as well as changelogs - on Superuser's website.
Other related questions on Android Enthusiasts:

How exactly does "root" user access/account works? Do all applications run as root on my phone after rooting?
What are the security disadvantages of rooting an Android phone?
How do I protect my phone from malicious apps once it is rooted?

I really appreciate the detailed response and links! Thanks!

Are there any alternatives/equivalents to these files for the purposes of Android rooting?

@kaspnord: No, su is the same file used for other linux/unix OSes, and there aren't any alternatives to that, but there might be for superuser.apk. Why do you want an alternative?

I'm just curious since these files, although blessed by the open source community, don't appear to have a standard of any sort (ie. not officially Google). So, that leads me to think that it is possible for other people to create other variants of the same files. For me personally, I want to know exactly what I'm using and putting into my device rather than rely on solutions from others where I cannot know with 100% confidence what the files contain.

The source code for Superuser is available on github, the main author of Superuser are Adam Shanks (ChainsDD) and Koushik Dutta (koush, also author of Clockwork Recovery).
Koushik Dutta explained in his blog how Superuser.apk works; note that the post is from the very earliest incarnation of the Superuser app, a lot of things have changed since then and some of what was written there are no longer correct for modern superuser/su implementation, but the basics should still be the same.
Both su and Superuser can certainly be replaced by alternatives, but it wouldn't really do much as the facility that su uses (i.e. exec() and setuid() system calls) is available to any executables, given that the executable had the proper permission bits (i.e. setuid bit is set to root). At the core, su is a very simple program, it just spawns a process as another user; the real security check is done by the kernel.
So, as long as you're getting the official, unmodified su and superuser app and they're installed properly with proper permission, you don't have anything to worry about, they're open source and safe, you can verify the source code yourself at github. However, it is certainly possible to get a trojaned superuser/su binary, so make sure that wherever you're getting your superuser/su binary is trustworthy (or compile su/superuser yourself if you're truly paranoid).


text:
What happens when Google removes a purchased app from Market?
Google removes malicious and copyright-smasher apps from Market. And, I think paid apps are equally treated in this case. Fortunately, Google hasn't removed any app purchased by me, yet. So, I don't have any idea.
What happens when Google removes a paid app? Google returns its cost to buyers or not?
Can I continue to use that app with infringing law?
Another situation: When I purchase an app and do its FIRST installation after even month, the 15-minute refund option is provided. In case of app removal from market, can I utilize the refund option?

From http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/mobile/android/market-policies.html ,

Product Removals: From time to time, Google may discover a Product on
  the Market that violates the Android Market Developer Distribution
  Agreement or other legal agreements, laws, regulations or policies. In
  such an instance, Google retains the right to remove those
  applications from your Device remotely, at its sole discretion. If
  that occurs, Google will make reasonable efforts to recover the
  purchase price of the Product, if any, from the originating Developer
  on your behalf. If Google is unable to recover the full amount of the
  purchase price, it will divide any recovered amounts between the
  affected users on a pro rata basis.

From what I can gather from above, it seems that

The app in question will be removed from your device and you will be entitled for a refund. (not strictly a full refund sometimes)
The app fails to be removed from the device and you may not get a refund. (Though I suggest you can contact google in this case)

If the app exists on your device, you can use it any how and it is not under jurisdiction of google anymore.

And answer to you alternate situation, again, yes Google will make reasonable efforts to recover the purchase price of Product and the refund option will probably work.


text:
Create my own boot.img for rooting?
Among the files needed to root an Android device (such as superuser.apk and su), an unsecured boot image is also required (boot.img) to allow for the installation of the superuser and su.
I understand the theory behind the unsecured boot image (ro.secure=0 set in the ramdisk) - is it possible for me to make this file myself? Or at the least, where can I download it independently of the zip packages that it usually comes with? I'd prefer to create it myself or download the file from the source rather than rely on zipped packages (for version tracking and change logs).
Thanks!

Hey mate I think this is what we're both looking for.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2073775 And here mate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qRR2vseX4E

You generally don't need to edit the boot.img to root your phone.
What's your phone model, so we can give you the instructions?
Edit: To root a Galaxy Nexus, first you have to unlock the bootloader, which is really easy since the GNex is a dev phone, just google how to unlock the bootloader, and follow the instructions. I recommend droid-lifes tutorial, but anyone should do. Then all that's left is the rooting.

First you have to download this zip file
Then unzip the file anywhere on you computer, like C:\gnex\
Install the Samsung drivers that are in the zip
After you have installed the drivers, turn the phone of and connect the USB to your computer and phone.
Open a command prompt from the start menu, then move to the directory you unzipped the file to (e.x. cd C:\gnex)
Now you have to boot your phone into fastboot mode, by pressing and holding both the volume-UP and volume-DOWN buttons and then press the power button.
Next, type fastboot devices into the command prompt you opened earlier, and check that your phone is in the list.
Now we have to soft-boot an insecure boot image by typing fastboot boot boot.img into the command prompt
When the phone has rebooted, open settings, and go to Settings -> Applications -> Development and check in the USB debbuging option.
Now execute all of these following commands, after each other, in the command prompt:

adb root
adb remount
adb push su /system/bin
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/bin/su
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/app/Superuser.apk

Now your device should be rooted and ready.

I'm using a Galaxy Nexus.

@kaspnord try that, if there's something you don't understand, or that doesn't work, email me at demizide@gmail.com, and I'll try my best to help you.

I know how to root my device, but thanks for the taking the time to write them out. My question pertains specifically to the creation of the unsecured boot.img file needed for the rooting process.

you don't need to create an unsecure boot.img to root, you just need to unlock the bootloader, as i sais in my answer.

I can't speak for the OP, but I would also like to get the "secured" boot.img file directly from the stock phone so that I can go through the exercise of "unsecuring" it myself (changing to ro.secure=0) and booting with that one. I want to do this instead of using a boot.img that I download from the net that is part of someone else's root package. Thanks!


text:
Unable to boot Galaxy S - only see a picture of phone -> "triangle with an exclamation point" -> computer
I just bought a Galaxy S phone for my son last month.  He was trying to download Clockworkmod firmware and probably loaded the wrong version.  It initially was in a boot loop.  After I took it to the dealer, an inexperience staff tried to reset the phone back to factory mode.  The manager saw the hat logo on the phone and stopped us right there.  The manager told us that we void the warranty by downloading an authorized software.
Now, when we power up the phone, we wonly see a picture of the phone -> "triangle with an exclamation point" -> computer" .  There are no other responses.
Can anyone help.

Did you try removing the battery and reinseting it again?

Can you specify what version of the Galaxy S?  Is it the international GT-i9000?  What you're seeing is Download Mode, by the way.

@Matthew Not necessarily... Kernel Panic error etc displays same screen...

Next time only follow instructions on flashing from sites like XDA Forum(http://forum.xda-developers.com/)

Now, the only option you've left is to Flash your ROM. Flash any one of OFFICIAL firmware from below:

Gingerbread 2.3.5 XFJVA
Gingerbread 2.3.5 XXJVT

Follow the links & do EXACTLY what it says. It'll take less that half an hour. Just, do it.. Nothing more!
Don't do any experiment before you boot your device. Plus, don't follow any non-matured instructions from forums etc.

Look up your phone's PIT in Google and put it in pit in odin. Flash it, then flash your ROM.
In case your battery is not charging: look for someone to charge it for you in his device before you do this as it consumes battery power with the constant rebooting of the yellow triangle.


text:
how to search a particular song using search button
i am unable to search a perticular song by usng search button from the long list of songs after its been upgraded to android 2.3.5.  Before that i was able to find a song using search button.i am using htc desire s handset.
Please suggest if there is a solution to this.coz if i need to listen a perticular song ,i have to traverse through all the library and fing the song after 15 -20 minutes..

You have to add Music to the Searchable items in the Search settings.
These settings you normally find when pressing the phone's Search button (to view the Search widget) -> [Menu] -> Search settings -> Searchable items and you select the items you want to include in your search.
On a HTC phone I think you find these settings here:
[Menu] (while on a Home screen) -> Settings -> Search -> Searchable items.


text:
Jorte sync NationalHolidayCalendar with Google Calendar
Is there any way to sync the NationalHolidayCalendar which the Jorte has with Google Calendar?The NationalHolidayCalendar of Jorte has been set up to show Greek Holidays.The google calendar shows greek national holidays ,but it only shows a few of them,while jorte shows most of them.So,I was wondering if there is anyway to sync the Jorte's NationalHolidayCalendar with Google Calendar.

From the Jorte help pages:

Select menu → Settings → Data Syncronization

If "Select synsapplication" is not checked, tap on "Select synsapplication" and have it checked.
When the "Calendar" item is checked,
synchronizing will start immediately.


text:
What does the random "ding" in Google Maps Navigation signify?
Ever since updating my Nexus S to ICS, I've noticed that when using Navigation I sometimes hear a random "ding" when driving around.
Any idea what this means? I was thinking maybe it was a warning about the speed limit or something, but I haven't noticed any particular circumstances whenever it does it. Sometimes its multiple times per journey, other times not at all.
In the UK, Nexus S 4.0.3.

It sounds like you might be getting the "ding" noise discussed on this Google groups post:

Thanks for the question. The alert chime you here indicates is a
  prompt for an upcoming driving maneuver. It plays in places where the
  Text-to-Speech engine is either unsupported or unavailable, but it
  also may play if the data connection becomes flaky during guidance and
  Navigation isn't able to process a road name in time.

Ok that kinda makes sense, the text-to-speech for Navigation has been buggy since I updated to ICS, it sometimes fluctuates between 2 different voices!

Also worth noticing from the same link: A single ding  appears to be a warning for an upcoming section where you have to continue straight ahead. A ding-dong seems to indicate an upcoming turn.

Anyway to change the ding noise? Or set it to None? I want to keep the voice but get rid of the annoying notification ding


text:
Maximum ring volume for one contact, vibrate for others (SMS)
I keep my phone on vibrate all the day because of my work. So I mostly get back on people when I have the time.
However, I must be informed immediately when some server goes down. For that I have ordered a service which sends me an SMS when it happens.
How would I have the phone ringing with a maximum volume for just one contact, while at the same time have everyone else on vibrate?

I get a lot of spam - how do I mute rings for all but one contact?

There are SMS apps in the market that allow you to customize notifications by sender.     Handcent SMS is the one that I've used.


text:
Record android screen

Possible Duplicate:
Android Software or Device to present Application on Screen
How to plug in an  Android Tablet and show it's screen on PC or Laptop for training session?
How do I project the screen of my Android phone for a presentation?
How to capture video stream from Android phone screen and show it on laptop?

I am planning to make a screencast of my phone screen.
I need to know a way to record the screen
Please note that the Screencast & Screencapture app won't work, as I only have an armv6 processor.

We have a few questions on this, please check them out.  If none of the solutions work on arm v6 then flag this and we'll re-open.


text:
Android custom keyboard shortcuts
I have a galaxy tab 10.1 connected (by Bluetooth) to a hardware keyboard. What I couldn't figure out was how to use custom shortcuts to do specific task the same way I do it on my pc.
For instance, say I type Ctrl+e on the keyboard, then the application menu will be opened.
I searched the android market, xda-developers site, stackoveflow and the net for an answer but couldn't find an answer. I did not even find out if rooting was required for this :(
Does anyone know how to do this?

are you rooted?

yes I am. Why?.

Then I would follow the process dissassembler posted. I did this with my bt keyboard, and it worked like a charm :) I might have another resource on it, if I find it, I'll give you another answer

I searched around a bit, and I think what you want are key mappings for your Bluetooth keyboard. I found this on MobileRead.
It looks like what you want to do is possible, but it may require a bit of work. I'm getting a bluetooth keyboard, so I may end up trying this myself.
As always, remember to backup anything important in case you run into some problems. I hope this helps. :)


text:
How can I change the order of local bookmarks in the stock browser
The local bookmarks on my stock Browser are in an inconvenient order. The first is one I added recently, then there are a dozen which came with the Android OS, then come the bookmarks I added over the course of a year using this device.
How can I change the order of these bookmarks?  Ideally, I'd like them to be in some order of most recent use. Or, I'd be happy to be able to move the bookmarks around so that I can choose the order myself.
By "local bookmark" I mean the bookmarks I get in stock Browser -- menu -- Bookmarks -- pulldown "Local".
I'm running Android 4.0.3 "Ice Cream Sandwich", which is an over-the-air upgrade from the "Gingerbread" version which came installed on the device. The device is a Samsung Nexus S, unlocked, and used mostly in Canada.

The bookmarks are kept in an SQLite database. There is no stock tool to modify them directly. I did, however, find an app that can rearrange the order of your local bookmarks: Bookmark Sort & Backup
An issue has been opened about this in Allow User To Arrange Bookmarks In ICS Stock Web Browser.

+1 for the info and the issue report link. The Bookmarks SB app did not work for me,  on my Samsung Nexus S running the stock browser and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android v. 4.0.3). It didn't display any bookmarks, though it did display three empty folders.

As of Android 4.1.2, and BookmarkSB (Sort & Backup) app version 2.39, BookmarkSB can now sort my local bookmarks. Note: when I create a bookmark in the Browser, it will by default use my Google account in the "account" field of the bookmark. If I accept that, I won't be able to control the bookmark's order, even if I later change the bookmark's "account" field to be "Local". However, if I set the "account" field to "Local" when I create it, then I can control the bookmark's position in the order using the BookmarkSB app.


text:
Gmail notifications aren't working as expected
Gmail notification doesn't work correctly for me. I think it happened after the latest Gmail application upgrade.
I tried to clear Gmail data and cache, but to no avail.

I get new email notification after I mark read email as unread. It didn't used to happen before.
I have new email notification so I access inbox from android and the notification disappears. Then I get new email notification after I delete the new email from pc.

Any suggestion how to make the notification work the way I want/expect?
I have HTC Desire running cyanogenmod 7.1 with Gmail v2.3.5.2

try clearing the data for the gmail app - Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications - Gmail App

I tried to clear data & cache before posting my question. It didn't help.

Have you tried adjusting which inboxes are being synced? (Inbox vs Priority Inbox, etc)

@earthmeLon: yes but it didn't help. On the other hand, why it should help? It's not relevant to this issue.

@Radek It solved a similar issue for me.  I apologize it did not resolve your issue.

Worth trying :-)

Did you ever solved this issue?

No :-( I didn't.

Are you marking the mail as unread on your phone or on another device? I don't get any notification on the device that I use to mark the mail as unread, but I've always got the new mail notification on other devices. Definitely had that ever since I've had both a phone and tablet, which is over a year now.

Hm, I am on Android 4.0.3 and it looks that it works ok.


text:
Unable to move files to external SD card on SGS2 XXLP2
Running a rooted Galaxy S2 with ICS XXLP2 official leaked rooted build. I have a 32GB microSD card mounted at /sdcard/external_sd in addition to the 16 GB internal storage. I'm unable to copy files to it now, it says write error or permission error.
I use a terminal emulator to create a file
touch /sdcard/external_sd/test

and this works fine. If I use a file manager (ES File Explorer, which supports browsing / on rooted devices), I can't copy files from internal storage to the external SD card. Also, earlier I used the external card as the camera photo storage location, now I can't do so and the camera defaults to internal storage (which is low on space).
If I do an ls -l of both sdcard and external_sd, I see the difference - sdcard has all files listed as belonging to sdcard_r, while external sd lists them as '1023'.
So is this a leftover UID from a previous ROM install?
I'm scared to do
chown -R sdcard_r:system /sdcard/external_sd

Is that the way to go about it..or is there any other way to fix permissions?

So your ls -l should also have revealed the permissions, next to the owner. Here the last 6 fields should read r-wr-w for an SD-card (at least as long it's formatted using FAT). Is this so? Otherwise, simply adjust that permits everybody to read and write here.


text:
Gingerbread phone only queries for AAAA records?
Since yesterday I have (in addition to the regular IPv4) IPv6 in my LAN at home (native IPv6 is provided by my ISP).
I have Windows XP, Windows 7 and Linux desktops and an Android 3.1 tablet (Asus Transformer 101) that all work fine. They can access IPv4 and IPv6 websites on the internet.
The problem is with my Samsung Galaxy S2 (Android 2.3.3).
The system gets a public IPv6 address and an internal IPv4 address.
When typing the URL of an IPv6 enabled site (like google.com or xs4all.nl) I get to see the site just fine.
When typing the URL of an IPv4 only site (like android.stackexchange.com) I get an error stating the site cannot be reached.
When I enter the IPv4 IP address I CAN reach the mentioned site with this phone.
So I enabled debugging on my DNS (dnsmasq) server and I noticed that

all the clients that work do a request for the AAAA record and if
that fails they try the A record.
the Android 2.3.3 phone ONLY does a
request for the AAAA record and if that fails the whole thing fails.

All clients (including the phone) get the same network settings.
How do I fix this?

It took a lot of effort but I actually found a working solution to my problem.
I first updated my phone to latest available Android version 2.3.6 and that did not solve my problem. So I installed an App that shows me more details about the network setup of my phone. And after some digging around I noticed what was wrong:
My phone didn't have a default IPv4 route.
How did that happen? In the DHCP I push a default route (dhcp option 3)!
I realized that when I just had the IPv6 link (which is part of a whole new internet connection) my phone DID connect to the internet with both IPv4 and IPv6. So I recreated the original setup and found that in that scenario indeed it does work. So what is different?
It took me two nights with wireshark to track the culprit down.
The real reason turns out to be that I have a static route for my DMZ which is pushed by my IPv4 DHCP server (dhcp option 121).
When I do that the Android phone only shows a route for the local subnet and the additional route I pushed. The default route is lost, hence IPv4 traffic is distorted. Apparently Android even no longer tries to do IPv4 DNS requests (which is the problem I started with).
All of my other systems (Windows {XP,7}, Linux, Android 3.x) do not do this and they keep all of the pushed routes and the default route.
Once I figured out what the problem was I could Google more effectively and I found this bug report:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=17525
Which in turn led to a workaround that actually works!!
Quote from http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-635489.html
So as a "band aid fix it" i added the default gw to the static routes list...
So the line in dnsmasq looks like:

dhcp-option=121,<network>,<route>,0/0,192.168.1.254

So when looking at the DHCP ACK packet you'll see the default route in there twice: under option 3 and 121.
Quite an unexpected workaround ... but it works for me.

It turns out the Android behaviour is correct:
https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3442#page-5
"If the DHCP server returns both a Classless Static Routes option and
a Router option, the DHCP client MUST ignore the Router option."

You could report the bug to the Android developers, or vote on an existing bug, if there already is one open. This one looks a bit like the issue you are talking about.
Make sure you explain exactly what is happening, and how they can reproduce the issue.

Yes, this site really helped: I found this bug report http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=8113 that looks like exactly what I see. So as far as I can tell this is a "known bug" that appears to have been fixed in Februari 2011. Now I have to find out which Android version includes this fix.


text:
MildWild rom stuck?
I've just installed the new MildWild (oxygen) rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1353861, to replace my very old LeeDroid rom.
It's seemed to have installed fine, but when the phone boots, I get the 'mildwild' logo on screen, just animating for ages, nothing seems to happen.
Is this a problem with the install? I cleared all my partitions, cache, dalvik, etc, and ClockWork didn't report any errors.
Anyone have any ideas? Or shall I just try a different rom? I'm working with a UK HTC Desire (bravo)

How long did you wait? It must be rebuilding dalvik cache.

I gave it about 10 minutes. Should I wait longer?

This actually can happen with any ROM you install.
If you are not installing a "new" version of the same ROM, you can get in to a boot loop. You have to do a factory reset and clear the data and cache when installing a new ROM for the first time.
If you are installing an upgraded version of the ROM, you don't have to do the wipe (unless the instructions tell you that you should). But you should always clear the cache.
When the device boots up for the first time, after clearing the cache, it needs to rebuild the cache for the applications you have installed. The more applications that you have installed, the longer it will take to boot the first time.
Keep an eye on the "boot up", if it looks like it is "starting over" and not just replaying the boot animation, you are in a boot loop. If you have adb installed, you can plug the device in and look at the logcat that is going on during the boot process. This can also help you determine if you are in a loop or not.

I had not done a factory reset. Once I had done this, it took about 2 minutes to boot up!


text:
Facebook contact pictures not updating
Some contact pictures from Facebook are never updating, while others are working fine. The "google" part of the account have no picture set, the one showing is an old Facebook picture.
This problem appears both in the contacts, and in the Facebook application itself when you look at the contact list. Visiting the contact's personal page shows the correct picture, though. The Messenger application for the Facebook messages is showing the correct pictures.
I've tried to clear the cache (not the "data") of the Facebook application, to no avail.
Vanilla Android 2.3.6 on an unrooted Nexus One.
Any clue?

I would suggest clearing the data. Also, are you sure that the contact is actually being synced by the facebook application. The facebook application may not think that the contact is the "same person" that you know that it is.
I would clear the data and reset up the syncing for the facebook app. There maybe something in there that is preventing the image to update. Maybe a corrupt image, or data.

Yes I'm sure they were correctly linked. I cleared the data yesterday and now they updated correctly, however of course I can't rule out the possibility for it to break again in future.


text:
Logging in with a non-gmail account
I got here an ePad running Android 2.3 and I want to set up Market on it for its owner. He doesn't have a Gmail account, neither he wants one. I have just made a Google account that is associated with an existing ISP email address.
I can successfully login with my personal email address (someone at mydomain.org) from my Iconia tablet, but this doesn't seem to be the case of older Android versions. I made the Google account from the plain old ISP address because I thought it would have worked like my case!
Am I missing something about logging in to Market with a non-gmail account? Googling around I found that somebody fixed by joining Google+, so I did with the tablet's owner, but the tablet still requires me to open a new account with a gmail email.
Thank you

It looked like a Gingerbread-related problem.
Since Android 3.0 you can login with any Google account, with or without Gmail.

You can only log in to the market with either your gmail account, or an account hosted with Google Apps for your domain.
This is not just to authenticate you, information is synced between your device and google servers. If you don't have an account with them, they don't know who you are. You said that you can login with your personal email address (someone at mydomain.org). I am going to guess that mydomain.org is hosting the email on google apps for your domain.

Sorry for de-accepting but I'm still unclear with something. I currently own both an HD2 with Gingerbread and an A500 with Honeycomb. From Honeycomb I can use the Google account associated to mydomain.org (I have AdWords and AdSense but no gmail, no Google-hosted email etc) but not from Gingerbread. Could it all be a Gingerbread-related problem?

Having an account associated with Google account is different then an account hosted by google. for example, when I log in to my email at foodomain.com, I am presented with a "gmail" interface, but it is not a "gmail" account. Google provides the services like email, and user management to me.

From all my experience with The Market, You need to have a gmail account. There doesn't seem to be a way around this. Login Android Market--Google non-gmail account?

To confirm - this has been resolved in later Android versions.  The wife has a phone with Android 4 and I can use my Google Account that does not have Gmail attached.  On my phone (Android 2.3.5), it requires I use a Google Account with Gmail user id.

Seems a touch irrelevant 3 years after the question was asked...

@TurboFool I beg to differ :-) http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/23996/does-it-make-sense-to-answer-old-questions Official source: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6078445?hl=en


text:
My phone was just stolen an hour or so ago. Are there any options for tracking?
I realize this is a long shot, but my phone was lost or stolen a few hours ago.
At the time it was stolen, I didn't have any specific applications installed to track it or wipe the data. So... my bad. I'm hoping the fact that I have a pattern lock will at least prevent anyone from accessing my data.
My question is, do I have any options for tracking or data wipe after the fact? (I'm more interested in tracking.)
Note: I have read similar questions, but unless I'm mistaken, they all address the question in terms of preparation before losing the phone. I'm asking about fallback options after losing the phone.

See also  Is there any way to erase personal information from my phone that has already been stolen? which covers phone tracking as well as wiping

I strongly recommend you change your Google account password.  Like, now.

it's not just changing account passwords... you have to explicitly un-associate the device from certain accounts. Dropbox is one such, as is twitter

If you have changed your password before remotely installing Plan B, I doubt that, Plan B can get installed remotely, because of authentication failure.

@iSid: Good point to note, though in this case I did install and attempt to execute Plan B before changing my Google password.

You can install Plan B remotely to your phone via the Market's web interface. Plan B was made exactly for this, to get the location of your phone AFTER it has been stolen.

Is there an alternative that works on a Galaxy Pad Galaxy Tab 10.1v GT-P7100?

Ah I see: Android Lost

Unfortunately Plan B only works with 2.0 - 2.3 versions of Android.

Android Lost is another app that you can install after your phone has been stolen.
Quote from the link:

No pre installation required
  You didn't install AndroidLost on your
  phone? No problem! You can push the AndroidLost app to your phone from
  google market and initiate the connection to googles servers by
  sending an SMS with the message "androidlost register" to your phone.

As of 2014 and possibly some version of Android I don't think that is possible now because of the need to send an SMS or register the phone by starting the application (which the person in possession of the phone would need to do) - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/androidlost/Vo5_F0wF_do/0CUPZ5o2nuYJ

Same situation here. However if you changed your account's password before installing Plan B and your phone was off, you still have a chance to get that app installed and trace it, at least it worked for me after changing it.

I'm surprised that no-one has suggested going to the play store / device manager and using the built-in tools for locking and erasing the device in question. Go here: https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager?hl=en&u=0

Whoever stole it probably turned it off. You should probably call your carrier if you know the IMEI.


text:
Evo 3D constantly locking up
I have the Sprint Evo3D, and as of late its been locking up a lot. When it locks up, the screen is no longer interactive, nor the buttons at the bottom. I have to power it off and then back on then I can use it again. This happens frequently, almost every time I use it. Sometimes have to power it off 2 or 3 times in a row to use it again.
I've had a few ROM updates, and its been happening since maybe 3 updates ago? Hard to remember. I've done a factory reset and haven't reinstalled anything but its still happening.
Running Android 2.3.4, HTC Sense 3.0, Software 2.17.651.5, PRL 21083

Resolution was a whole new phone...

My dad had an Evo as well, and it locked up all the time, so this is very likely the best answer.