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Why won't my nexus 7 update to Jelly Bean 4.2?
I was notified that there was a system update, but when I applied it the tablet was still on the older version of Jelly Bean. I've even done a factory reset and tried again, but no luck. Are there any logs that I can look at to track down the problem?

Have you tried over WiFi, or just 3G/4G?

Can you use computer for update?

I've done this over WiFi. How do I use a computer for the update?

Have you rooted your nexus 7?

It is not rooted.  It failed pretty much straight out of the box (I bought it last week).

This turned out to be a hardware issue. I had two relatively pleasant conversations with tech support at google play and asus. Since it was a new purchase I just returned it.

Before updating make full backup of your data.
For update using computer you just need to flash system partition using fastbootfastboot flash system system.img, where system img available at image-nakasi-jop40c.zip available inside nakasi-jop40c-factory-6aabb391.tgz, what you can download from Google Nexus factory images page.
Using scripts from tgz archive will erase your data without prompt!
Dont't flash data, even as you got bootloop (it can be, if you has applications, incompartible with new version of firmware).


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link 2sd working but apps not move to sd card
I created second partition on sd card. But when I mood apps to sd it's showing insufficient storage available on sd card. But my sd card total blank

May sound like a stupid question, but did you also format the new partition? Without having a file system (i.e. being "formatted"), it is not useable for the system to store files on it.

link2sd will not move apps to sdcard but it will link  2nd partition with system
1)Format your 2nd partition of sdcard  and try it

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Activate Android app by pressing thumb on timeout / locked screen for few seconds
This might seem  like a strange question. Is there some sort of way for an  app to launched by pressing the screen for a few seconds on touch screen phones? the reason why I ask is because this would be a great feature for like a panic button. of course the app will have to calibrate to the owner's thumb to prevent accidental pressing from objects in purse or pockets.
Regards.

I would suggest instead asking the phone manufacturers to add an actual 'Panic' button to their device.

As far as I know this isn't really possible. But there are apps available in the Play Store that implement a Panic Button where you can place a button on your home screen (and maybe also your lock screen, but I haven't it yet).
One of those apps I found is Red Panic Button. But you can also have a look in the Play Store yourself if you search for something like Panic Button etc.

There are several shutdown apps on the market, they all needed root. You can combine them with WidgetLocker and put their icons on your lockscreen for quick shutdown.

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Tethering data allowance from phone to laptop via usb
I don't have a problem doing this, I can use my phone and connect to the data allowance from my sim card and I can also connect my phone to a wireless network.  I can then plug my phone into my laptop via a usb cable and I can enable tethering from the phone.  I then end up with internet connection on my laptop.
That is all well and good.  However, when I click the connected connection on my phone, it comes up as 192.168.0.5 and when I check ifconfig on my laptop, it shows up as 192.168.42.209.
Why is that happening, shouldn't my laptop also be showing at 192.168.0.5 as I am using the internet connection on my laptop via the phone?
This really isn't a problem in terms of using the internet on the laptop via the phone as it works nicely.  The problem is when I try to configure my home router to do some port forwarding.  My router has an ip address range from 192.168.0.1-254, so I can't port forward using the 192.168.42.209.
I have tried setting up a static ip address for my laptop using the routers ip address range, i.e. I tried 192.168.0.50, and the internet stops working.
I clearly don't understand all this, why is this happening?
So basically, why is the ip address on my phone different to the ip address on my laptop even though i am connecting to the internet on my laptop via the phone, and why does my internet connection stop working on the laptop if I tried giving the laptop a static ip address within the routers ip address range?
I have an old phone with Froyo 2.2 and I have a laptop with Ubuntu 12.04

Let me see if I understand you:
[Router] <--Wifi--> [Phone] <--USB tether --> [PC]

If this is your setup, then what is happening is the Phone is acting like a router. It has multiple ways to connect to the internet (3G and Wifi) and it does not simply bridge the connection for the PC. Instead it does the same thing that your router does, which is NAT, or Network Address Translation. Basically, you have two networks: the network that's connected to the router, and the network that's connected to the phone's USB port (which has only one machine on it).  There is probably no easy way to port-forward from your router to your PC in this configuration.  The phone is its own computer; it is not a wifi-adapter, even though your PC sees it as just a network device.


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Samsung Galaxy S3 “Not registered on network”
It had stock 4.0.4 -> could call.
I've flashed FoxHound ROM -> after a while, when I try calling, it says "Not registered on network" .
Tried GalaxSim, but everything looks ok.
Restored back to stock and tried another SIM -> same error.
Do you have any clue? I cannot make any phone calls, nor access the internet.

if you press *#06# on the dialer do you get your imei number?

@Schutzstaffel have you got the solution to your problem, I face the same on my samsung galaxy chat. It used to work even after official upgrade, but suddenly stopped working and gives me the same error as in your case.


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How can I make an actual heart symbol in a text on my htc inspire?
I've recieved text message where the the heart wasn't <3 but an actual heart symbol and I have an HTC inspire, how do I send one like that?

Sounds like you're missing what's called an emoji plugin that is usually available in stock vanilla android. :)

You can us3 character application. (Search at play market)
Use hackers keyboard (free at play market) - at landscape mode long press on button 3 allows to select: #|³|¾|⅜|♥|♠|♦|♣.

SlideIT keyboard has a heart symbol

One way to do it is using unicode: U+2764 ♥
Another way is to use image replacement, this would be dependant on the messaging app to replace a specific sequence of letters with the appropriate smiley.

How does one "use Unicode"? I.e., what did you type to make that symbol?

What I usually do is I googled for the name of the character, and then copy it to use. It works well for me since I don't use unicode that often. If you're using unicode heavily, there's Unicode Keyboard in the Play Market, which allows you to enter any unicode character by searching for their name or entering the unicode number (2764 for HEAVY BLACK HEART).

An easier way and free of any encoding...
<3

Simple eh? :)

What's wrong with it? in fact its extremely portable and free of any android plugins or emojis that are unique to certain ROMs...

Guess because the question already mentioned this -- and the OP wants something different?

Because they specifically said they didn't want that.

Fair enough! That could be a HTC thing deep in that HTC's ROM... ah well :) :D No pleasing people at all! :D


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Jellybean 4.2 update fails in middle of download for nexus 7
I have received the jellybean 4.2 update request 2 times.  Both times I have pressed the update button and both times it has failed in the middle of the process.  No error messages.  After a few minutes, it goes back to the regular home screen.  Any idea on how I can fix this so as to update to 4.2?
Much appreciation.

Duplicate of: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/33948/why-wont-my-nexus-7-update-to-jelly-bean-4-2 (unanswered)

Have you been rooted?

@david6 How do you know it is a duplicate? The linked question implies the download completed but was unable to apply. In the answer, it also stated they had a hardware problem. This current question doesn't give enough details to know for sure it is the same problem.

It is the same issue raised, but I was saying needs to be closed as duplicate. However, suggested answers for one may work for the other ..


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Can't select date in calendar and Gmail not coming to phone
My question is 2 fold:
First, when I go into calendar monthly view and hit say the 15h of the month...it won't pull up the info that day.  When I do a battery pull, it will work for a few hours then do the not working bit again.
Second, I have two emails going to my phone.  My personal Gmail and my work email that also used Gmail.  I have the work one set up as Priority but it only recieves about 1/16 of the emails that I get.
Any help for these issues would be great!  (I had currently upgraded to the Galaxy S2 LTE and didn't have these problems before with the Galaxy Nexium or whatever it was that I had...)


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Android Emulator for Ubuntu 12.04
I installed a JDK and then an Android SDK on my Ubuntu 12.04, 32-bit machine (2 GB DDR3 memory). The aim is to have an Android emulator. I created some Android Virtual Devices, one of which I named 'Andreud'. When I type in the command
emulator @Andreud

where 'Andreud' is the name of the Android Virtual Device I created. A blank window with a black backdrop shows up on which "android" word is visible, in its trademark font. This, I suppose, is the welcome screen. The home screen, icons, etc. don't show up. Also, there are buttons for volume control and also the power on button, all of which are enabled. Even the D-pad buttons which has 4 navigation buttons left, right, top, bottom, and a central button are enabled. There are other important buttons, home button, menu button which are disabled. It just shows a welcome screen and for minutes on end and goes blank again.
I would like (barest minimum) one of my Android Virtual Devices to work.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Though not solving your problem with SDK's emulator, you might want to take a look at Jar of Beans, which is an alternative emulator created by an XDA member. Written in Java, it is platform independent, and thus should run on Ubuntu as well.

What system are you running the emulator on? At the moment, it just seems like your system is probably too slow to run the emulator. The emulator is very resource intensive, and unless you have a high end machine it's going to be very slow.
For the start, you'd want to start with a smaller screen resolution. Tablet-sized screen resolution is practically impossible to emulate unless you have a very high-end machine, try WQVGA size. Next check how much RAM you allocate for the virtual machine, if it exceeds the amount of free RAM you usually have when you don't have the emulator running, then it's going to be very slow due to heavy swapping. Also, close other applications running on the system to free up resources.

Thank you very much! It works in WQVGA size and I installed Whatsapp in it. The only thing that remains is to verify my phone number :-)

Probably you run on slow machine, but if you setting it properly, would be running better...
For example you had configured KVM?
Then when you run emulator, add these string at the end:
-qemu -m 2047 -enable-kvm

You had download a x86 or x86_64 image (it can run natively and more faster)?
What kind of system_image you would run?

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


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transfer sms from Samsung Jet to Galaxy S Advance
Am trying to get my messages transferred from my old Jet to my new S Advance. The Jet uses PC Studio which can export the messages as a .nef file. However, I am unable to use this .nef file to restore the messages on my S Advance.
Could anyone tell me how to get this done?

You might want to take a look at SMS Backup and Restore apps on the playstore. An example app would be SMS Backup & Restore, which allows you to backup the SMS from your device and restore it later. As it backs up to XML, you could backup on your old device, transfer the backup XML file to the new device, and restore it there.

As the screenshots show, this should be easy to do: From the settings, you define where to store your backups on the sd card, so you know where to find them. After having done the backup on your old device, connect it to your PC and copy that folder to your PC. Then connect the new device, copy the folder to it, disconnect the device, and run the app to restore the backup. Et voila: your messages are transfered.
Side effect: Keep the app, and have it creating backups from time to time. So in case you need to factory reset your device one day, that's one piece of data you already took care for not to lose ;)
Note: That's just one of the many possibilities. Depending on the OS running on your PC, it probably could be done with MyPhoneExplorer as well (so you have some more features) when running Windows. But there are also a lot more suitable apps on the playstore -- simply search it for sms backup.
If the "old phone" is not running Android, it gets a bit more difficult -- but not impossible, it seems. The playstore also lists some migration tools like e.g. the SPB Migration Tool, which promises:

SPB Migration Tool provides phone data migration to Android from Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms and comes with a complete solution, which allows copying the call history, text messages, contacts and bookmarks.

With ~7 EUR it's quite a bit expensive compared to others. If you only care about your SMS, SMS Migrator might offer an alternative: about 2,50 EUR, but ratings look a bit mixed. So for messages only, I rather recommend to take a look at Phone Copier:

It provides a complete phonebook and messages copy from almost any phone to your Android or from Android to any other phone.

You find a demo video on the Playstore page of the app. Hm, if I remember correctly, this tool was even written by an Android Enthusiast -- I wonder if he missed this question ;)

The problem is that the Jet is Symbian not Android, and so neither of these 2 apps/programs help me.

Never mind, nothing's impossible: I just updated my answer accordingly.

Sorry I didn't get back to you right away, I wanted to make sure I'd tried everything first.

SPB Migration: The app won't install on the Samsung Jet for some reason
SMS Migrator: Needs Mobiledit to get the messages
Phone Copier: I can't seem to transfer it via the app alone, and Mobiledit costs over $100 which is a bit insane

Which brings me back to square one unfortunately.

Did you check the playstore for alternatives? Most apps have them in the related section (which shows e.g. PhoneCopy as a possibility). As I never had that issue (I'm not a heavy SMS user), I cannot tell from my own experience.

No luck. I think I'll just pass by Samsung's service center and see if they can help me with it. Thank you for all the suggestions though, truly appreciate it!

If they do not know how to help you, ask them about a solution to export all your SMS to any standard format: CSV and XML will be fine to convert into something "importable", or at least to not lose your messages when "getting rid" of the old phone.


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China copy of Samsung Galaxy Note II

Possible Duplicate:
Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

My uncle recently bought a China copy of Samsung Galaxy Note II. It does not have Android. Is there any way to install Android OS on it?

Most probably not. Only popular models receive aftermarket support from the community and this phone is probably a very unpopular model. So I guess your uncle is hosed. It might be possible to find chinese forums with support for this phone; but yeah, they're chinese.

Practically, there is no way you can install Android on it. As the device has a software (from my knowledge of China-copy phones) which is just a copy of Android's UI. Also, the hardware is nowhere near the original device (Note II in this case).
Theoretically, Android can be installed on most phone's hardware. There are mods available for iPhone as well! However, there are no mods available (AFAIK) for China duplicates. And like I already mentioned, the hardware of such devices also not capable of running "real" Android OS.
So unfortunately, I don't see a way for you to install Android on this device.
See this question for further information.

so will it be possible to install play store or any other app store so as to make some use of the phone?

Play store is again an Android app. So you can't install it on non-Android software (OS). Also there are no developers developing for these devices so no other app store... Best you can try is install java apps (the old .jar / .jad) which worked in old java based phones like Samsung Corby series. But I doubt, even that would work, but you can give it a shot.


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Google account sign in problems
Yesterday my HTC Tattoo (with software based on Donut) started giving me "No connection Retry" errors for Gmail, YouTube, Google Reader, Market and anything else that requires sign in with Google credentials.
After doing a "Clear data" on the Gmail app I get another message,

There was a network error while trying to sign in to xxxxxx@gmail.com. Retry now or press the back button to cancel

Whatever "network error" there is, does not stop me from using the web browser. Indeed I am able to logon to the mobile (and unfortunately buggy) Gmail web app from the browser. I will note that I get "Security warnings" about the certificate for google.com.au: "the name of the site does not match the name of the certificate" when I logon via the web, although I saw that message months back and have been able to use my apps until now.
Any idea what could have triggered this? I've not changed my google account credentials, or switched SIM card, or done anything that I think could make it my fault.

Thanks to those who answered. The problem I noted here actually disappeared when I moved from Australia to Sweden just before Christmas. Just before I took the flight I still had the problem, and on my arrival everything was working again. I can't confirm that it is the case, but it seems plausible that this was an issue related to time/certificate that was solved by the clock auto-adjusting on landing in a new timezone.

I've the exact same issue on a Galaxy Tab P1000 with gingerbread 2.3.3 since about 2-3 weeks.
My current interpretation is that Google has updated its certs (the current one I get is dated 11/7) and the new ones are not trusted by Android anymore making it impossible to use any google account for mail/play store/etc... If this is the case, the only solution would be an update from the manufacturer or maybe rooting the device and convincing it that the new cert is good.

I had the same problem, and the solution was to set the correct date/time in the phone settings (in spite of 'Automatic' option turned on for network time synchronization, I had 1980 year). So, libit was right about certificate time issue.
Also, take a look at Google Groups thread related to this issue - there are a lot of different solutions, which could also help.

I was encountering the same issue in the last 24 hours or so where I couldn't use any of the Google applications. I tried powering off the phone and everything
Today I used the time-zone guess from the follow up post (also, when I think about it, for some reason my phone switched from 12hr clock to 24 hr clock last night). The issue has been resolved and I can use all apps now. I must have changed the settings inadvertently when the phone was in my pocket or something.

As daft as it sounds make sure your wifi is connected - I got this error & couldn`t figure out why until I realized one of my battery saver apps had switched off my wifi

The OP never mentioned anything about battery saver, but then again, the OP is running an old version of Android... xD

Guys I found the solution!
Follow the instructions to this link! 100% it'll work though not mine, credits to the owner.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2110225

Alas, link only answers aren't considered a good fit here, would you mind to elaborate (and edit the answer)?


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Disable Slide to Lock
I have a Cruz T301 which is rooted.  The screen calibration is a bit off and I cannot access the home screen. (It is next to impossible to use the slide to unlock.)  Basically, it will slide to the right, but not far enough to unlock.  I know that the app "nolock" will correct this problem, but since I cannot even access the home screen, I am unsure how to turn on this app.
I have tired three different ROMS (Official Cruz, SJHill, and the Davik.)
If I could find the ADB shell command to disable the slide lock, I think I could save this tablet.  I have tried the adb shell input keyevent 82, but it will not work.
I also have Android Commander installed on my PC.  With this I can install apps, just not access the features.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks...

Have you tried installing the No Lock app from the web-based play store?

@TomG I guess he had -- or he wouldn't have it mentioned in his Q: I know that the app "nolock" will correct this problem, but since I cannot even access the home screen, I am unsure how to turn on this app.

@Izzy - I meant that he should install it from the web store, which might turn it on automatically (the description in the store seems to indicate that it is enabled by default).   Some Android users don't realize you can trigger an app install from the web.

@TomG Ah, I see. You didn't give that reason initially, so Todd might have missed it as well ;)

authors: ʇolɐǝz ǝɥʇ qoq


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How do I access the reflow mode on Adobe Reader?
How do I access the reflow mode on Adobe Reader for Android?

At Adobe Reader click on top part of screen, then you will see top toolbar. At toolbar you need 4 button from right corner of toolbar.


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Using a fully charged Galaxy Note
Is it safe to use a Galaxy Note that is fully charged and at the same time it is plugged in to the wall socket? I'm worried that the battery might be charging and discharging at the same time and it will tremendously produce severe stress in the battery. Thus it will shorten the lifespan of the battery.

Yup, It is perfectly fine. I do it regularly while playing games.


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What is the length and breadth of ONLY the screen in the Nexus 7?
I'm not asking the diagonal values, but the length and breadth ones of the Nexus 7. And only of the LCD screen, not the entire hardware.

The screen size is 151mm * 94mm
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760938

You can always use some mathematics to obtain screen size:
X = sqrt ( Z^2 / (1 + (VR/HR)^2) )

where:

sqrt = Square Root √‾‾‾
X = screen width
Z = diagonal screen size (7" for Nexus 7)
VR = vertical resolution
HR = horizontal resolution

which for Nexus 7, we have:
Z = 7"
VR = 1280
HR = 800

so:

X = sqrt ( 49 / 3.56)
X = 3.71 inches ~ 94mm
Y = (1280/800) * X = 1.6X
Y = 5.936 inches ~ 151mm

so we have 151mm x 94mm which Peanut has linked to.

This assumes square pixels, which isn't always the case (though it is on the Nexus 7). You want to use the aspect ratio instead.

does this work for alternative pixel arrangements, like PenTile?

@derobert Thanks for the point, OK, so we can simply replace VR/HR with aspect ratio.

@LieRyan Yes, in the cases where pixels are not square, we can use aspect ratio (e.g 4:3 or 16:9) instead of actual resolution values (e.g 1280x800).

So you want to know the display area ..

(A.) The non-masked (clear) area of the front face:
A simple metric ruler, and ASUS Nexus 7, gives you ..
Answer: 152mm x 95mm
OR
(B.) The area of active pixels, on the IPS LCD display:
display pitch: 216 dpi (pixels per inch, leading edge to leading edge)
pixel size: 96% of pitch (guesstimate, without engineering drawings)
pixel geometry: square (identical height, width)
display size (in pixels): 1280 x 800
screen area: (mathematical)
 => (height - 1) x pitch + pixel_width by (width - 1) x pitch + pixel_width
 => (1279 x 0.1175 + 0.1128) by (799 x 0.1175 + 0.1128)
 => 150.40 by 94.00 mm

Answer: 150.4mm x 94.0mm

ADDENDUM:
Actual diagonal width, for ASUS Nexus 7 display area:
  => square root ( height squared + width squared )
  => square root ( 150.40 squared + 94.00 squared )
  => square root ( 22,620.16 + 8,836 ) mm
  => 177.36 mm
  => 177.36 / 25.4 (convert to inches)

Answer: 177.4mm or 6.98 in

try downloading the Screeninfo app from the Google Play store for useful screen info.
This works on any other Android device as well.


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How to move Apps to SD on the LG P-705 with Android 4.0?
I can move apps manually or progammatically on my Samsung Galaxy Ace 1, but on my LG P-705 with newer android version there is no such an option. Apps like App2SD don't work as well.
Why does LG P-705 Android 4.0 Smartphone not have a move to SD feature?

First, you should root your smartphone. Then, use Link2SDapp. Then, move the app to the SD card.

If possible, please provide a link to the app. :)

first of all, you should root your phone, follow this link to find out how you can root your phone : ONE CLICK ROOT YOUR LG LG-P705
then you can use this apps to move your apps too your SD card :
APP2SD 3 or
AppMgr Pro III

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


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Recover password with phone logged in? Need to set up additional device
I bought a new android tablet but I can't remember my google acoount password.
I can't reset it because my phone is already logged in. It says I need to be logged off for 4 days.
Is there a way to just get my password?
Since the phone is already logged in, is there a way to change security settings through the phone account without havng to enter the password?

What's wersion of Android do you use?

You might want to check: Recover Google account password without unlinking/deleting the main account from android device, Is it possible to change password on the phone itself for gmail/market/other google apps?, and How do I change the password of my main Google account on a Droid X?


text:
Can physical keyboards really only be used with specific devices?
The web is full of physical tablet keyboards, all of them being restricted to one (or a few) specific devices. Can the keyboards really only be used with those devices or do they use the same Bluetooth/USB/... interface anyway?
Example: Logitech's "Ultrathin Keyboard Cover" was specificallty designed for the iPad. Can it be used with other tablets like lenovo's "Ideapad A2109A"?
What about keyboards that aren't even designed for tablets at all? Can generic Bluetooth keyboards be used with android tablets?
I know this question is too generic to be answered with a simple yes or no. The question is just whether they are compatible as a rule.


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Preventing charging while USB debugging - One X
I am often using my device to develop, so I'm a little bit worried that the constant charging might fry the battery. Is there anyway to use USB debugging while not charging the phone?

I know many phones that complain the charger should be unplugged. I wonder why they don't have an electronic switch that takes care of this.

No need to worry. Constant charging won't harm the modern batteries.

As far as I know, batteries won't fry on constant charging. They chips in them that control overcharging and low charge. So they won't die easyly. I am using my desire just like you explained for almost 2 years and it is just like the first day, I need to charge it every day :)

It's an hardware issue that is easy to fix: charging is done with the USB cable. My answer is to cut the wire of the USB cable. Or more simply, you can "cut" the courant by placing a tape or any other non conducting material on the appropriate pin.
The spec of USB are easy to find, eg http://www.kineteka.com/microusb-b.aspx

I wouldn't worry about it.  Lithium Ion batteries used in most (all?) modern phones are not as sensitive to "top-off" charging as NiCd batteries, which have "memory" and stop accepting a full charge.   Searching "lithium ion battery" on this site will bring up many discussions, such as this one.


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Galaxy S3 flip case: auto-lock when closed?
I have the Samsung flip case for my Samsung Galaxy S3. Is it possible to setup the phone to automatically lock when the case is closed, then to wake the screen when I open the flip case?
Is it also possible for me to get some sort of feedback from taps/touches on the phone, maybe a vibrate rather than the current tone it plays?

Please only ask one question per post.

You can try to use RFID labels for this action, but it's requires modding of case and software, what make some activities using NFC.


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Google Now screen is blank (Nexus 7, Android 4.2)
I've got a Nexus 7 upgraded to Android 4.2. When I swipe up from the home button to launch Google Now I just get a blank screen with a search bar at the top. I don't see the "Get Google Now" screen shown here or any options to add new cards.

How can I go about getting the Google Now setup screen?

Invoke Google Now again to be in the same place as is on your snapshot. Just press Back button to hide keyboard and press three dots button bottom right and select Settings. You will get the summary where you can realize that you have Google Now switched Off. Just select this item and continue with the wizard to switch Google Now On.


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Console text editor
Is there any vi/vim/pico/nano console build for android or any other editor which I can use in remote interactive adb shell. I don't need GUI at all.
I've seen Vi IMproved Touch and it's a nice example of editor which doesn't seems to have a console version which I need so much.

Vi (or, its line-editor predecessors ed and ex) is always in-built with Unix and Unix-based systems.
If its not available in your device by default, install busybox (rooted device is required). Busybox bundles vi editor, too.

Nano can be compiled manually, but also will needed Terminfo data for correct display text.
Another way is use vim: (precompiled here: http://mist.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/blog/?p=54 ).


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Bluetooth car audio with track data
I have a Droid 3 and a 2012 Toyota Camry which offers bluetooth support. Currently I find the only app that will display track information on the screen of the Camry's stereo is the default Android music player. Winamp and others don't seem able to do this.
Is this a limitation of Android? Or are there other apps that I do not know about that have the ability to transfer track information to the car stereo?

The feature uses Bluetooth AVRCP, the Audio Video Remote Control Profile. It's used for controlling the app from the receiver (e.g. play/pause buttons on a BT headset).
AVRCP level 1.3 is possible since ICS and improved in Jelly Bean; it allows all of 1.0 (play, pause, next,...) plus metadata information on the track itself (artist, track name, etc.). It was also backported into CyanogenMod7.2 (Gingerbread).
Players themselves have to support AVRCP 1.3 too, I guess.
Apollo might also support this. Or just search for AVRCP 1.3 in the store.

It's weird that stock music supports this and the other players don't. If nothing else this will make me more likely to upgrade once I'm eligible for a new subsidized phone.

Maybe AVRCP 1.3 support was added by Motorola for the builtin player only.

AVRCP is not supported in most players. Mostly in the stock players and CM,s Apollo, unfortunately the stock players are crap and unusable in terms of sound quality. Double Twist player has partial support, song title shows but not album title.

Now Playing just received support for AVRCP, in case that helps.


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How to enable device administrator for exchange after user has declined
it appears that a user has declined the device administrator prompt for an exchange email account on samsung galaxy. It doesnt prompt anymore just displays a message about requiring a device administrator, but in the setting>location & security>device admin there are no options at all and nothing displyed.
 Is there another menu option somewhere to enable the device administrator for exchange after it has been declined?

Make sure you have asked for the right permissions in manifest.
Also check your manifest declarations
Check your xml file.
For reference check this
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html

OP didn't ask for his own app (development questions are off-topic here). Moreover, the corresponding permission must have been registered in the Manifest – or the user could not have "declined the device administrator prompt". Thus I'm afraid this does not answer the question.


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ICS: external microsd storage card: can i use it with camera and not encrypt?
So, I just bought a microSD card for my Ice Cream Sandwich phone. I put it in, it's recognized. But it appears I must encrypt it before I can use it for the camera's storage, otherwise if it is not encrypted, it is read-only.
Is there no other way?
I see, with it encrypted, I must create a PIN or password to access the phone. Previously, I just used a pattern, but now it seems I cannot do just the pattern.
I don't care if it is encrypted, but I want my pattern back. Any ideas?

Just a random idea -- if you go to Settings / Security / Device Administrators, are any programs listed?  If so, perhaps they're the ones that are demanding that you encrypt your SD card.

That is odd. What device is this?

Interesting.. more details are required to answer.

@offby1: only Lookout Antivirus is listed there, which I've had since I had the phone, so I doubt it is the cause.

@AlEverett an HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE

I'm also on ICS 4.0.4. What I've noticed so far: If I go to Settings>Security>Screen Lock, I have the following greyed out: "None" "Face Unlock", "Pattern". Only options available in black are: "PIN" and "Password". I set a PIN. Underneath each of those greyed out, it says "Disabled by administrator, encryption policy, or credential storage." Under Settings>Storage > Storage Card, I have "Storage Card encryption" checked, because it said my card would be read-only if I did not encrypt it. I tested in read-only, unencrypted mode, and in the camera options, it wouldnt let me to write to the card

And for testing purposes, I'm going to be reluctant to unencrypt and reencrypt, because it has to wipe the data to do so, and as I learned the hard way, it wipes the data both in this new external SD card and that fake, virtual, internal "SD Card" partition, both at once. (So if you are some future reader, reading this, before you encrypt: backup your pictures, music, videos! Or you'll lose 'em. Fortunately I had instant upload from Google+ turned on, but Google+ shrinks them down to slightly less than original quality, sadly.)

Just a wild guess: Do you have some Exchange account configured? Your security settings (only PIN and Password available) make me think so. In that case, it might be a policy that came along with it...

No, not using Exchange. I discovered this though: when I unencrypted the SD card, leaving the camera set to store on SD card, it does, though if I go to that menu, it still warns me it "cannot", even though it does. I'm afraid to select "Phone Storage" instead of "Storage Card" in the camera now, afraid it won't go back to "Storage Card" (SD Card) without my going through the rigmarole again (of encrypting the SD Card again, losing all of my data on both it and the phone's internal, virtual "SD Card", reinstalling all apps on the SD Card and restoring photos, then unencrypting).


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How to stop receiving group text messages
How do I stop receiving text replies from people in a "group conversation"? For example, if user A sends a group text message, to users B, C and D, and myself (user E), I just want to see user A's original text message and not replies from users B, C, and D. Is there any way to accomplish this on any Android OS? I dont mean iMessage (that is discussed here, and the answer there seems to be 'no').
If not, can somebody explain why this limitation exists and if the carriers/phone manufacturers have indicated any awareness of this as a problem (or any future plans to change this 'feature')?


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How to allow only certain people to make my phone ring on silent mode?
I usually sleep with my cellphone on silent mode, but some important people are allowed to wake me up whenever they want. When it's not on silent mode, some inconvenient people usually wake me up for nothing.
Is there a way to make a call filter and allow only these important people to make my phone ring?

The short of it in Tasker is to create a new profile as follows:
New Profile:
Context: Time

From: 22:00
To: 6:30

Context: State> Phone Call

Type: Incoming
Number: C:FAV  (This is any starred contact, You can also list specific contacts if you like)

Task
New Action: Audio Setting > Ringer Volume

Level: 7

Exit Task
New Action: Audio Setting> Silent Mode

Mode: On

I will try to update later with screenshots and more in depth walkthrough.

It can be done without an app. Set your default ringtone to silent for all calls. Then choose certain contacts and assign them a custom ringtone. Never put your phone on silent mode, all calls will be silent except the contacts you customized.


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Samsung Galaxy Ace Internet showing network problem
I have bought a Samsung Galaxy Ace few days back. And it's showing network / connection problem or error, or connection time out. Whenever I try to open a page it shows "Webpage not available". And just to check whether the Internet is working properly or not, I have activated the 'net pack, still it's loading, loading, and loading but not opening the site. Google home page is opening but after Google not even a single page is opening. Samsung applications are also not opening. It shows network error.  Google play store is having the same problem. Please help.

So in simple words, your phone is not connecting to Internet. Did you check your network settings? Call your service provider's service center to get these settings. They should send a settings message, or manually enter APN, host, etc. Make sure the APN, host, port, password, all details are correctly entered. And please, avoid using shorthand "SMS lingo." Someone will have to spend time editing it.

Don't worry as the device is new you have warranty, do a factory reset and see.

Factory reset doesn't seem to be a solution here. What's the point in loosing the data for a connection issue?

@SurajBajaj, did you read the question completely, before using Service Provider's internet there is a network connection problem. So a reset will delete all settings and again Service Provider will send settings then it may work, also the question is incomplete which net she used before using service provider's, static IP not set may be.

Yes, I read the question and also edited it myself! :) Factory reset still doesn't make any sense to me. It doesn't just reset your settings but also wipes all your data! Instead just tweaking Network Settings will help. And yes, I didn't down vote, so calm down!


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Daydreaming -- does it decrease screen life?
Does enabling daydreaming (display a clock while charging, i.e. never turn the screen completely off while charing) affect the life of the screen in any significant way?

I don't think so.. Besides, a phone's (or tablet) "usable" life itself is less than two years these days. (meaning they become outdated) So I have stopped worrying about a phone's "physical" life.

As life of LCD screen is measured in hours of its usage, keeping screen turned on does consume some of its life hours.
But, average life of LCD screens range from 30,000 hours to 60,000 hours, so I don't think it would a matter to you.


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adb restore progress
Using the backup and restore function with adb (as discussed in Full Backup of non-rooted devices) there is no progress available and often it is very hard to follow the adb logcat output as long there are much more background events than the BackupManager.
While backups often takes up to 1.5 hours (on my Nexus7) and restore often gets stuck or takes up to 2h i'm asking myself
is there a (native, i.e. w/o root) way to

get a progress while taking a backup
progress on restore
statistics (bytes written per second), estimated time for backup/restore etc.

any tools (adb wrapper?!) available to archive this?

You can provide a filter spec to adb logcat so you just see the BackupManager output.  I think "adb logcat BackupManager" will do it, but I can't find doc on the filter spec ..

yes, but as I noticed some apps are throwing errors while backup what isn't recognized by BackupManager. BackupManager often tells me "all things went fine in the end" even if most operations failed.. so filtering for "BackupManager" will not help as I can see

adb logcat outputs the BackupManager activities, so you can monitor if the process is running or stalled. Since adb logcat produces lots of logs from other processes, it is not easy to watch BackupManager logs. The easy way to watch BackupManager output is to use grep.
adb logcat | grep BackupManager
will filter only BackupManager logs.

Try using a system monitor tool that shows the activity of the disk/processes.
In windows you can use Resource Monitor, other systems, such as Linux vary.
The general idea is to know that there is some data being read/written from the system to the Android device.


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Battery drain with in no time in Samsung Galaxy Ace
I have Samsung Galaxy Ace for almost an year now. The battery of my phone get discharged now with-in no time of charging. The battery status in Setting -> About Phone - > Battery use shown the following

Screenshot (Click image to enlarge)
I could not interpret what does this mean.
Is there some app which is eating up the battery or I need to replace the battery? Is it normal for battery of this model?

The image does not say much without knowing how long your battery lasts now (and how long it did before). How full is it at the time of that picture? The battery symbol looks like "full" (but it contains the charge-indicator, so it's hard to say). 14.5 hours is not bad a runtime nowadays -- but of course not if you did nothing in that time. What your screenshot basically says is: The current battery drainage is shared to 50% by those components. With your battery at 98% charge, each had used ~1% of it then. If you provide the missing info we might be able to tell more.

@Izzy Can you suggest some app which can help me provide you the missing information?

Well, you should know what the battery level was at the time of your screenshot (at least roughly if you've got no percentage). Also you should know how much you were using your device in that time, and with what apps. Aside from that, check the "Related" section of this question, e.g. What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device? and Is there any study on how which services/sensors consume the battery?, plus follow the [tag:battery-life] tag for more related questions.

Taking a look at the screenshot again: no apps, just phone? Seems to be a candidate for What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery?

As we already have a lot of related answers to similar questions, just let me sum up here:
As said in my above comment, the screenshot does not provide much information without having related details available. All it says is: The overall battery consumption after ~14.5 hours is shared 50:50 by "Phone Idle" and "Cell Standby". Let's assume the battery level at that point is 80%, then each app had consumed about 10% of a full charge -- which could count as "normal". If on the other hand the battery level was 20% (or even less), it would be a bad sign -- pointing a.o. to bad reception (see: What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery?) for the "Cell Standby" part.
I wrote we already have a lot of good answers on the "battery life" topic. Some are even listed in the "Related" (and now also in the "Linked") section of this question, as e.g.

What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?
Is there any study on how which services/sensors consume the battery?

Many more can be found following the tag-link battery-life. Please follow those links for closer information.
As the "battery info" is giving you so few information, here's a hint to some helpful app: BetterBatteryStats. With that app, watch out especially for the "Wake Locks", as those keep your device from entering energy-saving modes. Check the configuration of the apps mentioned in connection with this (a good example could be an email app with a too-high polling frequency, where you e.g. could reduce the frequency from "every 5 minutes" to "every 30 minutes" to save a lot of juice).
EDIT: Another helpful app I just discovered is Battery Stats Plus, which helps you find the "evil apps" on your device. Brought to you by our friend at XDA Developers...

I have installed an app called Battery Plus from the Play Store. It is incredible. Works great on my Android. It really reduces the battery consumption, and I can also kill the unwanted apps running through this app.

I have an Ace and have found a way to have my battery to last for literally days. It is at 50% currently and it has been 51 hours since I last charged it. I just turn off wifi, data transmission etc and at night put it in 'phone mode' and it makes the battery last longer.

Sure, if you cut the device off all network connections, that saves a lot! Cut off the phone network as well, and the battery will last a week or more. This may be fine for some people, but most bought a smartphone since they want to use its capabilities. However, putting it to airplane mode at night (when you do not intend to use it) might be fine for most people. But then, you also cut connect the charger at night as well... Moreover: How does that apply to the question? Here it's clearly not the data, but the cell network causing trouble.


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Sony Xperia U with my Windows XP laptop
I have Windows XP and every time I connect my Xperia U, the computer thinks it a camera. I think it's a driver problem so I found the drivers on the Sony Website, but I'm not sure how to install them?
I installed the drivers, but my computer still thinks it's a camera. Any help?

It there any USB connectivity setting? Normally phones have settings like connect to PC as: Camera, Storage, Android phone, etc. Can you just verify these settings?

There is problem with the MTP driver in Windows XP. It will connect in PTP mode thats why it is showing as camera. You can search in Microsoft forum for enabling MTP but still not sure whether it will work or not. Change the os or install Sony PC companion

If you've upgraded from gingerbread, Android 4.0 does not allow for direct mounting of the phone memory/sd. This means that your phone will show up as either a media player or camera.

You probably have the phone set to connect in PTP mode.  When you connect, there should be a notification that you've connected to a computer.
Open that notification and it should allow you to select a different mode, usually either MSC (mass storage, used on pre-4.0) or MTP (media transfer, 4.0 and newer).
Alternatively, look in the settings for a USB connection mode option.


text:
Can I Call simultaneously from Skype from my device and pc?
I have installed Skype on both my device and my PC.
Is it possible to call or accept call from both.For example I want to talk from my phone and at the same time watch the same video call from my PC.

Multitasker, eh? Why would you wanna do that? Interesting question though! :) I think it should be possible.. Why don't you give it a try?

@SurajBajaj I tried, It notify on both PC and device but when I revived call from device then on PC it display missed call and vice a verse :(

Oh.. You want to attend the SAME call on PC and phone at the same time. Because your phone doesn't have a front camera? Am I right?

@SurajBajaj Right

When you've picked up the call on one device, have you tried to initiate a "conference" from there, inviting "yourself"? Not sure if that works, it's just an idea...

if one device is already in call then can another device see that call or not?


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Sharing via bluetooth disappeared?
I don't know when it actually went missing since I haven't had a use for bluetooth transfers lately. But when I recently tried to share an image to a friend via bluetooth, I found that the option wasn't there anymore. How do I retrieve it and what could have caused it to disappeare in the first place?
This is on ICS 4.0.4, rooted, unlocked bootloader.

Is your Bluetooth working? Have you tried receiving files? Can other devices detect your device?

Yes I have bluetooth working. I knew my bluetooth is working because I have one of those Sony LiveView watches and it connects no problem if I have the bluetooth on

So is the problem for only image file or you are not able to send any files at all? It may depend on the file types as well. Share options you get depend on file type you are trying to share.

I've also considered the possibility of varying file types already. Before I can send roughly anything; apk, zip, images, txt. Now I can't send anything at all via bluetooth.

Did you recently update your ROM? If yes, which ROM you are using and what was your previous ROM?

I don't think it's a bug. Google have un-intuitively moved it around in ICS. Try this.
Open Gallery> select menu button > tap "select items" > select a photo > now tap the share icon. All the sharing options should now be visible.

Unfortunately, that's not the case. I ended up just reflashing and it never occurred again (so far).

If you've already "flashed" the ROM before checking this solution in 4.1, then you can't confirm if my answer is invalid. Simply rolling back to an older versions of Android that had the functionality you wanted has no bearing on this answer. It's best to try and move forward with Android despite UI obscurities. Other things get fixed, like the copy/paste problem I and many people had on 4.0.2. If you can find another phone the same as yours exhibiting the same problem, see if this answer resolves it. The you can have confidence to upgrade to 4.1.2 again.

Umm, I didn't roll back at all. I had a ROM back when I posted this question, supposedly AOSP, then when I couldn't find a proper fix (your answer was roughly 4 months after), I just decided to flash CyanogenMod 9 (same 4.0.4 I presume) and it never occured again. It could just be an isolated problem with my specific ROM back then.

This is why you select multiple files instead of one file just select one file and click to share you can find the Bluetooth option there


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Where to download and install Google Apps on Android 4.0.4 device?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device?

I have an international android smartphone which doesn't have anything related to Google Play Store installed. So I have to install  GoogleLoginService.apk, GoogleServicesFramework.apk, Vending.apk, ... by myself. I was able to find information about how to do it online but I cannot find where to get those apks for my version of Android, which is version 4.0.4.
If I download them, how can I know/verify they are the right version for the android 4.0.4?

You have to flash GAPPS (Google Apps) ZIP. Click here to download GAPPS for ICS. For alternate links or other gapps versions see this link.


text:
How do I change the Gmail account associated with the Play Store?

Possible Duplicate:
How to change the account for Android Market?

I got on the market yesterday and it made me enter my password for my existing Google account but I had forgotten the password. I made a new one and tried to delete the old one but it wouldn't let me. I can't install apps now because I don't have the password. How can I set it to use the new account?

If you specifically want to remove it (rather than switching accounts in the Play Store) then perhaps take a look at How to remove Google Account that is set for Android Market in device?


text:
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Charger - USB?
Does the Samsung Galaxy Nexus charger use a USB charger? If so, what kind?

Your question is bit unclear to me. Still I am trying to answer.
Almost all the Android phones these days (including Galaxy Nexus - GNex) have a micro-USB charging and data-syncing port. So they can be connected to your computer using a micro-USB to standard USB cable. Like most other phones, GNex also comes with a micro-USB to standard USB cable and a wall charger. You can use wall power or your computer to charge your phone.
And if you want to see exactly what charger comes with the GNex, checkout any of the tonnes of unboxing videos avaliable on YouTube!

Aren't there different kinds of micro-USB ports?

@AdamMosheh “Micro-USB” is a name for a specific connector shape, so no. (“Mini-USB” is another, older shape.)

Additionally, the output of the wall charger is 5V 1A, if that helps.


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How can I edit a Presentation in Google Drive?
Google Drive shows me presentations, spreadsheets and documents, but I only can edit spreadsheets and documents.
So I'd like to edit the presentation locally, but I can't find a way to download it in the first place.
For edit in a tablet, for example with Polaris Office or other free apps.

As of June 25, 2014, Google published Google Slides - its collaborative presentation platform - for Android. After installing the app, when you select a presentation from the Google Drives app, it will open the file in Google Slides and let you edit it.
It also supports offline editing. You have to sync the content of your Drives first, but after that, you can edit it offline in Google Slides. The file will be synced to Drives when the internet connection is available.

Image taken from its Play Store page.

I'm not sure if the mobile app offers this feature but at least via the web interface you can export your documents to OpenDocument files which you can edit locally. Afterwards, you can upload the edited version.

I'm on Android 4.4 so this is how I do it.
When in google drive...

click on the (i) on the file you want to download.
It opens a menu (seen in the screenshot below).
On that menu, click the vertical ... in the top right to open the menu.
Click on "Download a copy"

The file is now in your downloads folder.
You can now edit it offline using your favorite office suite. (I recommend Kingston Office.)
Find it using a File manager Like this one


text:
How to specify a different audio player for use with Google Reader?
When I use the Google Reader app for audio podcasts -- e.g. linked MP3 files -- it pops up a simple player overlay to play the file (shown in screenshot). Is there a way for me to choose an installed audio player to use in place of the one used by the Google Reader app as the default player for the app?  Ideally I'd like the app to pop up an intent that asks me for the audio player to use, like many apps pass off responsibility for a well defined purpose.

The Google Reader app is here.

Personally I've found that a dedicated podcatcher is a better option. I use Doggcatcher but there are quite a few out there.

Google Reader allows choice of external program (via intent) to play audio.

When did this happen? I don't see anything in the "What's new" section on Google Play, and the latest version of Google Reader appears to be from July, so nothing has happened since the question was asked.

Maybe it was specific to my phone. Removed the word "now" from the answer because it seems speculative under the circumstances. Thanks.

For what it's worth, I fired up Google reader and found a post with an embedded MP3 in it, and I was prompted which player I want to use to open it.


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Droid 3 Gallery Generating Errorneous Thumbnails; Possibly Due to Infinite Loop, .nomedia glitch?
I have a stock Motorola Droid 3 on Verizon. The device is not currently rooted. I am not sure if the Gallery app on my phone is specific to the Motoblur UI.
I was testing the .nomedia trick/hack, by putting a zero-length file named .nomedia in my Downloads directory. I also cleared cache and deleted app data of the stock/standard Gallery app. it didn't appear to work, so I decided to say "screw it" and deleted the .nomedia file.
Sadly this kind of ruined things. I reopened the gallery app started showing duplicates of most (but not all) of the images. If I clicked on one, it'd only load the thumbnail with just "loading..." ontop, like it was trying to generate the full sized image. If I long-pressed and clicked "photo info" gallery would crash. If I hit delete, it would delete the entry from the gallery view with no problem. The other one of the duplicates appeared to be the real image so it loaded no problem.
Now, I could've manually deleted all the extra erroneous thumbnails, but that would be too time consuming as I had over 600-some correct images. So I decided to try a shortcut. I went to /dcim/.thumbnails and cleared the directory and I also went to /android/data/com.moto.blur.mediaprovider and cleared the thumbnails stored in that directory. When I went back to the gallery the situation got even worse. Now there's like 3 copies of the images.
My prediction is that it's generating thumbnails, then generating thumbnails of those thumbnails. I tried clear the .thumbnails directory, which had over 2000 images in there. As soon as I restarted the gallery app, it'd fill right back up again. I tried the same process and rebooting, but again, starting the gallery app causes it loop with the thumbnail generation.
I tried putting a zero-length file .nomedia into the .thumbnails directory but that didn't seem to be doing anything.
Is there something that I'm missing? I really don't want to do a factory reset as I don't have any easy way to back things up.
Also, I do not have an SD card at the moment. All of this is being put on the local storage for the phone.

Please attempt the following:

Delete the entire .thumbnails folder
Delete the /sdcard/Android/data/com.android.gallery3d folder
Go to Settings->Apps->All and select the Gallery app. Select clear data.
Go to Settings->Apps->All and select the Media Storage app. Select clear data.
Reboot your device.

This will completely erase all data from the gallery app, and if you open it before you reboot you should notice that you have no thumbnails. They will be generated on boot.

I think I found a side effect, but it may be completely unrelated. And I have no way of confirming if I is linked or not.. but since I made this fix, I have discovered my on-device Google Music playlist has disappeared. No big deal, I will just re create it. It was probably stored in the Media Storage psuedo-app.


text:
Is it faster to send a picture message through 2G or Wi-Fi?
I have a LG Mytouch android smartphone.
I need to send a picture out tonight!

Wifi obviously. 54Mbit broadband versus 220 kbit/s max via 2G.

@ce4 Wrong concept. What if Wi-Fi is broadcasting 2G...

It differs with your connection quality, in normal situations Wi-Fi is faster.
Wi-Fi mostly not usable for MMS, so you need to use e-mail.

It depends on what kind of internet is available on Wi-Fi network. A Wi-Fi hotspot can broadcast internet provided by 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, DSL, ADSL, ADSL2, T1 etc. So, the comparison is meaningless unless you know the back-end connection. If you know the back-end connection, the question shouldn't exist.

You are aware that WiFi usually refers to the technology behind IEEE 802.11 and not any kind of wireless communication technology?

@Flow Hold on a second.. If question is comparing 2G with Wi-Fi, its direct meaning is that questioner wants to send picture over internet, not inside Wi-Fi network. And, you must know Wi-Fi can just share internet connections of other technologies. It doesn't provide native internet. You have misconceptions.

@Flow With Android's MobileAP, you can share 2G connection over Wi-Fi. If questioner has plugged his device with this Wi-Fi, do you think, it'd be faster than his native 2G?

"It can broadcast 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, DSL, ADSL, ADSL2, T1" sounds like the WiFi AP is using those technologies, when you really want to say "The WiFi AP can be connected to the internet over one of those technologies."

@Flow Alright. Re-phrased that sentence...


text:
What's the difference between a Wi-Fi conection and a Wi-Fi Hotspot?
I just bought a 9" d2 android tablet and it has both. When I turn on the hot spot it shares my connection with other tablet -- but doesn't give me a conection.
So I guess my question is: why have a wifi and be able to have a wifi hot-spot only to be able to share my conection -- in which, I don't have on my tablet that I'm using to share that -spot?!?!?!

Wi-Fi Adapter = Wi-Fi connection adapting capability of tablet.
Using it, you can connect with an existing Wi-Fi hotspot (which broadcasts the network).
Wi-Fi Hotspot = Wi-Fi connection broadcasting capability of tablet.
Using it, you can create a portable virtual hotspot similar to Wi-Fi routers which other devices can connect to.
Unfortunately, when hotspot is turned on, Wi-Fi adapter is turned off. So, the device can't be used as Wi-Fi Repeater.
What're the uses of Wi-Fi hotspot in tablet?

Share mobile internet connection if your tablet has GSM, WCDMA, LTE etc capabilities.
Share mobile broadband gained by USB dongle attached with the tablet.
Share files and folders.
Share other networking services to enjoy multiplayer gaming etc.

Lets break down the 2 features here, with the Wi-Fi connection option, 'Your Device' can connect to the internet using someone else Wi-Fi (that's straight forward enough).
However the Wi-Fi HotSpot option will let other devices use your internet connection through Wi-Fi.
Now let us take 3 examples to clarify the difference:

You are connected to the internet using your phone's Cellular Data (GPRS/EDGE/3G etc). IOn this case you are not using your Wi-Fi connection option, but you can still share your internet connection through Wi-Fi Hotspot. Keep in mind anyone connecting to your hotspot is now using your phone's internet connection, so they are actually increasing your phone bill.
You are not connected to the internet at all. In this scenario, the Wi-Fi hotspot (if turned on) will still be visible, and people will still be able to connect, however they won't be able to access the internet as your phone is not. Think of it like an outage from your ISP, your home's router is working but the internet connection is not.
In this case your are connected through Wi-Fi, and are also using your Wi-Fi hotspot. This works like a chain, your phone is connected to something (probably a router) which is connected to the internet, other phones can now connect to your phone and in return be connected in-directly to the router. This unfortunately is not possible in android device as pointed out by @Sachin.

So basically currently Wi-Fi can be used either to let your device use someone else's connection OR let others use your device's connection.

Your point 3 isn't possible with Android devices, yet.  When you turn on hotspot, Wi-Fi adpater is turned off. OP has also mentioned this in the question.

@SS Turning on Hotspot doesn't turn off Wi-fi Adapter as Hotspot itself used AP capability of Wifi adapter. It only seems OFF so that user doesn't get confused in why Wifi is ON but not working.

@Firelord I am talking over logical layer. It doesn't just seems OFF. A user can't connect to a Wi-Fi network at all.


text:
How do I know if an android app for a phone can be installed on an android tablet?
Is there any way to find out? (probably using an emulator or a software to verify?) This is because from my understanding, there are android apps for phone which somehow become either stretched or remain small in screen size when installed on an android tablet.

Use emulator.
Test on hardware, because if in market you see, what application not compartible with you device - it's not 100% guarantee, it's just mean, what in application info it written.
Most application works on tablet correctly, but some is stretched, else if tablet have needed hardware (eg GSM/3G/LTE?etc).

Just a question, which emulator would be better to be use to test such apps? (Is it the Android SDK ADB? or something else?)

Only SDK, because 3rd party emulators can have OS customizations. Also in SDK you can select standard device configuration to emulate (except market, but it can be fixed manualy).

Just a suggestion for consideration - I was wondering if it is possible for the developer or Google Play to inform the user that the apps can be use for which inch-size of phone and/or tablet. (e.g. Apps ABC max inch: 10.1, min inch: 7) In that way, at least user are better inform if the apps can be used without any display distortion.


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Jar of Beans Android Emulator
Where is the link to the exe file? I find text "jar of beans.exe" and beneath it, a note saying wait for the emulator to load and enjoy, or a statement of similar meaning. The text "jar of beans.exe" is, however, not a hyperlink! I need the link.

http://jar-of-beans.googlecode.com/files/Jar%20of%20Beans%204_1_1.7z  (Let me know if this is the file that you are looking for)

Actually I refer to one on this page.
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/jar-of-beans-a-portable-android-emulator/

... in which I found the thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1975675
which has "jar of beans.exe" as mere text and not a hyperlink.

That page have the link - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1975675 (Search for the word software thread inside your page and it will provide this link). Next step when you open the link, look for the large-font word saying JAR OF BEANS 4.1.1 with Play STORE+ES file Manager and more...on GOOGLE PROJECT!, which will lead you to the file that I have posted earlier on. Extract that file and click on the jar of beans.exe file. (Let me know if you still could not get that link)

Maybe you can suggest to the author of Jar of Beans to put a word called DOWNLOAD that link to the file directly. :D

To make life easier for everyone, I have include them in my answer to this question.

Well. Yeah I've fatigues a little bit. I therefore overlooked a humongous "JAR OF BEANS 4.1.1 ..." text. Now it's downoading. Thanks :-)

You're welcome. Actually, I also thought the same way as you. Then later, I notice that big font words. I believe that the author also encounter many people asking him about where is the link to the file. But anyway, I have include them in the answer for this question. Do mark it as correct if it really solve your problem. Thanks & good luck with the Android emulator.

True the author is likely to make it more conspicuous! This discussion gave me a good feeling!

I would prefer it give me 3 simple links - one that link to the folder directory that shows the list of versions that I can download. 2nd link to the documentation (can be a PDF file or a HTML guide) 3rd link to the latest version and marked with a huge word Download or represent by a huge download icon. Just a suggestion for the author to consider. :)

Click here to download that file. (version 4.1.1 - file size: 181 MB)
Click here to visit that file in the Google Project.
Click here to visit the project forum page.

Also, I hope it'll have a good speed. The emulator I use now takes minutes to boot any AVD I created with it.

You will need better hardware but one of our friendly moderator - Matthew Read mention that it would not make any differences as discuss in here - http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/18073/endless-loading-for-emulator-on-low-end-netbook. (Seems like Android emulator run slower)


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How to upgrade Android 2 to 3 or 4 on GT-I9000?
All is in the title. I have got a GT-I9000 (samsung galaxy S) and I do not understand why I cannot upgrade the android version ?
Why an android version is linked to a specific phone ?

This answer might have some helpful information for you.

Try to specify what you have tried so far.

First, you probably cannot update to Android 3.x as that version was only intended for tablets.
Second, no Android version is linked to a specific phone. But each phone needs specific adaptions due to different hardware elements used, so each Android version must be adapted to be usable on the device.
Third, for "How can I..." and "Where do I find..." and "When is it available...", please check the questions (and answers) already dealing with this:

How do I update the OS on my device? (includes links to "When does my device get the Android x.y update" for most Android versions)
Can every Android device be updated to the most recent Android version?
What is involved in upgrading Android to a later version, if the manufacturer no longer supports the device?
and others (check the "Related" and "Linked" sections of the questions)

You can use not official builds (because no oficial updates), like CyanogenMod, but before flashing it, please, read CyanogenMod forums and XDA-Developers!
Flashing new ROM will require to delete all your data from phone. And yes, by incorrect actions, you can easily break it.


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MTP file transfer: request to proceed, because "device can't play this" - how to fix permanent?
I have Nexus 7 and often copy vide to see on it, but every time windows asks for proceed with reason "device can't play this file format".
Supported file formats is declared by media device, but when I copied video, I can play with standard player and with 3rd party.
How permanently fix this?

I think there is nothing to be fixed, just simply ignore the Windows alert and proceed copying your movies, then watch them on the device. What is the problem?!

Problem is minor: device provide incorrect info.

But I think it is not the device which provides incorrect info, but Windows thinks that a device connected through MTP, is capable of playing only 3GP and MP4 videos!

MTP standard says: device provide info… At developers site I foud only docs, how to provide info from my app.


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Prevent update prompt
Is there a way without rooting to prevent galaxy nexus devices from prompting that there is an update available. We have several devices at work that we would like to keep on a particular android version for development reasons and it is somewhat of an annoyance being informed  repeatedly of the same update.

You are looking for FOTAKill.apk, it kills the Firmware Over The Air (FOTA).
"Prevents GoogleServicesFramework from downloading OTA updates"
It's a fairly standard apk used and provided with some gapps packages (google apps package, when you install a custom ROM you don't get the google apps, need to install a gapps package)..
It works for both stock and rooted ROMS
The XDA forums have more information about it and download links of the apk, it originated from the CM ROM (cyanogenmod) but works on stock as well as custom ROMs.
Source code:
https://github.com/zinx/FOTAKill
Download etc for example from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1832496

Can you give more information on just the name of the apk, how do you use it?

Fair enough, updated the answer

I would have upvoted, but clearly FOTAKill is based on CM, we do not know exactly if the OP is using a stock ROM or custom ROM... but being a Google Nexus  handset, it is probably stock ROM, based on the tag that the OP included in their question... and also, the github source is referring to Froyo, API 8 (look at the AndroidManifest.xml) that's CM/Froyo specific and not stock, plus its two years old and has not been updated since... :)

Your analysis is off, it is not based on CM, it originated from the CM project and works just fine on stock and custom ROMs. It works by preventing the "GoogleServicesFramework from downloading OTA updates" as stated in the answer, not anything custom made in the android system. Here is a link of people using and recommedning this on both stock and rooted ROMs recently. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1832496

Fair enough - when I stated "based on CM", I actually did meant its a CM thing, however, I stand corrected. Another solution, install droidwall if rooted and block off GoogleServicesFramework.... but then again that could prevent receiving any Google services such as sync and play store app updates :)


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Android Emulator using Hardware Keyboard has no "Umlauts"
I have the latest ADT installed and when I start the emulator I am not able to type, for example, German umlauts.
I have tried to change the settings in android to German keyboard layout but that didn't change anything. I guess I have to configure this via AVD properties somehow, but so far I have not found a resource that explained what has to be configured where.
The configured AVD is defined as Nexus One with Android 4.2
Any idea, guys?

I think this question can be better answered on StackOverflow.

Well, there are plenty emulator questions here, but maybe you are right. Has anyone enough rights to migrate the question?

@PatrickCornelissen Only moderators, as far as I know.

This is on-topic for this site.

Well, that turned out to be so easy that I didn't found any documentation about that. What you have to do is to long press the keyboard keys just as you do in a soft keyboard, it will show a popup with diacritics you can use for that letter (in the image you can see what happens when you long press letter "u"). Then click on the button corresponding to the character you want to use or the close button to exit.

(This image contains icons from Farm Fresh Icons by Fatcow Web Hosting)
Note that not all letters have this behavior, in which case at long pressing they repeat as normally do elsewhere.

Lol, ok, this is weird! Thanks, I wasn't thinking about that :-)


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Radical Android customization
I have a need to setup a touch screen GUI for a booking system and I am exploring Android as a option to accomplish this.
Some crucial things I need to know are:

Can I customize an Android based pad/other hardware so it only has on application (my booking system) running on it?
Can I configure the booking system to autoload each time time the hardware is powered up?
Can I install Android on a display device, like a TV, and behave like a large touch screen

All this is to take advantage of Android's powers whilst keeping the public facing booking system running continuously from power-up without other apps interfering etc.

Please, divide to 3 different questions!

Sounds like you want Kiosk Mode

While I agree with Uwe on #1, it does not correctly relate to your question. What you want is only one visible app, so the users cannot switch to any other. That's what Kiosk Mode is about: Creating a "jail" to keep the user in -- while the "admin" can "break it" for configuration etc. (which would e.g. require a password then). For alternative solutions on "Kiosk Mode", just search our site for "kiosk".
Second, there are a lot of "App Lockers" and "Child Mode" apps available, which are also a variant of Kiosk Mode. Simply search the Playstore for "app-lock" to find a good selection.
For #2 I must disagree with Uwe: Unless you're a developer, you cannot make "every app" a home screen (the app must register as such). But this should be handled by the app providing the Kiosk-Mode -- so watch out that this feature is available with that (keywords would include "autostart", "launcher" or "homescreen").
Not sure about #3. I know there are big touchscreens around, but I have no idea how they can be operated by an Android device. Taking a good guess, "Google TV" could be involved with that ;)

My answers to your questions:

There will be more than one app running on your system because some OS tasks are also handled by apps.
Yes, you can make your app a home screen which will handling the start of the other apps (or not)
Not sure. It's possible that other devices (like TVs) are also running android.

Much appreciated


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Email sync problem
My corporate email sync is working to download emails. It’s able to download contacts and events, but not emails. I did the factory settings also, but even it’s not working. Could anybody reply with solution?

Not unless you provide some more details, as nobody here knows what your "corporate email sync" is.

It’s office emails...

Sure corporate mails are mostly office mails. But what system? Exchange Active Sync (EAS)? Or something else? And which app are you using on your Android device? Please don't simply say "the default one". If that's the case (and you don't know which it is), at least give some details on your device.


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Is there a way to set the screen to auto-lock after more than 30 minutes?
On my GS3 the options for auto-locking range from "immediately" to "30 minutes". Suppose I wanted the auto-lock to happen only after 1 hour - is there any way to do this?

Use Widgetsoid...

Short answer
Yes.
More detailed
There are probably multiple solutions. The one coming to my mind again involves an app named Tasker, which is the most flexible automation app on Android. An idea would be to have it start a timer whenever the screen is switched off, which is "blanked" whenever the screen is turned on. Have the key guard turned off initially (i.e. no lock takes place), and turn it on when the timer's up (lock).

I've been trying out KeyGuard Tool++, which is supposed to perform this function.  You can set it so that if you are within range of a particular WiFi SSID, the screen lock will not kick in.  There are also options to look for specific BlueTooth devices or USB connections to determine whether the key guard kicks in.
However, it seems to not be quite reliable under Android KitKat on my HTC One (m8), so YMMV.
Update: After talking to the developer of KeyGuard Tool++, he is aware of the issue where the screen will not reliably stay unlocked if you have secured the device with a PIN code.  He is already working on a fix and it will hopefully be released soon.


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Is there a screen capture app for Android which captures a video?

Possible Duplicate:
Is it possible record videos of my screen?

Is there a screen capture app for Android which captures a video? I want to capture the video in realtime.I want to make an app which will run in the background and do the analysis of things that appear of phones screen .

Questions work better when they're about a problem trying to be solved rather than a pre-defined solution (an app) that you're trying to find. Don't use the site as a search service.

I posted this question originally on superuser , but it has been migrated . I have edited the question to make more sense here.

Look this app (tegra 2/3 incompartible).
Also may be usable this project for PC.

I'm using this app to record bugs I find for my work. It's great.

for video capture I've not yet found anything (beyond the cheat of running the app in an emulator and using Camtasia or FRAPS to capture video of that)
for real-time analysis of what's happening in the video stack for some devices something like PVRtune is a great starting point


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Is it Essential to Root a Nexus Device in order to Customize or Personalise it to your liking?
My understanding is that rooting an android smartphone or tablet allows you to add functionality and to flash custom ROMS (amongst other things) like MIUI or CyanogenMOD.
A Nexus device offers the pure "vanilla" android experience from Google without the additional "skins" etc. that mobile phone companies add/tweak to further differentiate their product from one another.
If it is the case that nothing has been added/tweaked, customised etc. on a Nexus 4/7/10, can I achieve this personalisation (via the Google Play Store) on such a device without the need for rooting?

I think it depends on what level of customization you want, if you want some launcher changes, just try some of that are on Play Store, but if you want to do some overclocking, undervolting and this sort of thing, I'm almost sure you need rooting

If you're not sure if you need Root, you don't need Root.
There are any number of alternative Launchers you can install that will give your device a custom look-and-feel and add/adjust functionality from Vanilla Android. Heck, there are Launchers that can simulate the look-and-feel of iPhone and Windows Phone.
Have a look on the Play Store for "Launchers" or "Home screen replacements".

Thankyou for your response. I know about the different launchers such as Nova, Apex, ADW etc, lock screen widgets. Is rooting therefore for people who want to have some kind of "power" or "command" over there device (if i'm making sense)

Have a look at the higher-voted questions in the [tag:rooting] tag, like I've rooted my phone. Now what? What do I gain from rooting?

Ok thanks alot. But what i'm trying to ask is, can i achieve similar levels of personalising my phone without the need or "hassle" of rooting.

You can customize the heck out of these things. It's only when "I want to do X" and "X requires Root" will you require Root. If you want a more specific answer you need to ask a more specific question.

I see your point, as long as i can customize without root, it is when it gets to the point when i need to root in order to achieve X. I havent got to X yet so I guess thats fine :)


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Can a cheap cable prevent AC charging from working?
A while ago, I had my phone repaired (the USB socket was worn out) and had to replace the USB cable as well. Since then I haven't been able to quickly charge my phone in AC mode. Previously it worked both on the dedicated charger that came with my phone and the "power" usb socket on my laptop. Is it plausible that this is because of the cheap cable?
My phone is a Sony Xperia Neo V.

Theoretically it could be the case. AFAIK the device distinguishes between its power source (USB or A/C) by a signal on a certain pin. So if that special "connection" is missing (or broken), the device might always think it's charging via USB. I'd recommend to go to some shop/repair station and try another cable.

AFAIR the "signal" is that the data pins are shorted. That can't possibly the way my notebook signaled this as the data transfers and AC charging used to work at the same time just fine.

I found no reference for the PIN assignment so far (didn't dig that deep, admittedly). So we both are just guessing. But regardless of that (which might take a while to be discussed) -- simply go and check with a different cable will answer your original question promptly. Of course, if you prefer, you might wait out here for a final answer, Santa Claus is near ;) (sorry, couldn't resist)

It is quite possible that the "cheap" cable is a culprit. You could try a couple of things

Replace the cable with a cable of 24/28 awg thickness. Google for "28/24 awg micro USB" to locate suppliers close by. These cables are thick and offer less resistance to charging current. Alternatively, if you have a spare thick cable of shorter length you could try that and see if the charging is faster.
Download Ampere, It measures the charging current (it does not work on all devices, but your device is NOT mentioned in exclusion list, so it should work). Connect the "cheap cable" on charge and measure the  charging current. Repeat with cable you purchased (24/28 awg) or a spare short thick cable. If the value in second case is higher, the conclusion is obvious. You could even try compare values an  with OEM cable if you can locate with a friend or at a service center.
You could consider buying an original Sony cable . I found one on eBay costing about $5.

Much after this answer a detailed answer on this had been posted  by me how-to-choose-micro-usb-cable-for-my-device


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Log off from GMail on Android 2.3
I have a Samsung Ace, with Android 2.3.6. I logged in with GMail and now I cant log off. I searched a lot of forums etc., but no answer.
I need your help, because it consumes a lot of battery juice and internet traffic.

It works best when you stay signed in. If you find it's generating too much traffic, you should reduce the frequency at which it synchronizes and perhaps remove the ability for it to sync in the background.

The same problem is happening with my gingerbread A1+.
As said by ## @izzy, ## option allows deletion, but Google is smart. It warns about all the data deletion and suggests factory reset!

Can you disable gmail sync in Settings > Accounts > [Your gmail account]?
I don't have a Gingerbread device to hand to test this out but it's available in ICS +

i didint know this site, thanks. butin ICS +, i found an app (1,50€) to exiting safe from gmail and FB, but dont seem honest, to pay for a thing that i should have for free. or is in ICS + anything for free or i could ask something over there?

What is the application called? You shouldn't require an application to do what you are asking for...

SignMeOut its the application

Go to Settings, select Accounts & Sync, select Gmail Sync, Select account, and tap Remove Account in the bottom...

if i chose do un sync, when i try to open gmail, appears a message sayng "your email appear soon"... and then i can log in or choose another acount.

If the email ID was given when you purchased it, then it can't be removed in Gingerbread. The only way is to restore it. Don't worry; just back up yur favorite app or share it with a friend. Then, format it. You can clear the GMail account and sent back or back-up the apps. Now, your phone will be smoother and faster.

I think the answer's still confusing with the way I rephrased it. If you could just make this clearer "You can clear the GMail account and sent back or back-up the apps", it would make more sense. What were you trying to say?


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Application missing from Settings > Apps > Running
After deploying an application in the Android emulator (I'm targeting Android 4.1.2 - API Level 16) and running it:

the application is not displayed in the Settings > Apps > Running list
the application is displayed when holding the home button for a long time
the application process is listed by the "ps" command (ran from ADB)

Is it a normal behavior ?

It is normal if the application has been started and then closed instantly!

Not only "instantly". Long-holding the home button shows "recently started" apps, which are not necessarily "currently running". Check the processes list with either ps in a terminal emulator, or some process listing app, to see whether it is really running.

Well the thing is that the "ps" command indeed shows that the application is running (I edited my question to mention that). In fact, I know that it's running... since I can see it on the emulator screen !


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internal memory Vs SD card

Possible Duplicate:
Unable to move few Apps to SD Card
Can I force move to sd card applications that don't want to be moved there?

Why do Android phones require installations mostly in internal memory? Is there
any application which supports to transfer the root directory to SD card?

Please specify which version of Android do you have on your phone? and is your phone rooted or not?

Some apps (e.g., widgets) won't work when installed on the SD card. Further, developers need to allow their app to work when installed on SD card. And, finally, most of your newer devices eschew the use of SD cards at all, opting instead to have a decent amount of internal storage.

The first part is easy to answer:
Ever thought about what happens if you plug your device to your computer via an USB cable, the card gets mounted on your computer? It is no longer locally available on your device. So the device can no longer access any data stored on the card. Which is one of the reasons you shouldn't install apps there which run services or provide widgets: The services would crash, the widgets become unavailable.
Second: For security reasons, sd cards are mounted with the noexec flag, e.g. to prevent malicious software (which could have been copid to an external medium like a sd card) from being run. So it wouldn't do any good to move the system there.
You see, there are good reasons why it is designed as it is. For more than 95% of all users that's the best solution. The percentage of people really needing a thing like what you're asking for is IMHO much below 1%. And the solution obviously requires root, as you need to change the way the system works. And it is nothing you do with just a click. A bit too lenghty to be explained here -- but I don't think you would really want to do that. For normal usage, the disadvantages are bigger than the advantages.


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Exchange email sync late for email, on time for calendar
I have a Nexus S running 4.1.2. My phone is setup with my gmail account and two exchange accounts. One of these exchange accounts points to my zimbra+zpush mail server, the other points to my day-job exchange account.
A few weeks ago, my day-job exchange account stopped updating the email received in real-time. I however was able to send out no problem. I then proceeded to re-add the account in many different ways, including restarting the exchange server. I seem to be the only one affected. Whenever I have re-added my account it does still retrieve old email messages, but the "newest" email it retrieves is about 6 days old. It eventually gets newer messages, but seems to keep that 6 day gap. Calendars however seem to properly be updated for this account.
However, my zimbra+zpush mail is working properly. I receive email on my phone right away.
I'm not certain exactly what caused this, as nothing changed for my phone or the exchange server at the time the issue came up. The best explanation I can come up with is a DST skew, but I'm not sure how to correct this and why it hasn't been previously corrected.

One method I've found very useful for troubleshooting Exchange Activesync problems is to use the troubleshooting and connection logging functions built into the Touchdown Exchange client (30 day free trial app). It's helped me out with troubleshooting my Exchange connection in the past.
On the app's initial connection attempts to your Exchange/EAS server it logs the entire communication, with an option to save the logs for future reference. Once you've setup the connection there's a Diagnostics menu option on the main screen that can be set to log everything that happens between your phone and the server, with the option to attach the log to a new mail, or copy to the clipboard for use in other apps.


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Startup and Wi-Fi problem with email, apps
Had to grab a Samsung Galaxy Discover prepaid phone with 4.0.4 as a quick replacement.  Only problem is whenever I power up the phone, my Gmail and ISP's email accounts won't sync and my weather widget won't refresh.  Idisable Wi-Fi service and then everything starts working immediately.  I can then start Wi-Fi and it seems like everything works via wifi from then on until my next on/off.  No other carrier or Wi-Fi issues that I can see.
Any thoughts on the cause?

Not a real solution as to the underlying problem -- but a possible work-around involving Tasker (or a similar automation app which could do the same):

Condition:

On Startup
If Wi-Fi On

Task:

Wi-Fi Off
Wait 15 sec
Wi-Fi On

This at least should save you from having to do it manually everytime.

Thanks for the tip.  I will give that a whirl if I cannot find the root cause of the issue.

You're welcome -- that was the idea behind it.


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Vanilla Android on Nook Touch
I have a Nook Touch and I've followed some rooting instructions and have installed apps from Android Market, but some things about it are still Nook-ish, such as the screensaver.
How can I "wipe" my Nook Touch and install a "vanilla" version on Android and thus not run into anything specific to Nook?
Reminder: this is regarding the Nook Simple Touch eInk device, not the Nook Color.

possible duplicate of Flash a smartphone with vanilla Android ROM. You might also want to check Vanilla Android on Nook Touch

@Izzy: The second question you link to is this one.

Ouch -- fail. Copied it the wrong way around I guess. I meant Gingerbread ROM for Nook Color?... To make up for it, some other helpful Q&As: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? plus Can I use an Android OS card on the new Nook Tablet?


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CM7 default dialer - how do I set international prefix?
I installed vanilla CM7 (7.2.0), and ther is one thing that drives me crazy that I don't know how to fix. According to this, the default dialer that comes with CM7 has "011" international prefix configured. This makes it drop all the calls to the phone numbers starting with "+".
Here's what somebody wrote about solution:

This has been driving me crazy for ever. Finally played around with it
  today and if you go into settings then call settings tap on
  International Prefix remove the 011 and save. Do not put the +1 there
  leave it blank and it will call the +1 numbers tried it on 3 of my
  numbers after I did it and it worked on all. Hope this helps.

I am not sure what version of CM7 is the guy using, but on mine this option is nowhere to be found. Is there another way to configure this prefix, such as going directly to some sqlite database or something of that kind?
UPDATE: I dumped files from /data/data/com.android.phone/shared_prefs, and none of them seems to define any dialing rules:
# cat _has_set_default_values.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<boolean name="_has_set_default_values" value="true" />
</map>
# cat com.android.phone_preferences.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<boolean name="rotate_incall_screen" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_hide_hold_button" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_force_touch" value="false" />
<string name="preferred_umts_network_mode_key">4</string>
<string name="vm_number_key_cdma">*********</string>
<boolean name="button_vibrate_hangup" value="true" />
<string name="preferred_cdma_network_mode_key">4</string>
<boolean name="button_return_home" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_black_regex" value="false" />
<string name="sip_call_options_key">SIP_ADDRESS_ONLY</string>
<boolean name="button_vibrate_45" value="false" />
<string name="button_voicemail_provider_key"></string>
<string name="button_trackball_answer_timed">-1</string>
<string name="preferred_network_mode_key">4</string>
<boolean name="button_always_proximity" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_left_hand" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_screen_awake" value="false" />
<string name="cdma_system_select_key">2</string>
<boolean name="button_show_organ" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_vibrate_outgoing" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_led_notify" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_vibrate_call_waiting" value="false" />
<boolean name="bg_incall_screen" value="false" />
<string name="button_trackball_hangup_timed">-1</string>
</map>
# cat vm_numbers.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<int name="#FWDSettings#Length" value="0" />
<string name="#VMNumber">**********</string>
</map>


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Why isn't Tasker activating Profile?
I have created a profile with Tasker to accomplish a simple function, activate WiFi every 10 minutes and if the phone connects to a network leave WiFi on, otherwise turn it off and scan again in 10 minutes. This is my setup:

Profile Big / Task Big
WiFi Scan profile never activates (it doesn't get green and the Tasker notification says "no Active Profile"). When I activate Tasker it turns off my WiFi but never turns it on again. It is very strange; is it a Tasker bug? I am running Android 4.1.2 on a Galaxy S2.

Did you check the 4th tab (variables) what the %WIFI is set to?

I don't understand. The 4th tab where ? AFAIK %WIFI is a Tasker variable and it is equal to CONNECTION when a WiFi connection is established

While trying to explain where to find that "4th tab", I just see where your problem is:
You use the %WIFI variable to check for a) On/Off and b) the connection mode. Either it is On/Off, or it holds connection info. The first is %WIFI, the other %WIFII:

WiFi Info
%WIFII
  When connected to an Access Point (AP), shows human-readable data about the AP. When not connected, show details of the most recent Wifi scan results for nearby APs.
WiFi Status (dynamic)
  %WIFI
  Whether WiFi is on or off. Note: if WiFi is enabling or disabled, in fact anything but enabled, it's classed as off.

Source: Tasker UserGuide

Now back to the original explanation about that "4th tab":
You see some tabs in both pictures. In the first, "Profiles" is selected, in the second "Tasks". In both pictures you see another tab "Scenes". Right to that is one more, "Variables":

But regardless of that: For debugging, you can always to add another item to your task, "Notify", and have it either popup the %WIFI (or whatever variables) content or add it to your notification bar. This is good for debugging.

Thank you that solved the issue !!! And apparently the profile turns green (on) only once every 5 minutes.

Glad it solved! The profile turns green when its condition is met -- so 5min is strange, as the only condition is "every 10min". But I never checked how long it stays lit: a) as long as the condition is met, or b) as long as the assigned task is running... You can still play with the timings. Most important thing is: it works ;)

Sorry I meant 10 minutes :) Thank you very much for your help ;) PD: With %WIFII I can retrieve SSID of the wireless network ?

Try my debug-hint to find out (use "Notify" to output %WIFII). Spoiler: I'd say so you can -- that and more (connection speed, signal quality, and more; I've used it for a task to automatically switch WiFi off when its signal level gets too low).


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Phone log shows numbers not Contact Names after installing Samsung S3 Security Update
My Galaxy S3 was working great until I installed a security update yesterday (26/11/12).  Immediately after, the names dropped off the calls list and it is now showing phone numbers only.

Contacted the customer support and they told to hard reboot the mobile. It worked for me. Please backup all your apps, contacts etc using Kies before doing a hard reboot as it will restore the mobile to it's factory settings. It is a pain but had to do it to get my phone back working.

I believe you mean "hard reset" or "factory reset" right?
In an Android context, hard "reboot" generally means holding a specific set of buttons or pulling the battery to force the phone to reboot