text:
How to evaluate generic no-name tablets?
I have pretty much decided to buy a cheap Chinese generic / no-name tablet before I leave Taiwan.
This will be my first Android and my first touchscreen device of any kind. I'm buying something very cheap because right now I don't have much disposable money and don't need a serious bit of hardware. This will be more or less a toy to play with the tech.
That being said I still want to avoid the worst pieces of hardware and get the best value for my money. But of course reviews for generic devices are hard to find and sometimes they don't even seem to have brand names or model numbers.
So what should I do to evaluate an Android tablet that I physically can play with in a consumer electronics market?

One thing to be aware of is, due to legal wranglings, Chinese Android devices do not carry "Gapps" i.e. Google Play store and other services. You may need to root the device and manually install these services in order to be able to download apps the usual way and use other Google services (Google+, Youtube, Hangouts etc.). Perhaps factor in what tablet can you find that has a root method. Check the chipset/statistics on it and compare that way. Remember: if it is only for browsing/causal use it doesn't need to be fancy. If you can't try before you buy, there's not much you can do to compare.

The first one that grabbed my attention was a Cube U30GT which does have Google Play and I read was easily rootable. But when I looked at some others in other stalls at the same market I got a bit lost.

It is running an older version of Android, but one that can support all the newer applications. Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.x and upwards is ok (and that's what this has). It woudln't be a blazing fast one, but the specs are pretty good, and the resolution is nice too. I looked on Amazon and for the same price you'd get a Nexus 7, I'm assuming in Taiwan they're a lot cheaper!? You really need to consider what you need, that tablet will surf internet, play video, stream media, allow you to play games and so on. If it's cheap it would do a causual user just fine!

I'd make sure it has a capacitive not a resistive screen - a lot of crappier tablets have the latter, and they tend to suck

Not easy to say. Android version is an obvious starting point and is much more important than with bigger names because with this cheap ones, you normally don't get any support and updates, so you will be stuck with the version that came with the tablet. Don't go below KitKat if you can afford it. Jelly Bean is the absolute minimum, never below that.
After having seen a couple of smaller tablets and related user problems, I'd say the second most important point is the memory. Cheap tablets come with smaller amounts of memory and while they usually offer a card slot, this can be very deceiving. Android only allows you to move apps between the first and second memory area (provided the app itself allows it, which is usually rare, so better not counting on it). And I saw quite a few tablets where the internal memory is already partitioned in two, the memory card coming in as third, for instance, a 8 GB tablet:

1 GB internal memory
5 GB secondary memory (usually named USB memory, even if that name is a bit misleading)
your memory card, say, 16 GB

In this setup, you can't move apps to the memory card, only to the secondary ("USB") memory. And because most of your apps will not move at all, you're practically limited to 1 GB of actual app storage that is hardly enough for the standard selection of browsers, video players, Facebook and similar stuff and the memory card won't help you, either. The problem is, the manufacturer will not tell you this, they will simply state that you have a 8 GB tablet, 6 GB available. Which is, of course, true, considering that 1 + 5 = 6 but this doesn't reveal the whole situation.
Somehow you have to make sure that it isn't partitioned this way, that you will have at least 2-4 GB of real, app-usable memory to play with. The more the better, of course. But you'll need either personal testing or at least a reliable review somewhere where they describe it precisely enough. If you can check it out in the flesh in a store, that would really help.

authors: Александр Журавлев


text:
Low internal storage from 32GB to 200 MB
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini I9190.
When I download apps from the Google Play Store I get a notification stating that I have low space and requesting that I delete some apps. The available internal storage space on my phone is 32GB...
How can I fix the problem and use the internal memory?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! The available "internal storage" (or SDCard) has nothing to do with that. The error refers to device storage. For details and some first aid, please take a look at our fine insufficient-memory tag-wiki. Being a frequent question, this has been answered on this site already multiple times (links to those answers are included with before-mentioned tag-wiki).

The Galaxy s4 mini only comes with an 8gb internal storage (5gb are usable), i think you are referring to your external storage and you can use this space by moving some apps to it.
You can achieve that by installing an app called "app 2 sd"  by sam lu, it is very simple to use application, hope this help

Later versions of Android do not allow apps to be on SD (no app will make it happen if this is the case, unless you are rooted). To free up space try using an app like Clean Master.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to make a recovery persist through ROM installations?

It is very common for the recovery to be installed as part of the
ROM installation, but is it possible to prevent the recovery from
being changed during such a process?
If yes, are there any potential issues with doing so?

I have never installed a ROM that did anything with the recovery. What ROM is this? I would be very dubious about a ROM, especially if you are installing it through the recovery in the first place, changing the recovery. You could end up properly bricking the device. Is it the Bootloader you mean maybe?

No, I do mean recovery... Many ROMS in fact! However the only one that comes to mind at the moment is Vivek ROM

Wow, that's nuts. I've been flashing ROMs for many years now across about 12 different devices and never was the recovery included in the ROM. However, I always flash the ROM through the recovery itself and not through a program on the computer, so that may be a factor. If the recovery comes bundled you could in theory not flash it (depends on the PC program, file structure of each ROM though). The danger is the recovery included has scripts and interprets commands the ROM needs and it may fail installation without the correct recovery and brick the device.

Actually, I had flashed Vivek ROM on my samsung galaxy SII using the clockworkmod touch recovery (6.0.4.3 I beleive) only to find that after the first reboot it entered into a much older version of clockworkmod when i enter recovery mode!

Cool, thanks for the infomation, I did not know that at all. Good information. I'll have to defer the answer to someone more experienced on that. I must be using ROMs/Devices that don't do this, or I'm THAT blind to my recovery being changed! I have found a few ROMs lately that will only work with an older (or newer) version of recovery so I have to flash that version before the ROM, I guess including it with the ROM avoids this issue.

I have not used Vivek ROM and I don't know how the ROM installation is happening. Most of the latest ROM now having AROMA Installer. So when installing the ROM, it will prompt whether you want to change recovery. So when you choose a new the ROM for your mobile, please check ROM installation is through AROMA installer and it has the option to flash recovery or not

I am aware of AROMA installer but this is not an ideal solution as it does not account for all other ROMs that don't use AROMA. You are right Vivek ROM does not use AROMA (it is a simplistic zip flash) but is there a way I can modify the zip so that the recovery does not get flashed? (If so, are there any consequences of not using its native recovery?)

No, you can remove without unzipping file.

Could you please elaborate? How can I do so?

I hope you downloaded the ROM from xda-forum. Its better to ask the same forum for getting help.

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


text:
How do I close all tabs in Chrome for Android?
I'm using Chrome 32 on an Android tablet (not phone) and just can't figure out how to close all open tabs in one go.

Here's a more-thorough answer, with more screenshots. Be sure to click the number of tabs icon first or else the Close All Tabs option won't exist. Clicking the number of open tabs icon first forces the 3 dots menu to have different content.

Click on Tabs icon in upper right corner
Go to options
Click on close all tabs

Unfortunately your answer does not work on tablets. There is no such menu option visible in Chrome 32 on an Android tablet.

According to this Google Support page, you can't.
You have to close tabs individually, at least on a tablet.

I went to Android's settings, then to apps, then to Chrome, and cleared the data and the cache.  When I reopened Chrome, the tabs were all closed.  This was done on a Asus Memo 7 tablet.  I know it's combersome, but it beats manually closing 100+ tabs.


text:
How to keep the screen from going blank or locking for particular application
Edited question:
Google Navigate app does have the logic to keep the screen from locking or backlight from switching-off, but a corporate BYOD software suite, I've had to install as my employer's policy, seems to lock-screen if an 'unknown application' is keeping screen unlocked/lit with no other activity detected (touch mostly!), after a timeout. Navigate is not on this software's goodbooks... So I was wondering if there is any app that can help me keep the backlight on and avoid the screen locking for google navigate ?
I am on Android JB 4.2 if that matters.

My Google Navigate most certainly does keep the screen on if I'm actually using the navigation. If I'm just looking at the route then it will go into standby.

I use tasker for that:

Context: App (select all apps to apply this to)
Task: Keyguard off, display timeout to infinity (optionally add more, e.g. brightness settings)

Almost nothing that cannot be cured with Tasker :)

Does Tasker need rooting the phone ?

Not for that. It supports some "root-only stuff" as well, but that's optional.

PS: On more recent Android versions, you might need the SecureSettings plugin to disable Keyguard (on Kitkat, I needed to switch to that method).

It's odd that it happens. My last few devices always stayed on while Navigating, when Navigation was a stand alone app and now that it is part of Google Maps. You could go to Settings > Display and turn the screen timout off. Double check the settings in Navigation.
Alternatively  Screen timout toggle  is an application on the Play Store that seems to be what you are looking for.

In case you don't like RossC's recommendation of Screen Timeout Toggle because it has a timeout, try Keep Screen On. This app lets you define a list of apps to watch out for. If these apps are open, the screen is always on.
Previously, I used Screen On, but it hasn't been updated in a long while, and it doesn't seem to work well with newer Android versions.


text:
Where to find IP address in file system (e.g. proc or sys)
Is there a way to get the IP (v4) address of an interface in the file system of Android? I know I could use ifconfig or netcfg but I would like to use a monitoring tool which can only access files and not execute commands.

I have no Android to test it, but Linux offers:
 cat /proc/net/fib_trie

.. from https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/365225/how-to-get-the-ipv4-address-for-an-interface-from-proc
The output can then be filtered further by grep, e.g.
 cat /proc/net/fib_trie|grep '|--' | grep -vE ' 127|\.0[^0-9.]*$|\.255[^0-9.]*$'

According to a post on SO, cat /proc/net/tcp will return it in

the second column, with the heading "local_address", e.g. "CF00A8C0:0203".
The part after ":" is a port number.
From the rest use the last two (C0) as a hex number, e.g. C0 is 192, which is the start of the address in this example.

Further:

The IP address is displayed as a little-endian four-byte hexadecimal number; that is, the least significant byte is listed first, so you'll need to reverse the order of the bytes to convert it to an IP address.
The port number is a simple two-byte hexadecimal number.

unfortunately that does not work on my phone. that file only has the headers but no data. i'm using android 4.4.2 on a SGS4.

ah i see. there is only data if tcp connections are active. that's not so practical for my purpose.

You could also check with /proc/net/arp, but I'm not sure if that has the very same restriction. What should work, however, is looking at the device information in /proc/net/dev, and picking the desired interface (e.g. tiwlan0 for WiFi in most cases).

/proc/net/arp is empty as well on my phone and /proc/net/dev does only contain statistics but not the IP address. :-(

Then I'm out of ideas. Until someone else can give a definite answer, you might do a ls on /proc/net (and /sys/...) to check for promising candidates.

Have you checked /proc/sys/net? Also try running ipaddr from terminal emulator.

I've just checked on an off-line device. Looks like /proc/net/tcp holds something (remote_addr being 0.0.0.0, so "idle"), again using hex values (as described in my answer). In my case 0100007F as local_address, which matches 127.0.0.1 aka localhost. Looks like that's what you're after?

authors: Θοδωρής Πολυζωγοπουλος

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


text:
Where to check what apps I have purchased
I got a statement from my bank and I have 2 transactions I do not know what they are.

Google *E-Commerce Ltd GOOGLE.COM of 15.99

Normally I have a text, which indicates what app or service I have purchased. But these positions are simply don't have that information.
What is it? How to check what I have purchased in Google so far?

There should be an email saying "Thank you for your purchase of Ross's Brilliant Android Game" and the price etc etc sent to your Gmail, you could search that? Also your apps list will show anything that is purchased as below. Edit: I haven't made a brilliant game by the way, I'm not shilling anything! Edit 2: I haven't made a crap game either!

Not too many apps cost that much. Have you been buying any movies, music, or books?

I think what you want is the My Orders page.
This is reachable from the Play Store web site under the "gear" menu in the upper right.
I see all of the things I've purchased from Google Play, including apps, music, etc.

For what it's worth, there does not appear to be a way to get a list of your orders from within the Play Store app. However, I do see a list of transactions in my Google Wallet app, although admittedly they're not all necessarily from the Play Store.

Thats probably a better answer than mine. Thats what I get for usually using freebie apps ;)

I feel this is the best answer because it includes all items, not just apps, that Google would bill you for - thus matching the transaction data in the question.

Me either. I just went to the site and started looking around.

Wow it's good to find this, some of the rubbish I have forked money over for is surprising. I have bought some real rubbish! Good to have a record in one place.

Try the app Purchased Apps.

You can now browse and install your previous application purchases. It
  shows only applications that you purchased, you don't have to dig
  through hundreds of free apps anymore.

Your Google Wallet shows all the transactions you made within Google’s websites. Since it’s your bank statement that shows a payment to google, it could be a range of things you paid for.
Visit wallet.google.com and in the transactions tab you will find all the purchases with name, date and value. When you click the transaction it shows you what you purchased, and even the credit card you used.

While the Play Store requires Google Wallet, Google Wallet can be used to purchase other things, so all the transactions listed there may not all be from the Play Store, and even then may not list exactly what was purchased. In any event, can you expand your answer, perhaps, with exactly the steps one would use to see previous transactions?

I mean, even though it lists all purchases, since it's his bank statement that's showing it, it could have been something else. Since all you purchase through Google appears on the wallet, it could be simpler to go there, because it shows everything. Also, sorry for the short answer, I'll elaborate better next time.

Don't wait until "next time". Go ahead and [edit] it now. This could be turned into an excellent answer.

https://play.google.com/apps should show all the apps you have purchased under my apps. You'd probably have to work out which one of those apps is the one you're thinking about though

This one also includes the FREE apps.


text:
Change Margins on Kobo App
I've recently installed the Kobo App for Android on a Galaxy Mega running Android 4.2.2.
The default margin width is way too big for my liking. Is there are way to change the margin setting?
I can see options to change font and colour settings. Are there any additional config files that give more control over this app's display style?

Possibly because your phone is so ridiculously large the app is giving it the screen layout it would have on 7in tablets. You should complain to the developer and ask them to fix it.

Many apps just upscale to the screen, with very mixed results. It's very apparent on a Nexus 7, worse on a 10. As Dan said, get on to the app developer, with a nice polite email it may only be a few tweaks (s)he needs to make and if he's a decent developer (s)he'll want to know!

Thanks Dan and RossC. I've notified Kobo and got a message back from their support team that my feature request has been received. Others with the same issue might consider doing likewise.


text:
Any way to auto-update cyanogenmod with encryption enabled?
I've been enjoying cyanogenmod a lot, but the auto-updates don't work, since I encrypted the phone.  I'd like to have both, if possible, even if there's a bit of work involved.
Is there any fix / third-party tool that can auto-update an encrypted cyanogenmod installation?

Auto updates are not available yet, but you can update your phone with this recipe:  https://www.bfccomputing.com/updating-cyanogenmod-11-kitkat-milestones-on-encrypted-devices/
Worked smoothly for me between CM 11 versions on a Galaxy Note 2 (t0lte).

I think if you set up an additional unencrypted partition, or add an unencrypted sdcard (if your device has a slot - not my Nexus 7) and mount it up and copy over the update file before flashing, it will work.


text:
Settings related to reading QR codes
I wanted to use the Google Authenticator app to set up two factor authentication. However when I click on the button to scan a QR code, it opens up a camera with 'NAB Banking' at the top (my internet banking app). When I scan a code, it says 'Oops! This isn't a valid BPAY code.' (see screenshot below)
Is there some settings related to using the camera for QR code scanning, that my internet banking app has taken 'hostage'?  (That I might hopefully be able to clear?) I didn't have the NAB app open at the time, and as far as I remember I have never used the QR code scanning from within it.
Versions:

Google Authenticator 2.49
NAB: 3.0.1
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3, GT-19305, Android version 4.1.2

Could you try to go to the Settings > Apps > NAB Banking page and tap "Clear Defaults"? Does this still happen after clearing the defaults for NAB Banking?

@dotVezz it already says "no defaults set".

Stupid question: Do you have any QR reader installed at all? Maybe your banking app is the only one registered for barcode reading. No other candidate, no other choice.

@Izzy good point. I just installed an app which reads QR codes if I open it directly, but if I use the Google Authenticator app it still goes to the NAB reader.

One more guess: maybe it can not be "any" QR app, but needs to be a specific one. Many apps use the ZXing library for barcodes, so you might give the ZXing Reader a try (though I prefer QR Droid :))

The solution for your issue can be found on the app's help page. As I already guessed, you need to install a barcode reader app. But not just "any", ist has to be a specific one. And moreover, even my guess for ZXing Reader was absolutely correct – if you take a closer look at the screenshot taken from that place:

Screenshot from the Google Authenticator help page (click image for original size)
Btw: The name "ZXing" stands for Zebra Crossing, but I doubt it can decode the Zebra's natural barcodes :)
As it reportedly works as well in this context, I recommend using QR Droid if you want to use the QR Reader for additional tasks as well. QR Droid has a much nicer interface, offers additional features, and gives you much more flexibility.

QR Droid works too. I think you just need a QR Reader that doesn't limit you to some form of data, and Google provided the most popular to help users that don't know :)

If QR Droid works as well, as Shywim suggests, I'd prefer that over ZXing as it gives you much more flexibility (and has a nicer GUI ;)

Thanks @Izzy, great detective work! I installed QR Droid and now it works. No idea how you found that help page. Would be good if it was linked from the app itself.

That's how I found it: It's linked from the app's description on Google Play, directly :) // One PS: My guess is your banking app also uses the ZXing library, and exposed its intents – so GA thought it detected the ZXing Reader itself... Thanks for the feedback on QR Droid, confirming Shywim. I will include that with my answer.

Maybe install a QR code reader from the app store. That's what I did when setting up Authenticator.

I just tried that, but Google Authenticator still goes to the NAB app camera.

@pfctdayelise: In settings -> Applications -> NAB Banking -> tap on Clear Defaults


text:
How can I stop being redirected to the App Store/Google Store by dodgy ad-scripts?
There are a load of sites that do this now, and it's really annoying:

I visit a content site on my Android device.
10-15 seconds after loading starts the site hangs for a few seconds.
Google play store loads with a garbage app (usually some awful FTP or useless battery app) pre-selected.

This appears to be because a dodgy ad-script (i.e. Javascript running in the web page) is somehow able to redirect my device to open a link to an application in the store without me selecting it directly.
I consider it to be a critical security fail that Android lets this happen, but then Iphones do the exact same thing (but hang for much longer opening the app store).
This isn't me accidentally clicking on anything - the site loads, then the play-store redirect fires, every time.
Is there any way to stop this? Any option I can set in the store or browser to stop this incredibly annoying behaviour?
I'm on a Nexus 7, but I've seen this on lots of other Android devices.

To be clear, this is a browser feature that calls a system (Android) "hook".

@user66001 This is a 5 year old issue, I'm fairly sure it was due to JS being allowed to execute non HTTP protocols (without user interaction) that's long been blocked by better CORS. This was a massive pain in 2014, I don't think I've seen it for years.

You can't stop websites redirecting you to other sites: that's just how the web works. What you can do is stop links to apps on Google Play opening in the Play Store app.
Android 6 (Marshmallow):
From the main device settings, go to Apps, then find Google Play Store in the list, click Open by default, then Open supported links, then Don't open in this app.
Older Android:
From the main device settings, go to Apps, then find Play Store in the list, and click Clear defaults.
Next time a website redirects you to a Google Play link, you'll get a chooser asking you whether to open it in the browser (it'll give you a choice of browsers if you have several installed) or with the Play Store app. Select the web browser and click Always. Now links to Google Play will never open in the Play Store app.
Note that this isn't a security problem, whichever behaviour you choose. Web links can only open apps on the device if (1) the app specifically says it can understand/handle that kind of link; and (2) the app specifically says that it's safe to access it in that way from the web. The app does this using an intent filter marked with the browsable category.

I'm fine with a link that I click on opening the app - that's useful behaviour. What I have a problem with is it opening the app-link when I haven't selected it. This is a security problem as web pages should not be able to do a cross-origin redirect without user intervention (which is why malware sites attempt click-jacking to achieve a similar effect). I think that's why your workaround works - Chrome (correctly) disallows the cross-origin web-request while Android (incorrectly) allows the cross-app one.

I'd try Dan's approach with a slightly different last step then: Instead of selecting the browser as new default, simply hit the "back" button when the popup comes. That should abort the action. Side-effect then is you'll always have that pop-up, and must select the target app manually each time. Only other way is avoiding those sites, and optionally leaving a corresonding comment to the webmaster/service/whatever-contact-given.

@Keith It's perfectly normal for a site to redirect to a different domain. The same thing happens when you use a shortened URL, or click on a Google search result. It would only be a security problem if the app let you take some action (such as installing the app) from the link without further intervention.

@DanHulme when you click on a search result that's a user-initiated action. URL shortening services return a header that redirects the browser. Both of these are ok. However you can't have a script loaded in the page that redirects the user to another page on a different domain - if you could loading a page full of ad-redirects would launch loads of new pages or pop-ups (like the bad old days on the PC). All the newer browsers implement some kind of CORS to avoid that. This is a CORS security failure at the Android OS level.

@Keith I'm not sure why you think the Android OS decides whether to follow the link or not. It's entirely up to the web browser. Only the web browser has the information about whether the action was user-initiated or not, and whether the referrer and the target share a domain or not.

@DanHulme - I think you may be right, this is something to do with the browser/OS interface. It looks like incognito mode is a workaround too, as you get the "If you open an application you will leave incognito mode" warning before you get the redirect. I think the problem is the browser deferring all application links to the OS/app once you've set an app to open that protocol, while actually it should only defer after it's verified the user initiation.

I don't agree with this comment that this is not a security issue. Javascript and browsers in general were not designed for the mega-add networks we have now or the disconnect between content providers and the content they are serving. If something is happening to your device and its undesirable and obnoxious, I would argue that is a security issue. We are talking about the ads hijacking the browser and the user and performing an action on their behalf. That it fits within the existing security model is not the point - its still a security issue.

This appears to not function as a solution on all devices and versions of Android. I'm running 5.1 on a Moto X 2nd gen, "no defaults set" for the Play store app, and malicious ads are still able to launch the Play store app from Chrome.

As of 2017 and Android 7.1 this is no longer working. This flaw allows websites to make themselves unusable by infinitely redirecting the user to the play store. I have disabled the "Open Supported Links" for the play store but they still open. I notice there are a few greyed out options that I can't delete, so I assume Google has decided to hard code this. Any other options?

Doesn't work with Android 10

Confirm it doesn't work on android 8. The policy is simply ignored.

Finally, thanks for this solution. Now i don't have to automatically be redirected into play store when watching  in game ads. and i do not have to pin the game anymore

I take it since you never mentioned it that your unrooted and using stock browser (chrome).
The solutions i can think of, disable javascript, install alternative browser for example Firefox which has an adblock addon or root your device and use something like adaway.

It's getting annoying enough that I'm considering it, but I don't really want to have to root the tablet.

Without rooting you're limited to options for adblocking. I would try the alternative browser route. Unfortunately since Google is a company which relies on advertising it has removed all ad blocking apps from the play store, while i understand their position it leaves mobile browsing open to abusive practices. Hope you find a solution.

@mickc1306 that's very true, over 90% of their revenue is advertising, it is NOT in their interest to allow you to block ads. The very reason I rooted was AdAway to be honest. It also removes the ad frame from some apps so they are nice and full screen again. Now I just root out of the box pretty much. Once you get used to removing bloatware and ads, it's hard to go back!

I came here because firefox on android experiences this same behavior.

This behaviour has nothing to do with Ads. The website is loading a protocol (i.e., URL, CALLTO, etc) which the browser is then passing to a default action on the system (Android/iOS/etc). Stop the browser from doing anything with that protocol (or not through JS means/without prompting) or stop the OS's association between protocol and action (though this latter will disable other apps using the same functionality from launching the app store), and problem is solved.

You don't need root to stop this dead in its tracks.
adblockplus.org
Is not on the play store. Its 100% free and works flawlessly. Has several options. Ability to block all ads or just ones like these annoying redirects xploits we talk about here.
And it's a browser security issue not an android os issue.

Good link for non-rooted devices. +1

It is a Android OS issue. -1

As an android developer, that releases apps that are supported by ads, I will never support any type of AdBlock apps on android. They steal revenue from developers, which is why they are not allowed on the play store.

Is developer friendly. By default is set to only block intrusive adverts like the ones discussed here. I only use it for blocking intrusive adverts. And full screen adverts that attempt tap jacking. I'm sorry if your a developer that uses such advertising methods in your software applications but I won't ever change in my beliefs.

@RyanConrad I agree with ads in principal but as a developer do you really think someone who is in the middle of reading a FB article on (funny cats/txts/whatever) will actually be happy with their forced redirection to the playstore in the middle of reading? Then they have to go back & try to find where they were and hope they don't get kicked back over again...do you think any of these people will actually be in any good mood to download the battery app or F2P game?  Remember, it's not like an ad on a traditional webpage

Exactly.  @Ben-Jamin. And Adblockplus does just that. It doesn't 'steal revenue' as Ryan Conrad mentioned at all. It just stops intrusive adverts. Tap jacking attempts. And if your a developer that impliments such vicious methods of advertising for revenue should be shot. And the reason Google don't have any ad blocking software on play store is because it goes against everything that Google are. What you think Google comes from. Lol. Without adverts Google is nothing. Adverts is Google main source of income.it always has beenGoogle are to blame for such adverts on th Internet.not a bad thing

@RyanConrad I'm happy with ads, they aren't the problem. The problem is ad scripts that stop me browsing, vibrate the phone, pop a dialog and then redirect me to the app store. I want to support developers using the ad supported model, I do, but with ads running rampant don't really have another option. These dark patterns must work for some poor dupes that end up with malware installed, but for me any app that is advertised to me with this kind of script guarantees I will never install it and warn my friends not to either. Android needs to close the security hole.

@HasH_BrowN - It ISN'T inherintly an OS issue. Set or design a browser to not do anything with the 'app store' protocol, and the OS will never know that the request existed. If you view the ability to click a link in an e-mail, some other app, or website and just bring one to the info page in the app store as a OS issue, then that may be a point.


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Printing documents from secure online system w/ controlled page breaks?
We use an online system where you can log in with a username and password and gain access to printable documents. The online system uses CSS rules, so that if you are viewing it on the screen it has certain features that are not included in the printout. Also, it has page break rules so that it can repeat the logo on every page and say Page 2 of 3, etc.
This works great on a laptop, but I want to use Android.
I've seen tablet multiple print solutions.

Some of them ignore the print styling, which is bad because then the page breaks based on the length of the content instead of the instructions of the online system.
Some of them use an outside app which separately fetches the content, which doesn't work because like I said it is behind a login, and the cookies are not transferred to the other app. (for good reason)

Is there a print solution for Android that does not suffer these types of problems? Can you outline

What Android versions would be necessary?
What types of printers would be needed?

Also, keep in mind this is a mobile solution. I can either physically plug in the printer or connect the printer to the same WiFi hot spot, or Bluetooth, or something else you suggest.

Android 4.4 (KitKat) has a built-in printing system. It uses "Cloud Print", which can print to a "Cloud Print ready" printer, or to a normal printer accessible from an Internet-connected PC running Google Chrome. In either case, the target printer doesn't even have to be on the same network, if both the printer and your tablet are connected to Internet. You can also use this system to generate a PDF from the content you're trying to print.
I haven't tried using Chrome to print a web page with CSS rules as you describe, so I can't say for sure that you'll get exactly the results you'd get on desktop, but I'd expect it to work the same way.

Thanks. I still need to know whether the CSS rules work. I created a test page. I'd appreciate someone testing it. If test 1 and 2 are successful, that answers the CSS question. It doesn't answer the login page question, so I also need to know if it works on a page where login is required.


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What is the system APK that handles the calls in ICS?
I'm trying to figure out what system APK handles the calls in Android ICS? I've found that Messaging is the one for SMS, but what is for phone calls?
The reason I'm asking is because I'm adding them to Greenify. Since Greenify has a feature that wakes them up whenever there's an SMS or call, I want them hibernated when not in use since I don't text or call often.

Is it the default dialer.apk you are using or a custom (HTC/Samsung) etc one? Also, would greenify make any difference to something that doesn't run unless there is a broadcast received ala SMS or incoming/outgoing call? I'm not sure, hence the question, but I would have thought in this case unhibernating, receiving text/call and hibernating again would have a higher overhead than just leaving it in this specific case.

I'm using MIUI that is based on ICS. I tried Greenifying the Phone app but that doesn't seem to be it. I'm not sure if it makes any difference but I'm still doing it just in case. I've got a pretty old phone so the more I save the better.


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keep recording audio even if camera takes photo
How can I take a photo without having to restart recording audio? I have a lecturer who's handwriting on the board must be deciphered after class, but I don't want to bring two devices to class, one for audio and one for photos. The stock software basically crashes the record app if the camera is started. I think my old flip-phone might have better multitasking...
Device in particular is a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but I am curious about android devices in general.

On my Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III with a Android 4.1.2, I use Camera Zoom FX (non-free): it can take pictures without stopping recordings done by Android's native voice recorder (unlike the native camera application).

Do you use a third party application to voice record? If you disable the shutter sound and use something like Smart Voice Record, I'm able to successfully voice record and take pictures without a problem.

How do you disable shutter sound? Everything I am using is stock.

Click the settings gear icon in the camera, then youll get a pop up and tap on another gear icon scroll down and turn shutter sound off. Also, use Smart Voice Record.

There is no option for shutter sound.

There has to be. I also have a Note 3.

I think perhaps it has been removed depending on cellphone service provider.

Anyways, you can still probably just use Smart Voice Recorder anyways even with the Shutter on just turn the volume all the way down to silent.

That doesn't work on my phone, although it may on other non-verizon phones.

You can use Skyro Voice Recorder which does both voice recording and has ability to attach pictures to recordings. Now you can create nice lectures with audio and images synced.
It automatically attaches pictures taken during the recording to your audio, you can also add photos from gallery/dropbox/drive etc. Amazing app all these features are completely free. The new version of the app does it really well, automatically create a slideshow at the end of the recording with images taken during the recording.


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Android on Virtualbox - Internet connection isn't available to all apps
I've installed Android on Virtualbox. Everything works fine. As I started Android, I was able to insert my google username, browse the web, install application via PlayStore.
However, there are some applications I've installed that aren't able to use internet! They say that no internet connection is available.
I googled around, and I only found pages in which they solve the situation in which internet connection isn't available at all. But I did not find anything about my problem.
If other details are needed, please ask and I'll post them.
Cheers!

What applications don't work, and which ones do?

I believe many apps try and detect if your phone is connected via wifi or cell network, and consider themselves offline if neither is available.  In your case you'll be connected via virtual ethernet or NAT, which isn't a "regular" way for an Android device to be connected, so apps don't recognise it.


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Google Play Store - No Connection (Galaxy Note 3)
I'm have connectivity issues with the Google Play Store app.  I have a non-rooted Note 3 (4.3).  The had worked the first few weeks I had the phone in December and then hasn't worked since.  I get the same "No connection - Retry" error everytime I access it.  I've been have trouble with Google Play Services since I tried disabling it when I realized how much battery life it drained.  I've had trouble using Youtube at times but never as persistent and consistent as the Play Store.
I have done the following:

Wi-fi/LTE connections, no difference between the two
Airplane mode on/off
Manual and automatic date/time
Updated both Google Play Services and Google Play Store via Android Police

I have basically done everything except a factory reset which seems like the next logical step but it does not fix the problem for everyone.  I am trying to figure out if there is anything else I haven't tried that I may be overlooking.
Thank you!

Seems like it, however none of the suggested methods in the linked thread have helped out @Bench

You NEED Google Play Services enabled. Re-enable it. If battery drain is an issue it is almost certainly down to location history, location requests and location reporting. Turn them off in your Google settings, but make sure the actual Play Services are enabled. If you've done that, the clear the market Cache and Data and reboot the device and log back in to the Play Store again.  Here is some info on the battery drain issue if you want more depth: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/help/solution-to-google-services-android-t2385843

I had a similar issue and found it was due to having previously installed Adblock-Plus. It requires you set up a localhost proxy in your WiFi connections. When I removed Adblock-Plus I forgot to undo the proxy settings. When I removed the proxy the connection worked fine.

@RossC I had Google Play Services enable but I went to check my disabled list and Google Play Services Framework was disabled!  You helped my find the answer!  Thank you, sir, for the help and the link to help with battery drain!


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Auto Backup / Instant Upload of other folders
Is there a way, natively or through 3rd party app that I can define folders to watch on my phone that auto backsup photos to a particular album or to the autobackup section of my Google+ account.
I dont want to use other services such as dropbox etc, I want to know if theres an option to keep it all with Google.

As of Google+ 4.3 you can select which local folder are included in auto backup.

If you're happy to use Google Drive, there is an Android app called DriveSync by ttxapps that will do what you want. I use the Dropbox version called DropSync and it works brilliantly.

@Nucleotide you should probably comment on the question and not my answer.

Oops! I'm using the new Android app. Still getting used to it. :)

Selecting folders is now available.


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Set Default Keyboard without having to long hold text input?
So I have successfully installed a new keyboard and enabled it in settings > keyboard and languages.    I have been able to set it to the default keyboard by doing a long press on an input field and selecting inputmethod... however I need to do this on several devices and its kind of lengthy ...
is there a way to set this with a shell command?

Question #2 is off-topic here.

is there a better place? I thought this was all things android including builds (we already compile the kernel with some custom modifications) I can remove 2. if you think I should. it would be nice to get a suggestion for an alternate place to ask (pretty sure its too specific for stackoverflow)

Please read our [help/on-topic]. This site is for user's of Android devices. If you're slinging code this isn't the right place for your question. This may be helpful: Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions?

since its mostly on topic can I leave question 2 and if someone happens to answer its cool? or will its presence result in this topics closure?

Apart from being off-topic, SE sites work best if questions are not combined. One question per post is the policy here. I'd recommend removing the second part, optionally asking it at [SO]. As for the first part: Are you asking for a one-time job, or are you looking for something to repeat more frequently? In the latter case, it might be possible using Tasker. But setting that up is not worth the time invested if you only need it once :)

As we "crossed" while saving our comments, you might have missed my edit: Are you asking for a one-time job, or are you looking for something to repeat more frequently? In the latter case, it might be possible using Tasker. But setting that up is not worth the time invested if you only need it once :)

its a one time job per device

thanks :) that answers my question(apparently I suck at search) ... I can delete this now? or should i leave it?

Leave it. We tend to keep duplicates as pointers for people with "limited search-Fu" :) No kidding. Search can be tricky even if you know the question exists, happens even to us "old hands" quite often, though we think ourselves having a quite cultivated "search-Fu"...

long press on an input field doesn't bring up anything to select the default keyboard for me..


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Soft Brick? I closed the magnetic case cover of my Nexus 7 while my newly flashed Rom was optimizing apps and....Brick
I bought a Nexus 7 2012 grouper.
 I used wug's nexus 7 rootkit tool for windows on WinXp.
The drivers took a bit of tinkering but eventually I got the Raw drivers configured.
Everything was going along just fine, unlocked, rooted, flashed recovery happy day!
Downloaded and flashed Paranoid Android it booted up.
Paranoid was optimizing my apps (it had a couple hundread to do) so i figured I was past the critical part so I closed the case and put it down to do other things...
Aparently this was a bad idea. It boot looped when I turned ir back on. Tried to optimize apps again for a secons then went back to the boot animation. I turned it off and back on and it never went to app optimization again just boot animation. Now it just fails to boot and I cant get past the bootloader.
Recovery mode wont load but bootloader will.
I tried to flash recovery but adb says it cannot find the device.
I had this problem before until I got the right drivers installed and updated and the kicker that made it all work was my pc's signature popping up on my nexus and I said ok to give access. Because im stuck in bootloader mode it doesnt give me the option to allow the pc access, this seems like a problem.
I tried to use wugs tools for softbricked devices, flash stock with wugs but I get
Writeing bootloader FAILED
Invalid State
And the .bat hangs and cannot be closed without a reboot.
I also tried from linux where I have the android dev setup. Before I started this process it allowed me to access the nexus file system pretty reliably. Now linux does not notice that anything is plugged in and adb says Device Not Found.
So this is where I am at. Please and thank you for your help.

If you can get the bootloader, you can use fastboot to flash a new Recovery, and even do a factory reset.  But just to confirm, what happens if you plug it in, then type sudo fastboot devices from Linux?

Oo! It gives me a big long number string and fastboot thats the nexus right?!

I've posted an answer with a few of your options. Also, if I had to guess, I'd guess that you installed ParanoidAndroid from stock, without doing a factory reset - and that was probably what was wrong.

Since you do have working fastboot access, you have a few options from there:
You can...

Get a custom recovery like TWRP. Then run fastboot flash recovery /path/to/twrp.img.

With TWRP, you can to try to reinstall ROMS, do factory resets, and make backups of your current system (Which may be a good idea, even if it's bricked).

Do a factory reset with fastboot format data and fastboot format cache.
Try to install stock Android (keeping data) from the Factory Images by running included flash-base.sh, included in the image download.
If all else fails, you can unbrick it by running the flash-all.sh - which will essentially reset it to a like-new state, with the stock OS and no data.

If you wind up doing a factory reset after all, you can use Titanium Backup to extract the apps and settings from the TWRP backups.

Ok so i flashed recovery and i now can get into recovery mode. First thing that happens is Iit asks me for a password (what password?). So it lets me cancel out of the password screen and gives me options. At this point I just want the quickest way to functional tablet. So I tried a few things: I tried backing up it says "unable to mount /system unable to mount /cashe.

I also tried formating data but it said "formating not supported in partitions of type ' '. I also tried flashall but apparently ive got my syntax wrong because it talks about -p product which apparently isnt "nexus 7" so ill go read some guides and see whatI can do. Also I have an app backup made with wugs will I be able to restore that later?

Ok Solved! We have Operation! Here is what happened.
Fastboot format data failed "cannot format partition type ' '
Please Enter Password: Error Popped up in TWRP when I had never set one and when I tried to do anything it could never mount /system or /cache or anything
I did fastboot flash recovery Clockwork recovery zip and from there
I got the error 'cannot read sideload'.
Luckily the answer to that was a Google search away with the fix of putting the file in the same dir as adb.
So by using Clockwork Recovery "Install from Sideload" option andadb sideload rom.zip I was able to install a custom rom and boot into it! woooohooo UNbricked!
Thanks!

Crazy weird issues you had, but good job getting it working. Good display of ingenuity.

Yeah im new to android but not computers. I swear sometimes they are just testing our courage. I couldnt have done it without you, thank you very much!


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Are there any downsides or risks to limiting background processes?
I enabled developer options on my Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos and then changed "Limit background process" option from Standard limit to No background process.
After that my phone is working fine, with no hanging problems or no slowness as before.
But my doubt is, will this change affect any process, updates, applications or anything which might cause an error or failure?

Setting this option forces Android to stop each process as soon as it is empty (that is, when no services are started and no activities are on screen for that app).
To be clear: this option won't stop apps that would normally run in the background from doing so. Your mail client will still run periodically to check mail, if it's configured to do that. Apps that use Google Cloud Messaging to receive push messages from Internet servers (such as Gmail and Facebook) will still be able to do so. The option would be better named "Cached background process limit", since it limits apps that would otherwise show up with that label in the apps manager.
This should lead to your phone working faster.
It might use slightly more or less battery, since it'll use some power to unloading apps from memory earlier than Android usually does it.
The battery impact will depend on your personal usage; If your device doesn't have much ram and/or you don't only use the same few apps all the time, you should get a small battery boost. If you only use the same few apps all the time, you might experience a larger battery drain (from unloading and reloading the apps from memory every time).
Because this is a development option, it can also trigger rare bugs in certain apps, and those apps' developers may not be keen to fix them. One example is that, on Nexus devices running 4.2.2, when this option is on, the in-built Calendar app will keep restarting itself with this option set, because stopping the cached background process causes the calendar's content provider to be removed, which causes a loop of services restarting each other to check for calendar updates. If this happens, the loop will run down your battery very quickly.
Automation
The setting will be reset every time your device is shut down. If you want to automate setting your preference at boot, you can use tasker with this task: https://taskernet.com/shares/?user=AS35m8mXwt%2Bxy%2Bkh8K4BRW8pJsHtAYqKGwf%2F0NNidJ2TYe0iDRQsJInNDFFMCPaPm1pYHKuaTMU%3D&id=Task%3AToggle+Background+Process+Limit
You will need to give tasker »Set proces limit permission« using adb with
adb shell pm grant net.dinglisch.android.taskerm android.permission.SET_PROCESS_LIMIT.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/tasker/comments/cn5ufe/task_toggle_androids_background_process_limit/

The restart bug is still present on Android 6.0....

@HenryHu "It doesn't work if I change the behaviour of the OS in a way that's only for testing" isn't really much of a bug.

but the problem may surface in other situations. In a scenario when there is memory pressure, the Calendar app is also being killed and restarts itself. It should really be a service.

Works like a charm! Enabled it on my XZ2C that had started to chug (still waiting for a new real small phone to update to...).

This setting has helped my preserve battery life, since my phone isn't overheating because of too many background processes running. The amount of apps silently crashing in the background has also diminished greatly. I have enabled showing errors for unresponsive background apps, to be able force close them before they start slow down and overheat my phone.

I recently found that same setting (i.e., number of processes allowed to run in background), and I reduced that setting on my GT-S7562L from "Standard Limit" to only 1. I immediately saw a significant improvement in performance, and so far there have been no problems.  I made the change out of desperation - my phone had nearly morphed into a brick. It was continually running slow, and would often just simply lock up. I have read that a shortfall of Android systems is that they allow applications to keep grabbing memory until it's gone. Maybe I have solved that problem for my phone. I guess I'll know in a few days, but so far I'm quite happy.

I keep my phone at 4 background processes max, and it has much higher performance than on standard. I receive all my notifications (which I have personally managed in the notifications setting) without any notable difference. I am very pleased that this setting exists in developer options. Also provides for enhanced security and lower battery consumption.

How does it provide the enhanced security?

Setting limit to phone background process can really improve the performance of your phone. Only, if you open an application, the phone will take a few seconds to load since it will load first the necessary files to be used by a certain apps.
Another advantage, you can prolong the battery life since there is no background process running.

Is there any reference to backup this answer, or this is based on your experience?

Maybe the lack of background process compensates the excessive app load?

One of the problems you may face yourself with is that certain services that run in the background (Tasker, Google Location Services, etc) may quit  unexpectedly. Other than that, I think that there are no other problem with limiting background apps.
Edit: what you selected makes it impossible for apps like I mentioned above to stop working. It won't be possible for gmail, for example, to update you on your received emails.

No such problems.

This is misinformation, this setting does NOT affect system services like gmail.  Take a look at your recent applications feature, these are what the setting is referring to as a "background process".  See the top answer by @dan-hulme for more information.

If you will choose no background processes your phone will revert ro 1995 Nokia mobile. It will stop all types of notification update and prosser data transmission, your phone will only perform for taking a call or messages from your mobile number service provider.
Keep your phone in standard background process until it's not become 2 year old and performing very slow.
You should keep at least 1 or 2 background processes to be in touch with smart and latest information.
There is one other option available which is to just selectively stop all background activities, it's will save your battery life and also reduce (prevent ?) heating problems.

It's definitely not true that it'll stop any notifications or any background services from running. Basically all information in this answer is wrong.


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Is it possible to change the answer swipe direction on Android 4.3, Motorola Moto G, or Samsung Galaxy S4?
I have a problem. My personal phone is a Samsung Galaxy S4 Android 4.2.2. I just got a new company phone which is a Motorola Moto G Android 4.3.
The problem is that if I swipe left when answering a call on Samsung it answers the phone. If I swipe left on the Motorola it ignores the call. Needless to say, I keep ignoring people on my business phone.
I need to figure out a way to change the direction of the answer swipe on one of them, preferably the Moto G since I'm already used to the Samsung way but I will settle for changing it on the Samsung if need be.

You could install a different dialler and see if it works the way you want or can be customised. https://play.google.com/store/search?q=dialer  Have a try of a few.

I know that Android 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 don't allow that by default (i.e, there is no setting for it.) You could, however, get another dialer or locker app. GO Locker is both a great locker and dialer, but it can get annoying, as it sometimes needs you to answer the Android OS dialer screen as well.


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Vibrate not working on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Update
Samsung Galaxy S3.
I go to Settings > My device > Sound > Vibrations
Before the Jelly Bean update, I had a custom vibration which was a medium length vibration. Now, after the Jelly Bean update a little while ago, it's just two short vibrations.
I've changed my vibration after I noticed this to "Jingle Bell" and it's still the same vibration. Any ideas on how to fix this?

I've been having the same problem. it's my understanding that as of now that is the default text message vibration and can not be changed

I hope that's not true :(

I've been searching forums all nights that's what they all say I've also been trying to get rid of my messages being displayed on the lock screen but u can't do that either

It must be a glitch, but one that can't be fixed right now. It's pathetic.

Go to Settings → My device → Sounds → Vibrate intensity → Haptic feedback → turn up to fall. This will fix your problem .I had mine turned to low, hence no vibrate fixed when turned it up.

This needs further edit since  "turn up to fall" and "no vibrate fixed when turned it up" isn't making sense, at least to me.


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Using "Bluetooth device with earphones" and headphone jack simultaneously
I have Sony Xperia SL and have a bluetooth headset (SBH20). I can play music from SBH20 when I connect it but then if I connect another earpohone to my phone's 3.5 mm jack, the audio from bluetooth device gets disabled. Only one thing works at a time, either phone's 3.5 jack or bluetooth device. Is it possible if both works simultaneously so that output can come from 2 earphones at the same time.

I could be wrong, but I believe only one can work at a time.

I have tried doing the exact opposite thing (Forcing Audio to go through bluetooth instead of device speaker) so it definitifely is possible to play at least different audio through different streams (Media, Call, etc.) It set it inside of tasker to "Media" stream and it came out of my phone, so it might be possible to get it working. The app needs to support playing Audio through multiple streams. I don't know if there is an app for that that does split it up.
Sorry for posting it as a answer, my reputation isn't high enough yet to comment...


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LAN cable not working
when I connect it does not work the internet connection by LAN cable. Even though there´s a slot for it. How can I make it work? or this LAN slot is not for connecting with cable the internet through the modem rooter.
Tablet Model: wwe10 Android version: 2.2V1.5:#3566 Kernel version: 2.6.32.9 infotm-sqa@infotm-sqa-desktop #72 Build number: FRF85B

make sure its not app related.  For example FolderSync app works fine with wifi but NOT over an ethernet cable, but at the same time chrome and other network features are working.

Based on the assumption that your router is working and you can use WiFi, there could be two or more explanations to your problem:

Either your tablet and your router are not compatible with each other, the port might be there but might need a higher network adapter compared to the one in your WWE10 tablet.
There's a high possibility that your tablet network adapter is not working and that would mean you having it replaced.
WWE10 tablets are known to have an ethernet (LAN) adapter problem. What you could possibly do to remove this problem is have it flashed by an expert, or try doing it yourself using this how to guide.

As silly as it sounds, make sure the cable itself isn't damaged! Check if WiFi works as the answer above says, and make sure the ethernet cable works on something else (e.g. a PC).

That does not sound silly. It is even a good question.

authors: Тэмүүжин Одгэрэл


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Rooted phone bricked without CWM
Hello~ I just wanted to ask whether my phone has a chance to be fixed or not. My bro just installed a chainfire 3d app on it and the next thing I know, my phone was bricked and stucked on the android logo.
My phone is rooted but I dont have clockwork mod, but I can still access the recovery mode. I dont have an external mmc though, Is there any way to fix it?
I tried ADB then in the recovery mode, I choosed install from adb etc. etc. then it will be detected on the pc using adb devices. but whenever I use other adb commands, it says error: closed.
I remember reflashing an old phone a long time ago using ODIN but  I can't remember how-to anymore. Am I able to do the same thing in my phone? That was a samsung pocket. My phone I am using now is a Cherry Mobile Thunder 2.0 / Android Jellybean
I also tried pressing Vol- + Power then it brings me to Factory mode. But only tests and celar mmc etc. no download mode. but if I press vol+ power then it is in the recovery mode.

What phone do you have? Since you have access to recovery you can install a custom Rom or your stock if you can find it on zip

When you are on the bootlogo, adb shell doesn't work either?

As Shywim suggested, try accessing the device via ADB, so you might be able to uninstall it using ADB tools. Another thing to try: Can you boot into safe-mode? If so, you could uninstall the "offending app" from there.

@Shywim it says error: closed. :( user52368 It's a cherry mobile thunder 2.0 and a jelly bean how can I put the zip inside the internal memory? Izzy I can't boot into safe mode. or I just dont know how. I have a phone that does not have a physical Home Button. Tried different procedures but cannot get past the android logo. it freezes before booting up / getting in the lock screen

Since this is getting inactive for so long and no one seems to know the solution. Then I guess I'll bring my phone to where I bought it and face the consequences of my actions HAHA! If they can't fix it, then no one can. LOL
Cheers, guise!

If it's "bricked" you may still be able to run the manufacturer flash utility to start over.
It seems very odd that is would be bricked by installing an Android app, though. Can you run adb uninstall id.of.app when it boots up?

Chainfire 3D is not compatible for Jellybean users so I think it's why my phone was bricked. And nope sorry, it doesn't boot up. stuck at the logo and then it will freeze. But I can access Recovery mode (vol+ and power) or Factory mode (vol- and power) with just options for hardware tests. etc

Is there some sort of universal flasher or whatever? According to my friends, it is only soft bricked because it is stucked on the logo.

It shouldn't brick, just not install, if incompatible. Are you sure that's what caused it?

Yes. after installing chainfire 3d, there is another install in the app. after choosing that, it restarted and now it does not boot. :(

Did the apk get corrupted somehow? Did you get it from F-Droid or Play store? Xda forum might have something helpful.

Don't know where my bro got it. I think in the play store. CHainfire 3D. It was installed then nothing happened. it started bricking the phone right after doing the Install inside the app itself. Also, it has a superuser access so I think some system files has been rewritten.

To do the hard reset here is the step: > Set the volume into its maximum level > Hold the power button for about 40 50 seconds > Wait until the pop-up window appears > The release > Control up the volume to select factory reset > Then continue the process until you finished

authors: Максим Быстров


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Hidden Root Browser on MIUI?
I have just installed MIUI on my phone and when I was about to select a picture to attach to a message, I was prompted with the following:

The thing is, I don't have Root Browser installed. I also can't see it on the list of apps on the MIUI launcher. But it's being offered as an option when I choose files and it works. Can anyone explain how this is the case?

Are you using a custom launcher that allows you to hide apps in the app drawer? (Nova lets you do this)

Oh, I just noticed you are using MIUI launcher. I don't know what that looks like. But there's probably a setting / screen somewhere that lets you hide the app.

Do you have ROM Toolbox installed? According to Root Browser's store page, it is included in ROM Toolbox.

I don't think I have ROM toolbox either. Does MIUI include it by default? I can't see ROM toolbox on the apps either.


text:
Hotword detection of google now / search not woking
After switching to a new ROM I restored Google Now using Titanium backup but however I no longer have hotword detection enabled neither do I have the option to enable it (It is simply missing)!
It used to say Search, or say "OK Google" but now it only says Search
However, speech recognition in general works fine!
Other relevant information:

Using Samsung Galaxy SII
Using Vivek ROM but experienced same problem on CyanogenMod

Solved it!
I realised that I had set Language to 'English(UK)' (under 'voice' settings of the Google Now app) and apparently hotword detection currently works only with English(US) (In my case, the offline voice recognition package I had installed was 'English(US)' , but language was English(UK) )!
Solution:
So a simple switching of 'Language' to English(US) will do the trick!
It is a little funny, who would have guessed English(US) and English(UK) are considered completely different languages!
By the way:
I tried downloading and installing English(UK) as my offline voice recognition language and then switching the Language as well to English(UK) BUT it didn't work, hotword detection stopped working again. This means Hotword detection only works with English(US) irrespective of whether you have other offline voice recognition packages installed as well!

You don't need to put edits in an "edit" section. Your answer would be most useful if you just make the correction; as it stands, the answer tells people the wrong thing, and then says it's wrong.

Will keep in mind...(fixed solution)


text:
Google search appears out of nowhere
From time to time Google (voice) search randomly starts on my phone (Huawei Ascend Y300, Android version 4.1.1). I'll be listening to music for example, change song, and out of nowhere Google voice search will open. I have no idea what button I'm pressing or what I'm doing to activate this. I would ideally deactivate this completely, but knowing what it is I do to open this will also be of great help.
I've gone to the settings when I get this screen. Google Now is already turned off and there doesn't seem to be anything relevant there I can do.

Screenshot (click for larger variant)

Hi, what type of phone is it? Different devices have different shortcuts on them, not usually to voice search but yours might. E.g. on Samusng holding menu is the shortcut to Google Search, holding home is shortcut to app manager etc. It MIGHT be something simple like that, the capacative buttons are VERY easy to press against and any sweat/moisture can cause them to register a long press. Failing that maybe uninstall and reinstall search/voice search. But try holding buttons etc, check your phone manual.

I have a Huawei Ascend Y300. It only has six buttons; the top to turn it on and off, two volume buttons, and the back, home, and settings buttons. It sometimes seems there's a magical hidden button somewhere that I keep pressing...

It appears you are not alone with this issue and it is a bug in the device itself: http://androidforums.com/huawei-ascend-y300/795270-permanently-disable-google-voice-y300.html You may need to turn off voice search, which is going to be a problem potentially as it is part of Google Search. http://www.modaco.com/topic/368392-twisting-earphone-plug-opens-google-search-wtf/ here also, may be related to headphones, but nothing conclusive.

Long press back and settings buttons do the same as short press. Long press home button gets me a list of recent apps. It's the same on the home screen and when playing music.

@RossC Thank you for that link! Still annoying but at least I'm not the only one. I'll try disabling voice search.

@RossC That should be an answer, not a comment.

This Google Voice Search pop up appears to be a bug in the Huawei Ascend Y300 model. From  This thread on Android Forums that you are not alone with the issue but there is no resolution in the thread.
Further reading in This modaco thread that it might be related to the headphones causing something in the device to trigger Voice Search rather than the intended result e.g. skipping song, changing volume etc.
One user (referring to the headphones) states:

"I get this all the damn time on my Y300. In my case it's Voice Search that opens (I'm on CM11) and I tried renaming the VoiceSearch.apk in /system/app/ (IIRC) but still it comes up.
It's probably getting the contacts confused and triggering that third button on some headsets, but it's bloody annoying."

The fact he is using CyanogenMod and not the stock ROM suggests a Hardware issue rather than a software one.
You could attempt to disable Google Voice search while listening to music as a workaround, althought it is part of Search itself and this may be inconvenient on a day to day basis.

I think it's because of a compatibility issue in the TRRS socket. The call button in headphones functions by shorting two of the contacts, and long-pressing the call button starts voice search. If the headphone plug doesn't fit the jack properly, it might cause the short to happen involuntarily.


text:
what uses up less battery, reading an EPUB or reading a PDF?
If you get a PDF and a EPUB of the same document, and read it on the same device with the same version of Android, which would use up less battery power?

Theoretically ePub should have the advantage over PDF as it is a smaller file that is basially HTML, CSS and image files with a few XML files for defining the books metadata, chapter order and table of contents navigation zipped into 'ePub' format. It is in many ways like a website. The PDF files will often be larger as they have embedded fonts, image optimisation and their own encryption to deal with as overheads.
However, while ePub will reflow text easily it is not very good for more technical things like code and mathematical equations etc, so really what format to have the book in will depend on your need rather than an impact on the battery.
Also the more optimised the eBook reader the less overhead on your battery. The screen is the biggest drain on nearly all mobile devices and will consume far more battery than any eBook reader.
Conversely, an ePub with a LOT of markup and very, very large unoptimised image files could be a bigger overhead to render than a slimmed down, lower image quality PDF.
As per @Chahk 's comments below, the actual saving for a black background is quite low for an AMOLED screen where black is unpowered, and non existant on LCD based technologies.  This XDA user did an experiment  which should be taken as anecdotal evidence and his finding was basically after 1 hour of screen on time he had saved around 6% battery life.
 How to Geek article on black wallpaper and battery which states:

On most computer displays, such as the computer screen you’re probably reading this article on, using a black background won’t save you any battery life. No matter what color a pixel is – whether it’s dark black or blinding white – there’s a backlight at the back of your screen and it’s constantly outputting light. The black pixels block more of the backlight, but it’s still behind the black pixel, using power.

I second tis very good explanation (+1). Having the choice between ePub and PDF (my favorite reader supports both), I decide based on the book's content. If it's just a good story (novel etc.), or is mainly text with no special formattings, I always pick the ePub. But if special formattings are important, or a lot of graphics are used (mainly with technical references, as RossC pointed out), PDF is the better choice: Even if an ePub theoretically might save some juice, it wouldn't if I need to read the same parts multiple times, as formatting issues (text re-flow) made understanding difficult.

What reader do you use?

Honestly, the difference in processing power between various formats is minuscule in comparison with the power drain from having the screen on.  The reading app itself will probably not even register on Settings -> Battery graph.

@Chahk completely right, that's why I had to point out the screen brightness and having a white background will drain battery far faster than a PDF reader or an ePub reader   The screen will burn the battery faster than nearly anything on a phone, the only exception is that unoptimised mess in Google Play Services with the location etc, that they are trying to fix.

@RossC I saw that (and +1'd the answer for it), but I think it should be emphasized more.

@Chahk thanks, I've put the screen part in bold, and elaborated on the Black Screen, which I was incorrect on. Many thanks again, that's great! I think the answer is better now.

EPUB uses less battery because pdf files heavy compared epubs. It also depends on what app you are using, CPU speed and RAM of device. Reading EPUB file with black background n white text saves a lot of battery.

Black backgrounds only have (marginal) impact on battery life on AMOLED screens, where truly black pixels are unpowered. LCD based screens don't have this feature, and so they don't benefit at all from dark backgrounds.

There is a difference on AMOLED, but it's not as much as one (myself included) would have thought. You raise a good point. This thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=660853 is one person's experiment and he found that after 1 hour of screen time he had a saving of 6% which frankly isn't worth having a dark background. Very interesting. Cheers for the  heads up @Chahk


text:
What GPU is the Touchmate MID TM-MID777 Tablet?
Can anyone tell me the specifications of a tablet called MID TM-MID777 Touchmate?
Is their chipset:

Adreno
Mali
Tegra or
PowerVR?

Try my answer below, I'm assuming that you meant MID777 (and you just missed a "7" on the end), I coudn't find GPU anywhere in the specs so  I posted a more general answer below.

From this That the model - ARM Cortex processor, would hedge bets its either Adreno or PowerVR as usually goes hand in hand with each other. Tegra/Mali would be more seen with Texas Instruments chips.

Since I cannot find any reference online to the GPU in the TM-MID777, I thought I'd post this as a general link for any model instead.
Install CPU Z from the Google Play Store and run it. It will display all hardware information on your current device.

This is a sample screenshot, and can be very useful if you are buying a device, or doubt that a device is legitimate. There are a lot of clones out there and this is a great tool for that also.


text:
Reinstall uninstalled Google Play Store
How do I tackle my problem as I have mentioned in the title?
I tried to check many times but I could not install Google Play Store.
I have a Micromax a77 Canvas.

You may be able to side load the apk for the Google Play Store, http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/12/05/download-latest-google-play-store-4-5-10-with-shared-play-store-activity-iap-indicators-and-more/  get it from here. You may need to flash "gapps" for Jelly Bean from recovery if this doesn't work for you as I'm assuming you are rooted to delete the play store: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1796675

Maybe check How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device?

It's a default application so simply reset Android.
Go to Settings > Backup and reset > Factory data reset

This would be a last resort, rather than reset the device it is easier to try apk, then flash gapps zip then maybe do a factory reset / reinstall ROM. If the OP has a nandroid backup that is recent that would also be a handy solution.

I agree with @RossC; this nuclear option should only be used as a last resort when all other methods fail. Additionally, it might not even work because a factory reset will only erase /data and /cache partitions, it typically won't restore the /system partition.


text:
Xposed module for home key configuration while phone is locked
Is there an Xposed module for configuring the home key behavior (and maybe other hw keys) while the phone is locked or in sleep state, and will it also affect the home button default unlocked behaviors? e.g. torch on long press home key while locked/sleep.

Yes and it's called Xposed Additions - available as a free or paid version on the play store. I use it to disable the power button wake on my Galaxy S4 and replace it with the "media play/pause" function and it works flawlessly.

App launching and tasker integration are listed as pending features for quite a while in Xposed Additions pro, is there another module that can do this?


text:
Harden adb on Android 2.3
Actually I was never thinking about leaving my adb debugging enable on my cellphone when going outside.
Now on cyanogenmod 10 and newer, it asks me to verify the rsa key of the host, which makes really sense.
I have a htc desire z / g2 here which doesn't ask me.
It's running Cyanogenmod 7.2 as this is the newest stable, with no gappsm with Android 2.3.
How can I harden it? I know it can be disabled when the screen is locked, but that's not enough.

Disable USB Debugging?

Turn off the phone... I want this function so it asks me. Of cource I can turn off...

uhhh where did I say turn off the phone?

It means I know, I can turn it off.

The prompting of verifying the host by way of RSA Key when plugging in the cable is only found in Jellybean 4.1 and higher, so you're not going to get this on Gingerbread. In short, no other way of hardening adb other then completely disable the USB functionality (both at kernel level and android level)

That's not the answer I wanted ;) But the solution. Maybe you can post as solution, with a link to prove?

There is no way to get Gingerbread to prompt the host to verify RSA key as that is found in newer versions of Android (Jellybean 4.1 and upwards).
The only true method of hardening ADB in the sense of prevention of communicating over the USB is to modify the kernel for that appropriate device and disable the USB functionality within it in such a way that when plugging in the USB cable, the kernel does not register it and ignores it as if nothing has happened.
Knock-on side effect - if your device starts boot-looping or mis-behaving, and you want to fix it, it will be trickier to get at it since USB functionality is disabled.
Since OP mentioned its HTC Desire Z, the kernel source should be available on CyanogenMod's repository.
TL;DR: Recompile your own kernel and remove the USB functionality.
Caveat Emptor I am not responsible for any damage if you go down this route in modifying your own kernel.

Thank you. I actually don't really want to harden it, just disabling adb should be the right way for me.
But I have a solution now, thanks.

Glad to be of help :)

This application might help you doing this. I haven't tried it personally but it seems exactly like what you'd want, plus some extra stuff.

@jadkik94 Uhhh... if you read the wiki - specifically this part Lastly, it also allows you to disable ADBD (the ADB service running on the device that allows you to connect to it through command line from a remote computer) until the next reboot Emphasis mine.


text:
When modifying files, I am getting permission denied
I downloaded Android Bridge, and set my phone to debug mode. Using the console, I can enter the phone file system but when I try to modify files, it tells me "no permission."
How  can I bypass this without rooting my device?

Is your phone rooted?

I Dont thing so

The shell you get from adb shell doesn't run with special privileges, so you can't read or write files that you wouldn't be able to with a normal app. If you want to access apps' private data files, you still need to get root permission in the usual way, and use su from the shell.
It's not possible to bypass the permissions system. If you want to access inaccessible files, you need to root the device, then use a root app to access them.

Is it possible bind linux machine and reach files?

What do you mean by "bind"? You want to mount the file system on your Linux machine? That's possibe, as I've explained in my answer here. But it only gives you the very same permissions on those files as you have using adb shell.


text:
2G vs 3G Talktime
When I was going through  specs for my Xperia SP, I found the 3G talk time to be more than the 2G talk time.
Talk time:  Up to 10 h 25 min (2G) / Up to 19 h (3G)

More over I went through the specs of a few more new mobiles and in all specs 3G talk time was more than 2G talktime.
As per the specs of my old mobile the 2G talktime is more than 3G talktime.

How is it that the new mobile are able to save battery by using 3G?
And when data is turned off will there be any difference?

Recommended reading: 2G versus 3G: Does it really save battery? If it were for a single device, I'd say the've messed up (and you had to switch values). But if it's many devices from different manufacturers, it sounds strange. Didn't hear about anything having changed that drastically.

I'm not sure on the exact details of 2G vs 3G, I just wanted to point out that those stats are always assuming PERFECT coverage, a cool battery in optimal conditions. It may just be as simple as the device is optimised to run 3g and not for 2g. The SP is an LTE device and they may favour the 3/4g connections in the hardware.

Link in Izzy's comment gives the answer. 3g consumes less power for the same amount of data transferred compared to 2g.


text:
How to create a link on Android without installing a 3rd party app?
I installed some apps but I do not have a shortcut to it anywhere (these apps include Google Maps). The only way for me to start those is through Google Play.
I want to create a link to an app on the "desktop" in Android (not sure what the thing is called on Android, it's the screen that you get back to when you press the Home button (the symbol with the little house)) without rooting or a 3rd party app (except maybe for a terminal app, like Terminal IDE, which does not have mklink which might be used to achieve this).
Any way of doing that?

When you say the only way to start the app is through Google Play, do you mean that it doesn't show up in the app drawer; that is, the list of all apps that you get to from a button on the home screen? If so, you have a bigger problem, and you should [edit] your question to say what device you have.

That "thing" is called "Homescreen" or "Launcher" (depending on what aspect of it is addressed). And you can long-press an empty space on it, then select to add an app, shortcut, or widget. Selecting "app" should list up all available apps, so you can pick the one you want on your homescreen. That's it, you should now find an icon on your homescreen to launch the app.
A second way to achieve the same is to open the app drawer, and long-press the icon of the app you want to add to your homescreen. Usually, the drawer then "blends out", and you should see your home screen(s). Still holding the icon pressed, move it to the place where you want it to be, then let it go.
One more hint: The homescreen cannot be handled via "symbolic links" from within the file system. Which shortcut exists on which screen and at what position etc. is stored in the app preferences of the homescreen.

I have a Transformer (2nd generation from 2012). I can't seem to take a screenshot, but there is not much to see what you can't see online anyway. There is also no "app drawer", and sadly pressing the homescreen for longer asks me for the wallpaper :(

Nevermind, I found the app drawer. I can simply long-touch an app there and it comes to my homescreen. Thank you!

Yupp, that's the second method to do it. I just didn't mention it (yet) as it seemed you missed that drawer :) Will update my answer accordingly.


text:
Can I use 'adb tcpip' on Gingerbread devices if I root them?
I have tried using the command adb tcpip 5555 to be able to connect wirelessly to my test devices. It's working fine for devices running Android 4.0+, but every 2.x device (like the Galaxy Ace, running 2.3) I have tried gives the same result:
$ adb connect 10.26.5.215
unable to connect to 10.26.5.215:5555

I haven't been able to find anything online that says this feature only works on Android 4 - is this the case?
Will it be possible to connect ADB over TCP/IP on the 2.x devices if I root them?
N.B. I do not want to install custom kernels or ROMs, I want them to be in as similar a state to stock devices as possible.

Yes, you can, but not through the same steps as on Android 4.0+ devices.
Once your phone is rooted, run the following commands to change ADB to TCP mode and restart the adb daemon (note that you can pick the port number, I am sticking with the default of 5555):
$ su
# setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
# stop adbd
# start adbd

You can run the first three commands over adb shell, but will need to start adbd again from a terminal on the phone itself (I had strange problems when doing otherwise). You can now disconnect the USB cable if you want to, and you can connect to the phone over TCP/IP:
mycomputer$ adb connect 10.26.5.215
connected to 10.26.5.228:5555

(if you are using a non-default port you will need to specify it: adb connect 10.26.5.215:5556)
I have tested this on a Samsung Galaxy Ace (GT-S5830i) and a Galaxy S (GT-I9000), and installing APKs and running instrumentation tests are working.


text:
android virtual memory support
I want to know if android supports virtual memory concept.I know windows supports virtual memory but what about android? Do our android phones store less used data out of RAM?

Android doesn't use virtual memory (in the sense you mean) by default, because it has a higher-level mechanism. Transparently writing pages of memory to flash storage is bad for battery life (and for the life of your flash storage, which can only handle a certain number of writes) and performance, especially since the application has no control over which parts of memory are "paged out".
Instead, Android manages memory using the same mechanism it uses to decide when to terminate apps that are no longer running. When it finds it needs to free up some RAM, it chooses an app that was cached (one that isn't currently in use). It terminates this app to free its RAM, but first, it gives that app's activities a chance to save some state by writing it to storage.
By making the app explicitly choose what to save to storage, instead of just saving the whole of that app's RAM contents, Android can reduce the amount it has to write from storage and later read back. This saves storage, and saves battery power and time, because each write to and read from storage costs time and power.
Of course, Android is based on Linux, and uses virtual memory in other ways not visible to the user. Android systems must have an MMU, so apps use virtual, not physical, addresses. This protects apps from having their private data in RAM read by other apps, which is necessary for a secure system. It also uses Linux's delayed-commit to save memory: when a process asks for more memory, it only gets pages of physical memory when it actually uses them. Virtual memory also allows memory-mapped access to files in the filesystem and to memory-mapped hardware. None of this is anything to do with swap files, but it means it's not quite accurate to say that Android doesn't use virtual memory.
You can enable swap on Android: see this related question for more details. It's not recommended to do so in most cases, because it defeats the memory-saving mechanism described above. Adding a swap partition will make the battery run down faster, wear out your flash storage faster, and make the system less responsive. You'd only want to do it if you absolutely must run an app that requires more RAM than your device has.

Ok,but cant Android use internal memory as virtual one?And also does Android limit multitasking if you say it kill some processes to make up space?And how much multitasking Android supports as our windows pcs?

@wss - It's possible, but it's a generally bad idea.  See my answer here for reasons.  Also, Android is methodical about what processes it kills to free up memory.  See here for more details.

but can`t we make swap in device internal memory,not in flash memory?

@WSS The internal storage is flash too, just like an SD card.

Enabling real swap would be good idea to handle native processes leaking memory (e.g. Cyanogenmod Nightlies every now and then). However, because Dalvik really does not like real swap, there would be need for additional hacks to keep all dalvik processes out of swap...

I don't think hacking up the system in a way that (as you say) is likely to go wrong is a very good response to the fact that custom ROMs sometimes go wrong now.

This is fascinating. Can you point me to any longer articles or white papers? I'm teaching a course on Android.

This is why I like long answer, extremely clear!

I do not know if i am right but i think that androif kinda contains a virtual memory just like a pc. Equal to the size of the RAM. If it were not so i do not think that the android devices would be slow once the hard disk is nearly full. Yeah. any comments are welcome

You mean swap. But that's mentioned in the other answer already. Also, if you're not sure about your answer it is always better to research more before answering since this site doesn't entertain discussion/commentary (unless it meets the criteria of a partial answer IMO). I hope you understand my point why this website strives for only quality and to the point answers. Have a nice day for research and please, do come back with it for a better answer.  :-)


text:
No Google Now Hotword Detection on Moto X
I've checked this solution, but it hasn't worked for me.
After updating to 4.4, my Moto X Google Now has lost the "OK Google" hotword function. "OK Google Now" on the Moto X system still works, but I like being able to do another search in Google Now without having to leave that environment again (it's much faster than doing "OK Google Now" through Touchless Control).
My mic icon in Google Now shows up "unfilled," (example below) and I have Hotword detection enabled and am using English (US).
Ideas?

Wasn't it "OK Moto" on those Motorola devices? Just a curious question, I've got no deeper knowledge in that area.

Doesn't work for me :/ That would be cool though!!

According to Google+ community comments from multiple people, Chrome Beta browser has this effect. Uninstall Chrome Beta and begin using normal Chrome to fix it.

Got a source to back this up?

Don't have Chrome Beta installed, just default Chrome


text:
Why can't the Sprint HTC One use GSM ROMs?
Everywhere I've looked, I've found that the HTC One physical hardware (USA) is the same regardless of the carrier--all models of the USA phone containing both CDMA and GSM radios.
If this is the case, why can't the Sprint variant of the HTC One be hacked to work properly (see issues with Sprint-variant SIM unlocking here) with USA GSM networks like AT&T? Or use GSM  ROMs for that matter if all the USA hardware has both radios.
I ask because I made the mistake of buying a Sprint HTC One on eBay with the intent of unlocking to use with my existing AT&T account. NOTE: I am not talking about 4G/LTE data, only 2G and 3G.


text:
How to archive gmails in GS4 stock email app
I kind of like the stock email client in Galaxy S4, but I don't use it since I haven't figured out how to set it up to archive mails instead of deleting them.
I subcribe to Google's philosophy "archive, don't delete" but is that possible with stock email client on GS4?

Well, I did a more thorough research and found that deleted mails actually are archived rather than deleted. What I didn't realize is that deleted mails aren't in fact moved to [imap]/Trash, they are just labeled like that. So they still are in All mails and can be found by browsing or searching. Other labels are also preserved.
This is a feature of Gmail IMAP regardless of the client.
Problem solved - there wasn't any problem in the first place :)

Only Gmail app currently supports archiving for Gmail. Other mail providers do not have the concept of archiving emails, so this is limited only to Gmail and hence to Gmail app alone.
If you want to archive the emails, you should use Gmail app, I see no other workaround.

As far as I know, the stock email app in the GS4 does not support archiving like Gmail app.
So my advice to you is simply use the Gmail app in your GS4 as it offers more and better options than the stock one. Also you can add as many accounts as you want to into it.


text:
Nova launcher sometimes doesn't start
I installed the free version of the Nova Launcher about a week ago and it worked like a charm. But sometime later, after I close an app, the default TouchWiz UI appears instead of Nova. I usually open an app and close it again so that I get the Nova Launcher. I am using a Galaxy S4

Try going under apps in the settings. Find the touchwiz launcher in the list. There should be an option to clear defaults. This should fix your problem. If the problem persists, try reinstalling Nova.


text:
Enabling adb on Beaglebone Black
I have successfully loaded TI-Android pre-built image on a BBB which was downloaded from here. Everything works well on the device. I have been trying to enable adb without much luck. Basic HW and SW is as follows
Hardware

Beaglebone black.
4DCAPE-43T.
5V power supply.
mini usb connection to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS host system.

Software

TI-Android JB pre-built image
(TI_Android_JB_4.2.2_DevKit_4.1.1_beagleboneblack.tar.gz).
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS host system.

On the BBB I have turned on USB debugging by
App Launcher" -> "Settings" -> "Developer options"

On the Host side
lsusb output is
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 10f1:1a52 Importek

/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="18d1", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="0451", MODE="0666"

I have executed the following two command

chmod a+r /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
sudo service udev restart

When I do an
adb devices

I don't see the BBB, but when I have HTC phone attached I do see a valid response.
What I am doing wrong?
Also I plug the mini-usb to the host machine. Is this correct? Or do I have connect to the serial debugging port.
Thanks

Are you sure the entries in your /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules are correct? I see no matching device in your lsusb output. Shouldn't that be the one called "Importek"? And shouldn't the file then contain the vendorID from that one?

See also my answer on Configuring ADB for Nexus 4 on Ubuntu 11.10 for details.

I was able to get adb with an Android JB image that I built. I was not able to get adb working with TI pre-built image. Shall post more data in due course.

Neither of the vendor IDs you've added to the udev rules file correspond to a device listed by lsusb. Other sources on the net suggest that the correct device ID is SYSFS{idVendor}=="1d6b", SYSFS{idProduct}="0104", but this device doesn't appear in your lsusb output either. Run lsusb with the device unplugged and plugged in to find which device is the right one, and edit your udev rules appropriately.
To confirm: you don't want to connect to the serial debugging port to get adb to work.

When I run Angstrom, and do lsusb I see SYSFS{idVendor}=="1d6b". But when I run Android (of the uSD card) and do a lsusb I don't see SYSFS{idVendor}=="1d6b". Also in android I have to always enable USB debugging options. On other android devices when I enable USB debugging it stays enabled all the time.

Is there something unique in JB to enable debugging options.

Yes, here's how to enable the developer options in Jellybean.

I did this part, each time I restart Android on BBB the debugging is disabled. Aslo there appears the be know issue per http://code.google.com/p/rowboat/wiki/JellybeanOnBeaglebone_WithSGX