text:
Serious battery drain (Screen, Android OS) after JB upgrade
Since I upgraded my Samsung Galaxy SII from Android 4.0.4 (ICS) to 4.1.2 (JB), my battery life has decreased dramtically.
Running ICS I could easily have ~25% battery left when going to bed, after about 20 hours of moderate use.
That is with a few phone calls, reading work/private e-mails as they arrive, occasional news reading, internet browsing and Facebook.
My usage pattern is largely unchanged, but since the moment I upgraded to Jelly Bean, I can barely make it through a working day without charging.
Looking at earlier battery stat screenshots (I'm a nerd, guilty as charged), my phone would use about 2-3,3%/hour. Now I see usage of between 5,7% and 10,6% per hour!
The top power consumer is, as always, the screen, which takes up 35-45% of the power used - just like before. Only now, it has drained the same amount of power, 2-4 times faster - or about 1% of the total battery capacity each minute it's been on.

(click images to enlarge)
72% of the total capacity used, of which screen consumed 38% (relative) or 27% (absolute)
Android OS has moved up the list of power consumers. Now using typically 16-17% (relative) or 12-17% (absolute), as opposed to the previous 9% (relative) or 5% (absolute).
I never switch off WiFi completely, unlike GPS which is switched off (thanks, Facebook) unless I actively need it. Display is set to auto-brightness - just like before.
I have completely drained, then fully re-charged, the battery at least three times, to re-calibrate the battery gauge. It didn't help my battery life.
Any idea of what's going on here and how to fix it (short of doing a factory reset)? How can the screen suddenly drain the power so fast? What's causing Android OS to burn more fuel as well?

You can use GSam battery monitor or betterbatterystats, both cost some money however but will help you track down the issue. The latter app is also freely available on the app's XDA thread by the author itself. It might be a nonpermanent Samsung bug, maybe you can fix it by resetting some app or even wiping the phone.

In the first of your screenshots, please tap the graph on top -- which will lead you to additional details. There check the bars at the bottom, and look out for areas having a blue bar for active while there's none for screen-on. I suspect some wakelocks being the cause of your drain (see How to deal with (orphaned) WakeLocks? for more details).

@ce4: I've installed both and will take look at the stats by the end of the day. Thanks.

@Izzy: I've added the battery usage details screen as well. The screen is rarely active, but the mobil is quite often awake. I suspect this is due to Google Now, which I've now disabled. However, my poor battery life, started before enabling Google Now. And, the primary offender is still screen, which doesn't seem to be on very often - regardless if you look at time on or the blue indicators.

@RasmusRask Yeah, what I expected: Something is keeping your device awake by forcing the network (here: WiFi) out of sleep mode. Please follow above link to the Wakelock question -- that's 100% sure your issue. A look at your mobile network signal graph suggests What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery? might be interesting for you to check as well. But your main issue are rather the Wakelocks, cell signal is minor (no red color in that bar). Join chat for details ;)

Same issue here!

@Izzy: Sorry, it does not appear to be wakelocks. According to BBS the biggest drainer due to WL, consumes about 1% or less of the total power used.

Just wanted to add that this upgrade did the same to my Motorola RAZZR MAX. Battery drain increase by at least 20%. It is something with the system or whatever it comes with. The app which shows energy use seems to show that OS now is by far the greatest drainer - before it was screen. It is not WiFi but may be it is that Google location thing or Google now (although actually it was never activated).

You are suffering the same problem I was after upgrading. Look in the direction of either Google Now or Google Maps. Good chance you have 'Report from this device' set in Maps Location Settings. This is murder on your battery! I disabled it and am now back at about 2% - 3% per hour on 3g with light use throughout the day. I also disabled Google Now for good measure, but I didn't notice any real improvements from that.
I do still notice much higher battery consumption than 4.04 when having wifi on. At home, I have reverted to 3G after seeing it burn through the battery at 5% per hour even without any active use.

No, all location reporting/history in maps is already off. After a brief tango, Google Now was disabled a while ago :-/

Finally, I did a factory reset on my S2 and now the battery lasts the way it used to with ICS. ):

To be honest, while my battery life doesn't seem quite as good as when running ICS, it does seem better now that I've done a factory reset as well. Still not entirely convinced though...

There is a possibility that one of the app installed in your phone keeps the screen on even when it is locked. If possible, connect through adb and see which apps are active.

Edited question to add battery usage details. Yes, it's fairly often awake, perhaps due to enabling Google Now. I've now disabled that. The screen however is rarely on, as shown by the "on time" and blue indicators.

I had the same problem with battery drain. I can tell from your name that you must be from Denmark. I found my battery drainer in a danish app. Yousee musik was set to automatically download on wifi. Since I turned that setting off my problem was gone!

Seems odd this would only happen after an operating system upgrade the if it's the behaviour of an application since it would be the same before and after the upgrade.

Hej :). Thanks for the suggestion. I actually use YouSee Music, but not on this device. Also, wouldn't the app show up as the battery drainer?

Not necessarily. If it e.g. requests a wake_lock, and forgets to drop it (or drops it too late, or requests it too often), this would show up as "Android System". This is what quite often happens with the LocationProvider when some app requests the current location too frequently: System is shown as "eater". And your "awake" graph in above screenshot suggests something like that.

I have the same problem and I found that it's the WiFi. If I turn the WiFi off, battery drain is less than 15% in 12 hours for my use. Yesterday I turned the WiFi on in the afternoon and the battery was at 96%. I stayed home connected to my WiFi all day and did not use the phone all afternoon. At 8:30PM the battery was down to 19%.

That might be the culprit in your case, my WiFi is always on, and was before my drain issue too.


text:
Can I use an USB Ethernet adapter to connect Sony Ericsson Xperia Active to a wired Ethernet LAN?
Due to my profession I have to connect to wired-only LAN-attached devices (like managed switches, routers set-top-boxes, etc.) frequently to access their configuration interfaces via Telnet/SSH/HTTP. I am totally tired of carrying a bag with a laptop with me wherever I go.
Now I am planning to buy an Android smartphone and feel like I'd like it to be Sony Ericsson Xperia Active which is pretty tough (I need it very much as my phones fall from my hands/table/pocket hundreds times a year), reasonably robust and stylish.
It would simplify my life significantly if I could connect it to wired Ethernet networks.
Is this possible?
I don't mind using a hack or a custom firmware like Cyanogen Mod. I've already got a USB NIC based on ASIX AX88772 chip (which is detected by Ubuntu out of the box and, AFAIK, is also compatible with XBox, PS3 and Apple Macs).

How to make Ethernet work on Android over OTG?

Not an answer but a good alternative. Buy this inexpensive wifi powerbank.
This is practically a very portable wifi router. I bought and use one and so far its great. Can also be an inexpensive Mifi device using a 3G dongle, and a backup battery for your phone.

Nice thing. Thank you. I feel like I am going to buy it. The question remains open though.

You can do one of these things :
1) By an usb to ethernet cable.
I dont know about Sony Xperia Active but you can use the Nexus 7 or Samsung S4 and a usb to ethernet cable (like rj45) plus an otg cable. For method view the following video.
2) By Usb internet or pass through.
On some android devices like mine (htc 816g) there is an Usb internet option in settings which helps you to use the computer's internet (Only windows), on your phone.
For method view following video.
v=gcFDGkTd83Y&feature=iv&src_vid=zEpyImojbsU&annotation_id=annotation_1409430545

Your answer would become unhelpful the moment the said links expires. Please consider adding relevant info here to make the answer self-sufficient.

To my experience on sony xperia smartphones internet through ethernet adapter works flawlessly on devices like z, z2 z3 z ultra m5 only until android lollipop 5.0.2 afterwards there seems a change in software which disables this function ality fortunately ut is easily possible to downgrsde. Newer models like z5 may have lost this functionality atleast for lollipop and there you may not be able to downgrade depending on the original firmware

Here's a full list of compatible devices: What Xperia devices support USB Host or USB OTG?
I think that OTG Ethernet adapters will be unsupported for a few years because of some Android security issues which may require some extra work, and because they are "less" important features (not everyone who owns an Android device needs an Ethernet adapter). Some examples of exploited vulnerabilities are shown here:
MTPwn
OATmeal on the Universal Cereal Bus: Exploiting Android phones over USB

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
How can I trick or force an app to work on an unsupported device?
I recently purchased an iMito MX1 mini-pc. I was disappointed to find that Hulu Plus is not fully supported on my device. I am able to download the app just fine, but I get an in-app error message that tells me that I am able to browse videos through the app, but video playback is not supported.
I have root access and was hoping that editing the build.prop file would trick the app into thinking that my device was supported, but no luck.
Is there any other way to force or trick an app into working on an unsupported device?

Related: How can I modify the phone model in build.prop to get unsupported apps?

Well, try decompiling the apk, then see if you can alter code which does the checking for video playback capability. Recompile and put it in. (Fyi,This is very difficult)

You can't FORCE it to work. There may be tricks you can play to fake the app into thinking it's on another device, but for the specific app given (video playback), it's almost certainly refusing to playback because it CAN'T.
The hardware on the device is probably something that the devs didn't anticipate, or that the app can tell isn't fast enough to actually work. Even if you find some way to fake it out and make it try, it's only going to crash or play back so slowly that it will be unwatchable.

You could pull the app apart using apktool an then edit the smali, but as mentioned in previous answers here, that would still lead to problems though. Chances are the developers made the app that way because your device was not capable of playback.
If you are really interested in trying to edit the app's smali, have at it:
https://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/

What you are doing is not recommended. There is a reason why app developers limit installation to select devices. Namely:

Android Version
Processor Architecture/GPU
Chipset/Board/RAM
Screen Size/Density/Resolution

This is to ensure good, consistent, and fast user experience as much as possible.

I can't find the solution in this answer.

Since the website for Lucky Patcher advertises that it is designed to "bypass premium applications license verification", I am removing it from this answer. We'd like to avoid promoting apps that enable piracy as much as possible. I'm leaving the rest of your answer, though, as it does seem like useful information. If you think this warrants additional community discussion, feel free to post a new question on [meta].

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


text:
What is the FWDN mode?
I accidentally pressed a button when turning on my android tablet and it says (typos included):
The Device enter FWDN Mode
Please Connect USB to PC or Reset
The Device Waitting........

What's the FWDN Mode?

F irm w are D ow n load ?

What device btw?

As per my comment in the above, I would gauge a guess, its some sort of a F irm W are D ow n load
A specialized mode particular to that device to enable updating - think of OTA firmware update but using some proprietary software to download the firmware - possibly radio baseband, or a ROM update...


text:
HTC Desire C screen on while charging
My new HTC Desire C screen does not turn off while charging. It is running ICS (Android version 4.0.3, HTC Sense version 4.0). I have went into Settings > Developer Tools > Stay Awake (OFF). It doesn't work. Screen timeout is set to 30 seconds.
I also downloaded and installed Extended Controls, but when I try to add the widget to the homescreen it tells me "Please reconnect your SD card first" (which is non-existent at the moment).
p.s. I downgraded from a Xperia Arc S in hopes of a simpler phone, and my god this Desire C is BAD.

I remember also having this problem with the HTC Diamond when I use a 3rd party charger. Do you still use the original charger?

Yup, I'm using the original charger

I also see this behaviour with my Desire C model.  When I reported it as a bug to HTC they responded that it is intentional behaviour as the Desire C lacks a charging LED.  Personally I think you should still be able to have the screen turn off and it doesn't make sense to have an option in the settings menu that doesn't do anything.
If enough people request the change HTC may put in the ability to turn off the screen while charging in a future software update.


text:
Gesture typing on multiple languages?
I recently played with my friend's Nexus 7 and tried the gesture typing. And I'm surprised it only works on user's locale keyboard. It lacks Ukrainian dictionary too :( , but that's another question.
It works only on Russian keyboard. Dictionaries for all English variants are present, I even tried all three English keyboards (QWERTY, UK, US). Android version is 4.2.2.
Is that a bug? A reported one?

I don't know about your specific issue, but Swiftkey 4 has gesture typing that's worked for me in multiple languages (English and French).

Perhaps it is a bug, my Nexus 4 is on the English locale and with a Russian input language gesture typing works.
Perhaps you've installed an app that gives you the Russian keyboard, it wouldn't support gesture typing by default.

No, it's definitely the default keyboard. Do both of them  work for you? Can you please add your selected keyboard layouts?

I think there are a couple of bugs here. It doesn't work with qwerty layout. It does work with UK and US though, but the trick here is to disable and enable again "Gesture input" option after  needed dictionaries were installed.


text:
Nexus 7 blank screen
After watching a bit of 4oD last night on my Nexus 7, I turned it off. When I tried to start it up this morning, I was greeted with a blank screen whilst being plugged into the charger. I held down the power button, and Google flashed onto the screen for about 3 secs. When I disconnected from the charger, the screen switched off completely.
I have only had this for a week and a half. It is obviously still under warranty. Can I just send it back? I am completely dumb when it comes to computer issues!

Just plugged it into my laptop, I now have a black screen with some coloured 'crackling' moving across the screen. I haven't dropped it or got it wet!

To me, it sounds like flat battery. Charge the device as it is for couple of hours with its original charger and cable and try powering on with a very long press on that power button.

Its been charging all day, tried the power button hold down, nothing happened. JUst held down volume down and power button now have the green android with his chest open,the only option on the screen is fastboot mode. started this and got a blank green screen. I shut it down and again pressed the volume down and power button, have again the green android??? STUCK!!

Ok, if you would like to learn things, I would suggest you to learn and do unlock the boot loader, flash a factory image to restore. On the other hand if you don't want all these fuss, better return it.

Thank you Narayanan, I have come down this morning managed to power it up, it is obviousley a problem with the charging. It seems to be a common fault. will return I think!

The same thing had happened to my N7. Here's what worked for me.
Let your device stay in that state for as long as the battery lasts, i.e wait till the battery is dead.
After that is done, Power on the devise by Holding the two volume buttons and then connect the charger or connect to a computer.
Use your volume buttons to navigate to START and click on the power button
That should bring it back to life
Edit Here is a photo of the boot loader I found on Google which shows the Start


text:
How can I turn off the notification for the power plug connection?
My Samsung Galaxy S3 with Android 4.1 plays a sound every time I connect it to the power plug. Is there a way to turn that off without affecting all other notifications?

I solved the problem by doing this:

Root the phone
Install the posed Framework and Wanam Kit. Enable the Wanam Kit module after installing it.
Open Wanam Kit and go to the "Sounds" options, then go to the bottom and check "disable low battery sound"
Reboot


text:
How do I switch off the internet after use on the Samsung Spica?
Using the Spica for the first time. How do I know if I am off the internet after using the phone to browse?

You should be able to switch off Mobile Data from Settings -> Wireless & Network or from the long-press Power menu.

Also, most Samsung devices have a "power menu" inside the notification area (which you can drag down). This should include a symbol with two arrows (up and down) which you simply can tap to enable/disable mobile data.

How do I know if I am off the internet after using the phone to browse?

You can look at the signal bar, the signal bar would be grayscale when it's not connected to the internet, green if it's connected, and have arrows when actively transmitting data.

How do I switch off the internet after use on the Samsung Spica?

The phone will only connect when it needs to, such as when you're browsing or when an app needs to check for update. Unless you're charged by connection time (I don't know any carrier that does that, most critters charge by amount of transmitted data), there's no need to disable them manually when you're not using it. If you need to disable Mobile Data though, you can do that in the Settings > Wireless & Network.

I would suggest auto disabling WiFi when your phone is locked. This will not only make sure no data is being transmitted, but also save a LOT of battery. Im sure there are many ways of going about this, but this is the easiest and most reliable method that I know of.
Also, here is how to tell your WiFi status:

No WiFi icon = WiFi off
WiFi icon grey = WiFi on, but not connected
Wifi icon blue = WiFi on and connected
Up and Down arrows on WiFi icon = WiFi transmitting or receiving data

If you just follow the instructions I've provided below, you should have satisfying results in just a few minutes!

Download Tasker from the Play Store.
Open Tasker and click the + button. Now click Event → Display → Display Off.
Click the gear (back button) in the top left corner. A pop up menu will appear. Select New Task and name it Display Off.
Tap + → Net → WiFi and make sure the box that says Set is set to Off.
Click the gear (back) twice so that you end up on the Profiles screen.
Now click + again, then Event → Display → Display On.
Tap the gear (back) and then select New Task. Name it something along the lines of Display On.
Click + → Net → WiFi and change Set to On. Now exit back to the Profiles tab. You should now have both Display Off and Display On.
In the Profiles tab to the right of your conditions, there are On/ Off toggles. Turn both of these to Off and then back to On.
Simply exit out of Tasker and you're done!

Good luck and I hope this helps you!


text:
Rooted, but su hangs
I've had my phone rooted and flashed/reset/reflashed it several times in the last couple years. However, I recently reflashed to the stock image found here.
When I try to use SU apps, it prompts to allow, I say yes, it seems to proceed as I'm used to, but nothing happens.
So I open up trusty terminal and get a $. I type su, prompt/approve, but it just hangs. I never get a #. No error, no permission denied, nothing. I'm assuming this is the underlying cause of why SU doesn't seem to work for anything.
I've checked and confirmed that setuid is set:
-rwsr-sr-x root root ..... su
So I'm kind of at a loss here. Any help would be appreciated.

You should re-root, the presence and accessibility of su doesn't really mean anything.

Try a different SU app like SuperSU, and also make sure that you have busybox installed in /system/bin/sh

Matthew was right. Though since most of the steps had been already done from original rooting, I simply redownloaded the Superuser.zip and installed from recovery.
Fixed the problem.
Thanks.


text:
Computer does not boot when Galaxy 2 in USB port
Yesterday Samsung Kies updated my phone to Jelly Beans. After that if I leave my phone plugged in usb port of my Dell Precision, the computer does not boot. It loads the bios, but never goes to the bootloader (Grub) selection screen and the screen remains blank. No hardware beeps or anything. Once I remove the phone, the computer starts fine. The phone did not do that with Ice Cream Sandwich before. This is Rogers version of Jelly Beans. Don't they look the bootloader?
Does somebody know what is the cause?

Sounds like the Computer was attempting to treat the handset as a removable media and was attempting to boot from it?

I've gotten that too with other USB devices. I've learned not to try to reboot with anything unusual connected to a USB port.

Change boot sequence of computer from BIOS to make Hard Disk above Removable USB media.

Probably your mobile is treated as a bootable USB mass storage. Pull down the notifications and try disabling USB Mass storage in your phone.


text:
Is it possible to flash htc desire on linux (drivers concern)?
I'd like to flash 'HTC desire' and found this:
http://www.jphellemons.nl/post/Cyanogenmod-on-my-HTC-Desire-the-easy-way.aspx
I started to wonder if I'm able to do the flash.. because i use Debian and the tutorial is definitely for windows user.
I'm worried about these points:

EDIT: As Dan pointed out in the comments: Make sure you have HTC Sync
  on your system or get the drivers from the link he posted in the
  comments!
installed the windows hboot usb driver: http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/windows_hboot_driver_install

Yes. It is possible to flash android devices under linux. The fact is that Android does not need drivers - both adb and fastboot use libusb and talk to the devices directly. Your main concern should be finding compatible fastboot binary - some OEMs use proprietary fastboot extensions to handle certain functions.
Obviously you can not expect to be able to follow the windows tutorial under linux. Fortunately for you unrevoked (the tool used in the tutorial you linked) has a linux version as well.

Thanks, so shall I begin executing steps from the tutorial since Linux has necessary drivers or i need something else? Can You expand the thought about fastboot? I see nothing about the fastboot in the tutorial.

You do often need to setup permissions for ADB to work on Linux (or kill the ADB server and rerun as root), similar to here the format is different for different versions: http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html . I don't know about fastboot offhand. Although automated tools like that unrevoked thing looks often use both fastboot and adb as well even adb is just used to send the phone reboot commands.


text:
Stream music/video from phone to Apple TV
I'd like to listen to Google music from my phone via my Apple TV and also do the same with video.
Are there any apps that enable this?


text:
Using Alt Gr on external keyboard with Android 4.0.4
I have Sony Xperia P with official android 4.0.4 on board. The Polish language uses some letters, that normally (on PC) are typed by Alt Gr+letter (eg. Alt Gr+a=ą). But using Alt Gr on external keyboard does not work as intended on android. How to make it working correctly?

There is no Alt Gr on a android keyboard... long press on the letter to get the popup of alternative variations of that letter, with umlauts, dashes etc...

@t0mm13b Sorry, forgot to mention that I want to use external keyboard... :p

I've found the solution some time ago. The app External Keyboard Helper Pro makes it work correctly.

Well that's really not the solution. Solution is to fix this issue, please! Why is it so hard to get the alt-gr to work? Still the same issue in android 4.1.2.


text:
Calculator on 4.2.2 lockscreen?
I'm wondering if it's possible to put the calculator app on the 4.2 lockscreen (similar to how the camera is there). Not a widget, but the app. I'm running the latest CM10.1 nightly, on a Sprint GS3.
Thanks!

The only things you can add to the lockscreen are lockscreen widgets. A quick search on the Play Store offers quite a few possibilities.


text:
How to delete a notebook in Evernote for Android?
I accidentally create a duplicate notebooks using Evernote app. I want to delete one of them. When I open my Notebook list, the options that I can see are just 'rename notebook', 'move to new stack' and 'sharing setting'.  where can I find 'delete' option?

To delete a notebook, you'll need to log in to the webapp. Your notebooks will appear on the left side of the screen. moving your cursor over (or tapping, on your device) the notebook you wish to delete will show a triangle to click for a drop-list from which you can delete the notebook.
Edit: According to this link, you can't do it from the Android app yet. http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/29175-helpdelete-notebook-on-android/

OP wants to delete from app.

@roxan OP surely prefers that -- but if it's not possible from within the app, he'll probably gladly accept a work-around as well :)

@Izzy I'm pretty sure OP knows how to do such common task from webapp. If it's not possible from the app, IMHO that should be mentioned in answer while giving the alternative.

@Izzy Sorry, thought I did mention that.

@TheDoorkeeper Feel free to update your answer -- the more complete it is the better. It will even increase chances for upvotes (not using the app I cannot verify, so I have to leave this to others ;) Besides: No sorry to me, it was roxan who missed this :)

@roxan Sorry, thought I did mention that

@TheDoorkeeper haha There is no need to be sorry. :) cheers


text:
Which custom or official kernel should I use on SGS2?
I'm using SGS2 with latest stock ICS ROM, but it has few bugs which I really hate, so I want to look at custom kernels which could help me in this.
The main headache for me at the moment is I can't turn off my SGS2, when I try to do this my phone reboots itself so I need to pull out the battery to Switch it off. I'm getting hardly 24 hour battery backup while I'm not using too many calls or internet on my device, if I charged it 100% at night and wake up in morning then it drains out 5-10% battery. I have disabled auto sync, network connection etc which could be cause to drain out battery fast. Why I'm looking for custom kernels are due to
1: I want to get good battery life.
2: I want a good and stable performance.
3: Don't want to lag while playing games like Temple Run
I have heard two custom kernels for SGS2 are Siyah and Speedmod. Now I'm not sure which one should I use to for my phone for getting a good performance and battery life.
Can I flash kernel using stock recovery of my SGS2? And is it safe?

Upgrade your phone to latest JellyBean stock ROM and flash SpeedMod kernel from Odin. Right now is one of the most stable combinations for the Galaxy S II.
If you want more performance you can always install Siyah kernel and tweak it for your needs.
Also remember to do a full Nandroid backup before flashing anything and wipe /system, /data and /cache before installing JB from Odin.

I'm not sure if they have release any JB update for SGS2 in India! I've tried to install CM9 and get superbrick bug in my device when I tried to wipe/reset data. Now let's see if they have launch any new official update. :)

If your device is SGS2 international (GT-I9100) you can download it from samfirmware.

Right now I'm using custom JellyBam ROM and Dorimanx kernel, seems to be very perfect for me till yet. Haven't tried speedmod kernel yet, let's see if I'll flash it in future.


text:
Installing Nexus Images on other devices
I am absolutely noob in Android hacking, though I am quite good in doing techie stuff.
Now I have got my first mobile Karbonn A5+. It has 1GHz processor and 431 MB ROM+RAM. It runs Gingerbread. As usual it doesnt get updates.
I really want to taste JellyBean on it. So while googling for the same, I found this thread. It instructs to install clean nexus images from here. Can I able to install the same on my mobile following the same instructions?

I can only wish for that ability @Mahesh(a999). The image has to be prepared for a specific hardware as it involves lot of drivers to be accounted for. The chances are pretty bright if the two device share same hardware, which in your case is not.
You can try Cyanogenmod ROMs or other custom ROM. Visit this XDA page, which is exlcusive for your device.

ohkay thats good direction, but is there any robust way to bring back the device to factory restore if I mess up the things. Currently it seems that I have got whole lot of stuffs out there to explore in Android, I have never tried such things. So just asking if there is any sure way to bring  things back to factory state. A link? Thoughts from ur experience please.

There is always a small risk of making the device unusable - at least until  you know how to bring it back. So, back up and be prepared for without phone and data for a while. You can make nandroid backup of your current ROM and preserve it. In case of something unpleasant, you can always restore the device to its stock ROM as you got it from shop.

hey sorry for my noobiness but can you provide more on last tow sentences. How can I backup? And how can I restore to stock ROM. Am ready for not having any cell for some time.

It is quite difficult to to help through comments :) the steps for backup is to first root, then install ClockworkMod or TWRP recovery and perform a Nandroid backup. Take a look at the XDA page for rooting A7 and possibly it should be same for your A5. Once rooted install ROMManager from play store. If ROMManager could not find a recovery for your device, you can use "TWRP 90% ENGLISH" as listed in the XDA page and install it through ROMManager.

Well ohakay, but will 1GHz and 430 MB RAM+ROM enough, what is min requirement for JB. When I kill all apps, I can see that there is almost 260 MB RAM free

I have LG P500 with 600Mhz and 512MB RAM with internal 170MB. I can run JB shedding some unnecessary components. First, you have to find a JB ROM developer who had created one for you device. You can search Google and if you are lucky you will find some noble soul prepared an image for your device. :)

let us continue this discussion in chat

You can only use images specifically made for your own device. Unlike common Linux Live CD images, Android images usually comes only with the drivers for the particular device it was intended for to save space. It's highly unlikely you'll be able to run an image designed for another device well, unless the hardware on the device is extremely similar to the original device.
Many modders compiles from source code and spends a lot of time figuring out the compilation flags that excludes the drivers they don't need while making sure it includes the ones they need, and tweaking the settings to optimize it for the device; this may be difficult on some device if the manufacturers don't release all their source code or if they didn't publish the settings they used in their own images. Some modders swaps compiled modules from another device with similar hardware into a base image that is known to work on their device; this is essentially trial and error though because there's no guarantee it will work at all. In some extreme cases, there has been times where modders felt that the manufacturer has done an extremely poor job on certain driver and rewrite the entire driver from scratch.
In any of these methods, you need to be very familiar with both kernel and the hardware on the device. It's generally easier if the manufacturer released vanilla images and/or their compilation settings.
Unlike the compiled binaries, APKs are generally interchangeable though, because they are compiled in Dalvik instead of ARM. Often it's possible to get a sneak peak of later device's feature by side loading the right APKs. This is why it's often possible to install newer launchers and keyboards on previous versions of Android.


text:
LorDModUE - How to configure
I have installed Lordmodue* to under volt my android device by downloading the .zip, booting into recovery mode, browsing the sdcard and selecting the .zip file.
The install was successful and under my phone settings it says my kernel is the LordmodUE kernel.
How can I actually set the settings for this kernel though, how can I set my under voltage settings?
*HTC DesireHD running Cyanogenmod 7.2 and Clockwork recovery mod

Looks like all you need is here; http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1085725
There you can download the kernels, and the scripts and Lordmodue app to use them.


text:
Filtering notifications
Is it possible to filter the notification that my Android device shows to me? For example I'd like to filter out the notifications about apps getting updated.
(I use CyanogenMod 9 if that matters.)

When you say "filter the notification", do you mean "filter out" (as in do not show them) or "filter for" (as in explicitly display them)?

Also, app shopping is off-topic on the site, so you may wish to edit your question in the form of "How do I..." as opposed to "find me an app that does ..."

I meant filter out.

Most apps should give you control of their own notifications via their internal settings.  For your specific example, app update notifications are coming from the Play Store app, and can be toggled on or off from within the app itself via menu -> Settings -> Notifications.  Other built-in apps like Gmail or Talk, or 3rd-party apps like Yahoo! Mail or Facebook for example, have similar controls that allow you to adjust notifications with varying degree of control (e.g. frequency, etc.)
In Android 4.1 and above, Google introduced a way to completely disable notifications for certain apps that either don't have such settings at all, or don't offer enough control for your liking (or include aggressive advertisements via push-notifications like AirPush).  Long-pressing a notification and tapping the new App Info option will bring up properties of the app that spawned it, and from there you can completely turn them off.  This feature appears in most custom ROMs as well that are based on the Jelly Bean (Android OS version 4.1.x/4.2.x) code base (CyanogenMod 10 in your case.)

Regarding the Play Store app, I have "Notifications" disabled but I still get notifications. The sad truth is that even the apps that do let you control their notifications, don't have controls that are fine-grained enough. It's not that I don't want to receive all notifications from the app, it's only some of them. If I cancel all the notifications from a certain app, I might be missing some important notifications. So really I don't see how what you're proposing is helping me.


text:
How can I select which folders to sync via Exchange ActiveSync?
I am using Exchange ActiveSync with Android version 4.1.2, but cannot find the option to choose which folders to sync within my mailbox.  A technote on the Samsung website (albeit the US version) says this option should be there. Does anyone have any ideas?

I found sync settings for individual folders under Settings - Data Usage - then left menu softkey, make sure "Auto Data Sync" is selected.
Also, Settings -Accounts - Email - Settings -select exchange email acct, scroll down to "Exchange Active Sync Settings" lots of options for syncing, including individual sync settings for folders.


text:
Google play is not displaying
I'm trying to open google play on my computer but it displays me like below image:

Doesn't display any of the application not even when I select from categories.

For what it's worth, this would probably be better off at [webapps.se]. Where are you connecting from? Is this in all browsers?

@user267 Yes, coming on all browsers. And I want to install apps from there.

And? Where are you connecting from? Do you have issues with any other websites, especially anything else on google.com? Are you on a corporate network/using a proxy? Does the Google Play app on your device work correctly?

AdBlock? NoScript? Ghostery? Other filters? But as said above: It's not an Android related question, even if it deals with a website offering Android Apps. So it rather belongs somewhere else...


text:
Change behavior of space on external keyboard?
On my PC, I am using TouchCursor, so that I can control the text cursor using key combinations such as:

SPACE+I/J/K/L: up/left/down/right
SPACE+H/N: page up/down

That way, and when using a keyboard with a TrackPoint, everything is reachable from the home row, and I don't need to move hands. TouchCursor reconfigures the space key:

to act as a modifier key when pressed together with I/J/K/L/H/N/..., and
to act as space, when pressed and released.

Can I get the same functionality with an external keyboard connected to a modern Android device?

I have done extensive research talking to developers who make applications for Android and the PageDown & PageUp do not exist in Android unless the application chooses to implement this(which is quite rare).  The PgDn key doesn't even work on Chromebook with Android apps.  The only application that I know of that implements the PageDown key at all are web browsers like Chrome.  I also use a pointing stick so I understand your frustration and or desire to have a feature like this.  My best advice would be to either VPN/VNC into another computer which has this implemented or use SSH/MOSH to have such feature at least at the terminal.


text:
Transfer large files beween Android device and an iPad mini
I have an iPad mini and a Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet.
What is the easiest way to transfer several large files between an Android device and an iPad device?

If both support Wifi-Direct, that might be the best choice to connect them. Not knowing the iPad side, I don't know how the transfer itself could work.

Do you have Internet connectivity on both devices via either cell data or Wi-Fi?  If so, there are numerous 3rd-party applications available that can make it an easy task.

If you have access to a computer, it might be easier to connect the Galaxy Tab and iPad to it via USB, mount both for file access (not sure how this is done in Apple world, but most Android tablets and phones come with built-in features for accessing storage via USB,) copy the files off the source device, and then copy them to the target.
If you need to do this over wireless connection and have access to the Internet (either via cell data or Wi-Fi,) third-party apps might be an easier solution. For example Dropbox is free, available for both Android and iOS, but has a 300MB file size limit. Google Drive is another alternative, with a free 5GB storage, apps on both operating systems, with file size limit of 10GB each.  There are a myriad other similar services that are available on both platforms, but all of them require Internet connectivity, and usually an account.
For direct device-to-device transfers there are fewer choices.  AirBlue uses bluetooth connectivity on both iOS and Android devices for file transfer.  Unfortunately it's only available for jailbroken iPhones via Cydia store.  Here is another walk-through for file copying over Wi-Fi, but this requires for both Android device to be rooted, and the iOS device to be jailbroken.  Instructions from here are a bit dated, but do not require any rooting or jailbreaking of your devices, just a few apps that are freely available on Google Play Store and iTunes Store.

Using a computer as an intermediate repository is the best and fastest way. Transferring the files from Android is straightforward - connect and mount as a drive - copy contents to computer. Transferring the files from computer to iPad has to be done through iTunes as a sync process.

Sharable is a free to use smartphone & tablet and computer application that brilliantly facilitates file sharing between multiple operating system types. Using this app, you can share files between phone/tablet running iOS and Android; file can be share amongst phone/tablet or to and from computer running Mac as well as Windows. You can install the app on each of your devices and view the connected ones in your app’s dashboard. The next step is simply to decide which files to share and have them transferred over wifi.
Remember that the devices you use for transfer should all be connected over the same local WI-FI network.
http://sharable.in/

Just another alternative to the ones they mentioned is BUMP
BUMP is available for IOS and Android
This app lets you share selected files by bumping your phones/tablets side by side. This requires both phones connected on the same wifi network. Can also share files on your computer by going to a url and bumping with the space bar.
If setup properly, it will be very convenient to use.

Try using Airdroid, works for me

The best way is to use the Fast File Transfer app from Google Play. It's really good, and you don't need Internet.


text:
Contacts / People application missing
I have no Contacts / People app in my ICS tablet (bq Maxwell Lite). All the other google apps are there (calendar, playstore, gmail, talk).
There seem to exist other tablets with the same problem.
I've tried to retrieve the Contacts and ContactsProvider apks from /system/app on the SDK emulator, but these fail to install
Third party contact managers just crash on startup.

It would be helpful if you added some more details: Are other Google Apps there (such as e.g. the playstore app)? What is your device (manufacturer, device name)?

@Izzy Yes, all other google apps are there (calendar, playstore, gmail, talk). It's a stock rooted bq Maxwell Lite

Thanks, I added the info to your question. Only thing coming to my mind: You could try re-flashing the complete GApps for ICS e.g. from goo.im.


text:
Contact list crashing
Every other day, my Contacts List will crash, and the only way for me to access it is to power off the phone.
What is happening for this to happen, and what can I do to prevent it in future?

This is the People app, right? Have you tried the usual things to do with a truculent app?

You might have an app that's adding spurious records to your calling list. Do you have any "alternative phone" application (I had problems with an app called Amivox). I created a small app to fix the problem for me, the code is linked below.
EDIT:
The app source code: https://github.com/gardarh/android-callogfixer (removed link to binary)

Please note that the APK has no documentation or source code available, therefore the behaviour is unknown. One should always be careful when installing third-party APKs from untrusted or unknown sources.

There, added a link to the source code.


text:
unexpected root request for mksh when turning wifi on or off
Since today, I see the following root warning when turning wifi on or off:

Superuser Anfrage / Superuser request: mksh (1000)
Angeforderter Benutzer / Requested User: ROOT (0)
Befehl / Command: ip route add 224.0.0.0/4 dev wlan0

My phone is a HTC One V with Android 4.0.3 and SuperSU installed as root app. It was running 8 months without this prompt. My last install was Power Toggles 1 week ago. Does anyone know about this? I'm afraid it's something dangerous...

thx izzy for including the image. I didn't have enough reputation to do it.

Now, why would Power Toggles be requesting to add a broadcast to the routes? Can you post the contents of mksh to confirm? I'd be suspicious of that! :)

how can I do this? the message is the only thing I see about it and I think/hope there is not more than this ip route command

I just found something in the middle of a very long forum thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=33550523. Seems that it appears after an update of superSU which didn't show system commands in previous version. Interestingly, the message is from november. And I'm sure I did multiple updates of superSU since then. And another interesting thing: why should the system-app HTC sense use a rooting tool for executing a command?

mksh(1) is “just” the system shell on Android (has been for a few versions by now). The request basically means that some other application is trying to run a shell command with root permissions, which the dialogue then attributes to the shell instead of the program/library actually requesting it (on whose behalf mksh is operating).
There are several very long threads acting on it; this one has got a good summary, out of which the most important points are:

the "ip route add" command comes from libChange.so in HTC Sense ROMs (thanks to chrisch1974 for finding it), which itself is already running as a system component
the command itself is not malicious, but there's no clear reason why HTC Sense should run this command
the reason it shows up in SuperSU v0.97 and does not show up in older versions is because v0.97 no longer automatically grants root to the shell and system processes
224.0.0.0/4 is the standard IP multicast range - this command just forces multicasting out of the wifi interface (since AFAIK cell carriers don't allow multicasting on their data connections). This prevents multicast traffic from attempting to use the mobile network connection and failing.
If you have used the adb shell command on any previous phone and got the root prompt, #, instead of the user prompt, $, by default then your shell has been this way before. I've seen it come and go.

In the end, most people agree that saying Yes here seems to be harmless.
Disclaimer: I’m the mksh maintainer.

Thx for this summary. I want to add: Saying 'No' also seems to be harmless :-)

@DanielAlder indeed, it seems to be harmless. As I quoted, this command mostly sets up multicast traffic to go over the WLAN instead of over the GSM/UMTS. Multicast is not really used much ;)

Last question: HTC uses mksh for changing this route. mksh is only installed on rooted devices. Does this mean, Multicasts are only routed over WLAN on rooted devices? This doesn't really make sense...

No, mksh is installed on all Android devices since AOSP post-1.6 (although I did add it to an 1.5 tree at a coworker's project), Android-x86 at the same time, Android 2.4 (which never was) and later (3.0/4.0).


text:
Using a phone without data plan for multiplayer game dev
I would like to try out android programming and specifically try my hand at some multiplayer development, but I no longer have an active phone plan for my android phone.  Is it possible to just use wi-fi without having a 3g data plan?  There is no need to make calls, only access my wireless network.
[Edit] The phone is a Galaxy S Mesmerize if that helps.  I'm at work, so I can't take a look at the phone to see if it needs a SIM card.  It was from US Cellular so I don't think it needs one.  Not sure tho.

Can I use a modern Android phone with no phone plan?

@eldareathis I think that's the right idea but my answer there is so old (a G1!!!).

To the op: if you have a phone that requires a SIM card, you will most likely need to flash a custom rom like CyanogenMod so you don't always have to have a SIM card plugged in. Otherwise... you should just be able to use a phone as is, unactivated.

I don't know about GSM models, but my Verizon Galaxy Nexus works fine without its SIM card.

@Wyzard the SIM card on a GN is only for 4G (I have one too)

Depending on the model/carrier - your unit could block the access to the UI (past the "Emergency calls only" screen) without being activated. If you can root the unit - this can be easily bypassed.


text:
ICMP Requests working but HTTP requests are timing out
For some context, please see this image: http://db.tt/JPJlBC5b (I will upload to SE when I am in front of desktop)
Basically this issue happened once before. What's happening is my phone basically stops connecting to the internet. HTTP requests seem to just simply time out after a few minutes in the browser. This causes all my apps to break and some of these apps fail more gracefully than others.
The weird part is I can still PING and TRACERT DNS names and IP addresses via ICMP. so I still have some sort of internet connection. If I toggle airplane mode or reboot my phone it fixes it, but only for a few minutes before it stops working again.
Last time it seemed to fix itself. Or something. I got so annoyed at trying to fix it that I just went to sleep. When I woke up, everything was broken, even my cellular connection. A quick reboot and everything, including my data connection, was working.
Is there anyway I can try can figure out what's causing this and make it stop?

Are you sure it is not some carrier imposed limit?

Yes. I have unlimited data.


text:
How can I determine how much total RAM my device actually has?
I bought a SIM locked ZTE v790 in Egypt. It tells me that it has 181MB of RAM, but it supposed to be 512MB.
Is there a way to check how much RAM my device physically has before deciding to get it replaced?

Can you post a screenshot of your RAM. 181MB usable for a 512MB RAM device is way too low. Download Antutu Benchmark and check your Device Info again for the actual usable memory.

here is some screenshots
http://www.mediafire.com/?6kqar6p9b19n2ax,avck581678jx67c,bb7vp7giddc1lvw,4pq6cl5a66yohob,dzs34v9m04z24o3,386gklhmkj7o7qs
thanks for editing

This is like fraud, a device with 512MB ram should have 300MB+ usable RAM like my Xperia Play. Most likely your unit is fitted with only 256MB RAM because I looked at the internet with others having 270MB RAM usable of the same ZTE v790 model. Did you just recently bought your phone? you should ask for a replacement.

I know this is an old questions but it comes up first in Google so I thought I would put a simple answer.
Depending on the version of Android:

Settings > Applications > Running services
or Settings > Apps > Running services
or Settings > More > Application Manager > Running (at the top)
or Settings > System > Developer Options > Running services

At the bottom you will see RAM, used and free.  Add both number together to get total usable RAM for the device. Note that this might be less than the RAM advertised for the phone model, as the system may reserve some of the RAM for itself as explained in other answers.
Cheers

Android StackExchange encourages good answers to old questions, there's even a badge for it :)

This has become a little more involved since the release of Oreo (v8.0.0.0), you need to enable developer options through  Settings > System > About Phone then tapping on Build number until it says you're a developer, then you can find the RAM under Settings > System > Developer options > Memory

The thing that many users do not understand (partly because vendors choose to advertise total RAM chip size) is that the physical memory chip capacity is shared between different parts of the SoC - namely Application Processor and Baseband Processor. So the amount of memory available to your applications is what's left from the original 512Mb after modem, then Android itself and preloaded system apps get their share. You can not judge the user experience by this amount anyway. ICS has better memory management but reports lesser amount of available memory than GB on the same hardware.

but it supposed to be more than 181 mb ! like other phones ?
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?6kqar6p9b19n2ax

I just found out there are actually 2 versions of the ZTE v790
The 512MB RAM International version that is posted in GSMArena
And the lower cost 256MB RAM version
mostly sold to carriers
If you believe you have been given the wrong unit, you should ask for a replacement from your carrier or from the store that you bought it.

i bought it as The 512MB RAM International version >>i will try to replace it
but how  Antutu Benchmark  show it as 338 mb ram once ??
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?386gklhmkj7o7qs
and other time 275 mb
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?dzs34v9m04z24o3

That is just the performance score of your RAM. It has nothing to do about actual RAM capacity. Open the Info tab and slide to System Info to check your actual RAM size, and post the screenshot if you can.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z8dbi73c7i718ij
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?avck581678jx67c
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?bb7vp7giddc1lvw

No doubt you have the 256MB version. Even my sister's galaxy Y lists 270MB RAM out of 384MB. Better get it replaced.

You could simply use a terminal emulator (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator) and run the command free
$ free
             total       used       free     shared    buffers
Mem:        487344     472504      14840          0       8348
-/+ buffers/cache:     464156      23188

This example is taken from my Motorola Milestone 2, which is supposed to have 512MB RAM. Check with Alex's answer what might make the difference here: My output shows 476MB total RAM. Using above command at least you can know for sure how much RAM you've got to work with.

free not found :(

Urgs... Either your manufacturer/ROM creator completely forgot to include the binary, or it's simply not in the PATH. You might try it with different paths, e.g. /system/xbin/free. Some filemanagers might permit you to browse for it, or you can check different locations from within the terminal app.

Alternatively, one could install Termux, (See: https://termux.com), as it comes with it's own coreutils package.

In Android 8 it is:

Settings > System > About phone > Hardware information

This displays RAM size, ROM size, Display resolution and a bunch of other similar parameters.


text:
Got replacement note 2, and gmail did not back up my apps, contacts, nothing? Why not?
Just like it says in the Title i got a new phone and added my existing gmail account that i know is backed up already because I have been there and done that 10 times already.(hence why I got a replacement phone...well part of the ROGERS story)
 Anyways nothing synced, downloaded, nada, zip, zilch!
Any ideas..?

You might want to take a look at Google Backup: Multiple devices using the same account - what happens on Restore? -- where more of us are wondering about how this "Google backup" is supposed to work...


text:
Getting rid of my SD card
Very frustrated so please forgive the rant.
I've given up searching Google because despite well written search queries such as
"How do I move everything from my SD card to my phone"
or
"How do I get rid of my SD card"
I get results that all have to do with moving stuff TO my SD card FROM my phone.
My SD card is flaking out on me and I have gone through several attempts to scan it and fix it and it never stays good for long.
My phone has plenty of internal storage I just want to completely get rid of my SD card but I don't want to lose the stuff I have on my SD card or break where things look to find stuff like pictures and music.
Does anyone know of ANY forums or tutorials to do the opposite of what it seems everyone else wants to do in relation to SD card storage.
Thanks in advance for the help.

Doesn't cover data, but you can set your default app install location to internal storage using this question: How do I stop apps from installing themselves to my SD-card?

If you've installed any Apps on the SDCard, you can simply move them back to internal storage via the Settings→Apps→Manage Apps menu, walking your downloaded apps one by one and see whether it is installed on SDCard. This should be your first step.
For the remaining files: If your device offers an "internal SDCard", you could simply use a file manager like e.g. ES File Explorer File Manager to move "normal files" from the external to the internal SDCard.
Both steps done, remove the SDCard (either should down your device to do so, or simply use the Settings→Storage menu to unmount the card first if you can access it without shutting down the device).
Optional step: Once the card is removed, you could check again if you still can move apps to SDCard, as the device might use the internal SDCard for this.

Depending on the phone, you may not be able to move files from the SD card to the phone's internal storage.  What you can do, however, is buy a replacement SD card and move all the files from the old card to the new one.
If your computer has a card reader (many laptops do), you can use that to copy the files from the old card to your hard drive.  Or you can connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable and access the files that way.  Then remove the old card and insert the new one, and copy the files back.

Other than pictures and music, if the user had installed many apps (which might have been moved to SD card) then, it would make sense to use Titanium Backup to back up the apps and its data.

I've got a Galaxy S2
My Husband has an S3 and he runs his phone without an SD card at all. I was hoping I could do the same.

If you have any experience with Linux, you could connect your SD card to your PC using a card reader, and use the dd command to make a direct dump of the card's contents. Then you could use dd again to write the contents onto a new card of the same capacity.
(it sounds like your card may be on the verge of total failure, so you should do this as soon as possible, if you have important photos/music on it!)


text:
My WiFi does not work in Sony Ericsson
My Sony Ericsson X8's wifi has stopped working about a few weeks after rooting and installing the GingerDX v030.
Even though it is turned on and scanning, it does not connect to any WiFi.
I have tried rebooting, and also resetting the WiFi antenna (i.e., either by turning it off then on, or by switching to airplane mode and then back out of it).
I have to use the stock kernel otherwise the phone hard bricks.

Alright, I have managed to solve the problem by looking at some XDA forums.
Basically summarized here: -

Go into the WiFi settings.
Long press a remembered WiFi.
Select Forget All Networks. You might need to do it a few times.
Press the leftmost button (the one with literally four squares) to bring up a bottom menu.
Touch Scan.
Voila! WiFi working again!

The only drawback is that you need to grab passwords for each one of them again. :-(

Take a backup
Reboot in CWM Recovery
Format cache
Format data
Format system
Wipe Dalvik cache
Reflash ROM

In that development site, they must have mentioned extra files to flash. Do that too.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Q&A site. Your answer is not a good fit as there's lots of unexplained things - What development site? What extra files to flash, do what too? An answer like that is not exactly like that would only get downvoted or lots of comments explaining/seeking clarification. Kind of like asking a monkey which direction is north, understand how poor it comes across. Might be worthwhile to edit your answer as much as you can to include a lot more information for the reader :)


text:
Many apps don't work for secondary accounts
I have a Google Nexus 7 that I share with my kids.  I am the owner and created a second account for my child.  I've found that many games work on my (the owners) account, but will not work on the second users account.  One of the apps in question is Unblock me Free.  It works great on my account, but on the second users account, it will get to the splash screen and then just disappear. I cannot find any app, user or security settings that could be causing this.  Hoping for some insight from this group as to what is causing this.  I hesitate to install a root-kit or unlock the tablet unless I can be convinced that's the best/safest way to go.

As far as Android SDK documentation goes:
    As an app developer, there’s nothing different you need to do in order for your app
to work properly with multiple users on a single device.
...

    To be certain that your app behaves properly in a multi-user environment, do not refer
to your internal app directory or external storage location using hard-coded paths and
instead always use the appropriate APIs:

Hence theoretically speaking, if the app developer had used appropriate methods this app should work normally. In that sense, I do not think you have any better way other than reporting this to the app developer.
Rooting your Nexus 7 doesn't going to solve this issue - in my opinion.

Update: I sent an email to the support team of the app developer quoting this question. I received a reply as:
Thank you for your information.
We have filed the issue with engineering team.
We'll try our best to fix them ASAP.

which in my opinion supports my assumption.

There are so many apps that have this problem.  Do we really have that many crappy Android developers?

I am not sure. But one justification from developer's point of view is that what is correct today is not correct tomorrow. This especially happens in the technology. As you could have read the SDK documentation, before Google decides supporting multiple users, the methods that app developer used might be appropriate and breaks only when Google did this change.

Fully agreed with @Narayanan.  This is not limited to Android, and is true in any software development environment. An application that was working fine in Windows XP might break horribly under Windows 7, for example.  Developers can't be faulted for not knowing of the changes ahead of time, only for not responding to user feedback in a timely manner.

Google Play's Family Library with app and game sharing goes live July 2, 2016.
From the relevant post on the website Android Police:
Family Library and sharing have been a long, really long, time coming on Google Play. In his different app teardowns, Cody has repeatedly discovered strings pointing out to the feature coming to Play Books, Play Movies, Play Services, the Play Store, but up until recently, the only Google entity that had benefited from any kind of family sharing was Play Music and its Family Plans.
But at this year's Google I/O, Google announced that Family Library was coming to Google Play app and games purchases with the new changes taking effect on July 2nd.
What has already changed though are the terms of the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement. A new section 5.4 explains how a family group, with one manager and different members, can purchase the product once and share it with other members of the family. So starting July 2, any purchases you make on the Play Store will be available for sharing with your other family members.


text:
Use a bluetooth headset for media audio on a Nexus 7 running Android 4.2
I have a Jawbone Bluetooth headset paired to my new Nexus 7 tablet. In the paired Bluetooth devices section, it show that it is paired under the Phone Audio profile. I just want all the audio to go through the Jawbone earpiece, when it is connected. So far even though it is connected I can't get any sound out of the ear piece and the tablet still uses it's built in microphone.
So is there a way to change the Jawbone's Bluetooth profile from Phone Audio to all, or media, etc? I don't know how to change this, and I'm not even sure what the Phone Audio profile is for, since I'm new to Android and this isn't really a phone.

There is an app called Mono for Bluetooth that allows you route the devices sound via mono bluetooth headset. I'm sure there are other apps, but this is the first one I found and it seems to work fine. It also does the following:

sound indication when routing is switched on
restores sound volume after switching off the routing
indication when routing is on in status bar
restores bluetooth routing after phone call

Supports Android 2.2 and higher.


text:
Set wallpaper and lock screen's background as two different photos?
Current when I choose a photo to be set as wallpaper, my lock screen's background is automatically changed to be this new one.
I want the lockscreen to keep its old background, how can I do that?
ps.
I'm using Google Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

What version of Android are you using? Android 4.0.4 and above should let you change both separatelly.

My Android version is 4.1.1

Indeed I have googled and see other users can have the option to set so but on my phone, I cannot find that

Although I am on another device with another android version (HTC Desire HD / ROM: JellyTime R9, Android 4.2.2) I think the problem may be the same.
In the Gallery app I can only set the images as background. But I can set a different lock screen background image in system settings. I think this option depends on the specific Launcher/Lockscreen you use and are also valid in stock roms. I am using NovaLauncher and I can only set a different lockscreen image that way as far as I know.
Look in Settings → UI → Lock screen → Background → Custom image (maybe different wording — I only have the German version here).

You can't do that. But what you can do is download a third party locker such as GO Locker.

On Android 4.1.1 you can set a different wallpaper without 3rd party apps.

How would GoLocker help me?

This is what you need to do, supposing you're on a stock ROM:

Open your Gallery app.
Select the image you want to set as background.
Hit Menu and you should see an option Set as, click on it.
You should end with several options in which you can find Home screen, Lock screen and Home and lock screens.
Select the option you want to set your wallpaper to.

If you have a custom ROM, you should check the forums of that ROM to see if its supports this.

Sorry Peter, on my phone, after selecting the image in Gallery, I only have options: 1-set as wallpaper, 2-set as contact. No option for lock screen indeed.

Do you have a stock ROM or are you using a custom ROM (Cyanogenmod for example)?

I use the original phone without making anything changed related to the ROM as you call it

I had  a bit of trouble setting the lock screen pic. I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace Q i827 (Appeal in the U.S.) & I had to first find a pic I wanted, then I had to hit the menu button a couple of times to find the 'set as' button. At first I only hit it once, & no 'save as' button appeared. But after hitting it again, it popped up. After clicking on the 'set as', I had the option of selecting the lock screen or wallpaper.  This is for gingerbread 2.3.6.


text:
How to update The Samsung galaxy S2(GT-I9100) to 4.1.2 Via Ubuntu 12.10(AMD64)
The title sais is all
Question:How to update The Samsung galaxy S2(GT-I9100) to 4.1.2
Note: I am using Ubuntu 12.10

You will have to wait till it's distributed for over-the-air updates. Or you root it.

Most probably using kies if they have any version for Ubuntu or you can use Odin also if they have made any version for Ubuntu. Or you can use Virtual PC and install Windows on that then use Kies for this purpose.

You can use Heimdall. Its a cross-platform tool suite used to flash firmware, more or less like Odin, but opensource. It has a binary that can be installed in your Ubuntu version.


text:
Arabic123 instea
I need to remove Hindy numbers off the Clock and date from the system of my nexus 7, when I have it in Arabic language.
I neeeeeeed numbers in this Format 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Not in those middle eastern Format where
 Zero is a point and five is an o.
I know how to change Languages!!! My problem is with the format of the digits and numbers system wide.
So it is not a question that has been asked! Wake up guys.

Thank you to let us know! So do you have any question you want to have answered? Doing some guess-work: How do I add a new language?, Help getting Arabic on Android, Arabic support for my Android device

Just downloaded the Arabic language pack for SwiftKey and SwiftKey Tablet.
The numbers on it are standard 123, with the option of Arabic numbers. It does offer prediction, though apparently the Arabic language is still in beta for prediction.
I love this keyboard. I've had it since the day I got into android. It updates often. I don't even have a Tablet, but I bought both just to give the developers more money. It's currently on sale for half off, as they just released flow (their version of Swype with multiple word support.)
Good Luck. Remember why we love Android. Everything is an app, and can be changed. (:


text:
Automatic video on boot
I want a video file to be open automatically on my LG tablet when it boots. Is there any app or setting in Android?
There is a video presentation that I am sending to my clients and all I want is that when client turn on the tablet, my video presentation starts playing automatically.

Could probably be realized using Tasker:

Condition: Boot completed (or Monitor Start)
Task: Start App

Not sure if you can specify a video file directly here. But there might at least be some video player supporting to automatically start playing the latest playlist, which should make up for it.
You can find a free 7-day-trial of tasker on their homepage -- or try alternative automation apps such as e.g. Llama - Location Profiles. Another possibility is to create the profile with Tasker, and then export it using the Tasker App Factory; this way you'ld get a "free version app" of your profile to distribute on the tablets.

Wow, I haven't seen the Tasker App Factory before! That's looks like a really nifty app; I'll have to try it out.

Yupp, do so! It even permits you to sell the results :) Ooops, close to off topic now #D But the main thing is: You'd only need to buy Tasker once (for your account), and could provide the profiles for all the other accounts for free.

VideoKiosk may be what you are looking for.


text:
Resize photo before sending it by email?
On iOS, when I select one or more photos from the camera storage and choose to send them by email, the OS will ask me whether to send the images in full size or make them smaller so that the email won't be so large.
On Android (stock 4.2.2 on Nexus 4) I haven't found a comparable function. When I send an email of my baby to my mom, she receives a full 8-megapixel image that's too large to view on her monitor...
How can I have Android reduce the chosen photos before emailing them?
I don't want to have to launch an editor app  and scale each image individually.
I only found one 2-year-old post about this that doesn't mention any solution. Surely, there's a way to do this on Android, similar to how it's done on iOS?

Find similar post with a feasible solution. http://www.droidforums.net/forum/no-way-resize-photos-when-sending-email-image-processing

Image Shrink Lite is just right for me; there's a paid version with more options.

There is a free (as in freedom) application Send Reduced, available at the F-Droid repository of free software.
Install F-Droid, install Send Reduced, select your photos, press Share button, select Send Reduced and then select the sharing method. Your photos will be sent reduced in resolution and file size.

Use this one, it's perfect. Unlike many of the other apps which are severely limited, this one works exactly as you'd expect - as a transparent, easily configurable wrapper around "share to gmail".

Just had to do this quickly at work - Send Reduced also appears to be available on the Google Play store.

If you set the quality to 100%, this app actually increases the images' size.

There is no stock option to do this.
Here's what I do, and it works pretty good, but isn't perfect.

Download Reduce Photo Size from the Play store.
When composing an email, click Add Attachment.
A choice of locations will pop up. Choose Reduce Photo Size.
Then choose either Select Image or Take a Photo.
If you click Select Image, then choose Gallery.
Once you have selected the photo you want to send, click Reduce.
Now a confusing window will pop up and this is where it gets a little tricky. You really have to know picture sizes as measured in pixels. Click Custom. The smallest photo size will be shown as a default (320x240 or something). I usually use 640x480 for a small 25kb pic, but you could resize up to anything you want.
Hit OK and then choose the three dots for the menu and choose Done.

That's it!

It is a great work flow (even works in Android 9), but a yucky GUI.

You could try JustResizeIt! (free or paid)
It's optimized to send many pictures to many emails. You can send entire albums to all your friends.
Install the free version, create a widget with many email recipients. Then open your Gallery, choose as many pictures you want, tap on Share and select JustResizeIt!. Wait the pictures to load, then just tap on the widget you predefined.

The free version is very limited but the full version looks like a very useful tool, and very capable. Thanks!

I recommend taking a screenshot of the image, and cropping it.
It should reduce the size a bit without an app.

This is the best choice and I do most of the time.

Send it to yourself on whatsapp, it will automatically reduce the size. Then send that reduced pic in email.

Alternativley use Google+ Auto Backup option, by default it resizes photos to 2048x2048px and reduces by size. You can then share this photo or just send it by link.

Quick Reduce Photo is a completely free app to compress any number of photos.

Use Blue Mail. In-built feature to reduce size. Pop-up window before sending. Very efficient. Up to 10 pics in one go.

Free Email Photos android app allows photos to be easily resized (small, medium or large) and emailed.

You should have mentioned your affiliation with this product as its developer.

What I do: put away my Android 5.5 inch screen phone for a second. Using my old iPhone 5s with a broken home button, open Google Photos where I have the pictures I need to email and send it using not gmail app, since it won't cut the size either, but mail app using gmail account.
Before releasing the wrath saying this aint the answer you were looking for or this is not an answer, allow me to explain myself, because this might be an answer for those who are like me and believe some functionalities just should be there and substituting them with apps from unknown sources just might not be a good solution.
I don't like downloading extra software containing ads (after some were firing full-screen ads right after unlocking the screen). I dont like third party apps that for no reason get access to my library. Nor do I like using them to browse through all my phone to find photos I need to email after I already nicely arranged them by albums in Google Photos and they are all in one place. Yes, Android is awesome. But iOS is good too for certain things.
I beleive that nowadays many can afford to have at least an iPhone 5 (used are very cheap) which is fast enough for functionalities that are not native to Android. Especially since iOS can easily sync with Google accounts and apps.
So I suggest to finally stop this: hey I am a Mac and I am a PC dillema and say, yes, I do use Windows when I want to play the Witcher 3, but I do use Mac for work. It's the same with Android and iOS. Yes Android is 100 times more flexible and convenient than iOS. But I do prefer some things to do on iOS devices since it's much faster and just works.


text:
Looking for a launcher similar to Launchy, Synapse or Kupfer (with type to find and launch app feature)
When using a normal computer I like to use a launcher to quickly launch applications and perform other tasks. Examples of such launchers are Quicksilver, Launchy, Gnome-Do and Kupfer (which I currently prefer). The power of these launchers is that you can easily open them with a shortcut, type a few characters to find the application and press enter to launch it.
I'm looking for a similar app for Android (I'm using a Nexus 7 with 4.2). I already found a few solutions, but they all have small shortcomings, so I'm still looking for the perfect solution:

Quickdroid: This Open Source app can search apps, contacts, music and a few other things. It also provides a 'quick launch' by adding a permanent notification to open Quickdroid. However it still feels as not fast enough, as you have to open the notification drawer, search for the quickdroid notification and touch it.
FAST App Search: This is a much simpler app (also Open Source), which only searches apps (no contacts etc, so that's it's weak point). It can however be configured to launch when dragging the home button from the bottom up to the center of the screen, thereby replacing Google Now.
Google Now: When dragging the home button up, the Nexus 7 will by default launch Google Now. This actually searches for apps, music, contacts etc and applications can add 'catalogs' to it. So in fact this is pretty much what I'm looking for. The problem here is that (1) After opening Google Now you need to tap the search field before you can start typing, (2) because of the google search suggestions, the actual matching applications are hidden behind the onscreen keyboard and (3) to really search all the 'catalogs' you need to tap 'search tablet'.
Google from homescreen: I can also press the google search button on the homescreen of the Nexus 7. The result is similar to opening Google Now, except that the search field immediately gets the cursor-focus. This obviously adds another step because you have to make the homescreen visible, and doesn't solve the search suggestions.

Is it possible to configure the 'drag the home button up'-action, to launch the google search, with the search field focused and immediately in tablet-search modus? This certainly feels like the best solution as it is already part of Android and apps can extend it by adding content.
Or are there other similar apps that can be configured to launch by a single tap/drag and search for apps, contacts, music, etc?

Asking for a recommendation on "What X app to use to solve Y", is off-topic (Please read the [FAQ]) thanks :)

In essence, this question is actually about how I can efficiently use the tablet search functionality which is a part of Android (at least on the Nexus 7). If I rephrase the entire question to ask just that (without asking for app alternatives), would that qualify as a 'valid' android enthusiasts question?

I think this question is fine. Unlike most "I need an app that does X" questions, this shows research why some apps don't suit and even concludes with a query as to if it is possible to configure Android to do what's desired without apps.

The question is IMHO in a gray zone. He is not asking for a App that solves a problem but for a launcher with a particular feature, this and the good quality of the question make it on-topic in my eyes. OTOH the asked feature could also theoretically be provided not only by a launcher, but also by an app or a mod. Basically OP wanted to asked something like "How can I find and launch apps by simply typing their name?". Or am I wrong @jeron? Does this have to be provided by the launcher?

@Flow you are completely correct. I simply want to launch apps by typing their name.

To answer my own question:
I found SwipeSwitcher Lite and am using this to easily launch QuickDroid. SwipeSwitcher is a very simple app which just adds a small invisble overlay on the left and right edges of the screen. It let's you configure each overlay to launch an app (or go the the previous/next app in the default configuration). So I configured the left edge to launch QuickDroid and kept the right edge at the default config.
Now I can quickly launch QuickDroid by swiping from the left edge of the screen. To launch an app all I do now is swipe, type 2 - 3 characters, and select the app. And as an added bonus, I can quickly go back to the previous app by swiping from the right edge of the screen. So far I really like this very simple solution.
It's similar to other suggested solutions such as FlipLauncher and SwipePad, except that SwipeSwitcher does not replace the homescreen and immediately launches one single app.
I also had a look at Google Search Launcher, as that promised to be exactly what I wanted to use the Android built-in Tablet search. However, this really just launches the Google Search, so it is still not in 'tablet search mode' by default and still shows search suggestions. It also makes the homesceeen inaccessible and was rather slow. It seemed promising but was a rather dissapointing.
Update:
I just found another very nice solution. If you have Tasker installed, you can install Assistant Event for Tasker. Then you can create a task which will launch QuickDroid (or any app of your choice) when using the gesture which would normally open Google Now (the "Google Assistant" gesture).

Have you not considered this application which actually overlays the existing launcher, and by using gestures such as tapping on the corner of the screen, to launch a certain app. The app is called SwipePad
Its a complement to the existing launchers out there on the market.
To quote:

SwipePad is a launcher panel overlay. With a single swipe action, you
can launch anything from within any app. It's extraordinarily simple
and intuitive to use:

Touch down a pre-set edge of the screen;
Move your finger towards the center of the screen so the pad will emerge;
Release your finger on a specific slot to action.

going a slightly different route, have you considered an app like FlipLauncher?
You get approx 24 slots to save shortcuts to apps. A quick slide of the finger from edge of the phone to the screen will launch one of the strips of apps, enabling you to launch an app from the strip. The beauty of this is it doesn't matter what app you are currently in, you can still launch one of your shortcut apps from the current app. When launched, using back arrow will take you to your previous app.
Example - IMDB, Browser or part of your shortcut apps. You are reading an article in your news reader about a great new movie, you want to see the trailer, so you launch the strip that contains your IMDB icon, press on it launching the IMDB app, watch the trailer, back arrow out of IMDB, and you go straight back to the article you were reading.
(I have no interest in this app, other than finding it has made using my phone quicker and easier and reduced the number of home pages I require and the number of times I go into the app drawer).
I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I think it is a much quicker alternative that can cover you in most instances.

I have considered using apps like the one you suggested, but that still feels limited. with an app such as QuickDroid you have everything at your fingertips. While it is true that it might be a little slower, just typing 2 or 3 characters already brings up the correct app/contact most of the time. And that works for the entire list of apps, while a solutions such as FlipLauncher only works for a limited list of apps. Once you want to use another you end up in the app list again, hunting for the correct icon. Thanks for the suggestion!

QuickDroid also has a widget. Have you tried that?
It seems like the search field is there in your home screen. It's not really (when you tap it to start typing, it opens the search screen), but looks nice at least...

I tried the widget but in my opinion it doesn't add any useful functionality. I do have a shortcut to quickdroid on my homescreen (actually as part of DashClock).

To improve your first bullet, some custom launcher apps would allow you to open QuickDroid in a simple way. Nova Launcher Prime, which I am using right now, lets you set the action of a swipe on the homescreen to launch a custom app.
Other popular launchers that claim to allow gestures are Go Launcher, Apex Launcher, and Holo Launcher.

This is indeed the solution I'm using now with SwipeSwitcher, as I described in my own answer. Thanks for the suggestion!

I like your solution even better since it can work on a stock launcher. Good find there with SwipeSwitcher!

I've found App Dialler to be pretty quick.
T9 fuzzy(?) Searching app launcher
I have xposeds GravityBox pielauncher setup with an app dialler shortcut to launch from any app with a small gesture and single tap

try conjure app on google play. might be similar to what you want. (lifehacker has an article on them).

Your answer would be a lot more useful with a link to the app you're recommending.


text:
How to make android prefer mobile data when wifi signal is very weak
When I leave home or the office there is a ring around it where I simply have no connection at all. This is because the WLAN network from my router at home or the one at the office is detected, but the signal is so weak that no useful data flow can occur.
Is there a way in which I can make android use the mobile data network when the WLAN signal strength is below a certain strength so that there isn't this annoying "dead ring of no connectivity"?
Googling this problem or searching the app store keeps giving me solutions for the exact opposite.
thanks in advance

From Android 5 onwards, there's a setting in the Developer options called Aggressive WiFi to mobile handover.
Enabling this setting makes your phone switch to mobile connection when the WiFi signal is too weak.
You can also take a look at a tutorial with screenshots.

Unfortunately this option has since been removed

You can do so by having your WiFi switched off when its signal gets weak. There are several apps available on the Playstore which can watch the WiFi signal, one of them being Tasker (which is what I use). Here you can define a minimum level and tell Tasker: If WiFi signal falls below this, switch WiFi off. Of course you can make it even more detailed, and letting it check every X minutes whether signal quality has improved. It might be a little tricky to set up first (especially when one is not used to Tasker) -- but once it works, and you figure out what else can be done with that app, you don't want to miss it. An example how this could look like can be found in What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery? -- a little different topic, but a similar idea behind it.
You might also take a look at similar apps. Though Tasker is not free (you can get a 7-day trial on their website), it's worth every cent -- but might be hard for beginners. There are other automation apps around, as e.g. Llama, which might also able to do a similar job.

Thanks I will consider purchasing that app (which I was already doing anyway, but I was hoping for onX to become facebook independent).

If you either considered buying Tasker, that's the best way. It's a real powerful tool; I could answer almost every second question with "Tasker" ;)

Is it possible to have tasker to turn wifi back on when there is a strong signal again?

@MeyerDenney should be similar to this one. Of course requires to enable WiFi in intervals to check (how else should it know).

In Android 4.4, there is an explicit option for this:
Settings -> WiFi -> Advanced Wi-Fi -> Avoid poor connections
In Android 5, this option appears to have been removed. There is an Android bug/feature with many complaints on this.

Auto (or Smart) Network Switch now exists.

BestSignal seems like the perfect solution. It offers both default configurations and also advanced configurations.

Just bought this and it seems to fix the issue!

I just installed BESTSIGNAL on my HTC ONE M7 from the developer of the same name. It's the paid version but only AUD1.99 and it works well, simple yet highly functional GUI. However it was not compatible on my Google Nexus 7 (2012) nor my ASUS Transformer TF700T so be sure to check your device compatibility.


text:
Report application
Not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question, but here it goes.
Where/how can I report an Android application that tells it's users to click on its AdMob ads?
Thank you

What problem are you thinking of reporting it for?
If you're going to report it because this is against AdMob's Terms of Use (I haven't checked, but this sort of thing is normally against most ad network's rules. Then they don't seem to be open to much Contact from people without Admob logins, but you can try their Contact page, which has Twitter and Facebook accounts listed.
If you think that this makes the app itself annoying, then find its page on the Play Store and write a review and give a rating reflecting that, to warn other people who may be thinking about using the app.

If this causes a real problem with the app, or seems to be malicious in some way, then if you have the app installed, you can go into the Play Store on your device, go into the My Apps list, find the app, scroll to the bottom of its page, and then you should see a "Flag as inappropriate" link to report the app to Google.


text:
How to install Cynogenmod on a Galaxy S w/ Android 2.1
I got a Galaxy S today. It shows a "Firmware version 2.1-update1", which I suppose is Android 2.1.1. I want to install an up-to-date Android version on it, so I thought I'd turn to Cyanogenmod. I have never done this. (In fact, I am still at the state where I am a bit hazy about what terms as "rooting", "flashing" etc. exactly apply to.)
I have found this step-by-step guide to install Cyanogenmod on a Galaxy S and tried to follow it, but I failed miserably. I got as far as #5, where I would put the ClockworkMod recovery file onto the phone, but there
heimdall flash --kernel zImage --no-reboot
gives me a
Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
ERROR: Claiming interface failed!
I have put several hours into this, but now I am stumped for good. I used to get failed to detect compatible device when I started this. After lots of searching the web, installed Samsung's Kies software, because it is supposed to allow the phone to be updated to Android 2.2, which some guides seem to presume as a starting point. However, I was unable to get Kies to even recognize the device. But its installation seems to have gotten me past Heimdall's error. At other places, however, I have found statements saying that one should uninstall Kies in order to get Heimdall working...
So what did I do wrong? How am I to proceed? What should I try next?

If you are NOT rooted, you can root your phone with this
When you are rooted, try this -

Install ROM Manager

Flash ClockworkMod Recovery (Via ROM Manager)
Download Cyanogenmod (Via ROM Manager)
Install ROM (Via ROM Manager)

That's it, very simple and easy.

Try what if rooted?

This phone is not rooted. Would it be easier if it was? That ROM manager seems to be incompatible with this OS version.

Dont u need to be premium to download it from rom manager

Your phone need to be rooted, otherwise you can't install ROM Manager because it needs root acces.
If you rooted your phone just download cyanogenmod and install it trought CWM (ClockWorkMod Recovery)
Download CM: http://get.cm and search your device or go to http://cyanogenmod.com an click on get cyanogenmod and click on your device.
I think you should download an Stable mod because your are an custom rom noob as i see.

Thanks a lot! Currently I lack the time to play with this, but I'll try ASAP.

The guide says: Rooting the stock firmware is neither recommended nor necessary.


text:
Save screenshots to Google Drive (Samsung S3)
I can't figure out the easiest way to save screenshots automatically to Google Drive.
Is there a Google Drive folder and an app that makes screenshots and saves them into this folder? OR, a default folder for screenshots which be added to Google Drive?
I know I can upload the fotos to Google+, but I would like to avoid this manual step.
Thanks a lot!


text:
Is there a reason why an app would want all of my contacts?
I've downloaded an application that wasn't in Google Play (private developer) for testing purposed. Part of the assignment is for me to send them back some information about my device (auto-generated, I just hit send). However, I noticed before sending the email that there was an attachment. I sent it to myself first so I could look at it on my computer and saw it was all of my contacts and the information I had of them, such as phone numbers, names, etc.
Is this something the developer legitly needs? The application can call other people, so that may be why they need it, but I don't understand why they need it. Should I send it to them?

Definitly not! That's nothing like what a developer needs. And a developer requiring you to send that I'd avoid in the future as well. All that might be needed can be provided by e.g. adb bugreport (which is the most comprehensive data collection known to me to be useful for a developer concerning his development). Requesting all your addresses is harvesting, and rather used for spamming.
TL;DR: I would NOT send that information. You might contact that dev and ask for an explanation, and then maybe decide different. But I cannot believe this being a "mistake" or simply "carelessness".

The developers replied back saying only the the names of the contacts are needed, and everything else would be deleted. They required the names to improve the algorithm for calling people (it's one of those Sire-like apps). Still, I deleted all of the phone numbers before sending them in, just to be safe.

Well, still heavy load. If a dev collects sensitive data, he should point this out before the user accidentally detects it. And not only say "Ah, btw, we copied your contacts' data", but exactly say what they need it for -- and even tell you how to optionally erase the parts not required (phone numbers, mail addresses etc. in your case). Grabbing those data silently simply is not serious, and sheds a bad light of not being trustworthy.

NO. There is no reason why an app would need all your contacts.
It's possible that contact information might be useful, if the app does anything to the information about the contact. For example, the app might want to format the phone number (for aesthetic purposes), because it could be saved in many ways (e.g. +639171234567, 09171234567).
They might also be interested in how many contact numbers you have for that person. How would they handle such scenario if you called the person? Would they use the first number or the second number?
If you know the person developing the app (or even if you don't), the best way would be to ask them what they need it for.
But the bottomline is: NO, they should never have to need ALL of your contacts.


text:
Cannot add participants to calendar events
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3.
Last week I deleted an event from my calendar.  Since then, I have not been able to add participants to my events.  I've gone through all the settings. I have also rebooted, but it doesn't help. Can anyone advise?

What happened when you tried to add a participant? Was there an error message? Did it just not do anything? Was the button for adding participants missing or greyed out?


text:
Stuck on the Gmail inbox
When I click on Gmail app, it takes me directly to my inbox. I cannot get out of it. I also cannot find my contacts, or the sign-in or sign-out page. I tried to uninstall it, but it would not let me.
Can you help me?

The Gmail app for Android is not the same as the gmail.com website.  You don't have to sign in when you open the app, because you already signed into your Google account as part of the initial setup procedure, when you first turned on your phone or tablet.
It's normal and expected for the Gmail app to take you directly to your inbox.  If you want to see other folders (such as your sent messages), tap where it says "Inbox" at the top of the screen — it's a drop-down menu.
Contacts are a separate app.  Look for "Contacts" or "People" in your list of app icons.