text:
Determine which app owns an icon on my home screen
Related:
How can I determine what app put a spam shortcut on my home screen?
How can I remove unwanted app icons from the screen?
I read that one of the answers suggests installing TrustGo Ad Detector. However, I would like to know is it possible to determine which app created a launcher icon or shortcut by using the programming tools that come with the Android SDK such as adb?
Update:
I installed and ran a scan with TrustGo Ad Detector. It reported 0 apps which install shortcuts on my home screen.

Determine which app owns an icon on my home screen

I cannot be sure that it would definitely work in your case but a way to find out the details about a shortcut is to see the relevant entries in database of your launcher app.
E.g. If the shortcut appears on my home-screen when Android's native launcher (com.android.launcher) is active, then I would proceed to see content in /data/data/com.android.launcher/databases/launcher.db. The problem is that a normal user cannot access /data/data directly without root access.

Since the question demands usage with adb only, I would suggest taking a backup of the launcher app and extract the .ab backup using Android Backup Extractor. Now you can access the launcher.db from it. I use DB browser for SQLite to open the .db file.
Users with root access can use adb pull <SOURCE> <TARGET> to fetch the relevant file. You may try SQLite Editor as well.

The location of shortcut entries may differ amongst launchers.

In my native Android launcher and Nova Launcher, the entries are in table favorites respectively.
Smart Launcher has them in the table flowerBubble.

Once you're inside the relevant table, find your shortcut under the column title and see all the corresponding column-values there.
In my findings, custom shortcuts had iconType value greater than 0, and for some custom shortcuts iconPackage and iconResource had the values as the app's name and resource whose icon is displayed.
Note that my findings are only based on aforesaid three launchers and your launcher may not reflect similar pattern.

[Is] it possible to determine which app created a launcher icon or shortcut [on my home screen]?

I have doubts reserved whether this is really possible. As it is clear by now, the home-screen shortcuts are (unlike traditional GNU/Linux) not symlinks since their structure varies from launcher to launcher, and usually cannot be called or executed unless the launcher itself is active (possibly because the parent launcher can only know whether the entry should be treated as shortcut or not).
Based on my findings, my answer would be no, you cannot determine which app created the shortcut on home-screen.


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gallery and music player are not working
My gallery is not showing pics and videos of SD card
So I installed quickpic which is showing every thing
My music player is also not showing my music
I have restarted the phone my times after this but it won't help
Pls help

go to settings>Apps>all>Gallery
a)click on force stop
b)click on clear data
c)click on clear cache
now again go to settings>Apps>all>music
a)click on force stop
b)click on clear data
c)click on clear cache
now again go to settings>Apps>all>Media Storage
a)click on force stop
b)click on clear data
c)click on clear cache

7.Now,restart phone
note:- wait for 2-3 minutes to allow gallery and music player to build their database again.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How to preserve battery while trekking remote locations?
I will use my phone while trekking in a remote area and want to conserve its battery. I won't have phone or wifi networks, but I want to record my track using Google's My Tracks and take photos.
How should I configure my phone to maximize the battery duration?
I'd like to know the specific things I should change for using the phone as a GPS recorder and camera, so it is different of this question. I know that I can turn off wifi and the Sim chips. Maybe I should use another GPS tracker.
I have a lot of apps installed, and nowadays it looks like even a ridiculous weather app needs to start a service. Should I uninstall them?
I'm using a Moto G first generation and Android 5.0.2.

Please take a look at What can I do to Increase Battery life on my Android device?

MyTracks is a fairly power hungry app, because it does lots of things as well as recording a track. eg it shows maps, and graphs, and gives voice announcements etc. For just recording a track, a simpler app would be better.
I recommend GPS Logger for Android, which aims to be more battery effecient. It has lots of settings which can save battery power. Specifically, the time interval before recording a point - you can set this to 60 seconds or more. Also turn off the option for "keep GPS on between fixes". This should still record a fairly detailed track for typical walking speeds, though it may miss some of the tight corners or twisty paths.
For other power saving, yes it is worth turning off wifi and mobile data. You can also complete disable the mobile phone connection, ie set it to airplane mode. This help a lot if you are in an area with poor coverage, because otherwise the phone will waste power trying to find a signal. Obviously this means you can't receive any phone calls/texts, but recording a GPS track will work fine.
Also any other apps running in the background may be wasting power. You don't have to uninstall them, just disable the apps to stop them running. If you go to Settings > Battery, it will tell you what apps are using most power.

Excellent answer. I didn't know that I could use the GPS in airplane mode. Changing MyTracks is another good option. The problem with the Battery setting is that now\days everybody just use Google services and it masquerades the real culprit.

I would really a love a "Safe mode" that would allow me to run my apps but stopped all services.

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


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SD Card and Sony Xperia E3
I recently purchased a 16gb SanDisk SDHC card by mistake (the website said it was a normal SD card, not SDHC.) I put the card in and it seems to be working fine, but I was curious if there could be any damage to the phone or to the data I save to it if the phone isn't compatible? The phone description says it takes up to a 16gb SD card, but doesn't support SDHC cards... and I can't find 16gb versions of the SD card.

This is most likely just imprecise terminology in the specification, perhaps because Sony figured that a typical layperson wouldn't know what SDHC is. In reality, the "SD" standard cannot exceed 2 GB in size, so a 16 GB "SD" card is an impossibility. It has to be SDHC.

NO,It will not harm your phone
Since, operating speed of SD is less than SDHC.Data transfer will occur at same rate which is supported by your mobile phone.
So it will not harm your phone.


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Update Android version on Panasonic KX-UT670
I have to build an application that uses Google Contacts API.
This application must be used on a Panasonic KX-UT670 that has Android 2.2 as SO, but i need to upgrade it at least to 2.3, as documentation says here
I searched around internet but i didn't find how to upgrade the Android version on it.
That device is not a Smartphone or Tablet, it is known as Smart Desk Phone, i tried to go to the device settings, but there are nothing to upgrade the SO.
Does anybody knows how can i update Android version on that device?

Actually, reading the developer manual, it seems you can't

Applications developed by using KX-UT670 APIs are exclusively for use with the KX-UT670.

That, IMHO, implies they have it's own API, thus you have to develop in this API to make an app AND you cannot update, or upgrade Android version in the device.
Yes, it is Android 2.2 version, but not an open one... :(


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Trying to move apps over to SD Card
What's the best way to move apps on my SD card? Do I have to root? Because It's getting really out of hand with storage. I only have 8GB on my phone.
The only apps that I have installed myself is Portal, WinRar, Spotify, Textra, Tumblr, Facebook, Messenger, and Twitter. If I try to download anything else, it says I have insufficient space. It's really annoying to be limited to that many apps. I use them very frequently, but it's so annoying how I can't even get a little game to play on my breaks because of this limitation.
Running XT1064 5.0.2 w/ 16gb SD Card

Some apps have the ability to store data onto an external SD card.
Just make sure the SD card is formatted first, then check the settings "within" the app itself to see if there's an option to save or move data to the ext SD card.
If I had to guess, I would say Spotify is eating up a lot of your storage memory.
I would start there first and clear out the data from the app via the app manager and then see if the data can be stored on your SD card.

Still wouldn't let me move it over. Formatted, cleared data, force stopped it. Still nothing.

Use 'SuperBackup' App from Playstore and move your  apps, contacts, SMS and then move that backup files to external sdcard.

When the apps are developed there is an option whether to allow it to move it to external memory or not. However for most apps you will be able to move them partially (only data in most cases).
Even the apps on Play store that help you move apps to SD card won't be of much use if the apps aren't allowed to be moved. If you want to move everything to SD card, you would probably have to root your phone. Rooting your phone would give you access to the root directories allowing you to move system and user apps to external memory.


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Recovering deleted photos on internal memory
I read the tag wiki and about 10 pages deep of questions tagged data-recovery, but it only depressed me.
I deleted a folder of photos off of my phone by accident and need to retrieve them. I haven't done anything on the phone that could potentially overwrite the internal memory where the photos were stored, except for downloading and trying an app recovery tool ("photo recovery"), which of course didn't work.
The phone is an HTC Desire 510 running 4.4.2 (unrooted). My computer is running Ubuntu GNOME 14.04
From what I could find googling, PhotoRec seems to be a good free option. Unfortunately, PhotoRec is not detecting my phone. Apparently it's due to the MTP protocol. I cannot find any way to opt for USB mass storage.
What should I do? I cannot find a single helpful resource online and the longer I wait the worse my chances are (in my mind at least).
I found one thing that gives me hope: https://github.com/IzzySoft/Adebar. Does anyone know if this could be what I need?

Adebar doesn't recover deleted data, as far as I know (though the developer is a regular here, so I'm sure Izzy will correct me if I'm mistaken). It's only designed to back up your current data.

Related: How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?

The only way to recover your photos is that you will need to root your phone. There is really no other way to restore the data you already deleted. First you will need to root your device and then you can recover your files. Rooting your device will void your warranty. Next time before you accidentally delete your photos, use an online backup tool like Google Plus/Photos, dropbox etc.
This app will restore the photos for you: DiskDigger [ROOT].
Hope my answer helps

Adebar can assist you here, yes. It can help you identify your device's partitions, and get a copy of them to your computer – which you can use there with e.g. PhotoRec or rather its pendant TestDisk.
But in order to do so, it requires root access on your device (otherwise no low-level access to create images of your partitions). This can be done either by rooting your device, or by installing a custom recovery.
Another important note: Each minute your device is "continue running" lowers your chance of data retrieval, as the "freed space" might be re-used. Additional details can be found in our data-recovery tag-wiki.
Disclosure: I'm the dev of Adebar.

Root is not needed necessarily, only custom recovery with adb enabled.
I'm on my phone now so this will be short.
What you need is to dump the partition image to a computer and then run photorec (or other tool) on that image. This can be achieved via adb with root access that can be gained without actually rooting the phone (but you may need to unlock the boot loader).
Do NOT install anything on the phone itself, preferably don't even start it.
Flash custom recovery, boot to it and then go adb shell from a computer. Use some pipe/fifo/netcat magic to dump the image to the computer, then photorec it.
I know this answer is far from ideal but it should at least give you some idea what to do. I'll edit it and add more info after I get to an actual computer.

authors: ดอกฟ้า ลาบานูน

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


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LG Unify External to Internal
I have a LG Unify, which has a pathetic 1.2 gigs of internal storage and I put in a 16 gig SD Card which is showing up, but all the apps pile on to the internal one and there is no Move App to SD Card option either. I have rooted it and installed numerous app2SD apps, with no luck. Any help?

For obb files (for games with folders under
/sdcard/Android/obb/,  just symlink the obb folder on the external sd card to the internal sd card,and then copy out anything there on internal storage to the symlinked folder on your external SD card. search Google for how to symlink. you need to use either the adb shell or a terminal emulator to do the symlink

this won't help you with obb files (cache) however. comment if you need help with obb files. copying them to external sd card should work. I'll add a different answer for dealing with obb files, which is probably your problem.

Use Link2SD.

Create a new partition on your SD card, and format it to ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem.
Take your SD card and mount it in your PC.
Repartition your SD card into two partitions, one for normal data storage(rest, fat32) and another for the linked apps (4gb, ext2). You can name the partitions whatsoever you wish.
Now insert the SD card in your phone. Link2SD will detect it and show two partitions under storage. After this, you can refer to Link2SD's own help menu and tutorials.

You may try GParted for partitioning.


text:
is there a way to turn off the edge screen on the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge?
I don't think the edge screen is useful.
Often, its just causing unexpected things to trigger and run.
Can it be turned off?

No, you can't turn it off.But you can set timeout for it as low as possible to turn it offf quickly.
Settings > Edge Screen > Edge Screen Timeout

I don't see an option for Edge Screen Timeout. The only items are: manage panels, express me, information stream, night clock, and personal message.

Check in information stream it is avalable there

All that I have there (in Information stream) is Yahoo Finance, News, Sports.

You can't exactly turn it off but b you can turn off all the edge screen features individually if you no longer need them


text:
Emergency Mode!! on LG P350
I am using LG P350 from long time as my backup mobile. Some how Emergency Mode!! has triggered. Please some one help me out solving this problem

Don't worry, you should be able to get out of it. It can commonly happen among Android users when a certain key combination is pressed on accident. You can refer to this link for causes and fixes.

I tried that but there is no use. Still it is showing the same.

A link-only answer becomes irrelevant the moment link dies. Consider incorporating the relevant info (from the link) into the answer to make the latter self-sufficient.

Yes, I understand this, but the original asker has already said that the answer I provided doesn't help his case.


text:
Message Not Sent in the text messaging
I have a thing that is coming up on my phone and it says touch to review the message and try again. How do I get that off?


text:
If Android is Linux based and open source, why are updates and upgrades so difficult and restrictive?
I run Ubuntu on my laptop and desktop. Regardless of the make and model of my computers, I can download Ubuntu from their website and install it with easy instructions designed for laymen to follow. After that, upgrades and updates are automatic, with regular downloads from a repository, not just for applications I've installed, but for the kernel and core components.
With Android, if I stay on the stock version I got when I bought my phone (right now I have a Galaxy S5), it might update the OS. My last phone, an S3, never received Anything above 4.0 because the carrier or someone (I don't know who makes the decisions) just never offered it.
To get a more recent version of Lollipop, I have to go through long, obscure, and definitely-not-for-laymen posts and instructions on the XDA Developers forum. I've done it before, and it's confusing, risky, and labyrinthine. You go through warnings about bricking your phone, you're taken to all sorts of sketchy  for-profit download sites... and then when you finally get it working, to get any upgrade, you have to go through it all again.
Why aren't there Android versions available on websites as easily as there are Linux desktop versions? Why don't Android versions have repositories that update as regularly as Linux versions do? For that matter, why don't versions of Android upgrade as freely and easily (in terms of user management) as apps on Android do?


text:
How to change the vertical alphabet language in contact list?
All my contacts are in Greek language but the vertical alphabet is in English. How can i change it?
My phone is Samsung galaxy note 4 (not rooted), i use english language for the operating system and i don't want to change to Greek. Although i have English and Greek keyboard.

This is not my phones screenshot, but imagine the contacts are in Greek and vertical alphabet language still in English

Can you post a screenshot, so that it's easier for us to understand your problem?


text:
how can I know which Gmail account was on my Android device?
I had a Gmail account active on my Samsung S3. I made backup of contacts , and I uploaded them on my Google Drive account. I later did factory reset on the device, and I can't recall which Gmail account was setup on my device!
Is there anyway that I can come to know which Gmail account was on my Android device?

Do you have many Google accounts?

2 only, but I'm not sure about the 2nd one..  I tried to retrieve the password, but I failed to do that!

Go to Android Device Manager on your PC and log in with every Google account you have and check what account has your phone in it.
In Android Device Manager just log in, check for the device, if not there, try with a different account.
Screenshot:

Android Device Manager: click here.
Hope my answer helps.


text:
Missing notifications in lock screen after update to Lollipop
After upgrading my Galaxy S5 to Android 5.0, notifications now are not showing in the top bar when the screen is locked. I understand that there is an option to show notifications in lock screen, from the sound and notification settings, but these still do not show in the top bar of the lock screen, but rather as annoying white boxes. Is there any way to bring this feature back or even an app that can do this? I don't understand why several useful features have been removed in the new update!

Sorry to tell you, there is no way to get them back to the status bar. You can only have them shown as you mentioned in your question. On Google I found a lot of discussions about this. However, I couldn't find a solution anywhere on the internet. Hope Google will give an option for this in later updates for android. I also miss it. And the "contents hidden" is useless. Why couldn't they make that option restore the icons to the statusbar...
Hope my answer helps!

That is just ridiculous- yet another feature that actually made things easier taken away. Does anyone know of any apps that may bring this feature back? I know there are lots of related apps out there, but anything that allows notifications to be shown in the status bar on lock screen?

@wb1 at the time of writing this, there is no app that can restore the notification icons on the lockscreen. And if my answer helps you, could you accept it for the benefit of others? Thanks.


text:
Show sensitive notification content when at trusted place
I have been trying to get sensitive notification content to only show when at a trusted location (android 5.1.1), however my attempts have so far been unsuccessful.
Is this possible to accomplish somehow?

Yes, with Tasker and AutoNotifications
Instructions to Tasker:

Click the "+" Symbol
Select Event --> UI --> Notification
Tasker Action - Dismiss notification

You need to play around with this and it should work...
Kudos


text:
Data usage slider missing in Android Lollipop
After upgrading my Galaxy S5 to Android 5.0, the sliding bar on the graph which allows you to show data usage for a prescribed date range is no longer there. For example, in the older Android I was able to slide the bar to show data usage for the last 24 hours, or for whatever range of days I wanted- it was so easy and fast. I understand that there is an option to change the date range in the options, but this is more time consuming and you need to change it every time you want to show a different range- the slider was so much easier and faster. Is there any way to bring this back or perhaps an app that has this feature? I don't understand why several useful features have been removed in the new update, as I mention in my other question here.

It's a Lollipop thing and not Samsung specific. A lot of people are pretty unhappy about it. I haven't come across the reason why the previous usage sliders were removed.

Yea I always miss those sliders. They were so useful for tracking down data hogger apps! Sometimes Google just decides to kill something that is very useful because they think they know better. What is that option to change date range (the one you mentioned as time consuming)? Is it to change start date of cycle? I find that changing start date is a workaround to filter the data usage at least for the last x days.

Samsung probably removed this ability in their recent update, as LG handsets are also missing this feature from previous Android versions.  The best course of action to monitor your data usage in detail is to run a search on the Play Store for data monitoring apps.  A quick search I ran returns a plethora of results.

Thing is mine disappeared but I still got the notification that I reach my limit. From that notification I could use the data slider but if I come out from it I won't be able to get it unless the notification comes up again.

I'm not sure if it'll work, but disable wi-fi, enable mobile data and resart your phone, try if it works

Nope that doesn't work- that option seems to have completely gone- there is no sliding bar at all. Does anyone know if it was removed or whether there might be an app that has this feature?


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Does ColorNote send my notes somewhere without my permission?
I use ColorNote quite a bit and I sometimes write personal things. Does ColorNote secretly spy on me, like send those notes somewhere over the Internet without my permission? I don't have any particular reason to suspect it, I am just asking. Is there a way to be sure or are we at the mercy of the app developers?
Thanks.

you can see ColorNote  app's permissions . But just looking at the permission don't conclude if it sends data to some secret place. And hence, as you said, we are at the mercy of the app developers

Does ColorNote secretly spy on me, like send those notes somewhere over the Internet without my permission?

Just to make things clear, when you install an app from Play Store or by tap and install you yourself agree to accept the permissions it demands including Full Network Access. So, this point of the app using Internet without my permission shouldn't arise, unless Android has native permission control/restrict system and app still violates it somehow.
Besides, those notes are part of the app too. It can exchange data on Internet if it is eligible and wants to, and I see nothing bad to do so at least for a closed source app!
Anyhow, the first thing before asking about spying is to check app's demanded permissions.

If you have the app installed then go to Settings -> your app and see the permissions there.
If you don't have the app installed then launch Play Store -> go to app -> and see Permissions. You can also use Web browser for the same.

See permissions related to Network/Wi-Fi and be warned (if it exists) from that time that the app may connect to Internet for something (mostly to fetch ads).
Besides, ColorNote has Privacy Policy which speaks of using your data for their business including sharing it with third-parties. Best to take a look if you're really concerned.

Is there a way to be sure or are we at the mercy of the app developers?

The defense against a closed-source software is to trust it and believe that it won't do anything bad. But much better is to use a Firewall, or not to let it connect to Internet at all.
You may also monitor network activities of the app and see the amount of data exchanged (you may see on-the-fly passing data if it's not encrypted).
If the app is open-source, then you may at least hire a code reviewer if you can't understand code. User reviews helps here better compared to closed-source apps.

Over and all, don't think much about spying and similar things unless your ROM is open-source and its code review passed as safe. Be wary of critical and big things first.

All apps on Google Play has a Privacy Policy at the end of description.
Privacy Policy contains all the information about What they collect and How they use it in a Legal language.

This Privacy Policy provides our policies and procedures for collecting, using, and disclosing your information.

Yes, disclosing your information.

Your Data. We collect and store data you upload, download, or access with the Service ("Data").

Bow against the Dev.il or he will disclose IT ALL!!
.
.
No. Just kidding.

Non-Private or Non-Personal Information. We may disclose your non-private, aggregated, or otherwise non-personal information, such as usage statistics of our Service.

Dont worry, out of thousands of users from around the Globe, I dont think the dev has time to spy on you. And talk about that girls number either.
Anyways Unless you have nulear codes on your droid, no need to worry about it.
Kudos.
Btw, i cant say anything about NSA
Please read this: What topics can I ask about here?


text:
WiFi automatically toggles off after turning it on
In the mobile set, the charging is almost full, rest of the applications are working well. WiFi stopped working abruptly. After switching WiFi ON  from "Settings" it automatically turns off in 5 secs.
I have Restarted the mobile and checked again. But the problem is still there.

you need to provide more information. what kind of device do you have? which android version? is it rooted? do you have a custom rom? do you know how to take logs via adb?

Are you rooted... If so do you have tasker? Do you have custom ROM? Or have you installed some Xposed  modules/framework???

Hi! 1) Since when did this problem start? 2) Did you install something on your device and then notice this behavior?  3) As asked above, which Android device and version are you using, and is the device rooted? 4) You may try clearing data from Settings -> all apps -> Settings -> clear data, clear cache, restart and see if the issue persist. 5) You may also try a factory reset if nothing helps.


text:
Exclude locale folders from Carousel
I am using Carousel of Dropbox on my devices.
I would like to exclude some folders from the backup such as screenshot images or whatsapp ones.
I have found something around w.r.t. Google photos app but anything about Carousel.


text:
How to use my android smartphone to call a distant modem?
I have a domotic app using a modem on a RTC line and would like to connect to the modem with my smartphone as I can do with my PC through Hyperterminal. Is there a means to do that, using the phone modem as a data connection dialing the distant number and connectiong in some mode as V32or V32bis? Thank you for any advice.


text:
Is my device vulnerable to the SwiftKey update bug? (June 2015)
Quoth The Independent:

There are usually protections in place that stop hackers from performing what is called a “man in the middle attack”, by encrypting communication with the server, as well as ones to stop any malicious code from getting too deep into the phone. But Samsung has given its version of the software special permissions, which means that hackers can get through the protections in Android that stop third-party apps from tampering with other bits of the device.
  ...
  Researchers have confirmed that the exploit works on versions of the Samsung Galaxy S6, the S6 and Galaxy S4 Mini. But it may also be active on other Samsung Galaxy phones, since the keyboard software.

Does this vulnerability have a formal CVE reference?
How can find out if my device is vulnerable?
How can I tell if a fix has been successfully deployed?

This may be worth reading. It does provide a step by step guide/explanation (inc. proof of concept exploit) that may help you verify if you're vulnerable. I believe this issue has been assigned CVE-2015-2865


text:
Missing "Download offline speech recognition" Setting Option on Nexus 9 Lolipop
I have a problem, like the title say I don't have the option in my voice setting "Download offline speech recognition". I decided to post it here because I don't find anything in internet after many hours, and I need this functionality for my application.
My device is an HTC Nexus 9 running Lollipop 5.1.1
You can see the problem on this screenshot.

Screenshot of Missing option Download offline speech recognition in voice setting- (Click to enlarge image)

For some reason, the offline speech recognition is not on Google Settings (usually on Google Settings - Search & Now - Voice), but on device Settings:

Open device Settings
Go to Personal
Go to Speech
Select Voice Search
Locate Download offline speech recognition

Reference: Menu tree: Google Nexus 9

Thank you for you answer Andrew,  but the screenshot in my post is on this location,  and no Locate Download offline speech recognition option is visible :-/

Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any hint either...


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No push notifcations on LG G PAD 8.3 with android 4.4.2
I Just bought a new LG G PAD 8.3.
it says it currently has Android 4.4.2 version.
That's my first time with android, I have an iPhone so I'm used to see push notifications, both real time and all notifications that came through while the device was in sleep mode.
This doesn't happen with this Tablet though, even though notification alerts are set to ON, and on highest volume. I only get a few notifications, on  a random basis, and when I do get them, it's only if I'm actively using the device, and it plays a very vague light sound, it doesn't even play the voice I chose for notifications.
However, when I slide my finger from top to bottom to (Same as iphone), I do see the notifications listed in the notification bar, so I guess the problem isn't with the apps themselves.
Furthermore, I don't see a red number showing on the icon of the apps that indicates the number off missed notifications. I only see it on the facebook icon, but not on the icons of other apps.

The notification "badges" on app icons are not a feature of Android. Individual apps sometimes implement this by making a widget that looks like the app icon, and then updating that widget with a notification count. Facebook must be doing this, but not all apps do. I would actually say it's a fairly uncommon feature (in my experience).

absolutely no one?


text:
Terminal for android
I'm still learning how to use the terminal. I know the dangers of fiddling with it. But I want to use the terminal emulator app to navigate my phone(messaging, camera, launch applications, etc) from the command line. What are the commands and where should I start

Do you want to run apps via comman line?

If it's possible, yes. I'd like to be able to, say I get a text. Instead of tapping the messages icon, I want to be able to enter something into the command line  and the app opens. Kinda like if you type( gnome-system-monitor. ) the processes menu pops up on ubuntu

My first suggestion would be to take a Nandroid backup (requires a custom Recovery) first if you've had an unpleasing incident on some other OS, or want to recover from one after fiddling with terminal on Android.

I want to use the terminal emulator app to navigate my phone(messaging, camera, launch applications, [and so on).]

Messaging and Camera (UI not HW) are also apps in Android and are accessed in the manner similar to other apps (they have their .apk in /system/app). The most common way to access an app is to call its component or activity using am command. Consider this as an example to use am. See more examples on Stack Overflow like:

How to start an Android application from the command line?
How to run a specific Android app using Terminal?
How to start an application using android ADB tools?

am will only launch a part of the app and possibly would need root access if called without ADB(has higher privilege then a normal user). So how would you interact with the app from command line?
For that, I prefer to use Android keyevent or Pointer location (under Developer options) combined with the input command.  See:

ADB Shell Input Events
How to use ADB to send touch events to device using sendevent command?

You would now be able to launch an app with UI and can use the app rather easily from command-line.

What are the commands?

I'm not aware of all the commands but you can take a look at /system/bin and /systen/xbin (like /bin and /sbin in GNU/Linux). You'll need root access to use some of them. (See Busybox too.)

Where should I start?

Well, I'm unaware of a crash-course and I would advise to work on an issue or a possibility to learn the know-how of terminal rather easily. Try this answer for a start.
Good Luck!

You can try your hand on Qpython
Basically QPython is a script engine which runs Python programs on android devices.
It includes libraries like SL4A and Android Helper which can do all the things you mentioned via its terminal.
You can also install only SL4A
HERE is information about it.
An excerpt from site on installation

SL4A is really easy to install. The application is distributed as an APK, the standard format for Android apps, so it can be installed in the same way. However, before installing apps from 'unknown sources', you need to allow that on your device. If you haven't already, open your device's main Settings menu, open the Security menu, then "allow installation of non-Market apps" by checking the Unknown Sources option. Now you're ready to install the Scripting Layer.


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Can't flash stock recovery Nexus 7 2013
I have a Nexus 7 2013 LTE device and I want to go back from TWRP to stock recovery. I've downloaded the factory-image lmy47o and extracted recovery.img and boot.img but I can't flash them:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
sending 'recovery' (7806 KB)...
OKAY [  0.250s]
writing 'recovery'...
FAILED (remote: image is not a boot image)
finished. total time: 0.253s

I get the same error with boot.img. What am I doing wrong?
(I can flash any other recovery or kernel, just the stock ones doesn't work)


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Downloading attachments
Google took me to this site. Gmail app download button is opaque. Apparently sdcard/Downloads is the plaCe to look. Download exists on my Sony tablet but does not include the file I "downloaded". is it just a typo by your colleague? Anywhere this stuff is documented? We shouldn't just have to guess. Makes me nostalgic for Windows or old bog-standard Unix!

You can find the downloaded attachments in /sdcard/documents/ directory. If you can't find it then use a file explorer app like ES File Explorer to search for it.

authors: Константин Пиявкин


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Can Android app run without being launched at least once?
As much as I know, most apps won't ever start, unless you launch them at least once (even if they have a background service).
But what about those, that for example, have the Receive Intent Boot Successfull in their Manifest? Will that be enough to launch their code?

You might want to take a look at my answer to a very similar question: http://android.stackexchange.com/a/107276/86358. Basically said: Yes if designed correctly apps may launch services or itself right after their installation.

I highly doubt its possible to be done RIGHT AFTER the installation, unless it's possible to receive an intent after a Boot Complete, and then run

Right after installation is very unlikely (unless you do an update). But there is the possibility to start by receiving an intent like ACTION_USER_PRESENT (sent whenever the device gets unlocked), ACTION_SCREEN_ON (when you turn on the screen and are able to use it) as well as ACTION_SCREEN_OFF (when you lock your phone for instance). All those intents can be received without being run once.

So you the final decision is that an app can only run, if it has a Broadcast Receiver in the Manifest? And it doesn't have to be launched at least once in order for this Broadcast Receiver to receive Intents?

Yes, that's the idea behind manifest intents: even if the app is not running it can receive an event intent and act on that without continuously running and probably wasting system resources.

Why should right after installation be unlikely, if the app registers for the PACKAGE_INSTALLED broadcast? ;)

Impossible, you must launch atleast once after installing.

source or something please?

I'm afraid you are wrong. The principle of apps like Plan B or Android Lost is based exactly on that: you install the apps remotely (via GPlay's Web interface), and then can control your "lost device" remotely – not even a reboot is required. So if you were correct, those apps would not work. The apps' ratings suggest something else ;)

Yes, Android apps can start background services after system boot or intent received.
There are xposed modules (like defim's Boot manager or Receiver stop) that can prevent this behavior.

Is there some list of the possible Intents that could be received from an app, that could cause it's launch, even without being opened at least once?

Please refer to this question http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4031740/where-is-the-all-android-broadcast-intent-list


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Error code 505 during app installation.
Error code 505 during app installation problem has resurfaced with Lollipop 5.02 upgrade. Solution suggestions welcomed.

possible duplicate of How do I deal with unknown installation error code -505?

That one dealt with 5.01 version of Lollipop not Sony Xperia Z3 5.02 update.

Just read the previous answer - it's a generic problem.

Sorry, but generic problem doesn't compute. Already read whole referenced answer which states that Google resolved problem for 5.01 yet seems as they let it loose again on 5.02 Lollipop update. Most frustrating.

The error is still defined by the code. It doesn't redefine as something else each time. So, it is clear they re-introduced the error a different way by trying to fix something this new release.

Ok. So in other words, for the time being, no solution yet must live wit

P.s. Sorry, so called smartphone has low I.Q.; no solution yet, must live with unresolving problem for the time being.

I don't think this question should closed as a dupe given that it was fixed between versions. Clarifying why another near-duplicate does not fit is exactly what we want, so thank you for that.

On the other hand, the code is 505, not -505, unless there's a typo, which make this a different issue than the one mentioned.


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Folder in root directory (/) gets automatically deleted after reboot
I have a rooted samsung galaxy y phone running android 2.3.6
As a root user , I successfully created "usr" directory in  / path & set permission 755. But after rebooting my phone, usr directory is not there.
How it got deleted !!
Please guide me how to create it permanently in  / path.

Does this answer your question? Any changes to files in root directory (/) are gone after reboot

The / (root) directory is not a persistent filesystem on Android. It's a initramfs, which is packed into the boot image on your device. Although you can remount it with write permissions, changes will always be lost the next time you boot because the original ramdisk will be re-extracted from the boot image on the next boot.
In order to make a permanent change you would need to get a copy of your boot image, unpack the initramfs, make your changes, then repack everything and flash the boot image on your device. Tools like dsixda's Android Kitchen can help facilitate this. Otherwise, you can try something like mkbootimg-tools to help you get the ramdisk, then gunzip/cpio to unpack it  by hand, and the reverse to repack everything.
The process - provided not much has changed in the last few years - would be something along the lines of:
$ mkboot boot.img /output-folder
$ cd /output-folder
$ gunzip -c ramdisk | cpio -i
... make some changes in the ramdisk and possibly /output-folder/img_info ...
$ find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > newramdisk.cpio.gz
$ cd ..
$ mkboot /output-folder newboot.img

You may need to check if there are any additional options to pass into mkboot for your specific device.

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

authors: Александр Середа

authors: настя калхоз


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Upgrade Android OS without SIM card
I have a Moto E phone which I bought from Tesco in the UK. I assume it is unlocked as it doesn't have any Tesco mobile branding on it when I turn it on.
I have already tried the manual way and it says it's up to date. But I know that a Lollipop update is coming soon, so I'm not sure whether it is available and I need a SIM to download over WiFi.
Can I upgrade it to Lollipop without the SIM card?

No. You won't need a SIM card. Simply connecting to a working WiFi network is all you need to check and update your Moto E. Here is a post from an user on Androidcentral claiming he updated without a SIM card.
You might want to read : Who are responsible for pushing out the OTA updates?

I was under the assumption that only Nexus devices or those brought directly from Google getthe update directly from Google.

@Vic One of my friend who has Moto phone updated it via Wifi network without a SIM card..You wont directly get it from google but the manufacturer/carrier will tweak the OS for the corresponding phone and sent it Over The Air(OTA)..it depend on the carrier and region etc.


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Opt-out for Google Analytics on Android/Chrome mobile browser
Google has an opt-out for Google Analytics

To provide website visitors with the ability to prevent their data
  from being used by Google Analytics, we have developed the Google
  Analytics opt out browser add-on

Normally you would expect an opt-in for these kind of services, but an opt-out is something. Analytics is a program they run on my device without asking or without consent, taking CPU, battery and bandwidth and probably privacy.
But how do I opt-out on my mobile Android browser?

To be clear, Google Analytics isn't a feature of Chrome. It's not something you were opted into by using Chrome. It's not using your device's resources. It's a feature of the WEB SITES that you visit every day. It's built into THEIR code to track how their users use their site in order to improve their design. So it's actually impressive that Google has an add-on to BLOCK behavior of third-party sites that they make money off of. Nobody else does that. This doesn't answer your question, which is why I'm posting as a comment, but I wanted to clarify the perceived oddity that you pointed out.

AFAIK Analytics is a Google program/script that website-owners can embed. It is Javascript, so it is running on my device.

Well, in the same sense that any website you visit is "running on your device." But it's not a program in the sense one would typically consider it. It's no different from virtually any other component of any web page that you visit. As well, Google does work pretty hard to optimize them for speed and resource usage. My mere point was as you can't opt out of ANYTHING else on any web page, it's actually more unusual that you CAN opt out of this than expecting you to opt IN. In other words, no, you normally would NOT expect an opt-in for these kinds of services.

The amount of battery/CPU power the script consumes is infinitely smaller than the amount your screen uses while you're looking at the page. There are certainly valid reasons to want to opt-out, I think, but if your main concern is your battery I don't think this is going to have any kind of impact that could even be measured. If you're concerned about websites affecting your battery with their JS your best route would be to disable scripts entirely. In direct consideration to your question: I don't think there is an equivalent on any mobile browser.

Maybe it keeps running with my screen of. You nornally don' t exit  a mobile browser, and mostly I have more than 1 tab open.

Android suspends and sleeps most tasks while they're off-screen. Web pages, especially, are put to sleep. That's why any time I return to my browser after not long away from it, it loads the page all over again. I'm telling you, your concerns about this eating up your resources are misplaced. Every single webpage you visit has DRAMATICALLY worse offenders on it than Google Analytics. This is like trying to reduce your water usage at your water park by reducing the output of one of the bathroom faucets. The impact is nothing compared to the bigger picture.

It's eating!  Resources, energy. For sure it stuffs itself to the gullet with  my online movements. Google acknowledge that: hence the opt-out. I agree Google tends to code efficient.

Use TrackerControl app on Fdroid store. Blocks all trackers across all your apps.
I started using Fdroid and loved it's privacy friendly no bloatware apps. You should try too


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Bluetooth outgoing files log
I had let someone use my phone and they had bluetoothed some files to their own phone and im trying to find what they had sent so i know whether or not to worry about any private stuff being exposed.. my phone is an lg optimus f60 running 4.4.2

In my Android 4.2.1 the default Bluetooth share app records the sent/received files in a history which can be accessed by launching Bluetooth app → tap Menu key and choose Show received files. There you can see all the Downloaded as well as Uploaded(sent from your phone) files.
My Bluetooth app doesn't provide any option to delete those entries so I'm rest assured to know what was sent/received using my device's Bluetooth, unless the data was cleared from Settings → Apps.

That said, the solution is demanded for Android 4.4.x, and in this case the solution is bit lengthy.
BT share app in my Android 4.4.2 and 5.0  records the sent/received files in a database file.
If you've root access:

Download an SQlite viewer/editor from Play Store (I prefer SQLite Editor),

Launch it and find BT share or whatsoever the name is in your Android under Apps tab,

Choose the database (btopp.db in my device),

Open the tables there (btopp in my case). One of the tables would be having the entries of sent/received files,

If the device is really yours then you would know by a mere look  what was sent/received from and into your device. Anyhow, the value 0 in column Direction indicates Sent and 1 indicates Received.
There's more here. Received file entries start with content: in the Name column while Sent ones start with file:.

If you don't have root access:

Take a backup of BT Share app using adb backup <PARAMS>,

Extract the backup using Android Backup Extractor and locate the .db file under databases in the extracted content.

You can either follow the aforesaid steps 1-4 with exception of using Files tab and not Apps tab in step 2, or

You may download a software like DB Browser for SQLite and follow aforesaid (under root access section) step 3 and 4 .

We're good to go!

Note that nothing in the solution would possibly work if that user cleared data from Settings -> Apps.


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Create a custom recovery from scratch
I have an obscure Android phone (Orion Pro x500a). I have another question which led me to ask another concerning custom recovery files.
Since my phone is rather obscure, I can't find a custom recovery file for it anywhere. I've looked into things like ROM Manager from CWM as well as other tutorials, but none give examples of the process used to create that custom recovery file.
Is there a way I can do that myself using something like the Android SDK or flashboot? Or, is the recovery based on the chipset of the phone and can I simply find a compatible recovery file based on that?

Did you try this link? It  claims to make custom Recovery for most of the Mediatek devices and do that using MTK Droid Root and Tools and SP Flash Tools in combination.

Yeah, I came across that one. Working on a Mac, though, so I need to find an alternative.


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Turn off radio layer hardware calls to save battery when your broadband hardware is gone
With reference to my question here:
IM-A870L Radio Interface Layer broke down
Summary:
My android phone broadband chip is dead. For some reason, its not working anymore. Now I can use the phone for other purposes but the problem is that the phone goes to look for broadband every now and then. Which not only drains battery but also hangs the phone. For e.g. if I press the power button to turn off the screen, I cannot put the screen back on immediately, it takes a couple of minutes before the phone gets back to normal.
My research resulted in this theory that every phone has two operating systems, one is your main operating system (i.e. Android, iOS, etc) and another parallel os is running with the broadband/gsm chip. Now the cells main OS tries to communicate with the gsm os to keep track of calls/sms. This communication is done through RIL (Radio Interface Layer), but if your gsm chip is dead, RILD is dead and thus the main os will not be able to connect to the RILD (RIL Daemon) through the socket associated for it.
Now the solution for this situation would be to tell your main os that it does not have to connect or keep on trying to connect to the RILD because it is not there anymore.
I am sure this can be done, because tablets that do not have any gsm also work with the same OS, which means in case of tablets, the OS is aware that there is no GSM to look for and thus there is no RILD connection attempts.
My question is that how can we tell our device that it does not have to attempt RILD calls? Is there a global setting or flag that tells the device that there is no GSM in this device??
My device is rooted and I can run any shell command or script.
Any help will be highly appreciated...

"I am sure this can be done, because tablets that do not have any gsm also work with the same OS" That's not quite true. Every different device uses a different build of Android. It's configured differently during compilation with the right drivers for all the hardware on that device. That's how the OS knows not to look for a GSM modem on a device that doesn't have one. It doesn't find out at runtime at all.

Finally I got this solved!
The issue was with Android KitKat, it was having some sort of bad piece of code that was hanging my phone and draining all the battery.
I installed the Lollipop version offered by Resurrection Remix on this forum:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/103422-android-51-for-vega-iron-im-870slk-stable/
My phone is working fine now, no hanging, no battery drainage.
Although I still have the Baseband unknown and my GSM does not work, which implies that it could be hardware issue all along (there is still a chance that I can update my IMEI and it could work, but I can live with out it ;). But the phone works fine and does not hang eventhough radio layer is broken, which means this issue is handled smartly in the 5.1 while the 4.x is not liked for many more reasons by Android users.

When you turn on your device, start adb shell and enter stop service rild. This would stop the RILD service and you can then use your phone for other purposes. However, on restart, the service would start again. For that, you need to edit your init.rc file. Just delete the lines that are starting the RILD service and then the RIL would not be a part of the OS anymore. Consequently, there will be no more attempts to the GSM modem.
Hope things are clear now.

Sorry for late reply, as the question was quite old and I did not get any response so I stopped checking back the page.
The problem is that RILD is already not running on my phone, as I mentioned in my other thread that I get this message "RIL socket is not found" when I try to access the UMTS settings secret menu.
Still I tried your given commands and they did not work. Thanks anyway!

BTW something weird happened past few days. As I had not lost hope and kept on trying different things, I flashed a Lollipop ROM but it crashed the phone. So I had to revert back and I then flashed the old ROM. After few days, it randomly started to behave like the very normal phone. GSM working and Baseband also showing up. Phone working just like normal, and send/receive calls and sms also worked! But then suddenly it gives a black screen with a message and an error logo saying that some application has crashed and caused system to reboot. Then the system reboots and baseband is gone again.

This above thing happened few times, that I get my phone like normal on restart but after few 10 mins, it crashes and shutsdown. But now since a couple of weeks, it is not happening again and the phone even reboots with the baseband unknown issue always there and the gsm not responsing. So I guess there could be something wrong with the ROM itself and maybe the hardware is still intact. There is nothing obvious in the electronic items :). Am still trying to figure out a way to fix my phone.

Great :)
I think if the GSM worked fine for a few days, there might be no hardware problem. Let's see. Let me know if I can be of any help


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Galaxy S6 settings widget
I want to add a shortcut to the tethering/mobile hotspot setting, but I can't find the settings widget. Does this not exists? Is there a way to add it to the quick settings (swipe down from top)?

The best solution I could come up with was to install Power Toggles, and add a shortcut to my homescreen. From unlocked, this is 1 tap. And if locked, because I use fingerprint unlock, it's hardly more than 1 tap anyway.
I can't use root because this is a work-supplied phone, and some required software won't work if the phone is rooted.

Note: Root access is required.
Follow the instructions:

Install SQLite Editor.
Open the app and look for "Setting Storage" entry
Select "Setting Storage" and then select settings.db
Next select "system". This would be the last item on the list
Tap on the search icon and search for "notification" and select "OK"
Tap on the Plus sign "+" to add new parameter
Under name, type the following: "notification_panel_default_active_app_list"
In the Value field, type all the toggle you want in there. I usually do a copy and past from a text file to avoid any mistake
Hit the same button
Select "notification_panel_active_app_list" and paste/type the same value as in step 8. above and save it.
You could do the same for "notification_panel_default_active_app_list_for_res t"

Additionally, you could increase the number of scrollable toggles from 10 to any value you want. I usually have it at 20. The parameter you need is the "notification_panel_active_number_of_apps"
You can also add SFinder and QuickConnect to the toggle list and you can then get rid of those two in the drop down to have more space in the notification area.
I have provided a list of the toggle I commonly use as a text. Please note that some toggles might not be relevant to the ROM you're using and might not work or do anything when toggled. E.g. Don't expect touch to work if it hasn't been implemented in your ROM version, and so on.
You can never loose any toggle again and you can add more as needed.
Wifi; MobileData; Location; Bluetooth; AutoRotate; Torc hLight; MultiWindow; SilentMode; Ebook; NetworkBooster ; SideKey; WiFiHotspot; AllShareCast; SBeam; Sync; Toddl erMode; SmartStay; SmartPause; SmartScroll; SmartNetwo rk; Nfc; PowerSaving; UltraPowerSaving; AirplaneMode; A irView; AirGesture; Toolbox; CarMode; QuickConnect; SFi nder;NetworkBooster;TouchSensitivity; DoNotDisturb; DormantMode; Brightness; PersonalMode;

The point is I want to be able to access this without having to go into the settings app in the first place. On all my previous Android phones, I had a widget for tethering, so it was 2 taps to turn it on. Now, it's several.

the solution I have proposed allow you to select a new quick settings widget, so you can swipe and toggle

you have to go into settings app only once

Ok, on my device I don't have that option in the quick settings widget.

I'll post some photos mate

This is what I see: http://1drv.ms/1GuiDRI

that edit , see my answer

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

check my new answer mate, hope it helps

Does this need root? I can't root this phone.

root access is required,  sadly

authors: Медет Рыспеков


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Associate HTML files with Google Chrome
I want to create a file association between my local HTML pages and Google Chrome, the reason being that I am beginning to develop HTML pages and I need to be able to access the URL address as I use this to pass parameters between HTML pages. I am hoping that when opening the HTML page in Chrome I will be able to do this, as it appears that 'HTML viewer' does not.

When you tap on the local link, you should get an option to chose which browser to use.  If so, simply chose Google Chrome.
If you do not see this dialogue, go to Settings-Apps-html viewer and tap clear defaults.  The next time you open an HTML File(or any link), you should see the dialogue described above.
I hope your HTML development goes well!

html viewer is not included in the list of Apps (via Settings-Apps), however having installed FileExpert then when opening local html page from FileExpert I am given option to open via 'FE Text Editor' or 'HTML Viewer' (i.e. no option to open via Chrome).

This is an old answer, but I just came here with a similar question and want to add a hint. If you don't see "HTML Viewer" in settings/apps then you need to click on the 3-dot menu in the upper right corner and click "Show system apps". Then it will appear.

From the OP's (now deleted) comment (with copyedit),

I have found a workaround for this by opening Chrome, manually typing in the address of my local HTML index page (using file:///etc...), and then bookmarking the page URL in Chrome & placing the bookmark on my screen, not very elegant but works for testing for now.


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ES file explorer, how can I get the complete folder path?
Sometimes ES file explorer will open directly into a folder, for example if I download a file, it will ask if I want to open the files containing folder.
I select yes and then get something like this:

Unfortunately this doesnt help me if I need to locate the file using another application.
I tried the dropdown (the little blue triangle below "adobe acrobat" in the picture), but this only gives the history of previously visited folder paths.
How can I get a full path of the current directory in ES explorer?

the current directory is the first entry in the history. i checked just now. its just below the sd card list.

thanks, I found there are times that the current directory doesnt show in the history. and Ive even tried refreshing the screen. So I dont really trust this method, but its probably the best solution I'm going to get!


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Using Facebook authentication system without installing the app
Is there a way to add Facebook account to Android Accounts in order to ease login with apps, without installing the memory consuming and invasive Facebook app ?

I don't have the Facebook app on my Android phone, but I do have the Facebook "Messenger" app installed (it's tiny) and that logs in normally. Does that do what you want?
[Originally posted incorrectly as an Answer. (Corrected thanks to advice from Firelord)]


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Track down what is putting icons on my desktop
Starting in the last week, something is putting icons on my desktop. I've not installed anything new on this phone (Android 4.2.2) in at least 2-3 weeks (and anything that was installed has been deleted). So far on the desktop I have icons for:

Game Of War  x2
Brave Frontier  x 3
GettingApps
EZ PZ RPG
DomiNations
Slotomania
Heroes Charg

None of those appear as installed apps in the "Installed" tab of "My Apps" part of Play store. In fact, every single app I have installed is by "Google Inc." (with a little blue icon next to it, which I'm guessing means it is trusted?).
Clicking any of these icons does nothing - ah, no, a click on the "Getting Apps" one brings up a dialog saying "Install Blocked: for security your phone is set to block installation of apps obtained from unknown sources".
I've tried a reboot, in case it was just a virus in memory, but it has survived that.
When I answer a call, then go to hang up, there is an ad on screen, which I then have to close. (This part is also new, just the past few days, so definitely related.)
Note: there is nothing appearing in the notification bar. The closest I've found to a duplicate question is this: Google Play is putting adds up when I'm doing anything on my phone. text, games, gallery etc  (from Apr 23rd this year).
UPDATE: For the moment I've cleared away all the icons from the desktop, and done another reboot, so it is clear again as I type this. (I did the same thing earlier in the week, but only removed a couple of them at that time to see what would happen.)  I just tried calling the phone, and there was no dialog popup, nor new app, this time. So, perhaps the icons were able to keep breeding as long as one remained, and getting rid of all of them was key? I'll keep an eye on it and report back.
UPDATE #2: It did come back. Each of those pop-ups seems to create a desktop icon even though I click the close button in the top-right. I should've said I had already tried AirPush Detector, and it found nothing. Just trying CMSecurity, as suggested by Mason's answer. It has found 7 "danger" problems: (Er, I only count 6 - not sure what the 7th was!)

3 apps with privacy issues: Messaging, YouTube, Email.
BroadAnywhere system vulnerability
FakeID Exploit system vulnerability
SMS Phishing vulnerability

(It also found 8 search history entries, 107 browser privacy issues, 156MB junk; I let it deal with all them, too. It did not say it was required, but I also did a reboot.)
So, again, I'll report back if the problem comes back!
UPDATE #3: Problem still happening. CM Security tells me everything is virus-free. I have nothing to try uninstalling - everything there is one of the built-in Google apps (except CM Security). (The best I can do is "uninstall updates to this app", and I'm thinking that might do more harm than good?) I'm going to try watching the "running apps" screen for a while, to see if anything changes before/after a new desktop icon appears.

Seems like someone had the exact same issue but posted it on the Android Forums, not here. :(
Things to try:

Install one or several of Airpush Detector, Avast! Mobile Security, AVG antivirus, or/and Addons detector.
Install CM Security to prevent things from slipping by unnoticed again.
Start Uninstalling apps one by one starting with the most recent to see which one is the problem, and then don't reinstall that one.

I hope you can get your phone back to normal soon!

Could you mention the links for the said apps? That would be very helpful.


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How can I merge Spotify offline music with my local music files on my phone?
I have tracks saved offline in Spotify. I also have individual MP3 audio tracks that I have manually added to my music folder in my phone (Galaxy S6). However, if I want to shuffle everything then I have to jump between Music app and Spotify app manually. Which is a pain, and a bit dangerous if I'm driving.
What I'd like to do is be able to 'merge' all these tracks together. Whether this is a single playlist of everything, or a way of moving my local music into Spotify app, something like that.
One option i had was to  just re-download the local tracks in Spotify itself, but not all the music I have is found there.
How can I merge all my music from my device into one usable playlist?

It is not possible to merge them to one playlist. However you can sync local files to one playlist. To do that follow the steps below:

Note: This will require that spotify is installed on one of your computers and that your Android device is on the same WI-FI network as your computer.

Steps

On your pc open Spotify, and go to Edit -> Preferences.

In preferences, look for Local Files and check the sources you want to show the local music from. You can directly add sources like Windows Media Player and iTunes library by simply checking the respective options. Or you can also add a folder with some music when you click on Add Source....

All the files you import to Spotify can be viewed and played from Local Files section under Collection in the sidebar. If you have to musch music in your local repository, creating playlists from local files would be a great idea for you.

Make sure your Android phone is connected to the same WI-FI network and is signed in with the same Spotify account as your PC. (Off-topic: for an IPod connect it with a USB cable)

If not already done so: Download Spotify for Android: Spotify Music for Android

Once the desktop application identifies the connected device, it will show you a pop-up asking whether you would like to sync the device with Spotify. Click on the button to open the sync window.

Now the app on your phone will sync all the music playlist you created on your computer to your mobile device.

Note: It may take some time till it is finished syncing the music to your device.

Conclusion
If you followed the steps above correctly, then you now should be able to listen to local files stored on your pc.
I hope this will answer your question. For any questions, just leave a comment below.

You can add the local files to your Spotify app then you can listen to Music which you have downloaded as offline tracks and your local tracks on one app.

How can you add the local files to your Spotify app? That's the part the questioner had trouble with.


text:
How to bring back Wishlist option for an app which is showing as installed in playstore but not actually installed on my device?
I recently came across some apps in playstore and I want to install those apps. Since I don't have sufficient internal memory I can't install them. It says

Error downloading app "xyz app". There is insufficient space on the
  device.

So I want to save those apps to my wishlist and install it later until I free up my phone's internal memory. But once I got the error message that I mentioned above the Wishlist icon in the Playstore app and Add to wishlist button in http://play.google.com are not visible for the apps that I tried to install.
Weird this is when I haven't installed the app, the web version of playstore is showing "Installed" and my mobile PlayStore app is Showing "Install" button. And the app is not listed in "My Apps" section.
Hint: I guess the problem will be solved once I turn the "Installed" button to "Install" button in the playstore website which in turn will bring back the "Add to wishlist" button. But how can I do that?

When you mentioned the "app is not listed in 'My Apps' section", do you mean the 'Installed', 'My Apps' section or the 'All' 'My Apps' section?
I think they should be listed in the 'All' section, and therefore, you won't be able to add them to your wishlist because you already have them, even if they aren't installed.
If you go to the 'All' section in your Moto G and find the apps, if they are there, and then press the 'cross' icon for each one, the apps should be removed from your 'My Apps' and you will be able to add them to your wishlist. This will only work if the apps are free because trying to remove paid apps from 'My Apps' means they don't display in 'My Apps' but are essentially still there because you have paid for the apps and Google doesn't want you to discard them.
If the apps are paid, you can refund them (either using the 'Refund' button which will display near the apps for a limited time after purchase or, I assume, contacting Google). The apps will then be removed from the 'My Apps' section and you will be able to add them to your wishlist.
If the apps don't display in the 'All' or 'My Apps' section, try clearing the data and cache of the Play Store and then signing back in your phone and see if the situation changes and if it doesn't, I would ring Google support because they have the power to sort out stuff on the server-side.

Thanks. Yes it was listed in All section of My apps page and not under the Installed list. But do know why it is showing as installed when the app is not actually installed on my phone? I find this as an ugly approach from google.

Yes - the web version of the Play Store doesn't always play nicely with the mobile one. I think 'Installed' on the web Play Store means "In your All Apps list" or "Installed on your device". This is indeed confusing behavior.

-go to settings
- tap "clear local search history"
- search the app again ang wishlist option will appear

Sorry this has nothing to do with cache or inbuilt search.

Today, I tried clearing my local search history.  This didn't help.


text:
Connecting android phone to a local web server
Scenario.
We have a product controlling some sort of household thing. Since its 2015, it also runs a small webserver so that people in the house can control the product using their phones. Everything is using wifi network and the product has local name, say, productx.local. In this scenario, people in the household does not know anything about DNS, IP, router configurations, etc, etc. They buy the stuff, connect it and it should work.
As far as I understand, with an android phone I can't access the product with the local name, but have to use it's IP-address?! This seems strange. Does it mean that services provided by the product must expose their API to an external server so that an Android user must connect to the external service in order to communicate with local device?
Edit:
Here is a similar question which is unresolved. And another post here. In the second link (from 2011) its stated that Android devices have to rely on the DHCP configuration, whereas Windows and Macs provide alternative name resolutions. Is it still true that Android (4.4) fully relies on DHCP for resolution? Have tested both Chrome and Firefox, and both return that the requested page was not found. (...and even more similar unresolved questions)
Edit:
Have noticed that it's now working with Chrome 52.0.2743.98 and Android 4.4.2. For exampel: I have a local mopidy server running on a raspberry pi named mopidy2. Now I can give Chrome the address "mopidy2:6680" and it will find the service(s)" Interestingly, Chrome on a pc will also accept "mopidy2.local:6680", whereas Chrome on Androind will return ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED.

Of course it would work without the convoluted process you described. What makes you think Android phones aren't capable of a simple DNS lookup?
If your product sets a hostname in its initial DHCP request, most consumer routers will serve it out to other clients over DNS, including Android phones. The process you described should only be used as a fallback mechanism when the user's router isn't configured that way.

From experience. Have only problem accessing the device by name with android phones (no problem with ip-addresses).


text:
What happens when a phone is rooted?
which files in the phone are changed when a phone is rooted. Is any app is installed during this? Can we manually change apps in phone to have root permissions?

"Can we change apps in phone to have root permission?" If the app was built to use root permissions, you need them to run the app. Unless said app is open source, you cannot modify it to use root permissions. I also do not believe an app can root a device. You must have an in depth knowledge of the OS to make an app to root a phone. Which files are changed?
I dont know. I do know that you sound like someone who wants to root ur phone. The process is probably more complicated than changing a few lines of code in some remote, hard to find file in your device. I suggest learning more on the topic and on already-available solutions if this is you. If not, well, ignore this last paragraph :)

To answer your main question. Normally rooting installs an app to control the allocation of the root permission to apps that request it and also adds the root (or super user) binaries to the device therefore enabling it. You cannot change an app to request root but you need to change it at the source to do so. Which is a question for stack overflow.

Basically just exploiting the system to allow arbitrary code execution, or code not from the developers.
Check out this article: Android Rooting: A Developer's Guide

You can execute any code any when on android using the ADB shell. So this isn't very accurate. But along the right lines.


text:
Why are Android devices now not working with a hundred megs
I have an android 4.4 kit kat RCA Voyager tablet. I have 100 mg of internal storage on it. I went to download an app from the Play store that was 10 mg and an error popped up saying I had insufficient space on my device. Why is this and is there a workaround that does not involve deleting apps from my device?

What is mg? Do you mean 100 MB internal flash? What's the size of your RAM? Do you have a SD-card too?

Yes, 1 gig, yes

If by "mg" you mean "MB," then 100MB free is not enough for anything on an Android device. While it seems like 100MB free should be enough, Android requires well more than that to be able to function, as it needs breathing room for temp files, caches, and more. While that app is only 10MB now, it could easily need well more than that when unpacked and adding data to the system, and in the process it could bring the system to too little storage for it to function at all. So for safety reasons, it wants far more than that available to install anything.
I don't know that device personally. I know it has a microSD slot. If RCA modified Android to allow you to move apps to SD, that may be your necessary workaround to allow you to install an additional app without uninstalling anything else. If it doesn't, then I'm afraid you're out of luck.

I havent slept in three days.  That is why I said mg instead of mb

Sounds like you might need 100mg of something.


text:
What is this part responsible for? The one behind the sticker in Galaxy S3
Below is an image. What is that part responsible for?
I'm asking because lately I had some problems with the GPS in my Galaxy S3, and I found out this sticker doesn't stick well. I think, but am not 100% sure, that when I hold it with my finger, the GPS works better.
I've been in a phone repair center, and I've been told that this is not related to the GPS, and that the GPS antenna is in the right, but they couldn't answer as of what this part is for.

While it's not clearly identified what this specific sticker is and covers, based on this teardown, it does look as though the chip is on the direct other side of the board from the connector that touches the component on that sticker, suggesting the connector is directly attached through the board to that chip. So my instinct is that you're correct that it's related to the GPS. I cannot confirm this without a doubt, but everything lines up.


text:
Copy data from android phone
How do I copy all the content from /data/data/ from a rooted android phone to the PC or SDCard ?

ES file explorer so far is unable to copy
adb pull does not find the content of that folder
adb shell does not seem to have a pull or push command

Or I'm doing both wrongly...
After copy, how do I put the files back (and replace, if needed) ?

Please clarify what you are doing exactly. Are you copying files to the PC via cable or to an SD card inserted into the phone?

I've tried both alternatives. To the PC via USB OR to the SD card. None worked. I have no experience on ADB.

If you are connected to a PC, you should try copying the files via Windows Explorer (if you're using Windows).

Nop. These are system files... invisible to windows, unfortunately :(  I suppose only advanced methods will enable me to copy the folder

You can try settings Windows to show show hidden files so you can see them.

I don't want to sound rude with someone trying to help me (forgive me if I do), but I need to ask if you do have advanced knowledge of Android, and if you are certain that your suggestions have a clear end, and not merely hunches. It is fundamental knowledge that Android won't show it's core files so the user can mess with it. That's what we're trying to overcome. Despite this feature, Show hidden files was marked since the day I've installed windows.

No offense taken. Since you have clarified your case, it makes this question is off-topic. You can only ask Android questions here from the perspective of being connected and interfaced via computer. So, your expectation of someone on Super User to have advanced knowledge of Android is misplaced.

Since the device is rooted, there is a good chance that a custom Recovery is also installed. I was able to copy all content from /data/data of Android 4.2.1 to my Linux PC by using following instructions:

Boot into custom Recovery and mount Data.
Enter adb pull /data/data/ ~/<TARGET_DIR>/ in terminal on Linux PC, or enter adb pull /data/data/ C:\<TARGET_DIR>\ in command prompt on Windows PC.
It will take sometime in processing and the final result would be something like:
5847 files pulled. 0 files skipped.
554 KB/s (269059005 bytes in 473.725s)

Enter the following commands to see size of /data/data:
adb shell
du -h /data/data/
exit

Enter du -h ~/<TARGET_DIR>/ in PC's terminal to see size of your target directory.
See if those two output matches, which it would.

Or,
Though I would still use the aforesaid steps for ease, you may try the following solutions too:

Make a Nandroid backup of Data from custom Recovery and then extract ../data from the backup in your PC.
You can also save Nandroid backup in SD card and then extract the relevant content using Nandroid Manager.

EDIT: SORRY.  I WAS NOT ON RECOVERY. IGNORE THIS Only a single folder was copied from the first method (which is the most interesting). I'll try the second. Meanwhile, would you have any idea of why this happened ? The copied folder was from com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup. There are at least fourty folders (as seen from ES file explorer)
EDIT: SORRY.  I WAS NOT ON RECOVERY

It works ! Thanks ! Case wasn't noticed, I wanted to backup my data (probably you did too), without their apps, but I get the following message when pulling: skipping special file 'lib'. Would you know if this is a problem for the backup ? Question two: would you know what's the purpose of the tilde (~) before the destination path ? Thanks again for the responses. A info that may be relevant to others: the target path (only) can be written on windows format.

@LucasBS Glad it works! 1) About that special file I too did noticed that during backup but it wasn't a big deal because the apps' data is in their folders. 2) No, I didn't want to backup my data at that time but just wanted to help you, so I tested and posted the answer, :) 3) ~ indicates HOME Directory of the user in Unix and Linux. Apologies since I forgot that you were using Windows and I should've mentioned a relevant command too, 4) If that ~ doesn't work on Windows then  please edit my answer, make changes and mention in the comment during edit that I asked for it.

Also, if the answer worked out well then you may accept the answer. :D


text:
"(unkown)" Google Contact Records I can't delete? Temporary Error (200) Numeric Code 68
I can't delete five corrupt contact records from my Google Contacts. This is causing sync problems with my phone. Verizon, Motorola and Google all claim they can't help.
"(unkown)" Google Contact Records I can't delete? Temporary Error (200) Numeric Code 68. Please help.

I couldn't delete one particular contact in my Google Contacts and I managed to solve it with this solution. Not sure it can help you, but you can try.

Go to your Google contact page
Press "More" and then "Export"

Press "Go to Old Contacts"

You will find old interface of Google Contacts, and there you will be able to review your "Other Contacts"

I found that all duplicates are inside "Other Contacts". Now we need to delete 18.000 duplicates :)
In order to quickly delete I pressed "Settings" and then selected 250 items to display per page

I used "Select All" and then "More" & "Delete". In around 15 minutes I managed to delete all duplicates (in batches of 250).

Finally, I deleted all Android Contact using this solution and then synced Contact to the latest Google Contact status. Finally after so long time my contacts are fixed!


text:
Why do phone makers not let me uninstall their pre-bundled apps?
When I got my most recent phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5, it came with all sorts of apps that I never touch. "Kids Mode", "Samsung Health", "Samsung Remote", and a host of other apps that I haven't used and will never use.
I understand why these come preinstalled. It's offering the option to use them, and I'm sure some users will find it convenient to have suggested uses for their phone.
What I don't understand is why I can't get rid of them. What is the value for anyone in forcing me to keep applications I will never use?
Bonus question: Can I get rid of them? My phone is rooted.

The technical reason is because built in apps are installed in the system partition which is mounted read only, to protect it from factory reset. The question you should ask is why these bloat wares have been installed in the system partition in the first place. If you decide to remove a bundled app and later decide to sell the device, take care that a factory reset won't be sufficient to restore the device to the original state.

Can I get rid of them?

Sure! If you wanna go straight ahead then try an app like System app uninstaller to remove system apps including the bloatware. Remember to remove with utmost caution since a critical file once removed may render the Android unusable at best.
See Titanium Backup too which can take backup and remove junk from Android.
To counter the above issue of unusable system, I advise installing a custom Recovery and then taking a Nandroid Backup (save it to external storage) to be at safe side if things go south.

Why do phone makers not let me uninstall their pre-bundled apps?

I don't think you'll ever hear an official announcement as a reason but my guess is they want business, and their apps (bloatware for us) helps in doing that by maintaining a user base through restricting the freedom to tweak the system.

What is the value for anyone in forcing me to keep applications I will never use?

This anyone is your OEM which harness lot of things from these forced apps, as you said "I'm sure some users will find it convenient to have suggested uses for their phone."
Note that some OEMs allow you to root your device without voiding the warranty, so technically, they are not forcing but just trying different techniques to maintain their business.

Why I can't get rid of them[?]

Most of the time, you can get rid of them by having root access but it may result in dire consequences. One such is, your warranty may be void by rooting your device if your OEM has such policy.
Edit: As per this article suggested by Bowdzone, rooting your device won't void the warranty of a consumer from EU, since the consumer is protected by statutory warranty (irrespective of your OEM's policies).
Over and all, except the first and last part the rest is plain opinion.

Just navigate to system/app and delete any bloatware you want. Be careful that you don't delete anything that is crucial to the functioning of the system.

For most, if not all, of the bloatware, the option to uninstall is greyed out.

@Questioner, no, I meant, use a file manager to navigate to /system/app, where most the system apps are located. Simply deleting their .apk's, and restarting your phone should make the bloatware go away. You could always copy these files, before deleting, to back-up them, just in case something goes wrong.

simplest way possible. yeah.


text:
Android SMS-App shows wrong sender
On my android 5.0 phone (nexus 5), the sms app shows sms from some (but not all) senders within a wrong conversation view. The sender's numer is +49171xyz, which is also shown in the details view if I long tap on a message. In the header of the conversation, the number shown is 09171xyz (android just bites the "+9" off and adds a "0").
Using the direct answer field in the bottom will send the message to the wrong number.
I checked the contact and did not find anything special, nor the number is longer than others.
Is there a solution for that problem?


text:
Can't save to disk after rooting device
I have rooted my Android 5.0.2 (Samsung Tab 8.4 Pro, TM700) the day before yesterday, and I noticed yesterday that my Chrome won't save files anymore, at all. I then installed Firefox, same behaviour. WhatsApp, can't download images or videos. My mail application downloads files just fine, so I am not sure what is going on here. What do I need to check for? Could it be permissions on some folder, and if so, what folder to check?

Try checking the permissions on your downloads folder and your sd card. use es file Explorer

is this internal or external storage?

The download folder is not on the SD card, so internal. Although I wasn't able to find it via ls so far, no idea where the default folder for that stuff is. ES Explorer asked for root permissions to change files on the SD card, and then was able to do so. How can I give an application root rights, or should I chmod the folders to 777?

I checked the /sdcard folder (since this is where downloads is), and the rights are lrwxrwxrwx, so every program should be able to write there. Edit: every subfolder there is lrwxrwx--- so no app without ownership can write there it seems.

yeah, I thought that was probably not the problem, but what is the problem in double checking?

the default download folder is /mnt/sdcard/Downloads/

I just rechecked, the subfolders dont have permissions on them and belong to root. Guess I will try changing each folders permission

use a batch script for the job. shall i make this an answer?

How do I change the permissions? I have done "chmod 777 Download", yet nothing has changed there. Is there some other way to do it properly? I have su earlier

You can use rwxrwxrwx for chmod instead of the code. check letter codes for chmod on Google. or manually do it using es file Explorer

Can you make it an answer? It says "Bad mode" when using rwxrwxrwx as chmod parameter. And ES Explorer says, the folder is Write and Read enabled. But the permissions are rwxrwx--- only.

Okay, I just installed root browser, and it said that it couldn't change permission on that folder, which is in line with everything I have seen so far. Why on earth can't I change permission on my download folder? I want every application to be able to access it.

u need to chown to user first. only if u are the owner can u change the permission. rebooting in rooted devices does this. Probably your root is bad. root the device again after completely uninstalling supersu or whatever you use.

the chmod rwxrwxrwx isn't exactly like that. check the bash manual page for the correct format

i don't remember it atm

Try adb or if all else fails, twrp recovery. twrp Explorer has an option for chmod 777. I recommend you reroot

Try this in a Terminal Emulator. The 'su' command is for becoming the root user and the next one fixes all the permissions.
su
restorecon -v -R /data/media

Only SELinux context, not all the permissions.


text:
Android 4.4.2 add a new page
understand that the process to create a new page is as follows : drag new app to right of screen until the new page appears however no success it just keeps rotating through my existing pages. can anyone help ?many thanks

What phone? What launcher? Please provide more details

A Galaxy Note 2 how do I establish the launcher thanks

Additional information I currently have 7 screens 1-e pages home pages                  is there a limit

@DeniseStain Hello Denise, did you try to put some apps in folders on the homescreens? Like all messaging ones in a folder etc. That might save a lot of space.

Daniel just tried that thanks that is certainly another approach

(Based on comments)

I currently have 7 screens 1-e pages home pages is there a limit

Yes. Thats the limit of default samsung launcher (touchwiz). You cannot add more than 7 pages. A workaround for this would be to use a third-party after market launcher (here are some examples of android launchers you can use from play store). However, just for future reference, you can follow the methods below besides dragging the app icon to home screen to add a new screen:

Perform a "zoom out" pinch gesture on home screen which should take you to screens editing mode/page. You can press the + button there to add new screen.
Go to launcher's menu (by pressing the menu key (the key to the left side of home button) while you are on homescreen). Then in the menu that appears, select Edit Page. This should again bring you to screen management page as above.
Press and hold a blank area in your home screen. This should also take you to screen editing mode where you can press + button to add more screens.

About android launcher:

Launcher is the name given to the part of the Android user interface
  that lets users customize the home screen (e.g. the phone's desktop),
  launch mobile apps, make phone calls, and perform other tasks on
  Android devices (devices that use the Android mobile operating
  system).

For more information about android launchers, you can refer this and this.

Jaskaranbir Singh thank you very much for your time and response I've had this phone for a while and I'm only now trying to improve my productivity I will certainly use this forum again

Your welcome ;) Please mark the answer as solved if it helped you for future references.

Perform a "zoom out" pinch gesture on home screen which should take you to screens editing mode/page. You can press the + button there to add new screen.
Go to launcher's menu (by pressing the menu key (the key to the left side of home button) while you are on homescreen). Then in the menu that appears, select Edit Page. This should again bring you to screen management page as above.
Press and hold a blank area in your home screen. This should also take you to screen editing mode where you can press + button to add more screens.
The NO of Pages you can add is dictated by your launcher . I use touchwiz which is limited to 7 pages . I had already set up 7 pages which is why I was experiencing problems.


text:
Change app sub-menu/folder style to iPhone-style
On the "desktop" of my phone, I can move my apps into folders together by dragging one on top of the other. However, as opposed to the iPhone (where they form a reduced-sized grid), the apps gets combined into a folder where I can no longer identify each of them. Is there some way to change this sub-menu/folder style to replicate the iPhone's functionality?

You can achieve iPhone like sub folder view by downloading any launcher. Here is the link which you will find helpful
 GO Launcher -Theme.
If you are interested in making it replicate iPhone's theme as well, then you will have to download additional theme which are compatible with Go Launcher app. Similar case goes if you download other themes.
The folder view in GO Launcher shows only 4 apps at a glance by default whereas iPhone shows 9 apps in a folder.
So in case you need the folder to preview 9 apps.Try downloading LineLauncher and follow these steps to achieve it:

Download the Line Launcher.
Set Line Launcher as homescreen.
Go to preferences->Folder/Icon ->click on Preview of the folder icon.
Select Thumbnail 3x3.


text:
Accidentally triggering the sound player or the torch
I often accidentally trigger the sound player or the torch while I pick up or put down my phone from/to my pocket.
The phone is asleep when this happens, and likely I'm somewhat touching either the screen or some of the buttons, but I've no clue what I did exactly (and trying random stuff has been fruitless).
It's a OnePlus One running CM 12.1-20150418-NIGHTLY-bacon.
What could ever be?

By "sound player" do you mean music player? What is the name of this player?

This is happening because of the Gesture Recognition Feature
For CM11
Disable it by going to Settings > Interface > Gesture shortcuts > uncheck Flashlight
For CM12
By going through many forums it is clear that this is happening because of gestures and many people are facing this.
If you are unable to disable the gestures try following solutions.

Install Tasker and create a profile. Set it to enable on lock screen. Add task of closing music and flashlight if they are started while sceen is off.
Since problem is caused by Gestures go for flip cover.It will cover screen while your phone is in pocket. Probably because of flip cover gesture function will not work. (I know it sounds little bit weird solution :p)

Can't find such a menu, please keep in mind I installed CM 12… "Prevent accidental wake up" is already on.

Ok, the search function of the Settings is broken, it failed to find the "Gestures" menu even if it actually was there. I stumbled upon it while I was doing something else. Now I've disabled, we'll see if that works, though I guess so!

Hasn't happened since. I can't be sure it's really fixed, but meanwhile I'll award the bounty and accept the answer…

Thanks..and let me know if it will not work..will try to update answer..


text:
Change Navigation Language Google Maps
I got a new OnePlus One recently and have noticed that the Google Maps Navigation Voice is in English (India) ( I bought the phone in India). This is very annoying and refuses to change no matter how much i change the TTS settings and delete the English(India) voice. It just redownloads and speaks in that voice. It is just fine English (US) on a Moto X I also bought in India (App not Updated).So my questions: a) Is this a "feature"? b) How do I fix it?
I would like the English(US) Google TTS voice to work.

Have you found a solution yet? I have the same issue.

@NVZ A few updates ago, it defaulted to the american accent, and now it's back to the indian accent, so I haven't found anything that works but I guess it's just forced on us. Honestly, the "Indian" pronunciations are just wrong and the voice is less fluent than the american one, so I don't see why Google insists on using it.

You were probably nearly there and maybe missed one step. Unfortunately the easiest way to help you is to take you through the steps from the start. If you've already set something or downloaded the language, just move on to the next step, but check each step in order:

Open "Settings" and under the heading "Speech" tap Language & input>Text-to-speech output. This takes you to a screen logically titled "Text-to-speech output".

On that screen, to set the engine, tap the cogwheel by Google Text-to-speech which takes you to the "Settings" screen (not such a useful name). Set:

"Language" to English(US) instead of "Use system language". If this isn't available, it will be after the next two steps.
"Setting for Google TTS Engine" as you want (update and WiFi only)
"Install voice data" then on the next screen (titled "Google TTS voice data") tap English(US) and ensure you have downloaded the voice(s) you want. If not, download them and wait until download is complete. If you have more than one English(US) voice downloaded (Male/Female), select the radio button by the one you prefer.

Now back out one step to the screen titled "Settings". Check that Language is set to English(US) and not "Use system language". If you've downloaded and selected English(US) Male or Female in #1 above, this should now set it correctly.
Now back out one step to the screen titled "Text-to-speech output". The last item on this screen is "Default language status". This should now show "English (United States) is fully supported". If it does, click "Listen to an example" and you should hear the language you set in the gender you chose.

If you followed these steps please come back and let us know it worked - or not ;)

Hi @brit0n I've tried all the steps you've mentioned. I think I see the inconsistency. When I go to install voice data under English(us) I see female but no delete or download icon to the right. Also Male is not available. Is this the problem because it still doesn't work.

Doesn't work for me either.


text:
Syncing music from device to cloud with Google Play Music
On my Android device, I've recently downloaded some music. The Google Play Music app recognized the music, and shows it within the app.
However, I am not sure how to sync this new music from my device to the cloud (thus making it available from the Google Play Music browser app on my PC).
Any suggestion?

It is not possible from your Android device. To sync music with Google Play Music you need the Google Music Manager program on your PC. From there you can sync your music folder with Google and then stream or download it on your device.
There is apparently also the possibility to do this with the Google play music extension for chrome