text:
One-click full backup & dropbox sync in Titanium Backup?
Is it possible to make a full backup of everything and then it sync into dropbox (and repeat if syncing was unsuccessful) with a one click? I'd like to just launch a backup procedure and go sleeping knowing that when I wake up, everything that could be done was done... and Titanium Backup's interface is so confusing to me.
I've got a pro version.

As of version 4.8.2 you can automatically synchronise to Dropbox (or Box.net) with each scheduled backup:

Go to Schedules in the main menu
Select a schedule or create a new one
Fiddle with the time settings to your heart's content
Select "Sync to Dropbox" in the "When finished:" combo box at the bottom.

Could also be a good idea to adjust the "Connectivity modes" to synchronise over Wi-Fi only in the settings to avoid unnecessary data charges (if applicable).

Oh, thanks! I didn't know there actually is that "When finished:" field because it is hidden on my phone. The dialog box nicely ends with "Sunday" checkbox and there is no indication I could scroll down. Now if only I could create a shortcut in my launcher's drawer to run this schedule...

I can trim to two clicks: 1 for Full backup to local storage & another for Dropbox sync.
For Full Backup to Local Storage:
1. Tap & hold on empty home screen area. Choose Widgets.
2. From Pop-up list, tap Titanium Backup (Actions). Again, tap Action.
3. On next screen, choose Backup all user apps + system data & tap Create Widget button.
4. Done! Now, all you have to do is to tap this widget from your home screen.
For Full Sync to Dropbox:
1. Make sure you've already enabled & configured Dropbox sync from Menu ~> Preferences.
2. From Preferences, tap Dropbox settings & then Labels to synchronize. Check Synchronize everything checkbox & tap OK.
3. Done! Now, all you need is to open app & tap Sync to Dropbox now ! button at bottom from Overview tab..
Main Method For Full Backup to Local Storage (To shoot out your confusion):
1. Tap Backup/Restore tab.
2. Tap Click to edit filters just below tab bar (right-side). Make sure all radio buttons are set to All & there's no label are selected (if you've labels). Tap Apply button on top-right.
3. Hit Physical Menu button & choose Batch.
4. On next screen, tap RUN button left to Backup all user apps + system data. Tap Run the batch operation button on top.
Go really for a sleep:
Setup & enable a full backup schedule profile from Schedules tab. It will be enough if you just enable the two default schedule profiles. You can change its backup frequency after tapping Edit button.
So, in the last, you just need 1 click: 0 for Full backup & 1 for Dropbox sync! :)
What about 0 clicks??
Install Dropsync & link TB's Backup directory to a folder in Dropbox (free version supports 1 directory linking which is enough for this). It'll sync backups with Dropbox automatically (make sure Auto Sync is check in settings). So, you don't need even that one click...


text:
Where is debugging mode on Kindle Fire?
I want to connect Kindle Fire with Eclipse to develop apps but I don't see any entry like "Development" in "Settings". What's wrong with it? If it doesn't exist on KF, is there any way to do that?
When I open Manage on Windows XP, a yellow exclamation mark appears on Kindle. Is its driver missing?

It is always enabled on the Kindle Fire. You simply need to add the Fire's device ID to your android_usb.ini file so that the Google ADB drivers will find it. You can do this from the command line very easily with:
echo 0x1949 >> "%USERPROFILE%\.android\adb_usb.ini

Then restart adb
adb kill-server
adb start-server

And you should be good to go.
If it still won't recognize it then you may need to go into the "Manage" menu and uninstall the Fire, then unplug it and plug it in again (I don't remember if that step was necessary).

where is android_usb.ini?

@Emerald214: On XP is should be C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\.android\android_usb.ini. On Vista/7 it should be C:\Users\<username>\.android\android_usb.ini.

I tried this and followed your advice.
http://www.freerepairguide.com/kindle-fire-enable-usb-debugging.html
but the KF doesn't appear on device list (step14).

@Emerald214: So the driver and everything installed properly like in the guide? In your Windows device manager, do you see a "ADB Interface" (or similar) device?

Yes, I saw it, ADB Interface. I tried to unplug and plug USB cable then restart adb but nothing changes. It shows this error in console "Adb connection Error:An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host"

@Emerald214: I think I actually had to terminate the adb.exe process from Task Manager once when Eclipse wasn't playing nice. I recall also shutting down Eclipse beforehand, but I don't quite remember. I'm not sure if that will actually work, though it sounds like now the issue is that adb is in some kind of weird state (but the drivers are set up correctly).

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to update all your apps from the Android market over web?
I constantly get multiple update notifications on my Android phone.  How do I go online from my computer and update all my applications to my phone?

You'd have to go through your library, find each app that had an update, and then select to install it from the website. There is no way to batch update your apps from the web Market.

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


text:
Privacy level with an anonymous account?
I am interested in the currently achievable levels of privacy on an Android device. As far as I understand it, the best one can do is not to activate a Google account. However, even then significant data is leaked to Google, as illustrated by a Florida law suite. There appears to be some controversy on the subject, as some sources claim location tracking only starts after users explicitly agree to send the information. Can someone shed some light on this? Is this location information sent to Google by default? On all types of smartphones?
Short of not activating a Google account, the second best option is to do the following:

create a new, dedicated Google account and associate the device with it
disable contacts, mail, calendar, background data sync and autosync (as described in this question)

If the account is only directly used to access the Market, what kind of communication takes place between Google and the device? Can anyone provide a URL to official ("looking"?) documentation on the subject?
In short, I am looking for an answer which provides a comprehensive list of the kinds of information exchange which take place between a cell phone with a new Google account and Google. If you provide a better strategy to reduce the amount of information shared (other than rooting), so much the better.

This seems like 2 different questions to me: 1. Which data get's send to Google and 2. Can I achieve privacy with an separate account for my Android device?
The law suite is just accusing Google, there isn't any sentence yet. And it doesn't look reputable to me. I really doubt location data is sent if you don't agree to it. Google has stated their privacy policy on various sites ( e.g. http://www.google.com/mobile/privacy.html). It's up to you to believe them or not. If you want to be really safe, use a vanilla Android ROM (AOSP) without the Google Services Framework.

Indeed, it can be seen as 2 different questions. I hope this doesn't prevent people from answering. As for the law suit, I am obviously unable to go into details of a suite in the USA, but the fact that someone is betting their time and money because they are convinced personal data is being leaked was strong enough for me to reference the article. It is by no means the only such article, by the way.

Problem is: I tried exactly what the question described. But once after a factory-reset I forgot to explicitly de-activate contacts/calendar sync, so after importing my data they were up in the cloud (so much about "opt-in"). Which means: As long as Android does not "sign" for "privacy by default", your "anonymous account" might not stay anonymous for long -- unless you really go the way Flow described. Which with many devices and in many places would void your warranty. Leaving aside the trouble you'll most like run into when looking for, installing, or using apps...


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How can I get the Android app store on the kindle fire?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I get the Android Market installed on my Kindle Fire?

How can I get the Android app store on the kindle fire?  Google searches for the solution seem to find S.E.O. fud from Amazon.com.

It may indeed be a duplicate, however it may be helpful to keep this question with this wording , because searching with those terms on the magical google yielded very poor results.

That's the entire point of marking questions as duplicates - so they act as "sign posts" to other questions. I didn't say we should delete this.

So closed questions aren't deleted?

To do this, you'll need to root your Kindle Fire. To do that, you'll need to follow the procedure created by Justin Case at Android Police.
Once that's through, you've got to install the Android app store, along with all the other Google stuff it needs. You'll find those instructions here.
With that, you'll be all set. Good luck!


text:
Phone Shuts Down, Apps Force Close Since New SD Card
I've got a Sony Ericcson Xperia Play that comes with an 8GB microSD card, which is definitely not enough for me as I like to put a lot of music on my phone (streaming is very poor on my network). So I bought a Sandisk 32GB MicroSDHC Class 4 Memory Card which is a MicroSD card like any other, right?
Ever since I put the card into my phone, my phone keeps shutting down and nearly all apps have a Force Close error. I've not installed any new apps since installing the new MicroSD and I've even uninstalled a bunch to see if it would help. Why does my new MicroSD break my phone?
If it helps, I'm running Android 2.3.3 stock.

Formatting the SD card on the phone itself seemed to do the trick. My apps are finally running and my phone longer keeps shutting down with the new SDHC. :)

I would try switching back to the original SD card and see if the issues still continue. At the least, that would help you figure out whether or not the SD card is really the problem. Also, did you move any apps that had been moved to SD back to your phone before switching cards?

No, I couldn't move the apps to the phone before switching as I didn't have enough space. I simply put both SD cards into my computer and drag-and-dropped files from the old one to the new one.

It happens on my Android 2.3.3. Every week, I backup of all my data. In my Class 10 MMC, it crashes the app backup folder and hides (or deletes) the .apk files.
I have solved the problem by not installing battery backup software or free antivirus.


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How can I know if my Android Tablet supports Wi-Fi N?
How can I know if my Android Tablet supports Wi-Fi N and speed up to 150 MBps?
I don't have any description covering that in device specifications.

You could try switching your router temporarily to 802.11n-only mode and see if the tablet still connects. If the tablet doesn't connect, it doesn't support it.

Unfortunately the BT Home Hub 3 "n-only mode" (802.11 n 40 MHz) still allows legacy 802.11g devices to connect, despite a warning to the contrary... "802.11 b/g devices are not compatible."


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Unlocking HTC HD2 and installing Android
I have HTC HD with Windows Mobile 6.5 installed and it is locked with Vodafone (Germany). If I want to install Android on it, do I have to unlock it first? Or it will be automatically unlocked in the process of installing Android?

Neither.  Unlocking is entirely unrelated to the OS.


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I want to use market place on my cheap tablet
Alright I'm cheap bought a couple cheap tablets for my kids. We have enjoyed alot of the apps ava on the Market Place but it will not work with the tablets. (Something about "Honey Comb".
My question is there a work around or someway to get the apps I want or upgrade my os so I can get the market place?

Android Market isn't a free service, it requires the tablet to be licensed by Google. Usually the cheap tablets don't have the license, and can't access the Market. There are ways to install it afterwards, but I think that they are usually model specific.

if you have 'rooted' your device, and installed recovery onto it, then you can use a gapps package located here to install the android market onto it:
gapps Download

If you're looking for an updated OS, you should contact the device manufacturer and ask them about it.  Generally for cheap tablets the installed stock ROM is all you ever get.
Your best bet is to root and unlock your tablet and install a ROM that has Google Apps available for it.  Since you don't list your tablet model, that's the most specific advice on that score I can give.
Failing that, there are lots of third party sites around that you let download the APKs (installation files) for apps independently of the market place.  You can install them so long as you have Unknown Sources checked in Settings->Applications  You can either visit those sites directly on your tablet or visit them on your PC and transfer the download APKs to your tablet via your home network.  You should be able to install them just by navigating to them in a file explorer and clicking on them ("sideloading").  I like Android Community myself.
Caution: you run a much higher risk of getting malware installed on your device this way.  I would advise installing an anti-malware app like Prey on your device.


text:
How to change the (permanent) MAC address on my android phone?
In the past months, I've got 2 Chinese Android cells (Froyo) based on MTK6515. They work fine but we started having lot of trouble attempting access to internet, and after a while I found out that both phones they have the same MAC address, which causes connection problems. So, I'm looking for a procedure that could change the devices' MAC addresses and solve our trouble.
I found a method which involves changing the file at /etc/wl/NVRAM.TXT, but after referencing a couple posts around the webs, it turns out my phones do not have this folder (and thus the other files inside). Any clue?
Please don't tell me a pray about that MAC addresses are burned into a chip, at least not in these devices, because I've already lost their IMEI's too (by hard reset), but I've recovered them and they're functional now.

Maybe you can change the MAC Address via ifconfig. See this question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9649/change-mac-address-android-using-ip-link

You can't actually change the mac address, only spoof it, because a mac address is coded into the hardware

I found a tutorial on MAC address spoofing at XDA that might be helpful:

REQUIREMENTS
1) ROOTED PHONE 2) BUSYBOX INSTALLED 3) Terminal App
OPEN UP TERMINAL AND WRITE
:su :busybox iplink show eth0
(THIS WILL SHOW YOUR CURRENT MAC ADDRESS)
NOW TYPE IN
:busybox ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55
(INSTEAD OF 00:11:22:33:44:55, YOU CAN WRITE YOUR WANTED ADDRESS)
CONGRATULATION, YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SPOOFED YOUR MAC ADDRESS!
YOU CAN CHECK YOUR MAC ADDRESS BY TYPING
:busybox iplink show eth0

I don't think this is permanent however.  I did find another guide on Android Forums that seems to be permanent:

After your rooted head into terminal emulation type su and go into
  /data/misc/wifi
Look for a file called nvram.txt
Copy it to your sdcard and then to your cpu desktop open it with
  notepad and at the bottom of nvram.txt is the mac address
This i was able to verify and test on android Citrus Ciena
Edit that mac address and save it as nvram1.txt onto sdcard
Now go back to data wifi misc and copy nvram.txt to nvram.bak
Head into gui and then settings then wifi then turn on the wifi but
  don't connect to any wifi
turn off the wifi,switch back to terminal
Copy the nvram1.txt to data misc wifi
remove the original (make sure you got it backed up)
Rename nvram1.txt to nvram.txt
head back into gui and then settings then wifi
Now for me it immediately stated unable to turn on wifi
Ignore it and try to turn it on anyways
When it turns on your newly edited mac address will take effect
Connect to your AP
NOW B4 REBOOTING YOU MUST CHANGE NVRAM BACK TO THE ORIGINAL!

Thanks a lot for your response. I have a phone based on MTK6515 dualsim and NVRAM.TXT is not present, nor /etc/wl so, i found similar posts before in other forums and i attempted to apply with no successful. I read too, there are a lot phones with same wifi and BT MAC ADDRESS. Wow, it becames a big trouble using two or more phones in a same wifi network (like happend to me). This is the waybecause i ask for a permanent change of MAC. Any idea about how to fix this trouble?.

Have you tried creating said files and folders and seeing if it works?

How can I write this configuration? I have no idea what I have to integrate in this file to spoof the mac address in this phone. I think the device is capable of changing its MAC permanently. Any idea about where I download this file to modify it? Thanks a lot.


text:
Unable to mount Galaxy S2 on Debian Squeeze laptop as storage device
I am trying to mount my Galaxy S2 on Debian Squeeze laptop. I turned off USB debugging and then in:
"Wireless & Networks" → "USB Utilities" → "Connect storage to PC"

it asks me to connect a USB cable, as soon as I connect the USB cable the pop goes away and my phone starts charging but I don't see my phone mounted in my laptop.
I did lsusb and don't see any Samsung device connected. Then I decided to turn on USB debugging and did lsusb again but no luck. What could be wrong?

This comment helped me, though I also had to create a udev rule https://android.stackexchange.com/a/5067/11156, the udev rule is given below, please note that kumar is my username on my box.
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04e8",
ATTRS{idProduct}=="6640", MODE="0660", OWNER="kumar",
GROUP="plugdev", SYMLINK+="android%n"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="04e8", MODE="0666"

If this solution solved your issue, consider accepting the answer to have the question answered.


text:
Can Google Docs for Android work Offline?
I am intending to get probably the Asus Eee Pad Transformer soon. I am looking at the apps I need. I am thinking of getting just the non 3G version and wonder if the lack of 3G/Internet connectivity will affect my use of applications like Google Docs. Perhaps I need to look at a non-cloud based app?

Google Docs on Android has no offline cache at the moment. Source
The Browser version has this functionality. I hope the Android App get's offline docs too, that would be awesome. :)

That page says right at the beginning "Keep in mind that offline access is only available in Chrome."

Time flies, and the second link already included how to turn offline access on/off on Android :)

Short answer: No.
Long answer:
I just put my phone into Airplane mode, and tapped the "Docs" icon that I happened to have on my home screen.  It showed me a list of my docs!  So far, so good.
I then tapped one of the docs, and saw a frowny face that said something like "Sorry, can't access this document because I don't have a connection to the Internet".


text:
ROM/MOD for pure Android experience

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

I'm looking for a Mod or Rom for a HTC Desire S and a Motorola Xoom which provides the cleanest Android experience without modifications. Similar to that of the Nexus range of phones. Eventually, I'd like to put ICS on both of these devices.

The Xoom is already as "pure Honeycomb" as it gets. It's the tablet equivalent of the Nexus line.

As elderathis said, the Xoom is a pure android device, as for the Desire S, I believe that CyanogenMod is available for that device. It is "pure android", plus some additional tweaks after.


text:
How to install Cyanogenmod on Huawei IDEOS U8150?
I am installing a custom rom for the very first time and I simply don't want to brick my phone (Huawei U8150).

I downloaded and installed Rom Manager
I downloaded Cyanogen 7 (update-cm-7.2.0-RC0-U8150-KANG-signed-dec5.zip) for my U8150 and stored it on SD card.
I started Rom Manager > Flash ClockMod Recovery > shows a list of supported phones. It does not have U8150 in the list. I wonder how others have made it work!
From ROM Manager I chosen the Rom file manually with "Install ROM from SD Card" option, it restarts and gives only for options a. reboot, b. apply update.zip c & d. wipe

What to do next? The rom file is in .zip, while I downloaded another .img file (clockworkmod_5.0.2.7_u8150.img). What does it exactly do?
I think i must first create backup of current rom and then install cyanogen.

Install ClockworkMod Recovery using any of the given methods here:

Install Terminal Emulator from the market.
Install Root Explorer from the market.
Download the recovery of your choice and copy the recovery.img to your sd card. (if its not named recovery.img rename it)
With Root Explorer, navigate to where the recovery is and copy it to /system/bin/ (remember to select mount as R/W first in order for it to copy.)
Open Terminal Emulator and enter the command "su" (without the quotes)
After that enter the command "flash_image recovery /system/bin/recovery.img" (again without the quotes)
That's it, the recovery has been flashed. Reboot in recovery to confirm.
Once you've confirmed the recovery flashed properly remember to delete the recovery.img from /system/bin/ (using root explorer, and mount as R/W)

Then follow the instructions of using ClockworkMod given here

Why the downvote? The first link has step-by-step instructions on how to correctly flash the recovery.

@Chahk: Your edit is not correct, because that link has three different methods, the second one worked for me.

Any one of the 3 methods should work.  Feel free to edit again with the method that worked for you though.


text:
How can I prevent the Google+ app from showing the wrong thumbnail before I share a photo?
When I go to the Google+ app to share a picture I've taken on my phone, it shows the wrong thumbnail.  I select the thumbnail anyway because experience has taught me that I can trust the date, and I when I share the picture the correct picture is shared.  This is incredibly frustrating, however, as I'm effectively "flying blind" when I share photos with the Google+ app.
I've developed various coping mechanisms for dealing with this problem.  I go into the Gallery app and delete all but pictures I want to share on Google+ and count the number of pictures I want to share.  Then I select the first few pictures (say, four) and share them on Google+.  Even though the thumbnails are wrong because I've already done the legwork to know which picture is which.
I've sent feedback to Google about this multiple times (it bothers me that there is no public record of this) and have been updating the Google+ app regularly, but the problem persists.  As of this writing I'm using version 2.3.0.240337 of the Google+ app on Android 2.2.
I don't think this has anything to do with how I manage pictures on my Android phone, but I'll describe that anyway.  Every so often I put my phone in USB mode and import my photos into iPhoto.  Then (after safely ejecting the device), from the phone I do a "select all" and "delete all" of all the pictures.

Ok, I think this might be helping, but it's an odd fix. . .
After reading the answer to another question on this site I tried the following:

Settings | Applications | Manage Applications | All | Media Storage | Clear Data
rebooted phone
opened Gallery app (nothing there, but I should have seen one picture)
took a picture (now pictures started appearing in the Gallery app)

And now the Google+ app shows the correct thumbnail. . . for now at least.  This is a pretty serious kludge and not at all user-friendly.  I hope it helps someone.


text:
Superuser not prompting
I recently installed ICS(Android 4) on my Samsung Galaxy S, and it seems that in the process my superuser app broke. Everything went fine, my phone is working better than ever, but when an app requires superuser permissions, it gets denied and I never get a prompt. Checked the settings, cleared superuser's cache and data, restarted it, tried to put it on automatically allow, nothing works.
How do I fix this?
P.S.
superuser has no problem prompting for itself(when updated it prompts "superuser asked for permissions"), but doesn't work for other apps.

Which ICS build did you install? Can you provide a link to the ROM (an XDA thread or such)?

I installed ICS 4.0.3 RC1. I can provide a link to the download, if you'd like, because I didn't follow a single guide to install it. It's this link if I'm not wrong: http://www.multiupload.com/UI9XV2OZJ7

The build you flashed appears to have an associated XDA thread. The first post of that thread (by the ROM's creator) contains this a little ways down:

- Flash this if your are having root issues -
http://goo-inside.me/superuser/Superuser-3.0.7-efghi-signed.zip

I'd start there, and see if it resolves the problem. You should just need to download the zip file and flash it from recovery (I can't test this myself, unfortunately. I don't own an SGS).
Edit: This looks like it may be a common problem with that particular build. There are some posts toward the end of the thread where people are saying they can't get root to work either. Another post has a flashable zip file attached that is apparently intended to fix the issue as well.

Doing this right now, will update if it works.


text:
Changing contact to canonical form (adding + country_code)
I am using Samsung Galaxy S2. Is there any automated way or app to change all my contacts with appropriate country code into canonical form.
I just found that lot of my contact are there without the country code. And few apps like whatsapp, viber etc does not recognize the contact unless + is appended with country code.
Is there any better way to do it than editing all my contacts?

You can try syncing your phone contacts with Gmail, preferably into a group.
Then use Gmail's web interface to export that group into a Google CSV format, use a text editor to replace ",00xxx" with ",+xxx" (and do any other editing while you're at it) in the CSV file, and reimport into Gmail.

+1 for export>edit>import. The 'replace all' function of text editors is about as easy as it gets.

In case you want to append country code to your contacts or append +91, here is best way to do and be sure of it done:

Open the CSV, XLS, or XLSX file as Google spreadsheet
Edit > Find and replace
Select the option Search using regular expression
Find ^91 will search all numbers in sheet beginning with 91. In replace, put +91
Similarly, do for all contacts of yours with other country codes

I'm afraid that method doesn't work to add the appropriate country code, as the OP needs. Unless the appropriate code is already there, and just the "+" is missing -- the question indicates rather otherwise (country codes completely missing). However, if all contacts are from the same country, and the code is missing everywhere, replacing ^([0-9]) with +91-\1 (assuming "+91" as the appropriate country code) would do it :)

There is an Android app called Right Number (source available) to do exactly what you want. It reformats all the numbers to a canonical form, and then automatically adds the local prefixes whenever you do a call.
Disclaimer: I know personally one of the authors of that app.

How about Easy Prefix Country Code?. This adds country code to all contacts selectively.


text:
Incredible 2 Sync Problem
I've downloaded the HTC Sync software onto my PC in order to sync my new Incredible 2 with my Outlook, etc.  After plugging my phone into the PC with a USB cable, however, it tells me "No Device Connected."   How can I get the computer to recognize the phone?

Check your phone if you have selected a default action when you plug in your phone. If memory serves, it connects in "Charge-only" mode by default, and pops a menu for selection. If you have already chosen a default action, go to `Settings->Connect to PC" and change the default. You'll need to choose "HTC sync" mode or somesuch.


text:
Can I hide the time on the Cyanogenmod 7 Lockscreen?
I've flashed CM7 onto my phone, and am wondering if there is a way to hide the clock. The only way I see is the Widget Layout setting to Default/Hidden/Centered. But this hides ALL text on the lock screen, I want to hide ONLY the clock (because it is in the statusbar anyway), and NOT hide the next alarm, next calendar appointment, battery level, etc.
Or, as an alternative, if there is someway to make the font for the clock a LOT smaller.
The reason I want to do this, is because I am using Contact Owner to display lost phone text on the lock screen, but with that giant clock up top, it pushes the owner info underneath/behind the unlock controls.
Also, setting the Widget Layout to hidden hides the owner info as well, which kinda defeats the purpose.
UPDATE: With a little help from this question, I'm using Cyanogenmod's own owner info ability, but it still suffers from the same problem.
BTW, I'm running on a Galaxy S Captivate.

Well, I didn't find a way to hide it; but switched to using WidgetLocker for my lock screen and just disabled CM's.


text:
how do you delete specific contacts in ICS?
I have a Nexus S phone just updated to ICS. This forum was very helpful in finding out ICS' now more cumbersome way to delete specific calls from call logs. Thank You.
It's a new year, and I want to clean out some dead wood from the contact list. But for the life of me I cannot find a way on the phone to delete a specific record from the contacts list.
Is a browser into my gmail contacts screen my only option to manage deletion of individual names on my phone's contact list?
Is my only contact management option on the phone to clear the whole list and re-sync after updating the list on the web site?

Open a contact from the "People" app (the contact list) by tapping on its name, then press the Menu button (the Galaxy Nexus analogue to this should be the ... button). One of the menu options should be "Delete".

Yup, that's what I see. "Edit, Share, Delete, Set ringtone, All calls to voicemail".

Thanks much, this works as an alternative. I was trying to delete a specific contact from the phone app (I seem to remember that I could do that in the last OS) but now realize that I must go to the People app. Have already cleaned out the list.


text:
Locking SDHC Memory card on Samsung Galaxy 2
I have stored an important document on the SDHC card on my Samsung Galaxy 2 phone (so that I can edit it on the go). I don't want others to access this file or document without my permission.
I know I can lock the phone but this option means that nothing could be done on the phone unless it is unlocked.
I want others to still make calls from my phone but not be able to access the memory card. (Letting others use my phone is an internal arrangement i.e. so that there is one point of contact when we are travelling together)
Is there a way to lock the memory card (with a password) but leave the phone unlocked?

I would highly doubt it unless you're rooted, and if you're rooted the user can easily get around it.  What's wrong with encrypting the file?  That actually prevents against theft and so on as well.

Locking the memory card will prevent access to anything on the card. This approach would be more suited because then I will not have to worry about locking individual files (e.g. documents, photos etc.).

Simply, use BoxCryptor.. It'll encrypt your files & folders with AES-256 standard (AES-256 is classified by the U.S. Government to protect “TOP SECRET” information). The best thing: You can use it on any platform: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux. So, you can sync your encrypted files with Dropbox, too.
Its free Android app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.boxcryptor.android (Free version has limitation of Read-only access). You don't even need a rooted device whats not the case of fully free LUKS Manager. If your device is rooted & you also need write access without spending money, go for LUKS Manager, but you'll miss cross-platform access. So, my recommendation is paid BoxCryptor if you need write access.
With encryption, your files & folders will be safe even if your friends are hacker. With even fastest super computers, breaking AES-256 standard needs decades or even hundreds/thousands years (based on password strength & encryption passphrase).

You cant lock, in your definition, the sdcard or one file. But you have some ways to protect your file.

Store it in a password protected Zip file.
Encrypt your sdcard
Use a AppLocker to lock the apps they are needed to view / edit the file.
Use BoxCryptor.

The only safe way is, to encrypt it. If you lock your sdcard with a software, the thief can easily connect it to a pc and steal the file or even steal the whole sdcard.

Encryption is most probably the most appropriate solution for your case. Something along the lines of LUKSManager could be the right tool. Though you would need a rooted phone in any case and perhaps a modified kernel, too.

Encryption is the only appropriate solution in this case. Everything else can simply be bypassed by just stealing the sd-card.

Root permission is not necessary for encryption... Some application you must try to check it: LastPass (Free), BoxCryptor with license (Paid)..

Have you considered just removing the SD card from the phone and keeping it in a safe spot until you need to access your important files?
AFAIK there isn't a way to encrypt/protect a single file on an SD card. That leaves you looking at fully encrypting the card which Android doesn't support out of the box. Instead of that hassle, why not simply remove it? You don't need an SD card to use basic phone functions (calls, SMS) and many apps can either do without SD storage or be moved to internal storage. Your device requires you to power down and pull the battery to access the micro SD card slot; insertion or removal of the card and then powering the phone back on, though, shouldn't take you much longer than a minute.
Keep it simple, I say.

If your phone is rooted(which it may not), you might be able to unmount the card, altough I dont know if the system tries to remout it on itself after some period.


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How to place Apps on "Home Bar" for Logitech Revue Google-TV?
How can I add apps to the home bar on the Logitech Revue Google-TV box? I can remove them by pressing and holding the OK button and selecting remove from the popup menu, but I haven't seen an option to add them.
The Logitech Help has stopped working - all the link report "Unable to Open URL". I am guessing this is part of Logitech's dropping of support for this device.

Press the Menu key on the remote, and then select "Edit home screen icons" or something to that extent (wording could be different, I'm going by my Sony Google TV unit.)  Now highlight (using the arrow keys) and click on the empty box on the home bar vacated by the app you've just removed, and a pop-up should appear with all installed apps and bookmarks listed.  Selecting any of them will place it on the home bar.


text:
Is there a way to update the Flash player for Google-TV on Logitech Revue?
I've noticed any apps that use the Flash player via the browser to play video just fail with a flash error. For example, trying to play a video via Amazon Video On Demand (via the installed App, which just launches the browser on Amazon's web site) results in "The following plug-in has crashed: Shockwave Flash"
Some Flash ads for example work, while other Flash games crash too. I hope there is a way to update Flash and fix this.

HoneyComb 3.1.0
Adobe's Flash Version check shows I have Flash installed.

Flash Player Version: 10.2.163.145
OS: Linux 2.6.35.14-ge141a01 (32-bit)
Capabilities: GTV 10,2,163,145 (Including Audio, Video & Local Files)

Adobe's site says the latest version of Flash for Android is 11.1.111.8 (Android pre-ICS).

The Honeycomb 3.2 update for Logitech Review fixed this.

I'm not sure where you would find one, but you could try sideloading the Flash Player app from the Play Store as installed on another HC 3.1.0 device and see whether that can display Flash content any better.


text:
Is there an alternative DLNA player for Logitech Revue under Google-TV?
The Logitech Media Player included with the Logitech review is problematic - occasionally pausing causes it to stop or jump from video playback to music, etc. I am not seeing any alternative DLNA players in the Android Market that run under Google-TV. Are there any others out there that I am missing? Running Honeycomb 3.1.0.

The aVia Media Player is compatible with Google TV and is available in the Android Market on Google TV.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.videon.android.mediaplayer

I use Plex, and have had good results with it (also available in the Android Market)  Plex seems to play a lot more of my video files than the stock Logitech app.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.plexapp.gtv


text:
Getting "operation not permitted" error when trying to symlink a directory
After installing a custom ROM (Onecosmic's ICS 4.0.3 rc1) on my Samsung I9000 Galaxy S, the external_sd symlink is broken. So, I wanted to get this symlink back. I used the following code in Terminal Emulator (yes, I am rooted with SuperUser):
su (superuser asked for rights, allowed)
cd ./mnt/sdcard
ln -s ./mnt/emmc external_sd

But I got the following error:

Operation not permitted.

How can I create the symlink now?

external_sd is a mount point, not a symlink (hence it's a folder).  You'd need to change how the ROM mounts it to go there instead of /mnt/emmc.

@Matthew Read: So, how would I go about doing that?

I've never even heard of that ROM, so I wouldn't know where to begin.

Answered here: How to create a shortcut to some file in another folder?

What's the partition format of the SD card? FAT does not supports symlinks, although I believe it should be possible to create a symlink in ext3 that points to a FAT directory.
Also, there are operations that even root are not allowed to do, such as writing to a read-only drive or writable drives that are mounted read-only. What's the output of 'mount' command?
Also, your command looks fishy; try using absolute path (i.e. do not prepend the path with ./, instead prepend with /):
$ su
# ln -s /mnt/emmc /mnt/sdcard/external_sd

mount says both sdcard and emmc are vfat. And obviously, the main storage is read/write. Are there any options for me? How could there be a symlink in the beginning? Or is that coded in the software? Because during the upgrade to the new rom, nothing was formatted.

Btw, yes I did try to use your command, gave same output. Oh and yes the external_sd folder is deleted (to prevent problems with overwriting (read that at least in bash symlink doesn't overwrite))

The problem is not related to the FAT filesystem.
On a EXT4 filesystem, for example, you can create links to FAT32 mounted partitions on linux as well as you do with links to EXT4 partitions, because the partition in which the link would be created (ext4) does support links.
The problem is that Android mounts its internal storage partitions with tmpfs. It uses fuse or something like that.
If you type mount then you'll see that /mnt, /storage, /storage/emulated and others are mounted as tmpfs which does not support links. The correct message should be "operation not supported".
Unless we get a way to mount (or the path to the ext4 mountpoint to) these partitions without using the tmpfs, it won't be possible to create links like those.
There's a way to create links. Apps like Link2SD do that. But I still don't know how!

Emulated filesystem isn't tmpfs, it's either FUSE or sdcardfs. Link2SD bind-mounts, doesn't create symlinks. https://android.stackexchange.com/a/218944/218526

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


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reduce memory usage of "Internet" and "contacts"
The DiskUsage app shows 14,8MB data used for "Internet" and 11,5MB used for contacts.
Is there a way to reduce memory usage?
I know I can delete Internet data using the general app settings but I fear this will also delete all saved passwords and I'd like to avoid that.
As for the contacts: In the global account settings (sync) I use only my two Google accounts and weather. I had Facebook sync activated while back, though, and it import a number of contact photos, which are still visible.
Any chance to reduce memory usage without removing too much useful data?

Possibly related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17479/can-i-store-contacts-on-my-sd-card-how (at least as far as minimizing the size of contacts goes)

Assuming by "Internet" it means the default browser, then you should be able to go to Browser Settings to delete History and other cached data (press Menu button on the Browser, then select More, then Settings).
As for Contacts, if your address book are synced to your Gmail Address Book, you can Clear Data in the Manage Applications. After a short while, the Contact app will resync to Gmail Address Book hopefully without the Facebook contacts.

It seems a database for the browser may bloat for some reason, if you're root you can check the files in /data/data/com.android.browser, see if one of them is unnecessarily huge, and move/delete it.


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How can I extract messages from .sbf file
I have backed up my messages from my Sony Xperia, and now I want to open the file and export them to excel or something more easy to read, but I can't find a program or tool to do that I just have the file and i want to open it and extract specific information. I need some help, thanks!


text:
How do I connect LG P500 to Mac OS X Lion?
I've been given a nice LG-P500 phone for my 67th birthday.
How the heck do I transfer music, photos and videos from the phone to my iMac OS X Lion, and vice versa?
I can't access the mini-SD card, so I can't find the LG PC Suite IV which is referred to in the P500 "Simple Manual".  In the "Important notice" pink pages bit, in section 9 I can get up to the first part of para. 4: I can turn on USB storage on the phone.  The phone opens "Image Capture" when I connect it by USB to the iMac.  There is nothing visible.  And of course an .exe file is for Microsoft Windows, not Apple.
Don't tell me I have to buy Parallels.  And if the only way is sending stuff up into the clouds and retrieving it again, I'm not impressed. LG should surely have a way of doing it direct to Mac.  After all, Mac OS isn't exactly new!
So, two requests:

Where can I download a Mac Lion version of LG PC Suite?
Where can I download a "Full Manual"?  The "Simple Manual" - which you can download from all over the place - says "you can do stuff" but not, unfortunately, "this is how you do stuff."  Not much use.

I suggest you to download and install Android File Transfer software. It will solve all the problems.
Once connected the device, turn on the file transfer mode from your mobile device and you are good to go!


text:
Pandigital SuperNova 1080p Output?
I ordered a Pandigital SuperNova and I own a 1080p LED TV.
The Pandigital SuperNova has a Micro HDMI port on it. My TV has a regular HDMI port.
If I connect an HDMI cable with regular HDMI on one end to my TV with Micro HDMI on the other into my SuperNova, will I be able to have 1080p output onto my TV?
I've read from this pcmag.com article:

The SuperNova plays 1080p videos, although it doesn't display them anywhere in 1080p. You get 800-by-600 on the main screen, and 720p HD on a TV, all perfectly smoothly.

But I was hoping for more confirmation on this. (actually hoping the statement to be disproven lol)
I'm not ready to accept it as a fact until more people who have tested this can reply.

I got the tablet and YES! It does have 1080p output. :)


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Can't open Market application after updating my Samsung Galaxy Tab
Just updated firmware for my Samsung Galaxy Tablet.
Now I can't enter Market application. When I click the Market application icon, I get this message "Application not installed". And update was completed successfully with Kies.

Have same state, market is not installed on device after update software via air. Any idea?

Which version did the update give? (Settings -> About device -> Android version and Build number)

Build number: HTJ85B P7510XWKL1 Android version: 3.1

Are you trying to access the Market from a home screen shortcut or from the app drawer? Updates can sometimes break shortcuts so try to open it from the app drawer. Another thing you can try is to reset market data from Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> All -> Market -> Clear data and Clear cache.


text:
How to turn Android tablet into network photo frame?
I have a qnap NAS which shares media via samba shares and upnp (dlna/twonkey). I'd like to run a photo gallery app which displays shared photos so I don't have to copy them to my tablet. No luck finding a DNA client that has a decent photo gallery yet... also couldn't find an app that lets me mount a smb share like smbfs for Linux.. any other ideas? Launching needs to be very simple.

Have you considered uploading pictures to your Picasa account and using the dock screen to show them as slideshows?

+1 Have wondered the same, would be a good way to recycle my tablet when my tablet when it gets past its useful life, as well as a way to get it doing something more useful than pretending to be a clock while its docked and charging. I've got a DLNA enabled Windows server, so any SMB/DLNA solutions would presumably be the same.

possible duplicate of Making an Andriod tablet boot into a slideshow - App advice

Have you tried Social Frame?
It is a digital photo frame app.
It automatically syncs photos from Facebook, Twitter, and 500px.
Love this app

Try out Digital Photo Frame Slide Show.
It has exactly the features you need as it can access a UPnP server or a SMB network drive.
(I am the developer of Digital Photo Frame Slide Show.)

*ahem* Please see our [FAQ#promotion] on the requirements for recommending products with which you have a vested interest.

You're right I should have mentioned I develop that app. It does however exactly fit his requirements.

I'm not disputing that. There's nothing wrong with offering up an app you've developed as a solution (especially if it's an exact fit) so long as you disclose this fact and it's not the only reason you're participating on the site.

Have you searched DLNA in Play Store? You can find many apps.
My favorite is Skifta .

It may sound like overkill, but it may suit all your needs:
XBMC Media Center (downloads for Android are here)
It has many features that you might not need (like a weather forecast, playing videos and music) but the best parts are its big list of network capabilities (media on Windows shares, DLNA (UPnP), FTP, etc.) and its huge list of available plugins. It's also remotely controllable in many ways, there are even apps for Android, etc.
Plus it's open source and free.

Samba Shares and Cloud Image Services (Picasa, Flickr, Facebook, Dropbox and Instagram) Photo Frame Live Wallpaper

PhotoCloud Frame Slideshow should match your requirements since it shows photos on your tablet in a digital frame fashion, downloading them on-the-fly. It supports DLNA/UPNP, but also Samba and a lot of other photo sources.
(Disclaimer: I am the developer of this app)

ES File Explorer should let you access SMB shares.


text:
Stock ICS email app refusing to auto-update or notifications
Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0.1, all other apps seem to sync and notifiy fine. The email app has the settings:

Inbox update frequency: 5 mins
Email notification: Checked

It doesn't appear to be syncing at all, however as soon as I open the app it goes and gets all the new emails from the point I last closed the app.

Is the following settings enabled in Settings -> Account & Sync:

Bakcground Data,
Auto-sync
'Sync Gmail' inside your email account

I believe DanH is asking about the Email app, not Gmail.

True, but Email app appears to have exactly the same setting there which was turned off. I'll wait 5 minutes and make sure it worked, but I think we have a winner :D

Strange that this setting is not accessible from within the Email app interface though, at least as far as my endless manic button mashing can tell.

Hmmm, curiously this setting appears to have made no difference

OK finally seems to be working now


text:
Android "Tethered" update mechanism
Based on Android CDD document, a device must support an update mechanism to system software. It may be one of following kinds:

Over-the-air (OTA): by Settings > About Phone > System Updates to install new version when it is available.
"Tethered" update: update over USB from a host PC
"Offline" updates via a reboot and update from a file on removable storage

I could understand clearly the 1st and 3rd mechanism but I'm confused about the 2nd. As my searching, "tethering" is used to connect the Android mobile to a host PC through USB cable then the PC could use mobile as a modern to access internet.
So I don't understand why that "tethering" is seen as an update mechanism?
Anyone has experience about this kind please help me to clear about it.

It shows how the world has changed, "tethered" updates used to be the normal way that devices updated, before OTA came along!

In this case, tethering means connecting the phone to the computer and using an application on the PC to update the firmware of the device. An example of this is updating with Samsung Kies or Odin.

Thank you so much for your guide, i will re-search it :)

From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tether "Tether: verb (used with object) - to fasten or confine with or as if with a tether."  They just mean a physical connection to a computer via a USB cable.


text:
Images are getting deleted from "camera shots" once sent in a text message
I have an HTC Desire Z,  Andorid 2.3.3 with HTC sense version 2.1.
If i take a photo and text it, that photo is getting deleted from my Gallery/camera shots.
How can I fix this so the photos are never deleted once taken without my permission?
Edit
I noticed some of my photos are still saved in the folder, but the gallery isn't displaying them, nor they accessible by the image applications. I can only see the pictures if I connect my sd card to my computer

With later updates to the system, it seems that the issue has resolved itself.

The first solution that springs to me is to install Tasker (it is paid app, and quite cheap, but it is worth every cent).
Setup task that copies the last picture that was created into your SMS folder back to your DCIM (camera folder) folder.
 There are probably other solutions as well. If you cannot get the hang of Tasker, I will be more specific when I have more time.

Check to see if there is a .nomedia file in the folder. It could be what is causing the files to not display. A work around would be to install QuickPic for the Play store, it allows you to show hidden files on the device.

.nomedia file would affect all the images in the folder, not just the ones used in MMS.


text:
What is the best way to get pictures on your contacts with ICS (Galaxy Nexus)?
Before I bought my Galaxy Nexus I had a HTC Hero. HTC synced the pictures from Facebook to my contacts. This happened on the phone so when i activated my new Galaxy Nexus and synced it my contacts had no pictures. My question is what is the best way to add pictures to my contacts? I'd hate to go and do the manual labor and add a picture to each contact. Ideally Facebook would just transfer the pictures but they don't seem to want to do that. The solution dose not have to be with facebook at all but that is where most of my contacts have pictures.

"Best" is subjective. Better to just describe the problem you're trying to solve. (Please read the [FAQ].)

The official facebook app will add pictures to your contacts if you set it to sync your contacts.

Looks like @Dunhamzzz got the SyncMyPix part in before me, I did not get a message that said that there had been a new answer, though.
I don't like that the facebook app removes all the data that it adds to your contacts if you remove the application. To counter the facebook issue, I use an app called SyncMyPix that can pull your facebook contacts and put the image on your contact on your device. The nice thing about SyncMyPix, if it doesn't match a contact, it lets you go through them at the end and say "Sync this Facebook Contact with this Android Contact", and it remembers that mapping so the next time you sync, they are "connected"

there must have been seconds in it! Have a +1

I cant seem to find this in the app? Where do you press to get this screen?

The app Home Screen, Menu -> Settings -> Sync Settings

Personally I like the idea of using a real FB client that can actually be used for FB as well, such as the official app, or Friendcaster [Pro], as opposed to a whole nother app just to sync the pictures and not give any other functionality. But that's personal preference.

syncMyPix was created before the facebook app did any syncing. I don't use facebook, I just "have one" because everyone I know has one. For a while I did not even have the FB app installed, and just used SMP.

HaxSync will sync Facebook (high res) photos to your ICS device.

Use SyncMyPix (AppBrain|Market), it links up contacts with your Facebook friends based on names and downloads their profile picture for your contact picture. It might take a few tweaks for incomplete/weird names the first time round but should only take a few minutes.
You can set it to run routinely to keep them up to date too!

As far as I know, full Facebook integration with pictures with the native app hasn't yet come to ICS. For you to get that kind of integration would need you to hack the contacts source code and add it. Additionally, even if they did come, I would guess that the app pull smaller low-res pics designed for 2.3 or lower as ICS uses full screen contact tiles
Instead, your best bet is to use the app Friendcaster. It is a fully featured Facebook application that also has ICS support, Facebook integration with contacts and the ability to download high resolution pictures. It works perfectly on my phone running ICS 4.0.3


text:
Uninstall Stock Apps on Motorola Droid!
I need to know if I can uninstall the following apps without causing any adverse impact on the phone. I have already uninstalled FACEBOOK and TWITTER app.
I am with Verizon and I am planning to uninstall the following.
1) Launcher - I use Go Launcher, so don't see a point in having this.
2) Amazon MP3 - Never used this app. So don't see any point in having it.
3) Car Home - This is an annoyance that I don't need.
So have you uninstalled these apps from your Motorola Droid? Did it cause any issues?

I would assume you need the launcher but the other two aren't needed.

CarHome is now gone.

Cyanogenmod has a barebones list of apps and the relative safety of uninstalling each.  While it's for CM ROMs, the list will be pretty similiar for the DROID.
FYI, if Verizon ever releases any OTA updates in the future for your phone, they won't install if you don't have the stock apps installed. Usually you're better off 'freezing' them with Titanium Backup.

Thanks everyone for the answers. I have now modded my device and installed the latest available version of Cyanogen Mod. Facebook / Twitter / Amazon MP3 / Car Home no longer exist

I'm unsure about Launcher -- some system apps provide services to the OS that 3rd party apps use, rather than replace.  For example, the system's Phone (Dialer), Contact, and Messaging apps generally handle communications with the cellular radio hardware or system DBs for messages/contacts/syncing themselves in ways that 3rd party dialers/messaging apps can't replicate or replace.  The 3rd party apps still end up using the system functionality.
The system needs to have a launcher as a system app, even if you've got a 3rd party one in place.  Thought experiment: What would happen if you did a factory reset without restoring the system launcher?
Now, if you can make GO Launcher a system app then you might be able to remove the stock launcher.
Amazon MP3 is pure bloatware if you're not using Amazon's MP3 service.
As you've already discovered, Car Home can also be safely removed.

First of all your phone needs to be rooted if it isn't yet.
Facebook, Twitter and Amazon MP3 can safely be uninstalled.
I'm not sure about the launcher. If you're not sure either I'd keep it.


text:
Enable the Android market on a kobo vox
Based on its cheap price, I'm considering purchasing a Kobo Vox. The only downside I see to it is that it the market isn't enabled on it. Is there a way to enable the Android market on it once I get it?

Well, only if your rooted. You would manually have to install the g-apps recovery update zip.
If you tell me your country and phone type, i can provide a link, or you can see all available versions here:
GApps Downloads

The kobo box is a cheap (price) tablet and it does have some issues. You better google and read about them before buying one.
That being said it can be made to run the Google Android Market. Note that you'll need adb or root'ing your device to do so. You'll also need to repeat those steps every time an update is available for the tablet (since it will rewrite the partition were you're making the changes).
Still interested ? ;-) If so then the best instructions for rooting and installing the market are available on mobileread.com.
Have fun!


text:
What are the differences between a system app and user app?
As I've played around with different ROMs and used Titanium Backup, I see that apps are categorized into system and user apps.  Several ROM developers state that Titanium Backup should only be used for user apps and not for system apps, and when I proceed to uninstall system apps, TiBu warns me that the ROM may not work correctly.
Other than the fact that user apps are downloadable via the Market or some other means, what are the key differences between the two?
What is it about the system apps that make them more integral to the OS itself?

/system is read-only without root so it prevents uninstalling applications from /system/app and /system/priv-app.  Applications that are critical are put there so that they can't be uninstalled.  Carrier bloatware that they don't want to let you remove is also put there.  The latter category of apps can be removed if you are rooted; the former, not so much.
/system/priv-app also allows apps installed there to use signatureOrSystem and other privileged permissions.  Stephen's answer has some examples.
As for why apps might be critical, that depends on the ROM.  HTC's Sense is heavily dependent on their built-in apps from what I hear, for example.  They simply didn't design their UI such that it would work natively with third party apps (or fail nicely if the system apps were missing).  Other apps are essentially part of the Android OS but Google coded them as apps/services (probably for encapsulation and reliability reasons).
Updates for some system apps can be downloaded via the Play Store, such as Google Maps.  If it didn't come preinstalled as a system app on your device then you can use Titanium to convert it from a user app to a system app.

does it also mean that a system app cant be killed by task killers?? or that they would auto start if killed??

@ashishsony System services are normally auto-started, yes, but (most?) apps/services can still be killed.  For example I can kill the Browser on my device.  (Insert usual advice about how task killers are bad.)

Correct, system apps on HTC Devices (even those like Dropbox, Facebook) are too deeply integrated with the Sense UI. One must refrain from removing them; also converting user apps to system apps should not be done unless very necessary as on some ROMs they might not terminate under low memory condition.

@all one programmatic difference is system(priv-app) application  receive a system broadcast even is force_stop from application settings, when  (user-app) non-system app can't receive the any broadcast if is force_stop from device settings.

The other answers are correct, but fail to point out a couple differences:
Permissions
System apps are granted the ability to request certain system-only permissions that are never available to user apps. This is not the same as root/sudo/su permissions.
One example that I know of and use daily is the ability to reset the missed call notification counter. I have Go Dialer, which is a replacement for the stock dialer and contact app (how you make phone calls). When I miss a call, android lets me know that with a notification. However, Go Dialer is not allowed to reset this counter, even though it asks for that permission when you install the app. Android 2.2 and earlier let user apps reset it, but made this permission a system-only accessible permission for android 2.3
By moving my Go Dialer app to the system partition, it is allowed to reset this counter. Root is not required for the app (except, of course, to actually move the app to the System partition).
Another system permission is the ability to set the current gps location. Now, Android does have a preference where you can allow mock locations, so any gps spoofing app you install can declare a gps location. But if the app is in the System partition, mock locations can be disabled while still letting the app spoof the gps location.
Updates
System apps can be updated just like user apps, but the update is never integrated into the original rom. That is, system apps have the unique ability to roll back to the version that existed when the rom was first installed.
Move to SD
Android lets users move user apps from internal memory to the sd card. System apps cannot be moved and always take up some internal space. Most (all?) devices, though, have internal user apps on a different partition, so uninstalling a system app would not give you any more user app space (other than the dalvik-cache being removed).
You will recover some space if you uninstall any updates to a system app. As noted, the updates are not integrated with the rom and are thus stored in user space. The updates are not allowed to move to the sd card either, but if removed, user space is recovered.
How it affects you
If you are a casual android user, you likely won't run into scenarios where system vs user app would make a difference. If you are an advanced user, you likely have root and can thus change a system app to user (and vice versa) if you ever run into one of these situations.

Did you mean "This is not the same as root/su permissions"? I seem to recall that sudo and su are not the same - at least in Unix and Linux.

You're right that su and sudo are different in *nix. But sudo is more applicable here, because sudo is asking for root privileges, whereas su is simply asking to Switch User. In order to use su, you only need to know the password of the account to which you are switching; if you don't specify an account, then you are asking to become root. In Android, however, there is no root password, nor any other accounts, so su is the command known by users to run in a terminal to gain root privileges.

At any rate, I'll update the answer to include su, since that is what some Android users equate to root.

System apps are apps that are included within the system. They are located in the /system/app folder.
The vast majority of them are required to make the device run. An example of some of these are the dialer, which sets up all the network connectivity, and browser, without which no in-app webviews would work.

The dialer sets up the network connectivity?

@MatthewRead Yes - It does! The actual 'Dialer' is a seperate activity located in the dialer application. The dialer.apk is the app that sets up the connectivity - if you want proof, freeze the dialer and dialer storage apps, the network wont work.

I would like to add something in the above answers. System apps cannot be deleted in a full factory reset, unlike user apps. So if you want to delete all your personal files but they are too many to be deleted conveniently that a factory reset is only the most convenient, and you have apps you want to keep, you can convert those apps to system apps so that they won't be erased during the factory reset.

Interesting tip! I want to move my music to system now lol

Another feature of system apps is that they use native libraries (libsomething.so files) from the common system libraries directory (typically /system/lib or /system/lib64), and not from the app-private libraries directory (e.g., /data/app/com.example.HelloJni/lib/arm). Before Android Nougat, user apps were free to load and use the system native libraries. Restrictions have been imposed later, see https://developer.android.com/about/versions/nougat/android-7.0-changes.html#ndk.


text:
Huawei Sonic u8650, I'm building custome ROM, need help with list of apps I can remove
I'm building Huawei Sonic custom ROM for myself. And I will share it with all of you of-course. I own this phone for 2 days now, its great, my first Android :) And I tried all custom ROM and they all suck. Ok, ok they are ok, and have overclock and whatnot, but what I want is a clean and simple ROM. I want stock ROM, that's cleared of all the crap apps, and rooted.
So my ROM will be moded stock ROM, without stock apps, and it will be rooted.
Now I need your help since I own this phone for 2 days now, I don't know what system apps can I remove safely, and what are the apps that just needs to be there for the phone to function?
So can you write a list of all processes that can be safely removed? And we can work through this together and build a plain Sonic ROM, without all the crap and with Market so you can download your own stuff. Its a nice phone but not that powerful, so lets make it mean and lean :D
I just need a list of apps & services I can safely remove, or the list of ones that must be on the phone for it to work?
Thanks!

Usually completely de-branding an android device is not as easy as just removing the "extra" system apps.  Manufacturers and carriers often modify the devices' firmware to a great extent, so simply deleting "bloat" apps would seriously cripple that device's functionality.  ROM makers usually either try to minimize the prevalence of manufacturer/carrier customizations by trial and error (remove APK -> see what breaks -> rinse, repeat), or go all out and build a completely new ROM that is based on "vanilla" Android from AOSP (Android Open Source Project) source code which is released by Google.
AOSP code contains only the Android Operating System, and does not contain the kernel or hardware drivers for any devices.  Those pieces are most often proprietary, and therefore non open-source.  Rare exceptions are handsets and tablets in Google's "Nexus" line, which are intended for developers (even then, drivers are provided pre-built by the manufacturer, since Google doesn't make the hardware.)  Developers either have to use the closed drivers as-is which greatly limits what can be modified in the OS itself, or somehow find a way to make similar/older drivers function in AOSP.  Furthermore, AOSP code must be modified to work for the specific device it's being ported to.
Needless to say, the effort to get an AOSP-based ROM onto a new device is not an easy undertaking.  There are a few projects that do attempt this.  The most famous ones are CyanogenMod and MIUI.  While MIUI attempts to enhance the user interface, CyanogenMod (usually shortened to "CM") tries to stick as close to the AOSP source as possible, while providing behind-the-scenes tweaks and enhancements.
Currently your device is not officially supported by wither CM or MIUI teams, but there are several "unofficial" ports that you can install.  Those would be a good start to see what it would take to build your "own" ROM.


text:
How do I silence incoming call and text message ringtone without hanging up in the Galaxy Nexus?
I have set up MP3 ringtones for both incoming calls and text messages on my new Galaxy Nexus, but I can't figure out how to silence them without hanging up (in the case of incoming calls) or without having to wait until the entire sound bite is over?  Any suggestions?  Does anyone know how to do that?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Some possibilities here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/4262/how-to-stop-a-phone-from-ringing-without-rejecting-the-call

Like the answers in the similar question Al linked to suggest, try pressing or holding various hardware buttons (Volume, for example.)

Doesn't pressing the volume button silence it?

When the Galaxy Nexus is ringing...
Tap the power button on the right side of the screen.
The ringtone will stop and the screen will switch off. BUT the call has not been hung up.
You can even press the power button again to switch the screen back on and the ringtone is silent if the call is still waiting to be answered. The voice call will still be at the correct volume when you actually answer it.

Use volume-rocker
Click either up or down volume to silence your phone. This is the user-manual-recommended way. When you click it your screen stays on.
Android user manual reference

Note: this usually works with any phone, not just Androids. It used to work with old stupid-phones (antonym of smart-phones) as well.

A third option is to enable the setting so you can flip your phone face down when ringing to silence the phone.  Under Sound Settings > Phone Call Silence I believe.

Side question: after having used this exact feature (called "silence incoming calls" on my phone), as of a few months ago, my phone only rings or vibrates once (shorter than a 1s), as if "silence incoming calls" kicked in, in spite of me not having touched the phone which is lying on its back, not upside down on the screen. Is this a bug, is there a workaround, is it a HW failure of some sort? P880 user, BTW. Would this make more sense as a separate question, rather than a comment?

Just press power key at the right side of device. It will become silent.


text:
LG Optimus Slider for tethering Kindle Fire
I have rooted my LG Optimus Slider, and have downloaded several apps for tethering, however, none of them seems to be working with my Kindle Fire. I have read somewhere that the Kindle Fire does not accept ad-hoc signals from hotspots, which is what most of the tethering apps have. Is there a way to convert this signal to a format Kindle Fire will accept? Or, is there an app out there somewhere that would work better?

Unfortunately, it's possible your device's wifi chip or kernel doesn't support broadcasting in infrastructure mode (but I don't know anything about the Optimus Slider, so I couldn't say myself). Is the Fire rooted, or do you plan on rooting it? Might be possible that way.

I was able to figure it out. :)
after getting my phone rooted, I found this link:
http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/detail?name=wifi_tether_v3_1-pre113.apk&can=2&q=label%3AExperimental
All you have to do is download that code in the link into your phone. It takes you to an app, and you install it. This is an experimental (beta) version of the app, which uses infrastructure wifi -the updated version uses ad hoc.
The beta version works great, and now I can get a great signal on my kindle fire from my phone, without having to root my kindle.

This worked well for me aswell, but not real smooth.
Choosing the Optimus S from the "Change Device Profile" makes the HotSpot visible and works fine on the Kindle. There is an error associated with the app when the hotspot is started with this profile that is annoying at the worst. It appears this profile is attempting to start the built in OS Hotspot app which fails as we knew it would. In doing all that, it all works out.....
Thanks for the heads up. Will be pinging a few developers for a cleaner solution since the combo does work, just not very well with avail hotspot apps/tools.
Until then, FREE is still going to get a donation for providing me with "A" option.  ;)


text:
How can I root my Motorola Fire XT316?
I'm new Android user and want to root my Motorola XT316 with Android 2.3.4.
I found this guide but is based on Windows XP, and I use Linux (Fedora 16). Is there another method?

This is an old question, but here are the steps to root this device. I am posting it so the Rooting Index is up to date and has an answer for this device. YMMV
These steps should work for XT311/XT316/XT317, XT530/XT531, XT532, and XT611
Steps are from this thread on XDA:
Looks like this does require Windows
Required Tools / Files

SuperOneClick 2.3.3.0
SUT LR 1.8.2 (Doesn't seem to be working on 64-bit systems)
FXX_PR3_NV.xml and NvDefinition.xml Available On The XDA Thread

Before Rooting

Prepare your phone by doing the following:

Go to Settings > Applications > CHECK "Unknown Sources"
Go to Settings > Applications > Developer > CHECK "USB Debugging" and "Stay Awake"
Connect your phone via USB, when prompted DO NOT select USB Mass Storage.
Extract FXX_PR3_NV.xml and NvDefinition.xml from the attached zip file in to a folder

Rooting

Now, install SUT LR
Run the app
Select the FXX_PR3_NV.xml [ensure NvDefinition.xml is also in the same folder as FXX_PR3_NV.xml]
Your phone will restart.

Here is another solution that looks like it may not require a Windows PC

Extract the file Available On The XDA Thread
Mount /system as RW.
Open Root Browser and copy bootmenu folder from sdcard/XT530 and paste it in /system.
Open Pimp My Rom and Add universal init.d support.
Create 97bootmenu manually. (For this using ES file explorer is recommended)
Steps:

Open /system/etc/init.d
Create a file, name it 97bootmenu.
Open the file as text Type:
#!/system/bin/sh
stop
exec /system/bootmenu/binary/bootmenu
save the file

Change permissions of 97bootmenu to rwx r-- r--
Reboot your phone.
Now your phone will start at bootmenu.
Select Recovery>Custom Recovery

To boot the device normally again, open a console/terminal window, while the device is connected via usb.
cd path-to-adb
adb shell
rm -R /system/etc/init.d/97bootmenu
exit
adb reboot


text:
Samsung Galaxy Ace wont charge
Hello  my wife has the galaxy ace gt s5830 but for some reason it wont charge either off the original charger, or blackberry charger, neither off the usb in the laptop will it charge, if i take the battery out and my mate charges it in his, put it back in the phone, the phone will work fine, its not an old phone about 3mths, but draw a blank when i get intouch with the internet company i purchased from so cant return it.
Cheers Brian

Sounds like the USB port is broken, though it should be fixable with soldering or something.  Take a look outside to see if the pins were snapped off or anything, and inside if not.


text:
Link2sd not working properly
I've a Samsung Galaxy Ace and recently I installed link2sd, created the partiotion and everything it needs. It works. But I'm having two issues. The first one: each time I turn on the phone I get a notification from link2sd, I open it and a message says the following (translated by me, so it is not the exact text):

Mount warning
The 2nd partition wasn't mounted during the start, it was mounted after the system finished starting. With that reason your linked apps aren't visible for the system right now. To make them available again, please try "Quick restart".

The buttons are: "Quick restart" and "Cancel". After I make a quick restart all apps work good.
The second problem its that the launcher (not the default one) can't load widget. At the beggining I thought this one was easy: I unlinked the launcher and the apps which made widgets. But nothing, still can't be loaded.
Note killink the launcher and starting it again doesn't solve the problem
Please any help, thanks!

Stock Samsung software always mounts the SD card after the system is up, at least on my Vibrant, so I would expect there's not too much you can do about that without hacking the startup scripts (presumably difficult).
As for the second problem, the Market description says: "It can break some apps if they are not meant to be moved to the SD card (Such as Widgets)."  Try moving any widgets back to your phone storage.

Thanks for the answer! About the first problem isn't there absolutly anything I can do? (beside hacking the scripts where I have zero chances). I used to have a Galaxy I551 and it worked fine. About the second problem I have already unlinked and moved them to the internal storage.. but nothing.

@Diego Hmm, if it worked on the i551 I would assume link2sd should have set up early mounting for you, maybe it just doesn't work right on your device ... I'd suggest contacting the developer.

Here @roxan has already contacted him, sadly it doesn't seem to be a link2sd issue. What can I do about the widgets?

The widget problems were solved "magically"

I've HTC Desire and faced similar problem having to quick reboot. I emailed the developer for which he said:

Some roms like new Samsung GB roms do not have install-recovery.sh and
  init.d scripts to mount 2nd partition at boot. Therefore Link2SD
  mounts the 2nd partition after system finishes mounting and you need
  to perform "Quick reboot" in order to see linked apps..

In resume, there's nothing I can do but quick rebooting each time I turn on the phone?

That's what the developer himself said :)


text:
How to install not-supporting-out-of-the-box 3G modems on Android 2.2
I received my Android tab today and it doesn't have inbuilt 3G data.
I have a 3G modem (ZTE MF 180) and it didn't work when I connect it. It's a chinese tab and supported-list doesn't contain my modem model.
But I think Android should be able to take the device as a generic modem and communicate with my data carrier. I don't need fancy stuff like SMS or phonebook - just like the modem support on Ubuntu.
I'm just few hours old in Android world so any help is greatly appreciated.

I can see two major problems with this.

Android 2.2 doesn't support USB host mode out-of-the-box.  This means any external USB peripherals like your modem are not recognized by the Android device.  Although some successful attempts were made to shoehorn this functionality into several handsets, the process is not easy to say the least.  It's only been developed for a few phones so far, and would take quite an effort to port to your specific tablet.  Depending on the target device's kernel's availability of source code, this may not even be possible at all.
Even if USB host is achieved, the Android drivers for the modem would need to be obtained. A quick Google search doesn't return anything useful, which means the drivers would need to be written from scratch.  Without the aid of the manufacturer, this may prove to be an impossible task for a hobbyist developer.

Unfortunately, it looks like you are stuck with using your tab's built-in WiFi for data connectivity.

Thanks. I checked the supporting list of modems. It doesn't even list a GSM modem. CDMA and WCDMA.
Unfortunately I have to much awesomeness of Android. Thanks a LOT for your support.


text:
Sync between two Android devices without Internet connection
Is it possible to sync between two Android devices directly when there is no Internet connection (like a remote location or an outage at the Internet provider)?
Using a direct wireless connection between just these two Android devices (without using a PC or a WiFi router)
I need to sync all data (contacts, calendar, photos, ...)
I asked the same question for iOS devices:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/35515/sync-between-an-iphone-and-ipad-without-internet-connection

If wireless connection is not a hard requirement, you could probably use the microSD Card to transfer the content the old-fashioned way.  This is assuming of course that both devices you need to sync have removable storage.  You may also need 3rd-party apps for exporting and importing data from apps that don't provide export functionality on their own.

Wireless sync is a hard requirement. Needing to transfer using a memory card or cable adds too much complexity to the point I will not be doing sync so frequently. You are also suggesting multiple programs to add even more complexity.

I'm afraid this isn't possible, at least with the builtin apps. All of the sync profiles are client-side, and can't act as sync servers. Furthermore, normal Android phones don't support ad-hoc wifi connection, so you'd need to connect through a router or possibly with bluetooth.
Some of these can be achieved manually over bluetooth, such as sending photos and contacts, but you'd have to manually select which files to send. For photos, go to Gallery, select the photos you want to send, and tap the Share icon and select Bluetooth. After this you need to select the other device, assuming it's paired. A similar menu should be found in your Contacts app.

There is an Android app called Bump in the market, that can do what you asked for. You need to make sure that the receiver has the app on his phone as well, and then you're good to go!. It's an app based on NFC and it can used for transferring contacts, photos and even web pages. Hope this helps.

Bump does not meet my requirement as it requires a solid connection to the Internet: http://bu.mp/faq#general

It's hard to sync without an active internet connection. Probably the removal of sd card and then transferring would be the best option.

Have a look at  http://www.fjsoft.at/en/ I gave found it works well, and its easy

Could you please add some more details to what you linked to, and how it heps the questioner? Especially how a Windows application shall help to, I quote from the question, sync between two Android devices directly?


text:
Does motorola milestone work in these rangers
I want to move between mobile providers in my country.
Its seems as though the mobile provider I wish to move to only supports these ranges:
850 and 2100 mghz.
Does the motorola milestone support these ranges?
Thank you

From gsmarena:

2G Network    GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network    HSDPA 900 / 2100
UMTS 850 / 1900 - American version

A simple Wikipedia search would have brought the answer:
Compatible networks (for Motorola Milestone / Droid)

US Version: dual band CDMA2000/EV-DO Rev. A 800/1900 MHz
European version: quad band GSM, UMTS @ 900/2100MHz
N.A. GSM version: quad band GSM, UMTS @ 850/1900 MHz

Source
where quad band means support for 850, 1900 MHz and 900, 1800 MHz.


text:
Screen colour when sliding
I just got a Samsung Galaxy 2 and when I slide the screen and when there is nothing more to scroll, I get blue screen at the edge. Is this normal? The phone is working fine.

Yes, totally normal. This is the UI's way of telling you that you've reached the edge.


text:
Reverse tethering hangs at netcfg (Cyanogen + Linux)
I'm trying to set up reverse-tethering from my Linux computer using the steps outlined in this post:
Mathieu Carbou Photography Blog
However, when I get to the last step, "netcfg usb0 dhcp" hangs and/or times out. (It does not return a 'permission denied' error).
I'm running Cyanogenmod on a (rooted) Incredible, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Found the following on How to get internet on your phone via USB | forum.xda-developers.com

It is working now. After setting up ICS type in console emulator on
  your phone:

ifconfig usb1 192.168.2.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
route add default gw 192.168.2.1 dev usb0
iptables -F
iptables -F -t nat
setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8
setprop "net.gprs.http-proxy" ""


text:
Prevent alert tone when scanning / identifying an NFC intent
Perhaps I'm missing something but when I scan an NFC tag via a Galaxy Nexus, the phone always makes the default alert tone.
Is there a way of switching this off? I have scoured the menus / preferences and can't find a way of doing this. The next step ... ICS source code :-/

Programming problems belong on [so]. Do you need a programmatic solution or are you just looking for a way to turn it off?

Either and both !!

have cut/pasted into stack overflow as well now btw

FWIW. I have raised this in the code base feature request list: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24022


text:
How do I sideload apps from the Amazon AppStore?
I recently upgraded my phone and I am in the process of getting all of my old apps installed on my new handset.  My internet connection is pretty slow, and I have purchased many apps through Amazon's free app of the day program.  Is there any way for me to copy the apps from my original handset to my PC and then side load them on my new device?  This would save me a lot of time waiting for all of these downloads to finish.

You will need root access on your devices (well, at least on the old one) in order to copy the apps off it.  Once rooted, you can use a number of 3rd-party "Backup" apps to save a copy of the apps to your SD Card, copy it to your PC, and then side-load them onto your new phone.  The one I use is Titanium Backup.

Root your original device.  Look at sites like XDA-developers or RootzWiki for help with that.
In Titanium Backup use the Backup/Restore functionality to backup the apps you need to the SD Card.
On the new phone also install Titanium Backup app, enable side-loading (menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Unknown sources), and use the Restore functionality to restore the apps.

If you don't feel like installing a 3rd-party backup app, this can be done manually, although it's a lot more involved (installing Android SDK, USB drivers, using Command Prompt to find package names and copy the APKs from old phone and installing them on the new one.)

I already have the Android SDK installed and USB drivers for both devices.  How would I do this at the command line so I can avoid rooting my old device?

You would still need to root the old device, since access to /data/ partition is not available without elevated privileges.  Once rooted though, try "adb shell ls /data/app/" and "adb shell ls /data/app-private/" to get the listing of installed apps. Then by looking at package names you can figure out which app they represent. Then for each app you want to copy, do the following: "adb pull /data/app/package.name.here.apk c:\AndroidApps".  After that you can hook up your new phone and do "adb install c:\AndroidApps\package.name.here.apk" to side-load them.


text:
Can I download whole folders in Dropbox app?
Is it possible to sync whole folders in Dropbox app? I currently download file by file a slow process

Some alternatives to be found here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/complete-dropbox-implementation-for-android

Sync isn't possible and the "download folder" function is also missing on Android.
You can support this feature request: https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/2133/android-download-upload-folders

As answered here, you can use file explorers such as ES file explorer to achieve this functionality.

I use the dropsync (comp.ttxapps.dropsync) app to keep full synchronization on my big dropbox which I have shared on several computers and several android devices. I've rarely had problems getting large volumes of files per directory trees in my dropbox handled.
The only issue I've encountered is when the particular device had a default bandwidth limit applied, which I generally reset to unlimited.


text:
How can I detect Malware and/or viruses?
I'm buying a used Droid phone (Verizon) that has been rooted.
Is there anyway to scan it for viruses (and more importantly) malware?
Or maybe even a firewall?
(I may be being overcautious).

Some preliminary research shows several malware apps. Well worth $1 or so.
I'd love any feedback on these.
Norton Mobile Security
Lookout Mobile Security
AVG / DroidSecurity Pro
Webroot Security
Trend Micro Mobile Security

I wouldn't say you are being overcautious. You are getting a pre-owned rooted device. The amount of things that leaves open, if the previous owner was malicious, is astonishing.

Is there some reason why a factory default reset wouldn't be satisfactory in this case? Or even flashing to a new ROM altogether?

Yes, flashing to a new ROM is a pretty good idea. I'm just looking for the least effort option, and worried about bricking the phone :)

I use DroidWall for this purpose - it's a firewall with a whitelist or blacklist configuration. Also AVG Antivirus Free and Lookout for detecting virus and other malware.
Set DroidWall to Whitelist mode with log enabled, which disables internet access for all apps and services except the ones you explicitly allow. Then use the phone for a while, open up all the apps once, restart the phone (all this to give a malicious app a chance to get activated). Then, open DroidWall and view its log. You'll see all the apps which tried to access the internet and the IP addresses they tried to connect to.

Wow, DroidWall came a long way since I last used it.  Nice trick of using it as a net.

First of I agree with @Lagos. You are buying a used phone, why not factory reset or install a new ROM?
Regarding Viruses and Malware, Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager at Google, wrote the following on Google+:

"Yes, virus companies are playing on your fears to try to sell you bs protection software for Android, RIM and IOS. They are charlatans and scammers."

It's up to you if you trust him or not but he should have some insight. And in you case it might be a bit different if you are staying with the custom ROM of course.


text:
AirPlay like app for the Video-out on Galaxy Nexus
I am trying to get the video out on the Galaxy Nexus to do something other than mirroring. In a perfect world I want to do something similiar to the iPhone's AirPlay, but instead of streaming the video to an AppleTV it just pushes the video to the video out accessed by the MHL cable. I would be alright with mirroring if I could lock the phone and it would still play video through the video-out, but to my knowledge that hasn't been accomplished pointing to this post and this post over at XDA Developers.
I know Android has the capabilities because of Motorola's webtop software but I'm wondering if there is a hardware issue involved too because if it's solely hardware there no reason why there couldn't be a viable solution to my problem.
Any ideas?

I'm confused. Do you want AirPlay functionality or display content using a cable?

I'm saying I would like either solution. I was using AirPlay as an example of what I was looking for.

What about Skifta.

I don't exactly know how Airplay works, but is UPnPlay what you are looking for?

For AirPlay style solutions, take a look at DLNA (this is the proper, standard way to do this as supported by many newer TVs, consoles, media streamers, etc) rather than the Apple only AirPlay thing, see this previous question: Can I get DLNA on my Droid? and other questions under the DLNA tag

The best option Skifta. It uses DLNA and worked with my media center extenders as well as other Windows 7 computers.

The link is dead. An update is required here.


text:
Does Google publish search trends for the Android market?
Does Google publish the searches on the Android market? Is there any way to see top searches or anything?

Not that I have found, no. All they seem to offer is the most popular apps/music/videos in a number of categories (Top Free, Top Paid, etc.)

For some of the categories that you can easily see (like trending) see the links in this answer: Android Market - Want to see Best Applications but I think those are all for actual app installs, rather than searches.

You can still get some trending information about android apps. For example  http://www.google.com/trends/?q=angry+birds

But isn't that search trends on the web, rather than in the Market, and it'll be every version of that app/term across all platforms instead of just Android?


text:
Radio without the headset
Is it possible to hear the radio without connecting the headset?
I know the headset acts as an antenna.
However, it would be great if I can just put the phone on the coffee table and listen to the radio without being physically connected to it via a headset.
I am using Samsung Galaxy 2.

If your radio station is an extremely obscure one, there is a high chance that it is available in TuneIn Radio. TuneIn uses your Internet connection (Wifi or 3G) instead of the FM wave so it does not require FM antennae.

No. Your earphone is used as an antenna. But, If your phone has a built-in radio app, connect your earphone, open the app and turn loudspeaker.

Yes, this is the real answer as radio over wifi or 3g is not actual radio that's called internet radio and if you haven't figured out that your phone doesn't need headphones to access the internet you shouldn't be using a computer.


text:
Disable camera completely
I'm writing a program that depends on the camera.  I need to test how my program reacts when the camera is not present or disabled.
Is there a way to turn it off completely?

Well, you could always take a Sharpie™ to the lens. Honestly you'd probably need a custom ROM to do that.

If your application requires a camera, you should use the android manifest to declare that your app requires it. This will prevent the app from being displayed in the market on devices which don't have a camera.


text:
Sync contacts with ubuntuone?
It doesn't look like UbuntuOne has a sync app for contacts. Files and music, yes, but not contacts. Are there any workarounds to this?
I've successfully avoided linking my phone to a google account thus far and I'd like to keep my contacts off of Google.
I'd like a good way to sync my Ubuntu One contacts to my phone without going through google.

not related to Android, unless I'm missing something

@LieRyan right ... I want to sync Ubuntu One to my phone

Is there perhaps a way to sync UbuntuOne  <--> Google Contacts? If you can get it to push (or sync) to Google Contacts, then it'll get pulled into your phone.

Ahh, right. I forgot to mention that I'm google free and trying to stay that way. Edited.

NOTE: As of June 1, 2011 the current Ubuntu One contacts sync for mobile will no longer be active. We’re stopping support for our current service so we can focus our energy on launching a much better service sooner than we could otherwise.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/PhoneSync/
Probably not the answer you were looking for. I am Ubuntu (3 PC, only one dual-boot) and Android ( 2 Android phones) user myself.
I will recommend migrating to google contacts. I suppose all of your contacts are stored in "Phone" (if you are not syncing them) Most phones can easily export your contacts to a SDcard and then re-import them. When asked, select your google account, not "Phone". You should select only google contacts to be visible, to avoid duplicates.
If you want to sync your desktop mail app with online service, and you use Thunderbird (or you are OK with it), installing zindus will provide sync between thunderbird and gmail contacts. G contacts and android contacts are auto-sync with the correct options anyway.
To sum it up:
If you want a simple online solution, select google contacts (gmail)
If you want an offline  desktop app mail client, add Thunderbird +zindus to the equation

Edited my question: I'd like to do this without involving google. I'm just trying to figure out whether there are any sync workarounds to get Ubuntu One straight to my phone. Seems like there arent.

So it seems :(
Bit curious, why you would like to avoid google? Scared of Big Brother? I think and hope google are playing fair enough up till now, and Canonical is just another company. :)

No so much scared as just I value my privacy. I don't love Canonical as a solution but at least all they know is what's in my address book. I'd rather store bits of data here and there than turn it over to a monolith.