text:
Long texts not sending; if I set my phone to split them up, some don't go through
I have a Droid RAZR and I'm on Verizon, and when I try to send a text that's over 2x160 characters to another Verizon phone, it usually doesn't send.  In the message details, my phone says "Received", but the other person doesn't get the text.  This has been happening for a while, but it's only gotten bad recently - before, I would have to reach 5x160 characters in order for it not to send.  Texts sent to non-Verizon phones seem to send fine.
To try to get around it, I set my SMS app (I use GoSMS) to always split up my messages.  What happens now is that some of the messages in the batch don't go through, regardless of the number of messages.
I would ideally like to not need to have my phone set to split my messages automatically, and be sure that long messages are going through.  How can I do this?

Please could you try using the default SMS app - it could be an issue with GOSMS, albeit unlikely.
This also sounds like a network issue. Please contact your network (Verizon, in this case), and check with them to ensure it is nothing on their end.

I will try.  I doubt it's an issue with GoSMS - a few friends who are also on Verizon have been using it without problems, but it's worth a shot.

After the 160 char threshold messages become MMS I believe. MMS of course uses your data connection. If you have poor data connectivity in your area or have some sort of mms restriction or other account based mms alteration, this may also be the cause.

I believe the otherwise though... that for above 160 chars, they will be still split as multiple SMS messages. But I guess it may vary from telco to others.


text:
How much internal storage for apps does Nexus 4 have?
Please tell me that 16GB of internal storage as mentioned on NEXUS 4 is available for apps or for apps it creates separate internal storage thing as it does in Nexus S...

The internal storage space on a Nexus 4 may be prove to be a disappointment to many especially with the lack of a microSD card. Apparently USB OTG Connectivity would solve this greatly. It is supposedly supported, however connectivity as far as i'm aware has yet to be established. I wrote a post on the internal storage dilemma here http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/34348/lg-nexus-4s-internal-storage-dilemma-its-apparent-lack-of-support-for-usb-otg#comment44535_34348

Since the Galaxy Nexus, it's been unified to a single partition that grows uniformly whether you install apps or shoot photographs: http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/11/18/impromptu-qa-session-with-android-engineer-dan-morrill-brings-to-light-reasons-behind-galaxy-nexus-lack-of-usb-mass-storage/

No device can have all of its internal storage free for user. The Operating System (and pre-installed apps) needs some space for itself. So Nexus 4 doesn't give you 16 GB free either.
The 16 GB version of Nexus 4 gives user an approximate of 12.92 GB free. Whereas, the 8 GB version of Nexus 4 gives you an approximate of 5.67 GB free space to use.
I don't have the device (at least yet). This is what I have found in reviews / discussions.

I wonder; Why the used internal storage is not consistent? i.e. The 16 GB version ships with 3.08 GBs taken up by the OS. While the 8 GB version ships with 2.33 GBs taken up.

I have a 16Gb Nexus 4 and I can report that settings -> storage indicates a total capacity of 12.92Gb. There does not appear to be any  restriction on how this is used. It's possible that there is some hidden limit, but if so there is no indication of such. It seems very likely that you can install as many Gb of apps as you can fit on there :-)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Starting an app when the screen is locked?
Is there any easy way to start an app when you press the button to lock your screen? I've seen custom lock screens before so I know it's possible even if I have to make my own app for it. I have an app that I want to pop up every time the screen is unlocked, but it doesn't do it on it's own. I've seen/used other apps that could do this so if necessary I would code my own app to do this, but I'd prefer an already existing, preferably free option.

There might be multiple solutions to this. One I can think of involves the use of Tasker, the most flexible automation tool for Android. You could create a profile that triggers on "Screen Unlock", and have it start an app.
However: though there's a free 7 day trial available on the projects homepage, after that the app costs about 5 Euro. There are many other automation apps available on the playstore which might be able to achieve the same. As a long-time Tasker user I no longer try the others, so I cannot tell for sure.
Condition: Event → Display → Display Unlocked
Task: App → Load App → (select your app here)

Thanks for that. I ended up getting AutomateIt because it's free and works just as good for my purposes. If you hadn't mentioned tasker I might never have found AutomateIt :D

Glad it helped! There are a lot of automation apps out there, hard to keep all their features and limitations in mind. Luckily there's almost always one fitting the purposes of the questioner :)

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


text:
Can't get Nexus 4 to be recognized by computer
So my nexus 4 is rooted and unlocked. Well actually Im not sure, because after updating with the OTA it seems to have lost that capability. Even though there are SU Binaries still there.
Anyway, I am trying to install Cyanogenmod Nightly, but I cannot get my phone to show up in my computer or Device manager. I have the drivers install and all. I have tried with usb debugging on and off. I have tried in the Fastboot mode. I have tried after a factory reset.
I'm at a lost as to what I can do....When I try to go to recovery it says "No Command" or something
SO strange,
Thanks
BTW: I have tried two different win7 computers, same result

I have the drivers install and all.  Which drivers from where?  Have you tried the ones in the Android SDK?  Although if it doesn't show up in Device Manager or Windows doesn't say anything about not finding a driver when you connect it, then the problem is either with the device or the USB cable (assuming it's not the computer's ports).

yeah im thinking its the device too... it still charges though :/ I have tried two usb cables

I know you have already said that you have USB debugging turned on, but can you please check again? Sometimes it gets turned off after an update. (Sorry if this is not the case). Also, yes I believe updating will "unroot" your phone..

I had a similar problem. My LG Nexus 4 wasn't listed in adb devices.
Make sure USB debugging is enabled from device, and do the following on your PC:

Update Android SDK (Google USB drivers updated)
From PC Control Panel, System -> Device manager -> Nexus 4 -> Install driver.
Set Android SDK as path to search, include subfolders checked.

After that, adb devices list will include Nexus 4.

USB debugging must be enabled.
You will know the device is connected, because it will show when you type adb devices into a command prompt.
Ensure you have the correct drivers installed, the ones from Google and/or LG, and then reboot your computer. Once that is done, reconnect the device. You may need to delete it from the device manager before it will install the adb driver correctlty.

I dont see any phones connected when I run adb devices. I know i have the correct drivers installed because I unlocked and rooted the phone before from the same computer. The device is not even showing up in device manager, so I cant delete any drivers

If you used it from the same computer, then it must be working. What happens when you type adb devices? Do you have adb installed? Is usb debugging enabled?

Yes usb debugging is enabled, adb devices doesnt find any devices

Does it just state: List of connected devices? If so, then this sounds like a driver issue, it could be that your connection has broke however. Does the device state that it is connected?

Yes thats all it says. Should the phone state that it is connected? I dont remember if the nexus 4 does or doesnt :/ THe charge icon in the battery icon shows at least.

Ok, that is a good sign :) Have you tried another USB port? Preferably one on the back of your computer, if you are using a PC.

let us continue this discussion in chat

Hold the power button until the phone turns off. Wait a few seconds. Then, turn it on, with the USB connected. Wait until the charging symbol appears. Then, turn on the phone.
Now, the Nexus 4 is showing in My computer again.

Plug in your phone
Go to Device Manager
Look for Acer Device
Expand that and you will see something like ACER Composite ADB Interface
Right click and delete that
Unplug and replug your phone and you should be able to get it.

Here's another tutorial if the method above doesn't work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0MGt_0_jCQ


text:
SD card not recognized by Acer A500
I just bought a used Acer A500 16 GB tablet yesterday. Everything works great — except it doesn't recognize my 16 GB microSD card for storage, but says there is no external SD storage or it is emulated.
I don't know a lot about rooting and such; the guy just told me it was rooted and is running JellyBean 4.1, which works great.
Does anyone know how to get my SD card recognized again?

@Izzy Make sure to get the title when you edit ;)

Oh... I didn't figure anything wrong with it -- but true, now it's much clearer. I will watch out better next time :)

Please ensue that the device supports SDHC microSD cards.
Also ensure that the sd card is fat16 formatted.

Try, running scandisk on your card after connecting it with your computer...it should work


text:
Keep getting "Error retrieving information from server. [RH-01]" from the play store
It used to work fine but now when I open the Play Store app it says "Error retrieving information from server. [RH-01]" and I can't do anything. I tried clearing the cache of the Google Play Store and Google Play Services but it still has the problem. Gmail still works from the phone so I don't think it's a problem connecting to my google account.
I have an Xperia Arc with custom rom, which turns out to be the problem. See accepted answer.

This is maybe caused by a buggy gapps package and/or custom ROM. At least it seems not to happen on stock ROMs. If I am wrong, please comment here.

@Flow It can happen to stock, but it is not too common

Apparently some custom ROMs do not come with any Google services and to fix this you need to flash gapps using a program such as Clock Work Mod. This page has a link to download gapps.

Custom ROMs rarely ship with Google Apps already integrated. So I wonder how you were able to a) run the Play Store app and b) clearing cache from Play Store + Google Services (as your question states) if those haven't been installed :)

Good point, too bad it's been so long now I've forgotten.

Thought so. Still added it for other confused people like us, so they don't think they've gone nuts and are the only ones seeing a discrepancy here :)

You said it. Read your own comment again (emphasis mine): You flash gapps. Separately. They don't ship with the ROM. If you just install the ROM, but don't explicitely flash GApps, there are no GApps. Clear? :)

This could be caused by flashing an incompatible GApps package. If that's not the case (and you are sure you have the correct/compatible GApps installed), try the following:

Open the "Google Play" app and press the home button to return
Go to Settings → Applications → Manage Applications
Select the "ALL" tab, Search for "Google Play Store" and press it to open.
Press "Clear cache"
Press "Force stop"
Return to Settings → Applications → Manage Applications
Press "Google Services Framework"
Press "Clear Data"
Press "Force Stop"
Start "Google Play Store" and it should give an error
Reboot. Once your device has restarted Google Play Store should work. Wait a minute or too if it doesn't.

This should help if a corrupt cache is the cause of your problems (a corrupt cache might lead to strange error messages, amongst others). If it doesn't help, you might try the same steps but include "Clear Data" for the playstore app.

What is a GApps package? I flashed nothing but the ROM itself.

Custom ROMs many times do not include the Google Apps (GApps: Playstore, GTalk, Maps, etc.), but offer them in a separate package/zip. That's the so called "GApps" package (Google Apps). I take it then your ROM already included them already?

It didn't have Google Maps and I really needed it tonight so I decided to flash a different ROM (so this problem doesn't exist anymore). Thanks for everyone's help though!

this worked for me in 2016, Asus ZenUI, Non Root Android 5.0

@Izzy does device need to be rooted for that?

@Maveň no root access needed for any of the steps. See Gaurav's comment right before yours, his device wasn't rooted either.


text:
GT-I9100G screen replacement
I have a GT-I9100G and the screen went bad, I'd like to replace it but all the screen replacements on amazon are for the GT-I9100 version. They look the same but I am still not sure if this will work with my GT-19100G? Any ideas?

You should be able to use the same screen type as the I9100, the main difference is the processor.
Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 vs. GT-I9100G Comparison Guide

Basically both the I9100 and I9100G have the identical features as claimed by Samsung but the only thing that differentiate both is the processor and GPU that the unit run. I9100 run on 1.2GHz ARM CortexA9 Exynos 4210and ARM Mali-400 GPU while I9100G uses Texas Instruments OMAP4430 CPU and PowerVR SGX540 GPU.


text:
Use a USB Controller with Xoom without adapter
I would like to use an X-Box 360 Controller with my Motorola Xoom tablet, however the Controller uses USB to connect and I do not have the required USB OTG adapter to plug it directly into the tablet.
I've searched this site and Google but cannot find information on an alternative method of connecting the controller to the Xoom.
I'm hoping for a solution to pair these devices that involves either connecting both into my computer and bridging them somehow with adb or pairing my Xoom to my laptop using Bluetooth and sending the controller signal over this connection.
I've tried poking around the properties of the tablet and controller while they're plugged in but I haven't had any luck combining the two.  Does anyone have experience/know any techniques for doing either of these things?  Is there some other way for my Xoom to recognize the controller?
I could use either Windows 7 or Linux to make this work.

Can you not use a USB OTG (On The Go) Cable. It will have a connection (microusb) at one end to fit to your tablet and a USB connection at the other (for many peripherals). This should surely connect your X Box Controller to your tablet. They are very cheap as well.
Alternatively, and maybe to be used in conjunction with see the following article from Pocketables entitled "Guide to Game Controllers on Android" written by A. Odegard on May 9th 2012
http://www.pocketables.com/2012/05/guide-to-game-controllers-on-android.html
Its is an excellent read

Damn you beat me too it ;)

@The Andro Nerd - What is this thing about "beating people to it", i've seen that before - is it a race or something lol

people always want to be the first to answer, because they are more likely to get upvoted/marked as the solution. If you post at the same time as someone else, but the other person submitted the response first, they 'beat you to the first answer'.

Ah I see, so the more answers you provide quickly, the higher up the ranks you go - is that right

Thank you @Simon, I appreciate the link.  Very informative.  I've never heard of the OTG Cable.  I was hoping for a solution that didn't involve going out and buying an adapter, but that may end up being my best bet.

@MattDavis I havent used one yet, but they sure are going to of tremendous use in the tablet world....and very cheap too

I am afraid the only way you would be able to connect the controller to your Xoom is to purchase the aforementioned USB OTG (On-The-Go) adapter.


text:
Kid friendly fix for out of memory errors in Froyo
My god-daughter has inherited her mother's old HTC-Desire, it's currently running Froyo, but despite having a huge memory card it still suffers constant out of memory errors.
I can move things on to the memory card, but being 12 the god-daughter in question just gets confused and deletes stuff.
Is there any kid-friendly permanent solution to the problem or an upgrade route to gingerbread.

To avoid confusion, maybe you explain the "out of memory" errors a bit closer: Do they happen when trying to install new apps (which would point to storage) -- or is it rather apps crashing due to low memory (which would point to RAM)? The HTC Desire does not have plenty of RAM, and in that case even a huge SD card would not be of much help.

From the commentary, it appears that you are having install problems, that is, out of internal storage, NOT RAM problems.
Assuming that's so, then NO, there isn't any real fix - you can't increase the internal storage of the device, you can only add a bigger SD card (external storage) and move apps to it.
The best you can do is to borrow the device regularly and push apps off to the SD card before things start to go wrong.

Sounds like you're very confused about RAM and Storage differences.
This article should help you out, this is a reference to PC's but applies to Android devices also. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-difference-between-ram-and-memory.htm
In layman's terms RAM is a kind of temporary storage that apps are running their data from as it's fast, however Storage is the permanent storage of your apps.
Why does your memory/RAM run low? Likely because you have multiple apps open in the background, consuming RAM, which causes the foreground app to run out. Or it could even be that the app needs more RAM than your device can provide, it is a little dated after all, if you were wanting to play all the latest games on it.
Why does your storage run low? Simply because there's too much stuff installed, or their could be a specific culprit with a large amount of cache/app data. Check this through the Applications manager in  your settings.

Out of memory errors occur when the device runs out of RAM - is this what you're talking about?
If so, then the easiest way, if rooted, is to install Auto Memory Manager from Google Play, and lower the values, so it doesn't kill apps as much.
If you mean the storage keeps on running out, then the only way to solve this is to either:

Uninstall the most memory consuming apps.
Move some apps to the SD Card.

Please be aware that the Internal SD card and the /data partition (where apps are installed) are different, and only ~1-2GB will be mounted to the /data partition. You can solve this by upgrading to ICS however - which may be the better option, if your device supports it.

It doesn't appear to be a RAM issue as the phone has an 8Gb memory card. So, from what I can tell from a distance the issue is hard storage. Are there any memory mangers that will fix that issue?

RAM and storage are different - I think you are getting confused between the two. Storage, or internal memory is the storage, or internal SD card. It is a RAM issue if apps are closing on their own constantly.

Trust me, I'm not confused about the difference. The phone is running out of internal storage, as it won't automatically ship new data and installs to the card.

You said 'It doesn't appear to be a RAM issues as the phone has an 8Gb memory card' that makes me think that you think the memory card has something to do with the RAM. Anyhow, 'automatically ship new data' is confusing, but 'installs to the SD card makes sense'. How much storage is left? Be aware that even though you have an 8GB internal storage, that WONT be going to /data, where the apps are installed.

6Gb remaining on the card

Is that the interal storage or the internal SD card or the external sd card though? The only way to solve the issue is to uninstall some higher memory apps (such as large games), or move them to the sd card.

External card. I'm aware of how to fix the problem, but the question I asked was looking for a permanent solution that was kid friendly.

The only 'permanent' solution would be to increase the amount of storage sorry.

This sounds an awful lot like my HTC Incredible's /data/data issue, an issue common to at least that phone if not other HTCs; that is, that the phone reports being out of memory/storage space (not RAM, as you know) even when everything you can see says there's plenty left. They key is in the partitions.
When you look at the storage space left on your device in System > Storage you're being shown the space left internally (the /data/apps partition where the .apk files are) and on your SD card (the /mnt/sdcard or /mnt/emmc partition where your music and photos are). This neglects to show you the /data/data partition, however. That partition is where your apps' data, settings, and user information is stored. I'm guessing this is partition that's full and is the reason you're getting notifications about low storage space. Unfortunately you won't be able to confirm this without root because access to this partition requires it. Why Android/HTC/whoever would make it so confusing and difficult is totally beyond me.
When I rooted and investigated, I found the /data/data partition on my Incredible to be laughably small and completely full, explaining why I constantly ran into errors. Moving apps to SD helped, as did ritually clearing data from some of the big ones (Facebook was the biggest if I remember correctly) but that was a huge chore. In the end I just had to severely limit the number of apps I had on the phone at any one time.


text:
Redeem Google Checkout coupon on Google Play
Are Google Checkout coupons redeemable on Google Play?
I've created a coupon on Google Checkout for a paid Android App on Google Play but when trying to buy it as a user, I can't find the place to enter it. On one device I saw a "Redeem" option along with the credit card but when I entered my coupon code, it returned an error message. Is there any way to make this work?

Unfortunately, coupons are not supported with Play Store..

There is no way to use coupon codes with Google Play.

There is a way to use Promo Codes now. It's kind of hidden but it's there. Just find the app you want to buy in Google Play and click the buy button and continue until you get to the Payment Options window. Now click the "Pay With:" dropdown and select "Redeem Google Play Gift Card or Promo Code". You'll now have a box for entering Promo Codes.
(Click image to enlarge)


text:
Will a shutdown Android phone wake me up (like feature phones do)?

Possible Duplicate:
Does the alarm work when my phone is turned off?

I have three devices with Android and I just wanna one of them alarming when turned off.
I turn off my devices to do not receive any alert type from sync, apps, calling, sms etc. and also to do not waste battery charge.
I know I could just switch devices to airplane or silent mode and connect them to power, but I would like to know just how to use alarm when device is turned off... I miss that feature from my old dumbphones...

Not possible with standard Android.
To sum it up: The alarm on feature phones is triggered by a hardware component (most probably the real time clock, called RTC). Subsequently this component wakes the CPU  by raising an interrupt and the CPU runs a dedicated program (interrupt service routine,ISR) which just plays the alarm tune. It's all very low level probably.
Android is much more high-level than this and does not support this out of the box (most probably). Any handset manufacturer may of course implement this feature using the same methods as with feature phones, but this is not belonging to the Android OS strictly speaking then. There are too much layers involved to do this without starting up Android.
Note: Android allows full device encryption also; how should this work when nothing is accessible without your passphrase? Android couldn't even start.

There is no way to sound the alarm when the device turns off. This is a limitation in the Android operating system.
If you have a certain Samsung device, you use the NoMoarPowah app, but this only supports a very small number of devices.

Yes, I have a Samsung device, but after installed the app it does not open with a popup informing resolution issue appeared (device must have 800x480 resolution). Also on description of it, it informs that mobile must be rooted...

Yes, I assumed your's was - although I shouldn't have (sorry). It has to be the Specific (Rooted) Samsung devices in the description. If it doesn't work with your device, then there is no way to do what you're asking sorry.

My default answer again: It could be done using Tasker, the big automation tool. Tasker can react on the Shutdown event:
Context: Event → Device Shutdown
Task: (Chose your desired alarm: Play a sound, send a SMS/Mail, ...)

Through Alternativeto.net, I found AutomateIt (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=AutomateIt.mainPackage#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwiQXV0b21hdGVJdC5tYWluUGFja2FnZSJd) that has a free option (with ads)... Trying

There is a free 7-day trial of Tasker available on their homepage as well. You can export your config, and remove/re-install the app on the 7th day for another 7-day-trial, according to the dev. But if AutomateIt solves your problem as well -- why not :)

This wouldn't work though, would it? This would only play a tone when the phone is turned off, not sound a scheduled alarm while the device is off.

My tests failed with AutomateIt. I'll try 7-day trial of Tasker. I thinking in the same way @TheAndroNerd...

Oops -- did I misinterprete your question? I thought you wanted to be alarmed when the device is going to be shut down -- not when it already is switched-off. If you're looking for the latter: Sorry pal, no way.


text:
Cannot see special characters on Polaris Office
My mobile phone has Polaris Office default installed on it, but when I open some files I cannot see special characters, like "á", "à", "ç" etc., there is just a space character when it would have one of those special characters...

Palliatively, I installed Kingsoft Office, although it is so big for my device (it is about 13MB in size, and all my internal storage is just 180MB)... So I had to remove some apps to install it.
Well, it does the work well: show special characters without issues.
But I wait for a solution for Polaris Office...

Might be best to upvote and mark this answer as accepted to show that the issue is solved by using an alternative application.

But I would like to wait for a definitive solution, since it could save some bytes (an update, an hack or an add-on of Polaris Office would be smaller...).

Also I cannot upvote my own answer...


text:
How can I stream music/audio from Android and PC to Android device via WiFi?
I've searched for this for some time, and I've found several options that almost works.
I have an Android device connected to my stereo and I want to be able to connect to it with either my PC or my Android phone and play whatever music I'm playing on the phone/PC on the device instead.
I've tried SoundWire, which sort of works with PC->Android, though the sound is sometimes choppy, and I have to connect from the Android device instead of from the PC.
I've tried Remote Droid Player and Twonky, that works with Music that's already on my device, and twonky beam seems to work if I find something on YouTube, but since most music I play is on Google Play Music, that doesn't do me much good either.
So does anyone have a solution for this. What I basically need is to replace my long jack->rca cable with an Android device, if you can put it like that.

WiFi Speaker
Stream all Audio from PC to Android!

About

Use WiFi Speaker to stream all audio from a computer to an Android device in realtime. Just run the server on your Windows PC, and the app on your Android. The server is completely free, as is the app.
Setup is easy:

Download and install the server on your media PC.
Get the WiFi Speaker Android app on Google Play
Enjoy tunes!

Links

Google Play Store: WiFi Speaker (Free)
Google Play Store: WiFi Speaker Pro (Paid, no ads)
pixelatedmind.com: Media PC Server for WinXP/Vista/7

Screenshots:

Note: I'm the developer.

Looks cool - I'll check it out asap - any chance you could make a client app for android as well? ;o)

#Edit: Server app for android of course...

ive considered this, but theres no way to get audio from androids sound card. i could write one which just recorded from the mic, but i dont know how useful that would be.

I'm in the process of writing a server for Android now.  The server can be used to capture an Android server device audio, or an external audio source.

Have you tried:

Plex: (paid - $4.99) streams videos, photos, and music from your PC to lots of devices including Android phones and tablets.
Some sort of VLC PC-to-phone streaming app?
Audiogalaxy
Airplayit
If you are not picky about the desktop to Android part, maybe Google Play Music will be suitable for you?
These might also help: CNET: How to stream music from your PC to Android remotely, Android Authority: Best Free Apps to Stream Videos from PC to Android Phone

Personally I've only used Plex, Google Play Music, and VLC Stream & Convert Pro

Thanks!
1-3. Plex-AG seems to be only streaming stuff that's on the device, or whatever webpage I load within the app
4. Seems to be playing my music on my phone, google music does that for me
2. I haven't tried that, but my guess is that I have to load whatever I'm playing within vlc
5. I have google music and love it, but I want to be able to decide what to play on my stereo from my phone - and as far as I can figure out, it can't do that. Nexus Q isnt avaiable i europe (i believe).
6. I'll take a look at that.

I've settled with BubbleUPnP which can act both as a server and a client (on different devices), and it can play my Google Music account.
It's not exactly what I was looking for, but it'll do for now.

Try Gmote. Among other features, it notes on the Play Store description:

Stream music from your computer to phone!

You can try the following two apps:
For PC:
Airfoil for Windows

Send any audio from your PC to AirPort Express units, Apple TVs, iPhones and iPods Touch, and even other PCs and Macs, all in sync! Use Airfoil with web-based audio like Pandora, music services like Spotify, Rdio, MOG, and WiMP, or any other audio playing on your computer. Airfoil for Windows gives you your audio on AirPlay devices all around the house.

For Android devices:
AirBubble

AirBubble is a lightweight AirPlay audio receiver. It will appear in AirPlay applications (such as itunes) as a device you can play music to. It works in the background, streaming music to your Android device.
This version is fully featured but will exit 30 minutes after each app start (you can start the app as many times as you want). This can be unlocked with the AirBubble License app.


text:
CM10 on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 n8010 missing things
I installed CyanogenMod 10 on my WiFi Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. However, some things are missing.
First of all, I want the S-Pen handwrite keyboard, as well as the S-Note app.
Also, if possible make peel work (very unlikely, but just in case anyone had make that work)
I tried to install these from an unzipped stock ROM but (as expected) it didn't work. Do I have to install any library? If yes, which?
BTW: Please do not recommend other ROMs. I want CM. Maybe alternative apps.
If I find the libraries and APKs, I may create a flashable zip.

"make peel work" What's peel?

the remote control program. (n8000 & n8010 have infrared)

These apps won't work with custom ROM's, as they are designed to be run with the Samsung software, and require libraries etc from the Samsung software.

any alternative apps?

@ttouch AFAIK, the s-pen doesn't work with CM10, or any custom ROMs because it requires specific drivers that Samsung has not released source for.

can I find the required libs and do it manually?

@ttouch The Samsung libs are closed source, and they will only work on Samsung ROMS.

Is it a coding problem or a license problem?

License, also the fact that Samsung have not released the source.


text:
Stuck in Encryption Mode
I have an Android 4.0.1 10" tablet. I started encryption last night around 5:30pm. It is now 7:40 am the following morning and I still see the "green" Android icon on the screen. I had just bought the tablet three days ago.
How long does it take for the encryption process? Is something broken? Is there a way to fix it? I have about twelve to fourteen apps on my device, nothing more.
Please help...
Thank you

Can you provide more clues on this? Define green android icon - are you talking about on starting up of the device and that is what you're seeing prior to the familiar android environment?

This is overly long, and something is most likely wrong.
I would say pull the battery, and then wipe the userdata. You may not need to wipe the userdata, but if the encryption has failed at some point then it will be necessary.


text:
Why does text disappear after browser page load on a HTC MyTouch 4G?
I'm trying to visit pages like http://irclog.perlgeek.de/crimsonfu/2012-12-01 on my HTC MyTouch 4G running Android 2.2.1 (WebKit 3.1) but I can't read them. The text is visible for a moment until the browser has finished loading and then disappears as demonstrated in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TriSozFkA-Y
This is very strange behavior to me because the page looks fine on an LG Optimus V also running Android 2.2.1.
On a site I control running the same server software (ilbot), I've found that I can fix the problem by disabling jquery as I reported to the developer at http://irclog.perlgeek.de/ilbot/2012-12-02#i_6204076
This is only a solution for sites I control, however, so I'm wondering what the fix might be. Any clues or reports of being able to reproduce the problem would be very helpful.

It seems that the WebKit bundled with HTC sense does not support jQuery properly, which is what is causing this error.
The fix would be to install a non-webkit custom browser, such as Firefox or Opera.

Excellent suggestion! Thanks! I should have mentioned in my question that I had installed Dolphin, but I should have tried a non-WebKit browser, such as Firefox. I just visited http://irclog.perlgeek.de/crimsonfu/2012-12-01 in Firefox and the page renders fine. I upvoted your answer, but I didn't accept it because I'm still wondering what the problem is with the native browser, which uses WebKit 3.1

Most likely HTC managed to disable full jQuery support in their sense version of the Android WebKit


text:
Siri-like answers in Google Voice Search on 4.2
On my Nexus 7 (4.2, all updates, German), I can start searches using speech in Google Now, but I can't get it to do anything else. In particular: It never opens cards when I ask about the weather for example, it never answers with speech, and it doesn't perform any commands (like call/text somebody). I've seen all these functions in videos promoting Jelly Bean features, and believe they should be there.
Basically, instead of working like Siri, I just have a search textbox with the voice input method.
I've searched the Play market, but didn't find anything that looked like it might help. How can I get Google Now / Voice Search to answer me?
Edit: If I switch the language to English, I get the Weather card (in a German-English mishmash), but I still don't get any spoken answers.

Unfortunately, Google Now only supports certain languages at this moment in time.
You should change to a language that it supports (such as British English), using a locale changer application.


text:
Screen on Galaxy Nexus goes off, hard reset required to resolve this. What can I do?
I am using a Galaxy  Nexus and since the update to Android 4.2 the screen sometimes suddenly goes off and then especially stays off. The only thing that helps to get the screen back on is taking out the phones battery, which is quite annoying.
Is there a workaround for this?

For what it's worth, I get this on 4.1.1 on my Verizon Galaxy Nexus.

the solution: enable animations
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40019

The same thing happens on my Nexus 7 running 4.2 and as answered in the other question the only way I found to get the screen back on was to perform a "soft reset".
Hold down the power button for around 30 seconds, the device should start a soft reset (i.e. you don't lose any data/settings etc.) and reboot. Not really fixing the root cause of the issue but it's easier than taking out the battery every time.
This is also assuming the holding down the power button to reset works on the Galaxy Nexus and that it's the same issue but it sounds very similar and has only happened after I upgraded to 4.2.

unfortunately this soft-reset way does not work on the galaxy nexus ):

Ah okay, I'd read in a few places that it might. There's a suggestion in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1541052 that 'Holding power and both volume buttons' might work, or "Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons together for 10 seconds" For my Nexus 7 it takes closer to 30 seconds to turn off so maybe try holding it for longer.

It could be that something in your data is causing this to malfunction - to solve this you would have to do a factory reset.
Before you do that however, please try and do a soft reset (remove battery for 10 seconds, reinsert).
If that fails to work, do a full factory reset - you will want to ensure you have backed up your apps beforehand.
If that also fails to work, then it is most likely a hardware issue, and you will have to have the screen replaced.

I really don't want to wipe anything on the device, I don't have time to set up all stuff again : If there's no easier workaround, I will wait for a fix. Also, I guess that wiping fixes the bug is just a guess?

Yes - but it seems to fix most 4.2 issues, although I believe Google should have waited longer before they released it. This does sound to me like a processor issue however, which could mean Google have underclocked the processor too much in this release...

Wiping isn't really a good answer though especially if you think it's a hardware issue.. edit: sorry just reread what you meant, but still wiping wouldn't be a good solution if it's because of the OS.

Disable automatic brightness in your settings.

Okay, I'll bite. Assuming this works, why?


text:
How can I draw over other apps?
I'd like to be able to use my Asus Transformer for a presentation using the HDMI out and I'd like to be able to draw on the screen over videos, pictures and over a powerpoint presentation.  Obviously I can't be drawing and navigating simultaneously with touch but I guess I'm envisioning an "always on top" floating dock or tool bar to toggle between the "paint" function and the normal touch input.
To be clear I'm not interested in specific "drawing" apps, I'm looking for the ability to draw persistently over any and every open app.
Is there an app or hack that will accomplish this?

In my old school days, this were trivial because just right behind the projector screen are whiteboards which is sometimes used as a "screen" which can be drawn on with markers.
As more modern alternative, there are also smartboards that provides a virtual whiteboard to draw on with digital annotations. And one of them can be controlled and viewed from an Android tablet.
If you only need video and slides, then you can run your presentation on the computer running smartboard software and connect to the computer with the Android tablet controller. This doesn't actually allow you to draw over arbitrary apps though.

Yes but we've done away with projectors and now we just run our presentations on a 50" LCD display.

I know this is a very old question, but I was looking for the same thing and finally ran across an app that does this.
Ink Over Apps
This is an old app that you need to download from a site that has old apk files. here is a link to one of them.

There is actually an app available on goole play. Its called.
Draw On App. This is a great app with options to change color, make the the pen size larger and erase as well.
There are many more apps there. Just search for draw on app, you'll see a nice few of them.

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


text:
Is using chargers of phone not meant for it harmful to the battery?

Possible Duplicate:
Is my phone liable to explode if I charge it with a charger that came with a different phone?
Are Android chargers universal in terms of power (Voltage, amperage)?

As in, I know that all Droids have the micro USB charging connector. But what if I used a charger of HTC make, or for that matter of fact a charger of RIM (BlackBerry) make, to charge my Android phone (which is not of aforementioned brands) to charge my phone? Will this cause (short/long term) harm to my battery? If so, why and how?

I can't tell you if it harms, but using another will probably charge slower. Some Manufactures only release the full charging power on their own chargers. (Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384253)

No, it should be fine as long as the charger is meant for a cell phone.
Most of the major cell phone manufacturers adhere to the the International Electrotechnical Commission's mobile phone charging specs which specifies the use of the micro USB charging standard.  USB 1.0 and 2.0 is capable of delivering 0.5A at 5V and USB 3.0 is capable of 0.9A at 5V.  Not all chargers adhere to those specs, but most phone chargers deliver a charge somewhere in that range.  I have had several HTC, Samsung, Motorola and some off-brand phone chargers and they all are 5V and put out between 750mA and 1A.
Also, your cell phone has a charging control circuit and voltage protection circuit that protects the device from power outside its acceptable spec.  I believe it also monitors temperature and will terminate charging if it falls outside of an acceptable spec, but I'm not sure about that.
Some tablets like the Nexus 7 come with chargers that put out 2.1A at 5V.  Using this charger will charge your phone faster but it will also cause the battery to heat up more.  Excess heat can degrade the life of a battery so I wouldn't make a habit of using a tablet charger on your phone.


text:
Android news app that fetches by topic
I had a great news and weather app on my HTC Incredible that gave me top news articles and also let me fetch news by specific topic, for example "ebola" or "nanotechnology." Is there a way to accomplish this the Motorola Droid Razr M?

Standard Android has (or had) a News&Weather app that just did this. Else, use Google currents.

Keyword News seems to do exactly what you want, although it looks like a fairly basic model of this design. You could also use Google Reader which has a keyword entry on the left side of their page, that also has their very own app.


text:
Accounts disappearing on Samsung S3
I have developed an application which creates an account in "Account & Sync"
Some users on Samsung Galaxy SIII report that this account occasionally disappear (maybe at each reboot).
Of course, this doesn't happen with other phones.
Has anyone encountered a similar issue, ie an account disappearing?

Voting to leave open, since the question also relates to users that are having issues with paid apps and their accounts being removed on reboot.

This sounds a lot like the bug introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean that (probably due to DRM and encryption) will install any paid application to /mnt/asec, even if it contains an account service.  This has a side-effect of having all accounts associated with such apps being removed on every reboot.  This Google Code issue has more details.
As of Android 4.2.1, it looks like the issue has not been resolved.  Many developers resort to creating a second "JB work-around" app that is free, and therefore can be properly installed and is able prevent the accounts of the main app from disappearing on reboot.

I forgot to mention this was the paid app version. You're pointing to a bug that is likely to be the one I'm facing. Thanks a lot, I had no way to test this myself. I just couldn't reproduce on the emulator...


text:
Can't move any applications to SD Card- "Couldn't Move App" error
I'm trying to move any application that I install to my SD card (Nexus S, so its technically internal storage) and regardless of what I choose, I get a
"Couldn't Move App"

error. I fired up logcat and got the following output:
 I/DefContainer( 1273): Copied data/app/de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1.apk to /mnt/asec/de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1/pkg.apk
 D/VoldCmdListener(   81): asec finalize de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 E/Vold    (   81): Failed to chmod /mnt/asec/de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1 (Read-only file system)
 E/Vold    (   81): ASEC finalize mount failed (Read-only file system)
 W/Vold    (   81): Returning OperationFailed - no handler for errno 30
 I/PackageHelper( 1273): Failed to finalize container  e.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 I/PackageHelper( 1273): Forcibly destroying container de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 D/dalvikvm(  250): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 0ms
 E/DefContainer( 1273): Failed to finalize de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1 at path /mnt/asec/de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 D/dalvikvm(  250): GC_EXPLICIT freed 48K, 26% free 14596K/19591K, paused 4ms+5ms, total 64ms
 D/VoldCmdListener(   81): asec destroy de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1 force
 I/PackageHelper(  250): Forcibly destroying container de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 D/dalvikvm(  250): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 0ms
 W/ActivityManager(  250): No content provider found for permission revoke: file:///data/app/de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1.apk
 D/dalvikvm(  250): GC_EXPLICIT freed 13K, 26% free 14595K/19591K, paused 3ms+6ms, total 63ms
 D/VoldCmdListener(   81): asec destroy de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1 force
 E/Vold    (   81): Couldn't find ASEC de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 I/PackageHelper(  250): Failed to destroy container de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 I/PackageHelper(  250): Forcibly destroying container de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 D/dalvikvm(  250): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 0ms
 D/dalvikvm(  250): GC_EXPLICIT freed 8K, 26% free 14594K/19591K, paused 3ms+8ms, total 69ms
 I/PackageHelper(  250): Failed to destroy container de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1
 D/VoldCmdListener(   81): asec destroy de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1 force
 E/Vold    (   81): Couldn't find ASEC de.joergjahnke.gameboy.android.free-1

It seems to be a permissions issue of some kind. I've tried booting into CWM and resetting permissions, but that doesn't seem to do anything. Even re-formatting the storage doesn't seem to do anything. If anyone has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it!

4.1 hides paid pps by default using some app2sd technology, maybe some of this broke your current app2sd program. Which are you using? Internal, 3rd party,...?

What do you mean? I'm using 3rd party apps to test this (ones downloaded from the marketplace). I'm not trying to migrate any internal apps, only ones that claim that they can be moved.

I was just wondering if that 3rd party app is broken on JB


text:
Restrict Mobile data but exclude some apps
My daughter has a mobile plan that has a restriction on the data she can use each month. But it comes with unlimited Facebook, 4square, Instagram and Twitter.
I want to setup her phone so that she can use as much of the above 4 apps as she wants but the rest of the data gets restricted above the cap.
It is a Galaxy S2 running CM10
Can this be done?

I don't know of any solution off the shelf; and I cannot think of anything custom that just works. Problem: accurate mobile data measurement is impossible with current carrier accounting practices. They measure sent data, but with UDP there's no guarantee sent data will actually reach your phone. E.g. a big UDP video stream is accounted completely but your connection only transmitted half of it. If you however receive a "data plan exhausted" SMS, you could use "tasker" to activate "droidwall" with a setting that just does allow those 4 services.

Thanks, I don't know if there is a txt when the allocation is exhausted. I wonder if, and I realise it won't be accurate, tasker could monitor the in built data monitor so when it alerts droidwall could kick in? I haven't used Tasker, but I will look into it. Thanks

Tasker might be able to monitor data usage, of course. I just noticed that it's unreliable, because Android measures what arrives on the phone and a carrier accounts all data sent over air. Always wondered why I got that 80% SMS message when I only calculated 76% or so. YMMV, just don't rely on it if you get charged per MB after you reach the plan's limit. Izzy has a list of links, it's mostly German but there are some en. links too: http://www.androidpit.de/de/android/forum/thread/435917/Tasker-Ressourcen-Sammlung

You are running CM10 in your phone. So its rooted. You can restrict Mobile data usage with some exceptions for specific apps by an app called Droidwall fro playstore.
This app is seful to specify which apps can use Mobile data and which cannot.

Thanks for all the tips. Looks promising. I will report back.


text:
How to choose which joined contact to use for contact image?
Okay, I'm running a Galaxy S III with the TouchWiz ROM.
I knew how to do this in AOSP ROMs, but cannot find it in the Samsung people app.
If I have an aggregate contact with numerous joined contacts, and more than one of the joined contacts have photos, how do I specify which joined contact's photo should be the photo for the master/aggregate contact?

Okay; I finally figured this out!

Go to the people app
Click on a contact to see the contact detail
Bring up the menu
Click Mark as default
Choose default picture, email, phone, etc.


text:
missed calls not appearing as notifications
I have a HTC one x with the default HTC sense. Missed calls do not appear in the notification list which is frustrating ... The calls appear in the call history log so it knows about them. I've also tried calling myself with a another phone and it all appears as normal but when the call is hung up, no notification appears.
I'm sure it use to show notifications and I cannot find any settings that would control this.
Will factory reset if this just seems wrong/buggy.

No need to factory reset.
Just go to Settings → Call. Scroll down to the bottom and enable Show caller ID for missed calls on lock screen and status bar.

Under settings go to Application Manager. Search for "BadgeProvider".
Tap "clear data"
Tap "ok".
Your green phone icon should now show number of calls missed. This does not delete any personal data.


text:
How do one know which folder is created by which Android apps?
From my understanding, a majority of Android apps may have created some folders on either local storage or the SD Card.
So, how do I know which folders belong to which apps? (I know that some apps have settings that show you which folder that they have created but are there any solutions where one can easily find all the folder corresponding to their apps in a list similar like the one shown below?)

====================================
| Apps Name |   Folder             |
====================================
| ABB       | \sdcard\actionbb     |
| ZZX       | \sdcard\zoneX        |
|           | \local\zoneXconf     |
====================================

This is because, sometimes, when one un-installs an app, the un-installation does not remove these folders.

If you open a file as Context.MODE_PRIVATE, then the file is created in /data/data/app_packagename and is only accessible to your app. You can see the permission and owner of these files in command line.
adb shell ls -al

drwxr-x--x    1 app_28   app_28        2048 Dec  6  2011 com.android.mms

But files in sdcard is public to all user, so you cannot find out which folder belong to which app.

Files saved to the external storage are world-readable and can be
  modified by the user when they enable USB mass storage to transfer
  files on a computer.

See this link for details.

Though, some apps store their contents on SD card in a directory similar to that on internal storage, something like /mnt/sdcard/data/com.myapp, in which case you can check this package name (here: com.myapp) with the playstore's web frontend, adding it after the "id=" parameter. Unfortunately, these kind of exceptions are few...

So, there is no other way to check which folder inside the sdcard that belong to which apps unless one check the settings inside the apps and also the apps have information that tell user where they store their files into which folder in the SDcard. However, I still hope that there are such application that can provide the list. (or maybe google play can tell us what folders are created when install the apps, just like what it did to the permission - it tell the user what permission the apps are asking for)

What about human heuristic based on file/folder creation/modification time? I'm just reasoning, I didn't tried it yet. But if I installed an app yesterday, and it created a folder on SD Card, then the folder should have a creation time that reflects that. Looking for files in already existent folders would be a pain, but should be still possible.


text:
How do one know what is the reasons why an android apps exit with exceptions?
Sometime, when you install a particular apps in the emulator, it work perfectly fine. So, you install the apps into your phone and/or tablet and it throws an exception when you run it.
Similar, when you install a particular apps in the emulator, it does not work & throws you an exception but when you install the apps into your phone and/or tablet, it was able to run perfectly.
So, my question is how do I know what is the reasons behind why apps exit with exception? Where can I find more information so that I can actually know the reasons why the apps exit with exception?
Example: One can go to a particular folder of the apps and open the logs which tell the user that the apps exit with exception is because it does not have a GPU or it does not have enough RAM and so on.
IMPORTANT: This question is from the end-user point of view. This is NOT a question from a developer point of view. Thank you.

Do you ask this from a user's perspective -- or as a developer (how to catch it)?

@Izzy From a user's perspective

OK -- in this case, see my answer below. (To the close-voters: Asked from a user's perspective, this is NOT off-topic, so keep it open ;)

@Izzy, Thanks for your feedback. I have modify the question so that there will be no mis-understanding of the questions. Thanks :)

possible duplicate of How can I view and examine the Android log?

If you as a user experience such crashes, and want to help the developer to get them fixed, you can use tools such as aLogcat (free) - logcat or Bug Reporter to catch a log of what happened:

While aLogCat allows you to restrict the log closer to the crash event (by letting you define what to capture), Bug Reporter enables you to send other useful information along, such as device specifics and the like.
EDIT: As Liam pointed out correctly in his comment, due to permission changes in Jelly Bean (4.1) some of those log viewers where no longer able to see anything but their own log entries. If your device is rooted, the easiest way to get them working again is to convert them into system apps (e.g. with Titanium Backup). If your Android version is 4.0.x or lower, you should not be affected by this.

Thanks Izzy, the logcat was wonderful except that it is quite slow (probably the log file is too large)

The "logfile" is a ring-buffer, so it has a constant size. I use aLogCat for almost 2 years now (from time to time) and was happy with it, so I took no closer look at alternatives like Gemini Live Logcat, LogViewer Lite (LogCat) and the like, which you might try as well :)

Remember: These apps don't work in (I think) 4.1+ without root!

Yepp -- +1 for that hint, Liam. Not sure whether 4.1 or 4.2, but around that a restriction was established that apps only can see their own logs. But there was some work-around AFAIR. Will check and update my answer then. Thanks for the hint!

In Windows there is a utility called Event Viewer that captures unhandled exceptions and reports a good amount of informative data. Do we have something equivalent on Android?

@SaeedNeamati Why not asking that as a separate question, so it's found easier? Especially as this question here is rather old, and thus your comment not very likely to draw attention :)

@Izzy, thanks for the tip. I asked it here

Mainly due to hardware differences.
You can use a logcat viewer on Android 2.3 or below to view the logcat from all apps - this will provide the log from the apps which will tell your the exception.
Please be aware that in Jellybean or ICS google stopped apps from reading the logcat from other apps on the device - you can still use adb to see the entire logcat, and can output it to the logcat.log file using this command:
adb logcat > logcat.log

Wait a minute, you mean that the there is no alternative way to retrieve the logs for Android version higher than 2.3?

Ahm... almost, but to my knowledge this affects only JellyBean and "above" (so ICS/4.0 and lower should still work). Got hard without root, as each app now only can see its own entries in the logs. There was some work-around AFAIR, but I'm not sure if that involved root as well...


text:
What the s*!+ do I do to make the 4.2 swipe keyboard stop censoring me?
The new swype-style keyboard on my 4.2.1 updated Galaxy Nexus is great. However, when I  attempt to express myself more colorfully, the swiping action does not yield the word I would like to write. The word is already in the device dictionary though, so it does not let me add it to the dictionary to be recognized, as I have done with other words. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Just had a hunt round myself (also on a 4.2.1 Galaxy Nexus) my "Google Voice Typing" settings does not have "Block Offensive Words" selected. I can type offensive words by tapping the keyboard keys without any problem, I just can't "swipe" them, even if its the exact same word I just tapped out with no problem. Can't see any swipe setting to allow all words.

I what I will call a workaround for the present, as it is not a simple solution as allowing offensive words in voice typing, but it has the same final affect:

Under Settings, choose Language & Input
Choose Personal Dictionary
Click the plus (+) button in the top right
Enter the "offensive word" under the Phrase and Shortcut spaces
Click the back button (system or top left)
Enjoy your custom swipable profanity

You should accept this answer since it's the best and "only" solution I've found that works.

I swear! Often! And somebody should make a personal dictionary app preloaded with all the color language you could possibly want. I'd pay for that.

I have a Nexus 4 from T-Mobile, the Google one, with Android 4.2.2. I've been noticing this same problem, and the fix I found was to go to Settings -> Language and Input -> Then press the settings icon next to the Google Keyboard (English, U.S.) option -> then deselect Block offensive words.
I can now swype swear words, although often times it is not the automatically recognized word, and I have to manually select it from the list of other possibilities that comes up. As for the voice-to-text options, I would suggest trying the same thing (i.e. finding it under Settings and deselecting Block offensive words or some similar option). Hope this helps!

Doesn't seem to allow swiping the word directly, but it does offer auto correct options to the intended profanity.. sometimes.

Some keyboards have a kind of "blacklist" for bad/insulting words. Check if you can find that option in Settings → Language & Input, where you should be able to disable it. I know for sure there's such an option for voice input ("Block insults" in Settings → Voice Input & Output → Voice recognizer Settings), but I'm not sure whether that option also applies to keyboard input.

Can confirm that the Voice typing "Block Offensive Words" setting doesn't apply to swiping. I can't find any equivalent for swiping.


text:
How can one move the position of the application inside the launcher?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I arrange the applications on each page of my app drawer?

When I click on the launcher icon (shown on the bottom right corner of the LCD screen as illustrated by Picture A), it will display the list of applications which are installed (as shown in Picture B).
However, I notice that when one boots up the phone, some of the applications are shown and later when the SD card is fully mounted, the rest of the applications are then shown inside the launcher.
So, I was wondering if it is possible to move the location of the applications inside the launcher to another page (assume if there are pages for one to move the applications) or other location in the same page.
Please note that I am not referring to the applications shortcuts or creating applications shortcuts onto the screen of Picture A.
Picture A

Picture B

It looks like you are using TouchWiz.  If so, go to the App Drawer (Picture B).
The directions below will vary slightly based on the version of TouchWiz you are running.
Hit the Menu Button, and select View Type, then select Customizable Grid.
Then, hit the Menu button again, and select Edit.  In this view, you can move your icons in the App Drawer.
For what it's worth, you can also edit your dock icons.

Strange, when I hit Menu, it only give me the Edit. It did not even give me the View Type or the Customizable Grid. Wonder if there are any good App Drawer that have much advanced features such as grouping them with a header.

@Jack, if that's the case, step 1 may be complete.  Try hitting Edit and see if it lets you move stuff around.

The default launcher does not allow you to move apps to a different page.  You can sort them as The Andro Nerd suggested - Alphabetically, Last Installed First, or First Installed First.
Some launchers will allow you to hide applications though - in case you were trying to hide the crap-ware that the Telecom's install.
Apex is a great launcher and allows for the hiding of individual apps.
ADWLauncher EX is another good launcher that you might want to check out.

Thanks for suggesting some great launcher, which I believe that it might juice out more battery.

Apps in the App drawer are sorted either:

Alphabetically
Latest installed last
Latest installed first

As such, there is no way to move apps in the App Drawer, unless you download a custom home screen app that supports it.

That very much depends on the launcher used. Some of them allow for manual sorting, or even permit creating folders within the drawer.

He was talking about the stock launcher.


text:
What is the apps for the the two icons shown
What apps are icons shown on the 3rd icon from the left (a icon that look like a bug with an android head) and the 5th icon from the left (a icon with a phone in between two zig-zag)?

The first one you asked about means the phone is connected in debug mode to a computer:

and the phone between zig-zag lines means it's on vibration mode.

Please note that the USB debugging icon varies depending on the version of Android, for example in 4.0 (ICS) it is an ice cream sandwich shaped android, in 4.1 (JB) it is a jelly bean shaped android head, etc. Vibration mode icon has changed in new versions of Android too (currently being a tilted smartphone with straight lines surrounding it).


text:
How do I enable Google Now on my Galaxy Note 2 (NT-7100)?
I go to Google Search app but no Google Now "cards" are showing.
I do the ff:

Long-press Menu soft-key to bring up Google Search
Press Menu -> Settings
Under settings, I only get 3 entries: Voice, Phone search and Privacy & accounts (no Google Now)

My friend, who uses an HTC Sensation with MIUI ROM, and Google Now works nicely.
Question is, how do I enable it on my Note 2?
*I am suspecting that this has to do with my Privacy settings or Location settings but I still haven't gotten it to work despite changing those settings...

I wouldn't think that it's to do with your location services, I know that if I have "Access to my location" turned off in "Location Access" in the phone's settings, then as soon as I open Google Now the first card says: "Location service is off: To continue using Google Now, you need to turn on Google's locations service" with a link to the relevant section in Settings.

Is it country-locked? Where are you located?

The answer has already been provided. It was with the Language setting.

The language setting was my key problem - after changing the OS language from Croatian to English (U.S.), Google Now is miraculously ready to go!
Watch the video How to get Google Now talking to you... for an instructional guide on changing your system language.

This solved the issue. I had to change the language to English (United States) to get it working. Thanks.

You must be running at least Android 4.1 to use Google Now - please ensure this is true.
If you are running at least Android 4.1, then ensure you have the latest Google Voice Search update from the Google Play Store - be aware that it is listed twice (at least on my old device).

The Galaxy Note 2 I got had 4.1 out-of-the-box. I have also updated Google Search and Google Voice Search doesn't have an Update option when I checked today.

@Eric Strange. Have you tried clicking on the voice search widget?

Yes. Still no "Google Now" in the Settings menu

Have you checked that you are running the latest version of Google Search? The easiest way to update is to visit the Google Play Store page for Google Search and check to see if it will allow you to install or update the app.
Ok, so I found how to turn on Google Now on my GN2. If you have the Google search widget, it is as simple as hitting the settings button (left light-up one) while inputting a query for the search widget. This brings up a menu, hit settings then you can turn on Google Now.
I accidentally opted out when in early setup, and now I am curious.

Yes. I uninstalled updates and re-installed updates but Google Now still isn't showing under "Settings" in Google Search

Ok, I think this is how you do it.
Open Google Search from the app drawer. Tap on menu and then settings, then tap Google Now - you should be able to toggle it on from there.

Oops, just saw your other post about Google Now not showing in settings of Google Search.  Seems pretty odd.  I wonder if you need to do a factory reset?  The other thing to do before that maybe is just to try clearing data in Google search?

I have tried clearing Google Search data to no avail. :( I guess I will try to do a Factory reset soon because I too think that this is the last resort. Thanks for contributing.


text:
ClockworkMod Recovery makes corrupt backups
Four backups I made using ClockworkMod Recovery couldn't be restored because their MD5 hash values didn't match. Another one was successfully restored. What is the problem and is there a way to check if a backup succeeded or not?
I'm using Clock Work Mod Recovery 5.0.2.6 on Xperia Arc.

which is your phone model? and please specify CWM version.

Also note: TitaniumBackup Pro allows to extract parts of a backup, just in case you desperately need recovery. If you're lucky, the part you need is not damaged.

@ce4 what exactly is the difference between TitaniumBackup Pro and Clock Work Mod Recovery? TitaniumBackup only backs up apps and their data, right?

TitaniumBackup is an app for backup/recovery (of single apps, etc.) that you install from the play store while CWM recovery is an enhanced replacement for the stock recovery partition; it's a stripped down system that you boot into to do firmware updates and image based backup/restore.

You may have a bad SD card, try a new one (they're cheap anyway).
The MD5 sums are generally computed after the backup has been done (assuming everything went fine).
I.e. the process up to CWM 5.x is (CWM 6.x is different due to dedupcication):

CWM generates a backup and stores it
Then md5sums of all of the above files are computed
The md5sums are also stored in a single file

The hard work is all done in (1), steps 2/3 are just a single md5sum computation per file and a final store of those in another file.
If the MD5sums mismatch the backup files there must be a problem with your storage eventually (most probably). What is also possible: Don't rip out the battery and reboot, use CWM's reboot option (files may have not been written do disk fully yet).


text:
How to stop Foursquare from turning on Wi-Fi?
Some time ago I noticed Wi-Fi powers on without any action from me. There was a question already from me, asking why the phone would do this. I localized the issue to Foursquare app — it actually has a permission to change Wi-Fi state and seems to be using it to turn it on when it wants to use geolocation (which is, strangely, almost all the time). When I removed the Foursquare, Wi-Fi stopped to turn on by itself.
Is there any way to prevent Foursquare from enabling Wi-Fi without removing it and logging off from app (to be able to still use it)?

Just a thought: Can't you logoff from 4square when not using it? Or wouldn't that change its behaviour?

@Izzy I should rephrase the question: stop Foursquare from enabling the Wi-Fi without stopping to use the app.

I think I identified the app incorrectly — removal of Foursquare doesn't solve the problem in the end.

Just being curious: which app was it then?

Not sure, maybe WaveSecure

Thanks for the detail! Once you are sure, please update :)

You could try removing the permission to change the Wi-Fi state with something like LBE Privacy Guard. There's also the possibility of using the method described in a similar question on here, this involves changing the .apk file and no root is needed.
There's a few caveats though:

Biggest one is that when Foursquare tries to use the removed the permission it may well break depending on how the developers coded it.
LBE Guard needs root, so you'll need to have a rooted phone.
There have been suggestions here and here LBE Guard isn't all it's cracked up to be (buggy, hard to uninstall, might mine your data?) despite the high ratings in the marketplace.

n.b. I haven't actually used LBE Privacy Guard before and am just going off several descriptions I've read of its capabilities.

Maybe none of my apps requested that permission -- but AFAIK LBE can only block network access (like a firewall) and Geolocation access, but not the "network state change". Might be worth a try, though. Same goes for PDroid. And manually patching an .apk is not a good thing in terms of breaking updates.

Ah well, Constantious let me know how it goes and I'll update my answer accordingly.

@Peanut well, thanks for suggestion, but it seems I'm not ready for usage of such a controversial app as LBE (don't want to reset my phone because of bugs and so on).
Moreover, I don't have root access.

I'm not going to patch .apk too, so it seems I need to just get over it.


text:
Where to find description of all "/system/bin/service" calls?
In one answer I was adviced to use service call phone 2 s16 "$number". It works, but in service list I see other useful things I don't know how to use and can't easily find the information on the Internet.
I don't see any introspection in service apart from service list to findout myself...
Where to find more complete description of "service" calls and their parameters?

In Short

Code related to service call command are just the arguments of the function and order at
  which the function occur in the aidl file of that service.Here is a syntax
service call <your_service_name> <number at which the function appears in your_service_name.aidl> <type of the argument like i32 or i64> <argument>

In Detail
I faced a lot of problems to know about it and hence I will share the solution with the help of clipboard service.
First you need to know about the service you are interested in -
For that you need to look for all the service that is there for particular android system by typing
adb shell service list

Here is what you will get -
.
.
.
59  ethernet: [android.net.IEthernetManager]
60  wifip2p: [android.net.wifi.p2p.IWifiP2pManager]
61  rttmanager: [android.net.wifi.IRttManager]
62  wifiscanner: [android.net.wifi.IWifiScanner]
63  wifi: [android.net.wifi.IWifiManager]
64  overlay: [android.content.om.IOverlayManager]
65  netpolicy: [android.net.INetworkPolicyManager]
66  netstats: [android.net.INetworkStatsService]
67  network_score: [android.net.INetworkScoreService]
68  textservices: [com.android.internal.textservice.ITextServicesManager]
69  network_management: [android.os.INetworkManagementService]
70  clipboard: [android.content.IClipboard]
71  statusbar: [com.android.internal.statusbar.IStatusBarService]
.
.
.

As I am interested in clipboard service, here is how it look
70  clipboard: [android.content.IClipboard]

So from here we can summarise that the service name is clipboard service and the package path is android.content.IClipboard
Then you need to know the complete path where the IClipboard.aidl is.
To know that you need to search on google for IClipboard.aidl.
You need to look for something from android.googlesource.com website in the results, like in my case-
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base.git/+/android-4.2.2_r1/core/java/android/content/IClipboard.aidl

So after +/android-4.2.2_r1 is where your path lies.Let that path be path_of_clipboard.aidl=
/core/java/android/content/IClipboard.aidl

As these service call codes are dependent on the android system, hence you need to know your android os name-
In my case it is 8.1.0
So I will go to the following website where google puts there code and select my os version from the left hand side for the page -
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/
In my case it is android-8.1.0_r50.I will click on it and then after that my url will look like this
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/android-8.1.0_r51

And then after adding path_of_clipboard.aidl, my complete url will look like
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/android-8.1.0_r51/core/java/android/content/IClipboard.aidl

Here there will be many methods in the interface.Like in my case
    void setPrimaryClip(in ClipData clip, String callingPackage);
    ClipData getPrimaryClip(String pkg);
    ClipDescription getPrimaryClipDescription(String callingPackage);
    boolean hasPrimaryClip(String callingPackage);
    void addPrimaryClipChangedListener(in IOnPrimaryClipChangedListener listener,
            String callingPackage);
    void removePrimaryClipChangedListener(in IOnPrimaryClipChangedListener listener);
    /**
     * Returns true if the clipboard contains text; false otherwise.
     */
    boolean hasClipboardText(String callingPackage);

So the code for the first method i.e. setPrimaryClip will be 1 as it occured at first place and that for the last method i.e hasClipboardText will be 7 as it occured at seventh place in the aidl file. Similarly for the other methods.

So if I want to call the seventh method I will type
adb shell service call clipboard 7

As you might have seen that I have not put the callingPackage name as it is not required.
If the method need arguments, then you can pass it like as show in this example. Let us assume a method whose code is 8 in clipboard and that looks like this -
getDemo(String arg1, int arg2, boolean arg3)

So I will call it like this
adb shell call clipboard 8 s16 "first_argument" i32 12 i32 1

Here i32 stands for 32 bit integer and s16 for the string. We can, even pass boolean value as an integer as shown in the example.
In boolean integer 1 stands for true and 0 for false.
TIP Keep the logcat open(like in android studio) to check for any error that occured while executing that adb command.

Source

The real problem with service call is that transaction codes are not only undocumented, but also not guaranteed to be stable — they can be silently changed between Android versions. Because of this, service call commands should never be used except for private debugging, when you know what Android version is used.
Example:

ITelephony transaction codes for Android 2.3
ITelephony transaction codes for Android 4.2.2

(Here FIRST_CALL_TRANSACTION = 1, so the actual transaction code which should be used in the service call phone command is the number seen in the source plus 1.)
Note that in the new version TRANSACTION_supplyPuk was inserted in the middle, and all following codes are now shifted by 1. Anything that used service call phone to perform those transaction will horribly break when used on Android 4.2.2 — the same codes will result in calling completely different methods, possibly with disastrous results.

Is there some thing that is a bit more high level than service call, yet still allows many things to be done from superuser console?

@Vi0 android-svc

There is no documentation. But you can find all the information you are looking for in the android source code. service list gives you the package name. So for the phone service it is com.android.internal.telephony.ITelephony. You will find all possible parameters for service call phone listed in com/android/internal/telephony/ITelephony.java for your Android version.

android-svc makes this way easier.
List services:
android-svc --adb list-packages'

List all methods of a service:
android-svc --adb list-methods clipboard'

Get method signature of a service method:
android-svc --adb method-signature 'clipboard.setPrimaryClip'

Call a service method:
android-svc --adb call 'phone.dial("555-0199")'

You can also use the long name instead. E.g. android.content.IClipboard instead of clipboard
And if you omit --adb you can even run it directly on your phone (in Termux).
This gif is taken from the repository:


text:
Are there location tracking apps that would send data to my server?
Are there any Android apps that would track my location (at regular intervals, like every hour) and send coordinates directly to my server, without revealing this data to any third party?

There are some solutions available on the playstore. One of them is Traccar (the link belongs to the Android client), which logs to a traccar server you can define. The server software is open source (at least that's what the app description claims), so you can use it on your own server. Written in Java, it should run on most operating systems. For more details on this, you might want to check with the Traccar website.


text:
How does GS3 dual SIM adapter work?
I have seen that some online shops sell a Samsung Galaxy S3 dual SIM adapter. I haven't found much information about how does it work, but I have doubts about it.
Some links:

https://www.amazon.it/NC2-Premium-Addatatore-Dualsim-Samsung/dp/B008E6M802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354533958&sr=8-1
http://www.ebay.it/itm/ADATTATORE-DUAL-SIM-PER-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S3-I9300-SIII-ACE-E-HTC-ONE-2-HSDPA-/200855685432?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item2ec3ee8938
http://www.ebay.it/itm/NC2-3G-Dualsim-Adapter-No-Cut-fur-2-Sims-im-Samsung-Galaxy-S3-/300826215660?pt=Handy_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item460aa3c4ec
http://www.ebay.it/itm/Adaptateur-Double-Carte-SIM-Dual-SIM-Adapter-pour-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S3-/281033313462?pt=FR_Mobiles_PDAs_Autres&hash=item416ee40cb6

In fact, I have a phone SIM card that I use for calling and receiving with my own number, and sometimes I can get a data SIM card with some free internet traffic.
The idea behind my interest for the dual SIM adapter for th GS3 is to tell the phone to call from SIM 1 and connect to UMTS from SIM 2. My simple doubt is that Android isn't simply supporting 2 cards on phones designed for 1.
I mean, if my phone had natively 2 SIM slots I could expect a menu option "default call with SIM 1/2", or "which SIM do you want to connect with?", but the official specs of GS3 offer 1 SIM only as standard cell phones.
The question is, then
How does a dual SIM adapter integrate with existing phone software?

A link to the adapter's web page will be quite useful.

Unless your phone have two SIM card slots, support as you require is not possible. The market has adapters which goes into the existing SIM card slot of phone and will help you to switch between SIMs after shutdown.  The ONLY advantage of using this instead of swapping SIMs by conventional way is to keep both SIMs together with phone and reduce wear and tear on the SIM slot.
Samsung and other manufactures have dual SIM phones which have two SIM slots and the phone can be configured accordingly for usage. Having said that, watch out for terminologies like Dual Active, Dual Standby. Unfortunately confusion prevails even in manufacturer's web sites. So, to be sure try the behaviour before you buy.
You can read about these in the Wikipedia.


text:
How to prepare myself & smartphone/tablet in the event it goes missing or is stolen?
I would like to know what measures or steps etc that should be performed, in order to protect & safeguard whatever "data" is on my Android Smartphone or Tablet, and indeed the device itself, in the event it goes missing or is stolen. So that if it were to happen "all data" would hopefully still be preserved remotely, e.g., via online login - if possible (furthermore if the data cannot be preserved, it can be wiped before it is utilized in every manner possible to access confidentiality by "the wrong hands"). Also give me the best chance of getting my device back (or in the event of theft, that the perpetrator can be photographed & hopefully apprehended as well).
(I am not merely looking for a list of anti theft apps to be named, but a comprehensive step by step instruction to what should actually be "applied" to the device and how to prepare it, before the event occurs and then exactly what should be done by myself immediately after the event occurs, as I believe this to be of grave importance, that applies to everyone who owns an Android device, be it a smartphone, tablet or indeed the new range of Android powered cameras that have recently come onto the market.)

There are multiple things which can be done:

Device encryption (to assure all your data is stored encrypted)
Install anti-theft software (to track and, if necessary, remote-wipe a lost device)
Activate Google's Device Manager on your device (and make sure it works, as it not always does)

To photograph the "perpetrator", you might want to take a look at ☆ GotYa! Face trap !, which fires at failed logins (but requires a front-facing camera to do so):

One of the most well known anti-theft solutions is e.g. included with Lookout Security & Antivirus, but the playstore offers a lot of alternatives to this.
For keeping a copy of your important data off-device, you might use some cloud synchronization service (or a similar thing to sync with your own machine(s) at home). When storing data in the cloud, you might prefer using encryption; Wuala is one possible solution which encrypts your data before it is transfered into the cloud.

This article maybe also be of assistance http://lifehacker.com/5643460/how-to-track-and-potentially-recover-your-stolen-laptop-or-android-with-prey

Is it possible to update your answer to include Android Device Manager ?

Did so. Though that one never worked for me on any device (Android 2.3.6, 4.0.3, 4.1.1 tested).

After some initial hiccups when it launched, ADM has worked just great for me. Then again, I'm in the States, so...

Another good app for capturing images when someone mistypes your unlock PIN/pattern/password is Lockwatch.

@Krampus Location might be one of the culprits. But there are different "unlucky combinations". Here in Germany, we were forced initially to using @googlemail.com addresses for our Google accounts, which ADM seems unable to deal with (which I think is the issue with my devices). But there are more culprits around. And I simply feel it not worth to swtich to @gmail.com, do a factory-reset, and some other ugly things on ALL my devices including (partly) the PC. Ya know, never change a running system :)


text:
Nexus 4 / 7 and Wi-Fi incompatibility
I have a Nexus 4 which works on most Wi-Fi networks, but not with my D-Link router running DD-WRT.  It connects, but data transfer is sporadic at best, and essentially useless.
Amongst the myriad of advanced settings in DD-WRT, there must be something that can get the Nexus 4 working?
(This question is also valid for the Nexus 7 as some users report similar problems).

Updating dd-wrt to the latest build (15778 - D-Link 615 D2) fixed it for me.


text:
What can be saved before factory reset?
My phone has a GPS problem and service says the need to wipe it completely.
They are probably just lazy and would rather do it the easy way.
C'est la vie.
The phone is SGS unrooted 2.3.4 - Touch Wiz. I don't want to root it.
Now, what I am going to do is this:
- Save contacts with Kies
- Save files
Is there anything else I can do or that I should know?
For example, I believe that apps associated with the Google Account will be reinstalled after I re-enter my account into the newly formatted phone, correct?
However, app data like savegames won't be ported, I have to search for them in the phone memory?
Can I backup SMS?
Can I back-up settings?
Will imported contacts keep all fields like I have them now, i.e. work phone, home phone, work email, home email etc?
I know it's a ton of questions, sorry about that.
Thank you.

You might also want to take a look at Full Backup of non-rooted devices.

Basically, you can back up everything which has a "data provider" available -- as e.g. contacts, call-logs, SMS, and the like. If you search the playstore for "backup", it will give you a lot of apps for that. One of the best non-root backup solutions for this probably is MyBackup Pro, which covers most of it -- though there are a lot of apps offering to backup/restore parts.
Most other app's data cannot be backed-up, however. Some of them provide possibilities to export their settings (and import them at a later point), others have dedicated backup apps (I remember e.g. something like that for Angry Birds).
For contacts and calendar, there's also the possibility to sync them with your Google account. I would not, however, rely on the "Google backup" for other things, as it is often reported to unsuccessfully restore. For that case, there are extra measures one can take. The easiest would be to logon to AppBrain with your Google credentials, and sync your installed apps. Appbrain then allows you to save that as a list with their service: you can then use this list to restore all apps you put into it -- or you could even send it to a different device (even a different user's device) for a "mass install".
In case you had some apps installed which are no longer available on the playstore, you could also take a look at AppMonster: in its payed (pro) version, it also allows batch-install. Plus, it captures each app you install/update and saves a copy -- which can be useful in the future as well: if some update breaks a functionality, you can ask AppMonster to simply restore a previous (captured) version.
And though this currently does not affect you (as your Android version is lower than 4.0), just to mention for other users (and your possible future device): starting with Android 4.0, there is the possibility for a Full Backup of non-rooted devices (rooted users always have this possibility with Titanium Backup ★ root).
Data stored on your sd card should not be affected by the factory-reset.

I would recommend you remove the external SD card before sending, and backup the internal.

Thanks. I'll look into that. How about apps? Will they be reinstalled on the device when I first log in on the new install? Or do I have to pick them up by hand, one-by-one?

Depends on. If you enabled Google Backup ("Do you want to backup your data to Google...") before (and after the factory reset), they theoretically should be restored on the first sync. Practically, however, it often seems to fail. So in that case, you had to install them manually. Or, alternatively, login to AppBrain before resetting, and sync with them. Login thereafter and let your list restore. Just in case the Google backup stuff fails.

Guess I'll move those "extra chars" up to the answer itself, as it is a means of "backup your apps".

By "extra chars" I meant, the char limit for comments is stupid.

I noticed. Saw the added chars in the answer? Count them, and count the chars from the corresponding comment as well to compare #-) Never mind, got it :)


text:
How can I decrypt an encrypted SD card (HTC Evo 4G) on a different device?
I encrypted both my phone and SD card upon purchasing my HTC Evo 4g LTE.  Recently the phone died (would get to the login screen and then reboot).
After a factory reset the SD card shows up as damaged.  I've tried mounting it in various ways, but neither the phone nor a computer will attempt to mount the drive - they just ask to format it.
Is there any hope of recovering the contents?

The simple answer is: You Can't
The volume is already encrypted and can only be read as random hex because the required key is stored in your phone in order to decipher it. Unfortunately there is no way for you to recover your sdcard contents because the key on your phone is also lost when you factory reset.
Just reformat it if you still want to use your sdcard.

Do you know of any way to back up the key used for encryption?

I have no idea how. I always use cwm recovery to backup the rom just in case I encrypt an sdcard so I can decrypt it if the ROM gets buggy.


text:
When Flashing a ROM should I back up Google Apps?
My ROM distributor (Unofficial CM10) provides GAPPS as a separate flashable zip file. Will my titanium back'd up Google apps interfere/replace with the GAPPS provided after I restore my backup ?

If it is gmail, then these are in data and titanium fully supports them.
Google play is a system package, and as are many other gapps. You must flash them using the zip provided, but you can use titanium to restore their data, although all the data is backed up online.

Keep in mind to not restore system apps, just their data, when switching ROMs. Also make sure to enable TBs migration feature to avoid trouble.

EVERYTHING should be backed up. You are never enough careful when you do such manipulations.


text:
Reducing bandwidth while using Facebook chat
I live in place where the data charges are extremely high (~0,70€ per MB in Ethiopia, for example.)  If I wish to chat on Facebook, data charges rack up quickly due to the standard Facebook app's bandwidth use: always updating the stream, downloading all of the images and profile pictures, etc.
Is there a way to restrict or minimize bandwidth utilization while using Facebook chat, basically only transmitting the text data?  3rd-party apps would be fine as well.
PS: I already tried to download imo.im from the Google Play market - but this one is not available in Ethiopia.

imo has a direct download link on their Android webpage.  There also seem to be quite a few other apps to try: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=facebook+chat&c=apps


text:
Is it possible to Boot into Safe Mode on an Android Device as a Precautionary Measure If Required?
Is it possible to Boot into Safe Mode on an Android Device, similar to booting up into safe mode on a Windows PC ?
An example being In Windows if you were infected with a virus you may want to immunize it in safe mode ? Is the same scenario likely with the Android OS ?
If for example you experience crashing, or freezing or indeed have battery issues ?
Perhaps it can be resolved in Safe Mode, if it exists ?
It is just something that came to mind and I thought might be worthy of asking !

What do you wish to achieve with "Safe Mode"? On Windows, this merely disables non-essential drivers and services. There aren't too many of those on an embedded system like Android.

If problems exists such as described above

@Chinmay: Safe Mode keeps services from launching at startup. This is very useful when you have a rogue/faulty app that you want to uninstall but it is hard/impossible to do when the service is running.

@AlEverett: Good point. I've never needed anything but recovery mode on Android, but safe mode would have helped when an app b0rked my phone a while ago. I owe the ClockworkMod devs a beer for enabling ADB via recovery.

@Chinmay: Whats ADB?

It's a program that allows you to (among other things) connect to your phone from your PC and get a shell (command prompt). It's part of the Android Software Development Kit (http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html).

@Chinmay: OK fine thx :)

This depends a little on the device and what version of Android you have.
On versions of Android later than 4.1 you can access safe mode by bringing up the power down menu (i.e. hold the power button) and long pressing the "Power off" option. This will bring up a little dialog box that will ask if you want to reboot into safe mode. The addition is noted on the Android web site under "System" changes.
On some older phones - though not all will necessarily support this - there may be a button combination that you can hold at boot to get into safe mode instead. For example, the Galaxy S2 used to allow you to hold down the hard menu button during the boot process to start up in safe mode. Others have used (I believe) holding both volume up and volume down. Check your user manual (or Google) for your specific device to find more information, including whether or not the device supports safe mode at all.
As to what "safe mode" means - it generally disables third party apps and widgets, to help you recover from a bad app install, give you a chance to remove a possibly rogue/malicious app, or simply determine what apps may be causing problems in your system.

What about in terms of Virus infection, quarantine and or eradication does safe mode apply here especially if one does not have a dedicated Anti Virus already installed ?

@Simon: It's probably a good resource, but it might depend somewhat on exactly what the virus was doing. If it was a malicious app (and confined to the application package itself) then you could use safe mode to delete it without giving it the opportunity to launch automatically or anything like that. If it somehow modified your underlying system then you might be best served by re-flashing the OS entirely, and I don't know that safe mode would help much. Most cases: probably a useful tool for removing virus apps.

I was thinking more in terms not within the app itself ?(But then I'm not sure how else the virus could enter except maybe by USB - maybe thats where USB debugging comes into play ? How many apps in the Google Play Store could potentially carry viruses (viri ?) Is there a strong screening process beforehand

@Simon Potentially all could contain viri, as there is no screening process. Google may look at apps if they get loads of flags, but that it is.

Could this be increased by sideloading apps from different sources ?

@Simon: Screening is discussed a bit here Are the apps safe? How can I make my Android more secure?. Many malicious apps do tend to be sideloaded rather than coming from the Play Store.

Per your other comment: if a device was infected via some other means (like USB) then it's hard to say how much help safe mode would provide. It could be fairly minimal, since the OS will still load system services normally as far as I know, just not 3rd party stuff. If the virus managed to infect a system file (on Linux, for example, there are hacks where ssh is replaced by a malicious one that sniffs data) then it may still get loaded/executed.

Interesting....But from experience have you ever seen a virus infection or been asked by someone who has ?

It depends on the device.
Some devices have a safe mode, whereas some do not.
If it does have a safe mode, the combination would most likely be in the instruction manual. On my old LG-GT540, pressing Home & Power booted safe mode.
Remember that this functionality can sometimes be broken when using a custom ROM.

That might be seen as a disadvantage to flashing a custom ROM then ?

@Simon Correct. When I had my LG-GT540, the home & power combi was used for recovery, so safe mode was lost, although I never really used safe mode, as it broke widgets.


text:
Unfortunately, contacts has stopped Galaxy note 1 stock firmware
I'm running stock android version - 4.0.4 with baseband N7000DDLR1.
Received a minor update today in India(14.5MB) which said a performance update.
Everything worked fine after the update. However, my contacts and phone applications have stopped working. When I tried opening any of these apps I get "Unfortunately, contacts has stopped".
I have cleared the cache/data of contacts, contacts storage, phone. I even did a factory reset twice; removed the memory card and tried the same. Problem persists.
PS. I have never rooted / installed custom firmware.
Kindly help.

Came here from a Google search and thought that I would add that I have the same issue with an LG Optimus F3, Android version 4.1.2, software version P65910b. Factory reset does not fix the issue. I have submitted a warranty replacement to get a new phone; hopefully the new one is not affected.

It was some problem related to the motherboard. Samsung guys replaced the board.

This is a firmware issue, and needs to be addressed by the manufacturer.
If you have done a factory reset, then you should contact the manufacturer and tell them that after the latest upgrade, the contact and phone app no longer work.
They should release a new upgrade to fix this issue.

gave it to samsung, and they gave it back - the phone wasn't switching on at all! I have given it again and I hope it isn't a major issue.