text:
Though auto sync is turned off, Andorid 4.1.2 still auto syncs photos in Gallery
WIFI is turned off on my mobile.
A. I had turned off auto sync feature as follows:

Apps > Settings > Accounts & sync > Google > Auto sync is turned off for my email
Apps > Settings > Accounts & sync > E-mail > Auto sync is turned off for my email

B. In Gallery, I had turned off auto sync as follows:

Gallery > Settings > unchecked option for 'Sync on Wi-Fi only'

C. Deleted auto-synced photos in Gallery as follows:

Apps > Setttings > Apps > ALL > Gallery > Clear data and Clear cache

Now, when I visit Gallery I do not see photos auto-synced, but once I turn on WIFI and visit Gallery, it again syncs photos from 'somewhere'. And, shockingly, option as specified in B.1(listed above) is auto checked. The photos which I see are the ones which I had uploaded to my Google+ a/c. Why I say 'somewhere' because, I had deleted all photos and posts which contain photos from my Google+ account. Still, I can see photos appearing when WIFI is turned on.
Please help:

From where does Android sync photos?
Get rid of photos to be auto synced when WIFI is turned on.

Thanks much!
PHONE: LG Optimus L7 II Dual and OS: Android v 4.1.2

Open the  Gooogle+ Photos app > touch the   menu icon/button  > Settings > Auto Backup > Toggle On or Off
To Remove Google+ photos from your gallery

Head to your phone’s settings, and scroll down and tap “Google” under the Accounts subheader.
In here, uncheck “Sync Google Photos” as well as “Sync Picasa Web Albums.”

Once that’s done, you need to clear the application data for your Gallery to reset your albums list.

Head to the application manager in your settings. It could show up as either “Manage apps,” “Application Manager” or “Application Settings.”

Scroll down and tap “Gallery.”
Tap “clear data.”

Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re good to go. Your Gallery will only show the albums that are only on your phone. Much neater. Remember though, if you have Google+ Auto Backup set up for your photos, your backed up photos won’t show up in your gallery anymore, but you can still access them through your Google+ account.
Hope this works if not then please comment!!
Thank You.

Actually, like others you too had assumed one thing which was actual problem - that my 'Auto-sync data' option was checked under Apps > Settings > Accounts & sync which must be a point before your #1. Only then, one can un-check option for synching photos. Anyways, thanks much for your response. Up-voted your answer.

Please let me know if you do not agree with above comment and if I had missed to take a note from your answer to correct the problem. I don't mind to accept your answer.

My brother helped with this link which suggests as follows:

Apps > Settings > Accounts & sync > enable / check 'Auto-sync data' option which I missed to notice.
Apps > Settings > Accounts & sync > Google > Email id(you email id) > un-select 'Picasa Web Albums' option.
If you want to remove already synced photos then, Apps > Setttings > Apps > ALL > Gallery > Clear data and Clear cache

This helped me and hope this might help others too. So, the point that I was missing and even from @Blackhat002 is covered in the link - to enable 'Auto-sync data' option as pointed in #1. Only then, as a next step, one can un-check option to auto-sync photos.  Hope this helps others too. The question still remains - from where does Android sync photos?

Link-only answers are discouraged here.  It would be more helpful if you paraphrased the instructions in your answer.

Thanks for the suggestion, I agree with you. Updated my answer and up-voted your comment.


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what is rooting? Should I upgrade my Xperia U from GB to ICS?
I have an Xperia U[GB] and there are certain apps which do not work on it[device is not rooted shows up everytime I try to open these apps]. So what exactly does it mean by rooted device. Should I root my device? Does it have any negative implications?
Also I still haven't updated it to ICS,since I've been told that Xperia U doesn't perform well with ICS.So should I upgrade it?

The latest Xperia U firmware b.100 is faster.

Rooting” your device means obtaining “superuser” rights and permissions to your Android’s software. With these elevated user privileges, you gain the ability to load custom software (ROM’s), install custom themes, increase performance, increase battery life, and the ability to install software that would otherwise cost extra money (ex: WiFi tethering). Rooting is essentially “hacking” your Android device. In the iPhone world, this would be the equivalent to “Jailbreaking” your phone.
Disadvantages of Rooting
Bricking
The number one reason not to root your device is the potential risk of “bricking” it. As mentioned earlier, “bricking” your device means screwing up your phone software so badly that your phone can no longer function properly and is pretty much as useless as a brick. You would likely need to purchase a new Android device since the manufacturer of your device will void the warranty after any attempts at rooting.
Security
There is an increased risk of unknowingly installing malicious software when you root an Android device. Root access circumvents the security restrictions that are put in place by the Android OS. There isn’t really an effective way to tell just what the application intends to do with that “superuser” power. You are putting a lot of trust into the developer’s hands. In most cases, these applications are open source and the community can take a look at the source code to assess the risk. But, nevertheless, the risk is there. Fortunately, malicious software on rooted devices hasn’t really been a problem as of yet. But I thought it was worth mentioning since this could be a potential risk in the future. I’d recommend installing an Anti-Virus and Security App just to be safe. Lookout Mobile Security seems to be one of the best ones available at the moment
If you want to Root your Xperia U follow this link rooting explained on XDA
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Sony_Xperia_U

Really "bricking" your device by rooting it is a very rare case. And what you describe for "increased security risk" would only affect apps requiring root access. Last, Antivirus stuff is only to be recommended if you like to be scared by false alerts and want your device to be slowed down, sorry. See e.g. Android Antivirus: 6 truths about smartphone malware. Using some "common sense" is much more effective, and doesn't have negative impact on device performance :)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How to know which apk correspond to a shortcut?
My Chinese smartphone VIVO S7i has some shortcuts which I want to remove. Those are: LifeHUB, BeautyHUB, MediaHUB, ReadingHUB and GameHUB.
I could remove the shortcuts with a long press on them. Then, tapping on the cross (x) would remove them.
I would like to remove the app thought, not just the shortcuts. I'm using System App Safe Removal. Unfortunately, I didn't find which app corresponds to those shortcuts.

UPDATE 1:
I also tried openning one of the shorcuts. Then, pushing on the Home button. Next, pushing on the Settings button. On the menu, tap on Settings - More settings - Applications - Running.
Unfortunately, that application is not in that list, so I guess it is closed when I push on the Home button.

I think the device is rooted. And, have you considered the databases on your launcher app to lead you to know which shortcuts belongs to which apps or launches them? First few lines here would give you the idea, although the question is old, so the issue might have been solved by now.

It was not solved but I got a new phone. Your comment will help to other people in the future thanks!

-Close all apps
-Open the app by clicking on the shortcut
-Navigate to multitasking screen
-This will show the currently cached/running apps
-Locate the app name which corresponds to the app opened by the shortcut
-You have now found the app.

What do you mean with "Navigate to multitasking screen". Is it related with what I have written at UPDATE 1?

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


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Keeping important apps alive even on overheat
I recently updated my Samsung Galaxy S4, and it came with some new features and also some new problems. Since the new update I have been getting warnings on my phone telling me it is overheating. The phone also has the ability to kill apps that are using a lot of processing power in order to get the phone to cool down. This has proven to be not only inconvenient, but actually dangerous. On several occasions the app that was closed (which, in truth, likely contributed to its overheating) was Waze. This usually happens on long trips, while i'm going 60mph, forcing me to pull over on the side of a highway just to let my phone cool down so that I can open the app again. I have not gotten into an auto accident yet, but I would much rather not be in that situation to being with. For others, there can be an even greater danger in just getting lost.
Is there a way to put certain apps, such as Waze, or any other navigation app, on a system whitelist so that they don't get shut down mid-use, potentially creating an extremely dangerous situation?

Mine is doing the same thing and the phone was just charging and at 75%.... Do not have Waze? I agree about the danger of the phone blowing up and have serious concerns!

I don't know if this will work in your situation (and I can't test it myself) as in your situation it seems the killing of processes is done for safety reasons and not just to free up memory but it could be worth a try.
The app is called MinFreeManager (requires root) and there is a good guide here. Taken from the link to the guide, here is an overview of what the app will do;
ActivityManagerService.java looks at the 'importance' of running processes; foreground apps, services, content providers etc, and prioritises them for close order in an oom (out of memory) situation. Each process is assigned an oom_adj value. The lower the value, the less likely Android is to close the app when it starts to run out of memory.
These values are managed by Android at runtime so a processes oom value can and will change as it changes state, from foreground, to background to idle etc.
The app can adjust a processes oom_adj values to your own custom values so you can try and manipulate which apps Android will close first and at what stage of low memory on the device.
Like I said, this is just a very basic overview. Follow the link to the guide and you will find all the information you need to give it a go (Could go on for pages if I tried to explain in full detail).

I was hoping for something that didn't require root, but I guess if there is no option like that which comes stock, it has to be rooted.

I do not think it is the app the is using processing power and causing the phone to overheat. The most likely contributer to heat on the phone is the enabling of data, bluetooth and gps. These services require constant processing and 'pings' to maintain connectivity.
Waze and other gps based applications, use both data and location information, and at 60mph, they will be using even more of these, as the location is changing constantly and they need to refresh their maps and update their gps co-ordinates. If you are using a newer version of android (kitkat), you can change the level of GPS accuracy - device only should be fine for Waze, like so:
If your on an older android version (jellybean or below), you can play around with the settings, but I am not sure how that will affect battery. The settings look like this:

Obviously, you should try and remove all other services that are using battery, if possible, turn off bluetooth, data sync, lower display brightness, try not to constant charge the battery (this causes heat, you might only want to charge when battery drops below 15% and then take it off after 15 minutes) and so on. If all else fails, I would try and switch away from Waze. I suspect due to its social nature, it may be using the data connection for more than just sending map data. There are other mapping apps that can cache maps - therefore not requiring an active data connection - a huge battery saver!
If all this fails - I would suggest going to the manufacturer and ask for a new phone, as your battery or phone may be at fault. I use the maps on my phone (nexus 5), but other than slight heating (warm) on long journies - my phone does not shut down google maps or waze.


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Accessing android device via ADB shell with broken touchscreen (can't authenticate)
So, the touchscreen on my Nexus 4 broke this weekend. I have a new device coming in, but in the meantime I need to be able to access the device to use a few different apps and send/receive some SMS messages from it.
I found this guide on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1r2zha/how_i_managed_to_use_my_android_device_with_a/
It's not exactly simple, but it should work.
Unfortunately, I discovered that in order to use ADB shell commands, a pop-up window should appear on the phone to allow/disallow USB debugging. (USB debugging is enabled already, but there appears to be an additional 'authentication' step)
Unfortunately, I can't use the phone's touchscreen, so I can't unlock it or tap the notification that will allow me to authenticate the phone.
Is there a way I can get around that authentication step?
The device is unlocked and rooted.

possible duplicate of Broken screen while debug mode was disabled. How can I re-enable adb?

@GAThrawn No, that question is about the opposite problem, where touches work fine but the screen doesn't display anything. In this case, the screen displays, but doesn't respond to touches.

Unfortunately, no there isn't. You just put your phone in a loop. You might just have to wait for your new phone or have your old one refurbished.

I figured this out on my own. I solved this by installing Airdroid using an OTG USB adapter and a wired mouse. I then used the airmirror capability of the software to control a virtual mouse on the device. I do have root on the device, this may be significant to the operation of Airmirror. I could then accept the debug confirmation on the screen and complete the backups I wanted to do.

I'm sure this is not exactly the answer you're looking for, but this could solve your problem:
If your Nexus works fine otherwise, why don't you just plug a mouse and keyboard (via USB OTG or Bluetooth) and pretend your Nexus does not have touch screen?
Anything, including allowing USB debugging would work as the mouse cursor is even usable when your phone is locked.

The stock Nexus 4 doesn't support USB OTG. You need some hacks to enable part of it.

Worked perfectly for me! In my case I am running Lineage with the TWRP recovery, I'm not sure whether my device natively supports a mouse and keyboard in the stock ROM but it did the job in my case!

Well with the boot loader unlocked you can temporarily boot up into recovery by using fastboot:
fastboot boot recovery-clockwork-6.0.4.7-mako.img

This will then give you adb access to your device to get files off etc. The adb debug mode could then be turned on by editing a settings file and copying in the crypto keys generated by adb on the host computer. I've done the latter before but not the former, which could be an issue.
Update - To reboot into fastboot mode do:
To get into fastboot mode power off the phone, if nothing else a very long press on the phone should work if all else fails (I don't want to confirm this on mine and crash it!). Then power on holding down the volume down key and the power key together. If you can't see the display (I gather you can but you can't use the touch screen) then hold the buttons down for about five seconds and it should vibrate to confirm. Then use the above command to load custom recovery and gain adb access. This all assumes that the boot loader is unlocked, as stated above.

I did something a little boring, but it helped me ... Since I wanted to use the smartphone as a webcam, but as you may already guess, the screen is broken.
So I connected the smartphone to the computer, when the message was displayed on the screen, I marked the location for yes and with one of those automatic click apps, I selected the location and put a delay of a few seconds. I started the application and connected to the computer, so after a few seconds he clicked yes and I was allowed to do what I needed.
NOTE: To install and configure the auto click application, I used an OTG cable with a mouse.
Sorry for my English...

I saw this on a different thread, after searching online for hours and hours....seemed to help a few out so I am re-posting here...

"This just happened to me!
  Phone works but screen and LCD broken and unresponsive. I had a screen lock too so what I did was I took off the back plate, removed the battery, and unscrewed the six screws to uncover the PCB board under the back housing. Then I carefully disconnected all the tiny ribbon connectors.
I waited a minute just to be superstitious and then reconnected all the ribbon connectors and put everything back to how it was. Then I downloaded Kies from the Samsung website, pluged my phone into a computer via USB and was able to view all my files!
Something about disconnecting the PCB board resets the default settings to factory state but doesn't delete any data at all. Good luck and I hope this helps someone out there."

Source: Android Central

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


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Unable to boot phone after deleting folders in SD storage
Am using a Samsung galaxy duos. I recently deleted everything from my sd card/usb storage and when I restarted my phone, it just keeps displaying the Samsung start screen but it doesn't boot up.
please help,need advice.

First of all try booting it into recovery mode.
To enter recovery mode turn the device off and hold VOL UP, VOL DOWN, HOME and POWER. When the phone vibrates let go of the buttons and it should boot into recovery mode.
Now using the volume keys to move up and down the list and the power button to select, go to wipe data/factory reset. Select yes. Wait for it to reset. Now select reboot system now.
If you still get stuck on the splash screen you will probably have to re-flash the firmware using ODIN. There are plenty of guides on YouTube and XDA for using ODIN to re-flash firmware, just watch any tutorial but use the firmware for your device, which you can get here http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/. Simply search for your device (S7562) and download the firmware for your country.
I would tell you how to use ODIN but I haven't used it for quite a while but it is pretty simple, all you really do is press a button, good luck.


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Unassociate an app from a file extension?
As part of a beta test for my company's app, I've sent a link to an APK for the users to download. However, when a user has the Winzip app installed, instead of being prompted on whether they want to install the APK, they are instead redirected to the Winzip app (which of course has no options to install the APK). Is there any way to tell the Android OS that I don't want it to launch the Winzip app if I download an APK file, or is the only solution to uninstall the app?

Goto Settings>Apps>Options>Reset App Preferences

This as well doesn't solve it.

Which app is it?

It's linked in the original question, the Winzip app. It doesn't really matter, the app is terrible and most people have it by mistake, so uninstalling it isn't a problem for them.

Oh yeah, sorry i missed it.


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Do a Google voice search with Belkin CarAudio Connect Bluetooth on a Sony Xperia
I have a non-rooted Sony Xperia running Android 4.3 and I have recently have bought a Belkin CarAudio Connect AUX with Bluetooth. It connects fine and it all works however it left me wanting more. Currently pressing the button on the CarAudio Connect pauses and plays the audio, a feature that I wish to keep. However, I was hoping that a double tab or a long press can do a Google voice search so I can call or text people (or find out important information like the height of the Eiffel Tower) while driving.
How would I set this up? I have tried 'Bluetooth Launch' from the Play store but it didn't do anything and I couldn't find any similar apps. I was thinking a Tasker task or a similar app but I don't know how to set it up or what action to look for.
Please help.

This can be done using tasker and the AutoVoice Addon. From the addon's description:

Control your Android device with your voice, now even via your Bluetooth headset! You can even redirect all audio to your Bluetooth headset and also react to your Bluetooth headset button and do whatever action you want with it in Tasker.

Basically, you create a new profile in Tasker to activate AutoVoice (e.g. shaking the device, pressing the camera button, using a shortcut to the given task, whatever), which then acts on keywords even by regular expression match (there's also a "permanent listening mode" which you could enable on conditions like "power plugged in plus Bluetooth connected to car"). There are plenty of ways to realize different things with it, a full how-to would go much beyond the scope of this site :) You can even have AutoVoice triggering Google Now, if you like.
To go deeper into this topic, let me give you some links:

How to use Google Now to Trigger Tasker Tasks - YouTube
[TUTORIAL] Merge Xposed, Tasker, Autovoice and Google Now to use phone only by voice
AutoVoice Beginner: Setting Up Voice Recognition - YouTube
Voice Control Your Phone with Tasker and AutoVoice - XDA developer TV

For more, simply google for "autovoice howto" :)

Thanks for the answer however it probably a bit more complex than I was aiming for. I was more hoping for 'When bluetooth button is pressed then launch Google Now' instead of writing all my own commands. Saying that I found that there is a long press function on my hands free just that I have to release to make it activate (I was pressing so long waiting for something to happen but it only turned off) and I got it to activate Google Now, now just have a problem that behind the lock screen it only allows calls and no other commands.

Well, basically it is that (just setting up one task to have AutoVoice launching GoogleNow, and than voice-interact with GoogleNow) – everything else was just to "show off what's possible". As for the lockscreen issue, I would again argue with Tasker: "When docked → Disable Lockscreen" (that's part of my "Nightstand Mode").


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How do I get my Samsung Note 3 to be recognized by my PC?
When I plug my phone into my PC (which is running Windows 7 OS) only charging takes place. When I view my phone in Device Manager, it says that Samsung Android files are not installed. But I installed those and also tried with Samsung Kies 3 but it's still not getting connected.

First, what you want to do ? Transfer files to the phone or make something with ADB and stuff.
Good that you have Kies 3 installed.
If transfer files. Check this: when you connect the phone there is a popup on the upper bar, sometimes you need to click it and change it to 'transfer files' - then the phone will go into MTP mode which allows you to view it in "My computer"
If make something with ADB: first try to install maybe Naked Drivers (it worked for me note 1 on win7):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/development/adb-fb-apx-driver-universal-naked-t2513339
, then enable debug in settings. When debug is enabled when u connect the phone it should ask for driver.
Also in bootloader and fastboot there is another driver needed but it sgould be in Naked or Kies drivers, also Android SDK have drivers.

Trying turning phone off, take battery out. Wait 15 seconds.  Reinsert battery, turn on.  Then try connecting to PC again.  Hopefully it'll recognise the device when you do this.

You have to install the drivers for your phone. Go to the Samsung support site, which should let you download a driver for your PC that will recognize your phone.
If that does not work, scroll down your menu bar on your phone then click USB (phone should recognize it, if plugged in) then click media transfer. You can choose USB 3.0 I believe.

related: Google OEM USB Drivers List

My Windows10 Toshiba Kira notebook had ignored my USB connected Samsung Note3 for a long time. After many attempts I solved this as follows.
I noticed my phone was recognised in "Printers and Devices" but had an error because of a metered (wireless) connection (because I needed to control usage when hotspotting), and one of the properties suggested it was looking for Bluetooth. I may have deleted this device (as I recall I didnt), but I removed and inserted the USB cable a couple of times before/during/after this whole process.
I also enabled Developer mode several times with USB debugging finally toggled OFF, then turned OFF the wireless hotsopt on the Note3. At this point, after reconnecting the USB cable I got half of an audio connection acknowledgement.
I disconnected/reconnected again and finally finally finally got the full audio connection sound!!!
I then coerced the network connection in Windows Explorer by typing in the already configured \PhoneNetworkName into the location. I made the network private and discoverable when I got the pop-up, then it all worked.
The Phone also appeared in Device Manager under Portable Devices and I had a notification "Connected as a media device" on the phone. Pressing this took me to the "USB PC connection" App offering to connect as Media device(MTP) and/or Camera(PTP) - of course MTP was already checked. This App is not found by a search in phone "Settings". I think if you could find out how to bring this App up manually it would probably solve the issue, because this setting (MTP) is all I ever had to do before with my Galaxy S2, and Ericsson M750.
Had all of the symptoms described by others, nothing else worked.
Turned on hotspotting and the connection still works, but turning it off while USB connected might have triggered something????
So, good luck. I hope this helps.


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Settings app: 'Unfortunately, Settings has stopped.'
I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Cyanogenmod 11 11-20140225-SNAPSHOT-InstallerXNPQ09P-maguro Android 4.4.2 KitKat with CWM 6.0.4.7. It's a stable installer build.
For a while now I have been getting been getting a 'Unfortunately, Settings has stopped.' error, when trying to simply open Settings from the home screen or application drawer.
It also happens if I try to run the app (com.android.settings) in other ways such as opening a third-party keyboard's settings (which tries to open 'Language & input' within the Settings app).
I have tried the following things, to no avail:

Wipe Dalvik cache in CWM
'wipe cache partition' in CWM
Fix permissions using the 'ROM manager' app
Did 'Clear data' for the Settings app (by dragging it to 'App info' on home screen)
Installed AROMA Filemanager in CWM, and, not finding anything to delete in /data/data/com.android.settings/cache/, but deleting /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/CMStats.xml
Botting into safe mode, where Settings app STILL crashes.

I will note that the Settings app still sits in the multitasking list, but when you try to open it from there it still gives the same crash error.
I'd like to try and avoid a factory reset if possible, so are there any steps I could try further before an entire factory reset?
Could it be having selected ART mode that eventually mucked up Settings somehow? If so perhaps I could turn it off manually via Terminal/adb and then reset Dalvik again or something?
Whatever it is, what troubleshooting steps could be done in addition to the ones above?

Are there any hints what goes wrong in logcat?

I had the same problem where settings would keep on crashing. I just got the snapshot today and it did the same thing. After experimenting I fixed it by going in the app drawer and holding on setting, opening its app info, and clearing data. It now opens and works well. I hope this helps.

Thanks, I had flashed a rom(CM11) without cleaning data(old rom slimfox), and this worked for me, before this settings was crashing in developer options

Going into the app info may also trigger the crash.  One possible way to avoid that, is to use adb:
 adb shell pm clear com.android.settings

Now clearing the app data may not be enough.  I had to do, as root:
 rm -fR /data/data/com.android.settings

authors: Олег Котенко


text:
Is it always possible to reboot the phone without removing the battery?
I've had two Android phone up til now (HTC Wildfire and SGS2). Sometimes they crashed and the only way to get them restart was to remove the battery. Now I'm thinking about buying a Sony Z1 Compact. Removing the battery is no longer something you can do without tools, and looking at youtube videos I think I will never do this.
Now I'm wondering - in those cases where a phone does not react anymore, how can you reboot the phone if you cannot remove the battery? Waiting until the batter is dead is one option, but that could take a day or longer, and is no option either. Or was I too impatient and is it just a matter of waiting?
In short: Is it always possible to reboot the phone without removing the battery?
There are many phones out there with a fixed battery, so I'm not the first with this problem. What are your experiences?

I'd check whether the device has a reset hole, which usually serves exact this purpose on devices with non-removable batteries. Had to apply that "fix" a few times on one of my tabbies already ;)

Thanks @Izzy, you may make that an answer! See http://sony-xperia.mobi/eng/sony-xperia-z1-compact/631-sony-xperia-z1-compact-hard-reset-button.html

As pointed out by my other answer, and confirmed by the OP for the given device with reference to a blog article on the Z1, most devices with non-removable batteries have other means to "disconnect from power", usually "reset buttons" or "reset holes" to be poked with a pen or similar object. This should remedy in situations where the device freezes in a way not even the power button works. But it still leaves the disadvantage of not being able to "switch" the battery to a backup should you e.g. run out of power, of course.

If the device freezes, usually you can long press the power button. Depending on the configuration of the device, it will either turn the device off completely (e.g. Nexus 7, HTC Butterfly S) or make the device do a restart.

Nexus 5 reboots after 10 sec, in case anyone was wondering how long "long" actually is.

The answer to your original question is no.  Sometimes, if a device DOES have an easily removable battery, it will not have a hardware reset option.
You could build an Android device that had no other option to reset besides a battery pull. The manufacturer has to specifically build some form of external reset.  If the software is completely locked up then it doesn't matter what options are built into the Android OS.
Usually, the manufacturer is smart enough to include a hard reset option if the battery is not easily removable.  If you play the generic tablet lottery, however, you might be lucky enough to find one that didn't.


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Google Drive does not detect internet connection
Yesterday I have updated Google Drive and installed Sheets. Since that time I am unable to open the spreadsheets I have created earlier.
When I try to open a sheet, I get Unable to access document. Please make sure that you are connected to the internet. I am obviously connected, Firefox works, I can even open documents, just not sheets.
If I try to set offline access to these sheets, they keep downloading, just like when I have no internet connection.
Anyone else has this problem, or even better, a solution? I have tried clearing the cache of Drive an Sheets, did not help.
I have a rooted Nexus 4 with 4.4.2

You can access your Drive spreadsheets from within Sheets once logged in.

Logged into what? I need to have an account to even download Sheets from google play, so how much more logged in can I be?

No additional login is required for Sheets. It already uses Google Auth. @András, this sound a little silly, but have you attempted uninstalling+reinstalling and/or clearing the data cache from both Sheets and Drive?

@András Into Sheets, but you don't need to do that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Used to have the same problem.
In my case, google drive was trying to open the document using Sheets app, but the Sheets app was allowed to access documents only via WiFi connection. Go to Sheets/Setings and uncheck "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox. Be aware, that similar "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox is also in Drive app, but this affects only Drive app, not the Sheets app.

I just upgraded google drive and it worked.


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Number not display while incoming call
I have a Htc Desire SV Dual SIM mobile. Today when I got call then I surprised that it is not showing name or number on display.
I tried changing settings, changed the wallpaper but still this problem persist.
You can see in the below screenshot which I captured at the time of incoming call. Here only two button option is there Decline and Accept.


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Samsung Galaxy S2 vibration
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and when i am on the phone with someone and i get a text message while i am in a call, is it normal for my phone to not vibrate and alert me of a msg?


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How to upgrade to ice-cream sandwish
Can i upgrade my gingerbread android (v 2.3.6) to icecream sandwish android (v 4.0)

It depends on the device if you want the official install but with a lot of devices you will be able to install a custom ROM running ICS.
To check for the official upgrade go to settings -> about phone (or something similar) -> phone update/update software (or something similar).
For a custom ROM have a look on XDA developers, I would give more information if I knew which device you were speaking of.

well thanks but, could you show me or email me the way to install a custom  ROM running ICS please?

What device are you using?

Hisense U1+  but it got only 140 mb system storage and only 8 gb on sd card

Listen,how can i contact u ?
do u have Twitter or Facebook?

I assume the phone isn't rooted?

Nope,its not but i should so i can replace a custom ROm running ICS cuz i dont want to install the whole software.

This was the best I could find on rooting it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIUsijYhz6s

Well,thanks alot but could u please leave me an adress i could contact u with ,just in case??


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Copy contacts from Google to SIM card
I have recently got my SIM card replaced, and lost all contacts as a result. I was wondering if there is a way to copy them from Google Contacts to the SIM card. It would type them one by one but it seems like a waste of time. Surprisingly, though, I haven't been able to find an easy way to do it. Is there a way to dump contacts from the google backup to the SIM card?

I'm confused. If you have your contacts in your Google account already, how did you lose them? Simply signing into your Google account and enabling sync should download your contacts regardless of the SIM card.  Also, even if you manage to copy from cloud to SIM, the same situation will repeat next time you need to replace the SIM card.

Yes, I can simply download the contacts to the phone, but if I want to use the SIM in another phone (an iOS or a dumb phone) I can't do that. I just wanted a way to copy those to the SIM memory.

You can export your Gmail Contacts list into a .csv file prior to
  importing them into FullContact (to have a backup) using these steps:

Sign in to Gmail.
Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
From the More actions drop-down menu, select Export.... Choose
whether to export all contacts or only one group.
Select the format in which you'd like to export your contacts'
information. Please note, some of these formats can lose some
contact information.

To transfer contacts between Google accounts, use the Google CSV
format. This is the recommended way to back up your Google Contacts.
To transfer contacts to Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, or various
other apps, use the Outlook CSV format.
To transfer contacts to Apple Address Book, use the vCard format.

Click Export. Choose Save to Disk then click OK. Select a location to save your file, and click OK.

You probably want the vcard format. Then use a contacts app that supports vcard importing. When importing it will ask you where to save the information (choose SIM). Note SIM cards can't hold many contacts.


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Remove camera icon from kitkat lock screen?
I have a Droid Razr Maxx HD that just got an OTA update to KitKat. I am wondering if there is a way to remove the camera icon from the lock screen and disable the right-to-left swipe to enable the camera.
I've looked and haven't seen any settings for this... if one even exists.

You can use a custom lock screen. Just pick the one that you like

Accepted since it looks like you can't do anything to turn it off on the stock one.

The Lockscreen Policy app can disable the camera or other widgets from your lock screen.


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Is it possible to change the details of my mobile that my carrier sees?
Here is an interesting one. I have a mobile phone that I use daily. I have a PAYG package that allows unlimited Data with it.
They have just changed their policy that now sees my particular mobile phone as a Tablet. With that they have blocked my Data use via the Sim for this mobile only!
What I am interested in is if there is a way to make my mobile look like another model of mobile to my carrier.
Like this.....
My mobile is a Samsung Galaxy P1000 - I want it to look like a Samsung Galaxy S3 to my network... Hope that makes sense..
I have used this phone for 14 months every day without problems and spoken to my network provider at length regarding the problem. They said if the SIM is used in any other Smartphone it will work, just not mine!!
Look forward to your answers on the matter..

Did you ask how they identified you phone as a tablet? By it's IMEI perhaps? And by the way, it is a tablet with voice call functions, not a phone.

This wouldn't be possible unless your phone is rooted (which is not mentioned). If you have root access, there are apps (Market Helper) and manual methods to change which device is reported to Google Play Store. This might not work if the device is reported based on IMEI or something else, but might be worth a try at least.

Regardless as what it is classed as I was advised by 3 that is would be prefectly fine to use on the package i was using, they have only recently changed their attitude.

@onik you cannot classify the device as a tablet or a phone. It has enough characteristics of both to be on the midpoint. Specially since the device only runs up to gingerbread (official roms).

@Mindwin I can't but the manufacturer can, which is why the device is known as Galaxy Tab, and is marketed as a tablet. User opinions can differ, but if a device is created, branded, marketed and distributed as a tablet, I'd say that user opinions can't sway the carrier.

Your TL;DR; answer is: NO.

Your carrier will always see the IMEI code of the phone. It is like a MAC address on a LAN.
Spoofing or changing the IMEI of a device is Illegal.
Since in S.E. we won't go beyond the law, nobody is changing the IMEI.
You can check the model and status of any device by its IMEI, in this link here.
The P1000 sits on the boundary between a phone and a tablet (Humpty Dum-P1000 sitting on a wall...).
There are some like @onik♦ or your carrier that will see it as a tablet, but screen size (and there are several 7 inch phones out there) is hardly enough to make a device a tablet...
P1000 runs only up to 2.3 gingerbread (stock) - Several apps behave as phone only because of that. It makes calls and messaging, so I call a mistrial on this whole tablet or phone thing.
We are specifically talking of the P1000 here. The other generations of the Galaxy Tab series can fall into the tablet side of the wall, but the P1000? no.
Good luck convincing your carrier of either. My money is on them telling you to suck it (as bad as it sounds).


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App to send group MMS without reply all
I am looking for an app that can send a text to multiple recipients without them being able to respond back to all the other recipients. And also not see who else received the message. Similar to sending out an email with BCC recipients.

Eduardo you are right, there is already a way to do this with the standard Messaging app. You have to disable the "Group messaging" setting in the Messaging app. Not sure if this setting is available on all versions of Android but I have v4.4.2

SMS and MMS are 1 to 1 messages. Doing what you want it's standard. Just send the message using the standard SMS client. It's lets you send to multiple recipients, but it sends a individual message to each.


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How can I install pure android and get rid of bloatware?
I am new here and already posted question on one of the google group,
I am curious to know few things regarding android OS.
I have Micromax Canvas HD 116 with Android 4.2.2 installed on it. What I hate is the unnecessary software offered by them, which is not occupying only space but also RAM and affecting speed of device. I just want to get rid of those bloatwares somehow.. I know if I follow some good rooting procedure, I can achieve it.. but is there any way, or official way so that I can manually re-install original pure android OS in my device.
I would be very much obliged if someone would provide some good resource about it.. and which is applicable to any device.
Thanks

If you dont want to root your device, you can disable the app from settings which stop them from running.

any other way..? just want to get rid of those nasty apps.. and if possible want to install pure android os

If you disable the app they will be no longer visible in your app drawer and they wont run on background which is pretty much what you needed I guess

@sameer ohh.. need to check

Go to settings->apps->all, click on the app you need to disable you will see a disable button.

There's no official way to install a "pure Android" ROM: the only official ROM is that provided by the manufacturer.
As sameer says in the comments, you can disable bloatware apps from the settings, with almost the same effect as uninstalling them.
If you want to start from a clean slate, you should look for an AOSP-based custom (unofficial) ROM. Although they aren't always as reliable as the manufacturer's ROM, because they're made by third-party volunteers, for the more popular devices with better manufacturer support they can be very reliable and even better tuned than the original ROM. Start your search at Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

It's worth noting that the warning about removing/disabling system apps on manufacturer-altered UIs should be taken even more seriously than on "vanilla" Android.  Disabling a useless app can have unintended consequences on other, seemingly unrelated areas of the firmware.


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Why does the Play Store need access to NFC?
In xPrivacy, I can see that the Play Store asks for getNfcAdapter.
What does it need it for?

The Play Store app has two main features regarding NFC, both of which require the NFC permission.

It registers intent filters such that when you scan an NFC tag with a market:// link or a link to play.google.com, you get the Play Store app instead of a browser, the same way you would when you click such a link. This doesn't require calling the getNfcAdapter function, but it does use the same permission.
It uses Android Beam. If you look at an app's page in the Play Store app, then bring another Android device to NFC range, you can send that app link to the other device.

[...]If it finds an AAR, it starts the application based on the package name inside the AAR. If the application is not present on the device, Google Play is launched to download the application.
  from:http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/nfc.html#aar

So for example, Stores and companys can use a NFC tag to make it easy to install their APPS when you put your mobile on it and so on..
-The second and more likely possibility is that the Google Play Store checks if you can download compatible NFC Apps. The same way as it checks your Android Version.
Here is a dev sight on it:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20063853/disable-nfc-compatibility-check-in-android-manifest

The functionality you describe is part of Android itself, not the Play Store app. The Play Store app isn't responsible for launching apps from AAR in tags.

Added second possibility...

Your second guess doesn't make much sense. It would be far slower to check that way than to simply look in the system properties, like it does for all other hardware features. After all, it doesn't ask for the Bluetooth permission so it can tell whether your phone is compatible with Bluetooth apps.

Your first guess isn't even conclusive: if Google Play is launched AFTER tag evaluation, why would it itself need NFC capabilities for that? Counter-example: Tasker can e.g. launch an app when it detects you are in a certain location. Would the launched app require location access for that? No. Sorry to say so: but there's nothing left from your answer that would make any sense.


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using galaxy tab as a bluetooth device for mobile
i've been trying to find a way to allow all my notifications and phone calls from my phone ( galaxy s3 or galaxy s5) to go through a galaxy tablet, as i'm wanting to replace my car stereo ( honda civic 2007)  with the tablet and i'm wanting to be able to control my phone from the tablet and stream music from the phone. the closest thing i can think of that does this is the galaxy gear watch so can we put the capabilities of the gear in the tab.
below is a list of things i wish to have.

Hands free
music sync or transfer
control music
allow the use of my data from my phone ( i know i can tether but i just thought i would mention it
make calls
view contacts from phone
use maps

I really do think this is possible, so if anyone has any thoughts if this is possible then please help me out.

You'll have to understand, that Bluetooth is based on a master-slave structure, and so are it's drivers and protocol stack.
Most of operations you have specified use existing Bluetooth protocols and profiles:

hands free => HFP
music streaming => A2DP
music control => AVRCP
tethering => BNEP
making calls = TCP
contact viewing => PBA

The problem is, the tablet can act as a master for these protocols, but is missing the stack and drivers for slave functionality. You can, for example, connect the tablet (master) to a headset (slave) over HFP, but you can't use the tablet as a headset.
Until someone develops a more complete Bluetooth stack for Android, which includes both master and slave profiles, you can't do this over Bluetooth.


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temporary root for HTC Desire HD
I would have a temporary (permanent not required) root to install few apps which need root in my HTC desire HD with Android 2.3.5. I have no idea status of S-OFF , I suppose is enabled.
Is there any solution which works without dowgrading from 2.3.5 and without losing data or formatting my SD card (something similar to Visionary which worked with Froyo only) ?
Other information I know about my phone
ACE PVT SHIP S-ON RL , HBOOT-2.00.0027  , MICROP-0438 , RADIO-26.14.0.28_M ,
eMMC-boot  , sep 7 2011,19:06:24
Paid support offer
My promise/NO JOKE : I can offer $25.00 via paypal for anyone offering me a WORKING solution. Also If you have a way to have permament root in a similar way (without dowgrading Android, WITHOUT losing data , WITHOUT formatting my SD card, WITHOUT backup and restore data) I can offer $50.00 via paypal.
Thank you
Graziano

Is your bootloader unlocked?

I suppose no, how can I know it ?

I have this data , if it can help
ACE PVT SHIP S-ON RL , HBOOT-2.00.0027 , MICROP-0438 , RADIO-26.14.0.28_M , eMMC-boot , sep 7 2011,19:06:24

Usually, the bootloader is locked by default. If you didn't unlock it sometimes via htcdev.com, it is most likely locked. In this case, I can't guide you if you don't want to loose data, because of security the bootloader-unlock-procedere will perform a factory reset on the phone. Maybe there is another way, I don't know.

The htcdev.com procedure requires losing data , which I would avoid. BTW I don't understand why temproot was available in froyo and why it's no more possible in 2.3.5 .

there is an app which claims to be able to do what I am asking, could it be true ?  http://batakang.com/apps.php

none of these three apps in the link is nearly the one you're looking for. There is one which unroots everything and two which need an already rooted device.


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SSH login disconnect with Operation not permitted [preauth]
I have SSH server running on an Android phone under GNURoot app with image file for wheezy. The sshd -d on the phone says:
Server listening on port 2233
and after I try to login the connection established and then I get:
chroot(/var/run/sshd)" Operation not permitted [preauth]
do_cleanup [preauth]
do_cleanup
Killing privsep child 18597
The ssh client on my computer says:
Read from socket failed: Connection reset by peer
Anybody has any idea what went wrong?

Do you have correct permission on user root directory?

Do you have /system/xbin/ash ?

I did an apt-get install ash and now I have /bin/ash. The root user's directoy is /home/ and the permissions on it drwxr-xr-x owner is root:root. And if I try to login to this linux running on the phone the ssh client says: Connection closed by 192.168.0.12.

Use dropbear instead.
apt-get install dropbear
I cannot find any way to avoid chroot error, so I suggest you another ssh server. It works well. :-)

Apache2 has nothing to do with SSH.

@salivan You are correct. But the main point is - in my opinion - GNURoot not running as root, so listening port not works well.

OP has port 2233 open, no root needed.

Try my solution.

@salivan ash is installed into /bin/ (debian rootfs), so I did ln -s /bin/ash /bin/busybox instead. But nothing changed. :-(

Maybe I forgot ln syntax, but symlink is: /system/xbin/ash and location of ash is  /system/bin/busybox

In other words, /system/xbin/ash needs to exist! And it should be pointing to ash, via busybox or whatever. (for me busybox way worked).

Try ln -s /system/bin/busybox /system/xbin/ash

@salivan ash works well in android and debian just typed ash. Not solved. GNURoot makes a virtual root at /data/data/champion.gnuroot/app_install/roots/wheezy/, so anything in /system/ may not affects to debian.

There are many other Android server apps that are listening on a port larger than 1024 and I'm able to connect to them with a client from laptop. Many webservers, ssh servers, ftp servers. They work without any problem. Why this doesn't? I tryed to create symlink, but I got /bin/ln: failed to create symbolic link '/system/xbin/ash': Read-only file system. And there is no file in that directory called busybox.

@Janos /system/ remount must be root. Try this before: su; mount -o rw,remount /system

Dunno why this was downvoted. @salivan's comment is completely unrelated.

@Mark check the edit history of OQ. my comments was 100% relevant to the original answer. it was down voted because at the time answer made no sense. After comments and down vote he changed answer.

Ahh, I mean answer, not comment

Please do:
su
ln -s /system/bin/busybox /system/xbin/ash

You are getting that error because there is no shell for user root to use.

/bin/ln: failed to create symboic link /system/xbin/ash: Read only filesystem.
The login shell for the root user is /bin/bash and this shell exists.

You can get past the chroot by setting UsePrivilegeSeparation=no in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, but both openssh and dropbear fail currently on my phone on the latest GNURoot Debian.
They fail with access denied from openpty, so it's a proot bug (and probably not easy to fix.)

After setting UsePrivilegeSeparation=no, I was getting password login failure.
But I was able to work around it by adding my public key for key-based login (safer anyway).


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4.4 Update (Sprint Galaxy S3) disabled pattern lock, can i reenable?
This morning I applied the 4.4 update on my Galaxy S3 (Sprint). I noticed that I can no longer use a pattern lock. The message: "Turned off by administrator, encryption policy or credential storage" is shown for Pattern, Swipe, Face unlock, Face and voice, and None.
I thought that this might be related to my work email, which I get on my phone and is exchange, but i removed all device administrators and nothing changed.
How do I re-enable pattern lock?

Go to Settings
Select Security
Under Credential Storage select 'Clear Credentials'


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Samsung S3 Clone "Not registered on network" error
I have a clone S3 which our local Samsung outlet gave to developers in my group. Wireless and all other functions seem to work but when I put in a sim card it does not register and gives the error "Not registerd on network". Searching for the network manually finds the network but can still not register on it.Azira Patch app says I have no root permissions. Superuser gives and error when I try to install. These are the only solutions I have found so far.Also the clone S3 have no physical button for menu rather it shows up on the home screen and I cannot get into download mode. Details for the phone are as follows:
Model number: GT-I9300Android version:4.0.3 Baseband version: I9300XXLB7Kernel version:3.0.15-154884-userBuild number:IML74K.I9300XXALB7


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How do I get my wallpaper to stop moving?
I just changed my background on my home screen on my Galaxy S4 and every time I scroll to a different page the picture moves. How do I get this to stop?

According to Nicole, 3rd-party launcher Apex Launcher is installed.

If you are using Apex launcher, I remember that you can disable scrolling wallpaper in Apex settings, just try to find this option yourself. FYI: Touchwiz launcher doesn't have scrolling wallpaper from Jelly Bean up.

If you have Apex Launcher the follow the below settings,
Open Apex Launcher > Home screen settings > Wallpaper Mode > Single Screen(non-scrolling)

Apex Wallpaper Mode Screenshot (Click to enlarge)
The above settings will not scroll if you have/swipe multiple home screen enabled and the wallpaper will be fixed into one screen and not zoomed and hence will be displayed in single screen as the name says.

No app needed. Just choose multi picture as wallpaper and add only 1 photo. Crop and enjoy your non moving wallpaper.
KitKat 4.4.2, LG G3. Stock.

I use wallpaper Wallpaper Wizardrii™ from Google Play Store which exactly matches your requirement. You can find details in the app's wiki.

How does it do that? Can you provide any link? I couldn't find any app named "wallpaper wizardii" on Play – but more than 100 apps turning up on a search for "wallpaper wizard". So as it currently stands, without the link this cannot be considered a (useful) answer, sorry.

Sorry  for the wrong app name i have updated my post with playstore link

Thanks! I've just improved the formatting a little. Still, the answer falls into the category "link only". Could you add some more details on the app – maybe an abstract of the features, especially those addressing the OPs issue? Thanks in advance!


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Install older version of apk on to newer installed version or root SH-06E 1.00.08
Is it possible to install an older version of an app (via .apk), when a newer version is already installed on the device – without rooting and patching system with Lucky Patcher or previously uninstalling the newer version?
Some background
This may be a weird question. I'm having the situation that I want to root Sharp SH-06E firmware 1.00.08, as described in this blog post.
Firmware newer than 1.00.07 has new root protection. This new root protection involved preventing installation of hacked VpnFaker.apk to data partition. Hacked VpnFaker is required for rooting process. The blog says that root is possible if VpnFaker is already installed (used to root on firmware older than 1.00.08), but VpnFaker in data partition on my phone is removed during firmware update. (I was on 1.00.01, root, then unroot to update firmware)
Sharp has a lot of root protection, even on firmware older than 1.00.08, the rooting process uses a workaround that mounts system image file in data partition on boot instead of directly writing file to system partition.
VpnFaker is indeed VpnDialogs of Android System 4.0.4, while newer version installed in system partition is version 4.2.2-1.00.08.
Final question
So, is there a way to sign 4.0.4 VpnFaker to have the same signature as 4.2.2 VpnDialogs. Here is the link to the files.

Your ending question differs in a little but significant point from your introductionary question. But let's go step by step:
Sure it's possible to install an older version of an app over an already installed newer version. For a user app:

make sure you've permitted installation from unknown-sources (see its tag-wiki for details)
open/launch the .apk file using a file manager, web browser, or similar
the package installer should fire, asking you if you want to replace the installed app by this "older version".

But be aware that though installation most likely succeeds, the app might experience problems if the newer version e.g. had updated the structure of its database (I had this only once yet, and the affected app just force-closed when trying to start it). If in such a case you insist on using the old version, the only way to make it work is to clear its cache and data.

Now to your final question. This is not just about installing an older version, but about signing it. Yes, that can be done as well. You've simply got to ask the developer of the original app to give you his signing key. Trouble is, his answer will (and should) be "no". Alternatively, you might give him the files and ask him to sign them with his key. Assuming it's the manufacturer's company behind it, the expected answer again is a "no", though.

So your real question rather reads:

I've got an app already installed on my device. Is it possible to install a different (older) version of it which has a different signature – without rooting and patching system with Lucky Patcher or previously uninstalling the newer version?

The answer is: No, that's not possible:

Signature check will fail, so you'd have to uninstall the app first when using the "normal approach" as shown above
Overriding this signature check without root IMHO is not possible
Changing the signature to match IMHO is not possible unless you've got the developers key

Thanks, so there is no ways to extract certificate from 4.2.2 VpnDialogs apk and sign it to 4.0.4 VpnDialogs apk, right?

That would contradict its purpose. If that could be done that easily, every hacker could replace any app with a hacked variant (though it would be hard to get that "hacked variant" on Play), as your device would no longer detect that. It's a security measure; you might compare it with a "PGP signed message", a "certificate of authenticity". To sign, you need the private key, which you don't have.

Answer is Yes :
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/root-appdowner-downgrade-apps-easy-t2828705
You can downgrade your apps (install lower version over actual (higher) version of app) using android feature "pm install -r -d file.apk" , small and simple app which does everything for you. Just pick APK and click on Install APK. That's it.

You can downgrade your app easily by apk file from only 2 simple commands in windows. But there are some prerequisites to it.

Have a computer.
Adb should be installed in the system.
Enable developer option, usb debugging and install via USB option in
setting. just go through the internet you will understand how can you
set these developer option.

Then make sure adb connection is there to the device, and run following commands.
Example of windows system:
adb push C://path_to_the_app//app.apk /sdcard/app.apk

adb shell pm install -r -d /sdcard/app.apk

This downgrades your application to whatever the apk version you have, keeping all the previous data of your app.
Note: Setting up adb and developer option is easier so you can just find it out in internet.


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MX2 recovery problem
I'm hoping someone can help me with the problem I have.
I have a MX2 Android TV Box and flashed it with Matricom firmware, running 4.2.2. When I try to access the SD card in recovery mode it doesn't allow me to do this -
Apply from EXT,  update from SD card, then it's blank. I've formatted several times and confirmed the files are there but they don't show in recovery.
When I open Winzip/File manager on the box I can see my files there.
I want to flash the box again but can't from SD because the files won't show.
I'm not sure what to do with 'Update from ADB', (is this an option)?.
I don't have a lot of knowledge with these things but want to learn if someone can help me.
Thanks

Sideloading (usually seen as apply update from ADB) is a form of adb push wherein the ZIP file, say ROM.zip, will automatically get flashed by the recovery once ADB finishes copying it to the phone. The command you use on the PC is
adb sideload <file.zip>
Chances are if you're using a stock recovery (see if it says 3e at the top of the recovery screen), only official ZIPs from the manufacturer will get through verification; whereas third-party ZIPs will stall at Installation aborted.
But if you're using CWM (or another custom recovery), you can pretty much sideload anything you want.

Thanks for your reply.  It does say 3e at the top of the screen.. Guess I should download CWM first then. Any reason why the sd card won't work in recovery?

I'm not sure about that myself, because I've seen the same behaviour on my brother's phone. Maybe it only sees specifically named zips?

@user61388 Wait, do you by any chance have your ZIPs on an external SD? A Google search told me that 3e does not mount external SDs

Yes. I copied my .zip file onto it from the laptop and plugged it in the side. Sounds like that's the problem then. Any other way I can flash the firmware in recovery apart from External SD?

I should add the .zip file I'm trying to flash I have used on the box before so I know it does work... not too familiar with adb but will use that if that's an option?

That is an option :D Connect it via USB, wait for the drivers to get installed, then adb sideload away!

I connected the box to my laptop and nothing was detected. Device manager didn't find the box either.

Make sure you're actually in the sideloading mode before connecting it to the PC. Use the original cable, switch ports if necessary.


text:
Run any user apps in safemode?
Some Background
My Note 2 has strange slow down after hours of use. After hours of usage system_server and maybe kworker use a lot of CPU, mostly during apps open and switch, it lags badly. I also have around 200 user apps installed, and mostly greenified, so I expected that my device shouldn't be slowed down like this even with a lot of apps installed. I used to experience system_server and kworker using a lot of CPU on Tab 7.7, but less than 30 user apps installed. Even safe mode, changing ROMs doesn't fix the problem; finally wiping both /data and internal SD fixed the problem. It is now fast.
So I would like to try running various user apps on safe mode, to see if it still slow down after hours of usage. Or I have to wipe both /data and internal SD to fix the slow-down problem like I did in Tab 7.7. I have a lot of data and apps in the internal SD, free space is 1.5 gb/10 gb. I feel lazy to backup and restore (it's a lot of data) and try the fix of wiping data, so I would like to try running a lot of user app in safe mode first. There are some exploits in TouchWiz ROM which allow that:
I'm using this 4.4.2 firmware. On this firmware, I can do it partially. By adding apps to lock-screen shortcut. Those apps can be opened in safe mode. In DN3 Rom before Kitkat update, user apps added to Samsung Note 3 Touchwiz Launcher home screen can also be opened, but not anymore in Kitkat update.
When I installed custom ROMs on Note 2, I never wiped internal SD, I wiped only /data partition, an this probably is the cause of lagginess in Tab 7.7.
My question
So is there any more ways to open user apps in safemode?

What good shall that do? The purpose of safe-mode is exactly that no user apps are opened. It's not a mode you should permanently operate in, but rather intended to be able to remove troublemakers etc. So what you're asking for would rather contradict its definition. What are you trying to achieve? Can you give some background why this should be needed?

Sorry, it is not kworker on Note 2, it is mmcqd/0.

Those facts should be part of the question itself – you can [edit] it anytime (I did that for you just now, so you might wish to delete the comments I've integrated). // And as nice as the idea might sound, that's not what safe-mode is for. You should rather 1) make a Nandroid-backup, then 2) completely reset your device, and 3) start over with parts of the apps to find out which one is the culprit.

as for a reason: my phone is in a boot loop and can only start up successfully in safe mode. yet, i want to make backups and stuff like that, so i'd like to selectively start some apps before i wipe the whole thing.


text:
Skype showing me as online - after stopping app and even after device shutdown?
Scenario A:

start Skype
do some other work
shut down the Android device

Problem:
My contacts are still seeing me as being "online".
Strangely enough there seems to be no heartbeat feature implemented in Skype.
So even after 1 day my contacts are trying to call me - even though the device is powered off.
Initially I thought this symptom would occur in case i forgot to manually quit the Skype app before shutting down the device.
So i was searching for an answer how to configure Skype to automatically log off / quit when the Android device is shutting down?
But now it turned out the situation is even worse:
Scenario B:

start Skype
do some other work
quit the Skype app
shut down the Android device

After step 3 I'm still listed as being "online".
When a contact sends me a chat message it pops up.
So it means: even though Skype no longer appears in the task manager it seems to be running as a secret, invisible background task!?
And after step 4 the behaviour is the same as in Scenario A. I'm not transitioning to "offline" state.
Summary:
There seem to be 3 problems:

no heartbeat feature implemented in Skype
quitting the Skype app is not properly terminating / signing off
shutting down the Android device also is not influencing the online status

The only thing that works for me so far:
You must switch to Skype, tap on your profile, at the very bottom manually do "sign out".
That's just not bearable.
This is:
Android 4.1.2
Skype 4.9.0.45564
Skype 5.0.0.49715
Skype 5.1.0.56619
Skype 5.1.0.58677
Skype 5.4.0.5871 (at least I'm now showing as being "Away" - instead of "Online")
2015-08-15 - the problem is back and it's even worse:
Android 5.1.1
Skype 5.9.0.14047
Even though I'm manually signing out, terminating the app and shutting down the Android device I'm still being shown as being "online"!!
--
All of the above tested @ Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (WiFi only) / GT-P3110

Stupid question, but you're not signed in somewhere else as well, are you?

OMG, I have found the following posting: http://community.skype.com/t5/Security-Privacy-Trust-and/Skype-invading-and-changing-people-s-online-status/m-p/2961695/highlight/true#M28546
According to above the "always on" concept was a deliberate decision by Microsoft:
(...) we have changed the way online status presence works:
(...) we are showing you as online to your contact even when you left or
force killed the app on your mobile phone (...)

They admit that certain scenarios need fixing:
Now we've identified a few scenarios where this is simply misleading:
 - you've switched off your device
 - you've disconnected from the internet (e.g. by switching to airplane mode
   and you are somewhere mid flight)

In these occasions you are right now still shown online and we are working to
make Skype presence indicator be meaningful in these scenarios as well.

This is just so weird.
They should certainly make it configurable.
For now the only way to disconnect is to manually "sign out".
Quitting the app isn't sufficient. Shutting down the device is neither.
Status Update (2015-08-15):
The problem is back. And it's even worse!
Even though i manually sign out, quite the Skype app and shut down the Android device I'm still being shown as "online"!
Observed with: Skype 5.9.0.14047 @ Android 5.1.1

Is there any progress about this in Android version recently? Windows Phone version is still the same, unfortunately :/

Android as well I'm afraid. I had created a test account on a test device a year go, then switched that off. Not used since. The test account (used nowhere else) is still reported being "online", though no activity took place with it ever since...

Send any of Your contacts:
/showplaces

It will show You all devices currently online for this account:
 [18:47:36] System: You have 3 online endpoints:
    {25cf308c-73a9-ddfe-c6c7-c4a2507cf657}) my_desktop Linux Skype
    {e00a3a04-9ff8-1ad3-4b45-4a3a6d2caf95}) my_notebook Linux Skype
    {8440a849-0209-4ffb-25c8-c5bdbbe1035b}) localhost Android Skype

Then send:
/remotelogout

It shokld kick off all devices but current. Now check again by
/showplaces

It should now be only one connection in list:
 [18:50:32] System: You have 1 online endpoints:
    {25cf308c-73a9-ddfe-c6c7-c4a2507cf657}) my_desktop Linux Skype

This is the only thing that worked for me, thanks! Recently, even the manual sign out doesn't work. It says it signed me out but I get a notification and it starts up as soon as someone sends me a message.

/remotelogout not working on Mac /shoplaces works as advertised

Each with a Skype account,  5 members of my family and I can confirm the efficacy and success of the following (which is the same as this on Apple SE) that solved this problem:

There is an easy way to fix the issue with contact appearing Away while they are actualy Offline. Just log in Skype, open a contact (whoever it is), try sending as an instant message this text:
/remotelogout
After that try sending this text:
/showplaces
And finally try sending this text again:
/remotelogout
You are ready, next time you go offline, you will appear as offline, not as away.

authors: ليالي انور مهلنيش


text:
How to limit data download when tethering
When I connect my android mobile to my laptop, I use the 3G data via USB tethering. Several background activities on my laptop (win 8.1) such as regular updates continuously occur. This drains the monthly package and the allotted download/upload limit is exhausted in no time.
Is there a way to monitor the tethered connection and deny/block background downloading, say of any file(s) larger than 5-10MB?

Windows 8(.1) has an option to flag a WiFi connection as "limited connection" in Settings -> PC Settings -> Network then click on a network.

Sorry, I couldn't locate such an option as you specified.

It's ugly and it's in french, but it should be at the same place : http://imgur.com/3W2OaYz

Shywim, thank you for the detailed explanation. When I use USB tethering, the connection type is ethernet. The "set as metered connection" is not available for my internet connection. Upon searching, here is what I found at the Microsoft website: Ethernet network connections can't be set to metered.

No, that is not feasible. When tethering a connection, your Android device has no idea what the tethered device is doing. It could be downloading a large file, or it could be browsing a bunch of web sites or streaming an audio file. It does not know any useful metadata about the ones and zeros going through its tethering pipe.
Now, you may be able to set up rate limiting so that a tethered laptop can't run faster than X/bytes per minutes, for example. Or, like any firewall, you could block certain services (such as torrenting) using simple port blocking/limiting or other more in-depth packet inspection. You may even block certain domains or IP addresses by firewalling the address.
However, these are all very advanced operations that are far more specific to firewalls than they are to Android. And they would not help at all in your specific example of blocking a download of a file larger than 10 MB.
You are better off looking for a client-side solution. You could get a Download Manager for your laptop and tell it not to download if the laptop is currently on your phone's network connection. Or maybe there's a plugin for your browser that does something similar.
In any case, there is no Android-specific way to handle your specific issue.

Your answer is useful, which is why I opted for re-opening of the question. I was considering something like 3g watchdog to limit data usage. Most solutions in mind, involve rate limiting download speeds on target computer.

On Android 4.0+, there is a section in Settings named Data usage:

When data is enabled, you will see an option to limit your data. Once ticked, two markers labeled 'Limit' and 'Warning' will appear. You can drag them up and down to set their values.
Tapping Menu will give you this:

As you can see, you can toggle background data from there.

Thanks aureljared, there are two problems here. 1. Android version on my mobile is 2.4. 2. This option as shown here will reduce the background data of the mobile, but my concern is of background data in laptop.

@sridhar There is no Android 2.4! For the laptop, you might want to look at this and this.


text:
adb backup probably fails when trying to backup a single application
Following the advice here https://android.stackexchange.com/a/38277/27533, I am trying to migrate the application from Nexus 7 to ASUS ME302C. (Actually, my daughter desperately needs that -- you know, all that work with Pou ;)
It seems I have successfully installed drivers for both Nexus 7 and the ASUS on my PC with Windows 7. I can copy files from and to both devices.
The backup process seemingly works correctly as it creates the backup.ab after running the command adb backup me.pou.app. I did not use the -apk as I want only the data. The created backup.ab has about 2.5 KB which seems reasonable. However, the adb backup –apk me.pou.app and adb backup –apk –shared me.pou.app commands produce the backup.ab of exactly the same size (2623 bytes)`; however, they differ when compared in binary mode.
There is no error reported. The Nexus 7 (the source of the backup) shows always Backup the data button at the bottom right (translated). The first toast says the process was started, the second toast says, it was finished.
I do not know what should I try, check, or whatever to make it working.

Just a guess: it might be the app is "protected", and ADB thus doesn't grab the .apk but instead a corresponding note into the backup. You might try with e.g. the Helium App Sync and Backup app, which does an ADB backup directly on the device, whether it gives any additional clue (as the name of the app suggests, you could even use this app to "sync" the app+data to the other device).

Actually, I did try the Helium earlier. However, the restore for the Pou stopped -- freezed. I just did try Helium to backup newly installed Pou on the new machine (only the data; I can send it if you want and tell me where -- zipped about 9 KB). Then I tried to restore it from the internal storage immediately, on the same machine. It freezed at 71 % (repeated with the same result). It also says that there were some error -- sent to ClockworkMod. No luck. With another application (Subway Surf is also inevitable :) it freezed at 1 % (much bigger).


text:
Is there a difference between the CyanogenMod 11S Rom (for OnePlus One) and regular CyanogenMod?
How does the CyanogenMod 11S Rom on the forthcoming OnePlus One smartphone differ (if at all) from regular versions or nightlies of CyanogenMod that can be downloaded and installed on other Smartphones ?
Would this be another unique selling point (from a software perspective) for this particular handset?
OnePlus

AndroidPit has an article that outlines the major differences.
http://www.androidpit.com/cyanogenmod-11-vs-cyanogenmod-11s-the-main-differences

Google Apps, no root
Extra Themes and Wallpapers
Display activation via tapping
Optional on-screen buttons
Screen calibration and adaptive lighting
Camera and Gallery App
Boot Animation
AudioFX instead of DPS Manager

Other than this, CyanogenMod 11S is natively tested on the OnePlus One and contains the best possible drivers for the phone. Essentially, it is optimised to run on the OnePlus One..


text:
Subfolders and files ignored when copying from sdcard to PC through USB
So I have a music folder that I'm trying to copy from my sdcard onto my PC using Windows Explorer. For some reason, when I attempt to do this, it 'completes' really quickly and I only end up with a few folders inside the main folder that are missing most, if not all of their contents as well. The weird thing is if I go into all of these individual subfolders and copy them one by one, it works fine.
Anybody know what's going on, and what I can possibly do about this?

Seems I just needed to wait a little longer for the "Copying..." dialog to pop up again. Windows is weird sometimes.


text:
"Your time is close enough" notification
I am running Android Jelly bean 4.2.1 on my phone. Once in a while, I get this notification "Your time is close enough" with an android emoticon. This notification then disappears without any explanation what is happening. I searched the internet and saw some other people also got the same notification but no one knows why this happens. Can someone explain what this might be?

When you say notification, you mean in the notification bar at the top? Or a "toast" message? What device do you have? Are you rooted? Custom ROM? I know this isn't really an answer but I wasn't allowed to comment as I have too low reputation.

It's just in the notification bar. I am using a Samsung galaxy s3. It is not rooted, no custom rom (I don't even know what that is).

Have you tried pressing on the notification when its displayed? Or does it disappear too quickly to manage this?

When I pull down my notification menu, nothing appears there. The notification stays in the bar for the same time as other notifications.

This is creepy. But seriously, have you tried press-and-holding the notification and tapping 'App info'?

I tried press-and-holding the notification bar but nothing opens. Its just a notification with no visually no app running so I can't look at the App info. Maybe its some sort of virus?

see if you are using "GPS-provided time" in your Date and time Settings
I think it is an improper translation of "Your time is more accurate"
it may be due to some Adware too.Did you try holding the notification and see the "App info" of the notification?

yup, makes sense!

I also got the same issue i was in search of answer to that but i found out it is not a malware and we ourself enable it on android devices it is an auto update time check nothing to worry about.
If you want to get rid of it, just watch the procedure here
http://www.technono.com/your-time-is-close-enough.html


text:
Where did these share options come from?
Recently some new share options started appearing on my phone (Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.2.2):

They include the first three you see here:

AIM
Baidu Space
Blinklist

I haven't installed any of these apps. I checked to see if they were installed without my knowledge (sometimes my girlfriend borrows my phone) and I don't find any the apps listed among those installed. And when I click on one of them, it doesn't launch an app but prompts me to pick a browser option in order to, I presume, take me to a web page.
So does anyone have any idea where these come from? Is this some kind of crapware that got installed on my phone? And more importantly, does any one know how I can get rid of them?*
*I used Andmade Share to customize my share menu, but I'd like to purge them from my phone all together.

In About phone section, under Model number, it says Galaxy Nexus. I've updated reference in question.

I finally figured this out as I was cleaning out the apps on my phone today.
I had installed this Bookmarklet app as a way of sharing links with Delicious from my phone. Unbeknownst to me, the sharing options had gotten switched.
So that's where these mysterious unwanted options had come from.


text:
How do I get HDR+ working on Cyanogenmod for Nexus 5?
HDR+ does not work on Cyanogenmod for Nexus 5. The Google Camera app simply crashes when selecting HDR+. How do I get it working?

PA-GApps has packaged the necessary support files, which are flashable as a zip. You can use just the Google Camera module.

HDR support files from the Nexus 5 factory image have been added to
  all GApps packages. This may help users who prefer to install Google
  Camera from the Play Store [Stock/Full/Mini/Micro]

Both links are dead


text:
How to reinstall google play store app in jellybean?
I have telus samsung galaxy s2x with android jellybean 4.1.2 (non rooted).
When going on play store I got an error about authentication needed. So I did uninstall updates from application manager (as described in this answer). Now the play store app got replaced with com.android.vending, which is like the old "market" app.
That app seems to crash frequently. How can I restore the new play store app again?

First, "authentication needed" means you've got to enter your credentials (so I don't know what made you uninstall updates). Second, the playstore app usually auto-updates itself; but in a state where "authentication needed" is asked by it, I'm not sure whether this auto-update still works. If it does, it usually takes between some minutes and a few days. So how long ago did you uninstall updates? And does this error message for authentication still appear?

I got the idea from the selected answer here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/20369/getting-authentication-is-required-when-trying-to-access-the-play-store

Ah, OK – thanks! I've integrated that hint with your question. And I see you've found your answer, good news :)

Android Police has all the apks. Here's the lastest one.

reinstalling the app fixed it.


text:
Encrypted Android phone - sharing files
I am using Sony Xperia M with Android version 4.3 (Jelly bean) with official update.
Android allows me to encrypt my files. You can get this menu: Settings --> Security --> Encrypt phone. Now I want to know, if I do this process, how is with sharing files by Bluetooth, e-mail or wi-fi?

It will share files fine.
Its more for security if your phone was stolen etc. Once you have encrypted your phone, you will be prompted for the password to 'decrypt storage' everytime you turn the phone on. Once the phone is on, the files are accessible and readable. However if your phone was lost / stolen and was restarted, the data on there would be completely useless without your password.


text:
How can I place a text file on my homescreen for editing?
I would like to place a textfile from my SD-card todo.txt on my home screen so I can click on it to edit the content and when I close it only that file would be saved.
Ideally there would be a git repository behind this file so I can see and eventually rollback any changes I made to that file.

I use "ES File Explorer" as a file explorer on my device. This allows the creation of file shortcuts.
Once installed, just choose the homepage you want the shortcut, press and hold on the homescreen and you should be prompted to add a widget / app / shortcut.
In shortcuts, choose "Es File Explorer" and it then lets you choose the file you want a shortcut for.
Perhaps if used in conjunction with a Git app you can create the shortcut to a file within a repo saved on your device?
Never tried it but don't see why it wouldn't work


text:
L2TP VPN fails to connect - how to troubleshoot?
I'm using the built-in VPN client (under Settings, More networks, VPN) on a Galaxy S4 (GT-I9500) running Omega v17 (Android 4.3).
I set up an L2TP (PSK) VPN connection and try to connect. It says "connecting..." for a while and then just says "disconnected" without any error message whatsoever. How do I tell what's wrong? Is there any kind of log somewhere?
I can see in the server logs that it does try to connect, but nothing in there gives me any clue as to why it disconnects. A PPTP VPN connection to the same machine works fine.


text:
Locked out of my Samsung Galaxy S Duos (forgot password)
I had set a security password on my Samsung Galaxy S Duos mobile and unfortunately forgot the unlock password. I tried hundred's of times to unlock my phone with many possible passwords but was unsuccessful in each of my attempts. Please help me unlock my phone and send me the master code (if any) to unlock the phone.

There's no such thing like a "master password". I've just added the locked-out tag to your question; its tag-wiki gives you first-aid. So does our "canonical question" on the topic: Can not unlock my Android device as have no internet connection?

I was under the impression that if you entered an incorrect unlock password too many times then it would ask you to enter your Google Account password to confirm your identity?
Have you not had this option when trying passwords?

If there isn't the Google account password option as Johnny said you will have to wipe the phone back to factory settings using KIES on your computer.