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Disable swipe lock screen on Galaxy S4 running JellyBean
Every since my Galaxy S4 phone was upgraded to Android 4.3 (Verizon), I have had a problem disabling the swipe lock screen.
I go to Settings -> My Device -> Lock Screen -> Screen Lock:

If I set the option to 'Swipe', I get the swipe lock screen, as expected.
If I set the option to 'None', I still get the swipe lock screen.
If I set the option to 'PIN', I get the swipe lock screen and the PIN lock screen. (It is annoying to unlock the phone, and more so when I receive a call.)

I test this by using the power key.
Is there a bug in the software or is there no legitimate way to disable the very annoying swipe lock / swipe lock screen?
Is there a 3rd party way to allow a PIN lock without having a swipe lock as well?

I was able to fix the problem and my phone is working now as expected. I'm not sure exactly what I did, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with editing the swipe settings while in the lock screen by pressing the menu button. If you can replicate the error, please post it.

I have changed Setup > My Device > Homescreen Mode from "Easy mode" to "Standard mode", and the lock screen swipe options came alive. I hope this helps.

Change it to face unlock, do the setup, reboot, unlock your phone with the face unlock, then set your lock option to None and reboot.


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Camera app that can use hardware buttons for making photo
I am searching for either a camera app with hardware button support, or for some other solution that would make it possible to use hardware buttons for making photo (shutter) in a camera app.
My phone, Samsung Galaxy S III mini doesn't have separate camera button, only power button, home button, back and menu buttons, and volume rocker.  It is IMHO much easier to use hardware button than to try to hit software button on camera screen.
I think this should be possible, because built-in Phone Call app can be configured to accept call with Home button, and end / cancel the call with Power button.

This question can be considered to be continuation of How to assign a hardware button to camera which is about using hardware button (e.g. Home) to start camera.

While Is there an app for X questions are off-topic here, just a little hint: You might wish to take a look at ProCapture and A Better Camera, which both support the volume rocker for either shutter or zoom (configurable). I'm pretty sure they are not the only ones.

Well, usually you can just search marketplace or one of app recommendation pages for Is there an app for X answer, but it is hard to search for side-issues such as making use of hardware buttons.

"A Better Camera" can use volume rocker for shutter, but it cannot use Home or Power button for that, and with flip cover volume rocker is less accessible. I'd really like to use volume rocker for zoom, and power button for shutter...

Though there might be such apps as well, I didn't say these two can make use of all buttons ;) I know there are apps to re-design button behavior, but as I already wrote: Is there an app for X questions are off-topic here (see our [help/on-topic] if you don't believe me; it's also hard to compare device specs, still device/shopping recommendations are off-topic as well). Generally, better describe the problem you want to solve. For this Q, it could be re-phrased to "How can I use hardware buttons to shoot a photo (or zoom in/out)", which is why it wasn't put "on hold".

The Camera ZOOM FX Premium support setting actions for hardware buttons and gestures, e.g. volume to control zoom, or to shoot photo.  Note that free version doesn't support hardware buttons mapping.
I guess that both power button and home button are available only to system/root apps (like built-in Phone Call app).

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How can I reset the default app for opening email attachments?
Every time I try to open an attachment from emails from a specific person it goes to Stumble Upon.  I think I clicked Stumble Upon and "Always" once, and now I can't undo it.  How can I stop this?

You need to clear the "Launch by default" setting for StumbleUpon.
Open up your phone settings, then go to Applications.
Look for the StumbleUpon app, and click on it. Here is where you can do things such as uninstall/disable the app, clear the data, etc.
One of the options is to Clear defaults. This is the option you need to run. It will restore the app-selection menu for any actions where you set StumbleUpon to be the default handler.

Or you can long hold the home button on the bottom of your phone and a little menu will prompt them go to task manager then go to tab that says clear defaults

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


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How do I record a video with a file size larger than 4GB on Galaxy S4 exfat SD card?
I've searched quite a bit and called Samsung tech support who didn't have any documentation on this issue. They all say that there isn't a limit on how much video you can record. I want to record class lectures, they run about 2 hours long. I set up the camera and tap record. Camera runs properly for about 30 minutes then says "Maximum File Size Reached" and stops recording. This happens to occur at a file size of 4GB about where you'd expect fat32 issues to occur. This is a Samsung SGH I337 from ATT Android Version 4.2.2
Here's what I've tried. The camera is set to record to the SD card. The SD card is exfat formatted. I can drop a 16GB .iso onto the card from my windows 7 computer through the phone via the usb cord with no issues. This leads me to believe there isn't a file size limitation from the format of the card. The SD card is NOT full it is a 65GB card with 40GB free.
Does anyone know of an app or a tweak that will let me record unlimited video within the real constraints of my hardware, 50GB's of 1080P video at a time or until battery failure?
Thanks for your time.

I would change the video quality settings to a lower rez and try again
Leave it 16:9 At 1280x720 instead of 1920x1080. I would imagine your content will be watched on computers and iPads etc and not in imax theatres. You might get 2 hours out of that.
It is a stupid limitation .
I'm in the same boat so I'll keep looking. Maybe there are some developer options to fiddle with.
Cheers

The issue is not about the file size but about the video length. Devices that can record videos longer than 30 minutes are classified as video-recorders in the European Union and are subject of higher import taxes. That is why manufactures of smartphones and compact cameras limit the maximum video length to 28-29 minutes - to avoid those higher taxes (and som eof them do so not only for EU market but for other contries for simplicity in production). So reducing resolution or bitrate will not solve the issue.
PS. It is rumored that this regulation will be cancelled soon so the future smartphones will be "allowed" to record videos longer than 30 minutes. But as of now (Feb 2019) I couldn't find any reliable information about how soon it's going to happen

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


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Auto-Sync won't turn on
Yesterday I bought Videocon A27 with Android 4.2.2
I'm not able to turn the auto-sync feature on. It is located under Settings -> Data Usage -> Menu -> Auto-sync data. When I check the option and reopen the menu, the option is unchecked. I also tried turning it on using Power Control Widget, but that too does not work.
Google account is already set up and I am able to sync data manually. I believe some sync service application is missing.
Does anyone have faced such issue earlier? Which Application is responsible for syncing data? (Google Calendar Sync and Google Contacts Sync are pre-installed on the device.)

This seems very likely to be a problem with the system integration by the device's manufacturer. You should try their official support channel. If they can fix it for you, please post the answer here to benefit future visitors.

The manufactures do not have any online forum or tech support. So that is not an option for me. I like the device (everything about the device is good except this problem) so I don't want to return the device either. Therefore I'm left with only one choice that is to fix it myself.


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Open command prompt to access folders of a USB connected Android phone
If I connect a Phone with my Windows 7 machine via USB, it shows up in explorer with a name e.g. Nexus 5. How can I open a command prompt and change directory to this device. For lettered drives, I can just type D: F: etc.

In order to assign a drive letter to a removable device, that device must support UMS (USB Mass Storage) protocol.  Unfortunately most newer Android phones, especially those without a removable SD Card, do not support UMS. Instead, they support MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) and PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) protocols.  In such devices it's not possible to map storage as a drive in Windows.
See more details on this Superuser.com question.
With that said, on some selected Samsung and Sony Android devices it's possible to enable the UMS mode for external storage only (SD Card).  See this app.
Also, if your goal to simply copy files to and from an Android device via command prompt, ADB will allow you to do so.  This utility is part of Android SDK tools.  You will need USB drivers for your android phone to be installed, USB Debugging activated in Developer Settings on the phone, and authorize the PC to debug the phone (via a prompt on the device.)  After that is done, you will be able to use adb push and adb pull commands to copy files & directories, and various Linux shell commands via adb shell <command> (e.g. adb shell ls /sdcard/) to navigate the directory structure on the phone.

You can try to install a WebDAV server to the android device, then mount the WebDAV server as a drive on Windows 7.
Here is a free WebDAV server from Google Play (Of course, there are many other WebDAV servers in Google Play). And the steps to mount the WebDAV server as a drive on Windows 7.

I found this much easier to do than other answers here (although I appreciate and upvote usable answers). If you use Olive Web Dav, you want to paste the complete supplied URL into the 'Map a Network Drive' option, i.e. http://192.168.1.136:8080/, I was up and running in less than 5 minutes, even after trying just the IP, and other varitions first. Good luck to all.

There are several ways to do it. Unfortunately it is not as easy as it should be.
Follow the instructions here: http://www.7tutorials.com/how-map-drives-windows-7
If you already have the share in File Explorer, for instance after inserting an USB device, right click on the share and select Map Drive and select a drive letter.

That's for networked devices. There's no mention of mapping USB devices.

It works the same way - unless Microsoft create yet another way to perform tasks just to confuse people. But I have added some clarification.


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How can I transfer files between Samsung Galaxy Note 800 and usb pen drive?
Is it compulsory that I need a Desktop or Laptop to transfer files between Samsung Galaxy 800 and a usb pen drive.

No, there are other ways to copy files from a USB pen drive to a phone.
According to USB Host Diagnostics, the N8000 can support the USB OTG (on-the-go) cable, assuming you have the latest firmware. Just plug-in the USB pen drive (or USB stick) into it. This cable will cost you USD1 or less.
If you have root, you can use StickMount to make the mounting of the USB pen drive easier.


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Is there an empty/clean version of Android for tablets?
All I want is a tablet that only runs one application (developed by me) on startup.
Is there a "clean" version of Android that I can use for this? By clean or empty I mean an OS without all the unwanted features.
Basically, my app needs to connect to the Internet, access the camera within my app, and send and receive data from sensors and other external devices.

I've taken the liberty of adding the [tag:kiosk-mode] tag to your question. It sounds like the kind of thing you're looking for. You might like to take a look at some of the existing questions, but it's likely you'll have to make your own custom ROM to achieve this.

I thought hard about leaving a comment on this for fear of it being "advertising." FWIW, you might want to consider an off-the-shelf solution. Android doesn't necessarily need to be "cleaned" of the other stuff, as long as it is locked down. KioWare Kiosk Software for Android and Site Kiosk offer products that do this; the goal of nearly all of these products is going to be to lock down the system so that users are unable to run or view anything other than the explicitly allowed URLs or apps. In the interest of full disclosure, I work for KioWare.

See also: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/241375/single-purpose-android-tablet-for-handicapped-person

You can install Cyanogenmod or any number of custom roms, but it sounds like you'll need to develop a specific rom for your situation.
If you only want the user to run a single app, I would imagine you'd have to develop an app that declares itself as a Home Screen/Launcher, and have your ROM only include that app as the main Launcher.
This is basically how Barnes & Noble made the Nook Simple Touch. Their own Launcher is very limited and doesn't let you install apps or see anything that looks like Android. As soon as you get root via an exploit, you can easily install your own launcher that gives you access to the standard android interface and turns the Nook Simple Touch into a fully fledged (if limited) tablet.
A specific implementation is outside the focus of this stackexchange site, but you can get programming advice at stackoverflow.com


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Galaxy Nexus won't charge, will immediately reboot if turned off
Ran into a bizarre problem this morning.  My Galaxy Nexus was plugged in, but not charging.  Data transfer over USB seemed to work, but no charging would happen.  Stranger still, if I turned the phone off, it would immediately start booting up.  I couldn't actually get it to be off.
I couldn't find these symptoms on google, so I'm posting here.  I did eventually solve it by pulling out the battery and putting in a different one (the lower capacity one the phone came with).  It seemed to be normal, and continues to be normal after I switched back to the battery which wasn't charging earlier.  Anyone know the actual cause?  Either way, a solution is here for distressed users.

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! Thanks for sharing your experience. Would you mind copying your solution to an answer? Having it in the question alone makes the post appear like an issue without solution in lists. Thanks again, and enjoy your stay here!

Removing the battery and putting it back in solves the problem, at least temporarily.  A few days later, I found the same problem was happening, and the same solution worked.


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Contact still visible in Whatsapp after deleting out of my contactlist from my phone
I deleted a contact/number out of my contact list from my smart phone. But if I open WhatsApp I can still see that same contact/person that I deleted earlier. How is this possible?

Have you tried refreshing the contact list and deleting past chats in WhatsApp, as described in their FAQ?

@Chahk : that still does not helps. The contact is still visible. I am just not sure what is goning on here

According to WhatsApp's FAQ, you may need to refresh the list.  You also will still see the deleted contact if there are past chats you've had with that contact.

How do I delete a contact?
The contacts that you see in WhatsApp come from your address book.
  There is no way to directly edit the Select contact screen.
To delete a contact from the WhatsApp contact list, you will need to
  delete the contact from your phone's address book.
In order to find the WhatsApp contact in your phone's address book:

Find the contact in the Select contact page.
Tap on the contact.
Then tap on the name at the top.
On the Contact info page, go to [Menu button] > [View in address book].
From there you can find the option to delete the contact from your address book.

Then, refresh your WhatsApp contact list by opening WhatsApp >
  [Compose button] > [Menu button] > [Refresh]
If you still see the contact, it is likely that you are seeing the
  conversation on your Chats screen. Simply tap and hold on the contact
  and then select [Delete chat] to delete a chat.

This did not solve the problem for me. Could you please say about what might be wrong or how to get it done?

Deleting a contact from the list still may not be of great help, because, the contact's new messages will show up in with his/her unsaved contact number. The best choice would be to block the contact.


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Locating My Files in Android 4.0.4
I have bought a new Android phone (Intel Yolo Smartphone) and it runs on Android 4.0.4. However I can't seem to locate the My files (It is called that way in Android 2.3.6) folder so as to access the internal memory storage files.
In Android 4.0.4 the folder is called by which name?

You can download ES File Explorer. It's a free file explorer for android.
Download from Google Play
It's quite easy to use and doesn't require root access.

Look for a folder named sdcard using a file explorer app.


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WhatsApp only shows contact numbers instead of names on Samsung Galaxy S3
On my Samsung Galaxy S3, the contact names are gone on WhatsApp. All it shows are contact numbers.
Is there a way to fix this problem?

Make sure WhatsApp has permissions to allow it to look at your contacts.

Initially you may have added an account in your phone and later changed that account. There can be a problem of sync.

So how would actually fix this problem? If you don't have an answer to the question this may fit better as a comment.

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


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Unknown error code during application install "-24"
I just updated my Moto X to latest and greatest Android 4.4 KitKat (I even did full factory reset just to be sure) and now I'm trying to install WhatsApp Messenger but unable to do so, I'm getting following error:

Unknown error code during application install "-24"

Please advise.

According to a thread on AndroidCentral, this is a problem with either...

the app itself having trouble to update an already installed version (unlikely after a factory-reset) → uninstall first, then try a fresh install
certificates not being handled properly → install from a different .apk (e.g. one from your backups, if you've made any, or from an alternative source)
certificates (variant 2) → Go to Settings→Apps, select the "All" tab, scroll to Google services framework, tap the entry, "clear cache", "uninstall updates". Repeat the same for Google Play Store, then reboot, then try again

I didn't verify this (don't have the issue, so I didn't even have the chance to), but it sounds reasonable.
Additional sources on this error:

Unknown error code during application install: "- 24 " (XDA Developers)
App description of the PocketTool App:

The -24 error is a killer. People think it is because of PocketTool when it is actually the device. You may want to include in the description that if they get the -24 error to reboot the device, then try reinstalling mcpe. If that doesn't work, uninstall all apps that could be used to modify the game, reboot, and try again. If even that doesn't work, the only other option I am aware of is to back up important things such as Kindle books, music, movies, and saved app data on something (I used my laptop) and do a factory reset. If they are on Jelly Bean, then they will get a -24 error if they try to reinstall mcpe after a failed mod install.
Users had the same trouble with Spotify. A second factory-reset solved it.
A thread on Android-Hilfe.DE (German) again supports the first variant of my answer (remains of a previous install). Maybe your factory-reset did not complete cleanly.
A Google search on "google-play error-24" reveals even more sources.

Download the app Master Key multi-fix. You can think of it as a plug in. But as soon as it is installed on your phone, you should be able to download the apps that had the error 24 notice. Hope this helps.

If you are not rooted and don't want to root your device, forget about this app because to install it a prerequisite is something called Xposed Framework (which in turn requires root)

Use Titanium Backup to delete the orphan app data, then install the application again. That should fix the issue, but you'll lose all of the user data for that app.

Dude, try this one, don't have to install an apk or reset your device, just delete via root explorer file named com.whatsapp in dir data/data/com.whatsapp
Then install your whatsapp again from playstore or apk directly

That would require the device to be rooted, which is not stated in the original question.

Remove application and set to factory setting. Mine works now.

What to uninstall – after a factory-reset? A factory-reset includes removing all user-apps and their data, so there's nothing left to uninstall.


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Obtain the Phone Number through ADB
I have a rooted Android device, and I'm set up with the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). I'm having difficulty finding the phone number of the device through ADB. I'm hoping to eventually automate this process if the phone connected to the computer is arbitrary.
I've tried google searching for the answer to this problem with no help, and I manually searched in some places on the phone.
How could I obtain the phone number through ADB?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19200788/how-to-get-the-phone-number-of-an-android-phone-via-adb

@AlexP. Wow, thanks Alex! I can't believe I didn't find that, I searched so deep for this question before I posted. Upvoted your answer, thanks!


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local cloud storage solution
I have got a 1 terabyte external hard drive, and I would like to find a seamless way for my android device (an HTC one mini) to be able to access that hard drive.
In the old days when I wanted to do "cloud", I would plug such a device into my always-on-always-connected-to-the-internet linux and just share the device -- let other machines mount it. Of course this still works fine -- but I don't know how to do this via Android, or via Windows.
Nowadays we have cloud solutions like Dropbox, which works great on my Android device, but I have limited storage space (unless I pay -- but I already paid for the external hard drive).
Ideally I am looking for something with the simplicity of Dropbox but with everything under my control. I considered git for a while, and there are ways to get an android device to run git, but you seem to only have a limited end-user experience, and you seem to have to actually upload projects rather than being able to access them from afar -- and my android device doesn't have that much memory.
I tried sparkleshare, but I can't find a client for Android.
I tried every option that ES File Explorer offers, but they all seemed to involve losing control of the cloud storage.
Is it possible to do this via LAN somehow? The problem is that my Android device will typically be moving from wireless network to wireless network and will not always be on the same network as the external drive.
Basically I think I am asking for a way to plug a terabyte hard drive into my phone in a wireless way. This problem has surely been thought about seriously!

Did you take a look at OwnCloud and similar solutions? Not (yet?) as comfortable as dropbox, but open source, runs on Linux (so you can stick with your Linux-mount solution), and it has an Android app. For a quick overview, you might want to first take a look at this Wikipedia article. If that sounds interesting, next source to investigate might be e.g. How to Set Up Your Own Private Cloud Storage Service in Five Minutes with OwnCloud :)

I did not! This looks most promising. Your app link is to a non-google-play-store app -- I wonder why it's not on google play?

It is of course on Google Play. But since that place got converted into a "tile store", slow, and hard to manage, I use AppBrain as alternative frontend. You will find its install links go straight to Google Play. But if I want to see tiles, I prefer going to my bathroom ;) Sorry for the confusion. Simply follow the playstore links on Appbrain, if you prefer.


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How can I make voice search know that a certain first name is always that specific contact?
I have a Nexus 5 with the Okay Google search feature. I can theoretically use it to send text messages hands-free.
However, my wife has a common name, and I have several other contacts with the same first name -- and it wouldn't be surprising for me to know someone with the same last name too. And, she has a work phone number instead of mobile. So, instead of being convenient, there's a whole back-and-forth interrogation.
There must be some way to tell it that when I say "text Karen", I always get my Karen. Right? I tried to look for some "remember this decision" setting, or for some way to mark people as special in the People app, but no luck.
I could come up with some silly nickname, I guess, but I don't want to have to do that. I'm hoping there's some real solution.

Would this help? Then you could say "text my wife"...
Add relationships to your contacts

Yeah, this is as close as we can get, I guess. It still asks me "mobile or work?" every time, which is ridiculous, because her work phone is a landline and does not receive texts.

@mattdm yes that's ridiculous ,a good idea for a feed back to google ;)


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How to enable audible alarms while making phone calls?
I often need to use a timer while making phone calls. No matter what timer I use they never play the alarm sound while you are on the phone, they simply emit a brief "beep" and vibrates (if the timer was configured to vibrate of course).
I need an audible alarm. Is there any way to use a timer with an audible alarm while making a phone call?
It used to be possible, a few Android updates back (can't remember which Android version), but not any more it seems, at least not out of the box.
I've tried the stock Clock app, Ovo Timer and Timer (by Opoloo). In all three cases alarm signals are only played as expected while not making a phone call.

The vernacular term you need to be searching for is "in-band ringing".  This is typically a feature of the bluetooth device profile, but I know I've seen in some applications here and there that give you the option of how audio is routed for output that addresses this behavior.  Sorry it isn't much, but I hope that helps?

I have not tried it, but CircleAlarm mentions:

Handling an alarm that rings during a call.

Thanks. I need timer though, CircleAlarm seems to be just a regular alarm clock.

With the

stock Clock app

is this the Google-developed Clock app or a phone manufacturer's Clock app, e.g Samsung? Samsung's Clock app doesn't make an alarm sound during calls, but if you download the Clock app by Google LLC from the Google Play Store, this does play the alarm sound during calls.


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Intents in a grid instead of a list on Android 4.4 KitKat
I have just received the Nexus 4's Android 4.4 KitKat OTA. One of the first things I remarked was that the intents layout for choosing an application is now a list instead of a grid just like in Jelly Bean:

(click for larger image)
I find this list layout ugly (I don't want to go back to the good ol' ICS days) and I would like to get my intents in a grid again. How can I retrieve the grid layout for intents on Android 4.4 KitKat?

So you want something like this:

AppChooser (source: Google Play; click for larger variant)
Freely configurable, including the possibility to...

switch between list and grid
hide apps you never use, but still having them available quickly with a single tap
sort alphabetically or by last-used

Then take a look at AppChooser Pro, available for a single buck. There's also a free version on Play if you want to test it first. I went immediately for the payed version a couple of months ago, and never regretted the decision. Still you might wish to pick the free version first, as I didn't test it on 4.4 (I'm still on 4.0 on my phone).

Thank you for your answer. I will test this solution and write a feed back in the comments. However I would prefer a solution without third party apps so that's why I do not accept it now.

Understood. I had prefered a "stock solution" as well. But either I've overlooked it, or there really is no possibility to configure the picker. Wouldn't be the first time I missed a "hidden gem", so let's see whether someone turns up with an alternative; if not, you still can accept the answer later (or accept now, and switch the accept-flag later, if a better solution is presented).


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Reading NFC tags from the front of the phone
I'm creating an app reading NFC tags.
Currently all works well expect that the NFC tag can only be scanned when it touch the back of the phone.
Is there anyway to allow NFC to be read through the screen?
I'm testing on a Nexus 4.

You are aware of the fact that the NFC "sensor" usually is integrated in either the back cover or the battery, and that its range is quite limited? With the entire battery in between, I very much doubt you can read tags placed on the "other side". Except they have a QR printed on, and you're using the front camera, that is ;)

I'll just back up what @Izzy said. The range on the NFC scanner used in the Nexus 4 is extremely limited. It's measured in millimeters. Even if the battery, glass, and other electronics didn't impede the signal (Which they do greatly), I don't think that it would be able to read something as far away as the screen.

Even on best conditions, the specs AFAIK say something about 4 centimeters (for security/privacy reasons), maximum 10 cm (see Wikipedia). And that's with "clear view". The metal components (especially the battery) will shrink that a lot, by at least factor 10 I'd say. That would make for a max of 1 cm, rather less. Now measure the thickness of the device. Guess it's not less than .8 cm. Fat chance for the NFC to pass through.

Is there any Android Phone with better NFC reading range?

See my answer. With the NFC specs giving a 10 cm range, and the density considerations, that device must be thinner than your finger nail. Speaking of that: Ask Motorola for a tattoo. Not sure if the phone is already included with it ;)

With the backing of dotVezz, summing up from the comments:
Considering the specifications, this is quite unlikely:

range of the NFC signal is limited to a max of 10 cm on "clear view" (see Wikipedia)
material with a greater density will reduce this even more: air ~ 0.001 g/cm3 versus Lithium ~ 0.53 g/cm3 makes rawly a 500-times-density difference, so a factor of 10 (as I mentioned in my comment) probably is a huge under-estimation
even calculating with a factor of ~10, this would reduce the range to below 1 cm. And you will rather have to more than double that factor.

With few devices being thinner than .8 mm, your wish is close to impossible of being fulfilled.

It is possible. Apple has filed a patent on a clever new use of antenna real  estate on a smartphone.
Apple patents NFC antenna that works on all sides of a mobile device


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android rooting and security
I read here that the way to become "root" in an Android device(Galaxy S3) is to use Rooting. However it has been said that if we do that, even normal applications will be running with root privilege. Is that the case ? For anyone with a Unix background, I am sure that allowing all applications to run as root is quite odd and dangerous. So my question is, isn't there the concept of Users as we have it on a *nix system ? For eg: in a normal operation as what user the Android apps run ? (we are not logging in as we do on a *nix system, so is there a default user ?).
Also, is there no way to restrict or to run apps without root privilege ?
Since I am a Linux/Unix guy, I would really like to get the command line. That is why I want to do the Rooting. However, I dont' want to make my mobile phone that loose and make it a Virus system like Windows.

Ask on superuser. Intuitively I'd say that apps won't run as root by default. As you said, there are groups.

You don't need root to use the command line.

Every app is under its own user (this is how permissions are enforced). When you "root" a device, you add an SU binary which runs tasks as the super user. Any app can run the SU binary but they have to explicitly do so. Without explicitly doing so, they continue to run as their own user.
Most (if not all) rooting methods will have an additional APK for managing what apps have access to SU, such as SuperSU. In my experience, the first time an app tries to use SU, you'll get a notification asking for access. This will allow you to deny root to apps that request it.
EDIT: I'd also like to add that you can get command line access on Android without rooting. I highly recommend Terminal Emulator if you want access from your phone. If it's connected to a computer you can use ADB to run things on your phone by running adb shell. To get ADB, you'll need to get the Android SDK and find ADB in it.


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how do i deny a caller the option of leaving a voicemail?
I don't want to completely block a #. I want to be able to answer, but, if I don't answer, I don't want that particular caller to be able to leave a voicemail.
can this be done? the only apps I find allow you to either send directly to vmail or it auto-answers and hangs up.

In my view redirecting a call to voice mail is a feature provided by the carrier/service provider and the phone plays only a very small part in it. The part that the phone plays is to inform the carrier that the user cancelled the call. To prevent a call to reach voice mail, it has to be answered. And to send it to voice mail, it has be either cancelled or unattended. Hence I doubt any app or software solution could help.

Sending to voicemail is a carrier service, and what you can configure depends on the features your carrier offers.
If you're able to configure this, it'll be via the "call forwarding" settings. On my Nexus 4 running stock KitKat, you can access these by opening the Phone app, tapping the menu icon, then Settings, then Call settings, then Call forwarding.
On UK mobile networks (I presume it's the same worldwide, but I'm far from certain), the behaviour when you deny a call is controlled by your "forward when busy" setting, so you'll want to disable call forwarding for that case. That'll also, obviously, disable voicemail when someone calls you and you're already in another call.
For contrast, "forward when unanswered" configures what happens if you let the call ring out, and "forward when unreachable" covers your phone being turned off or out of signal.
Some networks don't respect how you configure this through the phone menu. This may be because they don't support letting you have that choice, or it may be because you need to configure it a different way. This is frequently by dialing your voicemail number and pressing * or # to get a menu, but each network operator will have their own ways.


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Issues with Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2 destroying or being unable to use SD-cards
Reviews for some products, as well as some forum threads, claim that the Galaxy 3, Galaxy 4, and Galaxy Note 2 will not play well with some SD cards.
The first of the above links mentions that Kingston had posted this as a known issue on their website; a Google search for the quoted text brings up no such page.
Is this a known issue?  Is it advisable to avoid or prefer certain brands, models, capacities, or speeds of SD cards because of this?
This question seems to be related.

Abruptly forcing your phone to shut-down (holding power button until forced shut-down, pulling battery, etc.) can cause a corrupt SD card on any device if it is currently reading/writing to the SD card. It is known that some Samsung devices try to read the SD card during some random times such as when the phone is starting up. Also running applications that are saved to the SD card and forcing a shutdown is asking for trouble. I'd always recommend shutting the phone down properly whenever possible to minimize these issues.

This is good to know, but is unrelated to my question.  I read about half of the 9-page forum thread that I linked to up there, and about a third of another large thread specific to the S3.  There was no mention of shutting down the phone.  Most people report having the SD arbitrarily unmount during normal operation.  This seems to be the most common first symptom of a problem which can eventually (or right away) cause the media to become unreadable.  Overheating of the card is another commonly reported symptom.


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Increasing my phone's charging rate while tethered
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and a laptop with 2 USB 3 ports.  When tethered to my laptop (to provide Internet access via GSM/HSPA data), the phone charges very slowly, especially if I am using it for anything else in addition to data tethering.  While connected to a USB 3 port using the OEM cable, it took about 5 hours to charge while tethered but not otherwise being used.  Given the 2100 mAh battery, this works out to a bit under 500mA¹.  It has a micro-USB 2 port as its sole means of power input.
The S3's USB-to-AC Adaptor indicates that it provides 5.0 V at 1.0 A.
The Battery HD app, when running on my phone, tells me that an S3 will charge just under twice as fast via AC power as via USB.
I haven't found any apps which indicate, or any other way to determine, the phone's current draw from the power supply.
If I'm reading wikipedia correctly:

Maximum current draw for a normal USB 2 port is 500mA.
Maximum current draw for a normal USB 3 port is 900mA.
Dedicated Charging Ports (which I gather is what the Samsung USB-to-AC adaptor has) can provide over 500mA but do not support data transfer.  I didn't see any indication in the article of a maximum current.
Charging Downstream Ports can also provide over 500mA along with high-speed data transfer.  It sounds like the maximum current was originally 900mA in the 2007 spec but was upped to 1500mA when version 1.2 was published in 2010.

¹: Wikipedia gives battery specs for the S3 as "2,100 mAh, 7.98 Wh, 3.8 V". The rate of charge of the battery over 5 hours works out to 420mA at 3.8V.  At USB voltage of 5V, this is only 320mA.  I'm not sure what the efficiency ratio for charging a Li-Ion battery is—80% perhaps?
How can I increase my phone's charging rate when connected to my computer?  Is it possible for a USB 2 device to draw 900mA from a USB 3 port?  Is it possible (and safe) to connect my phone to two ports at once to increase the total current?

Good recherche on USB specs. So correct me if I'm wrong, but: considered USB-2 provides you with ~500mA, and you use the phone while charging, "a bit under 500mA" should be more than fine – as your device at the same time uses power itself, which then cannot be used for charging. See my answer here for the S3's power consumption details to make up your own calculation.

@Izzy: The 5-hour charge period I mentioned was while the phone was not in use other than for tethering.  I've updated the question to make this more clear.  The current draw actually works out to 420mA, assuming that we're using the battery voltage (3.8V) rather than the nominal USB voltage of 5V (which would give 320mA).

@Izzy: The chart is interesting, though they don't seem to have researched the power consumption for GSM data tethering.  I guess it might be comparable to the Wifi Tether action, which would put it at about 80mA (at 5V).

So combining your two comments with the original question: USB delivers ~500mA. ~420mA go to charging, ~80mA to tethering – summing up perfectly to the ~500mA. But I'm not involved deeply enough in this to give a full/exact explanation, just wanted to point out some backgrounds ;)

Not all of the 420mA will go to charging; some will become heat waste in the charging process.  But that's 420mA at 5V rather than at the 3.8V used by the battery (and presumably the phone).  But the focus of my question on how to increase the supply current above 500mA.

Charging rate is set by hardware and software, and can't be modified by software only.
Charging rate depends on the following:

resistance between D+ and D- (determines is it a official, unofficial or USB charging)
hardware technology and limitations (QuickCharge 2.0, 3.0)
cable length and quality (bad cables usually have more resistance)

For the S3, as far as I know, you can charge slow (USB, 5V 500mA) or fast (wall charger, 5V 900mA).
The charging type is set depending on the resistance, which is different for wall chargers (fixed to activate fast charging functionality in phones chip) and standard USB charging. If you want to charge quickly while tethering, the only valid option is to have your phone connected to an official Samsung wall charger which will ensure a higher charging current. There may be an option to set the USB connection to "Charge only" but that doesn't guarantee that the fast charging will be turned on.

Look into the usb battery charge spec 2.0 for cdp. A simple accessory to test with is an evaluated kit for the tps2546. Available from digikey for about $25.
Note i believe my siii recently stopped supporting cdp after a vzw update...

To anyone still reading this. There is an app on play (Galaxy Charging current Lite) that shows the charging current while charging. Uppon reaserching i find out that the phone software limits charging current. The default current for AC charging is set to 800mA, for USB charging to 480mA. But if you are rooted,you can apply new Kernel (mine is AGNI pureCM kernel) and you can change that up to AC: 1500mA, USB: 1000mA. But you must have AC charger that can produce that current. Original Samsung  is 1000mA.


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How to select a power supply for a given Android device
There are a variety of products on the market which provide a power supply for Android devices through the ubiquitous MicroUSB 2 port.  These include adaptors for 12V "cigarette lighter" car DC power supplies, adaptors for AC (120-240V) domestic power supplies, solar power supplies, AA battery power supplies, and so on.
One consideration with all such products is the maximum current they can supply.  This is generally 500mA at a minimum, but I have seen up to 2 A.
How can we know what current our device will draw, so as to select a power supply which will maximize its recharge rate?  What is the maximum current that can be supplied via a MicroUSB connection?  How can we know if our device is able to safely use a power supply which can supply more current than it draws?

I'm not aware of any way to find out the maximum current the device will use except checking the charger that came with the device and assuming that the manufacturer suppied the most efficient charger suitable.
The maximum current for USB connection is 5A, but usually the range used by phone/tablet chargers is between 0.5A and 2A.
Note that the amperage of the charger only tells what is the maximum current that the charger can supply, so it's safe to plug a 2A charger to a device capable of 0.5A current.


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Can I root my Nexus 5 without a custom image?
Is it possible ?
So far I've found 2 images that would allow me to get root, either cloudfire or team win recovery project (twrp).
I'm a little uneasy loading an unknown bootloader to my device.
Or maybe some information beyond "run this program", "double click here" and such. I work as an embedded engineer so I like to know what I'm doing
EDIT :
Usually embedded devices have a 3 stage loading. First they execute hard code in ROM when power comes up. Then this code loads the boot loader, then this boot loader brings the actual linux kernel up. It is my understanding that I will be overwriting the boot loader with twrp. By image I mean a fully compiled binary that will overwrite what is already present. If it is not an "image" to you then fine, it is not. I want to know if it is possible to root the device without overwriting the default bootloader.

TWRP by itself is not an image/ROM. It is a custom recovery feature with which you can apply an image/ROM. With your words, I suspect you are bit mixed up with terminologies. State your requirement in plain English and that might help. :)

@Narayanan A "recovery image" is an image as well, so Eric is correct about that. To install CWM/TWRP, you flash a "recovery image" (an image of the /recovery partition, basically).

Just here to add to the conversation: TWRP and ClockWorkMod (CloudFire doesn't seem to be the name of a root tool at all) aren't bootloaders. Flashing TWRP does not replace the bootloader. Additionally, they're both mature open-source projects and considered highly trustworthy. You're free to build from source if it makes you feel safer as well.

I want to know the same thing. one of the tool uses fastboot boot someimage. Would like to know if this tool also flashes the image to the phone or just uses it temporarily to boot

29 January 2015: TWRP can no longer install official updates past 5.0 on Nexus devices. Updating my language here to say "install unofficial updates" instead of "official".

Since you specifically mention TWRP in your question, I'll just use it as my example. Note that CWM or any other possible Android Recovery project will also apply.
It looks like there's a slight misconception at play. I'll just drop a few clarifying notes here:

TWRP is indeed an image to be flashed.
Flashing TWRP does not overwrite your bootloader.
TWRP is not a bootloader replacement - it is Recovery software. It is a drop-in replacement for Android's stock open-source Recovery Mode, and therefore has the access needed to do things like

Create/Restore backups
Root devices
Install unofficial (and some official) updates

So the short answer is: Yes! It is indeed possible to root without overwriting the stock bootloader!
A few more notes:

TWRP (And CWM Recovery) is a mature (Several years old and quite stable) Open-source project that is used by a huge portion of the Android community and considered very trustworthy.
Flashing TWRP will replace the contents of /recovery/.
You generally need to use the stock bootloader in order to select the boot-to-recovery option in order to use TWRP.


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Bricked android karbon message ENTRY QPST DOWNLOAD
My rooted karbon s5 android phone is showing "RESET FOR ENTRY QPST DOWNLOAD" message on startup, I am unable to execute this solution (quoted below) because I dont have the Karbon S5 rom, also there are many techniques posted to unbrick the device and I am confused how to proceed with it, I have Windows 8 so how to solve this problem?

A linux distribution (Ubuntu) sys_boot.img (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxJJ...tEMmFQZHM/edit) Follow the steps to restore the sys_boot partition:

Connect your phone to a pc using the cable
Install the drivers if necessary: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...m%20Driver.rar
Open your terminal
Type "lsblk" (without the quotes). You should see a list, showing every connected disk and partition. Look for a partition with a size around 50M. This is the partition we need, so remember the corresponding name under the 'NAME' column. It can be "sdc", "sdd" or "sde" followed by a number.
Cd to the directory you placed sys_boot.img in cd [filename]
Type "sudo dd if=/dev/NAME of=sys_boot.img bs=512 Replace NAME with the name you got from lsblk, and press enter. The output should look something like this:  3959420000 bytes (3866621 KB) copied, [ time spent], [KB/s]
Remove the cable from your device, do a battery pull and try to boot your device Normally, it should boot correctly. If you formatted the /system partition too, you have to get into recovery mode by holding the upper volume button while booting, until a red screen appears.

Another specific solution quoted here, which I cant implement as i dont have acronis which is a proprietary software:

download the BOOTFILES AND acronis recovery image files
download drivers that i attached(if u already have them.no problem)
press power button and volume up button till u get "RESET FOR ENTRY QSTP DOWNLOAD".Now connect the device to pc(windows os).install drivers if asked.
open acronis true image and select backup.now all the partitions are shown in which are in ur system.uncheck all ur system related partitions and select all the partitions of the device which are shown and finish the backup(this step is for safety.u can skip this if u r confident on urself)
now again open acronis true image and select recover.now select the "Partition3sector_full_b1_s1_v1.tib" file that i attached.it will ask where to recover.
this is the important step and do it carefully..now u have to select the partition which is of type FAT16 and has exactly 50 mb space. now open advanced settings and select recover sector-by-sector and now click recover
it will take around 4-5 mins and ask to reboot ur system showing like it is compulsory to restart to complete the process. (NOW WE AGAIN BRICKED OUR BRICKED DEVICE .DONT PANIC..CONTINUE..)
so click restart.disconnect ur mobile and take out battery.dont insert it.and now u open linux os
after opening linux.first keep the battery and on ur device by pressing power and volume down (carefull here.power+volume down) dont press colume up.
u mobile show a message "ENTRY FOR QPST DOWNLOAD".Now connect ur mobile to the system.in linux u get all the partitions which are shown in my computer.
now open the drive which id of 50 mb or around 50 mb..if u open it u can see a folder named image..
open the folder named "image".u can find two files named "AMSS,AMSSHD".select these two files and delete.now extract the files from BOOTFILES that i sent which exactly contains the files names as "AMSS,AMSSHD".. COPY THESE FILES TO THE SAME PLACE WHERE U DELETED.
after the copy is finished disconnect ur mobile.remove the battery
reinsert the battery and now select power and volume up buttons.ha ha.now u can see the green display of recovery.from here i think u pupil know how to proceed

I tried the above methods but I am unable to get the list of partitions on my mobile, on the computer it is showing that the removable drive is corrupted and it needs to be formatted. I faintly remember that I had installed helium app for backup and it had super user access , i suspect problem created by this app.
Also does a custom ROM update help in this? if yes please specify the best ROM for karbon s5, can  I proceed installing kitkat on this bricked device?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! Would you mind to [edit] your question and include an excerpt of "this solution"? If the owner at XDA decides to delete his post, the reference would be lost otherwise. Also it's not nice to let us check out details on other sites just to be able to understand your question, so many will simply skip it probably. Doesn't hurt to list up what you've tried already, either ;)

Thanks! I improved formatting a little for better readability. Not knowing/having the device, I now have to pass on to somebody else, who hopefully is able to help you out. Good luck!

When I went to service center with this problem , they gave the reason that this is because of a full battery drainage. And they were correct. After recharging the battery it worked. It was unexpected. Also after a few days it again showed this message but after restarting the Phone it worked again. I suspect the problem has to be something related to battery or charging. Its now a month I am not getting this error. I am glad that I was not able to try the above methods.


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Is is safe to remove the stock email and calendar app on Cyanogenmod or AOSP?
Is it safe for me to remove the stock email and calendar applications on from Cyanogenmod ROM? I'm using Gmail and Google Calendar so I don't have need for the stock ones. I could simply disable them but if I removed them entirely, I might be able to save a bit on space on my system partition.

YES, you can delete the stock Email (Email.apk) and stock Calendar (Calendar.apk, CalendarProvider.apk) app. For a list of other apps you can delete on CyanogenMod, see the expandable list at the bottom of the CM wiki.
I'm not so sure for AOSP though.

I've deleted email, calendar, a bunch of other Lenovo (vendor specific), and Google apps with System app deleter and the phone works fine.

I removed the standard CyanogenMod mail app and everything seems to work fine


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Transfering an Incoming call to loudspeaker
My Question is Can I transfer a call to loudspeaker or external speaker directly through app which the phone has when i get an incoming call
Thanks In Advance !!!

How is the speaker connected? Headphone jack, bluetooth?

I haven't tested this, but Tasker should be able to do this. Create an Event "Phone Ringing" profile to perform the "Speakerphone" task (which you configure to turn the speakerphone on). This can be configured to only activate for certain callers if necessary.

For completeness, my AT&T SGS3 with Android 4.3 has another way to do this: Under the Settings app, on the My Device tab, there is a section for Voice Control. If Incoming Calls is checked, then you can answer calls with the voice command "Answer" when the phone is ringing. Answering a call with the voice command will automaticallly turn on the speaker.

Some Androids have a Car mode (often branded by manufacturer) in which you can say it will be auto-answered when ringing and the call will go over speaker.
If your device doesn't have a car mode or it doesn't work for you, you can try one of the many apps available which can handle this function for you: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=auto%20answer%20calls&c=apps (first app seems simple and serving your described needs, but I would always recommend to check out a few).


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When will I get Android 4.4 KitKat update on Nexus 4 in Romania?
I am in a bit of worry because I own a Nexus 4 device, and I noticed many articles on the web stating that an OTA update to 4.4 is out but I didn't receive any notification on my device. Also, when I check for updates, the update is not showing up.
Should I be concerned about this, or does it just takes more time for the update to get to me? I am in Romania.
UPDATE
For those of you who are really eager to install the new update you can check up this link: It's still an OTA, nothing will be wiped on your device and the update files are the official ones provided by Google!
Link: http://phandroid.com/2013/11/21/download-the-nexus-4s-android-4-4-kitkat-krt16s-ota-directly-from-google/

You just have to wait. It will eventually come.
If you read the Checking for updates won't get you KitKat faster, says Google employee article, it says:

According to Dan, the updates are first sent out to 1 percent of
  devices. If it goes smoothly, it is sent to 25, 50, and 100 percent of
  users over what he says is “a week or two.” So if you’re waiting for
  that update, quit mashing that update button and regulate yourself to
  around once a day.

low reputation stopped me from doing this already:)


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PIN enforcement with MDM solution
I have a technical question to the android os. A phone doesn't have to have some PIN or other unlocking options but what exactly happens when you take this phone into a MDM solution such as MobileIron? It gives you some policies and somehow you are forced to take a PIN. Is this because of the policy or because of the android OS which says: "oh you want to use certificates, well I do not allow you to use them without a PIN". the phone uses wpa2-enterprise

The MDM solution can require that you set a PIN.
The Google Apps Device Policy app, for example, can require you to set a PIN. This is described in the Google Device Policy for Android if you want more details.

Thank you for your answer. I assume that the operating system will not enforce a PIN just because a certificate is used, right?


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Losing connection to powered USB hub
Background (not a development question): I'm developing an application which allows multiple android devices to interact.  I am trying to tether the phones through a powered USB hub to run some simulation tests.  In order to use the phones through USB tethering, I have to shell in and do some configuring.  Typically, I leave the phones plugged in overnight, or else I lose these configurations and I have to redo them.
For some reason, when I get in the next morning, some of the lights above the ports on the powered USB hub are off.  The phones connected to these ports are no longer tethered.  In order to resolve this, I have to disconnect the USB cable, reconnect it, re-tether the phone, and redo the configurations.  This is not so inconvenient for 1-2 phones, but I will soon be testing my application with upwards of 30-50 phones.  I will probably be writing a script to configure the phones, but I would ideally not be running this script every day.
I am currently using Nexus S phones with Cyanogenmod v 10.1.0 (based on 4.2.2 I believe), but I do not think this issue is phone dependant.
Is there any setting on the phones that I can set to keep the phones tethered indefinitely?  As far as I can tell, the phones all have the same settings for going to sleep/screen locking. I am really not sure why they are disconnecting, but I am pretty sure it is not the USB hub nor the USB cables.
Update: I forgot to mention that I suspend my computer (Ubuntu 13.04) , but when I return from suspending my session, only some of the phones are powered.  I marked my phones before I left for the weekend, and when I came back the same ones that were powered when I unsuspended my session last time are powered now.  So I think this is an issue with phone settings.

Does the same thing happen if only one phone is plugged into the hub?

I haven't noticed, but today for example there were 2 phones plugged in and 1 was disconnected.  Yesterday there were 4 plugged in, and 2 were disconnected.  Unfortunately, the issue doesn't seem to happen until I leave for the day, as I can't just not touch the phones for hours as I am using them.


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Can 4.4 be downloaded OTA without wifi?
My phone have gotten a 4.4 system update available notification, but it is not downloading it. There is a small text saying “Only over WiFi until 21:06”. Does that mean that my phone will start downloading the update at that time unless I connect to a wifi network? How can I start the update now?

You can now download it using your network only, no need for wifi. The wifi only option was until 23 November. I'm currently downloading 4.4 over my mobile internet only.

It seem to have resolved itself. Woke up to 4.4 today. No wifi involved.

Or you can just change the date in your system to sometime in the future. This should trick your phone into downloading it now.

This should be the accepted reply, it still works for 6.x OTA's. Although you might want to turn the clock back before pressing the install button, after download completes.


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Rescue data from an application
I was using Secret of Happiness for about three months, and created some notes during this time period. At one point when I wanted to add a new note, the application froze, and I had to force close it.
I tried to look for the directory where it stores data. I hoped it would be some database, XML, or CSV format so I could view the notes data, but wasn't able to find it. I also tried to copy the app's data to the SD card but it's not there either.
How can I find out where this app stores its data, and how can I view my notes again?

Each app gets a storage directoy assigned in /data/data/<package_name>1, so in your case that would be /data/data/com.soh. However, without root privileges, you cannot directly access that directory.
A possible work-around (for non-rooted devices) would be to create an "ADB backup" of the app (see our adb tag-wiki for details), and then "disassemble" that2. You should then find databases (SQLite) as well as "shared_prefs" (XML files) with additional information.

1 see also: Where in the file system are applications installed?
2 see: How do you extract an App's data from a full backup made through “adb backup”?, Is there a way to look inside and modify an adb backup created file?


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How to get rid of hovering circular notification shortcut in CyanogenMod?
Ever since I installed CyanogenMod, there has been this hovering blue circular notification on top of every application. I don't know what its called so I really can't find a way to disable this. Can anyone help me identify what it is and how to get rid of it? Attached is a screenshot.

Click for full size image

That looks a lot like the HALO feature from Paranoid Android, which isn't typically a part of CM. Is this an official CyanogenMod build?

Have you tried to "slide" that "blue circle" from the border toward the center of the screen? It might open a quick-access menu. But as eldarerathis wrote, I'm not aware that CM ships with such a thing either.

Thanks @eldarerathis the link to the video helped me get rid of it.
To get rid of it, I had to DOUBLE tap the "halo" and move to the X area just as you would when getting rid of apps from the launcher.

Go to settings, Accessibility, Motor, and Cognition, and turn off Touch Assistant.
That should take care of the little blue thing for you.


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Usage statistics in Android
Is there any intent or method to get the values which show in the usage statistics? We can get that manually by dialing *#*#4636#*#*.

If you're trying to launch an intent for this in code then you'll want to ask on [so]; development questions are outside the scope of this site. If not, then you may want to explain in more detail what it is that you're trying to do exactly, and why the dialer code is not sufficient. That will help people give you the most relevant answers possible.

If you simply want to add a shortcut to your homescreen to access that menu, some launchers offer to do so for "activities". That menu has declared such an activity publically, so that would be possible (and on-topic here ;).

How to add android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS to the application?

That permission cannot be granted to any third-party app. Visit this for more info: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/usage/UsageStatsManager.html Also, since this is a programming question I VTC it.


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What is the correct way to exit an app
When I open an app and then I'm dong using it I usually just push the home button. The problem is that leaves the app open and if you do that too many times it slows down your phone. My question is what is the correct way to close an app after you're doing using it without pressing the home button?
Or is pressing the home button and then sliding it away the correct way of closing an app?


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Why do apps require a certain minimum Android version?
All android apps require a specific Android version. Why is that so? Can't we use any ICS app on GB? For example, touch-to-focus is a very simple feature – but it wants Android 4. What can I do to use it on GB? Or Wolfram alpha, which is a browser-like app. Why does it require at least ICS?

Your question is really too broad for us to answer here. As for the Android version needed, that's set by the developer of each app. You'd have to ask them why they require a specific version or not. The Wikipedia article on Android version history has more information on what is changed between versions than anyone would probably want to know.

You can compare that to other OS's versions as well: A program designed for e.g. Windows 8 does not necessarily run on Windows 95. Development goes on, and that includes the APIs they provide. With each new version, new interfaces are available to the programmers, saving them from "re-inventing the wheel": Why code an entire library yourself, when it's much easier to access one that's already available? But if a specific feature was introduced with version 4.1, and the developer made use of that in his app, that app would not work properly on versions 4.0 and below, obviously.
So depending on the APIs used, such an app might not even start on a lower version, or some core functionality would not be available at all or even crash. To prevent the user from such mishap, developers must declare a "minimum required API level" in the Manifest1 of their apps. As each "API level" corresponds with a specific Android version, this makes the app "incompatible" with lower versions.

1 The Manifest is an XML file included in every Android app, declaring the app's requirements.


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Can I configure Google Now to recognize contacts by their phonetic name?
I have a lot of friends with names and surnames that Google Now cannot recognize, so I added an entry for their phonetic name.
When I say "Okay, Google" and then "call (phonetic name)", Google successfully transcribes everything, but instead of calling them it will open a search in the browser.
Is there a way to make Google Now recognize my contacts by their phonetic name?

You might wish to take a look at Voice commands for contacts with unusual names / Voice dialling - how to do this?


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What is Google's OTA phase deployment strategy?
I have always wonder what is Google's deployment strategy for OTA for latest software updates.
I do know that they do it in phases but, do they do it base on time zone? model's serial numbers?
In other words how do they pick who gets it first or not. I have a 2013 Nexus 7 and it has been about 2 weeks since the release of Kit Kat 4.4 and I have not received it yet.

It appears to be random chance.
In this reddit thread, Google Employee Dan Merrill says of OS update rollouts and "mashing" the "check for updates button":

Rollouts are conducted in phases. Typically they start at 1% of devices for around 24 - 48 hours; we watch the return rates and resulting device checkins and error reports (if any), and make sure nothing looks wrong before sending it to more. Then typically it goes to 25%, 50%, 100% over the course of a week or two.
What the percentages mean is that when your device checks in, it has a 1% chance (for example) of being offered the OTA. If it doesn't (randomly) get an offer, it will never get an offer until the next batch.
IOW, once your device checks in and gets turned down, that's it until the next batch. Mashing on the "check for updates" button just causes your device to check in again, and get automatically turned down again. Think about how that makes your device feel! WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE PHONES?!
That said, once the new batch does start, hitting that button does give you a new roll of the dice -- but once. Since devices usually only check in for system updates every 24 hours (I think? Certainly on a many-hours basis) this can get you your shot sooner than it would happen on its own.
So, mash away. :) Just be patient, and mashing on it more often than once or twice a day isn't going to gain you anything.
Edit: also, keep in mind that this isn't first-come/first-served. You're not racing other devices to get your slot in the current batch, or something.

He also warns against the "clear data on the Google Services framework" trick, as all that does is make the network think that it's dealing with a factory-reset device and makes you lose all the tokens used by apps that use it. It will not necessarily get you the update faster. (It might, but it might not.)
Source(s): Android and Me, Android Community
p.s. He also states in another message that if you're really impatient you should do an ADB sideload.


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gmail application logout
I let my friends log into my gmail app to check their mail, and have since, have NOT been able to get rid of their accounts. I'm sick of seeing their names and I'm sick of being tempted to read their inboxes ;P
PLEASE tell me there's a non-factory reset option to log just the two of them out for now, or a way to reset the whole app - I know I have to log myself completely out, but I can't even find this option and I feel Android-ignorant. HELP PLZ - I have an HTC 4G LTE, ftr.

You don't manage the accounts within the Gmail app, but rather at the OS level.
You need to go to Settings > Accounts on your phone and remove the accounts from there.

But you could always have one little peek at their email; just to see what they're saying about you!


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Sudden battery drain on Samsung Galaxy Ace 2x
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2x that is not yet a year old.  For the last 6 weeks, the battery has been draining very quickly, even though I have turned off everything that would cause this (GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) I have an unlimited mobile browser, and since this started to happen, I have noticed that my data consumption has jumped considerably even though I am doing nothing different (normal usage was between 500-700 mB per month, now 3-4 gB per month). For some reason it seems that the data is constantly on, or the phone is searching for a network, even when I am not using it. I have to charge the phone at least twice a day.  Any ideas??

Try this:
Go to settings > Battery
There you can see the list of things that consume battery. This includes all the system processes, hardware such as the screen and the user apps.
If there is an application that you installed that takes up more than say 20% in that list, that app is your culprit. There is also a good chance that it is the same app that is taking up all that data in the backgrounds. If your screen takes up more than 30%, try reducing your brightness and the amount of time the screen is kept active.
If you want to check your mobile data consumption,
Go to Settings > Data usage.
This will list the data consumption of all apps on the phone.
Hope this helps.

I hava a Samsung S5. Before I charged my phone once per 24 or 48 hours and since a few days suddently the battery lasted only 4 to 8 hours. After several test I discovered the cause was a few corrupt images. I deleted the corrupt images and the problem was solved. I used this app to find the corrupt images.


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rooting android 4.4 on nexus 7 2012
I have just updated my rooted nexus 7 2012 running android 4.3 to android 4.4. How do I root the new version? Thanks in advance.

Same way you root any other version on a Nexus device. It has an unlockable bootloader, so the specific version of Android installed doesn't really matter. How do I root my Nexus 7?

@eldarerathis: Nvm, I have rooted my nexus 7 successfully. Thanks!


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gmail label notification is overlapped by general one
I have set up notification by label on gmail app. Label notification is working but simultaneously with general gmail notification.
When message comes to target label:
First runs label notification, then in 1 second starts general notification. And general sound overlap label notification. So I almost don't hear label notification because it is too short. And I see 2 notifications in android notification bar: both for the same email.
How to set it up to run only one sound notification?

See also: http://android.stackexchange.com/q/45071/12442

thank you, Dan, sorry, that question about turning off label notification. If I turn it off, of course I will have only one notification, but it will be the same for all labels. The purpose is to get distinct sound for very important messages, for which I must react as fast as possible


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Text communication with iphone users
What are the non-voice options for communicating with iphone users to and from an android phone? Strengths and limitations of said options?
I don't have a smart phone but am thinking of finally taking the plunge. At least half of my family and friends are iphone users, and have been extolling the virtues of apple messaging. Watching them use it, especially involving multiple people at once, I see the attraction. However I don't want go the iWhatever route as I don't like the lock-in, but if by using a non-apple device I'm exiled from their conversations I may not have much of a choice.
So how about it, are there usable gates in the walled garden?

SMS works on any phone. On Android, your phone will have an SMS client built-in (probably called "Messaging", but it varies between manufacturers), and you can also choose from many third-party SMS clients.
As well as plain old SMS, there are many instant-messaging systems that work on Android and iPhone, and other platforms too. Your iPhone-using friends may well have one or more of these installed already. Some examples are Skype, Jabber, Whatsapp, Google Hangouts, and Facebook Chat.
What you describe as "apple messaging" is probably what Apple calls iText: it's the SMS app on iPhone. It also has its own closed chat system built-in, so that if it knows the recipient of an SMS is an iPhone, it'll silently send the message through Apple's servers instead of through the SMS system. It still uses SMS for people on other phones, so you don't need to worry about being exiled.

You mention iMessage, which is important to understand that it's a proprietary solution from Apple. There is no way to communicate with iMessage from Android, and there probably never will be. That said, there are a very large amount of third party cross-platform messaging apps, and if your friends and family would accept getting these (they might already use them), you could communicate via these. There are probably hundreds of them, but some of the most popular ones include WhatsApp and Viber — both of which offer iPhone as well as Android versions of their software.
The obvious strengths of any kind of IM software like this, whether it's iMessage, WhatsApp or Viber, is that all of your data is sent via your data plan, or even via WiFi if available. You'll be able to send images without paying an MMS fee, you'll be able to send audio without being charged for a call (VoIP) and you'll be able to send text without being charged for an SMS (via e-mail or IM).
There are no drawbacks as I see it, except for maybe backwards compability with non-smartphones, SMS definitely has the edge there.

When using something like WhatsApp and Viber, does everyone need to be using the same app? Can android-using-viber talk to iphone-no-3rd-party-apps, without being restricted to SMS? Thanks for the heads up about MMS, which was a new term to me. Now I have a new fee to watch for while scoping providers.

Yes, everyone need to use the same app. No, android+viber can't talk to iphone+nothing. If I were you, I would just ask people what seems to be the most widely used among your friends and family and start using that. It could be anything really. Viber, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts (fingers crossed), and so on.


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File fails to upload to google drive from tablet
I have a galaxy Tab 3 with some pictures on it I'd like to upload to Google Drive. Whenever I go into gallery and select them it just keeps working at 0.0Kb and then says "upload fail". Does anyone know why this is happening and how I can fix it?


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Decrease icon size on nexus 4
I got the ota update for kitkat and after that installed the android launcher ripped from nexus 5 rom. The result is that my icons look too big. Is there any way to decrease that or use a custom rom to change the size?

I strongly doubt it.

EDIT: Just came across KitKat Launcher, a clone of the stock KK launcher with some mods. More info on their XDA thread.
Jboi explained:

Unless you write you own Homescreen launcher or use an existing one
  from Goolge Play, there's no way to resize icons.
Well, no way does not mean its impossible:

As said, you can write your own launcher as discussed in Stackoverflow.
You can resize elements on the home screen, but these elements are AppWidgets. Since API level 14 they can be resized and user can - in
  limits - change the size. But that are Widgets not Shortcuts for
  launching icons.

Use another launcher (for example, Nova Launcher).


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Android SMS path
I can't find the path of SMS database files in android os.
where is the right path for SMS database files?
I already tried these values and these values are not right:
/data/data/com.jb.gosms/databases/gommssms.db
/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

It works : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20162129/android-sms-path/20162464?noredirect=1#20162464

And a quick on-site search for "databases/gommssms.db" reveals: Where on the file system are SMS messages stored? / What is the path where GoSMS stores the SMS messages :)


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KitKat "new" Launcher - non English (US) language
I have a Nexus 4. It was updated to KitKat last night.
From what I've gathered from the reviews, I should have a new Launcher. But my phone is still using the old one.
Does anyone know if the launcher is not available for pt-br phones? Or I am missing something?
Thanks!
Edit
Forget it. It seems that the new Launcher (and some other stuff) are exclusive to te Nexus 5. :(
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/11/22/psa-what-some-device-owners-wont-see-in-their-kit-kat-update/

Rather than editing your question, add that extra information as an answer. That will help guide future readers.

I've considered doing that. But I really wasn't sure. Guess I'll be doing that.

Well... it seems the best features (at least for me) will be exclusive to the Nexus 5:
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/11/22/psa-what-some-device-owners-wont-see-in-their-kit-kat-update/
From that list:

Google Experience Launcher
Translucent Nav Bar and Notification Bar
Smart Dialer

That's really a shame!


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Nexus 7 Kitkat update showing Verification Failed error
When I tried to update Nexus 7 to Kitkat from Settings > About > Update, it downloads the Kitkat update and after that shows "verification failed". I bought Nexus 7 from US and now I am in India.

Are you rooted? If so, have you changed any system files? Does the error give any more information, usually it will state which file it has failed verification on.

@bmdixon Not rooted

I had the same problem on my Nexus 4 - I got the "Verification Failed" message twice, and on the third try it worked.


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Does CyanogenMod include a kernel?
I've installed CyanogenMod 10.1 stable for S III LTE (i9305), and noticed that my kernel version is 3.0.64 (I expected it to be 3.4 or something higher).
As I've said in this question, the kernel I had before was also from the 3.0.* line.
Which is quite weird - why is my kernel always staying on that version?
Could it be that CyanogenMod doesn't come with a kernel, but that the kernel is flashed somewhere else?
If not, what's the reason for such a low version number? Is it because my phone isn't all that well-supported? Should I manually flash a new kernel for my phone?

CyanogenMod generally does have a kernel. Phones are different from x86 PC's though, in that a certain compiled kernel may not support many phones. It would need to be compiled with support for all the hardware in a device. With CM's 3.4 kernel, I'd suspect that it doesn't support the S3. This kind of stuff is fairly common with Samsung phones due to their proprietary hardware and drivers - and their lack of willingness to provide drivers.

@dotVezz, OK, got it. I suppose you didn't post that as an answer because you aren't sure?

Indeed. I am sure that CM usually has a custom kernel included, but everything after that is an educated guess at best.

Looking at the repository for that device, I can see that the specified kernel is built from source using the source found here and the cyanogenmod_i9305_defconfig configuration file.
You can tell that the kernel is not the stock one by going to the terminal app (or from adb shell) and typing uname -a, which will tell you the build date of the kernel.  If it's the same as the creation date for the whole OS, then you know it's a custom-built kernel just for CM.
The CM11 branch also uses the cm11 branch of this kernel repo...

Kernel build date is also visible in "Settings -> About Phone", under "Kernel version".

That's true.. forgot about the UI :)


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Galaxy Note 1 - Hangs on start up screen
This is the most tragedic thing ever happened to any of my electronic devices...

My phone was dead (naturally) battery charge was zero as I was outside waiting for a friend.
I wanted to charge it for couple of minutes
I went to Samsung Centre
The staff showed me a charger cable and asked me to charge there. (point A)
Phone was charging
Not more than 2 minutes, another staff came and asked me to connect to the negibouring laptop, where it had the charger cable connected (point B)
I disconnect from point A and connected to point B. Phone was charging and I started the phone. The was started normally yet battery was very low. (within the first 5 minutes) I shut it down.
She came back again and asked me to disconnect from the laptop (point B) as she has another customer who needs to use the laptop
So I disconnected from point B and connected back to point A. After 5 more minutes, I saw the charging green bar has increased. So I started the phone. Now phone hanged on the start up screen and keep showing "SAMSUNG"............

Then I asked them why has happened, they said sorry let us recover your phone, your phone has a problem. From the day I bought, I didn't have any issues with my phone and had been using it for year. Phone is up to date and well taken care.
This whole issue has occured due to the fact that Samsung staff asked me to connect my phone to the laptop which automatically upgrades softwares and while upgrading the softwares she disconnected my phone.
They refused to help me by at least giving me back my data. So can someone please help me with proven steps to connect to the kernal and recover my data back?
And I have never connected this phone to a kernal.
I don't know how possible that is either.
I saw this. But I have zero understanding what he is talking about ODIN, DOWNLOAD MODE...However if someone can guide me with the steps, I can manage it.

I had same issue with my Galaxy Note 1, this happens mostly because of the reasons such as, Software Bugs, Software Manipulation, Stuck After An Update, Malfunctioning Apps or Defective Memory Card.
The Solution for this is pretty easy you just have to Wipe Cache Partition.
Wiping the cache partition of your phone allows you to remove the cache files which may have been corrupted and caused the phone to power off. There is a possibility that the corrupt cache files may not allow your phone to power On. These cache files are temporary in nature and will be created by the phone once again after you wipe out the current cache files. In order to wipe the cache partition, you need to enter the recovery mode by pressing a specific combination of keys. The combination varies from one Android device to another. Here are some examples:
Samsung: Power button, Volume Down button, Home button.
Nexus: Power button, Volume Down and Volume Up
LG: Power button and Volume Down button
HTC: Volume down and Power button.
To wipe the cache partition, follow these steps:

Press and hold the Power button, the Volume Down button, and the Home
button (for Samsung) all at the same time.
Once you see the Android icon, release the Power button but continue
to press and hold the other two buttons till you see the System
Recover screen.
You will see a menu with many options. Use the Volume Down key to
highlight the option that says ‘Wipe Cache Partition’.
Select the option by using the Power key and the process of wiping
out the cache partition will initiate.

Once it completes, your phone will automatically reboot and new cache files will be built by your phone. If you are able to go through the entire process successfully and your phone switches on, Voila!! your problem is fixed, but if your Samsung Galaxy won’t turn on or charge even after wiping the cache partition then you must consider resetting the phone to factory settings.
Do let me know happens, after trying my suggested fix.

Download mode: Volume Up + Menu + Power button, then Volume up
It allegedly moves it to download mode so that you can download ODIN
I am in the same boat since yesterday and only saw the recommendation, now going to try.

I had this happen and took it to be fixed.  The guy changed a chip on the motherboard.  Said the fix was hitand miss.  It worked. All the data and apps are gone though.  Hope this helps.

Soft Reset
Start with a soft reset. A soft reset can sometimes resolve minor software issues and should be the first step to take when troubleshooting an Android smartphone.
Power Cycle
Chances are you have already performed a soft reset by attempting to power your phone off and on or by merely restarting your cell phone. If you have not already tried this then go ahead and do so. The solution might be as simple as rebooting your smartphone.
Battery Remove
If possible try removing the battery from your cell phone for 10-15 seconds then reinsert the battery put your phone back together and then see if it will power on properly. If the phone powers on correctly then enjoy your working smartphone.


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Associating a particular input method with a specific app
Is there a way to associate a particular input method with a specific app?  For example, I'd like to always use the Hacker's Keyboard with the Terminal Emulator, while using SwiftKey for most other apps.
If this is a feature that requires rooting the phone and possibly installing a custom ROM, please let me know; I'm considering doing this anyway and the availability of such a feature might be my "killer app".

Currently, there's no stable solution available, but you can try KeySwap to associate specific keyboard to an app.
As Android doesn't allow an app to change Input Method programatically, your device needs to be rooted for this to work.

Looks promising, but I didn't see any news since 2011. Found something by that name on github but it's about swapping Pgp keys. Do you know if development has continued since then?

I do it with Tasker.
Note: needs Secure Settings plugin w/ system+ enabled

Start Hacking (11)
      A1: Secure Settings [ Configuration:Input Method/Hacker's Keyboard Package:com.intangibleobject.securesettings.plugin Name:Secure Settings Timeout (Seconds):0 ]
Stop Hacking (12)
      A1: Secure Settings [ Configuration:Input Method/SwiftKey Package:com.intangibleobject.securesettings.plugin Name:Secure Settings Timeout (Seconds):0 ]

Very straightforward - 1 profile linking desired apps with the enter/exit tasks above. Over here someone generalized it to return to whatever the previous input method was: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/tasker/gmkPIQy6l7c
But, like OP, these are the only keyboards I use so "hard coding" SwiftKey was alright with me.


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How do websites know if the device being used is an Android phone?
I was browsing a website on Chrome on my Android 4.3 phone. The website immediately showed me a popup telling me to download its Android app. So my question is how does the website know what device the user is using? And is there a way to hide the identity of my device?

Generally, a browser will have what's called a User Agent which will tell the web site what browser is currently accessing the site.
These user agents will generally tell the website whether they are a mobile device or not.
A website can then serve up different pages or make pop ups show up when the browser that is accessing the website identifies itself as a mobile device.
Depending on the browser, you can tell the browser to present itself as a Desktop browser rather than a Mobile browser. On Chrome for Android, this can be done by tapping the menu button and ticking "Request Desktop Site"
Check out the this wiki article for some more indepth information - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent

Firefox for Android has the same menu option.


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Why does Google Now display my "Home" and "Work" locations inaccurately?
I'm in my home all day, every day, as are my internet-capable devices such as phone, Chromebook, etcetera, etcetera. Yet, when I click the magic wand at the bottom of Google Now (settings), it displays my home address and work address as two different places, both of-which I've never even been, muchless worked or lived.
Any ideas why this would be happening? Anyone seeing anything remotely similar?

T-Mobile, LG Optimus, Android 4.1.2 | P76920h

Google Now is guessing, based on where and when you spend your time.
If it's wrong, simply edit it. Once manually set it won't guess anymore.

Thanks. I've edited the fields and Google Now said the changed would take place tomorrow.


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Send blind calls to voicemail?
I'm getting more and more blind calls on my cellphone from telemarketers.
Is there an application that can send all incoming blind calls to voicemail?
FWIW, I'm running Cyanogenmod on a Galaxy Nexus.
Thank you.

Do you really need an app for that? AFAIK there's a "call block handler" integrated with the dialer, where you can blacklist numbers. If you insist on an app, please remember that Is there an app for X questions are listed as being off-topic (see our [help/on-topic] for details). A playstore search for "call blocker" (better done at AppBrain as GPlay got quite limited) will present you with a mass of apps to chose from.

By blind, do you mean all Unknown/Blocked-ID numbers, or any number that isn't in your address list? "blind" is a bit ambiguous.

I don't know the correct term: I meant people calling as "hidden number", ie. I don't know who's calling. I want all such calls to be automatically forwarded to voicemail.

I just saw that you don't want to block the calls, but send to voicemail.
My mistake.

As easy as one, two, three :)
Call settings -> Blacklist -> Small icon at the bottom corner -> Private numbers

That is for cm-10.2.0
Might be a little different if you have another version, but you get the idea.


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Can one app read text field(s) of other apps?
I was wondering if it is possible in Android to write an app that runs in the background and gets the text entered into a TextField of another app. More concretely, is it possible to have an app run in the background that allows to obtain the content that is typed in the textfield for sending messages in WhatsApp or gtalk? Imagine for instance that before sending the content through WhatsApp, I want to preprocess the text and only then send it, but this pre-processing shall be somehow automatic.
On a desktop this is possible to build but I am not sure if one can build this for Android phone devices. Maybe one could catch all inputs done with a keyboard that are sent to a certain app, but I guess this is not possible to prevent keyloggers etc. Is there any alternative to achieve this goal?
I would like to do it without rooting the phone.
Essentially, what I want to do is to have a keyboard where the user can type using the standard english letters but the typing is automatically translated to hindi text + some annotation added after each word.

I would expect not, since Android apps are supposed to be sandboxed from each other. I suppose a rogue keyboard app could do it.

A keyboard can do this - that's how a keyboard works, after all. Not only that, but for some scripts, what you describe is the most common way to enter text. For example, in Japanese, one enters む by typing "mu" (the Latin characters representing the same sound).
You can't do it with a normal app without rooting. Anything else would be a big security flaw.

Is this still true in 2019?

@ripper234 You should ask a new question about your use-case. Link to this question if it helps provide context.


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"Scanner disabled; location inaccurate" in Ingress
Whenever I open the app, the game is stuck on the "Scanning to acquire user location..." screen. If I force the game to go to the main screen by pressing my device's back button, it shows a black screen with the words "Scanner disabled; location inaccurate.""
However, when I use a different app that requires GPS such as My Tracks, or simply Maps (both by Google, Inc), my location is pinpointed perfectly. What's wrong?

Try clearing the app data/cache, and re-initializing it. All of your progress is sunc with the Google server, so you will not risk losing anything. When this screen is active, does the GPS icon appear? I have had this problem in the past, and it has been solved by a simple phone reboot.

@MattClark You might want to write that as an answer. There's a bug in the Ingress app, and this solution is all over the Ingress forums.

@matt I've done that, as well as uninstalled and reinstalled a couple of times.

Are you using a custom ROM or recovery? I just experienced the same symptoms on CM11 (Nexus 5) and I had to go into ClockworkMod recovery and format my cache partition to get it working again. Clearing Ingress's data didn't work, and neither did re-installing, just like you've described.

Try updating google maps. This is what worked for me (after none of the other stuff mentioned worked.)

So I had the same problem and some how fixed it by going to the in game store and it was able to find my location that way. I backed out and could then start playing. Hope this helps someone else.

Can you explain yourself a bit more? Possibly with screenshots?


text:
How can I reinstall android 4.2 after having updated to 4.4?
I just updated my nexus4 to kitkat 4.4. Play services seems to drain the
battery. Thus I would like to move back to 4.2. Is it possible? And how can
I do it?
Thank you.

Kitkat 4.4 or Jelly Bean 4.3? Even if the procedure is most likely the same, you must choose...

Which version is your Nexus 4 running on?
4.4 (KRT16S) or 4.4.2 (KOT49H)
Check by going into Settings > About > Build Number
4.4.2 (KOT49H) is newer and fixes a lot of the bugs from 4.4 (KRT16S). You might try updating if you are running a lower version.

You can revert back to 4.2.2 (JDQ39) via:

factory reset
manual flash (stock image here)
a system backup image

As for the Google Play Services battery drain: AFAIK it is caused by Google Now always accessing your location reporter and also waking up the phone from time to time.
Known solutions:

disable the location reporter or prevent Google Now from accessing your location
turn off High Accuracy when location reporting (GPS) is not in use
simply turn Google Now off

One more thing to take into concern are the updates. Have you updated all the stock Google apps. If not, just leave your Nexus on wifi for a while to update all the Google goodies and then try using it for a while on KitKat. If you notice the battery drain again revert back to Jelly Bean or simply try applying a solution from above to see if it fixes the drain.

If you have not created a system backup (sometimes called nandroid) before updating, you have only one option: Install an Android 4.2 through recovery or flash and then do a factory reset.


text:
Disable downloading system updates by default in Android
Yesterday got a notification on Nexus 4 saying system update available "Kit kat (Android 4.4)"
Have waited for the download to complete but showed a message "Verfication failed" and "Check Now" button at the button.
Clicked "Check Now" button and it started the download again, it happened a couple of times and really irritating that it tries to download update from the beginning every time.
Now, as not sure what's the problem, want to try updating to kitkat version after a couple of days and want to disable auto-download for now. Is there any way to disable auto-download of system updates or any one else faced this problem?

Have you rooted your phone or installed a custom recovery?

No. It came with Android 4.2 and upgraded to 4.3 earlier and haven't faced this issue.


text:
How do I show my Android device screen on my PC with no lag (at 30fps)
Device: Galaxy Note 3 N900W8
I need a solution that would let me show my phones screen on my PC at a high framerate. I tried VNC. It could not find a display method. I tried some random apps that work with USB debugging. No dice. Any suggestions. HDMI is not a option because then I would need to purchase a capture card and a HDMI adapter for my phone.

What is your end goal? Video capture?

Yes it is. I do not mine rooting because I am already rooted. I just want reliable 30fps video capture like I have doing screencasts on PC.

You mentioned that video capture is your goal but does that mean that it has to be live on your PC? If what you're looking to do is get a capture of your phone's screen so that you can post it to YouTube or something, consider trying to capture locally on the device then transferring that video file to your computer for processing and upload. This might give you better results than trying to "cast" your phone's screen to your PC live and then capture it there.
If your Note 3 has been upgraded to Android 4.4.x Kitkat you can use adb's built-in screenrecord utility. Full documentation is available from Google Android Developer Support. Here are the basics:

To use the screenrecord from the command line, type the following:
adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/demo.mp4
Stop the screen recording by
  pressing Ctrl-C, otherwise the recording stops automatically at three
  minutes or the time limit set by --time-limit.

Google also outlines the following limitations:

Some devices may not be able to record at their native display    resolution. If you encounter problems with screen recording, try
  using a lower screen resolution.
Rotation of the screen during    recording is not supported. If the screen does rotate during    recording, some of the screen is cut off
  in the recording.
Audio is not recorded with the video file.

Might try flashing the leaked KitKat build on my Note3 soon and will test this out :)

I had a good time playing around with it, worked very well on my Nexus 5.

I use Android Screenshots and Screen Capture, and it works well.


text:
Native email app showing email account password on lock screen of Galaxy S2
Dear Android community,
Recently I have set up a personal email account on the native email client that comes with the version of Android I have (4.1.2). After I have set it up and could receive/send/sync emails and all, I have decided to remove that account from the native client.
Now, the password that I used with that email account via that native email client is being displayed on my lock screen, under the time.
I want to not see it there anymore (obviously!). Has anybody had the problem before ? Any idea on how to solve this ?
Thanks in advance for your input :)

Look in Settings -> Security -> Owner Info.
It is the only one place, to my knowledge, where you can set up text under the clock on the lockscreen before 4.2.