text:
How to ensure that the digitizer is faulty?
My HTC Evo 3D sometimes doesn't react when i press certain areas of the screen. I noticed it happens mostly on the part where the letter 'e' is, when i'm holding the phone in landscape mode.
So, i did a factory reset, wiped out SD card as well during the factory reset, and the problem still persists.
It sometimes happens for a certain period of time, and it starts to work after a while.
I did a line drawing test, and on some places it doesn't draw the line correctly (it is continuos but it's drawn with sharp angles, i don't know how to explain it better).
I read somewhere it is most probably a hardware problem, with a digitizer. Is there any way to be sure, or is it best to take it to a repair shop?

Open your settings menu and go all the way to the bottom, open Developer Options.
In the Input section, find the options called Pointer Location, and check it.
This is a feature for developers that shows the raw data from the digitizer.
Move your fingers around on the screen, and watch what you see, if your finger seems to disappear from the screen, Android is not seeing any data about it, it is a problem with your digitizer.

I did that several times, and once it "skipped" and didn't show a small part of the drawn line, just around the part of the screen where i have those problems.
Can i conclude its the digitizer, even though i had the given misbehavior only once when i tried it?

@Nicholas, I'd say Matt's suggestion, and your conclusion (the digitizer has problems) are spot-on.

addendum: a link :D Sounds borked.


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How can I copy SMSes from Nokia N8 to Android for free?
How can I copy SMSes from Nokia N8 (Symbian) to Android for free ? It is for my very important. I have found MobileTrans application, but it is paid and I wanna not pay 39 $.
Thanks in advance !
SOLVED
I solved my problem my exporting SMS to CSV by Nokia Suite and then importing it to my device using SMS Tools - All in One  application.

There are some similar previous questions about transferring SMS messages from Nokia phones, have you looked at those? Import SMSes from Nokia 6300 / Transferring messages to android from a sqlite db on my laptop / SMS backup in Android

Thanks that you also shared your answer! Would you mind copying that into the answer part (see below), and then accept it?

Yep, please share your solution as answer and not as edit to your question :)

As the OP found a solution, but missed to make it an answer, let me transfer it here:
I solved my problem exporting SMS to CSV by Nokia Suite and then importing it to my device using SMS Tools - All in One application.

IDK if WP8s have this feature, but is there a way to save your messages to the SIM? That is assuming you'll be keeping the SIM.

SIM cards have very limited memory so this isn't a great solution.

Well you might as well try, mightn't you?

Even if it does work it'll only have like 20 messages though so there's actually not much point in even trying. That's assuming SIMs still have such limited memory, the 20 text limit was normal about a decade ago.

OK @peanut, don't use that way then!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Contacts show gmail contacts instead of phone
when i try to assign one image to a contact, then all i can see are gmail contacts instead of my phone contacts. I'm using Jelly bean version. Please help me in this. Phone is Sony xperia C.

Check you 'Contacts' setting: open you 'Contact' -> go to Options -> 'Contact to Display'. See what is checked, setting it to 'Phone' should bring you phone contacts.

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


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How do I install a custom ROM on sony experia ray ST18i?
I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the device already like this:
How to unlock and root a Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray ST18i with 4.1.B.1.13 But How can I install a custom Rom now on the device?
I guess I have to enter the recovery menu for it?
I tried this, but it doesen't work:

press the volume down key a few times when your
  phone boots up. The sony logo brightens at one
  point, press during that time

OP: Check out the LegacyXperia project which is designated for Sony 2011/2012 devices.

You have to install the drivers and then install ClockworkMod with help of x-Parts from Google Play to enable the recovery menu

I do not recommend x-Parts as it does not work properly! The OP might be better off using LegacyXperia which contains the Clockwork Mod Recovery built in.


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Tablet forgets default launcher
I updated the firmware on my Transformer Infinity a couple weeks back. I had been using the Nova Launcher on it and ever since the update the tablet asks me which launcher I'd like to use every time I restart it. I choose the Nova launcher and choose "Always", but the next time I restart it does it again.
Is there any way to fix that?
Update:
The tablet is now forgetting the launcher quite frequently, even when I haven't rebooted. Simply hitting the "Home" button while in an app will often bring up the message asking which launcher I'd like to use.
I also believe that I have determined that it is not a problem with the Nova Launcher. I tried installing a different launcher and using it, but I have the same problem. I also have the same problem with the stock launcher. It seems that simply having multiple launchers installed is causing me problems. Any help resolving this issue would, of course, be much appreciated. It's becoming very frustrating.

I don't have a Transformer, but I face a similar issue back when I was using the Nexus One. Is it possible that you have installed Nova on the sd card? Go to Settings -> Apps, Look for Nova Launcher and make sure it is installed on the internal memory.

@RaghdHamzeh I don't even have an SD Card, just internal memory.

Can you check nonetheless? Some tablets and phones have two types of internal memory (one of them is called an Internal SD Card), I've came across a couple of phones like that. The Internal Storage tag has more info abut this.

@RaghdHamzeh I don't see anything on that screen that indicates where it's installed. What exactly am I looking for?

@RaghdHamzeh – I believe the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (i515) has them as one and the same...


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What is this N-shaped icon on my HTC One?

I have an HTC One with Sprint, and I believe this icon appeared after the 4.3 update.  I have gone through the list of apps (both running and total) but nothing appears to match up.  Other friends with Android phones don't appear to have this icon, but they all root and customize 7893 ways.  Can anybody identify this icon?

It means that you have NFC enabled. Some manufacturers (LG and HTC, I know for certain) have started adding an icon to let you know that you have NFC enabled since it can have potential security implications related to mobile payment systems. It would also be useful to know if you intend to use features like Android Beam.
If you'd like to get rid of the icon, you can disable NFC in your settings by selecting "More..." in the Wireless & Networks subheading and then unchecking the "NFC" option (you can view Sprint's official instructions here).
The icon they're using is the official logo of the NFC Forum.

That indeed was the case with my S4.  Thanks for posting the question and the answer.  Not sure how it was turned-on, but it's been driving me nuts for days.


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Samsung S3 Cannot Enter Recovery Mode, and Can't Boot Up Either
I'm trying to fix a Samsung S3 which has been stuck on the boot logo continously, and cannot boot up. The phone keeps displaying the logo (which says "Samsung" and the phone model) when the power button is pressed, and it will not shut off unless I remove the battery.
My first attempt at fixing this was to enter recovery mode (holding the power button, volume up, and home button at startup), but the diagonistic menu didn't show up. Repeated attempts of removing the SIM and SD cards first also resulted in failure... nothing happened when I held those keys down.
Strangely, download mode (holding the power button, volume down, and home button) worked. The screen lit up with a prompt to enable the mode. However, the phone isn't mine (I'm just helping someone fix it) and they don't want to reflash their firmware if possible. I have done rooting before and understand the process, but since it's not mine the risk is too great.
Will reflashing the firmware fix the problem? Is this a hardware or a software issue? What does it mean if I can't enter recovery mode?

This is most likely a software issue, but you can't be 100% sure until you flash a new ROM and see if it works. If you find a stock ROM, then it won't void the warranty, so it should be safe to try.
You can find a lot of stock ROMs here.

As said already re-flashing the firmware is probably all you can do but I wanted to add that you can use ODIN for easier flashing (it's really just clicking a button).
Using the link given by Alex (searching using the model number, Setting> About device> Model Number) download the firmware then download ODIN.
Here is a good tutorial for using it if you're unfamiliar with it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xRDU6dDNyA. (Not great quality since he is recording the screen but still helpful).

Phone doesn't boot, therefore no settings etc


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Cannot install any Custom ROMs on Xperia Ray ST18i: assert failed: getprop Status 7
When I try to install any of the roms of that page: http://get.cm/?device=urushi I always get this error:

Finding update package... Opening update package... Installing
  update... assert failed: getprop("ro.product.device") == "ST18i"||
  getprop("ro.build.product") == "ST18i"||  getprop("ro.product.device")
  == "ST18a"|| getprop("ro.build.product") == "ST18a"||   getprop("ro.product.device") == "urushi" ||
  getprop("ro.build.product") == "urushi" E:Error in
  /sdcard/cm-9.1.0-urushi.zip
  (Status 7) Installation aborted.

This sounds to me, that the prop doesen't get the right string "ST18i" which is strange, cause that's exactly my model.
Do I have to downgrade or install something else first?
I also tried to install the old image Xperia Ray (ST18i)_4.0.2.A.0.42_CE.zip again, but there is just sais "installation aborted".
Are there different Rescue Menues? I read, someone tried reinstalled his rescue menu with Odin.
I installed my Recovery Mod with the app x-Parts from Google Play that app installs the CWM.

Using a program like 7-zip, you can open the script in the META-INF folder and remove that if or assert conditional which is preventing you from installing this script, or, on the actual device itself, even modify your /system/build.prop so that it reflects the requirements of the script.

You have to install the boot image that is included in the Cyanogenmod ZIP file an flash that in fastboot:
Connect your device with Vol-Up While plugging in the USB-Cable
fastboot devices

Seeing your serial number means we know all is good.
Now type these commands:
fastboot erase system -w
fastboot erase boot

then copy the boot.img in the same folder as fastboot.exe and type
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot

Now press the Vol-Down Button to enter the Recovery Mode again and install your image


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Key tap vibration option missing in S3 mini
I have read about how to disable the key tap vibration option in S3. It seems pretty straight forward: Go to Language and Input --> Samsung keyboard settings --> Advanced --> Unselect key tap vibration. The problem is that there is no such an option in my phone, does it mean that there is something wrong with the phone? Or such option does not exist for the mini version?
Thanks,
LJ


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Pictures and videos not showing in the gallery
I've been experiencing this issue for a month or so. I was using the camera and I received a message of some memory error, but was able to continue taking pictures. Then I realized that the pictures were not showing up in the gallery.
I connected the device to my PC and the files are actually there. In addition, I am able to continue taking pictures and access the files when using the camera (I touch the recent photos icon and I can see them).
I have tried many things, such as removing the DCIM folder, erasing the .nomedia files, and erasing data from the internal memory, and none of them seemed to work.
Could anyone help me?

Have you tried triggering the Media Scanner manually? There are many apps in the playstore helping you doing so, e.g. SDRescan, Rescan SD, or Media Library Repair Scanner.

Consider any of the solution mentioned below.
Solution 1
Note: Follow the steps for both Internal and external SD Card

Go to File manager  -> Android ->  Data -> com.android.gallery3d.
Delete the folder (com.android.gallery3d) in both internal and external SD card.
Go to Settings -> Apps / Application manager -> search for Gallery -> open Gallery and tap on Clear Data .
Switch off your phone and wait for few minutes (say 2-3 min) and then switch on and wait for few minutes.

That's it now. All the images and videos would be showing under Gallery.
Solution 2

Go to the respective folders where images/videos are stored.
Go to Settings > Show hidden file and see if there is  a .NOMEDIA file. If there is such file then delete it.
Switch off and switch on the device.

That's it.
Solution 3
If above solutions don't work, then you have to search for apps in Play Store which scans SD Card . SDrescan is good. It's only of 20KB in size. And then scan the memory card using that app.

Workaround: In my case, the images with a very long name didn't show up in the Gallery. After I renamed them, they showed up.

Update: A rename by adding one more character (in the Total Commander
/ X-plore app that can see them) triggered the display in Gallery (or other Apps like Google Photos, WhatsApp, and Telegram that can share images), so it is not about the name length. The owner didn't change, the timestamp didn't change either.
The root cause remains to be discovered.

same thing happening to me. All the videos I download are in SD Card / Download. But I have to rename them (even add or remove 1 letter) from file manager. It starts showing them in gallery.

This happens because the downloaded image isn't indexed right way. The indexing tool works based on some triggers - like renaming an existing file, deleting some files etc and this is why it starts showing up after you rename it.
Source - https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=640672&p=4985918&viewfull=1#post4985918

The solution to your problem requires two steps:

You have to delete .nomedia file by connecting your phone to a computer. Once you are done with that, come back to your phone.

Go to storage in Settings and do 'UnMount SD Card'. Wait for a few seconds and do 'Mount SD Card', and that's it.

All your photos and videos will now be listed in the Gallery and respective apps.

As of September 28, 2023, I had this exact problem, so I started doing some research and nothing worked.  I remembered that I was messing up with my phone earlier and changed some settings, so I went back there and figured out what was causing this problem.
In order to fix this. Follow the steps on the screenshots I'm going to attach.

First go to Settings ⚙

Scroll down to Apps

Top-right corner, you will find 3 vertical dots that look like this ⫶

Select Special Access

Select Usage Data Access

Click the 3 vertical dots ⫶ on the top right corner again

Then click Reset App Preferences

✔ Done.

Just so you know, the phone will tell you. You will not lose any data by performing this. But you might have to sign in to apps again like Uber or apps that require sign-in.

First, go to File manager > Settings > Show hidden files > then rename the folder .nomedia to .adc. Then restart your phone and remove the SD card directly without unmounting. Then reinsert it to the phone during switch on and watch. By default, it will scan the SD card and show media in the gallery and music.
If it does not work, then delete the folder .nomedia and do the step of removing and inserting the SD card again, then open the gallery.

.nomedia usually is a file, not a folder 2) OP already stated those files removed 3) removing the card without unmount from a running system is strongly discouraged, as it might lead to data loss.

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


text:
I don't have a working ROM on my Sprint HTC One. I made an error when flashing; I'm on hboot 1.55 and Android v4.3, S-On
I've been struggling with this for over a day now.
I unlocked and rooted my phone just fine (HTC One on Sprint, 4.3) - but when I flashed a ROM, I flashed Maximus HD, which was apparently an International version and not a Sprint one. I think that messed some things up. After trying a few different ROMs on top of that, nothing works.
Each ROM I flash will "install" correctly, but when it boots to the lock screen, upon unlocking it gives me the HTC splash screen.
I'm convinced that my accidental upgrade to hboot 1.55 is rendering it impossible for me to flash any working ROMs - be it stock or otherwise. I can enter Recovery mode, adb sideload, and flash ROMs, but none of them work.
I've tried Superwipe and then Bad Boyz, but it's the same thing. After installation, it sticks at the HTC splash screen.
So, my options are limited. I think I need to find a way to revert my hboot to 1.44 from 1.55 - that way at least the stock RUU is compatible. However, I can't find any way to do this; since I'm S-On, and I can't access any ROM to mess with settings, I have no idea how to do this, or how to flash a workable ROM in order to switch to S-Off.
Anyone have any ideas. I'm seriously distraught. I just bought this phone, and I love it. I'm so sad that I decided to try this rooting/unlocking/ROM flashing business because it's disrupted my sanity.
Any thoughts or ideas will help immensely. I will give more information if needed. Thanks!

You need to do a factory reset and wipe the Dalvik Cache. What bootloader are you using? TWRP or Clockwork would be examples. I would enter this as a comment but lack the necessary reputation.
This tread on XDA may be of use. Soft Bricked - XDA

I had a similar issue on mine as well. The process to fix it was not to bad, knowing that you have the issue is the key.
Once you have gotten the proper RUU for your device in .zip format rename it to firmware.zip for ease of use. Place it in your folder with fastboot (sdk)
boot your phone into bootloader hook up your usb cable. make sure you have the fastbootusb in bootloader screen.
then type the following commands, hope it goes well.

Re-lock your bootloader (fastboot oem lock)
call up the RUU boot (fastboot oem rebootRUU) you should get the HTC logo at this point.
flash the RUU (fastboot flash zip firmware.zip)
at this point you could get an error 90 use the up arrow on keyboard to reselect your cmd command and hit enter.
if no error or when complete type (fastboot reboot-bootloader)

GOOD LUCK
MANY THANKS TO O.M.J. at xda for helping me with this issue when I ran across it.


text:
Music player widget title cut off
My iPod recently broke so I started using Google Play Music on my phone. It works quite well and today I discovered the widget, so I added it to my home screen. It's very useful, the only thing is that the title is cut off slightly and the whole widget seems too low. You can still clearly make out what it says but it just doesn't look very nice. Any ideas on how to fix this?
Here is a screenshot to explain it better:

Screenshot (click for larger variant)

The problem lies in the number of rows on the screen. On the screenshot in the question, there are six rows designated for shortcuts and widgets. If the number of rows is reduced to five the music widget comes out as it should:

Screenshot (click for larger variant)


text:
Differences in Geo-Location Accuracy
In an application I am building I am using "Fused Location Provider". When the phone is in a WiFi network I am getting an accurate location value (within 14 meters). When the phone is in EDGE Network I am not getting the same accuracy (a value like 1895 meters).
What's the problem with EDGE and WiFi networks? Why I am getting the different values in different networks (Wifi, EDGE, GPS)?

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/location/strategies.html

Google has a big database of (hashes of) Wi-Fi network SSIDs. When Wi-Fi is enabled on your phone, it scans for Wi-Fi networks, and sends the list to Google (in a hashed form). In cities, networks are plentiful, and Wi-Fi networks are short-range, so the combination of networks it can 'see' gives a very accurate idea of where you are.
A similar thing happens with cellular network cell IDs, but these are spaced more widely apart. The phone itself can't perform triangulation, because it only has the received signal strength for each cell it can 'see': it doesn't know the signal's angle of arrival, the transmit strength of the cell, or what might be occluding the signal. However, it can still use the combination of which cells it can 'see' to estimate position, a little more accurately than the distance between cells.
Even if you're connected to an EDGE network, if Wi-Fi is enabled then the Wi-Fi scanning technique will still be used, so the location estimate will be more accurate.
Both these techniques are far less accurate than GPS, which computes a position based on time differences between signals coming from different satellites. When your device can 'see' enough satellites, the precision is limited mostly by deliberate interference added by the US government (which operates the system) to make it less useful to non-US armed forces.

The "deliberate interference" ended on 2000-05-02. The current 3m (or 3cm with averaging on a good chip) is due to financial and technical limitations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Timeline_and_modernization

EDGE and WIFI use cell phone tower triangulation and these have a low accuracy level While using GPS, your each device is sending the message to satellite so accuracy is high
In simple terms
For GPS consider you device is sending the signal so accuracy is high
But for WIFI and Edge is based on an average that is calculated from the towers around you so its less accurate

In GPS, your device doesn't send signals to satellites. It's the other way around. How do you think the satellites would handle the millions of GPS receivers in the world if it worked that way?

When determining the location with the GSM network, I doubt that triangulation is involved.


text:
Chrome browser will not connect to intranet web addresses
I can access a internal address using http://companyweb which redirects to http://companyweb/default.aspx from my windows desktop fine. I can also access http://companyweb on my iphone.  However, when I type "http://companyweb" on my android device it searches the internet. If I type http://companyweb.domain.local, the default IIS7 (internet information service - windows web server) homepage is displayed. They are all connected to the same wireless network.  How can i get android to connect to this site?
Thanks

See also How to reach local computer via machine name instead of IP? / How use call a local server by name rather than IP? / How to set up tablet to use a local DNS server thru VPN rather than Google's DNS? / How to set the DNS server on Nexus One?

I think i realized the problem now.  Apple and my windows desktop both use DNS suffix's and android doesn't. How do i enter suffixes in android?

The problem is slightly different: Android always uses Google's name servers for name-to-IP conversion, even when an DHCP server suggests differently. Google's name servers cannot resolve your intranet-only names. So to make this work, you will need to change the corresponding configuration. See the first question linked by GAThrawn for details.

Confirmed my doubt: getprop | grep -i shows my local dns as primary and google's as secondary. I bet this issue has to do with Chrome's omnibar (the combined search and uri input box) that detects it erronously as a search instead of an URI.

@Izzy: not true, on my localnet http://server doesn't work while http://server.lan:8080 does. And by the way, this would break all intranet related networking that depends on DNS. Isnt AOSP itself pretty much Google agnostic whithout the gapps package. Has one tried Firefox?

Firefox mobile doesn't do this' i suppose it's Chrome's combined search/URI input box (omnibox).

I've checked my settings (not with getprop, but in the WiFi settings, long press the AP, advanced). Before I manually put in my local DNS here, it hat 4.4.4.4 as primary, and 8.8.8.8 as secondary. But that was a while ago: checking right now on one of my newer devices (Android 4.1.1), it correctly uses my DNS as primary, and 4.4.4.4 as secondary. A second device (same manufacturer) shows the same. So I have to take that back at least partially, as described "misbehavior" might be device or version specific.

I've found a solution.  Not sure how i answer my own question on here.  I've round the full URL I can use internally or externally for SharePoint.  Its https://remote.companyname.co.uk:987/default.aspx


text:
How do I withdraw an app rights to enter internet in CyanogenMod?
On a rooted device it should be possible to forbid certain apps to contact internet connection
How is this possible in CyanogenMod 10.0?

Block apps from accessing the Internet on Android device, Is it possible to install an app and exclude some of its requested permissions?

An app like Root Firewall (needs root) should work.

☆ Block Internet access for any apps:

on CM
Go to Settings > Applications
Open the application you want to restrict. Scroll down to the permissions section and strike off internet access by clicking on the permission.
Alternatively you could use an application like LBE privacy guard to restrict access.
With this method you can restrict any permission.
Sometimes apps start force-closing when you revoke permissions so be careful!

you cannot click on the permissions in CM10. I used XPrivacy now, cause LBE privacy destroys CyanogenMod on my phone (see http://android.stackexchange.com/a/25818/22975 )

Does not work in CM11 either. There is a "privacy guard", but for ""some suspicious reason"" it does not have network connections.


text:
Is there a shop like Cydia on iOS for Android?
Most apps in the Google Play store have a free version and a paid version. On iOS there is a shop called Cydia, where you can try out most apps for free before you buy them in the App Store.
Is there such a store for rooted Androids as well?
I know of the store F-Droid for free software

F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)

There's a list of alternative app stores in this other question What are the alternative Android app markets?. My understanding was that Cydia had both free and paid apps, it's main distinction was that it hosted apps that wouldn't be allowed on the app store, or required jailbreaking, it wasn't meant to be a try before you buy service?

@GAThrawn, you're correct. Although (at least when I had my iPhone 3GS) you can use Cydia to get Installous, basically a piracy platform. This may be what he's talking about. In which case, there ARE pirate android markets, but I recommend staying very far away from them because they 1: generally don't have patched/updated versions of most apps and 2: the apps from those stores may have been modified by potential attackers. (The same is also true of Installous on iOS)

While there are Android markets offering pirated versions, (not try before you buy which is signified usually by Demo or Lite) as the other users have mentioned, installing them is very risky. I would recommend being involved in the development community. As a developer I share keys and am invited to test apps often by frequenting XDA forums and Reddit.com/r/Android.
Developers will discount or give away versions of their apps and being involved in the community will help you learn more and score you some software deals.
Update:This answer does not really address the question.

To say "Cydia is a black market" is fairly misleading. Its business model was fairly embattled in the past, but has gained official legal status in the US since then.

I do stand corrected. It has been so long since I used iOS and I switched Cydia and Installous in my memory.  Hopefully I can be of some help and offer Humble Bundle as a great alternative Android App store (for games) since you can purchase their android bundles when available and install through .apks.


text:
Checking mail on mobile data
i use roaming which is very expensive and I search some kind of script or way of solving my problem: there is a possibility to turn off checking e-mail when the android is connected via mobile data ? Any knows how to limit the transfer of mobile data to the minimum (disable apps which I do not want sync etc.) ?
Thanks in advance !

Could you not set your email settings to fetch rather then push? That way it will only update when you open the email application?

If you go into Settings -> Data Usage you can see which apps are using the most data. It's possible to turn them off using data in the background by clicking on the app and then selecting "Restrict Background Data". See this and this for pictures and further detail.
Also if it's just email you're using you can probably turn it off automatically checking depending on the client and email service you're using. If you're using Gmail then go into the Gmail app, go to the settings for your account and turn off "Sync Gmail".

Thank you very much for the answer ! It is very helpfull ! I check it tomorrow. I installed https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm&hl=pl and i see that the more transfer took OS Services and i do not know how to block it.

Yeah, now it works very good ! Thanks ! ! ! ! What a pity I cannot click thumb UP..

Next to the settings pointed out by Peanut's answer, it might be worth to check some special roaming apps like e.g. Roaming Control:

Roaming Control automatically enables or disables mobile data connection, airplane mode or auto sync based on the currently active network operator.

(emphasis mine). If your mail client obeys the sync settings, this should be an excellent alternative: have it checking mails in background usually, but just not while in roaming. Best explained by a screenshot:

Roaming Control (click for larger variant)


text:
Security Audit - how can I tell my Android Distribution is safe
I've just bought a Jiayu G4 and it came with android installed (rooted).
My question is - how can I tell that nothing nasty has been installed on the phone?  Or best practices to ensure that it's safe to use.  I've had a look but I haven't seen any accounts of malware distributed Android OS's, but I'm sure it can happen.
Obviously there's an (un)healthy amount of paranoia here, but it'd be nice to know that data isn't being siphoned off somewhere it shouldn't be.

It's hard to give a generic advice, especially when there's no specific hint included (like suspicious behaviour of some kind). You might still want to check other questions tagged "security", or, more specific, security+malware. Those at least give some "real world examples" and (hopefully) countermeasures, which might point to "prevention and detection" possibilities as well.

The bad news: You very probably can't.
If the manufacturer decides to backdoor your phone's firmware, it's hardly detectable by individuals.
Phones consist of many components of which only a tiny fraction is really authored by the manufacturer.
Think of drivers and firmwares for various chips like the baseband, wifi, sensors, the various open source parts like the linux kernel, the Android system itself, the closed source Google apps and additional 3rd party packages from other other companies, that are preloaded.
To be sure, you would need all of the firmwares' source code and a way to compile it in a way such that the official builds and your build match bit by bit to prove that the source code matches the firmware (and nothing was secretely altered). Now one still needed to audit all the source and scan it for backdoors/vulnerabilities.
To get an idea: TrueCrypt is a popular disk encryption software for many operating systems. In the wake of the NSA scandal its sources have recently been binary matched with the official windows releases which was a very tedious process (report here). A source code audit hasn't been conducted yet, but there's a (now) still running indiegogo project for funding that audit with currently ~35k US$ pledged for doing it.

Right, I mean that's what I was expecting the answer to be... and I suspect the only real way to get an idea would be to run wireshark on the same network and see what the device is actually doing.. I mean I suspect it's probably fine, after all, if it came out that a particular manufacturer was manufacturing spyware it'd be pretty detrimental to their reputation.  Anyway, thanks for the answer :)

If you really care about free software as in freedom, you might want to have a look at the replicant project: http://replicant.us they however don't support many models: http://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/liberate.html


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Galaxy S3 won't turn on
I have a Galaxy S3 and if my screen won't turn on but it vibrates when I press the power button does that mean I have a dead screen? Or is there someway that I can fix it? I've tried it over and over and over again but it won't do anything but vibrate when turning on. The first few times the LED light would turn on but now that won't even work. I even tried the rebooting process and the screen still won't turn on. Anytime I plug it in to a USB or charger it just vibrates 4 times.

Usually when this happens to me, my battery is dead and has really zero power to even turn on. Give it some time in the charger.

Hold Power and V- for 10+ seconds.
Release.
Press the Power and Home buttons for several seconds, you should see a Samsung Logo, entering your device into recovery mode.
If you can get to this point, the Display is function properly.
If issues persist, plug in the device and let it charge completely, and then remove the batter, giving it time to discharge completely.


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Galaxy S3 won't boot, gets stuck at the "Samsung Galaxy S3 GT" screen
I seem to have the same problem as many other Galaxy users with the Boot Loop. I cannot access my phone:

I am not able to load the Stock ROM or factory reset it, nor erase any data.
It is stuck at the Samsung Galaxy S3 GT screen and then turns off.
If I go to "download" or "volume up mode" (I am sorry I don't know the name) it turns off.

I have already tried:

pulling the battery out
waiting until the battery has no juice
connecting to PC to try to update the firmware

Does anybody know what should be done?

It might be a power button issue. when you take the battery out, and put it back in does the phone automatically turn on by itself? or do you have to press the power button to do that? You should turn it back on with the power button, if it turns back on automatically then it means your power button has gotten stuck. What I did was hold it and kept pressing it a few times in order for it to get unstuck. it'll turn on like normal once it's unstuck


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How to hide status bar notification icons?
I'd like to figure out how to hide the icons of the status bar that would appear in the left. Is there a way to control that? Some apps such as Weather.com don't have the option to hide that icon from the status bar.

Interestingly, you don't need an app to hide those notifications. You can go to the App Info screen for an app and uncheck the "Show notifications" option. There are a few ways to get to the App Info page for an app.

On some launchers, you can drag the app out of the drawer, and onto an "App Info" area.
Likewise, on some launchers, you can long-press the icon and an options menu comes up with "App Info".
Go to "Settings", then "Apps", then select the specific app you're looking to hide notifications (and icons) from.

Let's also take a moment to learn the reason why apps (like weather apps, etc) don't have an option inside the app itself to do this!
If an app requires its notification to be displayed 100% of the time, then Android's Garbage Collector/Process Manager is not able to automatically kill it. If, for example, The Weather Channel's app allowed you to disable the notification/icon, then using that option would possibly allow Android to kill the background process (without knowing that it's important) and it would stop getting weather updates.
Services that use Push Notifications (Like Hangouts, Email, lots of chat apps, etc) don't need to be constantly running in the background to function. However, apps that need to do more background processing or need richer data (I guess weather apps?) need more than just push notifications. That's why this is a thing.
Fortunately, disabling notifications inside the App Info screen does not affect the app's other functionality. The app is still requesting the notification to be shown (Therefore protecting itself from getting killed) but the SystemUI App is just configured not to show it.

Thing is, if I do that, the Weather app would turn off completely. I simply want to get rid of the icon in the statusbar.

I'm fairly certain - as I said in my answer - that doing that will not disable the app. Although perhaps I misunderstood your intentions. Do you want to keep the notification, but only get rid of the icon? (If so, I believe you're out of luck - I don't think that's possible without doing some system hacking)

It is possible since 4.1, look at my answer

Looks like this feature might only be available in 4.1 and later.

This is great! The notification is actually completely hidden but it still launches (like he said) in background!! Even after a memory clear, or a hibernate, it still works fine. This is great for things like Swipepad that you use all the time but never need that notification.

Try Notifications Off.

Notifications Off is a useful utility for controlling application
  notifications in a centralized way. Instead of toggling notifications
  for applications individually from the settings screen you can turn
  off notifications for all applications from one place.

Although the question does not state so  unambiguously, I interpret it as asking to remove the status bar icons only and leave the notifications as they are. If that is what you want to do you can try the app NotifyClean. However, your phone needs to be rooted and you need to have the Xposed Framework installed. If that is a possibility for you, the app will give you very fine grained control over which icons/notifications to display or hide (see app description for details).

NotifyClean doesn't work like this on my android 4.4. It hides the whole notification.

I went to sound  and notifications under settings. Scroll down to app notifications click on it. Your apps will display you can select what notifications you want blocked.

Came across this question here while trying to solve it for myself. With further googling found a solution that doesn't require root, but it does require your device be on Oreo (or possibly Nougat, not sure).
If you're on Oreo, you can go in the notification settings for the app and change the importance level. If you set it to the lowest level the notification icon will not be shown. The notification itself will remain, but it might get collapsed if there's three or more different apps showing notifications.
If the notification setting for the app says something like "no sound" or "make sound" you can click on that and change the importance level in the next screen. If you can't find any way to change the importance, you can try using a third-party app AutoNotifications although it's not free and will also require giving it some permissions. I have not tried the app myself, my issues were resolved without the app.

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


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Google Calendar gone nuts since DST has ended
Ever since the 28th of October when DST has ended all of my events in my Google Calendar has moved one hour earlier. The web calendar shows currect dates and times but the one on my Nexus 4 is one hour early.
I tried using 'Home time' in the calendar settings without success.
Any ideas?

Have you tried setting Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone?

Source: Daylight Saving Time and Android: Sit back and relax

Check your calendar settings and see if you're using Home time zone. I've got mine using home time zone and it has no problems switching between DST.
Calendar -> Settings -> General settings


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How to root and flash a android Galaxy Ace s5830t?
i am trying to root my device which has android 2.3 in it. The reason is something has gone wrong and wifi and bluethooth are not functioning. every time i try connect,  it says error and automatically gets disabled. so i decided to, root the device and install a fresh ROM.  i am able to root it but when trying to install the ROM it doesnt allow me. it prioritizes TELSTRA.
Any help on this is highly appreciated from android geeks.
EDIT1
i was able to flash it and now there is a problem that phone is not starting up. its stucked in well come screen for more than half and hour now. but i saw in the screen instead of galaxy ace S5830T it shows S5830 which is a change. anyways to recover this kind of a situation ?

According to this old XDA post it's the same as the S5830. I'm not really sure though, you need to investigate this on your own if have doubt. Note also, that your S5830 is a legacy device and only really runs Android 2.3 well.
So you could either follow CyanogenMod's installation instructions for the S5830 or search the S5830 section on XDA here.
Note: If you want to replace the stock firmware, you don't have to root it in the first place; it's not needed to be able to flash it. You'll have root with the modded firmware, then.

i was able to flash it and now there is a problem that phone is not starting up. its stucked in well come screen for more than half and hour now. but i saw in the screen instead of galaxy ace S5830T it shows S5830 which is a change. anyways to recover this kind of a situation ?

What did you exactly do/install?

well i installed the CWM, then rooted the phone again, made a backup of the earlier system. then flashed the new ROM.

The Myth ROM final is what i just installed.

It's still dead? Did you do a factory reset (wipe) in CWM? Plus: You probably want the right google apps (http://goo.im/gapps).

Nope, it is working now. But still the wifi and bluetooth issue exists. when i try to turn on wifi, it says error and gets disabled. any idea how to make it work ?

From what i've read it's discontinued. Did you install the latrst version? You may try a different ROM ( eg. CM7.2 http://get.cm/?device=cooper) or check the thread over at XDA for pointers: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1737805

If you have a Micro SD card, download a different ROM to your phone. My phone wouldn't ring after I did a factory reset, changing the ROM worked for me. If you don't have a Miscro SD then connect your phone to the computer and open your files for the phone to see the direct path and move from your computer to your phone. If you don't have the new OS on your computer goto http://d-h.st/TxQ to download the Dark Unicorn ROM, you will need a zip extractor, either on your computer or your phone.


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Nexus 7 cannot acts as Handsfree
Today I watched this video in below url and I am wondering why Google Nexus 7 and Google Nexus 4 cannot act like this. Unable see the incoming call coming from paired device in Nexus.
URL:  http://support-us.samsung.com/spstv/detail.jsp?ctg_id=209&sub_ctg_id=&live_id=8
I have updated both the device to Android 4.3.
Have I missed any settings or Nexus does not support A2DP? or only Galaxy Player supports this?
Thanks
Deepak

Bluetooth has a master/slave setup, in which the other device is a master (for example, a phone) and the other a slave (a headset). Most phones support the hands-free profile only as a master, which means that the phone can connect to slave devices and stream its audio to the device, not the other way around. Apparently Samsung has included support for HFP slave on it's Player models, which is reasonable since they don't have phone functionality builtin.
Therefore, it's not a question of settings, it's a question of support.


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Play store not connecting on MIUI rom
After updating MIUI from 3.8.23 to 3.10.25, I get the annoying error message "No connection" when opening Play Store (which is version 4.3.11). Wifi is on and all other apps work fine. Tried to delete play store cache/data but didn't help. Any ideas?

What "recent update"? Have you updated your MIUI version? Has the Play Store app updated? Or have you updated something else? Whatever you've updated, please give the version number if you suspect that is related.

@DanHulme I updated MIUI itself from 3.8.23 to 3.10.25 using the built in update tool. Play store version is 4.3.11 now, unfortunately I can't say what it was before update. Since miui doesn't come with play store built in, I thinks it the same version.

I've taken the liberty of [edit]ing that information into your question. While you're waiting for an answer, you might like to look at the similar questions linked from here to see if the answer from one of those applies to your situation.


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How do I make "Emergency Call" harder to hit? I keep pocket calling 911!
I have a Samsung Captivate Glide phone running 4.0.4 on the AT&T network.
Unfortunately, I have pocket called 911 at least four times.  To call 911 on my phone you have to:

Activate the lock screen
Swipe near the bottom of the screen on "Emergency Call"
Press on the screen

I think that this is how it happens:

I unplug the phone from the charger (which wakes the phone up from sleep and shows the lock screen)
I slide the phone into my pocket without looking at it (which does the swipe)
The button gets pressed in my pocket

How can I stop this from happening?    I'm hoping for something like an app that replaces the lock screen, or a setting to change it from a single button press to actually dialing 9-1-1.
For clarification, I have not rooted this phone.

There are lots of lockscreen replacements, like Go Locker, that might help. Unfortunately, I don't know if this is a sure-fire solution for you - and I don't know how to disable that feature on your default lockscreen.

Do you have root?

I tried Go Locker, but it replaced my home screen as well as my lock screen.  I didn't want to have to reconfigure all my widgets and shortcuts on the home screen, so I uninstalled it.

I always turn the screen back off before putting it in my pocket. If you could get into this habit, it would solve your problem I think.

A simple workaround in the below post... it worked for me.
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/7731/what-is-an-emergency-call-and-can-i-set-number-for-it/56045#56045

I added several additional emergency contacts using these instructions.
Now 911 is just one of several numbers that can be called from the emergency call screen.   I made most of the numbers "dummy" numbers that don't actually connect.   While this probably won't prevent all emergency pocket calls, at least 911 shouldn't be a common selection any longer.

Just search for lockscreen in the Google Play Store. There are many lockscreen replacers available. I think Start might be a good one to start with.
Make sure to read the instructions on these apps. Some require other apps like GO Locker (requires GO Launcher) to be installed first.


text:
How old is the datalog when just starting "logcat"?
When I run adb -d logcat it dumps data from a time before. How old is that data?

Logcat displays Android's logs.
This is by definition information about things that happened in the past.
Android's logs are stored in a ring buffer and if full, the then oldest entries are overwritten. It depends on how much is being logged, when that happens. Besides this, the buffer is reset when you restart the phone, so logs cannot be older than the current uptime.

It also depends on the size of the ringbuffer, which might differ between devices (can be checked with adb logcat -g). There was also a way to adjust the buffer size, if I remember correctly (cannot find the reference currently) – but that would also be lost at reboot.

Ok. So Android is permanently logging using a ring buffer, even if I don't use the logcat output, right?

That's right. Using a ring buffer has benefits. It only eats an (by the manufacturer adjustable) amount of RAM (and doesn't waste storage), respects your privacy (no data retentiob across reboots) while adding very little overhead to the system. It's essential for development and most of all for being able to send those half automatic bug reports to app developers ("include system logs").


text:
Turn off syncronisation of contacts in LineageOS / CyanogenMod
I want to use my phone with the google calender, but I don't want to upload all my contacts from my phone to google.
How can I achieve this?
I said in the contacts App under Settings that the App Synchronisation is off, but then I deleted some test-contacts online in Gmail and they were also deleted on my phone.
I also tried the App "Root Firewall" and forbin access to internet to the contacts app, but still, there was this sync going on.
How can I achieve this in CyanogenMod? In the standard Android 4.1 it worked fine: there was nothing synced.
Or do I need another contact app to achieve this?

It's not the apps. Depending on the Android (or CM) version, the location might slightly differ – but somewhere in the sync settings you can explicitly say what to sync, with separate entries for calendar, contacts, and other things. It doesn't help to block the contacts app, sync is done by the GSF (Google Services Framework).

I cannot say not to sync there, I can only press on each one of them and say sync now.

Are there no checkmarks next to the entries? If not, what happens if you short-tap the sync symbol – does it switch colors (to gray and back, where gray should say "sync off")? Maybe you could add a screenshot?

no checkmarks, no sync symbol. when I tap on calendar, a syncsymbol appears.

And when you tap it again, the symbol disappears (so if it's there, it could mean "activated" – if not, "deactivated")? Again, a screenshot would be helpful.

In the syncronisation screen you have to turn Synchronisation on global. Only if that is on you have checkboxes next to each category inside the google account. you can uncheck the box at Contacts then.
If the global sync is OFF you don't have this option.
I think it is a bit dangerous the first time you enter that menu, because you have to be sure your internet connection is disconnected. Otherwise the first time, when all sync boxes are still ON it will start right away to sync everything before you have the chance to disable the sync-box for contacts.
If you are offline you can setup everything like you wish and then it's fine.

To make sure that none of my contacts get synychronized to google (Setup: Cyanogenmod 10 with Android 4.1) I deleted the GoogleContactsSyncadapter.apk in folder /system/app/. After restarting no contacts got synchronized, if I add a new contact I also get the information, that the contact will only be stored locally.
Google Calendar synchronization works normally.
See also this thread.

How did you delete it? I couldn't. But I could deactivate the app in the Apps list

I found out: I used ES explorer and enabled Root explorer there. Then I could uninstall system apps


text:
how do I make the radio start automatically when I plug in my headset?
On my old phone, the radio would automatically turn on when I plugged in my headset. I can't seem to get it to do the same on my new phone?
I have a Sony Xperia go, running jelly bean.

Mostly out of curiosity, but there's a chance it could help get an answer: What was your old phone?

Well, let me trigger a search for answers here: headset control is the keyword. Admitted, not that obvious from the answers found (see e.g. this one) – but most of those apps allow to define what app shall be started on the headset-plugged-in event.

My old was an Xperia s, I think.

Plug in launcher is a free app that lets you launch any app once you plug-in your headset.

As I've already pointed out in a comment on the question, there are plenty of headset control answers (see e.g. this one). Those app give you some added control using your headset, so they allow to define what app shall be started when the headset is plugged in, and using the single headset button they let you perform a multitude of actions like volume control, start/stop, skip, pick up/reject call, and more.
A different approach could make use of our "ultimate automation tool" Tasker, which also can supervise the headset plug. This would give you even greater control over the conditions. So you could e.g. have a different app started at home than at work. Here you could use State → Headset plugged as condition (and optionally, ad described, location, time, whether power is connected, the device docked...), and then Load App as action. You could even have set the volumes to your likeness before, and let Tasker send an SMS to everybody to not to disturb you while enjoying your music ;)

Available Tasker actions and example profiles (source: Google Play; click for larger images)
Funny thing is: as the second picture shows, your case is even used for the example pictures on Google Play (Headset Plugged → Start Music)...


text:
Android offline installation
Is there any other way to download the android sdk platform other than using this URL
https://dl.google.com/android/repository/android-18_r01.zip.
My ISP has blocked the URL's starting with https://dl.google.com/.

Download through proxy? Sneakernet?

Just curious why an ISP would do that. Your profile says you're in India. Are they blocking other Google services also?

@Chahk: No. In my company they are blocking it.


text:
Partially dead digitizer - any way to change slide to unlock?
The middle third (long-narrow thirds way) of my digitizer seems to have crapped out. Diagnosed from having vary hard time unlocking and weird selection issues, to suspecting digitizer, to getting a drawing program installed and seeing no record of movement over that part of the screen when drawing.
This makes unlocking (non-secure) with the "slide to unlock" tab almost impossible - takes 20 or more tries to get it to work sometimes. Since that button does not move when the screen rotates, I can't get it to live where the digitizer works. I thought I might be able to make it work with "pattern unlock" but that won't set a pattern with the middle third out of operation. Same issue affects the sound on/off (and trying to unlock often sets the sound on or off instead.)
So my answerable, stack-exchange-ish question, essentially, is whether there is any way to move/reorient the "slide to unlock" tab, or let the keyboard do that function.
Phone has not been wet, but I tried drying it anyway since many digitizer problems seem to be water related. No help. On/off/reboot battery in/out also make no difference. While it's irritating, if I could get something else (like the keyboard) to do what the slide-unlock is doing, but reliably, I could live with it as is for as much as I use the touchscreen.
I'm on a rooted (basically so I could install AFWall+, as I'm using it on a prepaid service primarily to make/take calls with, and really wanted to make double sure that any data use was restricted to WiFi, ONLY.) "Gingerbread" (2.3.4) Motorola Droid 2 Global if it makes a difference. I'm no great shakes at android-ness, I basically tracked down a root tool method that was purported to work, and after finding that many versions of it didn't discovered one "not the most updated" version that did work, despite dear old VZ making it more difficult.
(I'd also like to ask about replacing the digitizer, but after reading the help page 3 times I'm still not sure if that's considered on or off topic, since it's more about "hardware running android" than about "android as such" but it is "a problem I'm trying to solve on my android device")

An alternative might be to check for a 3rd party lock screen app which might be customizable in that concern. I'd bet chances are better to find such than to modify the stock one in that way.

Replacing the touchscreen isn't really something we can help with anyway, since it's different for each device. Your local phone repair shop can help you with that.

Closely related question: Phone unlocking ideas but that one seems to be more about a one-off solution to get in, where you sound like you're after something that'll work every time?

I'd be doing the digitizer replacement myself.

I have the same model and the digitizer is also 2/3 dead. If hold vertically, the left third from top to bottom works plus the rightmost vertical pixel line.
I was able to unlock it using a two finger gesture: Swipe the slider as far as possible to the right and hold it, then touch the right edge of the screen with a 2nd finger, then release the 1st finger.
My permanent solution:
Installed Cyanogenmod and enabled physical keyboard unlock.
Note that you can buy a replacement digitizer on ebay for around 20$ or so if you don't mind doing it yourself.

Thanks - the two-finger method does work much better/more reliably - it may be enough for me. WRT Cyanogenmod - does your camera work correctly? When I was looking into "things to do beyond rooting the phone" several months back, it seemed like most "custom ROMs" had issues with the camera not working on the D2G.

I have the EU Motorola Milestone variant (model A853). It currently runs CM7 and the camera seems to work.

Worked fine for a while, but lately the "ghost in the machine" problem (separate from the dead section of digitizer) has recurred, so I'm going to give replacement a try, despite the incredibly tedious process (take entire phone apart to replace the part most likely to break...)

I also thought about that... Besides the tedious process, a replacement digitizer is cheaply available on ebay

As pointed out in my comment on the question itself, you might try a lock screen replacement from Google Play that might let you customize where to place the "unlocker". Just picking some examples by their screenshots:

LockMenu / Zipper Lock screen / WidgetLocker (click images for larger variants)
As you can see, there are multiple solutions available letting you define where the slider (or whatever) should be located – so you should be able to leave out the "dead spots" easily.

Zipper unlock, lol. Needs another background image though :-)

Maybe I should explicitly add that those are not screenshots from any of my devices, especially not that one #D


text:
Edit SMS and call log history
I have a bunch of friends who have changed their phone numbers. I have already updated their numbers in the contact list, but the call log and the SMS conversations still have the old number, and thus they are not linked to my friends contacts anymore.
Is there any way to edit the SMS messages from past conversations? Is there any way to edit the call log?
Bonus points if I can use a regexp search-and-replace for that!

The point behind that is: though the persons behind are the same, those communications have been made with different numbers, so they are not intended to be changed. The easiest work-around would be keeping the old numbers in your contacts' records (and mark them in a way to easily tell they're old). That way the connection stays, and you have the up-to-date information there at the same time.

@Izzy What you say is true and I agree. But what really happened is that a ninth digit is being gradually added to all mobile numbers of the country. So, in fact, the old number has migrated to the new one, and no one will ever use the old number again.

Personally I had done this for a few times, plus transmitting the changed data from an Android 4.1 to an Android 5.1 device, but the method I used might be a little complex for normal users.

Root your phone and install a terminal emulator, if your phone has sqlite3 binary preinstalled then I'd recommend Terminal Emulator for Android, otherwise Termux is better (it has an APT repo where SQLite3 is available).

Make sure sqlite3 is working.

Copy out the database from /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/smsmms.db. Find a tutorial on how to run SQL queries and do your desired operations. Then put the modified database file back to the original place. Take note of its original access conditions and chmod and chown them back.
With this method and a few knowledge of SQL anything can be easily manipulated and ported to another system, despite some difficulty.

Edit: SQLite Editor is a better choice than CLI sqlite3 if you only want to do basic modifications rather than transforming, while the CLI sqlite3 provides full SQLite functions.

Hey. Are calls also recorded in the smsmms.db file?

I haven't tried this, but it might work:
The GO SMS Pro app has an export and import feature. You could export the conversation to an XML file, do a search and replace of the number, and import it back.
I have no idea if it will override the conversation of the new number, so better do a back-up first. Or you might as well export both conversations (old and new numbers) and merge them. Just take note though that the XML file has an SMS count; you might want to update this value.
As for the call log, I have no idea. I think call logs are not very useful anyway.

The above mentioned GoSMS method will work. Export them to XML. Get a useful XML reader. I've done it with notepad but its a lot harder to read. You need to find all of the old number, and replace all with the new number. Save. Then delete all conversations on your phone. This will help you get a clean slate for messages to be added. Then Import to your device.
I've done this with "SMS Backup & Restore" app and it works.
It is also worth noting that you can export and combine the conversations too. Between old and new number. But you will have to change more in the XML such as the total number of SMS messages usually in the beginning of the XML.


text:
Linux connectivity
I am wondering how to best connect Android smartphones with Linux boxes.
The best thing would be a program like Samsung's Kies, but Samsung seems to target Windows and Mac OS.
Is there such an application like Kies that runs on linux natively (not wine), so the user can connect Android devices with linux boxes over USB without doing all the low level USB and MTP stuff by hand.
(Any hardware vendor is OK, Samsung is only an example)

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! When you say "Connect", I'm assuming you mean something like "Mount" for file manipulation, or perhaps just get a standard MTP connection for MTP actions. Non-MTP devices should be mountable as USB Mass Storage. Linux also supports mounting MTP devices through any of several packages, such as libmtp or mtpfs. libmtp has a cli interface for accessing devices using the MTP protocol, if you want to do more than just mount.

Speaking more generally, Linux and OSX have excellent interoperability with Android - generally not needing drivers or software that's necessary on Windows. Of course, there are exceptions - Samsung phone flashing often needs something to replace the Windows-only Odin - so Heimdall was developed.

I use many Android devices with Linux, and I'm really happy I don't need a thing like Kies for that (which, as I read, causes at least as many problems as it's intended to solve). As dotVezz already pointed out: no special drivers etc. needed here. I don't even use MTP, and rarely UMS (USB mass storage, if supported by the device), but rather adbfs (see my answer here for details), but that's a personal preference.

Than you for the comments, they help a lot.

You don't need any special software. On recent Linux distributions such as Ubuntu 13.04, all the right drivers for MTP are installed by default. When you plug your phone in, you get a file manager window that shows the contents of your phone. The phone appears as a normal directory, so you can drag-n-drop files, use rsync to sync files, or anything else you normally do to move or manage files.
Some apps, such as Shotwell (for photos) and Clementine (for music) also detect that your phone acts as a media player, and offer specific functionality for syncing a music collection, transferring and processing photos, in a high-level interface that works on playlists and albums instead of just files. You don't need to use this kind of software, but it's there if you prefer not to worry about exactly where each file is stored.
On older Ubuntu versions and some other distributions, you might need to install one or more MTP-related packages through the package manager to make this work. You still don't need any hardware-specific software, and the forum or manual for your distribution will explain exactly what setup is needed.


text:
My phone suddenly shows an SD-card notification
My Sony Xperia J phone was in my pocket and I wanted to read an ebook, so started my reader application. It showed a black screen and when I checked the shelf, all my books were gone.
I noticed a new notification icon that looked like a folded SD card. I checked its message that said: SD card is empty or its file system is not supported.
What? Half an hour ago I was using it.
I tapped the message and a question appeared: Do you want to format your SD-card? It'll erase all data from it.
What?? All my ebooks and media are gone just like that?
I restarted the phone, still no SD-card. When I got home, I removed the card and reinserted and fortunately now it works.
How does that so-called OS dare to lose my data? And the "recovery" solution is to format the card?
What could cause this?

This is 99% more likely to be a hardware issue (your SD card) than a software issue (the "so-called OS").  The suggestion to format the card is not a recovery suggestion, obviously.  It's saying the card needs formatting as it cannot be read (it appears unformatted, due to a fault with the SD card).

As Archer stated: it's rather your so-called SD card which very likely will give up on you soon. I'd backup its contents ASAP and get a new one.

My experiences with this so-called platform are very ambiguous. My phone keeps forgetting the sound settings, can't change from Wifi to 3G sometimes. It's like a bad joke.

@Nestor A word of advice, if I may.  Stow the negative attitude.  You're on a Q&A site for Android enthusiasts.  You may receive a more sympathetic response if you don't slate the thing that they love that has brought them here.  It's not constructive and you can post without it.  Not getting into a debate about it - just saying.  I hope you get your problem resolved :)

One of my family members had the same problem, SD card misbehaving, then working for a few days, on and off. After a week or so the phone did not read the card at all and neither did the PC. Fortunately I backed up the content of the card after the first problem. The card worked for about a month after formatting, but died eventually.
I do not know what causes this.
I do not know how to stop it.
I know what you should do: a backup.


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Why is Android File Transfer necessary?
Apparently newer versions of Android require the use of Android File Transfer. I have an older machine that doesn't require this, and just mounts as a USB mass storage device. I can't see a technical reason why Android File Transfer is now required when it used not to be.
What changed in order to make this necessary? Why is it necessary?

Android dropped mass storage mode in 3.0 (at least, on devices that lack removable storage) and switched to Media Transfer Protocol. I don't know that OS X supports MTP natively, so I'd wager that could be the reason.

Thanks. Interesting seeing arguments in favour of MTP. Do you know why mass storage mode was dropped though (rather than keeping it around)?

It was basically done because using mass storage mode on devices without SD cards was decided to cause too many complications. In particular, if you use mass storage you have to partition the device in two (apps and media) in order to enable block-level access that UMS needs. MTP lets you access the whole volume and use it for either purpose. Dan Morril (from Google) explained this a bit in a Reddit comment, but I don't know if there are any more "official" explanations around.

Newer Android devices don't support USB mass storage because it has a big shortcoming: the phone and the PC can't access the storage at the same time that way. This is because USB mass storage is a low-level protocol giving the PC low-level access to the whole filesystem. This causes knock-on problems when you connect your phone to the PC:-

Apps on the external storage can't run while it is mounted on the PC.
Music and other files on the external storage aren't accessible to apps, so even apps that aren't on the external storage might stop working or become useless.
When the external storage is unmounted from the PC, Android has to rescan it from scratch (see media-scanner) because it can't tell what has changed.
There's no way for the phone to let the PC access the internal storage this way: Android can't unmount the internal storage, because all apps need access to it, even the system apps.
This also means there has to be a separate partition and filesystem for the external storage, which the phone can cope with losing access to. Newer Android devices often just have one big partition, and the "external storage" is simply a directory there. It's more convenient that way because you don't have free space split between partitions, but you can't use USB mass storage on only a directory.
Android can't enforce any filesystem security. The PC has complete access to the exported storage, below the filesystem level. This lets it access any file, and read the raw device data to recover deleted files. This might be considered an undesirable security hole.
As eldarerathis points out, the external storage has to use the FAT32 filesystem to work this way. This isn't a shortcoming when it's a real SD card, but when it's really non-removable storage, it would be more useful to use a better filesystem.

(Where I say "SD card" here, that means whatever storage your Android device calls "external", even if it's not actually removable.)
In contrast, MTP is higher-level, and allows Android to arbitrate and to share access, just like when sharing directories or filesystems over a network. It even opens the possibility of letting the PC access the internal storage this way, but there are other restrictions around that unrelated to MTP.
As eldarerathis explains, you need special software to access MTP devices from a Mac, because Mac OS doesn't have the appropriate software built-in, like Windows and some Linux distributions do.

While the pros are logical, I still don't see why it was completely removed. MTP certainly makes it harder to attach your device to "any computer" in order to just exchange some files, you always need to install "special drivers" on e.g. Windows machines – which the owner for good reasons might refuse (and would not be required for UMS). Thus having UMS available as a fall-back to be explicitly activated by the user would be preferable IMHO. But right, not for us here at ASE to decide (unfortunately).

I agree, it's a shame it was completely removed. I regularly mount my android to move files around, and eject after. Not tried the new MTP. But maybe there were some chunks of the OS that could be simplified or removed after this change.

@Izzy: I think the big problem is that it's not technically feasible once they went the MTP route the way they did. On a device without external storage (like Nexus devices) you'd have to basically surrender the entire /data partition if you used UMS, unless there was some way to make the /data/media directory act like some kind of virtual block device (maybe there is, I'm not sure). Losing access to /data would not work, so they'd likely have to re-architect the whole system in order to support both.

Also, another potential component to this is that it allows the internal storage to use a more robust filesystem, like ext4, whereas a UMS block device is pretty much always going to be FAT32 in order to provide interoperability between Android and the PC's OS. Since MTP abstracts access to the device, the OS can read/write even if it doesn't support ext4 (e.g. Windows).

Yes, all valid. And all good points (the FS included). But it's also removed on several devices which do have microSD slots. Guess that's where manufacturers missed the intention behind it.

@Izzy Don't forget it's normal on mobile to remove little-used options to make things less confusing for novice users.


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Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Connect to ethernet
Is it possible, using some type of adapter or combination of adapters, to connect a Galaxy Tab 2 to a ethernet port.
Is it necessary to add some kind of kernel module? Which one? How do I do that?


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"No language is installed in your default TTS Engine"? What should I do?
I have just installed a pdf reader in my Samsung Galaxy Y mobile phone which comes with android 2.3 Gingerbread. This pdf reader has a text to speech option, but I am not able to use it and getting the error message: "No Language installed in your Default TTS Engine".
What should I do? How do I fix this?

You need to install the speech synthesis data for the TTS engine.  You can find it on the play store here.
Edit : The installer seems to have been removed from the Play Store for some reason.  It can be found here.

The href does not work.

@Try_me34 - It seems to have been removed from the play store for some reason.  I added a new link to it.


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How to force Backup Assistant to sync in airplane mode with WiFi on
I recently switched phones but am keeping my old phone for use on WiFi.  I have put the phone in airplane mode to improve battery life and keep it from looking for the cell network (as this is futile, it is no longer activated).
However, now every morning I am getting an error telling me that Backup Assistant was unable to sync.   At first I thought this was very strange as I have a WiFi and Internet connection.  However when I finally went into the app to see what was going on it told me I was in airplane mode and asked did I want to exit airplane mode or cancel.  Obviously I don't want to exit airplane mode so as to save battery life, nor do I want to have to manually sync as that defeats the whole purpose of automatic backup.
How can I get Backup Assistant to work without leaving airplane mode?

While there might be work-arounds available (I know of none, though), you should contact the dev of the app and report that as a bug. He checks the wrong setting: it's not important whether you're in airplane mode, but whether a network is available. And cell network definitely is not required here ;) In case there's no response, consider switching to another app (or use another app to sync your data, e.g. FolderSync).

I have not looked at FolderSync, but am I correct in thinking it won't interoperate with Backup Assistant on another phone on the same account?  In any case, it doesn't even seem like there is a way to stop it from trying to sync (unless rooted).  I'll contact the dev shortly here...

How do you have a wifi connection in airplane mode?  On every Android device I've used, airplane mode disables wifi, as well as the cell transceiver and bluetooth.  Does Motorola just do airplane mode weirdly?

Yes, WiFi works fine in airplane mode, although it is a bit wonky because the order seems to matter - I have to enable WiFi after airplane mode.  Although, upon reboot WiFi is shut off even when it was enabled before, so I just have to enable it after reboot and it works fine.

@Compro01 I use that on many devices that way: enable airplane mode (switches WiFi off), then enable WiFi again. Works like a charm. I didn't even have Michael's problems concerning a boot, it simply restored that state (airplane on, WiFi on). Though I have to admit Tasker could have to do with that a little (re-establishing the state after a reboot I mean).

Michael, sorry that I've overlooked your comment. I don't know the app (as I don't use it), but does it support to store its backups locally and read them from the local path for restore? If so, just let the app do exactly that, and use e.g. FolderSync for the off-device copies. For a restore, it should then work if FolderSync placed the files at the appropriate location on the device.

Definitely contact the dev about that, like Izzy suggests.
You could simply not use Airplane mode (you're not really saving battery life if you're still enabling WiFi and other radio connections like Bluetooth and GPS) and just disable mobile data on your device.
This article indicates that you can easily disable Data by going to Settings > Battery & data manager > Data Delivery > and un-tick the Data enabled option. This might vary across devices and carriers.
That should allow you to use your device without a mobile carrier network connection, saving battery by not searching for the network, and allow the app to work just fine.

I have to disagree on the "not really saving" part. Airplane mode consists of switching off all antenna (BT, GSM, WiFi, NFC) and maybe even some more things. If then only WiFi is re-enabled, those other radios are kept off and thus are not eating anything. See my answer here for details, and add some overhead to the standby values for the radios looking for available connection points in intervals. Unticking data wouldn't make a difference in this case, as Michael doesn't even have a SIM inserted.

Fair enough, although if Airplane mode only turns off all radio communications (which is almost certainly all it does from what I've found), turning them back on defeats the purpose of using it. Most people can perpetually have NFC, BT, GPS disabled without having to resort to airplane mode. I also failed to see that he's on Verizon, so the SIM card criteria didn't even cross my mind. I'll delete my non-answer when the OP finds a real, better solution.

If you want to discuss this, chat might be a better place (and you have the required rep for that, so be welcome ;) But to make it short: It's easier to enter airplane mode and then enable WiFi only – than to disable GSM, BT, NFC separately and think what you might have forgotten. Next to the fact that many devices wouldn't even let you do that.

I contacted the dev, which in this case is actually the carrier (Verizon) but they weren't too much help.


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Text-to-Speech Going too fast
I have recently installed this app into my Samsung Galaxy Y mobile phone running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
The speed at which words are being spoken by this system is too high for me to grasp. Also, I suspect that there is absolutely no pauses after commas and full stops.
I am not able to find any settings too. What should I do? Is this problem solvable?

I'm not sure about Samsung GB, but on my Galaxy S3 running JB 4.1, the setting for the TTS speech rate is found in Settings -> Language and Input -> Text-to-speech Output -> Speech Rate.
Wbogacz suggests that setting may also be found at Settings -> Accessibility -> Text-to-speech Output -> Speech Rate

An additional location to look is Settings -> Accessibility -> Text-to-speech Output -> Speech Rate. When mine is enabled this way, you can listen to a sample to ascertain you are comfortable with the speech rate.


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Is there any way to dump the Data Usage log through the ADB shell?
The reason I would need to dump these data is because in smalls display (S5301) doesn't fit everything and data is cut. I couldn't do anything to move that graphic.
Look,

I've searched in Google but without success.

This is not quite what you asked, but does turning the device to landscape orientation help?

If not: is the device rooted?

Landscape orientation helped to guess.

No root. Would it be only possible having it rooted? I was curious anyway.


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Galaxy Nexus and KitKat
Now that Android 4.4 aka KitKat is out, I couldn't find out whether Samsung Galaxy Nexus will get the upgrade or not.
Does anyone have any information on this?
I hope it will get it, this why I bought Nexus device in the first place.

I don't know if there's official information about this yet. But you can sign up (Bottom of the page) to get updates about Kit Kat here. EDIT: Nevermind! See my answer.

You might also wish to take a look at When will my device get the Android 4.4 update (KitKat)?: Official: Never (source)

Nope, there will be no official support for Android 4.4 on the Galaxy Nexus. However, you will almost certainly be able to flash custom ROMs that are based on it.
There's some supposition and explanation going on on Android Police. They make a few good points:

The Galaxy Nexus is old and well outside normal support windows.
The CPU Manufacturer doesn't even make CPUs for phones anymore - official kernel support from them would be difficult or impossible.
Google's relationship with Samsung isn't what it used to be. (Supporting 4.4 on the GNex officially would require them to work together again to some degree.)
Google's relationship with Verizon has never been good. Supporting 4.4 on the GNex would also mean the necessity to support it on Verizon's GNex - something that I'm sure neither Google or Verizon would be excited about collaborating on.

Google are apparently making the bizarre statement that " We’ve taken it and made it run all the way back on entry level phones. We have one version of the OS that’ll run across all Android smartphones in 2014.”. So the implication is that yes, you'll get it. I'll believe it when I see it, though.  http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/31/android-4-4-kitkat-google/

It will run on the GNex with no problem, certainly. But it won't be offically supported or provided by Google. As officially stated by Google. Support for that is now left to the community. The statement about running on entry-level phones indicates that they wish to expand the new version to new markets where flagship phones aren't practical or available, like where Firefox OS is targeting.

@Poldie, The decision to not offer official support was likely made based on business circumstances regarding Google, Verizon, Samsung and Qualcomm. It's not a matter of "The phone isn't good enough" at all.


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When will my device get the Android 4.4 update (KitKat)?
Android 4.4 (KitKat) was officially announced on October 31, 2013.
(You can review the high level changes in KitKat at the official Android Developer's site or the announcement on the official Android blog.)
Of course, not all devices will get this update right away and others won't get it at all. Each manufacturer and carrier often choose to add their custom modifications which tend to delay the official release.
When will each device get Android 4.4, either officially or unofficially, if ever?
See also:

When will my device get the Android 4.3 update (Jelly Bean)?
When will my device get the Android 5.0 update (Lollipop)?

This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates for devices. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines:

Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source
If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded

Phones
HTC

Droid DNA

"HTC says it plans to update the handset to KitKat by the end of Q1 2014, 'pending certification from your carrier.'" AndroidCentral

One

Google Play Edition: 2013-11-25 (+Android)
Unlocked and Developer models: 2013-11-29 (@HTCUSA)
North American models: "Within 90 Days" (AndroidCentral)

One Max / One Mini

"the update for both will arrive in the near future." DigitalTrends

One X and One X+: Never (source)

LG

G2: December, 2013 (confirmed)
Nexus 4: 2013-11-19 (AndroidCentral)

Factory Image available here and Proprietary Binary available here.

Motorola

Atrix HD (AT&T): "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Droid Bionic: "Will remain on Android 4.1.2" (upgrade status)
Droid Mini/Maxx/Ultra: "Will be upgraded (upgrade status)
Droid Razr HD Developer Edition/Droid M Developer Edition: "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Droid Razr M/Droid Razr HD/Droid Razr Maxx HD: "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Electrify M (US Cellular): "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Moto G: February 2014 (AndroidCentral)
Moto X: "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)

Verizon: 2013-11-19 (confirmed)
T-Mobile: 2013-11-21 (confirmed)
AT&T: 2013-11-22 (confirmed)
Sprint: 2013-12-12 (AndroidCentral)

Samsung

Galaxy Nexus:

Official: Never (source)

Galaxy Note 2 and 3: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch.
Galaxy S3: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch.
Galaxy S4:

Google Play Edition: 2013-11-25 (+Android)
Sprint: 2014-2-13 (Engadget)
Others: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch.

Sony

Xperia C: never (confirmed)
Xperia L: never (confirmed)
Xperia M: never (confirmed)
Xperia SP: never (confirmed)
Xperia Z: planned, no date given (confirmed)
Xperia Z Ultra: planned, no date given (confirmed)
Xperia Z1: planned, no date given (confirmed)
Xperia ZL: planned, no date given (confirmed)

Tablets
Asus

Nexus 7: 2013-11-13 (confirmed)

Nvidia

eVGA Tegra Note, Advent Vega Tegra Note, etc. : 2014-02-18 - released

Samsung

Nexus 10: 2013-11-13 (confirmed)

Sony

Xperia Tablet Z: planned, no date given (confirmed)


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How can I recover lost Contacts on Galaxy GT-NT7000. Contacts and Dialer App became very slow and battery runs down fast,
This is a RAM issue and lost contacts issue (contacts not saved under Google). The log of text messages with all contacts, since start, is all, still there. My Android version is 4.2.1. I have had 3.5 GB available on the internal storage and only 170 MB on the device memory; I was under the impression that pictures and images since they are stored at the internal storage, they do not affect the processing (is that called RAM same as in PCs or not?) speed, but that was wrong. I have moved all pictures and videos from phone to my PC to make more space but after having moved all the pictures/videos, on day before I have lost all my Phone Contacts! The speed of navigating and of using the dialer and of Contacts (these apps were worse affected in terms of speed) and even the battery life has improved a lot, yet I still need to find more space (by emptying the SIM card), but I await to take the phone to a repair centre to be seen first.
400 or so contacts were saved under 'Phone Contacts'' and they are all gone. Since 350 of my Contacts were saved primarily under Google (Gmail), I have not lost all Contacts but another I called Samsung Support service and they advised me to visit a Geek Squad Carphone warehouse which is authorised to service Samsung-Android devices. Should I do this first to be on the safe side, or should  I download the Dr. Fone for Android app and try to bring back the Contacts? Does anyone have experience with Dr Fone? http://www.wondershare.net/disk-utility/recover-contacts-from-samsung.html?gclid=CJTkyPLpwboCFfHKtAodpngArA

Hi kostas, I'm having a hard time understanding your issue. What did you exactly do to move the pics and videos? Moving files around should be completely unrelated to losing your contacts, they're not accessible if you don't have rooted your phone. Can you explain what you did? How / when did you notice the loss?

Thanks for trying to help! Samsung customer service advised me yesterday to export my Contacts to the sim card; he felt that by doing so the non Google contacts would appear on the phone (how on earth I do not know!), but they did not. The images and videos I moved them to my PC, as advised, by connecting with a USB cable and dragging the whole camera file from the phone to my PC. I only did this to make more space in the phone as ALREADY the Contacts were removed-lost the day before w/out me doing or moving anything and w/out even realising. Now I see a ''storage running out'' message!

So you've lost all your contacts before you moved the video/picture files? Internally, contacts are stored in an sqlite3 database which is known to be very safe (there exist only a few ways of corrupting it http://www.sqlite.org/howtocorrupt.html and none of it is the fault of sqlite3). It's very probably your flash chip that corrupted it. There's alas nothing you can do if that is the case. Be sure to store all contacts on Google or make frequent backups in the future... Sorry.

Thank you ce4. I am not technical, but by reading fast your link on sqlite, it is possible that the background sync of images in Drop Box and of Contacts in Google, running automatically may have interfered? hence the flash chip ref? do you suggest that I set syncs at regular intervals or it does not matter? Btw, even after removing all images, I have only 200MB of space available in the device memory, so I will need to remove more applications but only just a couple are not Googleplay and hence can be removed. Removing some to the SD card not possible (no space). Can I add extra SD card?

Btw, for other readers with data recovery issues: I came across this free software: http://www.icare-recovery.com/free/android-data-recovery-freeware.html

You did lose all of your contacts, i.e. suddenly your address book was empty. right? It's probably irrevocably gone then. Regarding the sqlite3 site: This is only tech background info to illustrate how robust the storing facility is. Changing sync intervals etc. is irrelevant. It was just meant to illustrate that this should never happen unless there's a hardware problem or a really serious bug in Android (which i doubt).


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How do you add widgets to the lockscreen in KitKat?
Just got a Nexus 5 running KitKat (what else?), but I cannot figure out how to add widgets to the lockscreen! On JB, swiping right from the left edge while showing lockscreen would display a "+" widget option. This is no longer the case. Are lockscreen widgets gone?!

You have to check "Enable widgets" in Settings > Security. Then you can swipe right on the lockscreen as usual.

Why that? What's the connection between those two?

Does this also work with PIN or pattern enabled? As this was not the case in JB.


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Disabling hangout calls for phone
Is it possible to only disable voice/video calls in hangouts but leave messaging?

Nope you cannot only selectively disable video calls. The least you can do is disable incoming invites from the app settings.

Yep, that's what I actually have done already, thanks


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Setting tasker to launch a chrome homescreen web app or launch a browser in full screen
Now that Chrome can create homescreen web apps , is there a way to launch these with tasker?
If not, is is possible to set tasker to launch a browser in full screen mode?

Don't bother trying AutoShortcut or similar apps, I tried and it doesn't work :(

As a quick update to this, I ended up ...

Updating my webapp so that clicking / tapping anywhere on the screen would launch fullscreen mode.
Rooting the android stick I was using.
Opening up a URL in Chrome using Tasker.
Using Tasker to fake a screen tap, which activated my webapp's full screen mode.

Thanks for sharing! There are some subtle differences between webapp fullscreen mode and what you get from launching a homescreen webapp, but this is an excellent workaround.


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Android equivalent to LockInfo
I am looking for an alternative to my jailbroken iPhone lockscreen, I currently use LockInfo
http://www.lockinfo.net/

I have googled and the only alternative I have seen is
WidgetLocker
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.widgetlocker
WidgetLocker doesn't seem to provide the one touch (power button) access to reading my full my SMS, Email, Calendar that LockInfo currently does.
LockInfo also allows me to respond to these notifications straight from the lockscreen without having to enter my PIN.
Is there anything else on the market? Free or Paid.
I just ordered a Nexus 5 with 4.4 kitkat.

I have my configured here, http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa118/P90Puma/13AA68D1-BF47-434F-90CE-A6325BB004B0-12395-000004E8C20775BA_zps3eaeb72b.jpg you can see that I don't even have a slider getting in the way of the relevant information. The information appears and shows the screen when it is new, or I can press the power button and have it show up. No swiping needed.


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How to watch videos in 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p on YouTube app?
While watching videos in browser it shows me options of 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p and so on. But on YouTube app for Android I only see option of HD/HQ (I assume its High Definition / High Quality).
How can I watch videos in 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p on YouTube app?

You can't. Those quality settings only apply to the desktop version. Mobile apps use a different set of videos, which are already optimized for mobile devices, and have two different quality settings, regular and HD.

The years have passed since the OP asked the question. Since then things have changed.
It is possible to select the quality of the video.
When playing a video, click the 3-dot on the right top corner. Select Quality, then choose the video quality.
Note: Some video qualities will not be shown if your device can't handle them.

I just found a modified version of the official YouTube version 4 app, it has an option to let you choose the preferred quality

Official XDA threab, credits goes to xda member Osama Ghareeb
Please note that this app is built on the fourth version of the official app and the latest version is 5.


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s4 mini SD card makes battery drains fast?
I have inserted a 8GB SD Card in my S4 mini i9190 and since then only GPS enabled my phone loss abt 5% per hour battery. For me it is a big shock to only last a day at best as usually my old phone which is way smaller last for 2 days on battery...really awful but if I remove the SD Card and use the replacement battery got from MPJ, the battery life is awesome.
Is the SD Card fautly or something wrong with my phone??

You mention that you removed the SD card AND used another battery, but how is the battery life with the replacement battery and the SD card inserted?

Likewise, you have GPS on - how is it with SD card and each battery and GPS off? How is is without the card and with GPS on and each battery? You have to look at things changing one at a time, and comparing the same things with one thing changed in order to make any sense of them from what changes. Best bet right now looks to be bad "original" battery, good "replacement" battery...but it's impossible to be sure when you change several things at once. On my phone, GPS is a power hog (it assumes a connection to vehicle power, I think) and is not good to leave on when not actively using it.

There are known issues with certain SD cards causing some read/write errors which prevent your phone from entering the deep sleep state. This causes your phone to drain battery fairly quickly as compared to a phone which goes into deep sleep when not in use.
You should update your phone as certain kernels have also been known to fix battery drain issues. If it doesn't help, consider changing to another sd card from another manufacturer.


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Nexus 4 - suddenly lost access to all Google sites
Nexus 4, stock 4.3, rooted. WiFi only for data, strong signal
Suddenly today, for no apparent reason, every app requiring access to a Google site stopped working:
Google Now gives "Network error"
Google Chrome gives "This webpage is not available" for any Google url, but works fine for any other url
Android Weather sits on "Updating"
Finance gives "Error. Network connection unavailable"
Google Maps gives blank screen
Play Store gives "Server Error"
The one exception to this is that Firefox can access any Google url, no problem. All other apps accessing the internet work fine.
I have tried rebooting - no effect.
Anyone have any ideas how to solve this problem.
Thank you.

I suspect that it's indeed some localized Google issue. Is it still happening?

Is it only Google services or all HTTPS sites? In any case, make sure the clock, date, and time zone is set correctly on the device.

It is probably a problem with your host file, located in "/etc/hosts".
To fix this you need root rights, then edit the host file and delete the line which says "android.clients.google.com"

I had this problem, too. Found a good answer, finally, here:
http://www.galaxys4forums.net/forum/12-galaxy-s4-help/3671-problems-after-4-3-update-2.html
It's a matter of settings for the WiFi network you are connecting to.

Can you add some details to your answer? When that link no longer functions there's nothing useful here at all.


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How to clear cookies, history and other private data in the Chrome browser?
Is there any way to delete cookies, history and other private data in the Google Chrome browser on Android? There is no such option in the Android version of the browser.

You can clear all browsing data from Settings -> Privacy -> Clear browsing data.
Source : Chrome Help