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How does reducing brightness of screen increase battery life?
For all I have heard, reducing the screen brightness of your phone can increase your battery life. Just about every expert in the field agrees to this statement. But today I came across this article which kind of raised quite a few questions in my mind. The excerpt from the article in question here is:

All these screen dimming/color cast applications function in
  essentially the same way: by overlaying a graphic on the screen to
  reduce the brightness and/or change the color cast of the screen.
  Think of it like adding a partially opaque layer to an image in
  Photoshop. When you tell the Lux application, for example, that you
  want the screen 50 percent dimmer than the actual hardware in the
  phone can provide via LED adjustments, the application essentially
  cheats by layering a gray mask over the screen that decreases the
  brightness because the screen elements are darker. Other apps like
  Screen Adjuster, Darker, Easy Eye, Twilight, and even the brightness
  adjustment function in popular battery-saving app JuiceDefender all
  work the same way.

So if the screen brightness applications (like Lux) only add a partially opaque layer they are essentially not dimming the backlight (correct me if I am wrong here) so in turn it would not have any affect in battery life. Right?
The article continues saying – Anything that layers something over the screen in anyway disables the “Install” button as the button is rendered unclickable in order to prevent malicious software from creating a false overlay that leads the user to think an application has a different set of permissions or that the application is an entirely different app altogether. So does reducing the screen brightness via Settings uses some other technique (probably it actually reduces the backlight)?

See http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/69196/brightness-and-battery-use to learn more about different screen types and how brightness affects power use.

I've played around with adjusting the screen brightness in app's that I've written and what I've found is that, in the newer phones, when you set the brightness to a low number (say 1%) there is still significant screen brightness whereas older phone looked black.  It seems like the backlighting on newer phones has a minimum brightness they need to maintain if they're on at all.  Maybe that's why the app's you mention are overlaying a graphic to dim the display, rather than turning down the backlighting.

I think you've got to differentiate between "software-layers" and "hardware-layers" in the first place. If you put a "display foil" on top of the screen, that will certainly not reduce battery consumption (though it "dims" your display). But if it's a software layer reducing brightness, that's something completely different: How should that be achieved other than reducing the "amount of light created"? It's not a "physical layer on top", though it kind-of works like that when it comes to LCDs.1
I have no means of proving it "physically", but here are two ways I can imagine2:

reducing light intensity of the "light generators" (LEDs for OLED, or backlight for LCD) by feeding less power to them – which would work for both types of displays, and is the way the actual brightness control works
altering the color values (e.g. convering "#FFFFFF" to "#DDDDDD", making "white" a "light gray") – primarily working for OLED to "safe power", but in theory also for displays using differently colored LEDs (or LED arrays) to compose the color, if such exist3

As Dan put it1: Using a filter/overlay like this will make either type of screen look darker, but it'll only reduce power use on OLED screens. On LCD screens, only decreasing the backlight brightness saves power.
Apart from that, your quotes nowhere state the filters would not affect power consumption in either way.

1 Following up a discussion in chat between Dan and me, on LCDs it in fact is similar; quoting Dan: Using a software overlay to darken pixels on an LCD screen won't reduce the power consumption [… which works] by putting a transparent grey full-screen window on top of other windows; that's more likely to increase overall power consumption, because you're giving the window compositor more work to do. Doesn't contradict whith what I wrote, but gives more insight in "applying the right filter to the wrong display type": The same amount of "backlight" is generated, just the crystals (LCD = Liquid Crystal Display) are darker.
2 There might be other possibilities which escaped me, so I don't claim the list to be complete. It should give some insight nevertheless.
3 There are differently colored LEDs at least for Red, Green, and Blue (read: RGB, so such a combination would cover the full color spectrum), making displays like this potentially possible (note I didn't say they already exist!); different colors feature different efficiency – so "red-ifying" the screen would safe power (red-orange LEDs feature the most lumen-per-Watt according to Wikipedia).

LCD screens don't generate light, and they use almost exactly the same amount of power whatever colour they show. Only the backlight brightness makes a difference on LCD screens.

Also, the different lumens-per-watt figures you get for different LED colours only applies to semiconductor LEDs. Things are quite different for OLEDs.

Even if that is true, that would not apply to all screens such as an (AM)OLED screen that doesn't use a backlight.
From Wikipedia article on amoled:

The amount of power the display consumes varies significantly depending on the colour and brightness shown. As an example, one commercial QVGA OLED display consumes 0.3 watts while showing white text on a black background, but more than 0.7 watts showing black text on a white background, while an LCD may consume only a constant 0.35 watts regardless of what is being shown on screen."

Also read the claims on the apps themselves, most don't even claim to effect battery life on other screens
from "Screen Filter" app:

Applies a shade that acts as a dimmer to ensure your eyes don't hurt. Far more powerful than Android's built-in brightness setting. Great for low-light gaming, web browsing, and eBook reading. It even saves battery life for AMOLED displays!

From "Night Mode" app:

If you have an AMOLED display, you can also save battery!

Is changing the brightness via settings differ from using app to lower the brightness ?. I am not using any app, but putting my phone in low brightness or disabling the auto mode have some effect on battery. My phone is Nexus 5 which is LCD

This is an old question, but aside from Dan Hulme's comments it doesn't really have a clear and correct answer.
To the questions in the OP: Yes to both, if you're using a backlit display.
There are two very different types of screens in phones: backlit and non-backlit.
LCD displays are backlit. The backlight brightness is the main factor in screen power consumption, and the image shown on screen doesn't matter. The phone's brightness setting controls the backlight.
OLED displays are non-backlit, as the OLEDs themselves emit light and don't need a separate backlight. An OLED's color output determines its power consumption. The phone's brightness setting is a multiplier for each OLED's brightness.
A screen dimming application puts a transparent black image on top of the user interface, which darkens the color of the display output. If there's a backlight, it won't be dimmed and the power consumption won't change. With an OLED display, the change in color reduces power consumption.


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Intel xolo x900 mobile getting shutdown
I have trouble with my intel xolo x900 mobile, whenever I have enabled internet unable to use any app , suddenly my mobile getting switched off. It will take nearly 5 min to get back to normal. Not only facing while enabled data but if I'm making calls more times in short duration again same issue.
Interestingly issue not happening mobile while in charging, help me to get this fixed
Thanks,
Asai

It sounds like your phone is defective. You should return it to the shop for repair or replacement.

thanks, I have taken my mobile to three different service centres and I got different response from all three service centres... one said mobile board issue, one said mobile software issue and one said battery issue, useless answers from xolo care.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Samsung S5 screen turning on and off when plugged in to charge
I have a Samsung S5 & when I plug the phone in to charge every few seconds my screen lights up then turns off.  If I have my sound on it play a notification every-time the screen turns on and off.
Any advice on how I can stop this - it's makn me loco :-)!!!
ASM

This could be due to a bad USB cable, have you tried another cable to see if it is doing the same thing?

Well I feel like an idiot :-)!  That totally worked Sjharrison - thank you so much!

We've all been there! had so many issues myself with my old S3 and data cables, I've recently got a S5 and only using official cables now just to avoid any issues

@Sjharrison, you should turn your comment into an answer so that ASM can accept it and give you reputation.

I was having the same problem - plugged the Samsung cable into a dual charger with higher current capability (my wife left her charger at the cabin) and the phone quit complaining.
An intelligent design decision - have the phone use more power to complain about not enough power during charging...

Try an alternative cable, some non official (cheaper) leads can break for easier than others and cause the phone not to charge properly, hence why your phone is making a sound and switching the screen on and off

I had the same issue, but none of the above solutions worked .
What did the trick is using a pointed wooden toothpick. See if the charging port is in the center and not bent. If you find the port is bent, then straighten it using the wooden toothpick carefully.Furthermore, verify that the charging contacts are clean.

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


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Cannot access google after SIM card change
I am currently on a vacation in Portugal and bought a local sim card for a Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock ROM. Now I cannot access any google services anymore. The rest of the internet works fine but any site using google's cdn fails to load. Android of course is almost impossible to use. Interestingly enough it only affects google.com, other google domains work fine.
I did originally receive an email from google claiming a suspicious login. I verified that it was me on their security page on another phone. I tried resetting the dns cache, change the dns servers, the google unlock captcha, ... nothing works. It works fine when I log in via Wi-Fi. If I share the connection with a tablet that tablet can access anything just fine. Deleting and recreating the google account on the phone also does nothing.
I am at a loss of what to try next. Any ideas? Thanks!

I'll try and find an answer but I would contact Google in the meantime, their customer service can be slow at the best of times so it would be no harm to get the ball rolling.


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Special characters through my PC keyboard don't work in Genymotion emulator
I use Genymotion emulator version 2.2 to run android version 4.3. It is on Ubuntu 14.04. Typing with my keyboard works, but not for special non-asci characters like  ščřžáíéúů. Pasting them works. I do not have any idea where to look in order to try to fix the problem, any suggestions?

I am not the only one wiht this problem (and there is no solution for 4.3 just yet): https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/genymotion-users/SlIG6c_-Gs0


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Low internal memory led to installation error
OK, so this is the problem. I own a lenovo idea tab A3000, with no SIM cards inserted( that results in impossibility of using a dial pad) but rooted. Android version 4.2.2 .
 Like many other users, I was recommended to clean dumpstate/logcat but as I just said I wasn't able to use the dialer. Living in a country with adb help restrictions set by Google, that is not the solution for me either. I just managed to use clean master and SD maid to clean any possible system log files that were unnecessary but it seems due to low memory error that the package installer stucks me with, they, too, have failed.
Because of what has just been told, I'm unable to install busybox or any root installer app. I got so desperate I came over to ask.
I sense there are numerous solutions to this state yet I'm not aware of them.
ROM memory: 91 megabytes left
SD card available but not inserted
Internal memory : 714 megabytes left

"Living in a country with adb help restrictions set by Google" - that's interesting (as someone from the US). What restrictions are placed on Help by Google?

Error 403. Your client doesn't have permission to get URL blah blah blah...!

That's interesting. May I ask what county you are in when you experience it? Also, is that being returned from Google, and not some proxy? Have you tried to make the request with HTTPS, and inspect the certificate? Please forgive my ignorance.

What's your question?

I humbly request any possible solution to this problem, and yes. The error is being returned from Google.

I can't answer on the adb part of the question,  but on the low memory - have you erased the contents of the .thumbnail folder in the DCIM folder?  Usually hogs up alot of space.

I can be sure of one thing and that is that there are no thumbnail files, windows junk files and any trivial annoyances. Who knows, maybe it's not only about dumpstate/logcat....

714 MB on internal memory (not internal SDcard) should be more than enough. The "insufficient memory" error is usually triggered at 25 MB and below, and internal storage (aka "phone storage") the only thing affecting it. Have you checked with our insufficient-memory tag-wiki?

Yes sir, I now just did. The point is, there seems to be a systematic malfunction or something; because I witness my crash logs erased almost every 2 days or so with clean master. I wonder, will I be able to install a root installer after I uninstalled package installer?

Any body who can answer? Emptied space up to a point that I have 1.4 gigabytes free space, but I still get this error from package installer!


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How to cancel a download on Android 4.4 KitKat
I (accidentally) started downloading a 350 MB file from Google Chrome and I can't find the option to stop it, the downloads app just shows the files that have already finished but not the downloads in progress. The notification on my top bar just opens the downloads app.

Open downloads, click the box beside the file that's downloading, click the trash can icon.

There isn't any box beside any download. I'll upload a screencap when I get to my computer

I just reproduced the steps needed to do this, last two steps may be the interesting ones:

Open Google Chrome (v39)
Start a large download (http://ipv4.download.thinkbroadband.com/1GB.zip)
Wait a moment (it took some seconds for a notification to appear)
Pull down the notification bar and click on the download entry
You are taken to the download manager
Long click on the corresponding entry
Choose the trash bin from the top action bar

In case this does not work for you: Please edit your answer with your exact device model, Chrome and Android version number.
If you are doing a lot of downloads on your Android device consider installing a download manager like share downloader. It also supports pause and resume.

This is not working in my 4.4.2. When I click on the download entry, nothing happens.

Go to App Drawer → Downloads → Find the downloading item, Delete that.

In my opinion, the best way is to turn off Wi-Fi and data (3g, 4g) and let the download fail.

When connected again, download started ,help.

Long press the download app and then drag it to app info which should appear on the top of your home screen. Tap on force stop and its done!

Doesn't that leave the unfinished download somewhere?

No, download started when I open app again : ( ,help,I accidentally clicked 1.2 GB file and my wifi speed is low.

@fawad try long pressing the notification and then force stop?

Force stop stops downloading until I open app again. When I open chrome, download starts.


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optimum hardware setup for android emulator?
is there a "best" setup for the android emulator? It runs terribly slow on my mac os as well as my windows 7 32-bit. I was just wondering if there's an optimal setup as far as 32-bit vs 64 bit, or linux/windows/mac is concerned?

Are you running an ARM or x86 system image?

Actually the bad news is that everyone has the same problem . its dead slow !! . try using the Intel based emulator(instead of the arm-7 )and download the haxm software that Intel provides. Its available for the Mac too.
You can download the Intel based emulator and the haxm software (only for windows I guess) from the SDK manager.

I have to agree, even on a pretty high end development machine the emulator is pretty damn slow. It's faster the higher spec the PC but in general there's a lot of waiting around wondering what's gone wrong.


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Replacing stock dialer app
I've a rooted Samsung Galaxy S3 device, and I don't like the stock dialer app; can I replace (i.e. remove it totally) it with another dailer without breaking the phone functionality?

Why do you need to remove it completely?

You could download a different dialler and just use that as default, but the 'In Call' screen will remain Samsung's one. The other alternative is rooting the phone, finding a dialler replacement zip with a script that will correctly install and replace the dialler, pray it reboots, and then hope it doesn't crash out. I flash diallers a fair bit and the majority of the time they don't work, with the exception of flashing the KitKat dialler on a Google Edition ROM on the S4 where the dialler is provided by the ROM developer directly for that one ROM, but never over Touchwiz.


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How to restore cherry mobile quartz messing up the build prop
I just bought my Cherry Mobile Quartz last week, and it is rooted. I edited the build prop name and changed it to Cherry Mobile Flare. After that, I rebooted my phone, and now it's stuck on the android logo.
I tried to repair it in service center, but the stock rom is not available yet. I don't have any backup of the build prop, and the stock recovery didn't work.
How can I fix my phone?

Reboot your phone to recovery.
Use adb to pull (read as copy) the build.prop from ROM/device

adb pull /system/build.prop c:\

Edit it back the way that it was.
Once edited save as normal
Use adb to push (read as paste) the build.prop to ROM/device

adb shell chmod 0644 /system/build.prop
adb remount

.....then

adb push c:\build.prop /system/

Reboot

adb reboot

Or

adb shell reboot


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Rooting Docomo S3 (SC-O6D)
I can't seem to find a way to root my android device. I have tried every rooting method that I can find on the Internet for the SC-O6D, everyone of them after flashing are supposed to reboot the phone back into Android with root. But everyone I flash the phone reboots and no root? Anyone think they know what is going on?

What exact steps do you take? Please [edit] your question to add this information.

There is a binary in /system/bin which continuously  checks for root and immediately remves it again, as soon as root is detected. Chainfire root tools used to have an automated removal tool affecting this security binary. You can also do it by hand.
I do not know it by hard, the name of the binary. But you could extract the auto-root in the link below and you will know it.
Or you can simply use it.
http://download.chainfire.eu/248/CF-Root/CF-Auto-Root/CF-Auto-Root-d2dcm-sc06d.zip
Have fun!

I attempted to flash the file and the phone just rebooted without root. I'll probably attempt to manually find the file shortly

Strange. For me it worked, but that was a while ago. Perhaps they changed it with an update. You could try to flash it again?

I tried like 5 times and no luck. I also fried kingsoroot which after 10 minutes said it successfully rooted, but when it started back up there wasn't any. It's running Android 4.1.2


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My phone use so much ram
I have a samsung note 2 but I have a problem 1GB ram is always used even if I don't use any app and that drain his battery he have 4.3 android (I tried update but I can't find new one) is this normal ?

Do you find any lag when opening applications or does it slow down when multitasking?
If no is your answer then it is a very normal behaviour.
My phone has 1 GB of RAM but more than 600 MB is always occupied and it doesn't lag anytime. You can read about RAM management in Android in so many developer forums if you'd like to.

I've a 2Gb device here and it is 1.4 full. I'd agree this is perfectly normal. +1

okay ! I have the same amount used like @RossC so it's normal thanks for answer =)


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How to turn off sound for Google+ notifications?
How do I turn off audio notifications for Google+ (mail and groups) on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3?

Just some notes: Hash Brown has answered it below, but notifications are handled by each individual app so if don't want to mute the device, but want to mute a particular app it will be in that app's settings. If you want an app to never send you ANY notifications (e.g. a game) you can go to Settings>Applications> whatever app> Untick Notifications. (Only works on Android 4.1+ IIRC)

Start up Google+
Goto top left corner,  to the overflow button (3 dots).
Tap on settings
Tap on account settings for which account you want to change notification settings.
Tap on notification.
Change sound file to an empty sound file. (To do that start voice recorder app and record a second of silence,  then save and use).
This can be done on all devices with Google+.


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Can you install a generic ROM on any device?
I am relatively new to rooting and stuff. I have just rooted my android tablet. It's a Chinese tablet, not much about it is available on the internet.
Can I install ROM for another device on my tablet? I saw many videos on YouTube showing "How to install any ROM on any Android device". Does 'any' here mean that I can install, let's say, a Nexus ROM on my tablet?
Is there some generic ROM which can be installed on all androids? If so, can I install this generic ROM and then upgrade to a ROM of another device?
If no, is there a way to do so? (If not, then how do manufacturers put their ROM for the first time?)

You may want to look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2105692 which looks like it may be a custom ROM for those devices. Note the warning on the page regarding version 2 devices!

@DanDelaney . Thanks a lot. But I want to stress that the purpose of getting a generic ROM was to try out ubuntu on any android device without having the need to port it to every device. I dont think it will serve this purpose ?

You won't be able to install a ROM from a different device,  unless it is ported to your device - there are write-ups on the XDA forums on this. There isn't any generic ROM for all devices. Each device has its own chipset and hardware, that has its own firmware (software) design for it. In order for there to be a generic ROM, it would have to have the software and drivers for every device out on the market. The size of the ROM would be so large it wouldn't fit on most devices, let alone have room for anything else. Manufactures flash the ROM to their devices. From there we the can unlock the boot loaders, flash a custom recovery, install kernels and flash a custom ROM designed/made/ported for our device.
Check out this link and search for your device. http://forum.xda-developers.com/. There are other forums on the internet, but you can search Google for them.

Thanx. But as mentioned above, no ROM is there for my device, apart from stock one. However there are many devices with very similar configuration (same processor, RAM etc)for which ROMs are available. Can I install these ROMs on my device ?

@Plutoniumsmuggler what device do you have? Aside from that, have i answered your questions

I have Karbonn ST8 (My purpose is not just rooting. Its a little more than that. So I need ROM for different device)

@Plutoniumsmuggler "Similar" isn't good enough most of the time.  Phone hardware is much less standardized than, say, PC hardware.  Specific drivers are thus that much more important.

@Plutoniumsmuggler Google Ainol chipset based devices and find one to make a port from, with same specs.

@HasH_BrowN . I am new to this area, so I know nothing about porting etc. That is the thing I am trying to avoid. I needed another device for something, because mine is less popular and no one has taken up my device in the project. Looks like I ll have to abandon the idea altogether.( Apparently, the guy in the links in question and my motto are same ; testing ubuntu).

@Plutoniumsmuggler  if you are uncomfortable with all of that, how will you work with Ubuntu? I'm not trying to be rude. Are you wanting Ubuntu as a working environment  or developmental. What are you trying to do? This is where your question tends to be a little vague.

@HasH_BrowN . Ubuntu will be the permanent OS on which I will work. But I have just started learning ubuntu, its barely a week.


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Samsung galaxy trend FM radio sound not going to earphones
my mom has Samsung galaxy trend android phone and she is having problems
with earphones.
She wants to listen to FM radio but the sound is not going to the earphones but plays through speakers.
Are there any settings I should check?
I tested her phone with 2 earphones, the problem is the same with both of them.
I also tried to listen to FM radio with my android (Motorola moto g) with both earphones and there are no problems there...
Any help would be appreciated!

Is it only the FM radio or is the audio from other apps going to the speaker also?

For some apps it was working with the headphones but for others with speakers. For example the button pressing sounds also were going to the speakers.


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How can I easily backup data from external card on Android 4.0.4 to a new external card?
I intend to buy a new external card of larger capacity for Android 4.0.4 phone and would like to backup and restore data from currently installed external card to a new card so I can restore the data and apps on the new phone. Is there a cloud backup and restore!? Easy Backup app or other solution?

The easiest way would be to transfer the files to a computer, then transfer them from the computer to your new card. Many micro (phone size) sd cards come with a micro to regular size adapter that will fit in the card reader slots of most computers.

That is the easiest. +1


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Does the Grand Neo GT i9060 have USB OTG?
Does the Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo GT-i9060 have USB OTG (usb-on-the-go)? Can I instantly watch movies directly from OTG without copying files into my phone? If not, is there any other way to get OTG working?

The Galaxy Grand Neo from my reading does not support USB OTG.
You could just stream videos onto your phone from your PC / Desktop, and there are plenty of apps to do that.
There is some great further reading in this question "How can I determine if my device has USB host mode & USB OTG Support."

That guide is to how make an USB OTG cable (you can buy it for 1$) but it's not going to work anyway if it's not supported by the phone.

Yep, moment of madness there. Deleted, cheers @crayon


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Deleted hosts file (can't connect to internet)
i have a rooted device (Lenovo A3000-h) , and i had this issue of having my hosts file filled every now and then with additional lines (that sometimes blocked me from logging into my google play account) , and i used to manually edit the file and just erase these extra lines (keeping the 127.0.0.1 line intact)
so yea everything was fine till this morning , i tried to access my google play and i couldn't so i tried to edit the hosts file one more time (as usual) but i noticed that the file size became 2.5mb although it has always been less than 0.5mb (170kb-250kb). anyways when i tried to edit it , the file wouldnt open giving me the message (not enough memory)
long story short i deleted the file and i noticed i had a hosts.bak file so i copied it and tried to connect but its taking forever and it's not connecting to the internet anymore.
hint : i took a copy of the file from my friend's "Samsung galaxy mega" phone and still it wouldn't connect

IMHO the only line required in the hosts file is 127.0.0.1 localhost. And of course the file must be world-readable. Try this: echo "127.0.0.1" > hosts && chmod 0644 hosts while in the directory the file should be in (/system/etc if I remember correctly – I cannot check at the moment).

and i had this issue of having my hosts file filled every now and then with additional lines (that sometimes blocked me from logging into my google play account) you had a malware in your system that's adding these lines. Resolve that than you wouldn't have to fiddle with your hosts file.

You shouldn't need a hosts file to connect to the internet. It's used to map custom (private) IPs to a hostname. Deleting it shouldn't prevent your device from connecting to the internet, but I can think of one instance where it could. I have to explain some background info first to help you understand.
DNS is the protocol used to map a FQDN (fully quantified domain name) like play.google.com to an IP address. Android is Linux based, which uses a config file called resolv.conf to send DNS lookup requests to. If your cell carrier is populating that file with a FQDN instead of an IP address, the IP address of that FQDN would need to be listed in the hosts file so your phone will know how to look it up.
Look at the contents of /system/etc/resolv.conf. You should see one or two lines that begin with the word nameserver. If the data that comes after that word looks like a FQDN, then a corresponding entry needs to be in the hosts file too. If it's an IP address, then the cause of your connectivity issues is something else entirely. The first step is making sure your device can reach the internet. I usually do something like ping 8.8.8.8 to do this as 8.8.8.8 is one of Google's public DNS servers. If you can hit that server, then your issue is DNS related. If you can't, then there's something else unrelated to the hosts file preventing you from reaching the internet.

Copy the hosts file to etc folder and then install Adfree app, open it and click on Revert, and you are good to go.

I very much doubt that. Adfree can only revert to the backup it made. I don't see mentioned by the OP that Adfree was installed at all, so it could not have made such a backup. So what should it revert to then?

Just delete your host file . Restart your phone and it will automatically connect to google .worked for me... dont try to edit it.

You might have been lucky then. AFAIK, the hosts file must at least contain the entry for 127.0.0.1 localhost – as I already pointed out in my comment on the question itself more than 2 years ago.


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Unable to remove Google Account from Sync
I want to remove Google account from AutoSync since I want to use Outlook.com for syncing of my contacts, calendar, email etc. I am able to sync Outlook.com, but unable to remove Google Account from automatically syncing. There is no disable sync button for google Account.
I use a Redmi 1S mobile, on MIUI.

I'll keep looking but all I can think are: Factory reset and don't log in to Google Account (pretty nuclear option) OR you could go to Settings> Accounts and synch > Your Google Account > Untick EVERY option one by one

Unfortunately, I can't find any untick option for Google Account -> options....

Options, Accounts, google, then click on your email address with the synch icon beside it, then untick EVERYTHING. It depends on how the menus work in MiUi though, I haven't used it in about 3 years.

As i was saying, I couldn't find any way to uncheck/check. I can only see "Touch to Sync now"

I presume you tried long pressing them and so on to see if they do anything. I have no idea, I have never seen that, it seems MiUi has it's own way of doing it. Maybe ask MiUi. I can't help but maybe someone with the ROM will know. Actually it seems like you can't and you'll have to go to Contacts and unsynch, the email and unsynch and so on for every single thing, up to uninstalling some apps like Google Plus. I hope that's wrong.

When i go to contacts->account, its taking me to the main sync settings. Looks like I can't unselect google account, or for that matter any added account, from unsyncing. It's frustrating.

Auto Sync should be enabled for checkboxes to appear. Without Auto Sync on, the checkboxes didn't appear.

When you add google account at that time you will get option for auto sync. You can remove account and add account again.
On android 10 on my mobile, setting / google/ backup and auto sync.

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


text:
Where are app-provided wallpapers stored?
There are some apps on Play Store that provide some wallpapers that can then be set as home background from various launcher, such as Nova, Apex, etc.
Where do these apps store the wallpapers? I looked in the usual locations, such as /data/data/, or /sdcard/Android/data, but I couldn't find anything.
EDIT: Here are the details: Galaxy Nexus, with latest Paranoid Android (which builds on top of Android 4.4.4). The app in question is like all the apps that add wallpapers to use with the most used launchers. I would say the name, but it probably would be considered spam.
I want to extract the wallpapers because I run into a strange issue: when I select the wallpaper with Nova it does not get set and I get all sort of errors in the logcat. The process in charge of setting the wallpaper then keeps retrying and uses all the phone resources. I have to remove the battery out of the phone because it isn't responding. I don't know if the issue is solvable. I searched but hardly anything relevant turns up. So I wanted to inspect the wallpapers and maybe reduce them in resolution, just to see if that worked.

You need to provide details, such as what device, version, and specific app info

@HasH_BrowN: Added, thank you for the interest.

Have you tried restarting the device, because the media scanner should take care of that, but your device might need a reboot.

@StephanBranczyk: Countless times, but I cannot set the wallpaper other than a few (one or two) that works.

Check out this answer, just in case the wallpaper was moved
That being said, since you're looking for an app-provided wallpaper and not a system provided wallpaper, we'll probably need to know the package name of the application in question (and you'll need to have root access to your device, which I believe you already have).
So assuming the package name of the app is com.example.superdupperlauncher, then you would need to look into /data/data/com.example.superdupperlauncher/files/ or /data/data/com.example.superdupperlauncher/

Yes, I have root access. I checked those location, but the wallpapers are neither in /data/data/{name}/*, nor in /sdcard/Android/data/{name}/*. I also checked the launcher (Nova) folders, but found no wallpapers. I suspect that there is some shared location where third-party apps can add their files, so that Nova or any launcher can discover them. But it's so hard to search these things on Google...


text:
Facebook App size, how to control it?
I've tried disabling geolocalization, yet the data portion of the apps is by far the largest storage hog in my phone (140Mb as I type). I uninstalled the facebook messenger app because it was also taking a lot of storage, any idea why facebook need so much data stored locally in our phones?
Any idea how to put a limit to it? (what else could I disable?)

It's probably caching a lot of data, and any pictures you may download from Facebook. Settings>Applications>Facebook>Clear cache might be worth a go.

@RossC The FB app consumes a lot of space even with the cache cleared, mainly because for some reason the app unpacks a lot of .dex files onto its /data/data/com.facebook.katana folder.

@aureljared ahh that makes a lot of sense, what a total pain. I know they have some "intelligent work arounds" in their app, that amount to slowdown and bloat in reality. For the OP there's always the option of using the facebook mobile site, which is often better than the app!

thanks for the comments, yes I've cleared the cache many times (with the pain of having to set all settings (such as username/password or the no auto-playing of videos). I uninstalled the messenger app for a similar reason. I also disable contact sync thinking it could be related, but it keeps creeping out, slowly but surely. I cleared a week ago  (so I could install some updates) and it currently at 83MB.

I know this is not the answer to your question but I deleted a lot of IMs from the Messenger app and I did see a bit of a difference. However the amount of time and effort don't really pay off. I thought audio clips would be the answer but I managed to clear the ridiculously low amount of 1mb. I guess what I will do next is clear all my searches and maybe delete old, unnecessary pictures, recent activity and posts. Hmmm never thought about it till now.. it just might work.

I've stopped using all of facebook apps, I found the mobile webapp (m.facebook.com using chrome) suits my needs (I'm missing the notifications though)


text:
Google mail servers not allowing email setup
We have a a handful of people helping us configure android phones.  We'll get contracts for 500, 700, 1000 phones for example.
Part of the configuration is setting up a gmail account on each phone.  We started having issues not being able to connect to the Google servers to complete the setup.
Example:

5 people setting up phones About 4 - 5 minutes per phone
Each phone has their own individual Gmail account
In the email setup section.  We’ll enter the account that is then successfully verified by google as being available.
Fill out the captcha on the screen submit.
The following screen states “Couldn’t sign in.  There was a problem communicating with Google servers.  Try again later.”
When this happens to one - it happens to ALL the phones
If we move the phones off the building wifi to another wifi say a cell phone hot spot.  And run thru the same procedure on the same phone the email account is completed and set up.

If we come in the next day we just repeat the above.
Our assumption is Google is seeing a large number of accounts being setup from our WAN IP, but we can’t change that ip.  Is there any other work around that anybody can think of?
thank you

Did you contact Google yet? http://www.google.com/contact/ , their phone is on that page to the right side.

Tried calling a few times only get the automated attendant, and was on hold for a couple hours yesterday.  I'm using that as my fall back plan.  Was  hoping for something easier though...:(  Will try calling again today..

Was able to contact  Google - response was "Gmail is a free service, all tech support documents are online"..

contact them by email and explain that you need help with business or commercial problem.

that was done...  To my knowledge no response yet

Another tech setup a proxy hotspot to spoof our outgoing IP.  I forgot about this.  Something we did while in Europe to watch US tv.  I think this is working, somewhat but I'm not a big fan of this process.


text:
TLS version support
I am trying to backtrack the versions of TLS support on Android.
More in detail:
From which version of Android started TLS 1.0 support
From which version of Android started TLS 1.1 support
From which version of Android started TLS 1.2 support
If you could also supply me with some affordable info source I'd be grateful - I know this was quite a newbie question, I'm sorry for that.
Thanks.

If you weren't successfull just using google, have a look in the android open source project aosp. You will find openssl and the answer to your question.
There is a nice page which allows for very fast searches inside aosp:
http://androidxref.com/source/


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How to login in Skype via Facebook?
I have a skype account that I created via Facebook login and can use it on my PC or Mac just fine. Now I want to use Skype on Android and have installed the official app. Yet the app lacks an option to login via Facebook.
How am I supposed to login, as I do neither know my user name nor the password, as I am used to login via Facebook.

I know that as of last year, Facebook login wasn't supported on Android. I don't know if that has changed since then.

Go to the login page, tap on "Problems in signing".
Enter your primary Facebook email, Skype will send a code to your email.
Copy it, go back to the Skype app.
Tap on enter the key, paste the key in it.
There's your Skype account named facebook:your.name.
Tap on your Facebook profile, tap sign in with Facebook
Then Facebook login page will appear and enter your login info.


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What happens when displaying through Miracast using low resolution device and high resolution external display?
I am considering purchase of an Android tablet with 1024 x 600 screen resolution and Android 4.4 KitKat. I believe it will support Miracast to cast its display to a Miracast receiver.
The Miracast receiver will be attached to a 1920 × 1080 native resolution TV.
Will Android take full advantage of the full 1920 × 1080 resolution of the Miracast destination device?
What are my options and what would happen on the tablet's screen? What happens on the TV's screen?
OR: Do I need a tablet / phone with  1920 × 1080 resolution in order to Miracast at full 1920 × 1080 resolution on the external display?

Will Android take full advantage of the full 1920 × 1080 resolution of
  the Miracast destination device?

No. You will end up with a stretched yet aspect-intact mirror of what is on your android.

What are my options and what would happen on the tablet's screen? What
  happens on the TV's screen?

Tablet screen remains the same. TV will appear as indicated above. You don't really have options aside from tilting the device to switch between portrait/landscape.

OR: Do I need a tablet / phone with 1920 × 1080 resolution in order to
  Miracast at full 1920 × 1080 resolution on the external display?

Nope. If the device supports miracast, it will display on whatever screen the miracast dongle is set up with.


text:
Is the analog clock widget somehow tied into the unlock screen?
I've encountered something bizarre on my phone which I think is just an innocent side effect, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn't indicative of something malicious.
From time to time, right after I unlock the phone, the LastPass prompt pops up and asks me if I want to input my master password in order for it to autofill the password for "Clock Widget."  I don't use the clock widget on the lock screen, though.
I don't ever provide it the password, but initially I was concerned that there might be a program masking itself as the clock widget.  Since the prompt is so closely correlated with the unlocking, I have to believe, though, that LastPass is offering to fill in my unlock code, even though it can't.
Is the clock widget somehow associated with the part of the OS that controls the unlocking of the device?  Is there any legitimate reason why it would ask for a password?
I have an LG G2 running 4.4.2 and I have scanned the device with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware as well as Kaspersky and I haven't found anything at all with either.
I wasn't able to grab a screenshot before the LastPass prompt disappeared, unfortunately.

What's this LastPass you're talking about?

@MANI See https://lastpass.com/  It's a well-known app and browser add-in

Looks like pretty famous and secure too. Then why bother about giving password when prompted. If still unsure try to grab a screenshot when it happens again.

@MANI I trust LastPass, I'm just curious about why the clock widget would prompt for a password.


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Start/join Google Hangout without Google+ account
Is it possible to start and/or join a Google Hangout on Android without also having a Google+ account?

From the support page

Do users need a Google plus account to use Hangouts?
No, but some features—using apps in video calls, sharing photos, and using circles to control who can reach you and how—require a Google+ profile. See the following for more information: Hangout video call features available with or without a Google+ profile and   Hangouts Chat vs. Google Talk

For Google app users the additional information states:

Although Google+ provides a superior experience, it is not required for Hangouts for Google Apps to work.

In the Android gapps package it appears to require a Google account, but only Google plus to send pictures.

I am specifically asking about Hangouts on Android, not the Web interface.

Sorry, added now, had to run at the time, slipped my mind @ale.


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"Device management downloading" notification: why and how to get rid of it?
I see "Device management downloading" notification. It appeared when I was not using the phone: why did it appear and how can I prevent it from appearing again? I don't want to update my phone's OS.

I use a rooted Samsung Galaxy SIII with Android 4.1.2.

You can find out what app is responsible by long-tapping the notification and choosing App info. When you've done that, [edit] your question.

Yep what dan said is true, otherwise we have no idea. Why not update your firmware if there is a newer official release? Security is important, as is stability in updates!

@RossC sometimes best to avoid.

Have you considered that this might be a Mobile Device Management being driven by Corporate/ IT from your place of work? This smells of MDM and I cant be sure which one given the limited info so far.

That's a personal phone which I have never used for my work.

@FranckDernoncourt Google also has in built device management feature. Maybe it's that. Check it. Did you try the above comment suggestions?


text:
Remove the "silenced", "4G", "Battery symbol" and "AM/PM" from notification bar
I want to modify my notification bar so it's more something like this:

Is this possible?
I'm using a rooted 4.4.2 M8 on Verizon.

Since rooted,  download the Xposed Framework installer from the XDA forums:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/xposed-installer-versions-changelog-t2714053
Download link is in the first post in the thread:
http://dl.xposed.info/latest.apk

After Xposed is installed, open the app and install the framework, then soft reboot.
Open the app again, go to downloads section and scroll through the available modules.  There are a few that will do the things that you want.
UPDATE: Researching further, I found out that the Sense Toolbox module will hide status (some people call it the notification) bar icons.

Sense Toolbox homepage
Sense Toolbox download page

Install the modules you want, enable them on the modules tab in the Xposed app, then reboot.
Read the thread and links thoroughly. Understand what this will do to your phone. Always do a backup first.

"Always do a backup first."  I'm just leaving this here to second that. You REALLY need to make backups. There's a LOT of issues people have that could so easily be solved if you made a full backup! +1 for the answer Xposed is AWESOME.

@RossC THANKS!! Yes there are way too many people not making backups. Borking androids up seems to be the new norm. We (read as general public) need to read and/or fully read information, so there is an understanding of what we are doing when we make changes. An informed Android user is a smart Android user.

I learned the hard way by wrecking an expensive device!!

@RossC Ouch!!....but you learned your lesson. I bet backups are almost a routine now.

That's just an APK that lets you add in other modules. I looked through the modules and I didn't see anything about removing specific icons from the notification bar. The closest I got was one that let you change the batter icon, you couldn't even remove it.

Read through the modules better,  I know there is at least one. Read the the descriptions also,  not just the titles.

@Chipperyman Did you try GravityBox module?

@Firelord does that work for HTC 1m8? I use the G2 and G3 Tweakbox modules on my LG Volt, you can disabe or change all of the status bar icons with either of those.


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Your Internet connection is unstable message
I would like to know how to get rid of the message "your Internet connection is unstable?

Close it, or go offline? Honestly: we need much more context to answer that. Where does this message appear? What are you doing when it pops up? Does it happen on WiFi, mobile data, or both? Is it a system message, or thrown by an app? What makes you think it's specific to the Galaxy S4 (as you used that tag only)?

I keep getting the error message on my cell phone, even when I am standing right on front of my wifi box. I tried control alt delete and deleting the cashe partition and it still didn't help.  Any suggestions?

The one fact I get from your comment is it happens on WiFi (and that issue is called "weak internet" AFAIK). Now you need to provide a photo of your device: I've never seen an Android phone having Control, Alt, and Delete keys.

There are a few potential things that can cause this.

You are too close to the router. Seriously, this can happen on Samsung devices. I've seen it on the S4 and Note 3. It's very unlikely but worth mentioning on a list.
The 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz are interfering with something on the device. Try turning 5Ghz off altogether.
You could add the phone's ip address to the router's allowed devices.
In the phone's network/wifi (varies by device/version) settings, untick auto switch between WiFi and mobile network
As suggested here:

TP-link router has the ability to create a 'guest' network.
  So besides the 2Ghz network and the 5Ghz network, I created a 3rd network, only for the 2 mobile phones.

In your router's LAN setup section you can add your phone to the section where it says Address Reservation


text:
How do I enter a new line in a cell in Google Sheets?
When accessing a spreadsheet in Google Drive on a computer with a keyboard, I can enter a new line in a single cell by pressing alt+enter.
My keyboard on my Android doesn't even have an alt key.
How do I enter a new line on my Android device?
For a keyboard on my Android, I'm currently using Swype, but I am assuming, and hoping, there is some kind of general approach that is not specific to a particular keyboard.

I'm afraid there is no "general approach" for that. You might want to take a look into my list on Keyboards & Input Methods, which holds several candidates like Hackers Keyboard which support such "additional keys".

Idea #1 to try: create a "reference document" with a single cell where you put in the "new line" character in the cell on a PC and then use copy and paste on your Android device.  Idea #2: does Google sheets support macros?

PERFECT ANSWER, RIGHT HERE GUYS:
http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/25359/how-does-one-add-a-new-line-in-a-cell-in-a-google-spreadsheet

@user110230, that answer only applies to desktop computers, not to Android phones.

Easiest way:  add an extra letter at the end of the line. Select that letter. Hit enter. The letter will be replaced with a new line.

This is the only right answer

It has some important caveats: 1) It doesn't work with physical (bluetooth) keyboards, at leasst for me 2) it really needs to be a letter.  If you select a space, it doesn't work.

It works with Google Pinyin, but does not work with Google Japanese keyboard

It doesn't work in the Google Spreadsheet app (didn't try on the webapp)

The function CHAR(10) will return a Line Feed.
Combining with functions like CONCATENATE() or & will give a new line. Example:
=CONCATENATE("First line"; CHAR(10); "Second line")
="First line"&CHAR(10)&"Second line"

The only way that I found so far is through the clipboard.
Using a source document with a line break, with some effort you could succeed in selecting just the line break, and then copy/paste it.
Even easier is to use an app such as "Unicode Pad" or "Unicode CharMap", both of which will find and then copy/paste any character. You'll need to look for LF, LINE FEED or U+000A.
Note that you won't "see" the character after you select it, it shows as a space for obvious reasons.
This still isn't as convenient as I would like it to be, but at least I found it to work reliably.

Mark the cell in which you want to have new lines.
At the top menu click the "A" next to the redo button.

in the lower screen section a modal pops up. There hit the tab "CELL".
Than activate "Wrap Text".

Now this cell will do line-breaks on long text.

Wrapping is not the same as an inserted line break.

wbogacz is correct that this isn't a line break, but this is exactly what I was looking for.

The highlight a throw-away character and hit enter trick, as well as the type everything into a text editor, then copy/paste it into the Google Sheets cell, both only work on Android devices. I have a Google Spreadsheet that I'm sharing with a client who has an iPhone, and she needs to be able to enter multiple lines within a cell. So I came up with just a little Google Apps Script code to do it on her iPhone (can be entered into the drop-down menu of the Google Spreadsheet, Tools >> Script editor):
function onEdit(e) {
    e.range.setValue(e.value.replace(/\\\\/g, '\\').replace(/ *\\n */g, '\n').replace(/\/g, '\\'));
}

Basically, that creates a function (that is automatically linked to a Google Sheets trigger), and will run every time a cell is edited. It simply replaces all of the "\n" characters in your text with a line-break. Make sure that's a backslash, and not a normal slash. For programmers, the "\n" is a special character that represents a carriage return within a string. The only possible exception where an accidental line-break might happen would be when trying to input a Windows path into a cell such as "C:\Users\John\Documents\news". So double-backslashes is the common workaround for Windows paths among programmers. So one could enter "C:\Users\John\Documents\news" or even just simply "C:\Users\John\Documents\news" (since \n is really the only string we're replacing at this point).
It's also possible to change the replacement characters, in case anyone is more familiar with HTML:
function onEdit(e) {
    e.range.setValue(e.value.replace(/ *<br *\/*> */ig, '\n'));
}

Since "<br>" is much more deliberate (people don't accidentally type that in unless they want a line-break), it makes for a simpler replace function, since we don't have to do an escape for double-backslashes. But personally, typing in the angled brackets from an Android touchscreen keyboard are a bit inconvenient to do so twice for every line-break...
-Ted

Nice, I think this is by far the most convenient way! I used myself just " lb " (as in line break) to be the value to be replaced with the newline so I can just write "line 1 lb line 2" and don't even need to go to special characters :)

The following trick worked for me:
Ctrl + Enter

Mind to explain where Android devices have the Ctrl key? Note this site is about Android, not Desktop.

I assume (but haven't tested) that this might work on 3rd-party keyboard apps that have Ctrl key like Hacker's Keyboard.

I have succeeded by pressing several times Enter when typing a message, select all, copy it and paste it into a cell in a sheet.

Just select a line and press + (top right on the tool bar), you'll be offered to insert a row above or below or a link.

Note that the OP wants to insert a new line inside a cell, or probably should be called as line break instead... but not a new row.

authors: валерия валерия


text:
when does Android 4.5 comes and will my phone get update?
I got LG OPTIMUS G PRO (F240L)
and I wanna know , will it get OTA 4.5 updates?

Android 4.5 (Android L?) is not yet released.
Google has not yet announced the release date.
If you are a developer, you can take a look at Android L Developer Preview.
Once the official Android L is released, your OEM (LG) may think of porting it to your phone model (LG Optimus G Pro), and after the porting is completed and tested, LG may provide the OTA update.

well I can look up the Developer's preview.. I will try to install  Android L on my G pro device

@AtharRajpoot - You can not deploy developer preview in your device. It is only permitted to Nexus devices. See the developer page again.

Mani is correct @AtharRajpoot. +1

well i seen that.. I guess i must wait.. or i should buy nexus device


text:
How to restore nandroid?
I created a nandroid backup and copied the files to my computer
boot.img
cache.ext4.tar
data.ext4.tar
nandroid.md5
recovery.log
system.ext4.log
ta.img

I deleted the files on my phone to save space and now have copied them back. I used Online Nandroid Pro and not sure how to actually get it to do a complete restore?

Did you look at their help info yet? How much did you do already? What part is not making sense? Please provide more information. Did you take a look at the apps XDA forum thread https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t%253D1620255%26sa%3DD%26usg%3DAFQjCNHMcZo_vjC3JaITFTS8OvONZo4lng&sa=D&usg=AFQjCNFACj6mROgyufNlWz3qy7Cfks8kFg

@HasH_BrowN I've tried a lot of things. Can any app restore from a nandroid backup even if it's not the same one that made it, for example can TWRP restore a nandroid made from CWM? Also when I do restore, should I expect to no longer see apps that I've installed since the nandroid was made? I'll take a look at the link.

@HasH_BrowN my question is how do you use the user interface? I can't see any option inside Online Narndoid to restore and it requries Nandroid Manager to select a recovery. In nanroid manager there is "explore  backup", which lists a bunch of files and "restore data" with some options. So what do I do to get 100% restored from the nandroid?

You might wish to see: Restore only part of nandroid image – and, of course, our nandroid tag-wiki. Will save you from waiting for answers which are already there :)

@Izzy I want to do the exact opposite: how do you restore ALL of the nandroid image? So that anythings added after the nandroid image will no longer be there.

To restore a nandroid backup, the device cannot be in "normal operation mode". You have to boot into your (custom) recovery (see our tag-wikis on: recovery-mode / clockworkmod / twrp), from where you can trigger a full restore. With ClockworkMod Recovery, it is e.g. found in the Backup & Restore sub-menu.
Stock recoveries don't offer taking/restoring Nandroid backups. But as you were able to create one, it's pretty safe to assume you've also got a custom recovery installed to your device.

I do have TWRP and I tried this but it didn't show the nandroid backup, as if it wouldn't find it.

Have you placed your backups in the right location? See: Where are TWRP backups stored on SD card? If so, you might have to ask the TWRP guys for details.

I once extracted single apps and apps data using a normal archiver explorer in my Arch Linux system. In Windows, 7-Zip FM or Winrar should do the trick.
Obviously it is quicker done if you restore the full backup all at once with a custom recovery (but I believe you already merged the archive parts the backup is done in), but I once made a backup after the system launcher went to a systematic crash, so I couldn't do anything, and doing a full restore would led to the very same problematic, so I had to get back the data of the apps I wanted to restore that way.
Just open the .tar files, they are compressed archives. data.tar contains what the data folder contains in your Internal Storage: upon all the folders, data/app contains the apk of the applications you have installed, and data/data their saved data, which is you may want to restore. Inside that folder, every app has its dedicated folder (e.g., data/data/com.google.android.apps.maps for Google Maps). Copying it in your data/data folder in your phone with a root file manager will restore the data for that app.
Again, for a complete restore, just copy the whole packages (supposing you left them untouched) in the directory they were (to find out which it is, do another backup and you will see where it is created), boot into a custom recovery like CWM Recovery and do a full system restore, pointing to where the backup is located in your phone.


text:
How can I see what exactly an application does?
I'm a bit surprised I couldn't find this answers myself.  I am a major minimalist when it comes to computers (my desktop and laptop both run strip-down Linuces) and I wanted to get rid of some of the bloatware that came with my new Android.
My only problem being that I'm not entirely sure what some of the applications do and whether I need/want them.  Is there any way to get details on what an application does?
Edit: For clarification: when I say "details" I mean some description of what the application does.
Edit: My device is a Samsung S4 Mini from AT&T.

The list of safely removable bloatware varies with each device manufacturer and also depends whether your device comes unlocked or from a carrier. It would be better if you added these info to your question.

It's a really old question but you may still be interested in this quite new community project : Universal Android Debloater
It's a bash script using ADB to debloat non-rooted smartphones. The packages lists used are as well documented as possible in order to provide a better understanding of what you can delete or not.

Newer android versions let you disable applications you do not want but cannot uninstall. These pre-installed apps are usually in /system/app/YouTube.apk as an example.
To remove:
- root your device
- uninstall app updates using normal settings -> app manager
- make a backup of your /system/app/appName.apk
adb shell, su,
- mount -o remount,rw /system
- rm /system/app/appName.*
- sync, reboot
( do press enter where i did a ',' )
- as long as your adb is still working, you can safely restore apps you removed and want back again. But don't forget the file permissions! Do a ls -laF in this folder before, note the permissions, and set them again accordingly after restoring.
Have fun!

This doesn't really answer the question.  I know how to remove something, I want to know what I can safely remove.

Everything you want. And if it wasn't save you can restore it again. Adb usually works anyway. And if something goes horribly wrong, just reflash the stock firmware. It depends on the user what can be removed and what not. Do you need YouTube? A Browser? A mail App? It really depends on you.

I'm not talking about what I am physically capable of removing.  I'm talking about dependency resolution.  A prime example is I disabled a few apps and shortly after found that Message would fail whenever I tried to read a text.  I managed to go through the Applications Details for Message and found a few of the dependencies that I had blocked which fixed the problem.  Unfortunately, I have a similar problem with certain settings menus which the same method couldn't fix.
To the point: I know for a fact that I can't just delete whatever I want because it will cause apps to fail.


text:
How do I restore the microphone button on my Galaxy keyboard
The little microphone icon disappeared from my Galaxy 3 keyboard a couple of weeks ago, and the mic icon does not appear as an option when you hold that button on the keyboard. All of the other options are still there but the mic button is completely gone. It doesn't show up on the keyboard in any programs.
S-voice still works. However, when I try to use the voice input option in Google Maps, it crashes as soon as I touch the mic icon. When I open a browser window and try to use the voice input option, when I touch the mic icon, it says Google Voice Search is busy, or need better connection (it does this everywhere so it's not a bad connection problem).
Help!

Which keyboard app are you using? The default Samsung keyboard, or Google Keyboard, or something else?

Did you by any chance disable the Google App in your application manager?
 To find out go to settings>application manager then swipe over past "running apps", "all apps" options until you see a list of "disabled" (or "turned off" on some devices) apps. Look to see if the Google App is deactivated. If it is, click on it and press 'turn on'.
I disabled my Google app a while back because it was using a lot of data in the background and I never use that app.  It took me a few days to figure out why my voice input no longer worked because I don't use it that often. Apparently though,  the voice input function is routed through the Google app, so disabling it will make it unavailable.

Enable Google Voice Typing input in phone settings.
if its not there or disabled - install/ enable google voice search app.

Restore microphone on keyboard....settings...apps...application manager... your text message appp.. turn on microphone. Done!


text:
dump_image: permission denied
In order to root a new device, I try to follow the tutorial to port CWM for an unrooted device. When I do dump_image boot/sdcard/boot.img I got dump_image: permission denied. How can I resolve this? does it means I need to root it first before I can dump the boot image?

What is your final goal? You can try to root it using towelroot (its an apk that just roots the device). Or something else. Exploit roots are nice, as they are not changing your boot partition and let you clone the original one later on.
I never used the command you mentioned, i always used dd.
adb shell
su
dd if=/dev/block/platform/..../by-name/boot of=/data/local/tmp/oboot.img
chmod 777 /data/local/tmp/oboot.img
exit
exit
adb pull /data/local/tmp/oboot.img
There is another option: Download the official firmware from the net, unzip and untar it and you will have all your partition images ready. This is an example for Samsung devices: http://samsung-updates.com/
If you would tell us more about the device you are using, we could help you much better. (device name, hardware tag/number like gt-i9505, android and firmware version)
Good luck!

it require su, which I do not have. I order to have su, I need to root. In order to root, I need to port CWM to my new device. In order to port CWM I need to dump the boot.img. In order to dump or dd I need su .......

@Wang i just edited the answer and added two new hints

My device is not samsung. But I did manage to get a factory restore rom by contact the device provider. And extracted the boot.img from it. Thanks a lot! Now I am porting :D

Just root your device and type su
and but the dump_image binary to any of these /cache/create new folder,/data/create new folder,or /system/create new folder hope it helps.


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Use stock recovery to install superuser?
I am trying to use the stock recovery to install superuser.zip but it give me an error:
E: signature verification failed
So I cannot root it by the superuser.zip
I Googled and someone said solution is to install CWM. However, when I try to install CWM, it require superuser privilege?!
Now I get into the loop CWM need superuser -> install superuser need CWM -> ...

What device is this? It's hard to point you in the right direction as Dan said below. You can't install Superuser through stock recovery, you don't need root to install a recovery.

Android has a chain of signature verification that (by default) protects your device from being hacked or having an unofficial image installed. Recovery images, updates, and OS images all have to be signed. The bootloader verifies that the recovery is signed by the manufacturer's key, and the recovery in turn verifies that the OS image (and any updates you try to install) are signed by the same key.
That's why you need CWM or TWRP to flash an update that roots the device. You don't need to root to install CWM or TWRP, but you do need to unlock the bootloader. This wipes all user data on the device. It's a security mechanism, to protect your data: if someone steals the device while it's locked, and wants to flash a different OS to bypass the lock and steal your data, they first have to unlock the bootloader.
So, there's no loop at all. Unlock your bootloader and flash a recovery using fastboot, then use that recovery to install the "update". The exact details of how vary from device to device, so find yours on our rooting index.

If I understood correctly, I need to port the CWM to my device, which requires me to access the boot.img, etc. But without root, how can I obtain the boot.img?

It seems unlikely that CWM isn't already ported to your device, but obviously I can't say for sure since you didn't say what device you have.

It has not been ported yet, otherwise, I will not ask this question. It is a relative new and exotic device. But I did manage to get boot.img from factory restore ROM. Now I am starting to port the CWM.


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Google play store does not show all persmissions at app install
So recently, I was searching for a news app that needs few permissions as possible.
I found an app called Flipboard. Google play said I need to allow the following:

Identity
Photos/Media/Files

Screenshots (click images for larger variants)
I was satisfied with those permissions (left screenshot) and installed the app. Then I went to Privacy Guard (right screenshot; I have CM installed) to check if the permissions match.
The permissions not only not match but there are additional that I would never allow, like reading my SMS or Read Calendar information.
Another strange thing is, that on the google play web page there is another set of permissions:
This app has access to:
Identity

find accounts on the device

Photos/Media/Files

test access to protected storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Other

receive data from Internet
full network access
prevent device from sleeping
view network connections

I know there can be additional permissions added with updates, but I never updated the app.
To me it seems google/apps are misleading users and it seems very illegal to me.
Am I missing something here or is my complain justified?

Really? All that for a news magazine? And you wonder why privacy is such a big issue today. Props to you for asking about this.

You would be surprised at some of the apps Android users just install without thinking of it.

Yes, you are justified and they are being sneaky. Once a set of permissions is allowed, it can install new permission into that same set without getting approved on update. But you can retake control.
If your rooted, you can download the Xposed Framework installer from the XDA forums.
Xposed Installer
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/xposed-installer-versions-changelog-t2714053
"Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the system and apps without touching any APKs. All changes are done in the memory."
Must be rooted

PlayPermissions Xposed module
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/playpermissionsexposed-fix-play-store-t2783076
"This module aims to fix this problem for users who care about permissions.
It'll do the following:
1.Make the Play Store show you all of the app's permissions.
2.Require you to manually update apps with new permissions (regardless of the category)."

XPrivacy module
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/xprivacy-ultimate-android-privacy-app-t2320783
"XPrivacy can prevent applications from leaking privacy sensitive data. XPrivacy can restrict the categories of data an application can access. This is done by feeding an application with no or fake data. There are several data categories which can be restricted, for example contacts or location. For example, if you restrict access to contacts for an application, this will result in sending an empty contact list to the application. Similarly, restricting an application's access to your location will result in a set location being sent to the application."

modules require Xposed framework to be installed to function properly.

UPDATE

As of now, the only way to view all permissions before downloading from the Play Store is with the PlayPermissions module. Photo was included to show module in use.
Please don't confuse permissions with services, activities, or broadcast receivers.
As far as legality issues, this is NOT the right forum. Get in touch with Google if you feel you have been wronged or your rights have been infringed upon


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Can I "Wipe data/Factory reset" a phone that doesn't even boot via USB?
I have a Razr HD (XT925 GSM) which suddenly shut down and can't be turned back on (pressing or long pressing the power button does nothing, nor does connecting it to the wall).
I have a lot of sensible stuff in the phone. I'd like to wipe it before taking it to the repair service but I don't know if it is possible at all. The phone doesn't even show up when connected to the USB port. Is there a way to wipe the on board flash in these conditions?
Knowing that the answer is most probably not, how would you approach the issue? Should I just throw away the phone?
Thanks!
ps: some context. The phone's screen cracked some time ago. For a few months nothing happened. About a month about the phone started rebooting itself about 10 times a day, with no discernible pattern. It just shut down, apparently for good; I had last checked the notifications a few minutes before.

I've seen such an issue before, but it was a samsung device.
I do not have a cookbook solution for you, just some points to check:
Is the powerbutton still working? Did you have issues with buttons before? On the samsung we had to create a special plug from a cable and a 3k resistor. This brings the samsung phones directly to download-mode where you can flash and or reboot.
Is your battery still ok? Can you replace it (quickly exchange with a friend) or is this not possible with your phone type?
Is your charger ok? And the cable? Try another one and leave it on for a while, a dead battery needs a bit of time and very slow charge, before it can go back to normal charging.
Good luck

Thanks! While I was looking for a solution like the download-mode cable, I think that economically the best way forward will be to purchase a new phone.


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Is it safe to update my Samsung Galaxy Neo to KitKat?
The Samsung Galaxy Neo is officially receiving a KitKat update, which is supposed to bring fixes and performance improvements. Will I experience any problems if I update to the latest version, like lag, shutdown problems or battery issues?

These so called updates are meant to fix bugs, errors etc and improve performance of the devices. So if you update the phone you will experience better performance. There is nothing to worry. Also updates includes a lot of security fixes which keeps you away from online attacks.


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Battery Status problem
I recently updated my Note 8.0 Wifi from 4.1.2 to android 4.4.2, and shortly after that rooted it (But kept the stock 4.4.2, NO custom ROMs or anything...). Of course, as I knew, the battery consumption was probably going to be a bit higher that 4.1.2... and it was.
But one day i left my tablet to charge for a while (around an hour and a half) and hoped that it will charge from 25% to 100% for that time. But when woke the screen what I saw was not normal... the battery had charged only to 60%. I was worried, as I thought that it might be a battery problem, but then I turned off the device (my mom recommended me to do so) and it showed that big green battery indicator at 100%.
I was relieved, as I thought that it might be just a one time problem, and as I rebooted the device it showed 100% again. But my worries didn't end there, as this problem has now occurred at least 5-6 times.
Is it a battery problem, or a battery indication problem, and how should I fix it?

You have to calibrate your battery.
Go to Play Store and install Battery Calibration from NèMa.
Then follow in app instructions to calibrate your battery....  :)

Take a look at the link I provided, this should rectify your problem. It will explain in great detail how to to wipe the battery stats in recovery, there are 6 methods shown. Since your are rooted this will do the operation properly.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1821870
Wipe The Battery deletes the file "batterystats.bin" which is established among / data / system / .... This file contains all the information "vital" and essential for your battery such as charging the maximum and minimum voltage, the charging time and other info ... this file after it was deleted by this procedure, will be recreated by the system properly.


text:
WiFi keeps disconnecting and reconnecting frequently
I have an Android phone running 4.2.2. I am using a TP-LINK ADSL router and the connection is stable. But every time I open an app that tries to access the internet, my connection keeps connecting and disconnecting frequently. I have another phone running on the same version of android but the connection is stable on it.
What could be the problem? Any useful suggestions are welcome.

I had a similar problem in that my tablets would connect/disconnect and my laptops would be just fine.
So here was my solution. This may or may not help but worth a try. You don't say what the other phone is. Different OS or whatever.

Anyway log into the router and look at the wi-fi settings.
First go to Accessories, Command Prompt, type in ipconfig and look at your gateway IP and put that number in your browser address bar and do a CR>. (I type in a different number than my Gateway IP, maybe because I have Mediacom as my IP provider)
Now you will see a box that comes up and something that calls for a Username & Password.
Type in ADMIN, PASSWORD. Either all CAPS or all lower case. If that doesn't work, just try the word "username". If that doesn't work then you need to call your IP and have them reset because ADMIN and PASSWORD is the default.
Anyway if you get in, go to SETUP Wireless Settings.Your channel should be on Auto, and your Security settings should be set to:
WPA-PSK[TKIP] + WPA2-PSK[AES
Grant you I have an "older" router. There may be newer stuff out there. But since this is the only answer you got so far, it's worth a shot to try and see if it gets better.

The other problem may be a short in the antenna which means cracking open the phone and soldering it, possibly blowing the warranty. Actually, I don't think I'd mess with that myself unless I figured I had nothing to lose and had tried all other options.
 I'd also try using a buddie's Mi-FI or another cell as a hot spot and see if that works. If it's a no-go, it probably is the antenna.

okay, I solved it. I restarted my router when this type of behavior shows up. Is there any explanation?

It may be due to other (open) WiFi signals "disturbing your device". With multiple APs being available (in range), your device might try switching to the strongest signal. Of course this would require your device had been connected to them before (Android doesn't automatically connect to "unknown" networks – but it does automatically connect to networks you've used before).
If there are networks in range you've used in the past, you could try to remove them from your "known networks": Go to Settings › WiFi, and check which networks are listed. Tap-and-hold each of them will reveal a context menu allowing you to edit or "remove" it. Chose the latter will tell your device to "forget" it has been connected here already, and thus to not automatically connect it. Just leave the one you want to use being "known" should rule out this cause.

Go into settings→ wifi, then uncheck 'smart network switch'.

It could be an issue with McAfee firewall; I put McAfee W-Fi security off for a few seconds and wow the wi-fi did not drop; now wifi is working as well as the McAfee wi-fi security is also put back as 'on'

He didn't mention though using a firewall.

We have the same problem, but now I discovered the root of the problem. If you are connecting to a WiFi with a weak signal or a WiFi with many devices connected, then it is the cause. Whenever I tried playing games with WiFi with a weak signal and many devices connected, it keeps disconnecting and connecting because our phone might be too weak to accept a WiFi signal.

There are all manner of issues that can affect WiFi performance.

Noise Any other energy at frequencies used by your connection. This includes other WiFi devices but also other things like microwave ovens and wireless phones. You can try to set your AP to a channel that has less noise. The nonoverlapping channels you should set a 2.4 GHz WiFi AP are 1, 6, 11, and if your country allows, 14. In general, there is less traffic on 5 GHz channels, so these are a good option if supported by the AP and phone. Your AP may have an option to automatically change channels if it encounters a lot of noise.
Hardware Some devices are poorly designed and require physical modification to work acceptably. This depends on your particular phone model. Check that the antenna(s) on the AP are properly attached, and play with their orientation. LifeHacker suggests to orient two antennas perpendicular to each other.
Software/Firmware Install the latest updates, both for your phone and AP.

Some versions of Android have a WiFi power saving mode which can come already activated when you buy the phone or by consequence of an activation made by an app (in my case it was the latter).
This mode will disconnect the WiFi connection whenever it's not being used and reconnect it when you start using it again. I found that it does it quite frequently though.
But some connections have security settings that require you to manually log in to the connection every time you want to connect, in these cases I can assure you this little problem becomes a pain in the ass.
So what I found was that in order to disable it you should dial *#0011# then you hit the menu button and select WiFi. You will get a page with the connection details and there you'll find a label saying WiFi power saving mode and a button under it, turn this button off.
This did the trick for me, I hope it helps.

I used to have the same problem and here's what I did

Dial *#0011#
Then press the menu button and select WiFi
You'll notice an ON button
Turn it Off
Restart the phone

P.S. When you restart your phone, recheck if it's still OFF, if not repeat until it works.
It has worked for me and now my WiFi is connected all the time.

Dialing *#0011# doesn't work on Nexus 5, could you mention what's your device model?

I just selected Advanced on Android WiFi settings, then I pushed the WPS button on the router and at the same time tapped the WPS push button on Android WiFi settings. So far my phone has not disconnected.

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


text:
Difference between su vs root SSH login for mounting?
I have a bash script luks that I use in Android for mounting/umounting encrypted devices, that can be called in a terminal emulator with
 su -c "luks ..."

The script works ok for the first part, except at the mounting time, that in the script I do with:
 busybox mount /dev/mapper/${vol_arg} ${mount_path}

Despite the fact that I get exitcode 0 from this command, the device is not mounted. The command line
 su -c "mount /dev/mapper/${vol_arg} ${mount_path}"

does not work either in the terminal emulator yet it shows no error (df does not shows the device). When I try to execute it agan, I get mounting failed: device or resource busy. If I then try
 su -c "umount ${mount_path}"

I also get cant't umount...: device or resource busy. What's happening?
However, the REALLY strange point here is that, if I SSH to the tablet as root with the same terminal emulator, the command
 mount /dev/mapper/${vol_arg} ${mount_path}

mounts the device normally (??!!). In addition, if I execute the command
 'luks ...'

as SSHd root, it also works perfectly, even mounting the device.
Why does mounting is working if run as SSH root, and not through su -c?
Even more strange is the fact that the su -c thing works fine in Samsung Android 4.1.2, but not in Cyanogenmod 11 (4.4.2)...
Maybe the cyanogenmod people introduced some ugly bug?
Clues?
Thanks!!
L.

Now this is funny: after mounting through SSH, the root user sees the content of the volume in the ${mount_path}, as desired, while other users/apps see the previous content of the ${mount_path}!! It seems that Cyanogenmod mounting routines are broken.

Not a single answer...?

I upgraded to CYM 11 M10, and now su works fine. No doubt it was a bug. So now I can mount/umount encrypted stuff as I was always able to do.
It seems the problem is solved in the M10 build.


text:
After Firmware update keeps rebooting my galaxy s4
I recently updated my galaxy s4, and since then it keeps randomly rebooting. I have tried google for some solutions. I have tried a number of steps, such as taking battery out, clearing the cache, restarting the phone, deleting some recently downloaded apps but none of these steps have worked?
Does anyone else have any knowledge why this might be occurring? Or what I should do? Thank you.
Update 28/10/2014
After doing a factory reset the issue seems to have gone away, leading me to believe it must have been corrupted at some point downloading files/apps on to my phone.

I would do something else. Chances are high your firmware has an issue. Go to http://samsung-updates.com/, select your device and search for your provider. Download the full firmware (about 1.6 gb) unzip(only once). Get yourself Odin(its for windows only). Its on xda everywhere.
A wipe data and wipe cache from recovery mode would be helpful here.
Hold on power button and volume up fore a while to go there, navigate using volume buttons. hit ok using power button.
Put your phone in download mode. (Turn off, hold down power button and volume down for a while, hit power up when the message appeared).
Connect your phone to the pc. Odin should see it now. In Odin you have a bunch of buttons on the right, select the second from the top on the right there. Navigate to your unzipped firmware image. (A .tar.md5 file) select it. Hit start after the file loaded. Do not touch your setup during flashing.
Good luck!
Do not try to flash firmware that isn't designed for your phone. It can destroy it. (Worst case). You can hit getprop in a shell on the device to get all information about your device. The exact device type, firmware version, provider shortcut and so on.
Another approach is to use Samsung Kies. Kies allows you to do firmware updates and used to flash every system partition on the device, not just the changes as the ota does. If you already are at the newest firmware, it might not work cause there's no update.

there are about 10 different S4 devices with different hardware. For example GT-i9505, GT-i9506, SGH-i919, and so on. Just choose the right one.

I am unfamiliar with Samsungs recovery, but isn't there a way to wipe the phone from recovery? That might trigger Kies to try and download + install the update again.

I've been using it a lot, but i never saw a firmware wipe there. Just wipe user data and cache. But this will not trigger a kies reflash.

Your S4 firmware is corrupt some way.
You should head to XDA forums and see tutorial for S4 rooting.
Once you have read everything carefully and done all the steps correctly, you should install a custom rom for S4, since this would remove the random booting, if you haven't damaged the battery with water or anything.
NOTE! Rooting is very risky if you don't know what you are doing! Maybe one of your friends has a rooted phone? Ask them or read more about rooting in google.
Regards.

hmm i really wanted to avoid rooting it, i have never rooted before. But i guess if all else fails i will try it.


text:
Is there a USB only file sync tool?
I've been looking for a tool that will sync to/from an android device running Android 4.4.4 - so it's using MTP when I connect to my computer (running Windows 7) through a USB connection.
There are various options that require a drive letter, but MTP doesn't have those.
There are various options that use wi-fi and a through-the-internet solution, but I don't want to use the internet for this, I can copy files by hand so there must be SOME way of syncing.  Also, I want to use it with pretty big files so I was hoping there would be something that used file deltas. If I wanted to go through the net I would consider RSync, but I don't want to.
Ideally I would prefer something free and open source, but I can't find anything at -all-... Am I using the wrong search terms? (android, sync, usb, mtp, "open source", mix as desired.)  There are lots of similar questions on here, but as far as I can see they're all answered with a wi-fi sync tool instead of something USB specific.

rsync isn't just for internet connections: it works on mounted filesystems too. I don't understand why it doesn't fit your needs.

What phone do you have? Likely the manufacturer's software suite can do this.

I have a Nexus 7.  I wasn't aware that rsync could be persuaded to work without an internet connection - could you provide some more details on that please? Perhaps as an answer, in which case I may accept it if it turns out that it actually does meet my needs?

rsync just works like cp for basic use.


text:
Using smart phone, how to make phone call using google voice number?
I have an Android phone (Motorola E) with the official Google Voice app installed.
I always give people my Google voice number. For this reason, when I call people I need my google voice number to appear instead of my real mobile number so that they recognize me.
However, when I turn on "Always use Google voice to make call" in the GVoice app, the number that makes the call is some other number (my guess is a number created by Google) and NOT my GVoice number.
I've tried to do this for a long time but in vain. Could anyone help?

Although the number that is making the call (initiated) is a random number, be assured the number that shows on their caller id is your google voice number, unless you have a different setting in your voice.google.com set up or on your phone.
I noticed mine did this too when i called out from my phone the other day, but my client saw my gv number
Chad

I just tested this and it's true. Do you have a similar solution regarding texting? Is it possible to text people with only Google Voice number? (Bonus point if we can do it via our cellular texting plan instead of data plan.)


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Problem rooting Xperia E Dual
I am following the below post to root my Xperia E Dual.

How To Root Xperia E! Latest Update! (Locked Bootloader)*LINKS
  UPDATED* NOOB
  GUIDE!

In step 4 to install Framaroot APK we need to Check the option "Unknown sources" and "Usb dubugging" (in Developer options)
But when I am turning on the Developer option Flashtool is showing an message like below:
08/048/2014 01:48:38 - INFO  - Device connected with USB debugging off
08/048/2014 01:48:38 - INFO  - For 2011 devices line, be sure you are not in MTP mode

I have tried changing the Usb connection mode but problem is not resolved. Could you please help?
Some info:
Operating System Used to flash: Windows 8.1

Are platform tools updated to 33.x (34.x has some problems reportedly//did you change port and cable?

Have a look for towelroot tr. It might work on your device. It is just an apk you can install and start. It uses a kernel vulnerability. Chances that it works are high if your firmware is older than june.
To your issue: did you enable (usb-)debugging mode? Its in developper options. If you do not see them in your settings, go to AboutDevice and hit build number 5 times quickly. It enables a (secret) menu in your settings where you can enable adb.
On some samsung devices you can change usb mode by typing *#0808# into your phone apk. Without hitting the call button, a service menu opens up immediately. Perhaps this works for your device too. Did you try to do adb shell or adb devices from your commandline?
New devices now usually ask for an ok on the device screen  before you can connect. Disconnect and connect again, watch out for this popup. Did you check the developper menu in settings? There you can also flush the known pc's and their settings. Allowing the popup to sow up again after connecting.

Towelroot is not working for my device. 2. My problem is USB debugging mode is detected wrongly by the Flashtool software. When I am turning the USB debugging on then the Flashtool is detecting it as turned off.

It could be the power of the actual USB ie, a laptop. Try running it on another PC. If nothing else, check cabling.


text:
How to switch users without sleep?
I have a new 2013 Nexus tablet running Android 4.4.2. I like that it supports multiple user profiles, but the only way I have found to switch profiles is to put the tablet to sleep by pushing the power button or closing the case.
Surely there is a more direct way to reach the login screen?

I have a Nexus 7 V2 and when you bring down the notification area there is a buton with you username on it and the picture you chose. When you click that button, it will bring you to the log in screen where you can switch users. Doing it this way does not end your session.


text:
Can android applications communicate with USB device directly?
I've been thinking that, since many android phones support USB OTG maybe there could be a way to engineer a device that performs special task and uses phone as it's control panel.
But before making this serious idea, I need to know if it can work.

How does android handle unknown USB devices?
Can application use USB directly without ROOT privegies?
As an alternative, does android support virtual COM port?
As the last hope, can applications directly read/set value on headset output? (To use it as digital IO pin)

I never tried it but applications can access USB through the following API since android 3.1.
To confirm this there are devices with infrared that you plug to USB in your phone to use it as universal remote control.

That looks quite promising!

I'm sorry, but I need to test it. I'm not new to stack-exchange so  will definitelly remember to mark it as soon as possible. You've earned your points, they're just in the future :)

Hi @TomášZato, did you get it to work? I have a requirement at the moment to use a USB device that acts as a virtual COM port under Linux, and need to try it next week when my OTG cables arrive.

@user1158559 Hello. With my older device (Huawei) it just plain didn't work, and my new Samsung turned out to have OTG technology disabled, so I couldn't really test it (which is sad because I also wanted to make use of USB virtual COM to make a hardware dedicated for smartphones).


text:
Editing contacts on Galaxy S5
How do I edit a contact on my Galaxy S5? When I click on the pencil icon for an individual contact it has everything grayed out, so I can't enter anything.

This can happen when the contact isn't one you originally typed into your phone, but it instead was synced using an app, such as from an Exchange address list. In this case, you need to either create a copy of the contact on your phone, and edit the copy, or go to the source that the contact was synced from and edit it there.


text:
how can we clear whatsapp conversations in our contacts
I have a doubt on whatsapp msgs.my frd msg me on whatsapp I seen the whole coversation.on the next day I didn't find any conversation in my phone.I face this situation from couple of my frds.Is it possible to delete the conversations from other cells reply me quickly.

We have a lot of visitors whose first language isn't English. To help most people understand your posts, please use full words, not "txtspeak" abbreviations.

The WhatsApp FAQ has instructions that should help you:

To delete a single message from a conversation:
Open WhatsApp and go to the chat window with the message you want to
  delete. Highlight the message. Press the 'del' key on your keyboard.
To delete an individual or group chat:
In the  Chats screen, highlight the chat you wish to delete. Press the
  button and select Delete chat or Delete and Exit Group.
To delete your entire chat history and remove yourself from all groups:
Go to WhatsApp >  Settings. Scroll to the bottom and select  Advanced
  Settings. Press the  button and select Delete Chat History.
NOTE: Using Delete Chat History will delete all chats from the Chats screen, as well as remove yourself from all groups.
To delete all messages in a conversation without closing the chat window or leaving the group
Open the chat. Press the  button and select Clear conversation.
To clear all chat history, but continue to participate in groups:
Go to WhatsApp >  Settings. Scroll to the bottom and select  Advanced
  Settings. Press the  button and select Clear All Chats.
NOTE: Using Clear All Chats will not remove you from any groups.

If you find information elsewhere, you must cite your source and give proper credit to the original authors. Please do so in the future.


text:
How do I enable sticky keys for a Bluetooth Slide-out Keyboard on Android 4.4.2?
I've got a slide out bluetooth external keyboard for my Samsung Galaxy S5. It's currently rooted and is running OmegaDroid as my ROM. I'd like to make it so that my modifier keys are "sticky", in that when I click the "shift" key, the next letter I type with be shifted. Right now, I have to hold the shift key down in order for the letter to be capitalized, and it is driving me up the wall. I much prefer the Droid 4 way of handling the shift key, as you don't have to do weird finger combinations or reach with your other thumb to get a letter to capitalize.
I'm totally rooted, and I'm happy with backing up my phone to try crazy things, as long as I can get this thorn out of my side :D.
Thanks!

I figured it out and verified that it works.
Basically, you need to use a Character Map that has a type of ALPHA. This should make it so that the modifier keys, SHIFT in particular, behave the right way for thumb typing.