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Google account without gmail
I have a google account for G+ Picasa and some other services i like to use.
What i do not like is gmail it is i believe complete junk.
Be it as it may.
I have purchased a new android device and wanted to sign in to buy some apps, using my already existing google account.
But alas, i cannot do it without creating a gmail account it looks like.
That is just crazy i have an account, if they really want to they can trace what i do already. Why do i need to have junkmail ... ehh.. i mean gmail also.
Is there a way around this? Please help. I have 14 days to return my phone so need to find a way to do it before that or abandon it.

No, there is no other way. You must have a Gmail account to download from Google Play Store.
From their site:

To use Google Play to download Android apps, you'll need to have a
  Google account with a Google email (either Gmail or a Google-hosted
  domain) associated with your phone or tablet.

If you don't like Gmail, you don't have to use it. Just disable the syncing for emails, and you'll be fine.

You can also disable the gmail app in Applications so it wont appear and bug you. But as stated above you have to have a google mail.

I think notifications are sent to your gmail account when you make purchases in the Play store (unless an alternative email can be set??), so it might not be wise to scrub gmail as much as possible? Perhaps you could set up an automated forwarder in your gmail (from googleplay-noreply@google.com ?), or collect your gmail via POP3/IMAP? What if you dont log into your gmail account for 9 months?

The real issue is that if i set up gmail on my account it makes that my primary email and uses that name as my username. I don't like that, i want to keep my own email as primary. I will have a think. But it's really annoying.
Maybe i should setup a separate account just to download my apps. But then i will need to keep track of it. Ahhahaha... it's just sooooo annoying. i wish they would just let me use my account as it is.

@zawisza Yeah, just create a new account for it, if it really bothers you. For the record, I only get notifications from Google Play when I pay for something, nothing else. I think I got newsletters about music recommendations, but I unsubscribed. I don't get any spam from Google.

Btw, if you dislike google services, play store is not your only option. There are alternative legit markets also that you can download like Amazon app store, Appbrain, SlideME etc. But then, you have to register another account

Tried Amazon App Store. That works fine. But then realized i can't use my G+ app without the account. :(
Yeah i know, it's weird i like G+ but i don't like GMail.
But it's just the way it is.
I think i will be taking the phone back. Thanks for all your help Everyone.

New facts as of 2015

You can create a Google account without gmail
You can remove gmail from your google account

On android, is there any way to sign into Google Play without also signing into Gmail?

I'd recommend setting up a separate google account for using the play store, which you use only for that purpose.  This is more generally a useful, if insufficient response to a lot of google's connect-everything strategy.

There is 1mobile.com. I install this to get most of my APKs. Then, I delete it because it is like goo play and wants to run all the time. If I want another APK, I reinstall it, get the app, and uninstall.
Then, there is also:

gooapk.net
gizom's
appsapk
papk
apktop
etc

Gooapk should keep you busy for a day or two.
I'm getting a divorce from googirl myself. And "oh looky", a sign-in with googirl for posting on a how to NOT use googirl blog. Awesome!


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Can't install AIR on Galaxy Android device
I'm doing some AIR for Android development. When I try and launch my app, I am told I need to install Adobe AIR. After being taken to the Google Play site, I get the message that "Your device isn't compatible with this version."
I updated my OS on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Android 4.04, but I still get this message. How can I get Adobe AIR installed?

From the system requirements for Adobe Air 3:

ARMv7 processor with vector FPU, minimum 550MHz, OpenGL ES 2.0, H.264 and AAC HW decoders
Android™ 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, or 4.0
256MB of RAM
Android web browser

How does this actually answer the question?

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Enterprise (802.1x) WiFi causing excessive battery drain?
In the past week, realised that WiFi at work (using 802.1x auth) has been draining my battery like crazy.
Here are some stats I took over the past few days:
Case   Connection       Duration     Battery left
 A      802.1x Wifi      ~10hrs          0%
 B      3G               ~17hrs         46%
 C      WPA2 Wifi        ~1d 11hrs      34%

In all three cases, usage was light: occasional checking of email, sms or two, short phone call etc. If anything, probably used the phone more in case B&C - played some light games.
The odd thing is this crazy battery drain has only been happening in the past week or so - used to be at 20% after ~15hours when connected to 802.1x Wifi.
Does anyone know why Enterprise/802.1x WiFi is causing significant battery drain?
edit: Device details - HTC Desire running Nikez 4.2.1 (Evervolv-Turba-3.2.0p3)
edit2: Screenshots: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9907360/battery/battery.html

it would be nice to tell us info about your device. I suppose all those problems are device specific (or ROM for specific device). My experiences with device Samsung Galaxy S2 and Huawei G300 shows that there is not that much big difference between battery usage on 802.1x and WPA2-PSK. ~ Jiri

Details added. Not convinced if it has to do with ROM/phone, since I was running this configuration for over a month, and battery draining problem is only from the past week or so.

Have you installed anything special when this problem started to occur? Could you paste a screen of your battery stats? Imho, I found out that many custom ROMs based on Jelly Bean 4.2 have serious problems with battery drain.

Updated question with link to screenshots. No apps/nothing special that jumps to mind - possibly upgraded SwiftKey around that timeframe. Puzzling thing is whatever it is, it is definitely only affecting Enterprise/802.1x WiFi (and only in the recent few weeks - so likely not ROM)

I have confirmed on my own network that 802.1x causes excessive battery drain. I have AP's with 2 SSID's. One is 802.1x and one is OPEN. I get 6% and hour drain on 802.1x and 2% on OPEN. Not sure if it keeps authenticating to the RADIUS or what is causing the issue. I would LOVE for someone to resolve this as 802.1x has so many other benefits.

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


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Is there a way to download ALL app updates at once in Amazon App Store?
Device: Verizon Droid X
Androrid: stock Froyo 2.2 ROM
Amazon Market app: latest version (updated 3/3/2013)
When I open the list of apps to be update in Google Play Store, there is a button on top right which lets me download and install ALL updates at once, instead of doing it app by app.
Is there such a capability in the app for Amazon App Store?

As a note: this is Verizon Droid X, with stock Froyo 2.2 ROM and latest version (updated 3/3/2013) of Amazon Market app.

On the Kindle Fire, on the list of apps to be updated, there is an Update All button at the top right. You can update one-by-one or all-at-once, but there's no facility to update a selected group.

No such button here (Latest version of App Store app on Verizon Droid X, stock Froyo 2.2)


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LG-P870 USB not detected in Windows 7
I'm trying to connect my LG-P870 to my laptop running Windows 7, so I can drop some music and contacts onto it. My software version is P87010i.
I installed the USB driver (tried two versions) as recommended, but still no luck. I keep seing a reference to the Tools menu and Mass Storage selection but I can't find any Tools menu on my phone. I can find the Settings menu, but no Tools.
Why can't I simply plug my phone in and see it in Explorer? It charges fine with the usb, just no comm.

AFAIK, there is no Tools in Android. What is this reference you are talking about? Can you post the link?

Have you checked if your USB connection on the phone is set to the correct mode (most likely MTP), and not e.g. to "charge only" (the default at least with the P880)? What you mean by "tools menu", from this context, most likely is what I'm referring to as well: When connected to USB, open the notification area and tap the "USB connection" entry. There you can select the connection mode.


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How to block my mobile provider from showing their ads?
Whenever I use apps that have banner ads (I guess that thing is called AdMob?), I get ads from my mobile service provider. This happens only when I connect using the mobile data.
I don't have branding or any apps from my mobile service provider. In fact, I'm on a rooted vanilla stock froyo ROM.
The ads are very annoying. Most of the time, it is about Value Added Services (VAS) and hence If I accidentally click those, I get charged instantly. (for subscription to whatever that stupid ad displayed).
Please don't give me solutions to block the ads completely. I want the normal ads, just not the ads from my service provider.

Provided you are rooted, Ad-Away is one such ad-block, and it can be customized to allow specific hosts.

Both works the same way. While the usual AdBlockers block all ad-related servers/IPs, you can do the same for selected ones.
Provided your device is rooted, you can block their specific IPs via your hosts file. Just add the server name one per line, and send it to an "invalid" URL such as e.g. 0.0.0.0. An example entry would look like:
adserver.myprovider.com  0.0.0.0

Of course this would mean you have to figure out the URL of the ads displayed. Here apps like OS Monitor might prove helpful, as they show all open network connections:

OS Monitor: Open connections and WhoIs information (source: Google Play)
When such an ad is displayed, immediately open the connection tab in OS Monitor and check the list. The first screenshot1 shows the app in charge is displayed along with the corresponding entry. The status column will most likely hold either CLOSE_WAIT, LAST_ACK, or (less likely) ESTABLISHED. Tap the entry which seems fitting to get the WhoIs information2. On that page you see the hostname right on top ("DNS"), which is what you then put into your /system/etc/hosts file as described above.
Don't forget to clear the app's cache afterwards, as otherwise cached ads might still be displayed. Continue until you caught them all :)
Another solution is available for certain providers (at least here in Germany): Opt-Out of provider billing, either completely or for given companies. Of course you still need to pay your contract (that's not what is meant here), but you should no longer be automatically charged for ads etc. via your phone bill. Which does not mean nobody might scare you with accuses of a subscription you "bought" -- but that would no longer work for those ads.

+1 for this interesting solution! Sounds handy, but it could be tedious when my provider uses lots of random multiple IPs instead of a handful of hostnames. I'm guessing maybe using proxies might work but I don't know how to make proxies work on an all app level.

Yepp, it might take a while to get the collection complete. But it's not the IP-addresses which are your concern, but rather the host names (you always map them to 0.0.0.0, as described). And once you recognize a pattern (e.g. adXX.myprovider.com with XX being digits), you could go pro-active and map them all (00..99). Proxies: they mostly need root as well, and you would need a filtering proxy customized for you. So the hosts variant would be easier for you -- unless you can setup your own proxy using wildcards.

Ooops... Yes, no I see what you've meant: he could be using IPs instead of hostnames. Well, you could block the entire segment then: usually the first two groups stay the same (123.456.789.0 -> 123.456..), so you would only need to block... um, 64K addresses in the worst case... But I cannot imagine more than 100 IPs wasted for that by your provider. Still, you've got to figure out. In the hosts file it should work the same then: 123.456.789.0  0.0.0.0.


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Dropbox does not automatically upload post-processed photos
I copied many photos from my Nikon SLR to my Android, and edited a few with Photo Editor and Little photo. Some uploaded successfully using dropbox Camera Upload facility.
This weekend, it stopped automatically uploading photos that I edited using these apps.
I re installed dropbox, tried disabling then enabling automatic upload, I tried moving the files to Camera directory, but they won't automatically upload. Taking a normal picture using camera phone automatically upload photos just fine.
Why aren't my word photos no longer being automatically uploaded any more? How can I enable it again?

Does "Photo Editor" replace the original file in your dropbox, or save the edited file in your dropbox? In other words the edited file is being saved back to your dropbox and not some other folder (outside of dropbox) on your SD card?

The photos are edited on my phone, and are renamed, as well as placed in a separate directory, beneath the /DCIM directory. Dropbox was previously able to upload the original photo, and the subsequently edited photo.

Are you moving these files to the "Camera Uploads" directory within dropbox? Dropbox does not normally sync directories beneath /DCIM (I assume this is on your SD card, ie. outside of dropbox) such as "/DCIM/Camera", unless you are perhaps using a third party app such as Dropsync? What is the "automatic upload" feature in dropbox that you can enable/disable? The only related feature I see in Settings is "Turn off Camera Upload" - but this does not relate to the automatic uploading of files within your dropbox.


text:
Install Russian input method on android
I don't have Russian input method in the list of methods available. Tried third party apps like 'change locale' bu they are changing interface of the OS and not giving me to type in Russian.
Android version: 4.1.2, Device: Samsung Galaxy S2 LTE

You need to look at 3rd-party keyboard replacement apps, not locale changing apps.
Many well known keyboards like Swype and SwiftKey offer Russian layouts as either an in-app downloads, or separate add-on packages (like AnySoftKeyboard's language packs for example.)
Keep in mind that after the initial installation new Keyboard apps are not enabled. Go to Settings -> Language & input, scroll down to "Keyboards & input methods" section, tap on the checkbox of the newly installed app, and tap OK to accept the scary warning. You should now be able to switch to your new keyboard. This is for Android 4.x; on other OS versions the menus might be slightly different.

I've installed Russian keyboard app, but i have no way to deselect 'samsung keyboard' in the keyboards and input methods list (Language and input menu item in settings). So when i opening some text editor - only default keyboard is available.

After initial installation new Keyboard apps are not enabled.  Go to Settings -> Language & input, scroll down to "Keyboards & input methods" section, tap on the checkbox of the newly installed app, and tap OK to accept the scary warning.  You should now be able to switch to your new keyboard.  This is for Android 4.x, keep in mind that on other OS versions the menus might be different.

I chose to install AnySoftKeyboard (which is also available on F-Droid, which guarantees it is free/open-source, can be rebuilt from sources, and has been inspected by more people for not having spying features).

Don't know what OS version you have but the Hacker's Keyboard has a phonetic russian layout that might work for you.


text:
How to use Android Device as Wireless Headphones for TV?
I go running in the morning and I'd like to use the Sony Internet TV in the basement without waking up my family. Is there any way to connect my Galaxy Nexus to the TV as a wireless headphone set, so that audio streams from the TV to my phone? My TV model is the Sony HX929.

Did you find a solution for this?


text:
Phone restarting again and again
I am having samsung galaxy ace GT-s5830i.
The phone is restarting again and again after installing a game from 4shared.com.please help me out.
Phone is rooted one.

Did you try to uninstall the game and/or unrooting?

Related: LG Motion Keep Rebooting (Boot Loop) After Installing Beat Audio Installation. One more hint: Hover your mouse over the boot-loop tag, and follow the 'info' link: Many of our tag wikis already contain general help, as in this case (always worth a look ;)

Yeah, I had a similar problem with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus after downloading some apps I had developed without testing them on an emulator first (whops). Take a look at this question:Phone restarting over and over after rooting Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830i. I know there is not an accepted answer but you might have some luck with it. I had to reset mine and that seem to do the trick but if not I would recommend the safe reboot described in the linked question. The actual problem is probably caused by an over load maybe of to much memory required for the graphics (as it was in my case). I would just be careful when downloading apps not from Google Play, especially any sort of game that uses a lot of ram and CPU. Hope this helps. Cheers.


text:
Bash terminal on tablets
I would like to buy a tablet and use it as a netbook to work using a keyboard dock (I still like the touchscreen and stylus options over buying a netbook). I work mostly on linux machines where I need ssh, vpn and the ability to open X windows remotely. Are there terminals for the Android tablets that can do that ? Anyone with comments about Ubuntu on tablets ?

Yes, to an extent. I know there are apps that will create an SSH terminal. Most likely there are other apps that can process other types of protocols.
There are only few tablets that compatible with Ubuntu (At least work well with). The Nexus 7 and/or 10 being a prime example. From what I hear, it works very well and is almost no different from the desktop version.
In my opinion, from what you are looking for, I'd get a Nexus 7/10 and try out Android OS, and if it can't do everything you want it to, then install Ubuntu.

But do these apps create an X-window system and allow root access ?

That would require an X-Server running. Though there were some tries for that, Android does not ship with this. But you might want to take a look at the Android XServer app :) See also on StackOverflow: X-Applications over SSH in Android


text:
Is it possible to add arbitrary folders to the media scanner?
I have a Samsung Captivate Glide and it's got 4 gigs of storage that isn't main storage and isn't SD card memory. It shows up as a separate section under settings->storage and it's mounted on /sdcard/usbStorage
The real physical SD card is mounted under /sdcard/external_sd.
So it's 4 gigs of free space, but I can't use it for anything because the media scanner won't pick up anything I put in there.
Is there a way to force the scanner to search particular directories?

If you are comfortable using the command line then you could use the directions in Can I trigger a media scan via the command line?
Pass file:///sdcard/usbStorage to the media scanner.
#!/system/bin/sh

export ANDROID_ASSETS=/system/app
export ANDROID_CACHE=/cache
export ANDROID_DATA=/data
export ASEC_MOUNTPOINT=/mnt/asec
export ANDROID_ROOT=/system
export BOOTCLASSPATH=/system/framework/core.jar:/system/framework/core-junit.jar:/system/framework/bouncycastle.jar:/system/framework/ext.jar:/system/framework/framework.jar:/system/framework/android.policy.jar:/system/framework/services.jar:/system/framework/apache-xml.jar:/system/framework/filterfw.jar
export EXTERNAL_STORAGE=/mnt/sdcard
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/vendor/lib:/system/lib

am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///sdcard/usbStorage

I can't test this for you so let us know if it works.


text:
How use the Samsung Galaxy S3 stock contact/phone app with custom ROM?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Verizon with the custom ROM Cyanogenmod 10.1. It has it's own people app and dialer.
Previously, before I rooted my phone and installed the Cyanogenmod, the S3 comes with Samsung's TouchWiz along with all of Samsung's built-in apps. One of the apps was their dialer and contacts app.
Is there anyway, while using the Cyanogenmod, to replace the Cyanogenmod's default phone app with the original S3's phone app? Is there an apk file of the phone app I could install?
Thanks!

You need to get a stock ROM of the same Android version. In this case 4.2 JellyBean, since its the base of Cyanogenmod 10.1.
Once you get the stock ROM, you can open it with any zip viewer and get the apps you want from /system/app, then you just connect the phone via USB and adb push the apps to /system/app in the phone. Be sure to wipe cache/dalvik and reboot to apply the changes.
Another easier way is if you have a nandroid of your last stock ROM (and its JB also). You can open the nandroid with WinRAR and get the needed apps from /system/app without searching for the stock ROM.

Will this work - I mean even if the resources (in framework-res.apk) between CM10.1 ROM and stock ROM are out of alignment, this is going to cause trouble - not sure, just a hunch :)

Where can I find the Samsung Galaxy S3 stock ROM?

You can check if they're already uploaded to SamMobile: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/


text:
Android sdcard appears empty to Windows?
I have a Archos Cobalt tablet.
The external micro sdcard appears empty to the tablet and to the pc when the tablet is attached via USB, debugging on.
I have used app2sd to move apps to the sdcard. Without the card in they don't work so it must have moved them but it still appears as blank to the tablet and pc?
The contents of the tablets internal disk appear ok on both the tablet and in Windows so whats the difference?
I have also tried removing the card and plugging it in again.

If you only moved apps using App2SD, and put no other files: that's normal. App2SD uses a hidden directory (.android_secure), so you don't see it. It's contents are also encrypted. But if you put any other file there, you should be able to see it from both ends.

Thanks for that, now that I know what I'm looking for I can have another go (tomorrow)

Don't forget to report back afterwards. You can also answer your own question if your problem is solved, which we even encourage :)

I've done some research and it seems to be an oddity of the tablet.
When you do 'move to sd' whats happening is its moving data to another part of the -internal- sdcard. You can't move apps to the external one
e.g.
http://yatse.leetzone.org/redmine/boards/2/topics/259#.UTfGXxyeN8E
thanks anyway


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Using the Google Voice app to place calls when "ask me" and "always use GV" are disabled
I have the Google Voice app on my Android phone, and I'd like to occasionally make calls from it, but I don't want to enable the "Ask me every time whether to use Google Voice" option, as 90% of my calls would be from my cell phone's number.
Given that I have the "never use google voice" option enabled, is there a option buried somewhere that I can use to place a call to someone without having to re-enable the "ask me every time" setting?

There are a few options available, depending on what your needs are exactly.
Option 1 - Manually route specific calls through google voice
Before I had a smartphone, this was how I routed all my calls. Basically, for every contact, I stored their regular number as well as a Google Voice number. The GV number was my own GV number, followed by a wait, then a 2, another wait, and finally followed by the contact's number and a pound key. In effect, I made a macro.
Ex ( My #: 1234567890, Bob's number: 19876543210):
Contact: Bob
Primary: 19876543210
Secondary: 1234567890W2W19876543210#
If you only have a few contacts that you wish to call via your Google Voice number, this option is very simple. It does add some extra time to call them, as your phone doesn't connect directly to your contact, but rather connects to Google Voice, then "manually" dials the contact's number.
Note that you must have certain settings set up in Google Voice (the website, not the app) so that when you call your own number, you get the Google Voice menu system instead of leaving yourself a message. Also, if you require a PIN for your specific phone, you'll have to modify the setting, or add a PIN to the macro dial string.
FYI, this was how I got unlimited (outgoing) minutes as well. Since I could choose up 5 numbers to dial without using minutes, I simply chose my own Google Voice number as one of the five. Since all my calls went through GV, my carrier  simply saw me dialing the same number all the time.
Option 2 - Add a widget to simplify Google Voice
The Google Voice app has several widgets, and one of them is a 1x1 icon that rotates between the 4 calling options: Always use Google Voice,Only for International Calls,Ask Everytime, and Never use Google Voice.
This is the option I used to prefer, and I have actually used this in the past. It is very useful to quickly switch phone numbers, and you don't need to go through the hassle of opening the Google Voice app and finding the specific setting. Just click the widget until it is on the setting you want, and call from there.
Option 3 - Use Titanium Backup Pro to make a separate profile
With the paid version of Titanium Backup, you can create multiple profiles for apps, essentially giving you the ability to have multiple users. This is the option I use currently, as it reduces the number of clicks I need, and it allows me to have multiple profiles on a specific set of apps I want (such as games, lists, and Google Voice). I can switch from my Normal profile to my Guest profile (for example) so that I can hand off my phone to a family member to play games without messing up my own progress.
Set up a second profile that has Google Voice on for all calls, and make your primary profile never ask. When you want to use google voice, just switch profiles.
There are other apps that let you do multiple profiles, and I know some of them are free if you only want a total of 2 profiles.

I didn't even realize you posted this great answer -- must've "viewed" the StackExchange notification without realizing it!  All three options are great, and I'll probably start with the widget. Cheers!

download the Voice Choice app in the google play store!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.voiceplus&hl=en
and you can set up google voice automatically for select numbers, or even groups of contacts, and then have your mobile number be your default for everything else.


text:
Solutions for connecting phone/tablet to a bigger monitor?
An ebook I purchased is locked to my device so I can't open it anywhere else. I'm having a hard time reading due to the small screen size of my phone.
Is there a way I can get it to display on my monitor? I don't have any special cables so I'll have to use any wireless means possible. Also to note: I'm not looking for emulation as the app has locked my ebook to the device.
Any creative solutions are welcome.

Not an aswer to your question but you can transfer an ebook if the other device is registered with the same ID: Content Portability http://www.adobe.com/solutions/ebook/digital-editions/faq.html

You need to use the MHL Adapter Cable.

From the MHL Adapter, you can connect to any TV that support HDMI.

Have you thought about sharing your phone's screen on computer? Lot of apps and tweaks are available on the Internet. Few such results I found quickly by searching are this and this video and a XDA page.  I am unable to provide more specific answer as I am not aware of your phone's software version and its hardware capabilities.  As @Jack said, if you have HDMI out it will be the best option.
By seeing your phone's screen on the computer, you would be running the eBook reader app in the phone but read the book in your monitor.

Depending on the Android version, you may be able to "Miracast"  screen cast to an external Miracast receiver.
It's a wireless solution.
An introduction with a video.


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Galaxy Nexus does not charge when turned on
Galaxy Nexus does not charge when powered on, but it charges properly when powered off. Phone doesn't detect USB connection also. This happened without any reason. Phone is not rooted.
Tried different cable, charger, everything.

That sounds to me like a hardware issue. If you're still under warranty, I'd get it repaired. If not, you'll have to decide whether you want to live with it or pay for repair (or replace the phone).

@forums,@Scott: I am able to charge using a 2A charger even when turned on. So is it not a hardware related issue?Any idea ?

That sounds to me even more like a hardware issue, as I can't imagine that the software would care or even know about the charger's amperage.

Do you happen to be using a 3rd party charger?
500mAh chargers cannot charge the Nexus while on, 1Ah chargers can but might struggle. I recommend chargers with 1.5Ah for charging high-end devices
Alternatively, the problem might lie with the power management of your ROM. Have you also installed an app recently before this happened?

Thanks for reply, I tried different charger with 1.5A also.I have not installed any app, I just flashed to new 4.2.2 JB image. But after seeing the issue flashed back to 4.2.1. Still issue persists.My main issue is not getting charged, USB is not detecting. I can charge device with turned off.

It might also be a kernel problem (if it's custom made). Honestly I don't have any more ideas.

Thanks.I am not sure, even i tried stock images from google.

@Rilwan: Your question says that the phone isn't rooted, but here you mention that you've flashed a custom ROM. That's important information that should be in your question.

@user267:I flashed a custom ROM(rooted one) then flashed back stock ROM. That's why i did not mention rooted.

I don't think amperage of the charger matters. I have a 2.5A charger from Targus. It still does the same thing. It is worth mentioning that at the beginning, the symptom was slowly developed. At the beginning, the phone can occasionally be charged while powered on, if you plug and un-plug the cords many times. Later, it basically completely stopped being charged at all.


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How to disable pin security from Samsing Tab 2
I have a Samsung tab2, and have added screen pin lock on my Tab few days back as I was going out. Now I don't want to use pin lock as security, but I am not able to disable it. I am going to
setting --> security --> screen lock

After entering my pin my options are to disable includes last the option None.
What should I do to remove the screen lock pin??

Which ROM are you using? Stock or Custom?

Under some circumstances Android forces you to have a PIN or password. This happens, e.g. if you install a custom trusted certificate. Therefore I would check Security settings and there the storage options if user certs are installed.

In my case, I installed my own certificate which even on removing was some where present don't know where so ultimately I cleared up every thing and again tried to remove pin and it got removed.
Proper way would be settings-->security-->clear credential Clear credentials is last option under security heading.
And now u can change your pin  setting-->security-->screen lock-->swipe/none whatever you feel comfortable with.
Enjoy :D

Not working for me.. I've Samsung S2

Go to Settings--> Profiles .
In the profile settings at the bottom is an entry for "System settings-->Lock screen mode".
You can choose several settings, one of which is disable.
You can disable Lock Screen by "disable" option or you can remove PIN by "insecure lock screen" option.
OR
Turned off the screen, turned it back on and clicked on Forgot in the right down corner. Give Google password and it will change Lock method automatically back to slide.
Just try it.

Thanx, but that's what I added that, None option is disable in my case!!!

If you already set a PIN , then there should be a prompt to enter PIN if you tried to change it. Was there any prompt pop-up when you tried so?

yup. As I mentioned in the question after entering pin NONE option is disable.

Answer edited with solution.

I also messed around with the lock screen, and only when i cleared all credentials it came to remove the pin protection.


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Galaxy Note 2 JellyBean update
I have a Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 running on Android 4.1.1 JellyBean. The 4.1.2 update has been released a while back, but I still am reluctant to upgrade. I have read over the Internet that it causes the battery to drain faster than normal. Is there any truth to this?

Yes there was Issue with Battery drain but they had solved the issue and you can go for 4.1.2 and performance is good.

Yes its true and write know the issue is fixed so no need to worry u can update you version to 4.1.2.


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Where are Android settings stored?
I have to set up 50+ plus phones for my company, and I am allowed to root the phones. Each phone needs to have the exact same WIFI SSID's / passwords, account / privacy settings, brightness, input methods, etc. Repeating the exact same manual setup 50 times seems a bit tedious..
Where are the phone settings stored? Can I simply adb push the settings to each device? The phones are Samsung Galaxy Pockets.

If all phones are of same brand/model/Os etc. you can configure one to your satisfaction and then take a Nandroid backup and restore it to all phones.

@Narayanan - I've considered that, but it seems there are no bootloaders / tools out that can make nandroid backups of Galaxy Pockets.

I found a webpage that helps user to install CWM recovery in S5300 a.k.a Galaxy Pocket. If I am correct, CMW had nandroid backup facility.

@Narayanan - Unfortunately the link on that page is broken. However, your link led me to finding this. Going to test now

Also keep in mind, if you root a device make sure to un-root it once you're done. Rooted device is not secure. For example if it has TWRP installed you can disable lockscreen protection easily.

As it turns out, there is no magic file or directory that contains all settings. They are stored in various places, and depends greatly on how the manufacturer decides to set things up. I primarily work with Samsung phones, so the information here will mostly be Samsung oriented. Also, note that all of the below requires root access. If anyone has anything to add / rectify, feel free to comment.
First off, I have found that "copying settings" is not always the best way to go. You can do nandroid backups and restores, which pretty much clones one phone to another. If you're technical enough, and you're using Samsung, then creating your own odin image might be an even better option as it doesn't rely on you or someone else having created nandroid / recovery support.
The Settings
General settings:
Settings are mostly stored in the /data subdirectory. If you're looking for something specific, start there.

Built-in apps:
Built-in apps tend to keep their settings in /data/data/com.android.* and /data/data/com.google.android.*For example:
Contacts: /data/data/com.android.contacts
Email accounts: /data/data/com.android.email
MMS: /data/data/com.android.mms
WiFi:
WiFi settings location depends on the manufacturer, but is generally predictable.
Samsung Galaxy Pocket, S2, S3: /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
Samsung Tab: /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf
HTC Desire: /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
Dell Streak: /data/misc/wifi/wpa.conf
Oneplus 2, 3: /data/misc/wifi/networkHistory.txt
Keyboard configs:
I have had to disable hardware keys, reconfigure layouts, or alter general keyboard behaviour before. The exact file name tends to be different on every phone, but I've found the config files to always be in /system/usr/keylayout/. Be careful, as breaking those could render your phone unusable.
Misc:
Most miscellaneous settings like product information, boot sounds, and enabling / disabling the on-screen nav bar are stored in /system/build.prop. Breaking this config file could bootloop your device.
If I find more information, I'll add later.

another possible way to do that is through the ``content'' command, e.g.:
adb shell content query --uri content://settings/global
adb shell content insert --uri content://settings/global --bind name:s:preferred_network_mode1 --bind value:i:0

I'm not an expert in android technologies. So I'm not totally sure whether my answer is true or not. But, using Root Explorer, I discovered that some of the settings are stored in the following files:

/data/system/users/0/settings_system.xml
/data/system/users/0/settings_secure.xml

For example the screen brightness is stored in the file settings_system.xml. If you open this file using a text editor, you may come across the following line of code:
<setting id="2220" name="screen_brightness" value="66" package="com.android.settings" />

In the code above, the number "66" indicates the screen brightness. The higher the number, the brighter the screen.
I also discovered that the background image of your cell phone is stored in the following file path:

/data/system/users/0/wallpaper

My cell phone is Samsung SM-J7. Maybe my discovery may vary for other smart phones.

Most Android settings are found in /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db, which is an SQLite database which can easily manipulated by an SQLite browser. Android itself normally uses a protected SettingsProvider to manipulate those settings.
Sidenote: It seems that even though the settings have actually changed under the hood, the Settings GUI might not always seem to be up to date with the underlying reality. However, it is always the database that counts, and is provided to all the modules that are using them
Though, as stated previously, some settings can be stored as shared_prefs or in files-dir for individual apps etc. Also, some manufacturers used mod'ed versions of Android which may use settings stored on other places.
In later versions of Android, some settings seem to have moved to other places.

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


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Can I get my phone back, given some information like model, IMEI, etc?
I lost my Android. I have no tracker.
Luckily, I do have some inforomation. I know my model, IMEI, last time used, registration date and more. Can anyone offer advice for getting my phone back?

If you know the IMEI of the phone it could be possible to track it and find it. The problem is that network operators are very unlikely to do this without a police order, and the police doesn't seems to like hunting lost phones very much (unless you are an important person or politician). I read about a stolen Mac case when the police didn't make too much effort for recovering it even after the real owner bought them photos of the stealer.
So, unfortunately, there aren't big chances to get your phone back...

If your phone still has power, you can install and start androidlost remotely.


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What is the exact difference between user and eng binaries?
What is the exact difference between user and eng binaries for a phone (mobile device)? These are two of the build variants. I want to know the exact difference between them.

What is this user and eng binaries you are talking about? Do you have a link to the site where we could download them?

I would like to know the difference between the two build_flavor's,i.e. eng and user build in android.

"Eng" is short for engineering AKA developer build. Those builds have various logging facilities enabled which you do not see on regular "production" builds. Normally you do not want to flash such builds on to your phone.

Thanks but want to know the things in detail,what all logging facilities are enabled which you are talking about engineering AKA developer build.Can you please enlighten me.

the exact configuration of the "eng" build depends on the manufacturer/model. this is just a build used internally by manufacturer while developing a product. it even can change for the same product.

Eng builds usually contain device manufacturer specific hacks and testing apps. In particular network related items. Often eng build allows access to hidden service menus  and parts of the OS that is not otherwise present, including unlocked bootloaders. Again, it all depend on the hardware and manufacturer.

How could you determine or strongly infer if you have an eng or user build on a particular device? Do developers typically adopt conventions like putting suffixes in the OS version in the About phone section?


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Samsung Galaxy S2(Format or restore factory setting through pc?)
I accidentally sat on my Samsung Galaxy S2 and it has resulted in screen crack. I am planning of repairing it instead of buying a new one.
The phone with the cracked screen works (except the screen) and contains personal and sensitive data.
I do not want to expose it in any way while I give it for repair.  It would be nice if I can factory reset or wipe the phone before I give it to service.

A hard reset restores the original factory settings and erases content, including downloaded ringtones, images, programs, and contacts stored in the internal memory. This feature allows for resetting of sound profiles, display settings, and phone or memory card settings.
To perform a hard reset using the hardware keys, follow these steps:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold both Volume Up and Volume Down keys at the same time.
Press the Power key only until the phone vibrates once, then release only the Power key.
Continue to hold the Volume up and Volume Down keys until the Android System Recovery screen appears.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight Wipe Factory Data.
Press the Home key to select.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight Yes - Delete all user data.
Press the Home key to select. Press the Home key to reboot.

But as you said, your screen is broken. Check the screenshots and see how many times you want to use down and up volume key, so that the according to number position you can do it.


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Can't USB connect my Motorola Razr to Linux Fedora 16
I was trying to connect my Droid Razr to my laptop (Linux Fedora 16) using the USB cable that came with it.  I was hoping that it be mounted on the file system just like a thumb drive but it never came on.  I went to the /mount directory but it was empty.  I was able to do it before I upgraded my Droid OS a few months ago but now I can't connect.  I primarly wanted to unload some media files.
How do I connect my Razr to my laptop via USB?

It's possible that it now uses MTP since you updated it. You might want to take a look at Better way to connect Galaxy Nexus (ICS) to Linux to see if the answers prove useful (it's for the GNex, but MTP behavior is not device specific). Does the RAZR have any kind of status bar notification when plugged in? (i.e. "Connected as a media device" or similar)

Usually, also on Linux, there comes a pop-up asking you what to do with the newly detected storage device (unless you have configured it otherwise). If you decide to open it with something (filemanager, image viewer), it's often mounted in /media instead of /mount (at least with Ubuntu and derivates), so that might also be woth a look. Aside from that: what Android version are you currently using? At least with 4.1 and up, the MTP hint by eldarerathis' comment above is the most likely direction.

@Izzy -- I don't have that popup now after the upgrade.  I did have it before

Yepp, and the reason might be you don't have any MTP packages installed. Fedora seems a bit slow on this: I've found packages for all kind of Debian/Ubuntu derivates, but nothing for Fedora. Watch out e.g. for gMTP or mtpfs. If your device is no longer offering UMS, that's the way to go. Of course you might first check the notification area when connected via USB, it might have an USB entry with options for possible connection modes. Maybe the default is "charge only", which also would explain your issue.

yes, as soon as I plug the device into my laptop, it starts charging the battery.  it doesn't ask me whether i want data or charge.  this MTP package, is this something i need to install on the phone or on the laptop?


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Some Emails Not Pushed to Gmail App
I have 2 accounts within Outlook 2007 - work email through Microsoft Exchange and a Gmail IMAP account. I have a rule set where email sent to the work account will also be copied to the Inbox of the IMAP account. On my phone (Galaxy S3) I have two Google/Gmail accounts set up - personal email (let's call it G-X) and the one that gets a copy of my work email (let's call it G-Y).
Up until a few days ago I had no problems with receiving emails and notifications on the phone for either Gmail account. Now now if an email is sent directly to G-Y, I am notified through the Gmail app on the phone that I have new mail, but if an email is sent to the work account, where it gets copied to the Gmail IMAP in Outlook, there is no notification, even though the message is displayed as unread/new both in Outlook and gmail.com.
Can anyone shed light on this? I want to be able to get notified when new work email comes to (gets copied to) the Gmail account set up for it.

They are most likely there, just you aren't looking in the right label.
Outlook screws up your GMail folders/labels and causes very annoying GMail sync issues. That's why i quit using outlook with my gmail.

Could you recommend where to look? Saying that Outook caused your problem so you quit using it doesn't really help @BinaryRock.

I have a similar problem and have been seeing similar issues over the past month or so.
It appears that IMAP copy into Inbox or other Gmail labels no longer generates new mail events / notifications.
I have tested with multiple folders (including the Inbox) using both Outlook 2010 and the latest versions of Thunderbird setup for IMAP. I've found that Android's Gmail app as well as Gooogle's Gmail web interface only update / generate notifications when an email is received by the Gmail servers.
Based on the above, the only conclusion I can come to is that Google is no longer generating new mail events within the overall Gmail environment when an IMAP email client copies messages into folders.  I too wish they would. I was using Outlook to copy email from an Exchange account to a Gmail label and received notification on my Android device. This worked well for a long time (a few years?).

Edit: May 1st, 2013
Since my post in March it appears that these notifications are now working. Has been for a couple of weeks. Seems like the problems were most likely issues with Google servers.
Anyway ... I no longer have this problem.


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Samsung Galaxy S has become very slow
My phone recently has begun to become very slow. At certain times of the day, the phone will completely stop working and will have to be turned off by holding the power button. Sometimes, the lock screen will also cause problems.
Any help will be very much appreciated.

have you installed a software or app

some apps have very resource intensive background processes

There are any number of apps (or even built-in tools) that can help you figure out what's eating up your CPU cycles. Have you tried any of them?

how do i check which is taking the most CPU power?

Maybe related: My device is getting slow, apps start misbehaving/crashing. What can I do?


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ADW lock code forgotten
Using ADWLauncher, you can lock the desktop. Extremely useful, till the password is forgotten.
I have a Nexus 4. Any solution to crack the password?

I don't know if the settings export would export the lock as well. So you could try export, then delete the data from ADW, then import settings again. In the worst case you are were you started -- with some luck the lock was not exported along. -- With some shit the password is exported plain text and you can read it (unlikely, but not impossible).

(alternative method)If you know adb, you can push another homescreen app. ex: Zeam Laucher. Then press home button and select the alternative homescreen app. This method worked on a galaxy mini.

Consider using Sqlite browser:
If you can get to the phone's internal storage from your PC, try finding the. Sql files.with the code stored. Well, provided its a numeric code; if its a swipe patter, you're s.o.l. and have to do a reset of the phone.


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Android input language adding phonetic variation
I'm looking to add a Russian Phonetic keyboard layout to the default list of input layouts in Jellybean 4.2.2.
Going into Settings->Language & Input->Keyboard & Input Methods/Android Keyboard->Input Languages
On that menu I see Russian, but it is the standard Russian keyboard which doesn't have Russian letters mapped to the English QWERTY layout.  There apps that do this but I lose the gesture typing capabilities for example.
I was hoping there was a way of adding a Russian (Phonetic) layout to the list by somehow modifying the standard Russian layout and readding it as a phonetic variation.

After you've added Russian language to GBoard go to Languages, click Russian and it will show you additional keyboard layouts. Swipe right and choose the phonetic layout you like - there are even more than one!


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Android phone ICS cannot connect to internet through LAN
I have an Android phone that connects to my local area network via WiFi. The LAN consists of a switch and a Debian box that acts as a router, with two interfaces: one external and one internal. For some reason, after updating to Ice Cream Sandwich, my phone can no longer get through to the internet although it can connect to all machines on my LAN.
Any thoughts on what might be causing this routing problem? When I try to access the net from the phone, I see ARP, Requests that seem to go unanswered, eg:

ARP, Request who-has yyz06s05-in-f7.1e100.net tell ...

It seems as if traffic isn't getting routed back to my phone properly. I run my own DNS, one internal and one external.
Thanks for any ideas.
P.S. I downloaded an nslookup utility onto the phone (using cellular network, which does work) and the phone properly gets served DNS from my home network.  Also, FYI, other devices connect to the WiFi fine.  Finally, the phone MAC address DOES appear in arp -i eth1 output.  I am thoroughly confused.

you did not mention any details of your WIFI AP/router configuration.

Sounds like you are getting DHCP to your internal network vLAN only.
But its definitely a routing issue.
Can you set manual route from your phone IP to WAN port?


text:
Install default Android keyboard
It seems as the default keyboard is removed from several Android devices. I have two, a Sony Xperia (4.0.4) and a Samsung Galaxy SIII (4.0.4) and neither of them has the default Android keyboard (or I'm missing something).
Is there an official way of installing the default keyboard? (And why would hardware makers disable the default keyboard?)
This is related to my other question
Switch to another keyboard language using stock keyboard

What is the name of the keyboard installed on these devices? Is there just one keyboard installed?

Xperia Chinese keyboard, Xperia Japanese keyboard, Xperia keyboard. I left the Samsung home today but I believe it just has a few "Samsung keyboard"s.

I found this. http://www.theandroidsoul.com/install-stock-android-4-0-keyboard-galaxy-s3-should-work-other-devices-well/ The funny thing about this is it does not seem official at all, because the keyboard file is hosted on Dropbox. I can't trust that.

I had a similar problem a while back trying to find the default Android spelling dictionaries (for English!) that appeared to be missing from my device. I could not find an official source for those either.

There's no official way of installing the default keyboard if it's not installed by the manufacturer.
However, there may be unofficial ways using files stripped from other devices or compiled from AOSP. There are some keyboards on Google play, see for example Keyboard from Android 2.3, which claims to be like the default keyboard from Android 2.3.
Another way of getting the default keyboard may be installing another ROM.
I think hardware makers would install their own keyboards if they think that they are superior to the default one, for example because they better work on the screen size of a device.

This would mean that the manufacturer changed the keyboards in a way they thought would be better for their audience. In my case it seems to be for the worse. I won't install 3rd party keyboards (what a bad out of the box experience). I highly suspect that they will not be better than stock Android keyboards that supposedly would target most languages seeing as Android is anywhere. I don't think a 3rd party developer could take on that task without a big amount of resources - even the manufacturers have failed. I'll just give up on Android keyboards.

Well you should definitely check out some 3rd party keyboards, there are some which are really cool and superior to the stock keyboards in many ways. See for example Swift Key.

It's probably great but I need Japanese as well.

Needing Russian on a Samsung Galaxy S from another region, because of the lack of original Android keyboard, I chose to install AnySoftKeyboard (which is also available on F-Droid, which guarantees it is free/open-source, can be rebuilt from sources, and has been inspected by more people for not having spying features).

Yes, you can now install the stock Android keyboard from the Play Store - it's called Google Keyboard.

You could at least offer a link.

Here it is https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin
It seems that it still only contains English but is supposed to come for other languages later.

I get "This app is incompatible with your KDDI Sony SOL21.", also "This item cannot be installed in your device's country"... damn it!!1


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Enter fastboot commands from an Android phone
I want to do the following without a PC, just directly from an Android phone using a script / Android Terminal:

Reboot into bootloader, and then enter a few fastboot commands

Is this possible?

No, thats not possible -- as there is no UI (including terminal) available in fastboot mode.


text:
Selective batch restore in Titanium Backup?
Lately I upgrade my ROM (cm 10.1) quite often so I want to have my favourite applications ready after each upgrade. I got Titanium Backup Pro with root access.
I would like to know how to

install Titaninum Backup + the key after each ROM upgrade with the necessity to be connected to the internet
restore only bunch of my favorite application. I do not want to do full restore although I do full backup
restore system (cm) settings

You could achieve this in two ways:

have Titanium create an update.zip with the wanted data. This you could then simply flash, and you are done
Titanium also supports a kind of "tags": Setup a filter matching all the stuff you want, and save the selection as a tag (or tag the wanted items manually). Then select by tag and backup. Make sure to have Titanium sync its settings to your SDCard. After the ROM upgrade, first re-install TB (which then syncs with its settings from the SDCard), select the items by tag, and restore.

As a sidenote, new versions of Titanium Backup can now read contents from a CWM/Nandroid Backup. So apps from then entire ROM backup can be easily restored by TB  to your new ROM

That's true -- but then you'll may have to do that manually each time (which is why I skipped it in my description). The combination of "after each ROM upgrade" and "only bunch of my favorite applications" suggested it should need as few "taps" as possible for the restore (here: select tag, action restore, done).


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How to use OTG Data Cable with a Nexus S to access?
Having an OTG Data Cable, I connected different thumb drives to my Nexus S – running JB 4.1.2 – but my phone doesn't seem to read them. The thumb drives I tried are:

a 16GB Kingston G3 Data Traveler USB 2.0
a 16GB Sandisk Cruzer Fit Mini USB 2.0
and a 2GB generic drive

What else is needed in order to access that memory?
Is there anything along the lines of the Nexus Media Importer but for Nexus S?

Does anything show up at all in settings->storage? It should show up as USB storage.. Use ES file explorer.

No new USB storage showing up.

Also tried with the ASTRO File Manager/Browser – still not showing up.

You might want to check your device's capabilities with e.g. chainfire's USB Host Diagnostics, or try Usb Host Controller which promises to manage devices connected via host mode. Both worth a try.

I also have a Nexus S device (running CyanogenMod 11, Android 4.4.4 KitKat), and it seems Nexus S does not support USB OTG. I tried connecting an external USB keyboard and also a USB mouse, and it did not work. The mouse LED for the optical sensor did not even light up.
So, I believe that either the hardware does not have support for USB OTG, or you might need a custom firmware with a custom kernel to make it work (I believe this is unlikely).


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How to stop this type of service in Sony Xperia MT27i?
I have an Android 4.0.4 device Sony Xperia MT27i.
When this device connects in Mac then it looks like this.

(click image to enlarge)
Some services are started and also it displays an unwanted screen.
I've searched all the settings and tried to stop this, but no success.
Please can any one help me?

Those are due the debug settings enabled in Settings menu. Since I am not with any 4.0 device, I am unable to tell exactly what to be switched off.  Probably while switching on the USB debugging, you might have experimented with with other settings. Turn off all other than USB debugging to see these to go off.
Take a look at this similar question with similar answer.


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How to notice a phone is ringing when left in a bag?
I always carry my cellphone on me on vibrate, because I'm male and this works with my wardrobe.
Many women I know carry the phone in their purse or other bag, and they often miss calls, not noticing the phone is ringing. At the same time, they don't want to have the ringer volume set very high, so that it's a nuisance to others.
How can they notice the phone is ringing, when it is not on their person, and not loud?

I could think off two possible alerting devices like:

A Bluetooth enabled watch - which when paired with the phone can display incoming call alerts and can even vibrate. Being a watch on our hand its vibrations can't go unnoticed. Casio has one; Amazon has few bracelets; Sony's LiveView are few options.
To wear a Bluetooth headset always so that the ring can be heard. If that looks like working for FBI :) there are jewel kind of BT devices like this one.

According to their product page, Casio's watch only supports apples. The bracelets seem to be a nice choice for our girls, and they sure will love the jewel stuff (though I wonder about the caller-id on an earring ;) -- so +1 from me :)


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How to set HTTP proxy settings on Jelly Bean 4.1.1 on Galaxy SIII LTE
I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE (I9305) and I have set up my wifi to connect to my network at work, however I require a username and password in order to access the internet as all our traffic runs through a proxy server.
There appears to be no such functionality existing in the OS, so please let me know which app I can safely use (without rooting my phone) in order to input a proxy username and password so that I can access the interwebs.
Thanks in advance.

Have you checked with the proxy settings in Settings->Wireless & Networks (long-press the WiFi APN, check the "Advanced" checkbox)?

@Izzy: there no fields for the username and password.

No need: use user:password@server for the server address, should work (of course, replace "user" with your username, "password" with your password, and "server" with the real server name/address).

@Izzy: Are you sure that this with user:password@server is working?

I don't know if that works on each and every Android version/implementation. But you will know whether it works for you once you tried it. What to lose? I know of cases where it worked, and at least had no negative response since -- but that doesn't make it safe enough to announce "it works everywhere and in any case" (which is why I made it a comment and not an answer :)


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How can I find which app slows down my phone?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3.
My phone is becoming slow. I don't know how to find the app that slows it down. Can someone help me with this? My guess that the app is FACEBOOK... worst app ever.
After restart, the phone works fine for some time. Then, it slows down again and becomes lagged.

You could check the active apps when it gets laggy, then reboot and wait until it gets laggy again to check one more time the active apps. If you repeat this a couple of times you should end with a couple of apps that will be there all the time that you've checked, so you can narrow the search.

You could try to use some live monitoring app, e.g. OS Monitor. These usually offer you a view on apps currently consuming most of the ressources, e.g. hogging your CPU, eating your RAM, or utilizing your network:

OS Monitor showing running processes, and showing network connections (click images for larger variants)
Running processes can be sorted by several criteria, such as name, CPU usage, and more. The device being "laggy" most times means some app consumes all CPU power, or I/O, or RAM – so this should help you figuring out.
An alternative to mention is SystemPanel, which even offers you a manual (for your situation, the system monitor page would apply). In its payed version, it even offers you background monitoring, so you could first let it collect data for a while, and later check for the "largest consumers".

SystemPanel: running processes, overall ressources (click images for larger variants)

If you already suspect a particular app (Facebook in this case), just uninstall it and see if the problem goes away.

Not sure why this was downvoted, the Facebook app is known to cause performance issues on Android and iOS. 1, 2,  3, 4

@calebthebrewer It doesn't even matter whether it really is Facebook: I only mention it because the OP already named that app as his top suspect. Maybe somebody thought my answer was too obvious, but it really is the quickest and easiest way to test your suspicion.


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No Google Play Store on Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830
I have a phone, Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830, with an Android version of 2.2.1 Froyo.
I do not have Google Play app on my phone. Can I install Google Play app with this specific Android version?  If not, how can I do it?
I just don't want to use the manufacturer's product. There must be a way.

No it is not duplicated question. Android versions are different.

But the problem remains the same. Some regions don't supply the Google Apps framework with the device, and if you wish to use the Play Store, you need to install a custom ROM and flash a GApps package.

I'm not sure: But was "Google Play" rolled out to pre-2.3 devices? I only have one device running with pre-2.3 (a tablet with 2.1), and it never got updated to "Play". Maybe the app is still named "Market" on the Ace as well?

I have not app named "Market"

You can install a "minimal Google Play"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1918484

Update your phone to 2.3.4 gingerbread... officially by samsung

authors: ฟาร์เดล เทพ'อีเลเวน


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Galaxy Note Jelly Bean update India
Is there any Jelly Bean update available for Note N7000 in India?
Any one know when this update is coming?

Not yet available in India.
Here you can see most of the countries are in pending list for OTA update.
If you are impatient for the update, you can grab the Asia or Germany version and manually install using the Odin method.


text:
Cannot play a video made with my Galaxy S3 camera
I took a video with my S3. After playing the video 3-5 times, this message appeared: Cannot play video...sorry this video cannot be played...
Why is this? I have MX Player.


text:
Unlock Screen with ADB Android 4.2
Previously with Android 4.1, doing something like:
adb shell input keyevent 82
#(KEYCODE_MENU)

would unlock the screen at first boot and would then allow further commands to launch applications and have them displayed on the screen, etc.
With 4.2, within 10s of boot, the lockscreen dims to black. Issuing the same ADB command no longer works and the screen remains blank.
If I manually press the menu key, this brings the screen back on, and I can then issue the keyevent to unlock the screen.
Any ideas how I can bring the display back up from ADB and unlock the screen from there?
Thanks

There is a list of keyevents here and here, if anyone needs it for reference...

If you are on 4.2.2, you might want to read e.g. ADB Whitelist As of the Android 4.2.2: Starting with this Android version, "remote devices" (i.e. those you run ADB commands from) must be authorized by the Android device (i.e. the one those commands are runnin on) -- so your Android device can tell "trusted callers" from "malicious attackers". You can also find this in detail on this article on AndroidPolice:

The way it works is pretty simple - when you connect your PC to your Android device via USB, Android gets your PC's RSA key (an identifier token). In Android 4.2.2, when you have USB debugging enabled, this now causes a prompt to appear on connection, seen below.

(image source: AndroidPolice)
Update from the comments below:
Additionally, as Shurane pointed out, behavior of adb keyevent seems to have changed with Android 4.2.2: while before adb keyevent 26 was a dedicated "screen-off", and adb shell input keyevent 82 a dedicated "screen-on" switch, now adb keyevent 26 is a toggle which turns the screen off (when it's on) and on (when it's off), as noted by Pepelac.

Even after adb whitelisting, sending a keyevent in 4.2.2 doesn't work the same way.

Your comment suggests it works in a different way then. Do you mind to elaborate a little more? Might even be worth a separate answer.

Well, adb shell input keyevent 26 turns the screen off and adb shell input keyevent 82 turns the screen back on, right? But for 4.2.2, only keyevent 26 seems to work. keyevent 82 doesn't work for whatever reason.

I see. Not having a 4.2+ device, I cannot check myself -- but maybe somebody else has some hints on that.

@Shurane adb shell input keyevent 26 turns it off/on

@Pepelac that should probably be the answer to the question then.

I integrated that with my answer. Thanks, @Pepelac!

keyevent 82 is the menu button. keyevent 26 is power button. As Shurane said, it's on/off.

The trick is in 4.4.x and/or other systems you have to send an Enter after the command or else you have to wait x sec/min.
So do it like:
adb shell

@shell: input keyevent 26

@shell:

@shell: exit

This will work in any case, I think.

worked for me on Android 4.1.1 (screen refuses to turn on w power button)

Set the device in "no lock" mode in security settings (lock settings in some android versions) so that after reboot the OS goes straight to the home screen.
You can then send any key event, best an unrecognised one so it's not handled by the default handler, to wake up the screen.
EDIT: This works fine on 4.1. I checked on 4.4 and events other than 26 do not work when the screen is off. This is I guess because there is another separate device now defined for the power button and the other ones might be inactive. So you have to check if the screen is off (dumpsys power, look for mScreenOn) and if off send 26. You have to do the check to prevent switching it off while it's on. This will work on all Android versions.


text:
wpa_cli not found on rooted device?
I rooted my device, then I go to adb shell and type su to enter wpa_cli.
I was surprised that wpa_cli: not found appeared, although I get information when I type wpa_supplicant.
I know that wpa_cli is from same library wpa_supplicant from this  link

I guess you really wanted to ask something like "How can I install wpa_cli on my rooted device?"

@Flow, exactly !! how to do this ?

I think that this would make a good question. Either edit this question or (maybe even better) ask a new question.

@Flow already get new question
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/40945/how-can-i-install-wpa-cli-on-my-rooted-device

The wpa_supplicat's command line interface (wpa_cli) is not installed as default on most, Android devices. My Galaxy S running CM10 contains it though. I guess you have to manually (compile and) install it.


text:
Weird Bluetooth Behavior, difficulty reconnecting to paired device - Galaxy S II
I had been having this weird behavior with my BT - Headset, that it works fine if I pair manually, but when I try to reconnect to a previously connected device, it would connect, and then just fail, and I would need to unpair and repair manually every time.
I have verified that this same headset works as expected with other phones - ranging from iPhone - Blackberry - Nokia Symbian S60. The device itself is over a year old, and this is when my previous device failed. However the fact that other phones are able to handle it, negates the possibility of this being purely due to age.
I tried to get Samsung Customer support to take a look at this, but they refused to see the problem.
Until recently I had just resigned myself to pairing it every time I want to use it, however recently, I seem to have discovered a pattern. If I disable the "Phone" Setting from bluetooth settings, this problem occurs. However with both "Phone" and "Media" options enabled, it seems to work as good as new!!
I also came across Bluetooth Auto Connect which seems to be tackling a similar problem, but I don't think it is quite the same.
So basically my question is, is this a known/common issue with GSII? Is there a fix for it? My device is rooted if that helps.
If this is a purely software issue as I now suspect, will a new rom help?

This problem was fixed when I flashed custom roms. It came with its own can of worms.. but still..

I have similar issues with some headphones on my Galaxy Nexus, though it is only intermittent. While I do not have an actual solution, I have found that turning Bluetooth off and on again while the headphones are on is much quicker than navigating all those submenus, and does cause the headphones to reconnect.


text:
Lock Screen Problem in HTC ONE X
How can I recover my clock-style lock screen after it failed to return on my HTC One X? I let the phone's battery run out. Then I recharged and turned my phone on, but I can't see my clock-style lock screen.
My screen is also cracked, just to let you guys know. I also tried many times to fix it in the settings but it still doesn't work. Also none of the other lock screen options work.

You should be able to set the lock screen in Settings > Lock screen > Screen security.

On Android 4.0 Settings > Security > Screen lock

I have tried that multiple times but nothing helps

Try
setting - - > personalize - - > lock screen style

Tried that but nothing works


text:
Block apps from accessing the Internet on Android device
In Android, is it possible to block apps from accessing the Internet? Many apps will often connect to remote servers in the background, including Google's own apps or system services. Over time this can eat away at a user's data limit set by a mobile carrier. Does Android allow an app to act as a firewall whereby the user can select which apps have access to the Internet? Or does the device have to be rooted to have that ability?

possible duplicate of How can I prevent my phone from using any kind of internet?

Also: Allow only specific apps to use cell data, only when on 3G

The closest duplicate we have is Preventing mobile data use for select apps on non-rooted phone?. But this explicitly asks for a non-root solution. Here we do not have this constraint.

Related: How to view network traffic requested by a specific app?

On certain Android phones (Android 9.0 Pie onwards), you can do the same thing by going to “Settings -> Network & Internet -> Mobile network -> Data usage -> Network access”, then controlling which apps have access to data and Wi-Fi using the check boxes.
https://www.maketecheasier.com/block-internet-access-for-specific-android-apps/

If you don't have root access on the device, then you can use mobiwol to control the access various apps have to the Internet. Mobiwol creates a 'virtual' VPN connection on the device which allows control of the individual app connections. However, although the app starts when the device starts it is possible that there may be a brief period prior to Mobiwol executing in which apps could get Internet access despite the Mobiwol configuration.
If you have root access, there are more alternatives:

Remove the 'internet' permission using an app like Permissions Denied
If your kernel supports IPTables, you can use an app such as AFWall+ to control which apps have access to the internet.

That's amazing. I spent time searching Google Play and could not find any apps, other than those that required rooting. Yet this app claims to be the only app that can do it without rooting. I'll give it a try. Is it possible in Android to arrange the order in which some apps boot up when the system starts?

Unfortunately, you can't change the sequence in which apps start on phone start-up and since the device isn't rooted you can't actually block apps from loading on start-up. The safest bet is to simply disable your mobile data and wifi prior to restarting your device, and then re-enable it once the device has restarted.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=inc.salzburg.company.easywall
I have created an app, which is easy to handle.

What if I want to block internet access from my keyboard? You know, just so it stops sending all my passwords out there. So without root, the only other way is compromising it with another app that can track everything...

@Dpedrinha here you might find some useful info: https://github.com/PhilippC/keepass2android/blob/master/docs/Documentation.md#should-i-use-the-kp2a-keyboard-for-entering-passwords

Without rooting your device, you won't have much choice: you can either disable the network when the app runs in foreground, as LinX64 suggested – or "hibernate" (suspend) it when it goes to background (is not actively used), as suggested by Dalvik. Of course, you could combine the two – which should effectively prevent that app from accessing the network. But still on the cost of bringing your entire network connection down as soon as you want to use that app.
With root-access, things look different: there are apps available dealing with other apps' permissions, allowing you to revoke some of them after you've installed that app. That way you could e.g. revoke the permission to access mobile data and/or WiFi just from that app: Your network connection would not be affected at all (so background-checks for mail and updates in WhatsApp/Viber/Skype/SE-App would keep working) – while the app-in-question would be told "there's no network available currently" (faking a "network down" just for that app).

Update:
Meanwhile there are Internet Firewalls available which also work on non-rooted devices. Simeon already mentioned Mobiwol – but a much better choice is NetGuard, available from F-Droid as well as from Playstore. Availability at F-Droid already indicates it's Open Source (almost a must in the security sector), and it comes for free. This is up to version 2.44 (added on 2016-08-06). Later versions from the Playstore have non-free dependencies, so the app is no longer updated in F-Droid's "official" repo anymore, and will likely not be. You still can obtain up-to-date versions via my F-Droid compatible repository, though.

NetGuard (Source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
As you can see in the first screenshot, if gives you very granular control:

Generally forbid an app access to WiFi or mobile data
Permit an app access to WiFi or mobile data only when screen is on
Regardless of above settings, keep it from accessing mobile data when roaming

It's by far the best rated app in this section – and though I haven't tried it myself, I'd say it's the one to recommend if your device is not rooted. Update: Note that recent versions of Netguard include Google Ads as well as Firebase Analytics – two things which IMHO have no business in a firewall (or any other security) application – which most likely is the reason it is no longer updated on F-Droid's official repo (still available in mine with the appropriate warnings).
With root access available, the candidate most likely is AFWall+:

AFWall+ (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
Like NetGuard, this app is open source (available at F-Droid and at Google Play), and allows to control internet access by WiFi and mobile data separately. But while it is more powerful in some ways, it seems to lack NetGuard's features of "screen-on" and roaming control (or I didn't see that).

Thanks, @IsmaelMiguel – glitch on the keyboard (typing too fast, caught two neighbor keys at once). Be welcome [edit]ing out such typos yourself (earning some rep ;) // Temporary root in this case would only work as long as it's active: removing the permission would make most apps crash, so the "preventer" needs to "permanently fake the network-down" to the app. Same applies to most other permissions: apps get fed fake data like "empty calendar/contact list", "IMEI=0123456789", etc. instead of a real permission-removal. Safer this way :)

I'm not worried about being safe or not. I cracked the screen of my tablet out of rage because it was too slow. And the ROM where it is installed is protected against re-flashing. I don't even have a recovery menu! (The one with the power button and the volume key). And I'm not worried about apps crashing, as long as nothing else accesses the internet besides VNC.

@IsmaelMiguel OK, that's a different situation. See e.g. Revoke App Permissions Without Root? and also check the questions "linked to it". And remember: Expect crashes – especially force-closes.

Thank you a lot! I would upvote you 100 times just for that! I would love to revoke the right for the bloody apps to start when I turn on the tablet, but it wouldn't have anything to do with this question and your answer. The link you provided would be a great plus on your question, in case the O.P. is as desperate as the other guy. But I will take a look at it. Once again, thank you a lot!

Try the app No-Root Firewall.  It allows you to control what apps have Internet access over both wifi and cell data.  It works by setting up a VPN on your phone.

Droidwall
The app Droidwall will do this, but it requires a rooted android device. It works very well, though, giving you the option of allowing either cellular or wifi internet access to each app (or both or neither), as well as disabling the rules entirely while keeping the settings so you can easily give everything full normal access when desired, then go back to the rules easily without clicking a lot of options.

Afwall+
Afwall+ is another very similar app with some compelling additional features. It also lets you choose, on a per-app basis, access to wifi, 3G/4G, and additionally roaming which could be very useful for those who have roaming data charges.
It also allows profiles to be set up so you can easily change configurations without spending time setting all the app permissions if you want, for instance, different configuration for home vs work use.
Like all the other comprehensive solutions it also requires root access.

droidwall is old. Use AFWall+

Droidwall was bought by Avast. Avast now offers it in its app here on Play Store. As obvious, it needs root access.

@samsung: Could you please write a similar answer about AFWall+? Thanks!

@samsung thanks for the info, I've updated my answer with your suggestion.

Following are some apps that claims to be a firewall, mostly using IP-tables or VPN to restrict internet access to apps:
Root access not required:

Mobiwol
NoRoot Data Firewall
LostNet NoRoot Firewall

Root access required:

Root Firewall
MsWall Firewall
Advanced Firewall
DroFirewall
Antivirus and Security
Firewall Plus
Firewall Gold

Access not mentioned:

NetStop Firewall
App Firewall 2014

Note: These are those apps which were not covered in answers mentioned at the time of writing this answer. There can be many more in Play Store or on the web.

You can try the Greenify app.
It saves your battery as well as you data.  You can suspend the app and the app only runs when you open it.

This would only prevent the app accessing the network when it's not running in foreground; as soon as you want to use it, Greenify resumes ("un-hibernates") it, and it will access the network again.  OP asked "to prevent some apps from accessing to internet when wi-fi or mobile data is on" – not "when the app is in background". To me, that includes "when the app is in foreground" (i.e. actively used) – where Greenify wouldn't prevent network access. Unless that's a new feature I've missed, that is :)

there is no such feature in greenify still :) ... I suggested this app because it will do what the user wants at some extent

Yepp, I wasn't saying "it's not an answer" (see my answer, where I pointed that out with a few more details – and even linked yours) – just that it's "somehow incomplete". Don't get me wrong: Greenify is a great app – and yes, it's covering at least part of what the user wants. You've got that upvote for a reason :)

For CyamogenMod Users
There is a built in Privacy Guard. (Settings -> Privacy)
It can prevent app from using Internet (wifi and/or mobile)

I am amazed no one has mentioned the Google solution, Datally. No root required. More information on the Google blog:
https://blog.google/technology/next-billion-users/meet-datally-new-way-understand-control-and-save-mobile-data/
Or download immediately from the Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.freighter

Best answer for me so far. No root, free, no malware.

Looks like this was yet another perfect app that Google decided to remove (they really don't like things that work TOO well).  Sigh.
https://9to5google.com/2019/10/17/google-datally/

Yes, with APK APP :
Net Blocker - Google Play
To block networks for specified apps:

1. Open "Net blocker"
2. Tap app that you would like to block it from accessing the Internet access
3. Check the network types that you'd like to block
4. "Net blocker" app will automatically disable the Internet connection when the blocked app is running in the foreground
5. A new notification icon will tell you which networks are blocked
6. Tap the notification icon to restore the Internet connection, tap again to disable the Internet

or, check the below link :
Block apps from accessing the Internet on Android device

It seems net blocker just turns off or on wi-fi and does nothing else.

That would mean bringing the entire network connection down as soon as that app is running – so no more update-checks (e.g. for new mails) or GCM notifications (WhatsApp etc.) in the background then. But yeah, without root, not much choice …

Well I would personally have a service running where I can get the currently running application like here
Also what you can do is that you can turn the mobile packet data off if the activity is the one which you want to block
like here in this example
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3644144/how-to-disable-mobile-data-on-android
except for this method I don't think there is a easy way you can deny internet to a application because it requested for it at the time of download itself.

You can also control which apps may access Internet with LostNet Firewall: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lostnet.fw.free
While your requirements are pretty simple and many apps can satisfy your needs,
with LostNet Firewall you can do a little research on the countries your apps connect to and, may be, you will completely block access to certain countries.

Please read the documentation regarding self-promotion in the Help Center.

To disable mobile data from the carrier :

Make sure the sim card is in the phone and the phone is not in airplane mode , otherwise the option is not shown.
From Settings->Data Usage->Mobile data switch to off

Works for Samsung J3 2016

Force stopping an app in Android stops it from doing anything, even using the internet, unless you open up the app again. This mainly solves my problem most of the time. Or else restricting background data prevents all the apps from using the internet in the background, aside from some stock Android apps.

The first method is very inconvenient and way too extreme. I want to use a game or an app but don't want it to connect to internet. Clearly, force-stopping isn't the way to go here. The second method won't be restricting my active game or app to access the internet either. Maybe a bit more research on the situation would help you to post a  more relevant answer.

Most apps have wakeup services programmed to undo exactly that

I use Easy Battery Saver. Choose super power mode and configure the apps that allowed to accessing network.

A link to the app would be useful. Could you make it clear whether this app needs root?


text:
SGS3 USB not connecting to PC
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, running Android 4.1.1.
I am having problems connecting the phone to my PC. I can connect other S3 phones to my PC. So, I presume that it is not the PC (Windows 7) that has problems.
I am using the original Samsung cable. The URT is set to modem and USB is set to PDA.

I had the same problem: phone was charging OK but not recognized as external device.
I found this solution on the Internet and it worked in my case:

Power off your phone
Power on the phone in Download mode (Volume Down + Home + Power)
Press Volume Up to continue in Download mode -> you should see an Android bot and some informations about your OS (rooted or standard, ...)
Plug your phone into your computer using your USB cable
Windows should now discover it and load the driver (from Windows update)
Power off your phone
Power on the phone (classically this time)

I followed your steps but nothing happening. Android logo appeared with title downloading but nothing happening. Am I supposed to do any thing else or missing something?

Well assuming that you can charge it okay, it is not the cable. Also, other phones get recognized by your computer so it's not that either. However, it's always good to have more than one verification on something. Try plugging your phone into another computer. If that works, you have a problem with your computer. If it doesn't work, the only option left is that it is your phone. I would just back up your data and do a factory reset. If that doesn't fix it, call Samsung.

Don't rule out the cable that easily: charging uses only 2 of the 4 contacts, data is another one. So also try another cable, just in case -- as you have several devices, you probably also have several cables, so this comes with no extra costs.


text:
Use an Android tablet as a Wacom drawing tablet for a PC?
Since a nice Wacom tablet is a bit pricey, especially for someone like me who doesn't do much graphic editing, I was wondering if it is possible to use a tablet (i.e. my Nexus 7) as a Wacom-esque drawing tablet when connected to a Linux computer?
I did a bit of searching, however most of the info I found is for using a Wacom tablet on an Android device. I've never used a Wacom device, however I have been doing some graphic editing in Gimp, and think it would be much easier than just using a mouse. And since I have a Nexus 7, it seemed like the logical place to start. I would have to use the Nexus as a USB peripheral for the computer, and I don't know if it is possible to transmit the touch screen coordinates to the PC.
If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it!

I don't think you can actually have it communicate with the PC but if you have the right tablet or phone (Galaxy Note 2) you can create art on the device itself. Check out this video.

The GfxTablet project should allow you to do this.  It's network-based rather than USB though.

I think gfxTablet does not work on Windows.

note that this is only suitable on a trusted network (not at your coffee shop) https://forums.bitfire.at/topic/1629/what-is-the-security-model-for-gfxtablet

GfxTablet is not maintained anymore

There's also Weylus which is mentioned in one of the issue in GfxTablet project. (remark: GfxTablet seems to be more smooth; Weylus doesn't require Android app, only browser; both does not support pen button, both use absolute coordinate relative to screen, Weylus screen recording crashes for me, need to turn off to use)

A touchscreen tablet is not like a Wacom tablet. Drawing tablets use a stylus with one or two pressure-sensitive tips and several buttons. The stylus is also sensitive to the angle you hold it at, and the tablet can detect when the stylus is hovering above the tablet, even with no contact. A drawing tablet has a resolution of a fraction of a millimetre. You can wield the stylus like a calligraphy pen, an airbrush, or anything in between.
A capacitive touchscreen such as you get on a Nexus 7 is designed to detect fat blobs like finger tips. It can't react to you hovering over it, to the natural pressure changes you get over the course of a stroke, or to the angle. Samsung's Note series has a pretty advanced stylus, and it makes a nice drawing tool, but it still lacks the advanced features like angle sensitivity.
Sure, you can use a touchscreen to draw and to create artwork, but asking it to replace a Wacom tablet is like asking finger-painting to replace the whole range of artists' paintbrushes. You'll never be satisfied with the results.

I agree with many points in your answer, but but I also think it's likely that an individual who is looking for a hack rather than an actual graphics tablet may not need the entire functionality of a true graphics tablet. Also, graphics tablets are serious tools in their own right. Someone without the training and experience to effectively use them will likely have similar results as with an android tablet.

@JSON Even when a layperson with no art background tries to sign their name with their finger on a touchscreen, the results are completely different from doing it with a real pen, even a biro that isn't pressure- or angle-sensitive. Sure, many users won't need the entire functionality of a graphics tablet, but they will need the precision and responsiveness, and to use it on a PC they'll definitely need to be able to point without clicking.

Irrespective of the fact that you make a good point, this "answer" does not answer the OP's question, hence I am forced to downvote.

@Aalok The question is, "Is it possible to use a tablet as a Wacom-esque drawing tablet?" and my answer is "no". I'm not sure how I could make that more directly answer the question.

I agree with this answer for the majority of cases and it serves as a perfect deterrent for people trying to get too much out of the tablet. On the other hand I must agree as well that there are use cases out there where using a tablet as drawing tablet would work. So here comes my upvote, with the remark that it should probably never be accepted as final answer.

Some tablets have hundreds or thousands of levels of pressure sensitivity. The Samsung S-Pen supporting devices are Wacom backed.

My cheap 12" Android tablet does detect the pen held over the screen, and is pressure sensitive too. I draw with it very happily. I believe you that there must be a difference in quality, but it is much better than you are presenting here. Many amateurs and beginners like myself will be completely satisfied with it.

The Virtual Tablet app is free on the Google Play Store. It works with some flaws but overall good. See the developers site for more information

Works great but pressure sensitivity works only with sketchbook

OP explicitly asked for a software to use "when connected to a Linux computer", and Virtual Tablet does NOT support Linux.

@bmdixon  is virtual tablet safe? I couldn't find any information on this.

Thanks for this recommendation! it's not perfect, but it's the best app of this kind that I've tested so far. After a few hours of use, I can recommend

I had the exact same wish as you, and I eventually found a solution I was happy with. It does not solve it in 100% the way you had envisioned, but let me see if it helps you.
At first I was thinking to use the Android device as a remote desktop control (for example, via TeamViewer of Chrome Remote Deksktop) for my computer, and then open drawing software on the desktop computer and control that using the stylus on the Android device.
That worked. However, there are some issues with cursor sensitivity, and (depending on which remote software you use) you usually have to make a custom "gesture" to draw. Not very elegant. Also, there was usually considerable lag.
The solution I found was to simply use a collaborative drawing app called Explain Everything" that runs on both desktop (Web) and Android (app). Then I just collaborate with myself on both the desktop and the Android-device.
It looks like this:

The device in this photo actually has en e-ink display, but in practice that has no significance, as it runs Android and is for all intents and purposes just an Android tablet with different display technology than most.
Now, I realize that you may have some specialized software on the desktop, and that may be your whole reason for asking this question. Thus, you may not wish to use this particular drawing solution. Therefore, I admit that my answer is not perfect. However, you can export whatever you draw in Explain Everything as vector graphics, and import it into whatever software you prefer for further processing.
I have not yet used Explain Everything for serious drawing, so I can not vouch for its quality. However, there are a multitude of collaborative drawing apps that work both on desktop and on Android, so you can choose whichever suits you best.
Actually, I found that Microsoft Office for Android actually has decent drawing capabilities, and it can sync live with the web or desktop version of Office. A bit laggy with the sync, but good enough for me. I am switching to that now because I found the interface of Explain Everything to be a bit confusing.

A Samsung Note II has all of what you are looking for. It uses pressure sensitivity like a Wacom, and it even has a Wacom digitizer built into it! Doing some research now, apparently there is an app that allows connection to a PC for that purpose exactly.

Can you tell us what app you've found that does that? Does it work with Linux?

"There is an app" does not answer the question

There is this recent project: Weylus. From the description:

Weylus turns your tablet or smart phone into a graphic tablet/touch screen for your computer!
Features

Control your mouse with your tablet
Mirror your screen to your tablet
Send keyboard input using physical keyboards
Hardware accelerated video encoding

The above features are available on all Operating Systems but Weylus works best on Linux. Additional features on Linux are:

Support for a stylus/pen (supports pressure and tilt)
Multi-touch: Try it with software that supports multi-touch, like Krita, and see for yourself!
Capturing specific windows and only drawing to them
Faster screen mirroring
Tablet as second screen

http://youtu.be/xG7I11DYlDg
This video gives some great ideas, but simply, all you need is a art program [gimp is free] and a way to control the program with your tablet and pen tool [ teamviewer ]. While probably not for the advanced pro digital artist, a great idea for anyone just learning.

For this I use AIRDROID which turns a tablet in a third display for me, on which you can diplay your 'edit' window of the programs you like to use

I see that apps like iDisplay and Splashtop Extended Display can answer the question in the manner you suggest, but reading the features makes it sound like Airdroid works in the opposite direction. Can you add some clarity to this answer?

The answer is a combination of YES and NO. You can use your android tablet to simulate a secondary display, and control it using the touchscreen. Twomon (http://www.easynlight.com/en/twomonusb/) is a software that I personally use to connect my tablet to my computer as use it as a secondary display. Twomon  works over USB, so you don't need any additional hardware adapters to get it working.
However, graphic tablets, like Wacom are built for precision drawing, and general-purpose tablets are not. So, I am not sure that this makeshift solution would be as effective as a Wacom (or other) graphic tablet.