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How to enable USB tethering on your Android phone to Mac OS X Lion
I want to tether an unlimited data plan on a Nexus S (with 2.3.6) via USB cable to a MacBook Air (with OS X Lion).

The articles I read imply that given Apple's restrictions, that's imposible!
Found a question for Froyo and one tethering on a Snow Leopard, but they all rely on third party apps.

Is there any hack to make it work out of the box?

Isn't it OSX that isn't playing nice with the phone, not the other way around?  If you want to hack OSX to work without using any other software, I would guess you're out of luck, but you should probably ask on Ask Different instead of here.

Easy Tether works for me for USB tethering on OS X Lion. http://android.stackexchange.com/q/15735/15, http://android.stackexchange.com/q/5168/15

@MatthewRead thanks for the Idea, I'll give Ask Different a shot.

@garycomtois I've seen bot your answers, but I still thing this is such a basic functionality, that Gingebread 2.3.6 should be able to handle by itself. I'll keep on looking, but thanks for the safety net options.

@garycomtois, I give up: if you turn your comment into an answer, I'll accept it as the solution to my question.

Easy Tether works for me for USB tethering on OS X Lion. android.stackexchange.com/q/15735/15, android.stackexchange.com/q/5168/15
To elaborate, here are the steps involved:

Open the Easy Tether application on your Android device and select USB (you will see the ET notification in the notification bar).
Plug your Android device into your machine via USB.
Open Network Preferences, select EasyTether and select Connect.

Also, if you do any Android dev, make sure to follow the Mobile Stream's  FAQ (although I just moved the .kext to the trash since kextunload was not working for me):

ADB on Mac OS X stops recognizing the attached device after installing > EasyTether driver
Do not follow this advice if you are not a software developer who uses
  the Android SDK on Mac. Otherwise run "sudo kextunload
  /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext" to unload the
  EasyTether driver manually. Load it again with kextload when/if
  necessary.


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How can I restore the display of the battery status on the lockscreen?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Fit - GT S5670 model. When I charge the battery, there used be a percentage on the pattern screen. Somehow it is not showing now. All it is showing the word "Charging" but no numbers. Any ideas how can I get back the percentage status?

I have noticed that when I connect my phone with high voltage socket for charging it always shows charging percentage, but when I use a low voltage socket(using extension box, spike or similar things) it shows only "charging".

Open the Phone app. Tap the number *#*#4636#*#* Before you can hit Dial, a screen with some info will pop up, including an option for Battery Info. Tap that and it will list.
source: Droid Incredible

That doesn't cause the percentage to be shown on the lock screen ...

@Kevin : it doesn't seem to be working. I tried tapping ##4636## on the phone, but nothing happens.

@MatthewRead : do you have any suggestions for me to try?

@Kaustubh The only thing I can think of is changing the unlock screen in Settings -> Display, but I don't know if that will help.

i don't know how, but somehow it started displaying the percentage as of now. so, for time being, the issue seems to be resolved. :)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Android 2.3 set call volume
i tried quite all the options but i can't find the solution.
I already have the volume at maximum when i press the + button during a call.
The phone hadn't this behaviour when i first used it (it is a ZTE-blade).
Maybe(i'm not sure) this started after flashing it with cyanogenmod 7.1 (before it had ginger stir fry)
Is there an option to turn it up? i have a really hard time trying to hear what people says on calls..

I've had a similar problem, sometimes the volume is at max and won't decrease, sometimes the other way around. It also started occurring on CM7.1 (but on a Galaxy S). The volume controls start responding after pressing them both ways (i.e. if volume is at maximum, increase first and then decrease, and vice versa).
You should also check if your phone's version has amplification settings in Settings -> CyanogenMod settings -> Sound or something like that.

Unfortunately i already tried the "before down then up" and vice versa method, and didn't work (i read about it in some android blog). In addition in cyanogenMod settings, under audio, i just have options for attenuation(or increase) of volume with the headphones..

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


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Samsung Captivate AT&T OTA Update Stuck at 99%
I have a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S). I recently returned to stock firmware (2.1) using ODIN 1-click and have been trying to do the standard update to 2.2 from AT&T.
The download goes pretty quickly until it reaches 99%. At that point it is just stuck (I've waited about 20 minutes so far). I have tried to hit cancel and then resume. This just restarts my phone, goes to a white screen with an update bar, and hits 50% before the update fails and it boots normally.
What could be wrong and how can I get the standard OTA update to work?

If it helps, I am on wifi and I can see that my connection works in a browser on the phone. I didn't want to kill my data usage so I wanted to stick with wifi.

Why don't you Odin to 2.2?

I'm trying to remove traces of any "custom software" so that my warranty is still valid. Headphone jack is busted.

I found this: http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=558&AT_ID=368733 and it seems to be working. I'm not really sure now what that OTA update was but I'll ignore it.

Odin-ing to 2.2 should be no different than Odin-ing to 2.1.  If you flash pure stock no traces will be left in the system or data partitions of any rooting or custom ROMs or whatever.  You may need to clean your internal/external SD to remove folders from apps that require root, just in case, but that's about it.
This XDA thread has 1-click Odin for 2.2.  The non-rooted version is supposed to still be odexed, according to one of the messages in the thread, and thus should be pure stock.
That said: Why do you need 2.2 to return for a warranty?  They shouldn't care whether or not you updated as long as your 2.1 is also official.

I mostly just assumed that the ODIN version may have slight differences (like going into phone status and looking at the version, etc.) so I figured going from that to the "official" one would be completely clean.

@Matt OTAs generally only work from a specific version, so if the version you Odined too was bad then you wouldn't be able to use the OTA anyways.


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Could someone confirm the status of Google Gtalk App on Android?
I am a new android user but I am a computer and internet search veteran, however today I have been unable to find information about the status of google talk for android.
I simply want to download and install the Gtalk app for Android, but I cannot find it on the market. I find many references to it elsewhere, but the app itself seems to be gone from the market. I also find many references to voice and video chat in Google talk on android, so is it the case that google have removed the basic chat app in favour of google voice?

Google Talk was never on the Android Market.  It should have come with your device if it was a "Google Approved" device, e.g. one that met their minimum requirements (see this for the Gingerbread requirements).  The Google apps that come pre-installed on devices are usually not listed publically on the Market.  An exception is Maps, for example, which isn't preloaded on some devices either.
You should look under your app drawer for "Talk" (rather than "Google Talk", it's easy to miss if you look for that instead).  If it's not there it can probably be side-loaded if you root your device, but that's another issue.

That explains it. This must not be an approved device. So the next step is gain full access to my property.. :)

If you can find the apk for the Talk app, you can load it without having to root your phone, just make sure you enable the Unkown Sources option under the Application Setting. You could try a forum like XDA to see if anyone there can provide the Talk App. Sending it to your phone via e-mail or loading it onto the SD card. Click it from either and it should load fine. Just let them know which version of Android you are running as there are probably different versions of talk depending on the version of android.

I am finding that specifically, the Talk app is not so easy to load. There are dependency issues.


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After updating to Android 2.3, the radio keeps running in the background
I have an LG Optimus One and today I updated the firmware to the latest version.
I didn't know that with the firmware LG would also update Android.
Anyway, I finished the update and went at Phone Information menu.
There I saw that the Android version changed from 2.2 to 2.3.3
First I was happy to see that. I've been waiting a long time for this update.
But then I started to notice some strange things.
For example the Radio is always running in the background.
I tried with many different ways to close it, but nothing worked.
I used Adsvanced Task Killer and other apps and also tried to Force shut down.
But as I said, it keeps running.
Anybody has the same problem? Is there any solution?
Also, although it says I have Android 2.3 the graphics are not the same.
The main screen is not like this:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/images/2.3/home-plain.png
(Only the browser icon changed)

Firmware is a bit of a loose term.  With Android you can assume that all firmware updates are Android updates, even if it's only a minor version update.  It's rare that a new bootloader or something would be pushed out with no changes to the OS.
Anyways, Android has lots of services running in the background all the time.  Unless it's consuming your battery — it's probably idle and not using any — it's not a problem.  Running task killers is a great way to make your battery life worse and destabilize your phone, so definitely don't do that.
Finally, Android is customized to varying extent by the manufacturers.  Most of them at least change the launcher, which can make the homescreen look different.  The fact that it looks different from the stock Android homescreen isn't surprising :)


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How does Android chooses among multiple access points?
I have been doing a lot of research on this. Unfortunately I was not able to find how, by default, Android chooses among multiple access points.
For instance, if a user walks into a mall and there are 3 hotspots within range, how does the device select which access point to connect to?
-Does the device select the AP based in the order in which they are in the Wi-Fi stack?
-Does the device select the AP based on signal strength only?
-Does the device select the AP randomly?

Also, as the user physically moves from the coverage of AP A to the coverage of AP B:
-Does the device stay connected with AP A until it is out of range?
-Does the device transition from AP A to AP B somewhere along the way (sort of like a soft handoff)?

Thank you in advance.

I believe this is device-dependent and is not necessarily managed by Android.  The template wpa_supplicant.conf in /system/etc/wifi/ on my Vibrant says this:

By default, wpa_supplicant requests driver to perform AP scanning and then uses the scan results to select a suitable AP.  Another alternative is to allow the driver to take care of AP scanning and selection and use wpa_supplicant just to process EAPOL frames based on IEEE 802.11 association information from the driver.

This is controlled by setting the ap_scan variable in the in-use configuration file, /etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf.  Mine is set to 1, which is the default above.  So I guess the question is, at least for my device, how does wpa_supplicant select a suitable AP?
It selects between networks based on explicit priorities given in /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf.  For networks in the same priority group it selects based on "security policy, signal strength, etc." though the exact algorithm is not given.  In the case where ap_scan is 2 and scan_ssid is 1, the algorithm is simple: The first available network in the list is selected.  New networks are added to the file in the order they're encountered from what I understand; it does not list individual APs, so I assume they are handled dynamically according to whatever algorithm the supplicant is using.
I know that doesn't fully answer your question, but hopefully it's useful.


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SD card directory is "split" on new phone
I moved from a Samsung Mesmerize (Galaxy S, Android 2.2) to a Motorola Electrify (Android 2.3) and the Electrify is reading my SD card differently. My old data is now stored in /mnt/sdcard-ext instead of /mnt/sdcard/. All my phone's old data (which I want to keep) is in that directory.
Why did my SD card path change and what should I do to "merge" the two?

On the Electrify, the external SD card is mounted at /mnt/sdcard-ext/ while the internal is at /mnt/sdcard/.  The two are logically separate and cannot / should not be merged.
On the Mesmerize, the external SD card is mounted at /mnt/sdcard/external-sd/ as if it were a subfolder of the internal SD storage, which is also mounted at /mnt/sdcard/ like the Electrify.  The two are just as separate as on the Electrify, however, and the subfolder isn't "real".  If you connect your phone to your PC you will see two separate drives for them, and the "external-sd" folder on the internal storage will show up as empty — since it is!
I think what's happening here is that you want your data — downloads, possibly pictures and music, etc. — from your Mesmerize's internal SD, and you thought it was all on the external SD.  (I don't blame you, this system of having two areas both called SD is confusing.)  What I would do is:

Power off both phones
Remove any external SD cards from both phones to avoid confusion
Power on both phones
Connect both phones to your PC and mount the internal storages on both to your PC
Copy the content of the Mesmerise's internal storage over to the Electrify's internal storage
Properly dismount both phones from the PC
Power off both phones
Re-insert your external SD card(s)
Power on the Electrify and go happily on your way

I was mostly concerned because my app paths were wrong, which has made a couple apps mess up/show no data, probably because I copied them over via Titanium Backup (which also had this problem) and they're looking for the /mnt/sdcard/external-sd/ directories from my last phone.

As a side note do you happen to know if the Electrify's internal SD card is faster than the external? I've heard WP7 has amazingly fast internal SD cards and it's why they're not removable cards. The Electrify's storage is enough for my stuff so I will use the internal storage if it's faster.

@Ben That's another point of confusion -- they're not actually SD cards even though they've been called that.  It's probably no different from the rest of the phone storage, though I'm not sure.  I wouldn't be surprised if a Class 10 SD card was faster, but you could always do a rough speed test by seeing how long it takes to copy a large file from your PC to internal vs external.  I think there are some apps to test this on-device as well but I haven't used them.

Huh, I was wondering if it was actually an sdcard or not too. rather annoying they complicate it as such.
BTW, the Mesmerize doesn't have a /mnt/sdcard/external/ folder at all, the /mnt/sdcard/ is the only storage point you can actually use to store personal data, which is why I was confused. All my actual stored (and accessible) data from my Mesmerize was on the /mnt/sdcard/ dir which was why I wanted to move it, now I know what to do though.


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How to transfer text messages from iPhone to Android with iOS 5?
I'm trying to switch from an iPhone 3GS to a Galaxy SII and got multiple questions. This one concerns migrating text messages (SMS).
I've found quite some articles, basically, they fall into two categories:

Getting the text message SQLite database from the iTunes backup and exporting stuff manually to CSV files.
Importing the SQLite database directly with tools.

Most pages link to this article.
Problem:
Apparently, this only works in iOS < 5.0 or iTunes < 10, don't know. With newer backups, the SQLite database can not be opened anymore, and the Android tools mentioned do not work anymore.
So I'm looking for any other suggestions on how to correctly migrate the text messages to Android.
Note:
I'm aware that maybe this is more an iPhone question than an Android. Nevertheless, I hope to find someone here who faced the same problems. This is exactly the reason why I'm migrating in the first place.

Thanks for all the answers. Actually, for everyone still interested in this or facing the same problem: The newest version of Samsung KIES supports direct import from IPhone backups! It's too late for me so I haven't tried it out and I know it's specific to Samsung but hope someone can use the info anyway.

See also: How do I migrate my SMS (text messages) from iPhone to Android?

Worked like a charm for me with the 2nd option (web service conversion) on this page: https://legacy.isms2droid.com/#converter.
I´m running the latest iTunes 10.5.2.11 and Windows 7 32-bit Enterprise. My iPhone runs iOS 5.0.1 and my Android is an Xperia Arc with Android 2.3.3.
What I did was basically create a PC backup (used to run iCloud but changed that option in iTunes), look up the needed DB file (according to the guide), convert it with the web service, and then load it onto the Android phone memory card, and then use the SMS backup and Restore to restore the SMS database.
The only problem I had, was that all the SMS that had been sent or received with iMessage was corrupted. Apparently, they don't store phone numbers with these posts, and therefore all these messages were put in an "Unknown" thread, with no date connected to them.

The problem with http://faked.org/isms2droid/ is that it doesn't correctly extract the iMessages correctly. It gets the wrong timestamp, and leaves the address empty and the type (which represents sent or received) is always 1 (received).

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


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Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 froze during firmware upgrade
I accessed Samsung Kies and a screen message said that there was a firmware upgrade needed. I followed the screen prompt exactly and during the update a drop down message came up saying that there was a problem and to disconect the phone from the pc,remove battery and switch on again. The phone screen had a large triangle saying "Do not disconnect the phone during upgrade" I left the phone connected  but still the notice showed to disconnect the phone.I disconnected the phone as stated and removed the battery,then reinserted the battery and switched on the phone.All I got was a black screen with a phone icon - a yellow triangle with an exclamation marke init and an icon of a computer screen.
Now all I get on the phone are the icons as just stated. Removing the battery and leaving it disconnected for 10 minutes before switching on only gerts those icons again.
In Kies,it still shows "Connect a device"
Any idea how I can sort this problem out ?

I believe the solution is the same as in my answer here: Try different button combinations to get into Download Mode, then try the update.  If the update doesn't work in Download Mode try again from the phone's normal booted-up state.

I tried these but nothing changes. Still get the phone icon - yellow triangle warningand computer icon on the screen.


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Volume rocker as next/previous song
This probably is a common question but so far I have not seen a thorough answer.
I want to know if it is possible to have the rocker functionalities that are on cyanogem mod on a factory rom (htc desire s).
that is:
long press up    =  next song.
long press down  =  previous song.
short press up   =  volume up
short press down =  volume down
I would like to keep using the HTC ROM, since I like the sense UI, and also id like to keep using the HTC music player, I think is simple and is able to manage correctly the compilations albums.
Does anyone know of an app that can do this, that is NOT another music player.
Or as a 2nd option to explain if it is possible to create my own app for it and maybe to make some points towards the right direction to do this.

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


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What does locking an SMS message do?
I have noticed that long clicking an SMS message brings up a menu containing a "Lock message" option. What does this do? I have a Nexus S.

Presumably it prevents you from deleting it, but you'd need to be clearer about what kind of messages you're talking about and what phone/app you have.

@MatthewRead: Nexus S. SMS messages

If you lock a message, when you delete a conversation with a locked message, every message other than the locked message will be erased from that conversation.

On most android smartphones there is a feature that makes the phone run faster. This feature is after a certain amount of messages(on mine it's 210)it begins to delete them,locking the message also prevents it from being deleted.

that means (normally on every phone) that it cannot be deleted, just like a locked picture on a camera. so, if you would like to keep a message safe, i suggest locking it so no accidents happen. although, when the time comes that it wants to be deleted, it can be unlocked and then deleted


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Mobile Network goes off often in my Galaxy s2
I am using Galaxy s2 since 5 months. I have started facing Network problems recently. The mobile network goes off often and it resumes most times by itself.. but sometimes I need to restart my phone to bring it back in the network. I see the Unavailable (circle with a slash) symbol in place of the mobile signal symbol.. Also I see "SIM Refreshing data" often, not sure if it relates to the network going off..
Similar issues anyone and what did you do to fix this..

I also have a SGS2, and have had the same problem 2-3 times only. I turn on flight mode, and back. This solves the problem for me since it doesnt happen so ofthen.
if you still have the problem after this, I would re install Android to the newest version. Either do it yourself, or go to a phone shop and pay 10$ or so for them to reinstall your phone.
If this solves your problem, it was a cheap fix. If it didn't work, you can go back to the phone shop where you bought the phone and make them fix it in guarantee.
If you want to try to download and install an awesome rom for your phone, you should read this: http://www.cyanogenmod.com/devices

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S2, and experienced the same issue before.
It's possible that the ROM or the radio (firmware) has problems. If so, you should try to update them.
I am now using a custom ROM (CyanogenMod, latest nightly), and have not encountered this issue so far.

I called up the Hutch service in Bangalore, and they ran me through a different set of directions for getting it running after having the same issue.
I was made to traverse to 'Hutch' in the apps section, then 'Hutch roam', then 'Hutch' again. Restart the device now and voila - it had worked :-)
Try this too just in case.


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Encryption of offline mail, calendar, contacts data on Android
I'm very new to Android and I wonder what I can do in terms of encryption.
As I read it seems that only Android >= 2.3.3 supports encryption but my new device will be running Android 2.3.1. So I think there's no native solution to encrypt offline mail, calendar and contact data.
What solutions are there to protect my offline data?
Is it possible to encrypt the folders belonging to mail, calendar, contact? Decrypting should always happen when the screen is not lcoked.
Any ideas?

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9055/full-encryption-with-android

Encryption of saved data (the data on flash storage) is a feature of Android 4.0 and higher. The only non-4.0-device I am aware of that allows full flash storage encryption is the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet.
Encryption of connection data (data that goes over the wire) was a big security concern in some Android versions. Google has released some updated versions of the affected Apps, but it's unkown if they where dispatched on every device. IIRC most fixes got into 2.3.5, but I can't find the source ATM - Googles disclosure policy is not so good. Here are some good resources about this topic:

The Insecurity of Google's ClientLogin Protocol
What Android sync'd data is encrypted?
Ungesicherte Einsichten (german) ("Unsecure Insights")

Any apps, which bring this functionality? My device runs 2.3.1 so most likely the connection is still not safe in terms of encryption?

@meinzlein I don't know any App. You don't want full system encryption provided by an App, it's also not easy for an App to implement that. It's something that the Firmware/OS should provide. It's very likly that some data on our 2.3.1 is send and received unencrypted, but there is also a chance that your manufacturer has fixed this in his ROM.

Thanks for your reply. How to check wether my 2.3.1 is patched in terms of encryption of connection data? Well it doesn't need to be a app which encrypts the whole device - it would be nice to have Mail, Calendar, Contacts encrypted, maybe app-wise or folder-wise. Something which let's me encrpyt at least some parts..

@meinzlein This would at least require root. Not sure if there exists a solution. We have to wait if there are other answers on your question. I am also interested.

Well root is not a problem. Let's wait for further answers..

Android 3 also supports local data encryption.

Can't find an App so far. Smart App Protector seems best we can do


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How to connect USB CD/DVD-rom to my Asus Eee transformer?
I have lot of CD/DVD movie's. And i want to watch those in my Android so i bought one USB CD-DVD ROM.
But my Transformer, does not have USB input, how can i use it?

According to the specs, the Eee Transformer has USB ports. Android 3.1 added USB host support. The problem(s) with what you want to do is that there is no support for DVD navigation (and probably the udf and cd9660 filesystems, as well) in Android. You'd be better off ripping the DVDs onto your computer and using a USB hard drive (or the Transformer's internal storage) to play them on the tablet.

There's probably no support for CD or DVD drives either :P

The Transformer only has USB ports on the keyboard dock.

Can't say for the tablet itself, but the Eee Station comes with USB ports, and Samsung introduced recently (Apr 2012) the world's thinnest optical drive designed for tablets.
Samsung introduces world’s thinnest optical drive for tablets

The SE-2188BB supports Android Honeycomb version 3.1 or later and can handle a variety of media at high speeds including 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD±R recording, 5X DVD-RAM recording, 6X DVD+R Dual Layer recording, 6X DVD-R Dual Layer recording, 8X DVD+RW recording and 6X DVD-RW recording

It's safe to assume that this is the type of solution you were after.


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Gmail app - cancel notification but see number of unread
I have two problems with the Gmail app:

I'm using LauncherPro and have the Gmail app icon in the down task-bar, but I don't see the unread mail count. How can I make the unread number appear there?
I've found out that the fact that every incoming new mail appears in my notification screen makes me lose concentration with what I'm doing and answer without thinking properly.

How can I stop the notifications about new mail?

For #1, it appears that Google changed the API for the Gmail app, and Frederico has disabled that functionality as a result.
For #2, go to the Settings in the Gmail app and select the account you're using, then uncheck "Email notifications".


text:
How can I install google talk with video call support on CM7.1?
I I just installed CM7.1 on my SGS.  To my surprise, the google apps that I installed did not include the version of google talk with video chat.  The ROM I used to have was based on Samsung's stock Android (2.3.5), and did have this version of google talk.
How can I get this version on my phone?
Is it safe to install google talk from a backup created in my previous version onto CM7.1?

This version of google talk can be downloaded from http://goo-inside.me/gapps/.
The current version is gapps-gb-20110828-newtalk-signed.zip.
Details can be found in Rootzwiki at http://wiki.rootzwiki.com/index.php/Google_Apps#Google_Talk_with_Video.2FVoice_Chat


text:
Why can't I overclock a rooted Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 beyond the default maximum 528MHz?
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 running stock Donut (Android 1.6). I tried a couple of overclocking apps such as SetCPU and CPU Master, but none of them let me actually "over"-clock the CPU, because I can't set the maximum to be more than the default 528 MHz. I have read about speeds of 624 and/or 710 MHz possible with either the Galaxo custom ROM or GAOSP, but I want to achieve those kinds of speeds with stock Donut.
I've tried GAOSP b3 (Gingerbread) and Galaxo 1.6.3.4, but I prefer the feel of stock 1.6 (that's why I love my stock Nexus S running 2.3).
Is it possible to set the CPU speed beyond 528 MHz in my rooted Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500? How?

It is my understanding that some ROMs allow for Overclocking, whereas others dont. It depends on how the kernel is setup. I couldnt Overclock my Samsung galaxy s2 for example on the stock rom with it rooted. I could however once I installed Cyanogen. Perhaps that is the case.

Unfortunately, this is true. Galaxo is a modded version of the stock 1.6 with a kernel that allows for overclocking, whereas the original, stock 1.6 kernel doesn't. Thanks!

If you're using Donut you're using an older kernel, or perhaps the presets for your phone from autodetect don't include the desrired frequencies.  From SetCPU's manual:

In rare situations and in older kernels, and when SetCPU cannot get
  root access, SetCPU may not be able to autodetect the full range of
  speeds supported by the kernel. If this is the case, you can configure
  SetCPU to use custom frequencies. To get started, you'll need the list
  of frequencies your kernel can support in kHz (not MHz!).
Create a plain text file called “setcpu.txt” and place it on the root
  directory of your SD card or on your SD card's ext partition (/sdcard/
  or /system/sd/). The text files should sort the frequencies on one
  line by comma, from lowest to highest. For example, the following is a
  valid config file:
125000,250000,500000,550000,600000
To store the custom frequency list on your phone, save it as “setcpu”
  with no extension and put it in /data/. SetCPU reads from the SD card
  first and uses that text file if present, then tries to read from
  /data/.
To configure SetCPU to read your custom frequencies, go back to the
  device selection screen (in the Main tab, press Menu > Device
  Selection), choose “show other frequencies” if necessary, and choose
  the custom config option at the very bottom.

If you don't want to do that, you can also manually choose a different model of phone  that offers the frequencies you're looking to use instead of using auto detect.

Is that just a very elaborate way of saying RTFM? :-) Thanks for the tip - I'll certainly try this tonight!

The look and feel of CM7 is superior compared to most stock rom's. So if your reason for not switching from the stock rom is the look n feel, you wont be disappointed with CM7.
Get CM7 for your phone from cm.get, install it. Once done go to

Setting --> CyanogenMOD settings --> Performance --> CPU Settings --> Change Min Frequency

That is it, but be careful you can screw up your system, there are available governors, i suggest you use them.

The OP explicitly said they want to keep their current ROM, so telling them to use CM isn't helpful.

My reason for not switching from the stock ROM is that anything else isn't stock. I love original Android and I hate customisations such as TouchWiz and Sense or even third-party launchers. Besides, Cyanogenmod isn't available for the i7500 directly. That's what GAOSP is for - it's a port of CM for the i7500. I've already tried GAOSP (based on CM7/Gingerbread), and I wasn't happy with the feel.

@Logos I only suggested CM7 in case look and feel was the reason..
aalaap my bad did not have knowledge of that.


text:
Haptic feedback turns on only when I insert the jack... why?
My phone (Galaxy S II) is behaving in a rather strange way: haptive feedback seems not to work even when the battery is full, the "haptic feedback" checkbox is checked and the phone has been rebooted several times. The most strange thing is that haptic feedbeck turns on again when the earphones jack is plugged in(!) and turns off when I remove the jack. Is there any chance thant I will ever have my haptive feedback back unconditionally? Any suggestion? Thank you very much...

Do other vibrations work normally (e.g. notifications with vibrate)?


text:
Samsung Galaxy S plus is becoming unresponsive when locked
My samsung was working away perfectly yesterday and then was on my bedside locker when I tried to check the time the lock screen came up very faded almost its hard to describe but it was unresponsive otherwise e.g would not open would not turn off etc. so I pulled the battery (this may be bad for it I'm not sure) so I turned it on and it was working away fine but then I locked it and it became completely unresponsive, no lights nothing so I pulled the battery again and the same thing is happening.
Does anyone know whats causing this or a way to fix it. I'm hoping it's not serious as I just bought this 2 weeks ago!

can you please give more specific data, like OS using? Rooted or non-rooted? Custom lock app?

If you're using a custom lock app, it may be to blame.  Try reverting to the stock lockscreen.

Is it running a custom ROM?  If so, install another one.
If not, take it back/exchange it.

I would not think it's a custom rom as by the way he posted and described it, the OP would not know the first thing about custom roms, and also, it was bought two weeks ago...

@t0mm13b, hence the second sentence.  From what would I infer the person hasn't installed a custom ROM?  Is this something I should just ask in the comments?  I still think the answer could potentially be helpful to future visitors even if the asker hasn't installed a custom ROM.


text:
How can I set notifications for gmail on the new version of the gmail app (2.3.5.2)
I recently installed CM7.1 (stable version for SGS).  This has a new version of the gmail app (2.3.5.2).  Unlike previous versions, this has no control for notifications.  I like my mail to arrive silently, with nothing more than an icon in the notification bar.  Now, however, I have no visible option to turn off the notification for gmail.
Is there any way to disable notifications for the gmail app?

Actually, with 2.3.5.x version of Gmail app, Google added more notification options, although well hidden within the settings.  In the main screen of the Gmail app:

Press the Menu key, go to More -> Settings.
Tap on your Google account, scroll down to the Notification settings section and ensure the Email notifications option is enabled.
On the same screen, tap on the Labels to notify option.  Here "Inbox" and "Priority Inbox" are always listed, as well as any labels you've created on the Gmail's web interface.
For each label that you want to specify or change notification options, tap on the label, and in the pop-up window you will be able to select the following options:

Email notifications: whether or not to display the icon in the notification area when new e-mail comes in.
Ringtone: allows you to specify a custom ringtone, or set to "Silent" for none.
Vibrate: specifies options for when/if to also vibrate on new mail.
Notify once: when checked, will only display notifications (and sound/vibrate) once for new mail until you dismiss it, otherwise will notify for each new e-mail.

Tap OK button, exit out of the settings, and you should be all set.


text:
I have full service but all my messages refuse to send?
Yesterday I encountered a problem with my phone: I have full service and I can make phone calls, download, and use internet without a problem. I can also receive messages, but anytime I try to send it seems as if it doesn't even make an effort trying to send. It instantly says 'message not sent'. I have factory reset my phone 3 times since then.
I can't figure out what could cause this....its really frustrating...please help.

This sounds like your SMS settings are wrong. Most likely the SMSC (Short Message Service Center) number is not set. Check your settings with the one your provider/carrier tells you to set.


text:
Loop device possible on Android 2.1 Hero?
I'm trying to get Ubunto running on my Android after failing with Debian.
I couldn't mount the image. Now the Ubunto Tutorial says that the phone must support loop devices. How can I figure that out, or can anybody give my a yes or no? Thanks
EDIT: I already tried CM7, SalsaSense and some other one that looked very similar to CM7 but I forgot the name... CM7 extra stated that it supports loop devices but it fails on my hero. Could it be that there is some hardware issue that even the right ROM can't fix?

Trying it is how to find out :P if it doesn't you need to flash a kernel with support - which may or may not be available.

Hmm, I've heard it said CM specifically doesn't support loopback devices.  It definitely isn't a hardware issue though.  If I had a Hero I could probably help more, sorry

Any news here?
I have the same problem. If I try losetup I can see that there are loop devices in use so I would expect CM7 to support it. But whatever I do I can't make ubuntu to startup.


text:
French QWERTY keyboard for Nexus S
When using the French language the default virtual keyboard on the Nexus S use the AZERTY keyboard layout.
That might be fine in Europe but not in North America (e.g. Quebec) where everyone uses QWERTY keyboards.
How can we globally change the keyboard layout on the Nexus S ?

If your phone is rooted, it's possible to do this by modifying system files that govern the keyboard.  A much easier (and safer) way would be installing a 3rd-party keyboard replacement app that has a French QWERTY layout.
Out of keyboards I've personally used, I can recommend AnySoftKeyboard with French Language Pack. It includes both AZERTY and QWERTY (French-Canadian) layouts.


text:
What options exist when the vendor does not supply an ADB driver for an Android device?
I bought an Android phone and the vendor does not offer any drivers whatsoever. The Android SDK and the drivers that come with it don't seem to work with the device, but the device itself reports as Android 2.2.1.
Other users have reported that the drivers of the Nook Color worked for them, but I cannot confirm this, after trying.
What options do I have to connect to the device (and ultimately to root it)?
Is it truly just the .inf file that I need to manipulate in order to make the device ID known to Windows? After all there are tools to figure out those strings while the device is connected (although "unknown") ...
The model in question is a Simvalley SP-60 GPS.
Note:
The OS I need drivers for is either Windows 7 x64 or, if anyone has successfully done that, Windows XP 32bit (under VMware with the USB device connected to it).

I would try editing extras\google\usb_driver\android_winusb.inf in the Android SDK so that it recognizes your device.
The file should have a section like this that you can extend:
[Google.NTamd64]
; HTC Dream
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C01
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C02&MI_01
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0FFF

If you go into the Windows Device Manager and view the properties for your device, you should see the ID you need.  For example, my Vibrant says USB\VID_04E8&PID_681C under Device IDs and has 3 entries with that and &MI_00, &MI_02, and &MI_03 appended under Bus Relations.  I would therefore add this to the .inf file:
; Samsung Vibrant
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_04E8&PID_681C
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_04E8&PID_681C&MI_00
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_04E8&PID_681C&MI_02
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_04E8&PID_681C&MI_03

You should also reboot into the bootloader, recovery mode, etc. and see if that provides more IDs.  I know my Vibrant installs new drivers the first time it's connected in each mode, so likely there are more entries needed.
Then just update the driver and select this .inf file.  It will probably give you an error about Driver Signature Verification. Depending on your version of Windows there are different ways to temporarily disable that; here is a good guide for Windows 8 and 10. Once it's disabled, install the .inf file and you should be good to go.
I think once you've done that then the USB Mass Storage drivers and so on will be auto-installed when you mount the device to the PC, but if not you could probably extend this process for that.

Recently, Koush (the person behind clockworkmod) has deleveloped a UniversalADBDriver for Windows, which can be downloaded e.g. here. Read more e.g. in the AndroidPolice article A Universal ADB Driver For Windows That Actually Works on 8 and check ADBDriver.Com as an alternative source. See also Koush's original G+ post on this. Quoting:

For whatever reason, every phone manufacturer has their own adb driver, so I end up installing like 3-4 different drivers when I do my testing. It's a royal pain in the ass, and is also asking a lot of the end user of one of my apps to do this.
This driver should work on all Android phones for all versions of Windows. [1] It does not require that you turn on test signing or disable driver verification or even reboot. This is done by automatically installing ClockworkMod as a trusted certificate and publisher into the local machine's certificate store during the setup process.
[1] On Windows 8, after downloading, choose "More Info" then "Run anyway".

So if you don't want to play with source/configuration files yourself, you might want to give this a try.


text:
How to force Gmail/Android to request password every time for google account

Possible Duplicate:
Logout from Gmail on my device

I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace running Android 2.3.3. Is it possible to force Gmail or any google related apps to request my password everytime I open them?
I don't like how Android syncs with my account and the only way I can protect my phone is by setting up a screen pattern lock or pin, if I wanted to show my phone to people I can't without them able to fiddle around through my emails once its unlocked or if I leave it lying around before it locks.
IOS has something like that on iTunes or App Store where you always have to put in your password.

If you don't like how Android syncs with your Google account (a major selling point) why in the world did you get an Android?

@Al: lots of people make exactly the same decision because choice is extremely limited and it appears as the lesser of two evils. That doesn't mean people love the loss of privacy or control built into every Android device. If you need a smartphone, Android is obviously, hands-down the lesser evil. If your question is "why would you buy a smartphone at all?", than you're stepping onto a slippery slope: you could just as easily say "why would you like to use a phone?" because someone  e.g. doesn't like his phone company knowing who he talks to and what about...

It doesn't look like you can do anything natively except disconnect the account you're syncing with every time you're done checking your mail.
However, there are a number of app protect apps out there that let you put passwords on particular apps for just such a purpose.


text:
Enabling logcat in a ROM that has it disabled
I'm running Liquid Smooth 3.2 on my Motorola Droid 1.  This ROM comes with logcat disabled (/dev/log/main doesn't exist).  I tried starting the logcat service myself by adding the following to /etc/init.local.rc:
#start logcat service
service logcat /system/bin/logcat -f /dev/log/main
   oneshot

However, this didn't seem to work as /dev/log/main still doesn't exist on boot.  I'm getting...
$ logcat
logcat
Unable to open log device '/dev/log/main': No such file or directory

Does anyone know how to re-enable logcat in a ROM that has it disabled?

Looks like Franco's Kernel is another that doesn't let you use logcat. Is there any way around it for Franco's? https://www.facebook.com/franco.Kernel/posts/289634051051987

I figured it out.  It was the kernel that came with Liquid Smooth ROM.  The kernel developer, chevyno1 (of Simply Stunning MOD), disabled logging in the kernel.  I switched to a different kernel by JDLFG and logging immediately turned on with the next boot.

Switching kernels helps - in my case Goldenleaf works instead of the old Franco's.

The ROM might call "rm /dev/log/main" during init to cripple logcat. If you can find that line and remove it logcat should be happy.

Thanks for the hint!  I'll do some grepping and see if that's the issue.

Why would a rom do that?

@NoBugs There's a slight speedup if the OS isn't logging as it's running.


text:
My HTC Desire HD has been stolen. What data can still be accessed by the thief?
I have contacted the network and had the phone barred, I had applied a screen lock.  I am concerned however if the thief can still access all my numbers, texts, saved passwords and most importantly the pictures/videos of my daughter which were stored to the handset?  It terrifies me to think that some horror could access these for all kinds of use.

Since it is a Desire HD you should have "HTC Sense", if you log in via the web, I believe you can wipe data from the phone? As for what data (taking a stab here)... assuming they've gotten access, I guess any of the apps/sites you have already logged in. Also I assume anything on the SD Card is accessible (they can insert it into a computer and read the contents of the card)

If the data was not encrypted: everything.
The data on the removable SD-card can be easily accessed, just like a lost USB-Memory-Stick. The internal flash storage can also be read out via some, admittedly sophisticated but practical possible, approaches.
AFAIK no Data that you sync with the Google cloud is encrypted.
It's always wise to install some remote wipe tool, like pyko said. Even if they are not foolproof and can not provide a "secure delete" functionality, they provide some security and raise the bar to read out your data.
Hint: The AN.SX security tag provides some further related information for such cases.

Have you tried Plan B? You can install it from the market after you've lost your phone and use it to find it's current location.
For your next phone, I would recommend Cerberus - I reviewed a bunch of security apps, and it's definitely the clear winner.


text:
Is it possible to be connected to two different bluetooth devices at the same time?
I'd like to be able to send A2DP to my car stereo while at the same time sending phone calls to the speakerphone I have in my car.  I haven't bought the stereo adapter yet, since I wanted to find out if this setup would work, otherwise I would just try it. ;)
Thanks!

Are your car's stereo and speakerphone two different devices? In my car it's only one device using mutliple different bluetooth profiles at the same time. Of course, that works as expected.

Yes, I have a bluetooth speakerphone already, but I was thinking about buying a bluetooth adapter that could be connected to the aux in of my stereo for A2DP.

Ah ok. I would expect it to work but I didn't test it. And expectations are no answers ;)

Answer:
Yes, you can have multiple bluetooth devices connected to your phone.

App to manage your bluetooth devices
Additionally, you can use Smart Bluetooth Widget Pro by MDR Tools, Inc. available from Google Play Store to help you manage those devices:

This is a must have widget for your android if you have any bluetooth devices.
It adds a bluetooth icon to your home screen, and by just clicking on it, It will display you the list of paired devices and you can just click and connect to your bluetooth devices. No need to go to settings screen, turn the bluetooth on, and connect to your devices.
When you walk away from your bluetooth device, this widget not just cancels the bluetooth connection, It also turns off the bluetooth to save more from the battery.
You can also connect to multiple bluetooth devices at the same time.
You can connect to your speaker, and your headset at the same time.

There's also a free version Smart Bluetooth Widget Free.

Yes, it is possible.
However the limitation I found is that, output can only go to one bluetooth device connected, and not to all the bluetooth devices simultaneously.
For instance, Throw is a feature that came with Sony Xperia Z2, which manages connections to multiple Bluetooth devices and commands and gives options which connected device you might wanna send your output to.
Thus, you could have a bluetooth speaker, bluetooth headset and a bluetooth earbuds all connected to your phone, but you select which to 'Throw' the sound to at any point in time, and can switch in between seamlessly easily instantly.
My personal experience with Throw was nice.

Yes you can be connected to two or more bluetooth devices at the same time.  On android, you can specify that your car be used for call audio, while your stereo be used for media audio.  You accomplish this by going to the android device settings and adjusting the profiles used for each device.


text:
How do I lock my HTC whenever I want?
I have a HTC Wildfire S and set up the screen lock pattern for it. This triggers after some time but sometimes I want to lock it myself, for example if I leave the office and let my phone on the desk.
In Settings | Security | Lock phone after I can use the "Immediately" option but this closes every time the screen turns of.
Is there some way I can keep it to lock after some time as it is now but also lock it whenever I want?

You can press the power button or use program like Screen Off and Lock. The advantage of software lock is it will prevent wear and tear of your hardware button.

Try using Temporary Lock. It allows you to lock the phone on an as-needed basis. (There is a free trial.)

The setting you have mentioned there will work when you manually turn off the screen - on my HTC Desire it is pressing the power button.
With "Lock phone after" set to "Immediately" it will lock the phone once the screen turns off (manually or after timeout)
To set the screen timeout go to Settings | Display | Screen timeout and set it to however long you want the screen to stay on for until it automatically turns off.
The two timeouts work separately:

Screen timeout is for when the screen turns itself off (for the battery conscious)
Lock timeout for when the lock screen will be shown (for the security conscious)

For example, I have Screen timeout set to '2min', and Lock timeout set to 'Immediate'.  So if I leave my phone without touching it, 2 minutes later the screen will turn itself off. If I immediately turn the screen back on, I will be challenged with the lock screen.
If I keep Screen timeout as '2min' and change Lock timeout to '5min', then like before without using the phone, the screen will turn itself off in 2min. However if I immediately turn the screen back on, there will be no lock screen. Only after 5min of not using the phone will I be challenged with the lock screen when I turn the screen back on.

Won't that keep my screen on for the entire duration? (i.e. If I set the lock to 15 min and the screen timeout to 15 min, won't the screen stay on 15 min?). Won't that suck up my battery?

The two timeouts work separately - updated the answer with examples to make it clearer.

I have a Samsung S3 mini (Android 4.2.2). I prefer to lock the device manually. I also prefer to turn the display on and off manually without locking the device. To keep these functions separated, I made three configuration changes.

I set a long lock timer (15 minutes).
I set a long screen saver timer (10 minutes).
I installed a widget called Screen Off.

Touching Screen Off locks the device instantly. Pressing the power key turns the display off and on, but does not lock the device. The long timers eventually turn off and lock the device when I forget.

All you have to do is make sure that it is set to 'Immediately' and then when you turn your screen off (by pressing your phones power button once), the phone will lock at the same time - and the screen will still be off.

This should be possible using Tasker. While it might be a bit expensive if used for this one purpose only, there are so many other things you can solve with it, so it finally is definitly worth the money. A free trial is available at the dev's website.
But back to your question. I didn't try it out (yet), but basically it should work like this:
Tasks
You first need three tasks, to enable/disable/delayed_enable the lock:

Task "Activate_lock":

Display -> KeyGuard: On
Variable -> Variable Set -> Name: %MyLocker, To: 1

Task "Deactivate_lock":

Display -> Keyguard: Off
Variable -> Variable Set -> Name: %MyLocker, To: 0

Task "Delayed_lock":

Task -> Wait (configure the delay time here)
Display -> KeyGuard: On
Variable -> Variable Set -> Name: %MyLocker, To: 1

Profile
A single profile should take care for the automated locking:

Condition:

Variable -> Variable Value -> Name: %MyLocker, Op: "Math: Isn't equal", Value: 1
State -> Display -> Display State: Off

Task: Delayed_lock

Widgets
Tasker allows you to create widgets for tasks. So you create two of them: one for "Activate_lock", and one for "Deactivate_lock". Configure your system for immediate lock.
What will happen?

If you hit "Activate_lock", your screen will be locked. Unlock it and work as usual, and as soon as you turn your display off, it is locked again. This is the "immediate lock" you wanted.
If you hit the "Deactivate_lock", you get your present state back: Once you turn off your screen, both conditions of the profile are met -- and after the configured delay, keyguard (and thus the locking mechanism) is switched on again -- your screen is locked.


text:
How to install Android Market on HCL ME X1 tablet?
I bought an HCL ME X1 tablet one month ago. Its main drawback is that it does not support the Android Market and manually installing the Android Market's APK file does not seem to work either. It shows an error message like this:
the application Market(process com.android.vending)has stopped unexpectedly) please try again

How can I solve this problem so that I can use the Android Market on my device?

I think you can't. You most likely have bought an Android device without the Google API or do you have an "with Google (tm)" text printed somewhere on your device?

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/7983/how-to-install-android-market-app-manually

Here's a simple, step by step guide on how to install the Android Market on the HCL ME X1. It does not require rooting. http://dploy.in/2011/installing-android-market-on-the-hcl-me-x1-coby-kyros-mid7022-without-rooting/
Remember, the HCL ME X1 is nothing but the Coby Kyros MID7022 tablet renamed for the Indian market. So if you're looking for helpful resources on this tablet, you're better of googling around the MID7022 model.

awesome hint,i will try it to implement

From what I've read in the comments here, it sounds like you may need to root the device before you will be able to use the Android Market on it. The page I linked includes instructions on how to do so.

It is possible to install android market. Just install the old market app after rooting and superuser install. However some apps may not get installed due to compatabiliy issues. Aptoide and 1Mobile market do a good job if u don't want to trouble yourself.

To install android market in your HCL Me tablet, you need to have adb installed and configured on your system(Linux).
If you are in windows, you need to have necessary drivers for your device.
To install market, follow the steps.
1.Connect your device using USB cable.
2.Open terminal and type “adb devices” and confirm that your device recognized on adb.
3.Download latest Android Market, from here . Or you can download latest g-apps zip.
4.Extract the contents (apps will be at folder system/app/Vending.apk).
5. adb push /system/app/Vending.apk (This will copy market apk file to your device)
6. Reboot.
Done!. Login with your gmail account to get market access.
If your device don’t have any other google standard apps (like gtalk), copy the necessary file from the g-app zip file to /system/app folder on your device.
More details here


text:
US Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet in India - mobile data
I bought Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 32GB from US andI am now in India. I have a vodafone 2G SIM. How can I connect this to my Thinkpad?
And I have a M blaze data card. Can this be connected to the thinkpad ?

If the SIM card doesn't work out of the box in your TPT, it's very likely that your US tablet is not compatible with the mobile communication standards used in India. What happens if you put the SIM in the TPT?
Mobile data USB sticks can't be used with the TPT, afaik.

You may need to manually specify the network and/or APNs in Settings->Wireless and network->Mobile networks->Access Point Names - vodafone's tech support for vodafone should be able to provide these for you.  I have to do this when I use my WIND Mobile SIM card in Canada on my phone.


text:
Kies: Firmware can not be upgraded?

Possible Duplicate:
Samsung Kies: 'This version of the device can not be updated'. Never?

Have Galaxy SL (GT I9003). Had given mobile to Samsung service center for upgrade to Android 2.3, stupids installed Android 2.2 (Froyo) again. And now my Kies, give message that
"This Firmware can not be updated". Is it because of wrong Kies version or the issue is with OS install itself?
Any solutions to this?

Kies can and do say that which is quite annoying, due to different regions and the roll outs, some go by carriers as in comes with carrier branding, others by actual region. Its frustrating - I know! :D
Go to samfirmware, and use odin to flash it yourself if that's what you want to do.
Don't trust Kies in respect to flashing. :) The necessary tools are available on that site if you want to go down the unofficial route.
If you're on Linux, use Heimdall which is a lot more safer than Kies and is cross-platform friendly.
The onus is on you to read, read, research and more reading if you want to do this by yourself :)
Caveat Emptor: No virtual machines (virtualbox/vmware) with windows running Kies in there - otherwise your handset is a nice paperweight!

See this previous question Samsung Kies: 'This version of the device can not be updated'. This message means that there is no upgrade currently available via Kies for your device.
Even if an upgrade has been released for your model in some countries, or even in your country on other phone networks, it still needs to be checked and authorised by your phone network before it will appear as an available upgrade in Kies.

If you can find a 2.3 image that you know works on the device, you could use Heimdall to put it on the device.
This would come with the reasonable assumption that if you do this, your warranty is toast.


text:
Forward MMS via EMail
I've send someone a pretty long MMS (just text) but he wasn't able to receive. Is there a way to retransmit via EMail. E.g. copy the whole text and paste it into an email instead?
Thanks.

I think so.
Find the message you sent in the "Messaging" app.
Long-press on it.
Choose "Copy message text".
Now run the mail app, compose an email, and in the body of the message, long-press, and choose "Paste" from the pop-up menu.

Problem is, that I don't have the option "Copy message text". Using stock android 2.3.3 from Samsung with Samsung Galaxy S I9000 as device.

Incomprehensibly, some stock SMS apps don't have this option. You might have to resort to temporarily installing a 3rd party SMS app like Go SMS Pro long enough to do what you need.


text:
How do I turn off my phone?
This might be a dumb question but found some links online which just look dangerous so I better ask.
I have a HTC Wildfire S. How can I turn it off? Is just removing the battery safe?
I want to shut down before I remove the batery. Is there a way to do that?

Try pressing and holding the Power button.  This should bring up a dialog box with several options, once of them being to turn off the phone.

Doh... Why didn't I think of that. It worked! I have 3 options: power off, restart and airplane mode. Thanks!


text:
How can I make 1Password for Android log in with the built in browser?
I have a Droid X and have just installed 1Password. I like that I can take my passwords with em and log into websites via the phone, but it seems to only use the 1Password built in browser, which does not zoom very well and is kind of buggy.
Is it possible to log into sites with the built in browser or is this just a limitation of the 1Password software? If so it's an annoying shortcoming.

All the screenshots of this software show it using a PIN code, but since I synced it with Dropbox it's asking me to put in the same long password that I use on the computer. Is that normal or can I use a shorter pin code on the phone?

The stock browser has no plug-in functionality. Until it's added you will likely never see 1password/lastpass integration in the stock browser.
Speaking of the lastpass: It's similar to 1password and uses dolphin's plug-in system very well.

Tap the yellow "Autologin" button to have 1Password take you to the web site and fill the login form.
To use only a PIN, adjust 1Password's security settings: bring up the application's options and tap More > Application Preferences > Application Protection, then tick the "Use PIN Code" box.


text:
iOS on Android devices
I am looking for a way to run Apple apps on my Android Honeycomb device, without rooting if possible.
Whether an iOS emulator or an app, or whatever...as long as I can go to the Apple App Store, download/install/run the app right from my Android device.

Well, it turns out that running iOS apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook has been done, so I have to take back my conclusion here; it may well be done on Android also.  The PlayBook does have really good support for native apps and the C/C++ toolchain1, so that may be a factor here, but kudos to that guy for doing so much work porting the Objective-C libraries.
1I work for RIM, so feel free to take that with a grain of salt.

Unlike Android, (most) iOS apps are written in Objective C and compiled for the device; they're not something portable like Java.  In other words, running an iOS app on Android requires:

Writing an abstraction layer to take advantage of the Android device's hardware and emulating the rest of the iOS device's hardware
A fast enough processor, enough memory, etc. to do the above
Porting all of iOS's library and system functions usable by apps to Android
Working around the Apple App Store's DRM

The problems with this are many:

It would be an incredible amount of work
Apple hasn't open sourced anything.  How are you supposed to port their code?  The hardware can be reverse engineered but that's also quite difficult.
I highly doubt any current Android device could support something like this, much less run the iOS apps at a usable speed.
Working around the DRM may not be possible.  I would assume it's hardware-dependent and so the emulation costs there would be high if it was even feasible.

Sorry, this isn't possible. iOS apps can only be run on iOS devices or under the simulator on OS X.


text:
How can I turn off Notification Sounds and leave phone sounds on
How can I turn off the annoying Notification sounds but still leave phone ringer on?

Not sure what version of android you have, or if this is different between versions, but in the settings there is the option to Not Use Call volume for notifications. If you uncheck that, you get a volume slider for notifications.

Audio Manager lets you control this, it's what I use.

I have Android 5.1 - and after googling/browsing this question, found there is a 'None' setting for default notification sound.
Settings, Sound & notification, Settings icon (Cog symbol right of General Ring), Default notification sound, scroll up to the first, select 'None', OK - job done.


text:
android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly
After updating Android I got this error. During update android asked me to move some of app to sd card as there were not enough space for update. I moved some and after update and restart I can't enter contacts. When I press green button for calls (enter contacts) it shows error: android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly
I'm using HTC Cha Cha.
I try t reboot phone, to put battery out and back. Finally I try restore phone to factory settings by removing all apps and data.
And I still have this error - android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly
Can you please tell me how to fix it without taking phone to service.
Phone is brought from US to EU, so I would need to pay service if I can't fix it myself.

Updated my ChaCha yesterday to 2.3.5 and I have the same problem :( Via a workaround I can still call: Call History. Updates should make things better, not worse!

I would try a factory reset.

Factory reset didn't help... Any more ideas? Is it possible to revert to the previous htc version?

I updated my HTC ChaCha over the air (OTA) to 2.3.5 two days ago.
Identical issue. Keep getting same error whenever I press the green call button or a number to start dialing or attempt to start the "Phone" app.
I don't have a "Contacts" app any more.
I believe the issue is in an app called "Dialer" because that's what displays when I tell my phone to report the issue to HTC.
Work around:

use the favourites (people) widget that comes, by default, on the second screen. Press the right arrow and you'll go to your contacts list. From there you can call your contacts - or add new contacts and call them.

Note that the phone does receive calls okay.
This is an outrageous bug. The software update should NEVER have been pushed.
Additional issue in 2.3.5: the initial boot up "Enter PIN" screen isn't sized correctly for the ChaCha - there are some white line dots at the top of that screen - presumably the bottom of the text saying "Enter PIN" - but all you see is the text input field and the "OK"/"Cancel" buttons. Also it seems this phone requires a SIM PIN even when none is set. Further - if you type your PIN wrong 3 times it doesn't tell you that it is expecting the PUK.
I think HTC have got serious issues when it comes to software development. I wish CyanogenMod was available for the HTC ChaCha - because it was the ONLY way I could use my HTC Desire Z (default HTC software for that had show-stopping issues, too).

You can try these instructions from XDA:

WARNING!: This will wipe contacts. It seems acore fc's when there are
  corrupted contacts. Usually by restoring contacts on an incompatible
  ROM.... And will temporarily wipe market list. So backup your
  contacts!
Step by step:

Make sure Sync is off, leave it off for some time!
Go into settings
Select Applications
Select Manage Applications
(If you are on 2.2) Select the All tab
Scroll down until you find Contacts Storage (select it).
Wipe data+clear cache(If available)
Hit back
Scroll down until you find Google Services Framework (select it)
Wipe data+clear cache (if available)
Reboot and enjoy
(optional) Enable Sync again Enable sync again when your convinced that the error has gone.

Can you outline the information contained there?  If the link goes dead, this answer (as-is) will be useless.

i have those problems and do that things , nothing changed


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Where does Google Music store offline songs?
I have a song I want to use for a ringtone, but the Google Music app doesn't let me set it.  I've checked on my sdcard/internal storage for a music/google/gmusic etc folder but can't find anything.
Where is the music file stored on my phone?

See "Where does Google Play Music v5 store music locally?" for the location of the new Google Music version.

The Google Music Apps cache is at
/<external_SD>/Android/data/com.google.android.music/cache/music

which is usually
/sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.music/cache/music

Is it possible that this folder is only readable on a rooted device? On my (unrooted) Nexus 4, using Astro File Manager, both the /cache and /files subfolders appear "EMPTY", even with "Show hidden files" enabled. (And I have quite a few songs available offline/"on device" within Google Play Music.)

I assume that this has to do something with the multi-user feature and new sdcard layout of Android 4.2. You can read more about it here and here. tl;dr try looking at /sdcard/0/... or /sdcard/<userid>/...

Well, maybe... but I have neither of those folders you mention. If I search the entire device for music/mp3 files (using Astro FM) the only files found are files I have manually copied onto the device. None of my "offline" (Google Play Music) music is found. Using the DiskUsage app I can see a large continuous data block in Apps/Google Play Music/ which appears to relate to my "offline" music (the size increases as I store more offline) - but there are no individual files as far as I can see.

It is actually in /data/data/com.google.android.music/files/music.
You might need root to access this. The songs are titled just by numbers so it might be a pain to find the right ones. This is from a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S4 rooted stock ROM NAE Android 4.4.2.

I use Bluetooth File Transfer and have found the files in
/storage/extSdCard/Android/data/com.google.android.music/files/music

I'm running Android 4.4.2 on a Galaxy S5 (not rooted) and the Play Music app is v5.7.1788Q.1634597


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Can't sync my new Nexus S to Google Calendar
First-time smartphone owner. I unboxed my new Nexus S and added my gmail account to it. So far, so good -- it sync'd my contacts perfectly.
But I'd never used Google Calendar (and in retrospect I think that's crucial).
So I signed on via my computer, went to Calendar, and set up a calendar with two events (one repeating, one not).
Then I went back to my phone and I find that in the calendar app I have no calendars. There are no events showing and I can't add events ("You have no calendars."). Moreover, in the Accounts & sync settings, under my gmail account, there is no Calendar item, just Books, Contacts, gmail.
I've waved every dead chicken I've heard of at this one, to no avail. The list of sync items won't grow a "Sync Calendar" item. To wit:
1) Obvious first choice, I thought. Power off the phone, power back on. Nope.
2) Read the FAQ Google Support FAQ
2a) Turned the auto sync off and on. Nope
2b) No notifications.
2c) Don't have a 2-step authentication.
2d) Cleared Calendar Storage data, power off, power back on. Nope.
3) Power off the phone, change my gmail password via web, power back on, re-authenticate. Nope.
4) Go to Accounts & sync, create a new google account, create a calendar in it, power down the phone, power back on. The new account has a Sync Calendar item that works, but not my real gmail account.
5) Go to Applications, all, and delete the data for "all the Google apps", power down the phone, power on. Nope. A caveat on this one, I don't know exactly what "all" means, so I hit Calendar & its storage again, Books, Contacts, gmail, everything whose name began with Google,...
see: Related Question
Ok, different device, but otherwise the description seemed a close match. Nope.
So...
Any other suggestions?

Have you tried setting up the Google Calendar from your computer first? I don't think it can be done from the device. Once it is set up it should sync to the phone. Those events you created are probably just in the phone calendar and not the Google calendar because you don't yet have a Google calendar.

Is it a Google Apps account?  If so, you need to flick some settings in the domain manager: Settings->Calendar->Share all information and/or Share all information, and outsiders can change calendars.
Have you tried going into the calendar settings and checking `Share this calendar with others'?
Wait a while.  Google Calendar settings changes often take a while to propagate, I've found (at least with Google Apps).  Possibly because the server I'm making my changes on is different from the server that my phone is hitting up.

#3 seems to be the winner. This morning the Sync Calendar item is there, as are the items I'd added via the web.
I've no way of knowing whether any of the actions I took had any benefit, it could be just the passage of time to cause the newly created calendar in my Google account to get noticed.


text:
Android App to read current time out loud?
I am looking for an Android app that would read out loud the current time. For example if I'm in bed and don't want to open my eyes, I would just press a button or something, and it would read "It is now six thirty four".
Does anyone know about an app that does that?

There's a rather large number of Speaking Clock Apps in the Android Marketplace.
Specifically, the "Speaking Clock" app seems to do what you're after, and it's free.


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Application ROM Manager is uninstalled, but market wants to update it every day
I uninstalled ROM Manager. Since I did so, I've received daily notifications from the Market saying there's an update.
I've logged into the market via the desktop browser and ROM manager is not listed as an installed application. (Though many I have uninstalled ages ago are listed, but that's another matter).
The notifications are annoying. How can I kill ROM Manager once and for all?
HTC Desire running Cyanogenmod7

How did you uninstall it? AFAIK it's a system app in CM7, so if you used the Market or your phone's Settings it only uninstalled the updates.

I'm echoing what @eldareathis said, I'm pretty sure ROM Manager is a System app and you only uninstalled the updates to it.

ROM Manager shouldn't be a required Systems app to run CyanogenMod.  Take a look at the steps over here to remove a system app from your phone: http://oldwiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/Barebones
Something like:
adb remount
adb shell rm -f /system/app/RomManager.apk

ROM Manager is a system app on CM6 as well. It's not required (Replicant removes it).

I'm not sure why one would want to remove ROM Manager since it alerts you of OS (CM) updates and lets you backup your current ROM, but to each their own.

@BryanDenny: It's kind of useless if you don't use ClockworkMod recovery, IMHO (I use TeamWin's recovery, for example). Don't you also need the pro/premium version to get CM push updates? I thought that was how it worked at one point, but that could have changed.

@eldarerathis oh, you may be right. I have the premium version, so I forgot about that

ROM manager is also not Free Software, which is why Replicant removes it. The point is there are reasons.

Why? "HTC Desire". I constantly have no more space on the phone. I need to remove all but the essentials.


text:
Downloading a .ics file from a url without opening the browser?
Ok, this is a little complicated.
My uni allows my academic calendar to be downloaded as an ics file from a particular url that is specific to my calendar.
I have downloaded ICS Bot which transfers ics files into google calendar so I can view it on my HTC Sensation in a calendar.
If I download the .ics file and then the calendar's events change I will not have the up to date events. Therefore I need to regularly update the calendar myself by downloading the updated .ics file from the url.
I want an app/a single button that can download my .ics file without me having to open my browser, go to the page displaying my link and then clicking save as to get the new calendar.
Is there a way to do this???
Many many thanks.
EDIT I found some interesting discussions but I have no clue how to get a app from code:
http://www.helloandroid.com/tutorials/how-download-fileimage-url-your-device
http://androidforums.com/developer-101/166103-downloading-file-url-caching-android.html

I'm guessing that this other question is a generic version of this one. True? If so, I'd suggest deleting the other question. There's probably not enough information there to get good answers.

Could you not go to https://www.google.com/calendar/ and add the .ics as a calendar there?  Any calendar on the web app can be synced to your phone's Google Calendar

Go to http://www.google.com/calendar (on a desktop computer) and login with the same gmail as your phone.
On the left hand side bar there is "Other Calendars".  Click the drop down to the right of that, then choose "Add by URL".
In the modal dialog, enter the URL of the .ics calendar file.  Then click Add Calendar.
Now open Google Calendar app on your phone. Hit the menu button --> More --> Calendars.  You should see the email you just added under your gmail account.  Enable syncing for it and then hit OK.  You should now have the most up to date copy of that calendar on your phone.

Bryan, thanks for your answer. I did do what you suggested but google calendar is very slow at syncing or doesn't sync at all as evidenced by this: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Calendar/thread?tid=7c6b4213a42e6923&hl=en&start=80 Is there a way to sync with google calendar more often?

@helpplease I'm not sure, I haven't had syncing problems with the other calendars I have on my phone. From your launcher screen, hit  menu, go to settings, go to accounts & sync, and make sure background data and auto-sync are enable.  Then click on your gmail account and make sure "Sync Calendar" is enabled. That should be all that is required to auto-sync a calendar

@helpplease You can always force a sync by going to Settings -> Accounts and sync -> Google account -> Sync now

Maybe ICSSync would be a better option for you:

ICSSync is an Android app for syncing calendars between an Android device and an ICS file (iCalendar) on a FTP/WebDAV server (plain WebDAV or SVN) or stored in a file (e.g. your Dropbox-folder).

So you can keep your calendar entries up-to-date automatically. Alternative candidates exist as well in the Playstore, e.g. CalendarSync (a bit expensive with ~ USD 10), or CalDAV Sync (~ USD 3).


text:
How can I save a file rather than open it?
I want to change a URL somehow so that it prompts my HTC Sensation to save the file rather than open it.
Is this possible?

What kind of file is it?

Also: if it is a download (and your device already downloaded it), it does save it to the /sdcard/download/ folder on your SD card

I take it that you want to download some media (e.g. .mp3, .wav, .jpg) from a link, which for certain sites will try to open via browser.
Try long-pressing on the link for the menu, then select 'Save Link'. It will then save the content to /sdcard/download as  Bryan Denny♦ commented.

It needs to do both usually. Your [default] browser will download a file to the /sdcard/download/ folder (as Brian Denny pointed out) and then open it from there. It can open it directly from the browser, but it will also be stored on your device.


text:
Is Android based upon Linux?
Is Android based upon Linux?

Yes, here is the source code download and what you need to use it.
http://source.android.com/download

And the license agreement: http://source.android.com/license
Home Page: http://www.android.com/
The wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android%5F%28operating%5Fsystem%29

From the wiki:

At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel which they marketed to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.

The short answer is Yes.
The longer answer is... Android uses a modified Linux kernel to run the basic operating system functions.  However, Android does not use the same libraries that you would see in a typical desktop Linux system (basic libraries such as glibc), so you can't just run any program on Android that you can on other Linux systems.  Besides the fact that some of the libraries are different, Android does not provide a very easy way of running applications that are not build on their Java-like API they call the "Andoird Platform"

Sorry, this might be nitpicking.  That "Java-like API" is called Dalvik.

Actually Dalvik is the runtime that executes the Java-like code, similar to the Sun JRE.  The API is the set of libraries that allow you to interact with the Andorid system.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalvik_virtual_machine)

Whats the Andoird Platform? xD

Android was developed on the Embedded Linux Kernel 2.6. "Embedded" is the keyword here. It's the exact same kernel that OpenMoko used, WebOS used, Meego used, and thousands of other embedded linux based projects also used. And as HeavyD already said, do not expect to find the same software stack on an Embedded Linux system that you'd normally expect to find on what you'd consider a normal PC (or even a server rack).

Yes!
It helps to talk about "Android the platform" and "Android the OS"

Android the Operating system: This is Linux. It runs the Linux kernel so it very much is Linux. The standard libraries are a little different and you as a user or developer of an Android app won't have anything to do with this "linuxey" side of things*.
Android the Platform: This is a Java-based-desktop platform that you can write applications for. It uses the Dalvik** VM to run specially packaged Java jar files containing your code. This is the part of the Android phone you see and interact with every day*

*Unless you root your device, then you have access to everything.
**Dalvik is also a cute little 'town' in Iceland with some great glaciers, two ferries to wonderful islands and no good coffee bar.

Yes Android made the choice to use Linux primarily for the security features...
This is the bright feature of Linux and one of the major reason for android to chose Linux . Linux has a great part in scientific research,high performance system like mainframe computers and super computers system to perform the critical task efficiently.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


text:
Huawei ideos s7 slim Honeycomb update - is it possible somehow?
I got this new tablet and I have to write an application which live streams video. I know that since 3.1 this is natively supported on Android. Since the s7 is a tablet I think that there should be some way to update its 2.2 to 3.1. Is there a way to do this? Little hint where to start looking? Cyanogen doesn't have anything for s7.

CyanogenMod doesn't have a Honeycomb-based version, anyway. Related: How do I update the OS in my device? and When will my device get the Android 3.x update (Honeycomb)?.

XDA has nothing except for some attempts at getting Gingerbread on it.
I would expect you're out of luck since Honeycomb wasn't open-source, and porting was therefore very difficult.  It's possible that someone will mod CM9 (Android 4.0) to run on it, so I would wait and see.


text:
Failed to update HTC Desire S to latest firmware with Android 2.3.5
My phone configuration is:

Model HTC Desire S
Android 2.3.3
HTC Sense 2.1
Build number 1.47.401.4

Today I've got notification that an update is available for my phone with:

HTC Sence 3.0
Android 2.3.5

I've downloaded the update and started it. My phone rebooted, then for several seconds I saw green icon showing that update is going. After that I've received the red exclamation mark icon. I've triggered the recover console and saw the following:
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Copying fotaBoot to /data/system for customize reload...
Verifying current system...
assert failed: apply_patch_check ("/system/app/EReader.apk", "5f3c2be955e09...", "c4071fc9ffc21...")
E:Error in /sdcard/download/OTA_Saga_S_HTC_Europe_2.10.401.8-1.47.401.4_release_225210fmxlt12djw1sr7y5.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

As far as I understood from the log, the CRC failed for the EReader.apk. Does that mean that the updated downloaded incorrectly? Or maybe there are some issues with my phone?
Can someone, please, help me with this issue:

Should I forget about this update and wait for the next one?
Is it the bug in the system or in my phone?
Can I somehow (without rooting the device) overcome the problem and install the update?
Any other thoughts are welcome. Thank you.

Mostly likely the update over the air downloaded the wrong archive, which failed to automatically install. In addition to that I found on several forums that the phone had many broken stuff after such update. Therefore I've decided to update it manually.
I've downloaded the zip archive with latest official firmware, put it on my sdcard, rebooted the phone into recover console. It automatically found my zip archive and the phone was updated. Everything works fine now.
The complete instructions together with latest firmware can be found here (Russian language): http://www.youhtc.ru/forum/showthread.php?p=304305&posted=1#post304305
I've translated them in short below:

Download the zip archive with RUU_Saga_S_HTC_Europe_2.10.401.8_Radio_20.4801.30. 0822U_3822.10.08.04_M_release_225161_signed.exe from here
Rename the zip archive to PG88IMG.zip and put it in the root directory on sd card
Power off the phone
Press volume-down button and then power button.
The recovery console will pop up. The phone will automatically find the zip file and check it. It will ask you to confirm the update. If you're OK with that, the phone will be updated.

I believe your downloaded update file is broken somehow.
Further notice:!! manual operations always have the risk to brick your phone. So be careful, and remember I take no responsibility.
You can manually update with rom update utility (RUU). RUU is a PC program that updates your phone through usb connection.
You should backup all your information first.
And you can find the released ruu list here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1002506
As of know, latest seems to be RUU_Saga_S_HTC_Europe_2.10.401.8

Thanks for reply. Do I need to root my phone or make any other changes to it to manually update with RUU?

Sorry for the late comment, you don't have to root your phone. Here is another post about what you are looking for: http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-update-your-htc-desire-s-to-android-2-3-5-gingerbread-37319/


text:
What is USB debugging? Can I keep it ON forever?
Sometimes I need to transfer some music from my PC to my Galaxy S2 and must always activate USB debugging. Then I think, can I keep it ON forever? I mean, Keep it ON for ever can give me a problem (cost battery?) ? And what's USB debugging?

How does USB debugging affect transferring music? Can't you still select "Select to copy files to/from your computer." from the notification bar?

Enabling USB debugging essentially starts up the adb daemon on your device, which allows it to communicate with adb on another device to enable debugging commands. It's used when developing and debugging applications, and allows you (primarily) to:

Transfer data between a computer and your device (both ways)
Read log data easily from logcat
Debug applications, including breakpoints and heap monitoring
Install and uninstall applications
Access a stripped-down shell on the device, for command-line interaction.

Leaving it enabled all the time will have a negligible impact on battery, if any at all. Some other things to consider about leaving it on (or not):

PRO: If your device has a hardware problem that prevents you from accessing the screen, USB debugging could be helpful in recovering data (especially on a rooted device).
PRO: You can install applications, reboot your device, and generally do some other convenient things without having to actually interact with your device physically, even with the screen locked/off.
PRO: On a rooted device it may be possible to regain entry if you have forgotten the screen lock password/pin/pattern (also a potential CON, see below).
PRO: You can take advantage of port forwarding over USB debugging to use tethering apps like PDANet (I believe that's how it's implemented since it does require it).
CON: If your device is lost or stolen, an unscrupulous individual could attempt to steal data from the device regardless of whether or not you've got a screen lock. If you're rooted, they can get pretty much everything.
CON: I recall reading that some devices can have trouble with accessing the SD card as a mass storage device when USB debugging is enabled. I've personally never seen this issue, but I have seen people allege that it was a problem.

See also: Using Hardware Devices from the Android SDK documentation which discusses debugging applications on physical devices (rather than the emulator). There is also a documentation page regarding the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) which explains its purpose and its commands.

If you were to charge off of an untrusted "charging station" (via USB, not mains), you would want to turn USB Debugging off. What you think is just power could be a full data connection.

One more cons: Malicious apps can damage system easily..

To make one of eldarerathis' cons less critical:
One could use Tasker or Locale together with the Secure Settings plugin to automatically toggle USB Debugging on for safe locations (based e.g. on cell towers, network/GPS location, WiFi networks connected or in reach), and toggle it off (exit-task with Tasker) when leaving such. With a NFC tag and the Locale NFC Plugin it could also be switched it on/off on demand.
All that even without touching the screen -- so it would work even if the screen is broken. And that "unscrupulous individual" then would have to be in your "safe location" or have your tag, and must know those circumstances -- which is much less risky.
If your device does not belong to that small group having trouble mounting their storage with USB Debugging turned on, this would leave almost no "Con" then.

The biggest downside is not being able to mount it as a mass storage device when you plug it into the computer.  With it turned on it will always assume you want to debug the device.  You really only need it turned on if you are developing software for the phone or plan on using adb with your phone.  The adb program is only available through the Android SDK so its not something average users need.  That being said I keep my turned on all the time, but that's only for connivence for doing Android development because I do that more often that use it as a mass storage.  You mileage may vary.

I never had any issues with my devices not being able to mount as UMS with USB Debugging turned on. Also, adb can be installed without the full SDK (see Is there a minimal installation of ADB?) and prove useful to non-developers, e.g. for creating a Full Backup of non-rooted devices with Android 4.0+.

You don't have need to keep debugging always on. In some devices it affects the charging of battery.  When debugging is kept on, the charging speed becomes very   low....  it'll take more than 5 hours to full charge.... if you have such problem then keep off usb debugging, ON it only when you need......

I've never heard of devices having such a problem. Is there somewhere I can read more about this?


text:
Create a custom keyboard dictionary
Is it possible to use custom dictionary with the default Android keyboard? I guess the words are stored in some file, so I would like to edit it.
The goal is to create Macedonian auto-completion because there is no other way to achieve this.

Not 100% sure, but Smartkeyboard Pro (2-3 Euro) and MultiLingual keyboard both have Macddonian layouts and remember new words. You can teach them while typing, if this is any good for you.
The market shows a few Macedonian specific keyboards, but I assume you have tried this already.


text:
Are Exchange server policies permanent?
My company support Android on their Exchange server, but they have policies (lockout, and password policies) that get applied to my phone. Are these permanent, or can they be removed later if I stop using the service?

No, they are not. For as long as you have the account registered in your email app, the policies are applied, however, if you remove the email account then the policies will no-longer be enforced.
The app is given a "device administrator" status (you can see any apps which have this in "Security" in your settings), and you can revoke that at any time. Revoking it, will of course, cause your email to stop working.


text:
Upgrading Galaxy i7500 to OS 2.x
I have a Samsung Galaxy i7500. The OS version is 1.5, and I believe Samsung did not publish any updates (other than a 1.6 (Donut) in one country).
Is there any way to upgrade my phone to Android 2.x?
There's gaosp. but the warning "Don't complain if your phone doesn't boot up!" is a bit disenchanting.

I'm afraid that's probably your only option. Older Android phones are put out to pasture pretty readily.

@AlEverett that's what I fear as well. It wouldn't be so bad, except that most apps require 2.x to work.

GAOSP is your only option. It's in beta 3, so it's a pretty sure bet.


text:
Galaxy Nexus, playlists not showing up in other apps
I have an jogging app, which reads playlists from the normal content resolver. (Media.AudioStore.Playlist.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI)
On my old phone (HTC Desire) the playlists showed up when I queried this resolver, but now on ICS, they do not. I'm getting Albums ok, just no playlists. I've been banging my head against this for a few evenings now. Any ideas?

Your issue briefly came up in this answer, actually: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/15045/where-and-how-does-android-store-music-playlists/15050#15050 Sounds like it might be the same thing happening here.

Ok that's interesting. I'll have a poke around in the database.

I also hit this issue. I even went as far as downloading the ICS source code. It would seem that the music app on the Nexus is "Google Music", whereas the old music player is "Android Music". The old one is actually included in the source code, but it is not installed as part of the standard image. I actually compiled the old one, and installed it, and when I created playlists there, they were visible to other apps.
I suspect that because "Google Music" can do much more - cloud storage, music store etc. this means that it stores playlists differently. For example, an external app wouldn't know what to do with a playlist which included content which needed to be streamed from Google Music (and probably wouldn't be able to access the service.
I think Google are changing the strategy in the APIs. They now want you to use music controls to play the music in its default player. This makes some sense, but makes it very difficult to support apps which work in <3.0 and >3.0, and will probably become more complicated as more people manually download Google Music.

Ah yes. It's not entirely clear that the Music app is different. It seems that they've broken a standard API.


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Android 2.2 Galaxy S SGH-T959 kernel update with netfilter
I can't seem to find a kernel update for this phone that would include netfilter. Does anyone know a different way to install netfilter on this phone?

I think the i9000 kernel has iptables/netfilter ... you might want to try one of the ROMs ported from i9000 to the Vibrant.

The CyanogenMod aftermarket firmware supports netfilter.
You can follow the instructions from CyanogenMod's full update guide for the SGH-959/Samsung Vibrant to install CM7/9/10 (downloads for the vibrantmtd are here).


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Connecting Android to Windows 7 fails
My Windows 7 doesn't recognize my android phone. HTC Wildfire S
Are there any updates of drivers that I need?
If I use VMWare it works properly here's what it showed in VMWare.

But here's what happens in device manager on my windows 7 on the same computer

Please help!! I've installed HTC Sync and tried connecting, my phone and the PC fails to connect. Help!!!

Have you choosen that windows will look online for drivers?

Thanks for all answers, but my case was a very unusual case. I tried everything but It didn't work. I reinstalled windows. It works now.

Whenever I have problems with installing an Android device's drivers, I install PDANet.
PDANet is a desktop tethering app, but that isn't why I install it.  PDANet comes bundled with phone drivers for all of the major phone manufacturers.  Once you have installed the drivers, you can then uninstall PDANet (and it will keep the drivers).

PDANet is not even passing the installation of the Android Driver. It cannot even find my phone.

@Mob Not sure what else to suggest, PDANet has always fixed driver issues for me.  Did you try uninstalling what is installed already in the device manager first, then install PDANet (and drivers), then plug in phone?

You might want to try modifying the Android SDK driver's .inf file to allow the drivers to be used for your device.  I have instructions in another answer here.