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Prestigio PSP5457DUO Android 4.2.2 does not connect to my academic network
In my university, I have a free internet WiFi access with eduroam system. However (double-checked the login and password already) I can not connect to the network with my phone :(
All the security parameters are fine (my Asus laptop connects with no problem).
When I had a Samsung phone, I was able to connect. I had to sell it, and now ended up with Prestigio. However, I can connect with other WiFi networks around using my phone. What might be the problem here?

This is something you should ask the IT support people at your university about. Most mysterious problems like this are caused by security settings on the Wi-Fi network itself. Probably it is MAC-filtered, so only devices that have been registered with the network administrators are able to connect. You might have forgotten registering your previous phone if you've had it for a long time.

I threw out this phone a long time ago, it was a piece of garbage. But thank you anyway :)

It is possible that your device doesn't support the encryption and authentication methods that eduroam uses. While normal WPA2 encrypted WiFis use TKIP encryption, eduroam uses AES. In addition to this, the device must support Enterprise authentication (sometimes called 802.1X), and a compatible EAP method (EAP TTLS-PAP, PEAP, EAP TLS EAP FAST). Which of these is used is up to your network administrator.
Like the other answers said, try asking your network admins for help.

Well, that's weird I would say if the device is working with the other Wi-Fi network then have you tried talking with the Network Administrators? Sometimes they block mac address to prevent misuse ! I would say this problem can only be solved from the network admins. Try talking to them about the problem.


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cannot longer share apps on latest version of Google Play Store
Stock Galaxy S4 GT-I9505, latest public version of Google Play Store, now when I open an app I do see the uninstall / Open or Update buttons and a new visual showing nicer/bigger application icon and round icons showing downloads count, rating results, similar apps etc, but unfortunately no longer a button to share the app link via whatsapp / gmail etc...
Is this problem only with me or also others unable to share apps anymore from Google Play Store?
thanks and regards,
Davide.

I am using a Nexus 4 with new version of PlayStore. I can see a "Share" button just below the "Reviews" section. You can check once again if you have missed it :)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How to make a reminder on the lock screen
I would like to create a reminder on the lock screen so I can see it everytime I tried to use my mobile.
How can I do that?

Since you have Jelly Bean; how about a lock-screen widget? They're very useful and there are tons of them.
Note by default Lock Screen Widgets are disabled, go to the Settings app on your device, select Security and look for the "Enable Widgets" option
You could use Google Keep  as an example:

(source: ampercent.com)
I use  Dash Clock widget on my lock screen and homescreen! It's a wonderful, simple widget. The advantage is you can add loads of extensions, for example:  Dash Clock NOTES  which sounds exactly right for what you need!
Here's an example:
http://cdn7.staztic.com/app/a/2260/2260711/dashclock-notes-extension-903772-0-s-307x512.jpg
There are numerous notebook style applications, and I, obviously, cannot provide an exhaustive list. Why not shop around (many are free) and ensure they have a lock-screen widget option?!

It seems that lock screen widgets were removed in Lollipop: http://www.androidauthority.com/lock-screen-widgets-android-lollipop-611516/

Owner Info is a possible workaround.
Settings > Security > Owner Info

It shows an arbitrary string on the lock screen.
Downsides:

not super visible
newlines don't render as newlines, only spaces

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Discharge while in airplane mode
I am using a Samsung Galaxy S4. Something weird happened today morning. I charged my phone yesterday night and went to sleep after 2 hours or so. When I woke up, my phone was at %30 charge and I was pretty confused. Because before going to sleep, I just opened my morning alarm, closed Wi-Fi, and set the phone to airplane mode.
After checking the battery info, I got something like this,

Clearly, my phone discharged linearly while I sleep.
What is the reason behind this? Is this problem related to the phone or Android?

How old is the battery? Is the battery disfigured at all, also are you using an AC power supply or usb? And Official leads or not?

The screen before the one you took the screenshot of should tell you what's responsible for the power use: what does it say?

well, everything I use is official samsung products, my battery is new. In my country there were a lot of problems with s4 batteries and I had one too. Discharging immediately after you charged was the problem. I gave it to the official service and they gave me another working original battery. Now I am using a pretty new battery and I think it is not 4 months old yet.

android os was something like 30%
and screen was something like 17%
the point is how could this be happened while I was not using my phone.

Could be a background process running, have you installed / updated any application recently?

I may be updated an app but I always close apps on the background before locking my phone

"I always close apps on the background before locking my phone" this alone will drain battery. These apps run in the background and will re-activate themselves. Do not use any task killers on your device, Android itself is FAR better at task management than manually doing it.

I'd imagine android OS being 30% is quite high, on average mine never goes above 10%

Download Wakelock Detector from the Google Play Store. If it happens again, open Wakelock Detector and it will show you CPU and partial wakelocks (will only show partial wakelocks if you enable advanced mode). If the largest CPU wakelock is "PowerManagerServiceWakelock", this means the largest wake lock is the combination of all the items listed in partial wakelocks.
I would suggest (if it happens again) looking for anything over 7% and doing a web search for the wakelock name, and seeing what you can find.
If it doesn't happen again, problem solved.
I would also recommend you don't kill background processes, instead install Greenify (Play Store) which blocks the processes you select from starting.
Other than this, we can't tell you the reason due to Android's default battery diagnostics not being very good.
It is most probably the software, if you download Nova battery tester and run it, it will tell you your battery capacity, and you can then compare this to what it should be to verify it isn't a hardware fault.

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My storage doesn't exist
I have a samsung S3 mini GT-18190.It shows that the internal storage is 16GB available space and phone storage is 17MB. But when I plug my GT-18190 to my computer only 17MB partition displays. A 16GB partion doesn't display.Please can u help me for this problem.

There is only that partition accessible on a non-rooted device. If you want access to the 'root' folders, you need root access basically. The rest is the cache, the Android OS, system apps and data etc. If I plug in an S4 I get "Phone Storage" and "External SD Card" options only as I would expect.

It will show external memory also by default. You must have changed something.

Make sure you have right drivers intalled on PC for your phone.
Try rebooting after that.
Regards.


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How do I see battery usage after a complete drain?
I'm having the classic problem of sudden battery drain, but the twist is that I can never catch it in the act. I just find my phone dead when I pick it up to use. When I go to the Battery section of Settings, I discover that apparently a complete drain resets the battery usage statistics, rendering them useless. What to do?
I'm running CyanogenMod 11 milestone build (Android 4.4.4) on Galaxy S2 without Google Apps.

I have never run a build of CyanogenMod on any of about 11 devices without bugs, errors and just random weirdness. 2) Is the battery itself damaged/bloated? Can you try a different battery and see? Can you try another ROM maybe? If it's the original battery from the device I'd say it's past it's best. You'd expect about 500 charge/discharge cycles. Something like better battery stats saves log files, but is a paid app. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asksven.betterbatterystats&hl=en

Stock firmware for SGS2 is worse - that's why I went to CyanogenMod in the first place. 2) The battery is brand new from Anker. Since I don't have Google Apps, I can't get paid Play Store apps. I can get free ones with some hacking though.

You could flash gapps in a few seconds... No need to not have it. Yeah the stock firmware is laggy and slow, but it doesn't generally crap out altogether like CM. So far with 3 devices here I've had: No GPS, no WiFi, screen flickering, random reboots, crashes, black screen of death, corrupted partitions and it goes on like this. I'd say a different ROM would be a starting point. Non Samsung batteries I don't know much about but they can be poor quality, I don't know that particular manufacturer so I can't comment on that.

You could try installing an automation app that would audibly alert you (or send you an email, etc) when the battery got below X%. Then you could check the stats before the phone died.


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Move from Internal to External
I am using an Motorola XT1022. I have moved the games and apps from the internal to SD card to free the internal memory, but still there are some moved apps files that are occupying the internal memory. So I can't install any other apps.
Can you tell me how to move that apps files to the SD card?

If they are the default apps that came along with device you can not move them to card nor uninstall them. Rooting is the only method to do so. Be careful rooting VOIDS warranty of the mobile. Use Clean Master app from Play Store to clear junk files in internal memory.

It's worth noting that 'moving to SD' only moves a portion of the app to the SD, and Google no longer support external SD cards so I'd expect this to worsen as time goes by.

Yeah my Xperia won't support moving apps to card and there is no hope of getting that feature in future as per Sony Mobile Blog. Probably they are going to increase internal memory and end support to external cards like iPhone. Really iPhone is changing the things.


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Why my Android mobile (Samsung Galaxy Young Duos) is vibrating even if it is not in vibration mode?
In Samsung Galaxy Young Duos, It vibrates even if the vibration mode is off. Why is this happening? How to fix it?

I think you've misunderstood what vibration mode is. The sound control has three settings:-

Sound on: the phone will ring and vibrate normally. You can turn vibration on or off for each notification individually in that app's settings.
Vibrate: the phone will still vibrate, but not make noise. In this state, any notification that would make a sound will vibrate instead. If the notification would have vibrated, it still does.
Silent: notifications and incoming calls will not cause vibration or noise.

Any notifications which have vibration enabled by the app will vibrate in either sound on or vibration mode: only silent mode will disable vibration. Also, if Vibrate when ringing is turned on in Settings → Sound, then incoming calls will make the phone vibrate in sound on mode as well as in vibration mode.

May be a bug or something. Restore factory settings after making a back-up of important files.
Note - Check the settings once again. You might have turned on the vibration.


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Cell standby use about 35-50% of total battery?
I have Micromax canvas 2.2 a114.
I am in strong network zone and use 2g internet all time and time without network is 0%. So why it is consuming more battery. I also never in weak signal.??

What matters is, what is your total battery life, if your phone lasts 2-3 days, then 30% is reasonable, however if it only lasts 8-10 hours, then it isn't.
If it is the latter I would recommend clearing your cache (and davlik cache if you can) and or performing a factory reset and seeing if the problem persists, also try using a different sim card on another network.

It is is d for 7 hours.happened with all sim cards.

I would try the steps I have suggested, also I would recommend testing your battery capacity with nova battery tester (it should be 2000mah)


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Kindle Store opens web browser instead of its native Kindle store
On my new Samsung S5, when I press Kindle Store button, it opens web browser view and not the native Kindle store.
Any help?

What Kindle store button? Since we can't see your phone, you have to describe very clearly exactly what steps you take.

Inside Kindle app you can click on cart icon to buy ebook etc... Doing this kindle app show the content like using a browser and not native app. I hope you understand better (sorry for my poor English ).

Here install it again - Amazon Kindle.
Comment if not worked.

I've tried that. But same problem. I'd same problem with other Android tablet and I'd resolved, but I don't remember how....

I think that this app is kind of designed like that because I have tried it for myself yesterday.

I don't think so because on my mediacom tablet the Kindle store open like in native app. The Kindle version is the same. I repeat the problem was also in this tablet but for some reason was resolved but but I don't remember how I did....

I was able to re-enable the Samsung Apps (or whatever it's called) and download the Kindle for Samsung app, which works fine.


text:
How can I use a Chinese Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9008S in Iran?
I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9008S in China. I can not install Google Play Services and there are only Chinese and Korean languages built in. I did not know Samsung manufacture mobiles according to region; I think this a disadvantage in Samsung product management.
I am living in Iran I would like to install Google Play Services, as well as add the Persian and English languages. How can I do this?

You could look up how to flash cyanogenmod, and the flash that rom.

Sammobile only lists the Chinese ROM for your device, so it's unlikely you'll be able to use different languages with an official Samsung ROM: to get other languages and Google apps support, you'll need to use a third-party custom-rom. Similarly, it doesn't appear that the N9008S is an officially supported device for Cyanogenmod, likely because none of the developers have one.
There's a thread on the XDA Developers forum, but it doesn't make your prospects look good. Googling for cyanogenmod N9008S produces a lot of noise (rooting guides, and pages that mention N9008S but are actually about other devices), as well as one or two pages that might have unofficial ROMs but are in Chinese, so you'll have to trawl through them with Google Translate to see if any are actually helpful. You might find that as they're in Chinese, they've only ported a Chinese build of Cyanogenmod, which would leave you no better off.
In any case, you should be very wary of unofficial ROM builds, since they could backdoor your device or contain other malware, and you should be extra-careful about following flashing instructions in a language you don't understand. Only try something out if you're willing to risk bricking your phone.


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Locked out by CyanogenMod 11 upgrade
I tried a CyanogenMod 11 to upgrade from 4.1.2 to 4.4 on Samsung S3 Mini i8190. When the phone rebooted, my pin no longer worked. The 3 button hard reset has never worked on my phone. This mod is supposed to have TWRP but can't get to recovery mode. I tried a few flash options for hard reset and one jacked the phone turning on and off repeatedly. I tried flashing a 4.1.2 stock ROM but the phone would endlessly reboot. Heard this was a common problem when downgrading. So went back to 4.4. I don't believe debugging was enabled, since the instructions I followed didn't say to do that. So adb shell won't work. WiFi and data transfer were disabled so Google Manager idea won't work as well.
Any ideas? Thanks

Best solution I have at this point for recovering usability of your phone would be to boot into Download Mode and flash a full suite with ODIN.


text:
Battery voltage
I've just bought a replacement battery for my phone, it's exactly the same 1200 mAh 3.7v however when I look at apps showing battery info they say the battery voltage is 4mv. So what does this mean? Is it safe to use?

Are you sure you typed that correctly? Neither 4 mV nor 4 MV are plausible voltages for a cellphone battery.

@DanHulme I know that, that's why I'm asking here, it's my old phone, could it be that it's not displaying properly?

@DanHulme When looking at my old battery it displays 3mV maybe 3mV stands for somewhere in the 3v range and 4mV in 4v range, but then as my phone is only rated for 3.7v and the new battery is obviously stronger is it safe to use?

Either the thing you are reading is not the battery voltage, or the author of that app has no idea what they're doing.

@DanHulme it's the same reading with every single app next to the heading voltage:


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Do all Android devices have USB OTG support?
I am using  celkon A98. The specification of my device says it does not have USB OTG support ..  I tried OTG troubleshooter app... it says USB host is supported ... Do I have USB host functionality **or was that a bug in the **OTG troubleshooter app ?
L

the manufacturer should make the kernal to support OTG

No, not all Android devices have USB-on-the-go support. GSMArena claims that your device doesn't, but they'll only be going on the specification.
The tool could be reporting that your phone has the software support for acting as a USB host, but unless the hardware also supports USB-OTG, that's not going to help you.

Actually all androd 3.0+ devices have the hardware facility ... @Dan Hulme

@Joe_Vj_95 That's quite a bold claim. I'd be interested to know where you heard it.

@DanHulme check Android official docs at http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/index.html: "USB accessory and host modes are directly supported in Android 3.1 (API level 12) or newer platforms"

@GuidoGarcía That doesn't say anything about the hardware, just that the OS supports it.

authors: w̢in̡͢g͘̕ed̨p̢͟a͞nt̡͜͝he̸r̴


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How to update/upgrade any phone to Android 4.4
Variations on this question appear to be a common unanswered question; often they have a comment or two that I don't understand. I'm hoping someone can answer with some general background information, the concepts.
E.g. I see reference to "rooting". Do I need to root a phone before I can upgrade it? I've had previous Android phones that got auto-updated (either by the carrier or manufacturer: I just find a message that says: "a new update has been downloaded, click here to install"), and I didn't need to root them.
E.g. Can any smartphone be upgraded to Android 4.4? If not why not? And why might a manufacturer not want users to update their phones? Are some manufacturers more open to having phones updated, and some not? Does anyone keep a list of "upgrade-hostile" manufacturers?
E.g. does the phone being sim-locked (to a specific carrier) matter?
I'm not going to say what my phone is because that will distract from the more general answers I'm after.

@DanHulme Thanks! Assuming that answer still applies for an update to 4.x to 4.4 then I think it is a duplicate. It is a shame that one never came up in my searches!

Direct link to the 4.4 list: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/56112/when-will-my-device-get-the-android-4-4-update-kitkat


text:
Connect to Samsung TV using AllShare from a Non-Samsung phone
I have a Nexus 5 phone and want to connect to my Samsung Smart TV (which supports AllShare).
How can I do this?
Thanks.
UPDATE: I tried again after updating my phone to Android 5.0 . but no luck to getting this work .

"connect to": What exactly are you trying to achieve?

There is a feature in Samsung Smart TV to connect your Samsung devices/phones to this TV through AllShare feature. I wanted to check whether this is possible through any NON-Samsung android phones.
You can cast your mobile screen and content to your TV if it supports AllShare.

I had the same problem and then I found an app called Mirror it allows you to mirror your android device screen to pretty much any streaming box or stick or smart TV with streaming capabilities like Samsung Smart TV's. You can even mirror to an Apple TV. With Mirror there is a bit of a delay from you doing something on your phone to it on the TV.
There is also an app called AllCast for just streaming media like music, videos and movies that are on your phone or on one of the few media streaming websites that are available to stream within the app. These include: Twitch, Google+, Dropbox and Google Drive.

I've found AllCast to work as explained above. Not yet tried Mirror. Will try this and inform.

This certainly solves the problem!
Go into your settings, go into WiFi, tap on the three dots in a vertical line to bring up the menu, select Advanced, then select Wi-Fi Frequency Band, once in there set it to 2.4GHz Only.
Then try your casting, if that doesn't work try setting it to 5GHz only.

turn on allshare on the TV,
on the nexus go to settings / display / cast screen.
it will start searching for a display over the wifi network.
if both tv and phone are on the same wifi, the tv will show up.
select the tv from list,  it will mirror the nexus screen.

I tried this, BUT on my LG Nexus 5 phone the TV was shown and when i touched it for connection it just shows "Connecting..." for some time and then disappears. On TV, the Media was turned ON in AllShare Settings. But my phone was not detected at all.

i have done this a couple of times with a samsung tv and my N5, it works. Are both on the same wifi network?

Yes, both are on the same Network, But my version of the Samsung TV does not have WiFi support, it supports Wired LAN which is connect to my WiFi router to which my N5 is connected.

Are both devices on the same subnet? perhaps the tv is on 192.168.0.1 and the phone on something else like 192.168.1.1

Yes both are on the same subnet and same the IP would be like 192.168.0.2 (mobile) 192.168.0.3 (TV)

After you press cast screen, press 3 buttons in the upper right corner and check enable screen


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How do Antivirus for Android detects a Malware application?
While researching about malware analysis for Android, I found that there are few applications that were removed from the Google Play Store because they were found to be malware.
I guess Android Antivirus applications running on a smartphone detects that these applications are malware.
Two cases:
Case: My guess is right:
I am wondering how these antivirus applications can suspect an application whether that is a malware or not.

What are the parameters they use to justify that the suspected application is a malware?
How does a real-time antivirus like Avast or Avg (for Android) works on this?
(Any link regarding this would be helpful).

Case: My guess is wrong:
Now, if these antivirus applications don't detect any application as malware, then how come these applications are removed from the Play Store?
P.S. I was able to search only about the malware applications and I could not get the answer for my question as how they are detected. Any references would be much helpful.

Your guess is wrong. Anti-virus applications on Android are completely unrelated. There are two ways that Google finds and removes dodgy apps and malware from Google Play.
Reports by users
Every Play Store page has a "report" button. Google investigates apps that are reported, whether that's for copyright or trademark issues, violating their policy about content (e.g. pornography), for breaking their other policies (e.g. invasive ads, interfering with other apps), or for being malware or scams.
Automatic scans
Google Play now automatically scans apps that are added by developers, hoping to detect dodgy apps like these before they can hurt users or cause problems. For obvious reasons, Google doesn't disclose details of what kind of scans they perform or how the technology works.
If a user has a malware app and it's detected by an anti-virus program, the user might choose to report it to Google Play themselves (if the malware came from there), but that's the only part that anti-virus apps on smartphones play in the process.

I like your answer, but can you cite your sources ?

What you are talking about is the google bouncer. My source is not the newest one, but there is a set of slides from a SummerCon talk  that provides some information on the automated scanning process (beginning with slide 12).

One approach Dan's answer does not cover is scanning the .apk file for known malicious libraries. This is the same way as library checkers use to show you which ad modules or other libraries an app is using: they unpack the .apk file of an app and scan the contents.
An example you can find described in my answer to APK analyzer for Linux. What I've named there as pkgname actually is the "path name" of the library (Java apps/libraries are structured like that). If some library is used frequently or solely by malware, it indicates the app using it is likely or certain to be/contain malware.


text:
Android/HTC One screen anomaly?
I was wondering what has happened to my HTC One. Is it a hardware issue or an Android/software issue?
The screen has usually moved half way between when I enter and exit any app. Since a picture speaks a thousand words:

Notice in the picture/screenshot from my phone, that I have a partial view of both screens. That is strange and I am not sure what the problem is.

I've seen this once or twice on my old Galaxy Nexus and even on my Moto X, where a swipe from one screen to the next seems to have gotten stuck half way. If a restart hasn't fixed it, try clearing the data for the launcher.

Happens on my Galaxy S4 the odd time. Sometimes it's due to a little sweat or dirt on the screen, sometimes it seems to be the launcher. Why not install a free launcher (I love nova personally) and see if it persists. You can swap back to blinkfeed at any time and see. Narrow it down to software issue hopefully and proceed from there!

It most certainly is not a hardware related issue.
I would begin by rebooting the device.

Rebooted. Problem still occurs. Do you think it might be some sort of micro-crack propagation in the screen?

The screen still responds to touch when you slide left-right ?

Yes, the screen responds to swiping and returns to its "correct" state of being centered on a single screen.

If this was a hardware issue, the whole screen including the notification bar and the bottom menu would be shifted, and it wouldn't appear in screenshots.

Rebooting doesn't help, and a hardware issue is very unlikely... Clearing the data and Cache for the Launcher app would be next step.
Go into Settings / Apps , swipe to the right untill it says "All" instead of "Downloaded" or "Running",
I don't know what the HTC launcher is called, but chances are it will have the word "launcher" in the name. Select that one and push on Clear Cache and Clear Data in the next screen.
This ought to reset the Launcher app to defaults.

Change your font size, that fixes the same problem for me.


text:
Back up phonebook list along with all data I used before factory reset
I'm using Karbonn A11 Android phone. One of my friends tried to guess my pattern and unfortunately he locked my phone. I want my phonebook list back before factory restore. Please suggest to me how could I get back my data.

If you have sync enabled in your mobile, then your phone book list will be automatically stored in your Google account. Go to "contacts.google.com" to find your contacts.
Else If you have USB Debugging enabled in your phone, you can follow this link to unlock your phone.


text:
Viber notification doesn't disappear
I use Viber on Android and when it is in the background, it shows a notification in the notification bar when I get a message.
However, sometimes when I click that message and it opens Viber, the notification stays there no matter that I'm actually reading it.
If I go to the message list, it shows unread messages, no matter I just read it.
If I dismiss the message, it'll get back in a few minutes as it detects it is not yet read.
You can see here the notification is there and the message is already read:

What should I set to make it show the notifications properly?

I confirm, the issue is still present in version 5.1.

I confirm, the issue is still present in version 5.0.2.12

I confirm, the issue is still present in version 5.2.2.478

This happened to me in my VIBER FOR DESKTOP (Windows).
(In my case the problem was caused by an unread CALL on viber; but I couldn't find it!!!)
This is how I located and solved the problem:
1.  I clicked on the conversations tab.
2.  Then clicked on the small triangle that appears in the corner
3.  I chose from the options:
    "Unread messages on top"
4.  Voila!!! The conversation came at the top, I clicked on it and the 'unread message' disappeared!


text:
Upload an APK to a non-rooted galaxy s4 mini
I'm trying to copy an .apk to a non-rooted galaxy s4 mini both though adb install (with development mode on) and through windows explorer and in both cases it hangs on uploading the apk.
Is there a way to change this to allow uploading apks? Only rooting?
(An obvious workaround is to copy apks over dropbox but ideally I want to be able to use adb install for debugging my apks)
Edit:
I have unknown sources allowed, I've a couple of apps I've installed by downloading the APKs bypassing Google Play
I've tried with a couple of APKs with the same result. I've successfully installed the same APKs by sharing them via Dropbox and installing on the phone from a file explorer
I'm on windows but the same adb executable works fine with my Kindle Fire (rooted) tablet installing the same APK without a problem
adb install application.apk just hangs for a while until I terminate it
Occasionally after I terminate it and try to restart it would give me the following:
error: protocol fault (no status)
error: protocol fault (no status)
error: device not found
- waiting for device -
rm failed for /data/local/tmp/application.apk, No such file or directory

Then adb install application.apk hangs again when restarted.
The phone is recognized with adb devices
I cannot check if I have /data/app-lib/application or /data/data/applicaiton.apk as I don't have root access (I can navigate around with adb shell but get access denied trying to ls contents of /data/app-lib and /data/data), but I think this is unlikely (I've tried with APKs I've never had installed on the phone before)
adb install -r application.apk and adb install -s application.apk hang the same way as adb install application.apk
adb push application.apk /sdcard gives me protocol failure
Installing from sdcard with a file explorer (for apks previously downloaded from the internet) does work but I would like to be able to install and debug them with adb (through Android Studio)

First, do you have unknown sources checked under Settings --> Security???
Also, have you tried another APK? If it is one you, or someone else developed you may need to uncheck Verify Apps in that same spot.
Second, do you only have windows? I don't know about permissions on Windows, but Linux requires sudo adb install or adb install as root user... actually any use of adb requires root or sudo permissions.
Second, does it just say failure? Does it say permission denied? Have you ever had that app installed before?

adb install application.apk

will give a failure response if you have a left over /data/app-lib/application folder or /data/data/application folder, or if you copied the apk to /data/app first without installing it, and then try to install it with adb, because the place is taken up already.
If that is the case try (reinstall flag):

adb install -r application.apk

You should also try (install to sdcard flag):

adb install -s application.apk

or last:

adb push application.apk /sdcard

and then install from sdcard with a file explorer, or package installer.

Thank you for your detailed answer, nothing of this appears to work for me unfortunately. See the details in my edit of the question.

This issue should be fixed by opening Task Manager in Windows, searching for adb.exe, and right clicking on it, and then clicking on end process.

I also had the same problem. Try doing this:
First, try pushing the apk package to sdcard:
adb push test.apk /sdcard/

Then, install the apk from sdcard:
adb shell pm install /sdcard/test.apk

The adb push gives me a "protocol failure" or hangs.


text:
Galaxy tab 4 7.0 version 4.4.2 stuck in Odin Mode
Today I would like to root my samsung galaxy tab 4 7.0 version 4.2.2. while odin running, it display fail and then my phone now is stuck in odin mode..
Please see my photo :
Odin Mode Product Name: SM-T231 Current Binary: Custom System status: official.
please help

Can you boot into recovery? I assume you have a custom recovery? Your current binary says custom.

How to boot into Recovery? because I try to press column down + home Button + power button and i try to press column up + power button + home button, but can't solve my problem.

How about just Volume Up + Power?

Volunm Up + Power also can't solve problem :(

Hmmm... seems like you're stuck. Ok so solution is to download the stock firmware and flash your device vis odin.  Thats how I got mine fixed. Sm t231.


text:
s3 stuck at booting screen
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 I9300 about a month back from eBay. It was working fine till the last Tuesday, but after that my phone started rebooting by itself. My Galaxy S3 is powered by Android 4.0.4 and unfortunately I haven't enabled the USB Debugging Mode, nor have I flashed it with any custom roms. So, I can't flash with any custom roms, the solution suggested by most of the threads I have browsed through. My phone is also not going into the recovery mode. Please help!

Enter Download Mode.
Download Odin
Download Offical Firmware from Here
place the Tar file in the PDA Location in Odin
and it will install the Offical Rom again.
Tutorial Here
if you have Kies Delete it just install the Drivers


text:
Files deleted from SD card are restored after restart
I use my sd to watch movies, everything was working fine, suddenly every time I reboot my tab the deleted files are back in the sd card.
I tried to format and still same issue, the deleted files are always coming back.
I tried many apps, they seems to delete the files, but if I reboot or format the sd they come back.

Some apps are probably restoring them back.

Clear the cache on your  File Manager,  the browser you used to download the movies, and for the application  involved used to play the movies.
For each of those applications select the application and clear its cache:
Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > All (at the top) > {application} > Clear Cache

Your SD card most likely got broken: I've had the exact same issue a while back on another device. I'd recommend using a card reader to attach the card to your computer, and do a check for bad blocks. In my case it turned out almost all sectors were "bad" – with the effect that the old data remained, and all "writes" went to Nirvana:

delete file: reappeared after boot
add file: disappeared after boot

Reason is, those changes are just kept in your device's cache, so it appeared they were performed correctly. On boot, that cache was purged.
So your solution would be: Get yourself a new SD card. Optionally copy over the files which you want to keep from your old one. Now everything should work fine again.


text:
Avoiding Cross-Contamination of Auto Suggest Dictionaries
I recently switched to the Galaxy S5 and am encountering what I can only think to describe as cross-contamination of my auto suggest dictionary. I use multiple languages every day, and so the first thing I did when I set up my new phone was to  install the German, Turkish, and Spanish keyboards (stock keyboards, not third-party apps).
As a result, now when I type in English on the English keyboard, I get auto suggestions based on the other languages installed.
For example:

for -> för
  I (capital i) ->  İ
  Ask -> aşk

It is almost as if there is a single dictionary that now contains entries for all languages, regardless of which keyboard is selected.
So, is there any way to prevent this "cross-contamination"?

While not as complete of an answer as I'd like, I was able to improve my typing experience vastly by doing the following:
First, it is important to understand the difference between auto-correct (or auto-replace, as it is known in the settings) and predictive text. Predictive text, when enabled,  is what is shown in the black bar above the keyboard. Auto-replace automatically replaces whatever string you've typed with the most probable string pulled from a dictionary file.
Instructions:
By going into my keyboard settings and enabling predictive text AND auto-replace for ALL installed input languages I was able to greatly improve the function of the keyboard. For whatever reason, it would seem that unless auto-replace is enabled for all languages, the probability algorithm doesn't effectively limit it's results to the current input language.
I tested English, German, Turkish and Spanish and was able to receive useful predictions and auto-replacements for each language.
That said, it isn't a perfect solution. Text predictions at the beginning of a sentence are more likely to contain unhelpful suggestions (probably due to limited data fed into the prediction algorithm), and intruders do still occasionally make their way to the front of the auto-correct list.
For this reason, it's probably important to absolutely avoid lazily entering text in a language other than the currently selected keyboard in order not to muddle up the predictions.
Notes:
It is still unclear to me how the dictionaries are actually stored on the device, so hopefully a more in-the-know user can provide a more satisfactory answer in the future. From the observations I've made, it would seem that a single, combined - language dictionary file is being used.

Well, I guess yes there is a way to prevent this cross contamination, head over the Settings>Application manager>Choose Samsung Keyboard>Clear the Data stored by the application and it will reset back all the suggestion to back in the time you first used your device. See if that can be of any use.

While I appreciate your suggestion, i don't wish to do away with suggestions, but instead to confine them to the currently selected input language. For example, I shouldn't be getting 'ferric'  as a suggestion when typing "ferrocarril" while Spanish is the selected input language.

Well @Milchgesicht In that case I should say I just ran out of options, because all the time the Samsung Keyboard is collection the information you have stored and based on that suggestion is feed. I can't comment more over it rather than try using some other keyboard application like swift keyboard etc. See it that can help in avoiding cross contamination.


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Is there an way to access a shared (networked) scanner on android?
I recently purchased a networked multifunction machine, and I was excited about its ability to scan via handheld devices using Epson's iPrint. Since I'm keeping the device in a different room from my computer, scanning via my tablet seemed much more useful than running from room to room, making adjustments.
However, I found Epson's android scanning app to be a bit... simplistic. It only scans preset document sizes, at preset resolutions, and only to jpeg or pdf, no lossless formats like png or tiff. I searched for alternative apps, and only found manufacturer specific options. My searching was complicated due to all the "scanning" apps that use the phone's camera, and scanning tools for network security.
So, my question is, does anyone know of any way to access shared, networked scanners and use the more advanced features that you see on desktops?

Please don't ask for recommendations for an app. Just describe the problem you're trying to solve. See also: How do I ask a question that may require recommending a product?

Sorry, didn't know about that rule :) I changed my question slightly to address those concerns.


text:
what is going on with my phone?
recently my phone has started installing invisible apps without my permission.
I have three different security programs, and at random times they will pop up in the notification bar with " scanning installed app ". even though I didn't tell it t do that.
at the end, there is no actual app there, so wtf installed?
I'm not sure if it's some virus installing invisible apps, or if it is Google performing unpermissive updates, but I have told Google I do not want it to auto update and it's trying to do it anyway.
I know that whatever this is, it has something to do with Google Play because. have a firewall.
I have told my firewall to block anything from the google services framework and as long as the firewall is on it won't do this.
however, if I turn off the firewall, it goes nuts. trying to auto update, and install all kinds of unwanted garbage.
what can I do? can I just uninstall play store?
Samsung Sch- i110 * rooted
2.36 Gingerbread
Avast! mobile security * firewall
Malwarebytes Anti- malware

Could it be that it is scanning already installed apps rather than a newly installed app? I expect this is more likely than invisible apps being installed on your phone. Do the notifications happen at regular intervals or the same time each day?

Your best bet would be uninstalling those unesecary security programs, seeing if the problem persisits, in my experience android security programs are both unesecary and cause more problems than they solve.

Actually you don't need all those crap of security apps, I've been using android for several years without such issues. I'd suggest you backup your data and perform a factory reset, that will make your phone pretty fast and new like. And avoid installing such bloatware (even 1 is too much, you are coping with 3). They also affect your battery life. Just one thing you can do to protect your phone is go to settings>security, uncheck "unknown sources" and you should be fine.. for now a factory reset is required i guess.. just to be safe.


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How to backup phonebook and user data through usb or command code in a locked Android phone
My phone has a USB option. I want to connect it to the PC, and I need the command code to backup my phone book and all user data of my Android phone which is locked.
How can I get the command code I need?

You can connect through adb and run a backup, doesn't require root, however the process is different for different phones.


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Make Google Play Books store ebooks to external storage
I have little internal storage of my Android device; How can I make Google Play Books store the ebooks to external storage?
I use Sony Xperia M (4.3 JB version).

Here is another post with a similar question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/27007/where-does-google-play-store-its-ebooks-on-an-android-device It looks like you may need to root it.

@Freddie_V4 I dont want any rooting to do on my Newly buyed Sony Xperia M. It would void my warranty. Is any other way without rooting the device ?

You must root your device and move the application to an external storage because the application stores the E-books in com.google.android. file. Unfortunately your application won't work if you move that folder without rooting.

I managed to do this on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 (Android 4.4.2) with Link2SD Plus, which requires a rooted device. Just press "Link to SD Card" and it should be able to move everything.
Important:
You need to set up your external storage with the appropriate partitions! Here's how to do that.
(Click image to enlarge)


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Android update fails
Android 4.2.2 update fails on my Alcatel One Touch Idol S . The hardware is hardly the issue since it worked smoothly on my wife's phone which is exactly the
same model.
Specifically, Android installed version is 4.2.2/01001 . The update has the
exactly same version number (but there are real differences after the update
on my wife's phone, new features).
I did nothing specific before attempting to upgrade besides installing applications, the phone is not rooted.
I can download the update. When I press the install button, my phone restarts,
but after a few seconds I got the message

Finding update package ...
  Installation aborted
                 Error !

with a picture of a broken android and on the top

Android system recovery

with the following choices

reboot system now
apply update from ADB
wipe data /factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from storage
fota status operation

What shall I do? I tried wipe cache partition, with no success. The only
difference I can see with my wife's phone is that mine is equipped with a
micro sd card.
p.s.: I have seen
Update to Android 4.0.4 fails
but this is not a duplicate.

are you sure its the same hardware on both phones since you said you have SD Card and the other phone dont. check the Version number.

yes I am 100% sure it is the same hardware, simply on one phone we did not add a SD card and on the other we did.

ok if you remove the SD Card does it work?

I tried without SD Card , it doesn't, unfortunately. One other difference is encryption, my phone is encrypted, could this be the issue ?

Encrypted means have you set any password for SD card?

@Niels I would certainly think that encryption could be an issue. Perhaps the installer is trying to access system files and it can't. Try turning off the encryption features and then trying the install.

Turning off the encryption features turns out to be impossible.

@Niels it is possible, but it involves wiping your personal data (internal storage) or formatting (SD card) i suggest backing your stuff up, doing the wipe you need, and trying again.

If you don't mind factory reset/wipe the phone and try updating again (back-up data before doing so). It should do the trick. But before trying above method, also try this because I doubt that the device is lacking memory resources on both SD card & internal memory. Try to make some free space in internal memory/external memory (400 MB-500 MB must be suffice).

Going by the error message which the device is giving conveys that the Android update has crashed midway. This crash during the update is possible due to loss of network connection or the device booted during the update.
As the update has crashed you will not be able to update your phone even if your place an SD card or not because the Operating System of ay android version irrespective of the hardware is always installed on your on board storage space but not on the SD card.
The only possible solution for your crashed update is
First you need to do a factory reset. Doing a factory reset will completely wipe our memory and will retain your device as it was in the start when you purchased it.
Before going ahead with the factory reset please be sure that you are ready to wipe your data and have a Backup present with you.
After doing the reset make sure your device is completely charged and have a Good connection to the internet. If you do not have any one of the above then you could again face the same issue and to the max may not be able to use the device in severe cases.
Once both are achieved you should be able to easily update your device

Have you tried doing the update from your PC instead? You can download the Mobile Upgrade software and connect your device to your PC to perform the update.

Launch the tool and update your phone by following the step by step instructions (refer to the User Guide provided together with the tool). Your phone’s software will now  have the latest software.

Note that this will wipe your device according to the user manual which also recommends using the One Touch Center software to backup/restore your personal information

All personal information will be permanently lost following the update process. We recommend you backup your personal data  using ONE TOUCH Center before upgrading.

Thanks for the help - I had the same idea, and tried, but this fails as well.

It may be a firmware upgrade(firware over the air fota). There is a fota app. Go to apps in Settings. Click on clear data for fota app. Check for update again.

thanks for the tip, that I had already found there http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/support/faq/fota.html Q6 . Unfortunately it fails in my case.

Your update package has expired. You need to root your Android device (you can root it with Kingo Android ROOT). Then, you can flash a custom ROM with your PC with Smart Phone Flash Tool
You will also need:

Kingo Android ROOT (this is a PC software)
ADB driver installer (PC software)
Custom ROM (I recommend KitKat 4.4.4 or Lollipop 5.0)

These all software are free and support all PCs

How did you get an "update package has expired" from " >Finding update package ... >Installation aborted > Error !"??

authors: Кирилл Маевский


text:
moto g cyanogenmod 11 android 4.4.4
Are there any links for cyanogenmod 11 for moto g android 4.4.4?
If there are then please suggest me the one which is stable,equipped with the theme engine and is under 100mb.

You can find all official CyanogenMod downloads for Moto G (falcon) here.
Although you must understand that Android custom ROMs virtually were never under 100MB in size; if they were, it was before Android 2.x. KitKat ROMs nowadays usually fall within 200MB.


text:
Lost phone storage and external storage after editing vold.fstab file
I have a Micromax Canvas Juice A177. Because it has a very small internal memory, I tried to swap the external SD with internal SD.
What I did
I rooted my phone and then I installed ES File Explorer, then I edited the /etc/vold.fstab file and replaced sdcard0 with sdcard1 and sdcard1 with sdcard0. Then I reboot my phone .
What happened
I checked the storage and my phone storage was changed to SD card but total memory was still 700mb (as it was before). I then edited the vold.fstab file once again.
After that, when I checked the storage it showed as:
  PHONE STORAGE
  ________________

  SD CARD
  ________________
  Mount SD card
  Insert an SD card for mounting

I had my SD card inserted, but it still said "Insert an SD card for mounting". When I opened the File Manager it was showing an empty folder (no phone storage, no SD card). Then I performed a factory reset.
The situation now
Phone Storage is showing the same thing (file manager as well). All the installed apps are deleted ,only the system apps are present with SuperSU. I don't have phone storage (only internal storage) and the external SD card is not working.
When I connected my phone to my PC using a USB cable, it is not showing the phone memory.
As you can see I have probably destroyed my phone, and I may not get any benefit from the warranty because I've rooted it. Is there any possible way to get my phone back to its previous state? I tried some tips from the Internet to connect via USB debugging with the Android SDK but it didn't work.

Come on, don't abuse formatting features like that. It doesn't make your question more readable.

First of all you should download the stock ROM:
XDA Forum - Micromax Canvas Juice A77 [Root, Recovery, Roms, Etc][MTK6572]
After that, if you only changed that file, you can extract it from stock rom and replace it in your phone (check to assign the right permissions), factory reset and your phone should work again.
If it's still not working you can flash the whole ROM.
BTW Factory Reset only resets your /data partition it doesn't change /system because that's not supposed to change at all, so factory reset will never restore files in /system. It's always better to backup the original files before you change anything.

My device is Micromax Canvas Juice A177 not A77.
Will this work ?

Probably not, sorry I didn't read it correctly. Anyway same explanation just download the ROM for your phone www.needrom.com/download/micromax-a177-2/

ok thanx....
Can i simply change the file i edited ?
will that work ?

np, if you only changed that file restoring it and restarting should solve your problem. If not try a factory reset too. If it's still not working there must be something else changed so, unless you know what it is, you'll have to flash stock rom. Remember to check user/group and permissions are correct after you restore the file.

Try this modded vold.fstab. Do not delete the file, instead copy & paste the content with this, then reboot the device.
## Vold 2.0 Generic fstab
## - San Mehat (san@android.com)
##

#######################
## Regular device mount
##
## Format: dev_mount <label> <mount_point> <part> <sysfs_path1...>
## label        - Label for the volume
## mount_point  - Where the volume will be mounted
## part         - Partition # (1 based), or 'auto' for first usable partition.
## <sysfs_path> - List of sysfs paths to source devices
######################

## Example of a standard sdcard mount for the emulator / Dream
# Mounts the first usable partition of the specified device
dev_mount sdcard /storage/sdcard1 emmc@fat /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 /devices/platform/mtk-msdc.0/mmc_host
dev_mount sdcard2 /storage/sdcard0 auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.1 /devices/platform/mtk-msdc.1/mmc_host
## Example of a dual card setup
# dev_mount left_sdcard  /mnt/sdcard0  auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 /devices/platform/mtk-sd.0/mmc_host/mmc0
# dev_mount right_sdcard /mnt/sdcard2  auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.1 /devices/platform/mtk-sd.2/mmc_host/mmc2

## Example of specifying a specific partition for mounts
# dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard 2 /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host/mmc1


text:
Disable permanently or uninstall the exchange services
I'm fighting with the exchange services on my Samsung Galaxy S4. They can render the phone unusable, draining even 40-50% of battery during the day. I've deactivated the Exchange account mail synchronization, and I'm constatly killing the app when I notice it's running, but it keeps respawning which is extremally annoying. And if I don't notice, I can find myself out outside without battery power to do other things I need.
Is there a way to permanently disable the exchange services, or even completely remove it from the device?

First try clearing the app data of the stock email app in settings->apps, if that doesn't work:
If you go to settings->apps again and click on the stock email app (not gmail) then click disable, that should do the trick.
However:
If you still have a non-gmail email you could try lowering the sync frequency from push to every 30 mins.

That trick didn't work. The option to turn notifications off is disabled. The app is closed now, but I'm afraid, it will start in the worst moment.

What about the option to disable?

I don't see such an option. But I don't see the appplication 'Stock Email' either. I've checked 'Exchange Services'.

Sorry, by stock I meant default, the app is just called email

OK. The option to turn off is currently disabled. I will observe it.

Try force stopping and then the option should become enabled

You need to root your phone to permanently uninstall it.
After you have rooted your device, you can use a application "Titanium Backup" to uninstall those useless application that come along with the phone.
Advice: make a copy of backup first. In case you find that you need the application after you uninstall it.

Click image for larger version

Unfortunatelly rooting that phone is out of question because it's not my phone, but it's good to know for the future, althought I doubt I'd ever buy Samsung Galaxy.

@Donaudampfschifffreizeitfahrt These are the kind of things recommended to specify in the question :)

you might try clearing the caches from recovery. that seems to help slow down for me.

power down the device
press and hold vol up + home + power until you enter recovery mode.
press vol down until "wipe cache partition" is highlighted, then press power to select.
let recovery wipe and format the cache partition.
then select "reboot system now" to boot back into android.

hopefully that helps. exchange services handles account data for google, facebook, etc. removing or disabling it can cause system instability.

I'm not sure how much Samsung has diverged from stock Android, but on my Android 5.1 device, I can disable Exchange Services by going to Settings → Apps → All tab → Exchange Services → Disable.

I discovered this thread just today and want to say that:
Whenever Exchange or EAS/Activesync causes the battery drain, it seems to be the notes and tasks that are causing the problem.  It happened with stock exchange app when Tasks was synced,  and also happened with "Nine - Exchange for Android" when Notes was synced.
Also, Google version of exchange email, downloadable from APK downloading websites, does the same with Tasks synced.
None of the apps had battery issue when only Email, Calendar, and Contacts were synced.

Go to the "Application manager",
Select the "Change system settings"(three spots at the right top corner) in there,
Select "Show System Apps"(three spots at the right top corner) in there,
Find the "Exchange services" on the lists and set the mode to OFF

Sure. It's super easy and worth freezing that app. Open App Info and tap on "Disable".

Where would this "App Info" be? How do I access it to disable the app, if not uninstall it?

Go to settings, apps, open exchange services, uninstall


text:
Set no wallpaper, but single color background
I was trying to find the setting to disable the wallpaper on my Android phone.
I've found some suggestion which suggest to make a fake black png or something like that, but it's going around the problem instead of solving it. Technically, it's still a wallpaper, and I don't want to have any...
How to set not to use wallpaper on Android? There must be some way, even on Windows it's possible...
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S4

I found the easiest way to do this was with the application Color Wallpaper. All the possible colors selectable from a menu, and i haven't changed the color in months. You can set it and forget it. Even uninstall after setting, if that is your wish.
Disclaimer: I am not the developer of this application, just a satified user - for years.

The app is removed from Play Store

Too bad. Maybe a new version is coming out.

Came across another cool app, it's called Hexa Time. You can try it.


text:
Jellybean 4.2 Auto-Download and Display file
I'm looking to mount a cheap 7" android on my wall to display current tasks, events and household requirements.
Does android 4.2 have a built-in tool that can download a file from a server every 5 minutes and display it on screen?
I know it must have rsync but I'm not sure about the displaying information

To do it myself I would sure put what you need for rsync or scp in a shell file and put the command in cron:
Shell : crontab -e
Write : */5 * * * * /home/bly/get_newest_stuff.sh

You didn't mention what you want to display... videos, images, text, run loader for a running presentation program.
At least you can open images with ImageMagick.
# display whatever.jpg

There's no built-in tool to do this - why would there be? - but there are several apps available depending on exactly what kind of information you want to show and how you want it displayed. For example, you could do worse than my app Showr, which is a home screen widget. You tell it the web address of an image file, or an RSS feed with images, and how often to update it, and it updates the image and displays it on your home screen. It's a free download from Google Play. My users often use it to display information like weather maps and charts, as well as more fun things like webcams, photo blogs, and logos or pictures of things or people they like.
You might also use home screen widgets for other kinds of information. For example, if the events you want to display are in a Google calendar (or can be imported into it from an iCal file or similar), then the Google calendar app can display upcoming events in a list on the home screen.
There's quite a few task list apps too, and they usually have home screen widgets and push capabilities, so if you add or complete a task from your phone, the list on the wall updates automatically. Remember the Milk is one such, which I use, but you have to pay a subscription for unlimited syncing.

Thanks. It's still going strong on Play store and is super useful.


text:
Can I run an external display off of the Galaxy SIIX USB port?
I would like to attach an external display, can that port do that? May use Ubuntu...

The S2 supports MHL through USB, so technically, yes. You won't be able to get a full display, just through supported apps.


text:
Fastest way to transfer small files to PC
I am looking for the fastest solution to transfer many small files really fast to my PC from my Android powered phone. For example I would like to transfer 100x5KB data in a second. Is there a way if I use SSD and I have min. 50MB/s internet with 10-40ms ping (I know ping is very important). Also, no cables can be used. So it must be wireless.
I already thought of

Network file sharing but I think it is not that fast (via WiFi)
Bluetooth (very very slow)
Pipe/Socket (don't really know how fast it is)

I will possibly need to transfer XML files and there will be about max. 5 meters between the PC and the mobile device.
Is there a fast way that can be handled with Java?
Thank you!

There may be a server available in Servers Ultimate Pro (on Play) that can serve your purpose, but otherwise, you'd have to use WiFi with a custom protocol of some sort, because Samba (SMB) and FTP would be too slow for you.

Server is not available for every user. It will be an app for a normal user. I will need to transfer data from the phone's sensors to GeoGebra in XML format. These are usually max. 5KB files but that is the upper maximum. FTP also requires some kind of setup before. I don't want it

Are you writing an app? If not, why not a file sync program like DropBox?

I am writing an app. And normal upload-download isn't fast enough. I am looking for strange but fast techniques

you can compress many files to one, then transfer to android phone and decompress it

The time taken for compression and decompression should also be included because this is part of the process and won't be used in any other process. It is best if an example is provided as to how much it took for a sample in question to be compressed, transferred, and later decompressed. This is also very much dependent on the efficiency of processors in the devices one would be using.

I use BitTorrent Sync a cross platform sync program using the P2P protocol. The files will only exist on your devices unless you set up a cloud based service to watch your file(s)/folder(s). Send & receive files of any size on any network, encrypted & visible to anyone whom you share the private key(s).

If there is only one pc and one mobile, torrent isn't fast enough, am I right?

Depends on many factors including but not limited to; bandwith, size & amount of files etc. I guess give it a trial run, see how it works for you.

if you are looking for the fastest way to transfer files to your PC, try to use AirMore. With just three steps, your files will be transferred from your phone to your PC. This tool is a big help for me since I started using it.


text:
"Google BroadcastListener" running for over 78 hours now
On my Galaxy S3 I have "Google BroadcastListener" running for over 78 hours now... Is it possible my ex is accessing it or something?

Also, is this the reason my "record audio" won't work? It tells me that "Unable to start new recording. Other applications already recording", yet I have nothing else on that I am aware of.

No. This listener has nothing to do with "listening" in the sound sense: it's listening for intent broadcasts, which are a kind of signal that different software components in the device use to notify each other of important events. For more explanation about broadcasts, see What's the difference between a service and a broadcast receiver?
If you want to solve the problem of not being able to record audio, I recommend you post a new question with full details about what steps you took, what happened, and how long this has been happening, along with what phone and OS version you have. Without any further details, my first guess would be that  if the audio recorder app you're using stopped unexpectedly, it failed to properly release the mic for use by other apps. In this case restarting the device would fix the problem.


text:
Android 4.2.1 - Operating System Storage is occupying too much space
Dunno if this is a proper question to ask here, my problem is about the storage of my android on the internal memory. I have 16gigs of sd card, 16 gigs internal storage as well, but I am seeing this on my android's storage settings:

It looks so weird and I cant install apps, even though I choose sdcard for storage/installation location.
The brand is Coolpad 8903, possibly not on sale anywhere out of China, but this looks like os issue i suppose...
anyone knows how to fix this problem so i can free some storage?

So, your problem here is that for whatever reason, the device manufacturers put the /data mountpoint on the /system parition and kept the /sdcard partition seperate. Usually, /data lives on /sdcard. Your options at this point are to try to see if you can resize the partitions (hard), or use an app-to-sdcard solution. What version of Android are you using?

4.2.1, jelly bean i suppose

Your best solution would be to "root" your device (See here if you don't know what rooting is). Basically "rooting" your phone will give you permission to do anything on your phone. You might find it strange but currently, you are not allowed to do many things with your phone even if you own it :)
Anyways, getting back to the point. You can do the following things to make life easier for you:-

Remove some of the pre-installed applications which you don't use:- After rooting, you will be able to remove pre-installed applications. Remove all of them which you don't use. You can use Titanium Backup for this purpose.
Integrate update of pre-installed apps:- Some of these pre-installed applications (including Google applications such as Gmail, Play Store, Chrome, etc.) receive an update at a later point of time. When they get updated, their old version doesn't get removed. They are still taking up space. After rooting you will be able to integrate the update so that older copies get actually replaced by new versions. You can use same Titanium Backup for this also.
Move as many apps as possible to SD card:- After rooting, you will be able to move any application to sd card. Again, Titanium backup to your help.

I know what rooting means, and already removed some pre installed apps from my phone :) I was able to free the space by removing some Google Play-like apps (I am in China and we have nice rules about accessing Google services :D ) and got 300+ MB space on the phone, though the OS occupation remains the same... But for permanent solution I need to root it totally I guess...

I don't understand what do you mean by a more permanent solution. Since you are already rooted, you can move ANY app to sd card. So for you it doesn't matter how much space your OS is taking. Although you can try re-partitioning but i would recommend that as a last resort.

That device is partitioned very oddly.  It looks like they took 4GB and left it to device storage, and then the other 12GB are partitioned for an internal SD card.
That's about the correct size that the Android system would be using - but what is troubling is that they only left ~1GB or so for user-installable applications.  I doubt there are any ROMs or recoveries available for your device, so I think the best solution would be to move as many applications as you can over to your SD card, therefore freeing up space to download more (and then subsequently move them as well).

Well, there isn't many option available for you, can either root your device and install some other custom ROM over your device which may be less bulky, or you can try removing more application to free up some more space out of your device. Now rest I'll leave it to you !

As I have tried and succeeded this method, am giving you a suggestion with my experience. All the applications you installed, may be moved to SD card, but 75-80% of the app data will remain in the phone itself. Maximum part of the app will be in phone memory. Try to uninstall the unwanted applications, even though if you have moved to SD card.


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Why is my tablet storage almost full?
My Galaxy Tablet 10.1 has almost 14 GB of storage. Currently, it's about 13.5 GB full of stuff, but I have no idea what. Recently, when I have tried to install some apps, I get an error saying there is not enough space.
I have tried to clear out all unneeded apps, and cleared the data from apps I do have. For example, the Firefox app had the most data, at about 100 MB, so I cleared it out, but the difference was negligible. All my downloaded apps combined are nowhere near 1GB in total.
My device is rooted, and I have ES File explorer, so I went looking to see if there were any log files taking up space, but after extensive searches, I can't find any log files more than a few kilobytes in size.
I can't figure out what is taking up all the space on my tablet. How can I clean it up?

Related: How disk space is used on Android device?.

If you go to storage in settings, you can see a basic breakdown, I'm guessing apps wont be the biggest, however look to see if pictures and videos; audio; downloads; cache or misc. is taking up a lot of space and click on the relevant entry to have further actions (clearing cache, deleting downloads, etc..).
If this option isn't available in settings (it is in aosp, but may not be in touchwiz), try searching the play store for a comparable app (see @user284oo6).

This may have worked. Under Storage -> Misc there was a file caled 0 that was 9 GB in size. I took a chance on deleting it, and my tablet seems to be running fine. I hope it wasn't important, but I can't imagine any one file that needs to be 9GB in size.

It wont have been, the important files are hidden or in app data, if this solved your problem you could mark it as the solution, happy to help

I just wanted to give it a little time to make sure I hadn't broken anything. But if you're sure it isn't some kind of critical system file, I guess we're good. Thanks for the help!

The entire Android System is extremely Storage Intensive.
When trying to understand the seriousness of the dilemma, you must investigate how Android takes up so much compared to other operating systems.
Let's begin by looking at the very first stage of Android - Booting.

Here we can see that the Entire Animation on Start-up is actually a ZIP folder filled with Images - if you compare this to Windows using a simple BMP image - you'll start to see how the simple boot animation can take over 100 times the space requirements.
NOW we'll look at a single applications images,
Each APK file has every image it needs inside the RES folder of the source - this RES folder seperates all Screen Sizes on Different platforms

As you can see, Android uses a seperate folder of images for every single screen size - comparing this to other software platforms, you can see that this takes about 14 times the space compared to Resizing Larger images with scaling.
This is built-in as the default programming option, however you can just resize the images in runtime.
THESE 2 Examples should bring light to the way Android handles storage space requirements.

Clear the cache in settings >> storage then try. Sometimes Google Play will stop apps from installing when you have low space but if you clear your cache then you should be crime until you have to clear it again or when you actually run our of space.

If nothing helps, please consider your deleted items might went to Trash so you thought you delete some files, but those are moved to Trash on your Android device. To clean your Trash and set nothing goes there or choose the holding duration:
To check the Trash on your Android device:

Go to Gallery
Click on three dots on top-right corner
Click on Trash
Click on Empty on top-right corner
On pop-up section, click on Empty Trash with some items will be permanently deleted. (Be sure if you want to delete them really)

To set Trash duration to delay the delete procedure:

Go to Gallery
Click on three dots on top-right corner
Click on Setting
Advanced > Trash > de-activate as gray color (Keep for 15 days e.t.c.)
Turn off Trash, all set.

I am not able to find trash option. I check on android pie 9 and android 5. Trash option not available.

From Samsung Galaxy Store : Samsung Gallery --> You should have this app on your Android device to use Trash feature. Probably, it seems to me that your mobile phone's brand name is different than Samsung.

I found large unnecessary files in:
[...MyName]\Android\obb\com.ea.game.nfs14_row - there were two large files each almost 1 GB [such like main.1420.com.ea.game.nfs14_row.obb ]
Did it by connecting tablet to computer, and checking all hidden files. At first tried clear cache, clear big files (audio, video) but nothing helped. Even did not understand which files take such size because system shows little app size. Blame my five year old for installing and reinstalling too much apps :)

You can take backup and erase data. When I did this on android 10. It free up around 4 Gb.
You can backup WhatsApp and photo on google. You can get free space.

authors: Василий Печкин


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Can I mark sms as read in the notification menu?
When get an incoming sms and view it in the notification menu (swiping down from the top of the screen) I can sometimes read the entire message there and I don't need to reply to it. Is it possible to mark it as read there and then? The two options I have right now is "reply" and "call".
I am using a Samsung Galaxy S5 with android 4.2.2

Yes indeed you can! It's not a 'stock' or 'Hangouts' feature though, but there are apps that can perform this functionality.
 SMS notifier on the  Google Play store has this option as you will see in the screenshots for it.
Off the record a friend said that Google tend to prefer you to Activate something, rather than mark as read! That's why you don't see this option very much.
As per bmdixon: This does not work in Hangouts. It seems OK if hangouts is not the default SMS application, but this may vary between Android Versions and OEM devices.

Good suggestion but worth noting that according to the 'What's new' section "...due to restrictions, messages cannot be marked as read in Hangout app." I expect this is more of an an issue with the SMS restrictions in 4.4 than Hangouts itself however.

@bmdixon I've added that caveat to the post now, many thanks for the heads up!

I appreciate this answer. Hoerver, unfortunately the app is not compatible with Galaxy S5. I will look around for other apps though...

And what to do with android > 4.2


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moto G MTP not connected on windows XP
My Moto G MTP is not working in windows xp for any files transfer from pc to device. I tested the same device on Windows 7 and ubuntu, and it worked like a charm . Does Windows XP needs any special drivers to detect the device MTP ?

Have you checked the Group User Policies for USB device detection and driver installation?

where can GROUP USER POLICIES for USB be found ?

Provided the details in my answer below.

The MTP driver was bundled with Windows Media Player 11 on Windows XP. To get Media Player 11, you must download it from the Microsoft site here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/download-windows-media-player

Well, I guess the drivers need to be installed, why don't you try connecting your PC with the internet and then try connection you device. If it still doesn't works then I couldn't say much about it but I think the problem may lies because Microsoft has take down support with the XP. So, I think that may be the reason behind !

Peter, tried to check the drivers with option (check from internet) but it did nt work

Well, can't comment over it exactly but I think i have ran out of option. I think the problem may be encounter because of the support I guess. As you have said that its working over other OS i.e. Win7 or Win8 then I guess support may be the reason. :( wait a bit more while to see if some other user can came up with something more on this. :)

You may try this:

Go to Run and type gpedit.msc and hit OK.
Go to Administrative template under Computer Configuration. Then Custom Policy setting and select Click on Restrict Drives.
Double-click on Disable USB Removable Drives .
Select Disable for Allow to USB Removable drives and click OK.

Now go to Run again and type regdit and hit OK.

Navigate to the following registry path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor
Click on USBStor , then Click on Start in the Right Panel.
Type 3 in Value data Box , and click on Hexadecimal , then click ok


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Disable DropBox's PDF reader
I have been seeing recently that DropBox opens PDF files stored in it through its own reader. I would like to open all my PDF files through Adobe, no matter where their location is. I do not want to use this extra functionality provided by DropBox.
How can I disable this option in DropBox? I could not find any option to disable PDF viewing. Is it a feature that must be added in future by DropBox?

Yes, this is a pain. Despite selecting "More" > "Open With" and picking Adobe Reader "Always" (which is then set as a default app within Dropbox itself - managed through Dropbox settings) it still opens Dropbox's internal PDF viewer when simply tapping the PDF file inside Dropbox. You must still select "More" > "Open With" each time, only now you don't need to pick "Adobe Reader" from the list (if you have more than 1 PDF viewer app installed).

In Dropbox, next to your file.pdf there is an arrow button (on the right), click on it and a menu will appear with options :

Share, Add to favorites, Delete and More.

Click on More and then it will display the options :

Rename, Move, Open with and Export.

Click on Open with and just select the application you want your file.pdf to open with.

I don't think the built-in PDF support can be disabled. I would suggest exporting and downloading the file instead, so that you can open it with and PDF reader of your choice.

You don't need to explicitly "Export" the PDF, you can "Open With" instead. From the drop down menu next to the file, select "More", then "Open With" and pick "Adobe Reader".

Open in the previewer in dropbox then click the screen to reveal the bottom menu, click the 3 dots in the bottom right and select open with.....  then select your choice app.

The "3 dot menu" in the PDF viewer (which I assume you are referring to by "previewer") does not contain the option "open with...", just "Export" and "Delete".

Install Adobe Reader app.
Add your Dropbox account in the Adobe Reader app.
Open your Dropbox folders and files from the Adobe Reader app.


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Downloading and installing an application in the system/app on a un-rooted device
Is it possible to install an application in the system/app directory on a un-rooted device? Right now I can do it on a rooted device, so I was wondering what I have to do to if the device is not rooted. It's a custom rom, so I can get a hold of the certificates that signed the rom.
Currently if I try on a un-rooted device, I get the permission denied (read_only file system). If anybody has an idea of how I can do this please help me. The reason why I need this done is so I can do app updates on the system applications that will be shipped with the rom and they wont be on the app store.

Root is only required if you are installing a system app within the confines of the Android OS.
If you can flash your own rom, you can bypass any restrictions that the OS has, because you are able to do anything you want with a custom bootloader before the OS has a chance to load and restrict things.
If you are creating a custom rom (off-topic for this site), you can edit the rom on a desktop and flash it to the phone.
You could simply flash a file using a custom recovery (such as TWRP or ClockWorkMod).
If you are on a stock phone with a locked bootloader, you could always root your phone temporarily, remount system as read-write, add the application, then remove root.
As far as updates go, as long as the application in the system directory is signed by your key, you should be able to update it (root not required). You'll need a way to get updates out, though. You could post in the Google Play Store, use a 3rd party store (such as Amazon App Store or F-Droid), or have the user download the app and side-load it. If you also wrote the app in question, you could probably program a way to self-update as well (also off-topic for this site).

As an add on to this answer - you don't need root to update a system app, assuming you have the same certificates on the update. If you don't, you could probably use an OTA update in zip format to update it too

@sloosecannon True, OTA updates can 'update' apps, but that is because they are really overwriting them -- normally, system apps are updated differently from user apps. An OTA is basically installing a new ROM (whether full or partial).

Well yeah. Either of those options should work. I can't imagine a production scenario where you'll regularly be updating apps with a different signature so the standard system app update method should work...


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Android Wifi with same name
I want to know if i add wifi network with say ssid="test" can i anyway add same ssid="test" with different configurations like ip and gateways?
EDIT :
Suppose wifi has been configured with below configuration :[Added manually]
SSID : "Test"
Security : None
and No Any advance settings provided.

Now can i add another wifi with settings below :
SSID : "Test"
Security : WEP
and No Any advance settings provided.

Could you [edit] your question and add a little more detail about what you're trying to achieve?

@DanHulme edited

@DanHulme any clue for answer?

I still don't understand the problem. Do you already have two Wi-Fi networks with the same SSID, and you want to know if you can add settings for both of them? Or is there one Wi-Fi network, and you want to connect to it with two different sets of settings? Why?

Adding  any number of duplicate SSID's is possible if you have a unique IP address.
In lay man's terms SSID is nothing but just an identification given to that particular network given to distinguish that network from others for simplicity. What defines that network is it's IP Address.If you have a conflict between an IP address then it may be a real problem.
For some devices(like Samsung) you need to check the to Display open Network connection if available in order to view open connections and for some devices it shows by default.
Ex:-Let's say you have two network's with SSID as Test.
Test1 has an open connection available for public use and Test2 is for personal use and is encrypted. Your mobile device will simply connect to a network whose signal strength is good. As the IP address is different there will not be any conflict and you can do your browsing.
In case there's any  conflict(same signal strength) then the device will ask the user to select the desired network or search for a new network.
Caution:-Browsing an open network for reasons related to finance leads to severe security threats browse at your own risk.
An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing. Its role has been characterized as follows: "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there.
The most simple definition for IP Address I could give is-
IP address act as you house address to which the shipment has to be delivered.If you have two same addresses then to whom will the shipment be delivered.
For further details about IP read this

but android let me add with different ssid id and same ip with no issue... basically i just wanna understand whats unque factory to add extacly duplicate wifi settings

@DIVA I had two SSID's with same I.P addresses(old and new SSID) but later caused me a problem because my device was not clear about which I.P to use. So I had to forget the old SSID. Android will allow but the networking protocols may not

how do i test this in real time?

You need to get two WI-FI's network around you with the same ISP provider. As ISP's generally have same SSID for many customer's like the popular D-Link. Save both the SSID's and check their IP  addresses. The open and the closed might have different IP's although they have the same Name .For more details check on the IP address and it's limitations with the duplicates in google or other Stack site.

ok but i dont thing it can ever happen that ssid id can be same and rest say ip and all r different...i tried to add same ssid with different configs butnever works

It happens for the DLink or the UT-Starcom kind of modem's wherein the customer's don't change their SSID (modify the default SSID which comes when installed to the custom names) and it's not a good practice.

but m talking abt android device wifi :(

U didn't get me dear @div it's in the Android device. The android device will detect network's based on the SSID the modem's broadcast.

ohh ok, are you sure ip is the atleast unquie factor betteen networks?

kindly view the answer updated

@Div It's the easiest definition I could provide

ok let me back with some more questions


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Cannot access galaxy nexus via adb
Yesterday my noble Galaxy Nexus (maguro) sacrificed itself to save me when I fell from my mountain bike.
I would like to copy the data to my computer. What is good: the screen and the sim card is broken, but the rest of the phone seems to be still working.
When I plug in the phone on my Linux (Debian) computer, it is detected as multimedia device. However, I cannot access the data, as I would need to unlock the screen (which is broken).
Alternatively, I tried to access the phone using the adb-tools. However, the device is not listed:
$ ./adb devices
List of devices attached

$

I can see my phone in lsusb:
$ lsusb
...
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 04e8:685c Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd GT-I9250 Phone [Galaxy Nexus]
...

I tried some different stuff, like generating a /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules file, but this didn't help.
I also tried to boot the phone to the bootloader, but I didn't succeed - maybe the connection to the volume buttons is broken.
Some additional information that may help: my Galaxy Nexus runs AOKP and Clockworkmod is installed.

Do you remember if you had USB Debugging enabled?  Without it, ADB won't work.  Also, look here for help enabling it: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/12834/broken-screen-while-debug-mode-was-disabled-how-can-i-re-enable-adb

I think yes, but I don't know exactly... Is there a different way if it's not enabled?

Have you tried booting to recovery (or do you mean that by "bootloader")? As you're running a custom ROM, you certainly have a custom recovery installed. Those often (usually? always?) have debugging enabled by default. You might need to mount the partitions you want to recover data from manually then, though.

I tried to boot into recovery (yes, that's what I mean with booloader). However, it seems the volume rocker is broken as well so I can at least not confirm that the phone was booting to recovery. But it should be possible to overcome the issue of the broken volume rocker, so I'm quite confident that I will manage to boot to recovery.

As your device is rooted I assume you can download nexus root toolkit to pull and push files, it automatically handles both, bootloader booting and fastboot, through adb, if however you didn't have usb debugging enabled I cant help you.


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Changing Screen Resolution VM ware using 4.4
To play around I installed Android in VM Ware Player using this image:
http://www.android-x86.org/releases/releasenote-4-4-r1
Since I have two Screens of which one is a 5:4 in portrait mode, that's the one I want to use the 5:4.
To use all the screen real estate available I played around with the resolution as described here:
How to change screen resolution on android rooted device?
But no matter what after bootup the vertical screen size is about 22cm.
e.g. 800x700 gives me 22cm. 1100x700 gives me 21cm. 500x700 gives me 23 cm.
What is strange is that the horizontal screen size is not influenced at all.
What am I doing wrong?
The problem is that some apps I want to try out rotate the screen. If I disable rotation they are cut off at the bottom.


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How do I prevent a bluetooth headset from muting when it hears sound
I have a Plantronics M50 headset, which works wonderfully on my Android 4.0.4 Sony Xperia Ion LT28at.  However, it mutes its output anytime it detects a loud enough sound.  If I type during a business call the incoming signal becomes choppy, and high wind sometimes causes callers to disappear completely for seconds at a time.
I have no other headset to test whether this is due to Android or the device, though I have tested with another Plantronics M50 with the same result.  I assume the headset is a simple receiver/transmitter, and so assume that this is probably a setting in Android, but I don't know for sure.
How do I turn this feature off?  How do I cause my bluetooth speaker to continue outputting regardless of what its microphone picks up?


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Downloading game memoryp roblem
So I went to download a large game (1GB). It started downloading, and at 96% it stopped and said I don't have enough memory.
I wont try to download it again, but that 96% that I downloaded is still in my phone and I cant delete it. Can someone tell me how?
I went into options then applications, but there is no that game that I can delete. I tried to find it many times but it is not there.

How are you downloading this game? Is it an app in Google Play? Is it a file you downloaded from the browser? Which browser?

If the download failed, the broken download was deleted.  It's not stored anywhere, and it's not taking up space.


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Encrypting Nexus 7 vs. screen lock
I read in this article that a non-encrypted tablet with only screen-lock on can have data read through USB.
Is this really true for example for a Nexus 7 tablet? I mean - if I lock the screen you can't get anywhere, even if you restart the device. Attempts to root it, or to hack it somehow when the bootloader is locked forces a data wipe and a factory reset. So is it really possible to get to the data in a screen-locked Nexus 7 which has no SD card?
The only way I can think about is that someone would somehow open the device and take the internal memory out and connected it somehow to a device which could read it. I presume that would be pretty expensive. If this really is the only way how to get to the data, it might be interesting to know, how much it may cost to do such a thing. If it is really costly, than it should be okay to just use screenlock.

What is your question, I'm sorry but I don't understand, is it: 'can you access encrypted data on an android phone?', is it 'can you access data on a non-encrypted android phone with screen lock?', or both, or another question entirely?

Can you access data on an encrypted android phone? No, you can't - not my question. Can you access data on a non-encrypted !Nexus 7! with screen lock? - yes, that is my question.

What is the difference between any Android device and Nexus 7?

Thanks, I believe you can, it depends, did you have usb debugging or root?

Actually, it's entirely possible to get root access without wiping data, if ADB is on. Privilege escalation exploits can do that.

When you have a turned off device -> I was trying to turn on ADB, but when Nexus is turned off and you turn it on and go to bootloader or recovery mode, you cannot access adb, or you have only limited list of commands available.
If you turn it on and you have a screen lock, it shouldn't let you read data until you unlock the device.
Nexus 7 is built in a way, that they wanted to secure data entirely, in case of the tablet being stolen, so they disabled the ability to unlock the device to gain root privelege without first wiping the device completely.

If ADB is enabled and connected, it will completely ignore the screen lock state. Then, using the shell, it's possible to use unauthorized privilege escalation to gain root.

Yes, but that would be thus a human error - leaving the backdoor open, by having ADB enabled, when looking for security. So if we have a ADB disabled is encryption unnecessary?

Basically, as screen lock secures your data as long as the data chip stays in the phone(as long as debugging is disabled [or enabled with no trusted credentials] and the phone isn't rooted), whereas encrypting it secures it no matter what.
Old answer:
It is possible to access some data via usb, however other data isn't accessible, plug your tablet into the computer and wee what comes up under internal storage, that is accessible (EDIT: none of it if the screen is locked). Of course given enough time a hacker in possession of your tablet could access all the data (as long as it isn't encrypted) (EDIT: for example as you suggested by removing the internal storage and reading it with a different device).
If your tablet is encrypted none of the data can be accessed without your passcode (if the tablet is switched off).
If usb debugging is enabled or you are rooted it is even easier to access the data.

Well, not quite. I tried it out just now, just to be sure I'm not saying something that is not true. If you turn on a screenlocked device, after boot it stays screen locked. If you plug it in via USB, you cannot access ANY data. Yes, the device comes up, but it is entirely empty. After you unlock your screen, the internal storage is shown. Not otherwise. So your data are still behind the screenlock. Given enough time for a hacker is not enough for an answer - it may or may not be true.
Leaving USB Debugging enabled is a security hole a user is responsible for and can be avoided.

Sorry, didn't notice the screen lock usb debugging disabled thing, however I'm unsure what security it gives to the bootloader

Bootloader itself is secured in a way, that if you have an unrooted device, which was not yet unlocked, you can do nothing but unlock if you wanna do anything else. And unlocking wipes all data.

Have updated my answer (which is basically your own answer)

If the data chip leaves the phone, it would only be readable with some special equipment, that could read the memory byte by byte. Is this an expensive thing to do?

I don't know, I expect the set up costs are relatively high, but the per read costs are extremely low, but not out of range if a government agency or corporate entity wanted you data, but probably out of range of most common criminals


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No battery - 1% remaining
I've recently installed cm11 (plain CyanogenMod) and the battery indicator showed 1% after a full charge and would not budge.  I decided, 10 minutes later, to wipe and go to another ROM, maybe try a new one.  I did so, changing everything including the kernel - and the battery stays the same at 1%.  The only thing I have not tried is leaving the phone to die, giving it a funeral and a tombstone and doing the "charge trick" but I've heard it's also a myth.  Can somebody please help me avoid a broken phone?
And also, just in case: Phone model is ST18i Xperia Ray.  Warranty voided due to rooting :(

I think Itzik Samara's answer is all you need. But I thought I'd add some information for people without CWM or with a version that can't delete the Battery Stats for some reason (as you had this concern initially yourself).
This can also be done less elegantly via adb
Firstly ensure your device is FULLY CHARGED. Do not do the below without charging fully!

Reboot your phone into recovery.
Mount /system and /data in the partitions menu.
Open up a cmd prompt:
adb pull /data/system/batterystats.bin batterystats.bin
This command save the batterystats.bin in the same directory as your adb.
Run:
adb shell
And finally:

rm /data/system/batterystats.bin
This removes the entire battery stats file from the device. It will be rebuilt on reboot.

Thank you.  This has solved my problem with not being able to erase the Battery Stats via CWM.

@xezno glad to hear it :) Please consider an upvote if this has helped.

Lol I don't have 15 reputation, does it not count my stackexchange reputation? damn

Ah not to worry, and no you start again from scratch. If you have enough rep when you join a new exchange site you get 101 to start with as 'we trust you'. Doesn't matter anyway, glad to help anyone that it does help! :)

Ah okay, when I get 15 rep I'll upvote :)

Try Those Steps
How to wipe Battery Stats?
1. charging the battery FULLY (Since you dont know just charge it for a day and half to make sure its full)
2. boot device to CWM Recovery
3. advanced/Wipe Battery Stats
4. reboot device
5. don't charge the device until the battery still turns off your device because it empty (do not drain with heavy apps like video streaming ect.)
6. now again FULLY charge without interruption
7. Have fun ^^

Source

I'm trying this now, but I'm unsure if I have Wipe Battery Stats in my CWM Recovery.  Is there a certain version I need?

+1 this is the easiest way to do this. I have posted an answer for the unlikely case that CWM doesn't do this for you, or you don't have a recovery that supports the option.


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need to undo an imported calendar file
I accidentally imported an iCalendar file 2x to my tablet from work.  I now have 2 of every event. How do I undo this without manually deleting them 1 by one. there are years worth of events.

The only way I found was one by one...a better choice would have been to create a new calendar in google calendar  which could have been deleted in whole.