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As a new Android user, this question has had me thinking quite a while. Is it possible to create an app or is there an app available that will do the following; Remote access to your device Impossible to remove from your phone (rooting, flashing, w/e) Turn your phone into 'Lost Mode' and make sure it can only be used remotely and disables all but the useful services to find your phone (camera, gps, etc) OR Impossible to remove from your phone (even after reinstall, etc) Remains in the background whilst the person is using your phone as theirs (stolen, swiped and reinstalled) | Google's Android Device Manager service can do all of that apart from the remote control, though unless your phone has a new enough OS to have it installed by default (instead of pulled down as part of the Google Services updates) it's difficult to remove rather than impossible. Find your lost phone with Android Device manager Remotely lock Android devices | How can I control my phone remotely? | android |
I am used to doing a long-press-on-the-home-button to trigger the voice- search. That's a bad iphone habit. Here with Android, it is always switching to the currently-running-apps screen. I tried so many ways ( including the home2 share app) but I could not figure it out. Could you tell me an easy way to configure note 3 ( or s4) hardware buttons so that I can program them to do certain things upon long press, double click, even triple click etc... What's the best app for that? And secondly (and more practically speaking), please tell me how I can configure that a long press on the home button puts the phone into the listening mode? Thank you... | To put Android into "listening mode", do your Long press, then click on the Google logo at the bottom of the screen. That's Google Now, your Siri counterpart. For Samsung devices with S-Voice, double-pressing quickly on the Home button will trigger S-Voice. | help me out making my transition from iphone please | android |
I am taking an exam during which any materials or electronic devices are allowed, provided that I can demonstrate that they cannot be used for communicating with others. I want to take my Android tablet and use it to display PDF files that I don't want to print out. I need to come up with a way how to temporary turn a Nexus 7 Android tablet from a communication device into a book reader incapable of connecting to WiFi. I need to be able to quickly prove to the teacher that this is so and that whatever I do it will remain in this mode during the exam. Do you have any ideas how this can be achieved? My belief is that this is impossible, but I decided to ask anyway. | As no "bullet-proof" system is required here, and at least some level of trust assumed, possible solutions hide behind the buzz... ahem, key-words kiosk-mode and child-protection. In short: you create a "jail" you're working in, and hand it's key (password) to the teacher (let him/her set a password – of course on the premise to unlock you once the exam is over). Options on establishing a kiosk-mode are already discussed in several other stackexchange-url ("questions tagged "kiosk-mode""), so there's no need to repeat them all. You might wish to take a look at SureLock Kiosk Lockdown , which should meet your requirements: one of its features is to prevent access to system settings. So disabling all network features (mobile data, WiFi APNs, etc.) and then locking the settings with the teacher's password should satisfy both sides – provided you've allowed all required apps for kiosk mode. As the "dirty trick" to regain control would also remove all data from the device (factory-reset), it cannot be expected you'd do that during the exam ;) | Provably, temporary, disable wireless networking on Android tablet | android |
I want to save some bandwidth for my mobile data plan, is there a way I can disable loading images for Google Chrome, the way I can for Opera Mini for example? I couldn't find an option in the settings. | Wikipedia mentions that this feature exists, but I can't seem to find it in either Chrome nor in Chrome Beta . | Disable images in Chrome for Android | android |
Are there any solid reference websites where I can compare benchmarkings of various Android devices? Similar to sites like CPU Benchmark and Video Card Benchmark for PC devices. | PassMark has a quite comprehensive list of Android devices with CPU, memory, storage, 2D graphics and 3D graphics benchmarks . If your device is not on the list, you can use the free app on Google Play to measure your device (and contribute to the public list). | List of Android devices benchmarks | android |
Well, accidentally ended up formatting a nexus 4 by clockworkmod, was the system and everything else, I've tried various ways to try to recover this brink, worked no more, all require the famous usb debugging, plus he has no system and windows no longer see it as an external drive to be able to put an image on it, and is it .. obs.: I still have access to recovery Grateful for now and sorry my english | If you can get to recovery you should be able to flash the full factory image which will restore your phone to completely stock. Download the full occam factory image , which includes the full system, bootloader, recovery, kernel (boot.img), and radio. It's a clean slate for these components - they'll flash cleanly over anything you have now. You can run the bundled script called flash-all (in which case it will run all necessary commands for you) or you can unpack the tgz (tar/gz) archive, and then the zip contained within as well. This will put all the components into one folder: Then run the following commands: adb reboot bootloader fastboot flash bootloader bootloader*.img fastboot reboot-bootloader fastboot flash radio radio-mako-m9615a-cefwmazm-2.0.1700.84.img fastboot reboot-bootloader fastboot flash system system.img fastboot flash boot boot.img fastboot format cache fastboot reboot fastboot flash userdata userdata.img Note: this command will wipe your device (including /sdcard), EVEN if your bootloader is already unlocked. Note: Instead of unpacking the image*.zip and flashing system and boot manually, you can actually do fastboot update image*.zip - this won't delete data (you would pass a -w flag if you wanted that to happen), but it will re-flash recovery back to stock if you were running a custom one. You can then flash it back, or just use the commands above instead. Either way, the result will be the same. | accidental wipe android nexus 4 | android |
With Nexus 5 (Android 4.4 KitKat), Google has shipped two runtimes to run apps. What are the differences between Dalvik & ART for endusers? How can endusers be affected by this? Is there any specific reason I should choose new ART runtime? | Dalvik VM (Virtual Machine) is Google's version of a Java VM (on which apps run). VMs keep apps isolated and independent from actual hardware and other apps. But, for this to work, Dalvik needs to convert so called bytecode (designed for virtual machine) to native machine code. In order to minimize the performance penalty that the bytecode to native code conversion introduces, a process called Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation is performed, which converts hot, i.e. often used, bytecode to native code. 1 ART (Android Runtime) is a replacement for Dalvik that uses Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compilation, meaning your apps are compiled to a ready-to-run state before you even launch them. This is usually done, at the time of app installation, making the process of launching and using them much faster and smoother. And since this means that compilation is only done once, you may also see better battery life, too. If ART is better on performance & battery life perspective, should I start using it? No. If you do that, you may break third-party apps. Google has shipped this ART preview with Android 4.4 for developers to test their apps on it. Side Note: Google's approach with ART is to beat iOS (iOS apps are native so performs better even on low-end hardware specs), but I don't know where it is heading... Another fragmentation? See OEMs are free to build devices using either one or both. While final version shouldn't affect most of apps, but its not 100% cross-platform thing. 1 Note that JIT was added to Dalvik in Android 2.2 | Dalvik VM vs. ART (Android Runtime): Impact for end-users? | android |
I was using CyanogenMod 4.10.3. Due to slow-downs I decided to downgrade, but took a backup of all available apps using ClockModRecovery including WhatsApp. In backup/ directory, I see some img files, not individual apps. Since I changed my number and I would like to use my old number with WhatsApp, I would like to restore WhatsApp backup from this backup. Is it possible? | Yes, it is: Titanium Backup can restore from nandroid backups (which is what CWM created) AppExtractor can extract individual apps/data from Nandroid backups Nandroid Browser lets you... guess what :) and then there's Nandroid Manager to browse them, restore single items, etc. Further readings: the nandroid stackexchange-url ("tag-wiki") stackexchange-url ("Restore only part of nandroid image") stackexchange-url ("Extract App Data from Nandroid / CWM Backup") | Restoring one application data from ClockModRecovery Backup | android |
I have a Zen Touch 2, a Cyclone Voyager and a Samsung galaxy Fame, all configured for USB debugging. I also have a laptop running Ubuntu 12.04, the standard ADB obtained from apt-get, and Fastboot obtained from apt-get. My problem is that when I plug in my Fame on it's own, I can see it in the list of attached devices when I run the adb devices command. However, when I attach the others, I cannot. I have plugged them in on their own and tried all 4 different ports. Switching to PTP doesn't work. And it is not just the devices command. How can I make them appear and allow me to use them? | Maybe you are missing udev rules for the other device manufacturers? A rule for samsung is probably included by default. Look here for instructions http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html | Make a device appear in ADB | android |
In Android 4.4. KitKat, how do I move the voice input icon, i.e. the one with the microphone icon, from the alphabetic keyboard (next to the spacebar, at left) to the numeric keyboard? At least up to Android 4.3 It used to be possible to do that via an option in the settings. I checked several times the settings of my Nexus 5 with KitKat, especially the Languages and input section, but I cann't find the option. Is moving the button still possible? What input method and settings options are required? | The only way to achieve this is to port over the old keyboard from an older device. This might break stuff, and probably is not the safest bet. You could install MultiLing Keyboard and have a voice button on your numpad. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.klye.ime.latin&hl=en | How do I move the voice input button to the numeric keyboard in KitKat? | android |
I have Samsung Galaxy S2, that was sent to the lab for repair. The phone arrived and all the internal memory was deleted. All the data that was on the internal memeory: Media, SMS, Contacts (actually I synchornized the contacs with my google account, but some contacs were deleted from my phone..) Is there any way to recover this internal memory? I know that some application can recover an SD card.. but which one can recover the internal memory ? | There is some hope to recover data which was stored on the “internal SD card”. Samsung Galaxy S2 supports USB connection in the mass storage mode (unlike some other more recent models). This mode provides the required block-level access to the partition which holds your media and other files (but not contacts, SMS and app data). Therefore you can stackexchange-url ("connect your phone to PC in the USB storage mode") (not MTP), then use the same utilities as you would use to recover files from an SD card which was accidentally formatted (one free option for Windows is Recuva ). Recovering data from the internal memory is much more harder for several reasons: You need to root the phone in order to get access to raw partitions (with some phones which have an unlocked bootloader there is an option of flashing an alternate recovery image with root access through ADB). Note that the rooting process in most cases involves writes to the <code> /data </code> partition, which could overwrite the data you want to restore. The internal file system is not the usual FAT or NTFS, like in Windows (recent models in most cases use ext4), therefore many recovery tools designed for use with Windows filesystems won't work well (scanning the raw disk for pieces looking like data in a well-known format might give a useful result even if the filesystem is not supported, but see the next point). In most cases the app data is stored in some format not used outside of the Android OS (e.g., contacts and SMS/MMS messages are stored in SQLite databases with the Android-specific schema), and these formats are unlikely to be supported by commonly available data recovery utilities. And this assumes that the phone repair lab did not just replace the main phone board (which they often do, unless the problem was obviously in some other component). | Is it possible to recover data from internal memory? | android |
My phone has got some error and I am returning it to the service center. As my phone contains my personal data, images and videos I would like to erase them so that they can never be recovered (even after being rooted). Is there any easy way to do that because I am not an Android developer. Does factory reset do this trick for me? | As John states in stackexchange-url ("his answer"), a factory-reset is sufficient in most cases. I doubt a service technician would take the effort required to restore the data from your storage – though it's definitely possible. What John had in mind, however, is true: If flash storage is really wiped , all data is gone from it. It would take a highly specialized forensics expert a long time to restore at least a part of it. So unless you have the secret formula for a longevity serum stored on your device, and your service technician knows that, it's definitly not worth the trouble. If you want to be on the absolute safe side, take a look at Nuke My Phone resp. Nuke My Tablet . These tools do not simply delete your data or wipe the storage once, but they overwrite it multiple times, then wiping it, and then finalize their work by a factory-reset. I very much doubt that a single file would be restorable after that procedure. Btw: Always think of your external SDcard, which might not be covered by the procedure. You should better remove that and keep it with you; the service techs don't need it anyway. | How do I delete all data from my Android phone? | android |
Several times a week I have the problems where the GSM signal is lost on my phone, due to bad coverage in that area. The real problem for me is that when that happens, and when I move to a place with known coverage, the signal doesn't come back. The only solution I know is to restart the phone. Switching to airplane mode and back doesn't help. Is there an app or method I can use to avoid the restart? Phone: Samsung Galaxy S2 Android: Jelly Bean 4.2 (Avatarrom) | The following is no complete solution, but at least a work-around, avoiding a long reboot: There are apps like Quick Boot (others have things like "fast reboot" and the like in their names/descriptions). Other suggested by those names, they do not really reboot your device, but simply restart the system server (for details, please take a look at stackexchange-url ("Can somebody explain the boot process of an Android device?") – the system server is started at step 5 of 6 boot steps, so this skips more than half of the way down and up, effectively resulting in a process about 3 times as fast as a complete reboot). While this way all your apps are killed as a side effect (as they require the system server to work), it's still a lot faster than a real reboot, and thus "less hazzle". | GSM signal lost - howto get signal back without restarting | android |
A friend of mine shared a Google document with me. If I use my Gmail app on my Android device to open the email that includes the link, I can see the document in the Google Drive app. However, I can't seem to find any way to mark that document using the Google Drive app so that I can get back to it easily. Every time I want to view the document, I have to find the email in which my friend shared the link, and then click that link. Is there no way I can bookmark or add that document so that it is available without me having to search for it? Ideally, I could leave it open in the Google Drive app so that when I reopened the app it would show me the document without me having to select it again. | If it was shared to your Google account, you should be able to find it in <code> Shared with me </code> : | Can I make a Google Doc shared with me more accessible on my Android device? | android |
Today I installed cyanogenmod JB on my galaxy note and I found this huge directory (2.47GB) in the /sdcard partition. Can it be removed or it could be useful? Can I move it on my pc? Thanks in advance | Two times yes: Of course it can be removed, and of course it can be useful. At that place ClockworkMod stores the nandroid backups you've created with it, and from that place you can restore them when need for that arrives. In case of an external SDCard, and when space on it is precious to you, you could simply copy its contents to your computer, and then empty the directory. Or just keep the latest backup on it. If you need to restore one of the removed backups, it then would be possible to use a card reader, copy them back, and re-insert the card to your device so they can be found. | clockworkmod/backup can it be removed? | android |
I've recently received a Nexus 5, which touts very tight Google Now integration. This weekend I've been visiting my parents. We had a discussion about a local restaurant which they went to last night. I just flicked over to Google Now and it's got a card about that restaurant, and only that restaurant. (we're in a big town, there are many restaurants, and it's by no means the nearest. I've never been there before). Is this a crazy coincidence or is Google Now listening to me? We've had nothing mention of the restaurant in email's or texts, only a face to face conversation this afternoon while I had my phone out (but not explicitly listening). | It is possible that maybe your parents (or your friends) searched for it, or +1d it, or checked into it, and they are in your Circles! Google regularly gives you suggestions based on what people in your Circles like. Take a look at http://www.google.com/policies/terms/changes/ Feedback from people you know can save you time and improve results for you and your friends across all Google services, including Search, Maps, Play and in advertising. For example, your friends might see that you rated an album 4 stars on the band’s Google Play page. And the +1 you gave your favorite local bakery could be included in an ad that the bakery runs through Google. We call these recommendations shared endorsements and you can learn more about them here. Hope I helped! | Is my phone listening to me? | android |
At one point screen just become bit higher. Buttons gone, and it's not that funny, as it can seem. Phone become literally single-task and I had to reboot just to switch application. Found some software emulator that helps me to survive at the moment, but question is how to get buttons back? No, reboot obviously didn't help, I also flashed new version of CM just in case (was CM 10.1.3 stable, upgraded to 10.2 M1). Same shit. Thought about may be I'm darn stupid, and somewhere there is just single option in setting. Either there is no it, or it's name really differs from what I expected (or I'm really darn stupid). Any clues, guys? Next obvious step is factory reset, but I'm not mentally ready yet. P.S. Phone is Nexus 4, firmware mentioned earlier. | There is a mode in CyanogenMod and other ROMs called "Expanded Desktop" . If your phone is in Expanded Desktop mode, then the navbar will not be visible (The notification bar may also be hidden, depending on your settings). The easiest way to check if you're in Expanded Desktop is to try toggling it. Simply long-press the power button to get CyanogenMod's expanded power menu, then tap "Expanded Desktop" to toggle it. If your buttons showed up after doing this, then you're set! If not, it's something else. | Soft buttons disappeared | android |
Is there any adb command to enable/disable a system app? Thanks | Yes. The command is <code> pm disable <package name> </code> . You must be root in order to do this: <code> PC> adb shell shell@hammerhead:/ $ su root@hammerhead:/ # pm list packages -e | grep 'calculator' package:com.android.calculator2 root@hammerhead:/ # pm disable com.android.calculator2 Package com.android.calculator2 new state: disabled root@hammerhead:/ # pm list packages -d package:com.android.calculator2 package:com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.hindi package:jp.co.omronsoft.iwnnime.ml package:com.google.android.inputmethod.pinyin package:com.google.android.inputmethod.korean package:com.google.earth root@hammerhead:/ # </code> Some other things worth noting: In my testing, apps disabled in this manner disappear completely from the Settings > Apps list. They do not even seem to be displayed in the "Disabled" tab You can re-enable apps with <code> pm enable <package name> </code> . In fact, this seems to be the only way to re-enable them, in my experience. | Enable and disable system apps via ADB | android |
I am getting the following error message every now and then. As far as I notice, it only happens if my phone has internet connection mostly on Wifi. <code> an application has been forced to stop for an unauthorized attempt to access system in your device. it may be safe to delete an application obtained from an unauthorized route. Check now? </code> When i click Check Now it just shows me list of all apps but don't tell me which is having problem. It is Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and it is not rooted or i don't remember i installed any application which is not from Play store. I googled and researched and found other people is getting same problem but i don't see any way to solve it. Anyone here knows how to fix it? | When it appears, long press on the message and it shows the app causing the problem. (It probably is Knox.) Clear data and clear cache, that worked for me. | Error: An application has been forced to stop for an unauthorized attempt to access system in your device. | android |
Is it possible to move the location of the new "Google Now Screen" in KitKat? The screen is typically left of the home screen. What I want to achieve is, that it moves 1 screen further left, giving me another screen for apps/widgets left of the home screen. | It's not possible with the Google launcher, but it's fully possible in 4.4 in general, you just need to stop using Google's launcher. The "regular" launcher is still included so you can switch to that. | Move Google Now screen in 4.4 (KitKat) | android |
For a while now my contacts quit synching on Android with an Exchange 2010 server. Calendar and Mail syncing still works, both directions. This problem is described elsewhere ( e.g. here ) and I tried all the proposed fixes: Click sync now in accounts, deactivate contacts, click again, re-activate contacts, click again Check that the account is really a "Microsoft Exchange" (i.e. active sync) account, not IMAP, etc Create new dummy users on phone or Outlook and sync again... Use the Dev Tools Sync Tester on Android (always returned empty <code> stats=[] </code> , no errors...) :-( Versions: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 14.3.158.4001 Android 4.3 (Cyanogen 10.2 on Motorola Defy+) | It turned out to be a sync error for some contacts with malformed birthday field created on Android which causes exchange to silently fail. You can debug it, by getting the Exchange server-side logs , by going to your Exchange Webmail (Outlook Web Access, OWA): Login in to webmail.yourdomain.com go to: Options -> All options -> Phone mark your current device and click -> "Start Logging" Start sync on the phone in webmail click "Stop Logging" and look at the new mail create in your inbox In the log I got three of these errors: <code> X-MS-ASError: Message = The 'Contacts::Birthday' element is invalid - The value '1979-11-24' is invalid according to its datatype 'http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema:dateTime' - The string '1979-11-24' is not a valid XsdDateTime value.; Severity = Error </code> ... which causes the whole sync and all subsequent contact syncing to silently do nothing. I had to remove the birthday field from these contacts on Android. I hope this helps someone! Here is some more information on the various date formats created on Android devices: http://dmfs.org/carddav/?date_format | MS-Exchange contacts are not synching even though mail and calendar syncs fine | android |
I have a Galaxy Note 3, and Google Now has no speech. The "Google Search" app is up to date from the Play Store. All of my volumes are set to maximum. I have gone into Google Now settings and selected "Voice -> Speech output -> Always speak". I have gone into "Settings-> Language and input"; under "Text-to-speech options" my TTS engine is set to "Samsung text-to-speech engine" (the only option) and its language is set to "English (US)". I have explicitly downloaded the "English (US)" language pack from the "Install voice data" menu. I have tried rebooting and still no luck. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue? What else can I try? | Answering my own question, this seems to just be my misunderstanding of how Google Now works. I was typing the search and expecting a voice response. But apparently it only responds with a voice if you ask with a voice. If I use voice search, then a voice does indeed reply. Leaving this question/answer here in case anyone else has the same misunderstanding. | Google Now has no speech on Galaxy Note 3 | android |
I know Android is a modified linux kernel, but does that mean there is any relation between the kernel numbers? In other words, Is kernel number (for example) 2.6.xx of Android somehow based on or modified from 2.6.xx of Linux? or is it maintained separately? | Your first guess is correct: an Android kernel is a patched version of the mainstream Linux kernel with the same version number. | Relation between Linux and Android kernel versions | android |
I exported my nexus 5 contact list and it said on the phone that the contact list has been exported to 'file: /storage/emulated/0/00002.vcf.', so where is this 'file: /storage/emulated/0/00002.vcf.', and how do i access(on my phone or computer) it(as a whole file)? | It will be stored in the root of your device (/sdcard). If you plug your phone into a computer and access the phone you should see it like this: (This is on my Nexus 7 but it will appear the same) | Where is my exported nexus 5 (kitkat) contact list? How do I access it? | android |
I have already flashed the latest nightly (as of this time) and the corresponding gapps for my Samsung Galaxy S4 via CWM. But when I checked the Phone settings (About Phone), Baseband version is Unknown. I have already tried flashing I9505XXUEMJ7_MODEM.tar via Odin (as Phone), but the Baseband is still Unknown. What am I missing here? | Finally fixed the issue (old CWM): Upgraded CWM from 6.0.3.2 to 6.0.4.4 using ROM Manager. Rebooted to Recovery Mode Wipe Data / Factory Reset Wipe Cache Partition Wipe Dalvik Cache Flash CM zip (two times) Flash GAPPS Reboot phone (boot animation now showed; this was just black before) After the phone booted, (and the usual wizard), I noticed the Baseband was no longer Unknown, but listed my previously-flashed modem. I rebooted phone into Download mode and flashed a different modem (for my region). Phone working normally now. :) | How do I flash a modem for CyanogenMod / CM10.2? | android |
I am wondering if it is necessary to buy a stackexchange-url ("USB OTG cable") to access a USB stick from an Android (4.4) phone, or if it suffices to take the Micro-USB-to-USB cable that comes with the phone (for charging) and connect it to the USB stick (via a female-female adapter)? | I would do away with a lot of connections, and just do a <code> Phone > USB OTG > USB Stick </code> connection. An OTG Cable is very cheap anyway. You can get one for a USD1 (at least here in the Philippines), or less. | Connecting a USB stick: OTG cable required or will standard USB (charging) cable work? | android |
My devices are all linked to my main Google account. This is encouraged, almost required, by Android, for example to make my Google Play apps available everywhere. However, it requires me to store my main Google password on the device, which provides access to a ton of sensitive data: all email, Drive documents, Google Wallet. What can I do to protect myself in case one of my devices gets stolen? The devices I currently have are Google Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 | Google now has a device manager as part of Google services where you can do a remote wipe: https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager At least put a pin lock on your device so that it will be harder to access. Don't enable Developer Options / keep adb on all the time. | Protecting my Google identity in case my Android device gets stolen? | android |
What is the best place in the Android (4.4 or similar) file system to save some documents (.pdf, personal docs, other files, music, ...)? In other words, is there a specific folder where one can create a home directory and put in files without having to fear that it is wiped out by (updates of) Android? | Note that this is not guranteed to be the case with every update, and may vary from device to device. However, in every case I'm familiar with, this has held true. OTA/Automatic updates (and many but not all ROMs installed with a custom Recovery) will generally ignore anything inside the <code> /sdcard/ </code> directory. I keep everything in there and whenever I switch ROMs or update, that directory stays safe as long as whatever I'm installing doesn't require a factory reset. Devices with no physical SD Card slot such as Nexus, and Kindle Fires have treated that sort of as the default <code> /home/user/ </code> directory. Downloads from Chrome go to <code> /sdcard/Download/ </code> by default. Music gets downloaded to <code> /sdcard/Music/ </code> etc... Devices with a physical SD Card slot seem to use that as the mount point for an inserted card. You can use it if you have a card inserted - otherwise, it's not available. Some devices will be different. As Izzy noted, the external SD card can have a different default mountpoint such as <code> /sdcard/external_sd/ </code> or something with <code> /extSD/ </code> . It could realistically be any point that the manufacturer or ROM builder decides on. Having said that, it's always a good idea to keep your data backed up. I haven't had any emergencies, and my data in the directory has never been wiped when I wasn't expecting it, but it's always best to be safe. | Where to store (personal) files? | android |
I performed factory data reset of my another device "HTC Explorer". And before performing the reset Play store was there but now it disappears, and instead of play store now its Market place. So how to convert Market place to Google Play Store again? | Google Play was formerly Android Market. Your phone would originally have had Android Market (I am assuming its an old one, probably Gingerbread). When you did a factory reset all the updates were reverted back included on Android Market (aka Google Play). Android Market automatically updates itself so give it some time and it should update itself to Google Play. | In Explorer, after performing factory reset Google play store converted to Market place | android |
My work has blocked access to Google Docs. I need to print off something which is on there. At my laptop at home, I normally just export a google document to excel format but on the app version, it allows me to "send" it to an email address but it seems to send it only in PDF format. Is there a way I can export it into excel spreadsheet from the android app and send it to my work email. | seems the only way to do it was to open up the document through the browser, selecting desktop mode. Then "View spreadsheet mode" right at the bottom. Then it'll load it up like it would if you loaded it from a computer. Then you can select File -> Email as Attachment. Bit of a crappy process... | Can I convert a Google Drive spreadsheet to Excel format from my phone? | android |
What does it mean when the system indicator icon (red triangle with a white exclamation point in the center) shows up next to the phone number I sent a text to? | That icon means the text is not sent. Just click on that text and it will push the typed text into compose box, you just have to press send. | System Indicator icon, what does it mean? | android |
This might be a no-brainer but I am having a hard time figuring it out. Today I got the update of Google Text-to-Speech on my HTC One X. I was able to configure it and even listen to an example. But how do I use it? The Play store description states that it can be used with Google Play Books, Google Translate and many other applications in Play Store. But what if I have a page on my Firefox or Pocket app which I want to read it out? How do I use Google Text-to-Speech with that? Also this app does not show up in my app drawer. Any reason why? | Because Google Text-to-Speech isn't really an app : it's a library app . That is, it doesn't have a user interface for you to interact with; rather, it offers an interface to other apps to use its functionality. Other apps on the phone can give text to Google Text-to-Speech for it to speak out loud. It's up to the author of the app in question to use the facility offered by Google Text-to-Speech: only apps that have been written to use it can do so. So if you want Firefox to use Google Text-to-Speech to read out web pages, you need to file a feature request with Mozilla (the organization that develops Firefox) asking them to support this. For the same reason, the way you use it in an app that does support it, such as Google Play Books, is different from app to app. There might be a button or menu item to read text out, or there might be a setting to make the app read things out automatically. | How to use Google Text-to-Speech? | android |
My Nexus 7 died. I didn't see it happening. My son was playing, went to school and left it charging. At night it didn't turn on anymore. The screen is black. I've followed the Asus instructions . This answer says to disconnect the battery. Any other tip? Nexus isn't officially sold in my country (Brazil). I'm afraid I won't get be able to use the warranty. Since the last update, I've noticed some hiccups. Maybe it was due to excess of running applications. | The solution is to buy a Galaxy Tab. My Nexus is dead. Asus not even accepts it to make a diagnostic. The "global" warranty is not valid in Brazil. By a better quality product from a company that respect their users. | My Nexus 7 is dead, any suggestion? | android |
I have an old backup of the WiFi passwords on my Nexus 7. I also have a new configuration which has some passwords that are newer and some that are older. How can I merge the configuration in a controlled manner without having to entrust my WiFi passwords to some third-party app? | If you have root access on your device: Grab a copy of <code> /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf </code> , e.g. using <code> adb pull </code> , and save it to your computer Restore the data from your backup, and grab a copy of that in the same manner Use a text editor, and merge the entries to a new file Put that file back into place, e.g. using <code> adb push </code> Make sure the file is owned by <code> system:wifi </code> and has permissions <code> 664 </code> . Without root access, it might be possible as well, but would be much more tricky (plus the overhead would probably not be worth it). The following is untested, and requires at least Android 4.0: Create an <code> adb backup </code> Restore the "old data" to your device Create another <code> adb backup </code> Extract both backups to different locations on your device (see: [How do you extract an App's data from a full backup made through “adb backup”?])(stackexchange-url ("How do you extract an App's data from a full backup made through "adb backup"?")) Merge the data from both <code> wpa_supplicant.conf </code> files Re-assemble the backup file Restore the re-assembled backup A third way lies in between, but does not require to re-assemble and restore the backup file, nor to replace the <code> wpa_supplicant.conf </code> directly. But you will need a copy of that file, which you either can obtain via <code> adb pull </code> or by extracting the backup files. Once you've got a copy of both files, you can simply read your connection data, and enter those you wish manually: everything is stored as plain-text here, completely unencrypted (including the passwords!). An example entry (slightly modified to hide the real data): <code> network={ ssid="smartcafe" psk="cafesmart" key_mgmt=WPA-PSK priority=46 } </code> As you see: if you would like to use that data for the APN "smartcafe", simply edit your config and put the corresponding password ( <code> psk </code> ): Go to Settings → WiFi Scroll to the APN Long-press its entry, select "Change" Enter the new password If it should be a new entry: At the same place, at the bottom of the screen, tap the "add network" button, and enter the data you've read from the file. | How can I merge WiFi passwords from a backup and from the current configuration? | android |
So this is very odd. Last night my phone rebooted itself. Nothing unusual there - it does it from time to time. However, this morning when I try to read the news I get "Application is not installed on your phone". So I check some more apps and lo and behold I get the same message. Any app that was installed on my SD card has gone - but only partially. The icon still exists on the "desktop" and the system name appears on the list of installed apps on the phone, but the Google Play store doesn't think they're installed - which is different to the symptoms described in these questions: stackexchange-url ("apps moved on sd card have disappeared") stackexchange-url ("My apps status suddenly become "not installed on the phone", even the google play store!") which both state that the applications are still listed as installed in the Play Store. Also - now I think about this a few apps had gone missing earlier. I have gaps in the icon field where I know there was an application, but because I didn't use it everyday I can't remember which ones :). I've tried removing and reinserting the SD card, but that's had no effect. When I reinstall applications that have local data and/or stored account details this information is still present. For example when I opened the Amazon MP3 player it didn't prompt me for my Amazon account details, but just showed the list of albums I've purchased. This implies that it's just the folder that hold the executables on the SD card that's been deleted/corrupted. I've started reinstalling apps, but I'm concerned that this might happen again. So does anyone have any ideas why this might be the case? | As stackexchange-url ("Manishearth wrote"), this might indicate trouble with the card (and very likely does). The boot you describe might have been "too abrupt", not cleanly unmounting the card and thus corrupting its file system; in which case the "good ol' <code> chkdsk </code> " should help (btw, Android ships with <code> fsck </code> for the very same task, which you could execute via a terminal app or <code> adb shell </code> – see stackexchange-url ("Check and fix SD card errors within Android itself?")). On the other hand, it could also mean hardware trouble with the card, which even could be the reason for those reboots, reversing cause and effect: Not being able to read/write, or encountering too many "corrupt blocks", might have triggered some event (like re-mounting the card read/only). I'm not sure whether such would trigger a reboot (as stuff counted essential by the system usually doesn't reside on the sdcard), but it wouldn't be impossible. Thus trying a new card won't hurt. PS – A little background on app2sd : As shipped with Android 2.2+, this only moves parts of the app to your card, while other parts remain on internal storage. Especially the app's data remain here (in <code> /data </code> ), which is why after a re-installation of your apps they were already (or rather "still") available. For more details, you might wish to take a look at our stackexchange-url ("app2sd tag-wiki"). | All apps installed on my SD card have suddenly disappeared | android |
I have a Nexus 10 running Android 4.3. Can the Fitbit sync with this device? This compatibility page doesn't explicitly list it, but I'm guessing it may work, based on the bluetooth requirements, which I believe are satisfied by Android 4.3. But before spending a lot of money, I'd like to be sure. Has anyone used this combination successfully? | I borrowed a friend's Fitbit and tried to sync it with my Nexus 10. I enabled Bluetooth. I then installed the Fitbit app and logged in as him. There is no option anywhere to sync the device. I then logged out, and created a new account. On a compatible device, once the account is created, it prompts you to sync a Fitbit device. This question is never asked on the Nexus 10. Circumstantial additional evidence comes from the large number of unhappy reviews citing device compatibility on the Fitbit app page . So it is confirmed that despite the probable existence of the necessary bluetooth hardware/software, at the time of writing Fitbit devices cannot be synced with the Nexus 10. | Can the Fitbit sync with a Google Nexus 10? | android |
I did a factory reset on a Samsung Galaxy S2 like this: switch off phone hold down buttons Volume Up, Home and Power until phone boots into "Android System Recovery" mode select wipe/factory reset and confirm all questions As expected, after the factory reset, all apps were not installed anymore. But this does not seem to have worked for the file system: On the file system of the internal USB memory (/storage/sdcard0), I see many folders of previously installed apps and also some which I had manually created before the factory reset. I think that a factory reset should delete all these folders, because e.g. the WhatsApp folder contains all my personal messages. I think that if a function is called a factory reset, then afterwards personal messages should be deleted. So what's wrong here? | A factory reset usually doesn't touch "external storage" (may sound confusing, but that includes the "internal SDcard" as well) – unless it explicitly specifies so (some devices/ROMs have a corresponding checkbox in the system menu, usually Settings → Backup & Reset , where this might be specified to be included). What a factory reset usually does is, basically, to wipe <code> /cache </code> (where the application cache should be) and <code> /data </code> (where the userdata reside, including the apps the user installed). Which means: Nothing is wrong here, it's "working as designed". If you want the SDcard to be wiped, you will have to do so yourself. You can e.g. use a file manager app, or connect your device to a computer. Or simply use a terminal app (or <code> adb shell </code> ), and invoke <code> rm -rf /storage/sdcard0/* </code> to have all files removed from there. See also: factory-reset stackexchange-url ("tag-wiki") | How to properly factory-reset a Samsung Galaxy S2? | android |
How to redirect entire phone traffic (including all apps) to a proxy (with out rooting the phone) We are developing a parental control app for Android, in that we have requirement to capture all out going traffic from Android phone for categorization. Is there a way to achieve this in Android with out rooting the phone . Thanks, Gopi. | It sounds like you are describing a VPN (virtual private network). A VPN directs all traffic (whether http or other tcp/ip protocols) through a specific server, usually with the intent to encrypt traffic between the device and the VPN server. However, encryption isn't necessary, and a VPN would have full control over routing, which means you could customize a VPN server to block specific requests. Or you could redirect requests to unsafe/undesirable websites to a 'block' page of your choosing. Almost all android devices have VPN capabilities built-in. You should look into that technology. In order to force the user to go through the VPN, you will need an app that can be set as a device admin (a built-in, almost-root privilege that prevents the app from being removed) that would also set the VPN to be always on. See this Android.SE stackexchange-url ("question and answer") for more details. | How to redirect complete outgoing phone's traffic to a proxy server? | android |
How we can compare Ultra Pixel and Mega pixel? And what is the difference between these two camara technologies. | Extracted from UltraPixel vs Megapixel: HTC One & iPhone 5 Camera Shoot-Out : Ultra-Pixels: Basically the sensor on the HTC One features larger pixels for better low light sensitivity and, on paper, better overall camera performance. [...] We have to understand that “ultrapixel” is just HTC’s marketing team saying that the pixels on the HTC One’s sensor are larger. Here’s how it works: the sensor on the HTC One isn’t larger than the sensors on other modern phones: 1/3.2-inch is what HTC used in the One and the same size is also present on the iPhone 5, Galaxy S III, or Lumia 920. A larger sensor means having something like the Nokia 808 PureView has with its 1/1.2 inch sensor. Some other site described that term as "plain market buzz". More on the term UltraPixel can also be found at Wikipedia . Megapixel , on the other hand, is a measurement term, describing the resolution of an image – a term used not only for the number of pixels in an image, but also to express the number of image sensor elements of digital cameras or the number of display elements of digital displays. | What is the difference between Ultra pixel and Mega Pixel camara? | android |
I want to try this record and replay tool , but do not want to root my device. Is it possible to run a binary which might need root access, without rooting the device? | After some searching and trial and error, I could run replay.exe from RERAN, without rooting my device. For some reason I could not copy and exectute replay.exe to/from /data/local as the original article suggests, but I could do it to/from /data/local/tmp. I tested it on 3 devices. HTC-One mobile, Google Nexus 7 tab, Samsung Galaxy tab 10. Here are details. I had to enable developer option and enable USB debugging Install USB driver for Android on my Windows 7 Once I see the device in adb run following commands .\adb.exe push replay.exe /data/local/tmp/ to copy the binary .\adb.exe shell /data/local/tmp/replay.exe to run the binary Now one thing I cannot understand but why does it run when copied to /data/local/tmp? Is it a security hole or debugging aid? Or writing to /dev/input/event* really do not need root access? | How to run a compiled binary which writes to /dev/evdev/event* without rooting the device? | android |
My android device is quad-core . But during booting only 2 cores are up . CPU_HOTPLUG is enabled . In dumpstate i found : <code> maxcpus=2 </code> in command Line options. I wanted to make this maxcpus=4 . I have all source code with me . I wanted to set this maxcpus value in source code (especially in default settings) . So my question is : In which file does this default value setting is done ? I grep'ed it through source in platform and kernel. But i didn't get any clue .I think this code lie in bootloader .If so please guide me | I presume that CPU_HOTPLUG means hotplug cpu governor is enabled in your system. hotplug cpu governor can make cpu core online or offline based on total system load. So, It might be possible that your other two cores are offline at the moment. You can check the exact cpu cores by, $ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/present This will display total cores on your system. Or you can do "ls /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*" then see cpu0,cpu1,... directories. Those are your different cores. If you can not find 4 cores (0,1,2,3) in that directory, than there is some problem with your system. You can change the cpu governor to some other for example, ondemand to utilize all four cores. But it may use more battery. I hope this helps. [update] Also, if you are referring to set the default kernel command line from configuration then it is available at, Symbol: CMDLINE [=] Type : string Prompt: Default kernel command string Defined at arch/arm/Kconfig:1766 Location: -> Boot options in kernel menuconfig window. Generally in android, kernel commandline is part of boot image and not this default one, But you can still try that out. If bootloader is passing the kernel command line string than this configuration will be ignored. Good luck. | where does default setting for Command Line Switches is set in kernel source code in android | android |
I'm looking how to recognize my Nexus 4 as a drive. Actually it's like a camera. Any idea? | This is how many modern Android phones (Including all Nexus phones) work. The Nexus 4 can switch between MTP and PTP modes. To overgeneralize a bit, it can use MTP to emulate a Media Device and PTP to emulate a camera. The Nexus 4 has no way to mount as a Mass Storage Device (and thus, no practical way to mount it and get a drive letter for it) | How to recognize Nexus 4 as a drive | android |
Consider a tablet user without data plan using only wifi connections at public places (e.g., hospital, hotel) that often die after 2 hours after accepting terms of use. (and is not running skype or other app all the time to show connected status) Is there a widget (similar to battery-big text % of battery in the time top system line) that would show green if internet is available to the tablet and red if internet "died" (due to inactivity or other glitch). | ANdroid default icon provides the functionality color of the icon (gray) already indicates "sign-in required" type of connection. (credit goez to izzy) | Green/red widget icon or notification tray app to indicate if internet is available (tablet) | android |
Is there any difference between restoring an app and installing an app on an Android device, or are both the same? | As David said, you can restore an unsupported app from a previous backup, or you can restore the data of that app ( e.g. saves in a game ). when you install an app from the play store, you are limited to what's available for your country (unless you're rooted then there some ways to go around it) and even if you install an app that you previously had, the data will not be restored. google play store just backs up your apps names so when you restore through the play store, the data is not restored. | What is the difference between restoring and installing an app on an Android device? | android |
HTC says best feature of the device. But what exactly is Blinkfeed? | BlinkFeed—an aggregator of news and social network content [...] BlinkFeed will always occupy the leftmost page of the home screen. The default BlinkFeed home screen of HTC Sense 5 ( Wikipedia: HTC One ) To explain the second line: By default, there will only be two home screen panels out of the box: a "BlinkFeed" page and a classic Android home screen on the right. This explanation is taken from HTC One software hands-on: Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Sense TV and new Sync Manager (Engadget), where Blinkfeed is further described: This is simply a Flipboard-like tile interface that sits permanently on the main home page. Created in collaboration with Mobiles Republic, this tool pulls in content from various publications and social networks (Twitter, Plurk, LinkedIn, Flickr, Zoe Share and more), as well as your calendar and TV shows from the TV app (more on that later). You won't be seeing emails here, as HTC positions BlinkFeed as a place for more ambient info rather than critical updates. Regardless, the feed can be customized to suit your needs, though the first version won't let you add custom RSS feeds just yet. Read more in the linked articles themselves. | Blinkfeed, what exactly it is? | android |
Ever since I've installed my own CA in the key store I'm getting warnings that the network may be monitored. Well, I guess that's a valid warning if I don't trust these certificates, but I really trust my own CA here; even more than the ones preinstalled. How do I get rid of this warning I see at least once per day popping up? This is on stock Android 4.4 KitKat on a Nexus 5. | I was looking into the same issue, and it was answered on XDA http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2537794 In short - it is possible if your phone is rooted to move the certificate to the System section. Very annoying that it is not possible to exclude certificates from this warning - it only produces noise when I know that the cert is OK to use. | How do I get rid of "Network may be monitored" in KitKat? | android |
Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3. My partner's name is not "anglo" and I have not worked out a way to pronounce it and have it understood. Are there work-arounds for this? Can I get the phone to pronounce the name so that I can try to use the same tortured pronunciation? Is there a way to set a simpler "nick name" for a contact that can be better understood? On my device, can Google Now do the same thing instead of S-Voice I.e. "Call partner_name/nickname" and would it be any better? | I would try the first approach, and have the system pronounce the name. To do so, a simple TTS app like Auto Speak Clipboard 2 will do: Install it, copy her name to the clipboard, send out all cats and your girl (to avoid their punishment), and have that app speak what it thinks the name should sound like. Have some Valerian ready in case you freak out ;) | Voice commands for contacts with unusual names | android |
I've browsed for this information and everything I've found says to hit the power button and volume down at the same time and a white line appears around the screen and you have a capture. I've tried so many times and i just can't do this. I can get blank the screen I can make the Power Off, Flight Mode, Restart dialog appear I can get the volume slider to appear I can even get the volume slider to appear and power off dialog to appear at the same time. I've tried pressing both together, pressing one and then the other, Holding one down and pressing the other, holding both down. I even tried pushing my tab against the desk, edge on, to flatten both buttons at the same time. And after 30 minutes I still can't seen to get any screenshots, but I have rebooted twice. Is there some that works on voice or shake or hold on screen that would allow me to do this? | It works out that you just have to keep trying. The Power and Volume down together (for around a second) will eventually yield a screenshot about 1 time out of a hundred. Took a look at most of the apps out there and they either need you to root the device or install loads of other stuff, work for phones rather than tablets or just don't work. Guess I'm stuck with the crazy combination! | Android 4.2.2 Screen Capture on Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 | android |
The signal indicator on my phone often shows "3G" or "H+" in the signal indicator. When there's no connectivity it doesn't show anything. I'm referring to the icons in the status bar like these: What are the different signal icons that are shown in android? I've never used an LTE/4G handset or even been on one of those networks so I'm also curious to see what indicators are used for those. | They are referring to the mobile data connection: G : GPRS (slowest) E : Edge (enhanced GSM) 3G : UMTS H : HSPA (enhanced 3G) H+ : HSPA+ (even more enhanced/faster HSPA) 4G : LTE (thanks to eldarerathis for confirmation) The bars obviously show signal quality, and the arrows show whether data transfer is in progress. As for the colors (your pictures show blue and gray signal icons), please refer to stackexchange-url ("What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?") | What are the different signal indicators avalable on the notification bar? | android |
Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 The wireless tethering hotspot name is <code> AndroidAP </code> . I would like to change this if I can. | I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, but you should have something similar to this: <code> System settings > Connections > More Networks > Tethering and portable hotspot > Portable Wi-Fi hotspot </code> . | Change the name of the Wi-Fi hotspot | android |
For my own setup I use a personal CA: "Gert van Dijk CA". I'm using this for HTTPS and VPN successfully by importing the CA certificate into the Android keystore. I'm having trouble getting the Email app recognize this. Here are some notes about the current setup: The custom CA is listed perfectly fine in Settings -> Security -> Trusted Credentials -> User . Chrome and "OpenVPN for Android" are working with this custom CA. I can see a green location bar when connecting to <code> https://mail.mydomain.tld </code> . This all looks good, until I come to setting up my Exchange mail. It simply won't connect to <code> mail.mydomain.tld </code> with the error "Couldn't open connection to server". However, when I change "Security Type: SSL/TLS" to "SSL/TLS (Accept all certificates)" it will sync my mail just fine! This makes me believe the stock Email app isn't taking the user credentials in the key store into account. Why? Logcat shows me this line when receiving the connection error: <code> I/Exchange(10278): IOException while sending request: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: Trust anchor for certification path not found. </code> To verify I've set up my Exchange server correctly, I navigated to <code> https://mail.mydomain.tld/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync </code> and the location bar is perfectly green! How can I make the Email app take the user trusted credentials into account here? I don't want to trust all possible certificates for security reasons. Android versions: 4.4 (Nexus 5), 4.3 (Nexus 7 2013). | Ah well. It appears that the Stock Email app doesn't do SNI . This means that in the initial connection to the server it was presented with another certificate it should discard (but didn't). It seems to me that this is a feature request for the Email app, as other apps do implement SNI. Changing the Apache SSL configuration to use SNI with an initial certificate signed with the "Gert van Dijk CA" still didn't solve it. Logcat then showed: <code> I/Exchange(12307): IOException while sending request: Cannot verify hostname: mail.mydomain.tld </code> Setting <code> mail.mydomain.tld </code> as initial certificate solved it. I consider this an ugly work around until this has been fixed in the Email app. | How do I import a user CA for the Email app properly? | android |
I have a nexus 4 and had been trying to copy files with Windows 7 - but when I plug it in, it doesn't show up in my device manager but when i enable USB debugging in the developer options, it shows up under "Other devices" and Windows can not seem to find the appropriate drivers for it. What's happening here? How can I make the phone to show up in my My Computer to copy files to/from it? Thanks, Ron edit I now tried to install the drivers I found on http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1992345 and now my nexus 4 shows up as an Android ADB Interface but I still can't see it in my device manager... :o | I've figured it out, had to enable MTP mode under Settings => Storage - > settings button on top right -> USB computer connection and then enable MTP from there. | nexus 4 not allowing me to copy files | android |
I have Cyangenmod 10.1.3 installed on my Xperia Z. When I tried to download Cyangenmod 10.2-20131101 nightly build in my phone's settings, no error but it silently failed after some time. I tried again but the problem persists. Any idea what went wrong? Am I supposed to download the zip file, copy it to my phone and boot into recovery mode to do a manual installation? | You can't upgrade form 10.1.3 to 10.2 directly. You must flash it manually from recovery and you also have to wipe data. | How to update Cyangenmod 10.1 to 10.2? | android |
I have an older LG p990 that has a HDMI port, and with the right cable I am able to show movies on it on the TV. My new phone is a Nexus 4, it has no HDMI port. Based on this stackexchange-url ("question and answer"), I know how to connect it to an MHL compatible TV. But how can I use a TV without MHL capability? Is there an adapter for that? How is it called, where can I buy one? | MHL compatibility on a TV only means that it will supply sufficient power (500mA, 900mA, or 2000mA, depending on which version of the MHL spec it is compatible with) through the HDMI port to power the adapter and charge the phone. An MHL adapter will work just fine with a non-MHL TV. You just need to supply your own power from a regular charger. This is what the female microUSB port on the MHL-to-HDMI adapters is for. You plug the charger into that, plug the HDMI cable into the TV, and MHL cable into the phone and you're off to the races. Not all phones support MHL however, the Nexus 4 in the question supports SlimPort instead. | How can I connect my phone without a HDMI port to a non-MHL TV? | android |
I have planned for some time to use a smartphone or tablet to give scientific presentations via projector, instead of using a laptop. I'm now thinking about buying a new Android smartphone, if I can be sure that in the end I'll be able to realize this goal with it. So my main question is: What do I have to look out for in order to get a device with which I can give projector presentations? I apologize that this question is not exactly about a concrete problem I'm faced with right now – I just don't want to purchase a costly device only to find out later that I can't do with it what I want. I therefore did some thinking and research about the possible problems, and ask you for advice on how to avoid a concrete problem to occur in the first place. Here are some issues that occurred to me: In my experience most projector installations in lecture halls still only provide access to a VGA connector. I know that VGA as an analog signal requires D-A conversion from a digital signal, but I'm confused about how much effort this takes: Some converters have the shape of a box which needs an extra power supply, others are very small and don't need extra power. What is the difference between these different types of devices, and which kind do I need? Please note that the links are only meant as examples, I'm not asking specifically about these products. Again in my experience, most installed projectors do not yet support Full HD, but still need signals at resolutions like 800x600 or 1024x768. At least some HDMI-to-VGA converters appear to support downscaling from Full HD to VGA resolutions. Since I probably can't control this from the smartphone/tablet: How does it work? Can I trust that the optimal resolution is automatically negotiated between the adapter and the projector? Can I expect a decent-looking result from the downscaling, or will it be all washed out? Practically speaking: Is there a specifically named feature of such converters that I should look out for when choosing one? Again, the link is only for reference. Android apps normally have screen output optimized for the fixed, physically small screen built into the device and not the flexibility that is provided by changing the screen resolution or resizing a window on a Desktop OS. Is it a realistic goal to achieve a good presentation experience from a mobile device similar to the one from a laptop? E.g. it appears not to be possible to get Adobe Reader for Android into a proper one-page-fullscreen mode. Is there presentation software that does this better? I'm mainly thinking of presentations in pdf format. And maybe there are caveats I'm not even thinking of? | Make sure that the phone that you get has a micro-HDMI port, in addition to the traditional USB port. This will allow you to transfer video more easily. As you noticed, there are two types of converters- the tiny ones, and the large bulky ones with a power supply. The difference is, as stated on the link you sent, that: Unlike passive adapters Ligawo converter has a power supply, thereby allowing a built-in signal amplification and processing of the image. Provides the signal source sufficient current through HDMI This converter can also be used without power supply. So yes, the larger ones with power supplies would probably be better in terms of signal quality, and could still be used without being plugged in. However, due to their bulk, the better signal processing (I'm not an expert on signal processing, so I don't know how large of a difference it would make- I've used the small kind, although with a laptop, and it worked perfectly fine) might not be worth it- it's up to you to decide which type is right for you. As of how the resolution is scaled, it should work automatically for all, if not most, converters. Just double check if it says something like "Input resolution HDMI up to 1080p possible 480p - Output Resolution VGA" (from the link you sent). It shouldn't be a problem to downscale to a specific amount that you want- in the Settings -> HDMI -> HDMI Format, you should be able to change the output resolution. For more info, look here- it is two years old, but the features should still be the same with new phones running JB/KitKat. As of the software to run, there are many free and premium solutions available in the Google Play store that will work well. If you prefer presenting with PDFs, PDF Reader or Office Suite 7 should work. However, PDFs are a somewhat unconventional presentation format (although they can work), so you should consider using actual presentation software for a better experience. Google Drive for Mobile would work well, since you could edit your presentation on a computer (or your phone) and then present it on your phone, plus it is free. You could also use Presentation Pal, or Office 2012: Presentations, or some other presentation software- there are lots out there, and there's bound to be one that works good for you. All presentation software in the play store should work well for your purpose. I hope this helps! | How to use an Android phone or tablet to make a projector presentation? | android |
When I run an app, select a file, and choose "delete" what happens then: the file is moved to trash (and later is removed by OS when some conditions are met) the file is removed from the filesystem at once (1) or (2) depending on an app ? | There's no OS-wide "Trash" or "Recycle bin" like other shells have. However, the Android design guidelines recommend app authors to put something like that in each app as appropriate, to allow undoing deletes. Thus, in one app, a delete button might delete the content immediately, while another might mark the content as deleted but wait for some time before deleting any files in the filesystem. There are even more possibilities with apps that sync to a server: they might need to keep 'deleted' content around for the next sync, or it might be on a server somewhere, never deleted. In addition, not every item of user data you might delete is a file. Some apps might store things in a database, so after you delete an item, part or all of it might still be present in the app's database. Of course, like any filesystem, once a file is deleted, most of its content remains on the storage. Someone with physical access to the storage, or a rogue root app, can almost certainly still read it for quite some time after it's deleted. It's pretty easy to recover files in this way, especially if your phone acts as a USB mass storage device when plugged into a computer. | What does deleting a file really do? | android |
I would like to switch my Stock Android OS to Cyanogenmod with the least trouble possible on my Samsung Galaxy S3. So basically I would like to keep: My data (files, contacts, sms) My apps My apps data (progress of games) Is this even possible? What is the best approach to do this? | If your device is not yet rooted, an alternative to stackexchange-url ("Alex's suggestion") of Titanium Backup (which I'd second otherwise) would be to use <code> adb backup </code> (creating a backup file for each app separately is important here, as <code> adb restore </code> just works per backup file, not per app), or one of its frontends. There's also the possibility to do that directly on the device, using e.g. Helium Backup . Please also take a look at the backup stackexchange-url ("tag-wiki") for more information. | What's the best way to switch from Stock Android OS to Cyanogenmod on Galaxy S3? | android |
While watching videos in browser it shows me options of 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p and so on. But on YouTube app for Android I only see option of HD/HQ (I assume its High Definition / High Quality). How can I watch videos in 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p on YouTube app? | You can't. Those quality settings only apply to the desktop version. Mobile apps use a different set of videos, which are already optimized for mobile devices, and have two different quality settings, regular and HD. | How to watch videos in 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p on YouTube app? | android |
Look at row 62 of this graph . It is the time taken for a quick sort integer array, on a VM for android 4.4 (KitKat). How come that ART is faster except at an array size of 62000? In fact, it is significantly slower than Dalvik, as Dalvik takes 238 seconds, but ART takes 333 seconds. The result does not even fit the pattern of results, in rows 61 and 63. I could even say that its anomalous. This is very strange. Why does this happen? | Most probably the test is inconsistent. Have you tried repeating the test at least 100 times to have pseudo-valid statistic results? And are you sure the emulator is a valid platform on where to test such low-level things? It may be optimised for the Dalvik VM. Best guess is to try it on a real device, like the new Nexus 5 or waiting for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 updates. | Why is the ART VM slower than the Dalvik VM, at sorting an array when the array size is 62000? | android |
I have a china tablet named Quest. I have accidentally repeated pattern lock more than 5 times. Now I have also forgotten the email address. So for a factory-reset of my tablet I simply booted it into recovery mode. But it shows an Android bot lying with red exclamation mark. After a spending hours I found a shortcut i.e, vol + and power to access recovery menu. But my tablet doesn't go to recovery menu even when I pressed the keys. So I simply connected my tablet to my pc via USB and installed drivers. In adb command prompt I typed <code> adb devices </code> . Now my tablet is listed as <code> 20110301 recovery </code> . I can simply use only <code> adb pull </code> , <code> adb push </code> , and <code> reboot </code> commands. But I cant access adb shell to unlock my tablet: it simply says <code> exec '/system/bin/sh' failed: No such file or directory (2) </code> . What can I do? | I Have the same problem with etech et-7008b tablet, the USB DEBUGGING is off before they made made too many pattern mistakes. My advice is make sure USB debugging option is checked/turned on before making any security password on your devices but it would be easier to unlock for those stolen or lost devices. | can't use adb shell in recovery mode | android |
I recently rooted my device (4.1 version Asus tablet). However, when I connect my device to internet, it automatically search for and download system firmware update every time. Then it asks me to tap the notification to update the system. There is no option provided to disable that. How can I disable checking as well as downloading the update? I read stackexchange-url ("this") question also, but there is no solution. Edit: My device is Asus MeMo Pad tablet. | If you are having root, use Titanium Backup to disable/freeze CMClient.apk & DMClient.apk. This will disable the tablet to check for OTA from Asus servers. If you want to update the tablet to latest firmware later, unfreeze/enable the apks and proceed with updating. | How to stop notifications of OTA update after rooting? | android |
Is there any way to delete cookies, history and other private data in the Google Chrome browser on Android? There is no such option in the Android version of the browser. | You can clear all browsing data from Settings -> Privacy -> Clear browsing data. Source : Chrome Help | How to clear cookies, history and other private data in the Chrome browser? | android |
Apparently newer versions of Android require the use of Android File Transfer. I have an older machine that doesn't require this, and just mounts as a USB mass storage device. I can't see a technical reason why Android File Transfer is now required when it used not to be. What changed in order to make this necessary? Why is it necessary? | Newer Android devices don't support USB mass storage because it has a big shortcoming: the phone and the PC can't access the storage at the same time that way. This is because USB mass storage is a low-level protocol giving the PC low-level access to the whole filesystem. This causes knock-on problems when you connect your phone to the PC:- Apps on the external storage can't run while it is mounted on the PC. Music and other files on the external storage aren't accessible to apps, so even apps that aren't on the external storage might stop working or become useless. When the external storage is unmounted from the PC, Android has to rescan it from scratch (see media-scanner ) because it can't tell what has changed. There's no way for the phone to let the PC access the internal storage this way: Android can't unmount the internal storage, because all apps need access to it, even the system apps. This also means there has to be a separate partition and filesystem for the external storage, which the phone can cope with losing access to. Newer Android devices often just have one big partition, and the "external storage" is simply a directory there. It's more convenient that way because you don't have free space split between partitions, but you can't use USB mass storage on only a directory. Android can't enforce any filesystem security. The PC has complete access to the exported storage, below the filesystem level. This lets it access any file, and read the raw device data to recover deleted files. This might be considered an undesirable security hole. As eldarerathis points out, the external storage has to use the FAT32 filesystem to work this way. This isn't a shortcoming when it's a real SD card, but when it's really non-removable storage, it would be more useful to use a better filesystem. (Where I say "SD card" here, that means whatever storage your Android device calls "external", even if it's not actually removable.) In contrast, MTP is higher-level, and allows Android to arbitrate and to share access, just like when sharing directories or filesystems over a network. It even opens the possibility of letting the PC access the internal storage this way, but there are other restrictions around that unrelated to MTP. As eldarerathis explains, you need special software to access MTP devices from a Mac, because Mac OS doesn't have the appropriate software built-in, like Windows and some Linux distributions do. | Why is Android File Transfer necessary? | android |
I have just installed a pdf reader in my Samsung Galaxy Y mobile phone which comes with android 2.3 Gingerbread. This pdf reader has a text to speech option, but I am not able to use it and getting the error message: "No Language installed in your Default TTS Engine". What should I do? How do I fix this? | You need to install the speech synthesis data for the TTS engine. You can find it on the play store here . | "No language is installed in your default TTS Engine"? What should I do? | android |
Just got a Nexus 5 running KitKat (what else?), but I cannot figure out how to add widgets to the lockscreen! On JB, swiping right from the left edge while showing lockscreen would display a "+" widget option. This is no longer the case. Are lockscreen widgets gone?! | You have to check "Enable widgets" in Settings > Security. Then you can swipe right on the lockscreen as usual. | How do you add widgets to the lockscreen in KitKat? | android |
Now that Android 4.4 aka KitKat is out, I couldn't find out whether Samsung Galaxy Nexus will get the upgrade or not. Does anyone have any information on this? I hope it will get it, this why I bought Nexus device in the first place. | Nope, there will be no official support for Android 4.4 on the Galaxy Nexus . However, you will almost certainly be able to flash custom ROMs that are based on it. There's some supposition and explanation going on on Android Police . They make a few good points: The Galaxy Nexus is old and well outside normal support windows. The CPU Manufacturer doesn't even make CPUs for phones anymore - official kernel support from them would be difficult or impossible. Google's relationship with Samsung isn't what it used to be. (Supporting 4.4 on the GNex officially would require them to work together again to some degree.) Google's relationship with Verizon has never been good. Supporting 4.4 on the GNex would also mean the necessity to support it on Verizon's GNex - something that I'm sure neither Google or Verizon would be excited about collaborating on. | Galaxy Nexus and KitKat | android |
Android 4.4 (KitKat) was officially announced on October 31, 2013. (You can review the high level changes in KitKat at the official Android Developer's site or the announcement on the official Android blog.) Of course, not all devices will get this update right away and others won't get it at all. Each manufacturer and carrier often choose to add their custom modifications which tend to delay the official release. When will each device get Android 4.4, either officially or unofficially, if ever? | This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates for devices. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines: Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded Phones HTC Droid DNA "HTC says it plans to update the handset to KitKat by the end of Q1 2014, 'pending certification from your carrier.'" AndroidCentral One Google Play Edition: 2013-11-25 ( +Android ) Unlocked and Developer models: 2013-11-29 ( @HTCUSA ) North American models: "Within 90 Days" ( AndroidCentral ) One Max / One Mini "the update for both will arrive in the near future." DigitalTrends One X and One X+ : Never ( source ) LG G2 : December, 2013 ( confirmed ) Nexus 4 : 2013-11-19 ( AndroidCentral ) Factory Image available here and Proprietary Binary available here . Motorola Atrix HD (AT&T) : "Will be upgraded" ( upgrade status ) Droid Bionic : "Will remain on Android 4.1.2" ( upgrade status ) Droid Mini/Maxx/Ultra : "Will be upgraded ( upgrade status ) Droid Razr HD Developer Edition/Droid M Developer Edition : "Will be upgraded" ( upgrade status ) Droid Razr M/Droid Razr HD/Droid Razr Maxx HD : "Will be upgraded" ( upgrade status ) Electrify M (US Cellular) : "Will be upgraded" ( upgrade status ) Moto G : February 2014 (AndroidCentral) Moto X : "Will be upgraded" ( upgrade status ) Verizon: 2013-11-19 ( confirmed ) T-Mobile: 2013-11-21 ( confirmed ) AT&T: 2013-11-22 ( confirmed ) Sprint: 2013-12-12 ( AndroidCentral ) Samsung Galaxy Nexus : Official: Never ( source ) Galaxy Note 2 and 3 : no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch. Galaxy S3 : no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch. Galaxy S4 : Google Play Edition: 2013-11-25 ( +Android ) Sprint: 2014-2-13 ( Engadget ) Others: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch. Sony Xperia C : never ( confirmed ) Xperia L : never ( confirmed ) Xperia M : never ( confirmed ) Xperia SP : never ( confirmed ) Xperia Z : planned, no date given ( confirmed ) Xperia Z Ultra : planned, no date given ( confirmed ) Xperia Z1 : planned, no date given ( confirmed ) Xperia ZL : planned, no date given ( confirmed ) Tablets Asus Nexus 7 : 2013-11-13 ( confirmed ) Nvidia eVGA Tegra Note , Advent Vega Tegra Note , etc. : 2014-02-18 - released Samsung Nexus 10 : 2013-11-13 ( confirmed ) Sony Xperia Tablet Z : planned, no date given ( confirmed ) | When will my device get the Android 4.4 update (KitKat)? | android |
Is it possible to only disable voice/video calls in hangouts but leave messaging? | Nope you cannot only selectively disable video calls. The least you can do is disable incoming invites from the app settings. | Disabling hangout calls for phone | android |
The middle third (long-narrow thirds way) of my digitizer seems to have crapped out. Diagnosed from having vary hard time unlocking and weird selection issues, to suspecting digitizer, to getting a drawing program installed and seeing no record of movement over that part of the screen when drawing. This makes unlocking (non-secure) with the "slide to unlock" tab almost impossible - takes 20 or more tries to get it to work sometimes. Since that button does not move when the screen rotates, I can't get it to live where the digitizer works. I thought I might be able to make it work with "pattern unlock" but that won't set a pattern with the middle third out of operation. Same issue affects the sound on/off (and trying to unlock often sets the sound on or off instead.) So my answerable, stack-exchange-ish question, essentially, is whether there is any way to move/reorient the "slide to unlock" tab, or let the keyboard do that function. Phone has not been wet, but I tried drying it anyway since many digitizer problems seem to be water related. No help. On/off/reboot battery in/out also make no difference. While it's irritating, if I could get something else (like the keyboard) to do what the slide-unlock is doing, but reliably, I could live with it as is for as much as I use the touchscreen. I'm on a rooted (basically so I could install AFWall+, as I'm using it on a prepaid service primarily to make/take calls with, and really wanted to make double sure that any data use was restricted to WiFi, ONLY.) "Gingerbread" (2.3.4) Motorola Droid 2 Global if it makes a difference. I'm no great shakes at android-ness, I basically tracked down a root tool method that was purported to work, and after finding that many versions of it didn't discovered one "not the most updated" version that did work, despite dear old VZ making it more difficult. ( I'd also like to ask about replacing the digitizer, but after reading the help page 3 times I'm still not sure if that's considered on or off topic, since it's more about "hardware running android" than about "android as such" but it is "a problem I'm trying to solve on my android device" ) | I have the same model and the digitizer is also 2/3 dead. If hold vertically, the left third from top to bottom works plus the rightmost vertical pixel line. I was able to unlock it using a two finger gesture: Swipe the slider as far as possible to the right and hold it, then touch the right edge of the screen with a 2nd finger, then release the 1st finger. My permanent solution: Installed Cyanogenmod and enabled physical keyboard unlock. Note that you can buy a replacement digitizer on ebay for around 20$ or so if you don't mind doing it yourself. | Partially dead digitizer - any way to change slide to unlock? | android |
My Sony Xperia J phone was in my pocket and I wanted to read an ebook, so started my reader application. It showed a black screen and when I checked the shelf, all my books were gone. I noticed a new notification icon that looked like a folded SD card. I checked its message that said: SD card is empty or its file system is not supported . What? Half an hour ago I was using it. I tapped the message and a question appeared: Do you want to format your SD-card? It'll erase all data from it. What?? All my ebooks and media are gone just like that? I restarted the phone, still no SD-card. When I got home, I removed the card and reinserted and fortunately now it works. How does that so-called OS dare to lose my data? And the "recovery" solution is to format the card ? What could cause this? | One of my family members had the same problem, SD card misbehaving, then working for a few days, on and off. After a week or so the phone did not read the card at all and neither did the PC. Fortunately I backed up the content of the card after the first problem. The card worked for about a month after formatting, but died eventually. I do not know what causes this. I do not know how to stop it. I know what you should do: a backup . | My phone suddenly shows an SD-card notification | android |
I am wondering how to best connect Android smartphones with Linux boxes. The best thing would be a program like Samsung's Kies, but Samsung seems to target Windows and Mac OS. Is there such an application like Kies that runs on linux natively (not wine), so the user can connect Android devices with linux boxes over USB without doing all the low level USB and MTP stuff by hand. (Any hardware vendor is OK, Samsung is only an example) | You don't need any special software. On recent Linux distributions such as Ubuntu 13.04, all the right drivers for MTP are installed by default. When you plug your phone in, you get a file manager window that shows the contents of your phone. The phone appears as a normal directory, so you can drag-n-drop files, use <code> rsync </code> to sync files, or anything else you normally do to move or manage files. Some apps, such as Shotwell (for photos) and Clementine (for music) also detect that your phone acts as a media player, and offer specific functionality for syncing a music collection, transferring and processing photos, in a high-level interface that works on playlists and albums instead of just files. You don't need to use this kind of software, but it's there if you prefer not to worry about exactly where each file is stored. On older Ubuntu versions and some other distributions, you might need to install one or more MTP-related packages through the package manager to make this work. You still don't need any hardware-specific software, and the forum or manual for your distribution will explain exactly what setup is needed. | Linux connectivity | android |
I have a Samsung Captivate Glide phone running 4.0.4 on the AT&T network. Unfortunately, I have pocket called 911 at least four times. To call 911 on my phone you have to: Activate the lock screen Swipe near the bottom of the screen on "Emergency Call" Press on the screen I think that this is how it happens: I unplug the phone from the charger (which wakes the phone up from sleep and shows the lock screen) I slide the phone into my pocket without looking at it (which does the swipe) The button gets pressed in my pocket How can I stop this from happening? I'm hoping for something like an app that replaces the lock screen, or a setting to change it from a single button press to actually dialing 9-1-1. For clarification, I have not rooted this phone. | I added several additional emergency contacts stackexchange-url ("using these instructions"). Now 911 is just one of several numbers that can be called from the emergency call screen. I made most of the numbers "dummy" numbers that don't actually connect. While this probably won't prevent all emergency pocket calls, at least 911 shouldn't be a common selection any longer. | How do I make "Emergency Call" harder to hit? I keep pocket calling 911! | android |
I want to use my phone with the google calender, but I don't want to upload all my contacts from my phone to google. How can I achieve this? I said in the contacts App under Settings that the App Synchronisation is off, but then I deleted some test-contacts online in Gmail and they were also deleted on my phone. I also tried the App "Root Firewall" and forbin access to internet to the contacts app, but still, there was this sync going on. How can I achieve this in CyanogenMod? In the standard Android 4.1 it worked fine: there was nothing synced. Or do I need another contact app to achieve this? | In the syncronisation screen you have to turn Synchronisation on global. Only if that is on you have checkboxes next to each category inside the google account. you can uncheck the box at Contacts then. If the global sync is OFF you don't have this option. I think it is a bit dangerous the first time you enter that menu , because you have to be sure your internet connection is disconnected . Otherwise the first time, when all sync boxes are still ON it will start right away to sync everything before you have the chance to disable the sync-box for contacts. If you are offline you can setup everything like you wish and then it's fine. | Turn off syncronisation of contacts in CyanogenMod | android |
Ever since the 28th of October when DST has ended all of my events in my Google Calendar has moved one hour earlier. The web calendar shows currect dates and times but the one on my Nexus 4 is one hour early. I tried using 'Home time' in the calendar settings without success. Any ideas? | Have you tried setting <code> Automatic date & time </code> and <code> Automatic time zone </code> ? Source: Daylight Saving Time and Android: Sit back and relax | Google Calendar gone nuts since DST has ended | android |
I've just bought a Jiayu G4 and it came with android installed (rooted). My question is - how can I tell that nothing nasty has been installed on the phone? Or best practices to ensure that it's safe to use. I've had a look but I haven't seen any accounts of malware distributed Android OS's, but I'm sure it can happen. Obviously there's an (un)healthy amount of paranoia here, but it'd be nice to know that data isn't being siphoned off somewhere it shouldn't be. | The bad news: You very probably can't. If the manufacturer decides to backdoor your phone's firmware, it's hardly detectable by individuals. Phones consist of many components of which only a tiny fraction is really authored by the manufacturer. Think of drivers and firmwares for various chips like the baseband, wifi, sensors, the various open source parts like the linux kernel, the Android system itself, the closed source Google apps and additional 3rd party packages from other other companies, that are preloaded. To be sure, you would need all of the firmwares' source code and a way to compile it in a way such that the official builds and your build match bit by bit to prove that the source code matches the firmware (and nothing was secretely altered). Now one still needed to audit all the source and scan it for backdoors/vulnerabilities. To get an idea: TrueCrypt is a popular disk encryption software for many operating systems. In the wake of the NSA scandal its sources have recently been binary matched with the official windows releases which was a very tedious process ( report here ). A source code audit hasn't been conducted yet, but there's a (now) still running indiegogo project for funding that audit with currently ~35k US$ pledged for doing it. | Security Audit - how can I tell my Android Distribution is safe | android |
My iPod recently broke so I started using Google Play Music on my phone. It works quite well and today I discovered the widget, so I added it to my home screen. It's very useful, the only thing is that the title is cut off slightly and the whole widget seems too low. You can still clearly make out what it says but it just doesn't look very nice. Any ideas on how to fix this? Here is a screenshot to explain it better: Screenshot (click for larger variant) | The problem lies in the number of rows on the screen. On the screenshot in the question, there are six rows designated for shortcuts and widgets. If the number of rows is reduced to five the music widget comes out as it should: Screenshot (click for larger variant) | Music player widget title cut off | android |
On a rooted device it should be possible to forbid certain apps to contact internet connection How is this possible in CyanogenMod 10.0? | An app like Root Firewall (needs root) should work. ☆ Block Internet access for any apps: | How do I withdraw an app rights to enter internet in CyanogenMod? | android |
i use roaming which is very expensive and I search some kind of script or way of solving my problem: there is a possibility to turn off checking e-mail when the android is connected via mobile data ? Any knows how to limit the transfer of mobile data to the minimum (disable apps which I do not want sync etc.) ? Thanks in advance ! | If you go into Settings -> Data Usage you can see which apps are using the most data. It's possible to turn them off using data in the background by clicking on the app and then selecting "Restrict Background Data". See this and this for pictures and further detail. Also if it's just email you're using you can probably turn it off automatically checking depending on the client and email service you're using. If you're using Gmail then go into the Gmail app, go to the settings for your account and turn off "Sync Gmail". | Checking mail on mobile data | android |
My HTC Evo 3D sometimes doesn't react when i press certain areas of the screen. I noticed it happens mostly on the part where the letter 'e' is, when i'm holding the phone in landscape mode. So, i did a factory reset, wiped out SD card as well during the factory reset, and the problem still persists. It sometimes happens for a certain period of time, and it starts to work after a while. I did a line drawing test, and on some places it doesn't draw the line correctly (it is continuos but it's drawn with sharp angles, i don't know how to explain it better). I read somewhere it is most probably a hardware problem, with a digitizer. Is there any way to be sure, or is it best to take it to a repair shop? | Open your settings menu and go all the way to the bottom, open <code> Developer Options </code> . In the Input section, find the options called <code> Pointer Location </code> , and check it. This is a feature for developers that shows the raw data from the digitizer. Move your fingers around on the screen, and watch what you see, if your finger seems to disappear from the screen, Android is not seeing any data about it, it is a problem with your digitizer. | Possible digitizer problem? | android |
I have an HTC One with Sprint, and I believe this icon appeared after the 4.3 update. I have gone through the list of apps (both running and total) but nothing appears to match up. Other friends with Android phones don't appear to have this icon, but they all root and customize 7893 ways. Can anybody identify this icon? | It means that you have NFC enabled. Some manufacturers (LG and HTC, I know for certain) have started adding an icon to let you know that you have NFC enabled since it can have potential security implications related to mobile payment systems. It would also be useful to know if you intend to use features like Android Beam. If you'd like to get rid of the icon, you can disable NFC in your settings by selecting "More..." in the Wireless & Networks subheading and then unchecking the "NFC" option (you can view Sprint's official instructions here). The icon they're using is the official logo of the NFC Forum. | What is this N-shaped icon on my HTC One? | android |
I list all permissions of the new installed application on rooted Android device. But I want to detect when an application uses these permission. For example, I installed an app and it uses READ_CALENDAR permission. It is not always read my calendar data. I want to detect the time it reads my calendar data. Is it possible? | That should be possible. How to realize it, depends on the Android version used: For Android 4.0 and earlier, the IMHO best solution is installing LBE Privacy Guard , which you can configure to issue a popup whenever a given permission was requested (so you can decide whether to permit or deny access). However, do not attempt installing this on Android 4.1+, or you'll end up in a boot-loop ; the XDA Developers have "localized versions" of LBE Security Master available instead (a version I find bloated, as it tries to cover to much things). Apart from these two, I know of no other app informing you of an access at the time it's made (which does not mean there aren't any). Other tools might however log access so you can either see the log entry afterwards, or at least know whether an app has used that permission at all (e.g. XPrivacy ). I'm not sure how PDroid handles this, as I've never used it. | detect when application using permissions ~ Android | android |
I have a rooted Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (p3113) that has worked fine for over a year. After draining the battery completely out (which I have done many times before), I plugged it in to find it stuck in a boot loop. When I plug it in over USB or a normal outlet, it shows a battery with a frozen spinning dial in the center. It then shows the same battery icon that starts animating and filling itself for about a quarter second, before shutting down and doing the same thing all over again. I can't boot in to recovery or download mode (It doesn't get to that boot stage before shutting down), and the only way to stop the loop is to unplug it. It almost seems like the act of showing the charging icon is depleting the small store of battery and making it turn off. It is not on long enough to be recognized by my computer and so I can't do anything with that (no adb or fastboot). Is there anything else that I can do to get it to boot to recovery or stop booting on charge altogether? Or is it now just useful as a paperweight? | After leaving it in the loop for days using 4 different wall adapters and a USB port, I found the wall-to-USB adapter that originally came with my device. I plugged my tablet in with that and it booted normally and started working; I don't know why that fixed it, but it did. | Charging Boot Loop on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 | android |
I own a Samsung SCH-I545 Galaxy S4 and can not do update via Kies. It says: Software update is temporarily unavailable. Try again later. The phone is sent by my uncle from America and I am from Romania. The phone does not have root. I tried to update via Odin, but it fails too. What can I do to Update my Galaxy S4 to Android 4.3? Thank you very much! | The update for the Verizon S4 USA is set to come eout tommorrow not today. | Samsung Galaxy S4 SCH-I545 official updates via Kies fails with: "Software update is temporarily unavailable. Try again later." | android |
The stock Samsung dialer and contacts (developed by Samsung) is waaay too laggy for me to use it. Actually it takes seconds to navigate through the tabs of logs, favorites or the contact list. (Got about 10 pictures and 10 custom ringtones in 70 contacts, so there's not that much data to handle.) It was actually laggy from the first time I used it. Got Nova launcher instead of the crappy and laggy TouchWiz. In my opinion, every Samsung application is a piece of something brown. Can I - somehow - force the OS to use the stock Jelly Bean dialer and contact app, or is it got replaced by Samsung's crapware? Thanks for the input! | The Samsung ROM doesn't have the stock AOSP dialer and contacts app. It has Touchwiz themed dialer and contacts app. This is one of the most glitchy and slowest of dialer apps out there. Try the Swipe Dialer if you care to. It has good reviews and seems to be working fine across the board. Another option will be to port AOSP dialer as in Cyanogenmod. This is advanced stuff and you'll need knowledge of ADB. Try it out if you want. The easiest way out is to flash a custom ROM. Try Cyanogenmod, AOKP, Paranoid Android, etc. There are several others too. Try XDA Developers forums for more in depth info. | Set native Jelly Bean dialer and contacts for Samsung Galaxy S3 | android |
When exporting contacts from the standard contacts application to the disk and importing them to Thunderbird - the pictures are missing. I'd like to export all contacts with pictures though. Is there a way to get a 100% backup of my contacts? Where are they stored and how can I back them up? | User stackexchange-url ("@Izzy explained") that encoded pictures are actually included in the <code> .vcf </code> created from the export. This led me to think that the issue is actually with Thunbird's contacts import and not with android's contacts export. As it turns out this is right. Since the default way for Thunderbird to import vcards appears to be faulty, I used the add-on MoreFunctionsForAddressBook to import the address book. It worked fine and included all the pictures! | Export or backup contacts with pictures | android |
I want to watch streams of a TV channel . That channel also offers an unfree app to do that. When I visit the site with my tablet I am forced to download the app to use the site. From my PC I can access the site normally. How can I set my tablet browser to behave as a PC browser? I tried the default Android and Chrome browsers. | In case of Android browser (AOSP) and Chrome there is an option called Request desktop site . This can be accessed via the options menu for the browser. That would change the browser user-agent to desktop and display the website as displayed on PC. But this has to be done for each tab I believe, there is no permanent solution. | Behave as a PC browser | android |
I setup my GMail account as a Google account on my phone. When email comes in I can tap the notification to go to the Gmail app. I can use S Voice to go to the Gmail app. However the Gmail app is not on the home screen. I am not using the "Email" app though. Where is it and why is it hidden? EDIT: It's in the app folder Google. Shame on you Samsung for not making the difference between folders and apps obvious. Well the folders look like this: Screenshot (click image for larger variant) I'll update the question with the answer in a day. | It's in the app folder Google. Shame on you Samsung for not making the difference between folders and apps obvious. Well the folders look like this: | Where is GMail app on Galaxy Note 3 app list | android |
How do I update the video driver for my Droid 2 Global? I have a custom Cyanogenmod installed but YouTube videos have a green bar, green tint, or are garbled. | By installing a different version of Cyanogenmod. Android is not like Windows, where you have to install each driver separately: all the drivers come integrated in the ROM. Sometimes, with third-party ROMs like Cyanogenmod, they don't quite manage to integrate the drivers properly (because only the manufacturer has all the required information), so you get defects like this one. If you found the problem in a stable release, release candidate, or beta of Cyanogenmod, you should report it to the maintainers for your phone so they can fix it. If you've been using a nightly snapshot, don't bother, as they are expected to have serious errors and aren't suitable for everyday use. Upgrade to a newer release if there is one, or perhaps to an older release. | How do i update the video driver? | android |
In "Settings"-> "Data Usage" there is a "Restrict background data" checkbox. How does it work, exactly? What does "background" mean here? And is this setting enforced by the OS, or is it a hint that the apps stackexchange-url ("are free to disregard") if coded improperly? | First, that setting is enforced by the OS (so it's not for the app to decide whether to observe that setting). Put in easy words: Android won't let an app access the network unless it's running in foreground (i.e. the user is interacting with it) with the restriction enabled for it. Explained with a plastic example: Restrict background data on the Google Play Store app (as I did), it won't anymore check for updates in background while you are on mobile data. But it will do so when you're using WiFi. Also, when you call up the app to install something, it will work as long as you keep it in foreground (i.e. not switch to another app while it's still downloading). | How does "Restrict background data" work? | android |
UPDATE: This was fixed in the 4.3 update that came out for my phone lately. No need to think about it anymore, also I can't give any further details. I have a quite new Samsung Galaxy S3 4G (GT-I9305). It is running an unmodified & unrooted version of Android 4.1.2. It works mostly perfectly fine, but there is a slight problem with NFC. I have edited the buttons visible in the notification center. I have added the NFC switch to the buttons. My problem is, the button is not working. It is disabled, and has no green/gray indicator. However, when I tap the S Beam button S Beam and NFC get enabled. After this, if I tap NFC with S Beam either enabled or disabled, <code> System UI </code> crashes. When the UI reappears the buttons are as before tapping NFC, but now I can successfully turn off NFC, and also turn it on and off again. Restarting the phone brings the problem back again. Another way to get NFC turned on while the button is disabled is to go to Settings > More Settings and turn NFC on. This also turns NFC on in the notification center, but again, trying to turn it off causes <code> System UI </code> to crash. What could be causing this behavior? | This was fixed in the 4.3 update that came out for my phone lately. All done. | Samsung Galaxy S3 4G notification center NFC button doesn't work | android |
I close the Skype app in my Android phone (samsung s3 mini) If Skype is open on my pc and I receive a call it also starts automacically in my phone without my input! How can I avoid such a strange behavior? Thank you | Are you sure that you really closed Skype (not only hide it to background) ? In Skype main menu press "menu" button and then - logout. If that doesn't solve your problem I see two possibilities : Install a firewall (a good firewall is in avast! Mobile Security) and block access to newtork for Skype, unlock it only when you're using it (installing firewall requires root access) Try to kill Skype service in application manager-> background processes (it is located in Settings) If you're true I think it is a bug and we've to contact Microsoft... | How to stop Skype from starting automatically? | android |
How do you re-install an app without losing personal data? In this case its Plants vs. Zombies 2 that hangs when loading the game. I thought a re-install might solve the issue. But I don't want to need to redo everything I've done so far. | For the following procedure you'll need adb installed on your computer (if you're not already have that, see: stackexchange-url ("Is there a minimal installation of ADB?")). Alternatively, a terminal emulator app should do as well. Android apps are managed by the "Package manager", which as a command-line interface called <code> pm </code> . So here's what you can do with it for your case: <code> # using ADB, first get a command line (alternatively start your terminal app) adb shell # now tell the package manager to uninstall the app, but keep its data pm uninstall -k com.package.name </code> Of course you have to replace <code> com.package.name </code> with the package name of the app you want to deal with. Easiest way to find that is visiting its page on Google Play, and take a look at the URL: the package name follows the <code> id= </code> parameter there. It's the <code> -k </code> parameter telling the package manager to keep the app's data. Now, when you re-install the app, its data is already there (was not removed). All this does not require root (at least as long as we talk about a user-installed app). | Re-install app without losing personal data | android |
I believe the Windows OS in general makes the Fall DST change at 3.00am on the last Sunday of October, and the Spring change at 2.00am on the last Sunday of March. Could someone enlighten me on the exact times that the Android OS, in general, (or 4.3 specifically) makes the DST changes? | As far as I know, every OS makes the change at the officially scheduled time for your timezone. This is different in different timezones, but if you've previously observed your Windows clock changing at a particular time, you'll see any other OS changing at the same time. The exact time is set by the government: programmers don't just pick a time they think would be nice. | What exact time do Android devices execute the Daylight Saving Changes? | android |
I wanted to use an app called TimeWise to have a timer ticking and showing how much time is left in a time-boxed task. However, I am not sure, if having the screen turned on like this (even with very low brightness ) for 25 minutes without changing its content other than the counter, cannot damage it. These 25 minutes can be repeated for 4-8 hours. It is likely, that I will change the content of the screen from time to time, so this might be helpful, but I am not sure. Does anyone know if my concern is pertinent, or it is no problem for this type of screen? The device I'm using is Nexus 7 2013 version. Thanks! | No. Both versions of the Nexus 7 use IPS LCD displays, which are not vulnerable to burn-in or other detrimental effects from displaying a fixed graphic. Burn-in in currently used display technologies is a problem limited to organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, such as those used on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4. The Electroluminescent compounds used to make these displays degrade as they are used (resulting in reduced brightness over time), thus displaying a fixed graphic will result in some parts of the screen wearing at a different rate than other parts. Compounding this issue is that different colours of OLED degrade at different rates (blue degrades fastest, followed by green, then red). Here's an example of what this looks like. The burned-in sections will be permanently darker than the rest of the screen. | Can I damage screen (Nexus 7) by having it turned on and not change for longer periods of time? | android |
Is there a way to (at least approximately) check if an application I have found in Google Play store would work on friend's phone. I'd rather not suggest an app that would not work on friend's phone. For example is there a way to check if an application would work on Android 2.3, when my phone has Android 4.1.2? Nowadays Google Play store has (in the web version) "Additional information" section, with table (actually: divs) containing structured information about an app, with the following 'columns': "Updated", "Size", "Installs", "Current Version", " Requires Android ", "Content Rating". While usually the information I want is in "Requires Android" field (e.g. '4.0.3 and up', '2.2 and up') sometimes it is just ' Varies with device ', e.g. SoundHound . | Let him try installing it via Playstore. If it's "incompatible by design" (e.g. requires Android 4.x while he has only 2.3), Playstore would refuse to install it and give the hint "not compatible with your device". Apart from that (and if the app description doesn't give a clue): check the comments for hints (take care for their date, compared with the "last updated" timestamp of the app; AppBrain lists the history of an app nicely on its "Changelog" tab) Install the SDK on your computer, and add the corresponding AVDs to it to test out for yourself Ask for the specific app on a forum, whether anyone can confirm it's running on Android X.X.X / the specific device / ... Ask the dev (and if doing so, suggest to include such hints with the desc) | How to check if application on Google Play would work on other (not own) phone? | android |
Is it possible to assign an animated image to contacts in my address book? So when a person from my contacts calls me it would play an animated image instead of a static image. I have tried using animated GIFs, but it doesn't seem to work. I was wondering if there is a work-around. Preferably without having to root my phone. | It simply doesn't seem possible. On Android, pictures are shown in ImageView components, and this component does not support displaying gifs. On most Android versions, you can't do it. Maybe a custom Contacts app can have the capability. | assign an animated image to contacts | android |
How say the title I can't find where the sms are stored. I see this stackexchange-url ("similar question") but the replies haven't helped me. I have gosms and I want delete all messages, but if I do this option with gosms the app crashes because are a lot of messages (about 6000). I found: <code> ./data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/mmssms.db ./data/data/com.jb.gosms/databases/gommssms.db </code> But are too small files (a few kb) and with text reader I saw that they contained only some queries. Also when I deleted them if I open gosms I still see all messages. So what is the real path of sms? Edit: After a reboot gosms can't find sms anymore, so my problem is solved ( though probably the real sms are still stored somewhere) | SMS messages are stored in <code> data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db </code> . If you can't see it in your root explorer (or it is to small), try rebooting your device or simply - connect your phone to the computer and copy that file (using e.g. ADB) on it and I'm sure you will be able to read it properly . | What is the path where GoSMS stores the SMS messages | android |
I am stuck during the boot process, at first before entering the passphrase for <code> /data </code> and now at the SIM PIN screen. At this point, adb is inaccessible (normally adbd would start up after unlocking <code> /data </code> , etc.). How can I start <code> adbd </code> during boot? This is a CM 10.2 userdebug build for i9300 with <code> /default.prop </code> (from initrd) containing: <code> ro.adb.secure=1 ro.secure=1 ro.allow.mock.location=0 ro.debuggable=1 persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb </code> I have also tried the following to no avail: Edit <code> /init.rc </code> , comment out the <code> disabled </code> line for <code> service adbd </code> . Edit <code> /init.smdk4x12.usb.rc </code> , add <code> start adbd </code> to the <code> property:sys.usb.config=mtp </code> trigger. Add <code> persist.sys.usb.config=adb </code> to <code> /default.prop </code> | Since Android 4.2.2, [USB debugging requires authentication], something that is not possible during boot. To disable this, set the following property in default.prop (inside initrd): <code> ro.adb.secure=0 </code> This enables adbd for a short time. It seems that some process is setting <code> sys.usb.config=mtp </code> . To work around that, I applied this patch (perhaps only the <code> start adbd </code> part is necessary, I have only tested the below): <code> --- init.smdk4x12.usb.rc 2013-10-24 18:47:34.894857300 +0200 +++ init.smdk4x12.usb.rc 2013-10-24 18:47:40.775493943 +0200 @@ -12,10 +12,11 @@ on property:sys.usb.config=mtp write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable 0 write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idVendor 04e8 - write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idProduct 685c - write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions ${sys.usb.config} + write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idProduct 6860 + write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions ${sys.usb.config},adb write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable 1 - setprop sys.usb.state ${sys.usb.config} + start adbd + setprop sys.usb.state ${sys.usb.config},adb on property:sys.usb.config=mtp,adb write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable 0 </code> You won't be able to get root ( <code> su </code> ) through this. For that, set: <code> ro.secure=0 </code> Updating the initramfs block, the initramfs header field and the SHA1 ID (header) of the boot.img is not in the scope of this answer. | How can I enable adbd during boot on Cyanogenmod? | android |
on the android shell, when I executed following <code> >ls /sys/class/power_supply/battery </code> was expecting, current_now, power_now, charge_now or energy_now but I didn't find any *_now attribute other than voltage_now. Could anyone help me to configure kernel in order to enable these (current_now, ..) attributes? | No one answered my question, but I found the answer. I earned a badge Tumbleweed..lol Because, battery drivers do not implement the same. | Why the battery attributes are missing in android phones? | android |
Lately i'm having some problems with my HTC EVO 3D. It freezes all of a sudden, sometimes the screen doesn't respond well to touch etc, and i have to do a hard reset. Since i believe it is due to a lot of apps i've installed etc, i decided to reset everything, and do a factory reset. I don't care about the data of my apps or the data on my SD card (video and pics). One thing i would like to backup is SMS and contacts. So, i'm guessing all my messages and contacts would be deleted when i do a factory reset. But, can you recommend a way to backup my messages and contacts, so i can restore them after the factory reset. | You're absolutely correct with your assumption a factory-reset will delete all your apps and data (as you also can find in the stackexchange-url ("factory-reset tag-wiki")). If you want to backup your contacts and SMS, I'm afraid there's no native way. While the contacts you could sync with Google, the same cannot be said for SMS. But if you take a look at google play, searching for the string "sms backup" you will find a lot of helpful apps. Depending on your preferences, they can backup to your GMail account, or do it locally. Putting both things together, a good choice seems to be Super Backup: SMS & Contacts , which cares for both and can save the backup to either GMail or your SDCard. And of course it has a restore function as well. Btw: On most devices, you easily can backup your contacts with the native Contacts app. It supports Export to/Import from VCard ( <code> .vcf </code> ) files (just open its menu from its main screen). No cloud involved. So you'd only need to check for something similar for your SMS, if you're concerned about privacy and want to avoid having them in the cloud. | What happens with my messages and contacts after factory reset | android |