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I'm considering getting one of the Nexus tablets for my family. I think the multi-user support is a great way to separate my apps from the kids games. But what I've read about the implementation of multiple users seems lacking. Without a device to experiment on I am left to ask here how this works. What I would like to do is setup myself as owner, with my Google email address and Play Store credentials. Next I'd like to add users for my wife and my kids. Setting up a profile for my wife is easy as she has her own android phone and I can use her Google account for that. It's adding a user profile for each of my kids that I'm uncertain about. My kids are young and don't have email addresses. Nor do I want them to yet. Do I have to create an address for each of them? What are my alternatives? Can I configure the Play store for the kids user profiles to use my Play store sign-on / credentials? On my phone I have the option of doing this, though I don't know what effect it would have there either (does it uninstall the apps from the first sign on and sync down those from the second)? Obviously I don't want to pay multiple times for apps for my kids. It's one thing for adults to buy their own apps, but does Google really expect each kid to have an associated credit card and to buy their own apps? Any assistance in the correct way to configure the tablet would be appreciated. | Set up a child account on the device, this is pretty simple, there's an overview of that process here. You don't to sign the child in using a Google account, it lets you skip these steps. Assuming you want your kids to be able to download any apps you've already paid for, or want to be able to download any apps you buy them, sign into the Play Store on the child account using your main account's credentials, it's probably worth also choosing not to sync all of the main account's emails/contacts/etc. across at this point. You can then add a PIN to the Play Store so that they can't buy anything with your details and also choose the maturity rating of the content they see, this won't affect the settings of the main account's Play Store on the device despite the fact you're using the same Google account on the store. From this your kids can access all your already paid for applications but thanks to the PIN won't be spending any of your money, at least not without your knowledge, and you haven't had to sign them up for a Google account. Any apps that they download also aren't automatically put into your main accounts app list so you don't have to worry about them downloading a load of games and it filling your home screen a la iPad/iPhone style. The downside to this approach is that your kids will be able to read your GMail, see your calender and contacts etc. A good solution to this is an app locker which restricts them from using these applications. I tested APP Lock and it seemed to do the job well. If you don't mind your kids not being able to download apps you've already paid for on your account and aren't bothered about not being able to access any games you buy them then I think it would be worth signing up for a new main Google account and adding your credit card details to this. You could then sign onto the child's Play Store using this new account, set up the PIN same and maturity in the same way as the last approach but this time you won't have to worry about them seeing your emails or any other information that is linked to your main account. For both of these approaches if you download an application on the child's account with your main account selected in the Store but have added the child's email as well and then switched back to this on the Store after the download the app will remain on the device and still be usable. If you want any more information, clarification or screenshots just say in the comments and I'll add it or test it out if I haven't already. | How do you configure a Nexus 7/10 for family use | android |
I have a Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100) And I'm about to flash a custom rom on it. I've done it a bunch of times but what really irritates me is that I lose all progress made on the games that I have on my phone! I backup the actual games and other applications using Astro file manager, but when I star my phone up after flashing a rom and re-install the game, I have lost all progress. How does one backup a game, with game progress intact ? Thanks for any tips! | Another fool-proof method (no need to worry about having a specific backup app) is to grab the game's data directly. The data for all user-installed apps can be found in <code> /data/data/*package name* </code> . This will be all settings, saves, and anything else. Just browse into there and copy the relevant directories to somewhere safe and put them back when you're done flashing and have reinstalled the app and run it at least once. Yet another way, which will work without root, is you do the same as above, but using adb. Turn on USB debugging, connect up to your computer, and run <code> adb pull /data/data/*package name* C:\where\you\want\the\files </code> . Then once you're done with your ROM flashing and have reinstalled the apps, do <code> adb push C:\where\you\put\the\files /data/data/*package name* </code> , or if you now have root with your custom ROM, just copy the directories you pulled to the SD card and put them back in <code> /data/data </code> on the device. | Back up not only games, but also game progress before flashing ROMS | android |
I don't have an Android device, but I'm thinking of getting a Nexus tablet, and using android-vnc-viewer to make the Nexus an input device to control the PC, and provide faster cursor movement/text editing. Both screens would be a mirror of each other. From VNC videos that I see on YouTube, such as in this video , after optionally zooming in, you can touch the screen, and slide it to move the view. However, the cursor remains centered. The cursor seems to only move when you touch a button/control. Once I'm happy with the view, can I lock it? Screen touches would then just move the cursor to where I touch. I already know of text manipulation commands once a cursor is within text such as words, sentences, or paragraphs; I'd rather not have to double tap to move the cursor and select, as I have some RSI (repetitive strain injuries)/Tendinosis. Thanks for any information. | The app has multiple input modes. In the default, tapping the display moves and clicks the mouse. In another mode, the display acts like a trackpad, so dragging along the screen causes the mouse to move accordingly on the remote system. See the "input modes" sections of the documentation for details. You can change the input mode from the app menu without disconnecting. | In using a VNC to control a computer, is it possible to have the cursor go to where you touch? | android |
What apps are icons shown on the 3rd icon from the left (a icon that look like a bug with an android head) and the 5th icon from the left (a icon with a phone in between two zig-zag)? | The first one you asked about means the phone is connected in debug mode to a computer: and the phone between zig-zag lines means it's on vibration mode. | What is the apps for the the two icons shown | android |
My phone has a GPS problem and service says the need to wipe it completely. They are probably just lazy and would rather do it the easy way. C'est la vie. The phone is SGS unrooted 2.3.4 - Touch Wiz. I don't want to root it. Now, what I am going to do is this: - Save contacts with Kies - Save files Is there anything else I can do or that I should know? For example, I believe that apps associated with the Google Account will be reinstalled after I re-enter my account into the newly formatted phone, correct? However, app data like savegames won't be ported, I have to search for them in the phone memory? Can I backup SMS? Can I back-up settings? Will imported contacts keep all fields like I have them now, i.e. work phone, home phone, work email, home email etc? I know it's a ton of questions, sorry about that. Thank you. | Basically, you can back up everything which has a "data provider" available -- as e.g. contacts, call-logs, SMS, and the like. If you search the playstore for "backup", it will give you a lot of apps for that. One of the best non-root backup solutions for this probably is MyBackup Pro , which covers most of it -- though there are a lot of apps offering to backup/restore parts. Most other app's data cannot be backed-up, however. Some of them provide possibilities to export their settings (and import them at a later point), others have dedicated backup apps (I remember e.g. something like that for Angry Birds ). For contacts and calendar, there's also the possibility to sync them with your Google account. I would not, however, rely on the "Google backup" for other things, as it is often reported to unsuccessfully restore. For that case, there are extra measures one can take. The easiest would be to logon to AppBrain with your Google credentials, and sync your installed apps. Appbrain then allows you to save that as a list with their service: you can then use this list to restore all apps you put into it -- or you could even send it to a different device (even a different user's device) for a "mass install". In case you had some apps installed which are no longer available on the playstore, you could also take a look at AppMonster : in its payed (pro) version, it also allows batch-install. Plus, it captures each app you install/update and saves a copy -- which can be useful in the future as well: if some update breaks a functionality, you can ask AppMonster to simply restore a previous (captured) version. And though this currently does not affect you (as your Android version is lower than 4.0), just to mention for other users (and your possible future device): starting with Android 4.0, there is the possibility for a stackexchange-url ("Full Backup of non-rooted devices") (rooted users always have this possibility with Titanium Backup ★ root ). Data stored on your sd card should not be affected by the factory-reset. | What can be saved before factory reset? | android |
I encrypted both my phone and SD card upon purchasing my HTC Evo 4g LTE. Recently the phone died (would get to the login screen and then reboot). After a factory reset the SD card shows up as damaged. I've tried mounting it in various ways, but neither the phone nor a computer will attempt to mount the drive - they just ask to format it. Is there any hope of recovering the contents? | The simple answer is: You Can't The volume is already encrypted and can only be read as random hex because the required key is stored in your phone in order to decipher it. Unfortunately there is no way for you to recover your sdcard contents because the key on your phone is also lost when you factory reset. Just reformat it if you still want to use your sdcard. | How can I decrypt an encrypted SD card (HTC Evo 4G) on a different device? | android |
Are there any Android apps that would track my location (at regular intervals, like every hour) and send coordinates directly to my server, without revealing this data to any third party? | There are some solutions available on the playstore. One of them is Traccar (the link belongs to the Android client), which logs to a traccar server you can define. The server software is open source (at least that's what the app description claims), so you can use it on your own server. Written in Java, it should run on most operating systems. For more details on this, you might want to check with the Traccar website . | Are there location tracking apps that would send data to my server? | android |
I go to Google Search app but no Google Now "cards" are showing. I do the ff: Long-press Menu soft-key to bring up Google Search Press Menu -> Settings Under settings, I only get 3 entries: Voice, Phone search and Privacy & accounts (no Google Now) My friend, who uses an HTC Sensation with MIUI ROM, and Google Now works nicely. Question is, how do I enable it on my Note 2? * I am suspecting that this has to do with my Privacy settings or Location settings but I still haven't gotten it to work despite changing those settings... | The language setting was my key problem - after changing the OS language from Croatian to English (U.S.), Google Now is miraculously ready to go! Watch the video How to get Google Now talking to you... for an instructional guide on changing your system language. | How do I enable Google Now on my Galaxy Note 2 (NT-7100)? | android |
Four backups I made using ClockworkMod Recovery couldn't be restored because their MD5 hash values didn't match. Another one was successfully restored. What is the problem and is there a way to check if a backup succeeded or not? I'm using Clock Work Mod Recovery 5.0.2.6 on Xperia Arc. | You may have a bad SD card, try a new one (they're cheap anyway). The MD5 sums are generally computed after the backup has been done (assuming everything went fine). I.e. the process up to CWM 5.x is (CWM 6.x is different due to dedupcication): CWM generates a backup and stores it Then md5sums of all of the above files are computed The md5sums are also stored in a single file The hard work is all done in (1), steps 2/3 are just a single md5sum computation per file and a final store of those in another file. If the MD5sums mismatch the backup files there must be a problem with your storage eventually (most probably). What is also possible: Don't rip out the battery and reboot, use CWM's reboot option (files may have not been written do disk fully yet). | ClockworkMod Recovery makes corrupt backups | android |
Is it possible to Boot into Safe Mode on an Android Device, similar to booting up into safe mode on a Windows PC ? An example being In Windows if you were infected with a virus you may want to immunize it in safe mode ? Is the same scenario likely with the Android OS ? If for example you experience crashing, or freezing or indeed have battery issues ? Perhaps it can be resolved in Safe Mode, if it exists ? It is just something that came to mind and I thought might be worthy of asking ! | This depends a little on the device and what version of Android you have. On versions of Android later than 4.1 you can access safe mode by bringing up the power down menu (i.e. hold the power button) and long pressing the "Power off" option. This will bring up a little dialog box that will ask if you want to reboot into safe mode. The addition is noted on the Android web site under "System" changes. On some older phones - though not all will necessarily support this - there may be a button combination that you can hold at boot to get into safe mode instead. For example, the Galaxy S2 used to allow you to hold down the hard menu button during the boot process to start up in safe mode. Others have used (I believe) holding both volume up and volume down. Check your user manual (or Google) for your specific device to find more information, including whether or not the device supports safe mode at all. As to what "safe mode" means - it generally disables third party apps and widgets, to help you recover from a bad app install, give you a chance to remove a possibly rogue/malicious app, or simply determine what apps may be causing problems in your system. | Is it possible to Boot into Safe Mode on an Android Device as a Precautionary Measure If Required? | android |
I have a HTC one x with the default HTC sense. Missed calls do not appear in the notification list which is frustrating ... The calls appear in the call history log so it knows about them. I've also tried calling myself with a another phone and it all appears as normal but when the call is hung up, no notification appears. I'm sure it use to show notifications and I cannot find any settings that would control this. Will factory reset if this just seems wrong/buggy. | No need to factory reset. Just go to <code> Settings </code> → <code> Call </code> . Scroll down to the bottom and enable <code> Show caller ID for missed calls on lock screen and status bar </code> . | missed calls not appearing as notifications | android |
Okay, I'm running a Galaxy S III with the TouchWiz ROM. I knew how to do this in AOSP ROMs, but cannot find it in the Samsung people app. If I have an aggregate contact with numerous joined contacts, and more than one of the joined contacts have photos, how do I specify which joined contact's photo should be the photo for the master/aggregate contact? | Okay; I finally figured this out! Go to the people app Click on a contact to see the contact detail Bring up the menu Click <code> Mark as default </code> Choose default picture, email, phone, etc. | How to choose which joined contact to use for contact image? | android |
Sometime, when you install a particular apps in the emulator, it work perfectly fine. So, you install the apps into your phone and/or tablet and it throws an exception when you run it. Similar, when you install a particular apps in the emulator, it does not work & throws you an exception but when you install the apps into your phone and/or tablet, it was able to run perfectly. So, my question is how do I know what is the reasons behind why apps exit with exception? Where can I find more information so that I can actually know the reasons why the apps exit with exception? Example: One can go to a particular folder of the apps and open the logs which tell the user that the apps exit with exception is because it does not have a GPU or it does not have enough RAM and so on. IMPORTANT: This question is from the end-user point of view. This is NOT a question from a developer point of view. Thank you. | If you as a user experience such crashes, and want to help the developer to get them fixed, you can use tools such as aLogcat (free) - logcat or Bug Reporter to catch a log of what happened: While aLogCat allows you to restrict the log closer to the crash event (by letting you define what to capture), Bug Reporter enables you to send other useful information along, such as device specifics and the like. EDIT: As Liam pointed out correctly in his comment, due to permission changes in Jelly Bean (4.1) some of those log viewers where no longer able to see anything but their own log entries. If your device is rooted, the easiest way to get them working again is to convert them into system apps (e.g. with Titanium Backup ). If your Android version is 4.0.x or lower, you should not be affected by this. | How do one know what is the reasons why an android apps exit with exceptions? | android |
I would like to know what measures or steps etc that should be performed, in order to protect & safeguard whatever "data" is on my Android Smartphone or Tablet, and indeed the device itself, in the event it goes missing or is stolen. So that if it were to happen "all data" would hopefully still be preserved remotely, e.g., via online login - if possible (furthermore if the data cannot be preserved, it can be wiped before it is utilized in every manner possible to access confidentiality by "the wrong hands"). Also give me the best chance of getting my device back (or in the event of theft, that the perpetrator can be photographed & hopefully apprehended as well). (I am not merely looking for a list of anti theft apps to be named, but a comprehensive step by step instruction to what should actually be "applied" to the device and how to prepare it, before the event occurs and then exactly what should be done by myself immediately after the event occurs, as I believe this to be of grave importance, that applies to everyone who owns an Android device, be it a smartphone, tablet or indeed the new range of Android powered cameras that have recently come onto the market.) | There are multiple things which can be done: Device encryption (to assure all your data is stored encrypted) Install anti-theft software (to track and, if necessary, remote-wipe a lost device) Activate Google's Device Manager on your device (and make sure it works, as it not always does) To photograph the "perpetrator", you might want to take a look at ☆ GotYa! Face trap ! , which fires at failed logins (but requires a front-facing camera to do so): One of the most well known anti-theft solutions is e.g. included with Lookout Security & Antivirus , but the playstore offers a lot of alternatives to this. For keeping a copy of your important data off-device, you might use some cloud synchronization service (or a similar thing to sync with your own machine(s) at home). When storing data in the cloud, you might prefer using encryption; Wuala is one possible solution which encrypts your data before it is transfered into the cloud. | How to prepare myself & smartphone/tablet in the event it goes missing or is stolen? | android |
I have seen that some online shops sell a Samsung Galaxy S3 dual SIM adapter. I haven't found much information about how does it work, but I have doubts about it. Some links: https://www.amazon.it/NC2-Premium-Addatatore-Dualsim-Samsung/dp/B008E6M802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354533958&sr=8-1 http://www.ebay.it/itm/ADATTATORE-DUAL-SIM-PER-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S3-I9300-SIII-ACE-E-HTC-ONE-2-HSDPA-/200855685432?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item2ec3ee8938 http://www.ebay.it/itm/NC2-3G-Dualsim-Adapter-No-Cut-fur-2-Sims-im-Samsung-Galaxy-S3-/300826215660?pt=Handy_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item460aa3c4ec http://www.ebay.it/itm/Adaptateur-Double-Carte-SIM-Dual-SIM-Adapter-pour-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S3-/281033313462?pt=FR_Mobiles_PDAs_Autres&hash=item416ee40cb6 In fact, I have a phone SIM card that I use for calling and receiving with my own number, and sometimes I can get a data SIM card with some free internet traffic. The idea behind my interest for the dual SIM adapter for th GS3 is to tell the phone to call from SIM 1 and connect to UMTS from SIM 2. My simple doubt is that Android isn't simply supporting 2 cards on phones designed for 1. I mean, if my phone had natively 2 SIM slots I could expect a menu option "default call with SIM 1/2", or "which SIM do you want to connect with?", but the official specs of GS3 offer 1 SIM only as standard cell phones. The question is, then How does a dual SIM adapter integrate with existing phone software? | Unless your phone have two SIM card slots, support as you require is not possible. The market has adapters which goes into the existing SIM card slot of phone and will help you to switch between SIMs after shutdown. The ONLY advantage of using this instead of swapping SIMs by conventional way is to keep both SIMs together with phone and reduce wear and tear on the SIM slot. Samsung and other manufactures have dual SIM phones which have two SIM slots and the phone can be configured accordingly for usage. Having said that, watch out for terminologies like Dual Active, Dual Standby. Unfortunately confusion prevails even in manufacturer's web sites. So, to be sure try the behaviour before you buy. You can read about these in the Wikipedia . | How does GS3 dual SIM adapter work? | android |
I installed CyanogenMod 10 on my WiFi Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. However, some things are missing. First of all, I want the S-Pen handwrite keyboard, as well as the S-Note app. Also, if possible make peel work (very unlikely, but just in case anyone had make that work) I tried to install these from an unzipped stock ROM but (as expected) it didn't work. Do I have to install any library? If yes, which? BTW: Please do not recommend other ROMs. I want CM. Maybe alternative apps. If I find the libraries and APKs, I may create a flashable zip. | These apps won't work with custom ROM's, as they are designed to be run with the Samsung software, and require libraries etc from the Samsung software. | CM10 on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 n8010 missing things | android |
I am using a Galaxy Nexus and since the update to Android 4.2 the screen sometimes suddenly goes off and then especially stays off. The only thing that helps to get the screen back on is taking out the phones battery, which is quite annoying. Is there a workaround for this? | the solution: enable animations http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40019 | Screen on Galaxy Nexus goes off, hard reset required to resolve this. What can I do? | android |
I would like to use an X-Box 360 Controller with my Motorola Xoom tablet, however the Controller uses USB to connect and I do not have the required USB OTG adapter to plug it directly into the tablet. I've searched this site and Google but cannot find information on an alternative method of connecting the controller to the Xoom. I'm hoping for a solution to pair these devices that involves either connecting both into my computer and bridging them somehow with adb or pairing my Xoom to my laptop using Bluetooth and sending the controller signal over this connection. I've tried poking around the properties of the tablet and controller while they're plugged in but I haven't had any luck combining the two. Does anyone have experience/know any techniques for doing either of these things? Is there some other way for my Xoom to recognize the controller? I could use either Windows 7 or Linux to make this work. | Can you not use a USB OTG (On The Go) Cable. It will have a connection (microusb) at one end to fit to your tablet and a USB connection at the other (for many peripherals). This should surely connect your X Box Controller to your tablet. They are very cheap as well. Alternatively, and maybe to be used in conjunction with see the following article from Pocketables entitled "Guide to Game Controllers on Android" written by A. Odegard on May 9th 2012 http://www.pocketables.com/2012/05/guide-to-game-controllers-on-android.html Its is an excellent read | Use a USB Controller with Xoom without adapter | android |
My mobile phone has Polaris Office default installed on it, but when I open some files I cannot see special characters, like "á", "à", "ç" etc., there is just a space character when it would have one of those special characters... | Palliatively, I installed Kingsoft Office , although it is so big for my device (it is about 13MB in size, and all my internal storage is just 180MB)... So I had to remove some apps to install it. Well, it does the work well: show special characters without issues. But I wait for a solution for Polaris Office... | Cannot see special characters on Polaris Office | android |
I have three devices with Android and I just wanna one of them alarming when turned off. I turn off my devices to do not receive any alert type from sync, apps, calling, sms etc. and also to do not waste battery charge. I know I could just switch devices to airplane or silent mode and connect them to power, but I would like to know just how to use alarm when device is turned off... I miss that feature from my old dumbphones... | Not possible with standard Android. To sum it up: The alarm on feature phones is triggered by a hardware component (most probably the real time clock, called RTC). Subsequently this component wakes the CPU by raising an interrupt and the CPU runs a dedicated program (interrupt service routine,ISR) which just plays the alarm tune. It's all very low level probably. Android is much more high-level than this and does not support this out of the box (most probably). Any handset manufacturer may of course implement this feature using the same methods as with feature phones, but this is not belonging to the Android OS strictly speaking then. There are too much layers involved to do this without starting up Android. Note: Android allows full device encryption also; how should this work when nothing is accessible without your passphrase? Android couldn't even start. | Will a shutdown Android phone wake me up (like feature phones do)? | android |
It used to work fine but now when I open the Play Store app it says "Error retrieving information from server. [RH-01]" and I can't do anything. I tried clearing the cache of the Google Play Store and Google Play Services but it still has the problem. Gmail still works from the phone so I don't think it's a problem connecting to my google account. I have an Xperia Arc with custom rom, which turns out to be the problem. See accepted answer. | Apparently some custom ROMs do not come with any Google services and to fix this you need to flash gapps using a program such as Clock Work Mod. This page has a link to download gapps. | Keep getting "Error retrieving information from server. [RH-01]" from the play store | android |
I'd like to be able to use my Asus Transformer for a presentation using the HDMI out and I'd like to be able to draw on the screen over videos, pictures and over a powerpoint presentation. Obviously I can't be drawing and navigating simultaneously with touch but I guess I'm envisioning an "always on top" floating dock or tool bar to toggle between the "paint" function and the normal touch input. To be clear I'm not interested in specific "drawing" apps, I'm looking for the ability to draw persistently over any and every open app. Is there an app or hack that will accomplish this? | Although I know this is an old question, I have a better answer for whoever is later to find this on Google. Try using Ink Over Apps , you can download it free from the Google Play store. I have it on my TF700 and it seems to work perfectly! | How can I draw over other apps? | android |
As in, I know that all Droids have the micro USB charging connector. But what if I used a charger of HTC make, or for that matter of fact a charger of RIM (BlackBerry) make, to charge my Android phone (which is not of aforementioned brands) to charge my phone? Will this cause (short/long term) harm to my battery? If so, why and how? | No, it should be fine as long as the charger is meant for a cell phone. Most of the major cell phone manufacturers adhere to the the International Electrotechnical Commission's mobile phone charging specs which specifies the use of the micro USB charging standard. USB 1.0 and 2.0 is capable of delivering 0.5A at 5V and USB 3.0 is capable of 0.9A at 5V. Not all chargers adhere to those specs, but most phone chargers deliver a charge somewhere in that range. I have had several HTC, Samsung, Motorola and some off-brand phone chargers and they all are 5V and put out between 750mA and 1A. Also, your cell phone has a charging control circuit and voltage protection circuit that protects the device from power outside its acceptable spec. I believe it also monitors temperature and will terminate charging if it falls outside of an acceptable spec, but I'm not sure about that. Some tablets like the Nexus 7 come with chargers that put out 2.1A at 5V. Using this charger will charge your phone faster but it will also cause the battery to heat up more. Excess heat can degrade the life of a battery so I wouldn't make a habit of using a tablet charger on your phone. | Is using chargers of phone not meant for it harmful to the battery? | android |
I just unboxed a Samsung Galaxy S3 and immediately, before first boot, rooted it installing CWM Recovery and SuperSU. I found it to be not the best idea, becuase I forgot to launch the Samsung update to 4.1. In fact, stock upgrade does reboot the phone into recovery but then CWM says the signature is invalid, etc. I should have done all this in inverse order (first stock upgrade, then root). The question is: how can I upgrade this Galaxy to stock JB? Idea: restoring the original recovery... but how? | This thread gives a nice step by step tutorial on how to re-flash to stock ICS, which will relash the stock recovery. In a nutshell: How to restore Galaxy S3 to Android 4.0.4 ICS XXLAF2 stock firmware: Download the ICS stock firmware file from here or here . After the ROM file is downloaded successfully, you should extract its contents and you will get a single file with the ‘.tar.md5′ extension. Save it on your computer’s desktop. Download Odin3 3.o4 for Galaxy S3 I9300 from here . Extract Odin.zip contents into a single folder and save it on your PC desktop. Now, power OFF your Galaxy S3 phone and after this you will need to boot into download mode. Boot into download mode by pressing ‘volume down’ + ‘home’ + ‘Power’ and release these buttons only after the display powers ON. Press Volume Up button to confirm that you want to load download mode. Now, go to your PC and launch the ‘Odin’ executable file. The one you’ve extracted at step 4. Next, connect your SGS3 I9300 to your computer and ODIN should display a message box saying ‘added!!’. If you don’t see this message then it means that the USB drivers aren’t installed on your PC and you should use the download links in the preparation guide, the ones listed above this tutorial guide. If Odin did find the Samsung USB Driver you’re free to move to the next step. In Odin click the button that is called ‘PDA’. Find the file you’ve extracted at step 2. It should have the ‘.tar.md5′ extension. Select it and it will be loaded into Odin. NOTE: Don’t change any of the Odin’s default settings and make sure that the ‘re-partition’ option isn’t selected. Press the START button in ODIN and the program will now begin to install the stock firmware files. When the installation is complete you will see a ‘PASS’ alert displayed by Odin and this means that everything went according to plan. Your phone will also restart and after the Samsung Logo appears you are free to unplug the device from your computer. NOTE: If Odin gets stuck you are required to disconnect the phone from your PC and remove its battery and then re-insert it and, now repeat all the entire tutorial once again as something went wrong and the firmware wasn’t flashed. That should do it, now your phone has been restored to factory stock firmware. Make sure to use the comments section in case you other questions. | Unable to update Galaxy S3 Android after flashing CWM | android |
There are many apps to send/read SMS from the desktop using a Wi-Fi connection, but my cyanogenmod rom doesn't play nice with my Thomson router so I can't use them. There is an app that uses the 3G internet connection for that? Better if it's a webapp. | I found what I need! There is Mightytext , mobitexter and mysms . For now I use Mightytext, because it looks to be the best. (Also it weighs at less than 500k, that's great for my phone) | There is an app to send/read SMS from the desktop using the Internet? | android |
The phone is connected via USB to Windows 7 64-bit. The <code> USB debugging </code> option enabled. When I connect the phone to the computer, I'm notified that some drivers failed to install. Do I need these for development? Where can I get them? I have yet to try the stackexchange-url ("Kies drivers"). As is, the device is connected as a "media device", which is useless in terms of development. When trying an Android SDK sample demo, it starts the emulator instead of running on the phone. More info about device: Model number: SGH-T999V Android version: 4.0.4 edit: See my answer below. | There's no need to install Kies. Download the driver <code> SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.14.0.exe </code> (or a higher version) which is available from the Samsung website . Click on the Manuals & Downloads tab (below the image of the phone) and then the Software tab. After installing, I connected the S3 via USB and Windows Update automatically searched for and downloaded a package that was 6.8MB, followed by this notification. I restarted my computer (just in case) and I can now use the S3 for development, even though it says the device is connected as a "media device". | Driver issues when using Samsung Galaxy SIII via USB for development | android |
Is there any easy way to start an app when you press the button to lock your screen? I've seen custom lock screens before so I know it's possible even if I have to make my own app for it. I have an app that I want to pop up every time the screen is unlocked, but it doesn't do it on it's own. I've seen/used other apps that could do this so if necessary I would code my own app to do this, but I'd prefer an already existing, preferably free option. | There might be multiple solutions to this. One I can think of involves the use of Tasker , the most flexible automation tool for Android. You could create a profile that triggers on "Screen Unlock", and have it start an app. However: though there's a free 7 day trial available on the projects homepage, after that the app costs about 5 Euro. There are many other automation apps available on the playstore which might be able to achieve the same. As a long-time Tasker user I no longer try the others, so I cannot tell for sure. Condition: Event → Display → Display Unlocked Task: App → Load App → (select your app here) | Starting an app when the screen is locked? | android |
When I browse my app history on the Google Play website(of apps that I have tried out in the past but aren't currently installed on my phone), it only lists them in alphabetic order until about 'L'. Nothing beyond that is shown. Does it have a hard limit on how many previous apps it can show? | It stops for me as well, so I am lead to believe that it only stores so many in the database. Looking at it, it seems to be limited to 20 pages (it doesn't even get to 'C' for me). | Google Play website doesn't show all previously installed apps | android |
I want to root and upgrade to 4.1 a just-unboxed Samsung Galaxy S3. After running the official OTA update with stock Samsung ROM, I tried to follow the tutorial here with openSUSE. I installed Heimdall from YaST and run the tool with <code> --param </code> and <code> --recovery </code> options with the files I downloaded for rooting. The problem is that after reboot I always get stock recovery. Why doesn't it work with 4.1 OS but with 4.0? | While writing the question I found the solution. Explanation In Odin Mode, when the phone accepts a new recovery to be flashed, the original Samsung recovery of 4.1 ROM automatically does everything to avoid being flashed, that's actually re-flashing itself on reboot, just like a good ol' computer virus! Solution Run Heimdall with <code> --no-reboot </code> flag, or if you are using Odin for Windows, uncheck the auto reboot checkbox. When flashed, physically remove battery and disconnect USB power supply. Congratulations, you just have ClockworkMod recovery installed!! | Unable to flash CWM recovery to GS3 over stock 4.1 with Heimdall | android |
My Samsung Galaxy 2 (SC-02C) has been rooted and upgraded to 4.1.2. It seemed that everything, all phone functionality, was fine. However, I've discovered that I can not send SMS with my phone. I can receive SMS from anyone from any carrier in my area just fine. I've asked at my service provider (DoCoMo, in Japan) and was told that I have the service enabled and my account with them should be fully operational. I wouldn't have imagined rooting and upgrading the phone would impact SMS, but that seems to be the case. How might my SMS functionality be impacted by my current ROM, and how can I fix it? | For some reason I assumed that SMS functionality was integral to the phone, not the OS, and so it would be reliant on carrier configurations and settings. As a result, I automatically went looking for some kind of solution that involved ROMs or kernels and whatnot. However, it turns out that there are SMS apps available on Google Play, and I was able to solve this by simply using an app other than the default. In my case, I chose Handcent . SMS works perfectly fine. So it was only the default SMS app that was the problem, not anything more fundamental. | Can receive but not send SMS | android |
GPS is not that accurate on Android devices (at least at mine) Measuring tools tell me the accuracy is between 8 and 12 Meters. But what is about relative accuracy? When I place two marks on different coordinates in the distance of 1 meter will this distance be measurable? | Distance can be measured even if you place 2 points in one place - for mesurement used signal from satellites, and in city it's extremely difficult to predict it changes. Accuracy depends on signal quality, and it's impossible to get it 100% even in a field, so when you move phone to 1 meter, signal change may be so small, what not detected, and it may be changed so seriously, what will displayed over 100 meters change (tested on buildings corners with HTC Desire and Nexus 7). | Relative GPS accuracy? | android |
(Asking this question for a friend) What is the icon to the left of the GPS icon in the notification bar? The one that looks like an ear? | It's supposed to represent a hearing aid, and it means that Hearing Aid Compatibility is enabled. AFAIK, this basically just increases call volume to make it easier to hear. It should go away if you go into the call settings and disable the hearing aid option. It'll either be something like <code> Settings->Calls </code> or pressing the Menu button on the dialer to get into the call settings (I think it varies some). Supporting source, second source | Can someone identify this icon (looks like a ear) in the notification bar? | android |
Is there any way to use Microsoft Streets & Trips on an android device such as Galaxy Tab 2 or Google Nexus? | There are several RDP/VNC application on Android, which can be used to "run" any Windows application. What you basically need to do is fairly straightforward: Setup a server or virtual machine running a Windows machine Install a RDP/VNC viewer on your Android Configure the viewer to connect to the server Citrix and Azure virtualization platform can be accessed by regular off-the-shelf RDP viewer. As an alternative, many open source or off-the-shelf virtualization software like VirtualBox or VMWare also supports RDP or VNC protocol for remote displays of their virtual machines. How to set up the server is outside the scope of [android.se], try [superuser] or [serverfault]. Once the server is setup, it's fairly straightforward to setup the Android part, come back with a more specific question if you had trouble when you get there. | How to use Microsoft Streets & Trips on Android? | android |
I know you can restrict applications to update on Wi-Fi only. Can you achieve the same thing with "update when charging on sector only" too? | The best option you can use open the menu in play store and then go to Settings and then mark the Notification:Notify me about updates to apps or games that I downloaded and then you will get the notification and update them whenever you want to. Also unmark the Auto-update apps so it will never update them automatically. | Is there a way to prevent applications from updating when running on battery | android |
How can connect my android app to car system for example to get "Level fuel" information or any others info! | All modern cars have CPU which measures and controls few parameters of its engine. These CPU(s) will have an interface socket (looks like SCART connector) with which issues are diagnosed at service center. There is a special hardware which goes into this socket and can transmit engine parameters through Bluetooth. Google Play Store has an app called Torque which when installed in an Android phone, can receive such parameters and displays on the screen. I am not too sure whether the OBD device can detect fuel level, but it does sense a lot of other engine related parameters like HP torque etc. | Android connected to Car system | android |
My Galaxy Nexus has just been updated to v4.2 of Jellybean, Google seem to have totally changed the camera app in this update and there's a few functions that I just can't find. As I'm travelling a lot at the moment, I like to make sure that most of my pictures are geo-tagged so that I can work out where I was and when later! As I'm not in my home country, I have data disabled to save on extortionate roaming charges, so most of the GPS-Assistance functions don't work and GPS locks take longer than normal. Previous versions of the Android camera app have had a small icon near the top of the screen in the camera app that flashes to indicate that the GPS is searching for a lock, that then turns solid when a good GPS lock is achieved. There doesn't seem to be any similar icon in the built-in camera app in the stock GED version of 4.2. Is there any way that I can tell if the camera has achieved a GPS lock before I take a picture? | You can press the right soft-key (switch application soft-key). The application switcher in Android 4.2 includes the notification bar, which shows if there´s a GPS fix. You can press the right soft-key again to return to the camera app. | With the Android 4.2 camera app, how can I tell if I have a GPS lock? | android |
As my contract on my current android phone is soon ending, I am considering purchasing the LG Nexus 4 (if it ever becomes available again on the Google Play Store) as my next phone, as it supposedly is in the top league but "without the price tag" so i'm informed. I am aware that many people are disappointed that a microSD card slot is unavailable on these devices (I believe the same to be true of the Nexus 7 & 10, if I am not mistaken), and this may detract them from buying such a device. From what I understand Google's reason for not including microSD support (unlike other manufacturers) is that they want people to know exactly what is on the internal memory of the phone, as many people "get confused" between what is on the internal memory and the microSD card, and therefore people can choose the required storage space ie 8 or 16GB (and therefore they know exactly what they have beforehand and accommodate their apps etc accordingly). Another reason is that Google want people to move away from internal storage & use Cloud storage more and more (and integrate with its other "services" eg Google Music) - a clever ploy on Google's part This put me off from buying the device until a few weeks ago when I heard about USB OTG (On The Go) Cables, which are essentially USB Cables having a micro usb connector at one end which fits into the Nexus 4 and a USB connector at othe other (which opens up a whole world of opportunities - more so for tablets rather than smartphones I think). This being the case I thought joy, storage is no longer a "problem". However I have heard reports that USB OTG connectivity despite apparently being supported cannot be enabled on the device. Is this the case, have people therefore found a solution like rooting the device and flashing with a Custom ROM ie CyanogenMOD Jellybean 4.1 to achieve USB OTG Connectivity ? Have people been unable to get hold of the phone in the first instance to comment or have Nexus 7 or 10 owners experienced USB OTG connectivity issues ? If this is unachieveable i'm sure it is premature as Google are bound to provide an update at a future date (that is of course if they can supply the phone, or was the LG Nexus 4 simply a one time purchase wonder, when it hit the Play Store a few weeks ago) Excuse the long(ish) post, but I believe the relevance of it | USB OTG compatibility is more dependent on the kernel than the actual operating system. If the stock kernel doesn't support it, then it will (most likely) only be a matter of time until a custom kernel is released that has this functionality. If you were to purchase it, remember that the tablet can only give 5V of power to the device - this stops you from using things such as portable hard drives with the device, which require a large power input. You would be best asking on a dedicated ROM'ing forum such as XDA-Developers to find out if the stock kernel supports USB OTG, and if not, a custom kernel can be made to support it. Please be aware, that you will need an app that allows you to use the USB OTG support. | LG Nexus 4's Internal Storage Dilemma & its Apparent Lack of Support for USB OTG Connectivity? | android |
I am looking for a custom rom for my Samsung Galaxy Y S5360. I want to install Android 4.0 ICS, but most of the custom ROM's I find are actually ICS themed, meaning they just have the ICS look and feel but the actual OS is still Gingerbread. I want ICS so that I can install apps that are incompatible with Gingerbread. Please give me a link to a bug-free ICS ROM. | You should look at forum's such as XDA-Developers , where you will find many ROM developers, and a forum for your device. Looking at your device however, it only has an Armv6 processor. ICS only supports the Armv7 architecture, so ICS will not be compatible for your device, unless someone ports it to your device which would be difficult, but not impossible as shown by the ICS ROM by mikegapinski for the LG GT540 at the above forum. | ICS ROM for Samsung Galaxy Y | android |
The problem I am trying to deploy a custom application to an Alcatel One Touch 995 running Android 2.3.6. I using Eclipse to compile the source code and push it onto the phone. The Android Device Chooser within Eclipse starts up and lists a device however it does not recognize the maker or model. The device shows up as question marks for the serial number (see screenshot). I am able to install the application to a Samsung device. I tried the procedure on Windows 7 running Eclipse 3.7.2 and on Ubuntu 12.04. running Eclipse 4.2. The Android Development Kit is up-to-date on both systems. I enabled "Unknown sources" and "USB debugging" in the application settings. The USB driver attempt I found a USB driver from Alcatel . The archive contains driver for different Windows versions. When I try to update the "Android USB Device" in the Windows device manager I am informed that the driver version is up-to-date. Here is a screenshot of the "ALCATEL Dream Composite ADB Interface" properties. It seems as if this attempt was not helpful. I leave it anyways in case someone stumbles into the same situation. The solutions Windows: Strange! I installed almost all available API Versions in the Android SDK Manager and now also selected the images for ARM, Intel and MIPS. The result is that the device is recognized on Windows. I tried hard to undo the driver installation on Windows. To me, the most obvious is removing the "Google USB Driver". So I did and restarted Eclipse and the computer but still Windows remembers the maker and model. I further tried to remove other items without success . I will leave my experiments in this question for others to figure out the key installation module needed on Windows to recognize the device. I guess its "Google USB Driver" and the <code> .inf </code> file has been copy to the Windows system folder in the background. Ubuntu: Regarding Ubuntu, I like to grant the answer Flow (please put your comment as an answer). I configured a device rule as it has been stackexchange-url ("explained by vsm and others"). There is also an official guide entitled: Setting up a Device for Development . Speculations It could be that when I tried to update the Windows driver with the USB driver from Alcatel that it actually updated my system without telling me. All I received was the message "Driver version is up-to-date". I missed to check the version before I started. If anyone can verify this theory on a "clean" system I happy to hearing from you. | If that happens on Linux the reason is usually that the adb daemon is unable to write to the USB device in <code> /dev </code> . For more information stackexchange-url ("see this answer on stackoverflow"). | How can I get ADB to properly recognize an Alcatel One Touch 995 device on Windows/Ubuntu? | android |
I'm in the market of buying a Nexus 7, and these are what I understand some kind of firmware/maker identification. Can someone please explain all the different names? Google sadly wasn't much help for me today. | For Galaxy Nexus these are different builds: takju: devices sold through the Play Store in the US. Contains the Google Wallet aplication. yakju: devices sold through Google outside the US. yakjuxw: devices sold by Samsung. If you buy yakjuxw I would recommend that you update to yakju with factory images provided by Google. This way you will get the updates in time. I wasn't aware that there are similar builds for the Nexus 7. | What is yakju, gn, yakjuxw, takju etc? | android |
Is it equally effective to backup my apps, photos, contacts, SMS texts etc on my Android Smartphone (which is non rooted) using MS Skydrive or Dropbox compared with using a dedicated Backup App from the Google Play Store eg My Back Up Pro ? Is it the case that, it is as effective but the process is far simpler and less time consuming to carry out if a dedicated application is used. This applies to general backing up and backing up in order to migrate/transition as seemlessly as possible when upgrading to a new smartphone | You would have to look at the pros and cons. Pros of Cloud Backup Off site backup (you will keep your data if your house burns down) Cons of Cloud Backup Make take a while to upload all of your data to the server Make take a while to download the data again Pros of Dedicated Backup App Quick (no upload) Quick and easy access (on your SD Card, so you can easily access it without an internet connection) Cons of Dedicated Backup App If your SD Card breaks, you lose all the backups If there is a fire, you lose your backups If you lose your phone with the SD card in it, you lose both the phone and your backup You also have to bear in mind that My Backup Pro (which you mentioned), has the ability to back up to the cloud as well as file backups. You can also set scheduled backups. With this in mind, I would say that a Dedicated Backup App would actually be better and easier than using a standard cloud service. | Is Backing up my Android Device to the Cloud using Skydrive or Dropbox Equally as Effective As using dedicated Back Up Apps? | android |
I wonder whether there is a way to prevent someone to use <code> fastboot </code> to flash an Android device. Indeed, while one must be able to turn on USB debug in order to run <code> adb </code> , the bootloader does not offer any protection AFAIK. | You may only make <code> oem lock </code> , but if anybody really need to flash something - he can do unlock again (with removing anything from device). And one old rule: if anybody has physical access to device - software protection will not help. | Prevent unauthorized image flashing | android |
Is it possible and indeed practical to dual boot a Windows 8 tablet/smartphone with Jelly Bean 4.0 + ? Are there significant restrictions or limitations in doing so? If this is not achieveable as yet - What about running Bluestacks on these devices, just in the same manner that Bluestacks can run Android Apps as an emulator on a Windows PC (if i'm correct) | You could, but without support it would be difficult. Android does not 100% support for all apps on intel/amd processors As well as this, you would have to write a kernal / kernel object to support the specific hardware of the device. This can be quite difficult if propriety information is unavailable. You would be better to ask at http://forum.xda-developers.com and ask if someone has ported Android to your device, or a device you would be wanting to buy. | Dual Booting a Windows 8 Tablet/Smartphone with Android OS? | android |
My stats are the follwing: <code> Android system 37% </code> , <code> Stand by 36% </code> , <code> Inactivity 14% </code> , <code> Voice call 3% </code> . I touch in android and appears a lot of programs like <code> alertrecipients, google backup transport, error, ?Perso?, Tasks, bluetooth test, popupuiReceiver, wssyncmlnps, mobile tracker, DRM, definitions, wlan test, self test mode, wipeoutreceiver, VPN services, android sistem, facory test, preconfig and service mode </code> . Can I turn off some of those tasks in managment, or better asked, is there any of those I cannot stop, that is essential to the phone? Mostly I just need phone, some ocasional pictures and sms, maybe 2/3 times a week use an app! | You can go in settings, running applications and close the ones that you don't need. The application that the system needs you won't be able to close. Or you can just uninstall the undesired ones as well. And reformat your question so it makes more sense and it's understandable. | Battery consumption | android |
Will <code> adb push </code> only copy the file into the target location whereas <code> adb install </code> copies the file into the target location and also sets the proper permission for you? | More specifically <code> adb push [file] [path] </code> will take [file] from the PC and copy it to [path] on the android device. <code> adb install [apkfile] </code> will copy [apkfile] from the pc into <code> /data/app/ </code> on the android device. The main difference being that push will let you specify where you want the file to go on the device, and install puts it in a known location (the location "installed" apps exist in). | What's the difference between 'adb push' and 'adb install'? | android |
I just transferred phones from a Motorola Droid 2 to the Galaxy S III. I usually use Handcent, but forgot to back up my SMS before the new phone was activated. Now I have all my old SMS logs on the Droid, which can't back up because I have no data stream. I've found multiple apps that can save SMS to the SD card and downloaded them to the S3, however I can't move any of those apps to the SD card to transfer the SD card to the Droid and install the SMS to SD backup app there. I've tried using this Guide but even then, the apps won't move to the SD card. I don't want to root my new phone just to get an app transferred off it. Can anyone give me suggestions for an app that meets that criteria or another solution? | You want the old version of LifeSaver2 available from the free & open source Android app repostitory http://f-droid.org It's available here or via the FDroid market app itself. To be able to install it you need to enable unknown sources . If you have no data connection on your old phone: Put the LifeSaver2_1.0.apk on the SD card using your S3 or transfer it via Bluetooth and then side-load it. | I need an app that transfers SMS to SD and can be moved to SD card itself | android |
On my old Nokia C5, there was a quite smart setting to sync the phone calendar with my Gmail calendar when a WiFi connection was available, every say 30 minutes (using MailForExchange ). I'd expected that a tightly-Google-coupled system like Android would do that task even better, but it doesn't (or I wasn't able to figure out how). First of all, automatic synchronizing is disabled because I don't want to sync contacts, images, mails, whatever. Only my calendar! I know that I could sync the calendar when I go to Settings → Accounts and Synchronisation → tip on my Google account → scroll to the calendar entry → sync now. But that's that deep hidden in menus that it is not really fun. Is there a way to have a shortcut on the home screen that I could use to directly start synchronizing only my calendar with one tip? If automatic synchronisation with WiFi could be set up (once again: only my calendar), that would be an extra bonus . My main aim is to sync only the calendar, nothing else. | EDIT: To only sync the calendar you first have to switch off everything else: Go to Settings -> Accounts -> YOUR Google Account and un-check all the sync targets you don't want (Chrome, GMail, Drive, Contacts, ...) /EDIT Then you can take care of when to have it sync. Generally, this is left to 3rd party apps. You can always pick your favourite 3rd-party app to get that feature, and there is a ton of it. Some samples: JuiceDefender (free/plus/ultimate/beta, you'll probably have to buy ultimate for the feature you want) Tasker Llama (not sure if it supports your use case) or just search Google Play for 'profile sync schedule' (or similar) The latter two examples are somewhat complicated to set up but are very powerful. I'd try JuiceDefender. | How could I sync ONLY my calendar with Gmail (optionally when a WiFi connection is available)? | android |
I have a Nexus 7 16GB which behaved wonderfully for a few months. I used an NFC app once and the tablet began boot-looping, and lagging. I turned off NFC when I could and reset the tablet. It was fine for a day or two but then started locking up again. I've changed the bootloaders to try to recover it, to no avail. After attempting to upgrade the OS and it totally locked up, I finally RMAed the tablet (PAIN IN THE BUTT!!!, Thanks Asus...) I finally got my tablet back and the same issues have started again. I do have NFC turned on, but haven't installed the app that caused the issue last time (NFC tag writing apps) I downloaded CPU Spy and have tracked the CPU states to find that my CPU isn't throttling up very much, and it hardly reaches Deep Sleep either. Instead, it spends 7+ hours (not touched by me) at 475 MHz. It doesn't respond to the unlock very quickly, and it often gets stuck in a screen orientation. The RMA apparently didn't do anything, although they didn't charge me for anything, so they must have found something. Is there anything I can do to see if somehow software I've installed is causing this? Any suggestions? I'm really frustrated. I've attached the CPU spy screenshot, and have a logcat file as well. Is there anything more I can do to track this down? See also my LogCat results: LogCat EDIT: Further information: I've gotten it to consistently boot now, but it still falls into a 'always on' with "Android OS" being a major draw on the battery. It will say something like "keep awake for 7+ hours". I'm attempting to chase down an app which has the 'stay awake' permission and see if it is something like that. EDIT: updating to Android 4.2 increases the stability, and the battery usage is more specific. The NFC service is keeping my tablet awake all the time. Battery use screenshot | Please erase all data and the dalvik-cache (if you have recovery). Are you using the stock or custom ROM? This looks to me like a bug in the ROM to do with NFC - this is the only reason the device would lock up like that. If you are using a custom ROM, I suggest you contact the ROM developer with the logs, if not, check for a software update. EDIT: The NFC service will only run if NFC is enabled - if you disable it, and then reboot, it should no longer be active. If it is you can kill it via <code> Settings->Apps->Running </code> . | Nexus 7 issues with lagging, boot-loops, NFC greyed out, and depressed CPU states | android |
My phone is currently inoperative. Samsung asked me to drop it at an approved repair center, which will handle shipment and reception to/from Samsung. Being unable to boot my phone, it was impossible for me to remove personal files from it. I am aware all my files will be accessible to anyone handling my phone, once repaired. But what about my passwords ? I know it's possible to get saved WiFi passwords with root access. Is it possible too for passwords from applications ? (Gmail, Dropbox, Website passwords from Chrome, ...) Bottom line: How safe are my data/passwords on an un encrypted device ? | General information As The Andro Nerd pointed out in stackexchange-url ("his answer"), most apps store passwords (and other sensitive information) encrypted. Some even don't store them at all (they use a kind of "tokens", as is available with most Google apps -- or they don't store anything like that). Unfortunately, only most apps seem to care this way. Some store everything plain text (the stock email app on some HTC devices is known for that, for example: Storing passwords and even directory information plain text for Exchange services. Sources for this allegation can be found in the book mentioned below). Which apps are safe? It's hard to really know which apps are save, though some services help you figure it out -- see e.g. ViaForensic's AppWatchdog , where they thoroughly investigate apps for things like that (but with limited ressources are far from covering everything). Some security blogs inform about found issues as well -- and if some well-known app is affected by such a security hole (as e.g. mentioned email app, or Skype ), all the blogs in the world will spread word. How to check it on your own Knowing the structures how data are saved, you could investigate yourself (if your device is rooted, that is). Andrew Hoog's book stackexchange-url ("Android Forensics and Mobile Security") is one good source teaching you how to do that: Apps store their data below the <code> /data/data </code> , in a directory with the apps package name as name (for skype, this would be <code> /data/data/com.skype.merlin_mecha/ </code> ). By default, that directory is accessible by the app alone (and, of course, by root) -- which is why it requires root privileges to dig deeper. The basic structure below is as follows: <code> /data/data/com.example.demoapp ├── cache Directory │ └── webviewCache Directory │ ├── 027e59a0 Cache file │ └── 057606c4 Cache file ├── databases Directory │ └── example.db SQLite database ├── lib Directory └── shared_prefs Directory └── example.xml Config file </code> Obviously, there are two major places to check: the <code> shared_prefs </code> directory, containing XML files. As those are plain-text, they should be easy to investigate. the <code> databases </code> directory. Database files are usually in the SQLite standard, so you can investigate them with either an SQLite command line client, or with a graphical frontend like SQLiteMan . A thorough information on this topic would go too far here -- but you got the idea, I hope. Conclusion I wouldn't be that much concerned with Samsungs official service (though "bad guys" could sit everywhere -- but one should not go paranoid about it. But of course it is a generally good idea to be careful of which apps one uses. Too late for your current case, might be -- but there's always a tomorrow. | How safe are my passwords at after-sales service? | android |
Is there a way to access a PC's drives from a Galaxy Note (4.0.4) through the USB port at the initiative of the phone itself. Ideally I would write an Android application which would - permissions permitting - access the PC's resources (SMB client for instance). | Only by SMB (windows file sharing), another file sharing (eg you can make on PC FTP server, etc), USB connection is always client-server and PC is server. Unlimited access is possible only theoreticaly, if you manualy boot special OS on PC (any, what will not use disks to run) and emulate android accessory protocol on PC (no software available - need to create), what will handle your applications on phone and PC... Fantastic scenario. | Access PC drives | android |
Why when my phone LG GT540 is running and seen by ADB after bootup it disconnects (not from PC just from ADB, as PC still can see it it Device Manager) after few seconds after bootup sequence? The problem is occuring only with GT540, tested other device - HTC - works fine. The key could be USB drivers, but tried many of them official and handmade. Also I've tried running phone in "Recovery" or "Safe" Mode - when LG firmware updated my phone via USB with no major problems with connection, hovewer I cant use ADB over this "Safe" mode, can't I? | Some people have had their device turn on the mass storage mode by itself. Verify that you haven't enabled <code> Mass storage only </code> mode in <code> Settings -> SD Card & storage -> Mass storage only </code> , then reconnect & restart adb daemon. | Why LG GT540 after boot it disconnects with ADB | android |
I have multiple Google accounts, synced to the phone. For one of them I don't use GMail and have turned off syncing of mail. However the account still appears in the GMail app. This means sometimes I accidentally send email from that account without realising. Is it possible to remove an account from the GMail app whilst keeping the account on the phone? | Official gmail app uses accounts, provided by Android, so it's impossible. Only if you will use some patched version, what will use private accounts, it possible. | Is it possible to remove an account from the Gmail app but keep the account on the phone? | android |
Having become fed up with a custom ROM i was using, I reverted back to a previous ROM via a nandroid backup (through CWM Touch). It would appear that the backup preserved all my installed apps and data (Was under the impression they didn't, so this surprised me somewhat), but since then the 'My Apps' listing on the google play website has been out of sync with what is actually on my phone. I also seem unable to request (un)installation through the web interface. Help would be muchly appreciated. | It may be the link to the Play store was lost. I think if you install an app from, say, the amazon app store, Google Play will not be able to update or uninstall it, as the link is gone. Similarly, restoring an app from a previous rom backup may not create that link. Titanium Backup can recreate the links (the free version can can't do this). Or you could uninstall the app and try installing it fresh from Google Play. | play.google.com and Google Play app out of sync | android |
I know that in Android JellyBean 4.2 there's a new feature called DayDream. I want to access it in my Nexus10 but don't know how. How can I enable and use it? | Here's what i need to do: 1st Step: Launch the Settings app, scroll to the bottom, and tap About Phone. 2nd Step: In the middle of the screen is the listing for Android Version. Tap this item until you see a jelly bean appear on your screen. You can then tap and hold the giant jelly bean until your device vibrates. You should then see interactive beans floating all over your screen. And yes, you can fling them. Go ahead, try it. 3rd Step : After doing, this the BeanFlinger Daydream will be unlocked. You can find the Daydream option by going to Settings > Display > Daydream. Hope it Will Help to all of the Users Facing this Same kind of Problem. | How to enable the DayDream feature in the Nexus10? | android |
I find auto-rotate really annoying so I generally have it turned off. Unfortunately, when I'm playing a youtube video, it's equally annoying when I try to tilt the screen and then remember I have it turned off :) I would like a way to have auto-rotate working as usual when a youtube video is playing, otherwise disabled. Is that possible? I would like it all handled automatically, I'm not really interested in apps or widgets where I have to toggle a setting manually. Thanks! p.s.: My phone is a galaxy nexus. | There isn't a system setting, so the app Smart Rotator is probably the closest thing you can get, but yes, in the beginning, you have to set everything up yourself. | Auto-rotate only for youtube videos, disabled otherwise | android |
I would like to check my /sdcard, and possibly other internal partitions as well, for errors on the file system level. I am wondering how this could be accomplished. I am using a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) with Verizon Wireless. Update: This device does NOT have an actual SD card and I believe the only way to do it is through: "adb shell" ( BEFORE system boots (i.e. inside of recovery mode), this way /sdcard is NOT mounted and it's possible to perform checks on it in read/write mode) | according to: Android Media Process (high CPU) | alexus' blog : <code> ~ # e2fsck -n /dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.0/by-name/userdata e2fsck 1.41.11 (14-Mar-2010) /dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.0/by-name/userdata: clean, 53630/1875968 files, 1921615/7493115 blocks ~ # </code> | How to check filesystem (/sdcard) for errors? | android |
I'm developing a mobile site which runs on port 8888. I want to see how it looks on my Android phone. How can I use my phone's web browser to view pages on port 8888? | You should just be able to add the port to the end of the domain as you would with a desktop browser, e.g. <code> http://mysite.com:8888 </code> . Chrome and the built-in Browser app definitely support this as I use them in this fashion on a daily basis; I'd imagine other browsers would as well since the syntax is defined in the RFC specification. | Accessing Port 8888 in Android Web Browser | android |
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 running rooted Jelly Bean 4.1.2. My computer is running Ubuntu 12.10. Before, in Android 4.0, I simply plugged the USB in, and a notification would pop up, and I was offered a button to Turn on USB storage, and then my 12GB internal SD card and 16GB external SD card were both mounted as external drives. Nice and easy. Now, to get the same thing, to connect my Android as a mass storage device, before I connect the USB cable, I have to go to Settings -> More Settings -> USB utilities and press Connect storage to PC, then plug in the cable, then press Turn on USB storage. It's a hassle and a half. If I don't do it this way, when I connect the USB, it tries to connect with MTP. Which causes this error: <code> Unable to mount SAMSUNG_Android Error initializing camera: -60: Could not lock the device </code> If I switch the connection mode to PTP, I get two devices, both called SAMSUNG_Android, only one of which (12GB internal) actually ever displays the contents. The other hangs. In either case, MTP or PTP, if I have Banshee running when I connect my Android, it causes Banshee to crash. I use Banshee to sync my music collection. The short story being that currently, connecting my Android to my computer is either complicated or doesn't work very well. I've been told that USB mass storage is being deprecated, and MTP is the standard going forward. At the end of the day, I don't care if it's MTP, PTP, or mass storage that's used to connect my device. All I care is that it's as easy as it used to be. Plug it in, press a button, both drives are mounted and usable like any other drive. How do I get this ease of function when connecting my Android to my USB. | A developer on the XDA forums provided a script that changes the default behaviour so that connecting by USB mass storage is the default behaviour. I had to use a file manager app that gave me access to the root directory, I placed the script in <code> /system/etc/init.d/ </code> , changed the script's permissions to <code> rwxr-xr-x </code> , and then rebooted the phone. Now I have the full functionality and ease of use I hoped for. I'll probably eventually have to use to something like MTP or whatever, but hopefully in the meantime while proper support is developed by all relevant parties, I won't have to suffer. | What are my options for connecting my Android to Ubuntu? | android |
I have some apps that I open on occasion. One in particular is a game that likes to push notifications up reminding me to play again. Is there an app I can use to automatically freeze an Android app when I exit it, and automatically thaw and open the app when I want to open it again? I hate how many apps have background services or receive intents that I don't care for. With my ROM, I can specifically deny permissions to apps based on certain intents, but that doesn't always help. I know you can freeze and thaw an app using Titanium Backup Pro, which I have. But that would require manually going in to TiBu and doing the freeze/thaw commands each time. In an ideal world, I would like a list of apps to be frozen as soon as I exit. And instead of the app listed in my app drawer, I would have a shortcut to first thaw the app and then open it (and have the same icon as the app). I don't care if this takes an extra few seconds; I simply want certain apps to only be running when I say so. Does this exist in any form on Android, whether in a kernel patch, an app, or a simple script? | I know you can freeze and thaw an app using Titanium Backup Pro, which I have. But that would require manually going in to TiBu and doing the freeze/thaw commands each time. You're wrong about that part. Try this: look for a free place on your homescreen long-press there select to add a widget scroll to Titanium Backup select the item to (un)freeze an app select the app This gives you a toggle-widget to freeze/unfreeze the selected app. | How can I automatically freeze and thaw an app on demand? | android |
Most Android devices have a single port for both connecting to the computer (USB) and charging. I have to use this OTG small cable to transfer data, but also to use a real keyboard. However, when I connect the keyboard, I cannot recharge my device while I work. Since they both use the same port, is there a way to split an OTG cable to introduce power on it, but keep the existing port so I can connect a keyboard ? | Yes, it is possible, at least technically. What you need is a cable called a OTG host cable with power, which is a double-female cable with a male micro, a female micro (which only has the power and ground connected, no data), and a female A, like stackexchange-url ("this one"). Additionally, you also need software support. I know an appropriate kernel patch is available for CM10 on the Nexus 7 (here), but I don't know about any other devices. | Using an OTG cable while charging | android |
I'm using the official Facebook app and I've used it to update my status. Inadvertently, I made this status update public. Is there any way within the app, or the Facebook mobile website to change the permissions of a post to friends-only or a specific friends list? The only way I can find of doing it is to either use the full FB website, or use Friendcaster instead. (Since some of my friends have set their accounts to not allow access from third party apps, I've switched back to the official app from Friendcaster). | I'm afraid that the native Facebook app is very limited in functionality. While it has improved (quite a bit) from its initial launch, there are still a lot of things you can't do in the app. You may be able to do what you need from the mobile-optimized website (http://m.facebook.com) but most likely you're going to need to hop over to your desktop and use the full website in your desktop browser. | How to change privacy level of a Facebook post? | android |
After exiting the applications on my Galaxy nexus, they appear on the recent applications list. Do they still use CPU/battery? Do I have to remove them from recent applications list in order to save battery? | The recent applications list show only what applications have been recently used, it doesn't check whether they're still running or using memory/CPU. Therefore, this list doesn't affect battery use one way or the other. Instead, you might want to check <code> Settings -> Apps -> [swipe to the right] </code> to show running applications, processes and services. Here you can see the apps that are using your device and consuming battery, and kill unnecessary processes by tapping the app and then <code> Stop </code> . | Android clearing recent applications list | android |
I have the latest ADT installed and when I start the emulator I am not able to type, for example, German umlauts. I have tried to change the settings in android to German keyboard layout but that didn't change anything. I guess I have to configure this via AVD properties somehow, but so far I have not found a resource that explained what has to be configured where. The configured AVD is defined as Nexus One with Android 4.2 Any idea, guys? | Well, that turned out to be so easy that I didn't found any documentation about that. What you have to do is to long press the keyboard keys just as you do in a soft keyboard , it will show a popup with diacritics you can use for that letter (in the image you can see what happens when you long press letter "u"). Then click on the button corresponding to the character you want to use or the close button to exit. (This image contains icons from Farm Fresh Icons by Fatcow Web Hosting ) Note that not all letters have this behavior, in which case at long pressing they repeat as normally do elsewhere. | Android Emulator using Hardware Keyboard has no "Umlauts" | android |
When I use the Google Reader app for audio podcasts -- e.g. linked MP3 files -- it pops up a simple player overlay to play the file (shown in screenshot). Is there a way for me to choose an installed audio player to use in place of the one used by the Google Reader app as the default player for the app? Ideally I'd like the app to pop up an intent that asks me for the audio player to use, like many apps pass off responsibility for a well defined purpose. The Google Reader app is here . | Google Reader allows choice of external program (via intent) to play audio. | How to specify a different audio player for use with Google Reader? | android |
I have a stock Motorola Droid 3 on Verizon. The device is not currently rooted. I am not sure if the Gallery app on my phone is specific to the Motoblur UI. I was testing the <code> .nomedia </code> trick/hack, by putting a zero-length file named <code> .nomedia </code> in my Downloads directory. I also cleared cache and deleted app data of the stock/standard Gallery app. it didn't appear to work, so I decided to say "screw it" and deleted the <code> .nomedia </code> file. Sadly this kind of ruined things. I reopened the gallery app started showing duplicates of most (but not all) of the images. If I clicked on one, it'd only load the thumbnail with just "loading..." ontop, like it was trying to generate the full sized image. If I long-pressed and clicked "photo info" gallery would crash. If I hit delete, it would delete the entry from the gallery view with no problem. The other one of the duplicates appeared to be the real image so it loaded no problem. Now, I could've manually deleted all the extra erroneous thumbnails, but that would be too time consuming as I had over 600-some correct images. So I decided to try a shortcut. I went to <code> /dcim/.thumbnails </code> and cleared the directory and I also went to <code> /android/data/com.moto.blur.mediaprovider </code> and cleared the thumbnails stored in that directory. When I went back to the gallery the situation got even worse. Now there's like 3 copies of the images. My prediction is that it's generating thumbnails, then generating thumbnails of those thumbnails. I tried clear the <code> .thumbnails </code> directory, which had over 2000 images in there. As soon as I restarted the gallery app, it'd fill right back up again. I tried the same process and rebooting, but again, starting the gallery app causes it loop with the thumbnail generation. I tried putting a zero-length file <code> .nomedia </code> into the .thumbnails directory but that didn't seem to be doing anything. Is there something that I'm missing? I really don't want to do a factory reset as I don't have any easy way to back things up. Also, I do not have an SD card at the moment. All of this is being put on the local storage for the phone. | Please attempt the following: Delete the entire <code> .thumbnails </code> folder Delete the <code> /sdcard/Android/data/com.android.gallery3d </code> folder Go to <code> Settings->Apps->All </code> and select the <code> Gallery </code> app. Select clear data. Go to <code> Settings->Apps->All </code> and select the <code> Media Storage </code> app. Select clear data. Reboot your device. This will completely erase all data from the gallery app, and if you open it before you reboot you should notice that you have no thumbnails. They will be generated on boot. | Droid 3 Gallery Generating Errorneous Thumbnails; Possibly Due to Infinite Loop, .nomedia glitch? | android |
I have created a profile with Tasker to accomplish a simple function, activate WiFi every 10 minutes and if the phone connects to a network leave WiFi on, otherwise turn it off and scan again in 10 minutes. This is my setup: Profile Big / Task Big WiFi Scan profile never activates (it doesn't get green and the Tasker notification says "no Active Profile"). When I activate Tasker it turns off my WiFi but never turns it on again. It is very strange; is it a Tasker bug? I am running Android 4.1.2 on a Galaxy S2. | While trying to explain where to find that "4th tab", I just see where your problem is: You use the %WIFI variable to check for a) On/Off and b) the connection mode. Either it is On/Off, or it holds connection info. The first is %WIFI, the other %WIFII: WiFi Info %WIFII When connected to an Access Point (AP), shows human-readable data about the AP. When not connected, show details of the most recent Wifi scan results for nearby APs. WiFi Status (dynamic) %WIFI Whether WiFi is on or off. Note: if WiFi is enabling or disabled, in fact anything but enabled, it's classed as off. Source: Tasker UserGuide Now back to the original explanation about that "4th tab": You see some tabs in both pictures. In the first, "Profiles" is selected, in the second "Tasks". In both pictures you see another tab "Scenes". Right to that is one more, "Variables": But regardless of that: For debugging, you can always to add another item to your task, "Notify", and have it either popup the %WIFI (or whatever variables) content or add it to your notification bar. This is good for debugging. | Why isn't Tasker activating Profile? | android |
My understanding is that rooting an android smartphone or tablet allows you to add functionality and to flash custom ROMS (amongst other things) like MIUI or CyanogenMOD. A Nexus device offers the pure "vanilla" android experience from Google without the additional "skins" etc. that mobile phone companies add/tweak to further differentiate their product from one another. If it is the case that nothing has been added/tweaked, customised etc. on a Nexus 4/7/10, can I achieve this personalisation (via the Google Play Store) on such a device without the need for rooting? | If you're not sure if you need Root, you don't need Root. There are any number of alternative Launchers you can install that will give your device a custom look-and-feel and add/adjust functionality from Vanilla Android. Heck, there are Launchers that can simulate the look-and-feel of iPhone and Windows Phone. Have a look on the Play Store for "Launchers" or "Home screen replacements". | Is it Essential to Root a Nexus Device in order to Customize or Personalise it to your liking? | android |
Where is the link to the exe file? I find text "jar of beans.exe" and beneath it, a note saying wait for the emulator to load and enjoy, or a statement of similar meaning. The text "jar of beans.exe" is, however, not a hyperlink! I need the link. | Click here to download that file. (version 4.1.1 - file size: 181 MB) Click here to visit that file in the Google Project. Click here to visit the project forum page. | Jar of Beans Android Emulator | android |
I have Samsung Galaxy Ace for almost an year now. The battery of my phone get discharged now with-in no time of charging. The battery status in Setting -> About Phone - > Battery use shown the following Screenshot (Click image to enlarge) I could not interpret what does this mean. Is there some app which is eating up the battery or I need to replace the battery? Is it normal for battery of this model? | As we already have a lot of related answers to similar questions, just let me sum up here: As said in my above comment, the screenshot does not provide much information without having related details available. All it says is: The overall battery consumption after ~14.5 hours is shared 50:50 by "Phone Idle" and "Cell Standby". Let's assume the battery level at that point is 80%, then each app had consumed about 10% of a full charge -- which could count as "normal". If on the other hand the battery level was 20% (or even less), it would be a bad sign -- pointing a.o. to bad reception (see: Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery? ) for the "Cell Standby" part. I wrote we already have a lot of good answers on the "battery life" topic. Some are even listed in the "Related" (and now also in the "Linked") section of this question, as e.g. stackexchange-url ("What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?") stackexchange-url ("Is there any study on how which services/sensors consume the battery?") Many more can be found following the tag-link battery-life . Please follow those links for closer information. As the "battery info" is giving you so few information, here's a hint to some helpful app: BetterBatteryStats . With that app, watch out especially for the "Wake Locks", as those keep your device from entering energy-saving modes. Check the configuration of the apps mentioned in connection with this (a good example could be an email app with a too-high polling frequency, where you e.g. could reduce the frequency from "every 5 minutes" to "every 30 minutes" to save a lot of juice). EDIT: Another helpful app I just discovered is Battery Stats Plus , which helps you find the "evil apps" on your device. Brought to you by our friend at XDA Developers ... | Battery drain with in no time in Samsung Galaxy Ace | android |
Does enabling daydreaming (display a clock while charging, i.e. never turn the screen completely off while charing) affect the life of the screen in any significant way? | As life of LCD screen is measured in hours of its usage, keeping screen turned on does consume some of its life hours. But, average life of LCD screens range from 30,000 hours to 60,000 hours, so I don't think it would a matter to you. | Daydreaming -- does it decrease screen life? | android |
Does the Samsung Galaxy Nexus charger use a USB charger? If so, what kind? | Your question is bit unclear to me. Still I am trying to answer. Almost all the Android phones these days (including Galaxy Nexus - GNex) have a micro-USB charging and data-syncing port. So they can be connected to your computer using a micro-USB to standard USB cable. Like most other phones, GNex also comes with a micro-USB to standard USB cable and a wall charger. You can use wall power or your computer to charge your phone. And if you want to see exactly what charger comes with the GNex, checkout any of the tonnes of unboxing videos avaliable on YouTube! | Samsung Galaxy Nexus Charger - USB? | android |
I have an international android smartphone which doesn't have anything related to Google Play Store installed. So I have to install GoogleLoginService.apk, GoogleServicesFramework.apk, Vending.apk, ... by myself. I was able to find information about how to do it online but I cannot find where to get those apks for my version of Android, which is version 4.0.4. If I download them, how can I know/verify they are the right version for the android 4.0.4? | You have to flash GAPPS (Google Apps) ZIP. Click here to download GAPPS for ICS. For alternate links or other gapps versions see this link . | Where to download and install Google Apps on Android 4.0.4 device? | android |
I have a Droid 3 and a 2012 Toyota Camry which offers bluetooth support. Currently I find the only app that will display track information on the screen of the Camry's stereo is the default Android music player. Winamp and others don't seem able to do this. Is this a limitation of Android? Or are there other apps that I do not know about that have the ability to transfer track information to the car stereo? | The feature uses Bluetooth AVRCP , the Audio Video Remote Control Profile . It's used for controlling the app from the receiver (e.g. play/pause buttons on a BT headset). AVRCP level 1.3 is possible since ICS and improved in Jelly Bean ; it allows all of 1.0 (play, pause, next,...) plus metadata information on the track itself (artist, track name, etc.). It was also backported into CyanogenMod7.2 (Gingerbread). Players themselves have to support AVRCP 1.3 too, I guess. Apollo might also support this. Or just search for AVRCP 1.3 in the store. | Bluetooth car audio with track data | android |
Is it safe to use a Galaxy Note that is fully charged and at the same time it is plugged in to the wall socket? I'm worried that the battery might be charging and discharging at the same time and it will tremendously produce severe stress in the battery. Thus it will shorten the lifespan of the battery. | Yup, It is perfectly fine. I do it regularly while playing games. | Using a fully charged Galaxy Note | android |
How do I access the reflow mode on Adobe Reader for Android? | At Adobe Reader click on top part of screen, then you will see top toolbar. At toolbar you need 4 button from right corner of toolbar. | How do I access the reflow mode on Adobe Reader? | android |
I'm not asking the diagonal values, but the length and breadth ones of the Nexus 7. And only of the LCD screen, not the entire hardware. | The screen size is 151mm * 94mm http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760938 | What is the length and breadth of ONLY the screen in the Nexus 7? | android |
I am often using my device to develop, so I'm a little bit worried that the constant charging might fry the battery. Is there anyway to use USB debugging while not charging the phone? | As far as I know, batteries won't fry on constant charging. They chips in them that control overcharging and low charge. So they won't die easyly. I am using my desire just like you explained for almost 2 years and it is just like the first day, I need to charge it every day :) | Preventing charging while USB debugging - One X | android |
I installed a jdk and then an android sdk on my Ubuntu 12.04, 32-bit machine (2 GB DDR3 memory) The aim is to have an android emulator. I created some android virtual devices, one of which I named Andreud. When I type in the command <code> emulator @Andreud </code> where 'Andreud' is the name of the Android Virtual Device I created. A blank window with black backdrop, shows up on which "android" word is visible, in its trademark font. This I supose is the welcome screen. The home scree, icons, etc don't show up. Also, there are buttons for volume control and also the power on button, all of which are enabled. Even the dpad buttons which has 4 navigation buttons left,right,top,bottom and a central button are enabled. There are other important buttons, home button, menu button which are disabled. It just shows a welcome screen and for minutes on end and goes blank again. I would like (barest minimum) one of my android virtual devices to work. I would like to know what's a solution to this problem. LATEST UPDATE: Today the home screen shows up. No icons on the screen though. It shows the time (GMT) and today's date. A small dialogue box saying "Unfortunately System UI has stopped" with an OK button. I click it, but the dialogue box doesn't go away. Any help is greatly appreciated. | What system are you running the emulator on? At the moment, it just seems like your system is probably too slow to run the emulator. The emulator is very resource intensive, and unless you have a high end machine it's going to be very slow. For the start, you'd want to start with a smaller screen resolution. Tablet-sized screen resolution is practically impossible to emulate unless you have a very high-end machine, try WQVGA size. Next check how much RAM you allocate for the virtual machine, if it exceeds the amount of free RAM you usually have when you don't have the emulator running, then it's going to be very slow due to heavy swapping. Also, close other applications running on the system to free up resources. | Android Emulator for Ubuntu 12.04 | android |
This might seem like a strange question. Is there some sort of way for an app to launched by pressing the screen for a few seconds on touch screen phones? the reason why I ask is because this would be a great feature for like a panic button. of course the app will have to calibrate to the owner's thumb to prevent accidental pressing from objects in purse or pockets. Regards. | As far as I know this isn't really possible. But there are apps available in the Play Store that implement a Panic Button where you can place a button on your home screen (and maybe also your lock screen, but I haven't it yet). One of those apps I found is Red Panic Button . But you can also have a look in the Play Store yourself if you search for something like Panic Button etc. | Activate Android app by pressing thumb on timeout / locked screen for few seconds | android |
I was notified that there was a system update, but when I applied it the tablet was still on the older version of Jelly Bean. I've even done a factory reset and tried again, but no luck. Are there any logs that I can look at to track down the problem? | This turned out to be a hardware issue. I had two relatively pleasant conversations with tech support at google play and asus. Since it was a new purchase I just returned it. | Why won't my nexus 7 update to Jelly Bean 4.2? | android |
The current CM10 + GApps experience on Motorola Xoom is plagued by the size of the CM10 ROM -- there isn't enough space left after flashing the CM10 zip to fully flash the GApps zip. This results in gtalk force-closing while trying to video chat and some other issues. I've been following a discussion about this on the XDA development forum for Xoom. Here's someone mentioning that he 'removed' some files from the CM10 ROM zip file to reduce it's size: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34462283#post34462283 Could someone guide me how to do this? Is it simply unzipping the file, deleting certain files and re-zipping? or is there more ? (like signing the file) To remove apps from the ROM, should the .apk file simply be removed or do apps also have associated files that need to be removed as well? In the same discussion some people talk about moving certain files from the system partition to the data partition? How could this symlinks information be stored in the ROM zip file? or are they talking about creating the symlinks after flashing the zip? Thanks | There are multiple solutions available: Re-Zip the Image Advantage: You do it once, and can use the resulting image for multiple devices. That's what I did with CM7.2 for my Milestone 2. Easy enough to do: create a temporary (empty) folder unzip the zip file to it remove unwanted <code> *.apk </code> files from <code> /system/apps </code> (be careful of what you remove, of course) zip up the directory contents again Using a graphical ZIP manager (like WinZip or the like), steps would be even easier: open the zip file with the archive manager remove the unwanted <code> .apk </code> files if the ZIP manager requires it, save the manipulated zip Manually cleanup after flashing, using the shell This is what ce4 recommended in the comments. It requires you using a terminal emulator on your device: Flash the image as-is remove superfluous stuff from the system partition by hand (like <code> rm /system/big/junk/example.mp4 </code> ) Manually cleanup after flashing, using other tools Almost the same as the previous method, but a bit more user-friendly. Disadvantage: this won't do for superflous ringtones and the like: Flash the image as-is Use a tool like Titanium Backup or Root Uninstaller to remove unwanted system apps | Removing files from & repackaging CyanogenMod ROM zip files | android |
I don't have a problem doing this, I can use my phone and connect to the data allowance from my sim card and I can also connect my phone to a wireless network. I can then plug my phone into my laptop via a usb cable and I can enable tethering from the phone. I then end up with internet connection on my laptop. That is all well and good. However, when I click the connected connection on my phone, it comes up as 192.168.0.5 and when I check ifconfig on my laptop, it shows up as 192.168.42.209. Why is that happening, shouldn't my laptop also be showing at 192.168.0.5 as I am using the internet connection on my laptop via the phone? This really isn't a problem in terms of using the internet on the laptop via the phone as it works nicely. The problem is when I try to configure my home router to do some port forwarding. My router has an ip address range from 192.168.0.1-254, so I can't port forward using the 192.168.42.209. I have tried setting up a static ip address for my laptop using the routers ip address range, i.e. I tried 192.168.0.50, and the internet stops working. I clearly don't understand all this, why is this happening? So basically, why is the ip address on my phone different to the ip address on my laptop even though i am connecting to the internet on my laptop via the phone, and why does my internet connection stop working on the laptop if I tried giving the laptop a static ip address within the routers ip address range? I have an old phone with Froyo 2.2 and I have a laptop with Ubuntu 12.04 | Let me see if I understand you: <code> [Router] <--Wifi--> [Phone] <--USB tether --> [PC] </code> If this is your setup, then what is happening is the Phone is acting like a router. It has multiple ways to connect to the internet (3G and Wifi) and it does not simply bridge the connection for the PC. Instead it does the same thing that your router does, which is NAT, or Network Address Translation. Basically, you have two networks: the network that's connected to the router, and the network that's connected to the phone's USB port (which has only one machine on it). There is probably no easy way to port-forward from your router to your PC in this configuration. The phone is its own computer; it is not a wifi-adapter, even though your PC sees it as just a network device. | Tethering data allowance from phone to laptop via usb | android |
Just got the MK802III and got some Ice Films related apps installed. A lot of the content is streaming, so I'm wondering if I use an ethernet cable to connect to my router via USB to the 802, if I'll get less lag? | From forums: tsuda Quote: Originally Posted by stevhorn I can confirm this works with the MK802II, but I don't know about the MK802III. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Apple...661773412.html Yes, it works on the MK802II. The III has the same Ethernet config screen in Settings so it should be the same. I will try it this weekend and let you know. | Can the MK802 III use an ethernet connection instead of wifi? | android |
I've installed a fresh stock ROM from Google site on my Galaxy Nexus. At the time i've opened the Google Play and started installing the 157 apps... the problem is that i needed to stop downloading in the middle as i needed to move to areas without wifi coverage, so I pressed stop. Now I don't see any option to resume that installation. Is it really a one shot? How could I've paused it to avoid downloading it on 3G? | There's no option to resume. If you stop you can only manual download later. If you didn't pressed stop, you could just disable data transfer and, when connected again, download will continue . If you stop, the current sync state will be sent to the server and it will be (without the apps that weren't installed) stored as the device final state after restore. And by the way, clear market data will not help (Tested > 5 times on reflash my Desire) | How to resume app restore after stopping it on first opening Google Play? | android |
I just won an auction on the Nexus 7. The seller claims that he doens't have the original sales receipt but says I will be able to sign up for the warranty online with the registration & activation of the Nexus. So, how does this exactly work and will this warranty be of the international type? Thanks! | You need to contact ASUS directly. Google play's support page says: Nexus 7 limited warranty The Nexus 7 is manufactured by ASUSTeK Computer Inc. ASUS provides a limited 12 month warranty for the Nexus 7. Please refer to the warranty card in the Nexus 7 packaging or review ASUS' limited warranty details. If your Nexus 7 was purchased from Google Play, please contact Google customer support for service on the ASUS limited 12 month warranty. If your Nexus 7 wasn't purchased from Google Play or you're looking for out of warranty repair service, please contact ASUS directly. | Warranty on Nexus 7 | android |
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and I love the new Gmail app. Works awesome. My only problem is that it doesn't sync emails (I don't receive any new notifications when new emails arrive, I have to manually click refresh in the app which is annoying) when I'm on Mobile Data. When I'm on Wifi I receive notifications almost instantly. I've searched on Google Help but couldn't find anything. I guess I could use the Email app but I don't like that as much as the Gmail app. What could be the problem? | Found out the problem. Orange Wap was selected instead of Orange Internet in Settings > Access Point Names. | Gmail app doesn't sync email at all when on Mobile Data | android |
I upgraded my Galaxy 551 from 1.6 to 2.2 Android version some time ago with Samsung Kies, now I want to make a factory reset due to reset all of my settings and give the phone to my mother. I'm wondering about wich version the factory reset will bring to me. It is the factory version (1.6) or the upgraded version (2.1)? | Factory Reset doesn't take your device back to factory condition. It just clears all data, settings, etc. So your phone will not go back to older Android version. It will be on the upgraded Android version (or any ROM that you have installed) with all data cleared! Watch this video for more help. At 5:30 the guy answers exactly what you are asking. | Upgraded my phone from 1.6 to 2.2 Android version, if I restore "Factory Settings", which version it will be? | android |
I recently replaced the micro-USB port on my Galaxy Nexus (GSM version, running 4.1.2) after it corroded due to water damage. During that process, I accidentally ruined the connection to the volume rocker while removing a board (I expected it to be be on a connector; turns out it was soldered...). Unsurprisingly, the volume rocker no longer works. I don't have the necessary skill to resolder the ribbon, so I'm looking for something (a widget) that will let me control the volume from my home screen, or better yet from both the home screen and the lock screen. I want to change the notification, music, and call volumes as easily as possible without the hardware rocker... | You will have to be rooted to control from home screen. Button Savior Root will do this for you. You can also download and install Volume Control + which allows you.to.modify the volume without a rooted device - you will have to use the widget or app UI however. | Volume Slider Widget - Home and or Lock screen(s) | android |
Recently I've been having all sorts of troubles with audio and GPS and the compass... I tried different ROMs, different kernels, different patches. The short story is that after a long time spent messing around trying to get all features working at the same time, in the end I had to factory reset my phone and start anew. Now, the current situation is that I have a rooted phone running Jelly Bean 4.1. It's freshly installed as of about an hour before writing this. However, the GPS is unresponsive. Of course I want to fix this, but I don't want to go through the whole mess I just went through over the last few days. So... how do I get my GPS working without playing feature whack-a-mole? I'm taking a breath, slowing down, and I'm looking for a reliable patch or process that I can execute with reasonable assurance and no guesswork. Specifics are that I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, GT-I9100, issued in Japan. Android version 4.1.2, Kernel 3.0.15-CM (Siyah 5.0.1), Cyanogenmod 10-20121120-NIGHTLY. Update: The compass issue I mentioned earlier was fixed when I used the build of Cyanogenmod available in this thread on the XDA forum. So I'm now just focused on fixing the GPS. | I found a solution in this answer in the XDA forum . To generalize and hopefully be of use to others, the key point seems to be that even if you think you have the right ROM for the right device, it might be that your particular model has very slight differences. In my case, if I understand correctly, I was using ROMs built for the GT-I9100 model of the Samsung Galaxy S2. However, the device issued in Japan, the SC-02C, has some very slight differences. So, I needed to get be more particular about which software I downloaded. | How do I get my GPS working in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean? | android |
I have a UK sim-free Samsung Galaxy S3. It's had official OTA updates only, and is not rooted or modified in any way. It's running Jelly Bean. Since getting the Jelly Bean upgrade it's possible to get the phone to reboot by using cut and paste functionality. I've achieved this with both the Gmail app and Chrome. I've seen it on other people's phones too. I've performed a factory reset and the problem continues. To reproduce, load up Chrome and then long-press on any webpage with text, select a little text, and then either press the highlighted text or the <code> copy to clipboard </code> icon (two overlapping rectangles). After between 1 and 20 attempts, my phone will reboot. Sometimes it will reboot when I paste something; for example a URL into the URL bar at the top of Chrome's screen. I've not been able to reproduce this on the stock browser, despite a number of attempts, nor on any other apps (apart from Gmail). I'd be interested to hear if any other people are affected by this. | When I read your question it sounded like a Chrome bug to me. I looked around, and YES, it's a bug on Samsung's multi-entry clipboard feature, and it's been reported here . Here are two things you can do to fix this: (1) If your phone is rooted, delete the contents of "/data/clipbord/*". (2) OR, Do a factory reset. | Samsung Galaxy S3 random reboot during clipboard use | android |
GPS signal strength is Zero while I'm in a (electric) train. Why is does my device not get a GPS fix in a train? | In some trains you sit like inside an Faraday cage , as they even metallized the windows -- thus no signal can get through. That's also why you have special "mobile phone" zones in some trains: Here they placed something like a little "repeater" inside this section of the train, capturing the signal from outside the cabin (and transmitting it back the same way, of course). However, they don't do that for GPS. | Why does GPS not work in a train? | android |
My phone's contacts are synced with my Google and Facebook accounts. Whenever I add a contact through my phone it gets synced to my Google Account. Wonderful... Ok I usually send them a text message to let them know my number and then through my browser I'll add a picture and so forth, all that good stuff. Now under the 'Messages' application on my phone. (Where all my sms activity goes on) I can see this contact with their new picture and our conversation. However If I go to the 'Phonebook' application (the app that manages my phone's contacts) and I do a search for that name, nothing comes up. They are clearly already in my phone since through the Messages app I cannot add them again, but they are not find-able. What am I doing erroneously?? | In the People Application Press the drop down next to phonebook and you can fine tune your contacts better. I had the phone tag checked and not the all contacts checked. I opted to switch to all contacts and have my phone filter out those without phone numbers automatically. The alternative is to add a phone tag to each contact I want in my phone. | Phone added contact unfindable | android |
In <code> settings </code> > <code> application manager </code> > <code> <your app> </code> we got some infos about her. What do they means? I am quite confused. I really need to know it but somehow its quite hard to guess. Where can I get that full descibed information about this stats? The most important things to know (first): Total Application Data Thanks in advance. | Total = Application + Data Application = Size of APK file of the app Data = Space consumed by <code> /data/data/<Package_Name_of_App> </code> (it contains data stored by the app) Other stats details: If <code> Force Stop </code> button is active, it means the app is running in background. You can use this button to stop the app from running. <code> Cache </code> section shows how much data the app has stored in <code> /cache </code> partition. If <code> Clear Defaults </code> button is active, it means the app is set as default to complete an action like sending email, open URL etc. You can tap this button to clear default(s). On the same page, you can get list & small description about <code> Permissions </code> the app has. If you need explanation of Permissions, check this article out. | What do the names means in settings > application manager > current app? | android |
Does anyone know how often Android refreshes battery statistics? This screen is <code> Settings > Battery </code> . This may only apply to Android versions > 4.0. | I believe it is real-time. Meaning, the stats are always updated as the battery is being drained (or charged). | How often does Android refresh the battery statistics listed in the Settings? | android |
I am amazed that one can create a DIY stylus pen for Android phones and tablets using the sponge as shown in this video . Is it true or it is simply just a fake video? | It is true. But not all touch screen phones work well with this. The capacitive touch screens that we find in most android phones these days work by detecting electrical disturbances from our body. The 'sponge' used in these DIYs are electrically conducting foam and they transfer the charge of our body through it, thus registering touches. On the other hand, these sponge tipped styluses obviously won't work well with resistive touch screens unless you apply some amount of pressure. | Using sponge to act as a stylus pen for Android phone and tablet? | android |
Most apps share their content out to other apps based on intents on the phone. The Google+ app's share feature only seems to generate another Google+ post. How can I share a Google+ public post outside of the app from the app itself? For example, to send a link of the post to Twitter, Messenger, Facebook, etc. I can't believe Google would cauterize sharing from a service as important to them as Google+ when most other popular social apps can share freely among each other. Copy & paste of the URL is dated and onerous on Android. | Tap the post you want to share Open the overflow menu (three vertical dots) Tap "Link" You'll receive a message: "Post link copied to clipboard." You can now paste that link to whatever sharing mechanism you'd like Not the same as using the Android Share function, but, again, Google+ is not alone in doing this. I don't know when this function was added to the G+ app. Of course, it only works for Public posts. | How to share a Google+ public post outside of the Google+ app? | android |
My LG LS840 Viper 4G LTE (Sprint) recently upgraded to 4.0/ICS. Under 2.3/GB the proxy settings had been disabled entirely, but I am now able to set up per-network proxy settings for the various WiFi networks I attach to. Except— Is there a way to add wildcards to the proxy bypass list? On (say) “Work WiFi” I can add <code> example.com </code> to the proxy bypass list, but not <code> *.example.com </code> . If any of the entries in the list have an asterisk, the Save button is disabled. Is this a limitation in Android, or one which Sprint & LG have imposed on me? Is there a work-around? ETA: A coworker running into a similar issue wit Cyanogenmod suggested <code> .example.com </code> (leading dot, no asterisk); this work-around works for him, but my phone rejects this form as well. | Looking at this CyanogenMod source code (which, according to the file history , does not actually have any CyanogenMod-specific changes), I see that the initial dot in proxy bypass list elements is just ignored, and an initial wildcard is implied — that is, you can write either <code> example.com </code> or <code> .example.com </code> in the list, and this entry will match <code> example.com </code> , <code> a.example.com </code> , <code> a.b.example.com </code> , … (note that any number of subdomain levels can be matched, unlike, e.g., with <code> *.example.com </code> in an SSL certificate). If your phone does not actually work this way (e.g., you add <code> example.com </code> to the proxy bypass list, but <code> www.example.com </code> still goes through the proxy), either this code was modified by the phone vendor, or a particular app is using its own implementation of bypass list matching instead of the system-provided code. | Wildcards in proxy bypass list | android |
I forgot my security lock pattern and my Wifi and 3G connections are switched off. I can hard reset the phone (Galaxy Nexus) from recovery mode, but that would wipe all my data. ADB is also turned off so I cannot recover my data unless there is a way to turn on ADB while the phone is locked. I understand that ClockWorkMod recovery turns ADB on automatically when it is installed. Do I need to root the phone to install ClockWorkMod? If yes, can I root the phone while it is locked? Is there any other way to recover the data from the phone before I reset it? | Since the FBI cannot bypass the screen lock, I guess you will not. Check out http://wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/fbi-android-phone-lock | Forgot security lock pattern on Jelly Bean device with Wifi and 3G data turned off | android |
All this time, I thought that once I've rooted my phone, it means that I will also have SU access to it. This is true for the first device I rooted. When I rooted it, a SuperUser application appeared on my phone. I was also able to use the command <code> su </code> on the <code> adb shell </code> . However, just recently, I tried to root a different phone. After rooting the phone, I check my applications for the SuperUser app but it's not in the applications. And so I downloaded the SuperUser app on the market. But when I opened it, it says, there is no SU binaries installed on the phone. Also, when I inputted <code> su </code> on the <code> adb shell </code> , it can't determine what is <code> su </code> . What could be the problem? How can I gain SU privilege? I thought that once a phone is rooted, it is automatic to have an SU application or at least access to the <code> su </code> command. Am I wrong with my assumption? How can I use the <code> su </code> command? What is the real state of the phone I rooted? Does it mean the phone is not really rooted? Or is it still rooted? Thanks! | Your device isn't rooted at all. Without <code> su </code> binary, you can't assume command as root. | Phone is rooted but has no SU application and can't access SU command on adb shell? | android |
I know that atleast once or twice a month a full battery drain and then a 100% charge helps increase the battery life and also gives more accurate battery readings. I was wondering, how frequently is it okay to let it drain as low as possible or to zero? Like is it okay even if done most of the times(or all the times) or it should not be done more than like say max 5-6 times a month or so?? Thankyou! | once or twice a month a full battery drain and then a 100% charge helps increase the battery life That is incorrect, a full discharge is never beneficial to LiON battery capacity. The battery life of a LiON battery is dependant mostly on temperature, discharge rate, and age. In fact, low charge state actually is harmful to LiON battery capacity; although modern batteries have circuits that tells the system to shutdown before it became really harmful to the battery, it is best for LiON battery to be plugged in as often as is convenient. also gives more accurate battery readings. As for calibrating battery meter by full discharge-recharge, that is partially true. The following is a quote from HP regarding Smart Battery System in their laptops: Repeated short discharges and recharges cause increasing inaccuracy between the state-of-charge of the battery and the Power Meter readings. Periodically, the battery needs to be calibrated to "relearn" its usable capacity so it can synchronize its charge status with the Power Meter. ... The user simply has to periodically discharge the battery until the 5% capacity alarm is received. The need to perform this procedure will vary with individual use. In general, a Li-Ion battery should be calibrated a minimum of once every 3 months . A battery that is seldom discharged completely should be calibrated about once a month. and the following is from Battery University: How often does a battery need calibrating? The answer depends on the application. For practical purposes, a calibration should be done once every three months or after 40 partial cycles . If the portable device applies a periodic deep discharge on its own, no additional calibration will be needed. The need for calibration comes from the mismatch between the battery's chemistry and the microchip that estimates the battery's state of charge. This mismatch develops over numerous partial discharge, although unlike the memory effect in NiCad battery, it does not affect the battery's actual capacity and is reversible by letting the battery relearn its bottom and top charge state. Do not do calibration too often since deep discharge does permanently harm LiON's actual capacity. | How frequently is it okay to let the battery discharge fully or as low as possible? | android |
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