Rooting the Galaxy S3 Without a Computer

You can indeed.

DISCLAIMER: Rooting may brick your device and invalidate your carrier and manufacturer warranty. I didn't write the guide below (full credit is due to the poster on XDA Developers, and I have left the words 'my' in place but it is HIS work), and it is your responsibility to check you are happy to proceed. HERE BE DRAGONS.

This guide was written in July of 2013 and I can't say for sure if it will work on Android 4.3 and your particular bootloader at all. I have not tested this method.

Rooting form a PC is easier and has less scope for human errors and is liklier to work in general.

 This XDA thread is relating to the sprint version but should apply to the S3 general.

Prerequisites

The following files are attached to this post for convenience. Download and install the apps, download and extract the zip file somewhere convenient.
Superuser by Koush(MUST be this one. You can change it later if you so desire.)
Terminal Emulator by Jack Palevich ( MUST be this one)
Zip file, extracted somewhere convenient

THE GOODS

These generic names will be used:
/path/to/motochopperDir - This is the full path to the extracted motochopper-mobile DIRECTORY or FOLDER. Example: /sdcard/motochopper-mobile (will vary depending on where you extracted the files).

NOTE: After running the script, Motochopper may or may not print "Failed", but the exploit DOES indeed work regardless of this. Make sure you reboot for changes to take effect.

Download the attached zip file AND both apps.
Install Terminal Emulator and Superuser (use a file manager, navigate to the downloaded .apk files and click on each file to install them).
Open up Terminal Emulator and type the following commands. Press the ENTER key after each command.

Code:

cd /path/to/motochopperDir
cat setup.sh > /data/data/jackpal.androidterm/setup.sh
cd /data/data/jackpal.androidterm
chmod 755 setup.sh

./setup.sh /path/to/motochopperDir

From there, my setup.sh script will handle the rest of the process. If you are still unsure, see my sample run below.

Sample run (files were extracted to /sdcard/moto)

cd /sdcard/moto
cat setup.sh > /data/data/jackpal.androidterm/setup.sh
cd /data/data/jackpal.androidterm
chmod 755 setup.sh
./setup.sh /sdcard/moto

The Links:

Android Term.apk

Super User

MotoChopper


This depends on how you've placed it. On some Qi pads you can even hear the difference...try moving the phone around while it's charging...

you can read this post I made about the heat wasted during charging based on the inductive permeance the Qi pad "sees"


Remove "Recent files" from My Files app in Samsung Galaxy Core Prime

Disable "Recent File"
1 Long route:
Settings -> Application manager (or Apps) -> All -> My Files -> App Info -> "the Gear" (immediately below the three dots bar) -> Customize My files home -> Disable "Recent files"
=> in this route, the three dots bar leads to "Uninstall updates".
2 Shorter route  (You don't see the "Gear", because you clicked directly on "My Files"):
My Files -> The three dots bar -> Settings -> My files settings  -> Customize My files home -> Disable "Recent files"
3 You have better eyes than I do:
Settings -> Application manager (or Apps) -> All -> My Files ->  "the Gear" (located on the right of the name) -> Customize My files home -> Disable "Recent files"
4 The final stage (this is where you should arrive)


How to highlight nickname instead of first name/last name?

I've tried Go Contacts and Go Dialer and it seems really handy with useful features and beautiful look!

P.S I wanted to post a comment but I don't have adequate permission for "comment everywhere" right now!


Auto-sync killing battery all of a sudden on S3?

I hava a Samsung S5. Before I charged my phone once per 24 or 48 hours and since a few days suddently the battery lasted only 4 to 8 hours. After several test I discovered the cause was a few corrupt images. I deleted the corrupt images and the problem was solved. I used this app to find the corrupt images.


LG L3 : difference between system memory and internal memory

You better go to Cellshopes, get "Root" on your Adroid device, but it's too risky and oftentimes warranty will be voided once it happen.


Is it possible to use rooting method of a device on a device having same model number yet different baseband number

Rooting methods are often device, device variant and OS specific (though some work across device-boundaries). In your question both devices are the same except PDA which is same but with minor variations – I couldn't find the exact difference on internet
Baseband has nothing to do with rooting process . See What does "to root a phone" mean? and How does rooting work?. So you are perfectly fine adopting the same rooting process
If you plan to stay with stock OS, there is nothing to be concerned about. If you decide to flash a custom ROM, use ROM specifically meant for your device variant -custom ROMs usually do not touch bootloader , modem and other low level stuff and write to /system


Where can I find old cyanogenmod notification sounds?

As by the very same answer @Firelord is referring to in his comment on your question, rather look under /system/media/audio/notifications :) Well, basically, for all those sounds (ringtones, notifications, alarms, …), simply look below /system/media/audio/*.

As the path suggests, those should be in the system.img (name may slightly differ, but surely has "system" in it).

To prevent their "disappearance" on future flashes, I'd recommend placing those sounds you wish to keep on your SD card, e.g. below /sdcard/media/* (corresponding paths). Android then finds them as well – and a wipe/flash for future Android version installs wouldn't remove them from there (unless you chose to wipe the card – which isn't required for updates).


I can't move any apps or downloads to my SD card

One can move files from phone to sdcard by a powerful file manager like total commander. total commander can be downloaded from google play store.


Stock android moving app to SD card force close applications

KitKat doesn't allow you to move apps to the SD card, only to "external storage," which is often a separate partition of internal storage. If your specific device doesn't have a separate "external storage" area, then it could actually be using the SD card (which is rare in KitKat), in which case there could be a problem with your SD card.

First off, make sure that the apps you are moving support running from external storage. The Applications Settings panel should be able to tell you this, just in case app2sd is getting it wrong somehow. You should also know that some apps don't work well outside of internal storage even though they've been marked as supporting it.

I'm also assuming here that you're not moving Package Manager or any internal app to the SD card, and that when you "move my install application" really means "move applications that I've installed."

Regarding Contacts stopping unexpectedly, I've experienced that as well. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that yet.


Where is the iTunes equivalent for Android?

You won't find a good "iTunes for Android" for your desktop computer, because Android was designed from the start to eliminate that dependency on a desktop computer. An iPhone uses a protocol that only iTunes understands, so iTunes is the only way to get music and photos onto it (Originally, you had to install apps through iTunes too: there was no App Store on the iPhone itself.)

In contrast, Android phones use MTP to act like any media player device, so they show up as a drive on your desktop computer. (Originally they used the USB mass storage protocol, but that approach had shortcomings.) You can just drag and drop files onto the phone, or you can use a more specific piece of software.

For example, if you want to put music on your phone, and you don't want to drag and drop files, there's a choice of music software that support syncing to non-iPhone music players, including Android phones. Rhythmbox and Clementine are two examples.

Similarly, if you want to put some photos on there, you can just drag-and-drop them if your folders are neatly organised on your desktop computer, or you can use a photo manager like Shotwell or Geeqie.

In your question, you say:

  Google could have an app that can handle the basic needs of an Android user. I have not been able to find this.

and the answer to that is that you've been looking in the wrong place! If you want to organise your home screens and install, update, and remove apps, don't run to your desktop computer: the place to look is on your phone. All that functionality has been on Android phones right from the start, so there's no need for a huge "manage my phone" program on your desktop.


In superuser app what does force user do and what are there meanings

Net_BT, Inet and so forth, are special users called AIDs (Android IDs). Those users are each in charge of a particular component of your device. The Force user option, when coupled with one of the abovementioned AIDs, lets an app act as one of those, granting it full power over the AID's specific domain.

If you think about the AIDs as kings, and root as a god, then there's usually no need to impersonate one of the AIDs, for root has power above each of their domains.


Since you have confirmed that the battery is just six months old, I am guessing that this is a different problem

Nexus and HTC phones seem to have an issue with battery reading showing incorrectly and have a method for battery reset logic. This method varies between various models and googling for "Nexus 6 battery reset logic" led me to this method suggested by Claire LP. The problems described in that thread are not the same as yours but if your problem is related to resetting logic, it may help:

  Power off your phone.
  Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons. This will put the phone in fastboot.
  Use the Volume buttons to scroll through the menu until you see "Bootloader logs"
  Press and hold the power key for a long time (7+ seconds) until the phone reboots.


How do I record a ~45 minute 1080p video with external mic?

I emailed Google about this here is the response I got:

"Thank you for contacting Google. I appreciate your patience with me as I look into this issue. It seems as though the limit placed on the video data file of 2gb is written into the android operating system. This is in effect on all types of android devices.
I have researched a few video control apps, they follow the same rule and stop at 1.9-2gb. At this time I do not believe there is a work around for this issue. I do not have software update information available either. Some of the research I have done points to a possible legislative law that limits the video recording time of mobile devices as it takes away from video recorders."


Backup apps on SGS 2 with broken display?

Requires CWM:

from codemink:

  Backup Your Device
  Start the phone in recovery mode and make sure that it is recognized by the PC. Open a terminal in the folder where the executable adb (usually C: \ Program Files \ Android \ android-sdk \ platform-tools)  is located and execute the following commands:

adb backup -f boot.img boot
adb backup -f system.img system
adb backup -f data.img data

  Restore Your Device
  With the phone in recovery mode, start the terminal with these commands as explained below:

 adb shell echo -n boot > /tmp/ro.bu.restore
 adb restore boot.img
 adb shell echo -n system > /tmp/ro.bu.restore
 adb restore system.img
 adb shell echo -n data > /tmp/ro.bu.restore
 adb restore data.img


How to stop Android from switching between Wifi APs automatically?

In Android 7.0, you can actually disable wifi auto-reconnect. Go to Wifi Settings, then tap on one of the AP. Uncheck the Auto-reconnect.


Synchronizing cookies between Windows Chrome and Android Chrome?

As of 2017 Chrome doesn't support automatic synchronization of cookies between mobile and desktop versions, except for Google's own apps. I'm not sure why it's not mentioned anywhere, but it simply doesn't work.

Perhaps future versions of Android/Chrome will solve the issue.


1.From any home screen, tap Apps.

2.Tap Settings

3.Tap the Device tab.

4.Under 'PERSONALIZATION,' tap Lock screen.

5.Tap Screen lock.

6.Confirm your PIN / password, then tap Continue.

7.Tap None.


How do i use a lockscreen from another rom

Unless the lock screen is some kind of 3rd party app (like GO Locker), then I believe you would have to modify the ROM yourself, and port the lock screen over manually, into your 'new' ROM. - In which case you might be better off asking for advice over at XDA, or another developer forum.

If it is some kind of 3rd party app, chances are you can download & install it from the Play store, or download the APK online from the developer's website.

EDIT: Rereading your question it's occured to me you might actually be asking how to port over the lock screen (IE: which files to modify in the ROM) - in which case, you should probably go to XDA (see above link) and ask for advice.


What is the use of Android System WebView?

Some applications require what is known as WebView, a mini browser for functions like approving logins from Facebook and Google+. This is essentially a miniature version of Chrome.

It used to be that WebView only updated with the OS. In Lollipop, Google detached it from the Core OS in a way, and added the functionality for it to be updated via Google Play, like other apps, automatically. This allows it to keep up with Chrome and provide a better browsing experience.

The next time you log into an app and you are brought to a Web Page in the app saying "Allow 'The App' to assess your Google Account" or what not, see if you get get to the Google homepage via the "About Google" link. Then search for and open http://WhatBrowser.Org You will see how it is a mini chrome-based browser inside the app, provided by the system, and updated by Google Play.

Having this installed will keep it updated. You will not have to wait to upgrade the Android OS.


Where can I get the stock untouched ROM for HTC Desire C?

In xda found this.

First download and install the zip from this thread, this will bring
you back to stock
If you want to flash over your recovery and kernel Do this after you have flashed to zip, if you do it before you cannot flash any zips at all! Follow these command carefully to flash back to stock recovery:

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

fastboot flash boot boot.img


Is there any way to install android app without having internet?

Yes: you can connect the phone to your computer via USB, click the notification on your phone to mount the USB storage to the PC, move downloaded apps from your computer to your phone (easiest if you put them on the SD card), and browse on your phone to where you put the apps and click on them to install them.

Your phone should have a file browser, but if it doesn't I recommend Explorer.  You'll need to enable Unknown Sources in Settings -> Applications as well.  You can download apps to your PC most easily from alternative markets like GetJar.

If you have installed something like Download Crutch so that you can download any type of file, or are using a non-stock browser that will ignore Android's restriction on downloads, then you can of course just download the .apk's directly to your device and skip the PC.


Developer options in Android 6.0 and 7.0

I didn't make an exact comparison between the developer options of both Android versions. But as far as I can see by just looking at them on my phones (Stock, Android 6-7), they look exactly the same.


It seems like a network problem and might not have anything to do with your phone. Try using data services by some other provider.

Also, try re-configuring the APN settings.


How to check supported Bluetooth Profiles on Android device

Have you tried sdptool. This link has "sdptool" command syntax . You can issue the command even from ADB shell on your connected Android phone. But I guess this quires the other Bluetooth devices. But this will be good starting point for you.


What is error code 495 on Google Play and the YouTube app?

According to a user on The Transformers' Forum:

  "I had the same problem but fixed it. Go to Settings - Apps- All- Download manager and Clear data. Then go to Settings - Apps - All - Google Play Store and Clear cache. Play Store should work and if not try restarting your device."

There is another answer that says that Uninstalling the updates of Google Play app and restarting the device and updating it again solved the issue,

  "Uninstall all updates to Google Play, reverting to the original market, then re-starting that, and letting it re-update to Google Play, then re-starting it again."

However vague, clearing the data on Google Play Store app might do the job.


If I tap and hold on the homescreen, nothing happens

I would guess it's an error.

The easiest fix would most likely to be to:

Wipe the launcher app data
Wipe system data (factory reset)
Return to manufacturer (hardware issue)


RF Cal stands for "Radio Frequency Calibration". For smart phones, it means "time of first power up". After assembly, some parts of the phone(e.g. magnetometer & proximity sensor, radio chips and antennae)  must be calibrated before it's correctly functional. It is slightly different from "manufacture time", because hardware calibration is after the device is fully assembled. You can simply think it's "time of the end of manufacture of this device".


Is Adobe Flash deprecated with regards to Android Devices and Apps?

Adobe Flash has been deprecated starting Jelly Bean, for reasons only Adobe knows. However, there are still workarounds for installing Flash.

The trend in mobile (Android) development now is using native Android, or HTML5. Flash is discouraged, although there are still Flash websites around. Phones with older versions of Android may be able to access them.

Related: Why does Jelly Bean no longer support Flash?


What is the effect of changing the maximum application VM heap size?

Here's a great article someone wrote on the effect of changing it, very detailed: http://ryanolson.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/test-how-changing-the-max-amount-of-memory-per-vm-heap-can-effect-your-rom-cyanogen/

In short, with the G1, it can cause bigger applications to crash. I would just recommend you keep it default or find a value that you do not see any crashes in applications with.

As far as anything else goes, in the short period of time searching else where and reading over different posts. Could not personally find any other effects, other than possibly battery life.


The .opus format is the new audio format that WhatsApp uses to record voice notes. The previous format was .m4a. So in order to listen to your voice notes, you'll need to change the extension .opus to a supported one, such as mp3 (Your phone file explorer may not permit that, so you need to download a third party app, such as ES File Explorer on Google play.


I haven't tried it myself, but from what I am reading in forums, etc, Apps Organizer is a free app that does what you are looking for. When you select an app in a folder, it closes the folder.

EDIT: update - I just tried out Apps Organizer. It does close the folder when you select something. The only problem is that it appears to only allow app shortcuts - not bookmarks, widgets, etc. There appear to be other apps (Folder Organizer) that are able to hold bookmarks, however.


What makes the Polar Bear and Black Hole color palettes dynamic?

The colors of the rings will change gradually as they move around the clock. If you have seconds enabled you can see it pretty easily over the course of the minute.

Specifically, the color of the ring seems to progress through the spectrum of visible light in order from lowest frequency to highest. That is, it goes in the same pattern as a rainbow's colors: Red->Orange->Yellow->Green->Blue->Indigo->Violet (ROYGBIV). Then the cycle starts over again near the top of the clock.

That's how it looks on my phone, anyway. I'm not 100% positive if the other rings follow the same color pattern or if it's just the seconds ring, but the inner rings seem to be properly colored for their lengths (as in, at the point where the seconds ring reaches the end of one of the inner rings, they are both the same color).


Forgot Oneplus One pin. How to enable usb debugging?

You can boot into recovery, then adb should be enabled by default. But I don't know what you want to do to reset your code. If you would have rooted the phone, then you may be able to do that but I think you can't reset the code from adb. The only thing you may do is, first make an adb backup, then do a factory reset and get the data back from your backup.


AFAIK there's no such "OS setting" (and if there was, "other users" could manipulate it as well).

As a "work-around", you might look in the Playstore for app lockers, they should be able to "lock" the settings app as well. Remove all WiFi APNs from your network list which should not be connected, de-Activate the "inform me about open WiFi networks" to avoid the popup, and together with an app locker (locking the "settings" app) that should do what you're looking for.

As to your comment, this seems to work fine with Smart AppLock, which can lock not only apps but also some system actions:

Smart AppLock: Locking apps, locking system actions (source: Google Play; click images for larger variant)


Hacker's Keyboard is ignored now, it tells me I have to unlock the phone?

Well! I'm not sure why, but somehow my Default Keyboard setup was back to the Samsung keyboard (the default). So I guess there was a new version which was updated and after updating, the Default keyboard switch was back to the default.

Editing that one setting and the Hacker's Keyboard was back in business.

The selection of the Default Keyboard on my phone is available from "Settings" > "General Management" > "Language and Input"


How do I determine which process woke up the screen?

Download the GSam Battery Monitor (formally knows as Bad Ass Battery Monitor)  it will keep track of the number of times and for how long each app keep the device awake.

Open GSAM and go to the App Sucker view (icon on the lower left). Then change the view to Time Held Awake.  To see the number of time an app held the device awake press on the app.

(click to enlarge)


You will not lose any of your photos, if  CLEAR DATA operation is performed, it is completely safe to do so. This just means that your preferences have been reset and the cache has been cleared.1 Cache is generated only for providing fast access to gallery files.

When you restart your gallery after this operation, it'll take some time to load and it will once again show you how to navigate through the Gallery app.

1: Pressing the Clear Data button automatically clears the cache too. This is can be seen on the screen right then because when you press the Clear Data button and once the data is cleared, you will notice that under the Cache section, Cache shows 0.00KB and the Clear Cache button is disabled too.


Does switching user accounts in Lollipop affect battery life or performance?

From what I can tell, the multiuser feature DOES drain quite a lot of battery. Here is a screenshot of my battery stats - I have not logged in as the other user since my last full charge.

Click image for larger version


How can I use an Android phone as a media player?

This is entirely possible via mDNS/uPNP/DLNA. You don't even have to use a phone for that. Cheaper variants exist, such as dedicated android-based microcomputers with size of a bigger USB stick.

All you need to do is to install an app that will act as a media player with DLNA support. There are plenty of these available, one such app can be DroidUPnP or Yaacc, both available via F-Droid. You can then setup the app as a player and control it from a remote controller software, such as ControlDLNA, also available from F-Droid.

Setup is automatic, you just need to fire up a few servers as media sources. These can be computers, xboxes, other phones and pretty much anything that has a DLNA logo on it.


Is there a way to add a web shortcut to the home tab?

Downloading Chome does not fix this problem. There is still no option to add a bookmark to the home screen.  I'm looking at the Fire tablet, next to my Galaxy, both in Chrome. The option in just plain nonexistent on the Fire


Nexus 7: Unable to install factory image, stuck in

Well, the device is detected in ADB only, you probably haven't installed fastboot drivers. < waiting for any device > means that the computer is waiting for a device in fastboot mode.

Download the drivers from this page then install. fastboot oem unlock should work now.

Learn the difference between these two protocols (ADB and Fastboot).

This question may also help.


Digital Clock does almost everything you ask. Ignore the rubbish picture from the page, it is a full-screen clock with white text on black and it's free.

To configure it as you need, launch the app, then open the settings (tap the screen to open the options then tap Settings) then set:

Clock->Screen timeout to unchecked.
Clock->Orientation to Landscape.
Time & Date->Show date to unchecked.

You can also adjust the time format and colour if you wish. The time is about half the screen height, but I can easily read it on my phone from more than 20ft away so that may not be a problem.


I have a galaxy S3 and want to copy the data from my sdcard to my nexus 6 without a PC any ideas?

You could try Airdroid which allows you to transfer files from your device to your laptop(and vice versa) via Wi-Fi and then transfer them to your Nexus.


How do anti theft apps deal with the thief simply turning off phones?

Yup! :) , you are right about this.But in XPosed Installer there is an app known as APM+ ( Advance Power Menu Plus ). This has a feature known as Fake Power off. By this your phone can pretend to be off, but in reality it would be working stealthily and every approach from real owner can be done.
Like this there are also other option which comes in handy.

As requested:
Anti-theft Helper™
Note: Actual effect of anti-theft is NOT guaranteed.
• Stop anyone from turning off your phone, enabling airplane mode, etc. when the device is locked by hiding any power menu items when the device is locked. In this way no one can stop device trackers like Android Device Manager from locating your phone by turning off the phone, disabling mobile data and so on(removable battery not taken into account)
• Show a warning to deter thieves.
• Fake Power Off - When you have this option enabled, trick your thieves by "apparently" turn off the phone, but the phone leaves running so you can still track the device (various options and strategies available for fine tuning the effect. Result may vary on different devices)
• Password protection - Lock power menu items and/or the app itself with a password. Apart from thieves, it is also ideal when your phone is on display.

Xposed Module Repository For APM+


Xperia M4 Aqua reboot-bootloader only shuts it down

Thanks for enlighting me; I always use without hyphen

adb reboot bootloader

which is in line with syntax, but for curiosity tried couple of moments ago on Moto G4 with hyphen successfully

adb reboot-bootloader

But, in what mode you issued command

fastboot reboot-bootloader

Because you are using Windows platform, acquire appropriate drivers for that device.

In developer options, both Enable OEM unlock && USB debugging must be enabled.

Regarding your problem, I briefly looked for same or similar, excluding Samsung and found

LGV20, Wayteq xTab100qcr and Glass.

I'm quite interested in this issue, though never worked with Sony, so specifics of their devices are unknown to me.

Try with volume- or volume+ button combinations for entering fastboot mode.

If that doesn't help, look at this.

I remembered I actually had contact with Sony device - it had some sort of custom FRP - my Xperia Theft Protection (MXTP) - but haven't worked with it. I planned to use Xperia FlashTool.

From Xperia FlashTool you should be able to reboot to bootloader.

Please, do inform what you have done.


It is perfectly normal for a device (usualy import models from China) to have a kernel version such as "kernel version-- 3.4.0 root@tom-desktop#1" etc. and this has nothing to do with "rooting" a device. If I am not mistaken the "tom-desktop" is the default hostname when building a kernel.


Block Adult app recommendations on play store

Yes. You can use the "Content Filtering" option in the Play Store settings. Set the maturity level to restrict the apps that you don't want to view.

Screenshot - (Click to enlarge image)


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

I know of no way to restrict an app to the 3G network (as opposed to 2G/4G), but there are several solutions to restrict apps to either WiFi or mobile networks (or keep/allow them from/to both). Examples include DroidWall - Android Firewall1 (which you already mentioned, but which is discontinued), its successor AFWall+2, its fork Android Firewall3 (gone), and -- last but not least -- LBE Privacy Guard4 (no longer updated; go here for it's "big brother"'s English version). As below screenshots show, all four of them support separate settings per app for WiFi and mobile data respectively.

As the comments state, some of them might have issues (e.g. do not install LBE from the playstore if your device runs Android 4.1 or higher, as this will leave you with a boot loop -- check this XDA thread instead). But one of them should do for you, I hope.


How to remotely turn mobile data on if phone is missing

The "trick" here is to employ an SMS Receiver which extends Broadcast Receiver
(for example: public class SmsReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver).

The SMS Receiver gains control whenever an Android phone receives an SMS.
I am writing  from my experience in writing 2 applications, which can notify person 'a' of the location of person 'b'.

When I want the SMS receiver to perform a specific task I send a certain code (such as a 4-digit number). If the SMS receiver receives this code it is programmed to perform the specific required function, otherwise it terminates and the message is processed as a normal SMS.

The question of sending any remote command to another phone is thus simplified, so that when such a request is received on the callee's phone it is processed on the callee's phone in the normal way.

So if you have the code for enabling/disabling mobile data on your phone, you would install it inside an SMS Receiver and then be able to activate it from any other phone possessing SMS capabilities.

I may add that in my specific application I used GPS and Network/Mobile data location functions, together with Google maps, and when my wife was in Rome recently I sent her an SMS from Jerusalem, and with about 30 seconds received from her phone text giving her current longitude and latitude, Country City and Street, and then - the real bonbon - a Google map giving her exact location at streetname level.

I've written all this because for the last 6 or so months I've been gaining an abundance of information and assistance in problem-solving from this website.

Thanks, Website people!

Avraham Reiss, Jerusalem


Google Pixel phones rely on an exclusive "Pixel Launcher". For Google to be able to push itself more onto the user, the search bar is made permanent.

There is currently no way to hide/remove the search bar from Pixel Launcher. If the bar hurts you a lot, then you need to switch to a different launcher. Nova Launcher is one such highly recommended launcher.


Is data transfer from a Pixel 3a XL possible via USB 3?

According to GSM arena the Google Pixel 3a has an USB 2.0 type-C connector.

Note that the USB transfer speed is independent of the used USB connector type.

Therefore USB 3.0 is not supported by the Pixel 3a - you can only use USB 2.0 connections for data transfer.


Android Market disappeared! How do I get it back?

It's a built-in app and can't be uninstalled.

To restore the icon to the home screen, find the icon in the application list and long-press, then drop it where you want it. Alternately, long-press the home screen where you want the icon to be, choose "Shortcuts", then "Applications", then the "Market" icon.

Update: Okay, it appears that you're not the only one with this issue. See this thread on the Google support forum: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android%20Market/thread?tid=3322620a3c715568&hl=en

One offered solution is to do a factory reset. It's up to you to decide how comfortable you are with that.

Update 2: Several people in this thread said that the factory reset worked for them. Additionally, someone wrote a script (also in that thread) to fix the issue, which you would need to get on the phone. (USB would seem to be your best bet.) Caveat Emptor. Someone also mentioned that if you get the Vendor.apk you can also get the Market back. (Details are a little fuzzier.)


Whatsapp web doesn't run standalone. It is an another frontend to an already installed and functioning Whatsapp session in a device. That is to say, if you have a device with Whatsapp already installed and connected to internet, then you can access it through Whatsapp Web as well (requires authentication from device). But the web functionality doesn't offer to create an account and use Whatsapp services so you're at loss here.

More info: How do I use WhatsApp on my computer?


Problem with a sdcard under Android 7.1.2 three partitions can not be mounted / used

Found the answer to my question myself here:
Solution: On devices running Android 7.0-8.1, file-based encryption (FBE) can't be used together with adoptable storage.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60173545/why-i-got-this-error-please-adoptable-storage-not-available-on-device-with-nat


How to play YouTube or any audio from my desktop Linux and send the audio playback to Android?

Couple of different ways:

Since you're specifically talking about Linux, you can download Remote Audio from Google Play. It's free, and connects to your Linux computer using SSH, then listens to your soundcard via its dev/dsp mount.
Download a "Remote Desktop" app. There are several, most are paid apps, and they each target a particular remote admin protocol and/or desktop OS. Most of them will forward audio as well as video, turning your Android device into a full remote control for your desktop.


When I had this problem it was caused by a corrupt SD card, so you should check that out soon: the longer you leave it, the more likely it'll corrupt a file you don't have a backup of.

For now, try clearing the cache of any app that shows the problem (from Settings → Apps). If that doesn't help, clear the data of the Media storage app, from the same screen, and then reboot the phone. The Media storage app is responsible for indexing your photos and music and letting apps search them, so clearing its data often helps fix problems with the photo index, such as broken thumbnails.


Pair a Bluetooth mouse with your device. YouTube is full of demonstration videos such as this video by Android Tech Tips.

Or use an OTG mouse, as demonstrated in this video by XDA Developers.


What does the blue 0 mean in the top right hand corner of my camera?

The user manual (p.58) only shows one possible display of a number, which would be the number of photos you can take given the available space (No. 4 in the below screen example). It is in the top right, below the button to switch between front and back facing cameras. Zero would imply that you cannot take any more photos.

If you still have this problem, please try get someone else to take a photos of the screen as suggested if you don't have another phone or camera.


Text having stroke/outline on Android Lollipop

You've (accidentally) turned on "high contrast text" accessibility option, an experimental feature on Lollipop. From Google official support,

High contrast text
This information applies only to devices running Android 5.0 and higher.
High contrast makes text easier to read on your device. This feature fixes the text color as either black or white, depending on the original text color.
To enable or disable high contrast text, follow these steps:

Go to Settings > Accessibility.
Select High contrast text.

High-contrast text is currently an experimental feature, so it might not work correctly everywhere on your device.


Chrome New Tab Page Different/Changed. Samsung Tab 3, Android Kitkat

I believe your installation was selected for the experiment (aka field trial). The Chrome team sometimes rolls experimental features to a limited number of users (like 2% of all installation). Then they gather some statistics to see how this feature performs. The new style of the new tab page seems to be one of those experiments. You can turn it on (and off) via chrome://flags page in your browser (search for enable-new-ntp).


Gmail doesn't show mail when opened from notification bar

This appears to be a bug in the GMail app. I have seen this myself a few times and normally clicking the '<' arrow in the top left and opening the email again sorts it. Other times I have to kill the app and re-launch it.


How can I find a compatible device for a given app on Play Store?

It appears that you have already tested the surest way.  Attempt to download the app and it will specify its compatibility.  You still might not be absolutely sure until you actually try to run the application.
As mentioned in the comment, you can ask the developer or communicate with others who have used the app (via feedback on Google Play or the author's provided web site).
The only way the author can be totally sure is by testing it on every Android or getting feedback from their users.  There are many occasions where based on feedback, the author has to go back to the drawing board to work on glitches to support some devices originally thought to be compatible.
I have a number of Androids.  I just clicked on the install option and find that it's compatible with my Samsung Galaxy S3, my very old phone (the Samsung Galaxy Prevail).  However, it's not compatible with my Samsung Galaxy Tab7 or my Acer-7 tablet.
By the way, good question.  It really appears there should be something specific since Play Google is using some criteria to display compatibility.


The feature you have requested (Expandable Volume Control) is present in GravityBox (Lollipop).

You can find it at the Xposed Repository .

You can download it directly here (3.54 MB).

However, do note that the Xposed Framework is still in Alpha, so some features of the module might not work properly. If you find any, do report them at the official XDA thread for this module. Any discussions can be done there too.


Detect damage to device after dropping it?

There is no diagnostic software AFAIK (as far as I know ). If there was, you would have heard of it

While things seem to be fine except for the screen , you can never be sure. The insides of phone are densely packed to maintain smaller thickness, size etc and it is quite possible that something else is also affected.

See sites like iFixit  for help of you wish to do it on your own. You can never be sure that screen is the only damaged part

It's up to you but service centre may be an easier and better option, of course at higher cost and time (and missing out on the fun of doing it yourself :)


How can I digitally merge two sides of stereo into mono sound?

I would think that one of the one-ear bluetooth headsets would do this automatically.


Does a new software update take up more space, or replace the space of the old version?

System updates are applied (typically) to the /system partition, which is not accessible to you or your applications but is reserved for the operating system. It will over-write your existing Android version and should not take up more user space (this space is already reserved for the operating system, it usually is from 512MB to 4GB of reserved space, regardless if it is all used or not, and it is not accessible to you as a user). The exception being it needs to download the update file before it can apply it which can be quite large, anywhere from 200MB to 2.5GB in some cases but this is temporary storage only and it is released after the update is complete.

It is also important to note that due to the change in runtime of Android from 6 (ART) to 7 (JIT) the amount of space needed for your applications and they compiled versions reduces, sometimes drastically. It is not uncommon when upgrading from Marshmallow to Nougat to gain a few gigabytes of storage space after it is completed.


This link should help explain how you can share your location with other people who have a Google account and are in your Google contacts.


How can I shutdown my Android phone using an adb command?

Try adb shell reboot -p to shutdown the phone.


I have discovered a solution for this problem.

The only apparent way around it is to change the keyboard from the default keyboard to the Swype keyboard.

Click here if you would like to know what Swype is; at first I was a little dubious, but it really is quite marvellous and accurate!

Why this resolves the problem, I do not know, but I am just happy that it does and am certain that this will provide some respite to those of you who are also experiencing this annoying problem.


If I can flash a ROM using adb or SP Flash Tool, is CWM (ClockWorkMod) Recovery really needed?

Rest of tools require a pc to flash but this CWM stays in your mobile and you can flash roms directly just using your own mobile.


How to stop S Voice from starting every time the headphones is inserted to Samsung Galaxy S5?

You can depisable SVoice by going into

  settings > applications > SamsungVoice > disable


Samsung Galaxy S in boot loop after following cyanogen mod's full update guide

Edit
Honestly, I am not 100% sure that this was really a problem related to the kernel. I think that the "problem" could be also caused by the fact that pressing the home key in recovery mode results in a reboot. The correct way to select a recovery item is to press the power button.
Original post
I had the same issue two days ago. The problem was the kernel. After switching to the kernel that was mentioned a few wiki changes before it worked like a charm.
Kernel: http://cmw.22aaf3.com/aries/gt-i9000/root/Hardcore-speedmod-i9000.zip
MD5: afccda1f4efb560398dd5bc107bb7a69
I even (re-)added this information but it was again reverted. :-(


File Manager opens when connected to charger

I believe this is because the Astro file manager sees it as a connection instead charge only.

When you connect the charger, pull down the top notification menu -> click on the USB icon -> change the settings to "USB charge only"

This should fix it


Is it possible to return back to jelly bean OS after upgraded to cyanogenmod?

Usually, this is possible the very same way as you put CyanogenMod on your device: by flashing a ROM. So before you start, make sure you either...

have a stock ROM available to flash (see: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?)
have created a nandroid backup of your device immediately before you start flashing (requires a custom recovery, see recovery-mode)

In both cases, you can return to stock ROM: either by flashing a stock image (and then start like after a factory-reset), or by restoring the Nandroid backup (and take off at the time you've created it, including all your apps and data).

Two things to consider:

there might be dependencies between device-firmware (ROM) and radio-firmware. So if installing CyanogenMod (or any custom ROM) goes along with a different radio image, a return might be different (you might need the original radio image as well) or difficult (in case downgrade of the radio is not possible). However, cases where this applies are rare.
Nandroid backup doesn't take care of your SDCard. So if you have apps installed on SDCard, you need to deal with them separately.


Some applications won't connect to the internet via 3G after rooting my phone

The problem was that a bogus proxy was set for the Mobile Data Connection I was using.

Removing the bogus proxy configuration solved the issue!

Here is a guide to Mobile data connection proxy setting.


Whatsapp permission to record when calling

I think record comes with Mic permissions, the calls are not recorded, at least not by Whatsapp. The record permission is for sending voice messages. Also Whatsapp voice calls like its text message service is end to end encrypted. That means that only your phone and the recipient's phone can decrypt the information being passed.


Are there any Android phones that allow Bluetooth PAN off the shelf?

Android 4.0 devices (or already 3.0?) allow this.

Both client and host PAN roles are supported (I guess this was deliberately introduced by Google for UMTS-less tablets).

On the PAN host: Enable bluetooth tethering in the settings
On each device: Pair with the host and enable "Internet access" in the bluetooth device's tab:


how remove duplicate entries in music list (after reset)?

I got solution
Backup your data (note : dont take android data on sd card)

--- Or ---

Or remove your android data folder on SD card


Flashing update.zip signed with OEM keys return "failed to verify whole-file signature"

You are on the right track.
The message "failed to verify whole-file signature", means that the file could not be deemed valid for the provided certificate.
The missing error message indicates that this is the case as the signature could not be matched to the trusted certificate store:
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/bootable/recovery/+/2c6c23f651abb3d215134dfba463eb72a5e9f8eb/verifier.cpp#258
The Android application which runs while sideloading uses a different certificate store than the recovery:
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/sign_builds#signatures-sideloading
Assuming the keys you have are valid for the recovery, you might get away with directly booting into recovery using fastboot, then selecting your signed ZIP from there.


Changed exchange password - When will it prompt the cellphone?

While I am not 100% sure, I do remember that this was a thing that would happen, either a function or "bug". The issue, if you want to call it that, lies within AD (active directory), or the authentication process of your account. Exchange server will get your credentials from AD, and AD might let you use your old password for a while after changing, before it finally will reject your old password.

Of course, this will likely boil down to what server systems are at play, but it is a known "bug" that we've experienced at work. It should however not be a security issue as long as the user is the only person who know the passwords.


Installing ps2pdf command-line program in Android

No, even though Android is based on the Linux kernel, programs for GNU/Linux need to be ported to the Android user-space environment. They usually require some source code changes, and to be compiled linking against the appropriate runtime libraries. You can find some command-line programs that have already been ported to Android on open-source sites like GitHub, but there's nothing like APT.

The closest thing to an APT repository is F-droid, but that's mainly for GUI apps: it's an alternative to Google Play for downloading open-source apps. I've already searched there and there's nothing like ps2pdf.


How to exit from an application which doesn’t exit on press back button?

If you go to Settings -> Apps and scroll to Maverick and select it there should be a 'Force stop' button. It's not really 'exiting' as such but it will definitely force the app to totally close down and stop running in the background.


Does it mean that Memory usage of app same as size of app

It is correct, there is no reason for the memory usage of you app to be the same size as the apk.


How do I get the new "Music" section of the market to show up?

I just did this, and it works.  Go into Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All > Market  then clear data, and cache.  I had to reboot the phone after.  But once it reboots, go into the Market, and the music section should be there.


ADB is close, but things like adb shell pm clear <package_name> to clear caches (and data, oops) from selected apps requires root (as would clearing Dalvik cache). But there's a similar approach to just wipe out all app caches (not Dalvik/ART, though): fastboot erase cache would do that with the device booted into the bootloader. Details can be found e.g. here: Useful ADB and Fastboot Commands and How to Use them.


What is involved in upgrading Android to a later version, if the manufacturer no longer supports the device?

You might want to look for a "Custom ROM". For many devices, the community provides custom-built ROMs which bring newer Android versions to their devices -- often even improved over the manufacturers version (better optimized, no bloatware), and even covering newer versions where the manufacturer stopped.

A good source to find out if there are any custom ROMs available for your device and which is TheUnlockr, where everything is nicely grouped by manufacturer and device. Also, it seems to be the most complete source. Alternatively, there also is CommunityRelease (you can filter by device, Android version and developer) plus PDADB (no filters at all: over 800 pages to check, and not restricted to Android devices -- so it will be hard to find things here. Though, it may serve as a kind of "last ressort").

As you report your device to be rooted, the most important pre-condition to install a custom ROM is already met ;)


Does moving an app to external (SD) storage also make it write application data and cache to external storage?

It does not make the app use external storage. The built-in move to sd functionality only moves the application package file itself to the external storage.

If you want the app to not use the internal storage you'll need to root (and possibly install a custom rom.)
Depending on your rom you'll have several options to do what you want but virtually all of them require you to partition your sdcard in a special way (usually the custom recovery can handle this.)


Ok, I just realized you can go into recovery mode(volume down+home+power button) even when you are on logo screen. Hope it helps


SMS is tied in with GSM telephony standard, so the answer to your question is No.

But what you can do, is use Viber, Whatsapp to send something similar to SMS (not the GSM variety!) to each party provided they have the appropriate app installed.


Can the Nexus 6P use GSM data if the connected Wifi has no route to the internet?

Android 5+ should do this automatically in most cases if there is no route to the internet you will see ! next to wifi icon in notification tray.  You should also still see the mobile data icon showing you are connected to mobile data like LTE or 4G.

You could try to go in to developer settings and enable Cellular Data Always Active

Enabling Developer Settings Menu in Android 6 (4-7 I believe)

Go in to device settings
scroll to bottom
Tap About Phone or About Device or About Tablet
Scroll down to where it says Build Number
Tap this about 8-10x (You will see toast come up after the first several taps and it will say you are x taps away from enabling development settings).

When you are done you can hit back until you are back to the Device Settings window.  Now you should see a new entry toward the bottom labeled Developer Options {}

Enabling Cellular Data Always Active [and possibly Aggressive Wi-Fi to Cellular Handover]

Go in to Device Settings Menu
Tap Developer Options
Scroll Down to Cellular Data Always Active
Tap to Enable this
As it says it will keep Mobile Data connected even if Wi-Fi is connected (so when you disable Wi-Fi Mobile Data is already there no wait.  This can cause your battery to drain more quickly (mine isn't hardly noticeable and I have this enabled and have for some time), but if battery life is a concern it is something to keep an eye on until you have used it and know how your device reacts.
You could also try enabling Aggressive Wi-Fi to Cellular Handover at the same time as this tells the device to favor cellular data when Wi-Fi Signal is low, BUT if drone signal gets low while flying Wi-Fi may drop in favor of Cellular so you may want to try this when drone is flying in safe conditions.  This is just something that could help you in your endeavor it is not a mandatory setting if you rather leave it disabled and only try it if you don't get what you want in your first tests.

Caveat with some Basic Info

You MAY still have some issues since you will now be connected to both networks. You won't know without testing if for instance I go to a website it first sends out a DNS request. The device will have to choose whether to use Wi-Fi or Cellular Data for this request which is hard to adjust [Google: Split DNS VPN to get a feel for what I mean here].  You can get all nitty gritty and look at modifying the routing table if you have root access and all, but hopefully it just works and enabling this setting is all you need.

Note About Accessing Dev Settings

Some Android Versions maybe slightly different in ow you "unhide" developer settings.  So, if what I detailed does not work you can Google: Android x.x Enable Developer Settings (replace X.X with your android version ie. Android 4 or Android 4.4.1 depending on what exact version you are running).


Lollipop + Google Play - small application installs take 10 or more minutes?

Well I managed to solve it, got the idea from here: Application stuck in "Installing..." stage in Market.

I went to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications.

Force stop the Google Play Store application
Uninstall updates for the Google Play Store application

It warned me that Google Play Store would be restored to its original state, I accepted.

After this, I launched Google Play Store and installing applications was lightning fast. :)


my samsung galaxy s2 gt-i9100 totally formatted or wiped. how to fix it. How to install new ROM

Go to this website and follow the Odin method to install a new ROM. You should be able to put your phone in download mode/Odin mode to do the same.
Try this out to replace to a stock ROM - http://android.sc/update-samsung-galaxy-s2-i9100-to-official-ota-android-4-1-2-vjms3-jelly-bean-firmware/

You can visit this website to find some nice ROMs for the phone with reviews as well - www.galaxys2root.com


Install the SuperSU app and go into settings and perform a full unroot... If that fails you will likely need to flash the full factory KDZ image and return to pure stock, be aware this procedure will wipe your device and all user data stored on it.


How to Enable Android phone for full Tamil Indic Interface

Rendering Tamil characters is a challenge as there is no one glyph to one character mapping as in English.

Earlier versions of Android (before 4.1) does not have this support natively. Which means unless the manufacturer or the author of the ROM decides to additional support, Tamil characters cannot be rendered properly.  There were few hacks which helped those users who didn't have such ROMs.  But those hacks were not always successful.

With many users lamenting on Google's support pages, I guess Google decided to provide this feature from Android 4.1 onwards.

These are the ability of the vanilla Android ROM (i.e. the factory images for Nexus 4/7/10):

Supported:

Display Tamil characters with proper conjunct rendering in browser
Display Tamil characters with proper conjunct rendering out of browser in file names, SMS, contacts (which means you can have a contact and its details in Tamil characters).
Display Tamil characters with proper conjunct rendering in apps like notes editor, facebook, twitter, ebook reader etc.

Not supported:

No keyboard to input Tamil character - Swype has Tamil language support. You even swipe along the keys to type which is much better and much needed input method for Tamil input.
No interface language as Tamil - which means the menu, home screen, settings etc will not be in Tamil.

I have a rooted LG P500 which runs Android 2.3.3. Thanks to LG which had added support for proper rendering of Tamil characters in contacts, file names, text (SMS) messages and many other apps. With Swype keyboard I am even able to type in Tamil as well.

However, when I tried to use a clone of Cyanogenmod ROM based on Android 4.2.2, I observed that Tamil characters are not even displayed (all characters were displayed as empty space). Replacing fonts didn't do the trick. I later understood that due to limited /system partition size of my phone, the ROM developer has to chop off some components and I guess whatever did help to render the Tamil characters has been axed.

I also have a Nexus 7 running vanilla Android 4.2.2 and it works superb with Tamil. Again, Swype also works and I am even able to mix and match English and Tamil characters in all apps.

So if you want to ensure Tamil can be read without any user intervention, I would suggest you to buy phones that have Android 4.2 installed. Again chances are there they can be trimmed as my Lg P500 experienced.

Update: I could see this answer being upvoted in spite of being quite old.  Now (Marshmallow) Google has provided Indic keyboard support where one can enable Tamil keyboard to type Tamil. Still gesture typing a.k.a swiping across the characters is not supported for Tamil.  Same is applicable for many Indic languages.


What is the best way to ensure adb access if a screen breaks?

This could be a problem with the installed drivers if you need to switch to a data transfer mode such as MTP to use adb. I use adb on charging only in data transfer mode, which is status-by-design, in OnePlus 6.

For the broken screen issue, I don't know if this would help. You could try with an OTG cable and a mouse to see if it works automatically. There is an OTG toggle in Settings app so it might be the cause if this approach doesn't work as plug-n-play.

As for your approach on your new phone, understand that adb over wifi is safe. Whether on wifi or on USB, your phone would show an authorisation approval dialog to approve a machine (PC) for USB Debugging, be it on USB or Wifi. So you need to careful more on what machine to allow for, instead of restricting the access over a specific Wifi.

However, it is possible to mistakenly authorize adb over wifi when unsuspecting that the dialog would show up suddenly, say when you were playing a game and so deeply engaged that you just nearly click anything as ok that shows up on screen, so for that you would want to restrict access to adb only on your personal wifi with trusted machines.

Now for that, you can use automation. I use Tasker app to automatically enable adb over wifi on boot. For your case, here are the instructions (tested with a rooted OnePlus running Android 8.1):

Profile: State → Net → Wifi Connected (requires Location permission and Location enabled at all times):

SSID: select your SSID/WiFi's name
Active: Yes
leave the rest untouched

Task: Code → Run Shell:

Command:

setprop service.adb.tcp.port 9999
stop adbd && start adbd

Tick Use Root

Long press the task next to profile and select Add Exit Task.
Exit Task: Code → Run Shell:

Command:

setprop service.adb.tcp.port ''
stop adbd && start adbd

Tick Use Root

Now, as long as location service remains enabled, Tasker would detect when the phone gets connected and disconnected to your SSID. When connected, adb would be listening over your WiFI on port 9999 (choose any port of your choice but above 1024). When the WiFi disconnects from that SSID, adb would not listen on a port.

If you plan to use TWRP than even if a system update messes up with your USB Debugging settings TWRP would always grant you access to debugging automatically as it works independently of Android system installed in the device. You don't need to change data transfer mode there either. If you need to do it, something is definitely not right. Furthermore, if you have TWRP installed than you have deeper access to your data that which adb can never have so you need not to worry about debugging in Android if TWRP is available and kicking.


If it happens when the phone is off it's gotta be a bad hardware connection.  I'm guessing on of the leads just barely makes contact or something.  You may want to get a replacement.


how to remove my synchronised data from my gmail account

Go to the SETTINGS menu and select the APPS option.
Select the app from which you want all the data to be removed.
Select the CLEAR DATA option. This will take a few seconds and all the user data from the app will be deleted.


Why is sync feature not working in my phone?

I removed all my google accounts and added just one google account again. Then it synced. Getting 'access to keep is unauthorised' though. Also 'authentication is required' error was showing in play store.
Then i followed
www.nextpit.com/how-to-fix-google-play-authentication-is-required-error
Go to Settings > Apps & notifications
Scroll down to Google Play Store, tap it, then tap Storage & cache and then Clear cache.
Do the same for Google Play Services
It worked for me.


Have you tried this app from Chainfire?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.liveboot

From the description, it shows a logcat of the boot process over the boot animation.


How to add a symbolic link to bypass unavailable busybox applet

Thinking error. You've created a link named busybox pgrep, linking to a (not existing) other file of the same name. What you probably wanted to achieve is:

ln -sf </path/to/alternative/>busybox </path/to/linkdir/>pgrep

Replace </path/to/alternative/> with the path to the busybox binary featuring pgrep functionality, and </path/to/linkdir/> with the path to a directory contained in your $PATH (best the one where the other symlinks reside).

Busyboxes usually decide their "wanted functionality" by checking where they're called from. So the symlink is simply named pgrep, grep, or whatever, and pointing to the busybox binary.


Non-root tethering app with Ubuntu client for Moto Droid on Verizon

Try AziLink (http://code.google.com/p/azilink/).  You will need to do a little setup on your Ubuntu machine in addition to loading the app on your DROID, but it will work without requiring you to root your DROID.  This is a USB tethering solution that I have used in the past with my Ubuntu netbook to great success.


How to reboot an android device without using power button?

If you can connect using adb (usb debugging), you can simply use the command "reboot".

If you're rooted and have a terminal emulator installed, "su reboot" will do the same thing.

The reboot command will also accept arguments of "recovery" or "bootloader", which will reboot you into the recovery or bootloader respectively.


Processes are closing after removing the SD card

You should try Clear Data for the relevant apps.  If that doesn't work, I do think that your only real option is a factory reset (which is more or less like a Clear Data for everything on the phone).  If you are rooted you can back up yours apps and data, and after the factory reset you can restore one app at a time — if there are no issues, great, but if there are then you know exactly what app/data caused the issue.


How to delete an app without deleting app data?

Assuming you are talking about apps you've installed yourself (and not about pre-installed apps), you can utilise adb for this. You need to know the app's package name first (the part shown in the Play Store URL in the id= parameter, or at F-Droid following the /package/ in the URL). Then, with your device connected:

adb uninstall -k <app.package.name>

replacing <app.package.name> by the app's package name. The -k parameter is telling uninstall to keep the app's data. So when you next install the app, the data is already there and will be used.


Mobile data is turned off but provider shows data trickle

If you're using LTE, the reason could be, that LTE is causing traffic even if mobile data is turned off.
See here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/132642/185648


Moving installation location on non rooted Android 5 Lollipop device

Basically speaking: You can't. At least not without rooting.
The main reasons Android does not allow you to install an application to your external SD card are:

Security: It's the main reason for that restriction. Basic file systems like NTFS or FAT (any version of it) do not allow for Unix-like permission management.
This means: any application would be able to write to any file on that storage.
Thinking of malicious apps, they would be able to replace proper apps with fake/infected ones, bricking your phone and rendering it unusable.
Volatile storage: Your external SD card is not safe to be inserted in your device all the time. You are able to eject it any time what makes your SD card not a very good candidate for a permanent storage. Consider apps running off of your SD card and you eject it. Those apps will just crash and all other apps saved on your SD card are gone as well. You can't use them at that time and the data of those app is also affected by reason #1.


If you have already installed some Antivirus on your phone and they didn't work, try to do a reset of your phone and if it doesn't work try a hardreset. I hope I helped you, let me know if it worked


Yes, it is. As you may know, qll device with storage do not give yoy wccess to all 100% of it. For example, a Samsung galaxy tab 2 uses 3.41gb as system. So, as devices get newer, more stuff (apps and features) are added, meaning more used. So, long story short, yes it is normal. Enjoy your device :)


Unable to backup/export/access an SMS conversation on Android

I have finally found a solution to this issue. Rather than repeat what's already been written very clearly and concisely, I will just refer to the URL:

  http://blog.shvetsov.com/2013/02/access-android-app-data-without-root.html

This provides a way to get access to the SQLite database that Textra uses, and export it to a computer, without needing root access. I am sincerely grateful to the guy that posted this! Potentially saved me from serious legal consequences had I been unable to access this information on my phone.


Auto disconnect wifi when out of wifi zone?

This is not built-in to Android – so you'd have to revert to an App for it. When just looking for that kind of automation feature, Smart WiFi Toggler would be worth a look:

  Smart WiFi Toggler is an application designed to control your phone's WiFi using location based rules. Its aim is to conserve battery and minimize data charges by turning WiFi off when not connected to a network, and turning it on when a known hotspot is present. It constantly learns where your hotspots are located to make its decisions.

It's using cell-towers in reach to figure if you're close to a network you're normally using. As long as you have your "cell network" active (i.e. you're not in airplane-mode), your phone knows about those anyway – as it needs that for phone calls, SMS, etc. So it doesn't "waste battery" for GPS or other location stuff. The app initially learns the cells related to your network, so it should be easy to use.

Smart WiFi Toggler (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

As you can see from the screenshots, you can also have time-based rules – which might turn out useful for times you want to have "silence" (no incoming calls etc.) and switch to airplane-mode – but want to enable WiFi every hour for a few minutes to check for mails.

For more alternatives, be welcome to see my list on WiFi Automatisation – and also check our automation and tasker tags :)


How to install a custom keyboard in Android?

Yes you can. I've used Swype as well as TouchPal Keyboard as alternatives.

Once you install any new keyboard, just go to Settings > Language & Keyboard to set your keyboard/text settings.


Security Audit - how can I tell my Android Distribution is safe

The bad news: You very probably can't.

If the manufacturer decides to backdoor your phone's firmware, it's hardly detectable by individuals.

Phones consist of many components of which only a tiny fraction is really authored by the manufacturer.

Think of drivers and firmwares for various chips like the baseband, wifi, sensors, the various open source parts like the linux kernel, the Android system itself, the closed source Google apps and additional 3rd party packages from other other companies, that are preloaded.

To be sure, you would need all of the firmwares' source code and a way to compile it in a way such that the official builds and your build match bit by bit to prove that the source code matches the firmware (and nothing was secretely altered). Now one still needed to audit all the source and scan it for backdoors/vulnerabilities.

To get an idea: TrueCrypt is a popular disk encryption software for many operating systems. In the wake of the NSA scandal its sources have recently been binary matched with the official windows releases which was a very tedious process (report here). A source code audit hasn't been conducted yet, but there's a (now) still running indiegogo project for funding that audit with currently ~35k US$ pledged for doing it.


How can I change backlight intensity with root on lcd phone?

You could consider capturing an image of the screen, then processing that bitmap for the brightness of each pixel.

The Android Screenshot Library (ASL) should give you information on how to do a screen capture. This link on StackOverflow talks about how to do it as well, but the main link seems to be to the ASL.

To calculate the luminosity of the pixels, you could do it in either of the RGB or HSV color spaces. I think I'd do it in HSV, since the Value (the V in HSV) is the brightness of the pixel's color. You could also do it with the three color parameters in the RGB color space, but then you're working with ratios and you're having to perform more calculations yourself. With HSV you would (I think) simply add up all the Values and divide by the number of pixels. (Possibly you'd throw in a scalar if a linear change in brightness doesn't look quite right. Eg: Have a slower backlight change when you have bright graphics, but move more quickly towards no backlight when you have graphics approaching black.)

With that working, you might want to consider doing the work using Android's RenderScript. Processing graphics is what RenderScript was designed for, and it takes care of parallelism for you. You might as well use all the CPU / CPU / DSP cores you have available.

Finally, you might want to follow this up by getting tricky and using the device's light sensor information. After all, if you're going to dynamically change the backlight based on what is on the screen, you might as well also consider the ambient brightness around the device. :-)

I hope that helps!

Edit: I hope you were looking for a programming answer. I hadn't really thought about the fact that this question was posted to Android Enthusiasts instead of to Stack Overflow. :-)


Running Linux on Android with a rooted OPO

Complete Linux Installer is somewhat buggy. Try Linux Deploy. It is much more configurable and stable.


Head to your settings and find the personal account/sync option and then select google. Tap on the account in question and then if your calendar sync is off, tap it to enable it.


Is there any way to install apps incompatible with Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)

The Android Market pulls the OS version directly from the system.  As far as I'm aware there's no way to fake this other than building a custom ROM that fakes it, or possibly some sort of code injection.

As ce4's comment says, you'll need to obtain the app from a different device running a supported OS or through some other means (a different app store for example).


Android files and folder is showing wrong time and date

This is pretty much by design. The last modified isn't meant to change simply from renaming it. The folder modified timestamp only changes if the contents is modified such as adding, removing or renaming items within the folder.
The same goes for files. The modified timestamp shouldn't change simply from renaming or moving it. It should only change when its content is modified.


How can I access data on Charge Only mode (Phone's screen is non-functional!)?

There's little chance you can do that in normal system. But you can do it in (custom) recovery.

If you already have a custom recovery flashed, then skip this step. Boot it into fastboot (bootloader) and flash a custom recovery in.

Then boot into the recovery and you can access it using ADB shell. You can use adb pull to retrieve data from your phone.


How do I mute the sound when opening a folder in the home screen?

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, but see if you can find something similar to this: Settings > My device > Sound > Touch sounds.


How to solve the short battery life with galaxy s4?

If you still have the warranty left it is best to change the battery , but the problem could be because of overcharging and discharging of the battery it has happened to a friend of mine who had a samsung galaxy s3 and after 3 months after purchase he had his battery replaced by warranty.the reason they gave was that he was using the charger on for too long and it had affected the battery.

personally it doesn't occur a lot but if it does its better to check it at a service center and get to know the problem clearly instead


Phone no longer recognizes USB connection from computer

Some computers only recognize devices when they are plugged into the right usb ports. Have you tried using a different port? Also, some chords can be finicky, some of the cheaper ones don't like you when you try to do get into a device like that.


The internal SD-card of the device is probably partitioned.

Check out this screen in the app you mention in OP:

Since my SD-card is not partitioned, I only see one partition. In your case, you should see more than one. The combined sum of all the partitions should equal the total size of the SD-card.

You could root the device and attempt to change the partition table and merge the partitions. It may be a bit risky, though. But it's certainly worth trying if you're open to the risk of rooting, tinkering, etc.

You may also try apps such as this one to move apps to the storage partition. You can free up space on the app partition that way.

If you want to root, you can also use this app to remove bloatware system apps that you don't need. This can also free up space. However, this may also be risky. If you try this, you should be prepared that something might potentially go wrong, and you might have to re-flash stock firmware. That said, removing preloaded bloatware is often easy and trouble-free.


You simply flash a factory image. That overwrites the /system partition completely, effectively removing root.

For where to obtain those images, please take a look at Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?


Install the Galaxy Nexus Messaging app onto the Nexus 5

You're not alone in wanting the old Messaging app!

Even though the old stock Messaging app is no longer included in Android, you always have the option of installing an alternative. In fact, people are recommending 8sms as a replacement for Hangouts that is almost identical to the original stock Messaging app. In fact, it is built from the source code of the original Messaging app, with "some enhancements".


I finally found out why! :D

When the phone boots - at least if I use go launcher - if the sd card is not completely mounted apps "get lost".
I've completely solved the problem activating my phone card pin code.
I turn on the phone, wait on the pin code screen without entering it for a minute and then I enter the pin: everything is perfect.
I think the problem can be also solved killing and restarting the launcher but I didn't test.


Your device does not have S Pen feature
S Pen SDK app on Play Store is for

  This is the downloadable library for the Pen package, which is a part of the Samsung Mobile SDK. With the library installed, your application regarding SPen is able to use the latest Pen package features.

( Emphasis supplied)

So, no, you can't download the app and expect to have S pen enabled on your device, since it doesn't have S pen to start with. Quick search on XDA didn't show any mod / custom ROM which has S pen feature
S pen SDK that can be downloaded from OEM is for developers to develop applications using S Pen


This is something in Android that is called the dalvik-cache.  It's basically an optimized version of the android package you usually install/download on your phone. This is usually done while installation and doesn't need to happen at every boot. However,  in your case,  reboots apparently trigger a dalvik-cache dump(for lack of a better word). So,  Android has to optimize all apps all over again.
I'd suggest you to try and diagnose why your phone is clearing it's dalvik-cache at every boot. Are you running a custom ROM?


The Droid Razr HD cannot be unlocked using the standard Moto unlock procedure from there website, the only known way of unlocking the bootloader after root is achieved is via Motopocalypse written by Dan Rosenberg and available from his blog site here.

The basic jist of it is from the link above is:

Instructions

The tool may be downloaded here. It may be used as follows:

Extract the entire contents of the zip file.
If you are using Windows, ensure you have installed the latest Motorola USB drivers available for your phone.
Ensure your device has been rooted and you have a working installation ofsu.
Ensure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your device.
If you are using Windows, navigate to the extracted directory and execute run.bat. If you are using Linux or OS X, navigate to the extracted directory in a terminal and execute ./run.sh.

You may also be interested in the RazrHD Toolkit 5.0 which can automate some of the processes involved, but I generally recommend doing it manually, so if something goes wrong you can see what happens and potentially correct the issue. All in one tool kits tend to mask the processes, which if they work is fine, but if there is a failure it can be very difficult to diagnose and correct.


Gmail notification sound only for new mail

You haven't specified the Android OS version nor the Gmail app version, but since the settings are pretty much straightforward, I'll leave here an overview covering the basics for all available versions.

Summary

Three things might be happening:

You are receiving notifications for each email that arrives;
You have the "notify once" active and are receiving notifications for the email that arrived, but also for a label you've setup to notify;
You are receiving notifications from the Gmail app, and from another app where you've also configured the same account.

Below is a summary for the Gmail app settings by version. Try and adjust them to fit your needs.

If you continue to experience the same issue, you're probably facing a bug and the best option is to report it.

Android 4.0.x (Ice cream sandwich)

To change Gmail settings, touch "Menu" > "Settings" from any Gmail screen.

Under "Account settings", you will find:

Email notifications:

  When checked, you receive a notification when you have new email.

Ringtone:

  Available when "Email notifications" is selected.

  Touch to change any of three settings: The ringtone and vibrate settings for notifications, and an option to notify only the first time you have new email since you last read your messages, rather than each time a new message arrives.

Official Gmail app support page by Google for this Android version.

Android 3.0.x (Honeycomb)

To change Gmail settings, touch the Menu button at the top-right of the Application bar and touch Settings.

Under "Account settings", you will find:

Email notifications

  When checked, you receive a notification when you have new email.

Notify once

  Check to receive a notification from Gmail only the first time you have new email since you last read your messages, rather than each time a new message arrives.

Official Gmail app support page by Google for this Android version.

Android 2.3.x (Gingerbread)

To access the Gmail app's Account settings menu:

Open Gmail.
Press Menu.
Select More > Settings > Select account

Under "Notification settings", you will find:

Email notifications

  When checked, you'll receive a notification when you have new email.

Labels to notify

  Manage your notification preferences by label. You can only manage notification settings by label for labels that are synced.

You can enable notifications for specific labels, each means additional notifications when emails arrive:

  When you enable sync for a particular label, you can also change your notification preferences so that you're notified when you receive new mail for that label.

Press Menu and touch More > Settings. Select the Gmail account whose settings you'd like to modify.
Touch Labels to notify.
Select a labels to change the notification preferences. You can modify the following settings:

Email notifications
Ringtone
Vibrate
Notify once

Only labels that have been set to sync will appear in the notifications menu.

Official Gmail app support page by Google for this Android version.


How to know how much recent activity has been seen by a person having access to my Gmail account?

If you used Chrome for Android as your phone's web browser, you should be able to view its history by opening Chrome on your desktop, going to History, and selecting "Other Devices" (also requires you are signed into Chrome on your PC, and, I believe, a sync setting enabled in PC Chrome).

For other apps, though, most do not retain any such logs, let alone provide a mechanism for remotely accessing them.

(Keeping an activity history on the device itself would be impractical due to the limited write lifecycle of the internal storage; Chrome retains your browsing history in the cloud as a convenience.)


Do you have GPS turned on during the day? If not, google locates your position over your phone's network, which is inaccurate. Here are some ways to improve your location history: find and improve your location's accuracy


App locker more :

Smart App Lock

Advanced Protection

Apps Lock & Gallery Hider

App Lock (Pattern)


Photo Sphere and Panorama are not available in Google Camera app

Moto G doesn't have a Gyroscope Sensor (but it has an accelerometer). That's why Moto G didn't get the Photosphere option.

Actually, Panorama doesn't require a gyroscope. While there are obviously ways to do panoramas without a gyroscope. It looks like they use the same engine as Photosphere to do the panoramas. So the app also lacks Panorama.

Source Thread
Google Camera G+ Thread


Honestly I had this problem as well... no matter what I had done about it I was having problems with it. In the end I took out my SD card and did a factory restore. It fixed my problem and it might be what you have to do to fix yours. I recommend taking out the SD card if you have one because I tried with it in and even factory restoring didnt work for some reason.

hope this helps!


You can use the SyncDroid app in Android and computer to backup and restore using USB Cable..

Here's the official instructions:
How to Backup and Restore Android Phone with SyncDroid

Edit: It's not possible to do that directly by connecting the 2 phones via USB cable, as you seem to ask for that in the question..


lost my phone .bought new phone got same number.how do i get my contacts

Unless the contacts were synced with Google or any other means, they are lost.


Does full device encryption protect my data from Google and the government?

Google has no idea what the encryption key for your device is. The entire process takes place on your device and the key is never transmitted anywhere. The key itself is also not stored in plaintext on your device:

Storing the encrypted key
The encrypted key is stored in the crypto
metadata. Hardware backing is implemented by using Trusted Execution
Environment’s (TEE) signing capability. Previously, we encrypted the
master key with a key generated by applying scrypt to the user's
password and the stored salt. In order to make the key resilient
against off-box attacks, we extend this algorithm by signing the
resultant key with a stored TEE key. The resultant signature is then
turned into an appropriate length key by one more application of
scrypt. This key is then used to encrypt and decrypt the master key.

So even if someone had a copy of your encrypted master key, they could not decrypt it without the TEE key from your device's SoC.
Therefore, outside of a flaw in the implementation, full device encryption will prevent anyone from accessing your data unless they know/obtain your password OR can guess your password (e.g via brute-forcing it or some kind of social engineering techniques). On devices that lack the necessary hardware-backing, FDE will attempt to encrypt the key using a software-only method.


Identify the source process and/or app from an output in the logcat

Logcat can show the process ID (PID) that outputs the log message.

For command-line: adb logcat will use threadtime by default, which shows the PID
For Android Studio:

Open the Logcat window
From the toolbar (on the left-side), click the Logcat Header (cogwheel) button

If the toolbar is not shown, click the Show Options Menu (cogwheel) button on the top-right corner, then choose Show Toolbar

On Configure Logcat Header dialog, check Show process and thread IDs, then press OK

By default, logcat will show the log in the following format:
date time PID-TID/package priority/tag: message

With the PID, it is possible to identify the source with ps command with -p flag to pinpoint the source, i.e. adb shell ps -p [PID]. The command will show the package name or the executable name.

Example
The logcat returned the following message
2020-07-08 22:06:16.002 18510-18510/? I/ScreenEventHandler: Received Broadcast ACTION_SCREEN_ON

The PID is 18510.
Calling adb shell ps -p 18510 returned the following
USER      PID   PPID  VSIZE   RSS   WCHAN            PC  NAME
u0_a107   18510 15708 1006092 44320 sys_epoll_ 00000000 S com.asksven.betterbatterystats

Thus, the message was written by com.asksven.betterbatterystats (BetterBatteryStats)


How can I bypass the activation on my Droid 2 Global?

There's a very useful way to bypass the activation on this model of phone.

When you're presented with the activation screen (the little Android), press the following corners of the screen in this order:

Top Left
Top Right
Bottom Right
Bottom Left

You now have the option to completely bypass activation.


I had the wrong fasstboot.exe file. It worked when I choose the one provided in the section "All Other Supported Models" on https://www.htcdev.com/


If your situation is improved by Don't keep activities, this is a strong indication that you are running poorly developed applications. The whole point of preserving applications in the background is to make full use of memory and reduce latency. If this increases latency, this means your applications are trying to do a lot of work in the background.

I would not expect battery life to be reduced by Don't keep activities, if the startup time of your applications is lower than the latency of keeping them around and switching. I would actually expect your battery life to improve by killing resource hogs immediately.

If you do not mind spending time diagnosing this, you should work on finding the culprit application(s). This may involve a substantial amount of testing combinations of applications. It may be that a particular combination of applications is creating contention for a resource that is handled differently on the Nexus 5X than on other devices. One application alone may not be the problem; it may be a bad interaction among a combination of applications that causes a major issue.

A less time intensive solution is probably a service like Greenify, described in How to prevent apps and processes from launching in background and slowing my device.

I have a Nexus 5X, and I do not any issues with interface latency. I also do not use many applications that are not stock.

In the past, I have had significant issues with latency resulting from filesystem TRIM on a Galaxy Nexus. With a recent explanation of when fstrim is scheduled to occur, I have modified my charging behavior to leave the phone plugged in and unused long enough for fstrim to run, and this helps quite a bit. I don't know, however, if the fstrim behavior for Marshmallow is the same.


Removing the home screen number to have one more row of app shortcuts

This is not possible on Samsung's Stock Launcher but many alternative launchers have the possibility to display even more rows by shrinking them in height.

Try a third-party launcher as nearly all Samsung stock applications tend to be unoptimized for any Samsung device; especially in memory consumption.

E.g. using Nova Launcher Prime you can remove the scroll indicator as follows:

Result (the number of rows and columns of the desktop grid can be changed as you want):


"Device password" required when adding a new profile

Oneplus devices have a bug with device passwords.  There are a number of community threads complaining about Device Passcodes not working
I also experience this on my OnePlus device.  As mentioned in the linked thread, the workaround is to reboot the device any time you are told the device password fails.  I have to do this every other time the phone turns on.  I can't boot the device as the device passcode is constantly rejected as incorrect, and yet rebooting the phone any trying again will work first time.
Sadly this workaround fails for the scenrio you are describing, creating a new user profile will constantly reject the device password, rebooting doesn't resolve this for me in this scenario. What's especially annoying is, when cancelling out of the create new user screen, you are prompted for the device passcode to get back into your own account, and this works.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a solution to this other than the reports of factory resetting the phone solving the issue.  I have personally put up with this for too long on multiple OnePlus devices and won't be buying OnePlus again.


does it matter what version of Android I have before installing Clockwordmod?

No, it doesn't matter at all for recovery.

Just make sure that if the Odin package contains anything beside CWM (e.g., a kernel) that the versions match.  I've used a Voodoo kernel with built in CWM for replacing 3E recovery, and the kernel had to be 2.2 to match my 2.2 OS.

That said, you could actually flash a mismatching kernel with CWM as long as you already had the Cyanogen package on your device and ready to install.  You'd be able to get into recovery and flash the package even if your OS wouldn't boot.


How do i correct my far-too-sensitive proximity sensor?

Z-Device test may show your sensor output: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=zausan.zdevicetest

Possible reasons:

some aftermarket display protectors may cause that
an earlier Android release only switched the screen off via proximity sensor when held vertically. This would have prevented your described problem. (See http://www.guytechie.com/articles/2012/1/22/galaxy-nexus-slow-proximity-sensor.html). Maybe this behaviour has been reverted.

If you updated just before noticing this problem, you might have to switch back or wait for another update to fix that again. Installing a 3rd party update like Cyanogenmod9 might also fix your problem.


Move photos from Android to PC wirelessly *in one step*

I don't know about Windows, but on Ubuntu Linux this is easily scripted using the photo management app Digikam. Digikam can be configured to recognize the device and automatically download the pictures.

You just plug in the phone and it starts automatically, no need to do anything with the computer or the phone.


Getting Google to know I got my phone back

I'm assuming you locked the device through Android Device Manager. But yes you need to really edit your question to make it more understandable. Shut down is also not an appropriate term to mean locked.

If you indeed used Android Device Manager to lock the device then you were requested to enter a password . You will use that password to unlock the phone.
If you forgot that password then your other option would be to perform a hard reset on the phone. Again you haven't informed us of the phone model but most android variants require the phone to be off first then press the on key simultaneously with home key and volume down key. You will then boot into Recovery mode. Select wipe data/factory erase through navigating with your volume keys and selecting using the on key. Note this will erase everything on your phone on the internal storage.


Restore WhatsApp Data from Internal Storage on Moving to a New Phone

Assuming you have your local files all, databases and images.
First deactivate google drive.

Open google drive.
Top left menu, backups, deactivate Google Drive WhatsApp backup

(option to delete also, not necessary)
Copy all files over to WhatsApp folder on phone

Re-do the login procedure as usual.

In theory that's it.


Why does my phone peg the CPU every time I wake it up?

Are you over/underclocking your CPU at all and/or using profiles?

A lot of users will underclock their CPU when the phone is sleeping, which may save battery. However, if you underclock too much (125 MHz), the phone will lag like crazy when it wakes. It is recommended to never underclock further than 250 MHz.

Aside from that, I'm not really sure anything would cause this to happen and would need more information to help you diagnose.


Where Can I Find The Bootanimation.zip For A ROM On GitHub

The bootanimation.zip will not be present in the Android Source Code or the kernel source code..

It's gets included from the vendor blobs while building the system.img ..

So, you'll have to check the corresponding ROM's vendor repository..

For CyanogenMod, it's here: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_vendor_cyanogen/tree/master/prebuilt

For Dirty Unicorns, it's here: https://github.com/DirtyUnicorns/android_vendor_du/tree/m/prebuilt/common/media

For Paranoid Android, it's here: https://github.com/AOSPA/android_vendor_pa/tree/nougat/prebuilt/bootanimation

For Pac ROM: https://github.com/PAC-ROM/android_vendor_pac/tree/pac-6.0/prebuilt/common/media

(These links are subject to change, please edit if there's any change or to add any other ROM's link)


How to prevent WhatsApp images and other local pictures folders appearing from Google+ Photos app?

Update: How to do it in the new  Google Photos Android app:

Open Google Photos.
Go to Settings on the left panel.
Click on Backup & Sync.
Scroll down a bit.
Click on Choose folders to back up...
Activate or deactivate each folder by clicking the switch.

Google+

From: Back up photos & videos automatically

Turn on or off for individual folders

Open the Photos app .
Touch the menu icon   at the top left and then On Device.
To the right of each folder title, touch the cloud icon to turn Auto Backup on or off for that folder:

 Auto Backup is on for that folder.

 Auto Backup is off for that folder.


How Can I Access My Desktop's File System Over 3G?

You could setup a FTP server on your computer and use AndFTP to connect to it.


Is it normal for my Galaxy S5 to always bring up a prompt to "check battery cover" when powering up/rebooting?

Generic message after reboot. It will show everytime and I think you cannot turn it off.


How can I keep settings after flashing a ROM?

Titanium Backup from the Android Market!

From the Technical FAQ:

Can it back up and restore applications across different ROMs or even different phones ?

YES, without restrictions.

Although you also have:

Can it back up SMS, MMS and system settings ?

Please note that if you backup and restore all system settings across very different ROMs, you are on your own. Before restoring on a different ROM, it is strongly recommended to enable the "Data migration" option in the Titanium Backup settings.


USB debugging on Samsung Galaxy Tab -- How do I prevent it from resetting debug setting?

I also see this. I doubt it's the USB connection or the rest of the setup because I can develop & debug for hours with a Moto Droid connected to the same system. Galaxy Tab drops out of USB mode spontaneously after about a minute. Only way to get it back is to unplug the cable, re-enable USB debugging, and reconnect.

One way to keep the Galaxy Tab connected is to click the entry with its serial number in the Devices pane in Eclipse whenever it goes grey. That's only a little less annoying than cycling the USB cable and the debug setting on the Tab because if you wait too long, the Tab disconnects and its entry disappears from Devices.


Why does the system take up so much of the internal storage space?

Well to answer your question, I think it is important to first read the insufficient-memory tag wiki to get some insight.

A significant amount of memory in internal storage is taken by "system" (/system, /data partitions etc) and in some cases is reserved memory.

Some manufacturers include preloaded applications (sometimes known as bloatware) and these reside in /data or /system or /cust (in my case) partitions. It is virtually impossible to view the breakdown of these files without root privileges. Some space is reserved for ROM updates, acts as system buffer or caches storage etc.

While it's difficult to uninstall unnecessary applications residing in these "system" partitions, there are a few methods that can help you optimize your space

  check for pre-installed apps you don't need. Clear their caches and
  data, then uninstall their updates and finally disable them (so they
  won't get updated again).

While pre-installed apps reside in the /system partition (which you cannot utilize without root), their data and updates consume space on the /data partition which gets freed this way.
If you have acquired root privileges try moving some apps to other storage (SDcard) via App2SD


Why my Nexus 4 keeps blinking the notification LED?

If your device is no more in an area where it can reach GSM network, the notification LED will blink (in white if you installed LightFlow).

Still with LightFlow installed, the dark blie/violet blinking is the notification of a new SMS.