Is it possible to use Gmail Android app without SSL?

Gmail has been HTTPS only since early 2014. Even if plaintext connections were still supported, it would be insecure. Gmail has fully supported HTTPS since it launched, so there was really never a reason to disable it anyway.


my Samsung phone says it doesn't have a rooting system, in laymens terms, how do I fix it

Firstly, I agree with @user2813274. You should be very careful about what you try to uninstall as things can go badly wrong.

To answer your question of what to do:

You need to grant the app root privileges.

To uninstall system apps root access is required, which is in basic terms, elevated permissions. The app you have installed is unable to remove some of the apps because they are system apps and it lacks the necessary permissions to do so.

If you need help rooting your device I would check on XDA Developers for instructions specific to your device.


What are the other "home" screens called?

From source code of Launcher3 in Android 6.0.1 r16:

  The workspace is a wide area with a wallpaper and a finite number of pages. Each page contains a number of icons, folders or widgets the user can interact with.

Honestly, this is the first time I heard the term workspace in context of a launcher for Android, but if you want a standard term, there you have it.

The page with home icon is referred as default page and the page currently displayed to the user is called current page. This is what I understood from this line in the source code of the said launcher.

Edit: After checking the sample of Home app in Android 6.0.1 r16 (they are using a very old sample for developers), I noticed this line inter alia and I conclude that each page can be referred to as home screen and you can reference another page by calling it previous, succeeding, or preceding home screen or by using the numbers available through scroll, such as home screen 3.


Of course not. PureNexus is not on N yet.

If you mean the official one, the only way in for you now is back things up and flash it with fastboot. That will also update bootloader, radio and other components to match.


Fine-tune/calibrate system-wide tap vs swipe detection

There are many apps that target this specific issue available through the Play store, and many of them do not even require root access. The search term I would recommend that you use would be "screen calibration" or similar; due to the sheer volume of them, I won't suggest any in particular but I have tried multiple myself throughout the years (while exercising common sense, e.g., checking reviews prior to downloading) and they seem to do the trick perfectly. Some are targeted toward mobile repair technicians and come with multiple utilities and test functions (such as for other sensors and screen functions), I tend to find these more "trustworthy" in that the targeted consumers are able to leave more competent and detailed reviews.

Edit: @And0réCarini I know some of them do work, typically the type that has you tap a target within four quadrants of the screen, and it typically does not require root.  However, please note that 1) dependent on the cause, sensitivity might not be the issue or what needs to be adjusted, and 2) depending on your device model, there could be other variables at play (e.g., Samsung Note devices have two separate digitizers, one for the stylus and one for finger touches).

It may benefit you to first activate developer mode and enable the show screen touches option to see if there are any visual clues as to what's going on.  You can also access your device's diagnostics mode (aka, [advanced] test menu, example) to see if the touch test can help identify any further details.  And, if on the off-chance it is due to a faulty / damaged digitizer, as a temporary measure there are apps available that allow you to custom set boundary areas on your screen that will block touch inputs, which can mitigate unintended input behavior (assuming it's stemming from a contained localized area).

Finally, I was able to find this post (root required) in regards to a potential method to adjust your touch sensitivity, but please note this is specific to the Pixel 2 XL so YMMV.

On a separate note, it seems that the minimum distance for swipes to activate are determined by the application's code (see here and here); as the distance is predetermined, I would infer another possibility aside from a sensitivity issue may be a multi-touch issue causing a false swipe input to be registered; my above suggestions may help confirm or eliminate that possibility.


Galaxy S2 Not Booting After Editing build.prop

Summing up the solution from above comments:
Fixing up the possibly broken build.prop file
You don't need to mount your SDCard to revert your changes. If you can boot into recovery, and access the device via adb shell, you can do so and replace your edited build.prop file with the backup copy you've created (using the cp command), thus restoring the state of before your edit. Example, assuming you've named your backup build.prop.bak and placed it in the same place as the original:
# re-mount /system read/write
adb remount
# copy back the original file
cp /system/build.prop.bak /system/build.prop
# as bassmadrigal pointed out: let's make sure the file permissions are fine
chmod 644 /system/build.prop
# reboot the device
adb reboot

Keep in mind the file ends with "prop", which is short-hand for "properties" -- not "prob" as short-hand for "probabilities :)
If it still not boots: uninstall the last app installed
As the first part didn't solve the problem here, it might be the app installed (facebook home in our case) is causing trouble on the device it was not intended for. So let's kick it out. Boot into recovery again, get your ADB ready, and
# uninstall the app
# adb shell pm uninstall <package_name>
adb shell pm uninstall com.facebook.home
# reboot the device
adb reboot

This finally solved it.
As a factory-reset was done, how was the app able to survive that?
This was an after-thought to the entire issue. A possible explanation lies in the fact that the factory-reset complained about the SDCard not being able to mount. So if parts of the app got installed to the card, they might have survived there. Unlikely as this is (after all, apps on SDCard should not be able to cause boot issues, as the card is mounted only after boot_completed), I see no other explanation (comments welcome, I can include them here if wished for).
This lead to another question:
Should I remove the external SD card to protect it from factory reset?
Normally, a factory reset should not touch the external SDCard. But "better safe than sorry": if it should not be touched normally, it shouldn't matter whether it's in the device or not, so it shouldn't hurt to remove it before the factory reset. However: if you use(d) app2sd, there's a special directory called .android_secure on the SDCard holding the (encrypted) parts of the "moved apps". After a factory reset. the system does not know of them -- so when re-installing such an app, it might lead to problems. Thus when removing the card before doing a factory reset, make sure to remove the .android_secure directory from the card (using a card reader and your computer) before re-inserting it again.


Weird Octopus icon, Joy Launcher on Alcatel

I went into Settings → Apps → Joy Launcher, and then pressed a little cog in the top right which resets Joy Launcher back to its default (original) state. But it also resets your home page back to default.


What could cause this drop in photo quality?

It looks like this is a physical problem with the camera - either the lens or (more likely) the glass that covers the lens.

On a close inspection of the camera I can see a lot (for the small area) of dark specks on the inside of the outermost lens element.

I don't know what's caused this, but it's this that's causing the reduction in quality of the images.


Wiping dalvik cache - Dalvik cache of uninstalled apps

Thanks @RossC and @filoxo for your comments.

Adding these as answer:

  If you are rooted there is an option in Titanium Backup Pro to remove
  anything from the Dalvik Cache not linked to an app. This orphan data
  suggests that data may remain in the cache after the app is no longer
  using it or even uninstalled.

  There's also nothing wrong with periodically wiping your device's
  Dalvik cache using a custom recover like TWRP. It might take a little
  bit longer to start up some apps, but that would be almost
  unnoticeable on most modern devices.


Mirror Android Tablet to VGA monitor via Cable- NO DiSPLAY

If you have a computer hooked up to that monitor, and can hook up your phone via USB to the computer, I recommend Vysor. It's available as a chrome or windows app. Works great for screen mirroring, and the free version only uses USB

Note that there is a pro version of it, but basic functionality is free. You may also need USB debugging and ADB working


Migrating SMSes from Windows Mobile to Android phone

I guess this article was made for you: Import/Export/Move SMS Messages from Windows Mobile to Android. It mentions several tools to export your SMS from WinMo to an XML file, which then can be imported on your Android device without involving 3rd party tools. It also links to more useful articles on this topic.

EDIT:

As the OP commented, he was successfully using the Piemaster.NET guide mentioned on the page I originally linked. As suggested, I add it here in case the originally linked page is unreachable some day.


How to spot folder of some application on Android (Galaxy Note 5)?

The application, Notes by Microsoft, stores your entries on OneDrive, they are not stored locally on your mobile device. This also means that your notes are always backed up.

If you remove the Notes application from your mobile device, you will have to log back into it when after you reinstall.


Seeing ads on every website no matter where I visit on my android phone

After uninstalling nearly all the apps downloaded from Play Store (except a few like Twitter, Facebook etc.), I still had the issue.

I, then, tried to uninstall Google chrome which seems to be not allowed to do in normal ways (I guess it is one of the default apps of the phone).

Lastly, I found out that there is an update for the Chrome on the Play Store. I updated the app and surprisingly see that the problem is solved.

Have no idea what happened there and still suspicious about the problem but, seems like I succeed.

P.S. I will be grateful if someone explains what happened to my phone, technically. (Does updating Chrome change things for the default web browser? Because, I was having the same issue both in Chrome and default browser)


No. On all Android phones I'm aware of, the "Messaging" or SMS app is just an SMS app. It doesn't try to sucker you into using a proprietary chat service by pretending it's giving you free texts.

There are many IM and chat services for Android if you want to use one instead of texting. Like the iPhone, there's even one that ships with the phone, but unlike the iPhone, it's a separate app, called Hangouts. Hangouts looks and feels like a chat system, not an SMS app, and it includes voice and video calling, sending files, and group calling.

Android allows third-party apps access to all the phone functions, so if you really want to use SMS and a chat system in the same app, I'm sure you can find a third-party SMS app that includes both, such as Skype.


Error "FAILED (data transfer failure (Value too large for defined data type))" While Flashing Nexus 4

Regarding the message FAILED (data transfer failure (Value too large for defined data type)), in my case the issue was resolved using another USB cable (first one was from a Samsung Galaxy tablet, second one from a Nexus 7 tablet)


ADB connection problems on LG Optimus Zone 2 running KitKat

Rebooting the phone and setting it to connect via USB as Internet Connection -> Ethernet worked for me.

LG also has drivers on their site (http://www.lg.com/us/support-mobile/lg-VS415PP) but I'm not sure they're necessary for this to work, and even with them installed ADB only works when in Ethernet mode.

You're not wrong to be frustrated, though - I've been developing for Android since 2009 and have used dozens of devices, and I've never once had one that required a setting like that for ADB to work (at least not any Google-certified official devices). Weird.

EDIT (Aug 25 2014) - Looks like after the phone is rebooted or unplugged, sometimes it "forgets" its connection mode, or tries to connect as an installer even though it's still set to do an Ethernet internet connection. Re-selecting the statusbar notification and setting it back to internet+ethernet again works, but it's kind of annoying to do regularly. Then again, for the $25 I spent on this phone, I suppose I can't expect too much...


Is it always possible to recover from a failed installation of a ROM?

As long as you have recovery installed you can flash another ROM, stock or custom. The kernel/boot.img would be dependent on the ROM and they would most likely come with the ROM package. So if you have a complete ROM, with all necessary parts, you will be able to to recover from a bad flash.

  Always make a backup/nandroid


One thing you could do would be to set up an Amazon EC2 Ubuntu server instance as an OpenVPN server and then use the OpenVPN client app on your laptop.  Then you have to forward everything incoming to the server to the client interface IP address of the OpenVPN client running on your laptop.

I haven't done what you are wanting to do--the port forwarding part--but I easily could with the existing OpenVPN setup with some iptables tweaking to direct traffic to the client.

This sounds more complicated than it is, but you still need to be somewhat comfortable with the Linux command-line to get thru all this.

As far as the cost of the EC2, it's normally ≈$15/month, but I think they still have the deal where if you've never signed up for Amazon AWS before, then you can get a year for free.

Your own personal OpenVPN server is nice to have for when you are overseas and want to watch USA tv shows online (b/c they refuse connections from outside the USA), or if you are in a place where content or services such as Skype are blocked (such as on planes).  It basically makes selective blocking of services impossible.

If you have specific questions, just send me a message.


Now with your latest details, a raw approach. As you are on a stock ROM, switching GPS might not work out-of-the-box. In case it doesn't work, take a look at the Secure Settings plugin, which should be able to help out.
I assume your raw concept is: 8am to 5pm is work time, and you want different settings during work hours and after leaving work, considering eventual late-work issues. So this should preferably turn out as a single profile: At work do... and After work switch to.... So here's what shoud basically work:

Profile "Work":
Condition:

Time from 8am Till 5pm

Task:

Audio -> Silent Mode: On

Exit Task:

Misc -> GPS: On (might need to be replaced by Secure Settings, see above)

Now we enter a second profile, and you probably do not even need GPS:
Profile: "AfterWork":
Condition:

State -> Tasker -> Profile Active: "Work" [x] Invert
State -> Phone -> Cell Near: (Scan your work cells) [x] Invert

Task:

Audio -> Silent Mode: Off

So you see you neither need GPS nor the 15min wait loop. At 8am the "Work" Profile gets active, and switches your phone to silent mode. As you do not really need GPS, you can define some dummy Exit Task here (e.g. again switching Silent Mode on), as otherwise Tasker would automatically revert to the "before" mode.
The second profile does not even check conditions before "Work" has completed, as Tasker remembers which Profiles are active. After that, it starts monitoring the surrounding mobile cells -- which are either known by the phone as needed for telephony. If none of the surrounding cells match any of the scanned cells, the attached task is executed and Silent Mode turned off.
But why so complicated? Much easier done like this:

Profile "Work":
Condition:

Cell Near (Scan your work place mobile cells)

Task:

Audio -> Silent Mode: On

Done. No matter what time you are at work, your phone will be silent. And no matter whether you leave work early or late, Silent Mode will be switched off.


It's called "flashing the stock ROM".  Look for the firmware for your particular model (N, FD, etc.) at https://www.sammobile.com/  There are pretty good instructions at https://www.getdroidtips.com/samsung-galaxy-a7-2018-stock-firmware/
(If you still want the phone to be rooted, you'll have to root it again - the stock ROM isn't rooted, it's what you got when you first got the phone.)


Reset Galaxy tab without losing apps in SD Card

Short answer

No.

Explanation

One purpose of a reset, and why it's called factory-reset, is to set it back to the state it came from the factory. This means, all user apps and user data is "removed" (de facto, /data and /cache are wiped). Usually, only internal storage is affected this way, and SD cards are left untouched unless explicitly specified (I write "usually" as some manufacturers/ROMs deviate from this).

That said: your "apps on SD card" will be gone even without the SD card being touched, as:

app2sd doesn't move the entire app to SD card (but only parts)
Android would forget about those apps anyway, as information on packages installed resides in /data/system/packages.xml – and you remember, /data gets wiped by the factory-reset.


Autocorrect is not working for Huawei Ascend G600 (U8950N)

I have installed Go Keyboard and deactivated the phone's default autocorrect and spell checker. This seems to have solved the autocorrect dictionary problem, and I'm happy. Seems to be an issue with the factory software from Huawei...maybe. Dunno.


Is there a way I can get a Windows 7 Phone  UI on my Android device?

There is an alternative launcher that purports to give the look-and-feel of Windows Phone 7. I can't imagine it's more than "skin-deep", however.

Some information (and a video) here: http://phandroid.com/2010/12/09/turn-your-android-phone-into-a-windows-phone-7-with-this-metro-ui-launcher/


Cannot add Google account for Playstore, SSL not working

Reset to current date, and I can definitely say a secure website will open.


How do you open an embedded hyperlink in a PDF on an Android device?

Adobe Reader can follow hyperlinks in PDF documents.

The problem (currently, 2014-09-17) is that the default application associated with PDF documents is Quickoffice, and Quickoffice doesn't have this implemented.
Installing Adobe Reader allows you to choose (and optionally remember your choice) what app to use.


I accidentally reset my user data on my phone, can I get it back?

No, you will not be able to get your data back.  This is security, and is by design.  Some of your data will be backed up to the cloud (like your contacts are synced to GMail for instance).  Anything on your device (pictures, SMS history, etc) are lost forever.


How do I install a custom recovery on a Note 3 from OS X?

All I know is to use Odin on windows. If heimdall doesn't work, you will have no chance from osx.

But there might be one solution:
Unpack your umage until you have a recovery.img file. Put it on your rooted device.
In the device shell as root type if=/pathtorecoverymimg of=/dev/block/platform/,,,,,/by-name/recovery
Sync,  reboot

To do a backup of the partition first is always a good idea. Just do it the other way round to get a backup in a file.

Some devices automatically restore recovery on boot. Try to reboot directly into recovery ( eventually disable automated recovery recovery using cwm recovery :)


Chrome - how to swipe to dismiss articles on home page

It's a shame but you can't do that any more. Google says they won't fix it as mentioned in the  Chromium bug report ( Chrome does not maintain separate bug reports)

Swiping was indeed removed with the latest update due to usability reasons and it being difficult to interpret as a user signal. So this is working as intended.

But an enterprising user found out a fix! Great!

Paste chrome://flags/#interest-feed-content-suggestions in search bar select Enabled (snippets)

Paste chrome://flags/#interest-feed-v2 in search bar and select Enable

Relaunch Chrome and click on More at the bottom of the page.

Now you can swipe away as before. If you care for this feature which Google has removed, please star the bug report and optionally vent your frustration!


SIM is unsupported on Galaxy Y running CM11

Here's what you have to do:

Reflash your ROM
After reflashing, let it boot
Turn off your profile and shutdown
Wait until the phone vibrates and open it again

If it doesn't work, format cache, system, data, and also cache on CWM recovery, then try reflashing again.


Will installing cyanogenmod7 on my Samsung Vibrant require me to wipe my phone first?

In my experience, yes.  I tried without wiping and CM7 failed to boot.


I just created 100 zombie processes on Termux using:

for n in {1..100}; do (sleep 1 & exec sleep 10) & done

and they do exist for 10 seconds as expected, then reaped by init. To see zombie processes:

~$ ps axo stat,ppid,pid,cmd | grep ^Z

Or just to take count use grep -c ^Z.


Headphones compatible with phone only after switching the audio cable polarity

My guess would be that one of the plugs on the headphone cable is slightly off-spec and isn't making good electrical contact in the socket. Swapping it around means the dodgy connector is in the other socket, and maybe that connection is slightly more forgiving. (Of course, it could just as easily be one of the sockets that's slightly off-spec. The symptoms would be the same either way.)

If this is the case, then having the cable "reversed" is a lot better for it than letting it spark across a poor connection. Sparking damages the metal surface of the plug and socket, so it would get worse over time.

The only reason they recommend having the cable a particular way around is that the right-angle plug sits better against the phone. It's a lot harder to accidentally pull it out of the phone, or knock it (and maybe damage something) against a table edge or your pocket. It also protects the conntector against wear caused by wiggling or pulling on the cable.

Unless there's some inline play/pause buttons on the headphone cable, the only disadvantage of having it reversed is that you lose this mechanical protection from the right-angled connector.


Where does Google Play store its ebooks on an Android device?

I checked several sources on this. Googles own help page states:

  The Google Play Books app automatically stores books in the location with the most free space, whether that's your device or your SD card, as of when the app was first launched. If you've upgraded your app, your books will continue to be stored in the same location they were before the upgrade.

Which is not very precise. A discussion on the Archos forum reveals a setting available in the app (Settings> Storage location), but there you can only chose between internal and external storage. But the same thread as well as another one on XDA reveal the path as being /data/data/com.google.android.apps.books/ (which is the apps data directory on internal storage), the Archos forums thread also mentioning Android/data/com.google.android.apps.books/files/volumes/, which could apply to the "external storage".

As I don't use Google Books, maybe you could check those locations and confirm.

  Note that accessing /data/data/* requires "root powers". Without that, you probably won't see anything in that place.


Simple Google Fu: "android protect incoming calls" turns up a bunch of apps to protect incoming calls. Most of them use PIN or pattern, though. So: android protect incoming calls finger-print → Hit #1 = AppLock 2:

Android 5.1 supported, Samsung Fingerprint unlock supported
[…]
☆ Lock Incoming Calls

(My Google-Fu must be beyond level 9000 then :))
Hit #3 from that search might be worth reading as well: How to Lock Any App with Fingerprint Security on Your Galaxy S5. Not sure if all this is restricted to Samsung devices, though (and you didn't name yours).


Sync the position / page of sideloaded EPUB books between Android device and Nook Touch?

Check out PageTurner on Google Play. It's supposed to do what you want, although there are some mixed reviews. It's worth a try though.

  PageTurner is an open-source e-book reader that allows you to sync
  your reading progress across devices, without needing a DropBox or
  Google Drive account... just enter your e-mail address and it works!


In Apps->Emergency Alerts, you can see a list of the previously received alerts and when they were received.


How can I send SMS messages from my Google Voice number without using the Voice app?

This isn't the cleanest solution, but it's an option:

If you set up your google voice number so SMS messages are forwarded to your phone, every time somebody texts you, you will receive that text from a 406 area code phone number.  If you send  a message back to that number, it will reach your that person, and appear to them as if it came from your google voice number.  So you can save the 406 number for each contact as a secondary phone number, and set it as the default number to use for SMS.

(if you think the Google Voice app is cumbersome, you should try doing it from an iPhone ;) )


For secure apps, You need to find the correct folder, Like data/secure-apps/apps


deleted the google shortcut widget which shows all the google apps

It isn't a widget, but just a folder where app shortcuts are put together by default. You can create them by just "drag and drop" an icon over another icon and create a folder. Then you can rename it to "Google" or an app category or whatever you like. Look at the screenshots for a more clear understanding on how to bring back the Folder,

Screenshots - Click to enlarge image:

Here's the default folder named Google with Google apps inside it,

Pull Google apps from your Menu drawer by long pressing it and pasting on your home screen. Now merge these two app icons to create a folder.

After merging the two icons it will be displayed as a folder named "Unnamed folder". You can press and edit it's name to "Google".

Finally, after you put all your Google apps into the folder, it would look like this,


How can I set a custom per-person ringtones, but for texts and not calls?

I don't believe that there's a way to do this using the settings in the built in Messaging app, but there are 3rd party apps that can enhance the built-in app's notifications capability.

I use SMS Popup which lets you carry on using the built-in Messaging app to send and receive text messages, but replaces the notifications. Amongst the extra options it gives you are individual, per-contact customization of every aspect of the notification.


Samsung Galaxy S3 Internal Storage Issues?

As I wrote in my comment on the question, I rather think it's a defect in the controller – which is nothing you can fix yourself. Still, you might wish to at least check things. So I'll try to explain:

Preparation

To do all that manually, some pre-conditions must be met. You will need:

a terminal app. Terminal Emulator for Android would be a good choice: open-source, and available on Google Play as well as on F-Droid and on Aptoide.
alternatively: ADB to access the command-line of your Android device directly from your computer via USB. Much more comfortable, as you have a real keyboard and a big screen. If you want to go this way, see Is there a minimal installation of ADB?
optionally: root-access will definitely prove helpful, as this would also allow you to repair things.

Step 1: Find your "drives"

In a first "operative step", you need to evaluate what partitions there are, and which file-system each of them uses. Open your terminal (or run adb shell) to get to the command-line, and invoke the mount command. For what to expect, let me steal a screenshot from this post:

Example output of the mount command (click image for larger variant)

Now, not all entries are relevant to you. Check Android Folder Hierarchy to pick those you're interested in. For your case, the one holding /data/data will be of special interest. The example screenshot has it in the line with /dev/block/platform/dw_mmc.0/by-name/userdata, and we see it is using Android Folder Hierarchy as file system – more specifically: EXT4.

You might also wish to check other partitions, but make sure to stick to those with "real file systems" – and skip things like rootfs, tmpfs, sysfs, cgroup, etc. Basically, all those partitions you're interested in will most likely use either some extfs, or (for the SDCard) some FAT.

Step 2: Check the "drives"

Now that we know what we have, we can pick the matching tool. Our example uses ExtFS, so we need some fsck for that. As you assumed, from your collection e2fsck would seem the closest match here (though, if there's something specific to ext4, I'd check that first in the given example). Most parts of the different ExtFS versions are somehow backward-compatible – at least when it comes to "basic checks": EXT3 is, in easy terms, just EXT2 with a journal added – drop that journal, and you're back to EXT2.

Now how to run the check? Again, we already have answers for that – see e.g. How to check filesystem (/sdcard) for errors?, which gives us (for a read-only check run doing no repairs)

e2fsck -n /dev/block/platform/dw_mmc.0/by-name/userdata

If that finds errors, and you have root access to your device, you can replace -n ("no, don't do anything") by -y ("yes, please repair all issues you find if you can"). This might report (and optionally fix) some "bad blocks" which may have caused your issues – though the OS should attempt that itself on startup (boot). With root-access, however, it might interactively prompt you for things it didn't dare to repair automatically, so you might have a chance to improve your situation.


Yes, here is the source code download and what you need to use it.

http://source.android.com/download

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

From the wiki:

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


Why is Android phones' RAM capacity catching up with or even overtaking PCs'?

It depends on screen size and pixel density - so the minimum for 32 bit is close to 1.5 GB for 32 bit 2GB for 64 bit at the highest end - Section 7.6.1 of android Compatibility Definition
This size is only for the OS , radio (modem) is extra, which is not much anyway.
As discussed in this question 2 GB RAM or 3 GB RAM, does it really matter?, RAM requirements from OS per se are not high but as pointed out by Andy Yan in his answer - apps occupying more RAM with usage and apps with increasing functionalities (WhatsApp for instance ) tend to grow in size

But coming to your question, why in Android and why not in PCs , IMO, factors which are unique to Android

Multiple apps being open especially social apps in addition to standards mail, messaging , maps etc can lead to some apps being killed as RAM is less (not so on PCs) - poor user experience
Future platform releases - 4GB is strongly recommended ( see last section of CDD linked above ) . Compare with Windows minimum requirements - RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit). For Linux it would be far less
Selling point, whether it matters in reality or not (on a 5 inch screen does HD make a difference ? Not to me, at least )


Why does Wiko Cink Peax 2 reboot when it receives an SMS containing only '=' (equal sign)?

It seems this is a known bug that affects majority of Wiko phones. Receiving an SMS with '=' (equal sign) as the only content will soft reset the OS.

References (in French):

Quand un simple SMS peut faire redémarrer un téléphone Wiko
Une faille qui fait planter les téléphones Wiko à distance

There is a suggestion from the first site: Use other messaging app, disable the pre-installed messaging app.

Flashing custom ROM doesn't seem to fix the issue. It might be caused by hardware issue, but currently there is no update on the real cause.

If it's still in warranty, then maybe it's possible to ask for replacement and ask them to test this issue first.


Add specific website to Chrome's New Tab Page

Does not look like there is a way to specifically add a URL for it to appear in the new tab page - generally that page is Most Visited (depending on what you have set to appear).

Would be a very useful feature instead of accessing bookmarks but you could create a bookmarks folder and add you important sites there - should be two clicks away at most.

Here are a possible of work around:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/VnDvOnYvZrQ


I got it to work now. The problem was that

calendar sync appearently wasn't supported by Funambol Android client v9.0.1 (which is not the latest version, whatever their download page says)
the most recent version v10.0.3 has a bug that prevents a calendar from being created if none exists on Android v2.3 and above.

You can either wait for the next snapshot or patch it yourself: in the Funambol Android Client sources in file src/com/funambol/android/source/pim/calendar/CalendarManager.java find the line (280):

if (Integer.parseInt(Build.VERSION.SDK) == 8 ) {

and replace it with

if (Integer.parseInt(Build.VERSION.SDK) >= 8 ) {

and compile.


Where is the CPU Monitor screen for the galaxy note edge?

Settings > About Device > scroll down and tap on build number until you unlock dev options. Then hit back. Click on dev options and the built in CPU monitor should be in there. But that's just the overlay. Hope this helps. Otherwise, download a 3rd party one from the play store.


Why I can't scan the Whatsapp QR from my inbuilt whatsapp scanner?

Not sure if following will Answer your question as exact cause is unknown, but you may try few options.

You must use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari web browser to use WhatsApp Web. Other browsers such as Internet Explorer are not supported.
you have to scan the QR-Code with the scanner that is built in WhatsApp. Not with some 3rd-party scanner-app
Make sure there is no adware such as "Superfish" that came with some devices.
Make sure you holding the device correctly enough for the QR scanner to work.
Just like using WhatsApp on your phone, you must have a strong and stable internet connection on your computer to use WhatsApp Web, so make sure your computer's Internet connection is active.
If you use WhatsApp Web on a managed Wi-Fi network, such as at your office or university campus, your network might be configured to block or limit connections to WhatsApp Web.
You may try REFRESH the page and if problem still persist, just try Logout and Login.


What happen with my message on my friend's device if I deactivate Viber

Your messages will no longer be available on your friend's device/account, but will still be seen from whatever device/account you're using, but

NOTE: All the messages will be stored at Viber's database as a backup.

I hope this answers your question.


Creating a line break using Gboard on Signal and other apps

Goto Signal -> Settings -> Chats
Disable "Enter key sends"


Unfortunately the current solution (running 7.1.1 build NMF26U on Google Pixel) was to completely remove the option, as the feature was broken in 7.0

https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=213571


Rooting again after installing LineageOS?

As you've already found out, LineageOS has its own, built-in, lightweight SU solution (addonsu), which is the only one supported officially (the team does not adore Magisk/SuperSU).

Note that officially LOS only provides 14.1 builds for your device. Assuming that's the version you're running, using the addonsu for 15.1 you will naturally bump into problems. As indicated in the source, your device is an arm one, so use addonsu-14.1-arm-signed.zip instead.

Magisk/SuperSU are reported by other users to work well enough, but you will need newer packages that work with higher Android versions, and the one you initially used (SuperSU 2.62) isn't enough.


How do I turn off the sound of Zoom on Android? (not the mic)

When you're joining a meeting, you can find an option Join Audio. If you don't enable it you can't hear the participants' voice.

Or You may disconnect the audio from the more options present at the right- bottom (the dots)


USB debugging switches off automatically

What worked for me is choosing "File Transfer" on android when you plug the USB instead of "Charge only"


Baby locked phone through android device manager can't unlock

Send a lock command via ADM with a new passcode, if the phone is online it should update in a few minutes and you will get a confirmation it has been locked and updated. If that fails, repeated enter incorrect passcodes, it should eventually give you an option to unlock it with your Google account credentials. Worst case scenario, factory default and set it up new, the worst that would happen is lose everything on your phone and you have to unlock FRP (Factory Reset Protection) with your Google account credentials.


How can I stop my apps from updating automatically (Google Play Store settings do not work for all apps)?

don't know if this helps you, if you're rooted you can use titanium backup and freeze the play store and services, no updates then and unfreeze when you need it (I do this on my phone)


A reset problem on a RCA, Android tablet

Have you tried removing their Google account in settings?

To remove a Google account, go to settings, then either Google (Or accounts). If prompted, tap the account name. Tap MORE. Tap Remove account. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT to confirm.

If they have a passcode or screen pattern then you'll have to find a way around it. But if not then that should help.


Can't move or share files in My Files app

went to app settings and cleared the cache for my files app. when i went back to the app i was able to see all of the file options (move, copy, delete, etc) again.


Magnify (zoom) part of image application


Has anyone encountered (and resolved) the force close issue with Google Music Beta App?

It seems that this issue was related to the ROM.  Since multiple re-installs of the app did not correct the issue, experimenting with another ROM (Apex 2.0 beta) did the trick.  After flashing the new ROM and installing the app, music streams quite well.

Update: I have learned that the Liberty Toolbox > Liberty Tweaks > Ad Blocker feature being set to "Block most ads" has been tracked down as the root cause of this issue.  Make sure to "Enable ads" under this setting and there should not be anymore FC issues.


For finding other ROMs, Google is your best friend. If you can't find anything with Google, chances are that there aren't any custom ROMs for the phone. Any ROM that is compatible with the device will specifically list the phone. If it is not listed, it is not safe to flash the ROM and may result in hard-bricking the phone forever.

As far as the stock ROM goes, Google is again your best friend. Many manufactures post the stock ROM on their website for just this reason, however, if it is not there, you can always take a nandroid backup of the phone which also captures the stock ROM, allowing you to flash back the stock ROM if you wish to do so.


All you need is an Android with Google Calendar and two Google accounts for you and your wife (if you don't have those already). The Google Calendar supports sharing of calendars. You can create an calendar that you both can edit and that will show up on both of your phones.


What are the limitations of USB On-The-Go on Nexus tablets?

Do I need a specific app? My impression is that I need the Nexus Media Importer, which is a paid app, but is that the only way?

Some apps on Google Play have the ability to read USB OTG data, however an app specifically made for the purpose would be better.

Which filesystems are supported?

Most file systems that Linux supports will be supported.

Can the Nexus 10 deliver enough power through USB to use a portable hard drive, or does it only work with USB flash drives?

No, it cannot. It cannot as the Micro-USB port would not be able to push out enough power, as well as the fact that the battery would drain very quickly if this were to happen.

Can I access the external USB drive without restrictions as if it was an SD card, or are there any additional restrictions?

You can access it like you would on your computer, through a file manager. The app you choose may restrict the access, however.


How to retrieve file from broken samsung

If you had Auto Backup turned on in Google Photos, you can retrieve them through your browser at https://plus.google.com/photos.


Try to download and install SD maid in your device and clear your phone cache and reboot your device that should work


How to circumvent the market compatibility check?

Yes.  Unfortunately the Market appears to pull the version of Android directly from the system somehow, so I'm not sure how to get around apps that are limited by version.  However you can get around apps being limited to specific devices by editing your build.prop file.  See my answer here: How can I modify the phone model in build.prop to get unsupported apps?


Sometimes the culprit is much easier to solve: If accessing secured websites (https:) via the browser fails as well, make sure your date/time settings are correct -- otherwise certificates will fail. Best explained using an example:

Say, today the date is May 28th 2013 -- but your device's date/time is set to January 1st 2010. Now you visit a secure website, which is using a certificate issued on June 1st 2012 -- valid vor 2 years. Your browser won't accept that certificate, as it must assume it's a fake -- issued in the future. Same would apply if your browser's date were set too far in the future, e.g. December 31st 2014: the certificate would look "expired" to the browser, which again would not accept it.

Same applies to your apps, which often use a secured connection (hopefully!). Just unsecure connections (not using certificates) would work fine -- which explains why your browsers work on many sites.


Root Lenovo vibe p1ma40 with Lollipop 5.1

For the technique 2 that you have listed, you have to install the USB VCOM drivers in your computer so that SP Flash Tool can detect your phone and to enter Download Mode via the USB VCOM port.

  This action will add the following drivers in to the operating system:

  MediaTek DA USB VCOM Port
  MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM Port – for transferring the firmware to your device
  MTK USB DEBUG Port
  MTK USB Modem Port
  MTK USB Port – for transfering PreLoader to your device (and recovery in case of bad or corrupt firmware)

  Source:
  http://laurentiumihet.ro/technology/windows-10-mtk-vcom-usb-drivers-for-32-64-bit-drivers-installation-tutorial/

This should definitely work and help you root your phone.

For your technique 3 (using fastboot), I think you get the error:

  FAILED (remote: download for partition 'recovery' is not allowed)

Because you need to unlock the bootloader to flash the recovery.
This varies a little bit for different phones.
The most common command to unlock bootloader is:

  fastboot oem unlock

Before doing this, do this: (this might be required sometimes)
1. Go to settings -> About Phone -> Tap on "Build Version" until it shows developer, may be 7 times.
2. In Settings -> Developer Options -> Enable OEM Unlock.

After doing this, still if you're unable to unlock the bootloader or flash recovery using fastboot, I would recommend you to seek further help from the Lenovo Forums.


There are plenty of solutions available on the Google Playstore -- just search it for "headset control. Having a Philips headset, I use their Philips Headset and am really satisfied with it: One tap = pause/play, two-tap = forward 1 track, 3 tap = backward 1 track. Long-Tap (hold it) = volume up, tap and then long-tap = volume down... Most of these apps follow that scheme, many also allow to customize it. JAYS Headset Control should be a good option as well, but didn't work to well with my Philips headset; so if one doesn't do as expected, don't give up but try another.


How can we trick an android device that the device does not get our real location?

The phone has a GPS sensor and the OS can read the values from this sensor. Thus, the OS knows your real position.
However, the apps have no access to the direct OS reading - they can only ask the OS to give them the position. And the OS has builtin support to give them fake results.
To do that, do the following steps:

Enable developer mode (as described here).
In the developer mode, enable "Allow mock locations". This allows for apps to override the GPS sensor input by a fake position provided by them.
Install any app with exactly this feature, like Fake GPS Location.

It works a little bit differently on some phones, for example on my Moto G8 there is no "Allow mock locations" option in the developer mode. In most cases, it is possible even on them, but a little bit differently.
Extension: apps can know if it you did these, but they have probably no way to know, if the actual position they've got is mocked. Probably it can be prevented only by rooting the phone. Thanks @Robert for the info.


You can try Button Remapper, but I am not 100% sure if your device is supported. if its not, you could contact the dev and see if he can add support, he recently added support for the Galaxy S devices.

Edit
Actually, from looking at that thread, it may be supported already. I see there are "media" actions that can be changed...


What do "Installed", "Running", and "All" apps mean in Android Settings?

The menu in Settings › Apps usually has multiple tabs (or items in a drop-down), signifying a (sub) group of the apps available on your device:

Installed: user-installed apps. Most of them are those you installed yourself, but some might be "vendor-provided" apps that got installed on initialization (first use or after a factory-reset). These are the apps you also can uninstall.
All: All apps, whether pre-installed or user-installed. This is the only group where (pre-installed) system apps are shown as well; these you normally cannot uninstall, but only disable (and sometimes not even that).
Running: These are the apps currently running – either because you started them explicitly, or because they got started by some intent (in most cases, this is BOOT_COMPLETED, i.e. apps starting automatically after boot – but it also could be something else they're reacting on, such as network state changed, or some other app calling them as it often is the case with Maps)
Disabled: On some devices, you might see this as explicit section listing the (system) apps you've disabled. On other devices, this section might be missing; disabled apps then carry the string "disabled" next to their names in the "All" section.


Installing any APP hardboots phone and bootloops

For me it is the FaceBook app that causes the bootloop. I have CM11 on a Nexus 7. I used the Play store to update a few apps last week and when I came back to it, it was looping. I did several factory resets and found it was the latest FB app. I get an instant bootloop on installing. I just decided not to use it :)  Of course whatever the issue is (maybe some issue Android Studio is introducing that CM11 does not like) may affect other apps.


Turn off radio layer hardware calls to save battery when your broadband hardware is gone

When you turn on your device, start adb shell and enter stop service rild. This would stop the RILD service and you can then use your phone for other purposes. However, on restart, the service would start again. For that, you need to edit your init.rc file. Just delete the lines that are starting the RILD service and then the RIL would not be a part of the OS anymore. Consequently, there will be no more attempts to the GSM modem.

Hope things are clear now.


Android phone: suddenly unable to connect to wifi

The solution that worked for me (LG V30S, Android 9) was to go to Settings -> General -> Restart & reset -> Reset network settings (the wording may be different since I translated from Swedish: Inställningar -> Omstart och återställ -> Återställ nätverksinställningar).


Go over to your Messaging app, press the options button/menu button (depends on the device). A short list will pop-up including options like Search, Drat Messages, Delete, etc. One of these options should say 'Configuration Messages' or something similar. This is where the CP messages you receive are stored. I'm not sure as to what purpose they serve (they seem to vary from lists of MMS to Browser settings), but that's where all of them are.


Restore Google Authenticator on New phone without Root

There's a walkthrough on exactly this topic here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/130755/how-to-move-your-google-authenticator-credentials-to-a-new-android-phone-or-tablet/

Essentially, it amounts to disabling two factor authentication and re-enabling it, or for services like Google, using their "replace old 2 factor with new 2 factor" service. It is also possible to extract an sqlite database of your credentials, if you have adb and can access the phone that way, which I believe is possible without root.


Can't Disable Chinese apps on Samsung Note 3

Chances are the factory ROM has the preloadinstaller.apk, and will reinstall any app that isnt installed, forget if it is every reboot or only on the first one. But I would root, install a file browser that supports root, Search for preloadinstaller.apk then rename/delete it. Then remove the apps. That should stop the apps from reinstalling once they are deleted. Hope this helps ya.


I cannot find any official documentation on this icon, but various sources across the Internet suggest that it means you have "Power Saving" mode enabled on your device. It looks like this is specific to Huawei's devices, and can be disabled in your settings.


Does Samsung Galaxy Ace store location metadata?

Based on this blog post, the Galaxy Ace has geo-tagging support. So YES, it should be able to store location metadata, if you enable it.

And according to another blog post, Kik Messenger removes metadata.


Pixel 4a : adb detects device but fastboot command doesn't work

I have now idea why this worked. Before running fastboot commands rebooted device in download mode:

adb reboot bootloader to get into fastboot
fastboot devices shows device serial
fastboot flash boot patched.img works :)
fastboot reboot to get back to normal device state
Device is rooted and I see su permission requests

Note: Some devices of LG and Samsung lack fastboot functionality.


Is there an Android Equivalent to iMessage?

Since you are in Australia, I would suggest trying t0mm13b's suggestion of Viber. You will have to "Validate" your account with Viber in a location that you have mobile data connection, according to this article, first, but then you should be able to use the service just fine on wifi.

If available, Google Voice is a good option. You will be able to send and receive SMS from it on both mobile network and wifi.

It is probably your best option as it doesn't require the other person to have a different application to be able to receive the messages. Most of them will require the person receiving the message to have the same application.

Google Voice doesn't require the other person to have a special application. It will send the messages as SMS. It will, however, require you to use the Google Voice application to send the messages.


Xperia Arc shows 3G signal but not connecting to Internet

I don't know what was the issue behind it, but i upgraded my Arc to 2.3.4 and surprisingly this made it work.

Just added it as an answer in case someone does come across any such thing.


I am having problem with resolution in Temple run 2 on my LG-Optimus L3 E400

You can adjust that in in-game options and if that doesn't work in settings in developer options there is something to adjust resolution (at least on the galaxy anyway)


If it has a Mediatek (which usually cleared IMEIs after flashing), you can try entering the IMEIs (found on the retail box) manually using *#*#3646633#*#*, and finding the option in Radio settings. I can't be sure if this works with newer MTK devices.


Upgrade small-screen phone to Ice Cream Sandwich?

If you are getting ICS update from device manufacturer, its Ok to upgrade. It'll be usable on small screen because you'll not get bare vanilla ROM.. Manufacturers put their own skins over it.

So, if Sony Ericsson is pushing upgrade to Xperia Mini, their custom skin would take care of usability.

Other than this, you will get performance boost with ICS upgrade. There're other benefits, too. So, I'd recommend you to upgrade. Best of all, would you like to be out-of-date?


Is it possible to use the Google Play Store without having a mobile provider?

If all else fails.

So if you can't install apps from the google store. Then you can sideload them with adb.
The apk can be found in backup folders from apps like 'titanium backup' so you can have your friend install it and back it up. then copy the apk.

I had a Cricket phone that I didn't buy service for... and they disabled the app "Google Voice" This sideload method worked to bypass that.


I noted from the provided link that your device is a Samsung Light SGH-T399, running Android Jellybean 4.2.2.

With that considered, you can try the Framaroot app to root your device. Follow the steps below (guide in the link) to root the device. After rooting the device, copy the TWRP image to your internal SD card from your computer, and use the Flashify app (get it here or here) to flash it to your recovery partition. Again, the app itself will be pretty clear as to what you need to do, or follow the steps below.

Framaroot usage (from the XDA link (with corrections and emphasis)):

  Installation:

  Download it to your device (links are available at the end of the linked XDA post)
  Install it with a file explorer or directly from your internet browser, if android warn you about security risk, say OK and check Unknown sources to allow install of applications outside of Play Store.

  Usage:

  Open Framaroot and select one of the following actions:

  Install SuperSU
  Unroot
  Execute script (for advanced users)

  Possible cases once application has been launched:

  A popup saying "Your device seems not vulnerable to exploit included in Framaroot", in this case you can uninstall app
  You seeing one or more exploit name, also click on one after you have selected an action and you will see one of the above messages

  Possible cases once exploit had been selected:

  "Success  ... Superuser and su binary installed. You have to reboot your device"
  "Failed  ... Exploit work but installation of Superuser and su binary have failed"
  "Half-Success :-/ ... system partition is read-only, use local.prop trick. Reboot your device and use adb to see if it run as root", happen when the filesystem in use on system partition is a read only filesystem (ex: squashfs)
  "Failed  ... Try another exploit if available"
  Framaroot crashed or foze, in this case relaunch Framaroot a second time and select the same action and exploit.

Flashify usage:

Refer below screenshot. Tap on the "Recovery Image" button.
Select the recovery image file you had copied to your decice earlier.
Accept the confirmation dialog.
You're done, reboot.

Flashify flash screen:

(image credits @cgollner of XDA,the Flashify developer)

Click on image for larger version

Reboot to recovery using adb reboot recovery, the Flashify app or the key combination, configure TWRP time zone and other stuff, take a NANDroid backup and then go do whatever you want with the device, flash ROMs and whatnot.

If you are worried that the custom recovery may get reset after a reboot, you need not. That particular issue is only applicable to flashes via ODIN on certain select enterprise-class devices (and most probably yours isn't one of them), and has nothing to do with the suggested method.


Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc randomly reboots

You need to update your phone to the latest firmware 4.0.2.A.0.62. I bet yours is 4.0.2.A.0.58

If you can't update the phone over OTA or PC Suite, use WOTAN to update the phone to 4.0.2.A.0.62. The reboot problem occurred on nearly all SE Xperia Models.


How do I check who is connecting to my hotspot?

As mentioned in a comment it really depends on what app you are using to provide tethering.

On the stock HTC tethering app there is a view called "Manage users" which lets you see a list of connected devices listed be resolved host name. Touching each device reveals its hardware address and currently assigned IP address.

As far as I can recall it is the same for the stock Samsung G S2 (at least in this region - northern europe).


This is because the device location is detected from the SIM card in use.

I'm not sure how the web market location is detected. Perhaps look at using a proxy.

But if you wish your change your SIM location check this out:
https://market.android.com/details?id=ch.racic.android.marketenabler


Where are the bookmarks in Firefox for Android?

From at least Firefox 11 onwards (may have originated in 10) you just need to tap on the address bar. The dropdown menu with the four tabs you mentioned (including Bookmarks) should appear when you do. This also applies to phones, though the tabs on the phone version appear across the top of the menu right under the address bar rather than along the left side.


Differance in installing a rom from a different country

Yes, it's OK to flash stock ROM from another country. BUT, take note that it may have different languages, and a different baseband/modem. Having a different baseband can cause network issues (or a very hot phone), but you can flash a baseband that works for your country.


Unoffical roms 4.0 or 4.1 for Galaxy Note?

You should look at CyanogenMod 9. It's an ICS rom. I've tried a few roms on a few phones and I still think CyanogenMod is the best. I doubt there would be any decent JB roms yet, at least none that were in any way usable or stable.


Why can't Android device use Google service without permission?

First the problem is mainly a legal problem, not a technical problem: Huawei is not allowed to install the Google apps.

Second the Google apps you mention are only the user visible part - similar to an iceberg there is a large hidden part you don't directly see:

The Google Play Services and it's, libraries.

This is not a normal "app" as it is running as a system app and therefore can't be installed by a user. And it is required by each app you mentioned and even more. Most of the regular apps you find in Google Play Store also make use of this service, e.g. for receiving push notifications. Therefore the impact of not having Google apps pre-installed on a device is larger than you expect.

And even if you manage to install the Google apps on a device Google will recognize that this device is not allowed to use Google apps: Every device and every firmware version is certified by Google. In that process Google creates some sort of fingerprint that allows to identify each device.
As an end user you can ask Google for an exception for your device by registering it's Google Services Framework ID at Google. This will then allow you to use Google apps until you do a factory reset.


The app Facebook has violated its self-enforced StrictMode policy

In the dex provided by Facebook app, on com.facebook.katana/app_secondary_program_dex folder, we find a lot of references to the StrictMode.

So, for short, if a programmer use StrictMode, he has a reason. Basically while forking a busy process (read: animation, reading data, dictionary values for data, open a new fragment or activity on main thread), instead of crashing app there must be put (show) a message to user to inform about waiting or terminating app.

In the particular case of Facebook app, there's /facebook/strictmode/setter/Policy$All and also errorreporting/StrictModeException. So the message comes after raising an exception. We can just assume an activity take too long or force running in main thread.

The key word is in MessengerApp. We may think about Facebook and Messenger app as separate apps, but the truth is Facebook has embeded FbandroidMessengerAppModule functions calls in it's core and also performs some logical checking as for example:

IsMessageBroadcastEnabled
IsMessageBroadcastGkEnabled
IsMessengerAppIconBadgingEnabled
IsMessengerAppIconBadgingGkEnabled
IsMessengerBlockingEnabled
IsMessengerFlatBufferEnabled
IsMessengerLoggedOutAppIconBadgingEnabled
IsMessengerPhotoEditDefaultModeDrawing
IsMessengerPhotoEditDefaultModeDrawingGk
IsMessengerSonyAppIconBadgingEnabled
IsMessengerSyncEnabled
IsMessengerThreadShortcutsEnabled

Without access to debug console, I can't predict what cause that kind of message (is it about reading values from stored DB, or are some DB files corrupted, user switched from a WiFi connection to internet connection while parsing some data ?), but my advice is to make sure Facebook app and Messenger for FB are clean installed and updated to the latest version.

Sometime a game app can embed Facebook SDK to share data and try to access data without user FB permissions set on that game (app), or is written badly so it can raise some exception (I think this indeed your problem).


If all you want to do is access your device from a Computer, my favourite app is AirDroid. Allows you to browse files file a lot more. Doesn't require root. I've found that I can get 1.5 / 2mb/s on a busy network


The culprit is probably an app that accidentally doesn't release a critical lock.

In my case, it was the Cortana app that was causing the issue. It has a setting for the "Hey Cortana" hotword in the app, which requires that the application grab the microphone lock. It seems like the app, when quit, never released the lock, and so the camera couldn't have access to the microphone (and couldn't record)

If you don't have Cortana, try scouring your app list for apps that will obtain a lock for (and have the possibility of keeping it across runs):

Microphone
Camera
Storage

P.S. I've also heard that this issue can be caused by interference from Smart Stay, but I've never had issues with it


No sound through handset speaker of Nexus S

I just saw this googling around, maybe it could be of help to you:

  okay, I had the exact same problem. My speaker suddenly stopped
  working even though the ear phone plugin was still working good. I
  also found that sometime the sound came back but it is very weak,
  barely audible. and then it would disappear again. What I did to fix
  the problem is to open up the N1, disassemble instruction is on
  youtube. Open the the 3 screws to remove the board with the attached
  speaker from the main board. clean up the speaker attachment surface
  really good. Then reassemble the backboard and its speaker together.
  Then the sound came back loud and strong.

  My guess is that the contact of the speaker could get dirty and
  limit the electric supply to the speaker hence it didn't work
  properly. By cleaning the surface I helped to get the current going
  again and the sound came back. Hope that this could help someone since
  this problem had driven me insane for a while.

I found this on the following website: http://www.nexusoneforum.net/forum/nexus-s-general-discussion/12468-external-speaker-not-working.html.

Cheers, and I hope this helps.


my phone is stolen and sim cards removed. how to track it?

There can be many other options instead of those apps.
Android Device Manager
http://www.android.com/devicemanager
This is the only thing to do, and check where the theif had been for a few last moments. But this isn't perfect.
Android IMEI
If you ever wondered what your phone's IMEI is, you would have checked it via *#06# too. If you have it, then go to the government officials who can handle it (I am sorry I cannot guide you to the perfect organisation for that, because I never tried using IMEI to track a phone) and they will help you either in protecting your data or will even get you to your mobile too.


How some android phone supports 4k video capture and playback while some pc doesn't.?

Most smartphones have dedicated video encode and decode hardware. It's specifically designed for that task, and it has a fast connection to the memory, and often the decoded video frames can be accessed directly by the compositor hardware so they don't have to be copied (or blitted) into the framebuffer. You wouldn't be surprised that a handheld digital video camera can do 4k video capture: it's specifically designed for that purpose. Your smartphone works the same way.

Most PCs don't have this special hardware, so they have to do video encode and decode with software, on the CPU, or with a special compute shader on the GPU. Either way, that's always going to be slower and less power-efficient than having special-purpose hardware.


How to switch to vibrate mode using only hardware keys

The following short procedure should work:

press power button (enable the screen)
hold power button for 1 second (new required step on Android 4.2.2, not needed on 4.2.1)
press volume up or down until phone vibrates
optionally press power button again (turn off screen)

The idea is to enable the screen first, because then volume buttons would be enabled to change ringer volume (when screen is off they only work for music volume if it is playing).

Then depending on what volume you had set you need to press volume up or down:

if volume was set to silent, press volume up once, the phone should vibrate, now the phone is in vibrate only mode
if volume was set to regular ringtone, press volume down several times until phone vibrates. Now phone is in vibrate mode. Pressing volume down again would enable silent mode.

So you need to press volume down or up until you feel single vibrate and the you can leave the phone as is and it should turn off screen after short time by default. There shouldn't be much risk leaving screen enabled in a pocket for a while, but if you want you can press power button again to disable screen, but you risk pressing volume keys again which might either put phone in silent mode or enable ringtone.

Full procedure that should always work:

press power button (enable lock screen)
press volume down up to 7 times until phone vibrates then stop the procedure (this assumes there are 9 levels of volume, see below)
if phone not vibrated press volume up (you were probably in silent mode), phone should vibrate
if phone not vibrated repeat the procedure only one more time (maybe screen was enabled and first step turned it off)
optionally if phone vibrated, press power button once to turn off screen

Phone changes between following states when pressing volume up/down keys:

Maximum volume
...
...
Medium volume
...
...
Minimum volume
vibration only
no sound, no vibration - silent mode

The procedure was tested on Galaxy Nexus, but since Nexus 4 is very similar (same button layout/number, OS version, nexus brand) it should also work for it.

Update: Since android 4.2.2 changing volume on lock screen as described above does not work. There is additional step needed: holding power button for at least 1 second when screen is enabled. This will bring the "power off/airplaine mode" dialog and volume buttons will work there.


Tasker getting wifi info for unconnected networks

Here is a workaround you could use:

This workaround involves:

creating a simple tasker profile which notifies you when an unconnected WLAN with a good signal is detected.
creating a  notification (flash/blink/notification flash)-as you wish which will alert you when a good signal is available nearby.

connecting to a WLAN AP which has been classified as having a good signal

This involves using a %WIFII which shows information on detected WLAN APs ( useful info on mac address, signal strength, broadcast channel etc)

Task

A1:Alert >> Flash (or Notify LED or vibrate).
   Text: WLAN APs with good signal available
   Since WIFI signal strength ranges from 1-9 you may define strong signal as those above 5 (its up to you) See screenshot.

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

A2: Net >> WiFi >> Set-On [If %WIFI~Off]

Profile

You can accomplish this by using a WifiNear profile to detect nearby WLAN APs.

In the profile tab, select State >> Wifi Near (You may put additional info for SSID/MAC/Channel if you want to connect to a specific AP)
but if you want detection for any access point leave as it is.
Also you can leave toggle wifi unticked if "Keep Wi-Fi ON" option is enabled in advanced wifi settings

Note: When any profile has a WiFi Near state, it will do regular scans for nearby APs (roughly every 120 secs default).
You may change this in preferences of Tasker

Limitations:

Once connected to a WLAN AP automatically, the context scan will be ignored until you move out of range of your currently connected AP.
Only previously saved APs are connected automatically since one can't access an encrypted WLAN except that they previously saved the password in the device.


Android AVD throws errors, such as "Failed to sync vcpu reg"

Make sure that you're not running any other virtual machines, then try again.

I was running a guest Windows 8 VirtualBox on El Capitan and I got the same error when I tried to run a virtual Android device in Android Studio. I shutdown the guest OS and VirtualBox then my AVD booted up.


Based on what does translate appear only in some apps and some places it misses translated?

Usually is up to the developers to translate their apps, so it means they had no time/didn't want to translate it. They probably chose to insert a translate button which uses something like Google translate to do the work, but gives approximate results.


Cyanogen: add homescreen shortcut to Notifications

If you're using the default version of ADW Launcher that comes with CyanogenMod 7 then you can add a shortcut to your homescreen fairly easily. Long press on an empty space on one of your home screens and then select Launcher Actions->Open/close notifications to add the shortcut.

On older versions of ADW you can also do this, but you have to use a "custom shortcut" instead. Specifically, you long press on an empty space and then select Custom shortcut. Then on the dialog that appears you press the Pick your activity button and select Launcher Actions->Open/close notifications.

I'm not aware of any way to make it appear in the homescreen menu, unfortunately. It's one of the only features I miss from Sense.


Cellular data shutting off when i shut off wifi and vice versa

I have a Nexus 5 with 5.1.1, and was experiencing the same thing.

It was a bit weird; I think the problem started with the 5.1.1 upgrade, but it's didn't kick in fully as a problem 100% of the time until sometime last week (1st week of September). Prior to that it was an intermittent problem, dropping about quite regularly, but returning pretty quickly.

Anyway, I rooted the phone, and reinstalled 5.1 and it's all working properly now.


Backup/dump kernel image without root or twrp/cwm

It is possible to dump device partitions without root or custom recovery - if your device has "fastboot" mode and is boot unlocked. I'm not going to describe unlocking the boot loader, but with a fastboot device it is usually pretty easy - search the internet for instructions for your specific device.

You will need a TWRP recovery image for your device, but you don't need to actually install it on the device - we'd just temporarily boot into it to get access to the raw boot partition. Look at https://twrp.me/Devices/ and download the image for your device.

Preparations:

You need to find out which partition you want to backup from the device's storage. Usually there is a by-name directory somewhere under the devices tree that lists all the operating system's partitions with names and physical partition identifiers.

Install ADB and Fastbook command line tools.
On your device, enable "Developer Mode" and then go into the developer settings and enable "USB debugging".
Connect your device to your computer.
On your computer run adb devices and verify your device is listed. You may need to authorize access on the device itself in a popup that will appear.
Run adb shell to go into the device's command line shell
Run find /dev -name 'by-name' 2>/dev/null to find the by-name directory. It should list one, though if there are a couple, it shouldn't be a problem and both should work.
Take the directory name and run ls -la <by-name-directory> (replacing the place holder with the actual directory name)
Find the name of the partition you are interested in - if you want just the kernel, the name is boot, or if your device has multiple slots, it is probably boot_a - and record the physical partition path listed for it. It should be something like /dev/block/mmcblk0p22 (this is on my Mi A1 device - if you have a different one, the number after "p" will be different and possibly even the number before "p").

If you do not have a by-name directory on your device, you might want to search the internet for the correct device name, though there are ways to detect the correct partition from within the device - comment if you need help.

Steps to Backup

Reboot your device to the fastboot boot loader. There's usually a boot time key combination for this, on my Xiaomi Mi A1 its POWER + VOLUME-DOWN, but you can also use ADB to do that: execute adb reboot-bootloader to go directly to fastboot mode.
Use fastboot to boot into the TWRP image you downloaded, without installing it on the device: fastboot boot recovery-3.2.1-1.img . It will take a couple of minutes for the device to boot into TWRP, so be patient.
On your computer, run adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0p22 boot.img, replacing "mmcblk0p22" with the correct boot device path you found in the preparations stage, and "boot.img" with where you actually want to save the kernel boot image.

If your device has multiple boot slots, its probably a good idea to backup both (on my device, for some reason, after a clean install and update, they are not identical).

Good luck.


Is it possible to determine whether the phone has been rooted or not?

Most Samsung Android phones and tablets can be restored back to "stock" firmware via Odin or Heimdal tools. This wipes all traces of rooting or any other kind of system alterations, and in most cases is sufficient for sending the device in for in-warranty servicing to the carrier of manufacturer. However, with the Galaxy S2 series of devices Samsung introduced a hidden "flash counter" which keeps track of how many times such a tool has been used.

A community developer actually found where this information is stored and created an app that allows you to reset the counter.  Unfortunately the app only works on ICS (Android 4.x) right now.  See this thread on XDA-Developers forum for more details.


How to remove google synced data from my phone?

If the contacts remain after you removed the account, you should be able to remove them clearing your contacts storage app cache.


I think your bootloader is locked you need to get the unlock key from the manufacturer website i have done it on sony phones to look at an example visit the sony developer site and read as much as you can to understand better what is going on


Can anyone identify the widgets or software used in this?

mru is right about the Android and Me News Widget.  Based on the dock at the bottom I'd also say mru's right about that being the Sense UI as well, which means the clock and weather widget is stock, but you can replicate it with these:

Weather Forecast & Clock Widget
Beautiful Widgets
I have the Fancy Widget but it's no longer available because HTC thought it looked too much like their widget (you could probably find the apk out there somewhere)

The battery widget is called... Battery Widget.  Also, you may be able to get those sense icons by using the Sense UI Icons app for PandaHome.

The wallpaper is his own formated for a G1/Hero (640x480).  More on sizing wallpapers for specific Android phones.


First, you need to be aware of two facts:

Android uses more than one file system (think of "multiple drives/partitions" when comparing with your computer
while sharing a common base, directory structures might differ between manufacturers

So as starting points, I further recommend the file-system tag-wiki and the partition tag-wiki (you might also want to take a look at the most frequented questions using those tags).
In my answer, I will concentrate on the mentioned "common base". However, there still might be deviations made by some manufacturers.
Partitions
As said, Android makes use of multiple partitions. In the file system, they are represented by "directories", which serve as their mount-points:
┌─────────────┬───────────────────────────┐
| Partition   | Explanation               |
├─────────────┼───────────────────────────┤
| /boot       | kernel & Co.              |
| /cache      | app cache                 |
| /data       | user data partition¹      |
| /data/data  | app data¹                 |
| /dev        | devices²                  |
| /mnt/asec   | encrypted apps (App2SD)   |
| /mnt/emmc   | internal sdcard³          |
| /mnt/sdcard | external sdcard³          |
| /proc       | process information²      |
| /recovery   | used in recovery mode     |
| /system     | system ROM (read-only)    |
└─────────────┴───────────────────────────┘

¹ Details below
² virtual file systems
³ these might differ. Often, /mnt/sdcard is the internal SD card, while the external SD card is found in /mnt/sdcard/external_sd.
Above list is far from being complete, but should hold the most important partitions.
Directories
Here I again will concentrate on the partitions which are most interesting (or this answer would get far too long and, for most readers, boring.
/data and /data/data
These are in most cases two separate partitions, but there might be cases where this is handled otherwise. One thing they have in common (add /cache here as well): they get wiped on a factory-reset, while the other partitions are usually left untouched by that.
As for the directories contained, I will again concentrate on a selection; most things here you either cannot touch without having your device rooted.
┌────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
| Directory          | Explanation                                  |
├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
| /data/anr          | traces from app crashes (App Not Responding) |
| /data/app          | .apk files of apps installed by the user     |
| /data/backup       | Googles Cloud-Backup stuff                   |
| /data/dalvik-cache | optimized versions of installed apps¹        |
| /data/data         | app data²                                    |
| /data/local        | temporary files from e.g. Google Play³       |
| /data/misc         | system configuration (WiFi, VPN, etc.)       |
| /data/system       | more system related stuff (certs, battstat)  |
| /data/tombstones   | more crash stuff ("core dumps")              |
└────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

¹ for details on the Dalvik cache, see: dalvik
² each app gets its own data directory assigned here, using the app's package name. There might be a similar directory on your SD card, mostly used by apps with larger amounts of data.
³ usually, files are stored here temporarily to be installed/executed. Google Play e.g. downloads .apk files to this directory, before installing the downloaded app on your device

Of course, I intentionally skipped several directories. If you really want to go into details, this site might not be the best fitting place (as we deal with end-user questions -- and end-users normally don't touch these things). In that case, several places/resources might be recommended:

XDA Developers
good technical books on Android (e.g. Andrew Hoog's Android Forensics and Mobile Security, which goes much deeper into details here)
Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions?


How to Turn off App Suggestions From Launcher on Moto E4 Plus

Solution for Question 2:

While on the Home Screen do a LONG PRESS/TOUCH and HOLD (Brings up the Background, Widgets, and Settings Menu)
Select SETTINGS (Bottom Right)
Select SWIPE LEFT
Select option NOTHING


You could try other one click root apps like Vroot or frama etc.

"Very low internal storage" you could be more specific, 8/4 MB?


Can my Droid MAXX NOT delete everything if someone enters in the wrong password 10 times?

There's no such thing built-in to Android currently. However, you might wish to take a look at AutoErase:

  When the number of failed unlock attempts reaches the limit that you specified, AutoErase will reset the device to factory default and erase all user data.
  When the unlock attempts fail, messages warning that the device will be erased after certain number of unsuccessful attempts, will be displayed on the lock screen at the timing of your choice.

A pure factory-reset is nothing super-secure, as with some knowledge and the right tools content can be recovered – but certainly enough "so that no random kid at school can access my email" (as it's unlikely that random kid has the required knowledge and tools at hand when at school).

A comparable tool would be Wiper, in case AutoErase doesn't fit your needs.


Is it possible to "mirror" my smartphone SIM into my smartwatch eSIM?

After some research (thanks Robert for your input), I've found that:
No, you can't tweak your own eSIM to have the same number as other SIMs or eSIMs of yours.
However, it is possible to have the same number on multiple devices if your provider supports it (you will most likely have to pay the extra cost of such feature).
For example, in the UK, where I live, as of today (30th October 2020), only two operators offer that:

EE (Smart Number --only Apple devices supported)
Vodafone (One Number --only Apple and Samsung devices supported)

EDIT: Also O2 appears to offer this feature, although it doesn't seem to have a branded name and I've only found a related section on their website about Samsung.


Can I get a notification when an email arrives in a sub folder?

There are many email apps for Android, each one should have an option within the app itself where you can check or uncheck to be notified of a new email arrival.
This list covers the most popular ones:
Email
Allows you to have a notification on the status bar, when activated within the application:

Access the application;
Tap your device "home" button;
Tap "Account Settings";
Scroll your way to "Notification settings";
Tick the checkbox for "Email notifications".

Gmail
Allows you to have a notification on the status bar for each one of the configured accounts. Can be activated within the application:

Access the application;
Tap your device "home" button;
Tap "more";
Tap "Settings";
Tap over the desired account;
Scroll your way to "Notification settings";
Tick the checkbox for "Email notifications".

K-9 Mail
Allows you to have a notification on the status bar for each one of the configured accounts. Can be activated within the application:

Access the application;
Tap your device "home" button;
Tap "more";
Tap "Accounts";
Long Tap over the desired account;
From the popup, tap "Account settings";
Scroll your way to "Notifications" and tap it;
Tick the checkbox for "New mail notifications".

MailDroid
Allows you to have a notification on the status bar, when activated within the application:

Access the application;
Tap your device "home" button;
Tap "Preferences";
Scroll your way to "Notifications" and tap it;
Select the icon for the status bar from the dropdown;
Tick the checkbox for "Show separate notification", aditionally you can tick the checkbox for "show once";

Yahoo! Mail
Allows you to have a notification on the status bar for each one of the configured accounts. Can be activated within the application:

Access the application;
Tap your device "home" button;
Tap "Options";
Tap the desirable account;
Tap "Notification Settings";
Tick the checkbox for "Show in Status Bar".

Hotmail
Allows you to have a notification on the status bar, when activated within the application:

Access the application;
Tap your device "home" button;
Tap "Account Settings";
Scroll your way to "General Settings" and tap it;
Scroll your way to "Notifications and Alerts" and tap it;
Tap "Email Notifications";
Tick the checkbox for "Message Notification".

Notes:

Some Email apps, in order to notify you of the arrival of new mail, need to have the "auto-sync" and the "Background Data" active on your phone settings:
This options are found on your device settings, under "Accounts & sync".

"Tick the checkbox" stands for having the checkbox with a green tick on it. The gray tick is the disable status.

If your email app isn't present on the above list, feel free to @Zuul me and I'll be glad to add it to the list.

Only email app with Notification capabilities will be present.


The contacts is actually an app, hence as other Android apps store it's data, this app also stores in a SQLite database. Images are part of contact data and are spotted in database. It is stored in /data/data/com.Android.providers/contacta/databases/contracts.db


Why does Android download pause, and only continue after restart?

It happens generally when Kernel discards Market from memory. In Android, there're many ways to achieve multi-tasking. Market app achieves it by running its service in background. This way Market app isn't killed. But, when kernel runs out of memory, it has no other choices. It kills other apps (even having running service) to reclaim memory, otherwise device would be crashed. Such power killing returns unstable & unexpected results.

So, to prevent it lower down running app load from system. You can hunt down running apps from Settings ~> Applications ~> Running Services. Simply uninstall all unwanted always-running apps.

Plus, Market might have memory leaks etc. type bugs on your device. So, its better to contact Android support if previous step doesn't help. They really respond (don't think its Google).


Huawei update to EMUI 9 broke everything

I had to rollback to EMUI 8.0.  This was easier than expected through the HiSuite Huawei app for PC.  Click on update/upgrade, then other versions.  It should show you the last version and then click restore.

I then ran GMS installer, and Google-installer-v2 and I'm back in business!  I am still getting "Google Play Services won't run unless you update Google Play Services" occasionally but everything works.


OTA update removed stock Contacts app (Galaxy Y S5360, Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread.XXMI1)

download the required firmware bundle here
install Kies, or Samsung driver pack
unzip the package, You'll get 3 *.tar (or tar.md5) files
download Odin3 1.84 or 1.85
stop Kies
stop all active ADB sessions
start odin
do backup of your data and apps
charge your SGY at least 75%
remove SGY from USB or charger
start the device in Download mode
power off Your SGY
wait 30 sec
Press Vol Down, Home, and Power at the same time
When (about 5 sec) Warning screen appears, release Volume Down and Power, then (a bit later) Home
press Vol Up (You'll get Odin mode screen)
Browse the 3 tar files to odin PDA=PDA_xxxx.tar, PHONE=MODEM_ or PHONE_xxxxx.tar, CSC=CSC_xxxxx.tar
no PIT and/or BOOT files required - leave it empty!
leave all other fields and checkboxes default!
connect your phone, You must see yellow 0:[COMxx] in the first ID:COM and "Added" in the message box
Start flashing by the START button.
flashing will start immediately, see the progress in the message box, and progress bar on the phone
Wait 1-3 minutes, until green PASS! in the upper left
SGY will reboot, leave it as is for 2-5 minutes until startup finishes
if it stuck (eg boot anim loop) then:

- Start the phone in Recovery mode

- remove battery
- resinsert battery, wait 30 sec
- press Vol Up, Home, Power at the same time
- when Galaxy Y logo appears, release the Power button
- when Recovery menu appears, release the Home button first, then finally Vol Up
- select wipe data/factory reset (Vol UP/Down + Home)
- select reboot system now

When Android boots up, it's highly recommended to set your CSC via the dialer #272_your_imei_# (to see IMEI type *#06# in dialer) -> (it will erase all your data on the phone, but not the SD card)


Go to your Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications.

Select the 'All' tab and scroll to the current dialer app.

Scroll down and press the 'Clear defaults' button. Now when you select dial, you should be prompted to select a particular app and also have the opportunity to set a new default.


Try the following apps:

Google, Hangouts, Agenda, Messenger. I was browsing through my Moto 360 and those had some infomation.


Trouble installing Cyanogen on Galaxy S II using recovery console method

The folder you're seeing is the internal SD one. Just put your update.zip file there and search for it, it might be hidden in the scroll, just go down and it will show more files in the folder.

To make the process a lot more easy, just rename your *.zip to update.zip, but the file in the root of the internal SD card folder and use the Install update.zip from internal SD method.


Nexus S GPS reception quality has dropped : Can it be fixed?

After reading and trying a number of Internet tutorials on the subject, I found a simpler answer.  The screws were loose.

Turns out the Nexus S GPS antenna is dependent on getting a good connection between the two halves of the case.  Tightening up the screws in the image did the trick.  These screws control the pressure on the antenna contact and provide a ground connection between the two case halves:

Loosening the screws resulted in poor GPS performance again.

Other tutorials have you bending contacts, soldering and/or adding a second internal antenna.  It's possible the writers simply screwed the case on tight after making otherwise ineffective changes.

Opening the case to clean the contacts may also help.


Is there a way to copy files directly between two Android devices on the same wifi network?

There seems to be multiple options available. With a relevant internet search there is an application called Bump which shares files by simply bumping both devices together. I'm not sure if it does it over wifi if available or only does it over 3G.

There is another option where you can set up an ftp server on the device using an application called SwiFTP which is not being maintained anymore but the last update was June 2010. You can install this on one device and use ES File Explorer on the other device to compress and upload the file it using the FTP option.

A third option would be use Hoccer which probably uses their service as dropbox does, though I can't be 100% sure.

I'd personally recommend the ftp solution since that seems the most straight forward and you get to ensure that you have a direct connection.


How to change the temperature unit of Google's weather notification?

I don't know why but after some phone restart the notification bar is showed in Celsius now. So I post this to close question.


I accidentally deleted my android phones system app

If you didn't take a backup before fiddling around with your system (which I assume is the case), you will have to get yourself the ROM (see: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?) and flash it to your device.

Advice for the next time you start playing with system stuff: Backup your current ROM (which can be done via Custom Recovery as nandroid backup). So in case anything goes wrong, you simply need to boot into recovery and restore that backup, which includes the entire system and your user stuff as well.


Is there any way to force market to update and install apps one at a time?

If you use AppBrain it does downloads sequentially. Unfortunately you'll still need to click "Okay" for each to start the download but it'll save you a few taps.


This sounds reminiscent of a "feature" that's present on the S III. Try going into the Settings. In the Device section, click Display, then in the Screen section, click Screen mode. You probably want to change it from Dynamic to Standard.

(Some of these things might be named differently on the S4, in which case please edit the new names into this answer.)


How to take screenshot with stock Samung Galaxy S4 from Google Play Store

There is another way to take a screenshot without an app according to this article.

Open Settings -> Motion
Scroll down to Hand motion
Enable Palm swipe to capture


First go to Settings -> Apps and check if you have disable the Dialer or Phone app. If so please enable it and then check after restarting your phone.

If your Phone/Dialer app is not disabled then try these steps,

Settings -> Apps -> All(Tab) -> Dialer
Clear Cache and Clear Data
Disable it, restart phone and re-enable the Dialer app.


Are all apps on Google Play compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S4?

In general, NO.

Some apps:

run on specific devices only (i.e. not compatible with S4)
run on specific Android versions
available only in specific countries
available only on specific carriers
requires root access. (i.e. if phone is not rooted, it won't work)


Your phone should have a built in app (Google Music, Music or such) for music playback and they usually auto-detect any music on your phone (in any folders you can access). Keep in mind that there is no "best" app out there - they all have flaws like not having 100% effective bluetooth control or consuming more battery with equalizer.

I've tried some of the most popular ones, but returned to default one, because of lack of bluetooth forward/rewind support on most players.

Default music app (whatever it might be on your device) is usually gives you everything most users would need.
Winamp (unfortunatelly no longer on google play) boasted a good equalizer, but quite frankly it doesn't compare to n7.
n7 Player is somewhat uniquely designed and has decent equalizer options, but equalizer produces delay between action (like song switch) and playback.
Also it seems to somewhat increase battery consumption.
double twist player has a lot various expansions and online functionality however, most of those features aren't free.
Poweramp Player I've been reminded of this one in the comments. It did not catch my attention, however, at the time I was checking out it WAS one of the highest rated ones.
Rocket Player I haven't tried this one. However seeing as it is free and has decent ratings it might be worth checking out.
As for the playback, if you have music on your sd card, open up your music app and the music should be there.

If there is something preventing you from listening to your music please specify it.


Download Manager does not stop . Cannot clear cache and data

I have an Asus Zenfone 2 still running Lollipop, and I've had the same problem for a long time. Force-stopping the Download Manager app and clearing the data usually works, but I recently stumbled upon a new way to cancel the download, making sure that it is permanently cancelled and doesn't pop up again annoyingly.

It merely involves going to the Storage section under Settings, and clicking on the Downloads tab. This brings up a list of previous and ongoing downloads. From here, long-pressing on a download lets you cancel it.

Hope this helps.


Nexus 5 won't connect via bluetooth to my alpine radio in my car

Have you tried to use 0000 for both? It's the most commonly-used password for devices that doesn't ask for password, or also set as the default passwird.


Android OS update with out active service

No Android doesn't block if you are not on a cellular network. Did a OTA update of my Galaxy Nexus a couple of weeks back without inserting a SIM.

I think HTC has released no more newer builds for your phone hence you don't see it.


"adb devices" shows device as "unauthorized". How can I fix this?

You need to enable USB debugging on your phone. You should get prompted to accept an RSA key, which will mean that your computer is authorised.

Also keep in mind that any coding questions belong on StackOverflow.


Can Google device manager turn location on automatically?

No, this is not possible at the moment, may be you could add this to feature request in the Google Product forums.


How does the gmail Android App compare to the Webmail experience when using multiple gmail accounts?

Just use the GMail app and not the Email app.  You can select what email to send from -- it shows all the addresses you have set up in GMail -- and has a surprising number of GMail's features for a mobile app.  It does go through GMail's servers and you will have your archive.  I don't think you can set up and manage POP accounts from it, but if you're not abandoning the web interface entirely then it doesn't matter.


You didn't mentioned it's a rooted device or not.

When I face similar issues I manage to fix this issue in this way. This is a permission related issue. I guess you face this issue when you're trying to update or install previously uninstalled apps.

When you are uninstalling app, it remain some leftovers in "data/app-lib" directory. Therefore, carefully check app that you wish to install leftovers are in this folder and delete those folders.

Go to "/data/app-lib/APP-PATH(that has this error)/lib" and delete its all the sub folders. Then delete APP-PATH folder.

If its not work you can factory rest your device to fix this issue.


How to upgrade HBOOT from 0.80.0007 to 1.01.0001

It was enough flashing the device with RUU_Buzz_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.22.405.1_Radio_13.55.55.24H_3.35.20.10_release_160191_signed.exe