If I reset my phone, will it also TRIM the fragmented eMMC?

Android supports fstrim but it only works if the phone is idle for a long time while charging

It's not so. On newer versions, Android runs fstrim with a daily schedule, provided that the conditions meet. Or it should run on a reboot if not run for 3+ days. See this answer for details and how you can run fstrim manually.

FRAGMENTATION ON FLASH MEMORY:

  I think my phone is too fragmented and is lacking performance

No, fragmentation doesn't exist on flash memory, or at least doesn't affect the performance. It's actually the filesystem which gets fragmentation (that's why newly formatted filesystem has 0% fragmentation), transferring the same to underlying physical storage. However underlying medium handle it differently.

Let's first take a brief insight into filesystem vs. storage media relationship. Filesystem interacts with Logical Block Addresses (LBAs), which are just numbers representing a unit of memory. Filesystem to LBAs mapping is irrespective of whether underlying media is HDD or SSD.

On HDDs, LBAs to Cylinder-Head-Sectors (CHS; rotating magnetic disks) mapping (1:1 / sequenced / linear) (1) is created during low-level formatting of disk drive when manufacturing, which never changes except if some sector is marked bad by disk controller firmware (in g-list from disk's defects table) and remapped to some spare sector. OS may also mark sectors bad in filesystem to exclude them for future use, as CHKDSK does on Windows during full format and e2fsck/badblocks do on Linux. So Operating system is aware of the physical geometry of the disk, which is propotional to the geometry of LBAs.

On flash memory (including SSDs, eMMCs, SD Cards and USB sticks etc.), LBAs to Physical Block Addresses (PBAs; silicon cells) mapping is fully controlled by Flash Translation Layer (FTL); a part of memory controller firmware. OS knows nothing about it, it can see at maximum the LBAs, not what's happening below it, not even the ECC of failed memory cells (just like bad sectors on HDD), and that's why we don't realize the bad health of eMMC unless it fails. Since a page of memory can't be just overwritten unlike HDDs, it has to be Erased first before being Programmed (written). A side effect is that a number of pages are erased/re-written and the physical mapping changes even if a small file is edited. On HDDs, files aren't physically replaced unless shortened or elongated. OS is aware of these physical changes on HDD, but not on flash memory.

So on HDDs, OS is aware of the physical fragmentation which is same as filesystem (LBAs) fragmentation, and defragmentation (as done by Windows regularly) occurs at physical level. But on flash memory, you can't simply do defragmentation in actual, rather good flash memory controllers do fragmentation purposely as a wear-leveling strategy. OS has no control over the actual fragmentation at physical level (unless you have some advanced tools to communicate with flash controller). However OS is aware of the fragmentation within filesystem. But if you defragment the filesystem, it won't defragment the flash memory.

Also as @Robert mentioned in comment, there is no effect of physical fragmentation on the performance of flash memory at all because there are no mechanical components in flash memory i.e. no seek latency because of head moving over different tracks as in HDDs. Filesystem fragmentation - as some experts think - may have somewhat impact due to increased number of I/O requests OS has to make to read/write scattered data.

Summarizing the above lines:

On HDDs it's the OS/filesystem which controls where the data is actually saved on physical memory, so it can de-fragment it.
On flash storage media, OS/filesystem doesn't know where the data is actually saved on physical memory, so it can't de-fragment it.

  Since TRIM is important to improve the SSD's speed, I'd really like to run TRIM on my phone

When an OS asks a filesystem to send TRIM to eMMC, it actually requests flash memory controller to do Garbage Collection - Erase the PBAs which map to LBAs which belong to deleted files. So the eMMC controller maps those LBAs to already/newly Erased blocks (PBAs). This won't do defragmentation. See above mentioned answer to know how often fstrim should be run.

DOES FACTORY RESET DOES TRIM?

   I want to reset it but I am not sure if TRIM will also run if I do so

Factory reset on Android devices format /data and /cache (2) partitions. So the question is whether formatting is accompanied by TRIM or not.

Well this can't be standardized. Formatting and TRIM are different things, so it depends on the formatting utility whether it sends TRIM command to eMMC or not. Formatting may involve partitioning but in most cases (particularly on Android) it's just the high-level formatting i.e. to  create data structures (e.g. superblocks, file tables, directories, inode/block bitmaps, journals etc.) used by the OS to identify the partition's contents.

If we go through the lines in source code of stock recovery which handles formatting of partitions during factory reset, we see no notion of TRIM it does wipe_block_device (3) which calls BLKDISCARD or BLKSECDISCARD provided that they are supported (4). Both ioctls are essentially TRIM on block device level (not on filesystem level). fstrim is only run by vold inside the main Android OS. Additionally one of the tools used for creating filesystem mke2fs_static does try to discard device before fs creation (5), but not the other tool e2fsdroid_static. So there are chances eMMC will be sent a TRIM/discard request during factory reset, but be aware of the past: Android phones don't completely wipe data when their factory reset option is run.


No. The only way to update the app is download the new version apk and install it.

I had similar experience with a game they released only for certain parts of the world. Then they released an update that I had to install in order to play the game, but since it wasn't available in my country I had to look for the updated apk and install it outside Google Play Store.


Why does YouTube volume fade when visiting certain sites?

Most times this is caused by an video-ad on the website. It shouldn't happen on websites without any ad.


IMEI Repair/Change OF Motorola XT1765(Metropcs , Qualcomm processor - Not MTK )

to resolve null baseband, flash the same baseband files.

fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin

fastboot erase modemst1

fastboot erase modemst2

fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn

fastboot reboot


Android 2.2 - How to see applications that run at start-up

I don't know of a free solution, though there may be one.

I do know of Autostarts, currently just under 1 USD, a pretty good price in my opinion. It gives you a list of applications that have attached themselves to different events in the Android OS (I'm not an Android programmer, my wording is likely wrong there). You can then choose to disable that association without actually removing or disabling the application. For your Yahoo startup example -- With Autostarts you can prevent it from launching on startup, but it will still be accessible for you to launch at your leisure later on.

Forgot to mention - this does require root. A bit of searching seems to confirm that there is no way to disable startup apps without root - your only option in that case would be uninstalling them.

I also stumbled on a manual process that I've never personally tried -- You can do what Autostarts does by issuing some shell commands (ADB or Terminal Emulator app).

su pm disable <package name>/<package name>.<activity name>

I believe that would translate to something like:

su pm disable com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.im/com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.im.android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED

But I've never tried this myself.


Many apps crashing on phone after Google app disabled and re-enabled

First, instead of a few dozen little apps, each supplying an API or a service, Google changed the scheme (a few years ago) to incorporate all of them in one app.  Most Google apps depend on it, many non-Google apps depend on it.
I'd try uninstalling all the non-system apps that are crashing (you can't uninstall a system app unless the device is rooted), update the Google app (again), update the Google system apps and reinstall all the uninstalled apps.  (If that doesn't work, reflashing the ROM - and losing anything not backed up - may be your only resort.)


How much of the Android filesystem is visible over MTP?

MTP - an extension to PTP - is a client-server protocol, roughly like FTP. MTP client on PC sends operation requests (like GET_OBJECT, SEND_OBJECT, DELETE_OBJECT) to server running on Android device and gets responses back.

Unlike USB Mass Storage (UMS), MTP doesn't expose filesystem at all. Instead contents of shared external storage (/sdcard - a subdirectory of /data/media/ - and physically external SD card) which are indexed in database of MediaStore Content Provider are shown to PC. Everything else (including /data, /system, /vendor and other filesystems) is not visible over MTP.

Since there's no filesystem level access, there're no filesystem permissions. Related details:

Why does MTP show wrong directory location?
Android Storage Journey
What is /storage/emulated/0/?
Android Device Partitions and Filesystems


Home and Search don't work on my Nexus One

If the phone's registering the keypress and vibrating, I don't see how it could be a hardware issue.  Flash back to stock and see if it works.  Or at least CM6.


How can Google Maps accurately locate my phone when GPS is disabled?

Google have a huge database of the approximate locations of a large number of phone network cell towers and wifi access points all around the world. If your phone can "see" one (or more) known cell-tower IDs or Wifi AP SSIDs, then it can query Google's database to ask where that is and use that for your location. The cell network towers have a large range (kilometers in some cases) so that alone won't give a precise location. As Wifi is a very short range signal your phone can locate you very precisely using that, particularly if you're also picking up Wifi signals of different strengths from neighbouring houses to triangulate from.

All of the quoted sections below are from: Google Maps Help - Location-based services

  Because GPS is not always available and locations derived from cell
  towers aren’t very accurate, Google (and other Internet companies) use
  publicly broadcast Wi-Fi data from wireless access points to improve
  our location-based services. By using signals from these access
  points, your mobile device is able to fix its general location quickly
  without using too much power.

...

  Our Location Server uses only publicly broadcast Wi-Fi information to estimate the location of a device:

  The MAC (Media Access Control) address. This is a number that identifies computing devices – whether PCs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, or wireless access points – interacting with a network. MAC addresses usually look like this: 00:01:02:0A:0B:0C. The number is usually fixed for the life of the device. A MAC address tells you nothing about the owner or user of the equipment concerned. It’s just a string of characters that’s technically necessary for web pages and other content to be properly delivered to your device over the Internet.

This data has been collected in two main ways: as their Google Street View car drives around it always has a precise GPS fix, at the same time it listens out for Wifi APs that broadcast their identity and records where it was when it picked them up, and does the same for phone network cell towers; in addition they "crowd-source" the data from Google Maps users on mobile devices, as the Google Maps users travel around with GPS enabled Google Maps will check which cell-towers they're connected to and which wifi points they can "see" and periodically upload this information.

  Google Maps on an Android handset is an example of a reliable channel, since we can be confident that the SSIDs and MAC addresses it sends as part of a location request haven’t been tampered with before being sent.

  So, for example, one way to ensure that your changed SSID is submitted to Google quickly, open Google Maps on an Android Device with WiFi enabled, and use the My Location feature to establish a location fix in the vicinity of your WiFi access point.

See also How does Android get the coarse location?


"Storage space running low. Some system functions may not work"

This question is way too broad and was asked to death, general consensus is

remove applications and media you don't need, if you are rooted remove unused system apps
move as much applications to sd-card
install a cleaning application (like clean master), they can make a difference
use cloud applications such as dropbox to sync your heavy files across multiple computers and devices, why store all those >5MB pictures you've taken on your limited device if your Hard drive has much more capacity?


How to shred deleted files to prevent data recovery?

Managed flash memory
Most smartphones use managed eMMC memory which means the flash chip itself is performing the flash wear leveling (the eMMC chip has a small CPU integrated which performs the wear leveling). Effectively this means that you can not shred anything on such flash chips. If you try to overwrite a the data blocks that belongs to a file the newly written data is simply redirected to a new position in flash memory. Therefore the original data still exists but can no longer be accessed through the file-system.
The only way to erase at least large parts of the data with a high probability is to totally use-up all free space by writing one or more large files that use up all free space. But be careful - some devices "don't like it" if all flash memory is used (device crash, does not boot, ...). Therefore it is better to spare some KB and leave it unused.
The only safe way to totally erase data on a modern Android smartphone is to perform a factory reset. As modern Android devices are encrypted by default by performing a factory reset you erase and regenerate the encryption key (at least this is the way it should work).
Unmanaged flash memory
On some simple/cheap Android system it may happen that the flash wear leveling is not implemented inside the eMMC memory itself. Instead those devices use unmanaged flash memory and implement wear leveling in software inside the file-system driver. This require special file-systems that include the wear leveling such as YAFFS/YAFFS2/JFFS2. On such systems it would be possible with root permissions to really overwrite and therefore erase data of one specific file.


Will Android kill a Service if I uncheck "Show notification" option on Settings?

Disabling notification would not terminate the life cycle of apps, nor would apps use persistent notification to keep themselves alive. Normally background operations would be done in the background, and notification provides a means to display the result back to the user via the main UI thread. Notification in this context refers to elements such as toasts (pop-up messages) and any icon the app might display in the status bar. In any case, the operation would have finished regardless of whether or not notification must be shown.


Data is stored on the /data partition, while "phone storage", /storage/sdcard0, is user available memory where you put images, music etc.
If you want to have more space for apps, you need to increase the /data partition. If you want to put the data on the external SD card, you'll have to further modify your system.


How can I view my WhatsApp messages on my Android tablet?

You can download the whatsapp.apk from the Internet (its like a .exe file for Android), just search it in Google.


Go to Settings - Apps, find Skype in list of installed apps and click on clear data button and clear cache.

  Also I need some explanations about the cases where history was resurrecting. For example, this can be because parallel client was holding history...

Skype archives your chats for you and stores them locally on your computer (or device), if you have enabled this option. Chat histories are not stored anywhere on the Skype network. source


Why does bad Busybox installation in /system/xbin/ cause problems?

Well, don´t know a thing about android, but I have read about other people with that problem installing Busybox.
One of them said that some components of Busybox were already installed in his /system/xbin, so probably some phones comes with files in that path that Busybox overwrites, making the phone unstable or bricked.

You should search info about installing busybox in your device before installing it.


Change language ICS spell correction (red dotted line)

I am currently on Cyanogenmod 4.0.4 and Dutch has been added. I don't know where it came from, but it works like a charm.


The guide is only to install Google Play and other related and necessary Google Apps. The installation is such due to licensing issues which prevent CyanogenMode from packaging it in the ROM directly.

Once you go through the install of Google Apps, you can use Google Play same way as on any other Android device.

Regarding versions, every CyanogenMod version is based on particular version of Android, e.g.:

CyanogenMod 11 is based on Android 4.4 KitKat
CyanogenMod 10.2 is based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
CyanogenMod 10.1 is based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
etc.

The play store will treat CyanogenMod versions as Android of appropriate version, so you will have no problems regarding that.


You cannot use anything but FAT for the external SDCard. Android will not mount the card if it is not FAT.


How I can prevent my android phone from getting rooted?

If a thief has physical access to your hardware, it's his.
You cannot prevent the thief from entering the bootloader or recovery and flashing your device.
What you can do is go to your local police department, tell them your phone has been stolen and you have the IMEI (it's on the box but note it down separately) and they should block any use of that IMEI.
No cellular connection will be possible with that device, it's merely a small tablet and all connection attempts will be logged with location of the cell tower, approximate location of the device and time.

After that, wipe your personal data using one of many different remote security solutions (like the Google Device Manager).

Also tell your cell provider that your phone has been stolen so you can get a new SIM (might need to pay for that) and to block any use of the old SIM card.

Also: Thieves usually just wipe the data and don't install a custom ROM (rooting is an option, though).


ICE Emergency Contacts on Emergency Dialer Screen

Once you hit the gray box & that ICE list pops up, I believe you just have to select a contact from that list in order to assign that person/phone number to the box.

Just be careful with assigning contacts to the gray boxes because it can be very easy to pocket dial these people. In case you're interested in removing someone from the gray box, you select the menu button while on the "Emergency Dialer" screen & it'll give the option to remove the contact from the gray box.

Hope it helps.


Does a Nandroid Backup contain Language files?

As a Nandroid backup creates images of all Android related partitions of the device (not of the radio-firmware, which is not directly related to any OS), your assumptions are correct: it covers everything, i.e. all data belonging to the Android installation. So provided both of you use the exact same device (compare the specs, some devices have variants which could be crucial when involving different hardware components), the copy as described in the question should work.

To be on the safe side, and have a chance to revert back, it cannot hurt to create a Nandroid backup on the target device as well, though :)


Why is it that Android still can't be installed as regular OS?

What stops Google from making a real OS (an OS for small ARM, x86 etc devices)?

It is a "real" OS.

  Why there is no universal image which could detect appropriate drivers

How do you detect drivers that don't exist?  Someone has to write them.  Unlike PCs, phone hardware varies wildly, largely because it isn't feasible for end users to construct their own from parts and size constraints.  Customized parts instead of interchangeable ones and special chipsets mean very specific drivers are needed, and an OS can't just ship default ones.  Imagine the bloat as well — someone with a cheap HTC phone with 20 MB for apps doesn't have room to host drivers they don't need.

  and configure boot loader to boot updated OS version

Bootloaders also vary wildly between devices; you'd have to get all the manufacturers on board in order to use a single one, and manufacturers are unlikely to want to give up their power in that area.


How to unlock my device after blocking with "Find my device"?

You must restart your phone. Turn it off. When you turn it on again you'll be able to enter your password.

Update: after doing this, it will lock again. You must really login again using your account in "Find my Device". The option is somewhat hidden in the suspension points button. See:

Maybe you don't need to restart your phone after login in "Finde My Device". The restart allows you to enter your device with your password, but sometime latter it will be blocked again. You must really go to the "Find My Device" web page.


Is it possible to have a phone alarm go off if it moves a set distance away from a NFC tag?

That's not how NFC works. The N stands for "near", and it really means that: the tag has to be touching the back of the phone for it to be read. Sometimes even putting a case on the phone stops it reading NFC tags.

If you want something like this, you could buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or later. These phones have a special feature using the phone's stylus (S Pen), where if the phone gets more than about a metre from the stylus, it will start to bleep. It's mainly intended to stop you forgetting the stylus, but it works just as well the other way around. Some newer Bluetooth headsets, and some Bluetooth LE watches have this feature too: the headset alerts you if it goes out of range of the phone.

Since writing the above, Bluetooth Low Energy has become a lot more widely available, with a lot more peripherals supporting it as well as handsets and apps. One way to achieve the desired goal on any phone with BLE support is with a consumer BLE beacon such as Stick N Find. You can stick the beacon on a keyring (or something else you carry) and use the included app on your phone to alert you when it moves too far away (range configurable up to tens of metres). There are a few similar products such as Tile and Chipolo, but that was the only one I found with the "alert when you walk away" functionality.


To make sure applications can access the root, you may need to enable it from the Developer Options menu in your device's settings. Once in the Developer Options menu, look for the root access option and select from 'Apps only', 'ADB only' and 'Apps and ADB'. You might have to accept a warning about security, too.

If developer settings isn't visible, try the usual method of hitting 'Build Number' several times in the Phone/Tablet Info section in the settings.

Source: I had a problem similar to this after rooting my S3 and installing CyanogenMod 12.


Is it safe to charge tablet from phone via OTG cable if tablet's adapter is 5.2V?

Yes, as long as it is supported by the tablet and you have compatible cables available.

USB Standards specify that charging voltage should be 5.00V ± 0.25V, i.e. 4.75V~5.25V.

Upper limit is 5.25V which is higher than tablet adapter voltage ; add to this the resistance offered by the cable and the input voltage will be well within safety limits.

How efficient it would be is upto you to verify as Robert pointed out in comments


VPN app in Google Play Store prevents me from connecting the Internet

Naturally, the app makes changes in your network configuration.

The problem occurs when you do not disconnect using the exit button within the app. So it seems as if the internet doesn't work is because the server is down. You forget that the VPN is still connected although you think it isn't.

The problem occurs only with root permissions because without root, you can see running VPN services in the notification bar since it's running under Samsung's scope, reminding you that VPN is connected. When using it with root, you just don't see the notification, giving you the wrong idea that there's no working VPN although there is.

Anyways, restarting the phone reverts the configuration to a default state, thus solving the problem.

I don't believe that the app is malware or stealing ID in any way.


In-app purchases with Google Play don't take place in the app you're purchasing in. The dialog to confirm your password and make your purchase is part of the Play Store app. There's no way for the calling app to see or intercept what you type into it. It's no different to any other app in that respect.

Be careful to only input your password into the real Play Store dialog. As always, the soft keyboard can see anything you type in any app, so you have to trust it not to abuse your password and other sensitive information.


That can be done using AppBrain App Market, an alternative frontend to the Google Play Store. This app a.o. lets you …

exclude apps from updates permanently
skip specific updates (and only be notified when the next update comes)

This way you can exclude stuff from the "batch update" and just have it performed for everything else. You still can update single apps manually. Hint: When using this app, you should disable update notifications from the Google Play Store app, or you'll get notified twice :)

If you like this approach and continue using Appbrain, a suggested additional install would be AppBrain Ad Detector, which integrates here – so you know what to expect before you install an app :)


If you have root, you can install the XPosed Framework and install the Ussd blocker module.


Connecting a HDE keyboard to a Kindle Fire

The USB port is not powered on the Kindle Fire, and thus cannot host USB devices.  So, a wired external keyboard connected directly to your kindle is pretty much out of the question.

What if you were to power the keyboard some other way?

Well... that seemed to be the question this one gentleman asked himself.  He decided that connecting a powered USB 2.0 hub to the kindle, and then connecting the devices to the hub would be the way to go.  He found he needed a USB OTG cable to start the process.  He hooked up the hub, plugged in the mouse, and saw a mouse cursor.  He connected a keyboard, and could type.

So.. that's my advice.  Get yourself a powered USB hub.  Of course, unless you then got creative with supplying power to the hub via a battery pack, you are limited to using the keyboard to wherever you can plug the hub in... but that's still a step in the right direction.


Can't get into Clockworkmod recovery on LG Optimus 2x

I fixed it by flashing ClockWorkMod and the boot image manually. Then, I used the volume down and power buttons to get into it. Now, I'm running Android 4.0.4 ICS again.


How to set a distinctive tone for SMS or phone call from a particular user/ phone #?

Open contacts, tap the name of the contact you want to set the distinctive ringtone, then open action overflow menu (the three dots) and tap "Set ringtone", select a ringtone different to default one and tap OK.


No, it is not possible to use Google Play Games without a Google+ account because much of Google Play Games is social and so it makes sense for it to integrate it with Google+. But if you don't want to use the social side of Google+ but still use Google Play Games, you could create a Google+ account and disable all the social features, make every aspect of your profile private and also disable all social options in Google Play Games too.


Is it possible to reboot the Nexus 4 without root?

I found one solution: adb reboot

This requires connecting the device to a computer, so it's not perfect, but it works pretty well if I just want to reboot it when I go to sleep.


How do I change the default share folder in dropbox?

I think I had the same problem and it was very easy solving this. If you are in the "share" dialog just use the back button of your phone and you are back in the parent folder. Found the solution here. So I hope that also solves your problem!


Oreo 8.0 - How can I bypass root detection for banking app? - Suhide doesn't work

There're apps like VirtualApp, VirtualXposed and Parallel Space that can clone your apps into a "sandbox" environment. I've just tested cloning my root management app SuperSU into VirtualXposed and it didn't detect the device has been rooted.

I guess that banking apps may also fail to detect root, but it's not guaranteed. All those apps can be used free and VirtualApp was open sourced. VirtualXposed won't be available for you because banking apps detect not only root but also xposed.

But anyway keep in mind that sandbox apps are always able to see all app's private data inside it.


What does "Download GPS assisted data only over Wi-Fi networks" really mean?

AGPS uses not only GPS satellites, but also nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi networks to lock onto your phones location, so your location should be more accurate.


Whatsapp has not provided such a feature yet, But you can use whatsapp web on the same browser again again till it's id is kept save in your whatsapp app. You have to scan QR code atleat once to access this feature. Later it may possible to launch OTP or other methods to access whatsapp web.


Getting out of a bootloop

What you want to do is to restore a working system partition.

You have two options available.

Option 1: Flashing a Custom ROM

Your first option is to download a custom ROM on the XDA-developers forum.
Make sure that the rom you've downloaded is for your specific model!
Mount your SDcard and copy your ROM to the device OR use adb and a command prompt to push the file to your SDcard

adb push rom.zip /sdcard

If you have copied the ROM onto your device, go into the Wipe section and wipe the following partitions:

/system
/cache
/dalvik cache

When you are done with wiping, choose Install and select your custom ROM. When done flashing, reboot your device without confirming the root dialogue. ;)

Then you should be good to go with a working system and a pre-rooted ROM.

Option 2: Installing a stock firmware.

Your second option is to flash a stock ROM (samsung).
Wipe the following partitions (should be automatically wiped when flashing with Odin but it won't hurt):

/system
/cache
/dalvik cache

You can download the STOCK ROM from sammobile and follow these instructions (which can also be found on the sammobile download page)

Extract (unzip) the firmware file
Download Odin v3.11.1
Extract Odin ZIP file
Open Odin v3.11.1
Reboot Phone in Download Mode (press and hold Home + Power + Volume Down buttons)
Connect phone and wait until you get a blue sign in Odin
Add the firmware file to AP / PDA
Make sure re-partition is NOT ticked
Click the start button, sit back and wait few minutes

After this procedure your device will be stock again.

So which method to use? I would go for the first option because:

You will be running a rooted custom rom
You don't have to reflash a custom recovery.
It should be done quicker


Clickable phone number with pauses and bridge/extension in calendar event

I found this thread: http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-galaxy-s-iii/297744-calendar-event-how-add-bridge-numbers-easy-dial.html

It looks like you can make a contact with a complex dialing code and then link to that contact as an attendee on the calendar event. Then click the attendee link to dial the number.


Update: Google Play Gift Cards are now widely available in many countries. Thanks to @Chahk for reminding me to update.

Amazon has released their own Android Appstore which allow you to send Amazon gift cards that are redeemable for Android Apps. This requires a few extra steps, but should let you gift what you want to until this function gets added to the original Android Market Google Play Store.


Is it possible to use mobile minutes on a tablet

It depends on the tablet. Not all 3G tablets have the facility to make voice calls (just like a phone), but some do. Some have the hardware and OS support, and you just need to install a dialer app to use it; some don't even have the right hardware. The Nexus 7 in particular doesn't.

You should check with the seller or the manufacturer's website before you choose a device.


Is there any way to make calls ring/vibrate only for specific contacts?

see there i don't know any direct method but we can apply some trick to it.
(i am assuming that we want to make all other calls silenced and only your call can ring or better we can say make sound.)

open voice recorder and record silence. Name that recording as per your convenience.
now go to the settings and change call ringtone to the one you just now recorded and save the change's made.
now go to the dialer and select your contact and now edit your contact info.
(at this you need to be careful as every android device has this feature in different ways) From there in setting's select a special ringtone for your contact

Thus when others call it will sound silenced and when you actually call than it will ring the tone you specifically selected for you.


Download paused in play store and doesn't resume

I too had the same issue and I have gone through several forums for the help.All have suggested the same.

  Clear cache and clear data of the playstore.
  Force stop the playstore.
  Remove and add google account.

I have tried all of the above but not found any good.

But after a lot of trial and error, i have resolved the issue.

Solution is the same as above but the sequence order is very important.

Please follow the exact order given below.

1). Google Playstore - Go to Settings >> Apps>> 'All' tab >> Select Google Playstore - Now Uninstall all updates >>Force stop >> Clear Cache>> Clear Data.

2). Download Manager - Go to Settings >> Apps>> 'All' tab >> Select Download Manager - Force stop >> Clear Cache>> Clear Data.

3). Downloads - Go to Settings >> Apps>> 'All' tab >> Select Downloads - Force stop if the button is active.

4). Remove the google account.

5). Restart the device.

6). Add Google account.

(Assuming you have followed the sequence properly)

In case the above steps don't resolve the issue and you are using Mobile data then follow the below steps

1 > Check your storage space in your phone and ensure required space is available.

2 > Please go to Settings >> Mobile Networks >>Access point Names /APN >> Go to APN Protocol Change it to IPV6 and APN Roaming Protocol to 'IPV4/Ipv6'.


Is there a portable scanner connect to an android phone?

Try to look for Bluetooth scanners. Android supports bluetooth and there is SDK API for it so you could create your own app to receive and process data from scanner.

One such device I could find: http://www.planon.com/products/docupen/xseries


Pending Notifications icons are black and white (no color)

According to the official design guide, notification icons are supposed to be white only.

Some apps do break the rules, so perhaps it's just that you had an app that used to have colourful icons but was updated to bring it into line with the rules.


While your situation appears strange, you could perhaps try Android Data Recovery:

"Android Data Recovery, an incredible tool for recovering, allows you to retrieve Android data such as contacts, text messages, call history, photos, WhatsApp history, videos, audios, documents and restore them back to Android phones of any brand"

http://www.recovery-android.com/android-data-recovery.html

I've never tried that application and can't guarantee if it'll work or not.

From reading this, steps involved on recovering lost data may involve:

stop copying data onto phone or updating to prevent overwriting data you wish to recover.
Enable USB debugging on your Android.
Run the Android Data Recovery and follow on screen instructions.

See link above for more details.


Which phones ship with manufacturer-provided root?

If you buy a nexus phone, You get official instructions from Google on how to root the phone. I'd recommend you hold on a couple of months for the phone that will replace the nexus 4. I have had a nexus 4 for half a year and it's pretty good for the money I paid for it.


cat data.ext4.win??? | tar xvfi -
What this does is concatenate each file matching the pattern data.ext4.win??? and then pipe the concatenated files to tar for extraction. the - as the filename tells tar to extract from stdin. The i option ignores zero blocks which will be in between each archive file concatenated.
In this example I used the ext4 formatted data partition. Change data.ext4 to match the partition you are extracting.
Disclaimer: This has not been tested in a windows environment.

For a less hacky solution found here
for f in data.ext4.win???; do tar xvf "$f"; done
This is a bit simpler without relying on the ignore zeros option of tar to operate properly

Edited to reflect davidgo's comment.
31-Jan-2020 Edited to reflect Code Bling's comments.
17-Feb-2021 Edited to reflect alecxs's comments.


Does Android have support for IPv6 tethering?

It should be available since Android 7. https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/7747fd4/services/core/java/com/android/server/connectivity/tethering/IPv6TetheringCoordinator.java

It's working on my Android 8.1.


1GB/8GB advertised versus 967.5 MB / 5564.6 MB actual .HELP

It is a general rule of thumb that all phones have less space than their advertised capacity. Can't be helped. It's never that big of a difference though.


How to export bookmarks from default android browser?

There are apps that can backup your bookmarks, e.g.

GMarks or TitaniumBackup (needs root).

You could also sync the P500 bookmarks with Google (by default on) and also set up sync for a regular desktop chrome browser (very prominently accessible in the settings).

You should be able to export your bookmarks then.


Connectivity problem on LG Viper LS840 just updated to Ice Cream Sandwich

Apparently my phone is LTE and that's not available where I live, so my cell was working overtime trying to connect and it caused an issue with my data connectivity when I updated to ICS.

I updated my profile, PRL, and clicked off LTE/CDMA to just CDMA and all is running perfectly!


Galaxy S3 Bug: Navigation app crashes when clicking "Start"

After you enter the starting point and destination, the app gives you the possible routes. On that screen the best route has a start navigation option; selecting this causes the app to crash. Instead select the route you prefer and then hit the start arrow at the bottom right corner. Works for me.


How can I auto rotate in Samsung Galaxy?

Where it says "Portrait", clicking in it changes to "Auto rotate"

and then auto-rotation gets active.
Notice that if the phone is rotated using the method mentioned in the question, then one won't see "Portrait" but "Landscape"


I'd recommend giving BubbleUPnP a try. You will need a DLNA/UPnP server on your PC for that, but there are plenty of alternatives available. Then you can use BubbleUPnP as DLNA server and control point. I use it to tell my TV what video to play (TV acts as renderer then, and can be selected from within BubbleUPnP). You can also tell the TV to play media from your Android device, of course – either from BubbleUPnP (as control point), or from your TV browsing it.

Note, however, that for this to work, it has some pre-conditions:

your TV must support DLNA (and ideally act as a media renderer)
you need a DLNA/UPnP server software on your PC (if you're on Windows, I've heard Media Player should do)


Do Apps restart after phone restart once "Force Stop" is enabled for them?

Force stop is a one-off action, not a thing you enable or disable. Force-stopping an app doesn't prevent it restarting any time it would normally start: when you launch it from the apps menu, or through a share action, or automatically via an alarm, broadcast, or on start-up.

The question you link to talks about whether the button is clickable (enabled) or greyed-out (disabled). That's to say, it's about under what circumstances the Force stop button is available for you to click. Force-stopping an app just stops it once, when you click the button. The only long-term effect it has is that force-stopping an app might (in rare cases) corrupt its settings files, making it behave unpredictably in future.


I found if I went in and cleared the Market Data (from settings -> applications), it then let me accept the terms and then started the same browser.  The next time after that, that I clicked on Market, it took me to the proper interface.


Device is showing in device manager but not in Android ADB Interface?

First make sure you have the latest USB drivers for your device installed on your computer. Also make sure that USB Debugging is enabled. If the problem persists, you may try reinstalling the drivers. May I know if you are using adb as sideload to flash roms or other usage?


Regarding the "Error Downloading: insufficient space" error in the Google Play store

I fixed my problem by uninstalling Google Play's updates. After that, all the apps will start to update.


Go to Settings > Accounts and Settings, click on the account that you don't know the password and then click the Remove Account button on the bottom. So next time you open up Android Market you'll be prompted to type in a new account


What does "avoided poor Internet connection" mean?

Poor connection may mean that:

there is either a weak signal from your wifi partner device.
there is much noise from other systems using the same frequency.

Both mean that many data-packets are lost and have to be retransmitted so your overall throughput goes down.

You can compare this with:

somebody is speaking not loud enough
many people are speaking at the same time and it is difficult to understand one person in that noise

If you have interference problems it might help to
change the wifi channel/frequency


Can't find eSIM option on Google Pixel 3

Enabling developer mode made the option miraculously appear.


How can I disable the screen lock password in lollipop?

This works at my device:

Settings -> Security -> Deactivate Administrators. Deactivate anything listed.

Settings -> Security -> Clear credentials.


How to login to Android with Security Key?

Not supported by default in Android 7 nor Android Oreo 8.x.


How to find the screen-size-in-points of a Samsung Galaxy S7

After some more research, I found my answer:  360 x 640, which are the same dimensions as the Galaxy S6, which are the same dimensions as the few preceding Galaxy S models.

But I still don't know what these dimensions are called.  I found three different websites, each giving them a different term:

design.google.com:  "width x height in dp"
mydevice.io/devices:  "CSS width and CSS height"
viewportsizes.com:  "viewport size"


Gingerbread,HoneyComb,ICS ROM for Galaxy S

First of all, do not install HoneyComb on the galaxy s. HoneyComb is designed for tablets, not phones.

Secondy most of the roms on XDA are good, just check the comments and see whats wrong with them.

Check out this post here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1398223 seems pretty legit, only a couple of bugs that hardly matter (check below)

Bugs:

Lockscreen occasionally does not react to touch
Formatting external sd formats internal
Facebook sync pictures are low res(but at least it works)probably not fixable from our end


is AT&T network possible on the Droid a855?

No, the Droid is a CDMA phone.  In general you can assume that phones on Verizon and Sprint won't work on AT&T or T-Mobile, and vice-versa.


How do I swap (reassign) the capacitative hardware keys MENU and BACK on a Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo?

Instructions:

Requires root!

a) Under Cyanogenmod Root activation itself requires the developer menu: Settings > About > Tap "Build number" multiple times until a toast message tells you that the developer menu got activated.
b) Settings > Developer > Root access > Set to: Apps & ADB.
Remark: Apps alone should suffice too, but maybe you want to edit the config file via USB cable from your Desktop.

Modify /system/usr/keylayout/sec_touchkey.kl which requires root:

a) File Manager (ships with Cyanogenmod) > Settings > General > Access mode > Extended
b) Now open that file and exchange 139 with 158 and 158 with 139.
c) Save. You will be prompted for root access. Permit it. You should get feedback that the file was saved. Close the app.
Remark: A lot of tutorials instruct to alter /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl, which on the S3 Neo had no effect. The official documentation makes clear why, it explicitely tells "Do not modify the generic key layout!" and gives applicable instructions for "Capacitive Buttons".

Reboot. Test if your keys work as intended.

For security reasons disable root (See: 1b) if you don't have good reasons to keep it on.
To undo your modification restore the keycodes in sec_touchkey.kl as they were before (See: 2b).


Default mode with USB, charging + USB Tethering?

Is there anyway to make it so that my phone, when connected with a USB Data Cable to a computer automatically turns on USB Tethering?

Yes. Use automation. I successfully tested my solution using Automate v1.1.13 on CM13 (build:ZNH0EAO1QE).

You would need to make a flow and it should fairly look like this:

(Click an image to enlarge it)

Alternatively, you can use Tasker to detect the USB connection and then run this command with root access:

service call connectivity 30 i32 1


How to remove Cyanogenmod from Sony Xperia Z?

There's no such thing as "CM bootloader" - a CM installation only writes a new /boot (kernel) and /system.

Since you are explicitly looking to return to stock, FlashTool is still your best bet. Find the latest stock ROM for your variant and region using XperiFirm, generate a .ftf format file with what you downloaded using Flashtool with the guide here, then flash away.


Is there any way, how to make dualboot on android device?

There was a few apps in early android day's, but it takes too much memory..

You're better off just using a nan droid backup and restore between systems !

If you just swap system and boot, it'll be quicker and you can work on as many ROMs as you want !

I used to run CM9 CM11 and CM12 when i was still working out CM 12


Samsung galaxy s3 being slow and getting hot

It all depends the way you use your phone(more no of dents rough and tough use), The no of years of service of your battery.(the last time you changed your battery as recommended). Just follow these steps

Just try to avoid pro-longed usage of the device for gaming or
streaming videos or doing multi-tasking(streaming high definition
videos, parallel texting and downloading content all at once)
As this tends the battery to get heated up. Normally it should not
get the heat for just 1-1.5 hours of gaming
If your usage is more then you need to reduce it or else just
take your cell phone to any authorised Service Centre and get you
phone checked for the problems of heat and battery


Anyone have an alternative dowload site for a fastboot binary?

The Replicant Project builds tools with every release; you can find their tools here (go down the directory tree in a path like replicant-2.3/preview/0002/tools/), along with notes about which git version was used for the source. Go one directory up and read COPYING for details.

Note: They only offer Linux builds.

Source code is here.


Using Android only with Outlook and not Google Calendar

Have a look at Sync Calendar. With the right settings I think it can accomplish what you want. If it's not what you're looking for you can try Outlook Mobile Calendar but it only has 3.5 (EDIT: 2) stars.


Make google searches and "Ok, google" open in broswer, not Google "App"

You need to open Google app. Then go to Settings > Accounts & privacy > Open web pages in the Google app.

Turn the above toggle off and you can open the web pages from search result in your choice of browser. You are forced to install Chrome before but once that's done, any browser will handle the webpage to display the results.

For results:

I'm not sure of an alternative to the Ok Google. But for the widget or search bar at the homescreen, it is better to use the search widget from Chrome or Firefox instead of relying on the Google app widget. In that case, your search (not just webpages) will entirely open in your browser.


Device update triggers factory reset and completly locks user out

Called both android and huawei support. Neither of them was helpful. Both insisted that this shouldn't happen, althou the google support said he once had a similar case from a huawei consumer. Both suggested to delete the phone from list of devices in the google account. That didn't work and neither could tell why it didn't and how it could have helped.

Huawei accepted it as a repair case. The phone is still in the warranty period, so i hope for a replacment phone.


Completely change home screen on Android TV

So this is how I solved it for my particular TV (A Bravia KJ-65X8500D running Android 5.1.1)

First off I found a 3rd party homescreen program called HAL Launcher which I installed. It works as an app but it's not the app the home button on the remote goes to. It has the option to make it so but that option stopped working android 5 something.

To solve that problem I downloaded and installed Android Studio from Google.

Then I followed these instructions for connecting my computer to the TV. They can be summarized as follows

Enable Developer mode

Press Home and select Settings.
In the TV rowselect About.
Scroll down to and click on Build seven times until  "You are now a developer" appears. (note: at 5 clicks a different message will appear. Keep clicking
Press Home (do NOT skip this step)

Enable ADB Debugging

Select Settings
In the System Preferences row, select Developer options
Select Debugging
Select ADB Debugging
Select On.

Get the IP address of your TV

Press Home
select Network Settings.
Pick wifi or wired and note the IP address

Connect ADB

Make sure your TV and your computer are connected to the same local network.
On your computer type

adb connect <TV IP address>:5555

For example my TV's address was 10.0.0.13 so I typed

adb connect 10.0.0.13:5555

The TV will ask if it's ok for your computer to connect. Select Always allow from this computer and select OK.

Hide Leanback

Now that adb is connected you can hide the launcher

This part I got from here.

On your computer type

adb shell pm hide com.google.android.leanbacklauncher

If you want to undo it type

adb shell pm unhide com.google.android.leanbacklauncher

NOTE: if adb is not in your path find in on your computer (it's installed with Android Studio) and cd to that folder then use ./adb or .\adb on windows

At this point HAL Launcher comes up when I press the HOME button on my remote which means the offensive ads are gone! YAY!


You can try to erase the device from Andriod Device manager at

http://www.android.com/devicemanager

Note that this will work only if:

The phone has your account still logged in
The phone is connected to the internet at the time of sending the erase request or after. [Wifi or Mobile Network]
the new user hasn't reset the device.


Fastboot detects phone in the fastboot mode but not when phone is on

Fastboot images have to be stored on the PC where you execute the fastboot command not on the device.

Therefore the common process is:

PC: Download the image to be flashed
Boot the device into bootloader/fastboot mode
Connect the device to the PC via USB
Execute on the PC fastboot flash <target_partition> <path to the image on the PC>

Flashing firmware images that are stored as image file on the device is usually a job for a recovery ROM such as TWRP.


Add new Locale on android 2.2 HTC Wildfire phone

The easiest method is probably to install a UK ROM.  If you don't want to root or use a custom ROM, you can probably find a stock one.  I recommend searching XDA.


status bar with icons to simulate home or power button press

You always can install Button Savior on rooted ROMs (however I'm not aware if it has compatibility problems with some). It worths a try, because it's free (but also has a pro version to purchase).

It allows you to add hardware keys of your phone as virtual software keys on any location of the screen. So you can easily trigger home or back keys just by touching their icons on screen, even on full-screen apps and games.


how to enable Android apps to browse user mount points in /mnt

Through my research, I couldn't find a way to create a symbolic link in '/sdcard' (my android internal storage) from /mnt/routersd (mountpoint to //192.168.x.x/sdcard); as filesystem for /sdcard in android doesn't support symbolic links.

I also tried busybox mount -o bind /mnt/routersd/ /sdcard/mylink but mylink couldn't be browsed by the said apps (those apps find mylink as an empty directory).

Eventually, I created the symbolic link in my external sdcard, namely sdcard1 (NTFS v3.1), successfully (recent NTFS versions support symbolic links); as follows :
busybox ln -s "/mnt/routersd/" "/storage/sdcard1/mylink"

As Adobe Reader, WPS Office, and many other apps can browse into external sdcard, mylink can be visible in their dicrectory list happily. Now, I can successfully browse my remote files and work on them from within the said apps.


How can I use an NFC tag to unlock my device

This can be done since Lollipop with the help of Play Services.

Go Settings > Security > Trust Agents
Enable Smart Lock (Google)
Go Settings > Security > Smart Lock > Trusted Device > Add trusted device > NFC

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/6093922?hl=en-GB


If an Android device is stole and wiped, does it stay connected to your Google+ Account/Dashboard?

If the stolen device is wiped, then your phone will disconnect from your Google account and you will not be able to locate it. It will stay as an entry on Android Device Manager, but you will not be able to locate or access it in any way.

If you believe your phone has been stolen, you should contact your carrier immediately as they have your IMEI on record and can try to locate it. If that doesn't help, try looking on local Craigslist or eBay listings.


Samsung OTA Update is published but the update is not yet available on my phone

The time that it takes to receive the update on your phone can take some time because it will vary per device.
If Samsung will let everyone update their phone at the same time when the update is available then their servers will crash because everyone is downloading the update at the same time.
To solve this problem you can update your phone with Samsung Kies. Just follow the steps below:

  Note: This will require a PC with  Windows or Mac.

Download Samsung Kies from their official website here: Samsung Kies Download
Now install Samsung Kies
When finished installing, connect your phone to your PC with an USB cable.
Wait till the device is recognized by Samsung Kies.
Now Samsung Kies should give a notification that there is an OTA update available.
Do not disconnect your phone while it is installing the update!
Enjoy your updated Samsung phone.


Risks of removing the stock browser on LineageOS

I ended up going ahead and just removed the Jelly browser – initially manually by using TWRP's file manager and later – since it came back when I updated the system afterwards (duh) – using a handy flashable zip that I got from LOSdiet. So far, so good. Everything seems to work fine.

As for WebView, the Android System WebView entry in the developer settings is still there, so I suppose WebView is not tied to the Jelly.apk. Indeed, the LOSdiet site github.io page as well as the old CyanogenMod "barebones" wiki page indicate that the default (pre-installed) WebView is a separate .apk.


For Galaxy Nexus these are different builds:

takju: devices sold through the Play Store in the US. Contains the Google Wallet aplication.
yakju: devices sold through Google outside the US.
yakjuxw: devices sold by Samsung.

If you buy yakjuxw I would recommend that you update to yakju with factory images provided by Google.

This way you will get the updates in time.

I wasn't aware that there are similar builds for the Nexus 7.


Since those downloaded video files are in the .exo format, even if you do manage to transfer them to PC (which I don't think is too easy either), You cannot usually change a file extension (like the EXO file extension) to one that your computer recognizes and expect the newly renamed file to be usable.

Having said that, you may want to try few options mentioned in this link.

And since those download files are stored on to internal storage of your device, most likely to something similar to below path:

  Internal
  storage/Android/data/com.google.android.youtube/files/Offline/(system
  generated folder name)/streams

And, you will not be able to move those to additional extra space such as sd-card.

Remember, for offline feature, YouTube controls access to the offline file.

The permission is controlled on their server per account basis, to access those downloaded files.


Is it possible to connect the Google TV remote with an Android tv-box like Minix?

This is highly subjective in the context of hardware/software hacking.

MiniX indeed uses the Android platform (judging by their website), however, it is a dedicated set top-box and maybe the protocol for talking to the remote is different to one of Google TV kind.

Have the crowd behind it, shared some source code or protocol specifications?

Might be worth checking around on forums to see if anyone has hacked the top-box that can do so.

Its a gamble having said that but it does sound fun trying to get the Google TV remote to work with it :)


How to root Micromax Canvas HD A116 device running Android 4.2.1?

You can root it easily by using the Framaroot application. Here is a link to the XDA thread, where you can find more information on the app http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/framaroot/root-framaroot-one-click-apk-to-root-t2130276


MP3 tags in Hebrew show up in gibberish on my phone

It seems that the problem was the encoding that Windows Media Player used.  It uses the Windows Hebrew code-page (1255).  I used foobar2000 with the Chacon plugin to change it to the Mac Hebrew code-page (10005) which seems to be supported by my phone.


Migrate Between Different Phones with Apps & Data on MicroSDHC

This is not the Symbian era anymore, where you can have all data on an external storage and move it freely. App data resides in /data/data (which you can't access without root access) in internal storage, even if you have the apps themselves moved to SD card.

Move non-app data (e.g. media files, documents) off your SD card, have it formatted, then move them back. The card is then ready to be used as a storage only - most if not all Android 7.x phones do not offer the "move apps to SD" option anymore.

As of app data, use apps like Titanium Backup (root required) or Helium (no root required) to back them up on the old device and restore them on the new.

Note to others: it's been a while since I conducted cross-major-version backups myself (I usually wipe clean and start over), and specifically I've never used Google's cloud backup solution. Feel free to point out mistakes or make edits.


Spontaneously deleting e-mails from Galaxy III

POP is primarily a client-based protocol, meaning that the default behavior is for each client (your phone in this case, perhaps Outlook on a PC at home) to download messages from the server. This means that the first client that connects to your account with take all email messages it sees. Then, subsequent checks by other clients won't be able to find anything on the server because all those new messages are now stored only in the first client. POP clients can be configured to "leave a copy of messages on the server," which is highly recommended if you want to use POP on multiple clients/devices.

This sounds like you've got one or more clients connecting to your account that aren't set to "leave a copy of messages on the server," which means they're stealing messages out from under your phone. From your phone, this would look like they're disappearing. The easiest way to test this is to change your email account's password, then only put that updated password in your account on your phone. If the mail stops "deleting" then you can use a process of elimination to identify the culprit client.


External SD card problems - how do I go back to device storage?

There is an option "forget SD storage" in Settings > Storage. Clicking that restored device storage, and all seems to work normally.


Possible to set custom ringtones for Nexus 5 contact groups?

As a Nexus 5 owner I was not able to do without a specialized 3rd party app (I used Group Ringtone:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/group-ringtones/com.appventive.groupring). This feature seems to be missing in Android.


Is there any way to stop Android from changing "I want $5.00" into "I want$ 5.00"?

The problem is with Stock keyboard app/service. It can't be fixed by normal means. Simply, use third-party soft keyboard apps viz. SwiftKey, Go Keyboard EX, A.I. Type Keyboard, Hacker's Keyboard etc.


Can an Android device be locked down by an administrator?

Yes indeed.  Android 2.2 and higher supports Microsoft Exchange security policies as well as administrator applications.


Make sure that you use the QR reader build in Whatsapp and not an separated app.
You can access the QR reader in Whatsapp by entering the menu at the main screen.
If Whatsapp Web doesn't show up in the menu list then you either haven't installed the latest version of Whatsapp or you have to reboot your device in order to make it appear in the menu.


How to recover data from LGE Nexus 4 running on Android Version 4.4.2?

Here's a couple of things that might help,

A regular factory reset does not wipe the sdcard partition. Things such as pictures and whatsapp messages should be restorable when you just install the relevant apps again.
If you are a Gmail user, just sign in again and it will automatically resync. If you are using a corporate email account or general mail app, and if the email was setup using IMAP, the messages should still be sitting on the server and  adding the email account again should sync the messages back. If the setup used POP, then you might be out of luck here.
By default the contacts on your phone sync with Google if you were signed in to the phone. Signing in again should sync those back as well.

Good luck!


You shouldn't need to long tap the notification bar, just tap and swipe down.


How can access on an android device be restricted to applications or widgets on the home screen only?

It turned out that there's a solution without using additional apps, at least on 4.4.4.

Settings -> Users -> Add user or profile -> Restricted profile.

From there, it's just like an app locker, where the apps that should be accessible are turned on. Once the restricted profile is active, the apps that are not active are just not visible in the apps list.

The best thing about about this is that it's a built-in solution that doesn't require questionable permissions granted to an app.

Negatives: the main settings app can't be restricted for some reason and the system apps that are supposedly disabled, suddenly become active, which is particularly bad as the description for the feature says that it restricts access to apps from your account, so you'd have to do it all over again.

Advanced: Restrict Me module for Xposed is supposed to enable turning off settings as well. Not tested.


Why Android device screen rotate only in Portrait and Landscape orientation?

Some phones do not support 180° rotation because it is not supported by the rom. A lot of manufacturers prevent 180° rotation I believe for sake of simplicity. Theoretically, you only need one landscape mode and one portrait mode for basic functionality.

To fix this 'problem' you could install a custom rom that supports 180° rotation. Alternatively, you could root your phone, install the Xposed framework, and install a module that will enable all rotations. I have also heard that there are apps that let you do this but I have not used any myself and therefore cannot confirm if they work or not.


Google Voice missing from app drawer after upgrading to ICS

If you to Settings --> Apps --> All, is it in the list of applications?  If so, click on it, click Uninstall, and then try to reinstall it from the market.

It's also possible that the market is incorrectly showing it as installed.  If this is the case, try going to Settings --> Apps --> All --> Market, click Force Stop, then Clear data.  The open the market again and see if Google Voice is still listed as installed, and if not, install it.


Depends on your Android version. But go to Settings -->Apps--> Choose App-->Notifications-->And then chose option like Calls, Messages and so on.
I think that this is better than app blocker, becaose most app blockers will completly block apps and messages and this methond will only give you no notification and it takes 15 seconds.


for 99% of devices, you have to have a custom recovery image installed on the device in order to install CyanogenMod. And usually, to do that you have to have the device rooted. So you have to have a rooted device before you can install cyanogenmod.

CyanogenMod comes rooted and yes, it is an android release. Rooting a device, while it will void your warranty, is not really that "bad". Think of it like having access to the administrator account on your PC as opposed to a "limited user" account.

You also have to keep in mind that CyanogenMod does not work on all android devices. You can only install it on devices that are supported.


How can I remove the SIM lock from a Samsung Galaxy S?

To unlock your phone, use GalaxSim Unlock.

You need root for this app. If you don't have root, the app will give you instructions on how to root your phone.


Well, head on over to XDA-Developers and look for your phone.  If they have it there in the developer forums, you will probably be able to solve your problem with some research.

To get useful answers, you need to supply more information about your device.  What model is it?  Nexus 5,6, Pixel?  One of the Samsung or Lenovo phones?  HTC?  What version/patch level is on your phone?  Is the bootloader unlocked?  Do you have a custom recovery?

Armed with this information, coupled with an active XDA developer forum, and you should be okay.  There will be at least one post of the stock firmware for your device of one or more versions.  If you have the exact same on your phone, you can flash the system and you're set, though I'd consider doing it all after you backup your data.
{edit:  I just saw the "lenovo" tag on the post, so you're likely on a Moto X, G, or Z.  You will find a robust developers' forum over on XDA. }


My headphones wont work when i use with with my LG

It's very likely there's something wrong with the 3.5mm jack. My brother had the same problem, he'd have to replace the jack but it was better to just replace the phone since it was an older one.

Test the headphones with some other music device, like an MP3 or radio and see if the same problem persists. This way you can be sure there's nothing wrong with your headphones.


How can I find out the developer of an app from its APK file?

A "non-techy way" would be, given the package_name, doing a web search on it. Chances are it's available on some store, which then would give you the developer's name.

A different way is, as indicated by ottucsak's answer, extracting it from the certificate. The way to do that is described here, and basically involves the following steps:

unpack the .apk file. As that's a .zip in its structure, unpacking would mean unzipping.
use keytool to view the certificate:
keytool -printcert -file META-INF\CERT.RSA
in the output, check for the "Owner" and "Issuer" lines.


I was under the impression (before stumbling upon this solution) that the notification system was a part of the secured Android system, and would only be available for modification while rooted or modded.

This little application, Notification Toggle, gives you the power of notification power widgets without root privileges!

As far as graphical and design changes, the most likely solution is a custom ROM, and you will most likely not be able to do this without rooting and flashing a ROM.

Note: this app does not seem to enable you to change the lookout of the notification bar, which, upon second reading of the question, sounds like most of what you are looking for. i was excited about this app, so i felt compelled to share it, but i don't believe it allows for cosmetic changes to the notification bar :/ sorry!


Accessing favorite/hearted images when choosing an image with Samsung's Gallery app

You can reach you installed gallery from within WhatsApp by either longpressing the "gallery"-button within the attachement-menu or by clicking it, then clicking the three dots in the upper right corner.

Old Answer with the assumption, that you were asking for WhatsApp-Favorites:

The starred messages are no seperate folder in the gallery, but a list within WhatsApp.
To get to this list follow these steps:
1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Tap More options. (The three dots)
3. Tap "Starred messages".


How can I assign a picture for a name-only text sender

I know the types of messages you are talking about. I do not have HTC Sense, but I have had Touchwiz, LG (don't know what they call their version of Android), AOSP (CyanogenMod) and here is what I found and have been able to add a picture to these contacts this way.

When these message come in, they do in fact have a number. They have a Short Code. I get messages from T-Mobile every month from 456 to tell me they are going to take money from me.

I added a contact, then set the number to be the Short code. Then I edit the contact as I see fit. Change the user profile image, add additional numbers, websites, etc.

122 & 129 are message that are sent by the T-Mobile Visual Voicemail service


tablet won't permanently keep or remove apps

It sounds like you have a tablet with locked system/data. Kind of like a PC with deep freeze, you can make changes but they are reset after a reboot.

You may have just made an unlucky purchase as many cheapo tablets will do this as a sort of self-protection.

What is likely happening is the system reverts to a copy of the image stored in flash so fixing it is going to require finding wherever the source copy is.

The md5 file error likely means the original copy is corrupt. This is the tough way to learn to avoid cheapo tablets because when something goes wrong you are usually SoL.

Depending on the tablet, you may be able to:

unlock the bootloader
install custom recovery
find a compatible rom and flash it

I'd recommend you just cut your losses, sell it as defective on Craigslist or something similar, and use that money to put towards a decent tablet.


how can I transfer my photos from glaxaxy s4 to pc?

If you don't have any passcode to your phone, attaching the phone to your PC with a USB cable will enable you to transfer the photos to your PC.

Also, if you had set the default storage of photos to the micro SD card then attaching the micro SD card to your PC via a reader will let you transfer the photos back.


You need the binary image of recovery and ROM
Now start in fastboot mode
Flash the recovery
Then flash the ROM

The recovery and ROM can found on manufacturer's website. However, it is a good idea to try to claim the warranty as it's still 2 months, though I think they will not fix it as you have rooted your device.

Issue the following commands on the terminal:

fastboot devices
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash system rom.img
fastboot flash reboot


Keyboard shortcut to switch languages with a Logitech K480 or MK270?

on K480 try holding "right shift" and use "right ctrl" to toggle languages


Easy question: How do I search for apps on my S3?

Press and hold the menu button (button to the left of the physical home button). It will launch google now and if you enter the first letter of the name of an app it should start listing those apps, at least it does it on my galaxy s3.


My screen got broken, how to see on the computer what I'm doing in my device?

You don't have to continue working blindly, you can use Droid@Screen: it shows the screen of a real or emulated Android device on a computer running Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

Droid@Screen is a stand-alone Java Swing GUI application that shows the screen of an Android device on a computer. Its author says that its typical usage is showing an app demo or during training, but it also fits your case.

In order to use it, you need the following to be installed in your computer:

Java 6 (at least)
Android SDK, installed and configured.
Environment variable ANDROID_HOME (or ANDROID_SDK_HOME) pointing to the Android SDK installation directory. (Optional)
USB driver for the target Android device installed.

Note: USB Debugging must be enabled on your device. (Thanks @JasonC for the heads up)

I have been using it with my Galaxy Nexus and I must say that despite a little lag between what happens in the phone and what is displayed in the computer screen (2-4 s), it does what it says. You don't even need to be rooted for that!

You can download it from the author's site, where you also can watch a complete video and text instructions about its installation and usage.


How to know if a side-loaded app is safe?

It is difficult to know whether an APK is safe or not. Your best bet is to download from trusted or reputable sources (like Google Play, Amazon, etc).

Some (trusted) developers also provide an MD5 (or other message-digest algorithm) hash of their APKs. After your download the APK, you verify if the APK has the same hash. If it does, then it's safe to say it hasn't been tampered with.

You can also check the permissions required by the APK / app, and use common sense (or your own judgement / instinct) to tell if it's safe to install or not.

BOTTOMLINE: Always install from trusted sources. Stay away from pirated APKs; it's possible they may have malware.


Lowering the brightness of the camera flash

This question was asked over at StackOverflow HERE

Basically, the answer is No. The OS is limited to pretty much just FLASH_ON and FLASH_OFF. Though I have seen some flashlight/torch apps that have a 'turbo' mode that makes the LED even brighter (but that's not what you want and these types of apps usually require ROOT access).

Another workaround is to remove the back cover, put a small piece of tissue paper over the LED (make sure the paper is still big enough to be held in place with the back-cover back on) and put the cover back on.


How can I remove the battery from my Samsung P1000?

Like it was pointed out, the Galaxy Tab wasn't designed in a way for it's battery to be easily removed. Here's a video on removing the case and exploring what's inside. Hope this helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urGUKerJOhg


htc g1 cannot discover/connect to a 802.11 n/b/g wifi

I had the same issue with my HTC Hero.  I never got around to fixing it but I remember reading that the router needs to be forced to stay in b/g mode.

Check this post seems to confirm that idea:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-492536.html


Maybe try OTG Troubleshooter first to check if your setup is working:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homesoft.otgtroubshooter

It will check if your device supports 'usb host mode', if your OTG cable is working and if a mass storage device is found.


Will Honeycomb get an update to add email search (Xoom)?

To address your question in the comments: Star this issue and perhaps leave a comment. Hopefully Google will take notice and improve the email app!

In the meantime, though, I do suggest using a third-party app.  Depend on your company's rules, you could even create a secondary Gmail account and either have your work emails forwarded to it or have Gmail grab mail from your work account via POP3 or IMAP, and then you could use the Gmail app for search.


There's a  setting under  accessibility options for mono audio.  I  haven't tried it yet,  but it may be what you want.


Reinstall default apps on Galaxy S3 before updating to Jelly Bean

Depending on what network you are on the official OTA update may be your easiest answer. When I updated my razr m  from ICS to JB 4.1 on verizon with the offical JB OTA update, none of my data was lost, didn't have to reload any apps, or reset options.

Also when you clear your user data your phone may automatically re-download apps that you previously had. In my case when I cleared my user data to root my phone, it re-downloaded all the apps I had before the clear but unfortunately the options for the apps were reset.

You may want to try clearing only your cache first (that will not erase any contacts or apps) and try reinstall again.


Where are the default wallpapers in the upgrade of Android to 4.4.2?

Wallpapers often comes bundled with the application (inside the APK file), and usually, those apps are launcher apps. It appears that previously your default as well as stock launcher had those wallpapers. Now that the update has been installed, that launcher has been replaced or updated (in any case the APK is new) too, so your best bet is to find the launcher APK which comes with your previous version of Android.

You can locate the APK inside the stock ROM (if you've one, or download it).


How to turn off Viber's new SMS income message notification

Go to viber, in the bottom corner you should see 3 lines stacked on top of one another (Menu) click on it, then click on Settings, then on Calls and Messages, and you should find that option.


I face the same problem on my Galaxy S Advance. I have 0.5GB remaining, but apps won't install.
I have very less reputation, hence I can't comment.
You may try the treatment by the Clean Master app, though I doubt its effectiveness in solving your (OUR) problem.


I can't install or update Apps from Play Store: Error 905. How to fix?

Uninstalling all Play Store (Market) App updates fixed it for me.

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> All tab -> Google Play Store and uninstall the updates. This will leave you with an older version of the app, which is probably named "Market". Then you should be able to install or update apps. After a while, the Play Store update will be installed once again, but you still will be able to install or update Apps.


How can I enable mobile data periodically with Tasker?

A quite close profile is described at Tasker-Profile (Google-Translate English variant here). I will try to give an abstract here:

Basic Data On/Off

Tasks

You will need two tasks for this:

enable mobile data:

Net -> Auto Sync (set ON)
Net -> Mobile Data (set ON)

disable mobile data:

Net -> Auto Sync (set ON)
Net -> Mobile Data (set ON)

You may probably skip the "Auto Sync" part (especially if Wifi comes into play), I mentioned it just for completeness. Also, the Tasker -> PSAFE variable can be utilized to check whether the device is in power-safe mode (~ 1) or not (!~ 1).

Conditions

These are the harder part. As for screen on/off, it's easy: Event -> Display -> Display unlocked for active display, Event -> Display -> Display off for display being switched off. The harder part is to check for still running transfers -- I don't know how to do this explicitly, but it probably can be done implicitly via above mentioned %PSAFE Tasker variable: With a running transfer, the device is less likely to be in power-safe mode. You probably need to experiment with this. Connect these conditions with the appropriate tasks to create profiles.

Periodical Checks

For these you need to add a variable to above tasks: %LCD, giving us the state of the display. So in Variable -> Variable Set Name=%LCD -- in 1. set to 1 (on), in 2. to 0 (off). Now create an additional profile:

Time: Repeat 15min
State -> Variable Value %LCD ~ 0
State -> Variable Value %PSAFE ~ 1

So it runs all 15min, but only when the display is turned off and power-safe active. We also need an additional Task:

Net -> Mobile Data: ON
Net -> Auto Sync: ON
Tasker -> Wait: 1min
Net -> Auto Sync: OFF
Net -> Mobile Data: OFF

Adjust to your needs.

Checking for possible transfers in progress

Again, I'm not sure how to check whether there's an ongoing transfer. A possible solution can be found in Google Groups, but I couldn't verify this. Though, as you might want to try it out, this is the basic extract:

  It's a Profile I created on my Droid to experiment with the concept of watching 3G traffic levels.

Profile: Net Traf 3G (62)
Priority: 2 CoolDown: 0
Time:  Every 10m
State: Mobile Network [ 2G:On 3G:On 3G - HSPA:On 4G:On ]
Enter: Read3gTraf (63)
A1: Test [Type:File Name Data:/sys/class/net/ppp0 Store Result In:%tg_exists Continue     Task After Error:On]
A2: Read Line [File:/sys/class/net/ppp0/statistics/rx_bytes Line:1 To Var:%TG_RX] Read Line [ %tg_exists Is Set ]
A3: Variable Set [Name:%TG_RX_CHG To:%TG_RX-%TG_RX_OLD Do Maths:On Append:Off]
A4: Variable Set [Name:%TG_RX_OLD To:%TG_RX Do Maths:Off Append:Off]
A5: Stop [With Error:Off] Stop [ %SCREEN ~ off ]
A6: Variable Set [Name:%TG_RX_RATE To:ceil(%TG_RX_CHG/1024) Do Maths:On Append:Off]
A7: Notify [Title:3g traffic active Text:%TG_RX_RATE kb since last check Icon:<icon> Number:0 Permanent:Off]

  %TG_RX_RATE will contain the kb received in the last 10 minutes, and can be used in a Context condition.
  If my phone is just sitting around, the background level network traffic is less than 20 kb per minute.  Surfing the web, it's 100 kb or way more per minute.  Your mileage may vary.
  Since /sys is really a virtual folder, the /sys/class/net/ppp0 folder only exists when the 3G interface is turned on.  When I turn on wifi, the dir /sys/class/net/tiwlan0 is created instead.
  (So by changing the dir path, I can also watch wifi traffic too.)


Light sensor values differes from device to device - are the readings reliable?

Light sensor is sensitive to angle from light source too.
Make sure that your two phones have same angle from the light source.


When you are all rooted and unlocked install minimal adb and fastboot, then connect your phone. Open the winshell and type

adb devices

to check, if you are properly connected. Adb's output should be your phone ID. Then make sure you have the boot.img placed in your adb folder then type

fastboot flash boot boot.img

EDIT:

Grant superuser-access and wait. Then try to boot in recovery.

Then you should load Framaroot http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/framaroot/root-framaroot-one-click-apk-to-root-t2130276 to your phone and start with choosing aragiorn This should root phone and install supersu. After doing that unlock your bootloader and flash recovery. When you use Windows 8 try to reboot holding shift, choose the problem related menu entry and reboot. Then choose option 7 (will turn off driver signature) reinstall driver and try again.

Had the same issue with my adb and phone driver (xperia z2) on my windows 8 machine.


Does deleting your Android apps data delete your personal files?

Clearing an app data DO delete files from your phone. Becuase those files are associated directly with the apps that you are deleting. Any other files which are not AUTOMATICALLY created by the app being deleted will not be deleted when you clear an app's data.

So, go ahead and feel free to delete an app's data. But be careful deleting an app's data actually resets that app into a freshly installed app state. And if you delete the Google app's data chances are that you might lose some bookmarks, history or any preferences you have set previously.


How does Android measure connectivity state?

All of the information about it is pretty vague. Probably because they don't want people attacking a particular Google server.

For instance, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners manual has this to say:

  Note: Network status icons turn blue if you have a Google Account added to
  your tablet and the tablet is connected to Google services for syncing
  your Gmail, Calendar events, contacts, backing up your settings, and
  so on. If you do not have a Google Account or if, for example, you are
  connected to a Wi-Fi network that is not connected to the Internet, the
  network icons are gray.


Capture stock rom from samsung galaxy s3

Easiest way would probably be to use Clock Work Mod or TWRP or some other recovery to create a snapshot of his phone as it is now. Then you can simply flash back to his phone as it was.

This will back up his current ROM with all his apps, settings, etc. If you want a clean factory image, then do a factory restore on the phone and then back that up with a recovery.

You might want to do both:

Backup as is now, with apps, settings and all, then factory restore and backup again. This way you can restore either to his phone as it is now, or to clean stock. But that's up to you.

A very good tool for managing all this is JRummy's ROM Toolbox (there is a lite version also, not sure what is left out in the lite version).


aha, found it:

under apps -> settings -> connections, I can turn overall use of Wi-Fi on or off.

Then if I select "More networks", I get this screen:

and I can turn on or off "Wi-Fi Calling".

Tmobile has a note about it here: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-5864


Simple To-Do widget that syncs between phones

Remember the milk. (RTM)

At least adding a todo from the widget is possible. You can use the widget to open the list of todos the widget is configured to display and then delete / mark as complete tasks.

You can share tasks with other RTM users (i.e. your wife). Tasks don't automatically go away from the widget (unless you configure it explicitly via a smart list).


You would need to enable USB host mode on your xoom. Google this for some more details on this - you will need a rooted xoom; there will also be links to USB OTG (on the go) cables that will let you use this (most of them seem to be micro-USB to USB female, into which you would then need to plug your normal USB cable).

I don't know if this USB OTG configuration would actually charge your phone - some USB OTG don't provide power at all.

Copying files would work on this really easily (I think that's what it's generally been done for), but network may be a little trickier - it would rely on the xoom having the usb network drivers for your N1, which it might not (in that case you'd need to compile the drivers/kernel modules for your xoom, where it starts to get messy :-/ )


Very high battery drain by Android OS, Android System, and Screen in Samsung Galaxy Note 3 running Lollipop

This can be caused by numerous things.
Do you have any background sync going on? e.g. Google sync, few email account and so on?

Don't sync every 5 min, try to increase the sync interval to 30 min e.g.

Do you have a bad signal reception most of the times?

It can help to change to 2G network if thats the case.

Some other tips:
Try apps like "Greenify". It works even when you are not rooted and can terminate background processes when you don't need them.
The last thing you can do is to perform a factory reset and see if that changes anything. But you'll loose all of your data.
An other option would be to try a second battery and see if that one performs better.

I hope one of these advices can help you a little bit.


Device does not boot after crash without power plug

Problem solved: the reason was a defect in the battery. There was a small crack over the side of the battery. It was replaced by the shop where I bought the Phone last year.


Can android applications communicate with USB device directly?

I never tried it but applications can access USB through the following API since android 3.1.
To confirm this there are devices with infrared that you plug to USB in your phone to use it as universal remote control.


How to disable OTA update of some specific apps?

If you are rooted, you can use Titanium Backup and Freeze the system app named "Software Update MUC". This prevents the phone from self checking for updates and the notifications will stop.


How to find the app that causes crashes?

As can be seen in this video from the Google I/O conference, in Jelly Bean applications can no longer read the system log for other applications, they can only read their own log. This has broken most (all?) system log readers, here's a blog post from a developer of such an application talking about how it has affected his application.

The only way to have an app read other apps system log entries when using Jelly Bean is to root the phone.

Although other apps can't read the log files it is apparently possible to do it from the PC, try giving LogShark a go.


Many others have had this problem and have overcome it by loading the Persist app from Google Play:

Audio management made easy - Persist puts you in complete control of your audio with a variety of volume controls and settings.

Presets
Volume Locker - Prevent volume changes
Silent and vibrate modes

...


According to this page the original stats are this:

INPUT (AC): 100-240V, 50/60Hz
OUTPUT (DC): 5V, 1.8A

Here's an image:

The newer charger is 9V and 1.8A.


If you are not running a custom ROM and you haven't modified the phone in any way, and a factory reset did not help, you should hand it in if it's still under warranty. This kind of behavior after a factory reset could be caused by a hardware issue.

If you are out of support, you might want to try rooting your phone to check if this behavior goes away on other roms.


How well do animated GIFs work on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer?

So I couldn't wait and went out and bought one. Turns out GIFs work relatively well. All of them animate. However, too heavy a page can really bog down performance. Tumblr, for instance, only works well if I turn off unlimited scrolling. With only one or two GIFs on the page, they animate well. With a large page, GIFs will animate, but slowly while skipping some frames.

All in all, it's a usable experience.


How to get ALPHA symbol using Google keyboard?

If you have superuser(root) access, install xposed framework. Search for an xposed module called 'Google Keyboard Custom Smilies' (GKCS) and install it. Open GKCS app and add 'α' symbol in it. You can use your own labels for inputs.


It all depends on how far your ex went with installing unwanted software on your device.
In most cases a factory restore would remove unwanted software.
Just make sure to copy your important data (photos/messages/etc.) somewhere else before doing it.


How do I customize the look/feel of my lock screen?

Try WidgetLocker, it's very customizable and my favorite.


Cache partition wont write correctly - might be damaged.

Rooted? TWRP?

latest twrp's have fsck (disk check)

Else wise, I have no idea what ur runnin.


How to prevent my Google account from acting like it's from the US?

Try accessing via Czech Republic - proxy and then try again. Good luck.

edit: Login with your credentials via proxy from Czech Republic and hope that the price will be different from the US price.


Somehow managed to get king root to work...

King root was the original rooting tools I used, and after the change in the build.prop it stopped working. It seems be fine now, tough.


Reasonable OneNote alternative for Android

Evernote
I consider Evernote to be the closest alternative to OneNote, available from Google Play Store.
For me, the biggest advantage of Evernote, which even OneNote doesn’t have, is the synchronization feature.

Key Features:

Sync all of your notes across the computers and devices you use
Create and edit text notes, to-dos and task lists
Save, sync and share files
Search for text inside images
Organize notes by notebooks and tags
Email notes and save tweets to your Evernote account
Connect Evernote to other apps and products you use
Share notes with friends and colleagues via Facebook and Twitter

Screen Shots (Android):


Clunky workarounds

Given that there is no support on the OS side, here is a the workaround applicable only for local/LAN and network-streamable 21:9 videos that can be opened with VLC (or kodi):

In the monitor settings on-screen menu accessible via the physical buttons on the display select Ratio -> Wide — this will distort the UI and stretch everything to take the full display width.
Open the video file/URL in VLC and in the three-dot menu repeatedly tap Resize until the FILL mode is selected. Given that VLC can browse LAN hosts over samba/FTP/SFTP/FTPS/NFS this can cover some but not all use cases.

Kodi can also be configured to change the video aspect ratio for videos so a similar effect can be achieved via the cogwheel click -> Video Settings -> View Mode.


How to factory reset without data loss and undue pain?

AppBrain will make it easy to restore your apps. After the reset, install AppBrain first(ish) and use it to get back all the apps you had before. (Sync before you reset.)

Market will remember your paid apps so you'll be able to get those without having to repay.

Your Google app data (e-mail, contacts, calendar) are backed up to the "cloud" already, so you shouldn't have to do anything special with them. If you REALLY want to you could export them to a CSV file, but you shouldn't have to.

You probably don't need to, but I would copy the contents of the SD card to a temporary location. Just in case.

As for other apps that keep data only local...I can't speak to those. I know that for myself everything important has a backup somewhere else. (Yay Dropbox!)

Unfortunately (or, actually, fortunately), I don't have any personal experience with a factory reset. Everything I've read says that it's really not that bad, excepting those apps that don't have dynamic storage strategies.

Good luck!


If you are already using Locale (which is not free), Astrid is a free task/todo list manager which can be configured to open a list of tasks with a specific tag.  Astrid also integrates with Remember the Milk.

You can configure the list to open by various Locale conditions, including location.

I use it to remind me of maintenance tasks when I'm near the hardware store.

Additionally, Remember the Milk is a free app which can trigger by location, but it does require a Pro subscription to Remember The Milk's website.


Asus Zenfone 6 doesn't see SIM cards, keeps booting itself. How to troubleshoot the issue?

try adding a small piece of tissue on the top of the sim card slot, i have the same problem and it seems like the slot is loosen up, so you will need something to keep the slot pushed down , for example : paper, tissue, etc. but , tissue works the best.


TV IR remote codes discovery for Android

Try this app (Smart IR Remote - AnyMote).
When I tried using other apps I often found that they couldn't support old devices in my house, but this app has a plethora of devices and it supports many old products.


What is this circular icon that keeps appearing/dissapearing?

This means that the audio you are playing at this moment is supported by the "DolbyAudio" sound-enhancement. Seems like you are using a HTC ONE M9 then - it is a replacement for the BeatsAudio engine to enhance your music.

I found the explanation on a german site. Credits go to them.


Setting an external keyboard to the Colemak layout

Looks like the External Keyboard Helper app lets me switch layouts of an external USB keyboard on my Nexus 7, no root access needed.


What to do about app that starts using excessive storage space?

One option would be to freshly install the app, set it up, then back up its settings using Titanium Backup or another similar app.  Then you can freely wipe the data when needed and quickly restore the basics.  This won't necessarily work if they significantly change how a new version of the app stores its data, of course.


Prevent Gmail from adding calendar events from emails

Gmail scans emails and automatically adds reservations to the calendar to remind users of the upcoming events.

To stop reservations from being added to the calendar, you must follow the steps described in Events from Gmail

  Open the Google Calendar app.
  In the top left, tap Menu Menu and then Settings.
  Tap Events from Gmail.
  Switch off Add events from Gmail.


I believe that icon indicates a new notification from Google Play Newsstand.

Edit:

Confirmed my assumption this morning when a notification popped up:

I don't know how to take a screenshot of the status icon bar, so you'll have to take my word that the icon appeared there too.


Deleted files causing my phone to function incorrectly?

In most cases, yes.  You should try it at least.


Why does Android require porting to each device, unlike Windows?

Windows has been built for working on multiple device types and has the ability to load drivers from removable devices and from a big online reposity (Windows Update). Windows has MANY inbuilt drivers.

Android is much smaller (which is better for smartphones.
So you have to include drivers and other device specific things in your ROM.