Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - If I apply the update and install TouchWiz, will it hurt me?

Well, nobody seemed to be able to answer this question, so I went ahead and applied the update.

Overall, I'm glad I did. I haven't noticed any significant change in performance. I could take or leave most of the UI changes included in Touchwiz, but there are a few things in the new UI that are very nice. One is that toggles for things like bluetooth, wifi, and auto-rotation are now immediately accessible in the notifications pop-up when you touch the notification tray. Another nice thing is a dedicated screenshot button that appears next to the regular android buttons in the control bar at the bottom. Press it at any time for an instant screenshot.

I haven't noticed that any features have been disabled. I don't have a 3G-capable tablet, so I don't know if the "portable wi-fi hotspot" functionality would be affected by the update. But everything else I've tried functions as it did before.

Also, an unexpected bonus to the upgrade is that Samsung released a bunch of new apps bundled with the new UI, some of which are very useful. The ebooks app especially is nice for me, it reads EPUB and PDF files, and it formats EPUBs better and performs faster than some of the other apps I've tried (like FBReader). There's also an app for making adjustments to photos, and a few others that I haven't really used.

The new TouchWiz UI also includes a handful of mini-apps that can be launched from the android control bar at any time. These apps appear in small windows that float over whatever other apps you're running, and they can be moved around. None of these apps are really awesome, but some are useful. For example, you can bring up a mini-view of your calendar, a small music player, or a note pad you can type into or draw on, without leaving the app you were using before. It's kind of a neat idea, although I'm glad this isn't a standard android feature or there would be way too many apps written this way, and Android would lose a lot of its ease-of-use.


Simply press the enter/return button in your key board. It is located at the right botton corner of your keyboard.

In some cases, this button sends the SMS (or submit applications, in cases of forms in websites) If your device does that, simply hit enter/return button while holding the shift  button or the upside arrow

Hope this helps.


How can I change the search engine from Yahoo in the "Firefox Search" search provider?

If you tap on one of the search engine, it should give you this dialog box which you can tap on "Set as default":

I tested it on a Nexus 6 and it does switch the search provider used in the Home-button swipe search.

If this dialog doesn't appear for you or if the "Set as default" here doesn't change your search in both the URL bar and Home Button search, then it would be a bug. You might want to report the bug in Bugzilla@Mozilla, with your device and OS version.


How do I prevent auto-mounting of ext2 partition on OSX?

I'm no Linux buff but this Macworld article seems promising assuming you know the UUID for the volume and don't mind working from the terminal. The article wisely recommends backing up the volume before messing around too much.

Also... Googling for Android+phone+UUID is returning links which are related to programming. Perhaps retrieving the UUID from an Android phone is a separate question for this problem.


The answer can be found on our sister site StackOverflow, with the question Google Play Alpha App BM-PPH-01 Error:

BM-PPH-01 error message is usually shown when there is an incompatibility between any of the three App,Google Pay, Device.
The incompatibility can be the device's location such as Google play features not available when device is in China . An app can be restricted for downloading in US only.

This would explain why "try later" might not work in your case: if it's either your device or location, and you didn't change either of the two, the cause would have remained.
For more details (ans helpful links) see "over there".


What's the best method for rooting HTC Desire?

One of the best methods to root the HTC Desire is to use Unrevoked. It will install root and a custom recovery. You can check the guide in XDA Forums

S-ON (default phone state) will read-lock your /system and /recovery partitions, so despite being root, you won't be able to modify them. With S-OFF you remove that lock and can make use of root in all the phone. To achieve S-OFF you can use Revolutionary.

I suppose what you want is to use any App2SD script. For that you will need to be root and depending on the script you want to use, you might also need S-OFF to be able to write in init.d


How to go back to MIUI from Cyanogen mod?

If you haven't saved a backup with TWRP you have to reinstall the MIUI.

First of all download the ROM here.

Then put the ROM in a USB drive or SD card (it has to be read from the smartphone outside its own disk).

Then, install the ROM.

You can follow these steps from How to Flash a New ROM to Your Android Phone

But if you have a saved backup with TWRP, go to restore and select your backup.


Increase maximum number of connection of Wi-Fi hotspot

I have been researching about this for some time now, but I have to admit that I failed to get substantive information on the subject.

However I have come to a conclusion, that this setting is hardcoded and difficult to manipulate (perhaps even with root), unless you're compiling a customised ROM from scratch with such modifications.

It may be a restriction by manufacturers perhaps the feasibility based on factors like wi-fi chip capability, CPU power, battery etc (from my observations this limit ranges from 8-12 varying with devices)

The are some workarounds I propose, depending on what you're trying to achieve you could either;

set your Android device as a wi-fi repeater
or first share you device's internet connect to a desktop/laptop PC preferably via USB connection (i.e USB tethering if possible) or other means then reverse-tether that connection to other clients from desktop/laptop.

Using Android device as wi-fi repeater

It is possible to use the android device as wi-fi repeater, through various methods most of which you can find here: Can we use an Android phone as a Wi-Fi repeater?
The consequence is that you can make use of the second Access Point, to have other clients connect to the internet via a wi-fi AP broadcasted from the primary device.

Nb: Watch out from battery drain and heavy resources consumption

Option 2.

This concept is an indirect method which may demand other pre-requisites i.e a desktop/laptop PC other third-party software for hotspot share (may be freeware or shareware)
Here you need the android device to have its internet connectivity shared to the primary device (i.e PC) first, then the desktop (which is much more capable of accomodating a much larger number of clients than android device) can then share to other clients.

Some of the appropiate methods have been described here: Share WIFI over USB and around the internet.

EDIT

You can check this thread on XDA with a similar question: [MOD] Increase Max Users for Wi-Fi Tethering LG G2 LS980 [NON SPRINT ACTIVATED]


Set two languages simultaneously for the stock keyboard?

The stock keyboard in Jelly Bean (4.1 or 4.2) does not support multiple languages simultaneously. However, SwiftKey, a third party keyboard, supports advanced predictions with up to three languages simultaneously.

SwiftKey Official Website
SwiftKey on Google Play

Note that SwiftKey is a paid app. You can find the non-trial versions of the application in the Play Store. If you are looking for Swype-like functionality, note that an upcoming version of SwiftKey also includes it.


Well for the Vibrant, the codes are as follows; for example, KA7:

The first letter is the year: K is the eleventh letter of the alphabet, so 2011.

The second is the month: January (A = 1).

7 is the revision or build, so KA6 is older than KA7, etc.

It's obviously different for the i9000 but you should be able to find that info on XDA.  They'll also tell you which release is which version of Android, which is not in the code AFAIK.


Driving Mode isn't working as expected on Samsung Galaxy SII

It could be possible that the contacts have been entered incorrectly, or it could be a bug with your version of the car mode app.

Please ensure that none of your contacts are duplicated, and also please ensure that the numbers are correct (you may need to add/remove the country code).

Another reason could be due to the country code being displayed when the SMS/Call is incoming, but not being in the contact.


Your data connection is probably being lost during the phone call. Thus, whatsapp gets disconnected.

CDMA networks (Verizon, Sprint, and others that do not use a SIM card) do not work with data and voice at the same time when on 3G. Voice takes over, so anything using data is disconnected. Verizon is working towards this feature, called svdo (Simultaneous Voice and ev-DO data), and according to that page has one device that uses it, the HTC Thunderbolt. Similarly, Sprint also has the HTC Evo 4G LTE that can use it. Almost all other devices, though, do not support this.

However, LTE (4G) does allow for voice and data simultaneously, so certain devices that are LTE capable and are connected to LTE can maintain data connections during a phone call.

In the end, if you have service through a network without SIM cards, and you aren't connected to WIFI or LTE, then you will lose data connections when you make or receive a phone call.


Is Cyanogenmod available for a Trio Stealth G2 10.1"?

According to the list of officially supported and unofficially ported devices, no.

Also, read more at this sticky post by CyanogenMod moderators.


Can downgrading OS make Xperia Neo V, boot after a boot loop

Here is a forum post, the OP has a similar problem to the one you have:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2151177

He said that he just flashed his device with the stock firmware and it fixed the problem, so it's worth a try.

Here is the flash tool:

http://androxyde.github.com

4.1.B.0.587 Firmware ftf file:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=33295129


Can't get past the pulsating boot screen after complete battery drain

The only option I had was to do a factory reset and reinstall all the apps using appbrain.


Is it advisable to run a task killer app on Android

Android is very good at managing its memory such that task killers should not be necessary. Processes that are not on the screen will use essentially 0% CPU power until they are either re-activated, or have to perform some background work (such as downloading emails).

If you open so many programs that there is not enough memory left, the Android system will start killing off unused programs on your behalf. It is completely self-managing.

The performance of the phone should not be affected by the number of applications running. That said, I do keep one installed, because every now and again, a process can "go rogue" and start using a lot of CPU power and thus give poor battery life (this is rare though).

More background here: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/


How to get mDNS working for Chrome on Android?

I don't think so.

The system DNS resolver in Apple's platforms has in-built support for mDNS, so that pretty much any app eventually winds up using the core getaddrinfo function and supporting mDNS in URLs and hostnames and whatnot.

On Android and other platforms, even if there is a Multicast DNS daemon running and libraries available for using it, "typical" DNS lookups do not. So while recent Android releases do give developers some mDNS features as part of the platform, most do not go out of their way (as they would need to do) to use them.

It's a bummer, but AFAIK there's nothing short of rolling your own custom Android build (or convincing Google to change it) that could really solve this.


Help on fixing “unfortunately the process com android systemui has stopped” on galaxy S3 NOTE

I have the same problem as you have. It has appeared yesterday. After I have tried all the suggestions found on the internet and none got results, I came to the conclusion that this is a new issue. I reset my device to factory settings more than a few times. With the fresh installed os the problem disappeared. After syncing all the apps from google account got me to the same error. I have followed which application fresh installed got me to the same problem. I saw a relation between google application https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox and this error. I have uninstalled it and yes that was the reason. But this is not really the solution as I don't have access to a lot of stuff without google app.


Google "Play Music" app constantly running!

If you don't use any music app (especially not the one in question), there's an easy cure:

Go to Settings→Apps→Manage Apps
Go to the All tab
Scroll the list until you find Google Play Music
Tap the entry
On the screen which opens on the tap, you'll find a button labeled Disable -- push it.

If the Disable button is grayed out (and cannot be pushed), you might need to first Force Stop the app, and Uninstall updates. If you later decide you want to use the app, and enable it again, updates will be applied once more -- so no worries for that.

Done: You've successfully disabled the Google Play Music app. It will no longer be available in your apps drawer, and should no longer run automatically either. Works fine for me, also for Google Play Books and Movies. Another nice side-effect: Your device will no longer bother you for any updates of those (disabled) apps -- which might even help you saving your data plan for better things :)


Is it possible to exclude some folders on the sd card from being added to my playlist in the standard android player?

As I understand it it's possible to add a .nomedia file into a folder that you want to exclude from media scans. I've not had occasion to test this myself but the comments on this issue seems to confirm that it works.


How to import an existing mmssms.db to an Android Virtual Device?

I've finally managed to restore the contents of my previous database on my current device and I will explain how.

The idea was to copy the backup of /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony from my previous installation, to an Android Virtual Device, back it up there using SMS Backup & Restore in XML format, then restore that XML backup on my device. SMS Backup & Restore merged the messages from the backup with the current device's messages so I didn't have to merge the two databases by hand.

In my question, the AVD running 6.0.0 wouldn't read the contents of my database because it was created on CM 13 which is based on Android 6.0.1. But Google doesn't seem to provide an emulator image based on Android 6.0.1, so I still used an AVD running 6.0.0. For performance reasons I've configured it to emulate an Intel Atom (x86) CPU and installed Intel HAXM driver on my PC (I've followed this answer to do that).

The mmssms.db database holds properties about itself, especially version numbers, so I've edited them to make Android believe that it dealt with a database of a version it could deal with. I've opened mmssms.db in SQLite Expert, clicked on the "Database" tab, and in the property list, found the following lines:

schema_version
user_version

I've downgraded these to 44 and 60, respectively.

Then I transferred my backup of /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony to the AVD using adb push, after making sure that location was already empty there. Using adb shell I've set the owner and group of everything in this directory and its subdirectories to radio, and in the database subdirectory the chmod value to 660.

I've rebooted the device.

I've installed SMS Backup & Restore on the AVD through ADB. (The .apk of that app can be found on an existing device in /data/app on a device where it is already installed. I didn't bother installing Google Play Services on the emulator to get it from the Play Store, but you can do that.)

I've backed up the messages and copied the resulting .xml over to my real device, where I've used SMS Backup & Restore to restore it. Voilà.


Android HTC G7 without Google applications

The G7 is not actually made by HTC, it's a cheap knockoff.  I don't believe it actually runs Android.


Is it possible to use NOGAPPS and Maps API with Uber app (or apps similar to Uber)?

You need FakeStore for microG to be detected correctly and a recent version of microG GmsCore (you need to use the drop-down menu).

Check that you have at least the version 0.2.4-103 of microG GmsCore.


Problem pairing again Nexus 5 with Alpine car stereo

The issue was not Android.  (Except perhaps the misleading error message.)

The problem, it turns out, was that the pairings on the radio were "full".  It seems this radio (CDE-133BT) allows 3 pairings.  Well, I inadvertently renamed my Nexus some point along the way when I also unpaired it from the phone.  Attempting to re-pair without first emptying a free slot on the radio failed.  I do not know what the comms is like for denying a connection based on that, but either the radio sent incorrect information about why the pairing was denied or Android reported an incorrect reason.

The problem is solved - By the way  - the way to empty the bluetooth pairings is NOT in the manual - I watched a YouTube video of someone making pairings and discovered a way to find what the pairings were.

Not sure if this Q/A still belongs here, but maybe it will be helpful for someone with an Alpine CDE-133BT someday.


Why does my phone keep asking me to select an input method?

The icon in the notification bar will always be there if you are using (possibly even just have installed) any alternate input method.  It's just the new way that ICS offers quick switching between different methods, and cannot be disabled (at least not on "stock" ICS, custom roms may offer this).

The notification icon should only be there while you are actively entering something, i.e. have a keyboard open.  If it showing all the time (even when you are just on the homescreen, for example) it may indicate a possible bug or configuration issue with the alternate keyboard/input method you are using.


What is the meaning of 1,000,000-5,000,000 installs in google play?

As you said, it is a range. That being so, it cannot signify the number of installs.

Those getting revenue out of it- developer and Google need to know the exact number. Exact figures would be available with them.Thanks to Lucky for confirming
From a user perspective, I am not sure how exact number helps unless that metric is used to evaluate merit of the product! Which is not the use case for most

There is a source, which claims to provide you a view of the downloads and revenue figures, Sensor Tower (I have no idea how reliable it is- you could cross check with a developer). Website says:

  Sensor Tower is the leading app analytics platform focused on helping companies with mobile apps understand and improve their organic user acquisition, analyze their app’s performance, keep up to date with competitors and manage reviews. Over 90,000 mobile companies and developers use Sensor Tower to improve their downloads on iOS (iPhone, iPad and iPod) and Android

App mentioned has this statistic using the above source


Can app access the text in my default memo app?

Nope. No other 3rd party app will be able to access your data in the memo. Applications on your phone are sandboxed meaning they can't access other apps data.

Check this:

> The Android Application Sandbox, which isolates your app data and code
> execution from other apps.


There are many methods to root your device.

I just did a quick search and came up with this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2143479. Try following that and see if it works (the process I took for rooting my tablet was pretty much just 'try every guide that I can find until something works', so really just keep looking through guides on the internet).

The term ROM is traditionally used to mean Read Only Memory. Over time, it has come to mean (in the Android world) the OS that your device runs, because the OS is thought to be read-only by some people. Flashing a new ROM just means replacing stock Android with something else.


all android devices on my LAN can ONLY connect to the gateway

broke out the packet sniffer and determined that broadcast arp request from android devices where being dropped in the access point.

turned out to be a bug with my Buffalo 300n wireless access point.
cheep new AP and problem gone... apparently some APs just don't talk to Android?

solved by using the principal of "replace the cheapest things first"


If there is no corresponding cyanogenmod rom for my Samsung Galaxy On5, how do I install Cyanogenmod?

There are likely sources to build CyanogenMod from scratch. I did find the forums at xda  helpful http://forum.xda-developers.com/t/samsung-galaxy-on5 I wouldn't be suprised if you see CM 13 or 14 in the near future. If you are on a linux box you could possibly build from scratch.


Disable buttons for emergency call and volume control in lock screen

I don't know that LG makes the lock screen configurable like that, but you could always try a lock screen replacement. Something like Widgetlocker or Lockbot might do the trick for you. Lockbot has a free version, so I'd start with that and see if it does what you want.


How can I find which app slows down my phone?

You could try to use some live monitoring app, e.g. OS Monitor. These usually offer you a view on apps currently consuming most of the ressources, e.g. hogging your CPU, eating your RAM, or utilizing your network:

OS Monitor showing running processes, and showing network connections (click images for larger variants)

Running processes can be sorted by several criteria, such as name, CPU usage, and more. The device being "laggy" most times means some app consumes all CPU power, or I/O, or RAM – so this should help you figuring out.

An alternative to mention is SystemPanel, which even offers you a manual (for your situation, the system monitor page would apply). In its payed version, it even offers you background monitoring, so you could first let it collect data for a while, and later check for the "largest consumers".

SystemPanel: running processes, overall ressources (click images for larger variants)


Is there a way to find the battery usage of apps on Moto 360?

Yes. You can check Watch battery usage
In Android Wear app version 1.3.0:

Launch Android Wear
Tap gear icon in action bar to access Settings screen
Under device settings check tap Moto 360 to access your Moto 360 settings
Tap Watch Battery


Reset the router if that doesn't work forget the wifi and the re get it


Can't update or download apps without wifi

Clear Data this apps:

Google Play Store
Google Play Services
Settings

one of this apps may contain the data that prevents your device to have additional charges. But I'm not really sure if this will work..
The Very Best solution I know is to reformat your device to clear all the settings you entered therein.


How can I track cause of "Android System" and "Android OS" battery usage

You can easily view processor wake-ups without root access.

If you’re running Android L, processor stats can be viewed by going to Settings > Battery and select an application from the list. Look at the overall percentage of battery used by every app. Watch for apps that have a long ‘Stay awake’ duration that were running in the background. Watch for long GPS durations and lots of mobile data. Long connection times can also bad – if the app was running in the background and didn’t have a reason for being connected. All of these actions consume extra battery power.
If you're running Android 4.3 or earlier, Wakelock Detector (WLD) is a great way to identify processor sleep problems. Look at the duration and number of wake locks. Trepn Profiler also shows wake-locks and allows you to view overall system power consumption. Check the power of your device idle and running various apps.
If you want to view processor wake ups on Android L, use Google’s Battery Historian. I use it to look at apps that keep the processor awake (e.g. wake_locks), the rate of discharge of the battery (e.g. battery level) and app syncing (it's line 5 in the chart). If you’d like to try it, there are installation and usage instructions below:

One-time setup in order to run Battery Historian

Download and install Python 2.7 (if it’s not already installed)
Download battery-historian from GitHub here
Extract historian.py from the .zip file and copy it to the Python2.7 directory

Running Battery Historian

Type the following into the Command Prompt after connecting to an Android 5.x device:

C:\>cd python27
C:\Python27>adb shell dumpsys batterystats --enable full-wake-history
C:\Python27>adb bugreport > bugreport.txt
C:\Python27>historian.py -a bugreport.txt > batterystats.html

Let me know if any of these things help you.


What can cause the Oct 2011 OTA update of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to fail?

Updating via Kies eventually worked. The trick to getting Kies to connect to the device is to turn off USB debugging on the device.


The risk of really "bricking" a phone is not that high as it may seem, at least with more recent models, as there are multiple levels of safety-guards in place: If you break your regular system, there's a fallback possible to the recovery mode. If that's broken as well, there are things like Fastboot in place. Only if you break the lowest level, and e.g. flash an incompatible radio image (the radio image is the layer bridging the hardware to a software layer, to simplify the explanation -- see also Al's comparision with the PC's BIOS in his comment to your question: if the BIOS is broken, you no longer can start your computer), your device is really "bricked".

To understand the difference, you should also see what is different between installing your "desktop OS" on a computer and flashing your Android device: Installing your desktop OS works on a file level. That is, you boot from e.g. a DVD, and then copy files to your harddisk. On Android, flashing a ROM means to copy the entire file system at once. And you cannot boot a live system from DVD or the like -- especially when newer devices like the Nexus 4 come without even a sdcard slot.


Opening an html file located in Terminal IDE working directory

Application data is sandboxed on Android. Apps can only access their data directory, they cannot access the data of other applications. This is why your browsers cannot access the files that are located in Terminal IDE's directory.

Even with root, you will not be able to access those files the way you are attempting to. Your browsers are not programmed to request or use root permissions. Simply rooting your device will not suddenly grant them access to your entire filesystem. You would incur an additional step: you would need to try to modify the permissions of the files before opening them with the browser.

You need to move the files to a storage location that other apps can read, like a folder on your "external" storage (either a physical SD card or a virtual one like /data/media). Accessing them directly via your browser while they reside in the Terminal IDE directory is impossible without root.


That's the way it should work. Truecaller just provides a dailer. It is not a call handling application. The main motto of the Truecaller dailer is to show info of the number before a call is placed.


Is it possible to activate an android device using a 'google apps' account

Yes.

Few years ago, Google Apps services were separate from normal Google services. Even cookies were different & compatible to each other. From last year, all Google Apps accounts are normal Google account (You'll have to sign out from normal Google account if you want to sign in with Google Apps account in a web browser).

And, it supports Android too. I've tested it.


I don't think the Nexus 7 (2013) ever had Android 4.2. I was going to suggest flashing a factory image but the only one available is Android 4.3 which suggests it's not possible.

As the other answers have suggested you will probably need to root to get the USB OTG functionality you are after.


Is it possible to enable Location Services via Shell?

For Android 6.0

To Enable use :

For GPS : adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +gps

For Network : adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +network

To Disable :

GPS : adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -gps

For Network : adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -network


What will happen when I uninstall system apps? (I need to free up space)

You should never touch to system apps but you can uninstall pre-installed apps like fb, google phots, MSO, ect, otherwise, why don't you buy a memory card and transfer unimportant apps to it.


How do I save/lock specific comment bubbles within a text message thread?

I think you've answered your own question in your post when you said that you used to be able to do this, but had a different SMS app.

This function, as far as I know, is app specific. I am able to lock messages using ChompSMS on Android 5.0.

Try different SMS apps and see which is best for your needs.


Disable chat-heads (for WhatsApp, etc.) on Samsung devices

Follow this path to enable or disable the mentioned "chat heads":

Settings > Advanced features > Smart pop-up view

Then, toggle whatever applications you'd like to show "chat heads".


Its worth upgrading to cyanogenmod 10+
With it you can expand notifications to 'preview' the contents of the text or missed call, straight from the notification drawer. To do this, you simply pinch the notification and it will expand down. Try searching youtube for a video demonstration of this, it is a cool feature that will appear to solve your problem.


How to force Google+ Instant Upload to perform an upload right away?

From the Google+ app, select Settings -> Instant Upload and press the Upload all item, it will just upload any photos that haven't already been uploaded.

As noted in the comments, you can also share individual photos in your album via Google+.


How to play a YouTube clip in background/minimised?

Here's a solution using entirely free and open source software. The basic idea is that although YouTube can't play clips in the background, VLC for Android can play clips in the background, so all we need to do is pipe the clip to VLC where we can listen to it minimised.

That sounds complicated, but luckily there is software that does it for us.

Install NewPipe (either from APK or from the Fossdroid app).
Install VLC Android.
Open NewPipe, and in Settings, make sure that Use External Player has a checkmark.
Open VLC, and in Preferences, make sure that Play videos in background has a checkmark.
Now, when you play a video in NewPipe, on the dialog that appears select VLC player. It will play in VLC and you can do other things while it plays.


Issues while accessing system files with su in Chinese make Tablet. (Android 4.0.3)

You will need to get root privilege. Merely installing Super User won't do anything.
EDIT:
SuperUser must be placed in /system (made a "system app") in order to work, which is not done by "merely installing it", and cannot be done without aquiring root privileges


You could easily hide by using custom launchers like Apex or Nova.

But if this is not an option, you could try apps available on Google Play like [ CCSWE App Manager (ROOT) ] or [ Hide App-Hide Application Icon ] which needs root access. *I want you to read the user feedbacks on Google Play before consider using the app because some said the icon gone forever after it was unhide.

You can also try to Disable the app from Setting -> Apps. This will hide app icon from app drawer. You can enable it again when you need it.


how to backup contacts if the touchscreen is not working?

in this link they provide you with some usefull commands to try to get the contacts.
Basically, you need to install the Android SDK, but I think you need to have the USB debugging option on in your phone. Not sure if you need root also.

cd <android-sdk-dir>/platform-tools
[In linux] ./adb pull /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db
[In Windows] adb.exe pull /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db

The path to the contacts database might vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.


As you have ADB available to use, here's one proposed way:

Make a backup of your current installation (app and data):

adb backup -f osmand.ab -apk net.osmand.plus

Same, data only

adb backup -f osmand-data.ab -noapk net.osmand.plus

Uninstall the app (.apk) while keeping its data:

adb uninstall -k net.osmand.plus

Install the new version from play

If the last step succeeds, you're done and the new version should be installed and working. Otherwise, repeat step #3 without the -k switch, then step #4 again, and finally restore the data from your second backup:

adb restore osmand-data.ab

If that should fail as well, just restore the first (full) backup to get back to where you are now. But I'm pretty confident at least the second run will work out fine.


What is the fastest way to transfer huge files beween two android powered devices?

There are many variables that affect the performance of each method you've mentioned.
Additionally there's also the necessary configuration and requirements that each device must have in order to have solutions like this working.
As requested, lets summarize and compare possible performances between USB; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth:

USB:
USB performance can be extremely low or very high, depending on the available USB version, which in turn, combined with the SDcard reading/writing speed on each device allows us to accurately measure and ascertain the transfer speed.
There's also the physical limitation of the USB cable length that for some scenarios becomes a limitation.

USB 1.0: 1.5 Mbit/s (Low-Bandwidth) and 12 Mbit/s (Full-Bandwidth)
USB 2.0: 480 Mbit/s (effective throughput up to 35 MB/s)
USB 3.0: 5 Gbit/s (625 MB/s) which is more than 10 times as fast as USB 2

Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi loses limitations like cable length, but then again we need to account for the 802.11 protocol being used, the signal strength and range to accurately measure results:
┌────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│  Protocol  │  Data rate per stream (Mbit/s)  │  Approximate range (m)   │
│            |                                 ├────────────┬─────────────┤
│            |  Bandwidth of 20 MHz            |   indoor   |   outdoor   │
├────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┤
│  802.11a   │  6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54   │     35     │     120     │
├────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┤
│  802.11b   │  1, 2, 5.5, 11                  │     35     │     140     │
├────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┤
│  802.11g   │  6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54   │     38     │     140     │
├────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┤
│  802.11n   │  7.2, 14.4, 21.7, 28.9, 43.3,   │     70     │     250     │
│            │  57.8, 65, 72.2,                │            │             │
│            │                                 │            │             │
│            │  With Bandwidth of 40 MHz:      │            │             │
│            │  15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120,       │            │             │
│            │  135, 150                       │            │             │
└────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴─────────────┘

More about Wi-Fi protocols from Wikipedia.

Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct, initially called Wi-Fi P2P, is a Wi-Fi standard that enables devices to connect easily with each other without requiring a wireless access point.
Here the communication is performed at typical Wi-Fi speeds for everything from file transfer to Internet connectivity. Essentially, Wi-Fi Direct falls under the same values presented at the Wi-Fi table (yet again keeping in mind that signal strength and range are the key factors for a good performance).
More about Wi-Fi Direct from Wikipedia.

Bluetooth
While we need to ascertain several influencing factors to determine if Wi-Fi is faster than USB, Bluetooth is with no doubt in last place when we speak about transfer speed. Designed as a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances, the maximum speeds are below the two concurrent options:
┌─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   Version   │  Data rate  │  Maximum application throughput         │
├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1.2        │  1 Mbit/s   │      0.7 Mbit/s                         │
├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  2.0 + EDR  │  3 Mbit/s   │      2.1 Mbit/s                         │
├─────────────┼─────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  3.0 + HS   │                                                       │
├─────────────┤  theoretical data transfer speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s  │
│  4.0        │                                                       │
└─────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

More about Bluetooth from Wikipedia.

Android Beam
Being a fairly recent technology, Android Beam allows users to transfer data between devices with Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities.
NFC is even slower than Bluetooth (both short-range communication technologies) and is limited to about 20cm of range getting up to 424 kbit/s.
On a positive note, NFC sets up more quickly than standard Bluetooth and the connection between two NFC devices is automatically established:
Technical comparison:
┌──────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┬──────────────────────┐
│    Aspect    │  NFC           │   Bluetooth    │ Bluetooth Low Energy │
├──────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ Network Type │ Point-to-point │ WPAN           │ WPAN                 |
├──────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ Range        │ < 0.2 m        │ ~100m (class1) │ ~50 m                │
├──────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ Bit rate     │ 424 kbit/s     │ 2.1 Mbit/s     │ ~1.0 Mbit/s          │
├──────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ Set-up time  │ < 0.1 s        │ < 6 s          │ < 0.006 s            │
└──────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┴──────────────────────┘

Only relevant aspects to this answer, for full table see Wikipedia.

Summary
Based on the specifications for each method and their respective version, my classification ordered by fastest-to-lowest would be:

USB assuming version 2.0, since 1.0 is way slow and outdated
Wi-Fi / Wi-Fi Direct
Bluetooth
Android Beam


How to help Android users with reduced ability to see

You could try using LCD Density Changer to decrease the density (effectively increase the size of everything on-screen).  This will probably result in the bottom and right side of screens being cut off, however.

There are also (limited) accessibility options in Settings -> Accessibility.  I think it might be limited to a screen reader.

If the problem is really just things on-screen being too small, may I suggest eyeglasses?


What does a "phone with 4G" system notification icon mean?

That signifies the "VoLTE" calling. Because now your call is made over the LTE network, which is different than how they used to be placed earlier. Vodafone had launched VoLTE in many states but it's been a good time since they were launched in Gujarat. Surprising that you're noticing it only now.

VoLTE brings HD voice quality and faster call connect times. So, you get a lot of improvement in the experience.


How to run SSH/SFTP server for multiple user logins with password authentication on Android?

Note:

Make sure your phone is accessible from internet as explained here.
You need a rooted device.

Android phones nowadays aren't those old low-end devices, they can run a full-featured SSH server happily. And it's an easy recipe:

Get fully static sshd binary for your phone's architecture. See details below.
Create /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. To add a new user with password like we do on a Linux OS:

~# mount -o rw,remount /system; mount -o rw,remount /
~# touch /etc/passwd /etc/shadow
~# busybox adduser -D -H -h /dev/null -s /system/bin/false -u 900 sshd
~# busybox adduser -D -H -h /home/user1 -s /system/bin/sh -u 901 user1
~# toybox passwd user1
~# mkdir -p /data/home/user1/Documents /home /sdcard/home /etc/ssh
~# mount -o bind /data/home /home
~# mount -o bind /data/home /mnt/runtime/default/emulated/0/home
~# chmod 0750 /data/home/user1; chown 0.901 /data/home/user1

First bind mount is required because otherwise SFTP's chroot won't work with /data's bad ownership. Second is to easily access shared files from /sdcard/home. To set non-root permissions on /sdcard/home, use bindfs instead.
sshd user is for Privilege Separation. user1 is our first user that'll be able to login through SSH. In the same way more users can be added.
Add required configurations to /etc/ssh/sshd_config (defaults suffice in most cases):

UsePAM no
PasswordAuthentication yes
Subsystem sftp internal-sftp
Match User user1
  ChrootDirectory /home/user1

Run SSH server, may use logwrapper to get log in logcat:

~# ssh-keygen -A    # generate host keys on first use
~# /system/bin/sshd -4 -E /sdcard/home/.sshd.log

Now you can access server through SFTP / SSHFS. SSHD can also be run as an init service that's handled by Android's init. See this answer for explanation.

DETAILS:

SSH server lets you login remotely after proper authentication. Additionally it serves sharing of files and many other resource sharing securely. But there is no concept of Linux console login on Android (1) because it boots directly to GUI. However it makes use of Discretionary Access Control (DAC) of Linux kernel which is based on UIDs / GIDs and permission mode. Every installed app is considers as a *NIX user and is assigned a unique UID at install time. See this answer for more details on this.

HOW USER LOGIN AND AUTHENTICATION WORK:

Traditionally /etc/passwd contained username vs. UID/GID mapping, while supplementary GIDs were added to /etc/group. Password was also added to /etc/passwd which was later moved to /etc/shadow with the introduction of shadow password suite. Similarly /etc/gshadow contains Secure Group Account Information. These files are read by privilege granting programs such as login, su, sshd etc. and managed by administering programs such as passwd and useradd.

Most of these programs are part of shadow and util-linux package and their behavior is controlled by defining a number of configuration items in /etc/login.defs, for instance logging of different events, password expiry, environment variables etc. Also there are many files that are required or updated by these utilities, including nologin, default/useradd, adduser.conf, skel/, shells, subuid, subgid, limits files under /etc/, /var/log/faillog, /var/log/lastlog, /var/run/utmp, /var/run/wtmp and possibly others.

To centralize the functionality of these privilege granting and administering programs, a more sophisticated authentication mechanism PAM was introduced. Instead of directly handling the user login and authentication stuff, programs link to PAM libraries (called modules) which in turn respond accordingly depending on its configuration files mainly under /etc/pam.d and /etc/security.

Other than PAM, a complicated name resolution mechanism NSS also (a set of modules) exists on Linux distros which controls - among many other things - how passwd, group, and shadow databases are read depending on its configuration file /etc/nsswitch.conf. Both PAM and NSS can be configured to use remote database service like LDAP / NIS. And then there are centralized caching daemons like NSCD and SSSD. Working together, they complete the puzzle of user logins (identification and authentication) on Linux.

HOW TO SETUP LOGIN ENVIRONMENT ON ANDROID:

None of the above described configuration files and libraries exist on Android because user logins don't happen at all. But the programs built with Linux's standard libc APIs require all these files and services - including PAM - on Android too, which is near to impossible. PAM can be disabled for sshd by setting UsePAM no in sshd_config so that it directly reads files /etc/passwd, /etc/group and /etc/shadow.

PAM be gone, still we need to provide a minimal environment that meets the least requirements of login process. ssh binary for instance, needs /etc/passwd to exist necessarily because it sets $HOME from there to read known_hosts, config and id_* key. Also if host is a domain name and not an IP address, /etc/resolv.conf must exist with nameserver for DNS to work. It's a different story explained here.

So we need to create the relevant files on Android manually. Or use the non-PAM counterparts of shadow-utils such as useradd and passwd to update these files. We can get a minimal set of these utilities on Android, e.g. with busybox or toybox.

RUNNING LINUX PROGRAMS ON ANDROID:

Ideally you should write / modify the source code of a program in accordance with Android environment and then build dynamic binaries / libraries using Android's NDK and Bionic libc. But due to differences among Linux distros and Android such as in filesystem hierarchy, kernel configuration, implementation of libc and other libraries (2), code written for Linux distros need heavy modification on Android, otherwise don't mind failed attempts. In case of openssh, see the list of modification patches in AOSP and on Termux. Two of these patches are no password authentication (3) and no multiple users (4, 5). Former was worked around on Termux by introducing new APIs in termux-auth (6, 7), but the later can't be achieved without setting up login environment on Android.

Other options is to build fully static binary with Linux's libc such as glibc, musl or uClibc. While it's easy to statically build small libraries, libc itself links to many other libraries. In case of glibc, all of them can't be built statically, such as dynamically-loaded modules. I'm not sure how effective --enable-static-nss is, but, e.g. gconv can't be linked statically (8). So sshd binary must not be built with glibc, otherwise it won't work without NSS modules.
Also set Privilege Separation Path to some existing directory like /data/local/tmp and disable any other unnecessary features like utmp, wtmp, lastlog etc. Or you would need to create /var directory in rootfs.

FURTHER READING:

Basic explanation on NSS , LDAP and PAM
How To Add Linux User on Android?
Linux vs. Android
How to connect two phones via SSH?


Many media scanner apps do not work as expected on KitKat. After trying couple of such apps i found that the media scan function in FX file explorer app works 100% every time you use it. It successfully updates your gallery with the changes.

Get FX file explorer from here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.fx

Open this app, go to 'Main Storage' & run 'Rescan Media' from menu.

Tested on Nexus 5,
Android 4.4.2


New messages do not show up immediately - HTC Desire Z

Other folks here have suggested that the issue may be with your SIM card:

Recipients complain they receive Text Message from me with a half hour delay

I was having a similar problem which was resolved when I reset my phone to factory settings (for other reasons). It might be worth asking your carrier for a new SIM, though.

PS. This user asked about sms receipt delays -- a different but related question.


Change Grid Size of Home Page without rooting phone?

There are two ways known to me how this could be achieved:
Using a launcher which supports this
There are several launchers available on Google Play which let you configure the grid size of your homescreen as well as of your app drawer. One of those is Apex Launcher, which I use myself. Another example is GO Launcher EX, which I run on another device. I'm pretty sure a load of other launchers does this as well.
EDIT: Holy whatever. If that's not enough, take a look at Lighning Launcher. Grid size? What grid? Who needs a grid? Icon size, font size, orientation -- feel free to design your own homescreen! And now, for the size of the package. Sitting? 200 kB (still looking for the hook), working with Android 1.6 and up. Truly AMAZING!
Ah, and what comes below: Multi-whatever is already included. Widgets in folders? No problem, either... Well, that bunch of features must need permis... what? Only USB-Storage? Can't believe... I just sent it to one of my devices to take a closer look :)
Using "Multi-Widgets"
There are some sort of "widget expanders" out there, which pick 4 (or more) widgets and combine them into one "compressed widget". One example for this group is Multicon Widget.
Zoom
And then there's Zoom, from the dev of Tasker (with which it even integrates). According to its description, this also should be an option:

Unique on any computer: design your own homescreen widgets to do whatever you like!
Position, size and overlay elements in the drag-and-drop editor. Two views: full-zoom for easier editing, actual-size for previewing.


First, that version of TWRP is ancient, upgrade to twrp-3.1.1-1-addison.img from Alberto97 here. Be aware that in Android File Host, the newest file is not at the top normally, it is at the bottom of the page(s). Once you have the correct file, flash and/or boot from that.

After that, you have two options...

You can use ADB Sideload and "push" the ZIP image of your ROM directly to the device.

In TWRP go to Advanced - ADB Sideload
On your PC, enter "adb sideload customrom.zip" (replace with actual
filename)
Repeat for Gapps (if needed)
Reboot and enjoy

The second option is to go into TWRP Mounts, and mount Internal Storage, then make sure MTP mode is enabled, connect USB cable and you should be able to copy the files to the phone and flash like normal in your GUI.

The biggest issue you are having is your TWRP is old and does not support the latest bootloader.

For issues beyond that, I would recommend going to XDA's Moto Z Play forums and start a thread in the Q&A section for help specific to your device from people who are intimately familiar with it.


Can I use USB gamepad without any setup?

Yes, you can use a USB game controller without root and without needing any prior setup. Just plug it in and Android will recognise it. By default, the D-pad on the controller will work like a D-pad or trackball on the device itself (if you remember when Android phones used to have little trackballs built in), and it will allow you to move focus between controls in most apps.

Stock apps are completely accessible using the controller without the touch screen, but not all third-party apps are. Many games (especially emulators for games consoles) support using a Bluetooth or USB game controller, but not all games do. The idea of apps like the one you mention is to make button presses on the game controller trigger touch screen events, so if you play a game that has on-screen controls but doesn't support controllers, the controller will trigger the game's on-screen controls. Generally you'll get a better playing experience, as well as easy setup, by choosing a game that supports game controllers.

If you just plug the controller in, it'll work in any supported apps and games right away. Games with controller support usually advertise it in the description on the store, but if you're not sure you can ask the developer through their support email address.


Can any rooted Android phone be upgraded to version 2.2?

There are more differences between Android devices than between different PC Machines. So you need to know things like which CPU and hardware and version of it you got in the device.  Then look for an Android firmware that supports your phone.  You might be able to compile your own firmware from source for your device, also depending on your devices hardware and how well you can handled fails there.

After an upgrade, your device will end up in different shape with regard to what works and not after the upgrade.  It might even work flawlessly.  You might even get a "bricked" device if you fail the upgrade and are a bit unlucky.

So, it all depends on what hardware you have and how good support Linux and Android has to your device hardware.

That is why the phone manufacturers and your telephone operator test the upgrades in many ways before they push it out to the customers.

But if you know this and are technical skilled and know that you might make your phone usless, you can always try.


Why can't my samsung galaxy R connect to my laptop Wi-Fi, but is able to connect to others?

On Windows XP, Connectify is limited to ad-hoc networking:

  Support for Windows 8, 7, XP, and Vista – XP and Vista Ad-Hoc Mode only

Android doesn't support ad-hoc networks without modification or manual configuration (which will require rooting the device).


How to install carliv touch recovery on my MediaTek MT6572

Yes, it is possible. It is very easy to do so by following these steps.

First, you need to have your device rooted. If you have not rooted your phone yet, try to root it using Framaroot (Official XDA thread) , a one click rooting app that roots your phone, and installs the SU binary and the SuperSU app directly, without the need of plugging it into the PC. For rooting MediaTeK devices, try to apply the Boromir, Faramir and/or Barahir exploits. Download the latest version of the application here.

Next, you have to install ADB (Android Debug Bridge) drivers to your PC (Pdanet drivers will do). Note that computers with Windows 8 and/or 8.1 aren't recommended for installing unsigned drivers. I would recommend you to use Windows 7 or an earlier version of Windows instead.

Next, you need to download and install the "CWM Magic Create" program on to your PC. This program will install the ClockWorkMod-based Carliv Touch Recovery to your phone in a simple and easy way.

You need to have an USB data transfer wire to connect your smartphone to any of your computer's USB ports.

Next, you'll have to enable USB debugging to your device if you have not enabled it yet. Run the CWM Magic Create program and follow its steps accordingly to install Carliv Touch Recovery to your MediaTeK smartphone.

Good luck!

For more information regarding the process, the CWM Magic Create tool and the Pdanet drivers, visit this link.


Are the custom ROMs different for different phones?

The simple answer is Yes there are usually multiple versions of each Custom ROM. If not the ROM may be only usable on some devices.

Usually for each device model (or group of very similar devices) there is one custom ROM version. The reason are the different hardware each device is equipped with. Like in your desktop computer each component needs a suitable driver for being used. This starts with the display which sometimes even changes from model revision to revision and ends with WLAN chip used.
As space and memory are significant on a Smartphone a custom ROM only contains the drivers needed.

Another reason for having different custom ROMS are the different cell phone standards. You have devices built for GSM/UMTS and some are designed to work with CDMA. The telephony stack has to be either the one or the other - again a reason for different ROMs.


This is really awkward to fix, I know because I've been in your exact situation. It depends a lot on just how different the contact storage on your old ROM was from how it is now. Obviously your contacts are there somewhere in that CWM backup, the problem is just how to get them out.

I don't have a very specific answer on how to solve this (just asking for the contact info again will probably solve your problem faster), but here are some pointers: The file system is most likely yaffs2, so you need to read this file system somehow. One of the first things I found on Google was Yaffey - Utility for reading, editing and writing YAFFS2 images - you could probably use this to access your backup image and from there extract your contact data. Depending on your current and old format, this might be easy or hard.

What do we learn from this? Extracting contacts is an absolute pain from system images created in CWM. Use Titanium Backup and/or always make sure your contacts sync against the cloud.

Local contacts are the devils work.


Unlocking password-locked RCA Voyager tablet

It's possible to unlock the password by following these steps:

Switch off the tablet
Press the volume up key and power key at the same time
After 15 seconds, the screen will turn on, showing "no command" and the Android logo
Press the power key, and then the screen will show some options
After keeping mind instruction given on the screen, go down and click on format and wipe all data, then it will show the process
Reboot the tablet
Complete the tablet's profile
If there's a problem of entering a wrong email address, enter the email address which was entered the first time in the tablet, and then you will be able to get access to the tablet.

Keep in mind that the whole tablet's data will be deleted when following this process – so first, back up all data after connecting the tablet with any secure PC.


Why does Android have such problems remembering last know location?

Not a complete answer, but some background information:

Your device can have more than 1 location provider, e.g. one based on GPS and one based on which mobile phone towers it can see.
Android does not have a one single last known position. Each location provider has its own last known position.
A location has additional metrics, like accuracy, when it was recorded, what was recorded (e.g. does it have an altitude component etc)

So it depends on which location provider the app uses and that can depend on or even change based on dynamic parameters. E.g. on start-up it could ask Android for the fastest location provider to get going and then switch to the most accurate one to gradually get a better fix.


Why does my hotspot stop after a period of time?

You most likely have a hotspot timeout setting enabled.

You can disable it by going to your Advanced Hotspot Settings, and editing the timeout value to never.

Note that in some versions of Android in order to access the Advanced Hotspot Settings you need to first access the WiFi Hotspot Settings and then press the phone's Menu button.


Asus MemoPad ME302KL reboots when playing youtube videos

I've gone to the store where i've bought the pad and they change for other so that the one with the problems can go to the de Asus Support for changing the graphics chipset.


How can I set a directory permission so that all files, existing, and newly added are indelible?

(Note: you may need to be rooted to do this, depending on where the app is writing these files - if you do, run su before running these commands)

Install a terminal emulator on your phone. Once it's finished installing, open it up and type cd /the/folder.

If you have enough time to type in commands while the file exists simply type chmod -R 444 ., which will make the current directory and all subdirectories read-only.

If you don't have enough time, type something like this: while true; do if ls | grep <filename>; then chmod -R 444 .; fi; done. Leave it running in the terminal session and when the app creates <filename> it'll make the directory and its subdirectories read-only.

(All of the above can be run in adb shell if you prefer, but IMO installing a terminal emulator is less of a hassle)


Accounts inexplicably removed from "Accounts & sync"

After some months of additional observation, I'm pretty certain that the accounts disappear when the free internal space gets low, usually when I'm down to 12 MB or so. Presumably, Android tries to free up some internal space occupied by app data, and the accounts seem to be the first to go.

Due to the low internal storage, I have moved all apps to the external storage, so this might as well be a factor, as Izzy mentions in the comments.


Does Unlocking bootloader affect network lock?

No, the bootloader has no bearing on a SIM/network lock. The HTCdev site explicitly states this on the bootloader unlock page, in fact:

  Please note that unlocking your bootloader does not mean that you will
  be able to unlock the SIM lock. Unlocking your SIM lock is at the
  discretion of your operator/carrier and is not part of the bootloader
  unlocking scope.

The reverse is also true, but the main point is that the two concepts are unrelated.


Is there a device that will keep me from losing my Android phone?

There's no easy way to control the mentioned scenario, since you may get away from your phone, leaving behind the device used to alert you.
I've been playing around with an APP, that basically runs a task when a certain action occurs within your phone.
The test I performed, was having my phone playing a really loud sound if my phone gets disconnected from the bluetooth earpiece. It works, I go away from my phone and as soon as the bluetooth gets out of range, the phone starts to play the music. I hear the music and remind myself that my phone was left behind.
Of course that if you use Dragon V2 Bluetooth Headset, it will only get out of range after 100 meters, which is roughly 10 times more distance than a regular Bluetooth earpiece. :)

Tasker
Tasker by Crafty Apps available from Google Play Store (4,49€)
From their website you have a free 14-day trial download.


Unfortunately, offline voice recognition is only available for devices running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and above - anything below that will not receive support. There is, however, another hidden requirement - your device must have a sufficient amount of RAM in order to be able to download the Offline Voice Recognition files from Google. My Incredible S is running 4.2.2 and with 572 MBs of RAM I do not see the option.

Should you receive an upgrade to 4.1+ (by root or other means), you may go to Language and Input in Settings and select Download offline speech recognition under Voice Search.


Could I get some help installing google play store and services on my phone?

I like to use the site APKMirror.com. On APKMirror, search for and download the latest version of the Google Play store The downloaded file will appear in the notifications pull-down menu at the top of your phone and in the Download folder in the app drawer. Click on the file in either location and install it. If you are unable to install the store, you may have to download the latest version of Google Play Services. You can find a list here, be sure to download the version that corresponds with the Android version you are running.
 Be sure to have unknown sources enabled in the Security settings of your device.


Web Browser Screen Resolution / ViewPort width

Fixed this by changing the 'Display Size' setting in phone settings to 'Small'.


When we download big games (such as modern combat series), first play store download its additional files. Application/games additional files are saved on internal memory folder called "Android".  Inside of that folder, there's two directories. One is "data" other one is "obb". You can access that folder with any file manager app or by connecting your device to a PC (via USB or WIFI). (No need the root)

Search your app additional files in those folders and delete them. Most of the time additional files are saved with the app named folder. For an example "deadtrigger 2" game additional files saved folder called as "com.madfingergames.deadtrigger2".


For now, AFAIK, every action associated with a mouse click can be accessed using a touch or a long-touch. Combo using a key-press and a touch aren't well supported (if supported at all).

Long-Touch over a link, gives you a popup with:

Open in new Tap;
Open in incognito mode;
Copy link address;
Save link as.

For future reference, Google Chrome shortcuts link, from Google support page (the majority of the Linux links are available for Android... just waiting to have this page updated with the Android shortcuts list):

Google Chrome - Keyboard and mouse shortcuts


Is it possible to set a customizable mode of "Do not disturb" for Outlook?

The latest versions of the Outlook app actually already have this new DND option "During evenings" wherein you can configure your after-work routine. By default, it is set to 5PM to 8AM schedule as you want in your question. But it can also be modified to fit a different routine. Here's the screenshot:


Yes you will lose them from local storage, you may want to use unofficial client "NewPipe" that allows you to download the videos on your user media folder, giving you total control on the file for your backup needs.


How to use multiple google accounts, but allow only one to locate my phone in device manager

By going to the sync settings for each account (as shown in the image below), you can control what each account 'sees'. For the 'public' account, turn off all syncing besides Gmail and Calendar.

Unfortunately, this will not address Android Device Manager access. To do this, you must open the Google Settings app and navigate to Google > Security. Below Android Device Manager heading, you will be able to turn off it's features.
Source: Set up Android Device Manager

(Click image to enlarge)


Where are the .apk files of currently installed apps stored on my Android device?

Use a file manager to look in the following locations:

/data/app
/data/app-private
/system/app/
/sdcard/.android_secure (shows .asec files, not .apks)
On Samsung phones: /sdcard/external_sd/.android_secure

You need to be rooted to view the first three.


Freennode Weechat Android Protocol error and Failed to connect error

Note: According to the Quickstart guide Weechat-Android is not a chat-program, it is only a UI for a chat program running on your server:

Weechat-Android is a relay client, that is it's not a standalone
client, but one that connects to your copy of WeeChat running on your
server. You can connect the two in a number of ways, listed below.

Therefore if you just install the app on your phone it is not usable. You still need an own server on the Internet where your Weechat program is executed.

You can connect to freenode by pointing your IRC client at
chat.freenode.net on ports 6665-6667 and 8000-8002 for plain-text
connections, or ports 6697, 7000 and 7070 for TLS-encrypted
connections.
Connect to chat.freenode.net

https://freenode.net/kb/answer/chat
Alternatively there is a Weechat how-to for setting the correct server: https://freenode.net/kb/answer/weechat
/server add freenode chat.freenode.net/6697 -ssl
/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_mechanism PLAIN
/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_username <nickname>
/set irc.server.freenode.sasl_password <password>
/save


How to change bottom bar apps in MIUI launcher?

You may Drag n drop the icons. A maximum of six is allowed


Wifi access point with USB-OTG ethernet?

Some carriers disable 3G tethering in order to make more money, so if your carrier has installed software on your phone before hand to stop tethering the only way to make it work is to root your device and install an application that will allow you to do that.

The reason why it only connects is maybe because creating a hotspot to share files/resources over a LAN is allowed but to access the internet isn't. Right now, the FCC is forcing Verizon in particular to allow users to be able to share their phone's 3G internet.


Many apps using sound crash after approx 15 minutes

The issue of applications constantly crashing in Android Lollipop may be attributed to bugs in this Android version or other reasons which are described below:

Audio bug (possibly AudioFocusLost)

This bug is described by a user on this thread: Why are my music player apps crashing frequently since recent Android update.

  This is an inherent flaw in Lollipop where apps crash constantly. You
  notice this with music apps as audio stops. Some apps stop restart
  where they left off, others don’t. With this bug when the app crashes,
  the audio just cuts out, there is no on-screen error message.

In addition, more information about this bug is revealed through an error logging of different audio apps by one user, and it produced this error:

Java.lang.Exception: AudioFocusLost

With some possible reasoning that;

  this exception handling may have been broken across audio apps in
  Android Lollipop, or possibly an overly aggressive process causing
  this exception in other apps

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS6/comments/34ipjr/music_players_pausing_andor_closing_when_playing/

Over-utilisation of system resources (e.g RAM)

It is possible that with many applications running in the background, the system resource tends to become overconsumed by RAM and CPU hungry processes such as social media apps etc.

In this case the inbuilt task manager in Samsung devices tend to kill such processes unless explicitly turned off in Smart Manager settings to conserve power and memory to cores apps (known system apps to me include media scanner and DRM content storage –consume a lot of resources when apps accessing related media are in use).

That is, I why I think it’s a possible cause although certain android versions have more pronounced effects than others, possibly due to poor memory management in a certain Android version.

Android System Webview bug

This component was also held responsible for causing app crashes due to a buggy update. Many apps using the feature (typically those rendering webpages internally) could also crash. Newer versions are based on chromium however. So uninstalling the buggy update could save app crashes.

This is not the whole list of bugs causing application crashes in Lollipop, but there may be more but with respect to the question I found these reasons to be more closely related to the issue in question.

Possible fixes

Before going to any advanced operations, regular cleaning of application cache and closing recent application no longer needed is a good habit to preserve system resources.

Prioritising the affected applications in system mangers (Smart Manager) and preventing be “killed” when RAM is too low.

If this is futile, then more advanced operations are required.

Wiping cache partition

Follow these steps:

Turn off your device
Press and hold the combination of keys (press and hold Volume Down, Volume Up and the Power button)
Hold the buttons until the Recovery menu shows up
Use Volume buttons to navigate to Recovery mode (and select it using the Power button)
In the Recovery mode menu, navigate to Wipe cache partition and select it with the Power button
When this is completed, navigate to Reboot system

Factory reset

If nothing seems to work, maybe your device needs a fresh start.
Factory data reset will wipe everything off, all the apps, settings, etc. Don’t forget to backup your files!
Go to Settings
Tap Backup & Reset
Next, tap Factory data reset
Tap Reset phone

Upgrade Android version

Upgrading the OS version can be an important way to solve bugs as developers often fix bugs in subsequent OS versions. You can do this through Settings ≥>System updates and check for available updates. Alternatively downloading appropriate firmware files from manufacturers' website and flashing via Odin

References

Google Acknowledges WebView-Related App And Device Crashing, Says The New Version Should Fix It
Apps Crashing Like Crazy on Your Android Phone? Could be Latest Android System Webview Update
My apps keep crashing (many different ones)
These few fixes may help you fight those Lollipop bugs
How To Fix Apps Freezing And Crashing On Android


How can I autoconnect to miracast/chromecast (screen cast) device?

What I've done that has worked is use tasker to launch the wireless display settings app, then use AutoInput to click on the adapter once it shows up. I was using this in my car, so I had the app trigger as soon as the phone connected to the car's bluetooth.


Google Cardboard magnet not working with Nexus 4

I bought a cardboard, working with Nexus 4. It had the same problem as described, but I managed to solve it. see the picture attached, I extend the moving range far more 50 mm, and it works(clicking now!)


Do any Android phones support 256GB of storage?

A quick search on Amazon gave a bunch of results.

SanDisk Ultra has a 256GB model (red and pale yellow)
Samsung EVO+ has a 256GB model (red)
Samsung EVO Select has a 256GB model (green)
Other manufacturers also have 256 GB models, e.g. Patriot LX and ADATA Premier
Lexar has 256GB models but I've heard they're ceasing producing storage products

Oh, there's one more thing that I'd like to note: The "maximum supported storage capacity" actually depends on the SoC (chip) and system. So as long as your phone is running on an SoC later than 2015 and Android 5+ (Lollipop) then it should have no problem supporting a 256GB microSD card.


Can I connect my XLR mic to my mobile via an XLR -> USB cable via OTG?

I went ahead and bought the XLR -> USB cable and IT WORKS through the OTG connector on my Redmi 4 mobile. But there is a lot of background static in the recordings.


Can I override page buddy's recommended applications settings?

it's the most frequently used apps while the earphones are plugged in. just open the app you want to show up 4 or 5 times in a row while the page buddy is active (earphones plugged in) and it will show up in the recommended apps. repeat for the next 3 apps you want to show. There's usually 4 recommended apps. This goes for all of the page buddy pages, earphones, docking, roaming, and spen (on supported devices).


Display GPX in Google Maps or other simple application?

What you want to achieve is working perfectly fine e.g. with Locus Maps, as I can say from my own experience. You can even use KMZ files − and if they are self-contained (i.e. all pictures etc. are inside the file, no external resources linked), you can even create your own travel guides (I did that, works like a charm). The offline maps can be selected and downloaded for free from inside the app as well.


For me a factory reset helped somewhat, although sometimes it still shuts off (about 3 times a week, better than every hour).


Android doesn't have a built-in RSS feed reader, but there are many RSS feed reader apps (and websites) that will happily import an OPML file.

If you want to use a website, or an app with a website-synced back end, then Google Reader is very popular, and you can definitely import OPML files into Google Reader. On your device you can then either visit the Google Reader webpage, or use the Google Reader app, or one of the other many Android apps that sync with Google Reader.

To import an OPML file into Google Reader, click the cog/gear icon in the top-right of the page, then click Reader Settings and then  Import/Export. You should then see the option to upload your OPML file.


ADB commands to get the adb version of mobile phone

First of all, Android since Marshmallow doesn't come with adb binary (client) anymore, but only with adbd (server), for communication with an adb client on Desktop.

In a nutshell, this is how the communication takes place:

your Android device has adbd, a daemon, which is started during boot process, and listens on USB by-default for communication from desktop clients;
your adb tool in your desktop acts as a client and sends request to adbd on your Android, and you get to run adb commands successfully subjected to fulfilment of certain conditions.

If there are compatibility concerns, they would arise if adbd is depreciated or adb client on your desktop is. To see the versions, run:

adb version                 // to check adb client version in your desktop
adb shell adbd --version    // to check adbd's version in your Android. Please note that some users reported error with this if executed without root access.

You shouldn't be worried about adbd's version but only with adb client version in your Desktop since official adb client is backward compatible.

Now to the localized issues you ended up with.

You incorrectly executed the commands. Nowhere the linked answer instructed to execute adb shell version. The correct procedure is:

adb version // adb version (client) on your Desktop
adb shell   // launches shell on your Android device through adb client on Desktop
adb version // the version of adb (client) binary that used to come with Android prior to Marshmallow.

The last two commands have no relevancy to your question since they intend to ascertain the version of the adb client in your Android. As I explained in the beginning, it is adbd (server) alone which communicates from Android device's end, not the adb binary in the Android. That binary in Android can be used, if available, to talk to other Android devices (USB-OTG, WiFi, etc.) or to the same device if adbd (server) is listening on network too.

Also, when you ran adb shell version, it meant: launch a shell on Android and execute the command version. There is nothing named version which is to be executed, hence, you got the error.


Does Razr i connect to PEAP protected wi-fi networks?

I have the same phone and got it to work on eduroam just now (was actually googling for solutions when I managed to solve it myself).  Was your problem also that you couldn't find the right part of the settings?  Weirdly you need to first just try to connect any old how (so it's saved as a network you use) and then long-press on it and choose "modify network".  This time you get a much longer list of options and can choose PEAP etc as in the university instructions -- at least, my university instructions work (http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/network/wireless/services/eduroam/android/) and I believe the point of the network is that you only need to set it up once.

However I'm already on the 4.1.2 update.  If you still can't get on you could check if the OTA is available for you yet (all settings -> about phone -> system updates).


Have root & external sdcard mounted rw, but mv produced "Permission Denied"

@IrfanLatif offered a comment that included an excellent link to all the things root can't do.  It turns out, reading a FUSE filesystem owned by another user, is one of them.  Android, will mount a device at multiple places, each with different permissions.  Going to /storage/[UUID], you are visiting a FUSE filesystem.  On the other hand, going to /mnt/media_rw/[UUID], you are visiting the filesystem directly.  There may, in addition, be SELinux permission issues, as described in that link, but in my case those did not appear.
$ mount | grep 1dc31997
/dev/block/vold/public:179_97 on /mnt/media_rw/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type f2fs (rw,dirsync,context=u:object_r:sdcard_posix:s0,nosuid,nodev,noatime,background_gc=on,user_xattr,active_logs=6)
/dev/fuse on /mnt/runtime/default/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)
/dev/fuse on /mnt/runtime/read/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)
/dev/fuse on /mnt/runtime/write/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)
/dev/fuse on /storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)


I just had that same issue today.

Go to Settings, and make sure you've removed Foxfi as an administrator. Go to Trusted credentials > User > and remove Foxfi. Then go back into Settings > Security > and Clear credentials. It'll let you change the lock code then! :)


Disable swipe lock screen on Galaxy S4 running JellyBean

I have changed Setup > My Device > Homescreen Mode from "Easy mode" to "Standard mode", and the lock screen swipe options came alive. I hope this helps.


No Google Now Hotword Detection on Moto X

According to Google+ community comments from multiple people, Chrome Beta browser has this effect. Uninstall Chrome Beta and begin using normal Chrome to fix it.


Dual SIM device : How to configure data usage on per app basis (Rooted device)

Requires Rooted Device, Xposed framework installed,  latest version of GravityBox Xposed module and an automation app - I use Macrodroid

Create a macro in Macrodroid

Trigger:

Application Launched → select from the drop down list, all apps you want to use on SIM card linked to banking, WhatsApp, Uber etc (5 apps in example below )
Application Launched → select from the drop down list, all apps you want to use on second SIM card (16 apps in example below )

( Make sure that apps don't appear on both lists !)

Actions:

If → +  → Trigger Fired  →
Application Launched 5 apps
→
Tap End If and add this action - Launch Shortcut  → GravityBox actions  → SIM settings  →  SIM 1 for data

Repeat this for second set of apps and choose SIM 2 for data

Constraints:   Leave blank

Done !


moving SD card in and out without messing up apps in it

you already know that apps are installed on SD Cards so it's normal not to work when SD card is removed because app files will be missing.
you can avoid this by installing your apps on internal memory


Porting a ROM is basically having the features of one devices to another devices. By using a Custom ROM you can add software capabilities your device doesn't have provided your phone's hardware supports it.

For example, if your phone manufacturer ships your phone with KitKat and doesn't offer upgrade, you can use Custom ROM and upgrade your phone to Lollipop, MarshMallow etc. However, if your phone doesn't have an OTG hardware, you can have ROMS that support OTG but since your hardware doesn't support it you cannot have it enabled.

Making the ROM from scratch is difficult but Porting isn't too difficult.


You can root XOLO phones using Framaroot application. The framaroot application helps to install the Superuser and su binary on the android phones (but compatible only for few android devices).

Before Proceeding:

1.Take a full backup of your phone by using appropriate backup applications.

2.Once you have backup your important data’s which was available in your phone, check the battery level of your phone.

3.Incase, if it is low charge them fully, so then it never get switched off during the middle of the rooting process.

1.First, download the framaroot.apk from this page of xda-developers.

2.Once you have download this application install the same in your device.

3.After that select the SuperSu from the dropdown menu.

4.Select the Boromir now and reboot the phone.

5.That’s it! Now, your phone has root access and you will get success message which implies The SuperSu and Su binary was installed.

6.After seeing this message on your mobile, just reboot your phone.


Stop text messages from going into my Exchange account's Inbox

What's even worse is that it's not just a combined view; the text messages are actually inserted into your Inbox, so your private text messages sync back to your corporate email account, so they show up in Outlook on your PC, and they're available for your company's Exchange administrators to snoop on! It's probably the most annoying anti-feature I encountered when I first got started with Android.
The setting to make it stop doing that is there, but they hide it really, really well. Not only is it in an unintuitive location, but in order to get there you twice have to scroll down to hidden portions of the screen where there are no visual cues that indicate that there's anything more down below.
Here's how to ferret out the text message sync setting's hidden underground lair:

Select Settings from the menu (the soft button in the bottom left corner, not the hamburger menu in the top left corner).

Select Account Settings.

Select your Exchange account.

You'd expect to find it here under Sync Settings, presuming that this was designed with common sense, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Scroll down to find a hidden More settings button at the bottom, and tap it.

On the More settings screen, scroll down again.

Find the Sync text message setting, and uncheck it.


How can I download email attachments only when requested?

K-9 Mail does load attachments only on request. But your problem is not only the Client, it's more the protocol used for retrieving E-Mail: POP3 does not support the partial download of an E-Mail without their attachment(s), whereas IMAP does. Besides of that IMAP has some nice extensions when it comes to mobile usage: Lemonade Profiles


Will a factory data reset make my camera working again?

1) You should (of course) back up your personal data first!

2) Yes. A factory reset/clean should do the trick. That is: if the camera worked during your last system clean.


How can I get more internal space for apps?

On a device with such limited resources, your best bet by far is to eliminate as many apps as possible.
Any useless bloatware that was preinstalled might be able to be disabled.  This will prevent them from growing.
Any apps that connect you to sites that are accessible with a browser- use the browser and ditch the apps.
A great, small, very fast browser for such a mission is Lightning.
Lightning (Lightweight web browser) - https://f-droid.org/app/acr.browser.lightning


Removing Gmail app for guest device in my home

You could use a so called "App Locker" like e.g. App Lock, which allow you to protect selected apps with a pattern lock. A more restrictive way would be to turn your tab into a "Kiosk device" (details can be found following the kiosk-mode tag; just 6 questions, so it should be easy to browse).


Samsung Note 5: Heimdall recovery flash completes, but device stuck "Downloading..."

This seems to happen if you download the wrong twrp - I had downloaded the S5 twrp. The only other thing to note is when in the stuck Downloading... screen, you can hold Power + Volume Down button to turn off the device.


In general, do Android apps use encrypted connections? If so, is public WiFi safer?

Your concern is very real.  Most developers and users don't understand the benefits of using SSL and other forms of encryption.

You can guarantee encryption by using an SSH Tunnel, although it will only ensure the stream is encrypted to the exit point (which would be the server to which you're connected).  This is good if you are simply trying to prevent your ISP from spying on you.

Another way would be to use TorProject's Orbot.  This has the same idea in mind, except you will not be required to provide your own tunneling server and benefit from being able to change your exit point at will.  Orbot also uses multiple proxies to help obfuscate your identity.  Of course, you are encouraged to help participate and provide a relay if at all possible.

In order to have 100% stream encryption, neither of these options are fool-proof, but may help you in your endeavor.

This is why it is important (especially now) to use different passwords for different sites, as some sites/services won't provide the same level of security as another.

SSL on a public WiFi, while still much much more secure than non encrypted streams, does not provide 100% failsafe protection.  Unfortunately, Root Certificate Authorities are vulnerable to hacks, and some (Trustwave) have even been caught issuing certificates to companies they knew were not the owners of the website SPECIFICALLY to allow said companies to spy on encrypted connections.  It is also easy to strip SSL out in applications that do not require secure connections.

You do, however, have a few options that will provide you with stronger security.

You can use gpg to encrypt messages and data using your intended target's  public key.
One pass encryption has the highest level of security for certain applications.

TLDR;

Your phone is insecure.  It is up to you to decide what conveniences you need, and how they will impact your security.  There are many practices in which you can become disciplined that will help minimize your risks, but at the end of the day it is your responsibility to safeguard what you deem private.  I would be more worried about the data that each app you have installed is trying to offload to it's servers.  Read through the 'Permissions' of each app you install before you download it, and decide if it really needs half of what it says it does.


Why is application data of the same application stored in different locations?

All apps have private storage in the protracted /data folder. Some apps choose to temporarily store data in public locations. Unfortunately I cannot say for certain what the exact results of this were, but I know the way shared data is handled changed in Android 7 for security reasons.


I can't use the sd card to download apps

Your SD card can be as big as possible, but Android won't use it. It's not safe for Android to assume your external SD card is always accessible.
Depending on your Android version, your internal storage is shared with your device storage i.e: Applications will not use less storage even if you move them to your SD card.


opening problem with youtube and hangout apps

Ryan Radford found a fix the app crashing issue and his full solution is posted in the thread linked below. Kyocera did not include libpredtm.so in system/lib, so if you root your phone, you can place the copy of libpredtm.so that Ryan supplied and paste it into your system/lib directory. It has fixed the app crashes for a lot of users already.

http://androidforums.com/threads/google-play-services-not-working.944032/page-13#post-7124154


How to minimize the app window (freeform mode/pop-up view)?

The phone in the question uses Android 5. I was now also using another phone with Android 6. In this version I stumbled over the answer by accident. This also works in my Android 5 phone.

You swipe diagonally from one upper corner. (If you don't hit a clean diagonal swipe, you will naturally risk getting a "settings"-screen or what the app in question does for horizontal swipe.

Click image for larger variant

Here it is called the gesture for "pop-up view".

(If I make the diagonal swipe for this app (SE), I get a red frame. It probably indicates that minimization of this app has been disabled.)


Without having looked more closely at your example, the "add-on" is likely just an app that doesn't have any activities declared as launcher activity. It doesn't show up on your home screen, because Android doesn't know what it would have to show you if you tried to open it.

The main app can then check if you have the add-on app installed, and communicate however it needs to with it.

There's no additional black magic here, just a regular app that isn't meant to be opened by the user directly.


Galaxy S3 turning on and off repeatedly even after factory reset

Reload your BOOTLOADER because that is what will be stopping your device from booting sincerely it works a bit like BIOS. I, sadly, dont have any tips on how to do so though. Google search maybe?


@David "I tried unrooting, but this cannot be done as it cannot access /system where KingoRoot apk is stored."

-Did you try to Unroot going on their "Superuser" app?

Superuser -> settings -> Remove Root.

That should do the job of uninstalling Superuser/Unrooting. It would still leave Kingo, but you can uninstall it from normal android settings -> Apps panel.

If you lost the root but their Superuser app is still installed, i would open kingo and re-root, then "Remove Root" after :-p

If the above fails and i could not remove it, i believe a factory hard-reset from the stock recovery options should fix it - have you done it ? you said "reboot" i dont know if thats what you meant.

(back up your data first, make sure you remember your credentials).

I would do one, and If it still did not solve the problem i would flash the SAME stock firmware i was using, then move my data back/reinstall apps.

And yes, like people say on the comments here - and also from personal experience - these "one click root" apps have the advantage of being really easy to use (maybe not the ones in chinese language lol) and work GOOD for lots of different brands/models... the disadvantage is these "half-rooted" cases (devices with Android 5+ ?) when the SU binary is not fully functional and will not work right for many apps that need SU permitions.

I had many similar mounting issues and some others with yet another chinese 1click app called "360 super root". UNfortunately, it was the only one that worked for my device so far. Kingo, king, iroot, wmroot all failed. This "360root" (aka permroot) was the only one to work, but its SU was buggy like yours seem. Fortunately now i managed to install a good root via custom recovery... root now works 100% for the stuff i need.

There IS a way of replacing Kingo's Supersu by a different/better SU app without losing the root Kingo did. There is a paid app that does this trick that is called "Super-SU-me" and also a manual/free way to do it, but dont ask me how :-/

By the way, what is your device brand/model and android version ?


Samsung Galaxy Tab GT-P1000 USB Cable Problems ; Charging Problems

The fact that your Tab is not being recognized by the PC is telling me that there could be an issue with the USB drivers.  Try uninstalling all Samsung USB drivers (including the Kies utility) and then re-installing Kies from here.

Further, if you want to only root the tab, follow the steps outlined in this thread:

  Prerequisites:

  1) Kies Software downloaded from HERE and installed, and Tab connected even once
  2) USB debugging enabled
  3) SuperOnceClick downloaded from HERE

  Process:
  1) Connect your galaxy tab with debugging mode disabled and sync with Kies even once
  2) Disconnect it and enable debugging mode from Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging
  3) Connect the tab again to PC and click on home button so that Tab comes out of Kies connection
  4) Launch SuperOneClick.exe
  5) Click on root and wait for 5-10 Mins

If you want to install custom ROMs like CyanogenMod for example, you will need to flash a custom recovery first by following the steps in this post:

  Download Odin from here and extract it to a folder on your desktop.
  Download the custom recovery from here
  Launch Odin3 v1.7.exe to open the Odin application.
  On Odin, click on PDA.  Navigate to the location where you have downloaded CF-Root-TAB7_XX_OXA_JQ1-v3.3-CWM3RFS.tar to from above and select it.
  This is the most important instruction ever and we really can’t stress how important this is.  Make sure that the Re-Partition tickbox is unchecked!!  Ticking this is a surefire way to brick your device.
  Power down your P1000.
  With the device powered down, press and hold the Volume Down + Power buttons until the device boots into Download Mode.
  Connect the device to your Windows PC using a microUSB cable.  Odin should now recognize your device and the ID:COM should light up yellow.
  Click on Start.  Again, make sure that Re-Partition is unchecked!!
  Download your favorite ROM (e.g. CyanogenMod).
  Copy the downloaded ROM zip file to the SD card on your device and disconnect the device from your PC.
  Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery.  To do this, with the device powered down, press and hold Volume Up + Power until it boots into Recovery.
  Select "Install zip from SD card".  Navigate to the location where you downloaded the ROM zip, select it and then select "Install".
  Optionally, download and flash the GApps package compatible with your ROM.


On Galaxy S3 with Jelly Bean, how can I make long-pressing the home button activate Google Voice Search?

You could install an alternate launcher like Nova and assign the buttons to do different things. Alternatively you can flash a ROM that has the home button going to Google Search by default.


Presumably, the device is using wifi to access the internet - it might be worth a shot to try this:

Settings > Wifi
Hit on Menu to bring up Advanced
Tap on that menu option
Keep Wifi on during sleep, check that, make sure its set to Never

In that way when the device goes to sleep, wifi is still active and running and the web app should still work and

When a new job arrives we are notified with an audible alert

Edit
The above answer is not the correct answer, rather from the comments below,  this is definitely the one, in which I quote,.

Maybe, the approach to managing the jobs is done the wrong way,
especially in context of Android - a custom app that has a service
using a partial wake-lock to "ping" checking on jobs, send an event to
the app and the app wakes up. IMHO, a browser is not the right tool
for the requirements in your case.

In short, there is nothing that can be done to keep the web-browser "alive" while the device is sleeping, as Android, behind the scenes, when the kernel is not in sleep state, is tracking what apps are running, and depending on power and memory constraints, especially in the case of a web-browser page, (if it has a lot of styles, the more elaborate the page, the more resources hogged up as a result, especially if it has a lot of Javascript behind the page) this could be the job for the kernel to shoot it down and eject it from memory hence not reliable route to take.
TL;DR: A proper application instead of just web-browser will resolve the OP's problem.
Off-topic: There was a piece covered by the technology section under the BBC news in respect to mobile web browsing and how it can affect the battery due to the way web pages are designed, rather, they were designed incorrectly for the mobile platform, too much styles, too much scripting, not to mention Flash as well, they all had adverse affect on how Android displays/renders the page which in turn meant a lot of CPU cycles consumed to do just that.


Folder becomes invalid after trying to create a nameless folder inside it by mistake!

You should try to put your SD card into a linux computer.

Then make as soon as possible a dump of your SD card using dd. In this way you'll get an image which you can use for recovery trials and avoid to brick your original device.

Then you can use this image (or a copy if you modify it) for your trials.

First try just to mount it and see, if it possible to access it and the relevant files.
If this does not help, you should use fsck to hopefully recover your lost files, results are typically stored in the directory lost+found.
If this all does not help, you should use a tool like testdisk to recover all kind of lost and deleted files. (However, this method will be most likely have a chance to be successfull, if there have not been to much write operations on the SD card, as every write operation might overwrite any lost files).