title: UserStyles for XML activities?

text:
# Question
Title: UserStyles for XML activities?
All my android phones so far have been Samsung's, with AMOLED screens. One of the benefits of AMOLED is that black saves battery life.

So many apps though (including many big ones, even from Google) don't include a dark theme. So you wind up with a lot of white, sucking down your battery.

This got me to wondering, seeing as the Android UI is built on XML with something essentially like CSS, is there any way to override the styles in apps?

I'm thinking something along the lines of the Stylish add-on for Firefox, which allows you to specify user stylesheets that can override all sites, or specific sites.

I am rooted, and was thinking maybe something on that Xposed Framework? (I've never used any Xposed modules). Or any way really.

Thanks in advance.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try Holo Themer which is an xposed module that will force all Holo apps (that is, apps which are consistent to the 3.0+ UI as opposed to the pre-Honeycomb UI) to be either dark or light.

If, after you install xposed, your phone won't boot, boot into recovery and flash the disabler attached to the thread.

---
Tags: user-interface, themes, xposed-framework
---


title: Google Contact Sync Problem

text:
# Question
Title: Google Contact Sync Problem
I bought Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (now with Kit Kat) about a year ago and used my Google account to sync contact, calendar, G-Mail, etc. Everything is working fine since I noticed contacts sync problem two weeks ago. Every time I make sync, **Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be back shortly.** message appears. I only have around 260 contacts. I researched and tried some solutions. But sync problem still exists. Some websites suggest to clear data of **Contact Storage** and I did. Nothing become except all my contacts were gone from my phone. Sync still doesn't work. I hate to do Factory Reset for such problem. I have searched many questions like mine at here but I can't find any solutions. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

# Answer
> -1 votes
Go to http://google.com/contacts from PC then log in and check your contact from there

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, samsung-galaxy-note-3, google-contacts
---


# Question
Title: When will my device get the Android 5.0 update (Lollipop)?
Android 5.0 (Lollipop) was officially announced on October 15th, 2014.

You can review the high-level changes at the Android website and the announcement on the official Android blog.

Of course, not all devices will get this update right away and others won't get it at all. Each manufacturer and carrier often choose to add their custom modifications which tend to delay the official release.

**When will each device get Android 5.0, either officially or unofficially, if ever?**

See also:

# Answer
This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates for devices. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines:

1. Keep devices in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
2. Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and **link to the source**
3. If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded

# Phones

## HTC

## LG

## Motorola

## OnePlus

## Samsung

## Sony

* **Xperia Z Series**: *Yes* (confirmed)
(Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Z1, Xperia Z1S, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1 Compact, Xperia Z2, Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3v, Xperia Z3 Compact)

# Tablets

## Asus

## LG

* **G Pad 8.3**
    + Google Play Edition: 2014-11-29 (confirmed)

## Nvidia

* **Shield**: 2014-11-18 (official)
* **Tegra Note 7** (aka Advent Vega Tegra Note 7, Xolo Play Tegra Note 7, eVGA Tegra Note 7, GAZER Tegra Note 7, Gigabyte Tegra Note 7, HP Slate 7 Extreme): *Yes* (confirmed)

## Samsung

## Sony

* **Xperia Z Tablet Series**: *Yes* (confirmed)
(Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z2 Tablet, Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact)

# Other
> 33 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, updates, android-versions
---


# Question
Title: How do I import all contacts from a SIM-card to an Android phone?
My mother have got a HTC Wildfire with Android 2.2.

Now I want to import all contacts from her old SIM-card to the phone. I did it and it worked. Then I switched to the new SIM-card, and now when I start the phone, the contacts has disappeared.

How can I import the contacts from the old SIM-card to the Android phone? This is a really annoying problem.

# Answer
I found a pre-installed app on the HTC Wildfire **Transfer Data** that transferred all contacts and SMS from the old SonyEricsson phone, it was exactly what I needed.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Two questions:

1. Are you sure the SIM contacts were really imported or only displayed.
2. Is the option to show phone contacts checked after you changed the SIM.

If you go to Contacts, press Menu -\> Import/Export -\> Import from SIM card.

The SIM contacts should be imported into the phone and remain there. It is then just a matter of getting phone contacts displayed.
> 8 votes

# Answer
Follow these steps:

1. Open Contacts. You can reach this from the contacts shortcut in your app drawer or home screen, or via the contacts tab in your phone dialer.
2. Press the Menu button.
3. Select Import/Export.
4. Select Export from SIM.
5. Click Select All, or manually tick each contact you wish to copy to the phone.
6. You may be asked where to copy the contacts to; select the appropriate option.

It takes no more than a second or two to copy over a few hundred contacts, so you'll be done in less than the time it takes to send yourself just one via SMS.
> 3 votes

# Answer
If like most people you use a Google account on your android phone, import your contacts to your google account, then they will be on any future android phone as soon as you sign in.
> 0 votes

# Answer
You can copy all your SIM contacts to HTC Wildfire S. Import them as phone contacts, Google contacts, or Exchange ActiveSync contacts, if you have set up the relevant accounts. From the Home screen, tap \> People. On the All tab, press , and then tap Import/Export \> Import from SIM card. If you have Google or Exchange ActiveSync accounts set up on HTC Wildfire S, tap the type for the imported contacts. Do one of the following: Tap one or more SIM contacts you want to import. To import all contacts, press , and then tap Select all. Tap Save.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: contacts, htc-sense, htc-wildfire, sim-card
---


# Question
Title: how to unlock phone which gs no internate connection
How can I unlock my phone since it needs Google account sign in , while my phone has no internet connection neither wifi connection.

# Answer
I dont know whether its your phone or not. but try this:

Download Android ADB files over the internet. Look for your phones models, Fastboot mode. enter into fastboot mode.

1. Connect you (turned on) Phone to the Computer via USB.
2. Open a command prompt terminal window, move to the location where you have your adb files.
3. Enter below commands in console:

adb devices

adb shell

cd data/system

rm \*.key

Done...Now You Just Have To Reboot.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: locked-out
---


# Question
Title: Unlocking Bootloader of HTC One X on Windows 8.1 / Linux Ubuntu
How to unlock the bootloader of HTC One X on Windows 8.1? Since I want to install MIUI Rom.

When I install the latest version of "HTC Sync Manager", It shows me that the Windows 8.1 is not competible with this software. Therefore, the command `fastboot oem get_identifier_token` does not work because of the incompatible HTC Driver.

I am wondering whether I can unlock my HTC One X on my Linux Ubuntu? If yes, how to do it? Do I need to install HTC Driver on Linux Ubuntu?

**Thank you for your attention.**

# Answer
> 2 votes
Linux is absolutely the best way to do this sort of things. This is a thread on xda about how to set the development environment on Linux Ubuntu in particular http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2302780

Follow these steps and you'll have fastboot command set up to do the unlocking process. Plus you won't need any driver to let the system recognize the device.

---
Tags: windows, htc-one-x, htc, usb-drivers, bootloader-lock
---


# Question
Title: I have broken screen. Can I root my phone only with downloading mode and recovering mode?
I want to recover my data from my Samsung S Duos. I have broken screen, so I can't do anything, even unlock (because I have a password to enter the phone). I tried to install CWM and connect with ADB, but USB debugging isn't turn on, so I can't connect with ADB at all. Is there some way to root my phone via recovering mode (with CWM) so I can turn on USB debugging and work with ADB? Maybe there is some easier way to recover my data? I thought e.g. about connecting keyboard to my phone, so I can unlock it and normally connect via USB, but my phone doesn't support OTG :/ any ideas?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I think you should be able to use `adb` on your phone while in recovery. `adb devices` should show something along the lines of `YOUR_DEVICE recovery`.

Once you have access to your device in recovery, you can mount the data partition using `adb shell busybox mount /data` and then you can use `adb pull` to pull data from the data partition, for example: `adb pull /data/ phone_data/` will save the entire contents of your /data partition (which includes apps, wifi settings and app preferences) to phone\_data in your current directory. If you want to pull data from your sd card for some reason, simply do `adb pull /sdcard/ phone_sdcard/`.

*Note*: I prefer using TWRP (which you can find for your device here), so if any of the above steps don't work you should try using it.

---
Tags: rooting, adb, samsung-galaxy-s-duos, broken-screen
---


# Question
Title: Receive push notification when a user I'm following tweets specific hashtag
Is there a way to configure the Twitter app for Android to submit a push notification when a tweet by a user I'm following contains a specific hashing I'm interested in.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't know about the Twitter app, but if you're willing to use this site: https://ifttt.com/

then yes, it's possible.

At this point IFTTT does not appear to let you push tweets by a user other than yourself, so will not accomplish what is being asked.

---
Tags: twitter, push-notifications
---


title: Resume broken apk download

text:
# Question
Title: Resume broken apk download
I am trying to install Asphalt 8 game which is 1.35 GB in size. However my wife network is erratic due to which the downloading stops after sometime. Is there any way to resume the download from the same place as currently the Google play store starts afresh.

# Answer
Get the game directly from Gameloft (or if the free version is missing, get it from p2p).

On Linux/Mac, use wget to resume your download. On Windows, use a freeware from snapfiles to resume your downloads.

The problem then will be to transfer the game from your computer to the android device.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, downloading
---


# Question
Title: Install CWM or TWRP on Micromax Bolt A068
Device: Micromax Bolt A068

I want to install CWM or TWRP on my phone, but I am not able to do so. I tried using ROM Manager, but it shows a `NOT SUPPORTED DEVICE` message.

Can someone provide to download unofficial CWM or TWRP recovery image that is compatible with my device.

# Answer
> 0 votes
See here for a list of sites which may contain custom ROMs and recoveries for your device.

---
Tags: recovery-mode
---


# Question
Title: Add contact without using "Google account"?
When I got my phone, I imported my old contacts by writing a small program that uses the contacts API. That worked great, and all my contacts were stored locally on the phone (sync with Google is turned off). Now I need to add a new contact manually through the standard contacts menu. I *only* get the option to add the new contact to my "Google account", there's no choice for local storage. All the contacts i batch-added with my program are correctly listed as "phone only, unsynced contact", and this is what I'd like to happen also with new contacts I add from the standard contacts menu as well.

I'm aware of this question, but there are no storage settings at all in the contacts settings menu described in that question's answer.

What do I do to add new contacts to the local storage? I could of course use the program I wrote, but that seems a bit cumbersome in the long run, and surely there must be a way to do this through the menus?

I'm running stock Android 4.0.2 on a Galaxy Nexus.

# Answer
Disable the Google Contacts Sync app (`Settings -> Apps -> All -> GoogleContactsSyncAdapter` -\> Disable) and reboot, then try adding a contact again. If this does not help and you have rooted your Android then you can delete `/system/app/GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk` with a file browser (but take a backup first!). Either way, next time you create a contact you should be informed that the contact will be stored locally.

As far as I can tell this won't break anything else.

However, if you also use another account with sync function like Microsoft Exchange (for hotmail), you'll have to remove that one too. In case of Microsoft Exchange, it's best to remove the entire account, because just disabling the app prevents you from receiving emails anyway.

Source
> 17 votes

# Answer
Compared to my first answer, there is another (simpler) solution that also worked for me:

Use the MyLocalAccount App to create a local account. You can then easily sync your contacts with your PC using MyPhoneExplorer.
> 5 votes

# Answer
There may be a better workaround for this problem, but I just tried this:

* Make sure you have all your contacts on a safe place outside your phone.

Create another (than your current) Google account, e.g. `Locale.Phonebook@gmail.com`.

* Add it to your phone. Make it the one that it used for new contacts by default.
* Delete the account on Google again.

If you hadn't had any contacts in your normal Google account, you are done. Just make sure that your syncing software uses the correct (new) account.

If you had contacts in your normal account, you'll have to transfer them from the normal Google account to the special new account somehow.

I used the software My Phone Explorer (MPE) to do it, but it is tricky.

* First, you need to set the folder/account used to sync the contacts in the MPE client on the phone to the one still containing the contacts.
* Then sync. This will get the contacts over to the PC.
* On the PC, copy ALL the contacts to clipboard. Also make a backup with MPE.
* Then delete all contacts on the PC (select one, then press Ctrl-A to select all, then delete).
* Then sync. This will delete the contacts from the (normal) Google account.

Now change the folder/account used to sync the contacts in the MPE client on the phone to the new one. Also change the folder/account where new contacts go into (to the new account).

* On the PC, paste all contacts again into the application.
* Then sync again. This will create the contacts in the new account.

Now your contacts are stored in a Google account (which keeps your ICS/Jelly Bean phone happy), but you are certain that the contacts cannot be accidentally synced with Google (which hopefully keeps you happy).

Why do they make us do such things? I think whoever wants to keep his data private should be able to do so without using tricks.

Is someone out there able to program a new content-provider for contacts using a local store?

BTW: MPE is still able to store the contacts on the phone locally the way it worked before ICS when you sync with your PC. However, the problem is, that on the phone you cannot add a new contact to this local store, it is just not being displayed when you are asked where to store the new contact.

***Pitfall:*** Occasionally, you will see a message, that there is a login problem with the deleted account. Instead of being angry about that, you can be happy because it shows you that you just have successfully prevented data leakage from your phone to Google ;-)
> 4 votes

# Answer
One solution that worked for me is the following:

Host your own instance of ownCloud, then sync your contacts via CalDav (Google Play or for free at F-Droid).
Alternatives would be CardDAV for contacts and ICalSync2 for calendars.

For another (simpler) solution see my second answer.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Since ICS, Google stopped allowing you to store contacts locally.

Some manufacturers add this manually to their own ROM's.

You now *have* to sync it to a type of account.
> 2 votes

# Answer
You can use Local Calendar from the Android F-Droid FOSS Repository

I am using it without any problems on my phone.
> 2 votes

# Answer
If you're rooted use Titanium Backup Pro and freeze "Google Contact Sync". It'll be in red text but don't worry about that, freeze it anyway.

Now if you go to WhatsApp, for example, and add a contact it'll give you a message about adding an account, click " keep local". You're done, keeping the contact local will be the default option now.

To reverse the process for whatever reason, just defrost the app from Titanium Backup Pro.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: contacts, google-account
---


# Question
Title: How do I import a downloaded font into the Phonto app?
I am trying to import a font that I downloaded from http://dafont.com site into the Phonto app. I am using WinZip on my PC. I have the HTC One phone. I have no clue what to do.

# Answer
You should follow the developer's step-by-step instructions.

To summarise, if you downloaded a zip file, first unzip it (using any zip file app) to get to the .ttf or .otf file, then click that file to open it in Phonto, which will add the font.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, fonts
---


# Question
Title: How to downgrade Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 from 2.3.6 to 2.2.2?
I need help with downgrading my Samsung Galaxy Mini (S5570) from 2.3.6 to 2.2.2.

# Answer
> -1 votes
You can search and download "Samsung S5770 Android 2.2.2 firmware" in google or forum.xda-developer.com in Samsung S5770 section, you can get official ROM and Custom ROM there, then flash it via ODIN (if official) or via custom recovery if Custom ROM

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread
---


title: System file contain mount command

text:
# Question
Title: System file contain mount command
I'm searching for file that mount all android partition like system,cache,etc. Why I want to do that? Because I had partitioned my SD to Fat and Ext4 and I want the Ext4 Partition as Internal SD and Fat as External SD (My device doesn't have Internal SD). I'm using Ext4 because when I search in Google "fastest file system" then the result are Ext3 and Ext4.

I have tried to edit vold.fstab but Android 4.0 or just mine doesn't support other filesystem except Fat. Then I have and idea why don't edit file that mount system or cache,etc then make my Ext4 partition as Internal SD

# Answer
> 0 votes
It's the kernel, not just the mount command, that determines what filesystems are supported by your device. To add support for filesystems your device doesn't already, you need to find the kernel sources and config for your device, reconfigure the kernel to enable the filesystem you want, build a new boot.img, and flash it to your device.

Since that's essentially how to port and build a custom ROM, the exact details of how to do this are well beyond the scope of this site. You might be able to find a custom ROM for your device that already supports the filesystem you want: see Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? for more information on how to find custom ROMs.

BTW, it seems quite unlikely that your device only supports FAT. Since Android is Linux-based, it's more usual to use a filesystem like ext3 for the internal filesystems, and only FAT for the SD card. But since you didn't tell us what device you have, I can't say for sure.

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Tags: sd-card, mount
---


# Question
Title: How can I set a directory permission so that all files, existing, and newly added are indelible?
I am tinkering with an app that I do not control. It creates files and then sometime later deletes them, I want to prevent it from being able to delete those files. Or if I could create a file system watcher app that would auto copy the file to a new location, that too would suffice, but I do not know if that is possible on Android. Also, I would like to be able to set this recursively on a small folder tree but if not, I can just do each folder manually.

# Answer
(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)
> 0 votes

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Tags: file-permissions
---


# Question
Title: Receiving "Unknown id: disable" from ADB
I attempted to apply the following command through ADB...

`adb shell su -c pm disable com.google.android.gsf/.update.SystemUpdateService$Receiver`

But when I enter the command, I receive the following "Unknown id: disable"

What does this mean?

# Answer
> 4 votes
I didn't test that, but you didn't quote the command – so `su -c` just got the command `pm` to execute, while everything behind that got passed as additional parameters to `adb shell`. And `shell` doesn't know anything about "disable".

```
adb shell su -c "pm disable com.google.android.gsf/.update.SystemUpdateService$Receiver"

```

should fix that – and pass the complete command (`-c` stands for "execute command") to `su` as *one* parameter.

---

***Notes from the comments:***

Despite of using quotes, you might still get some "unknown id" errors here or there – e.g. as m0skit0 reports (in now deleted comments) for `adb shell su -c "mkdir /system/priv-app/CoreService"` the error `Unknown id: /system/priv-app/CoreService`. In such cases, play with the quotes: some systems prefer double-quotes, other single quotes, again other are impartial.

And in some cases it seems necessary to use a kind of "section quoting" – so m0skit0's solution was `adb shell "su -c 'mkdir /system/priv-app/CoreService'"` (with the sections `mkdir /system/priv-app/CoreService` (the command to run – parameter to `su`) single-quoted, the `su -c` plus that section double-quoted (parameter to `adb shell`)).

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Tags: adb
---


# Question
Title: Does Android 4.4.3 support Bluetooth Low Energy in peripheral mode
(Re-post from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24049823/does-android-4-4-3-support-bluetooth-low-energy-in-peripheral-mode):

We know that Android until 4.4.2 does not support Bluetooth Low Energy in peripheral mode (see here).

As the OP said, from those commits https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/ee0b3e9 looks like they added the feature.

Does anybody have any information on this?

# Answer
According to Google I/O, peripheral mode for BLE will only be supported with Android L. (Source: https://plus.google.com/117159045047546859181/posts/79nqfUwxeZK)

Another source says it clear:

> BLE Peripheral Mode — Android devices can now function in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) peripheral mode. Apps can use this capability to broadcast their presence to nearby devices — for example, you can now build apps that let a device to function as a pedometer or health monitor and transmit data to another BLE device.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Looks like they have made a number of changes and fixes for Bluetooth and BLE. The changelog is here. You can just do a search for bluetooth in that document. This might interest you too. (I'm not sure what they mean by "do not merge")
> 0 votes

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Tags: 4.4-kitkat, bluetooth
---


# Question
Title: Can I recover the events deleted from my phone local calendar?
I have an LG P700.

Yesterday I tried to use LG PC Suite to back it up. PC Suite got stuck at some point of the process and asked me to disconnect the phone and restart it, in spite that the screen of the phone had a warning not to touch it. I rashly followed the PC Suite instructions and restarted the phone. After doing so, I found that no backup had been created and all the events in Google Calendar had disappeared. Everything else in the phone seems to be working fine. I was using the phone local calendar, and I didn't have it synchronized to the cloud.

About an hour before I started the PC Suite backup I set up the Backup & Reset options for my Google account (Settings -\> Backup & Reset), so I understand that the phone started to back up itself automatically at that point. I don't know if this might help.

So, is there any way to recover my lost events? I'm really crossing my fingers here 'cause I lost around 400 - 500 events.

# Answer
Ability to restore deleted entries really varies from each calendar.

Assuming you made your entries to Google Calendar and didn't sync it to the cloud, then no it's not possible to restore it.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: backup, recovery-mode, calendar, bugs, lg
---


# Question
Title: I cant move apps like twitter over to SD card?
Why cant I move twitter over to my SD card? I have a 16gb SD and all installed apps are there,exept for some, like twitter. Is it possible to move those apps over to SD card?

# Answer
There are 2 possible situations here, or both:

1. System apps cannot be moved to SD due to being 'protected' system apps.
2. Apps that have widgets cannot be moved to SD as it breaks the widget and many devs will take out the option to move to SD.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Did you download the 'Twitter' app or is it a system application? In other words, did it come preloaded with the phone? One thing to keep in mind when moving apps to SD card:

> Apps that Shouldn’t be Moved to the SD Card:

* Widgets – no matter how menial in usefulness or design.
* System tools – many might not operate as intended without being on the phone’s storage.
* Important apps – you don’t want to risk an important app becoming inaccessible when you need it.

If the app is not a system app. You should be able to move to SD card. Try stopping the app so that it is not in use when you are attempting to move to SD card. Sometimes the 'Move to SD card' button is grayed out until you 'Force stop' the app.
> 0 votes

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Tags: sd-card, twitter
---


# Question
Title: Looking for a log file telling me when my phone was on?
My android 4.4.3 phone was off and in storage but when I got it back the battery was flat and there was some stuff on facebook I can't account for. Is there any log files which would confirm when my phone was on etc.

# Answer
I found this answer useful. It might help you with what you're looking to accomplish:

Log file locations

As an alternative, there's an app that can help you analyze logs:

aLogcat (free) - logcat
> 0 votes

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Tags: logging
---


# Question
Title: Find out which app is making notification sounds?
I've got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 8, and a few days ago it started making a notification sound but with no notification banner. I don't know what app is doing it and I didn't install anything around the time it started.

Is there a way to trace this back to the source app somehow?

# Answer
> -2 votes
You can disable your notifications by following these steps: (Depending on model of device and Android build these steps may or may not be exact)

1. Go to Settings -\> Applications
2. Select Application and uncheck the 'Show notifications' box
3. When prompted to confirm -\> click OK.

I did this manually, but there is an app in the Google Play store that can disable all notifications but it requires ROOT.

Here is the app in case you have ROOT access and decide to go that route: Notifications Off

---
Tags: notifications, audio, samsung-galaxy-tab
---


# Question
Title: How can I tweak the amount of RAM allocated to Chrome for Android?
I have a Samsung S4 running Android version 4.4.2. I am using Chrome browser version 35.0.1916.141. I am constantly on the go and I utilize my phone's browser pretty heavily. I've noticed that with heavy use, it becomes sluggish. This is very frustrating when I am trying swift through my open tabs while maintaining a fluid experience.

My question was `How can I tweak the amount of RAM allocated to Chrome for Android?`

# Answer
I found a tweak that will allow me to manipulate the amount of RAM that is allocated to the Chrome browser on Android.

By default the Chrome browser for Android can only access up to 128MB of RAM. This can be tweaked by simply opening the application `Chrome Browser` and typing the following string in a new tab and tap *Enter*:

> chrome://flags/#max-tiles-for-interest-area

In the menu that pops up, change the value from `Default` to `256` or `512`.

You will be prompted with a notification that will ask you to *Relaunch Google Chrome* in order for your changes to take effect. Click `Relaunch Google Chrome` and enjoy the added speed.
> 1 votes

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Tags: chrome-for-android, ram
---


# Question
Title: How can I speed up Window Animation scale?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 running Android 4.4.2. It's fast but I'm a heavy user and I'd like to make it a bit faster. How can I speed up Window Animation scale?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I found that by tweaking the following settings, the overall performance of my phone had increased.

> Go to Settings \> Developer Options

Scroll down to `Window animation scale` and change the value from 1X to .5x (if you want faster performance you can turn this setting off).

Do the same for `Transition animation scale` and `Animator animation scale`.

In order to reach these settings you must have access to `Developer Options`.

> On Android 4.2 and newer, Developer Options are hidden by default. To access them, go to `Settings` \> `About phone` and tap `Build number` 7 times. Return to the previous screen to find Developer options.

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Tags: settings
---


# Question
Title: How to unlock a Samung Galaxy S5 locked with a pattern on a broken screen
I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 that has a shattered screen. It doesn't unlock, but the phone works fine.

I purchased a new phone, and I want to transfer all my contents from the old phone to the new phone.

The problem is the phone is locked with a pattern, and I cannot accesses it as the screen is broken. Does anyone know how to access it?

# Answer
Let's assume your new Device is also Android (you have not given the make and Operating system of your phone),The most probable solution for you is Samsung Smart Switch regarding the transfer of contents from the older devices(any os like Mac or Android) to a new Android device.

Check this sitefor more info.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: lock-screens, data-transfer, samsung-galaxy-s-5
---


title: Mute notification sounds when on a call

text:
# Question
Title: Mute notification sounds when on a call
I use a bluetooth earpiece, and whenever I'm on a call, notification sounds play on top of the call audio. The person on the other end can't hear it, but it's very annoying as I usually can't hear them behind the sounds.

I've tried turning down audio completely, but that doesn't work. Any ideas?

# Answer
This may help

Go to Setting:

> 1.Sound
>
> 2.Default Notification Sound (None)

.

> Choose the None option!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: audio, calls
---


title: Nexus 5 Update: Will I Lose Root?

text:
# Question
Title: Nexus 5 Update: Will I Lose Root?
I'm currently rooted but didn't do anything to my Nexus 5. It's just rooted but it's on its stock ROM. My question is, on the next Android update, will I lose root? Will the update just erase root permission and update? If not, how can I unroot?

I rooted my Nexus 5 in one click using RT Root tool or something, TR Root for Nexus. It's an app. It didn't work very well, some apps still didn't work. Is there an app that can completely delete ROOT before I update? Thanks.

# Answer
If you update via Android's Over-The-Air (OTA) Update, you will lose root. You will need to re-root again if you want root access,
> 1 votes

---
Tags: root-access
---


# Question
Title: "set_metadata_recursive: some changes failed" while updating Gapps-Kk-20140606-Signed.zip
Tonight I updated my Motorola Droid 4 from CM11-M2 to M7, and I thought I could update gapps too, but I'm getting this error:

```
set_metadata_recursive: some changes failed

```

Am I missing something?

# Answer
It looks like this happens because my recovery (Safestrap 3.65) doesn't support "set\_metadata". So, I tried Mentor's Gapps: no set\_metadata core Gapps working with ART (`"they are compatible with recoveries not supporting set_metadata"`) and they were flashed correctly. Based on this XDA post,

> In these gapps there are only the AOSP Quick Search Box and Play Store from wich you can install every other gapp and app.
>
> In these gapps there are:
>
> * minimum core gapps
> * lib to solve the swype problem of the AOSP keyboard
> * Quick Search Box
> * Play Store
>
> These gapps are working with ART and they are compatible with recoveries not supporting set\_metadata.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-apps, cyanogenmod, motorola-droid-4
---


# Question
Title: Paranoid Android Custom Rom For Galaxy s3 i9300 Instructions
I want to put paranoid android on my galaxy s3 i9300, **I have tried and been unsuccessful**

Here is the link to where I got the download from; XDA Community

Can someone give me clear instructions as to what exactly I have to do to put this custom rom on my phone please, Thanks

# Answer
> 1 votes
A signature error is often caused by trying to install custom firmware (the ROM) with the stock revovery. The stock recovery will only install a factory image for the device, signed by the manufacturer. This means you can only install stock firmware with it. So you need a custom recovery, something like Clockworkmod or TWRP recovery.

Note: do at your own risk, and ensure you have the correct device model for this!

**Downloads:**

This is the link to TWRP for the Galaxy S3.

This is the link to Clockworkmod (CWM) recovery for Galaxy S3

**How to flash a new recovery with Odin:**

**Step 1: Prepare Odin for Flash**

Make sure Auto Reboot and F. Reset are checked, then click the PDA button and load your .tar file.

**Step 2: Go into Download Mode on Your GS3**

You can do this by powering off your phone, and power back on by holding Volume Down + Home + Power.

If you are on a custom ROM, do **not** do this by holding the Power button, select Reboot, and select Download Mode. It can cause issues in certain models in Odin.

**Step 3: Flash TWRP**

Press the Start button on Odin. Then watch your phone do its thing and reboot.

That's it, you now have the latest and greatest recovery available for the Samsung Galaxy S3.

---

Before installing a new ROM ensure you make a full backup in your new recovery.

After you install the recovery, boot into it like before, then wipe Cache / Data and install your new ROM.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, custom-roms
---


# Question
Title: Issues getting screenshots in emulator. parts of screen missing
Hello I am wondering if anyone has ever experienced this problem.

I am trying to take screenshots of my app (or any app that I have tried) in the emulator. When I take a screenshot quite frequently part of the screen is corrupt / missing, like shown below, it can happen anywhere on the screen not just on the keyboard. If when using `monitor` to take the screenshot I can refresh and it make work and take a proper picture or another area of the screen may then get the problem blank area.

Example screenshot (click image for larger variant)

I am using android-sdk\_r22.6.2-linux on Ubuntu Trusty 14.04.

My emulated device is Nexus 4, 4.4.2, ARM cpu and any skin, no emulation options.

I have tried taking screenshots via `monitor` and `adb` but result in the same issue as seen in screenshot above.

Does anyone know how to fix this or am I going to have to take an ubuntu screenshot and crop to the android screen?

# Answer
> This may help:
>
> 1.Firstly start the emulator
>
> 2.Then go to the DDMS please select the emulator
>
> 3.Then left side we have button Screen Capture click this button
>
> 4.Screen Shot taken own App.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: linux, android-emulator, screenshots
---


title: adb "CreateProcess Failure, error 5"

text:
# Question
Title: adb "CreateProcess Failure, error 5"
When I want to test an app in Eclipse (in an AVD), it throws out the following:

```
The connection to adb is down, and a severe error has occured.
You must restart adb and Eclipse.
Please ensure that adb is correctly located at 'C:\Users\[...]\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe' and can be executed.

```

The problem is, the file is actually there and CAN be executed. When I open cmd and go to that path and type "**adb start-server**", I get following error message:

```
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
CreateProcess failure, error 5
* failed to start daemon *

```

After a reboot, process kill, reinstalling Eclipse and all SDKs, trying without antivirus, the problem still persists. I've also looked up the port 5037, which is not blocked by any program.

# Answer
> 1 votes
This answer on stack overflow suggests that it could be a permissions issue, the user that is attempting to start the adb server cannot access the file. Could you try moving the sdk to a folder that is not within your users area and see if you can start it then?

---
Tags: adb, windows
---


title: Will Factory Reset remove root?

text:
# Question
Title: Will Factory Reset remove root?
I got my Samsung Galaxy Y rooted a month ago. Will a Factory Reset harm the phone? Will it still have root?

# Answer
No, Factory Reset will not remove root. However, you will lose all your data and all the apps that you installed. It will be good as new. Files in the external SD card will remain.

When the phone boots after a Factory Reset, you will be asked to log-in to your Google account again.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, root-access
---


# Question
Title: Sms ringtones type of file i have to use
Today i downloaded some .mp3 short files...But when i try to add them as SMS ringtones it tell me that "This is wrong type of file"

In what type should i download those files so i can be able to add them as Sms ringtones?

My device is a Xperia X8

# Answer
> 0 votes
Android ringtones, more often than not, come in Ogg Vorbis format (`.ogg`), so you'd be better off using that format.

(It's weird that your device doesn't support MP3, mine works great when I put them in `/sdcard/media/ringtones`. But then again, every device is different.)

---
Tags: sms, files, ringtone
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy S5 ROM for Micromax Bolt A068
Where can I find a Samsung Galaxy S5 ROM for Micromax Bolt A068? If an S5 ROM is not available, then please provide a download link for S4 or Note 3 for my device.

# Answer
Do not attempt to flash a ROM for a different device (e.g. Samsung Galaxy S5, S4, Note 3) that is not intended for your device (Micromax Bolt A068). It will not work, and can possibly brick/destroy your phone.

A Google search for custom ROMs for your phone does not return a lot of results. So, it's safe to assume that there aren't a lot of custom ROMs for your phone. Even an XDA post remains unanswered.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: rom
---


# Question
Title: What are radio_dump .bin files? Can I delete them?
Each radio\_dump\_xxxxxxx.bin is 37MB in size.

# Answer
> 0 votes
According to an XDA post, it means that your modem crashed. They are safe to delete. BUT, you may want to consider changing/upgrading the radio/modem for your phone.

---
Tags: cellular-radio
---


# Question
Title: Firmware upgrade encountered error when going into Recovery Mode
My Galaxy GT-N8000 is showing this message `Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again.` I cannot enter into recovery mode. It keeps showing the same message. What can I fix this?

# Answer
> 2 votes
It's a known issue on Samsung phones. When an update is interrupted or fails for whatever reason, the phone will not boot in either normal or recovery mode, and will present the *"Firmware upgrade encountered an issue..."* error.

The solution is to start the phone in Download mode (usually by holding the `Volume Down` button while powering it on from turned off state,) and then try re-flashing the update. If you are having trouble with Samsung's Kies software, you may want to try Odin or Heimdall utilities.

It's not necessary to flash the full ROM to get rid of the error, you can flash a modem firmware of a custom/stock Recovery instead. Just make sure whatever you are planning to flash is designed for your specific device model. As long as the last flashing attempt completes successfully, your phone should no longer show the above error, and allow you to proceed with voiding your warranty ;)

---
Tags: device-firmware
---


title: What is AwesomePlayer?

text:
# Question
Title: What is AwesomePlayer?
In looking in my logs I see `AwesomePlayer` running. I am currently not playing any media, so I'm wondering what it is, and why it's running. My device is a Samsung Galaxy S3.

# Answer
> 3 votes
AwesomePlayer is the built-in media player, part of Android's media playback engine. It's also referred to as the Stagefright player.

You may be seeing the player's entries in the log while not playing any music or videos, because it handles *all* media playback, including ringtones and notification sounds.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, media-player
---


# Question
Title: Difference between GINGERBREAD.DDLJ1 and GINGERBREAD.DDMA3 build number on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos?
I am using Samsung Galaxy Y Duos phone. Today, my phone showed the notification for software update. So, I clicked on it and installed the updates. The update was more than 12 MB in size.

Before update, my phone was showing GINGERBREAD.DDLJ1 build number. Now, it is GINGERBREAD.DDMA3.

I Googled for it, but did not get any information about it. Is this build number given by Samsung or Google? How will I know what this update changed, or what new features it added to my phone? How will I know what performance impacts it has on my phone?

Normally whenever we update the app, it shows changelog about changes or new features to be added to that app. But, they are not providing any kind of changelog after the OS update.

# Answer
DDLJ1 and Builds starting from DD are the roms basically made for Indian based samsung models. These are official update pushed by Samsung called OTA updates. For more info on samsung's builds you ca refer http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/1/
> 1 votes

# Answer
Check your internal memory. It will not be increased but the apps will take less load on internal memory. And there will be better stability.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, device-firmware, samsung-galaxy-y-duos
---


# Question
Title: Is there any way to find out which application if any uses the camera?
I got a camera failed warning (which disappeared after rebooting): is there any way to find out which application if any uses the camera?

I use Samsung Galaxy S3 with Android 4.1.2.

# Answer
All Android Apps on the Google Play Store have a list of Permissions they use which includes the use of the camera.

It is tedious to look through the permissions of each app manually from the Play Store.

Instead try using an app that lists the app permissions and list apps using the Camera/Microphone permissions.

Eg. Permissions Observatory (I have no connections with this app, I found it randomly, and I don't use it)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: camera
---


title: remove pic in quick setting grid

text:
# Question
Title: remove pic in quick setting grid
In the "quick settings" grid you get by pulling down the right-hand end of the notification bar, the top-left item is a photo. I'd like to edit or remove this photo, but when I tap it, it says "The contact doesn't exist."

How can I edit or remove this photo?

# Answer
> 7 votes
Go into the **People** or **Contacts** app. At the top of the list is a heading **Me** with a special item to **Set up my profile**. Click that item and it takes you to the "New contact" screen. On this screen, to the right of the "name" field, there's a little grey "contact icon" box. If you click that you can replace the photo with a picture from the Gallery or by taking a photo.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The picture you are looking for is

/data/system/users/0/photo.png

just delete it to get rid of it.

God bless.

---
Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, profiles
---


# Question
Title: How do I force stop an application downloading from Android Market?
As I posted Some of the applications are getting downloaded more than once ... I need to stop the downloading an application from the Market. Its really waste of time and waste of data(I use 2GB data plan for my mobile).

I restarted the phone, killed the Market app from Task Manager, but still no help. It still continues to download. After complete downloading its going to start download again. For this reason I wanted to stop the Download.

(Android 2.1)

# Answer
> 2 votes
Go to Settings... Applications... Select Filter Options (contains All, Running, Downloaded).

This option can be chosen by clicking left/right option depends upon handset model.

Choose 'All'...so that you can see all applications. Select Download Manager; there you can click 'Clear data' button. It will stop all downloading applications.

Just now I analyzed and found it out.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Here's a random guess work on fixing your problem, at times I find myself facing this "bug". What I do is connect to wifi and just let it do its thing (download until it stops) then I disconnect and reboot. After that, I don't encounter it anymore. Well, I encountered it twice but that was it.

This is coming from an ICS user btw.

# Answer
> 0 votes
In `Setting > App > Running app > Download manager`, click the `Clear cache` button. The download process will stop.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The fix is quite simple actually .You need to erase the downloadmanager's data.

Goto the download manager in Settings-\>Apps and clear DownloadManager's app data.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The application downloading continuously again and again Is quite annoying and quite common whether you are using a Data plan(Mobile Data) or Wireless(Wi-Fi). I had faced the same problem when updating the TrueCaller app on my Android device(4.1.2).The app had installed almost 4-5 times and all the time it installed only 65-70% and also wasted a lot of mobile data.My suggestion is the internet configuration is not proper or there is low network in your area.

**Concept:-** For the problem to understand there's a small concept of data transfer in the internet.

In the internet there is two basic steps of data transfer

1)Uplink (up arrow) .

2)Downlink(the down arrow).

First the request will be sent to the server through an uplink. Next the server responds by sending the data through the downlink(in the form of packets).

You can see this when you are browsing the net there is alternative downlink and uplink of data and packets are transferred internally(you cannot see which packet is transferred and when but only confirm if all are received through a successful login or complete download).For this you will require a good network around you

If any one packet is lost/missing ( during downlink or uplink) then the play store keeps trying to update the app until you reach 100% of installation and you cannot stop the update until and unless you boot your device or click stop(Sometime even stop does not function) or even close your mobile data.

**Solution:-**

1. For this switch off the connection(Mobile Data/Wi-Fi) for a while .
2. Make sure all the settings are correctly configured.(Plan is active, having appropriate balance ,good network reach etc.)
3. Then switch on Mobile Data wait for the connection to be established and check for an app whether it is installing or not. If yes then you can update you app which was getting re-installed every time. If you still face the problem then in the app page scroll to the bottom where you will find a support mail id and contact them with your problem as well as a screen shot. Once the app is updated then you shall not face any problem regarding constant re-install in the.

---
Tags: google-play-store, downloading
---


# Question
Title: how can i acces files on my pc remotely from my android?
i want to get files from my windows vista pc directly to my phone. i dont want remote control like i get from teamviewer. there are people using the computer while i am using my cell phone and i need to acces certain files without bothering them. also i want to gain aces to the entire hdd without any permision. something similar to wifi file explorer but from pc to phone. something like airstream (for some reason it doesnt work on my pc).it doesnt have to be free dont mind to spend a few dollars. and i DONT want a external server to contain all my files like mega or dropbox. Also it would be good to have an opsion to do it offline, or only being conected to the router since i need to moove farely big files too. any ideas??

# Answer
> 0 votes
Use File Expert

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xcxin.filexpert

Windows/Samba Sharing you can use all your windows file in your mobile by just connected to your router

Note: no internet required (IP Address Required)

---
Tags: wi-fi, windows, remote-access
---


# Question
Title: Can't send MMS messages (but can receive)
About a week ago I lost the ability to send MMS messages. I can still receive, and single-recipient SMS works fine. The phone is a Moto X, stock. I did recently install some new apps; could one of them be interfering with the messaging app?

EDIT: the message I get is `invalid destination address` or `could not send message`.

# Answer
> This may help
>
> i have test Moto G
>
> 1.Open Message
>
> 2.Choose Attach Option on right side Options(Picture,Capture picture,Videos,Capture Video,Audio,Record audio and Slideshow).
>
> 3.Choose Capture Video/Videos,if choose video then we have send small video otherwise its not selected.
>
> 4.Then last Send MMS.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: mms
---


# Question
Title: How to fix AVD Manager unable to detect device even though adb commands work on PC?
I am trying to connect my Google Nexus 5 so that I can debug my Xamarin code from Visual Studio with it.

I have downloaded all the drivers and all that. When I type in `adb -d devices` it finds my phone. I can do all sorts of things with it from there, so the phone is for sure connected to the computer.

My problem is how do I get the AVD manager to realize that? It just won't find my phone.

# Answer
> 2 votes
The AVD is **not** in charge for real devices.

There is a Step-by-Step Tutorial from Xamarin for Nexus devices:

http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/android/getting\_started/installation/set\_up\_device\_for\_development/

http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/android/deployment,\_testing,\_and\_metrics/debugging\_with\_xamarin\_android/

If this won't work, try to stop your Firewall.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The "V" in *AVD Manager* stands for *virtual*, which is your clue that this tool is only for managing virtual devices (i.e. emulator images), not real devices. Accordingly, you shouldn't expect your real device to show up there. You don't need to use AVD Manager at all for debugging, if you're using a real device: the tool you're using should just show a list of devices.

---
Tags: avd-manager
---


# Question
Title: Google Play updates on mobile connection despite setting
Even though I have set the option not to update apps on mobile connection, it still updates them and Google Play app is the number one in my mobile connection usage. How to fix it?

# Answer
> 3 votes
AFAIR that setting is only applied to apps installed thereafter, so you've got to disable it for each app separately in addition. I've made that back then right when the autoupdate feature was introduced, so I don't remember anymore where exactly this has to be done (Playstore app or playstore website).

Doing a little Google Search brings up e.g. this article: How to Disable Automatic App Updates on Android, which in short describes the required procedure as follows:

1. **Globally disable/enable auto-updates** (applies as default to apps installed *after* changing this setting):
    1. Open the *Google Playstore* app
    2. Head to *Menu→Settings*
    3. Toogle the *Auto-Update Apps* setting to the wanted value
2. **Adjust it for apps already installed:**
    1. Open the *Google Playstore* app
    2. Head to the list of your installed apps ("My Apps")
    3. Open each app separately, hit the *Menu* again, and toggle the *Auto-Update* checkbox
3. **Restricting Google Play to WiFi:** (also see my answer here, with screenshots)
    1. From your homescreen, go to *Settings→Data Usage*
    2. Enable a "global limit" (can be pretty fake, e.g. "5 TB" – it just needs *any* value, which one doesn't matter for this case)
    3. In the list of apps below, scroll to the *Google Play Store* app
    4. Open its entry, scroll to the end of the page
    5. tick the checkbox to "restrict background data"

Above order (1 & 2) applies to "I want auto-updates globally, just not for certain apps". If I understood correctly, the "Auto-Update" checkbox on the apps' pages only becomes visible when auto-updates are enabled globally. So if you want to deactivate that for all apps, you might have to reverse this order:

1. Enable auto-updates globally
2. Disable it for each installed app separately
3. Disable it again in the global settings (so it will automatically be applied to apps you install from now on)

Not very user-friendly, especially with many apps installed – but it at least should work.

Item #3 will stop *Google Play Store* from working while on mobile data. While usually, this just affects background data, *Play Store* will most likely refuse to work altogether, as it relies on GCM (Google Cloud Messaging), which relies on *background data* to receive messages.

---

More references:

There are many more links, not all fitting in this answer :)

---
Tags: google-play-store, application-autoupdate
---


# Question
Title: Set Nook Simple Touch back to Stock Reading App
I've a Nook Simple Touch, rooted, with ReLaunch and Aldiko. I'd like to return to the Stock Reading App (instead of Aldiko).

I can't find the stock reading app. I have 'Open with' available on the context menu but then the stock reading app isn't listed. 'File Associations' will also fail to find the stock app and the intent is being picked up by Aldiko.

How do I get back to opening PDFs and ePUBs in the B&N stock app?

# Answer
I found that if you install another reading app, then when you open an epub it will offer the choice of reading apps and you can pick the default one "reader". You can then delete the extra reading app.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: root-access, reading, aldiko, nook-simple-touch
---


# Question
Title: Recent Apps shows app contents even though when its locked
I am trying to figure out how to hide an app from being seen when you hit the recent apps button.

I use ZDBox's app lock to hide my apps and files when needed but noticed that when I hit the recent apps button the app is perfectly visible in its last viewed state (resulting in not so much privacy).

Has anyone found a solution for this?

Update : Still haven't found any solution for this yet :( Below are some discussions I bumped into while searching for it on the web

Is there a way to hide an application permanently from Recent apps history in ICS?

# Answer
> 3 votes
We've encountered this problem on a previous project I was on, a big banking application.

For added security we made the app to automatically log-out after five minutes of inactivity. We found it disturbing for the user that Android OS would still show your personal account info in the Recent Apps overview. This would be visible until you really closed the app, rebooted your Android or returned to the app and exited it on a screen without any banking info.

After quite some research we found out that Android (since ICS, so Android 4.0 and up) is using the internal screenshot feature to capture the screen for use in Recent Apps. There seemed to be no user option available to prevent this, only the developer of an app can restrict this.
You can ask the devs of ZDbox to include this feature in their app or options by contacting them at service@zdworks.com

Just a heads-up: If a dev does this, then the screenshot goes full black. We decided to offer a placeholder image instead, so it doesn't look bugged to the average user, see bottom app in screenshot below.

Hope this info is still usefull to you! :)

# Answer
> 0 votes
You could use audio manager (actually a app hider) to lock apps, I have had no issues with it, it closes apps when you navigate out of them (press home or recents)

---
Tags: security, privacy, recents-screen
---


title: Sliding to change tabs in Chrome

text:
# Question
Title: Sliding to change tabs in Chrome
When I opened Chrome for the first time on my tablet, it told me (among other things) that I can switch tabs by sliding on the side of the screen.....have since tried, and it did not work.

What am I doing wrong? Is there some setting that needs to be tweaked, or am I just that bad at swiping a touchscreen?

# Answer
Not really sure about the tablet version, but in the current mobile version you need to swipe on URL bar.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, chrome-for-android, touchscreen
---


# Question
Title: Can I update the adb shell's environment variables?
I wanted to update the `PATH` environment variable permanently in the **adb shell**. I guessed the shell was `mksh` for I've found `/system/bin/sh` pointing to `/system/bin/mksh`. Then I tried

* Making a new file `/data/.mkshrc` and adding the `PATH` definition into it.
* Copy the above file into `/`.
* Copy to `/root`.

But all attempts failed.

# Answer
In addition to what Alex-p wrote, you can also set the `ENV` environment variable to override the path of the `mkshrc` file used.

All login shells also read `/system/etc/profile` and `$HOME/.profile` (these are a good place to `export ENV`). Apparently (for some reason that defies my ability to explain), `adb shell` does not start a login shell¹, though, so `/system/etc/mkshrc` *is* the file you will have to change for that.

(Disclaimer: I’m the `mksh` maintainer.)

① I’d expect “adb shell” to behave like ssh and start login shells if there is no explicit command given, as it *does* start a (new) session every time it’s run. Subshells will be interactive but not login shells, of course. But this is not the place to discuss that… if I care I’ll take it up at AOSP via Gerrit.
> 9 votes

# Answer
By default stock Android `mksh` uses this config file: `/system/etc/mkshrc`
> 8 votes

# Answer
To update the PATH variable inside a running `adb shell` you can use the `expect` command. This works on a non-rooted phone where you can't edit system files as suggested in the other answers.

Put the following script somewhere on the path of your development machine, for example in `~/bin/adb-shell-busybox`:

```
#!/usr/bin/expect --
spawn adb shell
expect "$" {
    sleep 0.1
    send "export PATH=/data/data/burrows.apps.busybox/app_busybox/:\$PATH\n"
}
interact

```

You can also inject any other setup commands that you might need.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: adb, mksh
---


# Question
Title: Broken screen while debug mode was disabled. How can I re-enable adb?
The screen of my phone is physically broken, so it doesn't display anything, but the touch aspect does seem to be working, as I can unlock my phone, and get haptic feedback.

Before I go to get it replaced, I'd like to back up some personal data from the built-in memory to the SD card. I'm fairly certain that if I can get adb to recognize the device, then I can use Android Screencast to see where I am touching the screen and do what I need to do. Problem is, when I plug it in, it's not recognized, while my emulator is.

I suspect that I might not have USB debugging enabled, which I think is necessary for adb to work. If this is the case, can someone give me screenshots of their Droid X (running 2.3.X) going from the home screen, through all the menus, to activating debug mode? Hopefully I can do it by dead reckoning and adb from there.

Edit: I haven't changed anything about the ROM or launcher; it's all stock.

# Answer
Had exactly the same problem recently (on a friend's Nexus S running stock Android 4.0 with a completely broken screen & digitizer and adb switched off):

Get a recovery system running with adb enabled. Then use adb console to access the device's data and create a backup. On Nexus S you cannot use the sdcard to get the data off the device, so you need to use adb for that.

Prerequisites:

1. Phone *does* have fastboot mode with *boot* command enabled
2. Phone still works (except for the screen)
3. SDK installed (with working adb + fastboot executables)
4. CWM recovery image downloaded to /tmp/cwm.zip (has enabled adb when started)
5. Linux with installed uudecode (part of package 'sharutils' on Ubuntu)

How to do it:
a) Start device in fastboot mode and boot the CWM recovery this way

```
me@workstation:~$ fastboot boot /tmp/cwm.zip

```

b) wait some time for CWM to boot, then log into the device

```
me@workstation:~$ adb shell
shell@android:/ $ mkdir -p /tmp/backup/data /tmp/backup/sdcard

```

Replace DATA\_DEV and SDCARD\_DEV by the real devicenames
depending on your phone, it's most likely one of these:

* DATA\_DEV: `/dev/block/mtdblock*`
* SDCARD\_DEV: `/dev/block/mmcblk*`
* use `df` command to find candidates by size.

```
shell@android:/ $ mount -oro <DATA_DEV> /tmp/backup/data
shell@android:/ $ mount -oro <SDCARD_DEV> /tmp/backup/sdcard
shell@android:/ $ exit
me@workstation:~$ adb shell tar czf - /tmp/backup \| uuencode foo | uudecode -o - > /tmp/backup.tar.gz

```

Caveats and further explanations:

* Why `uuencode`? ADB console seems to intercept the data stream and obviously inserts a *carriage return* before each single *line feed*. Uuencoding the data before transmitting it via adb's stdout protects against that.
* Does *not* work on encrypted devices
* You can also just repeat the process on unmounted devices and transmit all of the `/dev/block/*` one by one and figure out which one is for what afterwards
* You need to find a suitable CWM recovery image yourself
> 13 votes

# Answer
The Droid X does not have a physical keyboard - but if it did you could try this in a terminal. I'm leaving this answer here for other phones that have busted screens.

`setprop persist.service.adb.enable 1`

That turns on USB debugging (on a HTC Dream running RC29), and is one of the ways to root the Dream when it has a busted screen.
> 10 votes

# Answer
If the device is capable of USB host mode you can buy a USB-OTG cable (USB on the go) and connect a USB mouse or a USB keyboard to bypass the broken touch screen.
> 4 votes

# Answer
I had my digitizer burned (by flashing corrupted recovery) and flashed new ROM and I was able to proceed as described here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/69600/60711
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, usb-debugging, broken-screen
---


# Question
Title: Help to understand working of powerbutton and volume rockers
I want to understand the workings of power button and volume rockers in Android devices, which are associated with the kernel driver of these keys.

What happens in the kernel driver and boot loader when I press a physical key on a device?

# Answer
> 3 votes
The problem with understanding any physical buttons on an Android, is that they are extremely hardware dependent. Usually they're connected to some GPIO port on either the application processor (AP) or cellular processor (CP/modem), and on some devices (MTK,Qualcomm) these are combined in a SoC. In other devices, there is a separate touch screen MCU, that can also be used for some keys. So without knowing your exact hardware and its configuration, it is impossible to answer your question.

Your best chance for success in understanding, is by downloading the sources for your device/kernel and look in there, in combination with finding a service manual that also show some schematics.

---

EDIT: **Here is one block diagram:** **And here is another:**

---
Tags: bootloader, kernel, volume-control, buttons, power-on
---


title: Android x86 on DELL INSPIRON 1501

text:
# Question
Title: Android x86 on DELL INSPIRON 1501
I can't run android-x86 (4.4 RC2) on my notebook (dell inspiron 1501) well

the first problem is :

Graphics : Radeon Xpress 200M

my `/proc/fb` : 0 ATI Radeon 5975

I can use at most 1024x768x16 (vga = 791) but my native resolution is 1280x800x32 and if I use this in kernel (or even 1280x800x16) it shows `A N D R O I D` and graphic ui doesn't show up. just a blinking underline in the middle of page. and I can write terminal commands like `cat /proc/fb` there !

==================================

the second problem is :

I can not turn on my `Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter` in android-x86

==================================

if there is a release of android-x86 (preferred : 4.0+, second choice 2.3+) or a way to solve it please tell me

Thanks

**EDIT :** installed 4.3 4.2 4.0 still no luck

# Answer
Your device isn't listed in the list of supported notebooks, so it's not surprising that it doesn't work. You'll have to wait until it's supported.

Remember that the Android-x86 project is made by volunteers, so support for particular hardware depends on someone with the necessary skills having that hardware and an interest in making it work. You might be able to help speed the process along by buying a similar device for the project (that they can test on), or by helping to update documentation or such to help free their time for porting. If you want to help get your device supported faster, in the first instance you should contact their discussion group and ask what you can do to help.
> 3 votes

# Answer
wrong wrong wrong it's not about he's laptop "is not supported" kitkat have issue with Radeon graphic cards there is small solution for that you have to change destination library for source to start graphic acceleration I have Lenovo T400 with radeon it run only in debug mode 2 and most important it start only with selected DEBUG NOMODESET KITKAt start with 860 x resolution. I try to edit almost all possible graphic ( important kitkat support only 16 bit color)

so even if you will be able start os you will not have graphic acceleration. I saw one solution when i will test it and it will work i will drop info here , Sorry for all typo and mistakes (English is not my native language )

PS. On Samsung Laptop 3530 intel 3000 vga - installation and setup took few minutes no problems at all (Radeon usually older cards have that problem) If anyone will have 100 % tested solution please give me a shout Good Luck Everyone

Almost forgot using KITKAT 4.4.2

and this works for me https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!topic/android-kitkat/-AupM37ELEM
> 0 votes

# Answer
For My laptop only solution was change in bios settings becaouse i have radeon and intel vga https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-kitkat/-AupM37ELEM
> 0 votes

# Answer
I think this is all I can advise for this topic:

1. Find drivers for Linux for this card (test on Linux to see if it works properly)
2. Android x86 have different location of resource folder (additional drivers)
3. Find on androidx86 where exactly you have to copy driver's
4. Start new installation of Android Kitkat 4.4.2 x86 version with drivers included in specific folder
5. * It works.
    * If not, you should be able to see on screen where it stops during first boot and after installation (drop screenshot(s) here)
6. If you don't see anything, try debug mode and then drop screenshot(s) here.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, android-x86, dell
---


# Question
Title: How to sync Google+ Instant Upload with Google Drive?
I'm using Google+ Instant Upload to automatically sync all of the photos I take on my phone over a Wi-Fi connection. I also use Google Drive to backup my documents, music, pictures and videos folders.

## Is there a way to sync Google+ Instant Upload with Google Drive?

Ideally the way it would work is I would take photos with my phone, they would sync to my Google Drive "pictures" folder and then Google Drive on my pc would sync them into my photos library. Is this possible? Will it be added in the future?

# Answer
There is a thread on Google Groups that covers this issue. By the answer provided by AnaLikesLattes, this is being considered and possible prepared by Google Staff since 5/1/12:

# Android Instant Upload to Drive

> Hi all,
>
> Thanks for your input. We've heard many requests along these lines, and are definitely looking into potential solutions on our end.
>
> I will do my best to keep this forum updated once relevant features start to become available. In the meantime, please keep posting your requests about the Drive Android app! We're always excited to hear from our users.
>
> Cheers, Ana

As far as I can tell, this is not yet implemented and a year has passed.

Since both applications are from Google and they alone can take the necessary steps to have this feature implemented properly, I would suggest to you and any interested person to visit the thread and leave the "feature-wish" there.

---

# App Suggestion

While it would be great to have a native solution for this problem, Oliver Salzburg commented on my post at Google+ about this issue refering the app suggested bellow, that I've just now tested and is working beautifully sending all of my files to my desired destination on the Google Drive.

# FolderSync Lite

> FolderSync is a application that enables simple sync to cloud based storage to and from local folders on the device memory card. It currently support multiple SkyDrive, Dropbox, SugarSync, Ubuntu One, Box.net, LiveDrive, HiDrive, Google Docs, NetDocuments, Amazon S3, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV or windows share (Samba/CIFS) accounts, and support for more platforms are planned.

You don't need more than 5 minutes to complete the 3 basic steps:

1. Add your Google Drive account
2. Add a folderpair
3. Start the sync process
> 2 votes

# Answer
I've just published an app for automatic photo upload to Google Drive with lots of convenient options.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mynextandroid.drivephotosync

It's free so give it a try!
> 0 votes

# Answer
I use Sweet Home, a free app, to upload photos and videos from my Android devices over Wi-Fi at home to my NAS Google Drive folder. (This is fast 300mbit/s). Then the Google Drive tool on my NAS (which has Windows OS) uploads the pictures and videos to Google Drive to be able to share and have an extra cloud backup. The Google+ app can be used to easily watch and browse through the pictures.

So I don't use the upload function in Google+, because I can't find an easy way to sync the photos locally after that and uploading right from the mobile device to internet is always slower than locally to the NAS.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sync, images, google-plus
---


# Question
Title: What is the diff between the Media transfer protocal and Picture Transfer Protocol
After connecting my device for data transfer the device asks for mode of USB transfer MTP or PTP.

I googled it and found that MTP(Media transfer protocal ) and PTP(Picture Transfer Protocol) are some sort of protocols for data transfer but didn't get why is it been used as we can transfer data easily with the previous USB mode as an external storage device.

The new USB device modes is somewhat complex for me to understand as I am used to data transfer only as an external storage device but not any PTP or MTP.

Which mode is suitable for what kind of data transfer?

# Answer
> 1 votes
MTP is the better option in most cases, since the protocol is actually designed for this use.

PTP is offered as an alternative since Macs don't understand MTP by default (you need to install "Android File Transfer" on the Mac to make MTP work). This protocol was designed for PCs to access photos from digital cameras, so it can only access the photos on the phone, and it might trigger a photo management app on the PC instead of a file manager.

To learn more about why MTP was introduced, see my answer to Why is Android File Transfer necessary?

---
Tags: usb, usb-connection-mode
---


# Question
Title: Where is the temp file of recorder in Android?
Galaxy Note2 4.3 Samsung firmware.

Recording for 1 hour with the highest quality, accidentally pressed "back" button, nothing saved. Usually the file would be saved automatically even if "back" is pressed. But maybe 1 hour is too big for the simple recorder app.

Any chance that there is a tmp file somewhere? Or recorder just stores everything in DRAM before hitting save button?(that would be too naive..)

Thank you

# Answer
> 1 votes
It's on main drive of your phone (at lest it was in my case), named something like .voice.3ga

Just plug in your phone to PC, an run search for .3ga file type.

Hope this helps.

---
Tags: 4.3-jelly-bean, file-system, samsung-galaxy-note-2, voice-recording, temp-files
---


# Question
Title: Delete individual cookie on andriod phone?
I have an android phone (Samsung s3 mini). Can I delete an individual cookie?

I can see how to delete all cookies, but this isn't what I need to do.

# Answer
> 3 votes
The cookies form the default android browser are stored in /data/data/com.android.browser/databases/webview.db. The problem is that other applications, for security reasons, do not have access to this file.

Since the Browser application hasn't implement this functionality, it is not possible.

---
Tags: browser
---


title: Chromecast Beta Google I/O 2014

text:
# Question
Title: Chromecast Beta Google I/O 2014
During Google I/O 2014, Google announced 'Android L' and a Chromecast update which will support 'Screen Mirroring'. This wasn't possible on earlier Android versions without rooting. The updates will be rolling out to users later this fall. However, they released an Android L Developer Preview for Nexus 5 and Nexus 7.

I own a Nexus 5 & Chromecast. I want to try this Screen Mirroring feature. I installed the Android L Developer Preview on my Nexus 5. Is there a beta release for Chromecast too? How can I start Screen Mirroring from my Nexus 5 (without rooting) to my Chromecast?

# Answer
Yesterday, Google released ChromeCast app v1.7, for selected devices running Android 4.4.1 and above. This enabled devices to use ScreenCast feature onto their ChromeCast.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: chromecast, 5.0-lollipop
---


title: Camera not Working

text:
# Question
Title: Camera not Working
Since a couple of days, my brand new Sony Xperia M2 (less than a week old) now has the error message '"unfortunatly, camera has stopped' every time i try to use the camera.

I've googled, and even tried "reset to factory", but nothing worked so far.

Of note: the device was rooted with "towelroot".

# Answer
> 1 votes
There is a known issue at Android 4.4.1 KitKat with the camera.

Try another camera-app instead and see if it's an Android Problem.

When the other App is working, i recommend to upgrade to 4.4.3 with the fix for this.

---
Tags: root-access, camera
---


# Question
Title: Failed on cp file to /system - Cross-device link
I'm trying to `mv` `.apk` file from my `/sdcard` to `/system` and getting following error:

> failed on 'XXX.apk' - Cross-device link

I did `remount` my `/system` as `rw`

```
root@ghost:/ # mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system
root@ghost:/ # mount | grep system
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system ext4 rw,seclabel,relatime,data=ordered 0 0
root@ghost:/ #

```

I also tried following, but without luck(

```
mbp:~ alexus$ adb root
adbd cannot run as root in production builds
mbp:~ alexus$ adb remount
remount failed: Permission denied
mbp:~ alexus$

```

Why can't I still move apk file to /system? What am I missing?

# Answer
> 24 votes
and the answer is pretty simple, use `cp` instead of `mv`)

---
Tags: adb, mount
---


# Question
Title: Properly migrating app+data backup from one phone to another with a broken digitizer
I have just cracked my Nexus 4 screen, which seemingly has completely destroyed the digitizer, as I cannot interface with my screen anymore.

Luckily, I had a TB schedule that ran on my nexus 4 every day, which backed my apps+data and pushed to box cloud storage. So, what I did with my new nexus 5 is I went through the unlock, root, and rom flashing process. Then, I installed Titanium Backup and synced from my box folder, which I confirmed with ES that all of the app/data that I need is indeed there (apks, .properties files).

The problem that I am encountering is that my "restore missing apps + data" does not show many of the applications that I need to restore. I am not really sure why this could happen, unless maybe TB is noting the fact that the apps state that the device is "Nexus 4" in the properties file? (probably not, all of them do) I have attempted to refresh TB, which did cause some more apps to appear, but I still am missing a huge chunk of applications. To further complicate matters, when I go to my "delete backups for uninstalled applications" menu, I see a couple of the missing applications ( but not all )... only they seem to be missing icons and do not have fully resolved application names ( instead listing their com.x.x.x package names).

I'm quite confused.

**What I'm trying now :** I have a computer that (hopefully) has been auth'd for ADB access, so I'll try to pull the TB folder from my actual phone and see if I can overwrite the files and restore them that way.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I wanted to be able to use ADB's ability to simulate touch input to pair a bluetooth mouse to my phone, but it does not seem like this is going to be possible because I am running 4.2+ which requires RSA fingerprint authentication... which none of my computers have permission for.

I will order a USB 3-way Y cable and use a hack version of USB OTG to plug in a physical mouse. I can do this because I can use ADB through fastboot to temporarily boot a non-touch CWM recovery, then use ADB to push the modified kernel img and flash using the non-touch interface, which should then hopefully boot up. Since I'm on CM10.2 I already know Franco Kernel causes soft-brick, so hopefully the modified OTG stock kernel does not cause soft-brick. Once I have the phone fully booted, it should just be a matter of connecting a power source and pointing device to interface with my device.

---
Tags: nexus-4, nexus-5, restore, titanium-backup
---


title: How to Install App as System App

text:
# Question
Title: How to Install App as System App
My S3 has a damaged motherboard (says Samsung Tech Center), **only** boots into safe mode.

If I am to keep using the device I have to make the apps into system apps, so they run in safe mode.

One way is to use titanium backup (or other root file app) to make the app system, but the phone came back from Samsung **wiped clean**. It is still rooted, have SuperSu app installed.

Does anyone know how I can make a Play\_Store or Downloaded\_APK app system?

# Answer
**Carl Parker** writes about it on *Android Authority*:
(partly reproduced here in case the original post goes down)

> **For Apps Installed on the Device**
>
> * Assuming you have installed the app on your device, go to the app’s Google Play Store link and take note of the words after “?id=” and ignore the rest.
> * Connect your device to the computer via USB cable.
> * Open the command prompt on your computer and type the following commands:

```
adb remount
adb shell
su
cd /data/app/

```

> * Type the command `ls appfilename*` (where “appfilename” is the app’s ID on Google Play Store; make sure you include the asterisk at the end). This command will display the app’s complete APK filename.
> * Enter the following command:

```
mv apk_full_filename_here /system/app/apk_full_filename_here
exit
exit
adb reboot

```

> * The device will now reboot. Your app is now saved as a system app.
>
> **For Apps Whose APKs Are on the PC Hard Drive**
>
> * Open a command prompt on your computer and navigate to where the APK file is located.
> * Enable USB debugging on your device and connect your device to the computer via USB cable.
> * Enter the following commands:

```
adb remount
adb push apk-filename-here /system/app/
adb shell chmod 644 /system/app/apk-filename-here
adb reboot

```

> Your phone will automatically reboot. Your app will now be saved as a system app.
> 9 votes

---
Tags: adb, system-apps, safe-mode
---


# Question
Title: How do I properly install a system app given its .apk?
I removed a system app (com.android.mms) and I have the .apk needed to restore it, however it won't install through the standard channels (running the .apk gives me "application not installed"). What's the proper way to install a system app's .apk?

# Answer
> 47 votes
You will need to push the .apk to the phone to the System partition to the folder `/system/app` or `/system/priv-app` when using Android 4.3 using `adb`. You can find more info about `adb` here: http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=ADB.

In order to write to `/system` you likely have to remount it read-write:

```
adb shell
su
mount -o rw,remount /system

```

Or, do it entirely from the host's ADB:

```
adb root
adb remount

```

Now you can place the `.apk`:

```
adb push my-app.apk /sdcard/
adb shell
su
cd /sdcard
mv my-app.apk /system/app
# or when using Android 4.3 or higher
mv my-app.apk /system/priv-app

```

Afterwards if the flags are not already set change the permissions. All System-Apps need to have the permissions `rw-r--r--`. You can also change them via ADB with the command `chmod 644 /path_to/your_file`. Though it's quite old, this may help

After you have placed the `.apk` you need to reboot your device. For example with `adb reboot`.

# Answer
> 6 votes
**Carl Parker** writes about it on *Android Authority*:
(partly reproduced here in case the original post goes down)

> **For Apps Installed on the Device**
>
> * Assuming you have installed the app on your device, go to the app’s Google Play Store link and take note of the words after “?id=” and ignore the rest.
> * Connect your device to the computer via USB cable.
> * Open the command prompt on your computer and type the following commands:

```
adb remount
adb shell
su
cd /data/app/

```

> * Type the command `ls appfilename*` (where “appfilename” is the app’s ID on Google Play Store; make sure you include the asterisk at the end). This command will display the app’s complete APK filename.
> * Enter the following command:

```
mv apk_full_filename_here /system/app/apk_full_filename_here
exit
exit
adb reboot

```

> * The device will now reboot. Your app is now saved as a system app.
>
> **For Apps Whose APKs Are on the PC Hard Drive**
>
> * Open a command prompt on your computer and navigate to where the APK file is located.
> * Enable USB debugging on your device and connect your device to the computer via USB cable.
> * Enter the following commands:

```
adb remount
adb push apk-filename-here /system/app/
adb shell chmod 644 /system/app/apk-filename-here
adb reboot

```

> Your phone will automatically reboot. Your app will now be saved as a system app.

# Answer
> 3 votes
note that when playing with adb you will install apps via their package file name (meaning, at the command prompt you will type \>adb install myFile.apk)

but you will uninstall them via their package name (\>adb uninstall com.this.that.otherthing)

You won't be able to install a package until you've uninstalled its predecessor.

It'll help to add adb to your PATH so that you can just go to the directory where the .apk file is and type adb install myFile.apk.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You need to have the Android SDK installed (or at least a tool that's called adb). Further you need to allow "Non Market installs" on your device.

After this is done you change to the folder that contains the file with a console. Then connect your phone (via USB) and run `adb install appname.apk`

---
Tags: apk, system-apps
---


# Question
Title: Insufficient space message when downloading applications
I am using a Huawei y210d, and when I try to install any app, after downloading I get an insufficient space warning. Can anyone tell me how I can solve this problem?

# Answer
um....free up space? "insufficient space" means that the memory on your device is running out; to download an app (which actually does take up memory!) you need to uninstall some other apps, or delete some pictures/video from the memory.

Alternatively, you might want to look into getting an SD card for external memory, and either put apps, videos, or both on the card, which would help prevent this from being an issue in the future.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, insufficient-memory, huawei
---


# Question
Title: Default storage issue in some android phone
Does android jelly bean 4.1.2 not supports to move the apps from internal storage of phone to external micro sd card but android jelly bean 4.2.2 or 4.3 can?

# Answer
> 0 votes
It depends. Some phone manufacturers adds the feature of moving apps to sd card in some of their models but most of them does not have this feature by default. Although you can change that manually by rooting your phone and using an app called 'app2sd ' on any version of Android .

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, app2sd
---


# Question
Title: Retrieving contacts from Android phone (Sony Xperia Z)
My Xperia Z recently suffered from a broken screen and is now not functional at all. YOu can see the screen, but the touch facility has completely gone. I can't even turn the thing off.

I have a really cheap alternate phone that I would like to use temporarily but I could do with getting the contacts from the Xperia, on to my SIM card, then in to this cheap phone.

This alternate phone I have has no functionality which will allow it to connect to a PC, so I need to get the contacts on to the SIM via other methods.

A couple of methods I have been thinking about, but don't know if they are possible or not are:

1. Connect the Xperia to my PC and some how manually move the contacts from the phone to the SIM (I am not even going to be able to enable USB Debugging so I doubt there will be a lot I can do with the phone connected to the PC except explore the files).
2. Move the contacts from the phone on to the PC, then some how store the contacts on to my friend's phone (Samsung S3 Mini), and copy them to the original SIM from there? (I have no idea of how contacts are formatted so unsure whether or not they could just be moved from Sony to a Samsung so simply).

They are the 2 main thought processes I have - any feed back on whether these are possible would be greatly appreciated as there are some very important numbers on this Xperia that I need for work!

Thanks in advance (Apologies if this is in the wrong section, or doesn't necessarily class as an Android issue!)

UPDATE: Seems I can't use adb Shell due to USB debugging being disabled and Screencast is a no go due to the phone not being rooted.

I can see files within the Internal Storage such as .anchor, Alarms, Albums), is there a particular file within these subfolders which may contain the contacts which coul potentially be read? Even if I had to manually enter the numbers in to another phone, that wouldn't be so bad!

# Answer
> 0 votes
I had a similar problem on my Android Tablet, not sure if my solution will work for you.

I had a Chinese Android Tablet where you can see the screen but the touch was not working. I used a USB mouse by connecting it to my tablet using a cheap USB Female - Micro USB Male connector. That allowed me to use the mouse as an alternate input.

If this is possible on you phone, you can export your Contacts to a SIM or SD card.

---
Tags: contacts, screen, sony-xperia-z
---


# Question
Title: Where does the system saves wallpapers in (official) Kit Kat?
I want to copy my current system-selected background from the system directory in a Nexus 7.

# Answer
If my understanding of your question is correct, your current system-cropped wallpaper is located at `/data/system/users/0` under a filename of `wallpaper`.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, nexus-7, wallpaper
---


# Question
Title: Installing Custom Rom on a S3 with Damaged Volume Down
Is it safe to install a custom ROM on a S3 with a non-functional volume down key?

What should I circumvent or be ware of during the install?

p.s: the key cannot be repaired.

# Answer
Without a volume-down key, you can't:

* go into recovery mode/download mode without a PC
* reduce the volume (duh)
* select options in CWM
* take screenshots in AOSP-based ROMs

Possible workarounds, by order of mention above:

* use `adb reboot recovery` / `adb reboot bootloader`, as said in the comments
* use a USB jig to force the phone to boot into Download Mode
* go into Settings \> Sound \> Volumes and change values from there
* use TWRP or CWM Touch instead
* use third-party apps. I think GravityBox for Xposed has the option to add a screenshot option and advanced reboot to the power menu, but I haven't been using Xposed for a *long* time.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, rom-flashing
---


# Question
Title: Google Now says it's not available in my country
On my Xiaomi M2A, Google Now complains that it's not available in my country. I know for a fact that Google Now *is* available in the Netherlands, because it works fine on my Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.

So apparently, Google Now thinks it's in some other country (possibly China, since that's where I ordered this phone). But the phone has been configured to use the Dutch settings everywhere I could find. (Silly enough, the message is actually in Dutch).

So where does Google Now get the idea that it's somewhere else? And (more importantly), how do I tell it that it is, in fact, in the Netherlands?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Well, I'll be damned.

It seems that Google Now refuses to run on a rooted device, but it just doesn't say so.

The vendor had installed an app to enable rooting of the device. I'd played around with it, but root access was disabled after the first upgrade of MiUI. I didn't really miss root access, to be honest, so it let it be. Ziggo (my cable TV provider)'s TV-watching app did refuse to let me watch TV, though, because it claimed that I wasn't using "an original operating system".

Recently, I tried uninstalling the (Chinese) root manager app -- I can't read Chinese anyway. Uninstalling turned out to be impossible, but after clicking around a bit, and disabling most things I saw, suddenly Google Now became available! And Ziggo suddenly allowed me to watch TV on my device!

So apparently, Google Now refuses to run on a rooted device! Ziggo's TV-watching app was more honest: at least it *told* me it refused to operate on a rooted device..

# Answer
> 1 votes
Since Google Now isn't actually available in my country, I did some looking around, and found this "hack" in a blog :
http://thenepalidroidguy.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-enable-google-now\_6.html
In case that the link dies, these are the steps described there :

> Make sure you have an active internet connection and follow all the steps below carefully.
>
> Step 1: Turn on Airplane mode in your device. Now turn on Wifi and connect it to your Wifi network.
>
> Step 2: Go to Settings\>Location & switch to "Device only" mode
>
> Step 3: Install this app from Playstore (Fake gps - fake location)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fakegps.mock
>
> Step 4: Open the app and set the location to "Miami" (I chose Miami but you can select any other places in the USA which would get guaranteed Google Now support). It might ask you to enable mock location first, do that from the developer options in the settings. Now go back to the Fake gps app and set the location to Miami by searching Miami and hitting Play icon on the bottom.
>
> Step 5: Go to Settings and tap in "Google" under Accounts. Then select "Search". Go to Accounts & privacy\> Google Account and sign out.
>
> Step 6: Go to Settings\>Apps\>All and look for Google Play Services. Tap on it and Disable it. It may ask you to uninstall updates and restore to factory version, do it. You might have to deactivate Google Play Services form the Device Administrator first.
>
> Step 7: Go to Settings and tap in "Google" under Accounts. Then select "Search". Go to Accounts & privacy\> Google Account and sign in to your Google account.
>
> Step 8: Google Now setup screen should come up. Select I'm in. (It's obvious).
>
> Step 9: Now it may prompt you to Re-enable Google Play Services, do it and an update might be available for Google Play Services, update it from Playstore. Then Turn off Airplane Mode. Uninstall Fake gps app and choose the location service mode of your choice under Settings\>Location.
>
> Step 10: You did it. Enjoy Google Now!

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Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, rooting, google-now, miui, localization
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# Question
Title: How can I transfer photos on Samsung galaxy note 2 to computer?
How can I transfer photos on Samsung galaxy note 2 to computer? I'd like use my new note 2 cell phone to take photos, So I want to backup all the pictures to the computer. I can't do this easily since USB mass storage is not supported natively in the Samsung galaxy note 2.

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can do this easily using an app such as SG USB Mass Storage Enabler. As you already know, your device does not support mass storage facility. So You have to ask help from MTP modes or enable the Mass Storage mode.

The app stated above does the latter. It is easy. *But* you have to have the root access. If you don't know how, use this guide to know how.

# Answer
> 2 votes
i just asked asked a similar question at Move photos from Android to PC wirelessly \*in one step\*

after becoming frustrated that the seemingly common task of moving photos from a phone to a pc (crazy, i know) was met with suggestions ranging from rooting and tweaking the phone to adb to cumbersome file transfers (fine for us techies, not fine for e.g. my grandmother), i found ...

* **TL;DR:** Photo Transfer App
* Optional: Application for Windows side (www.phototransferapp.com/win/) or Application for Mac side (www.phototransferapp.com/mac/). if you dont install them (or are using Linux) you can just connect to the phone in a web browser.

... which does almost exactly this, except it cant delete photos off the phone (not that i can tell anyways). at the time of this writing it is a reasonable $2 usd. as a bonus it supports phone-to-phone and pc-to-phone transfers as well.

its faster than airdroid and good when theres no internet connection; also the pc-side software can autodetect the device and gives clear access to photos, and doesnt require any rooting or special features or anything like that. if it could delete the photos it would be perfect.

airdroid kinda works too but relays the files through an internet connection, which given current (i.e. past 15 years) technology isnt actually necessary to transfer photos from a phone to a pc.

thank god there are still some sane developers left in this world.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Aside from using , if you have trouble with that, there are several alternatives you could use. The easiest probably is a tool like AirDroid, which simply runs on your Android device, and can be accessed from your computer using your web browser. Another possibility (which I use regularly) is QtADB, which requires a little setup on your computer (see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?), and *USB Debugging* enabled on your Android device. \*QtADB contains a file manager, which allows you to easily transfer files to and from your device, and also to install `*.apk` files directly from your computer.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Option 1: (Easier) If the two devices are connected to the same Wifi network, you could transfer files to and from the Note 2 via an app called Airdroid. It's actually quite easy to use. After installation on the Note 2, just follow the instructions. You'll need to open a browser, such as Chrome, and navigate to the url displayed on the Note 2.

Option 2: If you want to get techy, I've figured out a way to turn my tablet into a mini HTTP server using Python and the SL4A scripting layer. After a little bit of setting up, just run the script and navigate to your mobile device's IP address. Then make your way to the files on the device, right-click and save. Zipping the files you want to transfer on the device first saves you a lot of time. If you need to find out your device's IP address, you can use an app called Wifi Analyzer.

Here's the link for the SL4A scripting layer. Please follow the Python instructions.

P.S. Make sure you only so this on a secure network. Anyone with your device's IP address would be able to access your files.

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-note-2, mtp, data-transfer
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# Question
Title: How to erase all data on android tablet?
My cousin locked my tablet trying to figure out the passcode and locked me out! Im trying to erase all data. please help.

# Answer
There are a couple of things you could do.

1. Boot into recovery mode, and perform a factory reset that way. Google something like "recovery mode " and the volume buttons act as the arrow keys and the power/home button as the back/select button.
2. Log into your Google account on your computer (if you aren't already logged in) ensuring that it is the same account as the one on your tablet. And go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager From there, if your device is supported, you should be able to wipe your device, or even better, change the device's password so that you can easily unlock it again.
> 1 votes

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Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, locked-out
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