# Question
Title: "MTP USB Device" driver error (screenshot) when connecting my Galaxy S to my PC in Kies mode -- How can I resolve this problem?
I always got this error when trying to connect my Galaxy S to my PC in Kies mode. I can connect it as "Mass storage" with no problem. But I need to connect with Kies mode to get 2.2 (froyo), but I always get this error. What is this error and how can I correct it?

I have Windows 7, Galaxy S 2.1, and kies already uploaded to the latest version. If this is of help, the PC tries to install "MTP USB Device" for a while (around 3-5 minutes) and during this time the phone shows a display that says "Initialising blah blah, press home to exit".

How to fix this? Or if this is possible, is there another way to upgrade to 2.2?

# Answer
1. Go to Samsung Kies software, on top left of the window, click the menu \> Driver recovery.
2. Let it reinstall drivers
3. After driver installation finished, go to your phone, Settings\> Application \> Development, tick USB debugging mode.
4. Under USB debugging mode connect your phone to the PC with USB.
5. It installs correctly!
6. Disconnect from PC
7. Untick USB debugging mode
8. Connect again

and it works!
> 14 votes

# Answer
1. Back up your data, all of it, internal and external SD memory.
2. Connect your phone to your PC choosing the Mass Storage option (first make it ask you before connect how to connect), then walk through all of your applications checking for any folder named cache or anything similar, then delete whatever is in it.

If you came across any other kind of file that is cache or related to cache, delete it.

This issue happens because some, most of them actually, cache files have a very long extension , and that prevents the MTP connection establishment.

For me, I tried this in two ways, the first one, I formatted my SD memory, both internal and external, and that didn't pay off, then I tried the method I mentioned above and it worked, if it didn't please reply telling so.
> 6 votes

# Answer
1. Uninstall Kies and all drivers, then reboot.
2. Download and install the appropriate drivers from this XDA post.
3. Download and install Kies Mini from Samsung.com (Support at the top, then just select your phone model and go to software).
4. Connect your phone!
> 6 votes

# Answer
Found the problem to be like one of the guys said in another thread. It was the external SD having most likely unrecognized characters (at least to Samsung Kies) or characters that are too long.

I removed the external SD and ran Kies and it's working. It might not be very useful to do it this way but I only needed it to update SW and manage contacts so its find.
> 4 votes

# Answer
The hint from Omar proved to be the best for me. I found out that a wallpaper app installed long extension files in my SD card and I happened to find a sub-folder named "cache" inside the folder carrying the app´s name. Once I deleted it and reinserted the usb cable onto the phone, "voilá", the PC recognized it again on MTP mode!!
> 3 votes

# Answer
I resolved my Galaxy S connection problem on Win XP 32-bit by installing the `Microsoft_User-Mode_Driver_Framework_Install-v1.0-WinXP.exe`.

Edit: I think this has been replaced by the Windows Driver Kit.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I have done a lot, including uninstalling Nokia-related phone apps, switching to debug mode and usb mass storage mode for getting different drivers. The 18 mb exe located in Samsung\Kies\USB Driver extracts many folders including .inf, but none is for MTP driver. The driver reinstalling option from Kies also doesn't help.

UNTIL

I switch back to the default home screen, not launcherpro, not HeLauncher, but TwLauncher, I get the 'MTP Application' screen on phone showing 'Connected' immediately. If this screen doesn't come up, it's impossible.

So my final piece of advice is to restore your phone to factory setting and see if it's a problem related to what you have in internal sd. (external sd removed of course)
> 1 votes

# Answer
No need for any backup or any formatting your SD cards.

All you need to do is,

1. Connect your phone. When it says failed go to Device manager and uninstall it from there.
2. Unplug your phone, go to Kies, open tools → install drivers.
3. After installation plug your phone.

Tested on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate only.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I had the same problem with my device. A problem lied in the running apps that avoided the phone going to the standby mode (for me it was e.g. my K-9 email client).

Therefore, I shut these apps down, connected my phone again to my laptop and it was ok.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, usb, samsung-kies, windows
---


# Question
Title: How can I play an .flv file on Android 2.1?
I would like to play an .flv movie file on Android 2.1. How can I do this?

# Answer
> 2 votes
There are a few FLV players available on Android, try among these: 13 Great Video Players for Android. The Mobo Player seems promising among them.

Here's a link for Mobo Player as well, just in case. :)

---
Tags: video, media-player
---


# Question
Title: Package Install via Market sometimes fails and gives seemingly random error message
Some times when I install an application, the installation will fail.

However, the errors it throws are not only incorrect, but seemingly... random.

An example is, it'll fail and throw 'Insufficient storage space.' Blatant lie, I have plenty of space on the phone.

Another example is 'Package file is invalid.'

When I go to redownload the app, it usually installs just fine. On rarer occasions, it'll throw another (can't remember if it's the same) error, but then it'll install just fine.

I'm using stock market, on a stock Droid 3.

# Answer
You can get 'Insufficient storage space' messages if you don't have enough space on the internal SD card for the market to be able to download the APK into a temp or data directory. When you reboot your phone or exit from certain apps various caches/data directories are cleared, freeing up space on the internal SD card. This is why this error appears 'randomnly' - because as you use and close apps, the amount of disk space changes. There are several apps on the market that can force cache clean ups for you.

'Package file is invalid' can occur if you have disk errors or networking errors that corrupt the downloaded file. This is why this error appears 'randomnly', as SD card file system issues or dropped/bad packets corrupting the file won't occur every time. FYI, SD card file system errors are often a result of not unmounting the phone properly when connecting it via USB or by yanking the SD card from a reader without unmounting it first ("safely remove hardware" in Windows parlance)
> 4 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, insufficient-memory
---


# Question
Title: Can I safely uninstall Flash and Facebook apps?
From this question I known how to remove vendor installed apps.

However is it safe to uninstall Flash and Facebook? I guess that the Android browser depends somehow on Flash and might brake after I remove Flash package.

I simply want to have more space for other apps and don't want to be reminded every time about updates for Flash and Facebook.

**Update**: From my point of view both answers are correct. In general it is not safe to uninstall vendor installed apps. However my HTC Desire won't have any new OTA updates so in my case is it safe to delete them.

I just found out that latest ROM update (with Android 2.3) for HTC Desire isn't available as OTA update, you have to install it manually. And Facebook app is already removed from the ROM.

Unfortunately I cannot mark both answers as correct therefore I choose the answer with higher number of votes as correct one.

# Answer
@roxan is incorrect, it is NOT safe to remove stock ROM apps. If you do so, any future updates from your carrier/manufacturer *will not install*.

A much safer method is to use an app like Titanium Backup to 'freeze' the apps, preventing them from being seen by the system and running/being updated. If you really feel the need to uninstall them, you can use Titanium Backup to back them up first (requires root). That way you can restore them from backup in the future if you need to apply a ROM update.
> 5 votes

# Answer
See this page on the CyanogenMod wiki which gives a pretty detailed analysis of what apps are "safe to remove" from the OS.
> 4 votes

# Answer
You can safely remove Flash and Facebook. Android browser won't be able to play flash content after you remove it. That's the only downside of it, no breaking or anything else.

Most of the vendor installed apps are installed in system partition. Even if you delete those apps you can't use that freed up space for installing regular program from market.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, htc-desire
---


# Question
Title: Android Market on Pandigital Novel, without rooting?
Pandigital is advertising on their site, that users of their devices can now "download & enjoy Android apps" after applying a firmware update.

I've applied the update to my wife's Novel, but haven't found any shortcut to the Android Market on the device since. I tried using the Android Market website, and it doesn't seem like that will work without having the Market installed on the device.

Is there a way to get Android Market on the Novel, without rooting it?

More details of the device in question:

**Model Number** (in About screen) - PD\_Novel
**Model Number** (on back of device) - PRD07T10WWH756
**FCC ID** \- TLZ-NU706
**Firmware Version** \- SH20\_20110302\_K\_PD\_INX7E\_ENG\_6410POP
**Kernel Version** \- 2.6.29 fsysky@fsysky Mon Jan 24 18:22:16 UTC 2011
**Build Number** \- PD\_Novel 2011.03.02

# Answer
> 1 votes
From page 53 of the user guide, you need to install the Android SDK and use ADB to load applications. If you do this with the Market (3.3.12) I would expect you would be able to use it normally after that.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I also have the Pandigital Novel, did the update but it only gives you a 1.5 Android, which originally was promised to be a 1.6 Android.

Secondly, the SlideSAM 4.0 becomes SlideSAM 4.1 with the firmware update, but now crashes regularly when entering the Android Market online...

All in all, Pandigital left us hanging with no options... if you're lucky, you can hack your Pandigital and give it the Honeycomb 3.0 Android but if you're like me, (not a programmer), you wouldn't know a honeycomb if it hit you upside the head!

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you happen to find a way to install `.apk` files directly to your Novel, there are files to install the 3.0.26 Market, or if that one isn't compatible for some reason or doesn't work well (it's the newest one), heres a link to the 2.3.6 Market.

---
Tags: google-play-store, pandigital-novel
---


title: All non stock apps are crashing

text:
# Question
Title: All non stock apps are crashing
Suddely without any previous event my application has started crashing. Only stock applications work? Cleared cache of some of them but nothing happened. Do you have any ideas, or I will have to make a factory reset?:S

EDIT!!!!

I have a great hint...I trie to reinstall an app and I got an error telling that there is insufficient space in my phone. Any ideas?:)

# Answer
I have this happen from time to time. My issue is usually just about any application, not just "non-stock".

To fix it I have to reboot in to the recovery and clear the cache. I believe that it has to do with the number of applications that I have installed, ~105 total, and the amount of data they store in the cache.

Clearing the cache usually fixes it, but only for a short time, unless I remove some applications. I am now down to about 80 and I haven't had the issue in a couple weeks.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, crashes, insufficient-memory
---


# Question
Title: How can I copy files onto an SD card with a Honeycomb tablet?
It seems like copying a file onto the SD card ought to be easy, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do it. I have an (International) Motorola Xoom Wifi running stock Moto Android 3.2.

If I insert an SD card with content on it, I can see the contents of the card show up in the tablet's Gallery app. I can also go into the built-in Files app and browse the contents of the SD card. Using the Files app I can select files and copy them from the SD card to the internal storage.

However when I browse the tablet's internal storage with the Files app and select and `Copy` a file, if I then navigate to the SD card the `Paste Here` option is grayed out.

Using File Manager HD, I can't even find the SD card. It looks (from the Files app) like the SD card is at `/mnt/external1/` but I can't see any way to get there. Is there something I'm missing in File Manager HD to find the SD card, or is there a deficiency in File Manager HD that another file manager could solve?

Also strangely I can delete files from the SD card using the gallery app, but not using the Files file manager app!

# Answer
Well that's strange timing!

Just received an update notification on the tablet, installed the update and suddenly I can copy files to the SD card, delete files from the SD Card and create folders on the SD Card with no problem! This was using the built-in Files app.

It's still saying my Android Version is 3.2, but the build number has updated to H.6.6-23, so can only assume this is an update to the drivers or Motorola's software rather than the OS itself.

Found a thread on the Xoom Owner's forum mentioning it Another UK update?

> I just received another update to my UK wi-fi xoom. I already had the original 3.2 update.
>
> I didn't really catch the update number, but the release notes appeared looked to be the same as the previous big update.
>
> It was very small (only 1 or 2 k!).
>
> I could only really think of one reason this might have been sent out, so tried copying from the internal memory to /mnt/external1 (a 32 Gb sd card) and it worked!

So it looks like this was probably a fault that they've pushed out a fix for, rather than any design problem.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Getting to your external in File Manager HD is...not very obvious. The only way I'm aware of to get to it is to hit the `Home` button at the top right on the action bar (not the Android OS button in the bottom left) and then hit `Up`. This should put you at `/mnt`, so you can get to the external at `/mnt/external1`. The "Storage" shortcut on the left pane also takes me there, but I don't think it's always operated like that in the past. I might be mis-remembering there, though. If "Storage" takes you to `/mnt/sdcard` then you can hit "Up" from there to get back to `/mnt`.

As for copying, the external card was originally read-only by default. Now it seems to exist in some kind of weird limbo (at least for me) and I'm not entirely sure how the permissions are designed. File Manager HD shows its permissions as `dr-` (that is, read-only directory) but it lets me paste files there anyway. Nonetheless, if you're rooted you can use something like MicroSD Mounter as an easy way to remount it RW (it works fine for me).

I should probably also note that the above is on Android 3.2.2, after getting Verizon's LTE upgrade. The permissions may still be read-only for Xooms in other regions, but I'm not sure. Mine could also just be read/write because I'm using a custom kernel and boot image (don't remember if it was in there).
> 2 votes

---
Tags: external-sd, file-transfer, 3.2-honeycomb
---


title: Some questions about Thinkpad Tablet

text:
# Question
Title: Some questions about Thinkpad Tablet
I need to purchase a tablet for on the move access to web, video, book reading etc. I am a Thinkpad fan so I would like to go for Lenovo Thinkpad. However I have some questions regarding it, which seems to be related more with Android itself than the hardware.

1. Thinkpad tablet has USB port, so can we use external USB modem (e.g. MTS MBlaze, Tata Photon in India) with it to connect to internet. On some forums it is said that Android does not have drivers of USB modem, so we can use USB modems with any Android tablet in the market even if they contain full USB port. What is the current state of Android on this?
2. A bit on hardware side, Thinkpad contains SIM slot and it is only yesterday when Lenovo has added Gobi chip for 3G capability. So, what was the use of that SIM card slot before that chip?

# Answer
> 1 votes
1. AFAIK Android has **no support** for UMTS/LTE/mobile-connectivity USB-Sticks.
2. The SIM slot was always used for mobile connectivity. The Gobi chip supports more technology for mobile connectivity, allowing the Thinkpad to establish mobile connectivity in various countries. With a normal chip you are restricted to your region.

---
Tags: internet, 3g, lenovo-thinkpad-tablet
---


title: Disable Pairwise Master Key Caching

text:
# Question
Title: Disable Pairwise Master Key Caching
I asked this question some time ago on another forum but never received an answer. I'm hoping that I may get a better answer here.

The wireless network at my university is a bit shaky and I was wondering if there is a way to disable Pairwise Master Key Caching under 2.3.3. This seems to have fixed the problem on my laptop. I am rooted and can edit configuration files if needed. Thanks!

# Answer
> 1 votes
Not sure which OS runs on your Laptop, but **Android uses the wpa\_supplicant for WiFi authentication.** If wpa\_supplicant provides a way to disable the cache, you will have to configure it in the `/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf` configuration file.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, wi-fi
---


# Question
Title: How do you remove Facebook birthday from "My Calendars"?
My calendar is full of facebook friend birthdays! and worse, they are listed under "My Calendar", not Facebook calendar, so I can't hide them by unchecking Facebook in Calendar, Settings \> Calendars. Even thouh they are listed under My Calendar, they still have facebook logos on the entry and a sync logo. I tried by turning off the sync option, but they are still there. How can I remove them from my calendars, and add them to the "facebook" calendar?

# Answer
This was reported in the Android Central forum here with a link to LifeHacker. It sounds like it will allow you to sync your Facbook calendar without the birthdays because you're exporting the events directly from Facebook. First, you may want to undo the sync that you have going on now. Hope it helps.

Quoting the post from Android Central:

> just go to your google calendar thats linked with your google account on your phone and then follow this article.
>
> Add Your Facebook Events to Google Calendar
>
> 1. In Facebook, go to your EVENTS page.
> 2. At the top of that page click EXPORT EVENTS
> 3. You'll get a pop up window with a URL, copy it.
> 4. In Google Cal, on the bottom left you'll see ‘Other Calendars' and below that a link to ADD. Click ADD
> 5. One of the new options you'll be presented with is ADD BY URL, select that
> 6. Paste the URL from Facebook where it asks for it.
>
> and thats it! when your phone calendar syncs with your google calendar, all your facebook events will show up too and no birthdays.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Go into **Accounts and sync** in Settings and remove Facebook HTC Sense and your calendar will be back to normal. Stupid thing had my calendar full of birthdays from my Facebook that I don't really care about....
> 1 votes

# Answer
There is a downward-pointing arrow on the top right of of the calendar. Hit this, and a list of all your calendars drops down. Untick the ones whose events you don't want synched to your phone's calendar.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I simply stopped syncing the Sense Facebook app to fix this. However, all the contacts I connected with Facebook are gone as well which is the down side.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sync, calendar, facebook
---


title: To enable mobile broadband in ZTE Light

text:
# Question
Title: To enable mobile broadband in ZTE Light
My Sim -card works in a HTC smartphone out of the box. So the problem must be in the ZTE Light -tablet. I can call with the tablet, but not surf the internet. I get *Web page not available* when trying to use the browser. I have no terminal in the device so I cannot try ping.

My current location is Sweden so network mode GSM. The device is not sim-locked.

I have the following settings in Wireless & network settings \> Mobile network settings:

```
Data roaming: off
Network mode: Preferred network mode GSM/WCDMA
Use only 2G networks: off
Network operators: selected my operator's name
Data Connection: On
APNs: nothing selected by me

```

My android version 2.1-update1, kernel 2.6.29.

**How can you enable the mobile broadband to ZTE Light?**

# Answer
You should select your operator's internet APN from the APN list to enable the mobile data network. If you don't see it, check the settings from your operator and insert it manually from that menu.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: mobile-network, zte-light-tab
---


title: What Android sync'd data is encrypted?

text:
# Question
Title: What Android sync'd data is encrypted?
With the release of the firesheep plug-in for firefox it has become trivial for website browsing on open Wi-Fi networks to be hijacked by 3rd party listeners.

Android offers the convenient auto-sync option. However I fear that my data may be auto-sync'd while I am connected to an open Wi-Fi network while at the local coffee shop or shopping mall.

Is all the data Android auto-syncs encrypted using SSL or a similar encryption mechanism? Is any auto-sync'd data unencrypted and transmitted in the clear for all to listen in to?

**Update**: COMPLETELY INSECURE!!!! See below!!!!

# Answer
Note: answering my own question as nobody knew.

I did a packet capture after selecting Menu -\> Accounts & Sync -\> Auto-sync (also accessible via the "Power Control" widget). What did I discover?

To my *horror* (http requests from phone displayed below):

```
GET /proxy/calendar/feeds/myaccount%40gmail.com HTTP/1.1
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Authorization: GoogleLogin auth=_hidden_
Host: android.clients.google.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
User-Agent: Android-GData-Calendar/1.4 (vision FRF91); gzip

```

and

```
GET /proxy/contacts/groups/myaccount@gmail.com/base2_property-android?showdeleted=true&orderby=lastmodified&updated-min=2010-12-01T08%3A49%3A00.561Z&sortorder=ascending&max-results=10000&requirealldeleted=true HTTP/1.1
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Authorization: GoogleLogin auth=_hidden_
GData-Version: 3.0
Host: android.clients.google.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
User-Agent: Android-GData-Contacts/1.3 (vision FRF91); gzip

```

My *contacts* and *calendar* are being transmitted **unencrypted**! I don't currently synchronize gmail so I couldn't say if that is unencrypted either.

Also the stock market application (which must be a service because I don't have the widget displayed or the application active):

```
POST /dgw?imei=TEST&apptype=finance&src=HTC01 HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.19.0 (i586-pc-mingw32msvc) libcurl/7.19.0 zlib/1.2.3
Content-Type: text/xml
Content-Length: 338
Host: api.htc.go.yahoo.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
Expect: 100-Continue

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<request devtype="HTC_Model" deployver="HTCFinanceWidget 0.1" app="HTCFinanceWidget" appver="0.1.0" api="finance" apiver="1.0.1" acknotification="0000">
<query id="0" timestamp="0" type="getquotes">
<list><symbol>VOD.L</symbol><symbol>BARC.L</symbol></list></query>
</request>

```

*Completely* unencrypted request for stock quotes: just think, you could sit in Starbucks in the financial centre of your city and packet-sniff what quotes were important to all the smart phone users around you..

Other items that were not encrypted:

* http request to `htc.accuweather.com`
* time request to `time-nw.nist.gov:13` (doesn't even use NTP)

About the *only* data that is encrypted on my phone are the mail accounts I set up with the K-9 application (because all my mail accounts use SSL - and fortunately gmail accounts are, by default, SSL; and yahoo! mail supports imap using SSL too). But it seems *none* of the auto-sync'd data from the out-of-box phone is encrypted.

This is on a HTC Desire Z with Froyo 2.2 installed. Lesson: *do not use phone on open wireless network without VPN encrypted tunnelling*!!!

Note, packet capture taken by using tshark on ppp0 interface on virtual node running Debian connected to Android phone via OpenSwan (IPSEC) xl2tpd (L2TP).
> 13 votes

# Answer
Results captured on an LG Optimus V (VM670), Android 2.2.1, stock, rooted, purchased in March 2011.

As of today, the only unencrypted requests I could find in a pcap taken during a complete resync were:

## Picasa Web Albums

```
GET /data/feed/api/user/<username>?imgmax=1024&max-results=1000&thumbsize=144u,1024u
    &visibility=visible&kind=album HTTP/1.1
GData-Version: 2
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Authorization: GoogleLogin auth=<snipped>
If-None-Match: <snipped; don't know if it's sensitive info>
Host: picasaweb.google.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
User-Agent: Cooliris-GData/1.0; gzip

```

## That's it.

Picasa was the only service I could find being synced unencrypted. Facebook requested a couple profile images (but didn't pass any account info); Skype requested ads; and TooYoou grabbed a new banner image. None of those relate to sync, really.

So it looks like Google's syncing security has been tightened quite a bit. **Turn off syncing Picasa Web Albums** and all of your Google data should be synced in encrypted form.

## Market

This bothered me a little:

```
GET /market/download/Download?userId=<snipped>&deviceId=<snipped>
    &downloadId=-4466427529916183822&assetId=2535581388071814327 HTTP/1.1
Cookie: MarketDA=<snipped>
Host: android.clients.google.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
User-Agent: AndroidDownloadManager

```

The return of this is a 302 Moved Temporarily that points to a highly complex download URL:

```
HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Cache-control: no-cache
Location: http://o-o.preferred.iad09g05.v5.lscache6.c.android.clients.google.com
          /market/GetBinary/com.wemobs.android.diskspace/1?expire=1322383029&ipbits=0
          &ip=0.0.0.0&sparams=expire,ipbits,ip,q:,oc:<snipped>
          &signature=<snipped>.<snipped>&key=am2
Pragma: no-cache
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:37:09 GMT
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
Server: GSE
Transfer-Encoding: chunked

```

Android's download manager turns right around and requests that download location, passing the `MarketDA` cookie again.

I don't know if there's any security danger from how Market downloads APKs. The worst I can imagine is that unencrypted APK downloads open up the possibility of interception & replacement with a malicious package, but I'm sure Android has signature checks to prevent that.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, sync, security, encryption, privacy
---


title: Text message time issue

text:
# Question
Title: Text message time issue
My text message app is behaving rather oddly:

When receiving a text message from a friend, and instantly replying, so that the time of receiving his or her text message is equal to the time of my reply, my reply is placed above the received text message.

ASCII example ;) :

```
From Theodor 16.23: Dinner sounds good, when do you want to eat?
From Anna 16.23: Do you want to have dinner tonight?

```

The phone is a HTC Wildfire S running Android 2.3.3

# Answer
> 1 votes
i believe this is a problem with most stock messaging apps (i have had this problem with several stock sms apps, as i re-ROM a lot ;) ), and i believe the app may be comparing times with the cutoff at minutes, and have a filter that says if they're at the same time (same minute) display the incoming before the outgoing. This is only my guess.

My solution every time has been to use a replacement SMS app (i've never had a third-party SMS app behave badly in this way), and they usually have more functionality anyways. If you would like to try some, i've used Handcent SMS for a long time, but recently switched to GoSMS and love it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
GoSMS Pro for Android works pretty well. You can try this. AFAIK, the stock messaging app considers the network provided time values. You can try syncronising your phone's time with that of network provided values.

---
Tags: sms, htc-wildfire-s
---


title: Android 2.3 set call volume

text:
# Question
Title: Android 2.3 set call volume
i tried quite all the options but i can't find the solution. I already have the volume at maximum when i press the + button during a call. The phone hadn't this behaviour when i first used it (it is a ZTE-blade). Maybe(i'm not sure) this started after flashing it with cyanogenmod 7.1 (before it had ginger stir fry)

Is there an option to turn it up? i have a really hard time trying to hear what people says on calls..

# Answer
I've had a similar problem, sometimes the volume is at max and won't decrease, sometimes the other way around. It also started occurring on CM7.1 (but on a Galaxy S). The volume controls start responding after pressing them both ways (i.e. if volume is at maximum, increase first and then decrease, and vice versa).

You should also check if your phone's version has amplification settings in `Settings -> CyanogenMod settings -> Sound` or something like that.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: audio, calls, volume-control, zte-blade
---


# Question
Title: Could someone confirm the status of Google Gtalk App on Android?
I am a new android user but I am a computer and internet search veteran, however today I have been unable to find information about the status of google talk for android.

I simply want to download and install the Gtalk app for Android, but I cannot find it on the market. I find many references to it elsewhere, but the app itself seems to be gone from the market. I also find many references to voice and video chat in Google talk on android, so is it the case that google have removed the basic chat app in favour of google voice?

# Answer
> 6 votes
Google Talk was never on the Android Market. It should have come with your device if it was a "Google Approved" device, e.g. one that met their minimum requirements (see this for the Gingerbread requirements). The Google apps that come pre-installed on devices are usually not listed publically on the Market. An exception is Maps, for example, which isn't preloaded on some devices either.

You should look under your app drawer for "Talk" (rather than "Google Talk", it's easy to miss if you look for that instead). If it's not there it can probably be side-loaded if you root your device, but that's another issue.

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Tags: google-talk
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# Question
Title: Samsung Captivate AT&T OTA Update Stuck at 99%
I have a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S). I recently returned to stock firmware (2.1) using ODIN 1-click and have been trying to do the standard update to 2.2 from AT&T.

The download goes pretty quickly until it reaches 99%. At that point it is just stuck (I've waited about 20 minutes so far). I have tried to hit cancel and then resume. This just restarts my phone, goes to a white screen with an update bar, and hits 50% before the update fails and it boots normally.

What could be wrong and how can I get the standard OTA update to work?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I found this: http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs\_view\_us.jsp?SITE\_ID=22&PG\_ID=2&PROD\_SUB\_ID=557&PROD\_ID=558&AT\_ID=368733 and it seems to be working. I'm not really sure now what that OTA update was but I'll ignore it.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Odin-ing to 2.2 should be no different than Odin-ing to 2.1. If you flash pure stock no traces will be left in the system or data partitions of any rooting or custom ROMs or whatever. You may need to clean your internal/external SD to remove folders from apps that require root, just in case, but that's about it.

This XDA thread has 1-click Odin for 2.2. The non-rooted version is supposed to still be odexed, according to one of the messages in the thread, and thus should be pure stock.

That said: Why do you need 2.2 to return for a warranty? They shouldn't care whether or not you updated as long as your 2.1 is also official.

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Tags: stock-android, att, ota-update, samsung-captivate
---


# Question
Title: How does Android chooses among multiple access points?
I have been doing a lot of research on this. Unfortunately I was not able to find how, by default, Android chooses among multiple access points.

For instance, if a user walks into a mall and there are 3 hotspots within range, how does the device select which access point to connect to?

```
-Does the device select the AP based in the order in which they are in the Wi-Fi stack?
-Does the device select the AP based on signal strength only?
-Does the device select the AP randomly?

```

Also, as the user physically moves from the coverage of AP A to the coverage of AP B:

```
-Does the device stay connected with AP A until it is out of range?
-Does the device transition from AP A to AP B somewhere along the way (sort of like a soft handoff)?

```

Thank you in advance.

# Answer
> 3 votes
I believe this is device-dependent and is not necessarily managed by Android. The template `wpa_supplicant.conf` in `/system/etc/wifi/` on my Vibrant says this:

> By default, wpa\_supplicant requests driver to perform AP scanning and then uses the scan results to select a suitable AP. Another alternative is to allow the driver to take care of AP scanning and selection and use wpa\_supplicant just to process EAPOL frames based on IEEE 802.11 association information from the driver.

This is controlled by setting the `ap_scan` variable in the in-use configuration file, `/etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf`. Mine is set to 1, which is the default above. So I guess the question is, at least for my device, how does wpa\_supplicant select a suitable AP?

It selects between networks based on explicit priorities given in `/data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf`. For networks in the same priority group it selects based on "security policy, signal strength, etc." though the exact algorithm is not given. In the case where `ap_scan` is 2 and `scan_ssid` is 1, the algorithm is simple: The first available network in the list is selected. New networks are added to the file in the order they're encountered from what I understand; it does not list individual APs, so I assume they are handled dynamically according to whatever algorithm the supplicant is using.

I know that doesn't fully answer your question, but hopefully it's useful.

---
Tags: wi-fi, data-connection, wifi-hotspot
---


# Question
Title: SD card directory is "split" on new phone
I moved from a Samsung Mesmerize (Galaxy S, Android 2.2) to a Motorola Electrify (Android 2.3) and the Electrify is reading my SD card differently. My old data is now stored in `/mnt/sdcard-ext` instead of `/mnt/sdcard/`. All my phone's old data (which I want to keep) is in that directory.

Why did my SD card path change and what should I do to "merge" the two?

# Answer
> 4 votes
On the Electrify, the external SD card is mounted at `/mnt/sdcard-ext/` while the internal is at `/mnt/sdcard/`. The two are logically separate and cannot / should not be merged.

On the Mesmerize, the external SD card is mounted at `/mnt/sdcard/external-sd/` as if it were a subfolder of the internal SD storage, which is also mounted at `/mnt/sdcard/` like the Electrify. The two are just as separate as on the Electrify, however, and the subfolder isn't "real". If you connect your phone to your PC you will see two separate drives for them, and the "external-sd" folder on the internal storage will show up as empty — since it is!

I *think* what's happening here is that you want your data — downloads, possibly pictures and music, etc. — from your Mesmerize's internal SD, and you thought it was all on the external SD. (I don't blame you, this system of having two areas both called SD is confusing.) What I would do is:

* Power off both phones
* Remove any external SD cards from both phones to avoid confusion
* Power on both phones
* Connect both phones to your PC and mount the internal storages on both to your PC
* Copy the content of the Mesmerise's internal storage over to the Electrify's internal storage
* Properly dismount both phones from the PC
* Power off both phones
* Re-insert your external SD card(s)
* Power on the Electrify and go happily on your way

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Tags: external-sd, file-system, file-management
---


# Question
Title: After updating to Android 2.3, the radio keeps running in the background
I have an LG Optimus One and today I updated the firmware to the latest version. I didn't know that with the firmware LG would also update Android. Anyway, I finished the update and went at Phone Information menu. There I saw that the Android version changed from 2.2 to 2.3.3 First I was happy to see that. I've been waiting a long time for this update. But then I started to notice some strange things. For example the Radio is always running in the background. I tried with many different ways to close it, but nothing worked. I used Adsvanced Task Killer and other apps and also tried to Force shut down. But as I said, it keeps running. Anybody has the same problem? Is there any solution?

Also, although it says I have Android 2.3 the graphics are not the same. The main screen is not like this: http://developer.android.com/sdk/images/2.3/home-plain.png (Only the browser icon changed)

# Answer
> 1 votes
Firmware is a bit of a loose term. With Android you can assume that all firmware updates are Android updates, even if it's only a minor version update. It's rare that a new bootloader or something would be pushed out with no changes to the OS.

Anyways, Android has lots of services running in the background all the time. Unless it's consuming your battery — it's probably idle and not using any — it's not a problem. Running task killers is a great way to make your battery life worse and destabilize your phone, so definitely don't do that.

Finally, Android is customized to varying extent by the manufacturers. Most of them at least change the launcher, which can make the homescreen look different. The fact that it looks different from the stock Android homescreen isn't surprising :)

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread
---


# Question
Title: Windows laptop works with Wi-Fi AP, phone claims it is connected but can't access Internet
There's an Asus 240 MIMO Wifi access point. There's a laptop running Windows XP that uses that access point no problem for years so far. And there's an Android based HTC Desire S smartphone that has problems. The objective is to make the smartphone access the Internet via the Wifi access point.

I open "wireless networks" configuration pane, "enable" Wifi - it goes through "scanning" and "obtaining IP address" stages, says "connected to TheRightNetworkName". The Wifi symbol is displayed in the bar under the top of the screen. Yet when I try to open any page in a browser if wouldn't do so and claim there were problems accessing that page.

I tried the following (listed in this answer below, thanks to user Matthew Read):

* rebooted the phone - doesn't help
* checked MAC filtering on the AP - it is disabled
* disabled the firewall on the AP - doesn't help
* tried to change channels - doesn't help, the AP has 13 channels if that matters
* tried to change to 2.4 GHz - looks like it is already the only option, couldn't find any way to change the range
* didn't try to switch from WPA that is currently used to WEP because it feels quite scary - I can mess things up
* tried switching modes - b, g, b/g - doesn't help

How do I debug and resolve this issue?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Make sure that you are using DHCP on your phone; if you have a static DNS set and it's the wrong one, you won't be able to browse the web. Go to `Settings->Wireless And Network->Wi-Fi settings`, hit the context button (or right click button, or whatever you call it), select `Advanced`, and make sure `Use Static IP` is unchecked.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Assuming that the smartphone connects to the AP as you say, try the following.

* Take the IP of the phone.
* Connect to the same AP your laptop
* Run `ping ip_of_phone` from cmd (if you are using win) or from Terminal
* If you can **do** a ping means that something is wrong, perhaps with the DNS
* If you can **not** ping, probably something is wrong with IP assignment. Perhaps a two devices have the same IP. A common mistake is that people assign an IP to an AP and do not exlude that IP from the DHCP pool of the router.

# Answer
> 0 votes
First ensure the phone is using the right password for the network and try rebooting the phone.

Then play with with your AP, one of these at a time:

* Reboot it
* Ensure MAC filtering isn't on
* Try disabling any firewall it might have
* Ensure it uses channel 1 or 6 or 11 (assuming you're in an 11-channel region)
* Try switching to 2.4 GHz if it's broadcasting on the 5.0 GHz band
* Try switching from WPA to WEP encryption or vice-versa
* Try switching to or from mixed mode (e.g. 802.11 b/g rather than just 802.11b, etc.)

If nothing changes, please provide your phone model and I'll try to help further.

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Tags: wi-fi, internet
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 froze during firmware upgrade
I accessed Samsung Kies and a screen message said that there was a firmware upgrade needed. I followed the screen prompt exactly and during the update a drop down message came up saying that there was a problem and to disconect the phone from the pc,remove battery and switch on again. The phone screen had a large triangle saying "Do not disconnect the phone during upgrade" I left the phone connected but still the notice showed to disconnect the phone.I disconnected the phone as stated and removed the battery,then reinserted the battery and switched on the phone.All I got was a black screen with a phone icon - a yellow triangle with an exclamation marke init and an icon of a computer screen. Now all I get on the phone are the icons as just stated. Removing the battery and leaving it disconnected for 10 minutes before switching on only gerts those icons again. In Kies,it still shows "Connect a device" Any idea how I can sort this problem out ?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I believe the solution is the same as in my answer here: Try different button combinations to get into Download Mode, then try the update. If the update doesn't work in Download Mode try again from the phone's normal booted-up state.

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s
---


# Question
Title: What is the relation between ROM Manager, ClockworkMod and Nandroid? Which one(s) do I need?
So I understand the first thing I need to do with my phone, after rooting, is to back everything up. But I was confused about 3 of the apparently popular tools used for this.

For example, is Nandroid an application I run on a computer connected to the Android device, or on the device itself?

I understand ClockworkMod is a "custom recovery". What does that mean? Why do I need it? What does it mean to "flash" it?

Asides from browsing and installing new ROMs, how does ROM manager interact with the other two? Does it include them both, so I just need to download it from the market and be done with it?

I will appreciate any answer that can sort out the differences, with emphasis on what I, as an end-user, actually need to do, and whether there is any risk on those actions.

# Answer
A "Recovery" is a special space in the internal memory of your phone, set aside by the manufacturer to perform diagnostics and OS upgrades. In Windows terms, it's a rough equivalent of Boot Menu (usually accessed by pressing F8 during boot-up.) It's invisible to the phone under normal operation, and is accessed in a special way (usually by turning the phone on while holding one or more buttons).

The problem is that the recoveries that comes with stock devices do not allow for installation of custom ROMs, only firmware images "signed" by the manufacturer. In order to install custom ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod for example) you will need to replace the stock Recovery image with a custom one, made by community developers. On Android there are several custom recoveries, Clockworkmod (CWM) and Amon-Ra being the most known ones. These custom Recoveries allow you to do a lot more things with your phone. The biggest advantage is being able to flash unsigned custom ROMs. Other benefits include various tools and utilities for further managing the phones.

One such utility is called "NANDroid". It's a backup and restore tool that allows you to take a full image of all the phone's internal NAND memory (hence the name) and store it on your SD Card. Should something go wrong with the phone's software, you can use the previously saved backup to restore the phone to a working state.

The maker of ClockworkMod Recovery also created an Android app called "ROM Manager". This app allows you to easily upgrade the CWM recovery to a new version when one becomes available for your device. It also allows you to manage NANDroid backups stored on the SD Card, as well as perform a slew of other useful advanced tasks. These include fixing app/data permissions, re-partitioning of the SD Card right on the phone, downloading different custom ROMs and flashing them directly from the app. A paid "Premium" version of the app has more advanced features, such as OTA update notifications for custom ROMs that support it, etc.
> 20 votes

# Answer
A nandroid is the name for a complete backup or image of your device. It can be performed in clock work mod (cmw) .

Clockwork mod is a custom recovery because it is a second of tools that can used without booting an os. Think of it has an additional BIOS. When rooting and jailbreaking, u will want to install the clockwork mod. It is the workhorse that has utilities for backups /restores /wipes and installing unsigned zip updates.

Rom manager is an app accessible in the os that allows quick access and integration with clockwork mod. Rom manager can update and install clock work mod versions as well as automatically booting into clock work mod for quicker access to those functions. Cwm and Rom manager were started by the same person. Rom manager let's u download Roms and then boots into cwm to backup and install them.

U will need a custom recovery... (I know of two) cwm or armon ra. They permit u to perform the backup. Rom manager isn't necessarily needed but its useful and is well integrated into cwm.
> 6 votes

# Answer
That's got it all covered pretty good, but a couple of things should be pointed out

1. One feature of ROM Manager--"Backup Current ROM"--is useful in that it integrates all of your apps (including paid ones), all of your data (such as contacts, text messages, saved photos, browser bookmarks), and your system state (your desktop arrangement, your preferences, your app defaults) and rolls them up with your ROM into a complete system image--your "Current ROM". That's great if something goes screwy with a new ROM, but it's not the way to restore apps and preferences after upgrading your firmware--unless you want to go back to your old firmware too. Titanium Backup will backup or restore your entire app set in a single batch process; or, you can wait for Android Market to restore your apps; as for non-market apps, you can use Android Mate to individually save each app to SD as an installable apk
2. The first thing a long-time Android user does when faced with an FC is open up ROM Manager and run Fix Permissions. I cannot overstate how valuable that function is.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: backup, rom-flashing, clockworkmod-recovery, rom-manager, nandroid
---


# Question
Title: Change "contact" photo when making a call
I've started using Google Plus and I want my Android "contact" picture to change to the picture used in G+; a real photo of me. It's currently using an old avatar picture I once set for Google Talk, so when I call them it pops up with a silly avatar instead of my real photo. This shows up as my Phone contact picture as well, not just Google +.

Is there some way to set which image is used either via android, Gtalk or Gmail or something?

I always use Gchat via Gmail, but I don't know where or how I set my Gtalk avatar anymore, and I don't recall setting that picture for myself on my phone ever.

I am on Android 2.3.4.

# Answer
Turns out I had to change this via the "Mail Settings" menu in **Gmail**, under the General Menu is a My Picture menu, where you can select the image used for Google +, Google Voice and apparently the icon used for contacts synched with gmail.
> 2 votes

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Tags: contacts, google-account
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# Question
Title: How can I install google talk with video call support on CM7.1?
I I just installed CM7.1 on my SGS. To my surprise, the google apps that I installed did not include the version of google talk with video chat. The ROM I used to have was based on Samsung's stock Android (2.3.5), and did have this version of google talk.

How can I get this version on my phone?

Is it safe to install google talk from a backup created in my previous version onto CM7.1?

# Answer
> 2 votes
This version of google talk can be downloaded from http://goo-inside.me/gapps/.

The current version is gapps-gb-20110828-newtalk-signed.zip.

Details can be found in Rootzwiki at http://wiki.rootzwiki.com/index.php/Google\_Apps#Google\_Talk\_with\_Video.2FVoice\_Chat

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, cyanogenmod, google-talk
---


# Question
Title: Why can't I overclock a rooted Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 beyond the default maximum 528MHz?
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 running stock Donut (Android 1.6). I tried a couple of overclocking apps such as SetCPU and CPU Master, but none of them let me actually "over"-clock the CPU, because I can't set the maximum to be more than the default 528 MHz. I have read about speeds of 624 and/or 710 MHz possible with either the Galaxo custom ROM or GAOSP, but I want to achieve those kinds of speeds with stock Donut.

I've tried GAOSP b3 (Gingerbread) and Galaxo 1.6.3.4, but I prefer the feel of stock 1.6 (that's why I love my stock Nexus S running 2.3).

Is it possible to set the CPU speed beyond 528 MHz in my rooted Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500? How?

# Answer
> 2 votes
It is my understanding that some ROMs allow for Overclocking, whereas others dont. It depends on how the kernel is setup. I couldnt Overclock my Samsung galaxy s2 for example on the stock rom with it rooted. I could however once I installed Cyanogen. Perhaps that is the case.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you're using Donut you're using an older kernel, or perhaps the presets for your phone from autodetect don't include the desrired frequencies. From SetCPU's manual:

> In rare situations and in older kernels, and when SetCPU cannot get root access, SetCPU may not be able to autodetect the full range of speeds supported by the kernel. If this is the case, you can configure SetCPU to use custom frequencies. To get started, you'll need the list of frequencies your kernel can support in kHz (not MHz!).
>
> Create a plain text file called “setcpu.txt” and place it on the root directory of your SD card or on your SD card's ext partition (/sdcard/ or /system/sd/). The text files should sort the frequencies on one line by comma, from lowest to highest. For example, the following is a valid config file:
>
> 125000,250000,500000,550000,600000
>
> To store the custom frequency list on your phone, save it as “setcpu” with no extension and put it in /data/. SetCPU reads from the SD card first and uses that text file if present, then tries to read from /data/.
>
> To configure SetCPU to read your custom frequencies, go back to the device selection screen (in the Main tab, press Menu \> Device Selection), choose “show other frequencies” if necessary, and choose the custom config option at the very bottom.

If you don't want to do that, you can also manually choose a different model of phone that offers the frequencies you're looking to use instead of using auto detect.

# Answer
> -1 votes
The look and feel of CM7 is superior compared to most stock rom's. So if your reason for not switching from the stock rom is the look n feel, you wont be disappointed with CM7.

Get CM7 for your phone from cm.get, install it. Once done go to

> Setting --\> CyanogenMOD settings --\> Performance --\> CPU Settings --\> Change Min Frequency

That is it, but be careful you can screw up your system, there are available governors, i suggest you use them.

---
Tags: setcpu, samsung-galaxy-i7500
---


# Question
Title: I have full service but all my messages refuse to send?
Yesterday I encountered a problem with my phone: I have full service and I can make phone calls, download, and use internet without a problem. I can also receive messages, but anytime I try to send it seems as if it doesn't even make an effort trying to send. It instantly says 'message not sent'. I have factory reset my phone 3 times since then.

I can't figure out what could cause this....its really frustrating...please help.

# Answer
> 2 votes
This sounds like your SMS settings are wrong. Most likely the SMSC (Short Message Service Center) number is not set. Check your settings with the one your provider/carrier tells you to set.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, sms
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# Question
Title: Gmail app - cancel notification but see number of unread
I have two problems with the Gmail app:

1. I'm using LauncherPro and have the Gmail app icon in the down task-bar, but I don't see the unread mail count. How can I make the unread number appear there?
2. I've found out that the fact that every incoming new mail appears in my notification screen makes me lose concentration with what I'm doing and answer without thinking properly.

How can I stop the notifications about new mail?

# Answer
> 2 votes
For #1, it appears that Google changed the API for the Gmail app, and Frederico has disabled that functionality as a result.

For #2, go to the Settings in the Gmail app and select the account you're using, then uncheck "Email notifications".

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Tags: notifications, gmail, launcherpro
---


# Question
Title: Erronous Low Data Space Error on Droid Incredible
I've see this question asked a lot, but I haven't seen any real answers.

I'm getting the low application data space error, but I have 440MB/750MB free on my internal storage.

With more than 50% free how can I be low on space? Is there any solution to this other than deleting things? It seems that the error goes away at around 460MB free, but it's ridiculous that I would have to maintain that much free space to now be "low".

Any thoughts on what I can do about this?

# Answer
> 3 votes
This error is not just for the total storage, it is also for specific "mount points" like /data/data, for example, where the applications on the device store their data. If this mount point becomes low on space, because it is not given access to "all the storage", then you will receive that low space message. You can uninstall apps that you no longer need/use or go in to the Settings -\> Applications -\> Manage Applications and clear the data for apps that are using a lot, or you don't use often.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Occurred only after Android 2.3.4 update for me. I Tried clearing cache for Facebook, Gmail, Internet - worked, but only temporarily.

The only thing that worked was factory reset. I didn't want to do it, but now phone is running well, even with increased battery life.

All paid apps will be saved. Use Verizon backup to back up your contacts before you reset.

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Tags: internal-storage
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# Question
Title: Encryption of offline mail, calendar, contacts data on Android
I'm very new to Android and I wonder what I can do in terms of encryption.

As I read it seems that only Android \>= 2.3.3 supports encryption but my new device will be running Android 2.3.1. So I think there's no native solution to encrypt offline mail, calendar and contact data.

What solutions are there to protect my offline data?

Is it possible to encrypt the folders belonging to mail, calendar, contact? Decrypting should always happen when the screen is not lcoked.

Any ideas?

# Answer
**Encryption of saved data** (the data on flash storage) is a feature of Android 4.0 and higher. The only non-4.0-device I am aware of that allows full flash storage encryption is the *Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet*.

**Encryption of connection data** (data that goes over the wire) was a big security concern in some Android versions. Google has released some updated versions of the affected Apps, but it's unkown if they where dispatched on every device. IIRC most fixes got into 2.3.5, but I can't find the source ATM - **Googles disclosure policy is not so good.** Here are some good resources about this topic:
> 4 votes

# Answer
Can't find an App so far. Smart App Protector seems best we can do
> 0 votes

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, security, encryption
---


# Question
Title: How to force Gmail/Android to request password every time for google account
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> Logout from Gmail on my device

I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace running Android 2.3.3. Is it possible to force Gmail or any google related apps to request my password everytime I open them?

I don't like how Android syncs with my account and the only way I can protect my phone is by setting up a screen pattern lock or pin, if I wanted to show my phone to people I can't without them able to fiddle around through my emails once its unlocked or if I leave it lying around before it locks.

IOS has something like that on iTunes or App Store where you always have to put in your password.

# Answer
> 4 votes
It doesn't look like you can do anything natively except disconnect the account you're syncing with every time you're done checking your mail.

However, there are a number of app protect apps out there that let you put passwords on particular apps for just such a purpose.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, security, gmail, password, google-account
---


# Question
Title: Why doesn't my phone support Google + hangouts?
I have Motorola xt502 phone which is a Commtiva z71 variant, running android 2.3.7 CM7.1.

I was wondering what is limiting the hangout feature on my phone.

Is it because it has arm v6 cpu, the missing front facing camera or memory constraints? GTalk video is also not available on my phone.

Any info? Thanks.

# Answer
> 2 votes
As Chahk mentioned: It's the lack of a front facing camera.

But there are ways to fake a front facing camera, so that you can join hangouts.

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, google-talk, video-calling, google-hangouts
---


# Question
Title: Improve Android Emulator Performance on Windows 7 x64
I'm running Eclipse Helios on Windows 7 x64. I have a Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz with 4.0 GB which I think should be enough, since I've never have any performance problems with other developing tools.

When I run my first app on the Android Emulator (both 2.3.3 and 3.0) it took at least 5 minutes to load the OS and at first it didn't even run the HelloAndroid app. Even when I managed to run the application, the performance was unbearable.

I've tried various things to improve the performance, but no major improvement is shown. I think I'm missing something.

Things I have tried:

On AVD Manager

1. Device RAM size to 512.
2. Resolution to 640 x 480.
3. Snapshot enabled.

On Project preferences\Android

1. \Launch\ -cpu-delay 0 -no-boot-anim -cache ./cache -avd Android3

Things I can't tried: \- Deploying on a device (don't have any).

By the way, I've had the same problem on a MAC Mini 2.66 GHz 2 GB but these settings made the difference.

Anyone can give any tips to improve this lame performance?.

# Answer
The emulator is slow because it's an qemu that emulates a whole different CPU architecture as it's used by consumer PCs: **ARM** (vs. x86(\_64) on your PC)

This means that every CPU instruction on the emulator's ARM CPU has to be emulated, which is per se *slow*. Also the emulator is AFAIK single-threaded. This means that speed-up can only be achieved by fast CPUs cores - multi-cores won't help here - and a reasonable amount of RAM.
> 6 votes

# Answer
You could try to use a third party emulator which by my experience, works very well. I'm not going to tell you that it won't lag from time to time, but take the trial and you will see how much better this emulator runs.

It's not a free application, but it's not expensive either. You can find it at YouWave Android Emulator. Give the trial a try and get back to us ;)
> 3 votes

# Answer
Honeycomb (3.0) is notoriously slow in the emulator. You could try to get most of your functionality working for the phone first, to minimize using Honeycomb.

There are some BIOS settings to enable virtualization support in your CPU. I think turning these on may speed up the emulator, but I'm not sure. (The exact names for your system I don't know, but they'll have "virtualization" or "vt-x" or something in the name.

You could also try dedicating a processor to the emulator. You can change the "processor affinity" for processes in Windows using task manager. If you change it so that your emulator prefers one processor and your other main tasks (like eclipse) avoid that processor, you may see some gains. If your processor is hyperthreaded, make sure that you treat the two virtual cores as one core and assign the emulator to prefer both virtual cores.

(Finding the processes may be easier with ProcessExplorer because you can click the target button and then click a window and it shows you the process for that window.)

---

**Update:** See the Using Hardware Acceleration section on the Android docs to see how to use your GPU and virtualization support in your CPU to speed up the emulator.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: performance, android-emulator
---


title: French QWERTY keyboard for Nexus S

text:
# Question
Title: French QWERTY keyboard for Nexus S
When using the French language the default virtual keyboard on the Nexus S use the AZERTY keyboard layout.

That might be fine in Europe but not in North America (e.g. Quebec) where everyone uses QWERTY keyboards.

How can we globally change the keyboard layout on the Nexus S ?

# Answer
If your phone is rooted, it's possible to do this by modifying system files that govern the keyboard. A much easier (and safer) way would be installing a 3rd-party keyboard replacement app that has a French QWERTY layout.

Out of keyboards I've personally used, I can recommend AnySoftKeyboard with French Language Pack. It includes both AZERTY and QWERTY (French-Canadian) layouts.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, keyboard, samsung-nexus-s
---


# Question
Title: US Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet in India - mobile data
I bought Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 32GB from US andI am now in India. I have a vodafone 2G SIM. How can I connect this to my Thinkpad?

And I have a M blaze data card. Can this be connected to the thinkpad ?

# Answer
If the SIM card doesn't work out of the box in your TPT, it's very likely that your US tablet is not compatible with the mobile communication standards used in India. What happens if you put the SIM in the TPT?

Mobile data USB sticks can't be used with the TPT, afaik.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You may need to manually specify the network and/or APNs in `Settings->Wireless and network->Mobile networks->Access Point Names` \- vodafone's tech support for vodafone should be able to provide these for you. I have to do this when I use my WIND Mobile SIM card in Canada on my phone.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: internet, lenovo-thinkpad-tablet
---


# Question
Title: How can I set notifications for gmail on the new version of the gmail app (2.3.5.2)
I recently installed CM7.1 (stable version for SGS). This has a new version of the gmail app (2.3.5.2). Unlike previous versions, this has no control for notifications. I like my mail to arrive silently, with nothing more than an icon in the notification bar. Now, however, I have no visible option to turn off the notification for gmail.

Is there any way to disable notifications for the gmail app?

# Answer
Actually, with 2.3.5.x version of Gmail app, Google added more notification options, although well hidden within the settings. In the main screen of the Gmail app:

1. Press the Menu key, go to More -\> Settings.
2. Tap on your Google account, scroll down to the `Notification settings` section and ensure the `Email notifications` option is enabled.
3. On the same screen, tap on the `Labels to notify` option. Here "Inbox" and "Priority Inbox" are always listed, as well as any labels you've created on the Gmail's web interface.
4. For each label that you want to specify or change notification options, tap on the label, and in the pop-up window you will be able to select the following options:
    * **Email notifications**: whether or not to display the icon in the notification area when new e-mail comes in.
    * **Ringtone**: allows you to specify a custom ringtone, or set to "Silent" for none.
    * **Vibrate**: specifies options for when/if to also vibrate on new mail.
    * **Notify once**: when checked, will only display notifications (and sound/vibrate) once for new mail until you dismiss it, otherwise will notify for each new e-mail.
5. Tap `OK` button, exit out of the settings, and you should be all set.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: notifications, gmail
---


title: How do I turn off my phone?

text:
# Question
Title: How do I turn off my phone?
This might be a dumb question but found some links online which just look dangerous so I better ask.

I have a HTC Wildfire S. How can I turn it off? Is just removing the battery safe?

I want to shut down before I remove the batery. Is there a way to do that?

# Answer
Try pressing and holding the Power button. This should bring up a dialog box with several options, once of them being to turn off the phone.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: power-on, htc-wildfire-s
---


# Question
Title: My HTC Desire HD has been stolen. What data can still be accessed by the thief?
I have contacted the network and had the phone barred, I had applied a screen lock. I am concerned however if the thief can still access all my numbers, texts, saved passwords and most importantly the pictures/videos of my daughter which were stored to the handset? It terrifies me to think that some horror could access these for all kinds of use.

# Answer
If the data was not encrypted: **everything**.

The data on the removable SD-card can be easily accessed, just like a lost USB-Memory-Stick. The internal flash storage can also be read out via some, *admittedly sophisticated but practical possible*, approaches. AFAIK no Data that you sync with the Google cloud is encrypted.

**It's always wise to install some remote wipe tool, like pyko said. Even if they are not foolproof and can not provide a "secure delete" functionality, they provide some security and raise the bar to read out your data.**

Hint: The AN.SX security tag provides some further related information for such cases.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Have you tried Plan B? You can install it from the market after you've lost your phone and use it to find it's current location.

For your next phone, I would recommend Cerberus \- I reviewed a bunch of security apps, and it's definitely the clear winner.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: security, lock-screens, data-recovery, lost-phone
---


title: Wifi sleep policy not working

text:
# Question
Title: Wifi sleep policy not working
I tried some stuff I found about sleep policy. I obviously tried setting it to **Never**, I tried the **Wi-Fi keep alive** app, it doesn't seem to work.

When I let the phone lie for a few minutes and then wake it, the wifi icon is grey and i cannot connect to anything right away, I have to wait till it turns green. This also messes up my GTalk, plenty of times i found out someone wrote to me only by manually opening the Talk app and waiting for it to sync (there was the red *unconnected* line at the bottom).

How do I fix this?

I have Nexus S, if that helps. Thank you

# Answer
> 1 votes
I was frustrated for a long time with the same problem. An app called Wifi Fixer seems to have fixed it. Hope that helps you too.

---
Tags: wi-fi, samsung-nexus-s, google-talk, standby
---


title: iOS on Android devices

text:
# Question
Title: iOS on Android devices
I am looking for a way to run Apple apps on my Android Honeycomb device, without rooting if possible.

Whether an iOS emulator or an app, or whatever...as long as I can go to the Apple App Store, download/install/run the app right from my Android device.

# Answer
> 12 votes
Well, it turns out that running iOS apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook has been done, so I have to take back my conclusion here; it may well be done on Android also. The PlayBook does have really good support for native apps and the C/C++ toolchain1, so that may be a factor here, but kudos to that guy for doing so much work porting the Objective-C libraries.

1I work for RIM, so feel free to take that with a grain of salt.

---

Unlike Android, (most) iOS apps are written in Objective C and compiled for the device; they're not something portable like Java. In other words, running an iOS app on Android requires:

1. Writing an abstraction layer to take advantage of the Android device's hardware and emulating the rest of the iOS device's hardware
2. A fast enough processor, enough memory, etc. to do the above
3. Porting all of iOS's library and system functions usable by apps to Android
4. Working around the Apple App Store's DRM

The problems with this are many:

* It would be an *incredible* amount of work
* Apple hasn't open sourced anything. How are you supposed to port their code? The hardware can be reverse engineered but that's also quite difficult.
* I highly doubt any current Android device could support something like this, much less run the iOS apps at a usable speed.
* Working around the DRM may not be possible. I would assume it's hardware-dependent and so the emulation costs there would be high if it was even feasible.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Sorry, this isn't possible. iOS apps can only be run on iOS devices or under the simulator on OS X.

---
Tags: ios, emulators
---


title: Forward MMS via EMail

text:
# Question
Title: Forward MMS via EMail
I've send someone a pretty long MMS (just text) but he wasn't able to receive. Is there a way to retransmit via EMail. E.g. copy the whole text and paste it into an email instead?

Thanks.

# Answer
I think so.

Find the message you sent in the "Messaging" app.

Long-press on it.

Choose "Copy message text".

Now run the mail app, compose an email, and in the body of the message, long-press, and choose "Paste" from the pop-up menu.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: email, mms
---


# Question
Title: Enabling logcat in a ROM that has it disabled
I'm running Liquid Smooth 3.2 on my Motorola Droid 1. This ROM comes with logcat disabled (`/dev/log/main doesn't exist`). I tried starting the logcat service myself by adding the following to `/etc/init.local.rc`:

```
#start logcat service
service logcat /system/bin/logcat -f /dev/log/main
   oneshot

```

However, this didn't seem to work as `/dev/log/main` still doesn't exist on boot. I'm getting...

```
$ logcat
logcat
Unable to open log device '/dev/log/main': No such file or directory

```

Does anyone know how to re-enable logcat in a ROM that has it disabled?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I figured it out. It was the kernel that came with Liquid Smooth ROM. The kernel developer, chevyno1 (of Simply Stunning MOD), disabled logging in the kernel. I switched to a different kernel by JDLFG and logging immediately turned on with the next boot.

# Answer
> 3 votes
The ROM might call "rm /dev/log/main" during init to cripple logcat. If you can find that line and remove it logcat should be happy.

---
Tags: custom-roms, logging
---


# Question
Title: Why does a single MMS message show up as three separate download buttons?
Using the default messaging app, CyanogenMod 6.1, T-Mobile Pay As You Go, whenever someone sends me an MMS, it shows up as 3 separate messages, all with Download buttons. If I click the first Download button, it downloads the image. If I click the other two, they fail, and don't go away until the message expires days later.

Using SQLite manager to look at the mmssms.db pdu table, the pending messages all have mtype 130. After downloading, they become mtype 132.

https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/issue/80

Why 3 messages? Can I change this behavior? Is it a bug?

# Answer
I would suggest this is one of 3 things:

1. a bug in CM6. I used Handcent regularly in CM7 and didn't see this behaviour.
2. Possibly related to having Handcent / some other MMS app installed. All apps have registered to be told when a message arrived, and all apps are capturing it and inserting it into the telephony MMS/SMS database. This seems unlikely, because apps will normally rely on the built-in app to insert the message into the database.
3. This could be an issue with the interaction with the network, and acking of the message, which is causing it to be notified multiple times.

I think the best thing to do in this case is capture some logs using ADB and logcat, and posting them on the Cyanogen forums where we can take a look at them and figure out if this is a bug. If you aren't comfortable using the development kit there is an app on the market called aLogCat, which will grab the log for you, and allow you to send it to an email address.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Disable Auto Retrieve in the MMS apps you aren't using.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: mms
---


# Question
Title: Multiple USB Storage Devices on Honeycomb
I just got an Acer A500 tablet, which has a full size USB port and supports FAT32 USB storage devices. What I would like to do though, is hook up a hub and connect multiple, so use the tablet as a way to copy photos from an SD card reader to an external USB hard drive for backup during a trip.

I poked around and found that when I have two devices plugged in you can actually see the device entries listed under /dev/usb although only one of them (usually whatever was plugged in first) will actually show up under /mnt/usb\_storage (apparently the default).

Anyone know of a way to get it to make both usable? I'm guess I'll have to root it so I can run the mount command? (Unfortunately, no one has figured that out yet that I know of.)

# Answer
The critical failure seems to be the use of a USB hub. On my transformer I can mount two different thumb drives and an SD card at the same time.

The left port us USBDrive2, even when only one thumb drive is plugged in. So it appears to me that it is a honeycomb thing mapping each port to a specific directory, ignoring the possiblity of USB hubs. Unfortunately I no longer have a USB hub to test this theory on since my wife has watched one too many hoarders shows.

The A500 only has one USB host, but it also has a MicroSD reader in additon. So an alternative solution you may want to consider is using a micro SD card in your camera in a SD adapter and then popping that into the A500. A microSD card is quite a bit cheaper than a Transformer + dock.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: usb, 3.0-honeycomb
---


# Question
Title: Marketplace offers downloads in notifications but when I tap notification none are available
I've seen some other places with this question, but no answers that explain/help with what's going on.

I've got a Droid 3, and about once a day I get a notification that there are updates available for my apps. When I tap the notification to be taken to the market place; however, there are either no apps to update or the wrong number of apps (i.e. notification says 2, only one app is available).

Does anyone know why this is happening or if there's a way to resolve it?

# Answer
> 4 votes
If you have multiple Google accounts setup, click menu, then accounts, to make sure the proper account is selected. Then click menu, then my apps.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I have noticed that having multiple android devices can trigger my update notifications. I, of course, use the same account for both devices but when updates are available on one, they are not aways available on both. I'll typically get a notification on both devices.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You could try clearing the cache/data for the Market app.

Settings-\>Applications-\>Market, select the Market app, then click the "clear data" button. (You may need to force stop the market app first)

# Answer
> 1 votes
This is a little bug with something in the marketplace. The way i have fixed it is by uninstalling the updates for the market. Just go to settings - applications - manage applications - go to market and select uninstall updates. Launch the market, it will be a much older version. Give your phone about 30 minutes and the market will update to the newest version and you will no longer have the update notification issue.

# Answer
> 1 votes
This could potentially be caused by having an app that has been restricted since you downloaded it. If it's no longer available for your device / network / location then it won't show up in the Market, but it's possible that the Market still checks to see if a newer version is available. I believe I had this issue back with the v2.x Market, but not since I uninstalled the app in question.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Did your phone come with some apps pre-installed on it? That can sometimes cause issues with the update process. Pre-installed apps are often placed in the system directory and the market might not properly update them. If you can, see if the apps that are listed as updatable are pre-installed.

Another potential issue is a mismatched signing key. It's more common if you install development versions of apps, but an app that is signed with a key that doesn't match the market version cannot be updated.

# Answer
> -1 votes
The latest version of the Market will automatically update apps that you have allowed to auto-update. The checkmark notification will disappear from the notification area immediately after the update.

Those apps that aren't allowed to auto-update will be unupdated so when you go to the market those will be left unupdated.

---
Tags: google-play-store, updates
---


# Question
Title: How can I make 1Password for Android log in with the built in browser?
I have a Droid X and have just installed 1Password. I like that I can take my passwords with em and log into websites via the phone, but it seems to only use the 1Password built in browser, which does not zoom very well and is kind of buggy.

Is it possible to log into sites with the built in browser or is this just a limitation of the 1Password software? If so it's an annoying shortcoming.

All the screenshots of this software show it using a PIN code, but since I synced it with Dropbox it's asking me to put in the same long password that I use on the computer. Is that normal or can I use a shorter pin code on the phone?

# Answer
> 1 votes
**The stock browser has no plug-in functionality. Until it's added you will likely never see 1password/lastpass integration in the stock browser.**

Speaking of the lastpass: It's similar to 1password and uses dolphin's plug-in system very well.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Tap the yellow "Autologin" button to have 1Password take you to the web site and fill the login form.

To use only a PIN, adjust 1Password's security settings: bring up the application's options and tap More \> Application Preferences \> Application Protection, then tick the "Use PIN Code" box.

---
Tags: browser, password, stock-browser
---


title: Multiple Google Accounts and the Market

text:
# Question
Title: Multiple Google Accounts and the Market
I have multiple Google accounts like below:

1. Account A (my primary account).
2. Account B
3. Account C

I only have the extra two accounts for gmail (via Google Apps for domains) and don't use them for anything else.

I only want to use Account A on the market. I currently have an annoying issue where the market app keeps using Account B, so I end up downloading things to Account B by mistake.

Is there anyway I can remove these other accounts from the market or set some sort of default account?

Thanks

**Update**: I know that I can press menu in the market app and select a different account, but this is annoying because it defaults to Account B. My crazy theory is that when looking for updates (in the background), it first checks Account A and then B. Because it checked account B last it leaves that as the active one. Account C has never downloaded an app so it doesn't check for updates.

# Answer
This seems to have been fixed in version 3.3.11 and above of the market app.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The only way to remove the other Accounts from the Market is to unsync them from the phone.

Settings \> Accounts & Sync \> Click the google account \> Press Remove Account

Perhaps remove all three, add your Account A, load the market. Then go and add the other two accounts through Accounts & Sync and not through the market.

This *should* leave Account A as the default.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, accounts
---


# Question
Title: Can't sync my new Nexus S to Google Calendar
First-time smartphone owner. I unboxed my new Nexus S and added my gmail account to it. So far, so good -- it sync'd my contacts perfectly.

But I'd never used Google Calendar (and in retrospect I think that's crucial).

So I signed on via my computer, went to Calendar, and set up a calendar with two events (one repeating, one not).

Then I went back to my phone and I find that in the calendar app I have no calendars. There are no events showing and I can't add events ("You have no calendars."). Moreover, in the Accounts & sync settings, under my gmail account, there is no Calendar item, just Books, Contacts, gmail.

I've waved every dead chicken I've heard of at this one, to no avail. The list of sync items won't grow a "Sync Calendar" item. To wit:

1) Obvious first choice, I thought. Power off the phone, power back on. Nope.

2) Read the FAQ Google Support FAQ
2a) Turned the auto sync off and on. Nope
2b) No notifications.
2c) Don't have a 2-step authentication.
2d) Cleared Calendar Storage data, power off, power back on. Nope.

3) Power off the phone, change my gmail password via web, power back on, re-authenticate. Nope.

4) Go to Accounts & sync, create a new google account, create a calendar in it, power down the phone, power back on. The new account has a Sync Calendar item that works, but not my real gmail account.

5) Go to Applications, all, and delete the data for "all the Google apps", power down the phone, power on. Nope. A caveat on this one, I don't know exactly what "all" means, so I hit Calendar & its storage again, Books, Contacts, gmail, everything whose name began with Google,...
see: Related Question
Ok, different device, but otherwise the description seemed a close match. Nope.

So...

Any other suggestions?

# Answer
1. Is it a Google Apps account? If so, you need to flick some settings in the domain manager: `Settings->Calendar->Share all information` and/or `Share all information, and outsiders can change calendars`.
2. Have you tried going into the calendar settings and checking \`Share this calendar with others'?
3. Wait a while. Google Calendar settings changes often take a while to propagate, I've found (at least with Google Apps). Possibly because the server I'm making my changes on is different from the server that my phone is hitting up.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sync, samsung-nexus-s, calendar, google-calendar
---


title: Android Packet data shortcut

text:
# Question
Title: Android Packet data shortcut
I have a Samsung Galaxy Mini running Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread. In the previous version Froyo (2.2.1) when I held down power button I got in that menu a shortcut to enable packet data. In Gingerbread I couldn't make this shortcut appear.

Is there anything I can make to add this shortcut there? Because it's quite annoying to keep accessing Settings -\> Wireless & networks -\> Mobile networks -\> Enable packet data.

# Answer
> 3 votes
It's impossible to add any custom shortcuts to Power button menu. Looks like you have installed some custom ROM. If that is the case, you could also try to find the ROM which has this feature embedded. Here's the list of custom ROMs for you phone:

XDA-Developers: all samsung galaxy mini custom roms!

The ROMs that are based on CyanogenMod (CM) have nice feature called Notification Power Widget, it can be customized and Mobile Data switch could be added:

If you don't want to change the ROM, you still have some options:

* As mentioned in another comment to your question, you could use Power Widget, also Android Market contains lots of widgets specially for Data switching.
* Also you can simply automate the actions you want to do with earlier mentioned Tasker or Llama, which is free alternative to the Tasker. With this apps you could set Mobile Data to be turned on or off depending on events like your location, or, screen on/off, etc.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I used to do this using tasker and a plugin. It's a cost option, but it will work.

Tasker allows you to create widgets to tasks, so it doesn't have to be event based.

The plugin can be found here

Tasker (if you're unfamiliar with it) can be found here

# Answer
> 0 votes
This widget might help. It has an airplane mode switch and "2G/3G" (I'm not sure if that's switching from one to another or includes switching both off). There should be similar apps to do what you want if that one doesn't.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, mobile-data, samsung-galaxy-mini
---


# Question
Title: Application ROM Manager is uninstalled, but market wants to update it every day
I uninstalled ROM Manager. Since I did so, I've received daily notifications from the Market saying there's an update.

I've logged into the market via the desktop browser and ROM manager is not listed as an installed application. (Though many I have uninstalled ages ago are listed, but that's another matter).

The notifications are annoying. How can I kill ROM Manager once and for all?

HTC Desire running Cyanogenmod7

# Answer
ROM Manager shouldn't be a required Systems app to run CyanogenMod. Take a look at the steps over here to remove a system app from your phone: http://oldwiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/Barebones

Something like:

```
adb remount
adb shell rm -f /system/app/RomManager.apk

```
> 3 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, uninstallation, rom-manager
---


# Question
Title: Huawei ideos s7 slim Honeycomb update - is it possible somehow?
I got this new tablet and I have to write an application which live streams video. I know that since 3.1 this is natively supported on Android. Since the s7 is a tablet I think that there should be some way to update its 2.2 to 3.1. Is there a way to do this? Little hint where to start looking? Cyanogen doesn't have anything for s7.

# Answer
> 0 votes
XDA has nothing except for some attempts at getting Gingerbread on it.

I would expect you're out of luck since Honeycomb wasn't open-source, and porting was therefore very difficult. It's possible that someone will mod CM9 (Android 4.0) to run on it, so I would wait and see.

---
Tags: updates, 3.1-honeycomb
---


title: Are Exchange server policies permanent?

text:
# Question
Title: Are Exchange server policies permanent?
My company support Android on their Exchange server, but they have policies (lockout, and password policies) that get applied to my phone. Are these permanent, or can they be removed later if I stop using the service?

# Answer
> 7 votes
No, they are not. For as long as you have the account registered in your email app, the policies are applied, however, if you remove the email account then the policies will no-longer be enforced.

The app is given a "device administrator" status (you can see any apps which have this in "Security" in your settings), and you can revoke that at any time. Revoking it, will of course, cause your email to stop working.

---
Tags: email, exchange
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy Nexus, playlists not showing up in other apps
I have an jogging app, which reads playlists from the normal content resolver. (Media.AudioStore.Playlist.EXTERNAL\_CONTENT\_URI)

On my old phone (HTC Desire) the playlists showed up when I queried this resolver, but now on ICS, they do not. I'm getting Albums ok, just no playlists. I've been banging my head against this for a few evenings now. Any ideas?

# Answer
I also hit this issue. I even went as far as downloading the ICS source code. It would seem that the music app on the Nexus is "Google Music", whereas the old music player is "Android Music". The old one is actually included in the source code, but it is not installed as part of the standard image. I actually compiled the old one, and installed it, and when I created playlists there, they were visible to other apps.

I suspect that because "Google Music" can do much more - cloud storage, music store etc. this means that it stores playlists differently. For example, an external app wouldn't know what to do with a playlist which included content which needed to be streamed from Google Music (and probably wouldn't be able to access the service.

I think Google are changing the strategy in the APIs. They now want you to use music controls to play the music in its default player. This makes some sense, but makes it very difficult to support apps which work in \<3.0 and \>3.0, and will probably become more complicated as more people manually download Google Music.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-nexus
---


# Question
Title: Can I use an Android OS card on the new Nook Tablet?
I am debating between purchasing the Kindle Fire or the Nook Tablet for my son. My main concern with the Kindle is the limited memory. I love the fact that the Nook has the slot for an SD card. However, I've noticed that the prices on many of the games and such on the B&N Nook store are much more than those on Kindle. I read somewhere that there is an Android OS card that can go into the Nook MicroSD slot to make it a full Android tablet. Is this true? Where would I get this card and how much is it? (I'm really totally new to this... sorry). Would this mean that I would be able to go to any Android App store and download games and such from there? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

# Answer
> 1 votes
With the Nook Color it is possible to both root the tablet and install a custom ROM. Some users have even gone so far as to setup their Nook Color to dual boot. In this scenario, the unit will boot the stock Nook OS when allowed to boot from internal memory, or boot a custom ROM when instructed to boot from the SD card. This is likely the scenario you read about with regard to an "Android OS card".

The Nook Tablet is quite similar to the Nook Color, but has been modified from the earlier device to have a locked bootloader that will only load a ROM signed by Barnes & Noble. While it is still possible to gain root permission on this device, it is not (yet) possible to load a customer ROM. Due to this, you may not boot the unit to an alternative ROM stored on the SD card. You can, however, install the Amazon AppStore, Google Market, GMail, and other apps to get more utility from this tablet. You can find instructions and details over at XDA-Developers:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1354487

---
Tags: nook-color
---


# Question
Title: Android Email application dropping profile
I use my Android with Microsoft Exchange for synchronizing my work email. Every few weeks or so, when I click on 'Email' it asks me to setup my email profile again.

It also stops me from sending photos via Email, etc.

Any idea whats causing this to happen? Usually I end up deleting the profile and recreating, but that sucks.

# Answer
> 2 votes
This happened repeatedly to me, I'm not entirely sure why.

What worked for me was to do a "Clear data" (in the Applications screen) on the Email app. When I recreated the profile the next time, it stuck. It may not work for you, but it's worth a shot.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Sounds like your phone might not have enough storage space.

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Tags: email, exchange
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title: Microsoft "web safe" fonts on Android?

text:
# Question
Title: Microsoft "web safe" fonts on Android?
I was testing various Android web browsers (but I think the stock one is fine) and noticed that the MS "web safe" fonts (Trebuchet, Verdana, Tahoma and the like) were displayed with substitute fonts. It took me quite some time to notice, which means that it is a minor annoyance.

Out of curiosity, I was wondering if there was an easy way (I'm not talking about rooting here) to install these fonts. A quick Google search did not help me.

Anyone?

# Answer
There's no easy way to do this. Android ships with two fonts: Droid Sans and Droid Serif. They are used for, well, everything. In Ice Cream Sandwich, it also ships with Roboto, a grotesque font similar to Helvetica and Din.

This will become less and less of an issue in the future as design-conscious web developers are using @font-face and serving up the fonts they use.

Also, keep in mind, those fonts you name aren't free. They're "web safe" because they ship with Windows. They are commercial fonts owned by Microsoft.
> 3 votes

# Answer
You might be able to change fonts in the browser depending on your phone, whether it is rooted, and whether the phone supports changing the Core Fonts. If it does support changing the Core Fonts you will need to apply the fonts wrapped as an .apk (there are lots available) or do it manually (but I suspect that needs root).

There may be other explanations - but in Best font for Captivate? is one which though poorly written is a pretty good explanation.
> 0 votes

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Tags: browser, fonts
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# Question
Title: How can I change a QWERTY keyboard layout to AZERTY without changing the phone language?
I've just acquired an HTC Desire with MIUI interface.

I speak English and want the phone to stay in English. But I live in France and all my keyboards (computers, etc.) are French standard AZERTY, not QWERTY.

The phone shows a QWERTY keyboard. Having the phone in QWERTY is confusing.

How can I change the phone keyboard to AZERTY without changing the language of the phone into French please?

# Answer
> 6 votes
SwiftKey X supports the feature you are asking (English with AZERTY keyboard). Try out their demo.

After you have installed the app, go to the Settings of SwiftKey. Go to "Languages & layouts"

Next to Englush, tap on the little keyboard icon. Then choose AZERTY.

You'll now have English autocorrect on an AZERTY keyboard.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I had a similar question where I wanted to switch from AZERTY to QWERTY. I think the same suggested *free* software (from the answer) will serve you well (like it did for me).

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Tags: keyboard, localization
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title: Sound Amplifier for Android

text:
# Question
Title: Sound Amplifier for Android
Is there any sound amplifier app for android? My HTC Wildfire S speaker is just too low for my ears even when at maximum. Is there any way I can boost the sounds? i.e Music Player, call ringtones e.t.c. Thanks

# Answer
I am afraid this is not really an answer, but I found no way just to post a comment to the question so here it goes:

For the Samsung Galaxy S and the Samsung tablets, Vodoo control effectively amplifies the sound and it is available in the Android Market
> 2 votes

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Tags: audio, volume-control, htc-wildfire-s
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# Question
Title: How can I download email attachments only when requested?
The default email application seems to be downloading email attachments when I try to read an email.

I don't want to download attachment by default, it should on request. I should be able to read the mail body text without needing to download the attachment.

I am using my own POP3 server and not GMail.

Is there any way to enable this or another application which I can use for this?

I have Samsung Galaxy Ace Model GT-S5830.

# Answer
> 11 votes
K-9 Mail does load attachments only on request. *But* your problem is not only the Client, it's more the protocol used for retrieving E-Mail: **POP3 does not support the partial download of an E-Mail without their attachment(s)**, whereas IMAP does. Besides of that IMAP has some nice extensions when it comes to mobile usage: Lemonade Profiles

# Answer
> 2 votes
Both the POP3 and your email client are issues.

As prior poster pointed out, POP3 doesn't support partial downloading. However, many email clients do support limiting message download size. By setting up the right limit, you can just download message but not the attachment. When you click on attachment, you'll be asked whether you want to download the attachment. This method does work.

If you're current mail client does not support this, consider changing clients. I too use k-9 and feel it is pretty good, plus its free (open source). k-9 does support limiting download size on POP3 accounts.

If you're email provider supports IMAP, you ought to switch. IMAP is way way better.

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Tags: email, attachments
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# Question
Title: How to enable USB tethering on your Android phone to Mac OS X Lion
I want to tether an unlimited data plan on a Nexus S *(with 2.3.6)* via USB cable to a MacBook Air *(with OS X Lion)*.

1. The articles I read imply that given Apple's restrictions, that's imposible!
2. Found a question for Froyo and one tethering on a Snow Leopard, but they all rely on third party apps.

Is there any hack to make it work out of the box?

# Answer
Easy Tether works for me for USB tethering on OS X Lion. android.stackexchange.com/q/15735/15, android.stackexchange.com/q/5168/15

To elaborate, here are the steps involved:

1. Open the Easy Tether application on your Android device and select USB (you will see the ET notification in the notification bar).
2. Plug your Android device into your machine via USB.
3. Open Network Preferences, select EasyTether and select Connect.

**Also, if you do any Android dev**, make sure to follow the Mobile Stream's FAQ (although I just moved the .kext to the trash since `kextunload` was not working for me):

> **ADB on Mac OS X stops recognizing the attached device after installing \> EasyTether driver**
>
> Do not follow this advice if you are not a software developer who uses the Android SDK on Mac. Otherwise run "sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext" to unload the EasyTether driver manually. Load it again with kextload when/if necessary.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, usb-tethering, macos
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