# Question
Title: How to have my phone guide me through a specific route
Every weekend I go out and ride my bike through the exact same boring old route. Now I've decided I want to start exploring new parts of the city, but I need my phone to help me that.

Today, using google maps, I decided on a new route I want to follow next weekend (and I'll probably have a new one each week). The problem is that I've never been to these streets, so I need my phone to guide me through it.

**Specifically, I need something very similar to android's GPS navigation.** I'll define where I want to go, place the phone in my pockets (with earphones), and just listen to the turn-by-turn "driving" instructions and follow them.

The reason I don't just use android navigation is that the route isn't a simple `Go from A to B`, it's more like `Go from A to B, then to C, ..., then back to A`. That means I would have to re-type these destinations one by one in the phone, which is far from ideal.

**Ideally, I need a system that allows me to do something like:**

1. plan a complex route on the computer,
2. send it to my phone,
3. have it guide me with turn-by-turn voice instructions.

Is there an app for that? Or is there a way to do that with standard GPS navigation?

# Answer
The solution I use for similar situation is Trekbuddy. I am sure you will discard the idea of using this app if you didn't understand it well. Hence, read through its description in its Play site and their forums. It requires little homework before any such serious use. But once you know your way (pun intended ) through the application, it will be a breeze.

With this app, you can plan your route on computer export it as GPX and together with few MP3 files you can create a turn-by-turn pre-planned navigation. Be aware that if you miss your turn this will not reroute you back. You have to see the map that and continue either on the new route or try to join the pre planned route.

To know about its other uses, take a look at my answer for the question "How to import GPS coordinates track for using offline"

You may also try OSMAND. You can create a pre planned route and export as GPX file. OSMAnd can be configured to use this pre defined route. I could not get my head through the options and configurations to make this work. But from reading its help, I understand that this can do the above and even reroute in case if you miss your turn.

Personally, I like Trekbuddy for its simplicity and its many features as I described in my answer to the other question.

If you happen to succeed with OSMAnd, please share your procedure with us.

---

**Update:** After reading through the forum pages of Trekbuddy, I finally figured out how to use a pre planned turn by turn navigation feature and I tried today to ensure it is working.

The steps involved are (from scratch):

1. Install Trekbuddy either from PlayStore or from their download link.
2. Run the app with GPS switched on. Press `Menu` and press `Start` and wait for GPS fix. If GPS fix is a success you will see the cross hair at your location in the World map.
3. To display a map, you have to download **raster** map tiles from the service provider. These tiles are to be placed in a particular format and an application called Mobac comes for rescue. This app creates such map tiles, indexes and even compress. Various map sources like OpenStreetMap, OpenCycleMap, Google Maps\*, Google Terrain\*, Google Earth Satellite\*, Yahoo Maps etc can be used. Explaining how to create a map will be bit out of scope here, and I will leave it to a rare tutorial available here in German.
4. Assuming you had successfully created a **TARred** atlas (collection of map tiles as said above), you have to place the `.TAR` file and its subfolder inside `\mnt\sdcard\Trekbuddy\maps` folder. To load the map, press `Menu` button and touch `Maps` option and select the `*.Tar` file. Depending on how you had layered the atlas, layers might appear in the next screen and if so, select a layer. Trekbuddy might prompt you to mark this as default atlas. If acceptable click `Yes` and you will save all this step doing again.
5. One map is loaded, you can ensure it by tapping any where in the screen, which will show the cross hair on your location in the map as identified by the GPS.
6. In your computer plan a route and mark turning points as waypoints. As an example, in this following image six waypoints are marked as WPT1..WPT6.
7. In computer, using a text editor, create a GPX file with following template.
8. Place the GPX file created as above in `\mnt\sdcard\Trekbuddy\wpts` folder.
9. Place sound files in AMR format (MP3 not tested) in `\mnt\sdcard\Trekbuddy\sounds` folder. The file name of these files should be as mentioned in the GPX file.
10. And finally, in Trekbuddy app, press `Menu`, `Navigation`, `Waypoints` and choose the above GPX file. Then choose the final waypoint, in this case WPT6 and press `menu` again and choose `NavigateTo`.

When you start moving approach WPT1, the sound assigned to WPT1 will be played. The setting `Settings->Navigation->Wpt Proximity` determines the proximity radius. The value is in meters and when the current GPS position is within this imaginary circle, the sound will be played.

> * I believe it has been discontinued since Mobac version 1.9 onward due to legal pressure. Old versions are not officially available but are still at large.
> 3 votes

# Answer
You could also give Locus Map Free a try. This app can import GPX fine as well, and you can use the track as "route" to be navigated on. From the app's description:

> **Voice navigation & guiding**
>
> * full support for Online voice navigation
> * voice & notification guiding on single waypoint (by compass or on the map) and along path

Side-effect of *Locus*: You can also import complete KMZ files (zipped KML), including images and descriptions. I use that for creating my own travel guide when going on vacation, with my personal POIs and stuff researched on the web.

Another plus: It can work completely offline. Map material can be downloaded right from within the app using different sources. As for navigation, you need to calculate the route in advance (but importing tracks does the same ;). From there on, no network connection is required anymore. Tested this multiple times, works great.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Cuesheet paired with http://ridewithgps.com works well. On the website, you can easily plan/modify a travelling route that will then be imported in CueSheet.

The route can be very complicated with many twists and turns. English turn by turn instructions are created at the same time. Also, you can insert your own instructions in the list if you want. After saving the route on the website, you run the cuesheet on your phone/tablet. After you sign into your ridewithgps account using the app, you will see a list of routes you have planned on the website. Pick one and it will download to your android device with its turn by turn instructions. In the app you are also given the option to download the map so there is no need of internet connection to use the guiding.

It is not perfect since it can give many false *off course* warnings, but it is by far the best combination of flexible route planning and voice guiding I have found. It costs 4 USD for the version with voice guiding.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I have found a very promising app to solve this problem. OsmAnd. I have been looking for a wa to import a gpx of a trail system to know where I am while dirtbiking. So far I have been able to import a gpx showing a pre-recorded map of the trail. I was also able to download the entire state road/trail map easily from the app for offline use. OsmAnd has many other features I haven't explored yet.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: google-maps-navigation, navigation
---


# Question
Title: Can I disable USB Debugging on Android smartpones from Windows via adb.exe?
I have to install Applications on dozens of android smartphones and I am currently writing a program to automate this process. I know I can't remotely enable USB Debugging, so my question is: Can I use ADB.exe to send a command to the smartphone that disables USB Debugging immediatly or puts the disable in a command queue to execute at next reboot?

Thanks

# Answer
If the device in question is ed, you can write to the system settings directly from a shell command in `adb shell`. The name of the setting to write depends on which Android version you have.

If your device **isn't** rooted, you can't change the USB debugging setting from `adb` or any non-system app.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Yes it is possible using ADB to disable USB debugging.

Using the appropriate shell input keyevent commands you can navigate the GUI and change the setting.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: adb, windows, debug
---


# Question
Title: File deleting problems after Android v4.4.2 upgrade?
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3 Carrier: AT&T (US) Upgrade Path: v4.2 to v4.4.2

Is anyone else noticing SD card file deleting issues after the upgrade to Android v4.4.2?

I use CoolReader to view files stored to my SD card and continually delete them and add new ones. After the updgrade, CoolReader and Astro File Manager are unable to delete files. In fact, with Astro, the system popup appears with "Deleting..." and stays up until I cancel it.

Only connecting to a PC with USB and opening the folders there has allowed me to delete files.

Any suggestions on settings or anything else to correct this?

Thanks! Bill

# Answer
> 1 votes
Pretty normal. With Android 4.4, Google decided apps shall no longer have write access on the external SDCard – unless they are system apps (or have root privileges). They call that "security" (while others call it "crippling", and doubt "security" being the real reason behind – rather suspecting "cloudy interests").

While apps still can store *their own data* in *their own dedicated directories* (i.e. `<sdcard>/Android/<package_name>/`), the entire concept of a "shared media storage", where you can use any app of your choice to organize your own media and documents, has been abandoned. So (without root access) it's e.g. no longer possible

* for a media player to download covers into the music folder
* for a media player to (re-)write ID3 tags im `.mp3` files it did not create itself
* to edit a document created with another app or copied from your PC

All this can only be done when you stored those files in the cloud, as with most cloud apps all cloud-stored data is available to all apps you give access to your cloud account (the same way they had access to the SDCard before 4.4).

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


# Question
Title: Where are my received voice notes saved?
I checked in the whatsapp media voice notes. But they are not there. Plz help me to find them urgently.

# Answer
They're in the directory:
\*/whatsapp/media/WhatsApp Voice
> 0 votes

---
Tags: file-system, whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: Do I need to root ( unlock boot loader) to flash Factory image for Nexus 5
Do I need to unlock boot loader to flash official factory image of Android L Preview ? And will it void warranty? Is it rooting the phone ? I have never rooted phone before and I don't wish to do so. Please provide useful link on how to flash such images.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes you need to **unlock the bootloader** to flash the factory image.

Yes it will void your warranty but you can lock your bootloader again and reset the tamper flag to get the warranty back

No unlocking bootloader is not rooting.

Here is the useful link.

1. Unlocking bootloader
2. Flashing factory image

# Answer
> 0 votes
I think in the USA it should not void your warranty as it is regulated by law and the manufacturer must prove you actively damaged your phone in the the process (which would be at least funny if you are putting a Google Android Image on a Nexus phone and following the steps Google itself published, for example).

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states on Title 15 of US Code, Chapter 15 (Consumer Product Warranties), Section 2304 (c) that the manufacturer must prove the damage inflicted by the user to void the warranty, as explained on this video.

In the European Union there is an equivalent ruling on EU Directive 1999/44/CE

---
Tags: rom-flashing, nexus-5
---


title: How to monitor child's SMS messages?

text:
# Question
Title: How to monitor child's SMS messages?
Is there any way to have my son's phone set to where any text message that he receives or sends comes to my phone too.

# Answer
I use DeskSMS on my phone, which will forward all texts to an email address of my choosing (which could then be received on another phone) and also allow responding through email, but it will appear to that person as a standard text from your phone. I found it really handy when I was working in a secured office that didn't allow personal cell phones. I could leave my phone in my car and still be notified of any texts and still respond to them, and the person wouldn't have any idea I was using email to respond.

In using it on your son's device, it is relatively easy to disable, so if your son doesn't want you to see things and is technologically inclined, he could probably find ways around it. But I think if the kid is smart enough, just about any app is able to be bypassed. It isn't made for monitoring, but it would work just the same.

I believe there is a $5 yearly charge (I am pretty sure it comes with a 30 day trial), because of the costs involved in running the server that processes everything.
> 1 votes

# Answer
A similar approach to the one suggested by bassmadrigal would be to use the app SMS Backup + that 'backs up' SMS to a Gmail account. You can then view them via Gmail on any device.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Not exactly to your phone, but there are several "child care" apps available in the playstore which can be used to monitor activities. Take e.g. a look at Care4Teem, Best Parental Control Android, or ParentalFlux Parental Control. Most of these kind of solutions offer a dashboard on the provider's website, where you can check logged acitivities such as calls, messages, etc. Some additional monitor the location and even allow for "geo-fencing" (sending you an alert when the kid leaves the "permitted zone").
> 0 votes

# Answer
Yes, you can spy on your son's phone without him knowing with the help of mobile tracking software. I have been using this spying app for watching my kids to be sure that they are where they supposed to be. Through this tracking app you can spy on his text messages, calls, every activity on his cell phone. Another thing regarding privacy - as you are really concerned about your son and you take care of him, you have the right to monitor his SMS messages. I think software will help you.
> -3 votes

---
Tags: sms
---


# Question
Title: Tasker best profiles to trigger two states
I use some confuse profiles to trigger a task when I come to office and when I'm back in home, based in time of the day and week(this is the problem to have many profiles). But I have two access points (wifi), in my house and in my office. So I would like to make only one or two, or even 3 profiles to this, based in the two wifi acess points, and not 6 I have right now. Any suggestions would by welcome. Thanks!!

# Answer
You'll want to use the Wifi's SSID & MAC address as a trigger.

When you create your profile you'll go to state and select Wifi Connected.Then you'll see a magnifying glass next to SSID & MAC. Touching the magnifying glass will allow you to see the wifi networks currently in your area. You can add multiple SSID for a single task but then I'm not sure how the MAC addresses with interact with that. You might be able to see the wifi network it remembers but I'm not 100% sure on that. After selecting the correct SSID and its corresponding MAC Address tasker now knows to trigger. By selecting the SSID and MAC Address is prevents tasker from triggering if you connect to another wifi address with the same SSID. I hope this help. Since I'm new and trying to build up rep please don't forget to select this as your answer if it works for you and to upvote it. Thanks. If you have any issues please come back and ask more question but provide more info about the phone, Android version and tasker version along with any other plugin you might have.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: tasker
---


title: Control xvoice+ with Tasker?

text:
# Question
Title: Control xvoice+ with Tasker?
Can it be done?

I want to enable it only when no cell radio (WiFi only)

Dev said state is controlled in "sharedpreferences"

# Answer
> 0 votes
After looking over at the XDA Developers Forums where the dev and others talk and problem solve for this module of Xposed Framework, your answer is there is no a way for tasker to enable and disabled the functionality of XVoice+.

I could describe for you an indirect way to achieve what you are looking for through simulating taps and swipes, if you're interested. If you are please post the phone you're using, Android Version, Tasker Version, Xposed Modules and Tasker Plugins you have installed.

If my answer solves your problem please don't forget to mark it ask the answer as I'm trying to build up rep as I'm new.

---
Tags: tasker
---


# Question
Title: Tasker profile that enables/disables wi-fi
How can make it so wi-fi gets disabled automatically when screen gets locked, if possible after 1 minute or so? Then enabled automatically when screen gets unlocked. My screen is set to lock after 30 seconds or so

also, is it possible to turn off wifi when there's no network in range? I think it takes a lot of battery searching for networks. Or maybe increase the search interval somehow

# Answer
> 2 votes
So I combined what you asked for into a single task. You'll first create a profile which triggers when a state changes. You'll select Display State and chose off. Tasker can't actually able to tell if your screen is locked, only on or off but we can get around that as long as we know the time it take for the screen to lock.The task is as follows:

1. Wait Until
Seconds: 60
Until: %SCREEN Matches ON
2. IF
%SCREEN Matches ON
3. Wifi
Set: ON
4. STOP
5. END IF
6. IF
%SCREEN Matches OFF
7. Wifi
Set: OFF
8. GOTO TYPE: ACTION NUMBER
NUMBER: 1
9. END IF

---

**Explanation of Task:** 1. This causes the task to wait before continuing unless the condition is met. The total wait time should be the screen time until lock plus the time you want to wait until the wifi turns off 2. If the screen Turns on goto 3 3. Turn on wifi 4. Stops task 5. Ends if Statement 6. If the screen is off on goto 7 7. Turn off wifi 8. Cause a loop to keep checking the screen status.

---

**Note 1:** This task assumes that wifi is already on to start with.

**Note 2:** As the task stands now it will check every minute. If after the first min you want to change the time it waits to reduce battery usage you'll add this take to beginning.

```
1.SET VARIABLE
    NAME:%DUR
    VALUE: 60
2.WAIT UNTIL
    SECONDS: %DUR
    Until: %SCREEN Matches ON

```

And add in between 7 & 8:

```
SET VARIABLE
    NAME:%DUR
    VALUE: WHATEVER TIME

```

**LAST NOTE:** If you don't want to wait seconds every time you can use a variable for mins or hours like with seconds. You'll set the variables for min or hour as zero at the beginning and then change them before you start the loop. To use variables instead of static numbers you touch the symbol of 2 arrows crossing opposite of Min/Hr/Sec.

If you have any question please feel free to ask. Also since I'm new please don't forget to mark mine as the answer if it solves your problem and to upvote the answer

---
Tags: nexus-4, 4.3-jelly-bean, tasker
---


title: Updating to 4.4.3

text:
# Question
Title: Updating to 4.4.3
I'm trying to update my Nexus 4 from 4.4.2 to 4.4.3 and every time the message pops up, I select install and clockworkmod recovery keeps saying error, installation aborted, STATUS 7. I've even tried doing toggle signature verification. I have the latest cwm, root, and I also have ROM manager installed. Does anyone know how to properly install this update?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Put the stock recovery back and use that for the update, instead of trying to do it with CWM.

For a Nexus device, you can get the official factory images from here. Download the Nexus 4 factory image for the Android version you're currently running (probably KOT49H) and unzip it. Inside, one of the files is a `.zip` file. Extract *that*, and you'll find a `recovery.bin` file. Flash this to your recovery partition in the same way that you flashed CWM, and you'll have your stock recovery back. (You can reinstall CWM when you're done.)

Remember to enable OTA survival in SuperSU, by the way, or you'll lose root when you install the update.

---
Tags: clockworkmod-recovery, android-versions, rom-update
---


title: Android L Preview upgrade

text:
# Question
Title: Android L Preview upgrade
I was about to flash the phome with the command prompt, but an error came up saying that the device was locked. Does this mean is has to be rooted? If I root it and upgrade it will it be unrooted again because I don't want to loose my warranty.

# Answer
It sounds like your bootloader is locked, which is different from rooting. With a locked bootloader, you can only flash official signed factory images; with it unlocked, you can flash anything to any partition.

If you're following Google's directions for installing factory images, you'll see that one of the steps is to run a `fastboot oem unlock` command. This unlocks the phone's bootloader. **It also erases all your data**. (But installing the L Preview system image will do that anyway.)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: updates, rom-flashing
---


title: My clock has disappeared

text:
# Question
Title: My clock has disappeared
I have a HTC Desire X running Android 4.0.4 (not rooted).

I use the "Digital Clock" widget which comes with phone on my home screen. The phone came with 3 clock related widgets - Weather Clock, Digital Clock and Social Clock. By default, the Weather Clock appeared on the home screen but I removed that from the Home Screen and added the Digital Clock on the home screen. This was good for a month.

But today, the Digital Clock disappeared from the home screen.

I tried adding the clock back to the home screen from the Widgets list. I am able to add "Social Clock" and it's visible on the home screen. But I am unable to add "Digital Clock" and "Weather Clock". When I add either of this - it takes me to the chose a City menu & then when I chose a city, it returns me to an empty home screen with no Clock. I am however able to add the "Social Clock".

I tried the following things

* Booted the phone
* I force stopped and cleared data for Clock and Clock Widget None of this helped.

What do I do? I am not really a Social Clock kind of guy.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I did a reset from "backup and reset" menu in settings. And this got the Digital Clock back.

---
Tags: app-widgets, htc-sense
---


# Question
Title: How to verify a backup file from ADB backup
I have backed up my phone via adb to my computer by doing the command:

```
adb backup -all -apk -f C:\myfolder\backup.ab

```

I went to look at the file it had created when it said the backup was finished, but it says it is 0 bytes big.

Is this because of the encryption? I am worrying if my phone is backed up properly...

# Answer
I found out that there was a bug in the Samsung OS that corrupted the desktop backup password.

One day, my phone bootlooped and, after a reset, I could backup fine with no backup password set.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: backup
---


# Question
Title: Can I transfer my Injustice game data from my iPhone to my new Android phone?
I currently use an iPhone 4, and I'm eligible for an upgrade. I'm considering the Note 3 and the Galaxy S5. I've been playing Injustice for some time now and I'd very much like to not have to go through all the trouble of re-earning all of the characters I've bought or won in challenges. Will logging in with my WBID on my future phone automatically let me transfer over my game data? If not, is there something else I could do?

Also, if you have any other suggestions for what I should upgrade to please feel free to suggest it.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Man, you're out of luck. Versions of Injustice for Android and iOS differ greatly. the iOS version generally gets updated months before Android. This affects what characters you can buy, what challenges you can complete etc.

I thinks it's safe to say they're incompatible. And from my experience the Android version performs rather poorly compared to iOS.

Considering all of the above I would recommend sticking to your iPhone for playing Injustice.

---
Tags: ios, data-transfer
---


title: Google USB driver cannot be found

text:
# Question
Title: Google USB driver cannot be found
I am trying to connect my phone (archos 40 titanium) on my computer (W7 x64) using USB Debug mode (to make a backup). Here is what I've done:

1. I've downloaded google SDK and extracted it in `C:/adtbundle`
2. I ran `SDK Manager.exe` and enusured google USB driver was up to date
3. I right clicked on `Computer` (in start menu) and I selected `Devices`in the right panel of the new window.
4. In other devices I select `A40ti` and right clicked, then `Update driver`.
5. Then, I choose `Browse my computer for driver software` and then browse. I selected `C:\adtbundle\sdk\extras\google\usb_driver`.
6. I get something like `Windows can't found any drivers` (I am translating since my system is in French).

When I run `adb devices` it shows an empty list.

**How to install them and get adb working?**

EDIT: Here are the new steps:

1. I downloaded from here the driver, which I extracted in an new `archos`folder next to google's like this:
    * `C:/adtbundle/sdk/extras/`
        + `android/`
        + `archos/`
            - `amd64/`
            - `i386/`
            - `adb_winusb_driver.zip`
            - `android_winusb.inf`
            - `androidwinusb86.cat`
            - `androidwinusba64.cat`
            - `source.properties`
        + `google/`
2. Same as 3-5 but with path `C:\adtbundle\sdk\extras\archos`
3. Same as 6

# Answer
Google's USB Drivers are for the Google reference devices (Nexus series) only. You'll need to install Archos' drivers. They can be found on Archos' support page with instructions on how to install them and get ADB working.

* Install the drivers
* Add the vendor ID 0x0e79 to your adb\_usb.ini, e.g. `echo 0x0e79 >> "%USERPROFILE%\.android\adb_usb.ini"`
* Done!

Edit: The driver's from the support page didn't work, but these did. They came from an unreliable source and had other drivers from 2005 with them, but I stripped them and repacked. Feel free to verify with virus scanners.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: usb-drivers, android-sdk
---


# Question
Title: Force refresh of a webpage on default browser?
I'm doing some website development, and I'm changing files (e.g. CSS) on a remote server. I am testing to see what it looks like on my 2.2 android phone (HTC Desire). I want to refresh the page to see the new changes as I make them. I can press the refresh button on the menu bar, but I'm not convinced it is always showing me the new page, since it might be cached.

Is there anyway to 'force refresh' the webpage on the web browser? Something like `Shift`+`F5` on Firefox?

# Answer
> 7 votes
Download InBrowser: https://market.android.com/details?id=nu.tommie.inbrowser

It doesn't save any data so there is nothing to cache; there is also no need to root. It uses the Android browser to render so for testing purposes, it should be identical to the Android browser.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Not a quick solution, but this does always force a reload of all resources from the server (though the server itself may cache pages depending on your output cache settings there):

1. Menu button
2. Settings
3. Clear cache
4. Press OK, exit the Settings menu
5. Reload via the menu bar reload button

\**

(steps from Android 2.3; others are similar)

# Answer
> 2 votes
I found that switching to "Desktop View" and back effectively reloaded.

* Menu Button
* Desktop View \[checkbox\]

this reloads once, then uncheck the checkbox and the view is updated!

# Answer
> 1 votes
I've noticed that if I refresh over wifi it'll completely refresh, but if I refresh over cellular it won't. This with both the Android native browser and Opera mobile. on an LG Thrill with android 2.2.2. Maybe it'll work for you.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Load the stylesheet in another tab directly with its url and refresh it. If you see the changes reflected there then it'll also change the cached version that loads when you refresh your webpage. This works in Dolphin too.

I also found that if you plug in a keyboard, you can press shift and reload just like on desktop. But I prefer to see the changes as above just to be sure...

# Answer
> 0 votes
On my Samsung Galaxy S2 I can do a force F5 refresh like this:

```
Start default browser
Press menu button
Click 'More'
Click 'Settings'
Clear Cache, Clear History, Clear all Cookie Data.

```

Then stop and restart the browser.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Another solution would be to install Chrome for Android (It supports 2.2) and then enable remote debugging in Chrome.

You could then refresh the window from the console by issuing the following command.

```
window.location.reload(true)

```

For more information about this command.

# Answer
> -1 votes
If you are rooted , you could install CyanogenMod

This comes with an incognito mode which shouldn't cache sites to your phone.

Another imperfect solution if you are not rooted is to go into your browser, in the address bar type 'about:debug' then hit 'Go' . Then in settings drop the cache size down to minimum which is 100kb.

---
Tags: browser
---


# Question
Title: Change orientation whithout accelerometer
I didn't notice when I brough this phone the lack of accelerometer. And now is an ordeal to read/see certain apps and webpages. Is there a way to do this? I'm looking for a solution that works ootb for 2.2 through if there is a way that requires to upgrade I accept that too.t

# Answer
To easily toggle the portrait/landscape mode you can install the app **Power Toggles** from the Play Store. Then add a notification toggle with the Rotation Control. Once enabled when you click on the rotation control icon it allows you to choose between the two view modes (port/land).

Being in the notification bar means you can almost always access it. I find it really useful!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: screen, accessibility, orientation
---


# Question
Title: How to check which app uses GPS on Galaxy Nexus?
I'm constantly seeing the Searching for GPS... icon in my status bar, and would like to check which app is trying to access my location. I checked the similar questions on the site and all suggested either Spare Parts or the test menu.

However, on my Galaxy Nexus these are out of the question, since Spare Parts crashes with ANR when I try to access the battery stats (there's no `com.android.settings.battery_history.BatteryHistory` activity), and the test menu doesn't have the necessary menus.

So, any other possibilities?

# Answer
One way, Go to: Settings \> Applications \> Running Services to see if there are any suspicious services running. Or check your battery usage in settings and see which apps suspiciously are up top. GPS usage does suck battery.
> 2 votes

# Answer
On current versions of Android (I'm not sure when this was added, but this is available in Android KitKat), you can go to Location Settings and it will show a list of apps under Recent Location Requests.

You can then kill those off one by one until the GPS notification goes away. Sadly, you can't kill them directly from Location Settings. You'll have to either go to Settings -\> Apps, or find them in your recent tasks.

It would be nice if there were a way to actually see what is using the GPS, as sometimes it seems to be some sort of Google service that doesn't show up as an app. (So, even killing everything listed doesn't help, then GPS turns off randomly a while later.)
> 2 votes

---
Tags: gps, samsung-galaxy-nexus
---


title: Magnetic compass correction

text:
# Question
Title: Magnetic compass correction
After updating to Android 4.4.3 the magnetic compass deviates by 90 degrees. This is more than a lttle bit and recalibrating did not help.

Q1: Is this a common problem?

Q2: Is there a fix or workaround?

# Answer
I have seen some other reports avlbout 90 degree compass deviations, and they were reported on android 4.4.3.

Now that was an extremely short lived version.

On 4.4.4 the problem vanished. So I am still convinced that this was a 4.4.3 problem.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, nexus-4, compass
---


title: Xperia Sola keeps rebooting after reset

text:
# Question
Title: Xperia Sola keeps rebooting after reset
I have a Sony Xperia Sola phone that keeps rebooting after having done a factory reset. It's been like that for hours now. I have never flashed anything custom on the phone but did an official update (with Sony update companion) once to ICS which has been working fine for months. The problem appeared after doing the factory reset. The phone is no longer under warranty and was bought without a carrier contract. So I suspect that the bootloader is not locked..

How could I fix this? I've been reading and trying for hours now and I was thinking of flashing a stock rom on the phone but not sure how to do this. And even if it has a chance of working. Sony provides a tool called Emma but it does not recognize the phone. I held the volume down button pressed and then connected usb but it does not work. I noticed that holding down volume up and power button turns the phone off but when I restart, it keeps rebooting as before.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on how to fix or flash to something working.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I tried a lot of things. I think switching usb cables made a difference. After I switched and tried the vol down button holding while inserting the usb cable, the phone was recognized in Emma but it was locked.

But I was able to make flash mode work. So I retried PC Companion, the update option which mentions resetting the phone/having trouble which opens a new menu. There I had to download the latest firmware first and then I had to do the vol down thing again after which it started installing the firmware on the phone.

Emma and PC Companion are Sony software.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Does the phone fully boot or does it reboot almost immediately? I have had similar experiences with phones (from other vendors) not being recognized until some time after they have booted (mostly likely services need to start etc. etc.). I love (not) how this happens just at the time when you need to repair your phone!

Have you tried removing SIM cards, extra storage etc. Sometimes if you can get the device to boot differently it will get far enough along to be "recognized".

---
Tags: reboot, sony-xperia-sola
---


title: Slow Charging Battery!

text:
# Question
Title: Slow Charging Battery!
I have a Samsung galaxyS3 the battery has been charging really slow. It can take up yo 10 hours to charge 100%. I have tried every thing I can think of. I've tried a new charger, new battery, shut down all apps running in the backgrond, taken out the battery and held down the power, volume and home screen button, deleted junk apps. I've thought about reseting my phone but idk if that would help or just make more work for me. Also I put both my old and new battery in a friends phone and both batteries worked fine. Any ideas?

# Answer
It might be worthwhile to invest in a charge only cable. I use one for my tablet at home and in my car.

The quality of the usb cable will also make a difference. Cables do go bad. It sounds like you have ruled out all the other options so this might be worth trying.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Charging is a simple process and can be represented by the below (simplified) equation:

Rate of Charge = Rate of Electricity Flow - Rate of Depletion

To maximize the rate at which your phone charges at, you want to reduce the rate it's using up your battery as far as possible, and increase the speed at which current is flowing into your phone as much as possible.

**Reducing Battery Usage**

This is pretty standard stuff, turn off all unnecessary toggles and apps. Disable WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and any constantly running apps. If you happen to be charging your phone in an area with poor or no cellular signal, the constant searching for mobile networks could be a significant contributing factor.

Go to Settings-\>Battery Usage (or something similar, I don't own a Samsung device so I can't be sure), and look at what's using up your battery.

If possible, consider turning on airplane mode, or even turning your phone off completely to minimise battery usage.

**Increasing Speed of Current Flow**

Look at the thing you're plugging your USB cable into. If you're charging it via your computer, chances are the current flow is around 1A or lower. That's okay, but not great. Look around your house, or see if you can get your hands on a tablet charger. Those often provide current at 1.5A or even 2A at times. That's twice the speed of a 1A charger.

Also, look at where you're plugging your charger into. If the socket is already heavily overloaded, consider plugging it in somewhere else, for safety's sake at least

**Still very slow...**

If at this stage, it's still charging very slowly, your battery may be the issue. Since it seems to work fine in your friend's phone, it may simply be your phone providing inaccurate information. Try calibrating your phone's battery and see if that helps.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Take a tooth brush and clean off the battery connector points in the battery casing of your phone.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Using a 5v-2A charger will reduce the charging time. It works for me.
> -2 votes

# Answer
i just checked charging details of my phone through this app :

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playfulgeeks.chargingreport
> -2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, battery, charging
---


# Question
Title: How do I root my Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900V)
Guess I might as well grab this one since it doesn't exist. I listed my specific carrier's model in the question because that's *important*, however the CW post for rooting states there should only be one question per model, so answers for other versions of the GS5 are appropriate answers for this question, they just won't be marked as answer from me.

I haven't been able to find solid information for rooting the Samsung Galaxy S5, has anyone had experience with rooting this model?

# Answer
> 2 votes
The Verizon and AT&T versions have locked bootloaders and are not able to be rooted at the moment.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Verizon and AT&T phone can now be rooted using towel root. Get it here http://towelroot.com

This exploit takes advantage of a vulnerability in the Linux kernel. I have tested this and it is working on my sm-g900v

Just download the apk and run it. Press the button once the so loads and you will be rooted in less than a second. Give props to geoshot who developed the exploit so that he will be inclind to do more work like this in the future.

# Answer
> 1 votes
CF autoroot But it will trip knox

http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/

---
Tags: rooting, samsung-galaxy-s-5
---


# Question
Title: Updates reinstalled bundled apps I have uninstalled
I've recently purchased a Samsung S3 Mini, and as I do with all my new devices, I go through and uninstall applications that I know I will never use.

Twice now since I've owned the device, there have been android updates, and in both cases it has re-installed the apps I removed (as well as add a few new ones that can't be uninstalled but that's another question).

So is there a way to configure my phone to not install these unwanted applications?

# Answer
I'm afraid not. These bundled apps are part of the ROM image, so the app updates are part of the system update. When you install an update, it just copies the data wholesale into the phone's system partition: it doesn't install apps one by one. For this reason, there's no way to filter out individual apps from the update.

You can't even remove those files from the update image on your PC: removing files would make the update signature fail to match. The phone would detect this and not install the update.

You just have to disable the bundled apps you don't want after each system update, or unlock your bootloader and install a custom ROM.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, updates, 4.1-jelly-bean
---


title: nexus 5 camera display

text:
# Question
Title: nexus 5 camera display
How can I change the view on my camera so that the image I'm looking at is fully displayed on the screen? At the moment there is grey padding at the bottom with the camera icon I press to take a photo.

# Answer
> 0 votes
That's just the new Google Camera app.
You can uninstall the update and use the stock version instead if that bothers you.

---
Tags: camera, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: how do I access the SPDIF signal from my phone
my galaxy s has the option to have 5.1 surround enabled. what plug on my phone produces the digital audio signal to carry the 5.1 surround? is this option only available through bluetooth or can it be used through the headphone port or USB port?

# Answer
The Samsing Galaxy S series has a **virtual** surround, not a true surround. Therefore there is no way to get multichannel audio out of the device, only analog stereo.

Source: Phandroid, Unleashthephones, Intomobile
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s
---


# Question
Title: CWM: Almost any rom I try to install returns "(Status 0)" [HTC One GSM]
CWM version: 6.0.4.3 touch

I tried to update my CM 10.2 to 11, but I always run into this error when installing a zip from SD card:

```
E:Error in /data/media/0/[filename].zip
(Status 0)
Installation aborted.

```

This happens for every rom I try to install, *except* a Kitkat AOSP rom I tried.

Even the 10.2 Rom I still had around on the card threw an error, but a different one.

I can't remember what exactly, but it looked like it couldn't match my phone's type (`m7`) to `m7` or `m7ul`

I think my phone somehow forgot that it is an `m7`

Anyone got an idea how I can install roms again?

# Answer
The problem was, that I had the `m7att` version of CWM installed. Must have misclicked when downloading.

Updated CWM to the generic `m7` version and rom flashing works again.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, clockworkmod-recovery, htc-one
---


# Question
Title: Give fake permission details to apps on Xperia X10i
Because of the recent update to Google play stores permissions, I wish that as apps can access very personal information, I want to deny permissions to the apps, but as I have heard that this might cause them to crash, I want to give fake data to the apps Eg. IMEI = 0123654789, so that the apps do not crash.

I am running the Xperia X10i original stock ROM, rooted. I want to do it without flashing a custom ROM.

I appreciate any help.

# Answer
What you're looking for is called "Permission Manager". While Android itself does not (yet?) provide such itself, there are several of them available, my list holds some of them.

There are different approaches. While some simply "deny access" (which might cause an app to crash, if the dev didn't take "revoked"/"not granted" permissions into account, and didn't place an exception handler for those cases), the majority rather replaces "real data" by "fake ones". Examples:

* network access: "we are currently offline"
* contacts, calendar: "the user has none" (empty list)
* IMEI: "0123456789" (sometimes a total random number on each call, but other times a random IMEI is generated after each boot)
* location: "not available" (location services deactivated) or "fake location" (e.g. north pole; some apps even allow to set your desired "fake location" and simulate movement in a specified radius)

A selection of popular "Permission managers" includes:

* PDroid/OpenPDroid: Effective, but hard to install. Both require root and ed ROM, AFAIK OpenPDroid is even limited to
* LBE Privacy Guard: proprietary solution made in China, which might raise some eyebrows. Works great up to Android ; don't install with higher versions as it will only stick your device in a then. Root required.
* LBE Security Manager: Successor of *Privacy Guard*, works with all current Android versions. *Playstore* version is in Chinese only; patched versions are available at XDA for other languages. Some feel this one a little overloaded, as it wants to be an all-in-one security suite covering a lot of stuff not everybody needs. Root required.
* Xprivacy: A module to the Xposed framework. Gives very granular control, but other than LBE you cannot configure it to "ask everytime" whether access should be allowed (a feature I love about LBE). Root required.
* App Ops: With , Android had some permission management integrated but hidden from the user. There are several "App Ops" front-ends available, not all of them require root. Not all of them keep working with , though, where this feature was "better protected". Not that granular, but much better than nothing if your device is not rooted.

Above mentioned list holds several more, but these are the best known. I personally use *LBE Privacy Guard* on my devices running or lower. No app ever crashed on me for "disabled permissions", so LBE IMHO uses the "fake permissions" approach. Same AFAIK applies to the other solutions I've mentioned here.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, 2.3-gingerbread, root-access, permissions, sony-ericsson-xperia-x10
---


# Question
Title: Is there an easy way to to send a simple GET request from a lock screen widget?
I've built a garage door opener that can be triggered by a GET request (with the appropriate password, of course), and right now it's controlled by a webpage with javascript. It's possible to use this page from my phone to open the door, but it's quite a hassle to get to my browser before I can use it. What I'm after is a home screen or lock screen widget that will send off the request with the touch of a button, or an easy way to create one. I've attempted to write android apps before, and found it all very cumbersome.

I have a Nexus 5, running the latest cm-11 nightly build.

# Answer
> 2 votes
This could be achieved with : You can create a "task" performing the `HTTP_GET` you need, and then create a shortcut to that task on your homescreen (the same way you'd create any other shortcut there: *Tasker Task* shows up in the list of available shortcuts, and lets you select the task to create the shortcut for).

---
Tags: app-widgets, lock-screen-widgets
---


# Question
Title: Netbook with Android 4.1 freezes on load screen
I'm using a brand new Craig 10-inch netbook. It came with Android 4.1 jelly bean by default. I've made no changes at all but on boot, the initial splash screen appears, the jelly beans seem to appear inside of the Andrew character, but then it just freezes. No mouse icon, no menus, nothing.

I've tried:

1. long-press of the power button (both on to off and off to on).
2. Holding F2 and/or F8 during power on or power off or just the load phase.
3. Pushing the factory reset button on the bottom of the device.

None of these have any effect, unfortunately.

I've also noticed some posts saying to hold the volume buttons during boot to get safe mode. This seems only for phones as this netbook has no volume buttons at all.

Are there any known remedies for this load screen freezing? I cannot access any menus or options that require the computer to actually be booted. How can I access safe mode or some other boot mode to try to restore?

# Answer
> -1 votes
press "Fn" button and "F2" and "home"

---
Tags: boot, system-freeze, safe-mode
---


title: ART Runtime vs Dalvik Runtime

text:
# Question
Title: ART Runtime vs Dalvik Runtime
Recently I was looking through developer options on my Moto X and I was interested by the option to do runtime in either dalvik or ART. After doing some research I decided to change my runtime to ART. I was wondering if this was a good choice or if I should continue running my phone on Dalvik. Let me know what you think.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Android's Dalvik runtime was "just fine" in terms of performance, but it was still a bottleneck as it only ran at the moment assets were needed (what is called the "Just-In-Time" or JIT compiler). ART instead uses an Ahead-of-Time compiler (AOT) to process application code before it is needed. Some users have turned it on in 4.4 and report increased performance and battery life. But what are the actual numbers?

Android Police put this to the test 1 2 and ran actual benchmarks to put the claims to the test (6 benchmarking apps and 2 browser benchmarks using Chrome). While there are a few gains to be made, none of them make it really worth switching over at the time of this writing. It almost null effect on battery life and the numbers even "favor Dalvik by a little bit". ART also breaks some apps (like Xposed) which has prevented some people from even enabling it. The author even noted that "it looks like gamers would be better served by sticking to Dalvik, for now."

You probably aren't benefiting from ART just yet, at least not fully. Android L will have ART as its only runtime and will be fully polished and completely integrated. Developers will then follow suit at create/update their apps to be compatible and optimized with ART.

1: http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/11/12/meet-art-part-2-benchmarks-performance-wont-blow-away-today-will-get-better/

2: http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/01/22/meet-art-part-3-battery-life-benchmarks-not-good-but-not-too-bad/

---
Tags: dalvik, art
---


# Question
Title: Does Android support the external USB devices?
Does Android support the external USB devices like PC keyboard, joystick, camera or other devices that can be connected to the PC? If so, then do I need some additional software, or is it enough to connect external device via Standard/Micro USB adapter?

# Answer
All that depends on your device, which must support this as well. Android itself does support this since – and I e.g. successfully use an external keyboard with my tablets, which is just plugged into the USB port.

The keyword to look for is . We already have more than 60 posts on this topic, which you might wish to check (or start with the 9 most frequented to easier get to the core points). If those leave open questions, feel free to ask those in separate posts :)

**Edit:** As Dan correctly points out in his comment, if your device has a full-sized USB port, there's no need for OTG. See our tag for that.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: usb, keyboard, camera
---


# Question
Title: Mobile data is not working after missed call
I have this strange issue in Sony Xperia U. Currently I am using 6.1.1.B.1.100 bulid ICS 4.0.4. There is no option in mobile network to select 2g or 3g or 2g/3g. All I have is `Use only 3g networks` in my settings. But I managed to select 2g network from the code `*#*4636#*#*` (**Phone info**) and select `GSM only` in `Select prefferred network type`.

But the problem is this when I am using 2g data( to save juice) whenever I get a missed call after that my mobile data is unavailable( I know unlike 3g in 2g you cant use data during voice call but this is after the missed call). This is not happening if I am in 3g and only for missed calls alone.

The only way I am able to use the data again is I have to enable 3g again and change back to 2g.

Is this normal? Any workaround for this? I didnt find this when I am using previous build.

# Answer
> -2 votes
A typical A-GPS-enabled receiver will use a data connection (Internet or other) to contact the assistance server for aGPS information. If it also has functioning autonomous GPS, it may use standalone GPS, which is sometimes slower on time to first fix, but does not depend on the network, and therefore can work beyond network range, and without incurring data usage fees. Some A-GPS devices do not have the option of falling back to standalone or autonomous GPS.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, mobile-data, sony-xperia-u, 2g
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy S2, Hangouts app deletes incoming text messages
Incoming SMS messages tend to get deleted immediately on my Galaxy S2. The original messages app does not cause any issues, but if I turn on hangouts it goes nits.

Edit: were talking about an unrooted galaxy s2 with the latest Samsung firmware. If I disable hangout sms feature everything is fine. Funny thing there was a big period of time when hangouts worked flawlessly. I guess the desire is to use hangouts for sms if possible.

# Answer
There could possibly be a bug which is causing the app to Delete the latest incoming messages .

1. Un-install the application.
2. Power off and wait for 2-3mins
3. Switch ON the device and install the App from the Play store
4. Check for and install the latest updates for Hangouts from the play store

Always keep your applications up to date in order to avoid some bugs like this in the future
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sms, google-hangouts
---


# Question
Title: After rebooting phone, app shortcuts from sd go missing
I own a Samsung Galaxy S Advance (i9070) with stock android 4.1.2

There is not a lot of internal storage, so I tend to move all possible apps from phone to SD card. However, when I reboot the phone, the shortcuts from the homescreen dissapear and i have to put them back in place all over again. Very annoying.

How can I fix this behaviour?

# Answer
So I have found a great solution. Using a micro SD-Card with 2 partitions. One normal fat32 and second ext2 so the app link2sd can use it as a fake mobile memory on the second ext2 partition. Now all the Jelly Bean internal apps run on the mobile itself and all the other apps I have installed on the second sd-card partition. Have more apps than ever and still over 150mb left on the mobile. GREAT. And the great side effect is, that all the shortcuts and widgets of other apps now work perfectly and dont disappear after reboot. YES!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, reboot, home-screen-shortcuts, stock-android, samsung-galaxy-s-advance
---


# Question
Title: 'last seen 'for whatsapp contact not showing anymore?Am I being blocked?
Is there any reason that I am not able to see a whatsapp contact's last seen time anymore?Such as some kind of bug but not being blocked?

# Answer
> 1 votes
It all depends on which version of WhatsApp you currently operate

1. In the previous versions of WhatsApp you had to block a specified user in order to avoid your last seen, display picture be seen from an annoying person.
2. If you have been blocked by a person then after few days you will not be able to view their dp as well as last seen.
3. In the latest version(s) WhatsApp provides more privacy settings. These are available via Settings \> Account \> Privacy (in both Android and iOS).
4. **Hide display picture**-If you select this option then urs as well as other display picture will be hidden (i.e your dp will be hidden from others as well as you cannot view other's dp as well).
5. **Hide last seen**-If you select this option then your last seen will not be visible to anyone as well as you cannot see other's last seen.
6. How ever if you are not sure then better wait for few days(1-2) after which you can yourself identify whether you have been blocked by some person or its your settings.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you can't see "last seen at" stamp it could mean you've been blocked, but if a contact has blocked you, you should also not be able to check the updates to the contact's profile picture and you'll no more see the second check mark ("message delivered") in the messages you send to that contact, Whatsapp will only print the first one (which is for "message sent").

If you don't see any of these indicators there could be many reasons: Whatsapp is vaguous on this point for privacy policy, i.e. Whatsapp won't let a contact be sure you have blocked him. In your case, you have probably encontered a temporary effect of this.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Actually the new whatsapp update provide user to hide the last seen stamp. In `Settings->Account->Privacy` you will find option to hide. But if you enable this option you cant see other peoples timestamp too

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


title: Unable To Open Google Play

text:
# Question
Title: Unable To Open Google Play
I've encountering a problem. The problem is that i can't access my Google Play on a my Wi-fi. It is not on a particular tablet or phone. Its all the devices me an my family own. That includes 4 phones and 2 tablets. It only says "No Connection" even when the Wi-fi signals are at full strength. I don't know if this is coincidental but recently I've been receiving this notification that says "Sign into Wi-fi Network". Guys please advice immediately because how can i download awesome apps without the awesome store and i'm not planning to let 3rd party apps populate our devices.

# Answer
"Sign into Wi-fi Network" says it all: No network, no connection. You most likely changed the password/keyphrase at your router, and forgot to adjust your devices. They cannot log in to the network anymore, hence you get that notification. Fixing your WiFi configuration will solve the other problem along.

**Edit:** Thanks to Dan for pointing out my omission: The phrasing of the notification indeed points to a "captive network", which requires a sign-in via browser first. To automate such a login, you might wish to take a look at WiFi Web Login and comparable apps. Also see Automate web login for Wi-Fi hotspots (captive portal) on Android at our sister-site.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Well as going by your point that the problem is not limited to you but to your whole family then the problem lies with the configuration of your modem.

1. If the wifi is not configured properly then it may or may not show connected but you will not be able to download or browse any content let it be Google play or the internet.
2. As you have not specified any h/w details of your modem then I can only provide a general solution which would be to configure your modem properly either by yourself or from the relevant technician of the modem.
3. Also do please check whether the Wi-Fi is displaying a Red cross with an error of irrelevant settings on your Desktop or Laptop when connecting over the Wi-Fi or the connection is normal through the LAN Cable.
4. If its a yes for the LAN and Wi-Fi then you need to get your modem checked by the technician for both Wi-Fi as well as LAN Connection
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, wi-fi, connection-issues, internet, data-connection
---


# Question
Title: What factors constrain the highest possible Android version for an Android device?
I've read on the Sony's website that the increasing amount of RAM required for newer versions of Android is the limiting factor for upgrading the operating system of Android devices:

> ... if a lower amount of free RAM is available to applications after a new release of the operating system (due to increased capabilities in the system), phone speed will eventually be impacted (this is the main reason that a certain device cannot be indefinitely upgraded to newer releases of Android™).

But in the newest release of Android (KitKat) it is asserted that the new version needs lower amounts of RAM.

So, my question is what are the limiting factors that eventually constrain your device's OS from upgrading to newer versions of Android? I mean, what (hardware) factors should I consider when buying an Android device to increase the chances of getting the newest OS updates for a longer time?

# Answer
> 3 votes
While that RAM restriction applies to several low-end devices (which came with less than 512 MB RAM), it is not really the main reason for missing updates. And looking into the scene proves that many devices abandoned by their manufacturers (not too seldom for this reason) are in fact supporting newer versions. So when talking about "official updates", main reasons are:

* manufacturers prefer you buy a new device. They do not get "fresh money" for updates.
* sometimes the customizations done by the manufacturer are too ressource hungry (a live example is Samsung's Touchwiz preventing some of their devices from getting updated)
* after a while (at least after 2 years, for some manufacturers much earlier; Google specified 18 month as minimum) devices simply get "out of service time", and thus all further development is stopped. While this might sound harsh, it's at least partly understandable: most devices require hardware-specific drivers which the manufacturer had to update to new versions, and that cannot be done indefinitely if an enterprise needs to work profitable – or prices would go up to something you're unlikely to be willing to pay :)

Nevertheless, as I already pointed out: if a device is used widely enough, the community often provides future updates in form of s. To install those, the device in question needs to be rooted, the bootloader unlocked, and often a custom recovery is required. So here's something the manufacturers should at least provide help: if they decide to no longer support a device, they should provide an official way to root and unlock it (could be done via a "last update" from their side), so users at least have a chance to take care for themselves. Guess they are simply afraid that would keep users from buying new devices ;)

---
Tags: updates, 4.4-kitkat, ram
---


# Question
Title: Samsung galaxy s3 being slow and getting hot
I have a samsung galaxy s3 running Android 4.3, and it's always really slow and gets very hot sometimes. Does anyone elses phone do this? If so, have you found anything that helps?

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

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

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


# Question
Title: how to make calls from my cell number, while using my laptop as the "headset"?
I want to be able to dial out from my laptop (a macbook pro), using my laptop headset to communicate and my laptop to initiate the call, however I want the number to be the same as my cell phone's (Galaxy S4). I can get almost exactly what I want from Gmail / Hangouts, however the call does not show up as my cellphone (a number friends and family recognize) but instead as a number they do not recognize.

Is there any way to do this?

# Answer
VoiceMac makes calls and SMSes via Google Voice. You can choose one of a GV number - which you keep, so your friends & family can recognize it - or you can port your existing phone number into GV. The incoming caller ID will show your GV number (but no name).

Another option is to use Skype and validate your cell# as your Skype caller ID.
> 1 votes

# Answer
No there's no least possible way to Call through the Laptop(either windows or Mac) even if your headset is connected or not.(try the play store for any apps if possible)

You can only send messages through Samsung Kies Air but not Calling.

Also check for some screen cast applications that support the Mac OS X
> 0 votes

---
Tags: calls, google-voice, voip
---


title: Random App Crashes (Nexus 4 ~ 4.3)

text:
# Question
Title: Random App Crashes (Nexus 4 ~ 4.3)
Within the last few days my Nexus 4 has started behaving strangely. This is a completely stock Nexus 4 running the official 4.3 build. Not even bootloader unlocked.

What happens is that random apps will begin crashing, usually Google apps like Gmail, Settings, etc. If I try to report the crash, the crash reporter also crashes. I plugged the phone in to check the logcat and all of the error messages are the same:

```
FATAL EXCEPTION: main E/AndroidRuntime(31480):
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Could not create an EGL context.
eglCreateContext failed with error: EGL_SUCCESS
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.HardwareRenderer$GlRenderer.createContext(HardwareRenderer.java:1192)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.HardwareRenderer$GlRenderer.initializeEgl(HardwareRenderer.java:1044)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.HardwareRenderer$GlRenderer.initialize(HardwareRenderer.java:979)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.ViewRootImpl.performTraversals(ViewRootImpl.java:1536)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.ViewRootImpl.doTraversal(ViewRootImpl.java:1004)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.ViewRootImpl$TraversalRunnable.run(ViewRootImpl.java:5481)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.Choreographer$CallbackRecord.run(Choreographer.java:749)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.Choreographer.doCallbacks(Choreographer.java:562)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.Choreographer.doFrame(Choreographer.java:532)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.view.Choreographer$FrameDisplayEventReceiver.run(Choreographer.java:735)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:730)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5103)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:525)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:737)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:553)
E/AndroidRuntime(31480):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

```

Rebooting the phone temporarily solves the problem. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks

# Answer
Try to disable "Automatic date & time" and "Automatic time zone". This solved my issue like this on Nexus 7 and could very well help you out here.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Thanks to datasage for pointing out the official bug report where many others are reporting the same problem.

Some users commenting there have found that if they stop using wireless charging, and instead charge the phone with a cable, the problem goes away. That might be a useful workaround for you until Google fixes the problem properly with an OTA update.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I solved a similar problem on a Galaxy SII with a transfer on the phone's memory of all applications stored on the micro SD card.

It's very frustrating to be forced to use the small memory of the phone when you bought a card with a lot of memory…

But I know two owners of android phones who suffers of the same issue, solved in the same way.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: nexus-4, 4.3-jelly-bean, crashes
---


title: Are free messaging Apps genuine?

text:
# Question
Title: Are free messaging Apps genuine?
There are lot of free messaging Apps in the App store.

I would like to know whether the following two apps are genuine : way2sms and Kik

And I was just wondering, how are they able develop such apps and allow people to use it for free ?

# Answer
Yes, such apps are genuine.

I am not familiar with Kik, but assuming it is similar to way2sms, they gain advertising revenue from page views.

Kik mentions having over 120 million users and way2sms has 40 million+ users.

For example for the 40 million users of way2sms, assuming that the advertising rate is $0.01 per 1000 page views (I'm not sure about the actual rates). And assuming an average of 10 page views per user per week. Which gives 400 million page views a week.

Then the advertising earnings will be $4000 per week. (The above is just an example, I'm sure I made a lot of wrong assumptions)

> So the way2sms business model is to buy messages from network operators and give these messages free to the users, and recoup the cost from advertising revenue gained from page views.

I'm assuming kik does somethig similar.

A brief interview with the founder of way2sms can be found here. And another article here.

Edit : I did some reading up on Kik, I didn't find much but I think they use a freemium model where their app and basic services are free but they charge for some additional services.

For example, they charge money for some stickers.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications
---


title: Backup gmail emails offline

text:
# Question
Title: Backup gmail emails offline
I have an Android 4.1 phone. When I typically login into my gmail app, even if I am offline, I can see / read already downloaded emails. So, I have those two questions:

* Where are those emails saved locally on my phone? Is there a way to access this folder within Android or through a PC?
* Is there a way to backup all emails downloaded / stored on the phone, while still remaining offline?

# Answer
You can use for this:

```
adb backup -noapk -noshared -f gmail.ab com.google.android.gm

```

would backup all data of the GMail app to your PC, storing it in a file named `gmail.ab` in the current working directory. A restore of that snapshot then is as easy as running

```
adb restore gmail.ab

```

Note that this will include all the settings of the GMail app.

If you prefer doing the same via an app on your device, take a look at Helium Backup.

Without root, it's not possible to access the corresponding folder on your device directly (which would be found below `/data/data/com.google.android.gm` and be owned by the GMail app, which forbids access for other apps/users, including the shell user).
> 2 votes

# Answer
If I understand correctly you're wanting to download all of your Gmail emails?

If so, I've used this tool before in the past to download my Gmail emails and it works well:

http://www.gmail-backup.com/
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, internal-storage, gmail
---


title: changing the association of a contact

text:
# Question
Title: changing the association of a contact
How do I change the account which stores a contact?

Right now, a lot of my contacts are associated with "Backup Assistant". I no longer have Verizon so this is useless (and it throws a lot of errors, presumably because it is no longer authorized to talk to the Verizon server) and I would like to switch all my contacts to be stored with Google. If I have to I will just delete each contact and re-create it with the new assocation, but is there an easier way to do this? If I try to tap or long-tap on the "Backup Assistant Contact" header when I edit the contact, nothing happens.

Also, if I do have to re-create a new contact, is there some way to create the new contact on Google first, then delete it from Backup Assistant? When I try to create the new contact first, attempting to delete it from my phone tells me I am going to delete it on multiple accounts.

# Answer
First, export your contacts. From the Contacts app, touch the menu button and select Import/Export. Then choose to export to SD. Then from the SD card, transfer the file to your computer (I used Dropbox). At this point I simply deleted all the contacts off my phone. I get an error notifications that sync had failed because too many contacts had been deleted, but when I tapped on it, it gave me the option to go ahead and delete them on Google.

Then I went to Google Contacts and imported all my contacts. Then I did a bit of cleanup, and everything got synced back to my phone.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, contacts, verizon-backup-assistant
---


# Question
Title: Android: Default Battery Percentage Level for individual services to switch off
We all know Android OS switches off services one by one when the battery reaches critical level. But is there any fixed battery level to cut down individual services. For example, Bluetooth will be switched off at 20%, Mobile data at 15%, Wifi at 10%, etc. I am searching these information in Android documentation and Googling as well. But I am not able to find such information. Any help please.

# Answer
> 0 votes
"Services" doesn't mean what you think it means. A *service* is an app component that can run in the background. For example, an email app might have a service that's started every 15 minutes to check for new email (and stops itself when it completes). This means it's background apps that stop, not things like the Wi-Fi and mobile data.

App developers are encouraged to check for the low battery condition and stop battery-draining activities. This broadcast also triggers the "low battery" dialog, so it's easy to tell at what level it fires. It can be changed by the device manufacturer (since Android is open-source), but it's usually set to trigger at 15%.

---
Tags: battery, battery-life
---


# Question
Title: Oddities Reading boot.img - Way Too Big and Errors In Kernel
This is related to this question but as I've made some progress since and run into some rather different issues that would mean I'd essentially have to rewrite it to be a totally different question I've decided to make a new question. As in that question, some device info:

* It's a BLU ADVANCE 4.0
* Board is Mediatek MT6572
* Android version is 4.2.2
* Kernel version is 3.4.5
* I do have root access

I've been trying to take a backup of certain partitions on my phone (boot.img, system.img, recovery.img) but I've run into some problems.

I've found backups online for this model, taken backups with MTK Droid Root and Tools and tried to read directly from /dev/bootimg and /dev/recovery. I've run into a few different issues. There are three main ones and I include them all here as I think they're related. I'm going to start with the one that's consistent across all of these:

## Issue #1

The kernel part of my boot.img seems to be way too small (about 18.0KiB - that's not right, is it?) and ends with a bunch of error messages before the GZIP 1F8B that I think marks the start of the ramdisk. Here are the messages:

```
System halted.
Attempting division by 0!...
Uncompressing Linux.....
decompressor returned an error..
done, booting the kernel...
invalid distance too far back...
invalid distance code...
invalid literal/length code.
incorrect header check..
unknown compression method..
invalid window size.invalid block type..
invalid stored block lengths....
too many length or distance symbols.
invalid code lengths set....
invalid bit length repeat...
invalid literal/lengths set.
invalid distances set...
incorrect data check....
Out of memory while allocating output buffer....
Out of memory while allocating input buffer.
Out of memory while allocating z_stream.
Out of memory while allocating workspace....
Not a gzip file.
header error....
read error..
uncompression error........

```

The newlines are from me, I tried to format it as best I could. I'm a little confused about what's going on here as I'm just reading the image - there shouldn't be error messages. Am I just seeing lists of possible errors in the kernel?

---

## Issue #2

I can't extract the contents of the ramdisk in the properly sized kernels (I want to check that the backups worked properly) as in this guide to unpacking boot images When I run this command:

```
gunzip -c ../your-ramdisk-file | cpio -i

```

I get the following messages (a whole bunch like the first and finishing with the last two):

```
cpio: Malformed number (�K�����
gzip: ../ramdisk.gz: decompression OK, trailing garbage ignored
cpio: premature end of file

```

and no new file outputted. Note that I can unzip the file by omitting the cpio bit and redirecting the output and it will produce a file containing some recognizable text in a hex editor, so I assume the extraction was successful.

---

## Issue #3

The boot.img read from /dev/bootimg, though it seems to be valid at the start, is way, way too big - I stopped it at 3.0GiB+. For reference the one I found online and the one I generated with MTK Droid Tools and Root are 6.0MiB. By truncating it to 500MiB I was able to find the same kernel structure as in the other ones, though I wasn't sure where the ramdisk ended so couldn't reliably check that.

**I suppose my question is basically: what is wrong with my boot.img? Is it valid (despite the errors and inability to extract the ramdisk) and safe to use as a backup?**

# Answer
It turns out most of the problems seem to have stemmed from my trying to split the boot and recovery images in the wrong place. I was trying to extract the kernel and ramdisk at the 1F8B for gzip (the kernel before, ramdisk after), but there were several instances of 1F8B (specifically 1F8B 0800) in the hex code and the first one was *not* the correct one.

After splitting the image in the right place, I got a more realistically sized kernel and a ramdisk which extracted successfully.

I was also able to get boot.img and recovery.img via adb from /dev/bootimg and /dev/recovery by explicitly limiting the size as per aureljared's comment on the question regarding my original problem:

```
dd if=/dev/bootimg of=/where/to/store/it bs=6291456 count=1

```

Though the images still contain the error messages, I think they're probably supposed to be there as I've found them in some other known good images online.

Note that I haven't truly tested the images are valid as they're just backups and the only way to test them is to flash them and thus potentially brick my phone if they're bad. I'm fairly confident this problem is solved since I can extract the ramdisk, though.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, kernel
---


# Question
Title: All apps moved onto the SD card have disappeared
On My phone LG E460, all the applications moved on SD card, have disappeared.

On play.google.com (and play store) these applications are marked as installed. I don't know how to reactive these applications.

The app advanced SD card doesn't see them.

# Answer
Restarting the phone usually solve this problem for me. Alternatively remove your SD card and put it back...
> -1 votes

---
Tags: applications, sd-card, lg-optimus-l5-2
---


# Question
Title: Device got bricked while installing JELLYBEAN
I was trying to update my ICS4.0.4 to Jellybean and clear cache partition and also Dalvik cache and unfortunately my tablet got restart and now it is hard bricked just show vendor logo and boot infinitely and now usb debugging was off now anyone please help me to get it unbricked.Thanks in advance. I know last option is to go to vendor service centre don't want to do so.

Now one more thing that if someone can help me to install any android version from starting then all posts are welcomed such as new device with no boot loader. Delete completely and install new boot loader hope you understand what i am saying.

Thanks in Advance.

# Answer
with fastboot tools you should still be able to access your device via usb. get the android-sdk-tools from google, and give it a try

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:\_fastboot\_intro

http ://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:\_adb\_intro

in this wikis you will also find plenty ways to unbrick your device:

unbrick android xda - Google-Suche https ://www.google.de/search?q=unbrick+android+xda

Unbrick Any Android Phone http ://www.beingtricky.com/unbrick-any-android-phone/

These 6 methods will help you unbrick any Android Device - Droidiser http ://www.droidiser.com/2013/07/how-to-unbrick-any-android-phone.html

FASTBOOT-UNBRICK YOUR DEVICE WITH 'NO DISPLAY' - My Community http ://forums.droidbeans.com//tutorials/fastboot-to-unbrick-your-device/

xda-developers - Threads Tagged with unbrick http ://forum.xda-developers.com/tags.php?tag=unbrick

\[RELEASE\] One-Click UnBrick updated 10july11 - xda-developers http ://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1153310

hope this will help
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing
---


title: Touch screen not working

text:
# Question
Title: Touch screen not working
I cracked the screen on my android A13 Allwinner tablet so I got new screen and put it on the tablet but the touch screen is not working at all. Can someone help me please.

# Answer
> 0 votes
maybe this could help:

fix digitizer issues - Google-Suche https://www.google.de/search?q=fix+digitizer+issues

Possible fix for digitizer/touch screen issues - xda-developers http ://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1459569

\[Resolved\] Touch screen/digitizer issues (random inputs/not accepting touch input) - Android Forums http ://androidforums.com/htc-one/728735-resolved-touch-screen-digitizer-issues-random-inputs-not-accepting-touch-input.html

Fix digitizer problems yourself http ://www.thoracic.org/education/mobile-musings/articles/August-2006.php

---
Tags: touchscreen
---


title: Educational tablet mass-customization

text:
# Question
Title: Educational tablet mass-customization
I am working on a small nonprofit project to bring educational tablers to rural areas of Thailand. I would like to ask you guys to help me out with the task. There are 100 chinese tablets donated. I am looking for a way to upload multiple educational apps at once and customize the tablet look and feel, so far I have found solution to upload multiple APKs with mass-apk-installer.

For customization I have found Themer, which unfortunately is not compatibile with the tablet. Then I came across Desktop VisualizeR this one looks promising, but customizing manually 100 tablets will be ages of manual work.

At the end I will have lets say 20 APKs with educational games. I would like to change the home screen so every one has different background and customized big icons, preferably 4x bigger than original size. The 'icons' should have custom descriptions. At the end I would like to fully customize one tablet and have some kind of solution to easily port all settings and customizations to rest 99 tablets. I would kindly request specific answer to my problem, not links to general tutorials. Please help me out! The kids will grately appreciate your help.

# Answer
As the tablets are all identical, and run Android \>= 4.0, the following approach could be taken – provided all devices should be configured identically:

1. Configure one device the way you want to have them all
2. Use `adb backup` to create a backup of this tablet (see our adb tag-wiki for a starting point if you didn't use ADB before)
3. Use `adb restore` to restore the created backup of the first device to all other devices

This should transfer all apps and settings from the first, manually configured device to all the others (including homescreen settings). You can play with parameters to `adb backup` to speed up the restore process, e.g. by specifying to only include the apps you added/modified, e.g.

```
adb backup -apk -shared -f backup_customized.ab com.package1 com.package2 …

```

(replace `com.package1 com.package2 …` with a list of packages you want to include). Skip `-shared` if you don't need to clone SDCard contents (you also could copy those separately, which even might be faster).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: customization
---


# Question
Title: How can i transfer my whatsapp chat history to my new phone?
I am using whatsapp on Samsung ace. Now I want to use whatsapp in my new HTC one. How can I transfer my my all chat histories from old phone to new phone?

# Answer
> 1 votes
1. Open WhatsApp
2. Press menu button
3. Press settings
4. Press Chat settings
5. Press Backup conversations
6. Close WhatsApp
7. Connect phone to computer
8. Open Explorer and navigate to your phone's internal memory
9. Find WhatsApp folder, copy it
10. Paste to your computer
11. Disconnect old phone, connect new phone to your computer
12. Copy WhatsApp folder from your computer
13. Paste WhatsApp folder to your internal memory of your new phone
14. Install WhatsApp on your new phone
15. Follow the instructions in WhatsApp
16. After registring your phone number WhatsApp should recognize your WhatsApp backup and automatically import your old conversations, contacts and media

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


title: Disable screen lock pattern

text:
# Question
Title: Disable screen lock pattern
I just downloaded JellyBean on my HTC One X.

I wanted to check APNs, but accidently went to VPN. Then, I had to set the screen lock pattern to access it. Now, I have an extra step when I want to use the phone. Is there any way to disable the screen lock pattern?

# Answer
> 2 votes
First, remove the VPN entry. Settings will not let you remove the pattern unlocker until you do so.

Then choose a "Slide" option from Settings -\> Security -\> Screen Lock

I had the same problem and this works

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can disable screen locks by going to `Settings -> Security -> Screen Lock`

<sup>On a side note, it's a good practice to use a screen lock, preferably a pattern, a PIN or a password. </sup>

# Answer
> 0 votes
My mistake for the previous answer .

As you have a VPN defined you are probably facing difficulty accessing the network as you need to unlock the screen every time you access so I suggest you download this app.

In this app it will remove the requirement for any pattern lock to access the network thereby relieving you of the problem which you face .

Else if you still want to disable the lock then go through with this

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, lock-screens, htc-one-x, pattern-lock
---


title: Tracing Android applications

text:
# Question
Title: Tracing Android applications
I have been mucking around on my Android tablet (rk2928, Android 4.1.1) at a low level, removing and replacing ROM apps and such... aaaand now I'm getting a few applications saying "Unfortunately, \<application\> has stopped.", and I suspect that some apps are missing or at the wrong version. If this were happening on a desktop system then I could use `strace` or some other language-specific tool to see which part it's having trouble at, but I don't know how to do this on Android. What tools are available for tracing Android method or library calls on a device?

# Answer
(If you've got adb enabled on your tablet and installed on your PC, skip the next two paragraphs)

If you've only been replacing apks, you'll need to enable Developer Settings (Settings -\> About tablet -\> scroll down to "Build number" and tap seven times).
Then, go back, and into the developer options panel, and scroll down to the "debugging" section. Enable the "Android debugging option", and plug your tablet into your computer.

You'll also need the Android SDK. After installing it, navigate to the SDK folder, then the 'tools' subdirectory and run 'android'. You'll need to wait for it to load, and then check the platform tools package. Click install, agree to the license, and it will install.

Open up a command prompt/Terminal (Windows: Win+R cmd, Mac: Launchpad -\> 'Other' -\> Terminal, Linux: you know how), and navigate to the folder your SDK is located in using `cd` (i.e `cd C:\Users\bobby\android-sdk` or `cd /Users/bob/android-sdk`). Then, run `platform-tools/adb devices`. It should show up your tablet. If it doesn't try unplugging your tablet and repeat, and then try double-checking that you enabled USB debugging.

Now, simply run `platform-tools/adb logcat`, and run the misbehaving apps on the tablet. You should see lots of lovely stacktraces and whatnot.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, debug
---


# Question
Title: Does the Play Store app verify the APKs?
Many people (including me) are downloading/installing/updating applications in public networks where we cant be sure of a secure connection without MiTM attacks, does Google's Play Store transmit the APK files over HTTPS? And does it verify its checksums after the download before its installed?

# Answer
Android itself checks the certificate when you update already installed APKs. It's therefore not possible to install a tampered/modified app that would need to be signed with a different certificate. It would throw a certificate mismatch exception. Using Google Play to install a new APK for the first time is different somehow: It's signed with the developers key, but Google or a man in the middle could tamper the connection, modify it and then send it to you with a new signature. The package installer and android itself doesn't check back with google if the signature matches. But Google Play implements the security recommendations that google gives for developers: It uses SSL and should be therefore secure. Unfortunately a wrong implementation can lead to flawed security as it happened with many apps that were tested for SSL vulnerability in this study:

http://www2.dcsec.uni-hannover.de/files/android/p50-fahl.pdf

(Not including Google Play)

Still the signature check itself is still vunrenable in 4.4: http://www.zdnet.com/kitkat-gets-fix-for-android-app-tampering-bug-but-earlier-versions-still-vulnerable-7000022930/
> 4 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, security
---


title: GPS Doesn't Work

text:
# Question
Title: GPS Doesn't Work
I have SGH-M919 (SGS4 T-Mobile variant). First, it had stock ROM, stock firmware, and it was SIM locked to T-Mobile, so I unlocked it with SRS server service (I live outside the US, so labs in my area didn't have the tools to unlock it, since it's only a US variant. Also, other methods of unlocking did not work for me, unfortunately).

In the unlocking process I had to flash custom modem file with Odin (it was required for SRS to work). After the successful unlock, I flashed CWM and CM11, rooted the device with Kingo ROOT and everything worked fine except the GPS. It didn't work: no GPS satellites were found.

How can I solve this issue? Thanks.

I have already tried:

* Reverting to stock firmware (by flash. Kies doesn't work). No only that it didn't fix it, the WiFi broke and couldn't be turned on. I has to recover everything with a recovery file I have made with CWM.
* Installing stock ROM via the recovery. The GPS worked(ish), but was very slow. I then restored my CM setup with nandroid restore (again, via the recovery), and the GPS didn't work again.
* While using the stock ROM, I tried to get to LbsTestMode in order to fix the GPS, as explained here, but I couldn't reach it - it just doesn't exist in Android 4.4.2 apparently.

# Answer
> 0 votes
With the helpful assistance from couple of people from XDA Developers forum I was able to fix the GPS.

I have found a modem file that was supposed to fix it in this XDA thread, and did everything by the instructions there.

All I had to do is download a `.zip` file that contains two modem files (MK2 modem) in it, and flash them in order with Odin. After that I checked the GPS with GPS status app and it locked onto a satellite blazing fast.

I noticed couple of hours later that suddenly the cellular signal was really weak in area that should have full coverage. So I flashed this modem (BN4) and it fixed it (and the GPS also fine).

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, samsung-galaxy-s-4, gps, cyanogenmod
---


title: Opening PDF in full-screen mode

text:
# Question
Title: Opening PDF in full-screen mode
I tried to make an HTML and open it in a fullscreen browser, but it doesn't show the PDF.

Is there a way to open a PDF in full-screen, page fit 100% to screen, without blending effects, just the PDF without any menu?

# Answer
> 0 votes
It's much easier to use a dedicated PDF app to do this than try to read PDFs in the browser. For example, you can upload a PDF in Google Play Books via the web interface and then read it in the Play Books app, which on KitKat supports fullscreen mode, even hiding the notification and navigation bars.

Other PDF apps might have similar features, though I know that QuickOffice doesn't.

---
Tags: pdf
---


# Question
Title: Install All Apps on SD card On Micromax Unite 2
Recently i bought Micromax Unite 2, its a good phone but what problem I am facing is that it comes with internal storage of 4 GB and has external storage and I am using 8GB SD Card.

Under storage it shows free Internal storage of 0.90 GB (free 100 MB), External Storage of 7.47 GB (left 6GB free) and Internal SD card of 1.67 GB (left 1.67 GB free). By default it installs apps on Phone/Internal storage and its getting filled and I am left with only 100 MB and it gets hanged.

1. What is the difference between Internal SD Card and phone storage?
2. Can I install all apps on Internal Storage (which is 1.67 GB free)?

# Answer
For 1) you can think of them like different partitions of a disk. Internal SDCard usually is found at `/sdcard` (though not always *directly* mounted there), while internal storage (as referred to) usually goes to `/data`. More details can be found in our tag-wikis on storage, internal-storage, and file-system.

For 2), most likely not all apps. And if you can do so at all also depends on the Android version used.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage, sd-card, insufficient-memory, app2sd
---


# Question
Title: Why isn't device storage an option on my Galaxy S4?
Can anyone tell me how to set up the Galaxy S4 to have " storage to device " as an option to save files and pictures to my sd card? Device storage is an option, but it is not highlighted so I can't use that as an option to store files and or pictures. I got a new phone and do not want to lose my pictures. Thanks in advance for any advice/help given. Cyndee

# Answer
> 0 votes
I wonder that "device storage" turns up as an option at all, as it is not intended for direct user interaction. On internal storage, each app gets its "home directory" to write in, where they usually store their data and settings – but not e.g. your photos and documents you might wish to also access with other apps (as basically, on "device storage", each app is limited to its own directory).

Maybe you confuse this with "internal SDCard", which is the user-storage on the device (as opposed to the "external SDCard")? To get some idea on the terms, be invited to our tag-wikis on the terms storage, internal-storage, and file-system.

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-4
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# Question
Title: Is there a way to restore my Samsung Galaxy S3 (SCH-i747)?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 (SCH-I747) that I tried to root using this video

Somehow something went horribly, horrible wrong and now I think I have hard bricked it.

My symptoms:

* Phone does not turn on when you hold down the power button
* Cannot get into boot loader / download mode (screen is always black)
* My phone is now named "QHSUSB\_DLOAD" in my explorer window

I obviously used odin to try to flash it and it didn't work. Will a JIG get me into download screen? At this point I just want to be able to restore the original build.

Is there anyway (besides sending it in and paying $60) to fix my phone? I have the file I need to flash a build, can someone please help me get back into boot loader / download mode?

# Answer
I'm in the same boat man..all my research has led me to needing to jtag. I ordered the download jig, new battery and charger. Tried on several systems including xp to no avail. I'll be sending it into Mobiletechrepairs on account of I'm sending in an old phone to cover the cost so I might be out of pocket for shipping. Wish I was able to find someone local but most phone repair shops don't know what jtag is! I'll let you know the turn around time and what condition my phone gets returned in. Good luck.
> 1 votes

# Answer
If you bricked it with a simple bad bootloader/modem flash you can use the method outlined here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660566 and see if it works for you, I've had it work on a bunch of phones that I've recommended its use on.

Download the image that corresponds to your phone from here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B612qYHFMILfWUlMTTEwdUstcXM?usp=sharing then use a disk imager to "burn" the image to a 16 or 32gb class 10 sd card. Remove the battery on the phone, put the sd card in and then reinsert the battery. Press the power button until you feel vibration (this may take upwards of 15 seconds) and then either it will boot normally, or you will need to boot into odin mode and flash a stock image
> 0 votes

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, unbricking
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# Question
Title: Access and modify files on the SD card of my mobile using WIFI tethering
I am looking for an application for my Android 2.3.5 Sony Xperia X10i.

I want an app that will mount my phone on my hot spot as eg: `http://192.36.02.08` , which will have both download and upload functions.

I want this so that I can quickly transfer files from my computer to my mobile in a hurry, as I have found out that WiFi speeds for file transfers are much faster than that of an USB cable.

Are there any apps that can do it?

I appreciate any help.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You've got quite a few Apps that can do it:

Wifi File Explorer

Wifi File Transfer

3rd: WifiDroid, it doesn't let me post more than two links because of my reputation, but you can search in google.

4th: AirDroid, it allows you to transfer anything, and even control your phone with it.

I've used the first too, both free and pro versions, i like the 2nd more, the 3rd i never used.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The pro version of WiFi File Transfer allows files of up to unlimited sizes to be transferred. You type the IP of the phone in the URL bar, and it takes you to the root directory of the phone, where you can go to the SD Card, or Internal Storage.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smarterdroid.wififiletransferpro

# Answer
> 0 votes
There are a couple of options:

1. **FTP**: Access your phone via FTP. An Allrounder would be *ES File Explorer*. Use an FTP client on your computer or i.e. the Firefox add-on *FireFTP*.

* Access the mobile Hotspot
    * Open *ES File Explorer \> Tools \> Remote Manager \> Start...*
    * Enter ftp-address in *FireFTP* to access files from the mobile (no system files!)
2. **Samba**: Use the Samba protocol if you **rooted** your device. *Samba Filesharing* is a good app. You can than connect your phones storage as a network drive on the computer.
3. **SSH**: It is possible to mount the phones storage on the computer using SSHFS. On a **rooted** Android device, use *SSHDroid* and on the computer you have to find solutions to support SSHFS, ie. for Windows it is win-sshfs. It dempends highly on your setup. The difficulty varies between the various OS'es.

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, wifi-hotspot
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title: Customizing the reminder.

text:
# Question
Title: Customizing the reminder.
Currently, the reminders are carried out by a one-time vibration (which is too easy to miss)

What settings do you go to to make them say, do 5 loud beeps or something?

This is for note 3.

# Answer
You can add more reminders for one single event. If you want something more "loud" you should edit the notification sound to something like a longer notifications sound so that it will vibrate for all the sound duration.
> 0 votes

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Tags: customization, samsung-galaxy-note-3, alerts
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