title: Swype keyboard not swyping

text:
# Question
Title: Swype keyboard not swyping
Yesterday I installed Swype Keyboard to replace SlideIT. At first Swype was working but today it only lets me press the keys and not drag my finger. I think I briefly saw a message saying "dragging is not allowed in this mode" but it went away fast. I've tried disabling and enabling and selecting Swype again but not good. How can I fix this?

# Answer
> 5 votes
This happens when you use Link2SD or Apps2SD and move either the Swype App or the Swype installer App to your SD card. To fix it, move the installer and Swype back to the phone and reboot.

I found some of this information on http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1042241 the rest I figured out by trying things.

# Answer
> 0 votes
This is most likely due to a licensing issue.

You should uninstall Swype and then use the Swype installer to install it again.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You don't say anything about what phone or Android version you currently have. But Android 4.2 includes now a Swype-like gestual typing keyboard.

There is a downloadable version for you to install, if your phone supports it.

Try out the new Android 4.2 keyboard now!

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Tags: keyboard, swype
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# Question
Title: Jelly Bean IMAP, Couldn't open connection to server
Well, finally got my Nexus 7. Set up all the basics and hit a pretty big roadblock, the email account setup for IMAP simply won't work.

Just to clarify, I'm absolutely certain all the details I've put in are 100% correct, I've double-, triple-, quadruple- and so on-checked them. They are exactly the same as the settings I use on my iPhone, in Mail.app on my Mac and in Thunderbird on my laptop. All three of these devices are on the same network behind the same FreeBSD machine that does packet filtering, they are all on the same subnet and subject to the same packet filtering rules.

The IMAP(S) server is my own running on a Debian VPS and here's the kicker, when I check the logs all the other clients' connections are clearly visible but no connections from the Nexus 7 show up. The Nexus 7 has shown no other signs of network issues but whenever I try to setup an IMAP account I get `Couldn't open connection to server`thrown back at me immediately (no delay indicating some kind of timeout, immediate, right away, BAM!).

So, does anyone have suggestions on how I can fix this? I've tried googling but every forum post and blog post I've come across has been so obviously about other things (most of them along the lines of "I'm trying to my email what is server?" which means the answers aren't very helpful).

Edit: I've also tried a complete factory reset but I'm still getting the same error.

Edit2: I am able to telnet from the tablet to the IMAP server and when I do so everything that should get logged in `/var/log/mail.log` on the server gets logged there but when I attempt to setup an account in the settings and click Next I still don't see anything in the logs. I'm starting to have suspicions that this is either something strangely broken in the the IMAP client libraries or some kind of IPv6-related screwup (since the server is accessible through both IPv4 and IPv6).

# Answer
> 1 votes
Ok, I tried restarting the IMAP server with no luck and then I decided to try a second factory reset, not that I was expecting it to work but apparently something changed because suddenly it worked and I have no idea why. Ah, the magic of user-friendliness.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The `Couldn't open connection to server` happened to me as well on IMAP Email set-up, then I noticed that the default IMAP server was `imap.mydomain.com`. So I made the following changes and it started working:

**Incoming:**

IMAP Server: `mail.mydomain.com`

**Outgoing:**

Security type: `SSL/TLS (Accept all certificates)` \- If I didn't change to this Security type it also gave me the `Couldn't open connection to server`.

This may be different for your server however.

# Answer
> 0 votes
it worked for me after I deleted google as my main account in the phone, installed gmail on exchange and reinstalled google as my main account.

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Tags: email, 4.1-jelly-bean, nexus-7, imap
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# Question
Title: RE: Android 4.0.4 shows folder count on Galaxy Note (Android 4.0.4) but not on Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Android 4.0.4)
On my Samsung Galaxy Note (Android 4.0.4) it shows the count of items on the header of each folder. I love this feature. Why cannot I see this on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Android 4.0.4)?

Thanks, Timothy

# Answer
> 0 votes
This isn't a standard feature of the Launcher.

This has most likely been added by Samsung to their touchwiz build of the Galaxy Note - as such, it would not be possible to get this on your Galaxy Tab.

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Tags: applications
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# Question
Title: Exchange e-mails deleted from Samsung Galaxy S III when downloaded on computer
When I have Microsoft Outlook running on my computer, exchange emails are self deleting on my Samsung Galaxy S III.

I can see the incoming email on my Galaxy S III, but it goes as soon as Outlook downloads the same email.

Why is this?

# Answer
This problem is due to your email server setup. Server is setup to delete mails from the server once they are downloaded to your Outlook. Your Android Email client only shows mails that are on the server, hence you can't see mails once they are downloaded.

You *may* have an option where you can disable deleting downloaded mails, however my corporate mail server doesn't allow me to do this and always deletes downloaded mails, so I'm not sure about this.
> 1 votes

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Tags: sync, email, samsung-galaxy-s-3, exchange
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# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy S2: Autorotation only in stand-by mode
I have the problem with the auto-rotation since the GingerBread 2.3.6 and now with the ICS 4.0.3, now the rotation works only if I put in "stand by" the screen, then I rotate the phone and it rotates...the blue ball in calibration setting does not move...I tried the hard reset, the rooting (in gingerbread), the reflashing (GingerBread and ICS), nothing to do...There is only a strange fact the App GyroDroid when I had gingerbread the "linear acceleration test" did not work, now (ICS) it works...but it seems that my accelerometer works only in that test :-( What can it be? Thanks

# Answer
Please be aware that home screens *DO NOT* rotate.

As well as this, developers can request their apps are only to be used in portrait mode - they therefore won't rotate automatically.

If you *really* want to rotate your screen, you can download the Set Orientation app, which will allow you to force your screen to rotate, based on a default orientation setting, or your sensor.
> 1 votes

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, auto-rotation, gyroscope
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# Question
Title: Downloaded music plays on PC and transfers to phone, but some files don't show up in phone library after transfer
My music - which is in MP3 format - plays normally on my PC. When I transfer some of my music to my device, my computer says the transfer was complete, however I cannot see some of the music on my device. Why are some songs not appearing in my phone's music library?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Please reboot your device.

Once you have rebooted, the music will show up in your music app.

When you boot, Android searched all SD Cards for media, and then adds it to the media database, so that media apps can use it.

Please reboot, and the music will then show in your music player.

If you *have* already rebooted, then please clear the data for the following apps:

* Media Storage
* Music (or Music Player, or Media Player)

If that still doesn't work, then copy the music direct to the music folder of the SD Card that is in your device.

Final thing - Android doesn't support ALL music formats. If the file is in a format Android doesn't support, then it won't show in the Music app.

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Tags: music, file-transfer
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title: Free movies on Youtube on Android

text:
# Question
Title: Free movies on Youtube on Android
When I use Youtube on my computer, they have a stack of older movies available for free, in the Movie section. (Ghostbusters for example! Who ya gonna call?)

To be clear, they still had the rentals, but they had a way to filter or search for free ones as well.

When using the Youtube app on my Android 3.2.1 ASUS Eee Transformer tablet, I cannot find this manner of filtering Youtube in the Youtube app.

Is this a limitation?

# Answer
I do see what you are talking about. In my YouTube app (ICS version) I can see several categories under "Browse", where it seems movies would fit in, but this category is non-existent. I do know that there are many videos on YouTube that are "Not available for viewing on mobile devices", and I think this is what's happening in this case.

For example, "Talladega Nights" is currently available under the YouTube movie section, but cannot be found in doing a search on the mobile app.

It looks like this is a desktop only feature for now :/
> 3 votes

# Answer
It appears that the "view free movies only" functionality has not been added to either the youtube app nor the mobile version of the site.

Presumably this will be added at some future date, but until then, a workaround (which works for me in Canada, at least from brief testing (I was able to open and start watching Final Fantasy : The Spirits within)) would be to do the following:

1. Open youtube.com/movies in your device browser.
2. Hit the "desktop" link at the bottom-left.
3. Open the free section as normal and find the movie you want.
4. When you hit the watch now button, select to open in the youtube app rather than in browser.

If at some point in those steps it just jumps on its own to the youtube app, you'll need to go into settings-\>applications-\>youtube and clear the "launch by default" setting for the app.
> 1 votes

# Answer
The Youtube app does not provide these free movies. I believe the only movies Google provides is in their Play Store; obvious not free options.
> -1 votes

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Tags: asus-eee-pad-transformer, youtube
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# Question
Title: How to make custom apps to appear by default in the lower dock panel in my custom ROM
At the very bottom of my device (MT6577 + ICS + TouchWiz Launcher) are the default icons for "phone", "contacts", "web", and "applications". I want to replace them with my own apps in my custom ROM so that the custom apps appear by default on the dock.

Now, the problem is for instance, I removed stock "phone" and "Contacts" apps from `/system/app` and copied new phone and contacts app in there. Then I created the build, flashed the ROM and rebooted. After reboot, the places for phone icon and contacts icon were empty. It's like:

Before replacing the dock was - `phone - contacts - web - App`

After replacing the doc is - `empty - empty - web - App`

Is there any specific file I need to edit to do the trick ?

Any help/suggestion would be immensely appreciated!

Thanks.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You'll need to edit the apk for the default launcher, which in this case is TouchWiz launcher. You'll need to figure out how TouchWiz gets its default setting, my guess is it would be in some of the xml files in the /res/values/ folder for the launcher, which should make modding easier as you'll only need to extract the apk, edit the files you need, and recompress and probably resign the package but it may also be hardcoded into the code in which case you'll need to decompile, reverse engineer, and recompile the Dalvik class files in addition to the previous steps.

These are some tools that might help you do these modifications:

* apktool: A tool for reverse engineering Android apk files
* smali/baksmali: An assembler/disassembler for Android's dex format
* jarsigner: tool to sign an apk (included in SDK)

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Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, custom-roms, home-screen, customization, samsung-touchwiz
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# Question
Title: Google two-step authentication and Android lock screen
After many failed screen unlock attempts, the user is required to enter the Google account password. That's a good idea.

But what if I enabled Google's two-factor authentication, and then entered the wrong pin/pattern/password two many times? How do I unlock my phone now? How do I login to Google on another machine, when my phone is locked and I can't receive SMSs?

Is there anything very obvious I'm missing? Am I supposed to carry a printed version of Android's application-specific password in my wallet?

# Answer
You would have to use your emergency backup codes you should have printed out: Backup Code Page.

These are one-time use codes that Google recommends you print for emergencies to access your Google account to unlock your phone.

Additional Information for methods of gaining account access.
> 7 votes

# Answer
To regain access to your phone, first you have to regain access to your account on a computer. Like Dylan said, this can be done using your one-time backup codes. (You saved those codes, right?)

Once you've done that, generate a new application-specific password. (https://accounts.google.com/b/0/IssuedAuthSubTokens or Account settings -\> Security -\> 2-step verification settings -\> Manage application-specific passwords.) Use this new password to log into your phone. You can safely revoke the old application-specific password that you'd previously used on your phone.
> 2 votes

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Tags: security, lock-screens, password, 2-step-verification
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title: SMS Stuck at Sending

text:
# Question
Title: SMS Stuck at Sending
I have a very peculiar problem on my Android \[Samsung Galaxy 5(five)\]. Every time I send a text message, it is stuck at 'Sending...' and can be stuck on that for days until it shows that it has failed to send the message. Sometimes I send 3 messages at a go and they end up being sent. Sometimes even this does not work.

What could be the problem? What can I do to rectify? Desperate!

# Answer
When this happens to me, I disable the data on the device and re-enable it and the message usually goes through. You can also just try switching to airplane mode and then turn off airplane mode.
> 2 votes

# Answer
This happens sometimes. I believe its a bug with the messaging app. I used to have this. I suggest force closing the application (Settings -\> Manage Application -\> Messaging -\> Force Stop)

Once done, just reboot for safe measure. This should fix your problem. :)
> 1 votes

# Answer
I faced a similar problem on my LG Android handset, but then I realized that I hadn't done my 'SMS cleanup' for the last 6 months. I deleted all old messages, then things started working fine! It turned out to be a basic maintenance issue.
> 1 votes

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Tags: sms
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# Question
Title: Android applications need WiFi but I have only ethernet connection
I have the Imito MX1 device that is working on Android 4.1. I have problem with WiFi quality (speed and reconnecting) so I use the Ethernet on the RJ45 to USB device. Unfortunately some of the applications that need Internet are not working. They are displaying communicate about lack of Internet. Is there any solution to redirect the ethernet to the WiFi device?

# Answer
> -1 votes
Maybe it is a matter of permissions which are necessary for Ethernet but not for Wifi. Applications which do not work anymore might not have those permissions. Check them!

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Tags: wi-fi
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title: Default dialer on Samsung Galaxy S3

text:
# Question
Title: Default dialer on Samsung Galaxy S3
I have a new Samsung Galaxy S3 running ICS (4.0.4). I would like to use the Go Dialer as my default dialer.

The stock Phone app does not claim to be the default dialer, and in fact I've downloaded Default App and set the default dialer to be the Go Dialer. And yet, when I navigate through a contact to the "dial" press, it brings up the stock Phone app.

I've seen conflicting reports on whether this is possible or not. Is it?

# Answer
Any dialer customize the things that are come before you press dial button. After pressing the dial button it can only use the stock interface.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The Contacts app and the phone app work as one, however the contacts app *should* allow you to make a call using any app that uses the call broadcast receiver.

Ensure that the standard Phone/Dialer app isn't set as default:

1. Uninstall set default
2. Go into `Settings->Apps->All->Dialer (or Phone)` scroll down and select `Clear Defaults`.
3. Go back into the contacts app, and select a Contact to call. It should ask you which app you want to use. Select `Go Dialer` and select to always use that by default.
> 2 votes

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, phone-app, default-applications
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# Question
Title: Why has my Samsung Galaxy S2 become a data hog?
My father has a Samsung Galaxy S2 with the stock GB and un-rooted. The phone has been working flawlessly, but lately (since about 2-3 days) it began to use a crazy amount of data.

He normally uses about 300 MB per month, but now the phone is using about 20-30 MB per hour **during phone standby!**.

Also he notices is that the battery is lasting about half of the previous time, which is evident in case of a long running process.

He didn't install/update anything lately and all the settings are set for minimal data use. (Like no Sync..etc). He also has all the known data-hog apps kept disabled.

He has installed an app call “my data manager” and the app says that all the data is being used by OS services but there is no detailed information.

Just for clarification, he doesn’t have too much applications installed. Just: Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook and Twitter. But as I said before, he has all the auto sync off, and all these apps where installed months ago.

My question is: Is there a program that can help us to find out what is going on? Something like a “on the fly” (real-time) data analysis?

Any other ideas on what could be happening here?

Thanks! Edgar

# Answer
> 2 votes
After reading the comments, there's not much else to suggest for you to check on your phone.

So, here's two free APPs to help you out:

# My Data Manager

**Main features:**
• Simple to setup and simple to use.
• Know what apps are using data with automatic monitoring of your app data usage.
• Set usage alarms to avoid overage charges and “bill shock”.
• Track historical app time and app usage using easy to understand visualizations.
• Ensure you are using your ideal data plan and maximize how you use your data.
• Save money by using your plans more effectively.

---

# 3G Watchdog

**Main features:**
• monitors your Mobile Internet (4G/3G/Edge/GPRS) data usage.
• shows a status icon (green/orange/red) in the notification bar.
• has a detailed report page.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Your father has exactly the same problem as me. It is caused by the email exchange services. I will suggest to download a data monitor app called HiNet (The app is chinese). Using this app I found out that the email exchange service was consuming a lot of data. Now I wonder why this email exchange service suddenly went 'crazy' (There were no issues for 5 months).

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, data-monitoring
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# Question
Title: What SIM card size does the Nexus 7 use?
The iPad uses silly little SIM cards that pretty much need to be purchased ad-hoc. This means that in a pinch situation you can't e.g. swap SIM cards between your tablet and your phone (e.g., if either's ran out of credit).

What size does the Nexus 7 use?

# Answer
The Nexus 7 (with mobile data) takes a micro SIM card.

See this page from Google support on how you can Insert & activate a SIM card.
> 8 votes

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Tags: nexus-7, sim-card
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# Question
Title: I can FastBoot my device. How can I reinstall an Android image to it?
I accidentally deleted a file from my phone (Sky iVega IM-A800s, Gingerbread) and phone cannot boot now. I'm seeing an "System operating error" and device restarts repeatedly.

I could get into FastBoot mode and I installed Android USB driver and ADB drivers, although I don't know what they are exactly.

I couldn't find OEM Android images for the device (it's a Korean web site and they have an ActiveX based installer that doesn't work).

I know StackExchange is a Q&A site and I really love this site. I would like to know if you know any software that let's me install a custom ROM (I could download a custom ROM for a similar model) using the PC. Device does not have USB debug mode enabled and the current installation is no longer functional. Can I install a ROM (or Flash ?) using a PC (Windows/Linux) to a FastBoot enabled device?

I would be so grateful if you could shed a light for me.

Thanks in advance.

# Answer
If you can find a ROM on a forum or website, you can easily flash it using fastboot - as long as it supports fastboot flashing.

Most ROM makers provide both types of ROM flashing mode.

To flash, you should have a .img file (most likely called `system.img`). You can flash this by connecting your device in fastboot mode to your pc and using this command:

`fastboot flash system C:\path\to\system.img`

This will then flash the image to your phone. Once that is done, erase your user data using the `fastboot -w` command.

You should then be able to use your phone with the new ROM, and it should boot correctly.
> 4 votes

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, rom-flashing, recovery-mode, fastboot
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# Question
Title: How to choose which joined contact to use for contact image?
Okay, I'm running a Galaxy S III with the TouchWiz ROM.

I knew how to do this in AOSP ROMs, but cannot find it in the Samsung people app.

If I have an aggregate contact with numerous joined contacts, and more than one of the joined contacts have photos, how do I specify which joined contact's photo should be the photo for the master/aggregate contact?

# Answer
Okay; I finally figured this out!

1. Go to the people app
2. Click on a contact to see the contact detail
3. Bring up the menu
4. Click `Mark as default`
5. Choose default picture, email, phone, etc.
> 6 votes

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Tags: contacts, samsung-galaxy-s-3, samsung-touchwiz, contact-photo
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# Question
Title: How to remove unused folders created by apps?
When I started with a fresh SD card, there were only very few folders in it. As time passed by when I tried many apps, I could see the folder list in my SD card seems to grow.

It is understandable that while an app is being uninstalled, it leaves behind its folder where it would have kept few files, which may be the settings file or game scores etc.

Is there any way I can remove all those orphaned folders in a batch or short operations? I have seen the question "How do one know which folder is created by which android apps" and can manually do it, but I am interested in kind of automatic solution.

My phone info: LG Optimus One (P500) running stock 2.3.3 V20D (rooted).

# Answer
> 2 votes
Unfortunately, as the comments state, there is currently no way to automate this - and I for one wish there was, as I find myself deleting loads of folders as well.

You should do it manually - but methodically, and it starts to seem to take a lot less time, as you start to think about it.

One thing to look out for is folders for game apps that you installed, as they may contain the downloaded game data - which can be quite large, which you may wish to keep incase you want to install and play the game again.

Like Izzy mentioned, SD Maid finds some of the orphan files for you - but not all.

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Tags: automation, maintenance, file-management
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# Question
Title: How much battery savings to expect from SetCPU?
Has anybody done any serious measurements as to effects of SetCPU (or a similar power-saving app)?

I mean, are Google and Linux developers really that stupid not to properly implement power management in-system? Especially so considering the Android's paramount problem of battery life.

The SetCPU promo video only shows how the MHz numbers jump up and down, but is it noticeably better for the battery than processor idling done by the OS itself?

# Answer
> 1 votes
In general, the slower your clock speed, the less power consumption will be used on your device. But if you're lowering your clock speed... then things will run sluggish, especially if you drop below the 500mhz range.

SetCPU has different "profiles" that controls the behavior of your CPU. You can make it run at full maximum performance (for best response times and worst battery usage), but typically you use the default one where it only "speeds up" the processor when it is actually used and needed.

You could, for example, have SetCPU lower your clock speed to something much lower than normal when the screen is off.

Kernels also matter. Some people have made "low voltage" kernels that can help with your battery life. But your mileage will vary with using kernels other than the stock one because they usually go outside the bounds of your CPU's specifications (so a "low voltage" kernel may work well on one device but not another device).

Device manufacturers want you to have a good experience with your device at stock settings. By changing the clock speed (to a lower speed), you should be expecting a degradation in performance at the cost of better battery life.

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Tags: battery-life, setcpu, overclocking
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# Question
Title: why "ls -al" does not show file size info in /dev/socket directory?
In /dev/socket directory, if runs "ls -al" in adb, there is no file size information. I would like to know why there is no such information, in the condition that in other directories can show file size information?

Thanks.

# Answer
Sockets and pipes represent Unix' way of inter process communication, and a communication channel has no point in having a size. Sockets are thus not seekable as in *go to position x in the file*.

Linux (which Android makes use of) has 7 file types:

* Regular Files
* Directories
* Character Device Files
* Block Device Files
* Local Domain Sockets
* Named Pipes
* Symbolic Links

See more here
> 8 votes

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Tags: adb, file-system
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# Question
Title: How to prevent the OTA Jellybean update on Droid RAZR Maxx
I have a Motorola Razr Maxx with ICS (4.0.2) on it. It went and downloaded the JellyBean upgrade, which I do not want to happen. Each hour the phone prompts me to upgrade. How can I keep this from happening? Can I delete the new files for JB and stop the hourly message? Thanks in advance.

# Answer
> 1 votes
(1) If you have root, you can use Titianium Backup, and uninstall "Device Management 3.0" (or some other version).

(2) OR, \[also needs root\], remove dmclient.apk, dmclient.odex, cmclient.apk, cmclient.odex from /system/app. Back-up these files first, in case you want to update in the future; you will need these.

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Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, ota-update, motorola-droid-razr
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# Question
Title: Do I really need to install a task manager?
Does one really need to install a task manager? My phone does slowdown on rare occasions but it's not something that hampers regular usage.

# Answer
See this

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

FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android (geekfor.me) - xda-developers

> tl;dr version:
>
> * Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when more memory is needed.
> * Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when it’s done doing what it needs to do.
> * Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when you haven’t returned to it in a long time.
> * Most services (while possibly running in the background) use very little memory when not actively doing something.
> * A content provider is only doing something when there is a notification for it to give. Otherwise it uses very little memory.
> * Killing a process when it isn’t ready only causes it to have to reload itself and start from scratch when it’s needed again.
> * Because a task is likely running in the background for a reason, killing it will only cause it to re-spawn as soon as the activity that was using it looks for it again. And it will just have to start over again.
> * Killing certain processes can have undesirable side effects. Not receiving text messages, alarms not going off, and force closes just to name a few.
> * The only true way to prevent something from running at all on your phone would be to uninstall the .apk.
> * Most applications will exit themselves if you get out of it by hitting “back” until it closes rather than hitting the “home” button. But even with hitting home, Android will eventually kill it once it’s been in the background for a while.

As Android was designed you don't need to kill apps.
> 89 votes

# Answer
No, and even more so with the latest 2.2 versions of Android. I used to use them, but I've stopped and everything has been better since I stopped using a task manager/killer. There is an app called Watchdog if you'd like to be notified about a process using a ton of CPU for a long period of time, which then will give you the option to kill that run-away process.
> 18 votes

# Answer
Yes. You should have a task-killer app, but not for the reasons you think.

I've had runaway processes (maybe watchdog can help) like google maps which then ran twice, once to kill my cpu/ram and once to actually work. I had to use the task killer to kill both instances and then run the normal one.

RARELY will you actually need to manually kill anything. But like all programs, sometimes stuff happens. I've had apps crash the entire phone and they were not running in root or anything.
> 7 votes

# Answer
Sometimes when an app crashes or gets to a state that it's not response it's nice to be able to shut it down manually . . . but as for slowness issues a task manager isn't necessary as the OS itself handles multitasking better now.
> 4 votes

# Answer
This comprehensive, informative & easily readible article entitled *"Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn’t Use Them"* will provide you with a quick overview of how Android handles process management on its own fairly well by default. (Essentially that a Task Manager/ Killer App is not required- it was more useful in early version of the Android OS)

The Article will explain:

* How Android Manages Processes
* Why Task Killers Are (Usually) Bad News
* What You Should Do Instead, e.g.:

+ Watch for Runaway Processes
    + Uninstall Bad Apps
    + Possibly Root Your Phone (although not necessary)
> 3 votes

# Answer
When I was running Froyo, I installed task manager not to kill tasks, but to find an easy to review list of what is running and learn more about how apps work. This seemed the easiest way to learn what was running quickly.

Now that I have Gingerbread, I just use the "running" list under applications in the settings menu.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Ideally, you don't need a task manager for the reasons mentioned by Cristi.

Random slowdowns on Android are likely from one of two sources:

* Badly programmed apps (mostly)
* Android cleaning up the memory and unloading stuff to make room (this should be only temporary, but can be very annoying on older devices or with custom ROMs)

If you experience slowdowns, and can't or don't want to uninstall the apps that cause them (or you don't know which ones it is), then a task killer can really make a difference. The same applies for older devices that don't have enough RAM.

So: it shouldn't be neccessary, but you might try it as a workaround if you have misbehaved apps on your device.
> 0 votes

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Tags: task-management
---


# Question
Title: Why does the ICS dialer have letters next to the numbers?
It would make sense if it had T9 built in, but it doesn't. So why?

They should really implement that btw. I know it exists in custom roms.

# Answer
I would assume it's because there are still phone numbers that are distributed with convenience letters (e.g. "phonewords") in them, and there are probably still automated call answering programs that use them. The letters on the numpad far predate T9.

For the US specifically, Wikipedia also has an article that explains the history of telephone numbers and the various ways that letters have been used over time (it was different in other countries, but I can't find a detailed article for that at the moment).
> 11 votes

# Answer
You can search your contacts easily by "typing letters".

The dialer instantly interprets the input phone number also as text input (just like T9 does) and shows contacts that match below the actual number.

For example if you want to dial Smith you should dial 76484.
No need to press 4 three times to get "I".
> 4 votes

---
Tags: phone-app
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 7 wont boot after complete discharge
I accidentally let the battery on my Nexus 7 run completely empty, and now it won't start up anymore even after charging overnight. How can I make it work again?

This is what happened in detail: My battery ran low, and I had no time to recharge it. I forgot about it, and found my tablet powered off. I attached it to a charger (the official wall-plug adaptor), waited a few minutes, and then turned it on. I expected it to be able to run from the cable like my phone, but it reported 0% battery and shut itself down immediately. I retried it after a slightly longer time. This time I didn't get to the home screen, but was shown a black and white animated battery icon. I pressed the power button, and the animation froze, and only disappeard after a long time (I put it away and discovered it was gone after a few hours). Since then I've been loading it for \> 12 hours, but I haven't been able to get any response. The charger gets warm, but the tablet doesn't.

I've heard that once the battery is competely discharged, it only charges in "trickle mode" (that is normally used to top off a 98% loaded battery safely), and can take a very long time to become operative again. This would explain why the adapter gets warm but not the tablet. If this is true, is there any way to speed up charging?

# Answer
1. Try pressing the power button for \> 30 seconds.
2. If it does not work, try to alternate power sources (PC/laptop USB port, and AC adapter) while repeating step #1.
3. Still no go? You may have to remove back cover and reconnect battery.
4. Warranty case.

(source)
> 18 votes

---
Tags: battery, nexus-7, power-on
---


# Question
Title: How can I get my Galaxy S3 to behave at night? (turn off LED and notifications, etc.)
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> Any way to schedule a passive profile-change? (connectivity, volume etc.)

I've got a Galaxy S3, and I love it, but it drives me crazy at night sometimes. GMail will get a new message and it'll ring. The LED sometimes flashes all night long, etc. I've seen a couple of apps that purport to solve these problems, but they've got some bad reviews. Can anyone recommend a good way to solve my problem?

Thanks!

# Answer
People might expect me to recomment Tasker including a profile -- so I will do this first. But I will include another, free solution as well this time.

First, how to solve this with Tasker? Quite easy:

**Condition:** Time (10pm to 7 am, for example)
**Task:**

* *Airplane On* (optionally, so no incoming calls)
* *WiFi On* (so weather-updates and streaming music for my alarm clock still make it)
* *Silent Mode On* (that's the important one: everything off except for media volume)

This is just an example of what can be done. Many more options are available, but Tasker costs you about 5 Euro (it's really worth it, as other answers here tell you as well -- you can let hell freeze with it!). If that's too much for you, you have two options: First check with the free 7 day trial from the Tasker homepage -- or look for an alternative. Well, to be honest: nothing can get near *Tasker*, but for your case there are some options left:

* Timeriffic is a very good scheduler (can deal well with time based events, like the above described)
* Llama - Location Profiles can do with location based, time based (don't be fooled by the name of the app), and more
* I know I repeat myself: *Tasker* can do all this and much, much more. And if you feel there's something missing: there are so many addons available (all *Locale* addons fit). And so many apps interface with it...
> 3 votes

# Answer
A GS3 running Jellybean has this built-in in the form of "blocking mode".

In the settings, there's a menu called "blocking mode". You can set it to disable notifications and the LED indicator and specify between what times you want it like that.

Also lets you block incoming calls except for numbers you specifically allow and disable the alarm/timer.

GSMarena's review of the update mentions it. It's at the bottom of the 4th page including screenshots of the menu.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Two Options I can think of:

1. Root and install CM10 (you won't miss touchwiz)

Using this method, you could use the built in *Quiet Hours* setting under

Menu \> Settings \> Sound \> Quiet Hours
2. Use an app like Tasker / Locale

These are really cool apps, they give you a load of control based on lots of conditions. Of course, other people suggested other options similar to this.
> 0 votes

# Answer
You can use Go power master for this purpose and then configure the time to change the mode at specific time.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I'd recommend Tasker. It's got a steep learning curve, but it's worth it.

I use it just for two or three very simple things, and your use case is one of them.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Oh, gotta love Android for this! Another paid app I would like to tell you about is Juice Defender. There is a night mode which you can use. As an added benefit, it also saves you battery, by turning on data in frequencies that you can set. The free version can only choose between 15m and 30m. With the paid version can also set location specific power settings.

If you just want to turn it off during the night, you can just set the phone to Airplane Mode during the night.

But you might forget to unset it in the morning. Another app, which is primarily a funky power widget, also has a night mode. Its called Battery Widget? Reborn! Yeah, the exclamations are part of the name.

Tasker and others might be a tad overkill for what you are looking for, but yeah, once you realize the possibilities, you wont use anything else.

Welcome to the symbiotic Android ecosystem :)
> 0 votes

# Answer
Perhaps you can take the battery out and put it back in when you need it. Or can you just power it off to save battery life. This'll work if you don't need it on at all during the night as in you don't have an alarm/important notifications.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: settings, automation
---


# Question
Title: What factors does PowerTutor measure to show energy consumption?
I am trying to find the impact of the signal strength on the energy consumption of WIFI in Android using an HTC NEXUS ONE. I am sending several files starting from 1 kb to 600 kb.

I use PowerTutor as a measurement application however the values are almost the same for any signal strength of wifi.

Can you please help me to find out if PowerTutor can reflect the signal strength effect and what factors in fact does PowerTutor use to show how much energy was consumed by Wi-Fi? Do you recommend the use of another android app to measure the wifi consumption?

# Answer
According to the developer's documentation, WiFi signal strength is not accounted for:

> The power states we have considered in the power model includes:
>
> ... -**Wifi**: Uplink channel rate, uplink data rate and packets transmitted per second.

They have a link to a study performed by the University of Michigan (who is, as best I can tell, also connected to this app's development) that looks to go much more in depth into their thoughts on the matter, should you be interested.

I don't have any better recommendations for you as far as apps go. Has the standard Android Battery Usage information not been helpful? I imagine if you set up a test scenario where you send a continuous steam of data over WiFi for an hour, then change the distance from the device to the WAP (i.e. changing signal strength) and repeat the process, you might be able to see a difference in the battery usage attributed to WiFi.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: battery-life
---


# Question
Title: I'm looking for a way to work offline with Google Tasks
Is it possible to work offline with Google Tasks and then sync it back when online? My connection is not stable over here.

Please share if you know how to. Thank you!

# Answer
> 7 votes
**GTasks** allows you to work with you task list offline on your phone and then sync when you have internet as do most task managers that sync with Google Tasks. I've never tried any of the others but I can say from experience that GTasks works well.

# Answer
> 6 votes
Astrid works fine with Google Tasks. It syncs with Google Tasks and can work offline.

# Answer
> 5 votes
Tasks works great for me. It has a free and paid version.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I've been using **iRT GTasks Outliner** that gives you an offline outliner that syncs with GTasks. It's currently in Beta but have been quite stable for the month or so I've used it.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Virtually any of the apps in the Play Store which interact with Google Tasks will have this functionality.

That said, I have been using and quite happy with Google Tasks Organizer. (There is also a free "Lite" version.)

---
Tags: offline, google-tasks
---


# Question
Title: Why do I not get the new YouTube ui on my tablet?
I've got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 running CyanogenMod 9-20121028-NIGHTLY-p4wifi and I downloaded the latest YouTube app from the Play Store. However, the app still uses the old ui with the 3d carousel, despite reporting a version number of 4.1.23.

I had this same issue when running various versions of AOKP.

Any thoughts?

# Answer
The latest YouTube update has enabled it :-D
> 2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-tab-10, youtube
---


# Question
Title: How to check if an APK contains native code?
Is there a way to check if an APK file hosts native code?

There are many reverse engineering tools (e.g. apktool, androguard) from which you can reproduce the source files of an Android app but I'm not sure if there is a *de facto* solution which you can use to assure that an APK contains native code. Maybe someone can search for ARM binary files in the source files of an app. But how to know which directories to check?

Is there a more standard way to do this?

# Answer
I think this StackOverflow answer should point you in the right direction:

> All of the native code for an app is stored in the libs/ directory in the root of the apk. It's compiled ARM or x86 code, or both. You can find it in libs/architecture\_type/lib\_name.so. You can dissemble the code with objdump or gdb. Decompiling is a much harder task, but you can find some software that might work for you.
> 4 votes

# Answer
An APK is also an archive so unarchive it on a computer (with tools like 7-Zip) and look at its content.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, apk
---


# Question
Title: How to get the camera's auto white balance to work on a Nexus 4
I've been taking pictures with a Nexus 4 for a few days now, and noticed that the colors are off on many pictures. Finally today, I decided to do a Nexus 4 vs. iPhone comparison, with the same scenes, and it seems to me that:

1. The auto white balance on the Nexus 4 / Android 4.2 isn't always working; in particular, with incandescent lights, in Auto mode, at times whites are greenish. Forcing the incandescent light mode fixes this.
2. In all cases (incandescent or fluorescent, Auto mode or correct mode specified), the image lacks contrasts: whites are grayish and dark areas lack details.

Just walking around with a Nexus 4 and an iPhone while pointing are things around makes this very clear. Is there a way to improve this, or should I just resign myself to the iPhone camera (lens, sensor, DSP, software?) being overall better than the of the Nexus 4? (And my apologies if this sounds a bit provocative, as I seriously hope this is not the case!)

# Answer
> 2 votes
This isn't a miracle solution, but:

1. When taking pictures indoor, keep in mind that Android's auto white-balance might make the wrong choice. Look at the image on the screen, and if it feels unnatural, try manually selecting the incandescent or fluorescent settings.
2. Be aware that, at least currently, the Nexus 4 camera doesn't compare favorably to the iPhone 5 camera: on the Nexus 4, pictures tend to lack details, colors are washed out, and images lack contrast with both white and black leaning towards the grey.

If you own a Nexus 4 and find this disappointing, let me try to reassure you: first, it isn't as bad as it sounds; second, there is still a chance this can be improved with software; third, don't forget your unlocked Nexus 4 costs almost half the price of an unlocked iPhone 5.

Below are some pictures of the same scene I took with an iPhone 5 and Nexus 4, so we can compare them side-by-side. This first shot was done indoor, in a low light, without a flash. *Left: iPhone 5 (original), right: Nexus 4 (original).*

This second shot was done outdoor. *Top: iPhone 5 (original), bottom: Nexus 4 (original).*

---
Tags: camera, nexus-4
---


# Question
Title: How to take a picture and uploading it with a comment to Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter?
I am coming from the iPhone, and there was using an app called Camera+, which worked well for my workflow. On Android, I am now looking for a way to:

1. On the go, *take pictures*, and store them somewhere. (I don't care where they are stored, they could very well be in a private store specific to the app.)
2. Allow me to go through the picture I took, delete the one I don't like, and for the others, *enter a description*, and upload them to a combination of Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. I want to just enter the description *once*, click on checkboxes for Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter to select where the picture will go.

I could do this with the standard Camera/Gallery, with the Flickr and Facebook apps installed, but it requires way to many steps. I'm looking for something simple, that allows for a fast workflow, not for an editing workhouse. Is there any solution out there that would allow me to do this?

# Answer
This solution doesn't require any app:

1. Upload pictures by email to Flickr. As a one-time setup, find your private Flickr email address and I recommend you add it as a contact in Gmail. Then, from the Gallery, share by email, and send it to your Flickr email, optionally typing a description in the email subject.
2. Setup an IFTTT rule to upload to Facebook pictures you send to Flickr. To make it simpler, you can reuse this recipe.

Benefits:

* You're not relying on any third-party app, and can use the standard Android tools.
* You can queue images for upload (sorting, entering descriptions, deleting locally), even if you are offline, say abroad with no WiFi or data connectivity. The pictures will be queued in your email outbox and will be sent when you're back on the grid.
> 0 votes

# Answer
One solution would in fact be using a specialized photo app: Fotor for Android. Next to a bunch of features for taking and editing photos, the app description mentions:

> Using Fotor you can easily share your amazing photos with friends and family! Share photos via email, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, with just one touch.

Which is exactly what you asked for. This app even supports HDR, and much more... So this would be your all-in-one solution. Seems hard to beat...
> 2 votes

# Answer
I don't know if it works for Flickr but you can use applications like Molome or Instagram to quickly share photos on both Facebook and Twitter.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: camera, facebook, flickr
---


# Question
Title: Is it OK to swap batteries while phone is connected to wall charger?
It takes a few minutes to shut down and restart the phone, it would sometimes be handy to be able to swap batteries without shutting down (i.e. swap in a fully charged battery before going out). Will the phone operate without a battery while connected to a wall charger? Is it safe to swap the battery without shutting down?

# Answer
I just tried this on two phones, a Samsung Galaxy 551 and a Samsung Galaxy S. It doesn't work. The phones typically just shut off. However, one time the Galaxy S didn't shut off right away but I wasn't able to put the battery back in before it shut off. My Google Nexus S is made so that you can't even take the back cover off without unplugging it.

I suspect that this is simply not a supported feature in most phones and that you're not likely to find that it works anywhere. Not to mention the fact that power-loss may damage components or corrupt data. This is one reason why the phone monitors the battery life and shuts down if there isn't enough battery power.
> 3 votes

# Answer
It's device dependent, if the manufacturer can fit in the circuitry to use the wall charger without the battery then yes you'd be able to do that. Most laptops can run without batteries, I doubt many smartphone does though; phones are primarily designed to be used while on the go, while laptops are more likely to be plugged in.

A safe test is to shutdown the phone normally, plug the phone into charger, and pull out the battery, then try booting up the phone with only wall charger. If you can boot up, then it's 90% likely that you'll be able to pull out the battery while it's running without causing a reboot.

> Is it safe to swap the battery without shutting down?

If the phone doesn't have the appropriate circuitry, it will be no less safe than just unplugging the battery. There is no moving parts in a mobile phone and all modern hardware are designed such that complete loss of power will just reinitialize the hardware as if it's just booting up. Therefore the only possible damage you can do is to the file system.

Modern journalled file systems are designed to be able to withstand power loss. If you're using journaled filesystem, e.g. ext3 or ext4, then your data should be safe; if using unjournalled filesystem, e.g. FAT or ext2, then there is a small chance of file system corruption.
> 14 votes

# Answer
Does your user manual have any prohibitions about removing the battery while plugged in? That would be my first point of information. And I probably wouldn't try it myself, but that's just me.

The issue is that you have no idea of whether the folks who designed the charge circuit accounted for this or not, and you don't know how they did the charging circuit, so you don't know for sure whether it's safe or not to try it.

I'm GUESSING that it won't hurt your phone because the designer should be doing something safe for the 'battery goes missing' case. I also wouldn't be surprised if the phone either just cut out, or went into it's 'oh noez, the battery is out of juice' routine and turned itself off right away.
> 4 votes

# Answer
This feature is supported on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I routinely change out batteries while the phone is plugged in to the wall charger. The only issue I've noticed is that the battery level doesn't update to the new level right away, but instead slowly increases over time.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Just for completeness sake I want to share that I've operated my old LG GT 540 countless times with the battery removed, while the USB cable is plugged in. I can power it up on in these situations (and run CWM). So I guess that there might be more LG Android phones with similar circuitry. Since I've upgraded to my new Galaxy S2, I've been too reluctant to try it out.
> 2 votes

# Answer
A smartphone's most limited resource is its battery. This means phones are specifically designed to survive power losses. And imagine a hang up with a subsequent reboot would brick with some probability. How many complaints would that cause?

So the answer is simple:
Just try out to switch your battery. If it works: Fine.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: battery, charging, motorola-droid-bionic
---


# Question
Title: Push notifications to my Droid on local network
I am looking for either an app or a way to allow my 3 Ubuntu server's running in my house on my local network to send a notification to my Android phone when a task is done.

Every hour or so one of the 3 servers finishes what they are doing, I need for them to be able to send short text notifications to my Droid phone when it's locally on the network. Of course it's IP on my local network never changes, so that will always be the same.

Is there anything for this? And how do I get it up and running?

# Answer
> 1 votes
There are several ways to accomplish things like this:

## Using Atomics to kill the chicken

You could e.g. setup one of your Ubuntu machines as a Nagios server (or any similar service). There are several clients available for Android, like e.g. aNag and uNagi Nagios client on android (the latter even has plugins for Locale/Tasker for more flexibility: Locale uNagi Notifier Plug-in and Locale uNagi Settings Plug-in, so you even can setup automatic actions on your device based on the notifications).

Plenty more of similar solutions available, e.g. with Cacti...

## The simplicistic approach

At the end of your scripts, you could place a line to have them send you a mail to e.g. your GMail address. This can e.g. be done using the `mailx` command:

```
mailx -s "[WooFoo] script finished" johndoe@example.com

```

(of course, replace `johndoe@example.com` with your real address). As soon as that mail arrives, GMail (or any other mail client you use on your Android device) would trigger a notification.

## Enhancing the simple approach

Tasker can react on incoming mail for the GMail app or K-9 Mail. That's why I put the `[WooFoo]` in front of the subject: replace that by any specific keyword which should trigger your *Tasker* action. *Tasker* then can "eat" the mail (so it doesn't stick in your account for manual clean-up) and perform a desired action: play a specific tune, vibrate your phone using a specific pattern, generate a pop-up message, even execute specific JavaScript code (see the Actions section of the Tasker UserGuide for additional ideas).

# Answer
> 0 votes
Why re-invent the wheel? Could you not just re-use an existing service for your notifications, the simplest would just be to use email or Twitter. There are many, many existing ways to hook servers up to send email or Twitter messages, and many clients on Android that will notify you when these arrive, and can prioritise and do different notifications depending on the message.

My server at home has its own Gmail account, it mails me about anything I need to know, and I have rules and prioritisations in my Gmail to sort the messages on their importance, and star them when necessary, and the Android client notifies me.

Big bonus to doing it this way is that you're not tied to checking these notifications on your phone, but have many ways to view and check them on many different platforms.

---
Tags: networking, linux, push-notifications
---


title: GT-I9100G screen replacement

text:
# Question
Title: GT-I9100G screen replacement
I have a GT-I9100G and the screen went bad, I'd like to replace it but all the screen replacements on amazon are for the GT-I9100 version. They look the same but I am still not sure if this will work with my GT-19100G? Any ideas?

# Answer
You should be able to use the same screen type as the I9100, the main difference is the processor.

# Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 vs. GT-I9100G Comparison Guide

> Basically both the I9100 and I9100G have the identical features as claimed by Samsung but the only thing that differentiate both is the processor and GPU that the unit run. I9100 run on 1.2GHz ARM CortexA9 Exynos 4210and ARM Mali-400 GPU while I9100G uses Texas Instruments OMAP4430 CPU and PowerVR SGX540 GPU.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, screen, hardware
---


# Question
Title: Clone and distribute Android 4 device with preloaded applications
This may be related to Clone Android Device but I don't think it fits my need. I'm looking to accomplish something similar to Sysprep for Windows, which would allow me to distribute Android devices with preloaded applications and settings, such as:

1. Intitial data, settings, and connection information
2. Preloaded applications, with proper licenses/keys for non-free applications
3. addon / restriction for users

Is there a way to do this?

# Answer
You would easily be able to do this via a nandroid backup, and there a apps on Google Play that allow you to restrict the device.

The only issue is licenses for apps - they are linked to the Google Account, so you would have to use the same Google Account on every device if you don't want to pay for every app for each Google Account on every device.

This is fine if it is a generic account, but it may not be wanted if it is a personal account.

If you make a nandroid backup with all the apps, and then restore it to all the other devices, it will have the apps, settings and licenses, as well as the Google Account.

I am going to check on Google Play for the app that allows you to limit ability (I know there is at least one).
> 2 votes

# Answer
What you want to do is make your own ROM using a existing one and add more stuff to it. This site would have helped you http://romkitchen.org/ but its now down.

This thread contains more info, including links to more tools.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, backup, multiple-devices
---


# Question
Title: How to flash stock ROM .DZ file on a semi-bricked LG Android phone?
Is it possible to flash a .DZ stock ROM on a LG Android phone (Doubleplay / C729 / Flip II) that doesn't fully load (T-Mobile logo repeats itself)? If yes, how exactly?

Details:

1. Recovery mode has no options, it only displays an unpacking icon for a few seconds.
2. USB debugging is not enabled.
3. USB connection with PC is stable and working.
4. A .DLL file is included with the .DZ file.

Thank you!

# Answer
There is currently no way to do this.

Where did you get the .dz file from?

You would have to ask the prividor to provide a .kdz file as well as the .dz file so you can flash with the KDZ Updater program.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Have you tried using this update tool? It should do the work if it can connect.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, device-firmware, stock-rom
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy S 2 doesn't switch on or go into download mode , yellow triangle with exclamation mark
I had Galaxy S2 with Gingerbread kernel, I needed to upgrade it to ICS. I used Odin 3 v3.04 to download the ICS kernel (I9100) to the phone. I followed the following steps:

1. You start with the phone disconnected from the computer and switched off.
2. Start the SGS2 in download mode: you do this by pressing "Volume down", the "Home" button and the "Power" button at the same time. Don’t release them until the download mode screen appears (it looks totally different from the normal starting screen).
3. Follow the on-screen instructions: 'Continue' by pressing "Volume up".
4. Start Odin 3 on your computer.
5. Click on PDA and select the tar-archive containing the kernel you want to install.
6. DO ONLY check the option boxes "Auto Reboot" and "F. Reset Time".
7. Connect the SGS2 to the PC via USB. The first field of "ID:COM" should turn yellow stating the COM Port of your device. Continue only after this has happened. It can take a couple of seconds.
8. Click `Start` and wait for the flashing process to finish.
9. After that it said "Reset", and I powered off the phone

10.When I switched on the phone Odin said Pass

**\*But now I have a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle, no switch on happening, not able to get into download mode also.*****

# Answer
> 1 votes
Well... you have experienced a soft brick!

You did some thing you didn't need to do, but it's not the end of the world and you can fix it.

1. You flashed an ICS kernel on a GB device - big NO NO, ICS kernel goes to ICS ROM **only**
2. You used Odin 3 when you should have used 1.8

So, how to fix this?

Download *speedmod kernel* for I9100 (i prefer his work) from this site and flash using the correct Odin version

If, as you said, cannot go into download mode you need to get a JIG that will force your device to go to download mode (you have to go into download mode or you can't fix it)

By the way, can you go to recovery? **VOL UP + HOME + POWER?**

---
Tags: updates, samsung-galaxy-s-2, odin
---


title: i5500 update from 2.2 to 2.2.2?

text:
# Question
Title: i5500 update from 2.2 to 2.2.2?
I have got a Samsung Galaxy GT-I5500. Actually there is Froyo 2.2 running on it. I read that with 2.2.2 there got a bunch of bugfixes released. Even though i know Froyo is quite old I never ever read about someone who upraded to Version 2.2.2 though. Everybody seems to stay with 2.2 (or switches to 2.3,...)

That's why I would like to ask if there is a way to switch to 2.2.2 even though my carrier doesn't provide it through kies???

--\> I already found this page Official ROMs for i5500 but I don't really know about the JPJ/JQ3...-Codes. Even though it says that these ROMs should be 2.2.2 I am not really sure about that, because the Codes listed differ quite a lot.

My actual SW-Version: PDA XWJQ3 / PHONE NEJPS / CSC REJP2

# Answer
you can go UN-OFFICIAL , CM7 works great on it... a GB AOSP rom more info HERE
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, updates, samsung-galaxy-5
---


title: Have I completely lost my IMEI?

text:
# Question
Title: Have I completely lost my IMEI?
I'm stuck with the generic IMEI (004999010640000). I've tried a number of the various workarounds (GSII\_Repair, manually deleting the /efs folder, flashing stock and trying both of those from stock, re-flashing CM10 and trying from CM10 again...) with no luck. I was actually missing files in my /efs folder before flashing stock, but even with the full /efs folder I can't find my actual IMEI. So am I screwed?

# Answer
Your handset is not damaged, not totally.

But you do need to get some professional help, someone who is willing to carry out the procedure in restoring it, *provided* that someone has the necessary tools at their disposal.

However, you can fix your IMEI using a highly specialized but expensive *repair box* such as Z3X, NSPro, to name but a few.

Mostly, smartphone users do not have access to them and only repair labs or specialists have them.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, imei
---


# Question
Title: How Can I Root my Sony Ericsson Xperia Tipo Dual?
How can I root my Sony Ericsson Xperia Tipo Dual?

# Answer
Newer devices (with newer build numbers) cannot be rooted using the exploit provided by DoomLord, or any other rootkit exploit, without unlocking the bootloader first.

To unlock the bootloader, follow these steps: (This method can also be used to unlock the bootloader for most Sony Ericsson xPeria devices)

**Check if Your Device's Bootloader can be Unlocked**

Some devices that are branded to a network cannot have their bootloader unlocked. To check if your bootloader can be unlocked, follow these steps:

1. Open your dialer app and dial this number: `*#*#7378423#*#*` \- It will open a hidden service menu.
2. In the new window that opens, go to `Service info->Configuration->Rooting Status` and look at the bottom of the screen. If `Bootloader unlock allowed` says `No` then you cannot unlock the bootloader, and should stop reading now, if it says `Yes` then your bootloader can be unlocked, and you should read on.

**Install the fastboot drivers**

We now need to install the fastboot drivers so your computer can talk to your device in fastboot mode. You need to do the following:

1. Download the Android SDK and install it.
2. Open the SDK Manager, you need to select platform tools and the Google USB Driver Package for download.
3. Once they have downloaded and installed, download this zip file and extract it somewhere you can find it.
4. Open the file by double clicking it. Find the part that starts `; SonyEricsson` and copy that and the text below it (stop when you get to the text that next starts with a semi colon).
5. Paste it somewhere below the line that reads `[Google.NTamd64]` (directly below would be best).
6. Save the file, and copy it to the `C:\where\you\installed\sdk\extras\google\usb_driver` directory. Select to overwrite the existing file.

**Get the bootloader unlock code**

1. Go to this site and enter your IMEI number (You can only enter 14 digits in that box, so you will have to remove the last digit of your IMEI).
2. You should get your unlock code via email - keep it handy.

**Now to unlock the bootloader (stage 1)**

1. Turn off your device. Hold the volume up button, while connecting the USB cable *with it plugged into the computer*. The LED should turn blue (if there is an LED present).
2. Windows should automatically install the Fastboot driver, if it does not you will have to do it manually via the device manager.
3. Go to the `C:\where\you\installed\sdk\extras\google\`, click the the `usb_drivers` folder, press `Ctrl` and `Shift` at the same time as right clicking, and select the `Open command window here` option. A command prompt will open up.

**Now to unlock the bootloader (stage 2)**

1. In the open command prompt window, type `fastboot.exe -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0xKEY` where KEY is the key you got in the email.
2. Your bootloader is now unlocked, and you can proceed to root using a method such as SuperOneClick or another rooting method.

**WARNINGS**

1. Unlocking the bootloader will almost certainly void you warranty. Sony may charge a fee if they need to replace your device due to new software.
2. Unlocking the bootloader will wipe the device - **ALL** your userdata will be erased. This includes all your downloaded apps, and app data, as well as your contacts. If you synced your contacts with Google they will be restored when you log back in. Your device will be as it was when you first turned it on!
> 8 votes

---
Tags: rooting, sony-xperia-tipo
---


# Question
Title: Can I clear out broken/uninstalled apps that still show up in the app list?
I had some apps stored on my SD card that I have since wiped. The apps still show up in my app list in `Settings`-\>`Manage applications`. How do I refresh this list?

Rebooting the phone doesn't help, and clicking on one of the entries causes the Settings app to crash. I even tried wiping the Dalvik Cache, but the missing apps are still listed.

One special thing to note is that I had used Link2SD to link the apps onto a second partition on the SD card. This is different from the built-in Android method of moving to the sd card. Link2SD creates symlinks so that any app can be moved, and the SD card can be mounted on a computer without temporarily disabling the app (because they are on a second, unmounted partition). I don't know if using Link2SD changes my situation.

Note that these uninstalled apps do *not* show up in another application's app list, such as Titanium Backup.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I also had this issue.

I found that if I use link2sd to uninstall the app, it should remove the entry from the app manager.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Not having used *Link2SD* I cannot tell for sure -- but being familiar with the principle, there's one thing that should work with a rooted device:

1. make sure you had removed the files on the Link2SD partition
2. using a (root) file explorer, navigate to `/data/data` and check for symlinks showing the same package names listed in your screenshot. Delete them.

This might still leave "traces" in some system configuration files (for sure this is valid for the `packages.xml` which stores the apps' permissions). SD Maid - System cleaning tool should be able to clean up most of the remains.

Still, this manual approach is not 100% "clean". Another option might involve re-installing *Link2SD* and see whether you can cleanly remove the apps with it (or even re-installing the apps, moving them again with *Link2SD* in case this didn't happen automatically due to the symlinks, and then removing them again).

If all else fails, one ugly but very clean solution remains: a *factory reset*. Don't forget to backup everything before this -- you've got *Titanium Backup* to take care for this step, as your question states.

---
Tags: applications, link2sd
---


title: Use fixed keyboard for a given app

text:
# Question
Title: Use fixed keyboard for a given app
I would like to tell my Android that when I'm in a given app it should switch to a given keyboard. My use case is that I want to use Hacker keyboard with Connectbot.

# Answer
> 4 votes
You could use Tasker for this. In case you don't know it: *Tasker* is the most complete automation tool for Android, combining "conditions" with "tasks" to so-called "profiles". For your case, the Profile could look like this:

**Condition:** App (select *Connectbot*)
**Task:** Input Method Select

From the *Tasker* manual:

> Show the Android Input Method picker dialog.
>
> If some methods you have installed are not shown, make sure they are enabled in Android settings.
>
> **Note: unfortunately Android does not allow changing of the input method without user iteraction.**

So from the last sentence you see, your final goal cannot be achieved. All you can get is the picker popping up, but you still have to pick your desired IME yourself. If you first want to try out whether that works for you, there's a 7-day trial version of *Tasker* available at their homepage.

# Answer
> 3 votes
AFAIK there is no any such option. I fear you will have to manually go and change the input settings every time. In case you are using Android 4.0 or above, whenever you have your keyboard on you will get an ongoing notification in the notification panel, you can tap on it to quickly switch between keyboards. If you cannot see your keyboard listed there, make sure you have it selected in Input settings. That's the best you can do.

---
Tags: keyboard
---


# Question
Title: How do you force Google Search App to keep Safe Search Filtering on
My son just got a Nexus 4. I installed K9 Web Protection which does things like blocking other browsers, forces Safe Search to be on, but it also blocks Google Now by default. He really wants Google Now, but I do not want to allow Safe Search to be turned off.

At the moment, I see no way to keep Safe Search enabled on Google Now. Does anybody know how I can do this? Thanks.

Oh, this is on Nexus 4, Android 4.2.

# Answer
After quite a bit of searching and testing I don't think it's possible to do. Even locking SafeSearch on your Google account on the PC doesn't change it for the phone.

Regardless of this I would imagine that if your son can turn SafeSearch off even if you did lock it he would probably try getting around K9. This isn't too hard, there's even a suggested method in the product reviews, it apparently doesn't stop you from browsing within another app.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-now, nexus-4, filter
---


# Question
Title: Redeem Google Checkout coupon on Google Play
Are Google Checkout coupons redeemable on Google Play?

I've created a coupon on Google Checkout for a paid Android App on Google Play but when trying to buy it as a user, I can't find the place to enter it. On one device I saw a "Redeem" option along with the credit card but when I entered my coupon code, it returned an error message. Is there any way to make this work?

# Answer
There is no way to use coupon codes with Google Play.
> 1 votes

# Answer
There is a way to use Promo Codes now. It's kind of hidden but it's there. Just find the app you want to buy in Google Play and click the buy button and continue until you get to the Payment Options window. Now click the "Pay With:" dropdown and select "Redeem Google Play Gift Card or Promo Code". You'll now have a box for entering Promo Codes.

<sub>(Click image to enlarge)</sub>
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, paid-apps, google-checkout
---


# Question
Title: Can we connect a normal earphone / headphone to a Android device?
Can we connect a normal earphone / headphone (those that we connect to the Desktop PC) to the Android phone or devices?

This is because I notice that the one on the left (the original one that come with the phone) have 4 connector but the one we use on Desktop PC have 3 connector.

Was wondering if it will short-circuit and damage the phone or the port itself.

# Answer
> 16 votes
The typical audio only jack has 3 rings, usually call Tip, Ring, Sleeve (**TRS**). These typically map to *Left*, *Right*, and *Ground*. Phone manufactures wanted to make this jack work with existing headphone so they used a connector with 4 rings, called Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve (**TRRS**). These map to *Left*, *Right*, and *Ground* just like the 3 ring, but the final connector maps to a *microphone*. This makes it so that if you plug an audio only cable into it, **the microphone input gets connected to ground so nothing is hurt**. It also means that if a headset with microphone is connected to an audio only device, the microphone is connected to ground, also hurting nothing.

Sources:

# Answer
> 6 votes
Yes, a "regular" set of headphones will work just fine, in much the same way that a single-channel earphone works in a stereo headphone jack. The other bits are for the microphone and the controls, but since your headphones won't have those it won't matter.

I have had occasion to use 1st generation iPod earbuds as well as some generic earbuds in my Galaxy Nexus. My daughter uses a pair of headphones I had lying around (that are probably ten years old) in her phone when she's at home listening to music. At *worst* you may find a channel doesn't work (no sound in one ear) but you don't need to worry about shorting out or damaging anything.

Wikipedia has more information than you could possibly want to know about 3.5mm connectors.

---
Tags: hardware, headphone-jack, compatibility
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to keep track when my Android phone is startup and when it is shutdown?
Where can I get the information about when and what time my Android phone is being shut down and also being start up. (shut down / start up - meaning that someone press the Power button to cause it to shut down / start up OR a program that cause it to start it or shut it.)

Information should look something similar like the following:

```
=========================================================
| Date          |  Time       |  Operation |   By       |
=========================================================
| 12 Dec 2012   |  11:59 PM   | Shutdown   |   User     |
| 13 Dec 2012   |  10:00 AM   | Startup    |   User     |
| 13 Dec 2012   |  10:59 AM   | Shutdown   |   Program  |
| 13 Dec 2012   |  02:16 PM   | Startup    |   User     |
=========================================================

```

If the shut down or start up is caused by a Program, it would be better to display the program name that cause it to shutdown.

Prefer method that does not require rooting and for Android version below 4.

# Answer
> 1 votes
My standard recommendation again here: Tasker, the most complete automation solution available for Android. *Tasker* can react on different events and perform tasks when they occur. So you could setup two profiles:

* **Profile "Startup":**
    + *Condition:* Device Boot (this is `boot_completed`))
    + *Task:* Write File (with your information specified in the parameters)
* **Profile "Shutdown":**
    + *Condition:* Device Shutdown
    + *Task:* Write File (with your information specified in the parameters)

For the text you can use Variables like e.g. `%DATE`. Only difficulty will be to determine whether the shutdown was caused by the user or a program -- no easy recipe here, especially not for un-rooted devices. This information *might* be extracted from the system logs somehow; but starting with JellyBean, this would require root permissions.

---
Tags: boot, shutdown
---


# Question
Title: I want to remove credit card information from Play Store
Please let me know how can I change my credit card information that I entered when I set up the Play Store.

# Answer
Go to payments.google.com, sign in with the same account you used to set up the Play Store, select **Payment Methods**, click the **Edit** or **Remove** link next to the card you want to edit/delete

For more info, refer to the Google Payments Help Center
> 8 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, privacy
---


# Question
Title: support of Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean CM10 ROM on Samsung Galaxy Ace s5830
Is possible to update with this jelly bean version? I have updated my phone with this jelly bean version and when i am rebooting it then it is showing only samsung start screen. I don't get further screen to show my phone start desktop! Please help me. Any suggestions are welcomed!

# Answer
According to the CyanogenMod Devices Overview page the Samsung Galaxy Ace is not supported by CM9 and CM10. The download page for the Galaxy Ace only has CM7 ROMs and the links for CM9 and 10 lead to their Google Plus post about not supporting first generation Snapdragon devices past the CM7 branch. That post can be seen here.

It looks like someone may have compiled a CM10 "Lite" ROM from the CM source that can be found here and someone at XDA compiled a full ROM here. If you installed either of those I would suggest rebooting into recovery and clearing data, cache, etc. and then try re-flashing the ROM. There's also a list of ROMs in XDA's development forum here.
> 2 votes

# Answer
It seems that you have a boot loop or some other booting problem. You can try clearing Dalvik cache and rebooting.

To clear Dalvik Cache, press and hold home button when phone is booting. This takes you to CWM. Go to Advanced \> Wipe Dalvik cache.

If that doesn't fix, data wipe-\>flash ROM-\>wipe dalvik cache and reboot. If it still doesn't boot, I suggest reverting to CM7 otherwise.

CM support for Ace is patchy beyond CM7 (I learnt this the hard way after flashing my aunt's phone with an experimental CM9 build).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, 4.1-jelly-bean, rom-flashing, samsung-galaxy-ace
---


title: Phone interrupted during update

text:
# Question
Title: Phone interrupted during update
I was updating my phone using Kies and the download was interrupted. My phone now has a black screen with a little phone, a yellow triangle with an exclamation point, and a computer on it. I cannot put the phone into recovery mode, and the Kies application has a little icon on it that says "emergency recovery" but when I click on it I then get a message that says

> TODO: has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program.

I called Samsung, but they were no help at all. Their representative didn't even know what icon I was talking about. She just suggested that I take the battery out or try to put my phone in recovery mode, even though I kept explaining I already tried those things.

# Answer
You can try taking it to third-party repair shop. It might work better than Samsung as they do not care if you voided your warranty or not.
> -3 votes

---
Tags: updates, samsung, samsung-kies
---


title: Modifying stock firmware

text:
# Question
Title: Modifying stock firmware
I would like to modify the stock firmware to remove certain apps which i do not want to have available on my phone.

The source code for my phone is available on the Samsung website but there is no information on how one goes about in actually customizing building and installing it.

For an open source project its kind of weird that the information is not readily available on a quick google.

Any pointers to howtos or articles would be highly appreciated.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Apart from the AOSP code that Google provides, Android devices also require lots of device specific code, especially kernel, GPU drivers, radios etc. These are released by the manufacturer some time after the official update is out. 4.2 source is out only for some of Nexus devices yet (and not all of them).

Nexus devices are the easiest to build custom ROMs on, for obvious reasons. If your device source is released, you can find specific guides for devices - like Nexus 7 Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S(which I use), Kindle HD etc. Google "compile jellybean from source" and you will get guides for your device (4.1 for now).

---
Tags: custom-roms
---


# Question
Title: In Galaxy S3 call history, does the orange arrow mean incoming or outgoing call?
Though this is may sound very trivial, this is not a troll question. I do not own an android phone and need to know for something.

# Answer
Orange right pointing arrow is outgoing. Green left pointing is incoming received.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, call-history
---


# Question
Title: How to enable voice-activation of S Voice when in car?
I am only interested in using **S Voice** with voice activation (i.e. "Hi Galaxy!") when driving.

Is there any way to activate **S Voice** when I plug my **Samsung Galaxy S3** into my car's charger?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Take a look at the app Tasker. Also the free app Llama may also be able to do this.

Tasker and Llama automate tasks on your phone. So you can have them say *IF* this condition (car charger plugged in) *THEN* do something (activate SVoice).

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, voice-command, voice-recognition, s-voice
---


# Question
Title: Can I turn off wifi, GPS, etc. on Android phone overnight?
I'd like for my Android phone to automatically turn off some features overnight to save battery, and re-enable them in the morning. Among the things I'd like to turn do:

* Turn off wifi
* Turn off the GPS
* Use only 2G data networks

I don't need any fancy idle detection. I'd be happy with the ability to do this from, say, 12am to 6am.

What Android apps are good for this sort of thing?

# Answer
> 7 votes
If you don't mind paying for an app, then this is very similar to the sort of thing that Locale for Android does, you can set it to switch stuff on or off, or run apps on your phone when certain conditions like fine/coarse location, etc are met. There are also quite a few Locale plugins (many of them free) available on the market that give it loads of extra functionality.

# Answer
> 7 votes
I use Tasker to do exactly that, and much (much) more. Whether or not it can switch between 2G and 3G seems to depend on the handset, which you don't mention. Here is an example from the Tasker Wiki, showing how to set the phone into Airplane mode at night.

Note that the GPS only uses power if something uses it, so turning it off is highly unlikely to make any meaningful difference to your battery life.

# Answer
> 6 votes
Maybe SweetDreams can do the work for you. According to a ruleset it will turn off bluetooth, wifi and select the ringtone configuration of your choice during a determinate time range.

# Answer
> 5 votes
I use Llama to do similar things on a schedule, e.g. put my phone on silent while I'm at work during working hours, turn off Wi-Fi when I leave home, and so on.

You can set events to occur based on where you are among other conditions such as time/date, screen on/off, battery level, etc. Llama learns locations based on the cell towers that are in range rather than your Wi-Fi or GPS location, so it does not eat into your battery at all. Llama does not require root. I find it very easy to use and now that I have it configured the way I want, I don't ever look at it unless I want to change something.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I use Timeriffic (free) which will turn on/off wifi, gps, change ringer, brightness etc. based on timed schedules.

Unfortunately "Use only 2G data networks" is not in the options.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Also, if you use Juicedefender https://market.android.com/details?id=com.latedroid.juicedefender&hl=en that has an option for night mode with everything you were talking about and more, JuiceDefender is pretty awesome anyway. Lastly, if you have rooted your phone, Cyanogenmod http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ also has a night mode.

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can certainly do it based on your location: http://www.twofortyfouram.com/product.html

I have enquired of their support whether you can use time as one of the switching criteria, I would be surprised if you could not. Even if it isn't available out of the box, there is a plugin system and scripting that I am sure would do it.

I do not own the app so I cannot comment on it's efficacy, but I have seen good references.

* edit

Response from developer

> Can Locale be made to switch situations based on time alone, such as going silent at night regardless of location? John

-

> Hi John,
>
> Yes!

# Answer
> 0 votes
Silence can toggle your ringer, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and airplane mode settings automatically over scheduled intervals.

> Features:
>
> * Simple, intuitive Holo-themed interface
> * Schedule events that occur once, or repeat on certain days of the week
> * Change your ringer to silent, vibrate, or normal mode
> * Turn Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and airplane mode on and off
> * Change your settings back automatically when the scheduled event ends

There is also a paid version without ads.

---
Tags: wi-fi, gps, automation
---


# Question
Title: Can I use a external Bluetooth Adapter on an Android Tablet without internal bluetooth?
I bought this Android 4.0 tablet but apparently it doesn't have internal bluetooth. I would like to ask if its possible to connect an external bluetooth device so that I can transfer my files from my laptop to the tablet.

# Answer
To add to the other two responses, I'd venture that if the tablet is low-end enough to not include Bluetooth internally, then it's not going to be able to handle an external adapter well or at all. I'd also second the recommendation for airdroid. Wifi is much more ubiquitous as a form of connectivity for devices, be they laptops, tablets, or desktop PC's. Why futz with Bluetooth when you already have a workable solution?
> 2 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth
---


# Question
Title: Why doesn't my device ever show 100% charged?
I have a Samsung Google Nexus S I9020A which showed fully charged @ 92%. 100% charging doesn't seem possible. What is the reason?

# Answer
> 2 votes
A Google engineer said (on Google+, I think) that Nexus phones are designed to not charge the battery to 100 %, as it is stressful for the battery. Even when a phone shows 100% and charged, the circuitry actually charges and discharges the battery, always keeping it under 100% (and above 92%, I think).

I tried to find the source, but Google search hasn't turned anything up yet. Will add it here if I find it later.

So when your device does not show 100%, do not panic. That's by design.

---
Tags: battery, samsung-nexus-s, charging
---


# Question
Title: How do I create a ClockworkMod installation package?
I'm a seasoned Linux veteran and recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 from T-Mobile. I've been feeling the tinkering bug, so I opted to download the source code from Samsung's site and start fiddling.

My problem is that I've already got ClockworkMod installed on my phone, so I don't want to odin flash a new kernel and thereby corrupt ClockworkMod, so I'm looking for details on how to create a proper ClockworkMod install package (generally/always a zip file?) so that I can test the newly compiled kernels.

My searching on google thus far has brought up naught. The ClockworkMod page seems to be pretty barren of documentation. Can anyone point me to some documentation on the install package creation process?

# Answer
The required part of a kernel .zip file looks like this:

```
META-INF
    com
        google
            android
                update-binary
                updater-script

```

You'll also want to have the kernel `zImage` file somewhere else, easiest if you just have it in the root of the archive.

`updater-script` contains the following at minimum (assumes `zImage` in the root):

```
assert(package_extract_file("zImage", "/tmp/zImage");
       write_raw_image("/tmp/zImage", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p8");
       delete("/tmp/zImage")
);

```

You can also do things like show a progress bar, print messages, wipe `/cache`, and so on.

You'll want to grab `update-binary` from another kernel package for the SGS2. One at random is attached to this XDA post.

I tested this method on my SGS Vibrant without issue, using a kernel from an Odin package and an `update-binary` from another Vibrant kernel .zip. Note that this is perfectly safe as long as you're writing to the correct partition -- for the Vibrant it was `bml17`, for the SGS2 it appears to be `mmcblk0p5` (based on the kernel from XDA I linked above) or `mmcblk0p8` if you're flashing an entire boot image (see comments below). You'll want to verify it for sure. Worst case your kernel doesn't work and you flash a known good one.
> 8 votes

# Answer
I've found you can use fastboot without affecting CWM.

```
sudo /path/to/fastboot boot boot.img

```

or

```
sudo /path/to/fastboot flash:raw boot /path/to/zImage /path/to/ramdisk.img

```
> -1 votes

---
Tags: installation, clockworkmod-recovery
---


# Question
Title: Limited internal storage, how to shift stuff to sd card
Total Available Internal storage on my Sony Ericsson is ~412MB. This is really low but many apps apparently need to be installed there and others still need a footprint even after being shifted to SD card.

What's the best way around this if I want to install more apps?

It's a shocking bit of design to be honest, unless I'm derping and completely missing out on something easy.

# Answer
There are many "\*2SD" methods, and they generally involve root access.

My personal favorite is Link2SD. It uses symlinks, which take up (practically) no space. The actual program, data, libraries, etc are stored on a second partition on your SD card. This comes with the downside of actually having to create two partitions on your SD card (meaning it will have to be formatted).

If you have root, you likely have a custom recovery installed that can automatically partition your SD card.

The upside of multiple partitions is that you can mount your sd card when plugged into a computer without causing the apps to disappear from your device. This is because only one partition is actually unmounted from android and mounted on the computer, and the other partition holding your apps is never unmounted.
> 6 votes

# Answer
The easiest way to get around this is to root your device and use an app that forces apps to the SD Card (e.g. DroidSail Super App2SD).

**Limitations of This**

* Apps installed on the SD Card wont have widgets - they will be broken.
* Apps will not be loaded until the SD Card is mounted.

## Some Alternatives

* Use the Link2SD app to move apps to the second partition of your SD Card

**Pros**

* Can move libs, and dalvik-cache which take up loads of memory
* Widgets still work
* Apps mounted during boot

**Cons**

* Also needs root
* Needs a second partition on your SD Card.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, sd-card, internal-storage, storage, insufficient-memory
---


title: Get internet access via bluetooth

text:
# Question
Title: Get internet access via bluetooth
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> Is Internet tethering possible on Android phone via bluetooth or WiFi?
> Tethering Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (GT-P3110) via Nokia E71

In the era of PDA's most of them could connect to internet by pairing them with internet enabled dumbphones.

I would like to do the same with an android device however I can't seem to find ANY app that would allow me to do that. There's a few that allow you to share the android devices internet access via bluetooth but not the other way around.

Is there an app out there that would allow me to access internet via bluetooth? Is it available natively in some android version? (Device that I have is 2.3.5 and I don't have access to newer versions)

(Maybe someone would like to write one?)

# Answer
What you are looking for is called (or "reverse tethering"), the word "reverse" explaining what your question mentions as *the other way around*. *Reverse Tether* is available via WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB -- but in most cases requires your device to be rooted.

You might want to search the playstore for "reverse tether", results are limited (currently 9 apps show up). Also follow the tag-link in the previous paragraph to find other questions. One that certainly matches your request is Is Internet tethering possible on Android phone via bluetooth or WiFi?. Also take a look at the questions mentioned in the "Related" section of this page (on the right-hand, if you're using a desktop browser).
> 2 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, tethering, bluetooth-tethering
---


# Question
Title: Will an Asus Transformer Pad Infinity work in the UK if I ship it over from USA
I want to ship my Asus Transformer Pad Infinity from the USA to the UK as it's cheaper. Will I run into any compatibility issues? (It does not have 3G.)

# Answer
The Transformer Pad Infinity itself would function fine in the UK. You would probably have an issue with the US charger and would need to get an adapter or charge via USB. As far as I can tell GPS and WiFi should work the same no matter where in the world you are.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I have the original Transformer Eee Pad (great device highly recommend any version of Transformer tablets). I actually took it to Europe this summer (I live in the US) and it worked fine EXCEPT for a couple of things:

-As ZnewmaN said, you will have to get a converter for the charger (if you plan to plug it into any sort of outlet).

-I believe the Google Play store MAY be slightly different. I know in France it was (content such as music and books were unavailable when I tried to access Google Play from my tablet in France (I didn't try it in the UK). It is very possible that this is not the case in the UK but you should be aware of it.

Yes, GPS and WiFi work just as well. I tried both in England with out a hitch. Hope this helps clear things up.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: compatibility, localization
---


# Question
Title: Will flashing ROMs multiple times degrade the performance of phone?
Will flashing ROMs multiple times degrade the performance of phone? If yes, is it possible to retain the performance? If no, then is there any procedure or sequence to flash a ROM on a Samsung Galaxy S?

# Answer
> 6 votes
If you always wipe the device between ROMs (clear system, boot, cache, etc \[not `data`\]), then there should never be any degradation of performance. While flash memory does have a theoretical write limit, you won't make any sort of noticeable dent in the life of the device by constantly switching ROMs to try out new ones.

However, if you don't do a full wipe, you could see performance issues creep up. More likely, you'll run into bugs and random crashes as files left over from a previous ROM conflict with the new ROM. This is why you should always do a full wipe if you are installing a brand new ROM.

As for how to flash a ROM for your particular device, xda-developer forums for the Galaxy S are a good place to look. They list instructions on how to root the phone, install ROMs, and other helpful guides.

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, rom-flashing
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title: How can I redirect a call, incall

text:
# Question
Title: How can I redirect a call, incall
I want to get a call from somebody and after talking with him redirect that person to another number, on my charge, like call-centers do. Is that possible and if that's so, there is any application that can do that?

Thanks

# Answer
I guess you could do this using the "Conference Call" trick on android (natively!).

*The screenshots below are for vanilla Froyo (Android 2.2) and may vary with your version/dialer app.*

During your call (Don't hang up the call), after talking to that person, press the "Menu" button on your android. Press "Add Call" from the menu.

Dial and call the number you wish to "redirect" for him. (on your charge! (which is what you asked for right?) Means you will lose money for this call as if you are calling it)

Now press menu button again when call connects. Press on "merge call".

Finally, Press the menu button again and click on "mute" to make them think you have terminated your call. (you mute yourself but you can hear the conversation between him and the "redirected" call)

Remember, while doing these, you will be charged for 2 calls simultaneously!
> 5 votes

# Answer
The feature you're looking for is known as *call transfer*. It's pretty common on office PBX and VoIP systems, but is virtually never seen with mobile phones. The existence of such a feature would require some intelligence in both the device and cooperation from the carrier's equipment, both of which are generally absent. As far as I know, there is nothing in the Android source code to support this feature.

In short, no, it's not really possible.
> 1 votes

# Answer
While it may not be exactly what you're looking forward to, Google Voice has something like this.

If a caller calls your google voice number, all the phone you have registered ring at once. So you pick up the call on your home phone, then decide you want to go out. Google Voice lets you press 4, and it starts ringing the other phones again (without the other caller hearing anything). All you do is pick up the cell phone, and your call is transferred seamlessly.

I only post this in case someone is looking for this specific solution. Otherwise, you'll have to host your own PBX (like Asterisk) and set it up yourself. Android (well, specifically the cell carrier) doesn't have this option.
> 1 votes

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Tags: calls, call-screening, caller-id
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# Question
Title: How to access a webservice running on a Win7 PC from an unrooted Android device via USB?
I have a use case where my app running on an Android device need to communicate with a web service running on a Windows 7 PC. This was achieved using wifi successfully. But now I need to achieve this using USB connection as we may not have wifi working at the customer's location.

The Android device is unrooted. I can not use a reverse tethering app as it needs the device to be rooted.

The following link has the same question but doesn't have an answer - Accessing localhost of PC from USB connected Android mobile device

Does anybody have an answer for this?

# Answer
> 0 votes
I normally do this by using the WiFi tethering option built into Android - and it works perfectly.

As of this moment, the only way you may be able to do it via USB is using ADB, but I have tried using multiple apps and have never got it to work.

# Answer
> 0 votes
To access localhost of PC through USB tethering on android, Do the following:-

1. Assign a static IP to the PC or find the internal IP of the PC.
2. Make sure USB tethering is active.
3. Using stock browser, disable proxies and type in the static IP (internal IP) of the PC.

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Tags: usb, windows
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