title: Location History Accuracy?

text:
# Question
Title: Location History Accuracy?
Ok, I have a big problem! My fiance says he was at lunch while google location history shows that for over an hour he was in the hotel next door to the restaurant. He has a Galaxy 3.

The dots at the bottom of the screen are from the restaurant and the dots up at the top are the hotel. None of the blue circles from the 2 locations run into one another either.

How likely is it that this is inaccurate?

# Answer
Izzy, in his comment, linked this previous question which explains how Location data is gathered. I recommend reading it for a better understanding of the technology. (It also seems to be contextually applicable)

In this case, the phone was most likely assuming that it was inside the hotel because it could see the hotel's Wifi access point.
> 0 votes

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Tags: google-location-history
---


# Question
Title: System Indicator icon, what does it mean?
What does it mean when the system indicator icon (red triangle with a white exclamation point in the center) shows up next to the phone number I sent a text to?

# Answer
> 0 votes
That icon means the text is not sent. Just click on that text and it will push the typed text into compose box, you just have to press send.

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Tags: system
---


# Question
Title: In Explorer, after performing factory reset Google play store converted to Market place
I performed factory data reset of my another device "HTC Explorer". And before performing the reset Play store was there but now it disappears, and instead of play store now its Market place. So how to convert Market place to Google Play Store again?

# Answer
> 4 votes
Google Play was formerly Android Market. Your phone would originally have had Android Market (I am assuming its an old one, probably Gingerbread). When you did a factory reset all the updates were reverted back included on Android Market (aka Google Play).

Android Market automatically updates itself so give it some time and it should update itself to Google Play.

---
Tags: google-play-store, factory-reset, htc-explorer
---


# Question
Title: Can I convert a Google Drive spreadsheet to Excel format from my phone?
My work has blocked access to Google Docs. I need to print off something which is on there.

At my laptop at home, I normally just export a google document to excel format but on the app version, it allows me to "send" it to an email address but it seems to send it only in PDF format.

Is there a way I can export it into excel spreadsheet from the android app and send it to my work email.

# Answer
seems the only way to do it was to open up the document through the browser, selecting desktop mode.

Then "View spreadsheet mode" right at the bottom. Then it'll load it up like it would if you loaded it from a computer. Then you can select File -\> Email as Attachment.

Bit of a crappy process...
> 1 votes

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Tags: google-drive
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title: Get the internet from my PC

text:
# Question
Title: Get the internet from my PC
I only have Internet connection from LAN through Linux PC.

How can I connect my Android 2.1 to the Internet though USB cable?

# Answer
If you're rooted you can use this...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jasongong.tether.usb

There are other apps out there that do the same, but that one looks reliable and is free.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.1-eclair, internet, usb-tethering, reverse-tether
---


title: How to use Google Text-to-Speech?

text:
# Question
Title: How to use Google Text-to-Speech?
Today, I got the update of Google Text-to-Speech on my HTC One X. I was able to configure it and even listen to an example. But how do I use it? The Play Store description states that it can be used with Google Play Books, Google Translate, and many other applications in Play Store.

But what if I have a page on my Firefox or Pocket app which I want to read it out? How do I use Google Text-to-Speech with that? Also, this app does **not** show up in my app drawer. Any reason why?

# Answer
Because Google Text-to-Speech isn't really an *app*: it's a *library app*. That is, it doesn't have a user interface for you to interact with; rather, it offers an interface to other apps to use its functionality. Other apps on the phone can give text to Google Text-to-Speech for it to speak out loud.

It's up to the author of the app in question to use the facility offered by Google Text-to-Speech: only apps that have been written to use it can do so. So if you want Firefox to use Google Text-to-Speech to read out web pages, you need to file a feature request with Mozilla (the organization that develops Firefox) asking them to support this.

For the same reason, the way you use it in an app that does support it, such as Google Play Books, is different from app to app. There might be a button or menu item to read text out, or there might be a setting to make the app read things out automatically.
> 5 votes

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Tags: google-speech-services
---


# Question
Title: Unwanted unlock code screen on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
This screen has been appearing lately. It appears in a few seconds after I have inserted a SIM card, rebooted the device, and draw the right pattern or inputted the right unlock code. The screenshot of the unwanted code is below.

Model number: GT-N8000. Android version: 4.1.2 (stock).

# Answer
No more unwanted unlock screen. Something might have been wrong with the firmware.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This looks like you have a tablet with SIM lock.

You have to unlock your tablet to use another SIM card (or a SIM card from another provider). You have to contact the provider which has sold the tablet for the first time.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: lock-screens, bugs, samsung-galaxy-note-10.1
---


title: Where to store (personal) files?

text:
# Question
Title: Where to store (personal) files?
What is the best place in the Android (4.4 or similar) file system to save some documents (.pdf, personal docs, other files, music, ...)? In other words, is there a specific folder where one can create a home directory and put in files without having to fear that it is wiped out by (updates of) Android?

# Answer
> 2 votes
*Note that this is not guranteed to be the case with every update, and may vary from device to device. However, in every case I'm familiar with, this has held true.*

OTA/Automatic updates (and many *but not all* ROMs installed with a custom Recovery) will generally ignore anything inside the `/sdcard/` directory. I keep everything in there and whenever I switch ROMs or update, that directory stays safe as long as whatever I'm installing doesn't require a factory reset.

**Devices with no physical SD Card slot** such as Nexus, and Kindle Fires have treated that sort of as the default `/home/user/` directory. Downloads from Chrome go to `/sdcard/Download/` by default. Music gets downloaded to `/sdcard/Music/` etc...

**Devices with a physical SD Card slot** seem to use that as the mount point for an inserted card. You can use it if you have a card inserted - otherwise, it's not available.

* Some devices will be different. As Izzy noted, the external SD card can have a different default mountpoint such as `/sdcard/external_sd/` or something with `/extSD/`. It could realistically be any point that the manufacturer or ROM builder decides on.

**Having said that, it's always a good idea to keep your data backed up.** I haven't had any emergencies, and my data in the directory has never been wiped when I wasn't expecting it, but it's always best to be safe.

---
Tags: file-system, 4.4-kitkat
---


title: Galaxy S GT-I9000 is slow

text:
# Question
Title: Galaxy S GT-I9000 is slow
My GT-I9000 takes ages to come "alive" after powering up. It has been slow for a while, but now it has gotten even slower, anything up to 10 minutes sometimes. When it activates, everything works fine.

I was wondering if it is the loaded software that is causing the problem. Firmware is Gingerbread 2.3.6 XXJW4/XXJW4/OXAJW5. I have done a full factory reset and cleared the cache, but it does not make any difference. Can anyone help please?

# Answer
Had the exact same problem. It went away when I uninstalled the Facebook app.
> 1 votes

# Answer
The official Firmware runs Touchwiz, which is a known Resourcehog, in addition to 2.x having known occasional performance issues with the Mediascanner.

I recommend flashing the latest stable CyanogenMod release.

Although you will sacrifice a few features, such as FM Radio - which can be restored with specific Kernels and Apps which use the functionality, it is very much worth the initial time investment in aspects of performance.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, performance
---


# Question
Title: Can the Fitbit sync with a Google Nexus 10?
I have a Nexus 10 running Android 4.3. Can the Fitbit sync with this device? This compatibility page doesn't explicitly list it, but I'm guessing it may work, based on the bluetooth requirements, which I believe are satisfied by Android 4.3. But before spending a lot of money, I'd like to be sure.

Has anyone used this combination successfully?

# Answer
I borrowed a friend's Fitbit and tried to sync it with my Nexus 10. I enabled Bluetooth. I then installed the Fitbit app and logged in as him. There is no option anywhere to sync the device.

I then logged out, and created a new account. On a compatible device, once the account is created, it prompts you to sync a Fitbit device. This question is never asked on the Nexus 10.

Circumstantial additional evidence comes from the large number of unhappy reviews citing device compatibility on the Fitbit app page.

So it is confirmed that despite the probable existence of the necessary bluetooth hardware/software, at the time of writing Fitbit devices **cannot** be synced with the Nexus 10.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-nexus-10, fitness
---


# Question
Title: Must the Nexus 4 be rooted in order to install custom ROMs?
Do I need to root my nexus 4 in order to install custom roms such as cyanogenmod etc or just unlocking bootloader is enough as i have flashed my nexus with ubuntu 13.10 by just unlocking bootloader?

# Answer
You don't need to root to install ROMs on a Nexus 4. Just unlocking the bootloader and installing a custom recovery (Such as TWRP or CWM) through `fastboot` is all you need to start installing custom Android builds.
> 1 votes

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Tags: rooting, rom-flashing, nexus-4
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# Question
Title: Protecting my Google identity in case my Android device gets stolen?
My devices are all linked to my main Google account. This is encouraged, almost required, by Android, for example to make my Google Play apps available everywhere. However, it requires me to store my main Google password on the device, which provides access to a ton of sensitive data: all email, Drive documents, Google Wallet.

What can I do to protect myself in case one of my devices gets stolen?

The devices I currently have are Google Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

# Answer
Google now has a device manager as part of Google services where you can do a remote wipe:

https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager

At least put a pin lock on your device so that it will be harder to access.

Don't enable Developer Options / keep adb on all the time.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: security, 4.3-jelly-bean, samsung-galaxy-note-10.1, 4.4-kitkat, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: Nexus S and phone charger get unusually hot when plugged in
I was using my Nexus S today and it turned off suddenly. I plugged it in to charge and saw it load to the boot splash screen, and then I went to sleep.

When I woke up 2 hours later my phone was dead. I plugged it in to the charge for another half an hour, but both the phone and the charger started getting very hot. I tested my charger and battery with another phone and both seemed to work properly without the excess heat. What happened to my phone that's causing it to heat up like this?

# Answer
If there's a short in the USB port on the phone it can cause charging to stop and heating up to occur. I guess that's well past your warranty period, but you could still take it into a phone shop and ask about getting the port replaced. I just had that done on my Galaxy Nexus and it only took about 15 minutes once the part came in.
> 0 votes

# Answer
There are 90% chances of it should be a hardware defect. Most probably the micro USB pins inside your Nexus might have been damaged. Also there is a possibility of your battery nearing its lifetime. Sometimes one in a million batteries die young. So I advice you to check your phone with another compatible battery.
> 0 votes

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


# Question
Title: How to root and flash a android Galaxy Ace s5830t?
i am trying to root my device which has android 2.3 in it. The reason is something has gone wrong and wifi and bluethooth are not functioning. every time i try connect, it says error and automatically gets disabled. so i decided to, root the device and install a fresh ROM. i am able to root it but when trying to install the ROM it doesnt allow me. it prioritizes TELSTRA.

Any help on this is highly appreciated from android geeks.

**EDIT1**

i was able to flash it and now there is a problem that phone is not starting up. its stucked in well come screen for more than half and hour now. but i saw in the screen instead of galaxy ace S5830T it shows S5830 which is a change. anyways to recover this kind of a situation ?

# Answer
According to this old XDA post it's the same as the S5830. I'm not really sure though, you need to investigate this on your own if have doubt. Note also, that your S5830 is a legacy device and only really runs Android 2.3 well.

So you could either follow CyanogenMod's installation instructions for the S5830 or search the S5830 section on XDA here.

Note: If you want to replace the stock firmware, you don't have to root it in the first place; it's not needed to be able to flash it. You'll have root with the modded firmware, then.
> 1 votes

# Answer
If you have a Micro SD card, download a different ROM to your phone. My phone wouldn't ring after I did a factory reset, changing the ROM worked for me. If you don't have a Miscro SD then connect your phone to the computer and open your files for the phone to see the direct path and move from your computer to your phone. If you don't have the new OS on your computer goto http://d-h.st/TxQ to download the Dark Unicorn ROM, you will need a zip extractor, either on your computer or your phone.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, wi-fi, rom-flashing, root-access, samsung-galaxy-ace
---


# Question
Title: Can I see my Play Store wishlist on the web?
Google Play store recently gained a long-awaited wishlist feature in the 3.9.16 version of the application. I was wondering whether the wishlist could be modified from the web version of the Play Store while using e.g. a PC. I looked for around the website but wasn't able to find a way to do it, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Also, would the wishlist sync to all Android devices connected to the same Google account, or is it just local to the device it has been set up on?

# Answer
EDIT: Yes - As Al points out in the comments, the url is https://play.google.com/wishlist

Old Answer:

Basically no.

The same question was asked on Reddit. It's not a stretch of the imagination to assume that they will roll out a web version, but as yet there's been no official word from Google.
> 13 votes

# Answer
> I was wondering whether the wishlist could be modified from the web version of the Play Store while using e.g. a PC.

So far it is not possible, we must wait for the new web version of the Play Store.

> Also, would the wishlist sync to all Android devices connected to the same Google account, or is it just local to the device it has been set up on?

Yes, Wish list is hold in Google cloud and it is synced among all your devices connected to the same Google account.

I am very happy with this feature and I use it extensively. I can even automatically monitor any future updates of apps on my wish list with a help of a new feature "Observed apps" in Changelog Droid application (CD). How to do it:

CD cannot synchronize with your wishlist because Google Play Store does not have an API so third party apps cannot interact with it. However, you can populate Observed apps in CD manually from within the CD itself or by opening Google Play on your device and sharing wishlist items one by one to CD. It seems to be tedious if you have your wishlist very long, but you will rewarded. Here is real example how Observed apps in Changelog Droid helped me:

In my country we have independent consumer organization dTest. They published in Google Play its own app dTest some time ago. But it worked only on phones, not on tablets. Because I don't want to have this app on my phone, but on my tablet, I put this app in my Wish list and shared it to Changelog Droid's Observed apps. After some time Changelog Droid informed me about new dTest version with tablet support so I was able to install it on my Nexus 7 the first day when this new version for tablets appeared in Google Play :)
> 2 votes

# Answer
To access your wishlist from the browser signed in to Google Play you have to click on the "Settings" button (upper right corner, gear icon) and choose "My Orders" option from the drop down list. Next on the left hand side under "Apps", "Movies", "Music", etc. you will find "My Wishlist" option. Click on that option to see/modify your wishlist.
> 2 votes

# Answer
When signed you'll find "My wishlist" in the menu on the left. (Or just go to it directly at play.google.com/wishlist.)
> 0 votes

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Tags: google-play-store
---


# Question
Title: How to put Google Nexus 7 securely in my car for use as sat nav?
I know this question isn't about Android per-se, but about an Android device no less.

I recently got a new Google Nexus 7 tablet.

Now, I'd like to use it as car sat nav, but I couldn't find a decent holder for my car. I'm using a car power strip that also has two USB sockets acting as power outlets for USB devices. Powering the Nexus is no problem, so I don't need a holder/cradle, that supplies power to the tablet.

I was considering building it myself out of a dock or something, but even that I couldn't find. So, how should I put it in my car then? Should I just build myself a car-dock for it?

# Answer
You can construct a mount out of something like Sugru. Your mount will remain stuck to the dashboard and you would have to make it in such a way that the Nexus would slot into it.

For the elimination of doubt: I don't have any association with Sugru. I use it to mount my iPhone on the dashboard.
> 0 votes

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Tags: nexus-7, car-dock
---


# Question
Title: Relation between Linux and Android kernel versions
I know Android is a modified linux kernel, but does that mean there is any relation between the kernel numbers?

In other words, Is kernel number (for example) 2.6.xx of Android somehow based on or modified from 2.6.xx of Linux? or is it maintained separately?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Your first guess is correct: an Android kernel is a patched version of the mainstream Linux kernel with the same version number.

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Tags: linux, kernel
---


title: unlock Xperia Neo bootloader on linux

text:
# Question
Title: unlock Xperia Neo bootloader on linux
I was following these instructions to unlock the bootloader on my Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo until I reached steps 9 and 10.

There was no extras/google directory or android\_winusb.inf file anywhere. So from Eclipse's Android SDK manager I tried to download the Google USB Driver but found it as not compatible with linux.

What should I do now to replace steps 9 and 10?

# Answer
both solutions mentioned by @Izzy and @darknight in comments could work, But I found the easiest way is to replace steps 8,9,10 of the instructions by the following terminal command:

```
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

```

and then continuing as normal (and of course write fastboot instead of fastboot.exe in steps 15,16).

That saves the trouble of manually downloading and installing flashboot and configuring files and so.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: linux, usb-drivers, bootloader-lock, android-sdk, sony-ericsson-xperia-neo
---


# Question
Title: Google Now has no speech on Galaxy Note 3
I have a Galaxy Note 3, and Google Now has no speech.

The "Google Search" app is up to date from the Play Store. All of my volumes are set to maximum.
I have gone into Google Now settings and selected "Voice -\> Speech output -\> Always speak".
I have gone into "Settings-\>Language and input"; under "Text-to-speech options" my TTS engine is set to "Samsung text-to-speech engine" (the only option) and its language is set to "English (US)".
I have explicitly downloaded the "English (US)" language pack from the "Install voice data" menu.
I have tried rebooting and still no luck.

Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?
What else can I try?

# Answer
Answering my own question, this seems to just be my misunderstanding of how Google Now works.
I was *typing* the search and expecting a *voice* response.
But apparently it only responds with a voice if you ask with a voice.
If I use voice search, then a voice does indeed reply.

Leaving this question/answer here in case anyone else has the same misunderstanding.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: google-now, text-to-speech, samsung-galaxy-note-3
---


# Question
Title: Can I view the HTML source of an email sent to an Gmail address from an Android device?
I have a Samsung tablet and would like to check the HTML source code from a Gmail message. Does anybody know how to do this?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm using ***Firefox Aurora for Android***; I can simply type `view-source:` in front of the address in the address bar, and a new page loads with the HTML code, etc...displayed in a formatted viewer. I'm not sure if the other browsers have the same functionality, or what the corresponding command for those would be. You can find Firefox Aurora for Android at their website.

There's also a convenient Add-on that creates a menu shortcut for this function.

---
Tags: gmail, html
---


# Question
Title: YouTube - How can i play my youtube playlist in my android phone even my screen automatically goes to sleep mode?
In my samsung galaxy s4, i am playing my youtube playlists like 10 or 20 musics and when i switch off the screen then the music stops.

How can i play forever the music even the screen is on or off?

For example:

1) i am in Gym

2) i open the youtube music playlist and let it play by switching off my screen and head phone is on

3) now when i am doing my workout the music is stoopped

How can i keep it play forever unless i manually close it.

# Answer
It's not currently possible but it should be soon. According to AndroidPolice background audio is coming in a future release of the YouTube app.
> 2 votes

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Tags: youtube
---


# Question
Title: Where is my exported nexus 5 (kitkat) contact list? How do I access it?
I exported my nexus 5 contact list and it said on the phone that the contact list has been exported to 'file: /storage/emulated/0/00002.vcf.', so where is this 'file: /storage/emulated/0/00002.vcf.', and how do i access(on my phone or computer) it(as a whole file)?

# Answer
It will be stored in the root of your device (/sdcard).

If you plug your phone into a computer and access the phone you should see it like this: (This is on my Nexus 7 but it will appear the same)
> 1 votes

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Tags: nexus-4, 4.3-jelly-bean, google, 4.4-kitkat, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: Green/red widget icon or notification tray app to indicate if internet is available (tablet)
Consider a tablet user without data plan using only wifi connections at public places (e.g., hospital, hotel) that often die after 2 hours after accepting terms of use. (and is not running skype or other app all the time to show connected status)

Is there a widget (similar to battery-big text % of battery in the time top system line) that would show green if internet is available to the tablet and red if internet "died" (due to inactivity or other glitch).

# Answer
ANdroid default icon provides the functionality

color of the icon (gray) already indicates "sign-in required" type of connection.

(credit goez to izzy)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, internet
---


title: Google account sign in problems

text:
# Question
Title: Google account sign in problems
Yesterday my HTC Tattoo (with software based on Donut) started giving me "No connection Retry" errors for Gmail, YouTube, Google Reader, Market and anything else that requires sign in with Google credentials.

After doing a "Clear data" on the Gmail app I get another message,

> There was a network error while trying to sign in to xxxxxx@gmail.com. Retry now or press the back button to cancel

Whatever "network error" there is, does not stop me from using the web browser. Indeed I am able to logon to the mobile (and unfortunately buggy) Gmail web app from the browser. I will note that I get "Security warnings" about the certificate for google.com.au: *"the name of the site does not match the name of the certificate"* when I logon via the web, although I saw that message months back and have been able to use my apps until now.

Any idea what could have triggered this? I've not changed my google account credentials, or switched SIM card, or done anything that I think could make it my fault.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I've the exact same issue on a Galaxy Tab P1000 with gingerbread 2.3.3 since about 2-3 weeks. My current interpretation is that Google has updated its certs (the current one I get is dated 11/7) and the new ones are not trusted by Android anymore making it impossible to use any google account for mail/play store/etc... If this is the case, the only solution would be an update from the manufacturer or maybe rooting the device and convincing it that the new cert is good.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I had the same problem, and the solution was to set the correct date/time in the phone settings (in spite of 'Automatic' option turned on for network time synchronization, I had 1980 year). So, *libit* was right about certificate time issue.

Also, take a look at Google Groups thread related to this issue \- there are a lot of different solutions, which could also help.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I was encountering the same issue in the last 24 hours or so where I couldn't use any of the Google applications. I tried powering off the phone and everything

Today I used the time-zone guess from the follow up post (also, when I think about it, for some reason my phone switched from 12hr clock to 24 hr clock last night). The issue has been resolved and I can use all apps now. I must have changed the settings inadvertently when the phone was in my pocket or something.

# Answer
> 0 votes
As daft as it sounds make sure your wifi is connected - I got this error & couldn\`t figure out why until I realized one of my battery saver apps had switched off my wifi

# Answer
> -1 votes
Guys I found the solution!

Follow the instructions to this link! 100% it'll work though not mine, credits to the owner.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2110225

---
Tags: networking, connection-issues, google-account
---


# Question
Title: Identifying the existence of hwcomposer of Project Butter in Jelly Bean
I've heard that some 3rd party ROMs for some devices, such as the Galaxy S3, are based on Jelly Beans. But when asked why it's not as smooth as what the makers of Jelly Bean claim they would say it's because hwcomposer, the primary component of Project Butter that makes everything smooth, is not yet there.

How do I tell if my currently installed Jelly Bean ROM has the hwcomposer? I just couldn't tell the difference in smoothness coming from ICS. I'm not saying it's laggy but I was expecting an improvement and no more occasional lags.

# Answer
> 0 votes
On startup, check `adb logcat` for an init message that mentions the hwcomposer.

If you have a `logcat` viewer on your device (such as CatLog), you can use that, too.

---
Tags: custom-roms, 4.1-jelly-bean
---


# Question
Title: MS-Exchange contacts are not synching even though mail and calendar syncs fine
For a while now my **contacts** quit synching on Android with an Exchange 2010 server. Calendar and Mail syncing still works, both directions. This problem is described elsewhere ( e.g. here ) and I tried all the proposed fixes:

* Click "sync now" in accounts, deactivate contacts, click again, re-activate contacts, click again
* Check that the account is really a "Microsoft Exchange" (i.e. active sync) account, not IMAP, etc
* Create a new dummy contact on phone or Outlook and sync again...
* Use the Dev Tools Sync Tester on Android (always returned empty `stats=[]`, no errors...) :-(

Versions:

* Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 14.3.158.4001
* Android 4.3 (Cyanogen 10.2 on Motorola Defy+)

# Answer
> 3 votes
**It turned out to be a sync error for some contacts with malformed birthday field created on Android which causes exchange to silently fail.**

You can debug it, by getting the Exchange server-side logs, by going to your Exchange Webmail (Outlook Web Access, OWA):

1. Login in to webmail.yourdomain.com
2. go to: Options -\> All options -\> Phone
3. mark your current device and click -\> "Start Logging"
4. Start sync on the phone
5. in webmail click "Stop Logging" and look at the new mail create in your inbox

In the log I got three of these errors:

`X-MS-ASError: Message = The 'Contacts::Birthday' element is invalid - The value '1979-11-24' is invalid according to its datatype 'http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema:dateTime' - The string '1979-11-24' is not a valid XsdDateTime value.; Severity = Error`

**... which causes the whole sync and all subsequent contact syncing to silently do nothing.** I had to remove the birthday field from these contacts on Android.

I hope this helps someone!

Here is some more information on the various date formats created on Android devices: http://dmfs.org/carddav/?date\_format

---
Tags: contacts, sync, exchange, active-sync
---


# Question
Title: i wanna access the internet with my tablet via the second device
I got a tablet without wifi connection, and a device with a SIM card and internet access. I managed to get a Bluetooth connection between those two devices. Now i wanna access the internet with my tablet via the second device. Is there a way given through android to dial into the internet ? I thought about implicit Intents or Bluetooth tethering, but didnt find anything yet.

i hope u got what im asking about ;)

ty in advance

# Answer
> 0 votes
Depends on the other device.

There must be an option for **sharing the internet over bluetooth** in other device's bluetooth connection settings.

If you turn it on, you can connect to internet on your android tablet.

---
Tags: bluetooth, internet
---


# Question
Title: Recovering Cyanogenmod (no context found)
I was using my phone, battery was low and it suddenly shut down. I thought it's because of battery, and plugged in my charger. Now i'm trying to boot my phone but it's stucking at CYANOGENMOD boot screen:

Here I'm stuck (click for larger image)

Reboot my phone with CWM Recovery mod, and i'm getting **no context found** error.

I don't know what it's mean and how can i deal with this problem.

I'm using Samsung Galaxy S2 and CWM v6.0.3.3 . I'm not sure how can i find my Cyanogenmod version.

\** UPDATE \** I've wait for a long time on boot screen and now "Android is updating" screen appeared. It's optimized my all apps and now and waiting on starting apps message for 8 hours. It stuck at starting apps screen.

# Answer
You can try clearing cache and rebooting if you are able to get inside CWM
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-s-2, custom-roms, clockworkmod-recovery, recovery-mode
---


# Question
Title: How do I withdraw an app rights to enter internet in CyanogenMod?
On a rooted device it should be possible to forbid certain apps to contact internet connection

How is this possible in CyanogenMod 10.0?

# Answer
> 6 votes
An app like Root Firewall (needs root) should work.

> ☆ Block Internet access for any apps:

# Answer
> 0 votes
on CM

Go to Settings \> Applications

Open the application you want to restrict. Scroll down to the permissions section and strike off internet access by clicking on the permission.

Alternatively you could use an application like LBE privacy guard to restrict access.

With this method you can restrict any permission.

Sometimes apps start force-closing when you revoke permissions so be careful!

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, permissions
---


# Question
Title: How do I flash a modem for CyanogenMod / CM10.2?
I have already flashed the latest nightly (as of this time) and the corresponding gapps for my Samsung Galaxy S4 via CWM. But when I checked the Phone settings (About Phone), Baseband version is Unknown.

I have already tried flashing I9505XXUEMJ7\_MODEM.tar via Odin (as Phone), but the Baseband is still Unknown.

What am I missing here?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Finally fixed the issue (old CWM):

* Upgraded CWM from 6.0.3.2 to 6.0.4.4 using ROM Manager.
* Rebooted to Recovery Mode
* Wipe Data / Factory Reset
* Wipe Cache Partition
* Wipe Dalvik Cache
* Flash CM zip (two times)
* Flash GAPPS
* Reboot phone (boot animation now showed; this was just black before)

After the phone booted, (and the usual wizard), I noticed the Baseband was no longer Unknown, but listed my previously-flashed modem.

I rebooted phone into Download mode and flashed a different modem (for my region).

Phone working normally now. :)

# Answer
> 0 votes
I know this doesn't solve your problem of flashing a Modem via Odin, but have you had a look at the Collection of CWM modems, e.g. here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47234771&postcount=1220&nocache=1&z=1674485336989164

There is this hint:

> Originally Posted by lambstone Ok it worked. If anyone else is having issues with the baseband not changing, do this.

```
Use Odin v3.04
Untick Autoreboot
Flash modem
Reboot once again into Download Mode using (Vol Down plus Home button combi)
Flash Modem once more
Once done,unplug then reboot device manually.
If this doesn't work, try repeating the flash process again while rebooting manually and with auto-reboot option turned off.

```

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-s-4, 4.3-jelly-bean
---


title: clockworkmod/backup can it be removed?

text:
# Question
Title: clockworkmod/backup can it be removed?
Today I installed cyanogenmod JB on my galaxy note and I found this huge directory (2.47GB) in the /sdcard partition. Can it be removed or it could be useful? Can I move it on my pc?

Thanks in advance

# Answer
> 1 votes
Two times yes: Of course it can be removed, and of course it can be useful. At that place ClockworkMod stores the backups you've created with it, and from that place you can restore them when need for that arrives.

In case of an external SDCard, and when space on it is precious to you, you could simply copy its contents to your computer, and then empty the directory. Or just keep the latest backup on it. If you need to restore one of the removed backups, it then would be possible to use a card reader, copy them back, and re-insert the card to your device so they can be found.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can boot into recovery and check how the "/sdcard" is mounted using the command "mount". If it is not mounted, you can mount it and should be able to get rid of this directory using "rm -rf"(however, you might like to check the significance of this data first). If it is mounted as read-only, remount it with "rw" option and go for deletion.

As for moving it to the PC, "/sdcard" is usually visible when the device is connected to Windows(Underlying partition is usually formatted with FAT). Have you already tried that?

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-note
---


# Question
Title: Can I make a Google Doc shared with me more accessible on my Android device?
A friend of mine shared a Google document with me. If I use my Gmail app on my Android device to open the email that includes the link, I can see the document in the Google Drive app.

However, I can't seem to find any way to mark that document using the Google Drive app so that I can get back to it easily. Every time I want to view the document, I have to find the email in which my friend shared the link, and then click that link.

Is there no way I can bookmark or add that document so that it is available without me having to search for it? Ideally, I could leave it open in the Google Drive app so that when I reopened the app it would show me the document without me having to select it again.

# Answer
If it was shared to your Google account, you should be able to find it in `Shared with me`:
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-drive
---


title: SMS Thread / General Limit?

text:
# Question
Title: SMS Thread / General Limit?
Is there a limit within Android, or possibly set by OEMs (heard this from a friend who is a technician), of the total amount of SMS messages you can have? As in, messages within a thread and/or all threads combined? Not just the limit within conversations which you can manually set. I mean a limit android has coded into it, or one that OEMs set, that actually would "limit" (whether by slowing down or stopping) the number of SMS you can have?

And I'm not talking about a couple thousand, but even in the hundreds of thousands in a thread?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I cannot provide a definitive answer, but some folks have had over 20,000 messages, based on this Reddit discussion. So if there are any limits, it may have been set by the OEM (or their custom app). Using 3rd-party SMS apps might provide a workaround to the limit.

I would bet that if are hundreds of thousands of messages, there could be a significant performance issue, although that may depend on how the app processes the records. Go SMS Pro, for example, does not load the messages all at once. But if it reaches the point where it has loaded already a lot of messages, the app slows down.

**UPDATE #1:** To paraphrase Izzy, the storage limit will also trigger the "insufficient memory" error, usually when there's less than ~25 MB free space on internal storage. This would also prevent the SMS from being stored (plus the possibility to send some on your own).

---
Tags: sms
---


title: Galaxy S3 randomly deleting my contacts

text:
# Question
Title: Galaxy S3 randomly deleting my contacts
My Samsung Galaxy S3 just deletes some of my contacts on a regular basis. Any ideas on how to stop this and or recover those deleted contacts?

# Answer
Are these newly added contacts? If you are adding new contacts and adding them as "phone" contacts and not "google" contacts, and you have syncing on, it may be syncing your google contacts to your phone, and deleting the ones that aren't google contacts. This happened to me a couple of times.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: contacts, samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


# Question
Title: SMS messages won't delete no matter what
I have a phone which has thousands of SMS. Now it's very difficult to delete them all and the SMS app always hangs. I have tried the following to no avail:

They all just hang.

I am also trying to "Clear Data" the Dialer Storage App but it's not pressable, even after "Force Stop". How can I make the Clear Data button pressable?

Or, is there another way to delete all SMS aside from Factory Reset?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You could always download Handcent and use its "Force Deletion" feature. I've seen that work for many others. But depending on how many SMS you have, you will need to let it sit for a while.

---
Tags: sms, delete, samsung-galaxy-y
---


# Question
Title: How can I remove the notification header in Android 4.3? (Big hour, date, clear all button, notification/quick setting switch)
As shown in below screenshot: is there a way to remove the notification header, or at least replace it with a transparent image, on Android 4.3?

Screenshot (click for larger variant)

# Answer
Not easily- no. The notification shade is part of the systemUI APK which will need to be de-compiled and reverse engineered to do so. I know of no custom ROM or MOD at this time which will allow for this behaviour; although posting this request on the relevant sub-forum for your device on XDA-dev might turn up a lead.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: notifications, 4.3-jelly-bean, notification-bar
---


# Question
Title: Always seeing "No connection: Retry" in Android Market
I have an HTC Touch with Froyo installed that I use for app development. I haven't used it for a couple of months, and when I fired it up today I'm seeing the same error every time I launch the Market app: **No connection** and a **Retry** button. It doesn't matter how many times I hit Retry, I just end up back in the same place. The phone definitely has a solid Wi-Fi connection though and all other online apps (browser, Twitter, etc.) are working well.

I've tried force stopping the Market and restarting, clearing its data and uninstalling updates, all to no avail. What can be causing this error?

# Answer
The answer is that the **date/time settings** were incorrect. The device had been off for so long that the clock had reset. Once I set the correct date and time the Market app ran normally.
> 13 votes

# Answer
I have had the same issure, but correct date / time. My solution has been to Turn Off/On the WIFI, works every time!
> 2 votes

# Answer
I had this problem once and it was because I was running DroidWall and I forgot to whitelist the Market app.
> 2 votes

# Answer
just clear your data and restart your phone
> 0 votes

# Answer
Try clearing cache and data for the Market app. You can do this by going to `menu>settings>applications>manage applications>all` and scrolling down to the Market app then using the "clear data" and "clear cache" buttons.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, 2.2-froyo, wi-fi, connection-issues, system-error
---


title: Differences in Geo-Location Accuracy

text:
# Question
Title: Differences in Geo-Location Accuracy
In an application I am building I am using "Fused Location Provider". When the phone is in a WiFi network I am getting an accurate location value (within 14 meters). When the phone is in EDGE Network I am not getting the same accuracy (a value like 1895 meters).

What's the problem with EDGE and WiFi networks? Why I am getting the different values in different networks (Wifi, EDGE, GPS)?

# Answer
Google has a big database of (hashes of) Wi-Fi network SSIDs. When Wi-Fi is enabled on your phone, it scans for Wi-Fi networks, and sends the list to Google (in a hashed form). In cities, networks are plentiful, and Wi-Fi networks are short-range, so the combination of networks it can 'see' gives a very accurate idea of where you are.

A similar thing happens with cellular network cell IDs, but these are spaced more widely apart. The phone itself can't perform triangulation, because it only has the received signal strength for each cell it can 'see': it doesn't know the signal's angle of arrival, the transmit strength of the cell, or what might be occluding the signal. However, it can still use the combination of which cells it can 'see' to estimate position, a little more accurately than the distance between cells.

Even if you're connected to an EDGE network, if Wi-Fi is enabled then the Wi-Fi scanning technique will still be used, so the location estimate will be more accurate.

Both these techniques are far less accurate than GPS, which computes a position based on time differences between signals coming from different satellites. When your device can 'see' enough satellites, the precision is limited mostly by deliberate interference added by the US government (which operates the system) to make it less useful to non-US armed forces.
> 1 votes

# Answer
EDGE and WIFI use cell phone tower triangulation and these have a low accuracy level While using GPS, your each device is sending the message to satellite so accuracy is high

**In simple terms**

For GPS consider you device is sending the signal so accuracy is high

But for WIFI and Edge is based on an average that is calculated from the towers around you so its less accurate
> -2 votes

---
Tags: geolocation
---


title: Port already Using Error in Android

text:
# Question
Title: Port already Using Error in Android
I have an android application which is running on Huawei S7,Android 2.2. It is getting inputs from an arduino board.Arduino Board is connected to the tablet by USB cable.Application is using USB Protocol to connect to arduino.

The application is written for Android 4.1.And it is using a backward compatibility pack to make it runnable on 2.2. We had to use a 2.2 device.But now we have a device with Android 4.3. And when we try to run the same app in 4.3 device it gives an error saying 4567 port already in use. 4567 port is the port used by arduino application to connect with the Android Device(Tablet Application).

How can i find the application which is using the 4567 port?

Is there any way i can free up that port?

My 4.3 device is not rooted. Will rooting do any good in this problem?

# Answer
Without any additional tools, this should be possible via `adb shell` or a terminal app, using the `netstat` command: `netstat --tcp --listening -p` should list up all listening ports along with the app behind it. But it might very well be (as in your case, obviously) that the `-p` parameter requires root; and without it, the output won't show the app holding the port open.

However, NetStat Plus might offer what you need:

<sup>*NetStat Plus* and *Connection List* (source: Google Play; click for larger image)</sup>

I did not try this app myself, but the screenshots suggest it does exactly what you need: Listing apps with the used ports and status along. No word that it requires root. It further seems to work at least from Gingerbread (2.3.6 is explicitly mentioned) onwards to at least Jelly Bean 4.3 (also explicitly mentioned). An alternative would be Connection List (second screenshot).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, 4.3-jelly-bean
---


# Question
Title: How To Fix Broken Contacts Storage (Droid 3 v2.3.4)?
# Symptoms

* **I receive a force close from `com.motorola.contacts` when I try to edit my contacts**
* I can view my contacts
* The issue started immediately after I tried removing the thousand pound bundle of bloatware that Verizon pushed to my phone.

## Avenues of Approach

1. ### Repairing the Stock Contact Storage

What apps does com.motorola.contacts depend on?
*(Bonus question: How would I find that on my own; other than trial-in-error)*

I have read that this app relies on some of the blur.yahoo bloatware. I tried keeping those enabled, but I may have missed a vital one and if I did, it is no longer on my phone so I'll have to hunt for it. Ideally, I won't have to re-enable this junk, which brings me to
2. ### Replace Contact Storage With Third-Party App

I have been searching for contact app replacements and so far they seem to run on top of the stock contacts app (as in they will also allow me to view, but app.motorola.contacts crashes when I try to edit). Example apps: Contapps, Go Contacts, as well as a few others.

**Is it even possible to replace this system app?**
3. ### Use Alternate Version of the Stock Contact App

I don't mean to ask you guys to do my experimenting for me, but could I take the contact storage app from a different system that doesn't require Junk.Yahoo: Such as an older version of Android or one that doesn't come from Verizon?

# Answer
I just solved the contacts force close issue on my droid 3. I had frozen several apps with Titanium Backup. The fix was to unfreeze these 2 items: Yahoo contacts 2.3.4
and Yahoo! mail authenticator 2.3.4

Immediately my issues were resolved.

Running rooted stock rom

Hope this helps others. I have benefited plenty from others' posts. :)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts, force-close, bloatware
---


title: Connected to Wifi but not internet

text:
# Question
Title: Connected to Wifi but not internet
I have S4 ,I have a full 5 bar signal on the WiFi but no internet

if I try to browse internet it says : the server at www.google.com can't be found,becasue the DNS look faild. I tried connecting / reconnecting, turning off the phone and restarting it but no Connection. while the other devices such as I phone ,another Galaxy are OK

please advise what do to do

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can use a static ip address and gateway address. It's also possible to edit the nameserver. You also need a route for the interface. You can use the route command to add a route. When you have a terminal emulation and root user you can type route -h to show a little help screen. To add a route try this: route add default gw xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx dev xxx.

---
Tags: wi-fi, connection-issues, samsung-galaxy-s-4
---


# Question
Title: Restoring one application data from ClockModRecovery Backup
I was using CyanogenMod 4.10.3. Due to slow-downs I decided to downgrade, but took a backup of all available apps using ClockModRecovery including WhatsApp.

In backup/ directory, I see some img files, not individual apps.

Since I changed my number and I would like to use my old number with WhatsApp, I would like to restore WhatsApp backup from this backup. Is it possible?

# Answer
Yes, it is:

Further readings:
> 2 votes

---
Tags: clockworkmod-recovery, restore, whatsapp-messenger
---


title: Multiple #'s on Note 3

text:
# Question
Title: Multiple #'s on Note 3
Can the Note 3 have more than 1 number associated with the same phone? Someone gave me their # and then another #. They said it was the same phone.

# Answer
It seems there is a Galaxy Note 3 with dual SIM support.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Geff already showed one easy explanation: Dual-SIM devices.

But never mind how many SIMs: I have a single SIM phone which has two numbers assigned. Well, even 3 now. I've got

1. the usual mobile number, plus
2. my provider assigned me a landline number, to which I
3. forward calls from another landline number.

Number 3 clearly shows how it's possible for everybody. Though technically I have to admit, I assume that even #2 is nothing but a call-forward on the provider's end. So it all comes up to your definition of "number assignment".
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-note-3
---


# Question
Title: Recovering from lengthy rom upgrade on HTC Desire S
I started installing Android 4.0.4 on HTC Desire S from the official website. It had an executable that I just launched and clicked through to start installation. It should have taken about ten minutes but now it is over half an hour later. There's no progress bar on the phone. I can only see "Sending.." (with number of dots growing repeatedly) on my laptop (under Windows 7). Is there a way to recover from this situation? Is my phone doomed to be bricked if I just disconnect usb?

# Answer
I disconnected the usb and then some sort of debug screen showed up and gave me an option to reboot the phone. To my astonishment I still had Android 2.3.5 installed and working. It looks like installation of new ROM newer really took off. The second attempt to upgrading rom succeceded.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: updates, rom, htc
---


# Question
Title: Linux fails to mount Android device in USB MSC mode
I wish to mount my Sony Xperia ST21i (Android 4.0.4) under Linux (Debian) via USB. However, I get this error:

```
# mount /dev/sdb /mnt
mount: no medium found on /dev/sdb

```

What I did so far:

On the phone side: Settings \> Xperia \> Connectivity \> USB connection mode: set to Mass storage mode (MSC), instead of the default Media transfer mode (MTP).

On the PC side: dmesg yields

```
[...] usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 12
[...] usb 2-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[...] usb 2-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0fce, idProduct=e170
[...] usb 2-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=4
[...] usb 2-1.3: Product: Android
[...] usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: Android
[...] usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: **********
[...] scsi14 : usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0
[...] scsi 14:0:0:0: Direct-Access     SONY     Mass storage     0000 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[...] sd 14:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[...] sd 14:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

```

For comparison, when mounting a cheap memory stick, dmesg yields

```
[...] usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 13
[...] usb 2-1.6: new high-speed USB device number 14 using ehci-pci
[...] usb 2-1.6: New USB device found, idVendor=1307, idProduct=0165
[...] usb 2-1.6: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[...] usb 2-1.6: Product: USB Mass Storage Device
[...] usb 2-1.6: Manufacturer: P Technology
[...] usb 2-1.6: SerialNumber: 00000000000280
[...] scsi15 : usb-storage 2-1.6:1.0
[...] scsi 15:0:0:0: Direct-Access     UT165    USB Flash Disk   0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] 3948544 512-byte logical blocks: (2.02 GB/1.88 GiB)
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[...]  sdb:
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Asking for cache data failed
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[...] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

```

Several lines more - is this significant? Does this mean, I need to configure my phone differently before I can hope to mount it?

Following advice in some related threads, I created an udev rule,

```
# cat /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="0fce", MODE="0666"

```

but this had no effect.

# Answer
This question has been answered by @derobert at https://unix.stackexchange.com/q/90069/46841: MSC mode only works for accessing a memory card, which I do not have; for accessing the phone's own file system, I need another access mode.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This commonly happens when you're trying to mount a disk when you should be mounting a partition on that disk. Use `ls /dev/sdb*` to see if any partitions (such as `/dev/sdb1`) exists on the disk, and then mount that instead of trying to mount the whole disk.
> 1 votes

# Answer
All I could think of on the Android side (enabling UMS) you've already done. But Android devices might not expose their full storage via UMS. Usually, you only can access the external *and internal* **SD-Cards** this way.

For everything else, you might want to take a look at adbfs (see also on XDA) and mc-exfs-adb (which I slightly modified to work better on my Linux system; that version you can find here). Both variants require you to have at least a minimal ADB installation on your computer (see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?).

I have tried both, and favor adbfs-rootless. Works like a charm. If your device is rooted, you could combine this with adbd insecure from Chainfire to get full access to the entire filesystem.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Agreeing with Joachim ...

To access the phone's internal storage you need to install libmtp and mtpfs for your linux distro. Something like :

sudo mtpfs -o allow\_other /mnt

... should help.

Good discussion here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1720464
> 0 votes

---
Tags: usb, linux, file-transfer
---


# Question
Title: Dalvik VM vs. ART (Android Runtime): Impact for end-users?
With Nexus 5 (Android 4.4 KitKat), Google has shipped two runtimes to run apps.

What are the differences between Dalvik & ART for endusers? How can endusers be affected by this? Is there any specific reason I should choose new ART runtime?

# Answer
Dalvik VM (Virtual Machine) is Google's version of a Java VM (on which apps run). VMs keep apps isolated and independent from actual hardware and other apps. But, for this to work, Dalvik needs to convert so called bytecode (designed for virtual machine) to native machine code. In order to minimize the performance penalty that the bytecode to native code conversion introduces, a process called Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation is performed, which converts hot, i.e. often used, bytecode to native code.1

ART (Android Runtime) is a replacement for Dalvik that uses Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compilation, meaning your apps are compiled to a ready-to-run state before you even launch them. This is usually done, at the time of app installation, making the process of launching and using them much faster and smoother. And since this means that compilation is only done once, you may also see better battery life, too.

> If ART is better on performance & battery life perspective, should I start using it?

**No.** If you do that, you may break third-party apps. Google has shipped this ART preview with Android 4.4 for developers to test their apps on it.

**Side Note:** Google's approach with ART is to beat iOS (iOS apps are native so performs better even on low-end hardware specs), but I don't know where it is heading... Another fragmentation? See OEMs are free to build devices using either one or both. While final version shouldn't affect most of apps, but its not 100% cross-platform thing.

1Note that JIT was added to Dalvik in Android 2.2
> 27 votes

---
Tags: dalvik, 4.4-kitkat, art
---


title: accidental wipe android nexus 4

text:
# Question
Title: accidental wipe android nexus 4
Well, accidentally ended up formatting a nexus 4 by clockworkmod, was the system and everything else, I've tried various ways to try to recover this brink, worked no more, all require the famous usb debugging, plus he has no system and windows no longer see it as an external drive to be able to put an image on it, and is it ..

obs.: I still have access to recovery

Grateful for now and sorry my english

# Answer
> 2 votes
If you can get to recovery you should be able to flash the full factory image which will restore your phone to completely stock.

Download the full occam factory image, which includes the full system, bootloader, recovery, kernel (boot.img), and radio. It's a clean slate for these components - they'll flash cleanly over anything you have now.

You can run the bundled script called flash-all (in which case it will run all necessary commands for you) or you can unpack the tgz (tar/gz) archive, and then the zip contained within as well. This will put all the components into one folder:

Then run the following commands:

1. adb reboot bootloader
2. fastboot flash bootloader bootloader\*.img
3. fastboot reboot-bootloader
4. fastboot flash radio radio-mako-m9615a-cefwmazm-2.0.1700.84.img
5. fastboot reboot-bootloader
6. fastboot flash system system.img
7. fastboot flash boot boot.img
8. fastboot format cache
9. fastboot reboot
10. fastboot flash userdata userdata.img **Note: this command will wipe your device (including /sdcard), EVEN if your bootloader is already unlocked.**

*Note:* Instead of unpacking the image\*.zip and flashing system and boot manually, you can actually do fastboot update image\*.zip - this won't delete data (you would pass a -w flag if you wanted that to happen), but it will re-flash recovery back to stock if you were running a custom one. You can then flash it back, or just use the commands above instead. Either way, the result will be the same.

---
Tags: adb, nexus-4
---


title: Soft buttons disappeared

text:
# Question
Title: Soft buttons disappeared
At one point screen just become bit higher. Buttons gone, and it's not that funny, as it can seem. Phone become literally single-task and I had to reboot just to switch application. Found some software emulator that helps me to survive at the moment, but question is how to get buttons back? No, reboot obviously didn't help, I also flashed new version of CM just in case (was CM 10.1.3 stable, upgraded to 10.2 M1). Same shit.

Thought about may be I'm darn stupid, and somewhere there is just single option in setting. Either there is no it, or it's name really differs from what I expected (or I'm really darn stupid).

Any clues, guys? Next obvious step is factory reset, but I'm not mentally ready yet.

P.S. Phone is Nexus 4, firmware mentioned earlier.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There is a mode in CyanogenMod and other ROMs called **"Expanded Desktop"**. If your phone is in Expanded Desktop mode, then the navbar will not be visible (The notification bar may also be hidden, depending on your settings).

**The easiest way to check** if you're in Expanded Desktop is to try toggling it. Simply long-press the power button to get CyanogenMod's expanded power menu, then tap "Expanded Desktop" to toggle it.

If your buttons showed up after doing this, then you're set! If not, it's something else.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Maybe you upgraded instead of a clean install. It will just continue with the settings made earlier. Take a backup and factory reset. That will surely get back those buttons.

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, nexus-4, buttons
---


title: How to upgrade Avatar ROM's old kernel?

text:
# Question
Title: How to upgrade Avatar ROM's old kernel?
I've got an S3 LTE version (GT I9305), with CyanogenMod (Avatar) installed.

I've tried nightlies too, however, I'm still running Linux 3.0 (shown in about in settings). And I've seen CM screenshots where they're running 3.4.

Why is my phone stuck even when I update? How can I get a recent kernel?

# Answer
I couldn't find any details on this XDA thread regarding Avatar ROM for the S3. However, the Sony Xperia Z thread thread mentions that it has a Linux kernel of 3.0.x. So, I assume it's the same for the S3.

While Avatar is based on CM10.1, it's possible that the developer used a different kernel (lower than 3.4). So, don't compare it with pure CM ROMs that are using the 3.4 kernel. I would suggest going through the first link I gave and ask for help there about upgrading your kernel.
> 0 votes

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Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-s-3, rom, kernel
---


title: List of Android devices benchmarks

text:
# Question
Title: List of Android devices benchmarks
Are there any solid reference websites where I can compare benchmarkings of various Android devices? Similar to sites like CPU Benchmark and Video Card Benchmark for PC devices.

# Answer
PassMark has a quite comprehensive list of Android devices with CPU, memory, storage, 2D graphics and 3D graphics benchmarks. If your device is not on the list, you can use the free app on Google Play to measure your device (and contribute to the public list).
> 0 votes

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Tags: benchmarks
---


title: Make a device appear in ADB

text:
# Question
Title: Make a device appear in ADB
I have a Zen Touch 2, a Cyclone Voyager and a Samsung galaxy Fame, all configured for USB debugging.

I also have a laptop running Ubuntu 12.04, the standard ADB obtained from apt-get, and Fastboot obtained from apt-get.

My problem is that when I plug in my Fame on it's own, I can see it in the list of attached devices when I run the adb devices command. However, when I attach the others, I cannot.

I have plugged them in on their own and tried all 4 different ports. Switching to PTP doesn't work. And it is not just the devices command.

How can I make them appear and allow me to use them?

# Answer
Maybe you are missing **udev** rules for the other device manufacturers?

A rule for samsung is probably included by default.

Look here for instructions http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html
> 1 votes

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Tags: usb, adb, linux
---


# Question
Title: Provably, temporary, disable wireless networking on Android tablet
I am taking an exam during which any materials or electronic devices are allowed, provided that I can demonstrate that they cannot be used for communicating with others. I want to take my Android tablet and use it to display PDF files that I don't want to print out.

I need to come up with a way how to temporary turn a Nexus 7 Android tablet from a communication device into a book reader incapable of connecting to WiFi. I need to be able to quickly prove to the teacher that this is so and that whatever I do it will remain in this mode during the exam.

Do you have any ideas how this can be achieved? My belief is that this is impossible, but I decided to ask anyway.

# Answer
As no "bullet-proof" system is required here, and at least some level of trust assumed, possible solutions hide behind the buzz... ahem, key-words and child-protection. In short: you create a "jail" you're working in, and hand it's key (password) to the teacher (let him/her set a password – of course on the premise to unlock you once the exam is over).

Options on establishing a kiosk-mode are already discussed in several other questions tagged "kiosk-mode", so there's no need to repeat them all. You might wish to take a look at SureLock Kiosk Lockdown, which should meet your requirements: one of its features is to prevent access to system settings. So disabling all network features (mobile data, WiFi APNs, etc.) and then locking the settings with the teacher's password should satisfy both sides – provided you've allowed all required apps for kiosk mode. As the "dirty trick" to regain control would also remove all data from the device (factory-reset), it cannot be expected you'd do that during the exam ;)
> 3 votes

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Tags: wi-fi, security
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# Question
Title: Is it possible to recover data from internal memory?
I have Samsung Galaxy S2, that was sent to the lab for repair. The phone arrived and all the internal memory was deleted. All the data that was on the internal memeory: Media, SMS, Contacts (actually I synchornized the contacs with my google account, but some contacs were deleted from my phone..)

Is there any way to recover this internal memory? I know that some application can recover an SD card.. but which one can recover the internal memory ?

# Answer
There is some hope to recover data which was stored on the “internal SD card”. Samsung Galaxy S2 supports USB connection in the mass storage mode (unlike some other more recent models). This mode provides the required block-level access to the partition which holds your media and other files (but not contacts, SMS and app data). Therefore you can connect your phone to PC in the USB storage mode (not MTP), then use the same utilities as you would use to recover files from an SD card which was accidentally formatted (one free option for Windows is Recuva).

Recovering data from the internal memory is much more harder for several reasons:

1. You need to root the phone in order to get access to raw partitions (with some phones which have an unlocked bootloader there is an option of flashing an alternate recovery image with root access through ADB). Note that the rooting process in most cases involves writes to the `/data` partition, which could overwrite the data you want to restore.
2. The internal file system is not the usual FAT or NTFS, like in Windows (recent models in most cases use ext4), therefore many recovery tools designed for use with Windows filesystems won't work well (scanning the raw disk for pieces looking like data in a well-known format might give a useful result even if the filesystem is not supported, but see the next point).
3. In most cases the app data is stored in some format not used outside of the Android OS (e.g., contacts and SMS/MMS messages are stored in SQLite databases with the Android-specific schema), and these formats are unlikely to be supported by commonly available data recovery utilities.

And this assumes that the phone repair lab did not just replace the main phone board (which they often do, unless the problem was obviously in some other component).
> 4 votes

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, internal-storage, data-recovery, internal-sd
---


# Question
Title: How do I delete all data from my Android phone?
My phone has got some error and I am returning it to the service center. As my phone contains my personal data, images and videos I would like to erase them so that they can never be recovered (even after being rooted).

Is there any easy way to do that because I am not an Android developer.

Does factory reset do this trick for me?

# Answer
As John states in his answer, a is sufficient in most cases. I doubt a service technician would take the effort required to restore the data from your storage – though it's definitely possible.

What John had in mind, however, is true: If flash storage is really *wiped*, all data is gone from it. It would take a highly specialized forensics expert a long time to restore at least a part of it. So unless you have the secret formula for a longevity serum stored on your device, and your service technician knows that, it's definitly not worth the trouble.

If you want to be on the absolute safe side, take a look at Nuke My Phone resp. Nuke My Tablet. These tools do not simply delete your data or wipe the storage once, but they overwrite it multiple times, then wiping it, and then finalize their work by a factory-reset. I very much doubt that a single file would be restorable after that procedure.

Btw: Always think of your external SDcard, which might not be covered by the procedure. You should better remove that and keep it with you; the service techs don't need it anyway.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Unlike standard hard drives, once flash storage is erased, it is gone. All Android devices (at least to my knowledge) should have flash storage. If you delete something, it would be next to impossible to recover it.

A factory reset will erase all of your user data unless the device is rooted and you stored it somewhere else. If the device is running stock firmware and you do a factory reset, you should be good to go!

Note:

It is possible that your device will not do a secure erase of your personal data. If you want to be absolutely sure that the data cannot be recovered, you should make sure to do a secure erase. After a simple secure erase (writing over the data with all 0's) the data should be gone forever.
> 1 votes

# Answer
yes. going into recovery, (normally by booting your phone while holding volume up and power button) should do the trick. while in recovery, you should see something like factory reset. use your volume rockers to go down the menu until that option is highlighted, then press the power button to select it. hope this helps --Daniel
> 1 votes

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Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, factory-reset, delete
---


title: What does locking an SMS message do?

text:
# Question
Title: What does locking an SMS message do?
I have noticed that long clicking an SMS message brings up a menu containing a "Lock message" option. What does this do? I have a Nexus S.

# Answer
If you lock a message, when you delete a conversation with a locked message, every message other than the locked message will be erased from that conversation.
> 18 votes

# Answer
On most android smartphones there is a feature that makes the phone run faster. This feature is after a certain amount of messages(on mine it's 210)it begins to delete them,locking the message also prevents it from being deleted.
> 5 votes

# Answer
that means (normally on every phone) that it cannot be deleted, just like a locked picture on a camera. so, if you would like to keep a message safe, i suggest locking it so no accidents happen. although, when the time comes that it wants to be deleted, it can be unlocked and then deleted
> 2 votes

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Tags: sms
---


# Question
Title: My screen got broken, how to see on the computer what I'm doing in my device?
My Android device screen got broken and I can't see what I'm doing. That's the only wrong thing with my device, the rest is apparently working OK. **Is there any way to send my device screen to my computer?**
I don't want to work blindly anymore!

# Answer
> 14 votes
You don't have to continue working blindly, you can use **Droid@Screen**: it shows the screen of a real or emulated Android device on a computer running Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

**Droid@Screen** is a stand-alone Java Swing GUI application that shows the screen of an Android device on a computer. Its author says that its typical usage is showing an app demo or during training, but it also fits your case.

In order to use it, you need the following to be installed in your computer:

* *Java* 6 (at least)
* *Android SDK*, installed and configured.
* *Environment variable* `ANDROID_HOME` (or `ANDROID_SDK_HOME`) pointing to the Android SDK installation directory. (Optional)
* *USB driver* for the target Android device installed.

**Note:** *USB Debugging must be enabled* on your device. (Thanks @JasonC for the heads up)

I have been using it with my Galaxy Nexus and I must say that despite a little *lag* between what happens in the phone and what is displayed in the computer screen (2-4 s), it does what it says. You **don't** even need to be rooted for that!

You can download it from the author's site, where you also can watch a complete video and text instructions about its installation and usage.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If your device has an HDMIport, you can connect that to a display with HDMI port. There are programs, like Droid@Screen, as Dan said, that can cast the device's video output to a PC over the USB connection.

---
Tags: usb, screen, screenshots, broken-screen
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# Question
Title: Galaxy S3 won't complete boot after Cyanogenmod reversion
I installed a CGM 10.2 "snapshot" last night that was listed by the updater as a stable build. It started draining my battery immediately, so I tried to revert (using the built-in updater) back to the 10.1.3 stable build I had previously.

After installing 10.1.3, I never get past the spinning "CyanogenMod" screen. Is there a way to transfer the CGM 10.1.x files via Odin to the sd volume on the phone so I can try to boot via recovery, or is Install from SD card via recovery the best way to try and load a build that may work?

Follow-up: I have wiped my cache, the dalvik cache, factory reset my phone, and tried both 10.1.2 and 10.1.3. I can now boot, but can't get the default (and only available) keyboard to work, so I can't even enter my google account to do anything with Android on the phone. Is there a way to directly install an alternative keyboard?

# Answer
> 1 votes
After **many** failures, I finally figured out what was happening. Cyanogenmod's update utility told me about a new snapshot for 10.2. I was currently on 10.1. When I installed the 10.2 "stable" snapshot, I still had the 10.1 gapps on the phone. Evidently this is what caused the boot to fail. After wiping the caches and doing the "factory reset", installing the 10.2 gapps and the 10.2 CGM snapshot, I was able to get the phone to boot successfully.

I don't know why the 10.1.3 reversion failed when I still had 10.1 gapps on it.

I'll update this answer later if battery life is still an issue, but I believe I should be able to revert to 10.1/10.1 if battery still doesn't behave well in the 10.2 snapshot.

While trying the paths, I also tried the CGM 11 (4.4) beta build. Looks pretty sweet, but I couldn't get wifi to work on it, so I went back to CGM 10.2 snapshot.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you are going to move from CyanogenMod to stock ROM, you need to do a full wipe. Otherwise, there's big chance you are going to have issues. A full wipe is necessary when moving from one ROM to another ROM (stock to custom, and vice versa).

You should be able to find stock ROM in sammobile.

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Tags: cyanogenmod, updates, samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


# Question
Title: Sync Outlook Calendar on my PC to Samsung Galaxy S4
I use Outlook Calendar on my PC. Can I sync it to Samsung Galaxy S4?

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can use Samsung Kies for this.

> You can sync contacts, calendar, and tasks between your Microsoft® Outlook and your device and vice versa.

**Related question:**

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-4, outlook
---


# Question
Title: help me out making my transition from iphone please
I am used to doing a long-press-on-the-home-button to trigger the voice- search. That's a bad iphone habit. Here with Android, it is always switching to the currently-running-apps screen.

I tried so many ways ( including the home2 share app) but I could not figure it out.

Could you tell me an easy way to configure note 3 ( or s4) hardware buttons so that I can program them to do certain things upon long press, double click, even triple click etc... What's the best app for that?

And secondly (and more practically speaking), please tell me how I can configure that a long press on the home button puts the phone into the listening mode?

Thank you...

# Answer
> 1 votes
To put Android into "listening mode", do your Long press, then click on the Google logo at the bottom of the screen. That's Google Now, your Siri counterpart.

For Samsung devices with S-Voice, double-pressing quickly on the Home button will trigger S-Voice.

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Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, samsung-galaxy-s-4, samsung-galaxy-note
---


# Question
Title: Locating a stolen phone with Android Device Manager
On the weekend I had a brand new phone stolen from me. It was out of battery at the time. I'm assuming whoever stole the phone has removed the SIM card and probably re-flashed it as it was locked.

Does Android Device Manager still have ability to track it? Can anyone inform me how the tracking on it works? I have not yet had the phone locked via IMEI as im sure that would halt this method of location (they cant use it anyway).

The phone is an HTC One.

Much appreciated.

# Answer
> 0 votes
No. Once it's factory-reset or even flashed, the *Android Device Manager* is no longer able to find it.

Background: *Android Device Manager* uses your Google account to communicate with the device. Moreover, you have to explicitly enable it on the device. Once factory-reset / wiped / flashed, all that is gone.

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Tags: security
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# Question
Title: Revert to official Android from Cyanogenmod
I have installed CyanogenMod 10.1.x on my Note 2, but I find it very unstable and it often goes on a reboot loop.

I use ClockworkMod recovery.

I would rather work with a stock android at this point.

Questions:

1. Since I have ClockworkMod recovery, I presume I can use it to flash the "official" ROM? Is this correct?
2. Can someone point me to the official stock android from Samsung?

# Answer
Yes, you can use CWM to flash the official ROM. As Izzy linked, this question is our guide to finding ROMs for devices. In particular, you can find stock Samsung ROMs easily on SamMobile: there are different ROMs for each particular type of Note 2 and each country, so be sure to pick the right one for your device and location.

Also, it may be worth sticking with Cyanogenmod. Many new users don't appreciate how great the difference is between a nightly/snapshot build and a stable release. If you've been using a nightly or a beta, and a release candidate or stable release is available for your device, you might want to try that out before going back to stock. At the very least, you might consider filing a bug report for the boot loop you've observed. If nobody reports it, it may never be fixed.
> 0 votes

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Tags: rom-flashing, clockworkmod-recovery, rom, samsung-galaxy-note-2
---


# Question
Title: Set native Jelly Bean dialer and contacts for Samsung Galaxy S3
The stock Samsung dialer and contacts (developed by Samsung) is waaay too laggy for me to use it. Actually it takes seconds to navigate through the tabs of logs, favorites or the contact list. (Got about 10 pictures and 10 custom ringtones in 70 contacts, so there's not that much data to handle.) It was actually laggy from the first time I used it. Got Nova launcher instead of the crappy and laggy TouchWiz. In my opinion, every Samsung application is a piece of something brown.

Can I - somehow - force the OS to use the stock Jelly Bean dialer and contact app, or is it got replaced by Samsung's crapware?

Thanks for the input!

# Answer
The Samsung ROM doesn't have the stock AOSP dialer and contacts app. It has Touchwiz themed dialer and contacts app. This is one of the most glitchy and slowest of dialer apps out there.

1. Try the Swipe Dialer if you care to. It has good reviews and seems to be working fine across the board.
2. Another option will be to port AOSP dialer as in Cyanogenmod. This is advanced stuff and you'll need knowledge of ADB. Try it out if you want.
3. The easiest way out is to flash a custom ROM. Try Cyanogenmod, AOKP, Paranoid Android, etc. There are several others too. Try XDA Developers forums for more in depth info.
> 2 votes

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Tags: contacts, samsung, phone-app
---


# Question
Title: How do I get an android media player without going to the google play store ? I will transfer the media player to the smartphone using bluetooth
How do I get an android media player without going to the google play store ?

I will transfer the media player to the smartphone using bluetooth.

step 1: I download the android media player to my notebook.

step 2: I transfer the android media player to my smartphone.

step 3: I install the android media player on my smartphone.

# Answer
1. On your notebook, look for a **FREE** app (in your case, a *media player*) in Google Play.
2. Copy the link of the app in Google Play.
3. Paste the link on APK Downloader, and download the APK file to your notebook.
4. On your phone, make sure you allow external APKs to be installed. On my Samsung Galaxy S4, this is on `System settings > More > Security > Unknown sources`.
5. Using bluetooth, transfer the file from your notebook to your phone.
6. Once download is complete on your phone, look for the APK file and install it.
> 3 votes

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Tags: installation, media-player
---


# Question
Title: How do I make "Emergency Call" harder to hit? I keep pocket calling 911!
I have a Samsung Captivate Glide phone running 4.0.4 on the AT&T network.

Unfortunately, I have pocket called 911 at least four times. To call 911 on my phone you have to:

1. Activate the lock screen
2. Swipe near the bottom of the screen on "Emergency Call"
3. Press on the screen

I think that this is how it happens:

1. I unplug the phone from the charger (which wakes the phone up from sleep and shows the lock screen)
2. I slide the phone into my pocket without looking at it (which does the swipe)
3. The button gets pressed in my pocket

How can I stop this from happening? I'm hoping for something like an app that replaces the lock screen, or a setting to change it from a single button press to actually dialing 9-1-1.

For clarification, I have not rooted this phone.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I added several additional emergency contacts using these instructions.

Now 911 is just one of several numbers that can be called from the emergency call screen. I made most of the numbers "dummy" numbers that don't actually connect. While this probably won't prevent all emergency pocket calls, at least 911 shouldn't be a common selection any longer.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Just search for lockscreen in the Google Play Store. There are many lockscreen replacers available. I think Start might be a good one to start with.

Make sure to read the instructions on these apps. Some require other apps like GO Locker (requires GO Launcher) to be installed first.

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Tags: lock-screens, emergency-calls
---


# Question
Title: Apps on memory card taking internal memory
I noticed that many apps that are, according to Android, installed on the memory card are actually taking internal memory space, as when I delete their data or uninstall them I notice a change on the phone memory, and no on the SD. Why does this happens? I am moving my apps wrongly?.

I run Cyanogen Mod, and some of the apps are ones that should not be moved (according to the app App2SD) or that couldn't be moved (but moved them anyways via other apps).

Thanks.

# Answer
*App2SD* doesn't move the entire app to SDcard, just parts of it. That's normal (or rather "works-as-designed"), and no error on your end.

Please also see our apps2sd tag-wiki, where alternatives are listed along. Note however that those alternatives require root access on the device. Methods like are able to move the entire app; *Data2SD* and Simple2Ext can even move its data.
> 0 votes

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Tags: applications, cyanogenmod, sd-card, app2sd
---


# Question
Title: Which program allows remote management of Android devices?
I have 50 Android tablets. I want to be able to control from a central place the following things on the devices:

* General settings like date-time, unlock method, display sleep time etc;
* Chrome specific things like clearing the history and cookies, saving bookmarks, setting the homepage etc;
* The ability to install or uninstall apps on particular device or all of them.

So I need a mini SCCM for Android. Is there such a thing?

# Answer
> 10 votes
There are a number of Mobile Device Management services on the market, with varying focuses and feature sets.

Mainly mentioning this, as SCCM is mentioned in the question, but Microsoft's solution (that ironically is far better at managing iOS and Android devices than Windows Phone devices) is either InTune () (for a cloud-based subscription service) or SCCM MDM () () (if you're happy managing your own on-premises infrastructure servers).

A good round-up of current services can be found here: 10 BYOD mobile device management suites you need to know. That round-up includes AirWatch, AmTel MDM, Dialogs Smartman Device Management, Exitor DME, FancyFon, Fiberlink MaaS360, IBM Endpoint Manager, MobileIron, Symantec Mobile Management & Zenprise. I've trialled and had good experiences using three of those, and we're actively using one of them to manage BYOD devices at the moment, I think there are different winners depending on exactly what your needs are.

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Tags: multiple-devices, device-administrator
---


title: How can I control my phone remotely?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I control my phone remotely?
As a new Android user, this question has had me thinking quite a while. Is it possible to create an app or is there an app available that will do the following;

* Remote access to your device
* Impossible to remove from your phone (rooting, flashing, w/e)
* Turn your phone into 'Lost Mode' and make sure it can only be used remotely and disables all but the useful services to find your phone (camera, gps, etc)

OR

* Impossible to remove from your phone (even after reinstall, etc)
* Remains in the background whilst the person is using your phone as theirs (stolen, swiped and reinstalled)

# Answer
Google's Android Device Manager service can do all of that apart from the remote control, though unless your phone has a new enough OS to have it installed by default (instead of pulled down as part of the Google Services updates) it's difficult to remove rather than impossible.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Making an app "impossible to remove" is, of course, impossible to accomplish. Nothing is impossible to remove.

For other features you're looking for, I'd recommend looking into AirDroid or Cerberus.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: security, remote-control, remote-access
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to block access to or wipe my Google data for a lost/stolen phone
If my phone was ever lost or stolen, my only real concern is data and apps associated with my Google account, such as my Gmail, the ability to purchase apps from the Market, and maybe Picasa albums.

Is there a way to block access to these Google associated programs if I change my password or do something else with my account?

I would also be interested in any solution that remotely wipes my Google data. I know remote wiping questions have been asked before, but I feel that my question is a little more broad, in the sense of overall protection of data in which wiping is a possible answer.

FYI, I'm running a Gingerbread-based ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate).

# Answer
> 26 votes
EDIT: I now personally use AndroidLost. In addition to everything listed below, there is also an AndroidLost Jupstart app that will launch the service remotely if your phone is already lost without any locating software on it. It's pretty sweet:

* **Read SMS'es** Read the latest SMS'es from your phone and send them to your email.
* **Remote control alarm** Have you ever misplaced your phone which was put on silent mode? Now you may sound the alarm on your phone from your PC!
* **View on map** Find the location of your phone on a map. With AndroidLost you can find your phone with GPS precision. Even if the phone is indoor you will get a nearby location by network accuracy.
* **Send SMS'es from your PC** You can send SMS'es directly from your phone by typing them on AndroidLost. All replies will still go to your phone.
* **Lock the phone** You can lock and unlock the phone from the web. If you forget your pincode you can simply overwrite it or remove it by entering an empty pincode on the web.
* **Wipe the phone** Don't want your personal messages in the hands of anyone else? With AndroidLost you may wipe the entire phone so all SMS'es, contact and google setup is removed.
* **Pop up messages on the phone** Send a message to the friendly guy who have found your phone so you may let him know where to give it back.
* **Forward your calls** You can send keys to the dialer of your phone. That way you can forward your calls from your mobile to a nearby phone.
* **No battery use** AndroidLost will not use any battery since it does not poll any server to find out if it is lost. It uses the latest technology from google to send messages to the phone.
* **No pre installation required** You didn't install AndroidLost on your phone? No problem! You can push the AndroidLost app to your phone from google market and initiate the connection to googles servers by sending an SMS with the message "androidlost register" to your phone.
* **Read status** Detect how much battery is left, display IMEI, SIM card ID and much more.
* **SMS commands** You can set up a phonenumber which can control you phone, i.e. start the alarm by sending an SMS to your phone.
* **Erase SD card** Click a button and your SD card will be erased! Very useful if you have some naughty pictures on your sd card.
* **SIM card changed** When the SIM card is changed an email will be sent to the owner of the phone.
* **Hidden SMS** When the phone receives an SMS it plays a sound and displays an icon in the notification bar. But if it starts with androidlost it will not play any sound and not display any notification.
* **Call list** A list of incomming and outgoing calls will be sent to your email.
* **Camera** AndroidLost can take pictures with the front facing camera in case the phone is stolen. Only for android 2.3.
* **Tablets Honeycomb** I think I have fixed it so AndroidLost works on tablets. The call functions will obviously fail if the tablet have no phone installed.
* **Text to speech** You can make your phone speak out load. Suppose you have lost it on a café then you can make the phone say: 'I am lost - please pick me up!'
* **Multiple phones on the same account**

Here are some others you can use:

**SeekDroid** does the following:

* Locate your device
* Remotely Enable GPS
* Display its location on a map
* Audible alarm (even on silent) w/ custom message
* Lock device w/ custom code
* Retrieve recent calls
* Remotely wipe entire phone
* Remotely wipe SD Card
* Hide from app drawer
* Disable App from being uninstalled
* Virtually no battery drain
* Works without a SIM Card
* Reteive SIM ID, IMEI, and active phone number

and **WatchDroidPro** does the following:

* Get your phone position (by network or GPS)
* Retrieve current SIM information (useful when someone put another SIM card in your phone)
* Share your position to friend
* SIM substitute protection
* Make it ringing even if the ringer is off
* Wipe data
* Lock your device

All of these should do what you're looking for :)

# Answer
> 14 votes
Prey is possibly another option. I don't see a "remote wipe" feature, but there are these two features listed:

1. **No unauthorized access** Fully lock down your PC, making it unusable unless a specific password is entered. The guy won't be able to do a thing!
2. **Keep your data safe** Hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally remove your stored passwords, so no one will be able to look into your stuff.

# Answer
> 11 votes
Changing your google password will prevent the phone from syncing with your google account, but will not remove data already on the device.

# Answer
> 10 votes
Google now provides the "Android Device Manager". It supports:

* Remote Ring
* Remote Wipe
* Remote lock (password change)

# Answer
> 6 votes
Lookout Premium is another option. It offers the ability to Lock and/or Wipe your device remotely. (Lookout Premium is $2.99/month.)

# Answer
> 5 votes
With **Droid Locator** you have the following options :

1. Your Phone sends it's location information in terms of tower info and/or GPS co ordinates as SMS, the moment it detects a change of sim card. ( In essence if someone tries to use your phone after stealing it ) to all the numbers registered in the app as broadcast numbers.
2. Other than this, you can also find the locations of remote phones who are also using **Droid Locator**
3. You can also share your current location with your friends via mail, bluetooth or post your location info as google map images.

The only drawback to this simple and nifty utility is the ad's but of course you cannot blame the developer for this.

Android Market Link

# Answer
> 3 votes
With microsoft exchange account, you can wipe the phone

# Answer
> 3 votes
In ICS there's full device encryption, with full device encryption, the thief only had the chance to obtain your data until the next reboot (when the device dumps it's decryption key), essentially remote wiping the device unless you know the decryption password.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Plan B is from the Lookout people.

> Plan B is the 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you lose your phone. Plan B is your last resort to find your missing phone.
>
> This is the first and only 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you've already lost your phone. Having Lookout on your phone is the best way to protect your phone and find it fast, but use Plan B if you have already lost your phone and didn't have Lookout installed.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Carbonite Mobile, in addition to letting you see your Carbonite backups and to also backup your device, can also do the following:

> * Locate – Identify the location of your Android device on a map.
> * Ring – Misplaced your phone? Sound the ringer even if your phone is muted or set to vibrate.
> * Lock – Lock the screen on your device using a personalized pin.
> * Capture – Think your device was stolen? Remotely activate the camera to take a photo of the person using your phone.
> * Destroy –Remotely destroy all of your personal data and reset the device to its factory settings.

If you're already using Carbonite for your desktop systems this is a free option.

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Tags: security, google-account, lost-phone, remote-wipe
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# Question
Title: I saw the 'z4root' application on the Droid market just now. Is it safe to use on my Samsung Galaxy S?
Anybody used the **Z4ROOT** program to root/unroot his device ? Can I use it on my **Samsung Galaxy S** phone ?

**Is it a real root / unroot process ?** I am a developer myself and know how much damage you can do on a computer if you have too much power and too little knowledge.

However, a true root / unroot program seems ideal. That way I can root the device if necessary (f.i. to grab a screen dump or whatever) and unroot the device immediatly afterwards (until such time I really know what I'm doing - if ever :) ).

# Answer
I've rooted my SGS with z4root and it was a very smooth process! I can highly recommend z4root!

And while you're at it, continue with installing One Click Lag Fix to make your SGS lag a lot less! I did it, and haven't looked back since. OCLF is made by the same guy who made z4root, but for some weird reason, OCLF can, by itself, only root pre-froyo phones. But that's not a big problem, you just need 2 apps instead of one :)
> 4 votes

# Answer
I used z4root on Samsung Galaxy 3, and it was quite smooth.

The easiest way to root(unroot) android.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The XDA post for z4root says that it is 100% compatible with Samsung Galaxy S and will provide a permanent root option.

> V1.2.0 : Unroot support, fix for devices with small max file size such as I5700, binaries in xbin rather than bin

So it says it will unroot? I have not used this method to root any phones, so I can not vouch for it.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Z4root was a very nice simple app (at least, v. 1.3.0 worked for SGS on *Froyo 2.2*),
but after I upgraded Samsung Galaxy S to *Gingerbread* (**2.3.5**),
this rooting method became nonfunctional.

The phone can be rooted with SuperOneClick though.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 2.1-eclair, samsung-galaxy-s, rooting
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# Question
Title: Grey Wifi and mobile data icon after upgrading to CM 10.2 20131102
I had intermittent issues before with my Google syncing not working as it should (although I've always been able to go to google.com in the browser), rebooting usually solved it. However, after upgrading from an older 10.2 version to the latest one (via CMs own update functionality), both the Wifi icon and the mobile data icon stay completely grey. As usual, I have no issues with going to Google in the browser, so I'm suspecting this is a Gapps issue or something with the ROM.

Any ideas on what I can do to troubleshoot and/or solve this? I'll go ahead and try upgrading Gapps now and let you know how it goes.

This is not a duplicate with any question asking what this greyed out icon means, I'm asking specifically why the sync functionality stopped working with the upgrade (if anyone knows), and how to fix it (if possible).

**edit** I just realized I might be running 10.1 gapps on a 10.2 CM build, I'll update this if upgrading gapps solved the issue.

# Answer
Upgrading gapps to the correct version (I was running 10.1 gapps on a 10.2 CM build) solved the issue. I did not have to reinstall the ROM or anything like that, simply flash the new gapps over the old.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I had the same problem (on a toro, Verizon Galaxy Nexus), grey signal icons and had almost all GAPPS unable to open at all. Most would cause a force close message when the phone was idle every few minutes.

I went to CyanogenMod Wiki: GAPPS and downloaded the 10.2 GAPPS, uninstalled all that were available in the play store (from the play store) and re-installed them immediately. Once I went through and linked them all back to my Google Account and did a restart on the phone the connection icons became the familiar and comfortable cyan color.

Once I did all that and gave the phone a day to 'soak', it's running with even more buttery smoothness than ever.
> 0 votes

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Tags: wi-fi, cyanogenmod, sync, samsung-galaxy-nexus
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