# Question
Title: Can't make gallery photos lock screen wallpaper (Samsung S3)
I can only make the preinstalled wallpapers the wallpaper for my lock screen. I can choose an image from my photo gallery, select and crop it and then save it, but the lock screen just stays the same. Anyone know how to fix this?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, but see if you can set a common wallpaper through a similar path: `Settings > My device > Display > Wallpaper > Home and lock screens`.

**UPDATE 2013-12-06**: Another solution you could try is to clear the default app for pictures. If it's a 3rd-party app like QuickPic, go to your phone's Application manager (via Settings), select the 3rd-party app, and do a `Clear defaults`.

Afterwards, open the `Gallery` app (not a 3rd-party app like QuickPic), pick a photo, left-soft-click to open a menu, and click `Set as`. You can pick either: Home screen, Lock screen, or Home and lock screens. Source.

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Tags: lock-screens, wallpaper
---


# Question
Title: system.img file is missing after building Android source
I am attempting to flash a modified Android build to my Nexus 7 tablet.
I am following this tutorial from Google, and using the specific build commands found here for my device, `full_grouper-userdebug`.

With the device in fastboot mode and connected to the PC, I run the following commands:

`$ . build/envsetup.sh` (Initialize build environment.)
`$ lunch full_grouper-userdebug` (Configure the build for specific device.)
`$ make -j8` (Build the source.)
`$ make fastboot adb` (Build fastboot and adb.)
`$ fastboot -w flashall` (Flash build to device.)

At this point, I receive the following error:

`error: cannot open '~/<source path>/out/target/product/grouper/system.img'`

When I issue a find command, nothing is returned:
`$ find ~/<source path>/ -name system.img`
`$`

Why does the file not exist? Without it, I do not know how to flash my modifications. Any ideas?
I am using Ubuntu 13.10.

# Answer
> 1 votes
It looks like the build did not complete successfully. Run `make` again. It should try to resume from the point the build failed, whereupon it'll encounter the same error again. Probably the error message will tell you what went wrong: possibly it's a problem with the software you need to build the source, or likely the way you've "modified" the build has caused the problem.

If you can't work out yourself what the error message means, then our sister site Stack Overflow will be able to offer specific help if you tell them the message and your situation.

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Tags: rom-flashing, custom-roms, nexus-7, linux
---


title: wave hand & lock phone automatically

text:
# Question
Title: wave hand & lock phone automatically
Is there any way to lock my Samsung Quattro (running Android 4.2) just by waving my hand upon it?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I cannot promise that any of these solutions work on your device, but there are several apps listed which seem to be able to achieve this, as e.g. Air Gesture Control or Wave Control. Just try a search for "air gestures" on Play Apps.

<sup>**Note:** my links go to *AppBrain*, as that site is not limited to 16 search results. Being an alternative front-end to *Google Play*, you still can install your findings from the latter. *AppBrain* even offers *Google Play* links for each app.</sup>

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Tags: security, lock-screens
---


# Question
Title: How to find out if my mobile data is working or defective?
I installed `CyanogenMod 7.2 stable` on my Samsung Galaxy Ace before, but it seems mobile data wasn't working. I decided to download the latest nightly build (2013-03-01) but still the mobile data doesn't work.

What are some ways to troubleshoot/test if my mobile data is working? Note: it was working before on stock ROM.

# Answer
I found the problem: Roaming was active. That's why mobile data wasn't working.

Simply disabling roaming fixed the issue.
> 1 votes

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-ace, mobile-data
---


# Question
Title: Error code (ERR_ACCESS_DENIED) Local HTML file on SD card with Chrome
I cannot access local HTML files at external SD card on my Lenovo S6000 within Chrome. It is mounted at /mnt/extSdCard. Browsing to file:///mnt/extSdCard does show this message:

> The file at file:///storage/sdcard0/foo/bar.html is not readable. It may have been removed, moved, or file permissions may be preventing access. Error code (ERR\_ACCESS\_DENIED)

I've tried multiple browsers. Some show the app and doesn't work, some show the app and does work, some show the above error. Interestingly, I have 2 tablets. The one with updated firmware is the one that doesn't work. I held off on the update on the 2nd and Chrome works with local HTML files.

From comments:

```
$ls -l index.html
-rw-rw-r-- root  sdcard_rw  8097  2013-11-20 10:40 index.html

```

# Answer
In case some one else comes across this. I did not completely figure out why 1 updated firmware tablet works and 1 non updated tablet does not with the same file path from sdcard0. I did notice on the updated firmware tablet in storage I have folders emulated(read only), sdcard0(read/write), and sdcard1(neither). What I understand these are android 4.2 multiuser folders.

Using the html file from either legacy/0 folders within the emulated folder turns out to work fine with Chrome. Both those folders are read and write. So that is my solution for now.

Side note, the emulated folder is not on the non updated firmware tablet.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sd-card, chrome-for-android, html
---


title: View local website on an Android device

text:
# Question
Title: View local website on an Android device
Web developer here.

I have two devices, a Samsung Galaxy S3 & a Samsung Note 10.1. I have developed a website which is running on PHP and I would like to view my website on these two devices without having to upload it to an online server. My local server is a WAMPSERVER.

I've heard that you could use Wi-Fi and connect to my PC's IP address however my wifi signal is very weak (I use a desktop upstairs, router is downstairs) so I would like a setup that requires me to physically connect my devices to my PC through a USB cable. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks in advance! :)

# Answer
Not sure how much help this is, but I've had success using the reverse tethering solution with IIS, so it must have something to do with your server. With IIS I connect using the Ip 192.168.0.0:port/{path of directory within IIS instance}

Hope this helps
> 0 votes

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Tags: usb, browser, reverse-tether
---


# Question
Title: What size of SIM card Nexus 7 2013 LTE TMo comes with?
I cannot find any mention of which SIM the newest Nexus 7 32GB 2013 LTE TMo comes with.

Is it Mini-SIM? Micro-SIM? Nano-SIM?

The page only mentions that it comes with a `SIM ejection tool` and has `Micro USB`.

# Answer
According to GSMArena, the Nexus 7 2013 uses a microSIM.

Google's help page on inserting the SIM further confirms this.

I would fully expect that Google would include a SIM of the appropriate size, unless they've completely reneged on their "Don't be evil" bit.

If not, just break out your scissors to cut it down to the appropriate size and shape. The extra size is just empty plastic to make handling easier. The only important bits are directly under the connector.
> 1 votes

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Tags: nexus-7, 4g
---


# Question
Title: Can I "purchase" a free book from the Store without providing a credit card number?
There are a few books on Google Play that are free. Can I obtain said books without providing a credit card number?

# Answer
> 8 votes
Looks like it depends on the book. From Google Play support:

> Downloading free music, TV shows, and certain free books and magazines is still considered a transaction, even when the price of the item is $0.00. If you don't have a credit card associated to your Google Wallet account or if you don't haven't set up a Google Wallet account, you'll be prompted to add a new payment method upon when downloading certain content from Google Play.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Google has released an app called Google Opinion Rewards. With this, users can get a couple cents at a time, which allows them to "purchase" these books now.

# Answer
> 0 votes
No you cannot read them with out providing your credit card details.

You have to provide them or use Google Wallet.

# Answer
> 0 votes
It seems that it used to be possible to register with a generated card number. You can get those for example here: http://www.darkcoding.net/credit-card-numbers/ See How to get Google Music Without Credit Card for Free Music.

Unfortunately I am not able to register a generated card number any more. It seems that Google started to perform additional checks of the numbers.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Simply, No you cannot.

A sad fact really, as many youngsters want to read through their phone and this limits many to do so.

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Tags: google-play-store
---


title: Non GPS Positioning

text:
# Question
Title: Non GPS Positioning
I get map positioning in iPad without GPS. Any clues on how to get the same thing in an Android phone? I tried it on google maps, maps with me, always with wifi on and no result unless I'm connected to the wifi network.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Go into the main **Settings** app. Find **Location access** (**Location services** on some phones) in the list of settings pages, and make sure all the settings in that page are on, in particular **Wi-Fi & mobile network location** (which might have a slightly different name, such as **Use wireless networks**).

When you turn this option on, there's a dialog warning you that this periodically sends the visible Wi-Fi networks to Google. This is how the location mechanism works, so you have to agree to it if you want this feature.

Even when it's on, it only works when you're connected to the internet (either through 3G or Wi-Fi). It works by sending Google the list of Wi-Fi networks you can see. Google has collected a database of Wi-Fi network names and real-world locations, so with this information, they can reply to your phone with its approximate position. Obviously this can only work with internet access.

The similar feature in the iPad works exactly the same way, only with a different database maintained by Apple instead of Google.

---
Tags: gps, maps
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy s3 can't edit contacts much
When I click on the 'edit' icon for a contact, the only options I get are to change their name, phone number and email address. The default profile picture disappears so I can't change their picture. Can't add additional information. Can't favourite them. I know you can go to favourites, or image gallery (and pick an image), and then pick a contact to allocate (as a favourite or the image), but my contact list turns up empty when I try this route. Even though I have contacts. Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Figured it out - the contacts were saved to my SIM card, not my phone. I had to import all my contacts from my SIM to my phone and then I was able to edit them fully :)

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Tags: contacts, photos
---


# Question
Title: Can 2 SIM cards be activated on one phone?
If I get a new T-Moble SIM and activate it on my Google Nexus 4, then put the old one back in, will the old one still work?

# Answer
> 1 votes
This is not an Android question, but more like a generic mobile question.

But to answer your question: YES, the old one will still work. SIM cards are not tied to cellphones. So, you can always transfer SIM cards to other phones that have SIM card slots, assuming that the phone allows the network your SIM card is for. i.e. If the phone is locked to a specific network, then only SIM cards for that network is allowed. Of course, you can remove this limitation by *unlocking* the phone.

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Tags: nexus-4, sim-card, t-mobile, activation
---


# Question
Title: After activating the device encryption on my S2 running CM 10.2 nightly, my CDMA radio stopped working
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 (Sprint, codename d710), and I just installed the latest CM nightly (10.2). Everything worked until I encrypted the device. Now the radio doesn't work (network: UNKNOWN, no service, etc.). I looked at each of the mobile network settings and didn't find anything; I also tried about 10 different modem updates (packaged as .zip, installed through Clockwork Mod).

I verified that it happens immediately after an encrypt from a fresh install of CM nightly 10.1-2013-11-17.

Is there anything to do short of wiping and reinstalling? What's the source of the problem, and how can I prevent it from happening again?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Cyanogenmod nightly builds are development snapshots. Anything can be broken in them from one night to the next. You shouldn't try to use a nightly for your "everyday" phone as problems like the one you describe are common.

Report the bug to the developers and switch to a stable release (or, if you're feeling brave) a release candidate or milestone release.

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-s-2, encryption, cellular-radio
---


title: How do I disable faces on contacts?

text:
# Question
Title: How do I disable faces on contacts?
On an older version contacts without images are a solid color. Now its a solid color with a blank face drawn on top of it. It's irritating. How can I disable it? I also would like to disable the face/color box next in the text message conversation.

I'm using version 4.3

# Answer
I think the stock `Contacts` and `Messaging` apps do not have the option to hide the profile pictures.

However, you can try GO Contacts Ex and GO SMS Pro. These are highly-customizable 3rd-party apps that allow you to hide profile pictures. I'm sure other apps can hide the pictures two, but those are are what I've tried so far, and it works well.
> 1 votes

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Tags: contacts, sms
---


# Question
Title: SSH (and SFTP) server on Android discoverable through avahi/bonjour
I would like for my Android device (a Samsung Galaxy) to be discoverable through avahi/bonjour when it is connected to a WiFi network, and then to be able to access its filesystem via SSH (SFTP).

For me, that's a familiar and convenient way to access various devices in my local network: to discover their SSh service via avahi/bonjour (not to have to deal with IP addresses), and to ssh to them. I would use this way for my GNU/Linux systems (like Ubuntu).

Is there free (= libre -- because I appreciate the freedom of hacking) software for Android that would implement this, namely:

* avahi/bonjour support for Android, so that the Android device would be reachable by name in the .local domain (instead of just by its IP address);
* and an SSH server with support for publishing itself through Avahi/bonjour (mdnssd).

# Answer
> 4 votes
I have been using the free SSHelper (without rooting) since it recently added zeroConf broadcasting. It provides an SSH and RSYNC (file transfer) server, while also broadcasting a ZeroConf name. Another avahi/bonjour client can connect without needing to know the android hostname. Explained in more detail in this other answer: Set hostname for SSHelper

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Tags: wi-fi, ssh, services, open-source, dns
---


# Question
Title: Can I use my bootloader-locked phone with a different network?
I just bought an Xperia Z and the bootloader is locked. Do I need to unlock it in order to run it on a new SIM card and can I switch to Virgin? It's OK if I can't: I will just buy a Bell SIM for $10, but will the phone be able to be switched to Bell pay as you go? It was previously on the prev. owner plan with Bell.

# Answer
The bootloader being locked has nothing to do with whether it's SIM-locked to a particular network. It just means you can't flash a custom ROM to the device (without unlocking the bootloader). You don't need to unlock the bootloader to change SIM to a different network, but if it's SIM-locked to a particular network, you need to unlock it from that network.

Whether you can switch to a PAYG SIM is entirely up to the carrier, and nothing to do with Android. You should check with the carrier.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: sim-unlocking, bootloader-lock
---


title: Enable voice control on Nexus 4

text:
# Question
Title: Enable voice control on Nexus 4
How do I enable voice control in my LGE Nexus 4 for system commands like "turn on bluetooth", etc?

# Answer
By default that is not possible on stock Android phones.

It works for Samsung, because they have basically taken the Android source code and made their own fork of the repo. Having access to the source code allows them to turn on/off or even edit features.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You mean Google Now, don't you ? For this, you have to click on the microphone of a Google Search bar. You can do this with the one of the home screen. You can also open the Google Search app and doing this with its search bar too. For opening Google Search, do a long press on the Home button and then swipe to the circle with the Google logo. Google Now will be opened. You can also use the app shortcut (in the Launcher or anywhere else).
> 0 votes

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Tags: nexus-4, voice-command
---


title: SIM card removed?

text:
# Question
Title: SIM card removed?
Apparently I'm getting this message after using the phone camera. But not all the time. Then it restarts.

What could be the problem?

Nexus 4, Android 4.4

# Answer
Okay, so I've had this problem before. I suggest powering off, removing SIM card, then putting it back in (if possible) and reboot. Please check the card for any visual damage.
> 0 votes

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Tags: camera, sim-card, system-error
---


# Question
Title: How to revert Hangouts to Google Talk in Samsung S4
I just updated my Android version to 4.3. However, Google Talk is replaced by Hangouts automatically. I don't like Hangouts, since I cannot see friends who are online/offline. I wish to revert to Google Talk. When I try to uninstall Hangouts, there is no uninstall option for me.

I am using a Samsung S4 smartphone. Does anyone know how to revert to Google Talk?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Hangout is the replacement to Google Talk. And on Hangout you CAN see people online. Go into Hangout, Click the + sign to have "New Hangout" (+ sign is on top right, or simply swipe from right to left), and all people with a green hangout sign are online people. All people with grey hangout are offline, but you can send them 'offline' messages so they can see it as soon as they are online.

Unfortunately this is only half the answer as I don't see a way to remove Hangout back to Google Talk. If anyone can add to this answer, please do.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you didn't install *Hangouts* via Play Store, it was supplied by the update. In that case, there is no way to get the old Google Talk back.

An alternative would be installing a messenger app that supports GTalk and/or XMPP (XMPP is the protocol GTalk uses).

some messaging apps:

* Xabber is an open-source, fully configurable XMPP client
* imo.im is closed-source and displays ads in the non-paid version
* IM+ is closed-source

---
Tags: google, samsung, google-talk
---


# Question
Title: I clicked on an anti virus scanner pop up on my android?
I was browsing Google when a message popped up saying something along the lines of me having a virus. Okay, I'm not stupid. I've seen these on a computer before. I also saw the word yahoo somewhere on the pop up? But, in my frenzy, I forgot to carefully inspect the thing. Anyways, I clicked "no thanks" instead of "scan now" or something, but thinking back, if this was some kind of virus pop up, clicking on either option would have been a bad idea.

After clicking *no thanks,* I closed the app and turned my phone off. So far, I haven't seen anything wrong, but I am still quite concerned. I have been thinking about backing my phone up onto my computer, and then restarting my phone, however, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. In the case that my phone has been infected, would it be possible for the virus to transfer over to my computer? Should I even be concerned? Has this happened to anyone else? Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I'd like to take as little chances as possible. Thanks.

# Answer
> 1 votes
## Short answer

You did the right thing, and don't need to be afraid. That popup was most likely caused by some Javascript on the visited web site to make you download/install something really bad. It doesn't mean you're infected.

## Explanation

There are a couple of things to consider. First, if the popup really said "you have a virus", your reacting was fully correct (and the popup bluntly lying): There are no viruses for Android, at least not "in the wild". I know, the term got mixed up, and when speaking about Anti-Virus people really mean "an app against all kind of malware". But no serious AV app would speak of "you have a virus", as that's technically incorrect.

Mixing in your "fear" from the second paragraph here: exactly that's what matches a virus definition, and makes it different from all other kinds of malware: the ability to "multiply itself". As you 100% sure have no "virus" on your device, no need to be afraid about that.

For details on the above, please see e.g. Wikipedia:

> the defining characteristic of viruses is that they are self-replicating computer programs which install themselves without the user's consent.

There you see why a virus is close to being impossible: on Android, the user is always asked for his "consent" when something is installed.

Now for the last part: Who should have caused that popup? Do you have any AV app installed and active? Your question does not suggest such. So if you have no such app installed, who should have popped up that warning? Android doesn't do that. So the most likely candidate was a part of the site you've visited. That's rather so-called Scareware trying to make you install something bad. Believe me, you did the right thing – and would possibly have been in trouble if you had acted differently.

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Tags: antivirus
---


# Question
Title: ownCloud Alternative on Rooted Samsung Galaxy Note II
## My question in short:

I want a cloud storage, but on my own servers. I know there's Owncloud for Android, but it's quite limited. Is it possible to get a similar "user experience" like with other cloud services, with your own "cloud resources"? How could that be done?

**Please note that the phone is rooted.**

## Closer explanation:

I have tried searching for an alternative on alternativeTo but didn't find anything particular to my scenario. I'm mainly seeking to find a solution that does not require the installation of an app.

I'd like to be able to:

* Instantly sync photos taken by camera to owncloud
* Sync latest Titanium Backup files
* Selectively sync other files and folders

I realize owncloud's Android app can do all of the above, but I'd like to know if this can be done **without** an app.

The screenshots below may give you an idea of what I have in mind. Can the function in the first screenshot at the left be replicated in such a way that we can use ownCloud? The other three screenshots show that I can add a server, but not a file sync server - which is what I need - ownCloud in my case.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Combining several apps you most likely find useful for other means as well, this should be accomplishable. So first, let's list the components:

* Tasker: the mighty automation tool will trigger several actions for us
* FolderSync: will do the real copy/sync jobs
* Titanium Backup will do your backups (well, it does already).

No need to elaborate on *Titanium Backup*, as you already use it. Most likely together with its integrated scheduler, so you have an idea about what time that job has finished.

So the next candidate is *FolderSync*. It obviously can do with *OwnCloud*, as described e.g. in Use the Android App FolderSync with ownCloud – using WebDAV, in fact. Which means you've first to setup your *OwnCloud* account in *FolderSync* (as described in the linked short-tut), and then define "folder pairs", i.e. which folder on your device should be sync'd with which on the *OwnCloud* server. Recommendation: configure it for *manual sync*; as nice as the integrated scheduler might sound, I experienced it woke up the device all 5 minutes 24/7 even with only one *daily* sync configured. So better leave that integrated scheduler off, we either need something else to trigger your "instant photo upload".

Third candidate: *Tasker*. You can use this to schedule your regular sync intervals (easy to do, as it's just a time interval as condition, and the *FolderSync* pair as the task; note this might require the Pro version of *FolderSync* for Tasker support). But *Tasker* has also means to detect whether a file/directory has been modified. This is what you can use to trigger your "instant photo upload", by watching your `DCIM` folder(s) and trigger the corresponding "folder pair" to be sync'd.

---

I know you prefered "without an app", but I don't know about such an alternative. However, one of the 3 apps involved you're using already, and once you've got used to *Tasker* you will ask yourself how you could do without. True, it's "payware", but worth every cent. For testing purposes, a 7-day-trial can be obtained on their project site; export all your config from within the app on day 6, uninstall, re-install, and import it again gives you another 7 days (recommendation by the dev himself). *FolderSync* requires 3 bucks as well; but it supports so many services, and has *Tasker* integration, I'd say it's worth the investment. So altogether ~7 bucks for a good solution, and other uses reserved.

---
Tags: sync, files
---


# Question
Title: How to distinguish Nexus 7 (2012) and Nexus 7 (2013)
I am having trouble with Bluetooth Low Energy (BT 4.0) on a Nexus 7. I think I may have a 2012 model.

How to tell if I have a 2012 or 2013 version of the Nexus 7?

# Answer
> 70 votes
There are several physical differences

* Most notable is the different orientations of the "Nexus" logo.
* The 2013 model drops the dimpled texture on the back.
* The 2013 model also has a camera on the back, which the 2012 model lacks.
* The 2013 model has a notification LED on the front, which the 2012 model lacks.
* The 2013 model has a speaker grille on the top for stereo sound in landscape, while the 2012 model only has the bottom speaker grille.

2013:

2012:

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Tags: nexus-7
---


# Question
Title: Contact images missing from SMS list in hangouts
I have a problem with my Nexus 5 and the new Hangouts app that supports SMS integration.

Only some of my contacts have their contact image next to their name in the main listing. When I click on them to view the SMS conversation their image is displayed correctly, it's just on the main listing that it doesn't appear. People I've 'hung out' with show up fine, it's just the SMS contacts that don't.

Things I've tried:

1. Editing the contact and applying a completely new image
2. Changing the contact to use their Google+ image
3. Changing the contact to use the image I have applied in GMail on the web.

Does anyone know how I can get the missing contact images to show up?

# Answer
> 1 votes
This ended up being an extremely simple fix but took me a long time to do.

1. Open the hangouts app and go to *Settings*
2. Select your Google account
3. Scroll down and click 'Sign out'
4. Back in the main listing, click the *SMS* dropdown
5. Click on your Google account

And that's it! All my contact images showed up correctly and change when I change their photo via the contacts app.

---
Tags: sms, google-hangouts, contact-photo
---


# Question
Title: How to install a file manager to Xperia L WITHOUT internet connection?
It's a big **shame** that this phone does not have any file manager by default.

I have the .apk installer of the file manager on my PC, but how to install it on phone **offline**? (offline = no internet connection)

Help

# Answer
Plug the device into the computer, drop the .apk into the sd card and use the web browser to go to `file:///sdcard` and open the .apk file to install it.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: installation, offline
---


# Question
Title: What actually happens when you swipe an app out of the recent apps list?
The recent apps list in Ice Cream Sandwich added the ability to swipe apps out of the list, thereby dismissing them permanently (and as far as I know this is a vanilla function, not a CM/custom ROM one). The documentation and platform highlights don't appear to cover the under-the-hood workings of this functionality, but I'm curious to know what the system is actually doing.

Further adding to my curiosity, I decided to do a quick test: I started up Music on a CM9 install, then backed out of it. I then checked the recent apps list and saw it was indeed there (and in the proper state, based on the thumbnail). I then went into `Settings->Applications` and force stopped the Music app, but it was still listed in the recent list, leading me to believe it's not connected to processes lingering in the background.

Realizing now that Music may have been a poor choice, I also tested with the USA Today app. This exhibited basically the same behavior, and it seemed like it was forced to "relaunch" after the force stop (which makes sense) though the thumbnail in the recent apps list didn't reflect this (cached, I'm guessing?).

So, what actually happens at the OS level when you swipe an app out of the recent list? Does it simply clear the app's data out of RAM and garbage collect it, destroying its saved state?

# Answer
Swiping apps out of the recent apps list is vanilla, and yes, not well documented. This has been the topic of a decent amount of discussion on various Android forums... the consensus seems to be best described here in some comments: that the behavior is similar to but not exactly the same as closing an app -- in general (for apps that don't define explicit back button handling) it's the same thing as hitting back enough times from within an application that you exit out of it.

The link has some more details on the specifics, but overall you can think of it as quitting the application.

Specific to the Music app, I believe it starts a service, so while the task itself (the Music app/UI) may be closed, the service continues to run in the background so that your music doesn't suddenly stop just because the task got cleared out for memory management reasons. That may have affected what you saw.
> 70 votes

# Answer
I appear to have found the magical search terms that led to some explanations from Google employees. Specifically, I found a couple of different places where Dianne Hackborn explains what happens when you swipe something out of the recent list. The first is a comment on one of her Google+ posts:

> \[W\]hat specifically happens when you swipe away a recent task is it: (1) kills any background or empty processes of the application (see https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/processes-and-threads.html#Lifecycle for what this means), and (2) uses the new https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#onTaskRemoved(android.content.Intent) API to tell any services of the application about the task being removed so it can do whatever it thinks is appropriate.

She also notes in a blog comment:

> Actually, removing an entry in recent tasks will kill any background processes that exist for the process. It won't directly causes services to stop, however there is an API for them to find out the task was removed to decide if they want this to mean they should stop. This is so that removing say the recent task of an e-mail app won't cause it to stop checking for e-mail.
>
> If you really want to completely stop an app, you can long press on recent tasks to go to app info, and hit force stop there. For stop is a complete kill of the app -- all processes are killed, all services stopped, all notifications removed, all alarms removed, etc. The app is not allowed to launch again until explicitly requested.

So, it looks like the summary is that swiping an app out of the list will first kill all background processes for the app, then use `onTaskRemoved` to notify the app that the background task was removed. At that point it looks like it's up to the app to decide what happens, so I guess there technically **isn't** a hard-and-fast rule about what happens to the app beyond that point.
> 81 votes

# Answer
There's some info in the source code in the classes com.android.internal.policy.impl.RecentApplicationsBackground and com.android.internal.policy.impl.RecentApplicationsDialog.

If I read these correctly, there are specific handlers for selecting the apps but nothing special for swiping them except for `onDetachedFromWindow()`, which calls `com.android.View.onDetachedFromWindow()` which basically hides the element and clears it's data. This would hint to the fact that nothing special happens on swiping the app, which corresponds with Austin Mills' answer, because since the list doesn't show the active app, the `onPause()` and other system calls that are done when "quitting" an application have already happened.
> 23 votes

# Answer
I think it will do the same as the back button do. Except one little change. It will `finish()` all activity / fragments in the app.

Just did a little testing with a little selfbuild app. You can test, too. Heres my testing app: https://bitbucket.org/Leandros99/lifecycletest (download available, too. For those who cant build.)
In every Activity lifecycle method (https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#ActivityLifecycle) print the app a log. You can view it with adb logcat (install Android SDK, `cd` to platform-tools in cmd / shell and type `adb logcat`. Now you will see, every time you do something like hit back or home button, the app prints the lifecycle method, mentioned above.)

Your question: If I swipe a app from the recent apps drawer, the `onDestroy` method will be called. It does nearly the same as the back button.
Hope I helped a bit. If there are questions, just ask.
> 10 votes

# Answer
It closes the app, and its data that is stored in the RAM. Thus, giving you more RAM space so you can run other apps. However, background services are NOT automatically force closed as a result of closing the using app.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, recents-screen
---


# Question
Title: How to delete whatsapp without a SD card or a SIM card installed?
I have taken out my SIM card and SD card as I have a new phone, how do I delete whatsapp, as messages are still being received to my old phone?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Uninstall Whatsapp from Google Play or from the phone's Application Manager (In the Samsung Galaxy S4, `Settings > More > Application Manager`).

If it's a pre-installed app and cannot be uninstalled by regular means, clear its data via Application Manager. In the Application Manager, click Whatsapp and you might see buttons like `Clear data` and `Clear cache`.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Just install the WhatsApp on your new phone, and sign-in with the same number. WhatsApp will automatically stop forwarding the message to your old phone, and you'll start receiving the messages on your new phone.

To uninstall WhatsApp from your phone, you can go to `Settings > Application Manager > Scroll down to WhatsApp > Click on it > Click on uninstall` and you are done.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You just need to install WhatsApp on your new phone and sign-in with the new phone. After you have signed in and verfied the account, WhatsApp automatically changes the password. The old phone which uses the old password won't be allowed to connect to the WhatsApp webservice anymore.

---
Tags: applications, htc-desire, whatsapp-messenger
---


title: Tasker "Night" profile won't exit

text:
# Question
Title: Tasker "Night" profile won't exit
I have a profile set-up to activate when the phone is connected to power AND the time is between 10:30pm and 7:30am. This shuts off autobrightness, dims the screen, shuts off vibrate, and lowers the ringer (except certain contacts).

This run an exit task to reverse all of this after 7:30am because both conditions are no longer met ... but it doesn't. If I unplug the phone before 7:30am, it will exit the profile. If the time passes, it won't exit even if the phone is unplugged.

Any suggestions?

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have a similar profile for nighttime and I don't use an exit task. Since the task only runs during the time span you specify, it should shut off by itself once it's 7:30am.

---
Tags: tasker
---


title: Damage risk of using flashlight

text:
# Question
Title: Damage risk of using flashlight
I'm using a flashlight app on my Xperia L phone. I accidentally turned on the flashlight, but noticed it only 4 hours later. I turned it off then.

Is this keeping the flashlight on for a long period of time harmful for my phone or flashlight?

# Answer
You shouldn't worry that much as it happened once. Just take care it doesn't happen often.

In short, LEDs have a long life span (20k+ hours?). So the concern isn't really the LEDs burning out (although after a long period of time, they will eventually start losing the amount of output and their brightness will dim).

The real concern is to not apply too much voltage to the LED and overheat it. Another concern would be overheating your battery (due to heat dissipation from draining the battery from powering the LED).

In short, if you're only using the LED for time periods less than half an hour, you should be okay.

Source
> 5 votes

---
Tags: hardware
---


title: wireless crash in android 4.3 and 4.4

text:
# Question
Title: wireless crash in android 4.3 and 4.4
after updating my google nexus 4 android version to 4.3 , my wireless get crashed. in just one way. if it was on and i turn off my screen, and it goes in sleeping mode, after turnning on my screen it just crashed. always off , and in just two ways i could fixed it. restart or flight mode. sure i used flight mode. but it wasn't the big problem. the big one happened in version 4.4 . after this happend i can't fix it even by flight mode. just restart. now is there any solution for that?

# Answer
it seems my problem was in my battery saver app (in this case 2x battery). i read a question in this site couple days ago. the problem of questioner was like me and he/she answer it, and said problem was from battery saver app. i think if i disable this option (wireless saver) it goes well. but just after disabling the hole app it fixed. for now i check it and i didn't have any problem. p.s: i really forget the title of that question or link of it. if i find that, i set it here for others.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, nexus-4, 4.3-jelly-bean, 4.4-kitkat
---


# Question
Title: How to change Android device's default search engine?
I am trying to play with Android...To change the default search engine (now is Google, or add more selectables) when I press the "search" button on the device.

Is there anyway to do it? I have HTC Hero and HTC Desire, already rooted

# Answer
Not currently possible. It's not locked in to Google, but determined by manufacturer and/or carrier. (For instance, there was a bit of a tempest in a teapot when a new phone was released with Bing as the search engine.)

I do not know if this is something that can be got around by rooting.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Any app can offer to handle the *intent* generated when you press the *search* key, just like how an app can handle the *intent* from the home key in order to replace the default home screen. So all you need to do to change the search behaviour is to install an app with that feature.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: search
---


title: Unwanted WiFi proxy issue

text:
# Question
Title: Unwanted WiFi proxy issue
I have a Nexus 7 Android tablet.

When I connect to my WiFi at home it keeps automatically adding a proxy on `localhost:3128` to the connection. When I remove the proxy it works for a few hours and then I see the proxy is back.

I removed the WiFi connection and set it up again and I still experience this issue. I don't experience anything similar on my other devices like my Android phone.

Does anyone know how I can figure out what is causing this or how I can fix it (I don't want to do a factory reset)?

# Answer
> 4 votes
It seems to be a known "feature" if you use Kaspersky Internet Security:

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?s=8ffe1c0b8684d5bd3d1353f0d074f528&showtopic=260035

However, as you can see in the link above, it comes with a few issues. Disabling the 'web protection' component seems to do the trick.

---
Tags: wi-fi, networking, nexus-7, proxy
---


# Question
Title: Is Camera on Nexus 5 always as slow as in the Engadged Hands-on?
http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-announces-nexus-5/

In the Engadget video above, we can see that Nexus 5, with its quad-core 2.3GHz processor, is a very fast phone indeed: all the IU is very-very fast.

But then near the end of the 3-minute as above (2:35/3:26), they showcase the camera.

Wow. The app takes more than a second to launch. Then it takes more than a second to take each HDR picture, yet somehow the presenter comments that it takes "quick snaps".

Since when are 1s+ snaps "quick"? Will the camera be as slow in the non-HDR mode, or will it be as flaky and unusable as the post-4.0 zero-shutter-lag feature of Galaxy Nexus, which has been completely destroyed with the 4.1 update?

# Answer
The HDR function in the Nexus 5/KitKat camera app is an optional function that's switched off by default.

From some informal testing with my new Nexus 5, how fast the HDR function is at taking photos seems to depend on what's in the photo. Taking a close up picture of the well lit surface of my desk seems to be pretty fast (feels like under 2 seconds), taking a picture down the length of my open plan office towards the window seems to take a few seconds longer. It seems to depend on the variation in the lighting (and possibly the depth) in the photo, which would make sense as HDR works by taking photos for different light levels and combining them.

Taking a photo with HDR off seems to consistently take a photo pretty nearly instantly.

For me the camera app launches in about 2 seconds from the lock screen (swiping the lock screen left without unlocking) and in under a second from an unlocked home screen.

---

The above was written using a Nexus 5 running 4.4. In addition the 4.4.1 update promises further camera speed enhancements, the speed-ups should apparently be particularly noticeable in low light. More: AndroidPolice: Android 4.4.1 Will Improve The Nexus 5's Camera, Update Expected To Roll Out Over The Next Couple Of Days
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, nexus-5
---


title: Reset capital letter in SMS

text:
# Question
Title: Reset capital letter in SMS
I've noticed that my SMSes don't start anymore with a capital letter, the same happens after punctuation.

Maybe I've accidentally changed some settings? How to solve this?

Thanks in advance

# Answer
Settings \> Language and Keyboard \> Samsung keypad \> Auto-capitalization.
> 4 votes

# Answer
I have just had same prob trying to change get auto capitals back in text. I have found when on text input screen by pressing the cog wheel symbol bottom right of screen and you can select various setting, one is for auto capitals. It drove me mad 'til I found it, reckon I must have hit it by accident sometime. Good Luck hope this regains a bit of sanity, cheers.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sms
---


# Question
Title: Google Nexus 7 3G free storage not recognised by Play store
I have 85% free space of my 32 GB internal storage (there is no external sd card on this device), and yet I cannot download any new app or even update an old one, because Google Play Store keep telling me there is not enogh free space. I am running Aopk ROM, tilapia-userdebug 4.2.2 JDQ39

# Answer
I've been getting this error a lot lately (stock N7 16gb), too, and I have plenty of room on my device. Usually I can go back in and tell it to update and it will work the second time.

Just now I was getting an update message on an app and when I went in to update it there was no update option. I wonder if this is related to the new Google Play version coming out.

I went to Google Play on my laptop and told it to update the app and it worked that way.

You might try downloading the apk for the new Play Store and see if that helps.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Read all the posts but did not want to do software surgery on my Nextbook 7 while it was under warranty, so I called Nextbook support. After a long delay they gave me a solution that worked. I had little free memory so apps would not update even though I had only the original Google apps installed. For some reason the apps were duplicated in my internal storage partition. The solution is go to Bootloader by holding down the power and volume at startup. Then scroll down to Wipe data/factory reset click power and then yes. Now scroll down to Wipe Media Partition, click power and yes. Then Reboot system.

My memory went from 40 megs free to 260 megs free. All is good. I am betting this solves some of the other issues with performance as well.
> -1 votes

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


# Question
Title: Is there a way to move my Google Play music to my SD Card?
I have a Motorola Droid Micro.

I'm running out of space on my internal storage because it won't let me install things to the SD card.

Is there a way to move the Google Play music (which takes up 2/3 of the space) to my SD card?

# Answer
Just announced: Google Play Music Now Lets You Specify Where Your Music Is Stored

> A new Google Play Music update is rolling out now, and it brings with it a number of small but significant new features — one of which is the ability to specify where your downloaded music is stored.
>
> You cannot choose a certain folder, but you can choose between internal storage and an SD card, which lets you free up space on your device itself.
>
> This option won’t appear on devices without SD card support...
> 1 votes

---
Tags: sd-card, google-play-music
---


# Question
Title: Transfer sms data from a Samsung Gal. 3 with black screen of death
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 with the black screen of death. I was able to download files from phone and sd card onto my computer.

However, I would like to access my old sms text messages. I have "sms backup and restore" app on phone, but it hasn't backed up any recent messages. I also have Kies software on my computer, which I used to recover all media, contacts, etc., but it will not backup/restore messages for some reason.

How can I recover my sms text messages?

# Answer
Assuming the device is running Android 4.0 or higher, you could use `adb backup` to get all data to your computer. Then you could extract your messages from the backup file, see e.g.:

If you have root access, an easier way might be to directly exctract the corresponding database using `adb pull`. While the SMS database usually is located in `/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/mmssms.db`, it seems on Samsung devices different locations might be used. See e.g. Where on the file system are SMS messages stored?

A third variant would be utilizing VNC to substitute your screen: Broken Screen + Using adb shell to run vnc server.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: sms, samsung
---


title: Use Tasker with "OK Google" on Nexus 5

text:
# Question
Title: Use Tasker with "OK Google" on Nexus 5
OK guys, I have searched and searched but cannot find an answer to this question.

I want to link the "OK Google" phrase that starts a Google Now search on the Nexus 5 to Tasker, or more specifically the AutoVoice plugin for Tasker.

I can attach the swipe up from the bottom to use AutoVoice rather than Google Now , but I cannot figure out how to make the phrase "OK Google" use AutoVoice.

I read that on the Moto X you can use Tasker to watch for the "Touchless Control" App to become active, and then kill it and start AutoVoice. But the Nexus 5 doesn't have the Touchless Control App, In fact I don't know what process or App is actually listening for the "OK Google" phrase on the Nexus 5.

Can anyone shed any light on how I might make this work.

Thanks in advance

# Answer
Here is a video tutorial on how to get it setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Woh20ullI

**Explanation of Video**

This requires the Xposed Framework and the Google Now API for it. You will need to be rooted to install the Xposed Framework.

First you need to do this:

1. Open Google Now API
2. Click plugin (example AutoVoice)
3. Check "Enable" for Google Now integration

In Tasker you will need to setup something similar to task for task:

1. Create a new Action
2. Create `If` (for action category)
3. For condition select (or type if you cant find) avsource
4. Make sure condition is set to matches
5. type in googlenow for what the condition matches
6. Create whatever action you want for the `If` (need to be familiar with Tasker)
7. Create `End If`
> 2 votes

# Answer
moto x has 2 chips a bit like the M7 chip in iphone 5S which also uses the A7 as its main processor. The nexus 5 has 1 chip which is why it cant replicate all the goodies of the moto X, although its a much more powerful phone.

This chip uses very little power and has dedicated tasks like geo positioning. So when you pick up the moto X it knows it is moving, because the 2nd chip is always on, and shows the messages etc. If the nexus 5 chip was always "listening" for movement, the battery would die in a few hours. So the 2nd chip basically runs on very little power and thus can run constantly.

So the voice commands in moto x will work all the time and you dont need to be in the screen launcher for ok google to work, which cant happen on the N5 without the aforementioned killing of the battery. So thus there is no touchless control on the N5.

Not sure if that answers your question exactly, but in part - you wont be able to do the Moto X trick on your N5
> -2 votes

---
Tags: tasker, google-now, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: How can one run an app made for a more recent version of Android on an older Android Device?
How can one install an app made for Jellybean and use it on Gingerbread?

Let's take Google Keyboard for example. Google Keyboard is meant for use with Ice Cream Sandwich and up, but say I want it on my phone running rooted CyanogenMod 7.2. Is this possible?

# Answer
Technically, one can override the version requirement by cracking open the .apk file and editing the manifest.xml file and setting the `android:minSdkVersion` attribute in the `<uses-sdk>` element to your sdk version (or simply remove that attribute altogether, in which case it will default to "1" and assume it will work on any Android version), then using your modified .apk file to install it.

***However, this is almost always a bad idea***. The developer of the application presumably set that requirement to the value it is because they actually do need something introduced in that sdk version. If they didn't, they'd set it to something else or omit it . Trying to make the app run on an Android version missing those features it needs is likely to cause havoc, crashes, force-closes, and other unhappiness.

In the case of Google-made apps, I would assume they knew exactly what functionality their app uses and when it was introduced and that it would definitely break in some manner without that functionality when they set the minSdkVersion for their app, and thus trying this trick will almost certainly fail.

But if the developer is just a lazyish type who insisted upon setting the attribute (probably to the current version) without much thought about whether it's really needed (i.e. "I don't feel like going through my code and checking what functionality I actually use and when Google added it to Android, so I'll just set the minSdkVersion to the current version of Android"), it *might* just work. Or the missing functionality might only be used in some part of the app you never use, and thus the brokenness is irrelevant to you.
> 3 votes

# Answer
No, at least no-one found a reliable way to do it. Higher Android versions introduce new APIs that the app may require to function correctly.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, android-versions
---


title: where is the option to enable MTP?

text:
# Question
Title: where is the option to enable MTP?
So, I had the notification record to enable mtp/foto mounting option. It's now disappeared and I'm not able to find it in the settings page.

Can you tell me where is the option to enable MTP?

(I know it's a stupid question I really can't find it)

# Answer
> 12 votes
On Nexus 7 2013, `Settings > Storage > Hamburger icon (top-right) > USB computer connection`.

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


# Question
Title: I've rooted my Galaxy Nexus phone, but "/data/data" is empty
As a follow up question, I rooted my Galaxy Nexus phone using Kingo, but when I tried to explore my phone using an application like ASTRO, I found out that the `/data/data` directory is empty. Why is it empty? Am I missing something? Where are application data stored?

# Answer
> 5 votes
To use "root powers", an app needs to explicitly request those from the system. To my knowledge, Astro File Manager does not include this feature, but e.g. ES File Explorer does.

For most of the newer/updated apps, you can tell that by their permissions: if those include `android.permission.ACCESS_SUPERUSER`, they request "root powers". Alas: as this permission is not "mandatory" yet, its missing does not necessarily mean an app will not request root access.

The feature you need is called "root explorer". Mentioned *ES File Explorer* offers this, but you may have to manually enable it in its settings. That done, it should show you everything in the file system.

---
Tags: rooting, samsung-galaxy-nexus, root-access, astro-file-manager
---


# Question
Title: What is CyanogenMod and how is it different from Android?
I have been listening a lot of chatter about CyanogenMod and it only seems to be growing louder by the day. But what exactly is CyanogenMod and how is it different from Android? If CyanogenMod is a fork of Android then how can it (aim to) become third major mobile ecosystem. Aren't they both same?

Also, how safe is CyanogenMod, in the sense, can I trust it with my Contacts, Google, Facebook, Twitter and social account information?

Some time back I read an interesting article on Ars Technica - Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary \- which details out how Google is creating closed source equivalents of Android Open Source Project (AOSP) apps for e.g. Search, Keyboard and so on. If that's the case will Google's proprietary apps be available on CyanogenMod?

The same article details out how Amazon's fork of Android is not Google approved and because of that it faces many issues. Is CyanogenMod Google approved?

# Answer
## CyanogenMod versus Android

To ask how CyanogenMod is *different from Android* is comparable to ask *How is a cat different from an animal*. CyanogenMod is an Android . See:

Quoting the latter, which quotes from the CyanogenMod website:

> CyanogenMod is an aftermarket firmware for a number of cell phones based on the open-source Android operating system. It offers features not found in the official Android based firmwares of vendors of these cell phones.

As you're asking about Ecosystems: CyanogenMod meanwhile is a company. There might be multiple Ecosystems using the same resources. As will be shown below:

## Google versus Android versus CyanogenMod

Android is not Google, and Google is not Android. Behind *Android* stands the AOSP team. So Android is Open source, which is why other groups like CyanogenMod can use it. The "iron grip" of your question doesn't go to Android itself, it's rather the additions Google puts on top, the so-called *Google Apps* (see: and its tag-wiki). Those apps are *not* open-source, but closed-source. CyanogenMod started shipping their own counter-parts for several of the Google-Apps (and features), and here you've got your ecosystem: Apps and Services.

CyanogenMod is not permitted to ship the Google-Apps with their ROMs, you have to install them manually (if you want them), or leave them out. There are many substitutes available, so you can use Android without Google:

## Can I trust X with my data?

Google earns its money with advertisements. If you can trust them with your data, IMHO you can trust CyanogenMod even more. If you don't want to trust either of them, there are alternatives such as OwnCloud, Funambol, and more, which you can use with any ROM, CyanogenMod included – setting up your own cloud, as one of the names suggests.

Concerning the and "where to get my apps from": As with the other , custom ROMs are not permitted to bundle them with their distributions. But there are a lot of alternative and open-source markets, like F-Droid etc. (see our tag-wiki). There have been rumours about a CyanogenMod app market, but I must have missed that taking off.
> 18 votes

# Answer
CyanogenMod is a fork of AOSP (Android Open Source Project), more customisable and with many added niceties (see the Why page on CM's wiki for details).

One of the main advantages it that you're able to update phones for which its vendor stopped releasing updates. For instance, I have CyanogenMod 10.2, which is based on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) on my Nexus S. Google only updated Android up to 4.1.2 for this phone.

When you install it you don't have the Google apps (like Maps, Hangouts, Search, etc) but you can install the "gapps" package which contains these apps.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod
---


# Question
Title: How can I create a state snapshot of my android device?
I had restored my Android device (Samsung Note2) to the factory settings.

i have now added all my favorits apps and customized my settings.

How can i create a "memoey image"/"state snapshot" to restore from in the future.

I have used Kies, but it backups everything besides installed apps and device settings.

In generagl it's not creating a perfect snapshot.

# Answer
You should be able to use adb backup which is takes a complete backup of the phone.

You'll need to install the Android SDK but this should allow you to backup the whole device

**Backup**

There are a number of parameters you can supply but the simplest way to do a full backup is to run: `adb backup -all -f C:\backup.ab`

More info can be found on this xda post which although it uses a Galaxy Nexus it should apply to any 4.0+ device

**Restore**

With your device connected open your command prompt again, and type:

```
adb restore C:\backup20111230.ab

```

replacing 'C:\backup20111230.ab' with the location of your backup file.

You should see a screen like the one below:

Simply type in your current encryption password (if you've set one), and the password with which the backup was encrypted (if you chose to set a password), and the restore will begin. It again will take several minutes depending on the size of the backup and the options chosen.
> 4 votes

# Answer
These kind of snapshots are impossible without root access to the device. If that condition is met, simply follow-up to the backup tag-wiki, everything is described there already (watch out for "Nandroid"):

usually is integrated with custom recoveries (see also: ). It creates images of all your device's s. As your device is not in "operative mode" when this is done, this results in a "consistent system snapshot" as you describe in your question. Those images can later be restored from within the very same recovery menu.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, backup, samsung-galaxy-note-2
---


title: Are all Nexus 5 phones sold unlocked?

text:
# Question
Title: Are all Nexus 5 phones sold unlocked?
Are all Nexus 5 phones sold unlocked (i.e., not tied to a specific carrier)? If I buy a Nexus 5 from a store in Germany will I be able to use it in another country (Brazil)?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Yes, at this point. But, there's a talk about Sprint-locked Nexus 5.

**Note:** If you intend to use 4G LTE, then you need to check LTE market-compatibility, too. Other than that, you're good to use the phone in both countries.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Yes, currently. However this could change, the US carriers sometimes sell locked phones.

There is currently only one Nexus 5 variant, so you don't have to worry about LTE compatibility issues.

---
Tags: nexus-5
---


title: Check if app uses in-app purchase

text:
# Question
Title: Check if app uses in-app purchase
What is the easiest way to check whether an app uses in-app purchase? Is there a mark in the Play store or a permission to look for after I installed the app?

# Answer
There is a special permission for `Google Billing` (technical name: `com.android.vending.BILLING`), which is required if the app wants to use Google's billing system. So if this permission is requested by an app, it most likely uses some in-app-payment (why else should it request this permission).

However: the absence of this permission does not necessarily mean there is no in-app-payment used with an app, as there are other means of accomplishing the like (e.g. premium SMS, or calls to some premium numbers). But if an app requests neither to send SMS, make calls, access the Internet, nor Google Billing, I know of no way it could accomplish in-app-billing without the user really actively doing something, like buying a gift-card and entering the code.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Just announced for Play Store version 4.5.10:

> ...the most noticeable, as well as awesome, feature that was added is the fact that there is an indicator to let you know there is in-app purchases. It’s always nice to know if an app is going to be bugging you to upgrade to the full version with a price tag.

(source)

Official "What's New" list:

> Whats New
>
> * Activity Feed
> * Stars are green instead of blue
> * Avatars are circles not squares
> * typography change
> * New layout for reviews, including your own
> * Indicator for in-app purchases
> 2 votes

---
Tags: permissions, in-app-purchase
---


# Question
Title: How frequently is it okay to let the battery discharge fully or as low as possible?
I know that atleast once or twice a month a full battery drain and then a 100% charge helps increase the battery life and also gives more accurate battery readings.

I was wondering, how frequently is it okay to let it drain as low as possible or to zero?

Like is it okay even if done most of the times(or all the times) or it should not be done more than like say max 5-6 times a month or so??

Thankyou!

# Answer
> once or twice a month a full battery drain and then a 100% charge helps increase the battery life

That is incorrect, a full discharge is **never** beneficial to LiON battery capacity. The battery life of a LiON battery is dependant mostly on temperature, discharge rate, and age. In fact, low charge state actually is harmful to LiON battery capacity; although modern batteries have circuits that tells the system to shutdown before it became really harmful to the battery, it is best for LiON battery to be plugged in as often as is convenient.

> also gives more accurate battery readings.

As for calibrating battery meter by full discharge-recharge, that is partially true. Modern smart battery comes with a microchip to keep track of the state of charge. The following is a quote from HP regarding Smart Battery System in their laptops:

> Repeated short discharges and recharges cause increasing inaccuracy between the state-of-charge of the battery and the Power Meter readings. Periodically, the battery needs to be calibrated to "relearn" its usable capacity so it can synchronize its charge status with the Power Meter. ... The user simply has to periodically discharge the battery until the 5% capacity alarm is received. The need to perform this procedure will vary with individual use. **In general, a Li-Ion battery should be calibrated a minimum of once every 3 months**. A battery that is seldom discharged completely should be calibrated about once a month.

and the following is from Battery University:

> How often does a battery need calibrating? The answer depends on the application. For practical purposes, a calibration should be done **once every three months or after 40 partial cycles**. If the portable device applies a periodic deep discharge on its own, no additional calibration will be needed.

The need for calibration comes from the mismatch between the battery's chemistry and the microchip that estimates the battery's state of charge. This mismatch develops over numerous partial discharge, although unlike the memory effect in NiCad battery, it does not affect the battery's actual chemical capacity and is reversible by letting the battery relearn its bottom and top charge state. Do not do calibration too often since deep discharge does permanently harm LiON's actual capacity.
> 12 votes

# Answer
For this question you might want to check with the Wikipedia article on LiIo batteries. Quoting:

> * Avoid deep discharge (depletion) and instead charge more often between uses. The smaller the depth of discharge, the longer the battery will last.
> * Avoid storing the battery in full discharged state. As the battery will self-discharge over time, its voltage will gradually lower, and when it is depleted below the low-voltage threshold (2.4 to 2.9 V/cell, depending on chemistry) it cannot be charged anymore because the protection circuit (a type of electronic fuse) disables it. \[...\]
> * The rate of degradation of Lithium-ion batteries is strongly temperature-dependent; they degrade much faster if stored or used at higher temperatures and may even be stored in a refrigerator.

The first point already answers your question: You'd better avoid to "deep discharge" your battery. Best is to always keep it on 50% or up, but 20% should already "cry" for a charger. There's no memory effect or the like, so no need for that.

You might refer to the so-called "battery calibration" -- which today is called a myth by most, as explained by Google developer Dianne Hackborne.

If you think a "full charging cycle" (that is what you describe) might be useful from time to time (also see Lie Ryan's answer for this), make the interval between them as large as possible. IMHO multiple times a month is much too much -- once every 3 month should be enough. In that timeframe it might even accidentally happen you nearly "run out of juice" unwittingly, so you can use that "chance".
> 8 votes

# Answer
Lithium batteries were invented to avoid the issue of the 80% charge on the balance of power.... Charging at anytime has NO effect on the battery... Older batteries could only charge 80% ow the empty cycle...but NOT true with Lithium ion or polymer batteries... Charge anytime, any amount...no problem
> 0 votes

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


title: Son erased the play store app

text:
# Question
Title: Son erased the play store app
My son accidentally erased the play store from his next book tablet. Is there anyway I can get it back? Would resetting the tablet bring it back?

# Answer
> 1 votes
By default `NextBook` Tablets comes with no `PlayStore` Application, so you will need to re-download (re-install) the `PlayStore` **Manually**

check this link, it may help you http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/how-can-i-download-google-play-to-my-nextbook-tablet/

# Answer
> 0 votes
I found the apk (the installer binary file) by searching on Google. Here is a link to the file which if you access on your phone, will install the latest version of the Google Play Store.

https://mega.co.nz/#!hJ8ynBKI!aYGtlxZNcO4BvDSsNyAk7DOj6ppHE5apNaVcAktPmAk

PS: I cannot claim that this file is actually what it says it is, just a suggestion that looks legit.

---
Tags: google-play-store
---


# Question
Title: Migrate from Sony Ericsson W810i to Galaxy
I just bought my new Galaxy S. My old mobile phone is Sony Ericsson W810i. I wonder if I can do something in order to migrate my SMS and contacts. For example I was thinking the following:

Connect w810 with my computer, copy the folders from memory stick and phone memory and paste them into Galaxy. Is this feasible?

Edit: Just noticed that I havent accepted an answer :)

# Answer
Method 1. The base way is to sync your contacts to your Gmail account from your Sony Ericsson W810i if that is possible. Then sync that account to your Galaxy and your contacts will be copied OTA easily.

Method 2. Sync all your contacts from your Sony Ericsson to Outlook. Then export those contacts from outlook to a CSV file. Once you have your contacts in CSV file you can import that CSV file to your Gmail account and then sync that Gmail account to your Galaxy S 2 and you are DONE.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Sync contacts to your Gmail should be your best choice, it is very easy and does not cost you money. If you have not done that, you will need some third-party program to transfer your contacts to Galaxy.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: data-transfer, contacts, sms
---


# Question
Title: How to recover contacts from backed up galaxy S2 (gingerbread) files
I recently gave my old Galaxy S2 to a friend as I just got an S3 and before I did, I copied the "My Files" folder from my phone to this computer via USB debugging mode and then factory reset the phone.

I have since noticed that I had saved a few of my contacts on my old phone rather than to the sim since when I put the new sim in, there are some missing contacts. I was wondering how I might recover the contacts I had saved to my old phone from the copy of files I made on this computer.

I have the following files:

Is there anything I can do to get the old contacts?

# Answer
SIM contacts are not synced, neither are "phone" contacts. If you had used Google contact, they would have been synced with your Google/GMail account -- but then you wouldn't have noticed their loss, as they would have been synced back to your new device. Had you saved them as SIM contacts, they'd also be on your new device.

Which leaves us with the other non-synced variant: "phone contacts". Those are stored on device internal storage (to be more precise: in a database file located in `/data/data/com.google.android.providers.contacts/databases`), which is not directly accessible by normal users, so you could not have simply copied it.

Conclusion: as these data are not stored in "My Files", you have not copied them. And as you've factory-reset the original device, you cannot simply restore them from there. So apart from a quite expensive forensics recovery (done by a data recovery specialist) from your old device, there's no way to recover those contacts, sorry.
> 1 votes

# Answer
It is possible to recover your contacts from your old Galaxy S2 if the contacts are not overwritten by new files. A fact is that, the deleted files in your phone are still in your phone but hidden and inaccessible to you. That is why you cannot see them. To recover them, you need to use an Android Data Recovery to enter the file system to extract the contacts. In the market there are many such software, try them, your contact may be back.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, samsung-galaxy-s-2, contacts
---


# Question
Title: How can I play .DAT files (VideoCD format) in Android?
Is there anyway to play .DAT files (from the MPEGAV folder of a VideoCD)?

I have a Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-i9100).

# Answer
> 3 votes
Try Dolphin Player. It can play MPEG1 file format (= VCD), but cannot choose audio channel if the file is bilingual.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Use VPlayer Video Player or BUZZ Player.
Unlike Astro File Manager, if your file manager doesn't support custom extension handler, open .dat file with `Open As..` option and choose `video`. From pop-up, choose player app. If `Open As..` option is also not available, rename the extension of file to `avi` or `mpg`. Generally, all file managers handle these extensions. Just make sure there's no default video player set to take over the file opening & choose player app from list.

# Answer
> 0 votes
CX Media Player will help you to play \*.dat(vcd)files

# Answer
> 0 votes
You must change the format of the file to mpg or mp4 for example: filename.DAT change to filename.mpg.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You don't have to convert it. Just rename its extension into .MPG using a file manager. Then, play it in MX Player. I have done it before, and it worked.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Download file manager (explorer) from play store and also download mx player,,,,now, open the file manager app and locate your file. Click on it and open it in mx player.

# Answer
> -1 votes
MX Player is the best for .DAT video files.

---
Tags: media-player
---


# Question
Title: Why is the SMS app crashing when sending SMSes to a three digits number?
The SMS application crashes when I try to send an SMS to a three digits number. With other "regular" numbers, works just fine. phone-HTC desire Rom - AOKP Rom 4.2 JB I tried to replace phone.apk,mms.apk, but that didn't work.

My logcat

```
V/SmsReceiverService( 7599):
onStart:
#1 mResultCode:
-1 = Activity.RESULT_OK E/SmsUsageMonitor( 7089):
Parsing pattern data found null E/SmsUsageMonitor( 7089):
No patterns for "in":
using generic short code rule D/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
Shutting down VM W/dalvikvm( 7089):
threadid=1:
thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x41801930) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
FATAL EXCEPTION:
main E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
java.lang.NullPointerException E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at com.android.internal.telephony.SMSDispatcher.handleConfirmShortCode(SMSDispatcher.java:1241) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at com.android.internal.telephony.SMSDispatcher.handleMessage(SMSDispatcher.java:343) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at com.android.internal.telephony.gsm.GsmSMSDispatcher.handleMessage(GsmSMSDispatcher.java:116) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5233) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:795) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:562) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at de.robv.android.xposed.XposedBridge.main(XposedBridge.java:126) E/AndroidRuntime( 7089):
    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method) I/Process ( 7089):
Sending signal. PID:
7089 SIG:
9 I/ServiceManager(  152):
service 'iphonesubinfo' died I/ServiceManager(  152):
service 'simphonebook' died I/ServiceManager( 152):
service 'isms' died I/ServiceManager(  152):
service 'phone' died I/ServiceManager(  152):
service 'sip' died I/ActivityManager( 1137):
Process com.android.phone (pid 7089) has died. W/ActivityManager( 1137):
Scheduling restart of crashed service

```

# Answer
Your SMS app is crashing because of an software bug, which is causing an uncaught `NullPointerException` resulting in a termination of the davlik VM and it's process.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: sms, crashes
---


# Question
Title: How do I mount a Kindle Fire 10.2.6 on my Linux computer?
I just acquired a newish Kindle Fire, software version 10.2.6. Normally when I plug a Kindle or any USB device into my laptop (running Ubuntu 12.04) I get a popup screen asking me what I'd like to do and the device mounts. It has worked this way with 2 previous Kindles but they were software version 6.x.x.

So my question is, how do I mount this device so that I can move my books and files onto it from my computer?

I have ADB enabled and allow installation of applications from unknown sources. I don't have ADB installed on my computer because until now it wasn't necessary to move files back and forth in a Linux computer.

On the notification screen the Kindle says "connected as media device." I should also note that despite using Ubuntu I'm relatively unskilled when it comes to the terminal.

# Answer
Summing up from the comments above...

As eldarerathis wrote: "connected as a media device" suggests it's using MTP, which would require special software to be installed (there are MTP packages available for different Linux flavours).

## Try getting UMS working

You might also want to check your "notification area" when the device is connected: I don't know the Kindle Fire, but it might offer to switch to UMS (USB mass storage) mode. If you don't find anything corresponding in the notifications, also take a look through the settings. Just a possibility, nothing granted.

## Try it with MPT utilizing the MTP file system

If you cannot get UMS working, there's a helpful link pointed out by eldarerathis is Connecting Google Nexus 7 to Linux on how to make mtpfs working on Linux. Basically, this can be done by issuing 4 commands in a terminal:

```
sudo apt-get install mtpfs
mkdir ~/NexusDrive
mtpfs ~/NexusDrive
nautilus ~/NexusDrive

```

Short explanation on what it does:

1. install the `mtpfs` package, which provides the MTP file system
2. creating a directory where to mount your Kindle to
3. actually mounting your device
4. opening nautilus to show the files contained

Of course, the last step can be replaced by opening any file explorer you like :) And as the "missing sudo" on lines 2-4 indicates, `mtpfs` is running in userspace.

## Graphical MTP frontend

There's also a graphical MTP frontent available in the Ubuntu repositories: gMTP. It's mainly intended to be a MP3 player, but you also can manage your files with it:

```
sudo apt-get install gmtp

```

(it's in the *universe* branch, so you might have to enable *universe* first in your package manager)

(screenshots taken from LinuxAndLife)

So you could use this instead of Nautilus -- or next to Nautilus, depending on what you want to do. With *gMTP* installed, simply connect your Kindle via its USB cable, then launch *gMTP*. Click the *Connect* button then will mount the device, and the *Connect* button gets re-labeled to "Disconnect", as shown in above screenshots.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Try using Airdroid. It's available in the Amazon appstore.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: usb-connection-mode, amazon-kindle-fire, mount
---


# Question
Title: Where does the 'set as wallpaper' feature save your picture in Gingerbread (2.3)?
I had an image from a website which I set as my background inside the browser. I am wondering now where I can find the image in the file system, because I can't find it online anymore. I already checked all the obvious folders including Downloads, but did not find it there. In fact there is an answer for a similar question on this forum, but that is for Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) and I am on Gingerbread, which is why that answer did not help me.

# Answer
`/data/data/com.android.settings/files/wallpaper`. It's a PNG file and appears to be uncompressed due to the size.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I have just developed an app that can save your current wallpaper to SD, share it, ect. Furthermore it automatically saves a copy of each wallpaper you set, so you will get a history of all the wallpapers you have been using. My app is called Wallpaper Saver, can be downloaded from Google Play and is Free!

When using Wallpaper Saver files are stored in `/Android/data/dk.alroe.apps.WallpaperSaverFree/files/wallpapers`. You can see the path inside settings as well. It can also sync your wallpapers with Dropbox
> 1 votes

# Answer
According to this post:

> ## Location of Current wallpaper:
>
> * For Android 4.0 and below: Once in /,
>
> + go to /data/data/com.android.settings/files.
> * Find a file named wallpaper in that folder and copy it to any location you want. Rename the copied file to anything.jpg or anything.png to open it as a normal image file.

This requires root.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, file-system, wallpaper
---


title: Map internal Wi-Fi strength?

text:
# Question
Title: Map internal Wi-Fi strength?
I'm a system administrator for a school division, and we are upgrading our Wi-Fi network. Is there a way that I can map the strength of the Wi-Fi signal at different places inside a building (where GPS does not work)?

I have used some stumblers -- Wi-Fi Analyzer and Meraki Wi-Fi Stumbler -- and those really do most of what I need, but I'd really like to see things on a map. I've tried some standard wardriving applications -- such as WiGLE Wi-Fi Wardriving and Wi-Fi Map Maker - Free -- and they just don't really work without a GPS coordinate.

I'd be more than happy to snap a photo of a building map and indicate where I am at different places and be able to see, say, a heat-map of the signal strength (and better still if I could see if by BSSID). I'd also be find with using the phone as a collection device and analyzing the data later on the computer.

Is there a way to map the Wi-Fi signal strength at different places in the buildings I'm providing Wi-Fi service to?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Did you try WiFi Mapper?

# Answer
> 2 votes
You could try "WiFi Maps Light" for Android, available for free in Google Play.

---
Tags: wi-fi, gps, maps
---


# Question
Title: How can I do development on my Android device?
I have a pretty long commute to work and own an android phone. I figure it would be nice to do some simple programming on the way. I'm not picky on which language to code on. I usually have an internet connection on the train.

I've been looking through the android market but haven't found any apps that offer a "development environment" or an editor with a compiler. Is any development ON the Android possible? Does an app for this exist?

# Answer
Two years on: I use AIDE, their brief summary of features states:

> Edit-compile-run cycle:
>
> * Create a sample App with a single click
> * Run your App with a single click
> * No root access required
> * Incremental compilation for fast build times
> * Uses Eclipse .classpath project format for compatibility
> * Integrated LogCat viewer
>
> Real-time error checking:
>
> * Real time error analyis throughout the whole project as you type
> * Automatic Quick-Fixes for many errors
>
> Refactoring:
>
> * Rename
> * Inline variable
> * Introduce variable
> * Extract method
>
> Code:
>
> * Code formatter
> * Organize imports
> * Out-comment code
> * Create setters/getters/constructors from fields
>
> Code navigation:
>
> * Goto defintion
> * Find usages
> * Goto symbol
> * Goto class
>
> Editor:
>
> * Very fast editor even with large files
> * Code completion for Java and Android XML
> * Android online help directly from the code
> * Syntax highlighting for Java and XML
> * Unlimited Undo/Redo
> * Pinch zoom
> * Smart expand selection
> * Keyboard support with configurable keybindings
> * UI optimized for small screens to show as much code/content as possible
>
> Filebrowser:
>
> * Built-in file manager with the most common features: Rename, delete, create file or folder
> * Dropbox integration
> * Git integration with Commit/Dicard/Push/Pull and SSH support.
> 26 votes

# Answer
If you do scripting languages at all, check out SL4a (Scripting Layer For Android). It gives you access to the android API in each language - Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, Tcl, and shell.

It comes with its own basic editor, but you can specify a different editor if you have others installed - I've used the Jota text editor with it.

Get SL4A here: http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/

I've build a few basic interactive android apps with this setup, and various console-only scripts. You should be able to configure it to store the files in dropbox or similar to get auto-syncing too.
> 21 votes

# Answer
If you want to get all meta, there's Terminal IDE, a full Java / HTML / Android development environment that runs on Android.
> 18 votes

# Answer
I have an app called C# To Go in the Android market that provides a basic C# REPL. It's certainly not meant to be a real development environment, but does allow you to play around with the language and compile things on the fly.
> 12 votes

# Answer
Why not give ~~Ruboto IRB~~ (pulled from Play Store) Ruboto-IRB on GitHub a go.

From the app description:

> Interactive Ruby running on Android. Edit, save, and run scripts on the phone. Great for learning, prototyping, and small apps. Ruboto IRB taps the power of JRuby to open up the Android API.
> 11 votes

# Answer
I know you're looking for programming apps actually on the phone, so this might not be overly helpful. I found an app called Splashtop Remote Desktop that with a WiFi connection, you can control your computer at home. I've tried it for reading documents and playing around. However; I think it could be used to write code using whatever utility you have at home.
> 5 votes

# Answer
There is retro language from Charles Childers and clojure REPL from sattvik software, although these are somewhat more exotic than the standard languages.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Aloha Editor runs within your browser. But I suppose it will not run in every Android browser, Firefox mobile seems most advanced when it comes to HTML5.
> 2 votes

# Answer
And if you are looking for a web development solution for e.g. PHP, you might want to take a look at PHP programming app with hosting?: PAW Server for Android -- amongst others -- offers you a web server with support for PHP (via a plugin), and comments in the linked question also mention some nice programming editors.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Check out - Android Web Developer. I am developer of this application.

It is developed special for web developers.

**Features:**

* Support all major web languages and formats: PHP, JavaScript, CSS,
HTML
* A lot of ways to reach your project ( FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WEBDav and growing)
* Code highlighting
* Code completion
* Hardware keyboard support (e.g hotkeys)
* Error checking
* Code beautifying
* Tablet ready UI
* Line numbering
* Quick preview of your page
* Highlighting the current line
* Search and replace with regular expressions
* Unlimited Undo/redo
* Full screen mode
* Rename/create/delete/copy-paste files inside you project
> 2 votes

---
Tags: development
---


# Question
Title: Is there any camera application that can save photos on internal storage?
So my SD card reader is broke, and my only possibility of ever taking photos again is to use the internal memory.

The default camera option, says that no SD card was detected and if you press anything it closes. So I can't change path from there..

I have already tried camera360, but when I try to change the saving path, it doesn't do anything.

Other apps I've tried crash instantly.

If relevant, my device is a HTC Desire HD, rooted, with android 4.1 *I think*.

# Answer
> 1 votes
On the home screen, go to System Settings/Storage and change Default write disk to phone storage instead of SD Card. This will solve your problem!

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try Camera Zoom FX. It has an option of choosing the save location:

You can read from the "**OTHER FEATURES** section:

> * Select sdcard folder to save photos (incl external sd)

---
Tags: internal-storage, camera, hardware
---


# Question
Title: When using "voice typing", how can I capitalize a proper noun?
When I press the speech-to-text button on my keyboard, I can dictate some text. Say I have a pub called the Red Lion that I want to mention. How can I get it to type "Red Lion" instead of "red lion"?

Letting it enter "red lion" and going back and editing it with a normal keyboard is very slow, because the popup menu of alternative transcriptions makes each edit take an extra click.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Picked up from this Ruben Roy answer in a more recent question:

You can use this comments to start and stop typing with capitals with the Google voice typing Android keyboard.

```
"Caps <word>"                           Type with an initial capital
"All Caps <word>"                       Type in all uppercase
"Caps On"                               Start typing words with initial capitals
"Caps Off"                              Stop typing words with initial capitals

```

---
Tags: voice-recognition
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 2gb Android upgrade is it posable
I have a sch-i800 galaxy tab and I wouldlike to up grade the programing so I can use some of the newer programs out there is this posible?

hardware version i800.0.4

firmware v 2.3.5

baseband v S:i800.0.4v.ei04

kernal v 2.6.35.7

Build # sch-i800.mc2

# Answer
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/P1c\_Info

get some cyanogenmod running on it. Follow the link above

The latest stable version is linked below.

http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?type=stable&device=p1c
> 0 votes

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


# Question
Title: Is it possible to change the text bubbles on the s3?
I just am trying to figure out how to change the backgrounds behind text messages. Is there a setting or some app which lets you do this?

# Answer
Go to the Messaging app and hit the settings button. You will see **Bubble style** and **Background style**.

When you select *Bubble Style* you will see options at the bottom of the screen that you can scroll through (the top option is the look for your outgoing messages, the bottom option is the look for received messages).

When you select *Background style* there are a few options to scroll through at the bottom of the screen as well.
> 5 votes

# Answer
You could install a 3rd-party app like GO SMS Pro to replace the stock Messaging app. This would allow you to customize the font size, colors, backgrounds, theme, and others.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Go to your messaging app on your front screen or where ever you have it placed and then once you are on it go to the bottom left corner on your phone and tap it and then hit settings and scroll down and it says bubble style or background style and there you go you changed it and you can also change your messaging background
> -1 votes

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


# Question
Title: How do I enable all the functions of an Apple EarPods?
Is there any way to make ALL the functions of an Apple EarPods work? The volume up/down won't work.

# Answer
An older question, Would Apple EarPods work on my Android phone?, says the EarPods do not work for Android phones.

However, a question on Apple's site, Will the EarPods work with other smartphones and audio devices?, says it works on some Android phones, especially on newer ones.

In Google Play, there is RemoteControl for Earphones, which might be useful, but I can't say for sure. *I don't have an EarPod.*
> 0 votes

---
Tags: headphones
---


# Question
Title: How can I translate Chinese and Japanese text without typing it?
When I'm in Japan or China, there are barely any European alphabet and I want to use my camera to take a photo of a sign and convert it into English language. Is it possible to achieve that?

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can use Google Translate app, you can take photos which contain texts using the app and it'll detect it and translate it.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Although the Google Translate app should take care of you in some cases, it doesn't always function properly in China. Straight text conversion (not images) tends to work in most cases for me, but when I use the updated app and attempt to use local images or ones that I take at the time of translation (two options) it tends to give out a server error. Of course, there's also the option to "write" it in yourself now so maybe you would be willing to give that a shot too.

---
Tags: languages
---


# Question
Title: pictures takes too much storage despite saved on cloud
I have a storage problem and that is because my pictures and videos takes too much space.
The thing is that all my pictures and videos are automatically loaded to Google plus. so why do they also take such a large storage on my device (Nexus 4)?
I want to enjoy both words: low storage and access to all my images and I am willing to pay by waiting for images to download if it is not viewed often (caching?). what am I missing?

# Answer
Answering my own question here.

Bottom line here is android users must manage their own pictures and videos storage.

It is important to understand that the "Gallery" application (and probably the new alternative "Photos") is not synced to Google Plus, they are merely backuped; This means that Gallery does not deletes (leave a thumbnail) least recent used pictures to save space (as i mistakenly assumed).

I, for one, will be using Google plus application from now on to be able to access all my pictures and videos and will be deleting images as soon as they are backuped.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: insufficient-memory, cache, google-plus-photos
---


# Question
Title: Retrieving contacts from Nexus 4 with broken screen
My Nexus 4 is recognized by `./adb devices` when connected via USB. Also USB debugging is enabled. Unfortunately the device isn't rooted so pulling the contacts db file doesn't work as I don't have access to the appropriate directories (I think). How can I retrieve my contacts in this situation?

Note I never synced my contacts with Google.

# Answer
if you got airdroid working you can use your pc screen.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid

you can get the app installed through google play online.

is your screen broken meaning you cant see it, or it also doesnt accept input?
> 1 votes

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Tags: contacts, adb, nexus-4, broken-screen
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# Question
Title: Rooting A Nexus 5 and Concerns Regarding Over The Air Updates?
I am planning on buying a Nexus 5 for Christmas, to which I intend to Root it, so that I can use Rooted Apps eg Titanium Backup which would otherwise be unavailable to me.

If I root the device, but do not flash a custom rom or kernel, and instead keep stock android KitKat 4.4. :-

What happens when an OTA update occurs from Google ie to 4.4.1?

Do I lose Root and Rooted Apps ?

(Correct me if i'm wrong, if I Root the Nexus 5 and flash a custom rom, then the OTA updates would come from the XDA Developer for the specific custom rom you are using, rather than from Google).

# Answer
> 4 votes
If you root the device on the stock ROM, it will still offer to do OTA updates, but they won't work. OTA updates only apply to a completely clean system image that hasn't been rooted.

To apply an upgrade to your rooted device, you have to download the ROM image from the official Google site and follow the instructions there to flash it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Simply rooting your device won't cause OTA updates to fail. Changing any system files such as the Kernel or installing the XPosed framework will cause the update to fail as it won't be able to verify the files.

I have rooted my Nexus 5 and the 4.4 -\> 4.4.1 update applied successfully. I did have to re-root though, which simply required re-flashing the superuser.zip.

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Tags: rooting, ota-update, nexus-5
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# Question
Title: where are the free books the kindle app offers?
According to its description on Google Play, in the third sentence, it says that the books are free. I installed the *Kindle app* and went to the *Kindle Store* and all the books I looked at so far all have to be purchased.

Where can the free ebooks be downloaded from? Because when I click 'books on device' in the kindle app, it shows none (so I'm guessing I need to download them from somewhere).

# Answer
The majority of books on sites like Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and the like, are definitly payed for. All of them offer some free books to get you in, but you end up in a "closed ecosystem": you can read them only with their dedicated readers, as they often use their own formats (Amazon) or at least some DRM.

If you want to go for free content, you're much better of chosing an eBook reader app supporting the open ePub format (some exemples include, but are not restricted to: Moon+ Reader, FBReader, and Aldiko. At least the first two already ship with a load of free libraries pre-configured, which they can access directly from inside the app.
> 0 votes

# Answer
From Kindle Store, you can only get popular classics for free. But, Kindle is integrated with many of free eBook providers. For example, on Open Library, you can click `Send to Kindle` link while viewing a free title (Amazon authentication will be required).

See Amazon's Free eBooks Collection page. It gives you all required instructions to get free eBooks from various sites.

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Also, there's no difference if you read a book with Kindle app on Nexus 7 or Kindle eBook Reader device.. except Kindle eBook Reader device doesn't have color display & would provide a very-very long battery life.
> 0 votes

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Tags: kindle-for-android
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# Question
Title: Why do I need more than 200 megabytes of disk space to install an APK?
I started to get not enough space errors when updating or installing APKs, but I have 200 megabytes of free space on my internal storage, 2,68 gigabytes on my internal sdcard, and 3,62 gigabytes on my external sdcard. I can't imagine what could use more storage than 200 megabytes in the process of installing a 4 megabytes APK. I'm constantly deleting apps, moving them to sdcard, but I only end up having less and less space remaining. How does this work? I want to understand the inner mechanism of how storage is handled when installing APKs, or in situations that can affect it, so maybe I could write an app to help this procedure.

**Edit**: I'm using BAM Android on a Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100).

# Answer
> -1 votes
internal memory space is required to store app data and cache, it doesn't matter much if you move your apps to sdcard app data and cache still gonna be in internal memory. this problem can be solved by rooting. if not willing then try some apps playstore which delete cache and auto move apps to sdcard

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Tags: internal-storage
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# Question
Title: When selecting an USB extension cable to extend power cord, what are the relevant considerations?
I want to use USB extension cords to extend the USB power cords for my Android device. What are the factors that could affect normal charging behavior? (Consider "normal charging behavior" to be charging speed and long-term effects on the device battery when using only the manufacturer power cord/adapter.)

# Answer
To be honest I think that its affected by the voltage on the USB port. Some ports are only .5V while others are 1V.
> 0 votes

# Answer
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/103772

This cable has received A LOT of good reviews and is made of quality copper and does allow more electricity through to devices!! Check it out :D
> 0 votes

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Tags: usb, battery-life, charging
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