# Question
Title: Any changes to files in root directory (/) are gone after reboot
On linux, "/etc/fstab" contains the directives how a partition should be mounted (fs type, flags etc.). On Android how it is determined?

On my Nexus 7, I see a file called "fstab.flo" in "/" which contains similar information as fstab does. Just to determine that this file is used by Android during booting, I commented the line corresponding to the mounting of /data partition (With root permission). And booted the device. However, that does not bring any change. Device booted fine, and my changes to that file are no longer there.

# Answer
Sure not. All changes made there are gone with the next boot: you are just modifying a file on a "temporary " here, which is created on boot, and "gone" on shutdown.

For persistent changes, you would need to change the boot image. As you compare with Linux on a PC, think of a `initrd.img` (initrd aka "initial RAM disk, or initramfs). The root file system is loaded from this during the boot process (step 3, kernel).

Please excuse me for not going into more details: but how that's done is beyond the scope of this site (which targets end-users, not developers); and beside that I have no *practical* experience in this specific field.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: file-system, mount, partitions
---


title: Where is the default ringtone stored?

text:
# Question
Title: Where is the default ringtone stored?
I recently brought a *Sony Xperia C.* One of my friends like a few default ringtones of the phone. I tried to search in the internal as well as sd card memory but couldn't find the ringtone.

Where exactly they are stored? Can I send it to my friends using another android phone?

# Answer
Default ringtones are usually stored in `/system/media/audio/ringtones`. You might be able to access this location using a file manager.

Keep in mind that, residing on `/system`, this place is read-only at best without root-access: so while you should be able to copy *from* here, you cannot place any files *into* this directory. If you want to manually add ringtones to your device, rather create a similar directory on your SDcard (`/sdcard/media/audio`, with sub-directories for `ringtones`, `alarms`, `notifications`, etc.). This location should be recognized automatically by the Android system.
> 23 votes

# Answer
The ringtones are stored under the folder `system > media > audio > ringtones`. You can view the folders using any file manager this one.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: ringtone, sony-xperia
---


# Question
Title: Android lost some apps - how do I dl Whatsapp again?
My HTC Evo 4G piece of trash all of a sudden deleted some of my contacts and apps - including the app market (google play?). How do I get Whatsapp back - which I paid for through paypal - if I can't access the market store? Google play asks me to sign in with a gmail account - but I didn't use a gmail account when I bought the app so it doesn't show up when I sign in.

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can pay for Whatsapp with PayPal on their own site, so it must have been from there. You can download the app here...

http://www.whatsapp.com/android/

and, as it says on that page...

> If you already paid for the service you will not be asked to pay for it again.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you bought it with Paypal, it must not have been through the market. Suggest you contact the developer for advice.

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: Access desktop files from ADB connected device
Is it possible to access the desktop files from Android device ?
The device is connected to the desktop through USB.

# Answer
Yes, its possible. But, not with ADB. ADB server runs only in Android (Device or Emulator). On PC, you get ADB client only.

With USB, you've got a network. Install a FTP, Samba or SSH **server** (like FileZilla Server) on PC & use a FTP, Samba or SSH **client** app (like AndFTP) on Android device to pull files from PC.

You can do the same over air, too. Just connect PC & Android device in same Wi-Fi network & do the same. If you don't have Wi-Fi router, use Connectify or mHotspot (assuming its Windows PC) to make a virtual hotspot.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: adb, remote-access
---


title: MHL with Nexus 4?

text:
# Question
Title: MHL with Nexus 4?
I know that the Nexus 4 has Slimport technology, which is very close to MHL but draws little/no power. However, is the Nexus 4 still able to use an MHL to HDMI adapter?

# Answer
> 5 votes
The Specs at GSMArena mention *TV-out (via MHL A/V link)*, which suggests it should work.

On the other hand, ExpertsReview states:

> The micro USB port also doubles up as a display output, though surprisingly it doesn't use the MHL standard that we've seen on numerous recent devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3. Instead it supports the new SlimPort standard, which is based upon DisplayPort.

Which suggests the standards are incompatible (other sources I consulted underline this). An even clearer hint you'll find in a review by anandtech:

> When I wrote that review it wasn't immediately clear what advantages SlimPort offered over MHL, which has become relatively ubiquitous in the year or so since its introduction. Since then I've acquired the SlimPort microUSB to HDMI 1.4 SP1002 and VGA (D-SUB) SP2002 adapters from Analogix for testing out SlimPort on the Nexus 4.
> ...
> As of this writing, the Analogix SP1002 adapter is available on Amazon for around $30 USD. I haven't seen the SP2002 available online anywhere yet, however.

As this shows, there're SlimPort adapters available which are not *that* expensive (though not *that* cheap either), and are probably better fitted for your purpose. As you either yet have to buy the cable, I'd rather go for the right one.

# Answer
> 0 votes
It seems that MHL is not supported, but its cousin SlimPort is, according to here and explained here.

I have not bought yet, but I guess Chromecast might do the trick anyway for more recent devices.

---
Tags: nexus-4, external-display
---


# Question
Title: Wifi auto rejoin issues on Nexus 5 / Android 4.4
Here's a problem I've been experiencing with my new Nexus 5:

I leave my home wifi (which I was connected to). I then go to work where there is a wifi network I've previously joined. However, my Nexus 5 won't automatically rejoin the work wifi. If I go to the wifi menu and try to tell it to connect.... it does nothing. It sees the network and says it has a good strong signal, but it simply won't connect to it. If I turn airplane mode on and off (or restart the phone), it will join the work wifi.

Same thing happens in reverse (leave work wifi, won't auto rejoin home wifi). Or if I just walk out of range of the wifi network and walk back into range of it.

I did not have this issue on Android 4.2.2 with my Galaxy Nexus.

Is there a way to fix this? Or is it some sort of software bug in Android 4.4?

# Answer
> 2 votes
It appears that this was an issue from Google's syncing of wifi profiles from older phones. For some reason, when my new Nexus 5 acquired the wifi profiles from my Galaxy Nexus, they exhibit this issue.

The solution here worked but you must be rooted. You must delete all the wifi profile data (**requires root**) and then re-join the wifi networks again.

```
adb shell
$ su
# rm -r /data/misc/wifi/
# reboot

```

Then rejoin your wifi networks in the wifi manager. When you leave the range of the wifi and come back, it should reconnect as normal.

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


# Question
Title: Data Recovery - Is the internal sd-card part of /data (gs4)?
On every other phone I have owned (with CWM recovery) when I did a factory reset, it left my (internal) SD card contents intact. I wasn't thinking and did a factory reset and deleted everything.

As you all know reformatting a hard drive doesn't actually wipe the drive. From the looks of things the internal sd card is part of /data. So I took data's block device and did the following from ADB shell

I'm not looking up the exact paths but I believe I determined the block device to use by looking at "busybox df -h"s output

```
dd if=/dev/*--PATH-TO-mmblk-WHICH-DATA-IS-ON/ of=/cache/img1.img bs=1M count=1024
tar cvzf /cache/img1.tar.gz /cache/img1.img
*Copy img*.tar.gz to network share on my comp with ES file explorer
rm -f /cache/img*

dd if=/dev/*--PATH-TO-mmblk-WHICH-DATA-IS-ON/ of=/cache/img2.img bs=1M count=1024 offset=1024
tar cvzf /cache/img2.tar.gz /cache/img1.img
*Copy img*.tar.gz to network share on my comp with ES file explorer
rm -f /cache/img*

dd if=/dev/*--PATH-TO-mmblk-WHICH-DATA-IS-ON/ of=/cache/img3.img bs=1M count=1024 offset=2048
tar cvzf /cache/img3.tar.gz /cache/img1.img
*Copy img*.tar.gz to network share on my comp with ES file explorer
rm -f /cache/img*
,
.
.

```

I did this with all 10 or so GB of /data/ (forget actual size, but it's a 16GB model). I then opened these up in a hex editor and searched for known strings in my saved data (contents of messages from SMS backup & restore). I was unable to find my data. As far as texts are concerned I was able to find raw texts on my current device (not before I reset),

My question is, is the internal sd card on a different partiton than /data/?

# Answer
> 2 votes
It appears that the internal SD card is on the same partition as /data (I verified with my GT-I9500 at XXUEMJ9 - 4.3, output below):

```
root@ja3g:/storage/emulated/legacy # df
Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/dev                   931.8M    76.0K   931.8M   4096
/mnt/secure            931.8M     0.0K   931.8M   4096
/mnt/asec              931.8M     0.0K   931.8M   4096
/mnt/obb               931.8M     0.0K   931.8M   4096
/system                  2.7G     2.1G   588.6M   4096
/efs                    19.7M     9.2M    10.5M   4096
/cache                   2.0G    32.6M     1.9G   4096
/data                    8.8G     8.3G   540.4M   4096
/persdata/absolute      11.8M     4.2M     7.6M   4096
/mnt/shell/emulated      8.8G     8.3G   520.4M   4096
/mnt/shell/container     8.8G     8.3G   520.4M   4096
/mnt/ntfs              931.8M     0.0K   931.8M   4096
/storage/emulated      931.8M     0.0K   931.8M   4096
/storage/extSdCard      14.8G    10.4G     4.4G   8192
/storage/emulated/0      8.8G     8.3G   520.4M   4096
/storage/emulated/0/Android/obb     8.8G     8.3G   520.4M   4096
/storage/emulated/legacy     8.8G     8.3G   520.4M   4096
/storage/emulated/legacy/Android/obb     8.8G     8.3G   520.4M   4096

```

Some other manufacturers have different implementations of the layout; in fact, this decision was the largest possible reason why the Mass Storage option disappeared and MTP had to be used - because /data used ext4 which most Windows PCs can't recognize.

Some CWM versions do not perform a format on /data when you request for a factory reset - that is because they are either:

1. Running on a pre-3.0 version of Android that uses the older implementation
2. Using a manufacturer-defined custom layout
3. Running custom "Factory Reset" code that does only rm -rf on the folders

As to why the plaintext cannot be found, I'm not entirely sure - but I thought it might have to do with the formatting being done with secure erase (MMC\_CAP\_ERASE).

More information can be found here: http://teamw.in/DataMedia

And in the 4.2 source code itself: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/docs/source.android.com/+/android-4.2.1\_r1/src/tech/storage/index.md

---
Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, data-recovery, samsung-galaxy-s-4, partitions
---


title: htc one message notification problem

text:
# Question
Title: htc one message notification problem
Yesterday I bought the HTC One which was a huge step up from the iPhone 4s which I had owned. I have one problem with the phone: I cant find a way to view a contacts notification for a text without it displaying the message in the form of a preview. Is there any way I can change the settings so that the ls will show the sender but not the message preview. Im looking for something similar to ios where it would display the contacts name and it would say "text message"

# Answer
No, you cannot disable text preview completely. You can adjust how many lines you'd like to see (1-3), but like iOS native Messages.app you will be presented with a message preview.

That being said, on Android platform you can replace most default applications with the ones you like more. Perhaps you will be able to find SMS/MMS app that offers this sort of customizability.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: htc
---


title: How does Android multiuser system work?

text:
# Question
Title: How does Android multiuser system work?
If each app on Android gets its own UID, then how are phone users identifed? Do they own some different UID or something? Or are they in special group "users"?

# Answer
> 2 votes
The human users of the phone don't correspond to different Linux users. The human users are identified only within Android itself, not to apps. Android provides a completely separate environment to the app for each user - a little like a Linux `chroot` \- so the app doesn't have to worry about separate users. When a new user runs the app, it just looks like a fresh install on a new device, because it's given a brand new data directory, separate from those it's given for other users.

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, multi-user
---


# Question
Title: Display media from HTC One on a computer display
The title says it all. I am wondering if I can display slideshows among other things on a computer display.

I know that it has to be a DLNA compatible device, which I believe most of computer displays are not, and I also know there's this companion HTC Media Link HD device (which is a wi-fi dongle kind of thing).

I have a Mac OS X 10.8.2 Macbook Air, and an old Linux laptop, and some time to kill on a cold November weekend, so what I am asking really is whether there is a way to turn my Macbook or Linux laptop into a DLNA compatible device so that I could play slideshows on 24" display without investing any extra money.

# Answer
You don't necessarily need DLNA for that, nor HDMI. WiFi and the right app might do as well. Take a look at e.g. Remote Gallery 3D, you cannot only have a slide show on your PC, but even manage your photos remotely. The app runs a web server on your device, which then can be accessed via any web browser (i.e. completely OS independent). Only requirement is Flash capability. For a presentation, also have a look at Youtube.

This way you can even take your photo gallery with you when visiting friends or family: no installation on the PC required. So as long as WiFi is available, you're fine. The app is free, so it comes *without investing any extra money*, as requested ;)

---

Alternatively, you could setup a DLNA server on your Android device (BubbleUPnP would be a good choice for that). Nex, you would need a client to access it from your Mac (take a look at this Wikipedia list to pick one). Start the server on your Android device, then start the client on the Mac. The Client should automatically find and list your Android device, and let you browse your media. What features are offered (just pick single entries, make a slideshow, have background music played along) depends on the client chosen.

---

A third variant would be investigating in Airplay. As that's Apple's own stuff, your Mac should surely support it. There are a bunch or apps supporting Airplay you could chose from; not having a Mac, I cannot be of assistance in this area.

---

### Fazit by ILIV:

> BUbbleUPnP is a very nice software. I'm having a lot of fun trying out various combinations. One thing I learned this morning is that I can use VLC to browse and play all content on my phone: video, music and pictures. Video playback intermittently stucks for a split second, very rarely, but it does. That is unfortunate, but I'm wondering if it is a VLC or BubbleUPnP issue, or maybe it's just that two don't get along well.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: linux, streaming, macos, htc-one, dlna
---


title: Photos synch google+,picasa,gallery

text:
# Question
Title: Photos synch google+,picasa,gallery
I'm trying to upload on google+ photos all my old pics so I have it backupped and ordered there, but unfortunatly I encountered some strange behavior.

Here is what I did:

1. Uploaded from my pc with picasa all my album to google+ (checked the date were correct)
2. On Google+ web everything is ok (date and order of the album)
3. On google photos app on my Nexus-4 everything is fine as well.
4. If I go on picasa web album some album have incorrect date (seems they have the date of upload instead the date when pics were taken, but it's the same album on G+!!!)
5. If I synch picasa album in my gallery on Nexus-4 pics have the same problem with date.

Anyone has the same problem?

Also, if I turn off google phots synch and I clear the gallery app data all the picasa album disappear but if I do refresh from gallery they appear again and I didn't turned on google photos synch.

Again anyone with the same problem out there? Any solutions?

# Answer
Turned out that apparently on g+ the albums take the date of the most recent picture of that album, while on picasa web album there is a date for the album, I don't know why but sometimes the date for the album on picasa is the same as the one on g+, others times is simply the date when you created the album.

Anyway it is possible to change that date from the web interface of picasa by selecting an album and editing his property, It's a bit annoying if you have a lot of them but finally now I have all my picasa album properly ordered in my gallery on android. :)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: nexus-4, 4.3-jelly-bean, gallery, google-plus, picasa
---


title: Enabling MTP in HTC Desire S

text:
# Question
Title: Enabling MTP in HTC Desire S
My use case scenario is following: push some data from pc to smartphone and have an app there that detects and read that data. I know that there is MTP protocol that allows both pc and mobile device to access storage simultaneously. In that case I could just drop some files on mobile's sd card and have File Observer set to detect changes in file system and then subsequently read that data.

The problem is enabling MTP on HTC Desire S. I read that HTC Android 4.1+ versions support this protocol. I tried newest official ROM for the phone (4.0.4) but there was only Usb Mass Storage option when connecting to pc. Now I am on Jelly Fire Bean, 4.2.2 and still I can find no trace of MTP support. Might it be that this is a hardware limitation of the phone or have I not tried the correct ROM yet?

Alternatively, is there any other way to fullfil my use case scenario? The constraint is that communication must go through the (USB?)cable.

# Answer
An alternative would be to use `adb push` resp. `adb pull` to initiate a file transfer between computer and Android device. For this, you don't even need the entire Android SDK on your computer, a few files suffice (see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?). On a Linux system, you could even mount the Android device using `adbfs` (see here), and thus access it like a "normal drive" from command line (e.g. via `cp`/`mv`) as well as from graphical interfaces.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: htc, mtp
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy S4 "Prevention Information" USB OTG
I am trying to connect things to my S4 with a USB OTG cable. Standard devices such as mass storage, keyboard and mouse all work fine. My problem seems to be with vendor class devices.

I connected an FTDI USB to UART bridge (TTL-232R-3V3) to a USB OTG cable and installed the FTDI app. I plugged in the OTG cable and the phone reccognised the FTDI chip, launched the app, waited a few seconds and then closed the app again.

I got the message:

"Prevention Information, An application has been forced to stop for an unauthorized attempt to access system in your device". (Including the grammatical error)

I have the same problem with my Arduino Uno using the ArduinoDriod app.

I tried both devices on a friend's Huawei p6 and they both worked fine. From what I can tell, this issue is specific to the S4 and seems to be related to the recent update to Samsung Knox.

Does anyone know of a work around that doesn't involve rooting the device?

I am still in the 14 day trial period of the phone, so I could swap it for a different one. How do I tell if the Galaxy Note 3 or the LG G2 will have the same problem?

# Answer
I did also read about this. KNOX seems to be blocking the communication to USB devices in some cases.

The Google Nexus 5 (LG) is also available now. Its pretty cheap for the features it offers. You should take a look at it before you swap you device. There is also a ROOT available for the SGS4 but it would break your warranty ofcourse:

This is where i read it

more about the root. only use the one from the xda-developers forum!
> 0 votes

# Answer
I had the same problem, and I did a backup on my PC using KIES and factory restored the phone. Then I reconnected the device to my PC, it found the backup made with KIES and then I restored my information from my KIES back-up on the pc back to the phone.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: usb, usb-peripherals
---


title: Shark for Root not working

text:
# Question
Title: Shark for Root not working
I am pretty much new to the **packet sniffing**. I found some application for the same **Shark for root**. I have rooted my phone for the application and I tried logging the packets being transferred from my mobile using the start button available in the application. But all in vain I was not able to log even a single packet, and All the time I open the .pcap file with the sharkreader It gives error as **Empty file opened**.

I am using Android Gingerbread on my mobile.

Also while stopping the logs, it gives some error executing some Shell commands like **killall**.

Thanks in Advance.

# Answer
> 0 votes
See if you still have available memory in your storage. Shark for Root won't record any packets if your device has insufficient memory.

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


title: Is my phone listening to me?

text:
# Question
Title: Is my phone listening to me?
I've recently received a Nexus 5, which touts very tight Google Now integration. This weekend I've been visiting my parents. We had a discussion about a local restaurant which they went to last night. I just flicked over to Google Now and it's got a card about that restaurant, and only that restaurant. (we're in a big town, there are many restaurants, and it's by no means the nearest. I've never been there before). Is this a crazy coincidence or is Google Now listening to me?

We've had nothing mention of the restaurant in email's or texts, only a face to face conversation this afternoon while I had my phone out (but not explicitly listening).

# Answer
> 12 votes
It is possible that maybe your *parents* (or your friends) searched for it, or +1d it, or checked into it, and they are in your Circles! Google regularly gives you suggestions based on what people in your Circles like.

Take a look at http://www.google.com/policies/terms/changes/

> Feedback from people you know can save you time and improve results for you and your friends across all Google services, including Search, Maps, Play and in advertising. For example, your friends might see that you rated an album 4 stars on the band’s Google Play page. And the +1 you gave your favorite local bakery could be included in an ad that the bakery runs through Google. We call these recommendations shared endorsements and you can learn more about them here.

Hope I helped!

# Answer
> 1 votes
Right now this is not very likely. If the phone was listening and analyzing the surrounding voices constantly that would drain the battery very quickly. You could also detect app activity, data connection, etc. while that process occurs. Indeed @gunner has a plausible explanation.

Nevertheless, it is likely that at some point phones could analyze phone call conversations the same way that Gmail analyzes the text of emails and suggest personalized ads based on these conversations.

---
Tags: google-now
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to recover deleted text messages after a factory reset on LG Optimus One 2.2.1?
I have never backed up anything off my phone. The text messages I need are from within the last month. The factory reset was done a week ago..

# Answer
Alas, the SMS are all gone, they're part of the data that gets wiped along with the factory reset.

There's no way to get them back (if you haven't backed them up at some time)
> 2 votes

# Answer
Follow the steps below to recover the deleted SMS from android phone. Have a try.

1. Connect your Android phone and enable USB debugging
2. Analyze your Android phone
After the USB debugging, reconnect your phone if you are asked to disconnect it during the setting.Here you need to bear in mind that your phone's battery is more than 20% charged, and then you can click "Start" to let the program analyze your Android phone.
3. Scan your Android for deleted text messages
4. Preview and recover messages from Android Good luck!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sms
---


# Question
Title: How do I flash a Samsung device using the distribution on samsung-updates.com?
I'm hoping to flash the stock rom back onto my device so I can update the PRL. I downloaded the file on samsung-updates.com. The file that I download was found "Firmware archive" for Sprint's SPH-L720 (Galaxy S4).

A comment said the SPR was for regular users and the XAS one was for engineers. Not exactly sure what that means, but I downlaoded the SPR file changelist 1927016

> SPR-L720VPUEMJA-20131030154609.zip

Now when I look inside I have two files,

1. `L720VPUEMJA_L720SPTEMJA_L720VPUEMJA_HOME.tar.md5`
2. `SS_DL.dll`

What does these files do? Why do I do with the .dll? How do I flash my device with it? Do I simply load the .zip into Clockworkmod and boot up? Should I, or should I not wipe cache and Dalvik after I do that? I've already backed up my current version of CM and data using CWM.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Is `SPR-L720VPUEMJA-20131030154609.zip` stock ROM? If yes, you can use the Odin tool to flash that ROM.

I assume have already installed Samsung Kies (so phone drivers are installed). With this done, open Odin (don't change any settings). Load `L720VPUEMJA_L720SPTEMJA_L720VPUEMJA_HOME.tar.md5` into the PDA section into the ROM. Put your phone into Download Mode (Vol Down + Home + Power), and plug it into Odin. Odin should be able to detect that phone. When it does, start the flashing process.

---
Tags: rom-flashing, samsung, stock-rom
---


title: disable music button

text:
# Question
Title: disable music button
How can I disable the hardware music button on the side of my LG GW620? I keep accidently triggering it in my pocket, causing random bursts of Foo Fighters when I sit down in a meeting.

Just disabling it while the screen is locked would be best, but completely disabling it would be better than nothing.

My GW620 has been upgraded to android 2.2 (Froyo) using the the OpenEtna firmware. Prior to this I don't think the music button did anything at all.

# Answer
> 8 votes
You can try Button Remapper, but I am not 100% sure if your device is supported. if its not, you could contact the dev and see if he can add support, he recently added support for the Galaxy S devices.

**Edit**
Actually, from looking at that thread, it may be supported already. I see there are "media" actions that can be changed...

# Answer
> 3 votes
Sorry, this is a bit of a half-answer - I haven't worked it right the way though yet - but I think you could do something like the following using the (amazing) Tasker app.

```
ON 'Screen Off', IF current music track = "", SET Media Volume = 0
ON 'Screen On' set volume back to normal)

```

By checking for a currently playing track, it won't mute whilst you are genuinely listening to something just because the screen is then turned off.

Whilst it doesn't disable your phone as such, it would stop the music blearing out. You could also add a vibrate notification to warn you if this has happened.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There is an app on Google Play Store for disable and re enable the music button. Music Button Disabler for android

Hope this help.

---
Tags: custom-roms, music, buttons
---


# Question
Title: How can I disable the button on the earphones?
I keep accidentally pressing the button on the earbuds when it's in my pocket.

Any of these would be great for me:

1. Disable the button only when the device is locked
2. Disable the button always

# Answer
> 4 votes
Headset blocker will disable those buttons. It's a widget, not an app.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try Galaxy Music \[Button Disabler\]. It is the best solution for locking the music button.

It **costs** .99 cent though.

---
Tags: music-player
---


# Question
Title: Is there an app that associates a certain action to an arbitrary NFC tag?
I'm using the NFC Task Launcher for launching actions stored on my own tags. This works fine.

What I'm searching for is an app that associates a certain action with an arbitrary tag. An example: my company ID card has an NFC tag. This tag cannot be changed by me. But I want to activate the "At Work" profile when I scan that tag.

So, the actual action is NOT stored on the tag but on the phone and gets triggered by reading that tag.

Is there an app that I could use for that?

# Answer
> 3 votes
I've been looking at Llama. You can set actions based on conditions, and one of the selectable conditions is `NFC tag detected`. I haven't tried this myself yet, but the program is pretty well thought out. Highly recommended!

---
Tags: automation, nfc
---


# Question
Title: Google Account activation: What should I consider concerning privacy?
In order to be able to use , I will need a Google Account, and activate this on my Android device. Does this give Google access to all my private data? Is there anything I can to to protect my privacy, and still use Google services?

**Background:** Not only recently, I've read a lot about Google collecting everything they can get hold of. While there are terms of service, it's not entirely clear to me where my data will end up. It's also reported that their latest changes weaken users' privacy, and that they are going to use my name and profile to sell ads to others. To me, this looks like really worrisome development on a system I originally thought to be "open".

# Answer
On activation of a Google account on your device, you will be asked whether you want to backup your data to the Google cloud. While this must be explicitly supported by the apps to take effect for their data (which only a few do), and thus will never be a complete data backup, many of your most private data will be affected here – amongst others your WiFi APs including their (plain text!) passwords, which even might lead to other issues beside privacy. But even if you answer this with "No", your contacts, calendars, and more will be automatically sync'd with the Google cloud without you being explicitly asked for.

So here are some things you *might* want to consider. The list is definitly not complete, I certainly have missed some points (and might add some lateron).

* "Do you want to backup …" (see above): This includes data of some apps which support it, a list of apps installed on the device – but also sensitive data such as configured WiFi APs with their passwords in plain-text (open issue #57560)
* In the sync settings of your Google account, de-select what you don't want to sync. Do this *before* entering any of your private data (contacts, calendars, etc.), and remember you will have to re-do this after a . Side-effect: the less you sync, the less this can eat your .
* Consider switching the default storage in your contacts/calendar/... app from "Google Account" to "Device"1
* Android 4.4+: Install an alternative SMS app and make it the default one (in *Settings→WiFi* you can chose which app to be used for SMS) to avoid your messages being mixed into *Hangouts*. To be on the safe side, you can also disable SMS support in Hangouts.
* Android 4.4+: Install an alternative Gallery app2 to avoid your images being mixed with *Google+* (looks like the separate gallery app will be gone soon as well). Side-effect: again savings on your data-plan for not automatically syncing all your photos (alternatively, photo sync/instant upload can also be turned off in G+ settings AFAIK).
* Avoid services like *Google+* which are quite intrusive to privacy. If that's not an option for you, check their settings thoroughly, and opt-out from intrusives whereever possible.
* Disable *Google Maps* and replace it by a good alternative. Apps like the open-source OsmAnd, OruxMaps, or Locus Map not only offer you much better offline capabilities, but also save your device's juice by not constantly running in the background even without being explicitly started by you.
* If you followed all above suggestions, you now might as well think about disabling *Google Now* – it no longer can tell you it's "10 minutes to your parents", or "you need to start to work earlier because of higher traffic", as it doesn't know where (or who) your parents are, and where your work place is (or what the traffic conditions are). And cannot give you advices like "buying this because your friends like it".
* Just discovered: *Google Settings › Smart Lock for Passwords.* Enabled by default, it saves passwords of your apps and websites to Google's cloud (your account). Not sure if it honors the initial "Do you want to backup …" setting.

There are several more things you can do for your , not being restricted to Google's services. If rooting is an option for you, things like Xprivacy are definitly worth a look. A good starting point are our privacy tag-wiki and other questions tagged "privacy".

PS: Turning WiFi off when you don't need it (with 4.3+, remember there's also the "keep scanning for networks even if WiFi is switched off" setting in *Settings→WiFi→Advanced* to be considered) could even protect you against being tracked by advertising trashcans...

---

1 There are alternative sync possibilities like OwnCloud, Funambol, and others available
2 QuickPic is a good candidate here
> 2 votes

---
Tags: google-account, privacy
---


# Question
Title: Picture converted to very low quality while sharing on Google +
I'm using a HTC ONE X with Android 4.2.2 and HTC Sense 5.0

I took a screenshot from my phone : the picture has the same resolution as my screen which is 720x1280.

Then I share it on google plus :

* go to 'Galery' app ( don't know if its the standard android one or an HTC specific app :/ )
* choose my picture
* touch 'share'
* chose in the list 'Google+' which open the google+ app to choose the circles I want to share with.
* confirm.

The picture shared is then 180x320 ! All text is unreadable so the sharing doesn't make sens anymore :/

Does anyone know why ? And how to prevent this ? I'm connected using wifi connection so there's no need to scale down the picture I can upload the full size...

# Answer
> 1 votes
It seems like it fixed by itself...

Now can see the full size picture in my post on Google + without doing anything more.

My guess is : it uploaded a sample sized version of the picture in order to share my post instantaneously while the full picture was still uploading ...

Anymore informations on this from anyone would be nice.

Thanks :)

---
Tags: htc-one-x, google-plus, file-sharing
---


# Question
Title: With Android 4.4 (KitKat), my notification icons are always gray. Am I in trouble?
With Android 4.3 and earlier, gray/white signal icons in the notification bar informed about connection trouble concerning the Google Services (see e.g. What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?). If everything was OK, they were either green (before 4.x) or blue (4.0+). Now they seem to be permanently gray/white. Am I in trouble, or did I miss something?

# Answer
You are (not) in trouble. Or at least you cannot tell anymore by simply taking a look at the notification bar. With Android 4.4 (KitKat) came a few design changes; one of them was to turn those notification icons permanently gray, officially to be "less distracting".

So how can you tell if there are issues with your connection to the Google servers? According to an AndroidPIT Blog, you now have to check with the Quick-Settings, where problems are indicated by icons turned red/orange.
> 9 votes

---
Tags: data-connection, notification-icons, 4.4-kitkat
---


# Question
Title: What is the default CPU Freq governor of the SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 GT-I9500 Octacore version?
I have been playing around with CPUFreq governors of the octacore version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and I forgot what was the default governor device was configured to operate at by Samsung?

# Answer
> 1 votes
The default governor on the GT-I9500 is called "ondemand-sec". I'm running the XXUEMJ9 firmware (Android 4.3). It's a modified version of the ondemand governor. Here is a listing in `/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq`:

```
root@ja3g:/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq # ls -al
drwxr-xr-x    5 0        0                0 Nov 14 12:38 .
drwxr-xr-x    9 0        0                0 Nov 14 12:38 ..
drwxr-xr-x    2 0        0                0 Nov 14 12:38 iks-cpufreq
drwxr-xr-x    2 0        0                0 Nov 14 12:38 ondemand
drwxrwxrwx    2 0        0                0 Nov 14 12:39 ondemand-sec

root@ja3g:/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq # cat scaling_governor
ondemand-sec

```

# Frequency Mappings

As for which frequency activates which cores, I can't remember if you can query it through `sysfs`, but I do remember:

* Below 600 Mhz, only the A7 cores are active, and they run at a 2x factor. For instance, at 400 Mhz, the A7 cores are actually running at 800 Mhz.
* Above 600 Mhz, only the A15 cores are active, and they run at a 1x factor. For instance, at 1.2 Ghz, the A15 cores are actually running at 1.2 Ghz.

The frequency mapping can be found in the kernel sources at `drivers/cpufreq/exynos-ikcs-cpufreq.c`, around line ~56:

```
#define ACTUAL_FREQ(x, cur) ((cur == CA7) ? (x) << 1 : (x))
#define VIRT_FREQ(x, cur) ((cur == CA7) ? (x) >> 1 : (x))

```

The first line finds the actual frequency of the core. If the current core is an A7, then we perform a bitshift on the "virtual frequency" by 1 to the left. This is in effect a multiplication by 2.

Much of the rest of the code deals with querying the supported CPU frequencies of each kind of core and merging them to give you the resulting `cpufreq` table (see `cpufreq_merge_tables` function around line 197).

More info on how this can be found on this set of slides by Linaro.

# Core Status

You can check which cores are active using a device node at `/dev/bL_status`.

```
root@ja3g:/dev # cat bL_status
        0 1 2 3 L2 CCI
[A15]   0 0 0 0  0
[A7]    1 1 1 1  1

```

The above output indicates that only the A7 cores are active.

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


title: Reactivating a Phone Without Service

text:
# Question
Title: Reactivating a Phone Without Service
I recently got an old HTC Droid Incredible 2 with Verizon, that doesn't have service anymore. I wanted to give the phone a "clean slate" so I did a factory reset. However, when I booted it up again, it said that it needed to make a phone call (through Verizon) in order to re-activate, and will not let me proceed without doing this. I have pretty much no idea what I should do now. I could try rooting it and installing CyanogenMod or something, and hope that it would work, but I'm not sure if an unactivated phone can do that. What should I do?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I finally figured out how to fix this. I don't know if this is the best way to do this, and if this is unique to just this phone, but here's what worked for me:

1. Rebooted the phone
2. Unlocked it at the lock screen that popped up
3. When I came to the activation setup pages, I pulled down the notifications shade
4. "Quick Settings" \>\> "All Settings" \>\> Home Button

I'm not sure how exactly this worked (glitch or bug, maybe?), but it did. Thanks for all the help!

# Answer
> 0 votes
That phone would most likely be tied to Verizon, if it's from a contract. You would first need to root and unlock the phone - so that it can be used with other networks - before you can flash CM on it.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, htc-droid-incredible-2
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy S3 Bug: Navigation app crashes when clicking "Start"
Summary: Route navigation crashes on starting of route finding.

This is an intermittent bug. It only started happening recently - I think it coincides with when on a desktop browser I volunteered to start using the new version of Google Maps. (I wanted to use the new traffic monitoring feature). I didn't realise it would propagate my choices to my phone as well.

Is there any fix? E.g.

* How can I configure the navigation app on my phone to use only the more stable mainstream navigation app?
* How can I configure my Google account to revert to the mainstream version of Google Maps, for all devices?
* Are there any third party apps which have route navigation similar in quality to that of Google's?

Thanks

# Answer
After you enter the starting point and destination, the app gives you the possible routes. On that screen the best route has a start navigation option; selecting this causes the app to crash. Instead select the route you prefer and then hit the start arrow at the bottom right corner. Works for me.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, crashes, bugs, google-maps-navigation, navigation
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to change device type on Google Play
I have an HTC One V, but I rooted it and installed CyMod 10.1. The problem I am currently facing is that the device shows up on Google Play as HTC One V which came with 4.0, whereas my phone now has 4.1.

Since it shows up as One V (4.0) many of the downloads show up as non-compatible with my phone and hence I cannot install them.

Is there any thing that can be done to remedy this?

# Answer
You can try Market Helper; requires ROOT.

> Market Helper is a tool for Android that helps users to be able to change/fake their rooted devices to any other devices. For example, it can turn your Nexus 7 into Samsung Galaxy S3 in a few seconds. No reboot is required.
> 3 votes

# Answer
If you're just looking to install apps from Google Play, you can download the apks directly using APK Downloader; all you'll need is the package name or Google Play URL. Then just move the files to your device and install normally.

As a One V owner as well, I recommend looking into RhythmicRom. Google Play correctly detects my device as Android 4.2.2 and it's smooth and stable.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, cyanogenmod, htc, compatibility
---


# Question
Title: Can we install Android 4.4 factory image on Samsung Galaxy Core?
Google has released Android 4.4 factory image for Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 today. The steps to install Android 4.4 factory image in nexus 4 is

1. Download the factory image corresponding to your device's model and version
2. Extract the downloaded file and `cd` into the extracted directory.
3. run `adb reboot-bootloader`
4. run `./flash-all.sh`

Can I follow the same steps and install the above Android 4.4 in Samsung Galaxy Core or in Galaxy Grand? Any help will be highly appreciated?

# Answer
No, you can't. Those ROMs are intended for those devices only. Flashing a ROM that is not compatible with the device can brick the device.

You should wait for 4.4 ROMs for your devices.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, 4.4-kitkat, samsung-galaxy-grand
---


# Question
Title: 4.3 OTA Update Install Fail With Motochopper Root 4.2.2 Google Nexus 7
I am using Stock Android 4.2.2 on Nexus 7 2012 Tablet. I rooted my tablet using the Motochopper Root. I was able to download OTA 4.3 Update using normal procedure on my tablet however, when I tried installing the update, it just stuck at the android guy with error at startup. I tried downloading the OTA update again as it just disappeared, however it is stuck at waiting to download. I tried Nexus Tool Kit downloaded Stock 4.3 OTA and tried to install it using ADB sideload command. However it gave an error and mentioned some error file and exited. Please Help me out . I also tried full unroot with SuperSu but it also did not work.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Download stock ROM from Google, and flash it.
To check correct version for your Nexus 7 2012, see this question.

Since it would now be stock, you'd have to root it again.

---
Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, nexus-7, root-access, 4.3-jelly-bean, ota-update
---


# Question
Title: How to solve: "Failed to push selection: Out of memory"
I Create an article in Stack overflow. But as I found this site, I decide to ask the same question here, because I still need your help.

I have made the following steps:

1. **Launch Eclipse**
2. Go To: **Window -\> Open Perspective -\> Other ...**
3. Select **DDMS** from the opened dialog
4. Select "**File explorer**" tab.
5. Press "**Push a file onto the device**" and select library which I wish to push.
> Failed to push selection: Read-only file system
6. Minimize all opened windows and **open Command Line**
7. Write: **cd C:\android\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools** enter
8. Write: **abd remount** enter

> You will see remount successful
9. Maximize Eclipse and try step 5.

> Failed to push selection: Out of memory

## Error appears! What to do to solve this problem ... Please help.

**ADDED**

1) When I write ADB SHELL MOUNT:

```
rootfs / rootfs ro 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,cpuacct 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/obb tmpfs rw,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,cpu 0 0
/dev/block/mtdblock0 /system yaffs2 rw 0 0
/dev/block/mtdblock1 /data yaffs2 rw,nosuid,nodev 0 0
/dev/block/vold/179:0 /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/block/vold/179:0 /mnt/secure/asec vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure tmpfs ro,size=0k,mode=000 0 0

```

2 ) Shel Prompt starts with: #

# Answer
> 12 votes
Launch the emulator from the command line so that you can specify a `/system` partition size using the `-partition-size <MB>` option. For example, I use this to launch an emulator running Android 1.6 with a `/system` partition of 512 MB:

```
emulator -avd Donut -partition-size 512

```

...where "Donut" is whatever you named your AVD (you can check in Eclipse's AVD manager if you need to). The `emulator` binary should be in your `tools/` directory within your SDK install, which for you appears to be `C:\android\android-sdk-windows\tools`, so be sure you `cd` into that directory first (or add it to your system's `%Path%`).

Eclipse may not pick up the emulator right away, or it may recognize it and then drop the connection. If either of those happens, click the view menu on the Devices tab (the little arrow next to the minimize button) and select "Reset adb" to get the connection back.

Once it shows up in your devices, do what you were trying to do earlier. Run `adb remount` to get the `/system` partition in read-write mode, then use Eclipse to push the file wherever you want. I tested with a couple of random files a minute ago and was able to push them to `/system/xbin` without any trouble.

For reference, here's the partition size and use of `/system` on my Donut emulator when I specify a 512 MB partition:

```
> adb shell df
...
/system: 508416K total, 61332K used, 447084K available (block size 4096)
...

```

But here's how it looks if I launch without specifying a size:

```
> adb shell df
...
/system: 65536K total, 61204K used, 4332K available (block size 4096)
...

```

Additionally, you can set command line options in your application's run configuration via Eclipse if you want to. Go into your Java perspective, then select `Run->Run Configurations` from the menu bar. Select your application in the left pane, and then pick the "Target" tab. At the bottom is a text box labeled "Additional Emulator Command Line Options", and you can add `-partition-size <MBs>` to that text box so that the emulator launched when you run your application will have a larger `/system` partition.

Note: You may have to add also `-no-snapstorage` or other options, to disable loading the existing snaphot, to the command line. It did not work without it for me.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The easy way: restart your phone in Recovery mode, than mount System. Now you can push your file without a problem.

# Answer
> -2 votes
How to solve: “Failed to push selection: Out of memory”

While creating new android virtual device(AVD).. on SD CARD tab type some value(100) in MB.

Really,It works for me!!

---
Tags: adb, android-emulator, mount
---


# Question
Title: How is it possible that an app stores its data even though I clear the cache and uninstall?
I have downloaded an app (its a game), made some test progress, and then deleted the game data. I have also cleared the cache and uninstalled the game, but whenever I install it again from the Google Play Store, the progress is still there.

I have also tried installing the app after clearing its data, offline from the .apk-file.

How is it possible to retain the app data like this and how can I clear the data?

# Answer
Since you mentioned you were still seeing it after installing offline, I'm going to assume you also tried the game while still offline. If the data was there, it could have made a folder to hold the data which you could get to and delete using a file explorer. There's a number of apps that make folders to hold data that don't get deleted when the app is uninstalled.
> 3 votes

# Answer
It's possible that the game progress is saved in the cloud, if you are using Google Play Games.

The Google help page says you can clear this progress / data, but note that it will clear for ALL games:

> If you want to delete your saved data from all games that use Cloud Save, visit the Google Settings app and select Menu \> Clear app data. This will clear all your data from all accounts.
>
> Depending on your device, your Menu icon may look different.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store
---


# Question
Title: My Galaxy mini having trouble with charging
Today I noticed that my Galaxy Mini is not charging properly.

In morning it was switched off even after charging for the whole night. Some weeks ago the same problem had occured, but some time after when I plugged it in with the USB cable it was getting charged. When I connected the charger, it was working fine.

Well, my problems don't stop there. Today I did all the possible tricks, but it doesn't charge. In fact it is showing the charging symbol, but its not increasing. It's not even showing the charging percentage. When I connect it with the PC via USB cable it is charging and battery level increasing too, but it again suddenly decreases or again increases.

What is the problem? And how can it be solved?

# Answer
The battery may be ok.

I had this problem and fixed it.

1) Plug the phone into a charger.

2) The pins get loose, so press the battery towards the pins and press the on button.

3) Once the phone starts to boot up, you can take the pressure off and replace the back onto the phone.

Whoolahhh!
> 1 votes

# Answer
Try using a different battery. Samsung phones have user-replaceable batteries, and your current one may be defective.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: charging
---


# Question
Title: changing the default home & power buttons behaviours on Note 3
Is there a way that I can configure the following?

* double press on the home button shows the recently opened apps. (by default, a double press does that)
* long press on the home button triggers the voice search (by default, a double press does that)
* long press on the power-off button gives me the recently running apps(by default, it gives me the DEVICE OPTIONS ( poweroff+airplne mode etc...)
* alternatively, long press on the power-off button gives me an option to create an action list of my own which may contain items like +turn off the phone, +open app voice recorder +start google search +even a "go back" function...

Is there a way in note 3 to get a handle of these functions/actions in terms of a shortcode handle name and then use it in making a list like that? ( I hope this part is not too confusing to you )

What's the ultimate tool/approach that lets one do these such fundamental changes in the way note 3 buttons work?

thank you

# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm not sure concerning the Note-3 specifically, but there are some apps claiming to help you at least parically on this issue:

They all have in common that they help you remapping one or more buttons.

---
Tags: home-button, samsung-galaxy-note-3
---


# Question
Title: New owner of phone and I need to get admin access!
I have a Samsung Galaxy SII that I got from work. When I got it it was on a vodafone plan and linked to the work gmail account. I left the company but bought the phone off them, returning the sim card.

My new sim works fine, but the phone seems tied to the old email account. I can't update many of my apps as I am prompted to enter the password for the work email account which I dont have! When I try to remove that email it says I cant as it is required by some apps and I will need to do a factory reset.

Is there any other way I can get control over the phone? If not what will I need to save before doing the factory reset? Im not fussed about reinstalling apps but should I save all my pictures etc first?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Is that an Exchange email? Then YES, removing it will trigger a Factory Reset. This is standard operating procedure, for security purposes (of the company).

As dotVezz said, you should back-up all your data (pictures, documents, downloaded files, etc). To back-up your apps and its data, you can use Titanium Backup; needs ROOT. *Just to be on the safe side, also copy the Titanium folder (contains apps and data) to your PC.* After doing a Factory Reset, just restore the files with Titanium Backup (which you'd need to download from Google Play after the Factory Reset).

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, factory-reset
---


# Question
Title: Why video made with iOS can't be read on Android but the inverse works
I'm currently testing why a video made with an iOS device does not seems to work on my Galaxy S3.

Here's the file info from ffmpeg :

**Video took with Galaxy S3:**

```
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '20130715_151126.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 0
    compatible_brands: isom3gp4
    creation_time   : 2013-07-15 13:12:08
  Duration: 00:00:41.33, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 17143 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 1920x1080, 17015 kb/s, 30.01 fps, 30 tbr, 90k tbn, 180k tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      rotate          : 90
      creation_time   : 2013-07-15 13:12:08
      handler_name    : VideoHandle
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, 123 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2013-07-15 13:12:08
      handler_name    : SoundHandle

```

**Video took with iPhone 4S:**

```
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'trim.BE866F9A-654A-4C76-AC43-5CDF4923A2F0.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : qt
    minor_version   : 0
    compatible_brands: qt
    creation_time   : 2013-11-15 12:44:22
    encoder         : 6.0
    encoder-fra     : 6.0
    date            : 2013-05-31T14:22:11+0200
    date-fra        : 2013-05-31T14:22:11+0200
    model           : iPhone 4S
    model-fra       : iPhone 4S
    make            : Apple
    make-fra        : Apple
  Duration: 00:00:21.79, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 4221 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(und): Audio: aac (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, mono, 62 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2013-11-15 12:44:22
      handler_name    : Core Media Data Handler
    Stream #0:1(und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p(tv, bt709), 1280x720, 4147 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 600 tbn, 1200 tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      rotate          : 90
      creation_time   : 2013-11-15 12:44:22
      handler_name    : Core Media Data Handler

```

They seems to be fairly the same video and audio encoding using h264/aac The only thing that differs I can see are :

* The resolution (It should not be a problem)
* The FPS (should not be a problem)
* In iOS the audio is stream 0:0 while in Android it is 0:1

The thing is, a video took with a Galaxy S3 does work fine on iOS without recoding it.

Anyone knows why ?

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you do not want your users to download a player to show the videos, then you have no other choice but to create videos with the H.264 Baseline profile. This is because the stock Android player does not support anything higher.

iOS on the other hand does support the Main and High profile. While not listed in the iOS specifications, the iPhone 4S and upwards should support it.

It could very well be that your Samsung's video app records High profile video and can also play it (because Samsung included a non-stock player\*). In any case, converting to Baseline profile would ensure that the video is playable on all devices.

```
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -profile:v baseline -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 23 output.mp4

```

That should do it. You can change the CRF parameter to change quality. Check the x264 encoding guide for more.

<sub>* Disclaimer: I don't own a Samsung Android phone. No idea if they have a non-stock player.</sub>

---
Tags: video, ios
---


# Question
Title: quick way to add chrome (or internet) shortcuts to home screens
On the iphone, under the Safari settings, there was an option ADD TO HOME SCREEN.

that gets quite handy to have direct bookmarks launchable from a single tap on the icon. How do you do that in the android world?

I got a note 3 & I'm dying to get this functionality in.

http://cubiq.org/add-to-home-screen

# Answer
> 1 votes
From Chrome, first add the site you're interested in as a bookmark by clicking the little star icon. Then go to **Bookmarks** (from Chrome's menu), and long-tap the bookmark you just created. A context menu appears, and the bottom item is **Add to home screen**. If you like, first click **Edit bookmark** to set the label the bookmark will use: it defaults to the web page title, which isn't always what you want.

If Samsung is still shipping their own browser in the Note 3, the procedure is the same there, but the bookmarks icon is a kind of banner with a star, and the menu item is called **Add shortcut to home**.

---

## Update March 2017

The above is now more than three years old, and the Chrome UI has changed since then. You can't add a bookmark to the home screen that way any more. Now, you need to visit the bookmark in Chrome, bring up the menu (three-dots icon in the top right), and choose **Add to home screen**.

The method of using Chrome's bookmarks widget still works. Long-tap the home screen, choose "Widgets", scroll down to Chrome in the alphabetic list, and drag the bookmarks widget to the desired place.

# Answer
> 1 votes
**How to do it from the default Browser:**

* If it is not yet in your bookmarks:

Go to browser \> go to website \> Menu: \[Save to bookmarks\] \> On the bookmark page under \[Add to\] select Homescreen instead of Bookmarks.
* If it is already in your bookmarks:

Go to browser \> Menu \[Bookmarks\] \> long-press on bookmark \> in pop-up menu select \[Add shortcut to home\]

**How to do it from the desktop:**

Long Press Desktop \> Add a widget \> select Bookmark \> select website from bookmark

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, home-screen-shortcuts
---


# Question
Title: GSM signal lost - howto get signal back without restarting
Several times a week I have the problems where the GSM signal is lost on my phone, due to bad coverage in that area. The real problem for me is that when that happens, and when I move to a place with known coverage, the signal doesn't come back. The only solution I know is to restart the phone. Switching to airplane mode and back doesn't help.

Is there an app or method I can use to avoid the restart?

* Phone: Samsung Galaxy S2
* Android: Jelly Bean 4.2 (Avatarrom)

# Answer
The following is no complete solution, but at least a work-around, avoiding a long reboot:

There are apps like Quick Boot (others have things like "fast reboot" and the like in their names/descriptions). Other suggested by those names, they do not really reboot your device, but simply restart the system server (for details, please take a look at Can somebody explain the boot process of an Android device? – the system server is started at step 5 of 6 boot steps, so this skips more than half of the way down and up, effectively resulting in a process about 3 times as fast as a complete reboot).

While this way all your apps are killed as a side effect (as they require the system server to work), it's still a lot faster than a real reboot, and thus "less hazzle".
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, custom-roms, network-signal, gsm
---


title: Record Nexus 10 screen

text:
# Question
Title: Record Nexus 10 screen
I am trying to find a way to record the screen on my Nexus 10 tablet.

I make promotional videos for my company to show off our cloud-based software. I need a good way to show people that mobile devices can be used to make great use of our software. We use Nexus because it has the NFC chip reader and writer.

Is there any way to do this that does not require rooting?

# Answer
Your Nexus 10 should be able to upgrade to the newest Android 4.4 Kitkat any day now. It has a new option to record the screen, but you need to be/know someone who has basic knowledge about the Android SDK: http://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html#44-screen-recording

Since you did not accept an answer yet, hope this info still helps and I'm not necromancing your thread. ;)
> 2 votes

# Answer
You need your tablet it be rooted for this. After rooting use SCR screen recorder (preferably the pro version ) to record your screen. There are many apps available but I found this the best
> 1 votes

# Answer
You can always **use an app** such as No Root Screen Recorder to video record your screen. But the problem with this option is that you have to connect your device to a windows computer in order to capture.

If you're willing to use external hardware, one good option is an External HDMI capture card and a USB to HDMI cable.This way the recording does not affect the performance of your device or app. More expensive than an app on the device, but much more flexible.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-nexus-10, screencast
---


# Question
Title: Do the new NFC options in 4.4 Kitkat allow one to have a combined digital wallet?
The new Android has Host-based Card Emulation built in which takes care of the secure element: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/hce.html

Wondering what it takes to load NFC enabled cards unto a Nexus5 (or another Android Kitkat phone). *Can one read out the cards and load them in some general app to create a digital wallet* with public transport, company access and credit cards (how awesome!)? Or do the card suppliers need to enable this themself in compatible apps? Hoping for the first option of course, but seem unable to find the answer online and don't have the Nexus5 yet.

Thanks in advance! :)

# Answer
All that host-based card emulation (HCE) does is it enables app authors to support more hardware: that is, devices that don't have the necessary *secure element* hardware. Developers of apps that previously made contactless transactions using the secure element will now be able to make their apps work on devices that don't have that hardware. However, using HCE is less secure than using a hardware secure element, so it's likely that payment card operators will choose not to support this.

# Secure payment cards

The obstacle that stops you reading your own cards into your phone (*cloning* the cards) is not related to the phone's technology: it's because the card is designed to prevent this. The card contains a secret number that can't be accessed via an NFC transaction. To be more precise, there's no sanctioned way to do this: security researchers and criminals have found ways to use flaws in the design to clone various contactless payment cards. I wouldn't recommend doing this, as doing so may constitute a criminal offence where you are, and will almost certainly make you liable for your bank's losses should anything go wrong.

In summary: the only difference that HCE makes is that if your bank already offers an app to do this, but it doesn't work on your phone, it might (if your bank chooses) work after you upgrade to Android 4.4.

# Door cards, etc.

Unlike the high-security payment cards, with processors and secret numbers, door entry cards and tags and the like often just have an ID, which they present to the card reader. Such cards are already very easy to clone. The main obstacle has been getting the the phone to present the desired ID, and HCE means there may well be an explosion of apps that are made for just this use case. (See also Can I clone my (mifare classic) Access card with an Android device?.) However, the long-term result of this is likely to be that door entry systems are changed to use *challenge-response* protocols and thus become harder to clone.
> 7 votes

---
Tags: nfc, 4.4-kitkat
---


# Question
Title: How do I get my Nexus 7 to show up in the adb devices list?
So I have a Nexus 7 that I'm trying to connect to my Windows computer for debugging over adb. Adb works fine with my phone, but when I plug in the tablet and run `adb devices` in Windows I get an empty list back:

```
C:\android\sdk\platform-tools> .\adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached

C:\android\sdk\platform-tools>

```

The tablet is running stock Android 4.2.2 build JDQ39. USB debugging is enabled, I did click on the build number 7 times to get the developer options enabled, and I've tried connecting both as a Media device (MTP) and as a Camera (PTP). The tablet is not rooted and I have not unlocked the bootloader.

The computer is running Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x64. I have the latest adb version, 1.0.31. The SDK manager tells me I have SDK Tools rev 22.0.1 and SDK Platform-tools rev 17. I've tried using the Google generic usb driver version 7.0.0.1 and 6.0 as well as the Asus usb\_driver\_r06 from http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Nexus+7&p=28&s=2. Each driver I try does show the tablet as connected in device manager as either "Android Composite ADB Interface" or "Android ADB Interface"

If I plug the tablet in to my Macbook Pro and run adb devices, I get the the RSA fingerprint dialog as I would have expected to see in Windows:

Also if I start the tablet in fastboot by holding down the power and volume down buttons. I can see it with the fastboot utility:

```
C:\android\sdk\platform-tools> .\fastboot devices
015d262e32540802        fastboot

```

I am completely out of ideas here. Any and all off the wall suggestions would be welcome.

# Answer
I finally found my problem. This might have been specific to my Windows machine, but I'm writing it down here in case someone else has the same problem.

Turns out I didn't have a usb.inf file in my `C:\Windows\inf` directory. Apparently some installers/uninstallers have been known to mess with that file. I found the tip in this thread while trying to figure out why my new mouse didn't work...

I copied the four files from `C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\usb.inf_amd64_neutral_153b489118ee37b8` over to `C:\Windows\inf` and re-installed the drivers and the security dialog popped right up on the tablet.
> 3 votes

# Answer
What fixed it for me was clicking on the "Connected as a media device" up at the top left corner, de-selecting Media Device (MTP) and then checking Camera (PTP). This essentially made it show up as a different kind of USB device with different options and allowed the process to work perfectly.
> 13 votes

# Answer
I have exactly the same device as you, down to the Android version and build number. I discovered that it was necessary to change my USB transfer mode.

You can do this on the Nexus 7 by going to Settings \> Storage, clicking on the strange menu icon in the top right hand corner and selecting "USB computer connection". I then changed the storage mode to "Camera (PTP)", and it immediately prompted me with the permission dialog as shown in your post above. I was then able to deploy apps, debug, etc and it all worked.

Unfortunately I am very new to Android development so I am unable to say why this is the case. I am also unable to say why this worked on your Mac. Perhaps this is what must be done with this particular device on Windows. Anyway, I hope that you find this information useful.
> 10 votes

# Answer
Got the same issue, and fixed it by updating the driver from the ASUS `usb_driver_r06_windows.zip` driver pack.

The issue is that this driver does not report properly the supported devices (at least mine were not listed)

My device is reported as a PID 4EE2 which is not part of the supported devices.

I had to add the following lines in the `android_winusb.inf` file (in the Google Nexus 7 Section)

```
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2&MI_01

```

Device now appears properly in the Device List, and the Google Nexus 7 is part of the list of devices in ADB.

In addition, "tap" 7 times on the `Settings|About Tablet|Build version` to enable the USB Debugging.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I had to add the following: %CompositeAdbInterface% = USB\_Install, USB\VID\_18D1&PID\_D001&REV\_0228 %CompositeAdbInterface% = USB\_Install, USB\VID\_18D1&PID\_D001

If you Go into device manager and open the properties for the Nexus 7 entry, click the details tab and drop the property section down to hardware IDs under value you will see the updated Hardware values. Take these values and add them to the Nexus 7 section of the android\_winusb.inf file. Try re-running the driver install. It will complain that the driver is unsigned. Just ignore... ;)

If you are using Windows 8.1, you're going to have to reboot in Advanced Mode with Driver Signatures disablled for this to work. See this post: http://www.howtogeek.com/167723/how-to-disable-driver-signature-verification-on-64-bit-windows-8.1-so-that-you-can-install-unsigned-drivers/
> 1 votes

# Answer
Try to delete the key **UpperFilters** from

```
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{EEC5AD98-8080-425F-922A-DABF3DE3F69A}

```

Helped me after 4 hours of trying to connect my Nexus 7 to win 7 64bit.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, nexus-7, windows, usb-drivers
---


# Question
Title: How can I update to Android 4.4 manually?
I have Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1' with Android version 4.1.2. Is it possible to manually to update to Android 4.4, and if yes how?

# Answer
> 0 votes
It is not currently possible for non Nexus devices. For this you will have to wait until Samsung release a version of Android KitKat for your device or until a developer release a ROM based on Android 4.4 for your tablet (CyanogenMod for example).

---
Tags: updates, samsung-galaxy-tab-2-10.1
---


# Question
Title: How can I auto-end the media process on Android?
Media is consistently topping the list for battery usage at 80%+. I can go and force stop it, but it restarts by itself, when I use things such as camera or download things etc.

Task manager does allow you to auto end applications, but as media is not an application it is not on the list. Is there and app or any other way to auto-kill media on a NON rooted phone?

# Answer
Seems like it would be far more useful to find out why the media scanner is using so much of your phone's battery.

I had a similar situation once, and it turned out to be caused by some filesystem corruption on the SD card. I took out the SD card and used `fsck` on my PC to check the filesystem for errors, and repair it. I then put the SD card back in my phone: media scanner ran once and finished normally. It no longer ran all the time, running down my battery.

You might like to try something similar before you attempt something that might stop apps on your phone (such as Gallery) working properly.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The "media process" gets triggered by different applications. Some of them you already encountered: Camera and Download. Basically apps which add new media (or manipulate existing ones). They are signaling the media scanner that there are changes to process (so the media database gets updated). As the media scanner is, simply spoken, just a "system process", you don't see a related app.

Auto-Killing would not be very helpful in this case (for the described reasons, media scanner must do its job or e.g. the gallery wouldn't find your fresh shot pics). It rather might be that some app requests its services much to frequently (that was the issue in another case I encountered recently, but I don't remember the app causing it). So you would need to find the culprit causing that (not killing the obedient servant): Go through all the apps you've installed and check which one might deal with media (if the problem just started recently, it's even easier as you can concentrate on those recently installed/updated). See if you can temporarily disable/remove them, and if the problem is gone with that. If so, re-enable them slowly one-by-one until the problem re-appears – which is when you just re-enabled the culprit which thus is identified. That's the app you either need to find a replacement for, or have the dev fixing the issue.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Done a factory reset, used super backup and transferred some files to PC before the wipe. My battery life is back to normal now... 18 hours.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: task-management, auto-start, media-scanner
---


title: Kitkat update on Nexus 4 fails

text:
# Question
Title: Kitkat update on Nexus 4 fails
*Hard to believe this is the first Kitkat installation question, but I don't find any. Sorry if it's a dupe!*

I feel like I'm too stupid to follow directions, but can you guys help me out here -- what am I doing wrong: I want to **update my Nexus 4 from stock 4.2.2 ROM to the new 4.4** following these instructions. Note that the phone is rooted and runs Clockworkmod - I'm guessing this causes my problems but I need help to fix that.

I've got the downloads extracted and added the path to the bootloader so I can run the commands. But at the step that says `Reboot into the bootloader and run the appropriate flash-all script` it just says `waiting for device` forever.

The phone is in bootloader mode, but it's running Clockworkmod so I am guessing this is the problem?

# Answer
The trouble I encountered was that the `fastboot` program could not find my phone even though it was in bootloader mode. The solution was to run `fastboot` as sudo, but then the problem changed to be that sudo didn’t have the path to `fastboot` so I needed to give the explicit path to that as well: `sudo ./fastboot devices` worked (when I was in the directory android-sdk-linux/platform-tools). So I figured that I needed to change two things in the setup instructions:

1. run fastboot as sudo, and
2. add explicit paths in the flash script.

I've written a blog post that gives step-by-step instructions if anyone else needs this:
**How to update your Nexus 4 to Android 4.4**
> 1 votes

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


# Question
Title: Can I use my Windows anti-virus program to scan my Android device?
I have been researching anti-virus apps and before choosing one I was wondering if I could get the same detection by using my Windows anti-virus.

I realize that an app will provide real-time protection, but aside from that, is there any difference in virus detection?

# Answer
Not usefully. You need different software to run on your Android device to what you run on your Windows desktop because they use completely different formats for programs. An Android program is a different sort of beast to a Windows program.

A virus-scanner for Windows understands the format of Windows programs, and has a list of known viruses for Windows. If it looked at an Android program, it wouldn't understand what behaviour it would do, and it wouldn't find it in its list of Windows viruses.

The best you could do with a Windows virus-scanner is to scan the SD card of your Android device to see if it contains any Windows programs which would, if run on your Windows computer, be viruses. That's to say, it's exactly like virus-scanning a USB stick. It's only useful if you use your Android device as a USB stick, to transfer programs from one Windows computer to another.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Forgive me my sarcasm, but if you're looking for a virus on Android, you could also use a flatbed scanner :)

Honestly: No, you can't use your Windows AV program for that. If you really want to detect all malware possible sitting on your device, the app would need to access the entire device, including internal storage. Windows can't do that, as Android would not let it. Usually, only the SDCard(s) are exposed to an attached PC.

---

As for my initial sarcasm (which I hope you forgive me): the term "virus" is quite ambiguous. See this Wikipedia article:

> A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another.

There's nothing like that for Android. Which is, strictly speaking, an AV scanner is as effective as a flatbed scanner here (or vice-versa). The article continues:

> The term "virus" is also commonly, but erroneously, used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have a reproductive ability.

So you're more likely looking for malware :) Still, you cannot do that from your Windows computer.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Windows AV would scan threats against the its operating system, nothing more. Perhaps you may try a scan on SD card for hidden viruses but nothing else.

I suggest you try the following apps Antivirus Security AVG Lookout Security & Antivirus

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=antivirus&c=apps
> 0 votes

# Answer
if your phone is rooted windows can access all files includeing pre installed stuff on rom but however like most people said windows scanner is in windows code etc so scanning it would be useless but if rooted your pc can delete rom installed programes etc from the command line or a basic apk phone manegemnet programme like apk installer will do it as well
> -1 votes

---
Tags: antivirus
---


# Question
Title: How do I install USB drivers in Ubuntu 13:04 for Nexus S?
I am trying to follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2163085

However I am unable to connect to my android phone via USB. I think I need to install the USB drivers for Ubuntu. I am using Ubuntu 13:04 and the Nexus S currently has Cyanogenmod on it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Glen.

# Answer
> 2 votes
As was already pointed out in a number of answers as well as in the comments, one does not need to download/install separate USB drivers for your Android device; they are already compiled into the Kernel. However, you do have to tell your Linux system what device you want it to treat as such (`udev` rules in `/etc/udev/rules.d/` directory). Take a look at the Android Developer Site

To facilitate the installation of these "**udev rules**", I've set up a github repository with an installation script at https://github.com/ILMostro/Android-Udev-Rules. You can download it with `git` by typing into the terminal:

```
git clone https://github.com/ILMostro/Android-Udev-Rules.git

```

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, adb, samsung-nexus-s, linux, usb-drivers
---


# Question
Title: Possible to flash factory ROMs on an encrypted phone using fastboot?
I have the storage on my Nexus 4 encrypted using Android's built-in encryption feature. I'd like to update to 4.4 using one of the factory images provided by Google. If I follow the standard script included in the tarball (removing the option to wipe the phone), which uses fastboot, will fastboot do the right thing and prompt me for the encryption password? Or might it brick my phone by writing unencrypted data on top of an encrypted partition?

# Answer
> 1 votes
For the record: this works fine, so long as you are careful not to flash the userdata partition. I was able to follow the instructions from AndroidPolice for flashing the factory image, including removing the "-w" option from the "fastboot update ..." command (this prevents the update from wiping the userdata partition).

---
Tags: rom-flashing, fastboot, 4.4-kitkat
---


# Question
Title: How to disable popup on Chrome for Android?
I have once opened a website on Chrome for Android. By mistake, I allowed the popup.

Now I am not able to find how to disable this popup. As a result, every time I open the URL (which is quite often), the pop-up is opened which is a pain.

How to disable the popup for a website for which it was enabled earlier?

# Answer
In Google Chrome for Android, go to `Settings > Content settings > Website settings`. Select the website in concern, and clear the data / cache for it.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, popup
---


title: Recent vs Running vs Downloaded apps

text:
# Question
Title: Recent vs Running vs Downloaded apps
What happens when you:

1. Swipe out an app from Recent section?
2. Stop an running app by going into Running section?
3. Force stop an app by going into Downloaded section?

Even if you remove an app from Recent section and stop it by going to Running section, you can see the `Force Stop` button is enabled for app in Downloaded section. Why is it so? What kind of processes are running for that app?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Partly answering your question: What actually happens when you swipe an app out of the recent apps list? So basically:

1. would be like tapping the back-button from within the app until you're out of it (as opposed to just hitting the "home" button)
2. means killing the app by sending it a "friendly exit signal"
3. IMHO the same as the previous item (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not entirely sure with this)
4. Force-Stop would forcefully remove all of the app's processes on system level (here the app would get no chance to interact, so it cannot even save its state or data. In easy terms: all system resources will be removed from it, so it can no longer continue to run)

For further information, also see:

---
Tags: applications, task-management
---


# Question
Title: Can't "Wipe data/Factory reset" due to broken power button
**Alright, so a little background:** lately my Epic 4G touch has been acting up (restarting when it feels like it, power button won't work, going from 100% power to 20%, etc) and I decided to take appropriate action. I first purchased a new battery (as my previous one was "bloated" and had water damage) hoping that would fix my problems. Unfortunately it only reduced how often the problems occurred. My next course of action is to do a factory reset on my phone (it's rooted running CM 10) and get a new one from Sprint (I have insurance) which I did following this tutorial. Everything went well - as far as I can tell - but I am experience a boot loop as mentioned in the video. The remedy is to wipe the /data partition, which is where I'm stuck.

**The problem:** As mentioned, my power button is broken, but in a very *odd* way. I can use my power button to get into Recovery Mode, but after that it almost never works (and if it does it's as if I'm holding the power button and my phone restarts after about 5 seconds). So due to this I can't select "Wipe data/factory reset" from Recovery Mode. I tried using `adb` to wipe my data partition, but since my phone is no longer rooted I get "Permission denied" and any attempt to use `root` or `su` (obviously) fail. I'm not sure what my options are at this point, is there anyway I can wipe the `/data` partition without root or a power button?

# Answer
> 2 votes
You could try booting into mode, and then use `fastboot -w`. This command wipes userdata and cache, and thus should be equivalent to a factory-reset. For more information, there's a List of fastboot commands, and of course our fastboot tag-wiki.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, factory-reset, unrooting
---


# Question
Title: I lost my phone, can I recover the data from my Google account?
I've lost my smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Star duos) last month. And now I realized that it contained very important data of mine. I believe that my phone was connected to the Google account almost all the time.

My question is, "Can I get my data (photos) back, from my Google account (connected to my phone)".

# Answer
You're probably SOL since the battery is dead by now. Still, on the off-chance it isn't, check out Plan B (described at http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-track-a-cell-phone/). When you install an app through the Play Store on the computer, it is automatically installed on your phone.

If you used some service that syncs photos or other data somewhere else (e.g. syncing photos to Picasa) then you could find everything you backed up there. If you didn't, then you assumed this risk by placing all your eggs in one basket and never transferring data off of your phone. Perhaps your service provider had some automatic backup software running (e.g. Verizon backup) in which case you could contact them to ask how to recover data.

The fact is, if your data was that important, you should have taken steps to protect it ahead of time, and you should not have waited so long to try and locate the device; and now you are faced with the consequences of that negligence.

If you choose to keep all of your critical data on, say, a thumb drive, or an external hard drive, or a CD/DVD-ROM, and you have no backups and you lose that device, then, whoops, that's the risk you assumed by keeping it all in one place. It's the same with your smartphone.

Steps to protect it include anything that generally backs up your data elsewhere (be it specialized software that syncs photos, or general software e.g. MyBackup Pro), and any software that may help you locate the phone if it is lost (see the link above for more tips there).
> 2 votes

---
Tags: backup, google-account, photos, lost-phone
---


# Question
Title: Can I override page buddy's recommended applications settings?
When I plug in my headphones, an Earphones page appears on my device with the title "Enjoy listening to your device", which is part of page buddy. I have a music widget and a video widget, which is fine.

My first two applications are fine, Firefox and YouTube, *but my last two applications are Messaging and Email*. Apparently it's supposed to be frequency of use, but I never use the Email app, and neither the Messaging app nor the Email app are aural.

When I try to change these two apps, it says "Cannot edit recommended apps". Can I fix this to stop displaying non-aural apps?

# Answer
> 2 votes
it's the most frequently used apps while the earphones are plugged in. just open the app you want to show up 4 or 5 times in a row while the page buddy is active (earphones plugged in) and it will show up in the recommended apps. repeat for the next 3 apps you want to show. There's usually 4 recommended apps. This goes for all of the page buddy pages, earphones, docking, roaming, and spen (on supported devices).

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, app-widgets, headphones
---


title: How do I get Android kitkat 4.4?

text:
# Question
Title: How do I get Android kitkat 4.4?
I have Android 4.3 jelly bean on my Nexus 7. How do I get Kitkat?

I have tried exploring the Android website. I have also found some tutorials out there like this one - http://www.ibtimes.com/android-44-kitkat-update-how-manually-update-nexus-7-latest-android-firmware-tutorial-1469800

but they seem to require taking steps that are quite low-level. I don't think a consumer like me is supposed to delve into such a low-level ...

# Answer
This is really just if you want to do the upgrade manually, *now*. Google's own devices (the Nexus range) have always received the latest OS versions sooner or later over the air (called "OTA").

Actually, they've started seeding it now, according to Team Android on an article published November 15th:

> The new WiFi version Nexus 7 2013 can now be updated to Android 4.4 KRT16O KitKat OTA software update. The official Android 4.4 KitKat has just begun rolling out to users starting today and Google will be pushing out this firmware update to everyone in the coming days.
> 3 votes

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


# Question
Title: Overclocking CPU Settings on an Android Device
So I have a Galaxy Note II and recently rooted the device for the main reason to overclock it. I want a faster web browsing experience. I installed the App. Set CPU so that when I have either Google Maps or Chrome running the CPU settings which were at a default range of 200 MHz to 1.60Ghz to be bumped up to 400MHz to 1.60MHz. Will this damage my phone? I can feel a tangible difference with the slight bump up. Will this overclocking degrade the phones chips??

# Answer
To directly answer your question: no, this modification will not harm your device.

To elaborate: You didn't overclock your device (that's why I said it was safe). You raised the minimum frequency. What you see in Set CPU is the scaling range. For any given moment your device decides which frequency it needs to do what it's doing.

For example when only reading and not scrolling it needs only 200 MHz to basically wait for further input. This is done for better battery life. When actively loading pages the device will automatically increase the operating frequency up to the limit of your scaling range. This increases performance, but is worse for battery. In both of your cases the maximum scaling frequency is 1600 MHz. You told the device to save less power when idling, but kept the maximum "speed" the same.

Overclocking on android is done by raising the scaling range maximum value above the default. For example a very small and usually OK overclock for your device would be to set the scaling range to 200MHz to 1700MHz. This modification however can harm your device, but not very likely. It also often requires custom kernels to be flashed. When things go wrong with overclocking you can see random reboots and freezes, and almost never any permanent damage to the device. I suggest you try to read more about this topic on sites like xda-developers, before doing anything else with the device.
> 2 votes

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Tags: overclocking
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# Question
Title: Is there a way to switch between radio modes without the phone radio completely shutting down?
Is it possible to have the radio switch between WCDMA Preferred mode, GSM mode, and WCDMA only, for example, without the radio switching off and on again? The radio completely loses signal during the, which isn't ideal.

It seems like it must be possible theoretically, as the phone doesn't lose signal when in WCDMA preferred mode, when it downgrades to GSM because of poor signal.

If it matters, I'm using an HTC Desire Z running Cyanogen 10.1 (Android 4.2 based). This problem also occurred on all previous versions of CM that I've tried, and on stock JellyBean 4.2.

This also occurs on a Nexus 4 on JellyBean 4.2.

# Answer
You are right in that it theoretically should be possible to make the switch without dropping the signal, but unfortunately we users and even CM developers can do very little to change that. The only thing the ROM does is tell the radio to switch from one mode to another, it's up to the radio's firmware to decide how to make the change. These firmwares are not something you can change, since giving the users the power to change how the radio works is just asking for trouble.

The reason why the firmwares lose the signal probably has to do with the fact that when you change the mode, you actually turn off part of the radio that handles the now unused network mode. But when the switch happens because of bad reception the radio that lost signal stays on and continues to search for a signal (so you can get 3G back after you return to civilization).
> 1 votes

# Answer
In stock android 4.0.4 it's available-wcdma only,dual mode,gsm only.But in custom ROM's as AOKP they have no wcdma only mode,even in android 4.2.2 AOKP version .It's really pathetic when you use internet in dual mode-umts/hsdpa only/hsdpa & hsupa as in AOKP android 4.2.2 version because signals tend to reroute to gsm when strength decreases instead of sticking to what is left of hsdpa/wcdma as in wcdma only mode,available in stock android 4.0.4- i am using sgs2 GT-i9100.
> 0 votes

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Tags: cyanogenmod, nexus-4, network-signal, gsm
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# Question
Title: Are launchers as stable and safe to use as stock software?
My main concern is that I do not want to modify my Android so that it becomes less stable than it currently is.

If my understanding is correct launchers like Buzz Launcher or GO Launcher significantly change how Android looks, but the changes perhaps do not stop just there.

Also, once a third party launcher has been installed, is there a way to revert the changes? I mean, sure they can probably be uninstalled, but is it going to be a very clean uninstall, or do they typically leave junk behind around the filesystem?

I'd like to try out Buzz Launcher very much, and GO Launcher probably too, but if they're going to render my Android somehow inferior in terms of causing arbitrary type of damage or just clutter the device as a consequence, I'd rather not.

**Update**

Incidentally, what about keyboards? Same deal?

# Answer
In Android, a launcher is no different to any other kind of app. The launcher just has an extra *intent filter* that launches it when you press the *home* button. If you have more than one launcher app installed, you get a *chooser* dialog to select one, just like any other time you perform an action that more than one app can handle (such as sharing a photo).

Android packages aren't like packages in GNU/Linux distributions. They have very limited access to the system, and can't leave files behind them after you uninstall them (except on the SD card, if they request the permission needed to access it). Except when allowed with specific permissions (which you should always check before installing), the only real problem they can cause is using the resources of your phone: taking too much power, network, or storage.

In this respect, you don't need to worry about an unstable launcher any more than any other kind of app you install.

> If my understanding is correct launchers like Buzz Launcher or GO Launcher significantly change how Android looks, but the changes perhaps do not stop just there.

I think you are overstating how much a launcher can do. All it changes is how your home screen looks, including the list of apps and widgets you get to from the home screen. A launcher doesn't affect the appearance of any other app, nor does it change how Android works. It's just an app you launch by pressing the *home* button.
> 11 votes

# Answer
You can try different launchers without worrying about "junk being left behind" or any kind of "permanent" damage. If you uninstall an app it and all its data are gone.

I will not comment on the specific launchers you mentioned, since this is a very subjective and sometimes even heated subject. I suggest you try them out. If you don't like them uninstalling is all you need to do to get back to where you are now.
> 2 votes

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Tags: launcher
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# Question
Title: Install GApps onto HTC One w/ CyanogenMod 10.2 + ClockworkMod Recovery 6.0.4.3
I'm currently trying to install the GApps onto my HTC One. I got CyanogenMod working using the installer app on the play store, but now I don't have any of the GApps. Help me? How can I install the GApps?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Download and copy the GAPPS zip file to your SD card.

Reboot your phone into CWM recovery mode. To do this, turn phone off, and press Volume Up + Home + Power button together. Your phone would then startup into recovery mode.

Select `install zip`. Look for the gapps file via `choose zip from /sdcard` if it's in the internal sd card, or `choose zip from /storage/sdcard1` if it's in the external SD card.

After you flash it, reboot your phone (it's in one of the options).

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Tags: cyanogenmod, clockworkmod-recovery, google-apps, htc-one
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# Question
Title: Can I run scripts on startup on rooted Galaxy Note 3?
I want to be able to run a shell command (e.g. `mount`) on startup on my Galaxy Note 3 (stock rooted Android 4.3)

Typically on Linux that'd be done using `/etc/init.d` but **I don't have that directory** on my Note 3.

What's the best approach to running a shell script on startup/boot on Galaxy Note 3?

# Answer
You might want to take a look at ScriptManager:

> Manage and execute shell scripts and programs in file system.
> All executions run over vt100 terminal accepting user input and esc codes (colors, bel, cursor movement ..)
> **Run them at boot-up** and/or on network status change possibility.
> Schedule at selected time. (cron jobs)

Alternatively, Tasker can be used as well to execute scripts (and other tasks) at certain events – as, e.g., on boot.
> 2 votes

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Tags: boot, shell, scripts, samsung-galaxy-note-3
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# Question
Title: How to open SD cards as a drive in Windows 7?
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini with CyanogenMod 10 and I would like to connect its SD cards (internal and external) to my Windows 7 x64 machine as a harddisk drives via USB cable.

Now when I connect S4 to PC it shows as portable device, but a lot of applications cannot work with that (i.e. Total Commander synchronize dirs).

I tried uninstalling the devices drive from Device Manager, (I also checked " "delete the driver") but it always uninstalls and again reinstalls the same version of the driver.

# Answer
> 1 votes
This app should help.

Since you've rooted your device, it should work fine.

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Tags: sd-card, mount
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title: install KitKat factory image on nexus-4

text:
# Question
Title: install KitKat factory image on nexus-4
I have never flashed rom or anything close to it on my mobile so far. I have a nexus-4 and would like to install 4.4 KitKat from the factory image published by Google. Is there any site that provides detailed steps on how to do it?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can follow the steps in this question but get the 4.4 rather than the 4.3 factory image.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I followed the instructions posted at technostall and that worked for me.

Link: http://www.technostall.com/nexus-4-android-44-kitkat-unlock-bootloader/

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Tags: nexus-4, 4.4-kitkat
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