# Question
Title: What's wrong with the MHL connector (for HDMI output) on the Samsung Galaxy S3
MHL is an emerging standard for connecting mobile devices to HD displays. A lot of new smartphones support MHL via a dual-purpose connector that supports both micro-USB cables and MHL-HDMI adapters.

Samsung advertises the Galaxy S3 as having one of these micro-USB / MHL connectors. The micro-USB works great, but my MHL-HDMI adapter doesn't work with it.

# Answer
Samsung has changed the "pin layout" on this port so that it is not compatible with standard MHL accessories - even ones made by Samsung.

If you want this functionality (HDMI out) for your SGS3, you will need to buy the Samsung adapter that is made specifically for this phone model, and you won't be able to re-use that adapter with other devices.

Personally, I think it is better to avoid buying the Samsung adapter. For starters, it is getting such that you don't know what you are getting with Samsung mobile accessories. They have done this before (e.g. the pseudo-PDMI connector on their tablets) and are now labelling products as MHL that are incompatible with the MHL standard and other products.

As well as causing confusion and extra expense for their users, this undermines this useful emerging standard, is inconvenient and inefficient, and it is bad for the environment as it blocks the re-use of accessories.

But I don't mean to turn this into an anti-Samsung post at all - I think the SGS3 is a great phone. They are, of course, just trying to increase their accessory revenues. It is up to consumers now - if this move does not increase their accessory revenue then they probably won't repeat it.

Answer edited to add this site about the issue: http://www.galaxymhl.com/
> 6 votes

---
Tags: video-out, samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


title: Keep screen alive by using camera

text:
# Question
Title: Keep screen alive by using camera
The new Samsung Galaxy S III has an interesting feature which keeps the screen alive (on) if the camera decides the user is reading something by detecting if the user is moving his/her eyes. Does anybody know any application like that in the Android Market which I could install on my Motorola Xoom 2 (Honeycomb) or on my Galaxy S II (ICS) ?

# Answer
There's a BETA version floating around XDA. YMMV. This is being developed particularly for the S2, although it *might* work with other devices having FFCs (Front Facing Cameras) as well.

See this thread for more details.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, 3.0-honeycomb, screen-timeout, front-camera
---


# Question
Title: How can I increase my Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 battery life?
How can I increase my Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 (Android) battery life?

I am going to use my Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 (with WIFI and/or 3G) for marketing purposes: It's going to play a movie non stop (without sound) and there are no other applications running except for the movie. I would like to use WIFI and/or 3G to update the movies that are going to run. But the tablet is going to be mobile and onroute where it's not possible to charge the Tablet. Meaning I have around 6 and half hours of battery life before I get the first message that my tablet is running out of juice (we've tested that already, but only at one fixed location not in travelling mode (e.g. constantly looking for WIFI connections)). I would like to increase my battery life somehow... I have read some of the other posts here already. So I know that turning of WIFI or 3g would definitely help. But I need WIFI on to update those movies when we come near one of our Hotspots. I know brightness is another thing and that is automatically already set to half brightness.

Is there a way to create a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 and Android back-up which has the perfect set-up and configuration for only running a movie (without sounds) and with WIFI on? Looking at a better CPU config and some sort of bare necessities configuration to be operational and saving the most of battery.

# Answer
> 1 votes
According to your usage scenario your best bet would maybe be to get one or more of those *external Li-Ion battery packs*:

The higher their mAh value, the longer it will last. Currently there are offerings for 12.000 mAh packs, that's about double the size of your current internal battery size. Maybe buy one smaller unit first and see how it performs.

Here's a search link for amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/field-keywords=usb%20battery%20pack

---
Tags: battery-life, samsung-galaxy-tab-10
---


title: ICS: how to get to browser home page?

text:
# Question
Title: ICS: how to get to browser home page?
Newbie ICS question: how do I get back to my browser home page?

My Nexus S was OTA-upgraded yesterday to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 from 2.3 (Gingerbread), and I'm still finding my way around.

On Gingerbread's stock browser, I could hit the "search" button and it would show a list of frequently-visited sites. This wasn't exactly my home page but was close enough.

That list is gone in ICS, so I'm trying to figure out how to easily get to my browser home page without a lot of clicks. What's the trick?

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you're looking for a way to quickly view frequently visited pages, I would bookmark them and then add the "Bookmarks" widget to your homescreen. A few more steps involved, but pretty. And you don't even have to go into the browser to get to them!

# Answer
> 0 votes
I think you hit the "windows" button in the upper-right, then the + button that appears to its left.

This creates a new window, however.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Browser opens home page in every new tab by default.

Setting different home page in \[Browser \> Settings \> General \> Set homepage\] and then just open new tab to see what happens.

# Answer
> 0 votes
There is no direct "Home" key unfortunately.

As others have stated, you can open a new tab to display your "home page" - but you then might want to close your current tab - which is a 2nd tap.

Alternatively, if your home page is a standard web page then you could bookmark it as well. But this still requires 2 taps... one to display your bookmarks and another to action it.

---
Tags: browser, samsung-nexus-s, 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich
---


# Question
Title: Convert number in call log to Gmail Contact
When I get a call from some number I know I want to convert it into a contact. I expected to be able to do something like long press, then type the contact name, but when I long press and select add to contacts, it just kind of disappears into my contact list. I'm sure everyone does this all the time, and so I am missing a really obvious way, but perhaps someone can enlighten me how to do this easily.

\[edit\] Samsung Galaxy S, with Samsung overlay on Android 2.2, TMobile

# Answer
Both Dialer and Contacts apps can vary per phone model due to Android OS version, as well as manufacturer or carrier overlay.

Usually though, in the call log when you tap on the new number it gives you an "Add to contacts" option. At that point it brings up a list of all contacts, so that you can add this number to an existing contact. However, there should also be a button to create a new contact, which is probably what you're overlooking.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: contacts, call-history
---


# Question
Title: Wi-Fi not working on home router after ICS update (Galaxy S2)
Can someone help me? I'm really frustrated now and eating through my data like theres no tomorrow. Since I did the ICS update I can't connect my samsung galaxy s2 to my home wireless router (belkin n1)! It says `obtaining ip address`...`authenticating`...`saved secured with wpa/wpa2 psk` and then repeats over and over again! But no Wi-Fi, and I cant get online etc...

Does anyone know what would cause this? How do I fix it?

# Answer
> 3 votes
What steps have you undertaken to resolve the problem?

Some suggestions:

* Try restarting the phone
* Try removing the network entry ("Forget Network"), then add it again. Please make sure that you have the necessary information to reconnect before doing this.

edit: related Question

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, wi-fi, samsung-galaxy-s-2
---


# Question
Title: adb devices doesn't list Samsung Galaxy S Cyanogenmod 7.1
I am unable to list my device under `adb devices` and my problem is similar to that of Mad Scientist except that in his case Windows took the Google Drivers from the android SDK.

Ever since I have installed the Cyanogenmod 7.1 on my Samsung Galaxy GT-I9000, Win 7 recognizes the device as a Portable Device, Manufacturer as Android and Location on UMBus Enumerator. WUDFRd.sys and WpdFs.dll get loaded as shown in this image

I have tried to uninstall this driver but it automatically gets installed every time I connect the device. My device always looks like a mass storage device. I am unable to install `android_winusb.inf` from `android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver`.

Windows 7 returns an error saying -

> The INF file you selected does not support this method of installation.

How do I install the correct drivers so that my device is listed in `adb devices`?

# Answer
> 1 votes
1. Connect your phone
2. Open the Windows Device Manager
3. Open each relevant device (if more than one is shown), choose "Update Driver", and select `android_winusb.inf`

# Answer
> 0 votes
First got to the Driver Installation Settings. It should ask you if you want Windows Update to automatically install your drivers. Choose "No"! (You will be turning it back on when done so don't worry.)

Second go to System Properties and in the upper left click on Advanced System Properties. Click on Environment Variables and create a new one. You want your variable name to be `devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices` and the value to be `1`.

Third head to the Device Manager and under the View tab check "Show Hidden Devices." Now uninstall all the Android related drivers, especially the ones whose icons are gray.

Restart your computer but do NOT change your settings back yet! Instead open a Command Prompt window in the folder that houses the Android drivers (.inf files) you wish to manually install. Now copy the following and paste it into the Command Prompt and change the part at the end that reads `<file>` to the name of the driver.

```
 rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction DefaultInstall 128 .\<file>.inf

```

If your mouse spins for a second and your desktop icons flash it's a successful install. You get a message if it isn't.

Repeat for all drivers.

Change back your Device Installation Settings to "Yes" and go about your business cause we are done here!

Now you can attach your phone to your computer.

# Answer
> -1 votes
I also contributed a lot of time to the ADB problem. (Galaxy P7510 vs Win7 64bit)
After struggling with non-offical drivers, android\_winusb.inf, 64bit JDK, and even having virtualized a 32bit OS..,
finally I found a work-around! just come back to share with anyone concerns.

Reference: Connect to Android with ADB over TCP

The above instruction requires a PC which can ADB to your tablet over usb.
Better work-around is root your device firstly, and then download a adbWireless utility,
so you can switch your tablet to ADB TCP mode even without USB connection at all.

HTH!

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, cyanogenmod, usb, adb, usb-drivers
---


# Question
Title: How to see the back cover referenced on page 2 in Google Books?
In Google Books app, page 2 of "Bleak House" by C. Dickens or "Faust" by J.W. Goethe and other public domain books reads:

`This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project to make the world's books discoverable online. See the back of the book for more detail.`

How do I see the *back* of the book and what is the information presented there?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Turns out the last paragraph added *to* the book is meant and of course not turning it in the overview.

This is the information:

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project to make the world’s books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subjectto copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain booksare our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that’s often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book’s long journey from thepublisher to a library and finally to you.

**Usage guidelines**

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to thepublic and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps toprevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.

We also ask that you:

* *Make non-commercial use of the files:* We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files forpersonal, non-commercial purposes.
* *Refrain from automated querying:* Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google’s system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage theuse of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
* *Maintain attribution:* The Google “watermark” you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them findadditional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
* *Keep it legal:* Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that justbecause we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can’t offer guidance on whether any specific use ofany specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book’s appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manneranywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe.

**About Google Book Search**

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readersdiscover the world’s books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the webat http://books.google.com/

---
Tags: google-play-books
---


# Question
Title: What do the 2 pins on the back of the Nexus S do?
I'm really frustrated with a Nexus S turning off while in my pocket. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the pin positions, or these 2 strange back pins and contacts on the cover that don't seem to do anything:

I guess those tell the phone "the back cover is on", which must mean something to the phone. When I put a piece of paper between those pins and the back cover, the phone at least doesn't seem to do the (literal 5 minute) "flash disk check" when the phone comes on.

Is blocking these pins from contacting a bad thing? Will it help to stop the phone from turning off in my pocket?

# Answer
> 11 votes
This is for the NFC functionality. Those contacts are used to transmit the info to and from the receiver/transmitter on the back cover (seen below outlined in green, though you probably guessed it :) ). They have to put it on the back cover because NFC only works for usually no more than a few centimetres, and they need a way to feed the information back to the phone system itself.

It is discussed more in this post on another Android forum.

---
Tags: samsung-nexus-s, hardware
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to directly print from Android?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> is there any way to print directly from the phone?

Why can't Android devices directly print to a shared network printer? Or is there a way?

# Answer
It is possible! Maybe not in the conventional way, but the easiest way would be to set it up as a Google Cloud Printer and download the Cloud Print app.

Also,

> if you have an Cloudprint ready printer (Epson, Kodak etc) or HP E-Print enabled printer you don't need your pc to be on, for other printers your pc needs to be ON.

So you might not be able to simply find a printer on your network natively in Android, but Google has provided us with the next best thing.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: printing
---


# Question
Title: How to size wallpapers to not be cropped on Motorola Xoom WiFi
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> What is the default resolution of a wallpaper that fits the homescreen exactly in an Android phone?

Hi I'm running EOS nigtlie #102 (although this is a problem no matter what rom) but how do I size images so that they arent cropped. I see alot about 5 screens and what not but I dont have the 5 screen feature never have since ICS. So what resolution should my images be so that they arnt zoomed when i apply them as a background.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Found that the wallpaper slideshow app on google play works great for making and image fit like a glove. For those who have the same problem check out the app its free and easy to use.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, motorola-xoom
---


# Question
Title: How do I disable receiving calls and messages?
I use my HTC Evo 3D (currently Android 2.3, soon Android 4.0) to record cycling workouts (GPS + Endomondo). During workouts, I don't want to receive any calls / messages for the following reasons:

* I don't want to be disturbed when relaxing
* I want to conserve the battery
* sometimes I listen to music and calls/messages interrupt the music, which I don't like, especially when the calls are business-related during my non-work time

How would I accomplish this? The flight mode doesn't allow GPS to be enabled, therefore this isn't a solution.

# Answer
There are several ways to accomplish this:

* Airplane mode: You say that it doesn't allow GPS, but it does. You need to enable GPS when you're in airplane mode.
* Disable radio: In dialer enter `*#*#4636#*#*` Select phone info and pick turn off radio.
* Take out your SIM card. This one is only applicable if you have a GSM device.
* You can enable call forwarding in `Phone settings -> Call forwarding`.

If your only problem is that calls interrupt music than you can try using a music player allows you to set how audio focus changes are handled. One example is Poweramp.
> 16 votes

# Answer
I use Google Voice and only give out that number for calls and texts. It has a very nice "Do Not Disturb" feature.
> 8 votes

# Answer
Mr. Number is an app that lets you set profiles based on volume profile (silent, vibrate, etc.) that allows you to block all call/texts for a given profile. When you're done, simply switch off that profile!

Also, as Richard mentioned, Airplane mode + GPS activated would be a wonderfully simple solution :)
> 5 votes

# Answer
On my Nexus S with MIUI ROM I use Firewall: turn it on, select the "reject all calls" behaviour, and I'm set...
> 4 votes

---
Tags: calls
---


# Question
Title: Get installed apps as APK within Android?
I'm looking for an application that will let me easily export any application I have to APK format (I'm not rooted). Normally, AirDroid does this easily and I love AirDroid for that. However, one of the downsides was that I need to be around a computer to do the said process. Are there any apps that offer a way for me to output the APK file from within the Android itself? I can see that some backup solutions provide this but I don't want a whole new backup system just to do this one small task. A small utility app of sorts would be really nice which has only one purpose and that is to produce the APK file.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Backup apps using Astro File Manager.

Alternatively, you can use a little app dedicated for this task: App Backup & Restore.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, apk
---


# Question
Title: How to make Android play music reliably, without chopping?
When I try to play music on Android 2.3 (using various players, including PowerAmp) on Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 I get not reliable sound. Music pauses for a short time, for example, when:

* I press the power button (especially repeatedly) (`request_suspend_state: sleep;request_suspend_state: wakeup` in dmesg)
* When I see messages like `send sigkill to 15497 (ndroid.settings), adj 8, size 6428` in dmesg
* When some program reacts to changed screen orientation.
* When wifi connection gets established, when I force it to "reassociate"
* When I go to/from application from home screen (AWDLauncher), except of to/from WidgetLocker screen.
* When I enable/disable Airplane Mode.
* When the display is off (the most annoying)

When only really stable way to play music is to use StayAwake to force display on, turn off Wi-Fi, turn on Airplane Mode and don't switch applications. Starting CPU hogs like `while true; do true; done` does not affect chopping.

And it was playing more or less fine on Android 2.1.

"mediaserv" process (that writes to /dev/msm\_pcm\_out) has realtime io and scheduling priority, but sound is choppy anyway. If I start playing from console with `mplayer -ao pcm:file=/dev/msm_pcm_out` the sound chop less (notably it does not get interrupted by power button / loading bunches of heavy processes), but still behave not normally when screen is off (even `ionice -c1 -p4 cat /dev/urandom > /dev/msm_pcm_out` is choppy)

When I start music A by usual way and music B using mplayer to /dev/msm\_pcm\_out (getting them mixed) music A chops more than usual and I usually hear B when A is in chop. When I turn off screen, both A and B chops in sync (stopping B leads to relatively more fluent playback of A this way).

How to play music on Android reliably in presence of background load? Should I report a bug somewhere?

**Update** Found a way of playing music. Inconvenient, but *without chopping*:

1. Start WakeLock in "CPU on, Screen Off, Keyboard off" mode
2. Use mplayer to play music bypassing Android:

```
ionice -c1 -n4  \
  schedtool -R -p 3 -e \
  mplayer -really-quiet \
        -af volume=-26 -quiet \
        -ao pcm:file=/dev/msm_pcm_out,nowaveheader \
    /mnt/sdcard/music/something.ogg
# (created script to start it easily, of course)

```

Plays without chopping no matter how much applications I start, what do with Wifi, orientation and airplane modes. Even with "powersave" cpufreq governor (everything very slow, but music plays fine). So the hardware have enough resources to play it.

**Update 2** Looks like doing

```
for i in `pgrep ''`; do schedtool -D $i; done

```

i.e. "Set Idle priority for all processes" makes music play fine even when I {start programs,lock screen,rotate screen;it reconnects to other mobile network stations} at expense of some input lag in games. Don't know exactly why it happens.

# Answer
Try turning off any applications or hardware that uses a lot of the phone's resources. Turn off GPS, WIFI, Network Service, and dim the backlight. Also shut down any other running applications than the ones you need for playing music. If this still doesn't work your device may not have enough memory.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Increase your `Audio Buffer` size.

I use PlayerPro Music Player with its DSP pack. DSP pack allows me to adjust audio buffer size. I never needed to use this feature, but it will help you.

You can also find other music players to support this feature. The key is `Audio Buffer`.

Alternatively, you can reduce music quality as well as system load.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: audio, music-player, sony-ericsson-xperia-x10, multitasking
---


title: WiFi high packet loss at home network

text:
# Question
Title: WiFi high packet loss at home network
I have a mind boggling problem which I have been trying to solve for the last few weeks. I am new to Android and recently bought Huawei Ideos X5 (Android 2.2.1). I haven't found anyone else having this problem.

**Problem:**

My Android phone will be able to connect to my wireless network, get an IP address from my DHCP server, but when trying to reach anything over the network it won't work. Although it will work *sometimes* (i.e. some data will get through).

**Debugging:**

My Android phone is able to connect and use other wireless networks, although I have only tried two (at my university and at a friend). This would indicate that my phone is not broken.

With closer inspection with the Terminal Emulator App when I ping my server I will get a 80% packet loss ratio. This of course makes it impossible to use the wireless network, but it means some packets do get through (even to the Internet) so it is not a DNS problem.

My laptop can connect and use my wireless network flawlessly (in fact, it can download from Internet at 18 Mbps and upload at 10 Mbps with 802.11g, which I presume is good). My USB wireless adapter works well with it as well. One of my friend's Android phone (LG Optimus One) and iPod works with my wireless network as well, and most strangely, another friend's Android phone who have the very same model (Huawei Ideos X5) works with my wireless network. This would indicate that my access point is not faulty.

There are tons of wireless networks in my area. My phone can see 21 including my own. I have no idea whether this can affect anything. I cannot try any of these because they are protected.

It is worth mentioning that I do not have your average wireless network setup. I have a server (stationary computer) that runs DHCP server, and so on. Only recently I added wireless network to my apartment by buying D-Link DIR-300 and flashing it with DD-WRT. I have no idea if it worked or not with the original firmware. The router acts as an access point.

I have tried to change channel, protocol (B, G, N) , security settings from open to encrypted (WPA2 AES), etc. on the AP to no avail.

Even if the phone is just a few centimeters away from the AP it will still have a 80% packet loss. DD-WRT reports 92-98% signal strength. I think there is a software/setting problem and not a hardware one.

And of course, I have tried to both reset my AP and my phone. Neither helped. Android phone's WiFi does not work when the router is using the factory default or AP settings. I am however concerned that some faulty settings for my wireless network are stored on the phone and it seems they might be synchronized to my Google account, and possibly they might still be there even after I "forget" my wireless network or reset the phone (is there a way to be sure everything is wiped?).

At this point, I am out of ideas. I hope I explained my situation sufficiently. Do you have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

---

**Edit:**

I have done some further testing. I reset the DD-WRT router once again to see if it would work and per Ryan's suggestion try to strip it down to the most basic setup. It did not work even if I tried only b/g mode. Interestingly enough the first two seconds of pinging after changing mode works without any packet loss but after that, it will go back to bad again.

I also tried something I wouldn't believe would work -- flashing the original firmware back. To my surprise it did work and my phone doesn't have any packet loss when pinging. (I actually missed that the original firmware *does* support AP mode). However, I still cannot understand why it didn't work in DD-WRT and would be very interested in any possible explanation.

As stubborn as I am, I might try to flash back to DD-WRT again tomorrow to see if it works (if it does, I cannot explain why! Blaming it on bad flash seems naïve in my opinion).

# Answer
> 3 votes
Have you scanned the WLAN frequencies to see how strong is your own AP in relation to the other ones? I used Android program called Wifi Analyzer that does that; it shows you visible APs and their channels, and how badly their signal leaks into other channels. You can also see signal strength of you AP from that.

The mobile phone often has a lot crappier Wifi antenna than laptop, just because it needs to be smaller and lighter. Also, the orientation of the device varies more.

If you problem is signal strength, or other networks overlapping yours, changing channels or installing better antenna can help a lot. In this case I direct you to look at a sister site.

And, to me your setup sounds pretty geek-normal! I, too, use a Linux home server as AP, with PCI-E and USB Wifi adapters and hostapd.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I've been having problems similar to Nommik's with my Samsung Gio S5665. It would connect perfectly to the Wi-Fi at the office, but at home: connects with excellent to good signal strength, but pinging the router produces no response usually; occasional random bursts of return packets for 4 to 10 seconds; disabling and reenabling wifi on my phone results in 100% packet return for about 60-180 seconds, then back to occasional bursts.

All other devices including other phones connect to the home Wi-Fi correctly.

What I tried:

Changing protection on router from WPA/WPA2 to WPA only, WPA2 only, WEP only, none. No difference. Encryption from TKIP to AES: No difference

Changing channels, sideband, power, beacon rate, in short, everything changeable: No difference or worse.

On the phone: Changing ip address to static. No difference.

Solution:

Flashing the router worked. I'm so happy now! This has taken weeks to sort out.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Had this just now with a 'fake' AP set up on a monitor mode interface with airbase-ng, couldn't figure out why with either DHCP or static IP there was 90% packet loss (with tiny bursts of connectivity loosely connected to screen wake up)...rebooting phone and reseting wifi of little help.

--then, after hours of fiddling, i swapped the RT2870/RT3070 USB wireless dongle against a RTL8187 one that was also lying around. Bo0m problem fixed, no more packet loss, with or without screen turned on, what the heck. Reporting with SK17i Xperia Mini Pro on Android 4.0.4 (Build 4.1.B.0.431).

---
Tags: wi-fi, 2.2-froyo, connection-issues, huawei-u8800
---


# Question
Title: Why / When do I have to log in to Google?
Installed MyDocs, I can select my Google-account and see listings of my documents, but to edit something I need to enter a password.

Why is this? When does it happen? (I am constantly logged in to GMail)

I use Android because all this Google stuff is supposed to be integrated!

---

**Edit**: How can i know if an app is really integrated, and won't require separate authentication.

# Answer
From the reviews on that app, it sounds like they're doing part of it in their app, and part of it by sending you to the website. This may well be two separate authentications.

The official Google Docs app is now part of Google Drive, have you tried that to see if it works more how you'd want? It doesn't ask me for any authentication when I use it.
> 2 votes

# Answer
You're right that Android is supposed to be integrated. Well it is, but it doesn't happen magically, developers need to make it so.
This specific app is a beta and it was last updated more than a year ago. It's a safe bet that the developer(s) abandoned the project.

I recommend that you install the official Google Drive app. It does not ask for your password and it is regularly updated.

---

Applications that can use the integrated authentication system require various permissions in the "Your Accounts" category.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: google-account
---


# Question
Title: How to change the font without root in HTC Explorer?
I would like to change font in HTC Explorer(2.3.5) without root.
I saw some tutorial on the internet but those are only Samsung galaxy series.

Is there anyway to do that?

# Answer
You can't. And you shouldn't.

Samsung's proprietary Touchwiz interface, has the hability to change fonts that are distributed as apk files and can be installed like any other app. I'm not aware of any other manufacturer that integrated this *feature* into their device.

It's also a bad idea to change the fonts. If they have different x-height parts of the letters may get cut. They may not have some special characters that the system or an app expects so boxes or nothing will show up in it's place. Legibility can also be an issue. There are fonts that don't have any of these issues, but they're rare and are mostly the same type as the system font, so you won't notice much improvement.
> 3 votes

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Tags: fonts, htc-explorer
---


# Question
Title: How can I set the default Google Drive account used?
I have two Google accounts set up on my phone, both are also present in Google Drive.

When I open the Gallery app and chose to *share* a picture via Google Drive, it will always be shared with the same account. Of course, I want it to use the **other** account.

I can not figure out how to do it. I would happily accept it if the *wrong* account was completely removed from Google Drive on my phone.

I tried disabling sync for the account I don't want in Google Drive, but that didn't have any effect on the problem. I don't want to completely remove the account from my phone, as I have purchased apps with that account and I fear that I won't be able to install/use them otherwise.

# Answer
> 5 votes
I didn't realize you can change the account to use when uploading the file. I don't understand how I missed it, but here it is:

Given that the marked account value always changes back to the *other* account and I have to adjust it every time, I guess there is still merit in the question. But my problem was finding this UI item.

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Tags: google-account, google-drive
---


# Question
Title: Upgrade Samsung Galaxy II  to Android 4.0?
Is it possible to upgrade Samsung Galaxy SII's Android 2.3 to Android 4.0? If yes, how do I do it?

# Answer
Samsung has released an official update to 4.0.3, just do the normal update procedure with Kies or OTA. There may be some delay on the release based on your region but it either should be available already or coming really soon.
> 3 votes

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Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, updates, samsung-galaxy-s-2
---


# Question
Title: What is Blackmart, and is it legitimate?
I have an HTC One X. I want to install the Blackmart app, but I'm a little wary about its implications. Can it safely be installed without it messing up root security? Is it a legitimate app source?

# Answer
Even if the pure Blackmart App is free of any malicious parts, there is still the danger that you will download an infected version. Blackmart has no official page or download site, that's why you can't be sure about that. It's even worse because it needs *root*. Those types of programs are usually not open-source, and therefore no one can review the code or even build a "clean" version.

Note: Since Blackmark is able to bypass the access restrictions for paid Apps, it's is *illegal* in some countries. This is likely true in all countries where Google sells Apps on the Play Store.

**My personal opinion: A free game of Modern Warefare or GTA isn't worth the trouble and risk of using blackmart.**
> 8 votes

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Tags: applications, 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich
---


title: Telnet from Linux to Android devices

text:
# Question
Title: Telnet from Linux to Android devices
I am attempting to telnet from my Ubuntu commandline to my Android phone and pad using the following syntax:

```
> telnet 192.168.0.4

Trying 192.168.0.4...

telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection refused

```

But, I get that error message above when I try both devices.

Can anyone help with this?

# Answer
Android does not include a telnet daemon. Use the included android debug bridge (meant for development or power users). It comes with the official SDK ( http://developer.android.com/sdk/ ).

* Install both "tools" packages
* Enable USB debugging in your phone settings
* run `./platform-tools/adb shell` in yor sdk folder (needs approprate USB rights for your phone)

You then have a local shell on your phone.

If you definitely need access over network install an ssh server app (search play store for SSHDroid or QuickSSHd). You might want a *secure* shell server on a mobile device that connects to multiple maybe unsafe networks like public hotspots.
> 10 votes

# Answer
An alternative to the former answer is installing Terminal IDE. Its really nice, but read the description to consider stuff like:

> NB: This app CANNOT be installed onto the SDCard because you do not get 'Execute' permissions on that mount. It must run in this app's private memory on the device \[Also much more secure\]. You can of course still read / write to the SDCard and store files there. ALSO - once extracted it takes up about 100MB. You have been warned.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: linux, connectify
---


title: Lockscreen on capacitive touchscreen?

text:
# Question
Title: Lockscreen on capacitive touchscreen?
My phone (SE Xperia X8) has a capacitive touchscreen, which, I'm told that only reacts to fingers.
So does it have a point to have lockscreen enabled?
I use Cyanogenmod so I can easily disable it.

# Answer
You're almost right.

> Capacitive screens can detect anything that's conductive or has a dielectric difference to air.

Here's a good Wikipedia article about this.

If you carry your phone in a pocket, you can easily activate the screen without noticing it. Try this:
Put some cloth (eg. Jeans) between your hand and the screen, now if you press it hard enough the touch will register.

If a button is accidentally pressed while you slip it into your pocket and you have lockscreen disabled, it's that much easier for your butt to dial someone. And you don't want that do you?
> 7 votes

# Answer
Capacitive or not, the default Android behavior is that the touchscreen is disabled when screen is off so you always need to press a physical button to wake up the screen. If the physical buttons in your device cannot be easily accidentally pressed while the device is in your pocket/bag/wherever-you-usually-put-your-phone and you don't need the security of a password/PIN/Face-Unlock, then there should be no issue to use no lockscreen. FYI, this option is available in stock Android 4.0.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, lock-screens, sony-ericsson-xperia-x8
---


# Question
Title: How can I give my Samsung Galaxy S2, with ICS, a name?
When my Samsung Galaxy S2 ran on Gingerbread I had a unique Bluetooth name set on it to differentiate from members of my family when I wanted to receive files by Bluetooth from their devices. However, since my upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich I cannot see how to give my phone a name so that others searching for my phone by Bluetooth can find mine without others having switch theirs off to distingiush mine as the only one with its Bluetooth switched on. Can anybody help with this? Thank you for any help offered.

# Answer
considering you're running the Samsung stock ICS

go to "Settings" then "Bluetooth", turn your Bluetooth on, click the menu button (the one left of the Home button) and click "Device name". then edit your device name.
> 2 votes

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Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, samsung-galaxy-s-2, bluetooth
---


# Question
Title: How to remove words from the predictive dictionary in HTC Sense
I have a case of irritating typos such as `yoi` rather than `you` etc. being selected by the otherwise excellent prediction, I must have accidentally taught the phone it in the past.

I had previously been able to remove them from the dictionary as described in this answer back on android 2.3 however surprise surprise **this menu pathway doesn't exist on HTCs version of 4.0 cupcake**. I'm really hoping this isn't going to be another case of HTC quietly hiding features from their menus.

In the language and keyboard settings page, where I believe it was previously, it's not under the options button of `spelling correction` or the regionalisation button of `TouchInput correction`.

Does anyone know where this has been moved to?

# Answer
> 4 votes
As I was writing that question I stumbled upon the answer in a really convoluted menu pathway. I was unable to find it in my prior research on the internet so I'll post it up in case anyone is looking in future.

1. Open the *settings app*.
2. Go to *Language & Keyboard*.
3. Touch the *Settings Button* next to *Touch Input* under *Keyboard & input methods*
4. Touch *Personal Dictionary*
5. Touch *Edit personal dictionary*
6. Press the menu button then touch *delete* then select incorrect entries to remove.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, htc-sense, dictionary, text-prediction
---


# Question
Title: Function of back button after opening URL from (Twitter) application
When opening a URL in the official Android Twitter app it opens the native browser, showing the page for that URL. If I **tap the back button in the browser** (Galaxy S, 2.3.3, should it matter), one of two things happens:

1. The **browser goes back in its history** opening the previous page/url it had opened.
2. Android **switches back to the Twitter app**, back to the tweet with the URL I opened.

It eludes me what triggers either situation, it's *seemingly* random. I prefer option 2 when I'm reading my Twitter feed, can someone explain the logic behind this and perhaps even tell me how to make sure I trigger option 2 while reading my Twitter feed?

# Answer
Your problem touches a feature of Android that sets it apart from other mobile OSes and is a very powerful one (see below):

That's all about intents, *activities* and the *back stack* that contains your path of visited activities in order for each app. Basically an activity is a single GUI fullscreen window you see, for example the main activity when you launch an app. If you navigate away from that, lets say to the settings view, the now inactive main view is put on the back stack and so forth.

However: This whole behaviour has *many* switches that are solely customizable by the app developers.

See this link for the basic information on those things:

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/tasks-and-back-stack.html

Regarding your specific problem:

It might be a difference if the browser was (1) already open, (2) had an active Twitter tab running (that got reactivated) and so forth. Try some of these combinations (use 'force stop' in the app settings to end browser instances and have an/no open Twitter tab in the browser active beforehand), and you will find:

* *If you have opened the max of four windows* in your browser, then opening an URL from the Twitter app will "re-use" one of them. If you hit back in that browser window it will first go all the way back up the history, one history item at a time. Once the history is empty, hitting the back button once more will send you back to the Twitter app.
* *If you had **not** opened the max of four windows* in your browser, then opening an URL from the Twitter app will create a new browser window. If you hit back in that browser window the history for that window will already be empty, and you will directly go back to the Twitter app.

Some more information:

The unique system are Android's intents. New views are launched by an intent that, for example says 'open this file in a file view' or 'select a picture in a gallery viewer' or 'authenticate a my app with Facebook' and so forth. *Without* saying which *other* app should handle it. You see this when you get a choice menu asking you to select a specific browser (native/Chrome/Dolphin/Opera) or one of many file explorers you might have installed.

This one of the very powerful Android features. Apple's iOS is very different to that, apps can't interact with others so closely and Facebook integration had to be done in iOS6 the hard way for that reason (directly integrated into iOS).
> 6 votes

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Tags: browser, twitter, intents
---


title: Why doesn't my Desire S support RTL?

text:
# Question
Title: Why doesn't my Desire S support RTL?
When I bought my Desire S in Israel I was under the assumption that it's OS (Android 2.3) came with built in Hebrew support.

When I turned the phone on I discovered that there isn't an option to choose Israel as a locale and that I don't even don't have a Hebrew keyboard. That doesn't bother me (despite the fact that it should be supported) as much as the fact that even after I downloaded a Hebrew keyboard my SMSs and other little things in Hebrew appear left to right and not right to left (RTL).

What can I do to make it appear in the correct RTL way?

# Answer
From my experience I would guess you've bought a device imported by a private store rather from a local carrier, the people where you bought it should have replaced the stock rom into a hebrew supporting one after opening the package. I had the same thing done to my device after purchase and it won't void your warranty in any way.

either ask them to do so or just root your device and flash a hebrew rom from the web (may void warranty).
> 2 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, languages, localization, hebrew, htc-desire-s
---


# Question
Title: How to increase headphone loudness beyond 100%?
I am very hard of hearing.

Is there a sound amplification app one can use with earbuds? Earbuds with a microphone for a Droid are a non-issue but I don't know where to find an inexpensive app to work with the hardware.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you have one of the supported phone models:

There's an app called voodoo sound.

* Voodoo Sound in Google's Play store
* Downside: Requires a *custom* kernel, only for supported phones (see description in market)

The paid app comes without a requirement for a custom kernel (but needs root)

Both replace the audio codec's driver and allow fine tuning and to turn on formerly unused chip features (see description).

---
Tags: audio, motorola-droid
---


title: TCP/IP tethering over Bluetooth

text:
# Question
Title: TCP/IP tethering over Bluetooth
I have a Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 and I would like to browse the web over a bluetooth connection to my computer. I can connect to the computer but the browser doesn't have internet connectivity even though the computer does. Also, the Bluetooth standards indicate that this is supported.

Anyone ever have this issue?

# Answer
Bluetooth tethering in both(?) ways is supported from Android-4.0 ICS onwards. Your device however runs Android 2.3.5+ and most likely will not support that feature out of the box.

As a second requirement you need your computer to *also* offer bluetooth-tethering via Bluetooth-NAP or Bluetooth-DUN protocol (you will need 3rd party software for that, see link below).

This question/answer also touches your concern: Tethering an Toshiba AT100 to a Nokia E71
> 1 votes

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Tags: tethering, bluetooth-tethering, samsung-galaxy-player
---


# Question
Title: How do I tether over wifi in rooted Xperia x8?
I would like to tether over wifi rooted Xperia X8 running Android 2.1. I used wifi tether app but I just saw error message "Sorry, but your kernel does note have all necessary feathers for running this application." What kind of setting should I change?

# Answer
Download Barnacle Wifi Tether This app will load it's OWN drivers and actually use your phone as a modem. I have used it once before with my X8 Android 2.1 also.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Alas, it's not possible officially.

As the message told you, there are dependancies on the running kernel. This belongs to the core of your phone's operating system and is only meant to be upgraded by official updates from Sony Ericsson. Your current firmware is however already the latest version Sony Ericsson provides for the X8 as it has reached end-of-life update-wise. Hence, you cannot do anything about it except installing a non-official community mod.

For the sake of completeness: Such a mod exists, see this for an example. However, it's not an easy path to get it working initially. I would suggest you refrain from installing it if you have concerns to void your warranty and don't want to end up with a broken device.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 2.1-eclair, wifi-tethering, sony-ericsson-xperia-x8
---


# Question
Title: Deny the installation of apps or add new accounts (kiosk mode)
I have a tablet that I want to give to people to go on the internet, but I don't want them to mess with it (install/unistall apps, add new accounts, change relevant options, etc).

Is there a way to **lock** the device so that it can only be used to go on the internet?

# Answer
SureLock promises this amongst others, see its entry on Google Play.

With Android's rapid development, this is however a rather quick moving target.

I suggest you search also for 'android kiosk mode' on Google or of course in the Play Store.

Besides this: There's already a question for that on stackoverflow: Kiosk mode in Android
> 13 votes

---
Tags: security, settings, kiosk-mode
---


title: How do I know if my device is rooted?

text:
# Question
Title: How do I know if my device is rooted?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How can I tell if I have root?

I am a noob when it comes to android.

I've read a little about rooting, but I still haven't figured out how to know if my device is already rooted or not (I bought it from a questionable store, so I don't want to just take their word for it).

I have a Galaxy S2, but I think this question is relevant for any android device.

# Answer
> 5 votes
I think the best way to test would be to install an app that requires root access to perform it's main functions. Like ROM Manager, Wi-Fi Tether or most screenshot apps. They will require root and notify you if you do not have root access.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Check if you have application like superuser or superSU installed, and launched it. you'll see.

---
Tags: root-access
---


# Question
Title: Can I get my car's head-unit to play audio, via USB, from my Galaxy S3?
I've just moved from iOS to Android, purchasing the new Galaxy S3. Lovely phone; I'm impressed thus far.

The only thing that I'm struggling with is playing audio, *via USB*, to my car's head-unit.

I've got a 2012 Nissan Juke (upgraded Nav head unit with USB port in the center console) which worked fairly seamlessly with my iPhone 4. I'd plug the USB cable in, and my music would start playing through the car's speakers - with names/album/length etc. displayed on the head-unit's display. This worked with music I'd loaded on to the phone *and* the Spotify app.

When I plug my S3 in, the phone detects the connection and asks what mode I want to use - Media mode, or Camera mode. Regardless of which mode I use, the head-unit is unable to play either stored or Spotify music.

I've read up a little, and I'm wondering if this is to do with the S3's inability to render itself in *Mass Storage mode*.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a workaround, or an app which might resolve the problem? **I can play audio via Bluetooth, but its interface isn't as seamless and I will forget to turn Bluetooth on/off; don't want to drain the battery excessively.**

# Answer
> 10 votes
Yes and no. The fact that your Galaxy S3 does not support mass storage mode means that you cannot play audio files stored on the S3 with the radio, like you could with a USB stick. (If your car's radio supports mass storage, that is.)

However, the other type of USB connection, allowing your iPhone to be controlled by your car's radio is an Apple Accessory connection. This is a protocol for communication between Apple devices such as the iPod and iPhone and accessories like your car's radio. Android currently does not support the Apple Accessory connection, but has it's own protocol for communication with USB accessories. It might be technically possible to create a solution for Android to allow it to speak with Apple Accessories, but currently (as far as I'm aware) no such solution exists.

# Answer
> 3 votes
As both eldarerathis and Paul Redert have mentioned, it seems that the USB port on your Juke is designed to support two types of USB connection: 1) mass storage mode, where it reads an attached USB peripheral as a logical drive and searches for compatible media files, and 2) iDevice Accessory mode, where it attempts to communicate with and Apple device over a proprietary protocol.

CNET has an article from 2010 describing the different ways Android phones can connect to a vehicle (as of 2010, of course). While most of it will tell you what you already know, I thought their compromise solution might be applicable:

> ...during our testing of the 2010 Acura TSX V-6, we were able to pair our Motorola Droid via Bluetooth for phone calls and Pandora Radio while using the USB port for charging. When we wanted to listen to locally stored audio, we simply mounted the USB connection and used the AcuraLink receiver to browse our folders. Likewise, a user could do the same thing with a vehicle that has an auxiliary input and a USB connection, but no Bluetooth.

It's sounding like mass storage mode might not be an option for your SGSIII, but using the Juke's USB connection for power to offset the use of Bluetooth for media might be a way to accomplish what you want. If you're worried about forgetting to turn off Bluetooth, you could look at ways to instruct the phone to remember for you. My personal favorite is Tasker, and setting up simple profiles for turning on and off Bluetooth under specific conditions could be as simple as two one-line tasks.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I had a HTC Desire HD and no problem connecting to my car radio (Sony XPlod) via the front USB port, provided the HTC was set up to connect via 'disk drive'. The problem I see with the S3 is that this (or similar) option does not exist. The radio sees the connection and tries to load but nothing happens. I could (untried yet) connect via the Aux jack, but then I'd need to cables instead of one. One step forward and 2 steps back.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Maybe your memory can't access by your music system -- so try like this:

When you plug in please check notification, may be your cell phone got in charging mode and mass storage is used by some other resource. So from notification disconnect logically your cell and then try to start play music with music play from mobile itself with connected music player system.

Hope it works.

---
Tags: audio, usb-connection-mode, samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


# Question
Title: How can I prevent services from running in the background?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How can I stop applications and services from running?

Is there a way to prevent the service apps (or any other apps) from automatically running in the background?

# Answer
> 6 votes
You'll need to decide on a case by case basis. Generally, apps which run in the background need to do so to function, so if you don't want that, then uninstall it. If it's optional, they'll usually include a preference to disable it within the app.

You can kill any background service from Settings -\> Applications -\> Services, but that only kills them once, it doesn't prevent them from starting the next time you boot up your phone. It is a useful way to see what's running in the background, though.

Finally, a lot of apps that seem to run in the background actually don't. I have an app that provides background notifications about certain events when they happen, but it does it by scheduling recurring system alarms, where the phone will start my app up to perform the task and then the app will close. So it's open for brief periods of time only, which is much less of a battery drain. Make sure you check the background service list I mentioned above to see whether something is *really* on in the background.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You could try out App Quarantine.

---
Tags: applications, services
---


title: Root and then unroot afterwards?

text:
# Question
Title: Root and then unroot afterwards?
On my device, I have a bunch of stock applications. Some of them I don't need. Some of them are outdated. Here's what I want to do:

1. Root my device.
2. Uninstall all my unnecessary apps (no changing of roms).
3. Install the updates that my other stock apps need (like Facebook). **Note:** I meant I want to **overwrite** where the older version **will be replaced**. This is a common problem with stock applications. You **can** upgrade them **but** the older version is still around (possibly because of lack of root access), thus eating up unnecessary internal space.
4. Add some more other apps.
5. Secure some of the newly added apps so that they are uninstallable when I go back to being unrooted.
6. Unroot the phone.

As you can probably tell by now, I just want to overall change the applications on my phone. I also want to secure some new applications that I will be installing (e.g. make them act the same as the Facebook app wherein I can't uninstall it unless I have root). I don't want to install another rom, I don't want to overclock or anything. I just want to change the phone apps then return it back to being unrooted and be on my merry way.

Is this possible?

# Answer
> 5 votes
Absolutely. Well...almost. Just make sure you set the partition from rewritable to read-only once you're "unrooted". However, once you are unrooted, binaries like su and the SuperUser apk will in all probability removed, so you will in effect be dropped to a lower privilege level. This will have the side-effect of having the apps installed in the system partition as being uninstallable.

A workaround is to remove/uninstall apps from the system partition, remove root and then add the apps as user apps - this will ensure that they can be updated in the future without the need for root.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, rooting, unrooting
---


# Question
Title: Remove time-wasting prompts like "data network mode will be deactivated"
I've just upgraded a Galaxy S2 to ICS and when I now toggle data network mode by long-pressing the power button I get these time-wasting prompts like "Data network mode will be deactivated. OK/Cancel?". Any way to turn them off?

# Answer
No. However, you can use an app like Widgetsoid and then create a custom widget which when pressed will toggle a number of options like brightness, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2G/3G and of course mobile data.

This will happen without any confirmation dialog popping up.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, samsung-galaxy-s-2
---


title: Why the Galaxy has 25GB instead of 32GB

text:
# Question
Title: Why the Galaxy has 25GB instead of 32GB
I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S3 32GB, when I check the storage I have only 25.5GB. Where is the other 6.5GB?

# Answer
Usually this space is taken up by various things that come with the device, like resources for the OS, built-in apps, and just disk information. Even formatting an 8 GB SD card will only get you 7.49 GB. That same logic would leave you with 30 GB, the rest is most likely the OS, and various system resources.
> 9 votes

# Answer
The 32GB are in 1000Byte = 1KB Logic, and the 25GB should be in Binary Logic, so 1024Byte = 1KB. which gives at first a "loss" of about 2GB: 32GB = 29,8023GiB

the rest of the space is mostly the android system, reserved space for cache etc... one small part will be the journal of the ext file sytstem which is used instead of yaffs. So arround 200-400MB i think will be covered by the ext journal.

you have the same problem with harddisks too. The firms write it in decimal logic but the operating system does it in binary. Some Operating Systems nowadays also write the correct GiB or MiB or KiB but not all...
> 2 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage, samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


# Question
Title: How do I remove HTC Desire pre-installed Android applications?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

My HTC Desire from Orange came with a number of pre-installed demo applications and games, these cannot be removed normally from the application settings or from the market place.

What is the best way I can remove them and free up the space for applications I actually want?

# Answer
> 19 votes
Generally the only way to remove these manufacturer-added apps is to root the phone.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Root your phone first, then use Root Uninstaller to remove all the bloatware. This is similar to another question Acer Liquid, but there Root uninstaller was not successful, but on my lg p500 it wokred perfectly. SO try it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Other way could be to get a generic image for your phone and flash it. The Problem with that is that such a image is mostly not available in the net.

---
Tags: applications, internal-storage
---


# Question
Title: change phone properties so I can download an item from Google play?
I have a Huawei u8160(A.K.A Vodafone 858 Smart) which had an original Froyo ROM , Now it's upgraded to CyanogenMod7.2(Gingerbread) and even after upgrading Google play apps are the same exactly.

I was wondering if I can change the properties of my phone so that Google play would understand that I'm running Gingerbread?

# Answer
The apps will not just change when your version changes. All Apps have a minimum API Version which is required to use the App. So if your apps all have a minimum API version of e.g. Froyo and there is no special version for gingerbread all will stay the same.

The Properties of the android version cannot be changed, only if you compile your own system and write a different version number in there. But this will not solve the problem of the API Versions: If you Fake an Android 4.0.3 with 2.3.6 Real System Version, some Apps will probably not run because they need to have API Version 15 and not 8.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, google-play-store, 2.3-gingerbread, cyanogenmod
---


# Question
Title: Restoring LG Optimus 2X P990 back to stock LG software
I have flashed a lot of custom ROMs onto my phone, like CM7, kangs and such of CM9 before it's released, MIUI, and so on. I didn't want to wait till the third quarter of 2012 before I got some IC on my phone. Now that we're almost that far into 2012, I was wondering how I could restore my phone back to LG's stock Gingerbread software - the one that i had before I flashed CM7 - and unroot my phone.

I have lost my backup so I cant restore. I'll have to use smart or NVFlash or something like that. How can I restore my LG Optimus 2X P990 back to original LG software, so that I am ready for updating it to LG's ICS release?

# Answer
> 2 votes
There is a zip file that is posted in this video description that you can flash via Clockworkmod or your favorite custom recovery that will revert your device completely to stock (including removing the recovery image and such).

The video goes through the process step-by-step, for your convenience, but it's basically flashing that file via CWM, and then being happy :)

*It also goes through how to unroot, if needed!*

# Answer
> 0 votes
I fixed it:

I ended up using SmartFlash to flash stock ROM. Got the firmware from XDA.

Links:

SmartFlash tools & drivers: http://android.modaco.com/content/lg-optimus-2x-2x-modaco-com/335494/13-apr-smartflash-stock-baseband-release-1035-21-20110405/

Firmware: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1035041

Steps:

1. Download firmware for your location
2. Download SmartFlash tools and drivers
3. Connect phone to computer on the S/W Upgrade screen - description below
4. Let windows install the drivers
5. Open SmartFlash
6. Go to "Rom copy D/L
7. Select CP bin and AP bin files - description below
8. Make sure "normal mode" is selected
9. Make sure "erase CAL data" is unchecked
10. Make sure channels and such are matching your phone - you'll recognize it
11. Select start and wait till it's completed and your phone will be up and running again with Stock ROM!

CP bin = \*.fls file in firmware archive AP bin = \*.bin file in firmware archive

Get into S/W Upgrade screen by pulling your battery out, holding the volume down button and plugging your pc cable in. Hold the volume down until the S/W Upgrade screen appears

---
Tags: rom-flashing, stock-android, restore, lg-optimus-2x
---


# Question
Title: Disable auto formatting of period in SMS?
When I type a domain like `example.com`, Android automatically formats it like this `example. Com`

Is there a way to disable this?

# Answer
Try going to settings-\>Language and input

figure out which keyboard is active and look for the settings page for that keyboard.

Look for settings like: "predictive text", "auto punctuation", and "auto capatilize" If you have any of those settings ensure that they are turned off. Once you've done that test again.

If you wish to use some of these features it may be worth it to try flipping them on one by one and figuring out which is the actual culprit that is breaking your links.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, sms, samsung-galaxy-ace
---


# Question
Title: What determines whether something requires wifi vs network internet traffic?
Most tasks can be done using the network's internet connection (3g for me) like uploading photo to facebook or downloading a new app. But sometimes I end up having to wait to find a wifi connection to say, upload a video to youtube or download a game for my Xperia Play. **Why do these tasks require wifi?** Are these software restrictions placed by my provider?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Most apps do this now to protect the user's mobile data usage. Knowing that most data plans are limited (200 MB a month, in the case of my roommate), developers prevent users from, say downloading a 45 MB game from the Play Store/Amazon App Store via mobile network, as this would not be beneficial, seeing as it would take almost 1/4 of your data and would take a significant amount of time and battery. Same goes with uploading.

Most **apps** do this as an option, though some (in the case of the Amazon App Store) will block you completely from performing these actions without Wi-Fi. But no, this is not an issue with your carrier. I have Sprint (and unlimited data) and I am still forced to download certain apps and upload pictures through various services only through Wi-Fi.

**NOTE**: I have found that some apps that prevent Wi-Fi-less downloads (i.e. Amazon App Store) allow me to do these on my network as long as it is over 4G. If you have this option, try it and see if it works for you as well!

# Answer
> 1 votes
Most of the time it's because Battery Saver Mode is on. 3G is (often) slow compared to Wifi, so it takes a lot longer to complete large downloads and drains the battery a lot more. Turning battery saver mode off will allow you to download via 3G on many phones.

Another possible (app-specific) reason is that it just uses up too much bandwidth and wouldn't be practical on a limited-transfer 3G connection; if this is the case there's not much you can do about it.

---
Tags: wi-fi, sony-ericsson-xperia-x10, verizon
---


# Question
Title: Known issues when installing official google ICS on Galaxy s2
I know Google issued out an official ICS rom for the Nexus S devices and I'm wandering if the same rom (or any other Google official variant) will properly work on my Galaxy S2 or will there be any notable issues?!

I'm asking because I'm quite fed up with the Samsung's stock roms (both GB and ICS) and I really want to avoid 3rd party roms such as CyanogenMod.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Unfortunately, that's not how it works :/

Though we would all love the official ICS versions rolled out to the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus devices, they are designed specifically for the hardware of those phones; thus is the nature of Android.

So, if you want something similar, the only way you will be able to get it is a 3rd party ROM. The **only** official OS versions for each phone are the ones rolled out by each provider, in your case, Samsung.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, samsung-galaxy-s-2, rom
---


# Question
Title: Close app as opposed to letting it run in the background
I'm not sure whether this is a Galaxy Nexus question or an ICS question, but here goes:

Suppose I'm using some app and then I move to the home screen, rather than shutting down, the app is left to run in the background. Is there a way of exiting an app such that it gets closed upon leaving it rather than being left to run in the background?

# Answer
This is really a question about Android in general, and is based on a misconception of how Android handles background apps. Check out this XDA post for a nice explanation of why processes sitting in memory in the background really aren't a bad thing. You should only worry about exiting/force-quitting/killing an app if things start misbehaving.
> 6 votes

# Answer
Usually, holding/tapping on the BACK key should "exit" an app. Of course, the best way is to use the Exit button if an app provides it.

THat's how one would gracefully "exit" from an app. In order to force an exit or kill it, you'd best look at a Task Killer and forcibly kill the process.
> 1 votes

# Answer
In AOKP ICS ROMs, and a few other's I have used, there is an option that you can enable that will allow you to kill (close) an active app by holding down the `Back` button. I do not know if this was a feature of ICS or the CM9 ROM family, but I will let you know if I find that out.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich
---


# Question
Title: I get no ping repsonse to my phone. Why?
I went to www.whatsmyip.org and got my public IP address for my phone. Just for kicks and grins, I tried to ping it, but didn't get a reply. Is ICMP turned off on my android phone?

# Answer
> 7 votes
Either your phone silently drops pings, or the router it's behind, either your wifi router, or the 3G network's router that NATs your phone drops them.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Your phone can have a lot of different IP's on different interfaces but that one is not yours. It's internet gateway of your mobile operator.

If I'm wrong consider the point of describing to customers why they should pay for some pings or face the hell of ICMP incapsulation of freebies masters.

---
Tags: networking
---


# Question
Title: How can I disable shortcuts from being created after install from Google Play?
I own a Galaxy S2 with the Samsung ICS stock, and I've noticed when I download an application from Google Play (Market) it installs it and automatically places the app shortcut on the first free space it finds on the launcher front.

Is there any way to disable this feature?

# Answer
Open the Play Store, go into its settings, and uncheck the 'Auto-add widgets' option. The option also applies to shortcut auto-creation (which makes the name rather misleading).
> 12 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, samsung-galaxy-s-2, home-screen-shortcuts
---


title: What is this VPN setting good for?

text:
# Question
Title: What is this VPN setting good for?
I have a Huawei U8160 (also known as Vodafone 858 Smart) which is running CyanogenMod7.2

There are settings for VPN which are empty. I was wondering if the VPN server setting should be set to a real server?

Or should I just not touch it?

# Answer
A VPN is a virtual private network.

Your device connects to a VPN server through a public connection and tunnels a second *virtual* and *private* (to you) connection through the VPN server to see all devices that are protected behind the VPN server (such as a company's whole network infrastructure for example).

This feature is mostly used for road warriors that want to connect to a company's internal network resources like email / internal web sites and so on. Other uses are: Securely connect two different company sites virtually, working from a home office...

It's generally not for normal users (Cyanogenmod includes it for some power users that also connect to a VPN).

See Wikipedia for more.

Regarding your question: Leave the setting empty, you just don't need it most probably.
> 7 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, vpn
---


title: micro-usb headset on android 2.3

text:
# Question
Title: micro-usb headset on android 2.3
I have a samsung galaxy ace which I am trying to setup to work with a usb headset. The problem is that the usb headset has a micro-usb connector and my phone does not seem to be recognizing it at all.

I only need to use the headset to activate a phone call. I do not need to hear any audio from it, I just need to be able to press the 'phone' button on the headset and have it answer the phone.

I've read up on the android developers guide and it seems as though a passive usb headset must be communicated with in host mode. It also says host mode is only available on android 3.1+

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if there is any way to get this to work? using the specific speaker output port is not an option.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I believe this is impossible.

The headset requires power from the device. Android versions before 3.1 state that they can not support powering the usb bus.

From the developer guide:

> When the Android-powered device is in host mode, it acts as the USB host and powers the bus. When the Android-powered device is in USB accessory mode, the connected USB hardware (an Android USB accessory in this case) acts as the host and powers the bus.
>
> USB accessory and host modes are directly supported in Android 3.1 (API level 12) or newer platforms. USB accessory mode is also backported to Android 2.3.4 (API level 10) as an add-on library to support a broader range of devices. Device manufacturers can choose whether or not to include the add-on library on the device's system image.

unless there is a custom android OS that supports usb host mode, I believe what I'm trying to achieve is impossible

---
Tags: usb, audio, headphones, headset
---


title: Largest HTC Desire SD card?

text:
# Question
Title: Largest HTC Desire SD card?
My phone keeps telling me that my storage is low and I barely have any apps on my phone because it tells me this at least three to four times a day. I downloaded this app and moved all my apps (which is a total of three- not including this one) to my SD card and it still keeps telling me that my storage is low. So I deleted some pictures and all my messages. But it keeps telling me the same thing. And I was wondering if I could get a bigger SD card. Mine is a 8 gig. I also was wondering if I can get a new SD card, what is the biggest SD card for my Desire? If I do get a new SD card, can I transfer all my stuff from my old SD card to the new one? Thanks for the help in advance! :)

# Answer
Your phone (as most other Android phones) have two kinds of persistent storage -- internal and external. The internal storage is fixed into hardware, and is not intended to be user-serviceable. Your SD card is the external storage, and is very much replaceable -- it is very accessible and can be swapped for another one, including greater capacity ones (see this question for some additional information).

However, replacing the SD card won't help in your case -- your phone complains that its **internal** storage space is low. This is a problem that has plagued HTC Desire, which is otherwise a great device.

Some things you can do:

* Move applications to the SD card
* Remove unneeded applications (from your words, not quite possible)
* Clear up some messages, drafts, application caches, and in some cases application data
* Downgrade some of the preinstalled applications that you do not use. See this question for more details
> 9 votes

# Answer
If you don't have a problem with voiding your warranty and getting your hands a little dirty, I can recommend the use of a custom ROM with support for App2SD(+), D2Ext(+) or D2W.

I'm also a Desire owner, so I really know what you are talking about, this has annoyed me for weeks, until I finally decided to see what all the fuzz with rooting and custom ROMs was about.

So I rooted my Desire and flashed this rom in the Data2Whatever-version (D2W), which makes use of a partitioned SD card with an extra partition that, according to my understanding, works as an extension for the internal storage.

So, after all of that, my internal storage capacity has increased to around 240MB instead of ~140MB (yet the effect depends on the size of your SD card (mine is 4GB) and the size of the dedicated sd-ext-partition.)

It may seem tricky (but it isn't really), voids your warranty (which you might need some time), and things like D2W over at XDA-developers is, well, in development, so there might be the occasional bug, but it's been working fine for me for a few weeks now, and as I said, it is really paying off.

So… IF you want to read and test and learn a little, then XDA-developers your way to go.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Turn off your facebook auto updates and auto sync and delete from the phone. Be careful though. Make sure your phone has been synced because all your contact info will be deleted. Recync the phone and reload contact info. This appears to have fixedthe problem on my phone. Also do not use HTC sync to load music as it will fill all available space on the phone. Copy music separately to the micro SD card.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: external-sd
---


# Question
Title: Auto-rotate setting disabled permanently on Toshiba AT100
About a week ago, the setting for auto-rotate on my Toshiba AT100 (running stock 3.2.1) got permanently disabled somehow, and I am unable to change it. It says it is "on", but the setting is grayed-out, and the screen does not rotate with the device.

Does anyone know how to re-enable this setting?

# Answer
Based on this do you have some switch near volume button? If yes, try changing it.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: settings, auto-rotation
---


# Question
Title: Enabling WiFi Monitor Mode on HTC Inspire 4G
Is it possible to enable WiFi Monitor Mode( promiscuous mode ) on HTC Inspire 4G? Or is it possible on any android phone?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I had an android for a long time before I got my windows phone (still prefer android), and I used an app called Network Monitor.

Here's the link to it:

http://www.androidzoom.com/android\_applications/tools/network-monitor\_biuf.html

I had a htc inspire as well, and it worked perfectly.

---
Tags: wi-fi
---


title: Cannot install or update apps on LG G2x

text:
# Question
Title: Cannot install or update apps on LG G2x
My signficant other and I each have a T-Mobile-branded LG G2X P999. An over-the-air update was recently released that upgrades the OS from 2.3.3 to 2.3.4. She got the OTA update; I have not received it yet (and, given this problem, will refuse it until a solution is found). Since the update, she can no longer install or update apps. She gets the error (when updating Google Maps, for instance):

> Error downloading "Maps". There is insufficient space on the device.

This is happening even after uninstalling some apps (which can no longer be reinstalled due to the error.) Internal storage has 248 MB used and 1.2 GB free. The SD card has 603 MB used and 4.6 GB free.

Some people on the T-Mobile support discussion board discuss a hard reset being a solution for this issue. I would prefer to avoid that solution if possible, simply because it is a hassle and because we do not know what data she might end up losing.

How can she fix this issue? Is there a way to fix it besides a hard reset?

# Answer
> 3 votes
I had the same problem with my wife's phone (LG G2x P999). Unfortunately you're going to have to master reset....

If it doesn't work from the settings, then reset manually (hold power button and volume down till you see the Android guy then let go) after that your phone will be reset and the downloading issue will stop. Read through these steps prior to resetting to ensure you don't lose anything you don't wanna....hope this helped you

http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2521 should be the 5th link down where it says preparing for master reset

---
Tags: internal-storage, ota-update, insufficient-memory, t-mobile-g2x, lg-p999
---


# Question
Title: Where does Voice Actions store my "Note to self" recordings?
I've been messing around with Android's Voice Actions. I tried recording various jibberish notes to test it out. However, I noticed that with each "Note to self" that I send to myself, the attached .amr recording has a suffixed number. For example, RecordedMessage2.amr, RecordedMessage3.amr and so on. It therefore occured to me that the recordings may have been saved on my phone and thus, the reason for the increment. I tried looking for those files via OI File Mnager but failed to locate it. Can anyone help me figure out where it's being stored? I'm not rooted btw.

# Answer
When I did the "Note to Self", I was sent an email with the attachment (I assume this is the function, I've never used it before!). The attachment is the \*.amr file that you can then download, and it will save it to `download/RecordedMessage#.amr`.

After some searching, **the original file is stored in phone memory, not external, at `/data/data/com.google.android.voicesearch/files/RecordedMessage#.amr`**

Note that you could not find this file because you weren't rooted, I used File X-Plore and did a search in the entire `Root` section to find them.

**Note:** If you would like to delete them:

* with root: navigate to the aforementioned folder and delete them with your favorite root browser or adb
* **without root**: from the home screen, press `Menu`, select `Settings` then choose `Applications->Manage Applications` and select `Voice Search` from the list. On the app info page select `Clear data`. This will delete all data associated with Voice Search, including any recorded "Notes to self", but keep in mind, *it may also erase any data recorded to better results on a user-by-user basis*.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, voice-command, voice-recording
---


title: Personal Dictionaries

text:
# Question
Title: Personal Dictionaries
I use swype beta on my galaxy nexus (ICS). When I type some word that is not in the dictionary, swype prompts me to add the word to its "personal dictionary". However, even after I go along with that, the word does not get added to the system's underlying personal dictionary and so I get a spelling error indication which prompts me to add the word to the system's "personal dictionary".

Is there a way of avoiding this two-step process. Is there a way of configuring swype to use the underlying personal dictionary?

# Answer
> 5 votes
No.
Swype, just like other similar keyboard apps use their own dictionaries. The spelling correction, and the underlying dictionary that you're referring to was added in 4.0 and none of the 3rd party keyboards apps integrate with it just yet.

At this point we need to wait.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, swype, dictionary
---


# Question
Title: Low space on HTC Desire with CyanoGenMod 7.1: how to solve it?
I have an HTC Desire GSM.

This phone has the known problem of limited memory, so that it was impossible to install more than a couple of apps without running into the "Disk space low" problem.

So I rooted it, installed CyanogenMod7 and App2SD. I moved to the SD card almost all of the application (except those that needs notifications: those won'd work if moved to the SD).

Still, I periodically get the "Low space" message; it is as if the apps were storing their data on the phone memory. If I go to settings -\> applications and clear some application's data, then clear the browser cache, I get rid of the message for a couple of days.

How can I definitely get rid of the "Low space" notification, while keeping my applications installed?

Please note:

* I've read that it could be possible to repartition the SD card and "mount" it so that it extends the phone own memory. I've seen several conflicting instructions about the procedure (and, e.g. the order of the partitions on the SD card) and, while I managed to partition the card, I never managed to have Android "mount" the extra partition. I've also read instructions saying that recent versions of Cyanogenmod don't support the sd partition anymore.
* The phone is already rooted, hence solutions requiring root are OK
* I installed Cyanogenmod 7.1.0, but I have not particular preference to that mod. If necessary, I am open to install any mod that works on the phone and is stable for everyday use.

UPDATE:

This wiki page is the reference that says that the sd partition is not supported anymore:

> Apps2ext (previously called apps2SD) moved all user installed apps to a secondary ext partition on your sdcard. This method had the advantage of being straight forward and simple, However, it had the drawback of being difficult to set up. This method is no longer officially supported by CyanogenMod

# Answer
Many ways lead to rome:

1. Try a ROM that specifically fixes your problems: I use an ICS build, Sandvold's ICS for Desire which comes with 4 different App2SD methods included (XDA thread) which I find rather stable. You can have a look over to XDA's Desire forum, to search for more roms.
2. Use **Link2SD**, create a 2nd ext2/ext3/ext4 partition that a choice of your apps get moved to (manually) and symlinked from /data/ to. See app on Google Play, official FAQ.
3. CM7 also supports the standard **move to sdcard** method that you can also use (and might already be aware of. Downside: /data get's full anyway really soon)
4. You could try to flash a different bootloader (called **hboot** on desire, that has another partition layout. See Alpharev for instructions and downloads, there's **data++** with 180MB and **cm7r2** with close to 300MB free for apps at the expense of shrinking other partitions (/system, /cache/, ...). Not every ROM fits all of these though. **WARNING**: Not for the faint hearted! Read about the risks!
> 4 votes

# Answer
There is a post on the cyanogenmod forum that explains how to solve the problem.

I followed it and have had no more problems! It boils down to this:

1. use the Rom Manager to partition the SD card
2. Install S2E and use it to move the caches to the SD card
> 2 votes

# Answer
i was exactly like you but with cm7.2 i partitioned my sd and mounted it easily using terminal emulator writing only one line of on each boot and then quick reboot from link2sd then everything is completely fine that line is: mount -t ext2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /data/sdext2 but before all that you should open link2sd and select the ext2 then reboot
> -1 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, htc-desire, app2sd, internal-storage
---


title: Root Motorola Defy XT

text:
# Question
Title: Root Motorola Defy XT
I am still trying figure out how to root the new Motorola Defy XT. It runs Gingerbread 2.3.5. Can someone help me with this? Last time (many years ago) I rooted a phone using Z4root however, as I read on the net now, Z4root does not support this version (of Gingerbread).

# Answer
> 2 votes
There are a few methods that exist presently;

This website offers a .zip file that contains a "one-click-root" type file, that you simply run while your phone is plugged into the computer to get it rooted. As usual, you will need to make the appropriate backups of your data.

XDA also has a how-to that is a bit more involved and uses some adb commands which will require the SDK. You will have to download the file on the page and then follow their method:

1. Put the phone in Debug Mode: Go to Settings \> Applications \> Development and check USB debugging box.
2. Extract the files from the zip below, connect the phone via USB, and copy them to the phone via ADB like this:

Code:

```
adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/Superuser.apk

adb push su /sdcard/su

adb push busybox /sdcard/busybox

adb push exploit.bin /data/local/tmp/exploit.bin

```
3. Now we enter the phone's internal shell, also using ADB:

Code:

`adb shell`
4. Then we take advantage of the "fake" root exploit:

Code:

`cd /data/local/tmp`

`chmod 0755 exploit.bin`

`./exploit.bin`
5. Now after that last command you should be back to your normal console, not the phone one, so we need to connect to it again, and doing so we should now see that we have root permissions since the "#" symbol is displayed instead of "$".

Code:

`adb shell`
6. Now we mount the /system partition as writable and copy the necessary files there, and set them with the right permissions:

Code:

`mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system`

`cp /sdcard/Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk`

`cp /sdcard/su /system/bin/su`

`cp /sdcard/busybox /system/bin/busybox`

`chmod 4755 /system/bin/su`

`chmod 4755 /system/bin/busybox`

`mount -o ro,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system`

`exit`
7. Restart the phone and check if you have ROOT in a terminal by typing the "su" command, or by installing any other app that requires ROOT, and seeing it the SuperUser app pops up.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, rooting
---


# Question
Title: Why is there a blank white space under some Apps?
This seems to happen in any app that uses some kind of comment display thing.

Here are some pictures. (sorry that they're not screenshots, I don't think it's possible without root)

This also happens with every other Reddit app on the market. All of them have the exact same problem when viewing comments.

I assume that there is some UI control in common between them, something that lists read-only tap-able text areas, but I'm not an Android developer so I don't actually know for sure.

I'm using a Motorola Atrix 2 from AT&T with stock ROM.

# Answer
As far as I know, this is just the way Motorola designed their BLUR interface. See, for example, this screenshot from a blog post on Motorola's dev site:

This basically appears anywhere that a developer uses a `ListView` object, which is fairly common as it's the native way to display...well, a list of things (appropriately named, no?). Motorola describes their reasoning as such:

> The gray background at the bottom of the list is inherited from the device theme. Its purpose is to show users where the list ends.

In your case, the gray is instead white (which I've also seen on the Droid X), but the same concept applies.

If you want to get rid of it you basically need to re-theme your device and get rid of the BLUR UI, which is generally not possible without rooting and using a custom ROM due to how tightly integrated it is into the system. Alternatively, you could email the developer and politely ask them to re-theme the `ListView`, since they have the option to explicitly override the default theming if they want. Whether or not they think it's worth the effort is kind of out of your control at that point, though.
> 10 votes

# Answer
Developers don't necessarily have to re-theme the ListView to fix this - it can also be done by not forcing the ListView to fill the screen. The problem is on the ListView below - if layout\_weight="1", or layout\_height="fill\_parent", then the ListView takes up any unused space, and you get the ugly white background. Setting layout\_height to "wrap content" and getting rid of the weight solves the problem.

```
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical">

<ListView android:id="@+id/statsList"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_weight="1"/>

</LinearLayout>

```
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, motoblur
---


# Question
Title: Is there a workaround to add recently *used* apps to my recently *launched* apps?
If I long press `home`, I get a list of the last six apps I've used, but if I open a web browser from another app (eg. by following a link in Tweetdeck or email) the web browser never shows up in my recent app list. This seems to be expected behavior -- I'm wondering if there is any workaround to this.

It comes up in answers to other questions:

Why does Google Talk never appear on the "Recent Applications" list?

Why isn't gmail listed as a recent app when I long-press the Home button?

# Answer
> 4 votes
Alas, most probably the answer is: No.

Reason: Android's App model.

An app exists of rather loose coupled components (Activities here) that may be launched independently from each other. Only when the **main** activity is launched as a separate task an entry in the *recently launched* list is created. Other apps can also launch an external activity (of another app) that does not count towards that list then.

This happens mostly when you dont launch an app from the launcher:

* You click a notification (missed call, sms, calendar event, ...)
* An app opens another app (twitter app -\> browser)
* follow a link in an sms -\> browser
* select an image in an app -\> open in gallery
* open youtube from a browser link
* ...

All those 'opened' apps count as part of the opening app and not as a separate instance (most likely)

I answered a similar question here: Function of back button after opening URL from (Twitter) application

Info about the underlying architecture: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/tasks-and-back-stack.html

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, recents-screen
---


# Question
Title: Can I put an HTC flip clock on the lock screen?
I have an HTC One X and it has the typical HTC flip-clock/weather widget loud and proud on the home screen.

I don't really want it there because it's a bit bulky but it would be nice on the lock screen for when I'm just taking my phone out my pocket to check the time? Is this possible? I can find setting to customise the clock on the lock screen but, for some reason, the only clock that list doesn't include is the flip-clock I'm after!

# Answer
Install WidgetLocker Lockscreen. It allows to add homescreen widgets on lockscreen.

**Update:**
HTC widgets can't be added to WidgetLocker, but third-party general widgets can be. So, install Beautiful Widgets app, first. It has exact HTC flip-clock alternative.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: lock-screens, htc-one-x, clock
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to see 3G connection time?
I have a time-based data plan, therefore I would like to have a report of the 3G connection time (possibly with a weekly reset). However, all the application on the market reports the data usage, and not the time spent online.

Is there an app for that (for Gingerbread)?

# Answer
My Data Manager app displays what you need. Check out its data pie (left-to-right swipe) and make sure Time button is pressed.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I've built an app myself! This is the best I could do: it doesn't detect time connection, but shuts the device down after a delay.

Delayed shutdown
> -2 votes

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Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, data-monitoring
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# Question
Title: Will rooting my Samsung Galaxy S before I activate it cause any problems?
I have a samsung Galaxy S (Fascinate) that I haven't decided if I want to keep, so I haven't activated it on my Verizon account. I'd like to root it and flash a new ROM (possibly a separate Kernel) but I'm wondering if doing so when it is not connected to any carrier will cause any problems, particularly with the voice/data connection settings?

# Answer
> 5 votes
I doubt it. I've done the same with a GSM Galaxy S (the Vibrant) with no problems. Of course it probably depends on whether you have a really terrible ROM, but rooting alone shouldn't matter. And it might be different for CDMA. But worst case, you can just flash back to stock. My Vibrant picked up the network settings on it's first boot with a SIM, I would again assume your first boot-up after activation would cause the same thing. Plus, if the custom ROM is Captivate-based and not i9000-based, it might have the network settings already built in (and just need to pick up the phone number).

# Answer
> 0 votes
You will not get voice/data if it is not activated on your VZW account. But you can use it as a wifi device, like an iPod. I say root it and flash an ICS ROM to see what the device can do. I think you'll be surprised! Go here for all the info you need to root/flash/return it to stock if you decide to sell it.

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, rooting, samsung-fascinate
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# Question
Title: Can I use (via wifi only) my original VZW Droid without a voice or data plan?
I have a situation similar to Can I use an Android phone without an Internet access plan? but with one key difference, I don't even want to use it as a phone. Just a PDA.

I have an original VZW droid, the phone powers up and I can start apps etc; however, I cannot even connect to WiFi (it tries and fails with an error that just says unable to connect, try again). Is this a limitation of the phone being ***not*** activated? I used to use this phone as my every day driver, but I've since upgraded to a new phone, but would still like to use this droid as a wifi web browser around the house.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Yes you can, there shouldn't be any problem for using your phone as PDA only.

# Answer
> 3 votes
There shouldn't be any problems using WiFi without having an active account on your og Droid. There's a pretty good discussion of this same question on the thread "repurpose old android phone".

# Answer
> 1 votes
I had the same issue with my HTC Hero. Even though I could toggle Wifi on and off while in Airplane mode, it would fail to connect. Turning Airplane mode off solved the problem.

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Tags: wi-fi, internet, verizon, data-plan, activation
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