# Question
Title: Moving app between _three_ possibilities for storage?
My son has an Android phone, and when he bought it the storage space was divided thus:

**System Memory:** 157MB

**Internal Memory:** 1024MB

When this was essentially full we put in an SD card to give him more storage. So now we also have

**SD card:** 1.84GB

When he fires up something called "App Manager" and clicks on "storage" he sees these three possibilities -- System memory, Internal memory and SD card.

OK now here's the problem. If he downloads an app from the app store, by default it will typically install onto the Internal memory. He wants to put it on the SD card, but the only option available when he tries to move it with his app manager is "Move to phone". If he moves an app to the phone, which presumably is the system memory, then the only option now available is "move to internal memory". Furthermore, try as we might we cannot move any app onto the SD card. Is this expected behaviour? Is there a way of installing apps on his SD card (without rooting the phone, ideally)?

The phone is an LG-E400, running Android version 2.3.6 .

# Answer
System memory, internal memory is a mis-leading thing, its actually referring to storage space which is a very different thing to the meaning RAM often referred as memory!

The reference to storage - **system** as in `/system` would be more accurate.

When you download an app from the Play Store, it **must** be installed into the `/data`.

From there you can actually move the app to the sd-card. On stock vanilla android, the option is there '*Move to SD card*'.

Now by the sound of it, its as if it is indeed moving the app to the SDCard, but its not really a SDCard, its how an internal storage space (think of USB flash drives), is treated as an `/sdcard` but in reality, you have internal and external storage, the latter being the actual micro SD card slotted in place.

Its a bit confusing how it works, from a developer's perspective, when a check is carried out for an SD card, Android seemingly "tells" the developer that the internal storage is treated as an `/sdcard`.

Also, to compound confusion even more, there's also a *symbolic link* to the real sdcard, `/external/sdcard` as well - this bit is dependent on what device/manufacturer is in question.

Yes, this is the expected behaviour, whichever storage (from a view point of Android and the hardware device's file-system priority, is treated as "sdcard").

In short, nothing you can do, apart from using App 2 SD, but then again, that could fall into the same trap as I mentioned previously about the developer's perspective.

## Edit

After the OP has edited their question to include the device, after looking at GSMArena

```
MEMORY      Card slot microSD, up to 32GB
Internal    1 GB storage, 384 MB RAM

```

Yup, it looks definitely like as if the internal storage is treated in this fashion as an "SDCard"...

The naming is misleading. What is really meant, is: internal (phone) storage 157MB, internal SD-Card (eMMC) 1024MB
> 7 votes

# Answer
I have the same phone (LG Optimus L3 e400), I have the same problem but I have found some solutions, like the app directory bind which puts yours apps' data to external SD card and make the phone understand it is still on internal memory (the phone executes the apps using a new link made by db).

The other way is to upgrade to Android 4.0.3 with a custom ROMavailable and use an app called "root external 2 internal sd" to do exactly what you look for, for flashing a custom ROM you have to be rooted and take some risks, don't worry if you make an android backup there won't be any problems.

I actually found another possible way which is modifying the vold.fstab (must be rooted) if you try copy the original vold.fstab to the same directory and rename it (voldfstab.backup) if there's a problem just delete the modified file and rename back your original file.

I am a web developer not an android developer so this is the result of a lot of research and experience. Hope I helped you.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I am using the same model **LG L3 E400**.I have fixed this issue by **rooting** my phone and installing APP2SD and some other apps are their for moving apps from **internal memort to SD memory**.

I am currently using **custom ROM**-- *Jellybreard* 2 which is a stable one..KUDOSSS

Try rooting and install custom ROM... Happy Rooting... :)
> 0 votes

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Tags: internal-storage, storage, usb-mass-storage
---


title: What is com.qualcomm.qcrilmsgtunnel

text:
# Question
Title: What is com.qualcomm.qcrilmsgtunnel
What this **com.qualcomm.qcrilmsgtunnel** does. I stopped it service and process nothing really happened. I restarted the phone and it is back running. Anybody know what this app does. My phone is Nexus 5, 4.4.3.

# Answer
> 14 votes
Its the stock phone dialer app.

Included packages

> **com.qualcomm.qcrilmsgtunnel**
>
> SIM toolkit
>
> Phone/Messaging storage
>
> Phone

If you have enabled 'Fast Dormancy' on a device it may cause a spike in activity / battery use for this process, it appears to be a confilict with this option.

---
Tags: nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: Why does my Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc LT15a reboot itself and not even load the home screen?
I have Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc LT15a and suddenly the phone started to reboot itself. I'm assuming it's the memory is too low to load the OS main screen. Now, I have important data on the phone internal memory under the app called NoteEverything and I'm desperately trying to retrieve it somehow. Is there a way to start up the Xperia Arc in safe mode and delete some apps to free up memory? OR should I open the phone and disconnect some hardware maybe this will free up memory? How can I copy the ROM info which is the internal memory of the phone to another device or extra storage?

What should I do, what do you suggest? I am willing to do the impossible to have it up and running so at least I get my data backup!

p.s., I don't want to use the PC companion and delete my internal ROM coz it will delete everything and I don’t want this in the first place.

# Answer
> -3 votes
Try:

* Removing SIM
* Restart phone then go to setting -wireless networks-more-mobile n/w-n/w operator
* Here you select search mode manual then select your network in 2G mode(ex. Vodaphone 2g or Airtel2g etc). Make sure not to select a 3G network.

---
Tags: backup, boot-loop, sony-xperia-arc
---


# Question
Title: ADB shell: change IME method gives error "Unknown ID: null"
I bought a Chinese Android 4.2.2 smartwatch and discover it does not have a virtual keyboard. There is also no "input" option in Settings (there is "language" only).

I installed a third party keyboard (Anysoftkeyboard) and another app called Quick Keyboard Switch that can change keyboards with going through Settings.

When I run Quick Keyboard Switch and tried to enable the downloaded keyboard, the app force closed.

I found another post here describing how to use ADB shell to enable and set the default keyboard:

how to change input method with ime command

The instruction from the above post describes how to enable the keyboard using "ime enable com.etc.etc" command before setting the keyboard as default using "ime set com.etc.etc"

Unfortunately, when I use the "ime enable" command in ADB shell ("su" applied, the watch has been rooted), it gives me an error message:

Error: Unknown ID: null

When I use "ime set" command, it returns a similar error message ("com.etc.etc" (name of keyboard) instead of "null") - I gather this is because I have not enabled the keyboard yet.

I am worried that I don't even see "keyboard" option in Settings - does that mean the input module has been removed by the firmware maker of this smartwatch?

If so, where should I look in the Android firmware (I guess somewhere inside /system) that I can copy and paste to restore the keyboard input function?

I am NOT a developer nor a computer engineer. I google and try to find solutions to my problems. Thank you for your help and being patient.

# Answer
It sounds like your suspicion is correct, and the manufacturer has removed this functionality from the firmware. I'm afraid it's not as simple as copying and pasting some files: you'd need to obtain the source code of the firmware, modify it, and recompile to add the functionality, and likely you'd need to overcome whatever problems made the vendor disable it in the first place (such as that keyboards aren't made for such small screens).
> 1 votes

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Tags: adb, default-applications, input-methods
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# Question
Title: Where can I get a CAD model for the Moto X
I am attempting to make my own 3D printed case for my phone. I need either very specific dimensions or a CAD model of it.

I've searched around but couldn't find anything.

# Answer
In fact, one is available from Motorola here, posted by Reddit user troub (source). It is a `.dae` file but can be converted using Autodesk FBX Converter (see www.cadstudio.cz/download or www.autodesk.com/fbx). Alternatively, it is posted here on Thingiverse as a `.stl` file.
> 1 votes

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Tags: moto-x
---


# Question
Title: Is it safe to cross flash partitions across devices?
I've got my Nexus 5 replaced today. I was wondering if I could make a backup from the recovery on device A and flash this on device B? They are exactly the same, just a different physical device.

# Answer
As long as it's the **exact** same model (be very careful here, since Nexus 5 has GSM and CDMA models) your plan will work.

If you are planning to unlock your phone's bootloader, root it and install a custom recovery and ROM, it's easily done with nandroid.

1. On original Nexus 5 you run nandroid backup.
2. Using `adb pull` copy the newly created backup directory to your PC (the path will be different depending on the recovery you are using.)
3. Unlock the bootloader of your new Nexus 5.
4. Boot into your new phone and enable USB Debugging. Now hook it up via USB and accept the authorization prompt. This is a very important step. Do not skip this, otherwise adb will refuse to connect to the phone, even in recovery.
5. Install same version of custom recovery as you were using on your original Nexus 5.
6. Using `adb push` copy the backup folder you retrieved in step 2 from your PC onto the new phone.
7. On the new phone boot into recovery and run nandroid restore.

Keep in mind that nandroid does not back up or restore the contents of media storage (/sdcard), so you will need to copy those files manually (`adb pull/push` works quite well, or you can use other methods as Izzy mentioned in the comments).

If you cannot (or don't want to) unlock the bootloader, you may want to look into using `adb backup` tool. However, this method also has its down sides (e.g. SMS messages are not backed up or restored, failure to back up some media, etc.)
> 3 votes

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Tags: backup, recovery-mode, restore
---


title: Connect Samsung s3 as installer?

text:
# Question
Title: Connect Samsung s3 as installer?
I went into developer options and checked "USB debugging" however anytime I connect my phone to the computer it shows up as either a media device or a camera, I can switch between those two options just fine, but I can never get it to show up as installer. This is the Straight Talk edition of the phone and its running on the Verizon network.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have the Galaxy S3 and when I plug mine in it automatically connects as an installer, so if I want it to connect as a media device I manually have to change it to that. For your situation you might have to do the reverse. If you are keeping the "connect as a media device" and "connect as a camera device" box check all the time in Developer Options then what you can try is plugging it in without those boxes being checked, then see if it will default back to connecting as an installer when you next connect it. It also depends on what phone you have and since I don't know if you have the same phone as me or not I can't really give a super detailed answer specific to your phone.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, usb, usb-debugging
---


title: Battery-tracking app

text:
# Question
Title: Battery-tracking app
I have a Galaxy SIII on Jellybean that's about a year old. I've never had any battery issues with it. The last three days, it's been at 80% when I go to bed at night, and completely dead in the morning. Once it's charged (and it does appear to charge fully), it's fine all day, so there has to be some app that's hijacking it and running down the battery during the night. To the best of my recollection I have not installed anything new recently. I have GPS and wireless turned off by default.

Are there any apps out there that would produce a report of what apps are running at a given time (i.e. that I can look at after the fact; not something that shows me what's running now) and how much battery life they used?

# Answer
Wakelock detector should show you if there is one (or more) apps keeping your phone awake overnight.

You could also (if you're rooted) try BetterBatteryStats. It's a paid app but it can be found on XDA if you want to try it out (The thread was started by the author). I've included their message on why they make it available free on XDA below.

> BetterBatteryStats is available on the Android market for what I believe is a fair price. If you like my work and want to support me please fell free to show your gratitude by buying the app.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I used to have the same issue a while ago. I was going through my Facebook and I saw and advertisement for a battery saving app called Battery Doctor. I have tried all kinds of battery saving apps but none of them really did the job quite as well as I was hoping, so I decided to give this one a chance. I downloaded it and was surprised at how well it works. It not only has a unique 3-step charging system but goes through your apps and tells you what apps are draining your battery and gives you the option to close them within the app. It keeps a graph of how many minutes you save when using the app. It is super helpful and i think you should try downloading this app to see if it fixes your problem. The best part about it is the app is free.Here is the link to the app
> 0 votes

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, battery-life
---


# Question
Title: How do I include contacts when searching in Google Maps?
When I search for "Joe" in the Google Maps application, I'd like it to include "Joe Smith" from my Google contacts. How might I make this happen?

I'm using CyanogenMod 11-20140604-NIGHTLY-hammerhead (on a Nexus 5, "hammerhead").

# Answer
> 3 votes
Aha! The trick is to enable Web History. After doing so, I now see addresses for my Contacts (my "People") in Maps when I search for them by name.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The below is from Google Support and it also includes iPad / iPhone support for anyone that may be relevant to.

**Search for a contact’s address**

**Google Contacts**

See home and work addresses for friends, family and colleagues in your Google Contacts on the map. Here's how to find a contact's address on the map:

1.Open the Google Maps app.

2.To sign in, touch the person icon next to the search box. If your person icon is filled in, you’re already signed in.

3.In the search box at the top, start typing a name. \`**Suggested contacts will appear in the search results.**

4.Touch a result to see that person's address on the map.

> If your account is managed by your company or another organisation, you can't currently search for contacts.

As per the OP finding the solution himself, you need to enable Web History for this functionality to work.

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: HTC Sensation XE, Mobile data OFF when GPS ON
When any app on my android device started to read GPS (with GPS icon ON at notification area), my mobile data connection is OFF right away and then ON again after about 10-20 seconds. It happens in every app and that's really annoys me.

I've tried to uncheck the "Google's Location Service" at "Location" settings menu, but it affects nothing.

Anyone has same problem with me? What's the solutions?

# Answer
I've found the solution !!! It's an old bug that some people are trailing since Android 1.6, and wich is always not actualy corrected !

The solution : you must have only one APN set in your mobile network configuration.
> 1 votes

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Tags: gps, mobile-data, htc-sensation-xe
---


# Question
Title: Barcode scanner and touch keyboard in Android
If I connect the barcode scanner via blue-tooth with my Android tablet, the soft keyboard will be switched off and I can not visible the keyboard any longer. I have to disconnect the barcode reader first. Is there a way to use both (barcode scanner and touch keyboard)in the same time?

# Answer
Your bar code is being recognized as Physical Keyboard. Hence the soft virtual keyboard on your android is been disabled..

Option 1: Try manually checking the keyboard setting after you connect the bar code reader. Go to Settings -\> Language & Input -\> and check if the keyboard options are disabled and if so, try enabling them.

Option 2: Go to Settings -\> Language & Input -\> Keyboard ( & input methods) -\> and check for "USE PHYSICAL KEYBOARD" and put it to "off".

If the above doesn't work, can you send the Phone model and Bar Code Model.
> 2 votes

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Tags: keyboard, touchscreen, barcode
---


# Question
Title: with which encoding is my sdcard mounted by android?
I uploaded some music to my htc sensation (not rooted) by mounting the sdcard via usb as vfat from a desktop linux computer and copying the mp3 files and playlist files. This works fine as long as the song titles have only ascii characters. But often they have foreign characters (umlauts). So it's crucial to mount the device on my desktop with the same encoding as android mounts it, otherwise the titles looks scrambled and the playlists don't match with the song files.

So which are the mount options that android uses to mount the sdcard? I tried the utf8 option on the desktop but it didn't work.

# Answer
You can find out by issuing the command `mount` at a terminal prompt (either via `adb shell` of using any terminal app). As I have no access to *your* sdcard, I cannot answer the question for sure (I could only tell you about *mine*, where the relevant parameters are set as `codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8`. So it's "Latin-1" (ISO-8859-1), which seems quite logical with a FAT file system, and probably is also used in your case.

Full list of options:

```
rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0002,dmask=0002,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro

```
> 2 votes

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Tags: sd-card, mount, special-chars
---


# Question
Title: I can't find the developer options in my tablet running Android 4.0.3
I am starting to learn Android develpment and I bought a very cheap Chinese Android Tablet. It came with 4.0.3 and I can't find the developer option under settings!

I think maybe it's the custom ROM it has, does anyone knows how to solve this? Thanks!

PS: I wanted to post pics of the Settings to show that there isnt a Developer option in there...but I cant even do a printscreen with this tablet since it only comes with the power button, and printscreen requires power and volume buttons...this tablet was too cheap I guess...

PS2: In case it helps:

Model Number FS-MG789

Android Version: 4.0.3

Baseband Version: 0.51

Kernel Version: 3.0.8+ spreadwin version 2.4.10(S101\_JH\_B)

Build Number: nuclear\_puppies-eng 4.0.3 iml74k 20120727 test-keys

**EDIT:**

I couldn't install the device on my PC either so I followed this answer and installed it like this (David Kreps answer)...which is basically to add your device's VID/PID manually to the android\_winsub.inf (inside the sdk\extras\google\usb\_driver folder).

I am using Android Studio, and it doesn't need a manifest with `debugable` added in it and I did a little test and apparently I can debug a code in the device....but still, I don't know the general implications of this no Developer option in the device.

# Answer
> 1 votes
http://m.androidcentral.com/how-get-developer-settings-galaxy-s4

1. Head into the Settings menu. Samsung's done things a little differently and changed the way the settings menu looks, so you'll need to hit the "More" tab, and then get into the Software information.
2. Look for "About device" at the bottom. Tap it.
3. Hop on down to the build number, and tap it seven times. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. You'll get a little prompt saying you're about to unlock the developer settings. Hit that button one final time -- seven! -- and they're unlocked.

Have you tried this? Its really a bit tricky.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, settings, developer-options
---


# Question
Title: No system updates for Galaxy Nexus (maguro) with Cyanogenmod 11 after 20140225-SNAPSHOT-Installer
I have a Galaxy Nexus (maguro) and some time back I got an OTA udpate after I installed Cyanogenmod on on the phone using the installer. I'm not sure which 'M' release this OTA update is. All it says in Settings \> About phone \> Cyanogenmod statistics \> Preview data is the following:

> 11-20140225-SNAPSHOT-InstallerXNPQ09P-maguro

I'm assuming this is an update added on 25-Feb-2014.

But in the Cyanogenmod download page for maguro (https://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=maguro), it shows 'M' releases that were added way after that, like M6 added on 04-May-2014.

So, 1) Why am I not getting these updates through Settings \> About phone \> System updates and 2) Why doesn't the above mentioned snapshot show up in the Cyanogenmod download page for maguro?

Many thanks!

# Answer
> 0 votes
The answer to 1) is: The installer doesn't use the same releases as you see on the download page, it has separately signed releases so they're not directly comparable. Sorry I don't know how you can predict when you might next get an update when you've used the installer.

The answer to 2) is: Latest release for installer devices are here: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod\_Installer#Supported\_Devices

For the galaxy nexus that is:

> 11.0-InstallerXNPQ09P

Further info: On that same wiki page it says:

> How do I get updates? Updates are done via Settings \> About phone \> System Updates. When a new snapshot build is \>available, your will also receive a notification. Devices flashed via the installer will only get updates when a new stable snapshot build is available.

I suspect that might be out of date however.

The following seems to be the most recent up to date information: http://www.cyanogenmod.org/blog/cm-11-m4-post-release-items

> Installer builds are those served via the CM Installer applications (Windows, Mac). These \>builds are specially signed and named separately – there is no concept of an ‘M’ build for \>this release channel – so saying ‘Installer skipped M#’ is an incorrect interpretation. \>This channel only ever receives specially created Stable builds – they even come with their \>own naming structure (eg XNPQ02R).

There is an additional blog post that rehashes some of the information on the m4 blog post above with a bit of extra clarification here: http://www.cyanogenmod.org/blog/cyanogenmod-11-0-m6-release

HTH. Stephen

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-nexus, ota-update
---


# Question
Title: Google Services battery drain on Galaxy devices
Here are screenshots from my three Samsung Galaxy devices:

Samsung Galaxy S3 (left) and Samsung Galaxy S4 (right; click images for larger variants)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 (click image to enlarge)

It seems, that in each case Google Play Services ("Usługi Google") are mostly responsible for fast battery drain. 2014 lasts only a day now (compared to 3+ days of previous version of 10.1). S4 lasts less than 24 hours, S3 toughly reaches 24 hours.

What is the cause of so fast battery drain?

# Answer
> 4 votes
For the drain caused by google play services, install the Xposed framework and the module Wakelock Terminator. The free version lets you block 1 app, and that's all you need. Open up Wakelock Terminator, choose to block Google Play services, and filter it with the following: NlpCollectorWakeLock NlpWakeLock CheckinService NetworkLocationLocator. Of course, your device must be rooted. If it isnt, try disabling location access when you're not using it

# Answer
> 1 votes
I had a similiar problem. It started when I accidentally played mp3 through Google Music ("Muzyka Play" in Polish version).

The fix was to clear any cache and data in settings, app manager Google music ("Muzyka Google Play").

Now it stays quiet again and I'm not gonna use it :)

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, battery-life, samsung-galaxy-s-4, samsung-galaxy-tab-10, google-play-services
---


# Question
Title: What is the difference between aboot and boot?
I'm looking through my device and I noticed within `/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name` that there is `boot` and `aboot` partitions. What is the difference between them? Mainly what is `aboot`?

# Answer
The **Application Bootloader** `ABOOT` boots the Android kernel/Recovery kernel.

It is the mechanism to download images onto the device from a host machine (like Windows/Linux PC).

On Samsung devices it runs the ODIN protocol on the device.

The **Primary Bootloader** `boot` part is a computer program that loads the main operating system or runtime environment for the computer after completion of the self-tests.

The PBL acts as a communication engine to download the Secondary Boot Loader (SBL) into the internal RAM and then activates it.

The SBL adds functions for erase and programming of flash memory and EEPROM; it also handles the actual download of new or updated software. This allows a minimum ROM utilization by the PBL
> 18 votes

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Tags: boot, bootloader
---


# Question
Title: Tab 2 10.1 P5100 stuck on starting screen
Actually I was downloading something when my tab 2 10.1 p5100 suddenly went off. Then the starting screen came up saying,"Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1" and it is stuck there. I tried the factory reset by holding the power and volume down button but the process says done.But still it doesn't come on completely.

Can anyone please give me some advice on how to fix this.

# Answer
One of first links in google. Try it.

http://www.tips4tab.com/how-to-restore-galaxy-tab-2-10-1-p5113-to-stock-android-4-0-4-ice-cream-sandwich-with-official-firmware-ueblh3/

In short:

You need to download Odin and firmware package. You boot to download mode, open odin on computer and connect your tablet to pc. You select the frimware donlowaded earlier and click start.

If something fails then you can do again power+volume up.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Is there a hard reset hole in which you can stick a paper clip? If so, I'd let the battery die, then charge it back up and press the hard reset button with a paper clip. That's how I got my old android tablet back to life last summer. I've since bought a nexus 7, though, and I'd highly recommend getting a newer android tablet because they have improved tremendously over the past few years.
> 0 votes

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


# Question
Title: How do I get my call log to stop listing my text messages
I have a Galaxy S4 Mini. The call log on my Galaxy S4 Mini includes my text messages. I have to sort through dozens of text messages for every call that it lists. How can I set it to display only the calls?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Open your phone application and go to `Recent > Settings > View By` and set it to what you require.

However, there is an issue on certain Samsung devices that once you press the back button, this setting is lost. It will also often be lost on reboot. If you are affected by this, then change the setting and just press the home button. It will remain like this until you reboot. If you are not affected then it's a one time thing.

Alternatively you could download a different dialer / call log application and just use that. Samsung's own one is quite slow I find.

---
Tags: settings, samsung-galaxy-s-4, calls
---


title: How to block texts from certain number

text:
# Question
Title: How to block texts from certain number
I get spam texts from a certain number (five digit number). Does anyone know how to block texts from specified numbers? I am on a nexus 5 android 4.4.3.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I used to get spam messages all the time as well. Normally if you go to your phone carrier and ask them if they can block a certain number for you they most likely will be able to. I have Verizon so when I go to My Verizon online there is a tab you can click on to block numbers, so if your carrier has a website then that is also an option to explore if you can't go into your local carrier store.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I use a 3rd-party SMS app called GO SMS Pro to "block" SMS from certain numbers. What it actually does is hide (or move) the SMS from that "blocked" number to a different area (SMS Blocker module), so it doesn't show up in the message list. Further SMS from that number will also be hidden, but you can still take a look at them (at SMS Blocker) if you want to.

As with what Austin Harris said, check with your telco if you have a service for reporting spammers. In my country (and telco), we can screenshot the SMS and tweet/report it to them.

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Tags: sms-blocking
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to Chromecast a Google+ video from Android?
I'm trying to Chromecast a video uploaded to Google+, using my Android phone (Sony Xperia Z). I thought this would be pretty straightforward, as video is already on the net, and it seems the Chromecast has a pretty simple way to just be forwarded an URL and playing it. However, no Chromecast symbol appears when clicking the video in the Google+ app. Anyone knows if this functionality exists or not in the Google+ app?

# Answer
This functionality magically appeared in the google plus app on android last week, so now problem is solved. The Chromecast icon now appears when on the net with a chromecast device.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Chromecast support does not currently exist in Google plus.

If you would like to cast the video, try going to G+ in the chrome beta and opening the video in full screen. The chrome beta has support for casting some videos from the browser.
> 1 votes

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Tags: google-plus, chromecast
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# Question
Title: Can I open a photo in a text message without using my data?
I got a Motorola Razr-V phone and received a text with an attached photo. Is it possible to open using Wi-Fi,not my phone data?

# Answer
Normally when you are recieving images in a text message it only uses your data to download it or to show up in your text messages. Opening the image after it has showed up in the message doesn't require internet connection of any type. So far the only phones I am aware of that allow you to use WiFi to download images in a text are the iPhones, so I am not certain if Android based phones are capable of that.
> 0 votes

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Tags: hardware
---


title: 4.4.2 SDCard directories - help

text:
# Question
Title: 4.4.2 SDCard directories - help
have Samsung s5, rooted.
I need your help to understand something..
Here is my directories related to storage SDCard

```
/sdcard -> /storage/emulated/legacy (SymLink)
/mnt/extSdCard -> /storage/extSdCard (Symlink)
/mnt/sdcard -> /storage/emulated/legacy (Symlink)
/storage/sdcard0 -> /storage/emulated/legacy (Symlink)
/storage/extSdCard mounted to the SD-Card
/storage/emulated/legacy mounted to the internal storage
/storage/emulated/0 mounted to the internal storage

```

So only /storage/extSdCard is the real sdcard.

It is not seems to be right.. how can Applications know where to write to?
For example, Whatsup cannot find the SD for some reason - I believe it related to this issue..

what do you think of it?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Applications don't have to care *where* the storage is. They just ask the Android system to give them a "pointer" to it. There are specific API calls for this, like `getExternalStorageDirectory()`. For details, you might check on our sister site: Get the right external storage from Android devices.

---
Tags: sd-card, storage, mount
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to change the details of my mobile that my carrier sees?
Here is an interesting one. I have a mobile phone that I use daily. I have a PAYG package that allows unlimited Data with it.

They have just changed their policy that now sees my particular mobile phone as a Tablet. With that they have blocked my Data use via the Sim for this mobile only!

What I am interested in is if there is a way to make my mobile look like another model of mobile to my carrier.

Like this.....

My mobile is a Samsung Galaxy P1000 - I want it to look like a Samsung Galaxy S3 to my network... Hope that makes sense..

I have used this phone for 14 months every day without problems and spoken to my network provider at length regarding the problem. They said if the SIM is used in any other Smartphone it will work, just not mine!!

Look forward to your answers on the matter..

# Answer
Your TL;DR; answer is: NO.

---

Your carrier will always see the IMEI code of the phone. It is like a MAC address on a LAN.

Spoofing or changing the IMEI of a device is Illegal.

Since in S.E. we won't go beyond the law, nobody is changing the IMEI.

You can check the model and status of any device by its IMEI, in this link here.

The P1000 sits on the boundary between a phone and a tablet (Humpty Dum-P1000 sitting on a wall...).

There are some like @onik♦ or your carrier that will see it as a tablet, but screen size (and there are several 7 inch phones out there) is hardly enough to make a device a tablet...

P1000 runs only up to 2.3 gingerbread (stock) - Several apps behave as phone only because of that. It makes calls and messaging, so I call a mistrial on this whole tablet or phone thing.

We are specifically talking of the P1000 here. The other generations of the Galaxy Tab series can fall into the tablet side of the wall, but the P1000? no.

Good luck convincing your carrier of either. My money is on them telling you to suck it (as bad as it sounds).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-tab
---


# Question
Title: Disable Facebook auto sync in Android 4.4
Can I disable facebook auto sync in Android 4.4?

I could easily do this for my Google account, but I see no options to disable Facebook auto sync in Settings-\>Accounts-\>Facebook.

# Answer
The sync options are located within the Facebook app itself in Settings.

For example, photo sync options are located under `Account > App Settings > Sync Photos`.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sync, 4.4-kitkat, facebook
---


# Question
Title: I have an HTC desire C and want to turn off Google voice typing
The keyboard is so small that I keep hitting the voice typing microphone icon but I don't want to use that feature ever. It's too slow and lags.

So, I want to turn it off completely. Under settings\>language & keyboard\> keyboard & input methods, there is no option to turn it off.

This thread: How to turn on/off voice typing is similar but addresses another model that does appear to have an on/off feature or box to check to enable or disable. HTC Desire C does not seem to.

So how can I turn it off or disable it?

# Answer
Disable both Google Voice Typing (in the keyboard menu) as well as Voice Input key (under Languages).
> -1 votes

---
Tags: voice-recognition, htc-desire-c
---


# Question
Title: ASUS Transformer TF101 freezes on many ROMs
# Problem:

I have this TF101, which freezes in virtually every ROM I've tried. When I'm playing a game, refreshing Twitter timeline by dragging down, or sometimes even simply viewing settings, the screen freezes. The sound and logcat however continue. I can also turn the screen on and off by pressing the power button, but the lockscreen does not show up. When I press the volume buttons, *sometimes* logcat says it's registering the presses, but ignores them: `I/InputDispatcher(141): Dropped event because input dispatch is disabled.`

Here's a Youtube video showing the problem.

# Analysis:

As said, logcat continues while the freeze is happening. Here are two logcats of the freeze and a traces.txt:

**Device info:** Stock ROM
**Android version:** 3.1
**Kernel version:** 2.6.36.3-00011-g3eb19ec android@Mercury #1
**Build number:** HMJ37.WW\_epad-8.4.4.11-201107011
**S/N:** B70.........
**Problem:** Freeze as mentioned before.
**Logcat**

**Device info:** Stock ROM after 2 ASUS updates
**Android version:** 4.0.3
**Kernel version:** 2.6.39.4 android@Mercury #1
**Build number:** IML74K.WW\_epad-9.2.1.24-20120503
**S/N:** B70.........
**Problem:** Freeze as mentioned before, but now the device reboots itself short time later.
**Logcat**

**Device info:** Prime! 1.8 ROM flashed using NVFlash
**Android version:** 2.3
**Kernel version:** 2.6.36.4-g565dea1 roach@nimda #20110816
**Build number:** HTJ85B.prime\_epad-1.8-20110821
**S/N:** B70.........
**Problem:** Freeze as mentioned before. *This is the ROM in which the freezes less frequently happen, but they still happen.*
**Traces.txt**

# Solution:

I have no idea. That's why I came here. Any help is appreciated.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have found a ROM that does not have this problem, the newest AOKP ROM.

# Answer
> -1 votes
The t101 is getting long in the tooth. Not sure what version of android you're on (as you probably know kitkat is supposed to be better for older devices) but I expect that many recent ROMs coupled with recent apps, which are much more resource intensive than the apps of 2010 or 2011, are bogging down the tablet's aging insides. If suggest researching 2014 ROMs others have had success with on the T101 and installing one of those and also being vigilant about killing apps you're not using to free up RAM.

---
Tags: asus-eee-pad-transformer, system-freeze
---


# Question
Title: Where did these share options come from?
Recently some new share options started appearing on my phone (Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.2.2):

They include the first three you see here:

* AIM
* Baidu Space
* Blinklist

I haven't installed any of these apps. I checked to see if they were installed without my knowledge (sometimes my girlfriend borrows my phone) and I don't find any the apps listed among those installed. And when I click on one of them, it doesn't launch an app but prompts me to pick a browser option in order to, I presume, take me to a web page.

So does anyone have any idea where these come from? Is this some kind of crapware that got installed on my phone? And more importantly, does any one know how I can get rid of them?\*

\*I used Andmade Share to customize my share menu, but I'd like to purge them from my phone all together.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I finally figured this out as I was cleaning out the apps on my phone today.

I had installed this Bookmarklet app as a way of sharing links with Delicious from my phone. Unbeknownst to me, the sharing options had gotten switched.

So that's where these mysterious unwanted options had come from.

---
Tags: 4.2-jelly-bean, share-menu, intents
---


# Question
Title: Bricked phone due to cut-pasting of apk files
I accidentally *cut* all the .apk and .odex files from `/system/apps/` and pasted onto the SD card instead of *copying* and pasting them. My phone is totally bricked. Stuck in a boot-loop and factory reset doesn't work (as I had assumed it wouldn't). I cannot connect ADB to it because Android OS never actually loads (hence the boot-loop). I know there's a way to fix this I just dont know how to do it yet. PLEASE HELP ME DO THIS! This is a learning experience for me (good ***and*** bad).

The phone in question is a Kyocera Hydro C5171 from Cricket. It has Android 4.0.4 ICS. It *is* rooted (that's how I was able to accomplish this horrible act of murder to my precious phone). I need to figure this out please and will do all the homework on the subject myself **if only I could get pointed in the right direction!** I just don't know where to begin. I believe that I have only one option (this is just an assumption, please don't judge me):

I have to flash the stock ROM onto the phone. If, indeed, that is the case I require a copy of the stock ROM first (I may not be searching for it right, but I can't seem to find it *anywhere* on the web. Any help on where I can find this is GREATLY appreciated!!).

Second, From what I've been reading Kyocera has locked the bootloader on this particular device and flashing the ROM is extremely difficult for seasoned veterans of this game (If this is true I will definitely need an instructor to properly guide me through the process).

Third, I have no effing idea how to even begin flashing ROMs, so, here also, I will require some form of instruction or at least be pointed to a URL that contains a decent guide to accomplish what I'm trying to do.

---

**Updates** (from the comments):

* I've got neither custom recovery nor a Nandroid backup
* I can boot into stock recovery (wipe cache, wipe data, or reboot, see this screenshot), but my device is not discovered in this mode by ADB (latest drivers installed on my PC)

# Answer
I went to a Cricket retailer (not an official store) for an unrelated issue with my new phone and, interestingly enough, they can, and will, flash the stock ROM back onto my phone. So, problem solved and lesson learned!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, boot-loop, rom, unbricking, bootloader-lock
---


# Question
Title: Making use of the 2nd Partition on SD card (Link2SD)?
I don't know if I am just being stupid here or if I have infact gone wrong somewhere.

Basically. I followed the usual steps for using an SD card as App storage. Connected 2GB Micro SD via a Card Reader, Used MiniPartition Tool to split off a 512MB section. Both Primary with the 512Mb Being set as Ext2 and the first Partition remaining as FAT32 for media usage.

Put the card back into phone and added Link2SD followed by the Select partition type Ext2 and rebooted etc etc. Whole thing appears to have been done successfully as I can now move Apps to SD card. Obviously I still have the issue of a small % of data being on the internal but thats not an issue atm.

SO my issue I guess is this:

Why is that each time I add an App to the SD. Say for example the Facebook app at around 25MB.. Why does it deduct that space from my first Partition (the FAT32 Media part) and not the second partition (the 512MB ext2 partition) which was specifically created for this purpose?

I have the Samsung Galaxy Ace GT S5830 Running on Android Version 2.3.5.

Edit:

This is how my storage info looks:

# Answer
You need to use Link2SD to actually move the app to the second partition. If you simply use the built-in Android way of moving it to the SD card, then you aren't taking advantage of Link2SD at all.

In Link2SD, you can select apps and move them to the second partition. You can even set it up so that any new apps installed will automatically be moved over. Any current apps that were moved to the SD card using the native Android method must be moved manually to the Ext2 partition using the Link2SD app (though I think you can select multiple apps and move all of them at once).
> 1 votes

# Answer
You dont have to move the apps to sd card. Just select your apps in link2sd and then from menu select create link option. It will link your apps to sd card (ext2 partition) and not fat32.
> 0 votes

# Answer
First of all, you need to upgrade from Link2SD to Link2SD Plus so that you can move everything, including the data.

Move the app to phone memory, then create link, then check everything, then press ok. Then, the whole app, including the lib files, data etc. is moved on to the 2nd partition.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-ace, partitions, link2sd
---


# Question
Title: How to copy files from phone to cloud in ES File Explorer
I use ES File Explorer and I really like it. I added my Google Drive accounts to it and I can download files from them.

However, when I want to upload my images and I select them and press Copy to, it shows 2 tabs: Local and Net. On the Net tab, I see nothing. How could I select my cloud drives to upload files to them?

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can that following these steps:

* Select the image(s) you want to upload
* Click on "copy", it's in the lower bar, at left
* In another tab, open the folder where you want to upload your image(s)
* Click on the clipoard icon at left
* Click on "paste all"

# Answer
> 1 votes
* Instead of selecting the Pictures folder, you have to select the corresponding DCIM folder
* Select the images
* Instead of Copy, select the Other options menu in the right corner
* Select Copy To from that menu
* A different browser dialog will appear where you can select the cloud storages as well

---
Tags: es-file-explorer
---


title: ls -b in android shell

text:
# Question
Title: ls -b in android shell
If im not mistaking, using `ls -b` should output escape characters with some sort of representation, but it seems like this option isn't available. Is there an alternative, or is it impossible to have a filename with escape characters on android?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Android has a very limited implementation of Linux shell functions. BusyBox utility expands on the selection somewhat, although it's still not a full Linux set. It can be installed on most rooted Android devices.

Specifically for `ls`, only the following options are available via BusyBox:

```
busybox: invalid option -- b
BusyBox v1.22.1 bionic (2014-05-29 17:30 +0200) multi-call binary.

Usage: ls [-1AaCxdLHRFplinsehrSXvctukKZ] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]...

List directory contents

        -1      One column output
        -a      Include entries which start with .
        -A      Like -a, but exclude . and ..
        -C      List by columns
        -x      List by lines
        -d      List directory entries instead of contents
        -L      Follow symlinks
        -H      Follow symlinks on command line
        -R      Recurse
        -p      Append / to dir entries
        -F      Append indicator (one of */=@|) to entries
        -l      Long listing format
        -i      List inode numbers
        -n      List numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
        -s      List allocated blocks
        -e      List full date and time
        -h      List sizes in human readable format (1K 243M 2G)
        -r      Sort in reverse order
        -S      Sort by size
        -X      Sort by extension
        -v      Sort by version
        -c      With -l: sort by ctime
        -t      With -l: sort by mtime
        -u      With -l: sort by atime
        -k      List security context
        -K      List security context in long format
        -Z      List security context and permission
        -w N    Assume the terminal is N columns wide
        --color[={always,never,auto}]   Control coloring

```

The characters allowed in file names on Android are no different from those allowed in other Linux-based systems. As always, it depends on the filesystem.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can use wild card characters for these cases. Use * for multiple characters and ? for single characters. ls lib\* will find files that begin with lib.

---
Tags: shell
---


# Question
Title: Computer doesn't recognize Android device after getting charge port replaced
I recently took my Samsung Galaxy 2 to a place that sells phones and services and also repairs them. I took it there because my charge port was not charging anymore so he said he could replace it. However, now it will not even connect to the computer at all. Any computer, doesn't matter. I have tried everything.

Since it doesn't respond to my computer or any computer, can I still root my phone? And also, is it even possible for the port he put on to not do data transfer, only charge?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Most rooting techniques require you to connect the phone to a PC via USB in order to unlock the bootloader, so you won't be able to root the phone this way without a working USB port. Some phones have security vulnerabilities which allow you to root the phone from an app (such as Framaroot), but this only applies to specific phones and specific firmware versions which have such a bug.

It's certainly possible for a port to only charge and not transfer data. In a USB port, there are two data pins, a +5V power pin, and ground. If either of the two data pins are broken or not connected properly, you can still transfer power over the power connection, but no data can be transferred. Most likely these pins weren't soldered correctly when your new USB port was added.

---
Tags: hardware, usb-debugging
---


# Question
Title: New nexus 7 tablet locks rotation - any way to reset without a reboot?
Since I updated my nexus 7 2013 to Android 4.4.2 I have an issue where my screen rotation is locked without any way to return it to normal (even after turning on/off the auto lock feature). Not sure if this is happening to a lot of people out there, but the only way to fix it is to turn the tablet off for a few seconds and turn it back on. My question is, is there a way to reset the rotation from a software perspective? Is There any service that I can start and stop. I need to make sure this is not hardware related and that possibly the best way to test it.

# Answer
Rebooting into `Safe Mode` fixed the issue for me somehow.

To go boot into `Safe Mode`:

> 1) Long Press on the power button for 1 second.
>
> 2) in the power off menu that appears, press and hold the Power Off option.
>
> 3) A Reboot into Safe Mode dialog will appear, Click Ok to boot into safe mode.

After you have booted once into safe mode, check if your auto rotation is working. If it is working then good, reboot normally. If not, then it is most likely a hardware issue and get your nexus 7 replaced/repaired by Asus.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I use an android app called Adaptive Rotation.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ui.robot.rotate

It adds the ability to rotate the screen in any orientation and it STAYS that way. So when apps want to rotate your screen and you want it in Landscape, it stays in landscape, or whatever your preferred orientation is.

As its software it should fix your issue.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: nexus-7, 4.4-kitkat, screen, tablet, auto-rotation
---


title: Any app play VBR MP3 files?

text:
# Question
Title: Any app play VBR MP3 files?
Does any Android app play Variable Bit Rate MP3 files, while not demanding Internet access and access to my Contacts? I used soundconverter on my Xubuntu PC to convert MP4 files to MP3 and they play OK using Audigy on the laptop, but don't have any sound output using either Google Music or the default sound player on my ver. 4.4.2 Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3.

# Answer
> 1 votes
VBR is not the problem here. I've had no problems playing VBR MP3 files in any music app.

---
Tags: audio, mp3, mp3-player
---


title: Connect to iOS iMessage Messages Chat

text:
# Question
Title: Connect to iOS iMessage Messages Chat
iMessage uses an internal messaging system (similar to WhatsApp) that is independent from SMS so you can chat from iOS to iOS without SMS and without having a SIM card inserted.

Is it possible to chat from your Android device with someone on an iPhone that only uses the iOS iMessage Chat client?

# Answer
> 1 votes
iMessage automatically uses SMS messages for contacts who don't have an iPhone, so the answer is yes: you chat with them by sending an SMS message.

Apart from using SMS, there's no way for non-Apple users to get messages into iMessage. The protocol is closed and Apple does not have clients for other platforms, nor an interface for other apps to communicate with it. They designed iMessage not as a chat system in itself, but as a way to quietly redirect iPhone-to-iPhone SMS messages to use their servers instead of the SMS network.

---
Tags: chat
---


title: Remove Gapps from cyanogenmod 11

text:
# Question
Title: Remove Gapps from cyanogenmod 11
people

I just installed Cyanogenmod from the installer on my Samsung galaxy s4 and it came with Google-apps Pre-installed. Now i'm not a big fan of Google so i want to get rid of Google-apps how can i do this i know i can flash free-cyan this removes Google analysis and stuff but does not remove Google-apps can someone please tell me how i can remove them. I got root so hopefully someone can help me.

Greetings,

Nick

# Answer
> 0 votes
The apk files for each are in /system/app (all your installed "system" apps and their odex files, if they're not deodexed, are there). You can rename them, move them, freeze them with the right software, or just delete them.

Also data/data probably has a matching directory with the trash files from those apks (xml, cache, etc) that you can toss.

Note: I've noticed more utilities "uninstall" system apps (does all of this for you if you're rooted): SD Maid, Titanium Backup are two I know of off the top of my head that have added the "uninstall" features since I bought them years ago. That might be your best bet: see if you already have a root tool that does this for you!

---
Tags: uninstallation, google-apps
---


# Question
Title: Install CWM on Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-9100M)
I already soft bricked my Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-9100M two times (the M is important, it's Virgin/Bell Canada's version) when trying to install clockworkmod recovery (CWM) on it.

First time I think I flashed "GT-I9100\_JB\_ClockworkMod-Recovery\_6.0.2.9" file via "Odin3 v1.85" (have two tars sitting here, could have been the other one), found at some Youtube video. My phone was previously rooted via framaroot.

Second time I tried GalaxyS2Recovery.zip from this page.

Both of the times the phone could not go through a normal boot procedure, so I had to go into download mode and flash Samsung original image (which I got from sammobile.com).

**The phone is now working fine.**

If it helps, I was able to flash Jeboo kernel, as suggested in some other tutorial, but it may have been overwritten when installing the original firmware (not sure how Odin works to that level of detail). It did not seem to help flash any of the clockworkmod recoveries I tried.

Did I miss any steps? Is it simply not possible to flash CWM for Canadian version of this phone? Another thing - most of the CWM images are ZIP files, and Odin needs TARs. Is there a better flashing program that works with ZIPs? Or is it possible to convert ZIP -\> TAR? I was getting ZIPs from https://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager.

I also tried ROM manager APK, which is supposed to load CWM via easy to use interface. It prompts to confirm my phone model, when I pick i9100 it says "not supported", also tried "galaxys2" it attempted to install something but failed. Reboot worked after that, so at least it did not break anything.

Any help is appreciated.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I ended up flashing custom kernel from here (for "#1.8. Android Version 4.1.2, Jelly Bean."):

Then I was able to attempt installation of CyanogenMod 11, snapshot M7, which did not work (but that's another story). Just leaving this note here if anyone comes from google search with the same problem.

The corner stone was that I expected my phone to enter recovery mode with \[home\] + \[volume down\] + \[power\] combo, i.e. that CWM recovery overrides download mode. In reality, these two modes are independent of each other. To enter recovery mode, use \[home\] + \[volume up\] + \[power\]. You do not need CWM to enter recovery mode, but the default feature set is limited, so yes, better get CWM.

Regarding CyanogenMod 11 installation, according to another question here on android.stackexchange, it requires CWM v6.0.4.5 to run. Problem is that officially CWM does not support my Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100M (and even the version I am supposed to download for a generic/international S2 off their website is like v5.8.x.x), so I would need to find a custom built CWM. CWM completely replaces the default recovery mode.

Tried latest Philz touch, but it did not work. Actually it did not work so badly, that I had to

* flash original image from Samsung (sammobile.com).
* go in recovery, clear data (factory reset), clear cache.
* make sure the OS starts (goes into init/setup mode - after factory reset).
* flash custom kernel Siyah-s2-v6.0b5.tar, do CWM restore, to bring phone back to shape.

For reference, in my attempt to install CyanogenMod 11 I soft bricked my phone 9-10 times already, with a total of 1 full working day spent on this campaign (8 hours).

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, clockworkmod-recovery
---


# Question
Title: Any way to install Drivers for USB On the go?
How can I install a driver for Android for devices plugged through USB OTG? Is that possible?

# Answer
> 1 votes
USB HOST Mode requires Android 3.1 or above. So long as your device is running the correct OS you should have the required drivers to run USB Host Mode. However not all ROMs are equal.

You can find USB Host Mode driver apps in the Play store for some models that do not have the drivers built in.

HTC Incredible http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=751535

Nexus One http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb\_host/

Installing and using the USB Host Diagnostics app from the Play store will allow you to run diagnostics showing if the OS currently supports USB Host Mode and if your device has been detected.

Loading the USB Host Mode drivers allows your device to connect to a USB device in Host, however you still need the drivers for that device to be present. Many devices will function under generic drivers included in the OS, but not every device is compatible with generic drivers, nor has their specific drivers included as well. I would proceed by installing the correct driver for your dongle before proceeding. However, if you want to bridge these connections, this is not a function supported out of the box by Android. A good router would be a better choice. To enable bridging on Android you will need to be sure that your wifi module is linux supported, a working wpa\_supplicant module from linux for that dongle, recompile drivers for the dongle, recompile a bridge utility from linux, and time. Would be easier to use two andoid devices, each on a different wifi network, connect them with bluetooth, and in android 3.0+ you can bridge the two wifi networks this way.

---
Tags: usb-drivers, usb-on-the-go
---


# Question
Title: Help understanding Whatsapp's permissions
Whatsapp has been nagging me for the past few days that I have to upgrade it to continue using it. With the Facebook acquisition and the Play Store no longer marking the permissions that are "NEW" separately, I'm on a toss up between an upgrade and an uninstall; I'm hoping further information about the permissions will help.

First of all, does anyone know which permissions were added after Facebook's acquisition?
And among the permissions listed, what does "find accounts on this device" allow the app to do? Does "receive text messages" allow the app to read any existing or new incoming SMS messages? And as a minor curiosity, why would it need the "retrive running apps" list?

Here's the permission list from the Play Store:

> This app has access to:
>
> **In-app purchases**
>
> **Device & app history**
>
> * retrieve running apps
>
> **Identity**
>
> * find accounts on the device
> * add or remove accounts
> * read your own contact card
>
> **Contacts/Calendar**
>
> * read your contacts
> * modify your contacts
>
> **Location**
>
> * approximate location (network-based)
> * precise location (GPS and network-based)
>
> **SMS**
>
> * receive text messages (SMS)
> * send SMS messages
>
> **Phone**
>
> * directly call phone numbers
>
> **Photos/Media/Files**
>
> * modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
> * test access to protected storage
>
> **Camera/Microphone**
>
> * record audio
> * take pictures and videos
>
> **Wi-Fi connection information**
>
> * view Wi-Fi connections
>
> **Device ID & call information**
>
> * read phone status and identity
>
> **Other**
>
> * receive data from Internet
> * read sync statistics
> * prevent device from sleeping
> * full network access
> * control vibration
> * run at startup
> * view network connections
> * connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi
> * use accounts on the device
> * create accounts and set passwords
> * modify system settings
> * read sync settings
> * toggle sync on and off
> * install shortcuts
> * uninstall shortcuts
> * read Google service configuration
> * change your audio settings

# Answer
I had sent this question as an email to WhatsApp support too, and I've now received a reply from them with complete explanations of the permissions. Pasting that reply below:

---

Thanks for your message. We strive to keep this information as up to date and as accurate as possible.
However, at times, it is possible that Google or your handset maker may change, deprecate or remove various permissions.

**Category: Your messages**

**Permission**: *Receive text messages (android.permission.RECEIVE\_SMS)*
**Explanation**: We use this to be able to read the SMS we send to your phone to verify your phone number.

**Category: Storage**

**Permission**: *Modify or delete the contents of your USB storage (android.permission.WRITE\_EXTERNAL\_STORAGE)*
**Explanation**: We store your media and chat history backups on the USB storage.

**Category: System Tools**

**Permission**: *Modify system settings (android.permission.WRITE\_SETTINGS)*
**Explanation**: We need this to read your settings, we do not write any settings, but there is only a write settings permission which includes the ability to read settings.
**Permission**: *install shortcuts (com.android.launcher.permission.INSTALL\_SHORTCUT)*
**Explanation**: We use this to install a WhatsApp shortcut or conversation shortcut on your homescreen.
**Permission**: *uninstall shortcuts (com.android.launcher.permission.UNINSTALL\_SHORTCUT)*
**Explanation**: We use this to make sure we do not create duplicate shortcuts on your homescreen.

**Category: Your location**

**Permission**: *approximate (network-based) location (android.permission.ACCESS\_COARSE\_LOCATION)*
**Explanation**: We use this so that you can send your location to your friends.
**Permission**: *precise (GPS) location (android.permission.ACCESS\_FINE\_LOCATION)*
**Explanation**: We use this so that you can send your location to your friends.

**Category: Services that cost you money**

**Permission**: *directly call phone numbers (android.permission.CALL\_PHONE)*
**Explanation**: We need this so that we can have the "Call" ability in the app.
**Permission**: *send SMS messages (android.permission.SEND\_SMS)*
**Explanation**: You may send an SMS by using our tell a friend feature to tell a friend about WhatsApp.

**Category: Camera**

**Permission**: *Take pictures or videos (android.permission.CAMERA)*
**Explanation**: We use this to allow you to take pictures from inside WhatsApp. Read more here

**Category: Microphone**

**Permission**: *record audio (android.permission.RECORD\_AUDIO)*
**Explanation**: We use this to allow you to record Voice Notes to send to your friends.

**Category: Your accounts**

**Permission**: *Add or remove accounts (android.permission.MANAGE\_ACCOUNTS)*
**Explanation**: We use this to add a WhatsApp account to your device to show your WhatsAppable contacts.
**Permission**: *create accounts and set passwords (android.permission.AUTHENTICATE\_ACCOUNTS)*
**Explanation**: We use this to add a WhatsApp account to your device.
**Permission**: *use accounts on the device (android.permission.USE\_CREDENTIALS)*
**Explanation**: We need this permission to read and write your WhatsApp credentials.
**Permission**: *find accounts on the device (android.permission.GET\_ACCOUNTS)*
**Explanation**: This is necessary to find which accounts to check for WhatsApp contacts.
**Permission**: *read Google service configuration (android.providers.gsf.permission.READ\_GSERVICES)*
**Explanation**: This is used for Google Maps integration in WhatsApp location sharing.

**Category: Your social information**

**Permission**: *modify your contacts (android.permission.WRITE\_CONTACTS)*
**Explanation**: This is necessary so that we can add the WhatsApp button into your contacts so you can send a WhatsApp to your friends from anywhere in your phone.
**Permission**: *read your contacts (android.permission.READ\_CONTACTS)*
**Explanation**: We use this in order to automatically add all your friends that have WhatsApp installed on their phones.

**Category: Your personal information**

**Permission**: *read your own contact card (android.permission.READ\_PROFILE)*
**Explanation**: We use this to try and set a default profile name.
**Permission**: *read call log (android.permission.READ\_CALL\_LOG)*
**Explanation**: This permission is not needed but is granted transitively from READ\_CONTACTS because we support old versions of Android.
**Permission**: *write call log (android.permission.WRITE\_CALL\_LOG)*
**Explanation**: This permission is not needed but is granted transitively from WRITE\_CONTACTS because we support old versions of Android.

**Category: Phone calls**

**Permission**: *read phone status and identity (android.permission.READ\_PHONE\_STATE)*
**Explanation**: We need this so that we don't annoy you when you are on the phone.

**Category: Your applications information**

**Permission**: *run at startup (android.permission.RECEIVE\_BOOT\_COMPLETED)*
**Explanation**: We use this to make sure the app is running to make sure you get your messages on time. **Permission**: *retrieve running apps (android.permission.GET\_TASKS)*
**Explanation**: We need this in order to see if you are running any Task Killers, which may cause problems with our application.

**Category: Sync Settings**

**Permission**: *read sync settings (android.permission.READ\_SYNC\_SETTINGS)*
**Explanation**: We use this to make sure you get your messages on time.
**Permission**: *read sync statistics (android.permission.READ\_SYNC\_STATS)*
**Explanation**: We use this to debug possible problems in getting your messages on time. **Permission**: *toggle sync on and off (android.permission.WRITE\_SYNC\_SETTINGS)*
**Explanation**: We use this so that we can make sure your WhatsApp contacts are up to date.

**Category: Development tools**

**Permission**: *test access to protected storage (android.permission.READ\_EXTERNAL\_STORAGE)*
**Explanation**: We store data onto the external storage. The permission is granted transitively by android.permission.WRITE\_EXTERNAL\_STORAGE. We have no idea why Google describes the permission thusly.

**Category: Affects Battery**

**Permission**: *control vibration (android.permission.VIBRATE)*
**Explanation**: to notify you of a new message, we may vibrate your phone.
**Permission**: *prevent phone from sleeping (android.permission.WAKE\_LOCK)*
**Explanation**: We need this to make sure that when a friend sends you a file, it doesn't get broken by your phone going to sleep.

**Category: Network communication**

**Permission**: *full network access (android.permission.INTERNET)*
**Explanation**: Without this we wouldn't be able to send your chat messages.
**Permission**: *google play billing service (com.android.vending.BILLING)*
**Explanation**: We use this to allow you to pay for the WhatsApp subscription.
**Permission**: *receive data from internet (com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE)*
**Explanation**: We use this to make sure that you get your messages on time.
**Permission**: *view wifi connections (android.permission.ACCESS\_WIFI\_STATE)*
**Explanation**: We use this to check and see if you are on a Wi-Fi that WhatsApp won't work on.
**Permission**: *view network connections (android.permission.ACCESS\_NETWORK\_STATE)*
**Explanation**: We use this to diagnose your network connection and have the app react accordingly to ensure you get your messages on time.
**Permission**: *full network access (android.permission.INTERNET)*
**Explanation**: We need this to open socket connections to our servers in order to make sending and receiving messages fast.
> 16 votes

# Answer
The entire "**Identity**" permissions are for push notification system, which is implemented using Google Cloud Messaging on android and requires a valid Google account to be present on the device.

The "**SMS**" & "**Phone**" permissions are for activation of WhatsApp account when it is freshly installed on a device and to send a calling action when you press the phone number of a particular WhatsApp contact.

I guess the "**Device & app History**" permission must be for managing the RAM usage by WhatsApp itself. This should vary from one android version to another.

Rest of the permissions are more or less self explanatory, but in case you want detail for any of them, then just put a comment, I'll explain it to you.

I'd recommend that you upgrade your WhatsApp application as they remove the support for previous versions after a while.

Also, Android Police have uploaded the APK for latest Play Store build which shows old and new permissions in a better way.

WhatsApp maintains a little higher version of their app than that available on the Play Store over here (just in case you're interested).
> 3 votes

# Answer
First, for general questions on what a permission stands for (and what an app might do with it), you can find a good overview on my Android site. Took me quite a lot of research to collect all available information, and it's still incomplete; I cannot understand there's no official source on that for end-users.

To your explicit questions:

* Yes, with `RECEIVE_SMS` an app could theoretically "eat" your messages, i.e. sneak them away under your nose so you wouldn't even notice there was one.
* `GET_ACCOUNTS` is needed to find accounts you've registered with from your device. The API makes that mandatory if you want to use an account (`USE_CREDENTIALS` permission). Though it looks quite suspect if an app requests the former but not the latter: what for would it need to know available accounts, if it doesn't want to use one? For further details, please also see What can an app do with the “USE ACCOUNTS ON THE DEVICE” permission? I'm wondering that `USE_CREDENTIALS` is missing from your list, as Whatsapp will certainly need that: It also has the `MANAGE_ACCOUNTS` permission (to create/manage your Whatsapp account on your device), which might imply the other (not sure about that due to lack of documentation).
* The `GET_TASKS` permission is another one which often raises my eyebrow. While it's pretty clear why a process manager (or task killer) would need that, I see no reason why Whatsapp should be interested in that. Which does not automatically mean there *is* no such reason; it would e.g. make sense if an app needs to check whether a companion app is running, for some shared actions (I'm not an Android dev, so I've got to leave this part to someone else).

Sorry that I don't continue my explanations for the complete list of permissions you've posted, but that would get quite long. Be welcome to visit the first link in my answer to find out more details for yourself. And, of course, if this raises specific questions, Android.SE is the right place to ask them!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, permissions
---


title: Move /#/data/app to external SD

text:
# Question
Title: Move /#/data/app to external SD
Folks I've rooted my device and installed Directory Bind. I'm not sure if I can move the /#/data/app folder to an external SD. There I have all my .apk files. But I seem unable to find this folder when I look for it in Directory Bind. I'm confused about it. I could sucessfully move the data files but not the .apks what am I missing?

# Answer
What do you mean by the # in your path?

What you should do is this, Get Android SDK (http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html) if you haven't got it already, then enable debugging mode on your phone and connect your phone to your pc with usb cable.

In the file explorer lookup the symlink to your external sdcard. its probably /extSdCard or /external\_sd

Now open up an terminal window and enter:

```
adb root
adb remount
adb shell busybox mv -f /data/app /extSdCard/

```

it would move the app folder to your external sdcards root dir.

Or download terminal emulator app and enter:

```
su
busybox mv -f /data/app /extSdCard/

```

This should work, if not let me know
> 1 votes

---
Tags: external-sd, apk, folder-organizer
---


# Question
Title: Connecting Android tablet as testing device
I have a problem related to connectivity between my desktop (Windows) and tablet (Android 4.1). I bought a new device (Colorovo City Tab Vision 7) and now I want to use it for testing of my applications, because emulation of android is very slow on my computer, although I forced it to create snapshot every run. I have downloaded SDK with Google drivers and also some unofficial drivers I found on web.

When I connect my device, it first appears 'Other device' (label is CTVision7) and it's marked as unknown. I tried to install drivers (Google) for it, but windows said that they aren't suitable for my device, as it's not able to find them in specified directory. After these attempts I tried unofficial drivers. Their installation worked and now my device appears as Android phone, what seems to be good.

But when I run `adb devices` or launch application in eclipse, there's no available device.

I have turned USB debugging on, so it should work.

Am I missing some step to make my device available for debugging, or are my drivers wrong? Is there any way to get drivers which surely work?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try this universal ADB driver.

---
Tags: adb, tablet, usb-debugging, usb-drivers
---


# Question
Title: How to use Titanium Backup to keep stuff through factory reset?
I'm looking to factory reset my Nexus 4, which is currently running CyanogenMod 11 M7, because of an issue inside the ROM that requires a reset (Themes Provider crashing on every launch). I have Titanium Backup, and have created a backup. **How do I now back up (or put onto a computer and then return to the phone) the backup and restore it once I've resetted?** Or is there a better alternative to keep all my stuff through the reset?

Yes, I'm quite a noob at ROMs and rooting, before you say.

# Answer
*TiBu* stores its backups in a folder on your SDCard (either the internal or the external, depends on what you have and how you've configured it). So you can simply copy that entire folder over to your PC before applying the factory-reset. Just check the root of your SDCard(s) for a folder named `TitaniumBackup`.

After the factory reset, the folder should still be there (unless your device is one of those including the card with the reset – hence the copy to PC, which in this case you now can simply copy back). Launch *TiBu*, and restore what you want to have restored.

One thing to keep in mind: I don't know what's causing your trouble, but restoring the entire backup completely might bring it back if the troublemaker was included there, so take care ;)
> 4 votes

---
Tags: factory-reset, titanium-backup, cyanogenmod
---


title: How to send photos to Chromecast?

text:
# Question
Title: How to send photos to Chromecast?
I have made a bunch of shiny photos with my Nexus 4 and now I want to watch them on my Chromecast. Trouble is that the standard photo application wants me to upload the photos to the cloud and then add them to an album.

Is there an easier way to watch my photo gallery on my Chromecast? A cloudfree solution that just shows all my photos on my device would work best.

# Answer
There are a handful of different apps you could try, each with varying amounts of features. A few specific examples:

* Allcast \- Also supports other devices like Roku and Xbox. Casts pretty much any kind of media.
* Dayframe \- Intended mostly for casting pictures as a slideshow/digital frame.
* PhotoCast \- Can display photos in a few different styles, including one that plots the location of geotagged images on a map in the background.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, photos, chromecast
---


# Question
Title: Recover Data From Pattern-Locked Galaxy Nexus
A colleague's relative passed away and left behind a Galaxy Nexus phone. It is pattern-locked and we don't have the pattern nor his Google email account password (or access thereto). All my colleague wants off the phone are the photos. I have tried the following without success:

* Use `adb` on both Windows and Ubuntu Linux to attach to the device connecting through USB.(USB debugging is definitely off.) -- always unable to attach the device (though on Linux `lsusb` is able to list the device)
* Use apps Moborobo and Holo (Simple ADB Backup) -- neither can access the device
* Attempted to use the emergency dialer hack (dial 0, use back button; does not work)
* Booted into recovery mode, but there is no backup option (which seems ridiculous unless this is because of security)
* Connected the phone to Windows, shows up as "Galaxy Nexus" drive, but is empty. "Import pictures" reports "no new photos"

Incidentally, the screen-saver shows these desired photos, but there seems to be no way to share them without unlocking the phone.

Any suggestions for how to get at the photos?

# Answer
Try taking it to the carrier and explain the situation. They often have ways of getting around passwords because people come in regularly having locked themselves out and because many carriers also refurbish and/or resell used devices, which inevitably means they will come across locked devices (of course in the latter scenario I imagine they just factory reset but no matter... They still have the former situation to contend with).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: data-recovery, locked-out, pattern-lock
---


# Question
Title: Using over 2gb sd card space for link2sd apps
i have a rooted S3 mini, android version 4.1.2, link2sd free edition installed. S3 mini doesn't support moving apps to SD so I have to use Link2SD. I have 4 GB sd and I have followed the instructions in this video to partition it.

Today, I have bought a 64 GB SD card to replace the 4 GB sd card that I have. At about the second minute of the video, the guy says you can go as high as 2 GB for your apps.

My question is, can you go higher than that? can you link say 16 GB of apps to SD using link2SD? I have 64 GB card so 2 GB is nothing, my internal memory is 8GB so I need that extra space.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes, Im using 32gb card. I have kept 4096mb as EXT4 partition and rest I have formatted as FAT32. Link2SD works fine.

You can go max 4GB.

1. Download mini partition tool
2. Format your CLASS10 SDCARD 1st partition being FAT32, and second keep (4GB) it EXT2 (EXT4 might not work)
3. Shutdown your phone, put back your card. Star the phone.
4. And then start linking your files with Link2SD. I have bought Plus version, it is very useful. Since My phone has only 16GB internal memory.

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, sd-card, link2sd, samsung-galaxy-s-3-mini
---


# Question
Title: Is this red star icon malware? How to get rid of it?
Every now and then a red star icon appears on my brother's notification bar, as shown below. The message related to this notification is some advert like "Turbo Boost Your Battery". He has been installing software from doubtful places, so my guess it is some sort of malware he accidentally installed.

I'm not very familiar with Android, but my guess was to identify the process responsible for the notification. So I checked the process list, but nothing out of the ordinary was shown. I tried force-closing all processes (some returned although all of them originated from HTC or his carrier), but nothing made the star disappear. How can the malware be detected and removed?

Notification icon:

Notification message:

# Answer
> 28 votes
Definitely looks like a case of AirPush. This is a particularly invasive form of in-app advertising that uses the notification bar, even if the app utilizing it is not actively running. Technicaly it's not malware but adware, although the way it manifests itself certainly blurs the line between the two. The only way to stop these ads from appearing in your notification bar is to uninstall the application that came bundled with AirPush.

There are several apps on the Market that can help you detect which app uses the AirPush, so that you can uninstall them.

**\[Edit\]**
Apparently AirPush gave in to the public outcry and are now providing ways to opt out of their invasive ads: http://www.airpush.com/optout You can either download their "opt-out" app, or manually enter your device's unique IMEI/ESN/MEID on their site. Personally, I'd still uninstall the bundled app, since both opt-out methods would most likely use bandwidth for connecting to AirPush servers to authenticate against their databases.

# Answer
> 9 votes
## Find the "evil app"

There are several Detectors available:

## So what to do when the evil app is identified?

1. Leave a comment on the Playstore: rate very low, and point out: "ATTENTION! Invasive ads (Airpush)!!!"
2. Report to Google: As the playstore guidelines changed, these apps should be banned
3. Speaking about banned: Even if a pay-version exists, this app should be dead to you
4. Same applies for the dev of the app (maybe add this to your comment in 1.) -- I wouldn't use any of the dev's apps anymore, and say so *loudly*, giving them bad rep for bad deed. Hopefully, they learn from that
5. Uninstall the app, of course

## How to protect you for future "attacks"?

You can scan apps in advance (before installing them), using e.g. AppBrain Ad Detector. This app can be combined with AppBrain App Market -- a slim and fast replacement for the over-loaded playstore, especially on small devices (do not fear: It is simply another front-end for the Playstore). You can search the market oops, playstore with this app, and have the other scan your findings *before* you install any other app. So you know what to avoid before you get annoyed...

# Answer
> 4 votes
Try to run Addons Detector (by denper, on the market). It detects agents included in apps.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Haven't checked to see if it worked long term but i uninstalled the last few live wallpapers and they went away without me even clearing them..

# Answer
> 2 votes
The best app to find what is giving these ads is Airpush Detector. It's free and tells you what apps have Airpush.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Maybe you have Android Battery Doctor Free? I'm not going to install and test it, but it seems they have this "Turbo Boost your battery" feature, whatever this means.

Of course, it all depends on what your definition of "malware" is -- it might be just a feature of another application that uses the bar for advertisements, even if you and I don't agree such behaviour is acceptable. Here are some generic instructions on how to go about removing an undesired application:

---

First, check what apps are installed -- go to **Settings**-\>**Applications**-\>**Manage applications**-\>**All** and see what kind of stuff is installed there. No guarantee that the offending app will be there, but you might be able to pinpoint some suspicious apps that might have brought this onboard. Kill them with impunity and check whether the notification goes away (careful with system apps!). The offending app will most likely restart soon, but at least you have found the culprit. Try to uninstall it, and if it works, you are done.

If you can't find the problem in this way, then you need to bring out the heavy guns: root1 your device, install Titanium Backup (even the free version should work), go through the list of apps and freeze the ones that you do not recognize. Freezing the app will terminate it and not allow it to start again, which is pretty much as removing it completely -- it still does take space on the device, though.

See the Titanium Backup wiki for more information how to use the application.

While you are at it, you can also freeze/remove some vendor applications, if they get in your way.

1 Standard disclaimer about voiding your warranty.

# Answer
> 1 votes
With Google Play's new Developer Program Policies any app *must not* display ads through system level notifications:

> ### System Interference:
>
> * Apps and their ads must not modify or add browser settings or bookmarks, add homescreen shortcuts, or icons on the user’s device as a service to third parties or for advertising purposes.
> * **Apps and their ads must not display advertisements through system level notifications on the user’s device,** unless the notifications derive from an integral feature provided by the installed app (e.g., an airline app that notifies users of special deals, or a game that notifies users of in-game promotions).

If you find any app doing so you can report them from play store. You can see which app sent the notification by holding on the notification and selecting *App info*. You can even disable particular app's notifications by unchecking *Show notification* in *App info*.

---
Tags: malware, airpush
---


title: "Battery Usage" page irrelevant

text:
# Question
Title: "Battery Usage" page irrelevant
I have been doing battle with the battery vampires, apparently similar to a lot of people on here. I have a *Samsung Droid Charge* (SCH-i510), and service with Verizon.

I have noticed my battery life growing shorter and shorter.

As I've had the phone for at least a couple of years now, my very first step in the solution was a new battery. No difference. Even with a brand-new battery, my charge would last less than 24 hours. So, I began my research. Discovered all the settings to correct, and changed them, (wifi, GPS, 4G, etc.). Still, my phone charge would barely last from when I unplugged it in the morning until I plugged it in to charge overnight. I dove deeper into the phone settings. This weekend, I noticed that my phone battery lasted all weekend. **ALL WEEKEND ON A SINGLE CHARGE**.

As I live in a rural area, my service is a bit spotty. This got me thinking. I started reading all the permissions that the apps on my phone call for, looking for one that would cause increased battery drainage while in urban areas (around more cell phones, towers and wifi hot spots.) I found one such ambiguous app: "Bluetooth Test". This app is a "default app" and is automatically granted permission to MODIFY BATTERY STATISTICS, (apparently to hide its tracks from the user,) as well as pretty much permission to do whatever it wants, right up to internet access. Apps granted such permissions pretty much makes the Battery Usage page irrelevant, as any app can reassign its battery usage to "**Display**". As of yet, I've found no mention of it on this site. Does anybody have any info on this app?

# Answer
> 3 votes
The BluetoothTest app is part of the stock image on most Samsung devices. It's a system app, and as the name suggests, it's for testing the Bluetooth hardware. If you root the device, it's safe to remove/"freeze" this app. It shouldn't normally run or cause any problems at all, though some users have reported that in some cases it shows up in the battery usage list for their device. (Googling {Samsung BluetoothTest} gives you some forum posts, but no solid information.)

As for the permission to "modify the battery statistics", this label is wrong (see this old Android bug report), and is phrased differently in newer Android versions. The permission only allows the app to **read** the battery statistics. An app might use this to help you identify which apps use the most power, or to find and disable power-hungry apps on low battery.

There's no real need for BluetoothTest to use this permission, but as the app info screen explains, many system apps are bound together in a single process, because this is more (power and memory) efficient. As a result, all of the apps bound together in this way share the same permissions, which means the single process has more permissions than any one of the apps needs. This only applies to system (i.e. built-in) apps: apps you download and install are kept separate for security.

---
Tags: battery-life
---


title: "Gmail has stopped" dialog

text:
# Question
Title: "Gmail has stopped" dialog
On my Samsung Galaxy S4 with Android 4.4.2, I get constantly a dialog saying "Gmail has stopped" (In french, actually : "Gmail s'est arrêté"). When I click OK, the message re-opens within less than a second.

I tried to restart my device, to no avail. I still get the message.

Anyone knows a solution?

Edit: just an update on how things started: I wanted to kill a bunch of tasks and ran Advanced Task Killer. I probably left Gmail selected and so killed it with the tasks I wanted to get rid of. And all hell broke lose...

# Answer
> 1 votes
Hmmm... An update for Gmail was waiting on Play. I installed it and everything works fine, now. Did I need the update to make it work properly (after an update on Google's servers, or after the last update of my system, for example), or was the update a convenient way to restart Gmail properly? I don't know.

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, gmail, samsung-galaxy-s-4, crashes
---


# Question
Title: execute permissions on fuse/fat filesystem
I've successfully cross-compiled Ruby for Android and everything goes ok in the emulator.

But while I'm testing these funny things on my device (Nexus4) I noticed that `/sdcard` (or `/storage/emulated/0`) is a fuse mount with no execution permissions.

How can I execute something on the SD card?

I saw that on Linux you can pass it as argument to the linker. In Android this does not work: `/system/bin/linker` wants a pointer to a special struct. I believe that I can write a small C program that creates that structure and run the linker to execute a readable program.

But what about shared libraries? Ruby load tens of shared libraries (every time you have a "require"), I bet that execute permissions are required for loading shared libraries.

Moving the executable to `/data/data/my.app.name/files/` or any other place is not a solution, my binaries are very fat (statically linked) and users should be free to specify any location where storing them.

# Answer
i found a workaround/hack to list them.

when you open a file on the mountpoint the fuse FS handler will open it too.

i used this information and i wrote a small C program that use proc to find source directories.

if you are interested the project is hosted on github.

regards, tux\_mind.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: file-system
---


# Question
Title: Does QueueTube download complete videos or audio only?
There is a Queuetube app that enables listening to YouTube material while the application is minimized. YouTube app stops playing videos when minimized; this app plays sound only.

Does this mean it is downloading audio only or just playing audio from a downloaded video format?

This is important because I need to know how much memory my Xperia will download from YouTube.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I am the developer. It was using the full video streams up until last week when I released version 1.8.

However it is possible that the android MediaPlayer when given a video stream, doesn't bother to download the video too, but I doubt so.

Now it specifically downloads audio-only streams, however only on Android 4.3+ devices.

Android 4.2 and lower still stream the full video because the OS isn't compatible with the audio only streams.

To give you an idea of bandwidth consumption, a 5 minute song takes up about...

* 3MB video stream, HD Audio disabled
* 12MB video stream, HD Audio enabled
* 3MB audio-only stream, if your device supports it. The sound quality is about equal (possibly a little better) than HD Audio with video.

On Android 4.3+ devices, the HD Audio switch in settings doesn't really do anything..

# Answer
> 0 votes
According to the comments of reviewers, it's streaming only audio. So, it's lighter on the download.

---
Tags: audio, youtube, video-streaming
---


title: How do I convert ASEC files to APK?

text:
# Question
Title: How do I convert ASEC files to APK?
Is there anyone that knows how I can convert ASEC files **to** **APK**?

# Answer
> 7 votes
According to this question/answer, the .asec files are actually dm-crypt containers which can be mounted, and contain the unencrypted .apk. The keys are stored in `/data/misc/systemkeys/AppsOnSD.sks`.

The mounting process depends on the tools available, but it can be as simple as running (on Linux) `losetup /dev/loop0 /path/to/file && cryptSetup open --type luks -d /path/to/keyfile /dev/loop0 asecmount && mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/asecmount /your/mountpoint` to mount and `umount /your/mountpoint && cryptsetup close asecmount && losetup -d /dev/loop0`.

You can also access the contents of the .asec file from `/mnt/asec/[app-id]/` if you have it already mounted on your device.

---
Tags: apk
---


# Question
Title: Will updating to Android 7.0 cause my phone to lose all its application data ? If so, how can I prevent this?
I own a Nexus 5X, and I wish to update the device firmware from Android 6.0.1 to Android 7.0. When I do this, will it wipe all my phone data (i.e. essentially perform a *factory reset*) ? I know that my Play Store account has a record of all the applications I use, but I suppose the application data will be lost. I'm specifically concerned about Asphalt 8, in which I've reached a pretty advanced stage. I've heard that Android apps that have data backup enabled save their data remotely in the cloud, but that this doesn't apply to game apps like Asphalt. So my question is,

**1.** Will I lose all my application data, and specifically my Asphalt 8 data ??

**2.** If so, how do I backup my data, and without having to root the phone ? What I'd like ideally is to do the firmware update **AND** get back my Asphalt 8 data (without having to root the phone).

# Answer
> 13 votes
OTA updates **don't** wipe the device: all apps and data are preserved across the update.

Even so, it's always a good idea to back up your data frequently. As you point out, not all apps support the in-built Google backup mechanism, so it's wise to have a full backup just in case. See our tag wiki and top questions to learn about what options are available (whether you've rooted the phone or not).

# Answer
> 0 votes
For those who have already unlocked their phone's bootloader - which will wipe the phone (thanks @onik for the reminder):

If you download the factory image, by default the `flash-all.sh` and `flash-all.bat` scripts would indeed perform a wipe of your device at the end.

Provided you're overwriting an image from the same vendor (i.e. not a custom ROM in this case), you can just edit that script and remove the `-w` flag. I've used it to upgrade to 4.4.2 and 4.4.3 before my Nexus 4 is scheduled to receive the OTA.

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Tags: stock-android, ota-update, device-firmware, vanilla-android
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# Question
Title: Access phone from computer without passcode
I just shattered the screen of my Nexus 4 (sigh...) and am unable to use the touch screen. However getting it fixed costs more than just buying a new phone so I would like to access my data, transfer it on my PC and get a new phone.

There's just a problem: when I plug in the phone to my computer it requires me to unlock it and I can't because of the broken screen.

Does anyone know about software I can use to access it or any solution that will allow me to copy my data?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can try few links I am giving you here and if you are really worried much about all your data,then go to data recovery specialist and get data recovered.

Most of these required 'adb and USB connection' enabled.

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Tags: nexus-4, touchscreen, password, broken-screen
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title: Uninstalled system keyboard

text:
# Question
Title: Uninstalled system keyboard
I rooted my phone and uninstalled keyboard application without backup.. Now i removed my root. I need keyboard. My phone is galaxy star pro. Android version 4.1.2. Help me.

# Answer
Try:

1) You can install gapps for your model if available.
2) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jlsoft.inputmethod.latin.jelly.free
3) http://google-keyboard.en.softonic.com/android
> 0 votes

# Answer
Assuming you've configured your device with a Google account, and have already used *Google Play Store* with it, the easiest way is to

1. visit *Google Play Store* via web browser from your PC
2. login with your account
3. select any keyboard app you like (e.g. the standard Google Keyboard)
4. trigger the installation from there.

Shortly thereafter you should see the installation starting on your device (provided it's connected to the internet, of course). Once that's finished, the keyboard should automatically be available.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, keyboard, troubleshooting, samsung-galaxy-star
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# Question
Title: Change desktop icon of an app (.apk file)
I have an app that I like very much, I use it everyday, but I dislike its desktop icon.

**How can I change the desktop icon of this app ?** Should I do it directly by opening the .apk file (with which tool?) ?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can try apk edit.

1. Launch apk edit.exe and load the apk file you need to change icon
2. The exe will display the app icon and name under General tab
3. You can change the icon and load the apk back to the phone

**Note : This process will cause problem on update of the app**.

When google play notifies the update, you can uninstall the app, install the app again and change the icon.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Most third-party launchers (home screen apps) let you replace an app's icon with one of your choose, and they feature downloadable icon packs: often with co-ordinated icons for common apps, so you can have all your app icons matching, or just change one you don't like. The exact method depends on which launcher you choose, so check out that launcher's help, or post a new question with the launcher you're using.

If you're mainly interested in changing the icon of a shortcut (not the icon in the app drawer), then you don't need to go to the hassle of installing and setting up a new launcher. Some apps let you create a home screen shortcut using any picture or icon of your choice, and choose what app to launch from this icon. For example, my app Showr (free download from Google Play) is a home screen widget with this feature. You can use a fixed icon that you pick from your phone or download, or you can even have the picture update from the web at set intervals (e.g. create a shortcut to the Facebook app with the latest photo from your timeline).

If you choose to do it this way, the steps are as follows.

1. Install Showr from Google Play
2. Add the widget to your home screen: from the app drawer, go to the list of **Widgets**, find Showr (there might be several pages), and drag it to the right place on your screen.
3. Choose the image, icon, or photo you want from the Gallery or another app, or if you want to download an image or RSS feed, choose **Web address** and paste the address.
4. Now the widget's created, click on it and choose **Settings** from the menu.
5. In the **Widget** settings, change **When you click the widget** to **Launch an app**, and then click **App to launch** to choose which app.
6. Don't forget to rate/review Showr, to help other Android users find it.

You can change the size of the shortcut in the usual way, by long-tapping it and then dragging the handles that appear.

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Tags: applications, 2.3-gingerbread, apk, app-icons
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