Problem unlocking HTC phone using their  fastboot program According to HTC, my Amaze 4G is fully ready from the factory to be queried for its identifier tolken, but when I run the appropriate command, it doesn't work. I get:

$ fastboot oem get_identifier_token
...
(bootloader) [ERR] Command error !!!
OKAY [  0.010s]
finished. total time: 0.010s
$

Note that someone reported the same problem, but their phone requires updating firmware and running "RUU". You can read about that here.

Same problem, different cause. Note that I did update the SDK prior to trying run fastboot - I wonder if I shouldn't have!

It's worth mentioning that I called HTC and asked for help and they were of no particular assistance; "You know more about it than I do." "How do I report a bug on fastboot?" (No useful reply to that!)

[ERR] Command error !!! is a generic response from fastboot. In effect it means "invalid command arguments." Check that you are writing the command correctly, in my case I made a typographical error and this was the result.

I got this error, solved it thanks to this thread

http://androidforums.com/desire-s-all-things-root/444571-unlock-using-htcdev-com.html

Basically, this page http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/ruu-downloads

is slightly misleading. If your device isn't listed, you might still need to update the RUU anyway.


How to get pass FTM on my ZTE Android mobile device trying to turn on? My ZTE Android Edition by SFR, StarAddict is unable to turn on. I cannot get pass the Android logo. I have long pressed on Volume Down and Power buttons at the same time but it only ended me up at FTM. What next? Please help me reset or turn on my phone. The only external buttons on this phone are: Volume Up or Down, Power, Menu,Home and Back.

Thanks in advance.

Hold the volume up and power and when reboot screen comes up select reboot device by scrolling with the volume and then select with the power button

Follow these instructions:

Hold Power button and Volume Up button simultaneously until the phone vibrates and turns on.
Once the screen has turned on, you will have an option to select Recovery mode, Fastboot or Normal mode. Select Recovery mode using Volume Up button.
To enter the selected choice (Recovery mode), enter using Volume Down button.
You would receive an Android (No Command) image. You will need to rapidly click Volume Up button and Power button together a few times until you get past Android (No Command) image.
You will then be able to get into Boot loader, Recovery mode. Select Factory reset.


Strange WiFi battery usage on Marshmallow Nexus 5 I have a question about the WiFi battery usage on the Nexus 5. In the first screenshot you see my battery/WiFi usage. The second screenshot shows the battery/WiFi usage for the Nexus 5 of a colleague of mine.

Strangely enough, my WiFi is disabled. Why is this so?

There is a known issue on Nexus 5/6 with Marshmallow and wifi. This wifi drain has been noted by many users, me included.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/wifi-plaguing-android-marshmallow-t3220031

One reason for this could be the amount of signal/strength of your Wi-Fi as this can have an effect on battery usage.


No mobile data with CM13 I have flashed CM13 onto my Samsung Galaxy S3, and since then, mobile data does not work. I am logged in into the network and I can make calls and receive SMS, so the IMEI / EFS data is still there and working. Connecting to the mobile network works, too, the "mobile data" button is enabled.

No matter which app I try to use, none of them can connect to the internet with mobile data. I only get error messages. However, resetting the mobile data statistics and then trying again still gives me error messages, but a few kilobytes of data usage appear in the statistics.

I already tried:
- Wipe Cache
- Re-flash CM13
- Restart phone a dozen times
- Enable and disable Airplane Mode a dozen times
- Deleting the APN and re-entering the exact information I got from my provider
- Completely disable and uninstall AFWall+
- Disable any "data restriction" / security / privacy settings I could find that could possibly cause this

What else could be the problem? Why does my mobile data not work?

If someone still has no mobile data, delete all APNs except the one you need. That fixed it for me after a lot of time of investigation

Well it happens to be APN problem, I contacted my network provider and did apn reset and everything works fine.


Moving installation location on non rooted Android 5 Lollipop device I have a Moto G (2nd generation) with Android 5.02 on it. Internal SD card is about 8Gb and I have an external SD card with 16Gb free space.

Moving application to SDCARD from the application's menu moves it to sdcard0 which is the internal SD card.

Adb shell command:

pm get-install-location

gives me:

0[auto]

I tried to set installation location through:

pm set-install-location 2

But I'm getting this error:

Error: java.lang.SecurityException: Package android does not belong to 2000

That is I believe complaining about root permissions.

And because it's a production build trying:

adb root

gives me:

 adbd cannot run as root in production builds

Is there any way to set the applications install their data to external SD card?

P.S: I don't want to install a custom rom or install third party software to root the phone.

Edit:
I've noticed that applications data was stored in the folder /storage/sdcard0/Android, so I thought of moving this folder to /storage/sdcard1/ and creating a symlink this way instead:

ln -s /storage/sdcard1/Android /storage/sdcard0/Android

will this do the job?

Thank you.

Basically speaking: You can't. At least not without rooting.
The main reasons Android does not allow you to install an application to your external SD card are:

Security: It's the main reason for that restriction. Basic file systems like NTFS or FAT (any version of it) do not allow for Unix-like permission management.
This means: any application would be able to write to any file on that storage.
Thinking of malicious apps, they would be able to replace proper apps with fake/infected ones, bricking your phone and rendering it unusable.
Volatile storage: Your external SD card is not safe to be inserted in your device all the time. You are able to eject it any time what makes your SD card not a very good candidate for a permanent storage. Consider apps running off of your SD card and you eject it. Those apps will just crash and all other apps saved on your SD card are gone as well. You can't use them at that time and the data of those app is also affected by reason #1.

First install Adbd insecure (apk download from xda-developers).

Once installed on your device, open it and mark the box: "Enable insecure adbd".

Now you can change the location to install your apps.


Cannot choose apps to share with in Google Play Store When I click the "Share" button at bottom of the app description page, I do not get the usual sharing panel. Instead, it pastes the link to SMS, from where I have to copy, discard SMS option and then share it by mail (as an example). I end up doing three steps to share by mail, instead of a single click. Strangely, this happens only from Google Play Store. From all other apps, say ES File Explorer, I can choose and share the way I want to.

This behaviour started a few days back and I can't think of anything that could have triggered it. Searched in Play Store and Google settings but couldn't find any way to alter this behaviour. Other things which didn't help are reinstalling Play Store, uninstalling recently added apps, cleaning system and traces of leftover apps by SD Maid and cleaning Dalvik Cache.

This behaviour isn't driving me nuts but being unable to find the cause and fix is. Pointers on how to fix and what could have caused it are eagerly sought. I don't have access to laptop plus my Linux/coding knowledge is pretty much nil, so if it has to be command based, request something I could copy-paste on device terminal emulator.

Specs:

Huawei Honor 6 (4.4.2) , rooted stock ROM
Play Store Version 6.0.0 (reported as up to date in settings)

Identified the cause.

It is known that Xposed clashes with heavily modded stock UI. That's one reason Xposed version 2.5.1 is the last version which supports without breaking theming engine. Xposed has a setting "Disabled Resource Hooks". If you uncheck it, this problem doesn't occur, but if you check it,it recurrs.

In my case, I don't want to uncheck it as it breaks other things in UI, so it's easier to live with the problem. Though why this should only happen with Google Play Store is unexplained

Try this.

public share(){
Intent share = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        share.setType("text/plain");
share.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_WHEN_TASK_RESET);

        share.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT,
                "ANDROID");
        share.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT,
                "LINK OF APP ON PLAYSTORE");

        startActivity(Intent.createChooser(share, "Share link!"));}

Happy Coding and Happy to Help.


How can I get my phone to find contacts by name *or* company name? I have an HTC Droid Incredible running Android 2.2 (Froyo). I keep my contacts in GMail, and they are automatically synced to my phone. The problem is, my phone's "Search People" app seems to search by business name/organization only if no contact name has been entered.

Is there any way to trick the phone into searching by either name or business name/organization when both of these fields are in use?

Alternatively, is there a better app for looking up contacts than the "Search People" app that came with the phone?

try using google search, works flawlesly on my magic to look for contacts in any way i like , you might need to update latest version from the market

Go for Truecaller app. It's the best app for finding name by phone number.


How to root a Nexus 10 without wipe? I would like to root my Nexus 10 without wiping its data so I can later install Ubuntu Touch on it. How should I do this?

Rooting a device does not require it to be wiped, although, to root it the device's bootloader needs to be unlocked.  This action requires the device to be wiped.

So, if you have not unlocked the bootloader yet then you need to wipe it, sadly.

If you have unlocked the bootloader then you can root the device without wiping it.

To root the device you can use the Nexus Root Toolkit by Wugfresh.  This is your best option.

Newer versions of SuperSU can achieve root without a custom kernel,You can try to update without wiping your device, although you may encounter problems.


Screen on Galaxy Nexus goes off, hard reset required to resolve this. What can I do? I am using a Galaxy  Nexus and since the update to Android 4.2 the screen sometimes suddenly goes off and then especially stays off. The only thing that helps to get the screen back on is taking out the phones battery, which is quite annoying.

Is there a workaround for this?

The same thing happens on my Nexus 7 running 4.2 and as answered in the other question the only way I found to get the screen back on was to perform a "soft reset".

Hold down the power button for around 30 seconds, the device should start a soft reset (i.e. you don't lose any data/settings etc.) and reboot. Not really fixing the root cause of the issue but it's easier than taking out the battery every time.

This is also assuming the holding down the power button to reset works on the Galaxy Nexus and that it's the same issue but it sounds very similar and has only happened after I upgraded to 4.2.

Disable automatic brightness in your settings.


What could be the source of error for this kind of android wireless (wifi) disconnection? Recently there was wifi connection problem for my LG G2 (Android 4.4.2). It has internet connection and was able to connect to AP but sometimes it faces connection drop, no wifi connected although the wifi trigger was still on. During the connection drop, the phone appears to linked to wifi, but i noticed there is no data connection when i monitored live using some wireless monitoring tool. The wifi auto disconnect even i have the strongest signal connection (router was just below my desk) and there was proper internet connection for my laptop which is connected to the same AP.

Thus i would like to be advised is this the source of error from the hardware itself, or from the stock LG G2 ROM (Software)?.

Thanks

Edit: It occurs in each router that i connects

Try to change the channel of your wireless router. Maybe it was caused by the congestion of the working channel(Maybe channel 1).


remote: oem unlock is not allowed i did not find any solution on xda-developers, so i am posting this question here.
i am trying unlock bootloader on nokia6 when i give command:

sudo fastboot oem unlock

or

sudo  fastboot flashing unlock

always i am getting error:

...
FAILED (remote: oem unlock is not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.002s

phone model: Nokia6(T1021)

android version: 8.0.0

usb debuging and oem unlocking is on

Does Nokia not accept unlocking bootloader?

As far as I am aware of, the Nokia Android phones by HMD Global does not allow unlocking bootloader. I have also stated the same in another answer.

So you're out of luck, at least for the time being.

Reference: XDA Developers

So your question is Does Nokia not accept unlocking bootloader?

Technically it's not actually up to Nokia but more of the license that they're using to develop android firmware.

When developing an OS for Android you must follow the license terms of the AOSP ( Android Open Source Project ) this means that many elements of your firmware are strictly open source and any person should be granted the same access to the source code as they themselves have been granted by the license, many companies refuse to follow the GPL License in this way as well as many other license's, Technically you should be able to have access to the kernel source code due to such terms, however they'll refuse to give it up, Their has been many legal disputes about this that have forced companies to release the kernel source.


"USB Debugging" mode not visible, Samsung Galaxy Note II resolved (see below)

The only options I see are "Media device (MTP)" and "Camera (PTP)", I can browse the phone files and download images from the camera directory, so the USB plug and cable are fine.

I tried following the steps on this page from Google.

I am only trying to access browser tabs (for inspect element on mobile device web development).  The only software installed so far is the Samsung driver from the Samsung site and any drivers installed when the phone is plugged into the USB port.

I have the "Developer options" enabled, and "USB debugging" is checked
When going through the list on the page I did not install Samsung drivers first, as it is out of order on the page, so I went back into Device Manager and removed the drivers that installed from first plug in of the phone thinking this was the problem
I then followed the steps again, installing Samsung driver first then plugging in my phone.
After all drivers installed I rebooted (as computer told me reboot required), plugged my phone in again, and USB debugging is still not an option.

Computer OS: Windows 7 (64 bit)
Phone: SCH-1605 (Samsung Galaxy Note II - Verizon)
Phone OS: Android 4.4.2

resolution

using this howtogeek link provided in the accepted answer I was able to install the Java JDK and Android SDK, which apparently is necessary to get it to work as expected and put my phone in debugging mode when plugged in

Apologise for my ignorance as I dont have a Galaxy Note II but since you have the SAMSUNG Android ADB Interface I am presuming when you run command (and get this from google too)

adb.exe devices

Do you at least see a Serial Number??

I had a similar issue with my Nexus 5 and noticed I too have the same drivers however for my computer to connect to the device I had to make sure my device is:

NOT in a Locked State (meaning the phone is not on the lock screen)
Debugging is enabled (You already have)
And accept the adb connection physically on the phone (just do the adb connection and it'll prompt your device for privileges.)

EDITED - 01/08/2014

To get the usb debugging on a samsung note 2: go to "about device".  Under about device, scroll to build number.  It will not be highlighted.  Tap it repeatedly until you receive a message.  It will state that you will become a developer in three steps.  Keep tapping it until no more messages.  You will see developers options.  Click on developers options, scroll down to usb debugging.


Can't see "SD Card" option in Dropbox 2.4.5.10 Version 2.4.5.10 of the Dropbox app adds the ability to export files to SD card.

I have a Galaxy Note 3, and have installed this new version but when I select a file, and choose "Export" and "Save to Device", this is the menu I see:

Click image for larger version

Is there an option I need to enable or something else I need to do so that the "Internal Storage" and "SD Card" options appear?

The new version took away the ability to go up to external storage device.  Arg.  Why anyone would think this is a good idea is mind blowing.  I am guessing they were just thinking about the iphone when they designed this - that won't allow an external SD card.

The option 'Save to device' is an enabled option whether you have or do not have an SD card, once you have chosen 'Export' when you press a filename. If you select this option, and have an SD Card, the first step is to select the button 'Up to Internal Storage', followed by 'Up to Storage', followed by your selection of 'SD Card'.

I have 2 devices, one with, and one without an SD Card. With the SD Card device, the above actions work to allow you to gradually ascend through the tree to find the SD Card, and then descend through that file heirarchy to your desired drop location.

The device without the SD Card allows the same 'Save to device' option but leads you only to other internal storage areas.

On the SD Card device, no settings in Dropbox were necessary for it to appear.

UPDATE 2014/10/21: I found that I, too, lost the ability to Export to an External SD Card right after my Galaxy Tab was updated this afternoon. To restore it, I went to a file in Dropbox, selected a file through hard press until its Activity menu shows, selected Export, which brought me, as you said, to select Recent or Downloads. While this menu is live, select Settings and select 'Display Advanced Devices' and close. The External storage option was re-added as a target location for exporting.


Reenable Google Play Services after disable I am developing an app that requires testing without google play services (I'm on a Samsung S3). I've turned google play services off in Application Manager and tested everything. Afterwards, I went back in and turned it back on, but I can't seem to get my app to recognize that google play services are re-enabled. What ways are there to check it Google Play Services is indeed enabled again on my phone?

After further debugging, google play services' connection was coming across as needing an update in my app's code. It turns out I had to clear Google Play Service's cache. Once I did that and turned on, it prompted me to install updates. I did that, and now it recognizes it as re-enabled as it should.

Go to Settings - Applications, then go to options tool and select "Reset preferences". It will start working again. I tried in Micromax.


How to put a big message on my home and lock screen? I want to put a big message on my home and lock screen. Something like "don't screw up your diet". You get the idea. How can I do that?

One way is to just make an image of your wallpaper with the words printed on it and then select the new image as your wallpaper. Like this:

In the lock screen you can put a message in Settings->LockScreen and Security->LockScreen Message. This way is in my Xperia M5 Android 6.0 but is similar in other phones or android versions


Why must my device be compatible with a certain ROM before I flash it to my device? This it the explanation telling me not to install a custom ROM without checking the device's compatibility. "Now, be careful as each custom ROM comes with a version that is suitable only with one device; you can’t install the same variant of firmware on all the Android devices as the same is not compatible."

But, I'm using a HP Slate 7, there isn't an official thread for this device on XDA Developers, and the furthest I can go is to root my tablet. Other than that, there are no custom ROMs specifically for this device.

My question is, why can't I install a custom ROM if I follow all the correct processes for flashing a custom ROM, even if my device is unsupported? Is it purely because of the bootloader? Or the kernel? I'm fairly new to Android, but I've been reading up on new terms, so can I have some guidance?

No long explanation needed, the reason is quite simple: Different devices come with different hardware components, such as the camera or sound "chips". Those require special drivers, which are in most cases proprietary and not part of AOSP (which is the "Android base code").

This means, each ROM must include device specific code, and thus is specific to the device it is created for.

As far as my understanding goes when you say you are flashing a new custom ROM onto your device you are essentially changing your android version flavor(whatever goes into your /system partition) and most importantly the kernel(/boot contains kernel and bootloader).
More on Android Partitions.

Now when you flash a ROM onto your device you generally use a application installed on your machine. Then you enable USB debugging on your device, connect it to your machine and run your application to flash the ROM. First thing here is that the application must recognize the existing ROM/Kernel so that it can replace it with corresponding custom ROM(Eg CyanogenMod). So your device must be in the list of devices supported by the flashing application. If you have a STOCK ROM than generally all application recognize it and should not be a problem. But if you already have a custom ROM and trying to flash another then it might be a problem.You may wan to read How to Pick the Right ROM for Your Device?

Is it purely because of the bootloader?

As far as CyanogenMod Installer in concerned it does not care if your bootloader is locked or not. It will unlock it for you. Other may require rooted device(How to root your Android device? ).

Or the kernel?

This should not be a problem either because finally it is a Linux kernel on which the android runs(As long as versions are same).

So what is the problem then?

This is my personal understanding. Please correct me if I have mistaken. Kernel is that piece of code that interacts use programs with the device hardware. Now it is very much possible that you have an old device(outdated hardware). Now if you say I am flashing the new ROM that has come to market... it will have a kernel that may require upgraded hardware(Not all things are backward compatible). So even if you flash it on your device some functionality wont wonk. Worst case your phone may get bricked. Hence it is essential to do some research about the ROM you are flashing whether it is compatible with your device.


Google Maps won't work Google Maps app takes like half a minute to update my location every time, navigation instructions don't update when I move, and it doesn't automatically reroute, I have to restart navigation.

I can't use it, it doesn't work at all! How can I fix this?

Motorola Moto G4 Play
Android 6.0.1

Now it worked. After trying lots of things, the way I made it work was just reinstalling the app.


Send SMS to Email address using Android without Internet I would like to know whether its possible to send an SMS text message to an email address in Android. Moreover, I need to send it without using Internet. I have heard of SMS to Email gateways but then how can one use it

It is possible to send emails to SMS inboxes. But you can't send a SMS to an email inbox given you do not have an internet connection. You must already know that emails require internet connectivity. As you asked, SMS gateways can be used to send and receive SMSes provided you are subscribed to a SMS line via a Direct-to-mobile or a Direct-to SMS gateway. Simply put, you cannot use this functionality with your normal SIM card, if you are willing to do it in an offline method. Read more about SMS Gateways in Wikipedia.

On a side note, if you can go online (say mobile data), you can do this by way of a MMS. All you have to do is to send the MMS to the desired email address. Some of the gateway addresses for email to SMS are listed below.

Alltel: phonenumber@message.alltel.com
AT&T: phonenumber@txt.att.net
T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
US Cellular: phonenumber@mms.uscc.net

Keep in mind that most of the networks tend to block and/or alter their gateways once the traffic is considerably high, as this method is widely used by spammers.

Yes you can send SMS to email without internet. You just type in the email address where the phone number would go in the SMS address field.
This has been possible for years, I did it in 2000 with a Nokia candy bar phone on a 2g network.
To go the other way, sending email to SMS, does require internet, and knowing the gateway address/carrier.


A non-cloud local calendar for Android? Is there any way to have and use a local calendar on Android?

I would like to use it on the Android phone and open the file (vcs, ics, anything) on my laptop sometimes.

I have not found any applications that deal with local calendar files stored on the SD-card of the phone. I have found only numerous cloud applications so far.

Is there any app that can open and edit local calendar files on Android?

Etar - Open source calendar app is what we needed.
See its source at GitHub.

My android 2.2 (samsung galaxy fit) has two installed calendar provider.

When i create a new calender-entry i can choose to put it into my own lcal calender or into the "xxx@googlemail.com-calender" in the cloud.

I am not shure whether this is samsung specific or android standard.


Do task killers actually work? Possible Duplicate:
  Do I really need to install a task manager?

I am using ASUS Transformer. I think it uses Ice Cream sandwich, from the UI. I tried many task killers but wonder if they actually work. When I kill tasks, I still see them when I click the "Window selector" 3rd button of the bottom left screen (the 2 boxes). They do appear to take a while to load, so I suppose the tasks were killed but the thumbnails are still there?

Task Killers do generally "work" in that they kill tasks.

They don't "work" in that most apps that you'd want to kill due to running constantly will simply be restarted by the OS, and Android already has appropriate task management built in.  A task manager will mostly just drain your battery and waste your time.

See also: How can I stop applications and services from running? and the question eldarerathis links in the comments.

task killer will save battery life on some androids, and makes battery like worse on others. if i were you i would do a test, one day without using task killer and another day using task killer and see if you can find a difference


How do I go about installing 7.1.1 in my nexus 5x? My question pretty much says everything. I have a nexus 5x with 7.0 rooted and (nougat) installed. I have also flashed kali net hunter image on it. I have google assistant installed. Now, I would like to update my phone to 7.1.1. I want my phone rooted along with google assistant. Nethuneter is not necessary because it consumes a lot of my memory and storage. For my recovery, I have TWRP installed. Kindly suggest me the best way to deal with this.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/orig-development/wip-aosp-nougat-nexus-5-t3446875

This is what you're looking for..


Can I train Google Voice Actions to better recognize my voice? I'm playing with Google Voice Actions. The idea is great, but I'm having trouble with Google Voice Actions not recognizing some of my words. The mistakes are minor, but are bad enough that the application returns bad results half the time.

Some examples:
* The words "Bee Canyon" is interpreted to be "East Canyon".
* "Road" is interpreted as "route"

I am using a Samsung Intercept M910.

I speak American English, with a typical American (Californian) accent. I'm sitting in a quiet room with little background noise.

Is there a way to 'train' Google Voice Actions so that it will understand my voice better?

You could try enabling the "Personalized Recognition" option in the Voice Search settings. This option basically causes Voice Search to store words and phrases that you use on your Google account, and gradually build up a voice library of your speech patterns. You can read the original announcement for it on the Google Mobile blog.

I believe this feature is only available in the US on Android 2.2 or later, but it's possible there may be other restrictions as well.

Look up the "voice search"  app,  tap on the three horizontal dots at the bottom right of the screen. Tap on settings> voice history > Enable it.


Why does my Samsung galaxy blaze randomly shut off and won't reboot until it is plugged into the wall? My galaxy blaze phone randomly shuts off (even though I have plenty of battery life left) while using it and then tries to reboot itself but never fully starts up. Therefore, it constantly keeps shutting off and on until I charge it.  While it is turning off and on I take out the battery for several minutes but nothing seems to work.  Once it plugs into the wall it starts to work again but lately this is happening more and more often, up to 5 times a day.

Would a new battery or update fix this or is it something malfunctioning within the the phone itself?

open setting choose backup and reset. Once that is done turn the phone on It should be as good a s new. I took this off T-mobile help thanks Tmobile


Why allow permission button is disabled? Problem

Today I noticed strange behavior on my test phone, which is Nexus 5 with Android  6.0.1.

After opening test app that asks for permission to read contacts allow button is not working - after tapping on allow nothing happens, but deny works perfectly:

Also when I check Never Ask Again, it completely disables allow button:

Not sure what is happening here, but same app works perfectly on my OnePlus2 which uses Android 6.0.1 too.

The only strange thing about my test phone is that it does not have sim card currently.

Note that both phones have Google Account attached with same synchronized contacts.

Question

I am wondering what causes this?

It is the stupid FileManager app. Once you stop it or remove it you can allow other apps to access the phone

Go to Settings\Apps\Birthday\Permissions and activate Contacts.


Delete a homescreen on Motorola Moto G I wondered how I could remove an empty homescreen on a Motorola Moto G with Android 4.4 (Kitkat)..
I tried to de-zoom, like I used to do with my older android phone (galaxy S3), but it doesn't work. ;(

Cheers

You cannot remove home screen in Moto G as it contains Stock version of android. You can do that with third party launchers like Go Launcher, Nova Launcher

You can actually. You just have to keep on removing widgets and shortcut icons untill there are none left on the screen, and it will automatically remove itself – unless its the last screen left. :-)


Can I charge Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from USB? Possible Duplicate:
  Galaxy Tab is not being charged through USB Cable

I can't charge Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from my USB. Is this a malfunction or intended behaviour?

I know that the mains charger supplies four times the power of a single USB port, but I'd assume the tab can at least be maintained if not charged with the 500 mA of USB.

However, when the tab is plugged in, I see a red cross over the battery icon and the phone status screen says "Discharging".

How do I fix it?

There's no way to charge a Honeycomb tablet by USB, sadly.

Update: Most tablets can't be charged by USB, but some can be charged by USB - an example would be the Nexus 7.


Is there any trick to set ADBD to work on TCP/IP on a non-rooted device? What I want is to control a device from remote:

turn display on/off,
launch a specified application (clock),
open a website.

On a rooted device, I've installed a SSHD app, then I logged in to the device:

su
setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
stop adbd
start adbd

Then I can launch adb on my computer, connect to the device and perform various adb commands.

Can I do this on a non-rooted device? I've found that setprop requires root access.

Or, is there any app, which have TCP/WWW interface to do such things? (I've installed an IP camera app, which have URL interface for turning the camera LED on/off, beside usual camera functions, e.g. make snapshot.)

You can try this command, it restarts adbd on the android device after setting the tcp/ip port to the value you want (5555/tcp is a default) :

$ adb tcpip 5555

Try adb shell command. It gives you super user permissions in the connected device.


S3 mini switches off randomly My S3 mini switches off when I use social media or browse internet, then won't switch on until I have put it on charge but then it has 75% battery, just comes off charge and then the same thing happens.
When I make or receive calls, it would mute on its own, turn on the bluetooth and/or just switch off.

Please advise what the problem could be.

Thanks

RG

Have you tried doing a factory reset, if that doesn't work it might be a faulty battery


What is this "wvm" file, and can I get rid of it? I have a Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean. Using the Android File Transfer program, I was examining the contents of part of the internal drive and found this:

/Android/data/com.google.android.videos/files/Movies/bWF0dGhldy5ob2x0QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ/framework_LFL4UnYvaGE.wvm (2.82 GB, last modified 18 Jul 2012, 7:59 PM)

In another directory (adjacent to bWF0dGhldy5ob2x0QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ), there's a subtitles directory which contains two files:

LFL4UnYvaGE.cc (264 bytes) and LFL4UnYvaGE.en.cc (129 KB), both modified on the same day (18 Jul, but earlier in the day at 5:57 PM).

As you can see, the .wvm file is very large. I tried renaming its parent Movies folder to Movies2 to see if it broke anything and so far it doesn't seem to matter. I tried copying it to my Mac but it says it is unable to copy the file (yet it can copy the parent folder(s) okay). And I don't currently have any movies (that I know of) saved to my tablet either from the Play store or copied over from my computer.

What does this file do, and would it be safe to delete it (and the associated subtitles) to save space?

These files are for the Transformers: Dark of the Moon film which was included promotionally with your Nexus 7.  The movie was not, at least in my case, pre-installed on your device, as it takes a considerable amount of your available storage space (especially if you have an 8GB unit!).

I'm guessing you must at some point have unknowingly hit the small 'button' on the video telling it to download the film for offline use.

The first thing that came to my mind was, that this may be a WebM video file (Matroska container + VP8 video stream + Vorbis audio stream). It would have made sense. But feeding the file to MediaInfo looks like this:

$ mediainfo Downloads/framework_BpAYRcyW2_A.wvm
General
Complete name                            : Downloads/framework_BpAYRcyW2_A.wvm
Format                                   : MPEG-PS
File size                                : 2.73 GiB
Duration                                 : 2h 34mn
Overall bit rate                         : 2 532 Kbps

Video
ID                                       : 224 (0xE0)
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 3 frames
Duration                                 : 2h 34mn
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 536 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive

Audio
ID                                       : 192 (0xC0)
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version                           : Version 4
Format profile                           : LC
Muxing mode                              : ADTS
Duration                                 : 2h 34mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable / Variable / Variable
Minimum bit rate                         : 190 Kbps / 190 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 231 Kbps / 231 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy

Menu

An AVC video stream and AAC audio stream, is what one would expect from a regular MP4, but MPEG-PS format (PS = program stream) is unusual. This is how a regular MP4 looks in MediaInfo:

$ mediainfo .miro/Movies/FLOSS-Weekly/floss0222_h264m_864x480_500.mp4
General
Complete name                            : .miro/Movies/FLOSS-Weekly/floss0222_h264m_864x480_500.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom
File size                                : 282 MiB
Duration                                 : 1h 5mn
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 605 Kbps
Writing application                      : Lavf54.3.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1h 5mn
Bit rate                                 : 500 Kbps
Width                                    : 864 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.040
Stream size                              : 233 MiB (83%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 120 r2164 da19765
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x131 / me=umh / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=2 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=60 / keyint_min=31 / scenecut=0 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=500 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=1500 / vbv_bufsize=6000 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                                 : English

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : LC
Codec ID                                 : 40
Duration                                 : 1h 5mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 96.0 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 1 500 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 44.7 MiB (16%)
Language                                 : English

The file [from the Nexus 7] even  plays for a few seconds in VLC and in MPlayer, but then I get error messages. So either the format is not yet supported or it's sort of encrypted.

WMV stands for Windows Media Video -- so what you've found very likely is a Video-file with subtitles. It could be a demo video shipped together with the application in whichs directory it resides (Google Play Movies & TV). I'd say it should be safe to delete it -- but I would first try doing so via the app itself to be sure (there you also could first play it to see what it is about -- plus deleting it from there would ensure all connected data is removed as well). In the worst case, you may need to re-install the app.


Youtube video quality Youtube app allows switching between normal and high quality videos. Is this normal and high quality depended on screen dpi or are they some fixed quality videos independent of mobile and tablets and their resolution?

For eg: Is the high quality video in my HTC Desier with resolution 480 X 800 same as in 1080p phones like HTC One?

If the quality is set to Auto, the video quality is dependent on the internet speed (faster connectivity better resolution, slower connectivity lower resolution), screen resolution, quality of the original uploaded video.

You can choose in the settings a resolution of your liking (240p, 360p, etc).
However, be aware that only resolutions that your phone or tablet can handle will be shown. For example, you will not see 1080p or 1440p if your screen can handle only resolutions up to 720p,

Source: Change the quality of your video

As far as I know, the official YouTube app won't play 1080p videos yet.

Standard LQ (HQ not enabled) = 360p
HQ = 480p
HD = 720P


Phone interrupted during update I was updating my phone using Kies and the download was interrupted. My phone now has a black screen with a little phone, a yellow triangle with an exclamation point, and a computer on it. I cannot put the phone into recovery mode, and the Kies application has a little icon on it that says "emergency recovery" but when I click on it I then get a message that says

  TODO: has stopped working.  A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program.

I called Samsung, but they were no help at all. Their representative didn't even know what icon I was talking about. She just suggested that I take the battery out or try to put my phone in recovery mode, even though I kept explaining I already tried those things.

You can try taking it to third-party repair shop. It might work better than Samsung as they do not care if you voided your warranty or not.


Android 6.0 Marshmallow SD Card Not mounting I was having problems with my 32gb sdcard from day 1 . It use to unmount suddenly and I had to re boot to mount it.

Also, the sdcard all folders where not showing when I connected the phone to PC.To fix this problem I followed the answer here and cleared data of External Storage App and I can no longer mount the sd card.

Moto g2 no longer detects the sd card. I have tried re booting many times.

EDIT

Sdcard getting read in other android phone but not in my moto g2

I had to do factory reset , after this the sdcard was mounted


Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 file transfer, USB not recognised. No USB options in Settings menu I have a Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 and I wish to transfer some audio files from it to my PC, running Windows 8.

When I connect the phone to the computer with the USB cable, the phone beeps and begins charging but displays no USB connection notification. Likewise, the computer doesn't register the connection at all. I have googled the problem but only seem to find partial solutions, which don't fit my situation.

I've tried updating PC drivers and phone software, turning off and on again, trying with and without Kies software and on several different machines.

The phone is running Android 2.3.6

Anyone got any ideas?

Some USB cables don't include the data wires as they are only meant for charging. Check if other devices work with this cable, and try another cable.
Also, if the cable is sure to work, take a look at My computer -> right click -> Manage -> Device manager and see if you can find your phone there and try upgrading the driver from there.

Just got to Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging and confirm that usb debugging is disabled. That is it. Now your phone will connect to PC perfect.


why does my tablet say insufficient space? I have a few apps, but this tablet is new and I want more apps. Every time I say download, it says I have insufficient space. Please help!

Go to settings>storage and take a look at what you have for space.  Some devices come with very little to start with (4gb) while others have buckets (64gb).  Downloading a few movies or games (or loading a big music library) can push a 4gb device to its limit fairly quickly.

If you've checked settings and see that you have very little available space, doing some app housecleaning will obviously help.  Some devices will accept an external microsd card, so you have a relatively inexpensive way put a bunch more room on your tablet.

If you've checked setting and there is a lot of available space left, then we need to explore other options.

I would suggest checking what it says in your storage settings to see what you have available for space, and what is taking up the most space. Your media files, downloads, or cached data may be taking up more space than you expect.


Certificate Install without mandatory PIN lockscreen Google Support says:

  The type of lock that's acceptable may be predetermined by your system
  administrator.

Where I can define what's acceptable? I can regenerate the certificate if needed.

So I can use slide lockscreen again.

(I'm using CM9 RC1, Android 4.0.4)

I've described how to do exacly this on my page, "Installing CAcert certificates on Android as 'system' credentials without lockscreen - instructions" at http://wiki.pcprobleemloos.nl/android/cacert

I've also posted it on the cyanogenmod forum:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/82875-installing-cacert-certificates-on-android-as-system-credentials-without-lockscreen/

Basically, the commands are:

openssl x509 -inform PEM -subject_hash_old -in root.crt | head -1

To get the correct filename, then convert the certificate:

cat root.crt > 5ed36f99.0
openssl x509 -inform PEM -text -in root.crt -out /dev/null >> 5ed36f99.0

Copy them to /system/etc/security/cacerts/ and chmod the new .0 files to '644'.
Reboot and verify. On your android device select 'Clear cerficates' and you are able to remove the pin (by entering the pin and changing your lockscreen to 'none' or 'wipe'

Here I used the CAcert root certificate, but you probably want the class3.crt certificate as well, or use your own certificates.

I found a way to solve the problem, but it requires root and may only work with root, self-signed, or intermediate CAs.

If you have a certificate that is not trusted by Android, when you add it, it goes in the personal cert store. When you add a cert in this personal cert store, the system requires a higher security level to unlock the device. But if you manage to add your cert to the system store then you don't have this requirement. Obviously, root is required to add a certificate to the system store, but it is quiet easy.

Here is how to do it :

1 - Add your cert normally. For example, my cert was called some.crt. It will be stored in your personal store and android will ask you a pin/password... Proceed.

2 - With a file manager with root capabilities, browse files in /data/misc/keychain/cacerts-added or /data/misc/keystore. You should see a file here called 1000_USRCERT_some it's the certificate you have added in step 1.

3 - Move this file to system/etc/security/cacerts (you will need to mount
the system partition r/w)

4 - Reboot the phone

5 - You are now able to clear the pin/password you have set to unlock the
device.

Worked for me with a self-signed cert on Android 4.4.2. Hope it helps!


How to find date a bluetooth connection was first paired I have a rooted samsung Galaxy grand 4.1.2 with full file access, That has a paired bluetooth connection with another phone. Is there any simple way/app (non programmer) to see the actual date the original pairing request was made. I need to find it out exactly for a legal issue and am struggling to find out if its possible. thanks

The database you're looking for is /data/data/com.android.bluetooth/databases/btopp.db

The full history should be there until you explicitly clear data in Application Manager.

I remember reading a full guide on a digital forensics site, can't find the link I had in mind, but this one tells us the log includes MAC addresses (good for legal evidence):

http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=11733/

Hope this steers you in the right direction.


How to get my tablet listed by adt When I run adb devices from my Windows XP machine there is nothing listed. The tablet's Vendor ID is 18D1 and the Product ID is DEED. It gets enumerated as a USB device with a name MID. When I enable "USB storage" on the tablet, I can see the tablet's files in the Windows File Explorer as drive G: and the SD card on the tablet as drive H: -- however the Computer Management shows a big yellow question mark next to a device named "MID".

I searched for a suitable driver but all I could find was a list of drivers for well known brands. My tablet is a no-name version of the Hyundai A7 Art.

I've been struggling with this for quite a few days. My purpose is to collect a logcat to document another problem that I posted here. I hope you can help me out.

Try to re-install the USB device driver for that specific tab, and try it once again.


WhatsApp sends messages before I've finished typing I've had a BQ Aquaris M4.5 phone with Android 5.1 for months and have never experienced any problems. However, since last week and without having changed anything that I know of (and not having installed an update from WhatsApp), my phone sends the message before I finish writing it on WhatsApp only. I can only write one or two letters before it sends the message, without me pressing the send button. It continues doing this until I close the app and open it again, but it happens dozens of times throughout the day and I have no idea why. I have erased the cache, used cleaning apps to clean the phone, etc., but nothing solves it. I installed yesterday the latest update and the problem seems even more frequent now. I have searched online but I can't find users experiencing the same problem.

I've thought of doing a factory reset for my phone, as I would like to do it anyway for general cleaning. However, if I have a Google backup and another backup on my SD card, will everything be exactly the same when I restore the phone? Will I actually clean it?

Thank you

As @beeshyams suggested, the problem was not WhatsApp but my keyboard (I am using TouchPal). I don't know what exactly was causing the problem, but uninstalling and reinstalling the keyboard solved it completely.

I was experiencing the same problem and finally found the solution!!!
Here is what you have to do:

Turn off your phone
remove battery, sim, sd card
put them back
Turn on your phone

It should solve the problem... It worked for me.


Why doesn't ClockWorkMod wipe of /data delete /data/media folder? I think this might be a simple question but this been bugging me for long,

Why is that when i do a ClockWorkMod wipe of /data, the /data/media folder stays intact. @beeshyams pointed out that it is to avoid wiping out any clockworkmod backups. If that is the case, only /data/media/clockworkmod/ folder will stay untouched if backups exists or not. But rather the whole /data/media/ folder is kept safe from harms way. A better explanation will be appreciated.

Please note the following are assumptions based on my Linux knowledge. So I cannot 100% back them, especially cannot tell if any/all recoveries work this way.

First, some raw facts:

as already pointed out, /data/media is a symlink to the SD card
resulting of that, the data behind it reside on a different partition
that other partition is usually not included with the wipe/factory-reset, which normally covers only /data and /cache

So now to the wipe itself. "Emptying" the /data partition could be done in different ways:

"formatting" the partition: wouldn't touch the data behind that symlink
performing something like rm -rf /data/*: would remove the symlink, but leave the data behind it untouched
walking the entire /data/* file by file, directory by directory, removing each entry (no idea why one would do that). In that case, unless the process follows symlinks, again only the symlink would be gone but the content behind it left untouched

So once more: As the data-in-question does not physically reside on the /data partition, it should even be expected to stay.

This thread why doesn't format of /data in recovery blow away all your personal images, music, documents, etc? offers an answer

Quoting Scary Alien, who is a moderator on reddit forum (emphasis mine)

  ... when the /data partition is requested to be wiped with "wipe_data", the erase_volume (recovery.c) function is invoked. erase_volume invokes format_volume (roots.c). If format_volume determines if the volume in question is /data and /data/media is present and symlinked to /sdcard, then the format_unknown_device (extendedcommands.c) function is invoked. format_unknown_device will then recursively delete all files in /data -- except for those in the /data/media structure

In other words, as clarified in a trailing post

  Doing a data wipe in ClockworkMod will skip the /data/media folder (subdirectory)--i.e., where your "SD card" lives...


Data usage slider missing in Android Lollipop After upgrading my Galaxy S5 to Android 5.0, the sliding bar on the graph which allows you to show data usage for a prescribed date range is no longer there. For example, in the older Android I was able to slide the bar to show data usage for the last 24 hours, or for whatever range of days I wanted- it was so easy and fast. I understand that there is an option to change the date range in the options, but this is more time consuming and you need to change it every time you want to show a different range- the slider was so much easier and faster. Is there any way to bring this back or perhaps an app that has this feature? I don't understand why several useful features have been removed in the new update, as I mention in my other question here.

Samsung probably removed this ability in their recent update, as LG handsets are also missing this feature from previous Android versions.  The best course of action to monitor your data usage in detail is to run a search on the Play Store for data monitoring apps.  A quick search I ran returns a plethora of results.

I'm not sure if it'll work, but disable wi-fi, enable mobile data and resart your phone, try if it works


How to set custom ringtone for contacts group in Lollipop contact app I'm using Moto g with Lollipop 5.0.2. I can add contacts to group by edit contact.

How do I add specific ringtone for specific contact?
How do I add specific ringtone for specific group?
If there are no options, where do I give feedback for these options?

I don't think it is possible in stock Android to set a specific ringtone for an entire Circle. You can however, edit a specific contact and in the edit menu you can set a custom Ringtone.

If this is not what you want then you can send Google Feedback any time.

Try the app: DW Contacts & Phone

Open the app and select the 'Toolbox' tab.
Click on "Groups". Now select any standard group or create a New group from Options(3dots at top right).
Add required contacts to that group. Then select Options->Set Ringtone for shown contacts inside that group to set ringtone for that particular group (or set of contacts)


Problems with downloading apps I have recently brought a Samsung Cooper and when i was trying to download an app from the market it keeps saying insufficient memory on device. My phone has a 16GB memory card and the internal memory i big enough for the app.

Does anyone have any ideas why its saying this please.

Thanks.

One of the more obvious things to attempt is to clear the Market data/cache.

Another thing to try is to backup all data on your SD card. Next - format it from within your Android device, then copy back all the data. Corrupted files on your SD card can also cause installation failures (even if you aren't installing to an SD card), or so I've heard.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the insufficient memory error probably means RAM and not the storage space. If this is the case, I've found that its usually because most of my apps are installed on the phone memory and not on the SD card. Try moving your apps to the SD card from the phone memory. Keep in mind that doing so would prevent you from using that app's homescreen widgets.


Google Maps shows constantly rotating direction despite other compass apps working correctly Google Maps reports rotating direction (0.5 rotations / minute) with stationary phone. The compass is calibrated and works correctly in compass-specific apps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6uOI5g8xbc

Steps to replicate:

After booting into Safe Mode and calibrating the compass via rapid figure-8's (or slow, or rotations on table), the direction in Google Maps slowly rotates.

EDIT: I did a factory reset and, before logging in, Google Maps still has this error. I think it may be a hardware bug at this point.

Apps affected:

Google Maps (Safe Mode and normal mode)
GPS Status (only available in normal mode)

Apps not affected:

"Compass" (orange circle logo)
Sensors Multitool (shows correct magnetometer readings for X, Y, and Z. Confirms correct calibration)
https://goo.gl/photos/SavNsaY2PyNPa17G8

Troubleshooting steps I've tried:

Calibrating compass

Rebooting in Safe Mode
Disabling/re-enabling Google Maps (includes data/cache deletion)

Specs:

Nexus 5X
Android 6.0.1
Google Maps 9.34.1

Same issue here on my Galaxy S-6 Edge Plus.  The blue dot/shadow spins rapidly.  Master reset did not fix.  Verizon actually replaced the phone and the new phone acts up as well. I went to Best Buy Samsung help desk and they mentioned an issue that is going to be corrected (soon) as an update to Google Maps. I hope this rapid spinning doesn't mess up any of the sensors on the new phone...


How to sync my contacts with their gmail account? I have bought Nexus 4 and i have imported phone contacts from my older Phone. I don't have email id for many of the contacts,i have just their phone numbers alone. Now i want to sync them with their email. Is there any way to do this. And is there any way to sync them with their fb account. (To be clear my question is if i can sync them to their gmail or fb by just using their Number). Actually i have 'Add Connection' option in 'People' tab and i'm able to get the contacts from Google Plus correctly. But when i add them to circles they are saved as separate contact and my old contact with phone number alone as separate contact.

The best way is to create or import your contacts under Google account. You can add both Email or Facebook info under each contacts. You can also log in to Facebook app and sync Facebook contacts. Same name will be linked automatically and you may need link manually for the remaining contacts.

You could first add a facebook account from

 Settings->Account->Add new account->Facebook

Then the FB contacts will get synced with their numbers if users have added it on facebook. After that try syncing with the Google account.

If this does not work, you could always use the 'link contacts' option provided in almost all contact application. it will detect similar accounts and link them to form a single contact file.

Hope this helps!

Import Facebook contects to Goole+.


Can I upgrade My Xperia Arc S To Jelly Bean after the rooting I am planning to root my Xperia Arc S and want to know whether will I be able to upgrade it to Android Jelly Bean.

Sony stopped with ICS, it didnt release Jellybean for Arc S. If you are rooted and installed CWM recovery you can install Jellybean Custom rom. There are plenty of rom available here. Just read the instruction before installing the roms. There are roms which are only for unlocked bootloader.

Most of the times, if not all, rooting is necessary to upgrade to a newer version, especially if it is unofficial(custom ROM). You also have much more power on your phone, but it has the drawback that the guarantee will be voided.

In your case, I have found that it is easier to upgrade. You just need to install pc-companion and after you connect the device on it, it will download the latest update(Jelly Bean).

If I were you, I would download the update first and then I would root my phone.

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/sony-ericsson/sony-xperia/17465/how-update-your-sony-xperia-arc-s-android-40


Rooting or Flashing first? I bought a Lenovo A806 Smartphone (apparently also known as Golden Warrior) from Hong Kong. Despite being bought from the Chinese market it has Google Play Store installed but it also has Mobomarket and other apps I'd rather not have which cannot be removed with normal deletion methods. I have been told they're probably within the root system.

I am a relative newbie and have discovered a variety of sites and programs which provide both rooting and mod options including Kingroot and Needrom. However I'm reluctant to just steam ahead without gaining approval from someone who knows about this stuff :-)

So my questions are,

Is there a list of available rooting programs/software anywhere on the web?
Does an unrooted phone always have to be rooted before mods can be flashed? Or can I install a new ROM which roots at the same time?

The phone runs 4.4.2. I have a build number if needed.

Many thanks for any advice.

Towelroot is one of the easiest roots out there. Install the app on the phone (make sure installing from unknown sources is enabled in settings → security), press the only button in the app and you should be rooted.

You can (and should) then install a root manager app like SuperSU to stop any random app being able to get root access.

A majority, if not all, of mods provide root access out of the box. The most popular one of them is CyanogenMod (or "CM" for short), which strives to provide a clean Android experience while also offering new features. Unfortunately though, CM doesn't support your device. It seems like the closest you can get to it is A806 AOSP. In order to install that, you need the TWRP recovery, which may also come in handy later on.

One thing to remember is that you should always make backups when installing things from within the recovery. In case things go wrong, you can always restore the backup and try again.


Why does the youtube offline videos get expired Weird behavior of offline videos. I had downloaded a lot videos from office for offline viewing at home. But when i went home they were showing expired and when i clicked on them it showed connect to internet to update. So i went online but even then it was showing connect to update, but after long hours of searching over the internet i couldn't find any solutions. So i first removed them from offline and re-downloaded them.

That was okay, but the same thing happened today hence i am frustrated. My questions are like this:
1)Why are they getting expired
2)Solution for the above question.

Screenshot:

Screenshot - (click to enlarge)

Apparently YouTube videos downloaded for offline viewing get expired after a certain amount of time. I haven't heard anything official about though.

The downloaded  videos are stored in the internal storage but they are saved as .exo file format which only the YouTube app can open (you can't play them with any other media player app)

The best advice I can give you is to use a YouTube downloader like Tube mate to download the videos.

Offline videos expires when you clear the cache of YouTube app.
If you dont clear, then all videos will not expire


"Incompatible with other applications(s) using the same shared user ID" when installing Google Play service? I need to run Google Plus, and Google Plus needs the Google Play service.

Every time I install google play service from the Google Play store it fails to install with this error:

  Incompatible with other applications(s) using the same shared user ID

What could be the issue? How can I fix this?

UPDATE: I know almost nothing about android, so I dont know what ROM is, or such thing, I get my phone from local production and I guess, yes, it uses custom system, so I just know that I'm using Android Version 4.0.4. any help would be greatly appreciated.

What is get my phone from local production?

Since you mentioned about custom system are you referring to a modded ROM like Cyanogenmod, Paranoid Android etc?

You have custom recovery in place? If so, grab the latest Google Apps from here appropriately for Android 4.0.4 aka ICS, more than likely, this version of gapps.

Reboot into Recovery, select:

Wipe Cache
Install from zip, select the gapps you downloaded
Then when install is done, reboot.

You should know this first that Google play service is required by some apps which had implemented functionality provided by google play services. Like multi player, real time multi player, leader-boards, achievements in some games ans apps.

If you are having problem in downloading it there are many possible solutions there.
- Go to the application manager, remove all updates from google+ related apps. Then start play service after installing all the apps updates. This might get solved ur problem.


CyanogenMod 10.2 on Galaxy S3 charging problem I have a Galaxy S3 with CM 10.2 build date 28-09-2013.

The problem I am facing is slow charging of my mobile. It takes around 6-7 hours to charge when connected to AC power source. Before CM with S3 stock rom, it used to take around 3-4 hours to charge 100%.

I tried searching on CyanogenMod forums, but couldn't get an answer on how to fix this issue. Does anybody know how to fix it?

Do you keep wireless or any other communication networks on while charging? This can slow down the charging process.

I have the same issue. I solved it by installing boeffla kernel and turning on ignore unstable power.


Sony Xperia Z corrupted photos in LOST.DIR folder inside microSD I have a curious problem and I hope someone can help me

I was traveling and took about a hundred photos with my new Sony Xperia Z 6603 phone which were saved on my Sandisk 32GB microSD card

Some photos would not show, so I rebooted the phone (unaware that this may result in corruption). Yes, all the photos were corrupted and appeared under LOST.DIR in my SD card under titles 8216, 8217, 8219 and so on. They have no extension (original should have been jpg)

They still take up the normal space for a JPG photo and there's exactly a hundred. They are just simple files, no extension

I tried to change the extension to JPG, JPEG, PNG for photo formats, ZIP, RAR as I read they may be compressed. I also tried to repair them with JPG repair software. They do not open with any photo viewers, photo editing software either

They do not show up under Recuva, ZAR, Wondershare Dr.Fone, or any other recovery programs that scan the SD card FAT32 sectors. They just stay there in the LOST.DIR folder. They are not overwritten as I have removed the SD card

Can they really be gone and are only just ghost files? Or are they still my holiday photos that I so desperately need to recover? Is there anyone that experienced a similar problem and is there any way to recover? I wouldn't mind taking my microSD to a specialist should it come to that, as those photos are really important

well the 4.1.2 was in the fat32 format however the 4.2.2 wants a "exfat" but becarefull since this format is very weird because in not always working due to the fact that the master table very messy therefore it might asking for the deframenting often. so it can lock it self 0x....
So re format to exfat and everthing should will be fine and there should be no issues .


How to circumvent the market compatibility check? Sometimes I would like to install some App on my Notion Ink Adam but the Android Market says that my device is not compatible with the App. ATM I simply google for the specific App and search some file hoster where I can download the apk, but this has several disadvantages (you never know if it is a hacked version, you don't receive updates, etc).

Therefore I would like to simply tell the market that I know about the incompatibility, but I want to simply install the App anyway. Does someone of you know a solution?

Yes.  Unfortunately the Market appears to pull the version of Android directly from the system somehow, so I'm not sure how to get around apps that are limited by version.  However you can get around apps being limited to specific devices by editing your build.prop file.  See my answer here: How can I modify the phone model in build.prop to get unsupported apps?

There's an app called Market Unlocker (which requires root).


Clock Work Mod Recovery isn't picking up External SD Card I have Clockwork Mod Recovery installed on my phone and I'm trying to install a custom ROM on it. But when I go to 'install zip from external SD card' it gives the effect as if it's going into the SD card but nothing is displayed (none of the files, folders etc that's on the card).
And when I try and go back it doesn't want to either...

Some details:

Samsung Galaxy Note II (GT N7100)
Clockworkmod 6
Trying to install Paranoid Android 3.99

Thanks in advance for some advice!

Check the size and format of your SD Card.  The current ClockworkMod recovery version (6.0.3.x) doesn't support exFAT partitions. If you have a newer card that is over 32GB, chances are it's formatted using exFAT file system, due to limitations of FAT32 on Windows. The solution is to either use a smaller card formatted as FAT32, or use a different recovery that supports exFAT, such as TWRP, for example.

Maybe you can use Philz Recovery instead. I used it with CyanogenMod 12.1 on my Galaxy Grand 2 (G7102). It worked perfectly and has SD Card support. You can try TWRP recovery too.


How do I access my SD card through a Windows USB connection? I'm trying to upload a simple PDF file to my Droid X Android 2.3 phone. I connected the cable and uploaded the file but I don't know which folder to put the file into. Android's PDF applications aren't helping at all and they all seem to look for files in SD. How do I access SD contents from Windows? How do I know if I have an SD card in my phone?

Most Android file managers and dialogs start you off in the SD card; if for some reason yours isn't, it's located at /sdcard .  This is also the directory that is mounted when you hook up your phone to Windows via USB.

Just to make sure here, you aren't trying to access the PDFs while the phone is still mounted in Windows?  You won't be able to, if that's the case.

If you want to look around more on your phone to find out where the PDFs are, you need to use a file manager on your phone. Most phones come with one preinstalled, simply called "Files" in the app drawer. Usually they open directly to the SD card directory (which is /sdcard in the root file structure).

If you don't have a file browser already installed, try ES File Explorer from the market, it's quite good and has boatloads of features. It also starts off browsing in the sdcard by default, and if you have root you can explore the entire file system, not just /sdcard .  It also has a "Search" function which may help you find your PDF files by filename.

Install Adobe Reader from the market. Once the app and it will automatically scan your SD card and list all the files in the SD Card.

This is a free app too.

Mounting Android to Windows using USB


How to find saved wifi password? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I find out the wifi password from android setting

A friend entered his wifi password into my android phone so that I could connect to his network.

I don't want to ask him again for the password and I want to use it on my laptop.

how can I find the password that he entered?

thanks.

There is an option in the setting to display "show passwords" on all. So basically when you click on the WiFi name in "Wireless and Networks" you will find the password.


Does an android phone unroot itself on factory reset? If you root your android device, and then factory restore it... does it remain rooted?

Yes. you need to Root after Factory Reset

also, and if you want to unroot then remove busybox, remove files in /system/xbin folder, and in SuperSU application in Options, Choose Uninstall


How long device has been running since last charge? In Android Lollipop, how do I see how long it has been since the last time I charged the battery? I mean I can get the approximate time by eye-balling the graph shown in Settings -> Battery. But, is it possible to get a precise time period like: "your device has been running x hours y minutes since last charge".

Or any app that can give me this info? All battery apps seem to concentrate on telling me how much longer the device can last from now. No history info.

Note: I'm not asking about the up time :-)

From a root terminal on your device:

dumpsys batterystats | grep "Start clock time"

That will give the date/time of when the device was last disconnected from the charger (while fully charged), rather than the time since, but comparing to the current date and time is easy enough.

I did come up with a more complicated command you could save to a script to yield a 1d 2h 3m style format:

busybox expr $(date +%s) - $(dumpsys batterystats --checkin | grep "l,bt" | busybox awk -F',' '{printf "%i", $10/1000}') | busybox awk '{printf "%id %ih %im\n", $1/60/60/24, $1/60/60 % 24, $1/60 % 60}'

To explain that:

Get the batterystats line that includes the milliseconds-since-the-epoch time of the last charger disconnection
Use awk to strip out that time and convert it to seconds
Subtract it from the current time to get the interval in seconds
Use awk to format it

Go to battery in setting, press battery usage button then you can see the exact time passed since last charge


stuck installing cyanogenmod on htc one X+ After using the standard android on my one X+ for a long time, I decided to get started with cyanogenmod today.

I started by using this manual: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_endeavoru
I already rooted it a long time ago, so I skipped everything up onto installing recovery.

First I tried installing the enrc2b, but this gave me the error that my phone was a endeavoru (A bit strange, because everywhere they say that's a HTC one X, while mine is definitely a HTC one X+).
After that, I continued with the version for the endeavoru and successfully installed cm-10.2.1-endeavoru.zip on it.

After rebooting it, I got stuck on a endless boot screen of cyanogenmod. I noticed this line in the description:

  his device, if unlocked with HTCDev Unlock, must have its kernel
  flashed via fastboot. Extract boot.img from the CyanogenMod .zip
  package and flash it from the bootloader with: fastboot flash boot
  boot.img

I have no idea if I rooted it with HTCDev Unlock, I did it a long time ago, but I thought I would give it a try. After executing fastboot flash boot boot.img I rebooted, and now I am stuck at a endless HTC splash screen.

I can still get to the fastboot and recovery menu, but have no clue where I wned wrong and how to continue. I already tried a factory reset, but to no avail. I also tried getting the backup that I made back from recovery, but it says it can't find any backups.

any ideas how to continue...?

I got a little fit further. When I look at the boot screen, it should clearly be a enrc2b

I downloaded cm-10.2.1-enrc2b.zip , extracted boot.img and flashed that onto it. This at least brought me back to getting stuck at the cyanogenmod screen instead of the HTC screen.

After that I tried to install cm-10.2.1-enrc2b.zip onto it, but that's giving me this error:

In the CyanogenMod zip's updater script, remove the entire assert() line. That will remove the device identity verification and will let the recovery commence flashing immediately.

reflash the rom, dont reboot into system, reboot to fastboot or bootloader (if so go to fastboot) then do fastboot flash boot boot.img) (you need to extract this from the rom zip you installed)


How to setup the Whatsapp status in Bluestack on a Windows 10 notebook? I have installed a BlueStack on my Windows 10 Notebook. I wanted to setup the status of my Whatsapp account. However, I couldn't find any option to navigate through, and add a video file.

I could setup the status of my Whatsapp account with taking a new photo by my camera, but I want to add an already-downloaded video file to my status.

Thanks a in advance.

Install open camera for android.
Then, click on view picture (denoted by the most recent picture in the gallery on the upper right hand corner).
Complete action using view picture if it asks for it.
Then click on the share icon on the image. Share picture via whatsapp.
When whatsapp opens automatically, click on My status then send.
This worked for me.

open your picture or gallery in bluestack, if you dont have go get one.. then select the picture or videos you want to use and click share.. click whatsapp and the click my status,, Gbam.. you are there... i hope this helps


Setting Dynamic IP Address from command line I am working with android, I have connected a ethernet cable to ethernet port of my hardware.

I am not getting any network. I am using Android O.

In linux I can use dhclient eth0 (for getting IP addresses  dynamically)

Please help me with the command I need to use in android, as dhclient is not available in my setup.

Thank you.

You may need BusyBox and root access to proceed.

You can see all built-in Unix-like commands by running toybox.


Phone will randomly crash, then only loads to boot loader I rooted my Samsung-sm-g930a (Galaxy s7 AT&T)
And after I did, the VOLTE showed up... I thought nothing of it because it is Voice Over LTE but a week after I did that when i tried to open an app it closed the app 2 seconds later (almost immediately) and if I restart my phone it gets stuck at the AT&T logo I can boot it into recovery and reset the device, this fixes it temporarily then 3 days later it does it Agian. Any idea how to fix this?

I ever faced a situation like this where my phone load until the Samsung logo and that's it. What I did was installing a stock rom in to my Samsung and it did fix my phone. You can visit the web of cyanogen to see if your phone model is listed there.

It appears that something wrong has happened with your rom. Since factory resetting has not fixed the issue, the next step is to restore the stock rom. Here's a link to the stock rom for the Samsung Galaxy S7:

Edit: New link (from OP): https://forum.xda-developers.com/att-galaxy-s7/how-to/firmware-stock-sm-g930a-pb5-odin-files-t3411468

(Includes Root)


Can't receive text messages; everything else about phone works fine Starting at exactly 3pm (EST) on Sunday two weeks in a row my phone could not receive SMS text messages.  It could send SMS, send and receive calls, and send and receive MMS (mutli-media messages).  I was using the stock messaging client.  This is on an Samsung Rugby Smart running Android 2.3.6, with AT&T as the carrier.  How do I get text messaging to work again?

Quick Answer:

Put the SIM card in another phone for a few minutes to reset the network registration and then move it back.

Things that I tried that did not fix this problem:

Restarting the phone
Removing and reinserting the sim card
Uninstalling the Skype app
Calling AT&T support (611) and asking for them to reset the network registration of my phone
Restarting my phone in safe mode
Booting my phone into system recovery mode and wiping the cache partition

Full Answer:

AT&T indicated that it was a problem with the network registration, given every piece of my phone's communication worked except for receiving SMS.  This turned out to be true.  The solution was to put the sim card in another phone, which overrode the network registration for my number.  After about a minute, the second phone received all of the texts that the first had not been able to get, and then I could move the sim card back into my regular phone and receive texts as normal.

All there is to do is send someone a text who doesn't have an iPhone and it will automatically turn itself back on. This just happened to me.


Restarting after installing Cyanogenmod, it is just going around I installed cyanogenmod 10.1, following the steps of this link. After the restart, it only shows the logo going around. It did not change in the last 5 hours.

What can I do?

This has happened to me also. Do a full wipe and flash the ROM again. It takes around 5-10 mins for first boot.


How do I find out my SIM number? I have a Samsung Galaxy GT-I9000 and need to find out my 20 digit SIM number somehow.

I have been told that I should go to Settings > General > About to find it.

However, it isn't! Does anybody know where this information is stored?

How about taking the SIM out and see the number printed  on its back side (the other side of the contact surface) or next to it? Just thought to say this just in case if you are not aware of!

the best way actually is to dial *#06# on your Android phone and it will pop up.


Copy synced videos in/from Dailymotion Is it possible to access the sync'ed DailyMotion videos somewhere else?

I know they're saved somewhere in the cache (\mnt\sdcard\Android\data\com.dailymotion.dailymotion\cache\videos). If you clear the cache, they're gone.

Is it possible to move them to somewhere else, e.g., on your SD card or even PC and watch them there?

Go to the cache, and find the file that you want to play. There will be 2 files with the same name, one will be only a few kb, the other will be the video (should be a few MB).

Long press on the file until you get the menu. Then select "open as", then "video", then select a video player.

I used the stock one that comes with the phone even though I have several others I thought I would try that first, and it worked first time (this was on a Galaxy S3).

If they play then copy them where you want, pc etc. You might need to rename the video files (adding the .mp4 file extension).

I had to rename the file first (added .mp4 to the end). Worked perfectly in MXPlayer


ODEX file: Does every app has one and if yes where are they stored? I know that .odex files are optimized .dex files.

I have seen a lot of .odex files below the path /system on my phone. I am just curious if there are also .odex files for my installed apps.

I searched the file system but I wasn't able to find .odex files for my installed apps. But I assume that they exist - the question is just where they are stored.

BTW: My phone is a rooted Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.1.2

When your ROM is booted up for the first time, Android's Dalvik goes through every apk and extracts the dex file from it.  It places the dex files in the cache folder - located at /data/dalvik-cache.  This is the directory that gets cleared when you clear the dalvik cache in your recovery tool

I believe every app has an ODEX db because this keeps the app files for running the app,the widget or apk cant work without it. Its normally located in the Secure file system under apps,each app with have its icon and the odex file with the same name .ODEX next to it.


randomly trying to call will not ring once, beep and hang up I've been experiencing this problem quite randomly.  I've asked some friends around who have Android phones as well and this happens to them as well, so my first thought was that this is an issue with Android.

I try to call a number, and without ever hearing it 'ring' anytime, I get a Conditional Call Forwarding Active message and a small beep, and it hangs up.  I then re-try, and sometimes the call goes through, sometimes I get the same message.  Sometimes, on occasions I have to try 4 - 6 times to be able to make the call. On very rare occasions, everytime I try I keep getting the message, beep, and hangs up.  This is extremely frustrating.  Any idea how I can look into this?

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, stock Android (4.3 as per latest update).

Update 1

This has nothing to do with Call Forwarding apparently.  I've disabled it from the Call Settings, and now it still happens, without showing the Call Forwarding activated message.

As strange as it may be, I did find a solution to this problem.  I noticed that if I switch data / 3G, the call would immediately go through.  I've tried this a lot of times where I couldn't call, switch off 3G and it immediately works.

Also, I've recently switched to CyanogenMod from the native Samsung Android installation, and I don't recall this happening again.  Not sure if it is some kind of bug in Samsung's version of Android.  I'm also using a more recent version of Android, so that could also be the reason.

I tried calling on my Galaxy Note 5 and had same problem with all numbers. I rebooted phone and it started back working.


Access to smartphone with PC I've reset my phone (Android 4.3) but because the touchscreen is not fully responding, I can't go through the initial tutorial and therefore using some apps  like airdroid to remotely control my phone via PC. How can I control my phone using no apps?
Kind regards

Buy yourself a USB OTG cable. You will be able to access the phone using a mouse.

Sources:

1990clb suggestion
personal experience
Update:
You should make sure your device actually supports USB OTG first.


How do I export several days or events on my calendar as text? Using the calendar app, Google calendar or any other calendar app, I can share any one event as text. Is it possible to share/export several events at once? A whole day? Some days? The entire calendar?

Not sure if this matters but I'm using S6 Edge+

It seems like by using Google Calendar app, an edit can happen on specific event and multiple event editing is not supported.

Below are the steps mentioned in official page of Android cal. app

Open the Google Calendar app Google Calendar.
Open the event you want to add people to.
Tap Edit Edit.
Tap Invite people.
Type the name or email address of the person you want to invite.
Tap Save.

Of course you can invite multiple guests/people to a specific event, but editing multiple event (to share it) does not seems possible at this time via Google Calendar app.

But if you are using Google calendar on Computer, it seems it is possible to share the whole calendar. You can read the instructions for this on the official page, but below are the basic steps.

Open Google Calendar on a computer.
On the left, find Drop-down menu My Calendars. You may need to click to expand it.
Find the calendar you want to share and click the arrow next to it.
Menu on hover over calendar name
Select Share this Calendar.
Under Share with specific people, add the email address of the person you want to share with.
For Permission Settings, choose an option in the drop-down menu. Learn more about these options below.
Click Add person, if they aren't already added.
Click Save.

If you shared your calendar with an individual email address, they'll see your calendar in their "Other calendars" list. If you shared your calendar with an email group , they'll see the calendar in their "Other calendars" list once they click on the link in the email invitation from Google Calendar.

Super Backup can export calendar events in xml. Or you can try Davdroid app.


Do I have to charge my phone before I use it the first time? When I got my last phone, a SE k850i, I was recommended to charge it fully once before I even turned it on. Does this apply today as well, for my coming HTC Desire HD?

Why was I recommended to do so in the first place?

All newer phones use Lithium polymer batteries.

Why is it Partially Charged?

To decrease their aging they are intended to be stored at 40% charge. This means when you receive your phone it should be at 40% charge, otherwise they will have aged your battery for you. (you are probably used to the effects of aging, like a 2 year old phone seeming to have very short battery life). When you get your phone you can use it until it is discharged, but they normally say 'charge it' because people will not notice the partial charge.

Do Not Fully Discharge

You should not fully worry about fully discharging, this is superstition to earlier battery technologies. Fully discharging a lithium battery is one of the best ways to make it fail. below a certain charge they will have their overcharge protection circuitry fail and you cannot charge it at all. I have seen studies that show that this makes up more than 75% of "failed" lithium batteries.

Lithium Battery Aging

Lithium batteries have a set number of charge discharge cycles before they fail. This might be a number like 500 cycles. You actually get more like 1000 cycles if you only discharge to 50% before recharge. Lithiums really do not like a deep discharge, I cannot stress this enough.

If you would like more information about lithium battery technology let me know, I can get you many links, just drop me a comment. I have a few answers on the electronics and robotics stack exchange about it.

 Can I leave it plugged in all the time?
Yes, and no. This is very dependent on whom makes your device.

For example, my Lenovo laptop will not apply a charge to the battery unless it is under 97%. When it does charge the battery it charges directly to 100%, then stops until the battery sags below 97%. Many laptops did not do this, on most just applying charge if it is not 100%. This would put the battery through thousands of charge cycles in a week when you are not using the battery. This ages a battery quickly.

If your phone maker took the time and paid the extra cash then your phone will stop charging once it reaches full charge and just power the system from the wall outlet. It is significantly more likely that your phone is charging your battery on a short cycle and aging it thoroughly.

Myths

Some people have some confusion from some of the myths that go about. The primary one is memory. As Battery University will say, this is mostly extinct, and actually applies to nickel-cadmium batteries. As was stated in a comment about crystals Battery university has in reference to nickel-cadmium:

  With memory, the crystals grow and conceal the active material from the electrolyte. In advanced stages, the sharp edges of the crystals penetrate the separator, causing high self-discharge or electrical short.

Now, talking about Lithium batteries, which your phone uses, there is even more difference. To quote them battery university directly from their simple guidelines:

  Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

I understand how this may go against what you have been taught, but I am someone who not only has researched this, but uses lithium batteries in my day to day work as an engineer.

Most of the time, yes you have to charge the phone fully and then sometimes fully discharge it the first time you use it.  Most of the time you'll be fine with the phone turned on while you charge it the first time, as long as it gets fully charged before unplugging it.

There are a few reasons for this, some historical, some practical.  The historical reason is that with older battery tech, the battery had to go through a full charge/discharge cycle in order to keep the battery life high.  Phones would be shipped with batteries that only had enough power in them for initial set-up, forcing the owner to do a full charge when they got home.  The practical reason is that batteries don't maintain their charge indefinitely when they're unplugged, so although your phone may have been shipped with a battery that started off with a full charge, by the time it gets to you, it may already be very low.


Are the Battery Doctor and/or CM Family Suite app(s) needed? I've got an HTC One M8 with KitKat 4.4.4 until Lollipop 5.0 comes out in January. I'm a convert from Apple iPhone Gen 1 all the way up and this is my first Android device ( which I love BTW ).

With Apple, you seemingly don't have to worry about viruses, unless you root/jailbreak your phone.

I'm trying to find the best apps out that improve my battery life, secure, clean, and boost my phone. That said, all these apps seem to do is run my battery down faster and cause more lag in my apps more than anything.

So I my questions are:

Do I need them?
Are there better alternatives?
Is the CM suite horrible as some say?

All you really need is good antivirus (which I unfortunately cannot recommend to you - I do not know any REALLY good).

Android has its own build in and carefully designed memory management mechanisms. Forcing some apps to close, beside of resulting in unexpected behaviour, does not improve performance.

If app is in background it does not HOLD memory - it simply is in there in case you need it back. Android will kill it as soon as some other app or process will need this memory and killing it before only slows your device when you restart app that normally would still be "in memory".

RAM is not some precious resource that is being waisted when app is "in it" and is not running - RAM is simply a container and having it empty does nothing good (nor bad).

As of the Battery Doctor - this app is not perfect and does not always show real results. Nevertheless it still can be helpful - if you see any of your app draining energy, you should investigate. Well designed and developed apps should not impact your battery life significantly. If any of them is - you should get rid of it and look for an replacement. But as stated before - be careful! Google Play is not iStore - anyone can publish anything without any revision whatsoever. Be extremely cautious with new apps, with few comments and low download counter, that require from you all the privileges they only can. I saw an calculator that required reading my contacts list and clock requiring privilege to make extra-pay phone calls.

Since you have switched from iOS to Android, you should keep the following cons as compared to that of Android:

A number of insecure apps in the Play Store which access many of the important imformation of the phone.
The inability of the Android OS to automatically close background apps.

Now, coming to your question:

Yes you need them(PS: Always remember now that you are using android)
Yes, like you can go for 360 Security.
No, CM is not that horrible.

Note:

Try "The Unhack App". Its a good app which provides you imformation about all the apps installed in your device and the permissions they have and even helps restrict unwanted permissions and many more.

If you still think that installing an app like CM can be a waste for your RAM, you can use a launcher like ZERO or APUS which provides an inbuilt memory booster along with variety of cool themes to choose from.


How to get rid of annoying pop up ads? When I connect the internet and open any app, a pop-up ad appears randomly.
Ads are still showing, although I did factory reset the phone (all installed apps removed) as well. I also tried to remove the malware app with Avast. Avast detected the issue as well. But couldn't able to remove as well. I uninstalled the malware app which Avast detected. The malware apps installed automatically with another name after uninstalling it.
How can I get rid of that annoying issue?

Some screenshots of that issue have attached here.

Your phone is infected by malwares. If you check your app list, you'll notice that there are unusual apps with sometimes weird names.

To get rid of that, all you have is to uninstall them. There is two methods:

DISCLAIMER: Do it at your own risk, I won't be held responsible if anything goes wrong.

First the root method: You have to root your phone and then using adb shell, uninstall the apps - a bit tricky and risky as well. You need to install ADB server on your PC (search for Minimal ADB and Fastboot).
Open it and tape the following:

adb shell

`su`

`mount -o remount, rw /system`

`cd /system/app`

`ls (this list all apps on your phone)`

Then:

rm "app_name"

You must tape the exact app name + .apk or .odex

Do this to all unwanted apps.
You may encounter with apps that can't be removed (operation not permitted), then you need BusyBox installed (Google for that). just let's know, we'll try to help.

The second method, less tricky but always risky, is to download Debloater, open the USB debugging mode, connect your phone to your computer. You'll see all the installed applications. Just check those you want to remove.

Et voilà.

DON'T REMOVE AN APP IF YOU'RE NOT SURE ABOUT, YOU MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE.

If you have root your phone you could use AdAway app, that blocks most of the ads