Does "Not Found" error always mean the app is unpublished or not active on Play Store? I am having difficulty finding some apps in Play Store. A lot of times, when I come across a link on the older posts of this website and I load it, I get "Not Found" error on Google Play. I explicitly get:

  We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.

I do double check with the app on AppBrain and usually, it shows that XYZ app unpublished on some ABC date in the past, so I end up believing that the app is really dead on Play Store. However, sometimes, a user, whose post I deleted because of dead link tells me that the app is live on Play Store.

I do a check using Opera browser's free VPN service (regions: Europe, Americas, and Asia), and also with a Chrome Extension for American/British VPN service. I again and again get the same dead link. I also ensure using Private Browsing to rule out browser caching.

Recently, a fellow moderator notified me that while I was not able to load the link, he could easily load the app Google Goggles on Play Store. AppBrain still shows the app is no more active on Google Play though.

Similarly, I came across the app MyAndroidTools which does not load in Google Play Store, also seems inactive on AppBrain, but had a fresh beta version, as seen on APKMirror.

How do I ensure that the app is inactive on Google Play for everyone? Alternatively, if it is active on Google Play, how do I load the app's page on Google Play?

Well here's something that I know since I have experienced it in the recent period. Apparently, it so works that when an app is "unpublished", then the app is still downloadable by existing users (those who own the app, either because they paid for it or because they acquired it when it was free).

The users who already own an app will see it in Play Store (app and web) while logged into the same Google account using which it was acquired.

It would be a different outcome when apps are removed (deleted) due to violations. Deleted apps should no longer be available for installation to any user. But since I know that Flamingo was unpublished because it did hit the API limit from Twitter, it is still there, regularly updated, but not available to the public if they never owned it before when it was live and available for purchase (download).

Screenshots (the flamingo example):

App direct URL - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samruston.twitter

As it is entirely dependent on the Google account and whether the app was owned by the user in the past, there will be no 3rd party api which can tell you if an app is still downloadable from the Play Store. Play Store throws a direct 404 for such apps which are not downloadable unless you are an existing user.

So, I believe you should remove such links because well, these apps are not available for new users to download and these are basically the ones who need the app. Existing users will already have it. With the exception that such apps do not appear anymore in Play Store search, even if you own the app and are logged into your Google account.

And as much as I know, apps locked to certain countries are still browseable in the web version of the Play Store and even within Play Store app. On the mobile app, it is not downloadable and marked as "This item is not available in your country". So, a VPN or location change will not help you to access a Play Store app which throw a 404. You should remove such links without thinking twice.

"NOT FOUND" means it is not active on Play store or by your country location. and if you want to download any app , try some mirrors like apkmonk, apkmirror, etc.


How to Block installing another app in android devices? I want an Android device like mobile phones with no mobile features in it like no camera,no calling facility no sound nothing...

I just want a touchscreen device with android operating system so that i can install my own app and i dont want any other app should get install in it... only my app would be there...

can anyone pls tell me how can i do this....

or is it possible to stop all the services of our android cellphone so that when i switch on my mobile phone directly my app should be visible....

please reply .......

"i don't want any app to get installed on it..."

Technically this is impossible, since there are system apps like SystemUI and framework-res that Android needs to actually function.

But if you are talking about non-essential apps only, then perhaps you can delete them with root. Go to /system on a file manager that supports root, e.g. X-plore and Root Explorer, and delete the apps that you think are safe to delete. Be careful though, as those apps are on the /system partition and not /data for a reason. Your phone might become unstable after this.

The list of safe apps varies per manufacturer, but remember, Google is your friend!

Good luck.

Wifi ONLY tablets fit your requirement of "no calling facility" but they have sound and some have camera.

Google is coming up with project ara, here is the link http://www.projectara.com
This project specifically targets people who wants to customize their mobile phones just like "assembling components in desktop pc". For example:- if you want to remove the camera, you can simply remove that particular module alone.

But Android might not be compatible with such configuration as of now. May be in coming months, probably in a year or two you might be able to do all that.

In some countries they have managed to remove google services and install their own yandex, nokia has done the same with one of their models, amazon has done something similar with android.


Restore backup.ab file on firestick? I'm trying to restore a backup file onto a fire stick 2 using adb restore backup.ab, however the restore confirmation doesn't come up on the fire stick. The device is rooted and currently have twrp. Is there a way to force restore without a confirmation?

Thanks

If the device is rooted you can manually restore the backup.

On a PC extract the backup file using Android Backup extractor.
This will convert the backup to a TAR archive.
(optional) extract the APK files (if the backup contains not only app data) and install them via adb.
Upload the TAR archive to your device via adb push and untar it.
Copy the files you want to recover into the right directories using adb shell and root permissions.

Rather than trying to find an old version of adb, it's easier to add quotes to the arguments to adb backup :

  adb backup "-apk -shared -all -f C:\Users\NAME\backup.ab"


completely remove kingroot when I can't find it I installed kingroot and tried it, I closed it thinking it finished and rebooted my phone.

After reboot root checker says I have su binary but not root access.

My problem is I can't find kingroot, not in launcher nor in Settings->apps it doesn't appear anywhere yet when I install it from apk it doesn't say "Install" but "Replace", I tap on replace and wait until it says "application install failed".

I want to remove it completely But I don't find it , how do I uninstall it ? and if I can't find it then how the packaging tool detects it's installed ?

my phone is sony xperia P with android 4.0.4.

EDIT :

I have found Kinguser.apk in /system/app not /data/app so That's why I can't find kingroot, it installs itself as system app(and apparently sets some permissions to not allow me to even see it)

So I need root to uninstall it, unfortunatly when I try su in terminal I get this :

[-] Connection to ui timed out.

So what to do?

EDIT 2

Ok after I rebooted I can find kingroot in my Settings->apps->all now for some reason, I can disable it but not remove it (because As I said it has installed itself as system app).

Install kingroot again restart your phone, install system app remover application and use it to uninstall kingroot. remover

Solved the same problem. You said you have disabled it. Just ENABLE it back!!! And you have root access again!


Transferring pdfs from computer to android When trying to transfer pdfs from computer to Galaxy Note II, Samsung Kies reports 'No App to read file'. I have several pdf readers including adobe for android and downloads direct to Note 2 work fine.

There are multiple ways to copy files between your computer and your Android device:

simply connect the two using an USB cable, and mount your Android device's storage to the computer -- then deal with it like with any other drive
create "shared folders" on your computer, and use an Android app which can deal with them, like e.g. ES File Explorer File Manager
Use an app which can share your Android device to your computer, for even more manageability -- like e.g. AirDroid
use cloud services like e.g. Dropbox or Google Drive which are accessible from both, your computer and your Android device, to share documents between the two
lame, but also listed for completeness: Send the files to your Google Mail account, and then save the attachments from the GMail app

Far from being complete -- but it should give you an idea of what's possible.


How do I configure the keyboard and mouse in BlueStacks? What's the best way to edit the keymap and mouse controls for BlueStacks in any particular android application?

For example, right now I've recently picked up Future Fight and I'd like to bind 1 and 2 to the special attacks that I currently have to click with the mouse on icons in the lower right-hand corner.

You can currently in BlueStacks .9 hit Control+Alt+I to open a Keyboard Input Mapper Tool.  The sample file it generates for the current application has examples of how to bind keys to virtually tilting the device in various directions, but I'd really like to bind particular mouse clicks to the keyboard.

And of course (in many other games) find a way to bind the mouse roller to zoom in and out.

The newest (mid May 2015) update of Bluestacks adds a graphical interface for editing keystrokes for the current application.  It's a HUGE improvement for those who don't have the aptitude or time for programming.

You can do so currently in BlueStacks .9. Hit Control+Alt+I to open "Keyboard Input Mapper Tool".  The sample file it generates for the current application has examples of how to bind keys to virtually tilt the device in various directions.


Trying to go into Download mode, but goes to Recovery mode instead Device: Samsung Galaxy S4
Android: 4.2.2

I can't get into Download mode. I have tried many options like removing battery solution, pressing Vol Down+Home+Power. I always get into Recovery mode.

Power off the phone completely by removing its battery for at least a minute.
Re-insert the battery back into its place.
Press and hold Volume Down, Home and Power buttons, all at the same time.
Release the buttons only when the ‘Warning!!’ message appears.
Next, press Volume Up button to confirm that you wish to enter Download Mode.
Your device will now show a green Android with the ‘Downloading… Do not turn off target’ text listed under it.

That's it, now you can connect your device with your PC after you launch ODIN.

You can try adb reboot bootloader from PC if the above doesn't work.

You can do it the easy way: Download ROM Toolbox. Then choose reboot to download mode.. :) good luck


Google account without gmail I have a google account for G+ Picasa and some other services i like to use.
What i do not like is gmail it is i believe complete junk.
Be it as it may.
I have purchased a new android device and wanted to sign in to buy some apps, using my already existing google account.
But alas, i cannot do it without creating a gmail account it looks like.
That is just crazy i have an account, if they really want to they can trace what i do already. Why do i need to have junkmail ... ehh.. i mean gmail also.

Is there a way around this? Please help. I have 14 days to return my phone so need to find a way to do it before that or abandon it.

No, there is no other way. You must have a Gmail account to download from Google Play Store.

From their site:

  To use Google Play to download Android apps, you'll need to have a
  Google account with a Google email (either Gmail or a Google-hosted
  domain) associated with your phone or tablet.

If you don't like Gmail, you don't have to use it. Just disable the syncing for emails, and you'll be fine.

There is 1mobile.com. I install this to get most of my APKs. Then, I delete it because it is like goo play and wants to run all the time. If I want another APK, I reinstall it, get the app, and uninstall.

Then, there is also:

gooapk.net
gizom's
appsapk
papk
apktop
etc

Gooapk should keep you busy for a day or two.

I'm getting a divorce from googirl myself. And "oh looky", a sign-in with googirl for posting on a how to NOT use googirl blog. Awesome!


Android NIC MAC address changed automatically This is very puzzling but my android phone's NIC's MAC address seems to have changed on its own (or at least this is what it's showing).

I have a MAC filter in my LinkSys router and I have given access to only my computer and android phone. I had connected my phone to the access point just a few hours ago. When I tried to connect it now, I couldn't. So I rechecked the MAC filter list (FC:A1:3E:77:57:76) , and I surprisingly found it to be different from what my phone (FC:A1:3E:77:57:F7) was showing. Is this some bug in android? Does this happen? Or maybe the address in my router got changed (which isn't plausible).

PS: Please don't say that somebody must have broken into my router and changed it there, because that's not possible. I use WPA2, and anyways the signal cannot reach outside since outside is very far.

Edit: I guess it's a fault with my LinkSys router, since more weird things are happening. The router is assigning the same IP address to my computer and android phone. Can someone please migrate this question to Server Fault?

Problem is with your phone and not router. Your phones software keeps assigning new MAC addresses every time you turn your wifi on. If you are using MAC address filtering then it will need a static address.


How can I disable automatic OTA updates on a Nexus device on Marshmallow? With Google's new policy of issuing monthly security updates to Nexus devices going on from Marshmallow, me, the proud owner of a Nexus 9 (16GB,WiFi, Build version: MRA58K), has to dirty flash all the factory images every month just because Google issued a 4.0MB update, and I had to connect my tablet to WiFi just because I needed it.

Rather, I prefer to go manual and flash factory images to upgrade between major releases, and ignore those which come in between. So, these monthly OTA updates are a nuisance, even if all I have to do to not install it is ignore the notification it poses. The nuisance being that I have TWRP, root and ElementalX, and prefer to use OfficeSuite over Docs and have no use for Fit - hence I've uninstalled (removed) those system apps, which makes the updates unable to install anyway.

So, the question:

What service(s) or process(es) is/are responsible for downloading this update? Which app are they a part of? And, most importantly, Can I Disable the offending app/process/service without otherwise affecting my system? (That includes interfering with GAPPs in any way)

NOTE: I know the notification is presented by Google Play Services, I checked that. I want to know what processes/services are responsible for downloading the update, not showing the notification.

Edit:

For all those voting to close the question as a duplicate, I have not encountered an answer which satisfies my requirements in the referenced question which this has been thought to be a duplicate of. For future notice, I not only wish to disable the notification, but the updater service as well. Also, the answer provided in the linked question will potentially affect other components of my system, not just the OTA Updater, as it involves disabling all or just notifications from "Google Play Services", which is not at all what I want (I understand what that app is, and disabling any part of it is not in my best interests. So, anything not involving GAPPs is a better solution (since I am heavily dependent on them, excepting the Docs suite).

Edit:

I had since moved on to the PureNexus ROM and rid myself of these issues. Now I have manually upgraded to Android 7.0, and I don't use the device as much anymore. So these answers are not applicable to me any longer, but this question is a good reference point for others with a similar concern.

Rename /system/etc/security/otacerts.zip to otacerts_bak.zip.

This will prevent it from communicating with the OTA update server.

I bought a Nexus 6P and activated the service with Sprint. The problems was, a few months ago one of Google's updates has a bug that won't allow me to get LTE service with Sprint (fixed now). So what I had to do what revert my android phone to a previous version and not update my phone until the patch fixes the problem.

To go along with you problem, it annoyed me because after reverting to a previous version, I would constantly get these notifications to update my phone which I didn't want. Here's what I did to get rid of these notifications:

Go to Settings → Apps → Google Play services → Notifications → Block all.

I re-enabled it recently because it seems Google fixed this issue.


How to hide bottom navigation bar in Youtube app? I want to hide bottom navigation bar (not system wide navigation bar) or at least make it act like Chrome toolbar which shows/hides itself on scroll. I am blank on this as I couldn't find anything on hiding Bottom Navigation bar, except through programmatically.

This is what I'm talking about.

I'm using a rooted OnePlus 6 with stock Android 8.1 and Xposed Framework.

As for reason for wanting this: I'd prefer to have real screen estate show something dynamic from Youtube, as part of scrolling content. That bar is in my way of using view to its maximum size.

The Xposed module L Tweaks supports the feature of removing the bottom navigation bar of Youtube and several other apps.

Install L Tweaks. After installing the module, open it, then click Google.

Google apps are listed with features that L Tweaks can enable/disable. Go to the bottom to find Youtube. Enable Remove bottom bar

Before opening Youtube, force stop it. Open Youtube, the bottom navigation bar will no longer be shown.

To access Home, Trending, and other options, swipe from the left as you do for Google .Play

The module is also available in Google Play Store and has other features.

Note: The device must be rooted, and have Xposed framework installed to use the module correctly.

Disclaimer: I am not related to the app's developer; I am just a user.

Not possible. There isn't yet any applications or xposed modules that can do that. I also researched regarding this.


How do I remotely unlock Google Device Manager remote lock when I know the password? Is there an option to remotely unlock the online Android Device Manager's lock feature if I have the password?

I have read "How to unlock Google Device Manager remote lock?" but I do not have my phone, it was stolen. Also, I have the Google Device Manager password I used to lock my Samsung Active S5 after it was stolen.

If anyone wants to help me find it I would be very grateful.
I installed the GDM before it was stolen and did not know about all it's features. I locked it because of the data overages. I wish I had not done because it was being tracked by the google maps Location History feature and was tracking every movement until I locked it and shut off the data via my provider. I turned back on the data but the provider said that the phone would have to be manually restarted for the data to start working. So I am hoping that if I unlock it they will start using it again and I can alert the police or get it myself.

I am trying to track the phone before I goto the police. I read the police very rarely recover a phone and this has my life on it and was not backed up properly I just got it and I traded in my old phone. I am a screwed idiot big time...

There is no method for unlocking in google device manager, but, you could try setting the password to password, and setting the text as, 'the password is password'.

However, if you can't contact the phone, it is probable that they have wiped it an set up their own google account.

There isn't much you can do, except, tell the police your IMEI number, they probably have a database of lost and stolen phones.

Go to Settings > Lock Screen > Security. Make sure everything is clear and then there are other security settings, it will allow you there to deactivate.


Installed Gapps, but Google Play services is not there So I finally found a way to install CWM in my Lava Iris 430 which runs on ICS 4.0.4 and installed Gapps (gapps-ics-20120429-signed version). It was successfully installed, but it missed Google Play Services. What should I do?

Open the Play Store and Google Play Services will download automatically.


How does Android get the coarse location? I read that Android (and similar operation systems, e.g. iOS) get the current coarse location by using either WiFi or GSM tower triangulation. I get the basic idea but have questions about the details.

Does Android normally use both methods, or does it prefer one and fall back to the other?
Does it communicate with a server to get the position via WiFi? (e.g. sending the SIDs of the WiFis to a web service)
Does it communicate with the carrier to get the position via the GSM towers or is this done on the device?

It is really up to the developer as to how to implement the location service.  The full description is available on the Android Developers official site (as captured on 24 Sep 2010)

The graph about 1/3rd down the page is pretty useful to see what a typical app might do, but again, it is completely up to the app developer.  The location service types are:

Cached Fix
Cell-ID
WiFi
GPS
Mock Location

If the app requests permission for coarse location only, it will not use the GPS to determine location.

To answer your questions:

It is up to the individual app developer, but in most cases, the sequence will be Cached Fix, Cell-ID, WiFi, GPS, in that order.
Yes, after acquiring the tower IDs or SSIDs of the WiFi signals, that data is transmitted to Google to determine a rough location.
No, Google has done something really clever here.  Google has their own database of cell tower locations and does not require an interaction with the carrier to determine the location of the tower.

An article by Francisco Kattan on "Dynamic Cell-ID" has some of the detail. The short version is that, when you use an app like Google Maps, the app will send the current Cell-ID information back along with your current GPS fix.  In this way, Google gets a very good sampling of the signal strengths in various locations and is able to build a very rich database.

Does it communicate with the carrier to get the position via the GSM towers or is this done on the device?

The device could be used if you want to use triangulation, but you need to use the carrier if you want to match the Cell-ID and the localization of the GSM (or CDMA) tower.


Samsung Galaxy Y won't connect to the computer I'm having problem connecting my Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 to the computer using via USB.

Whenever I connect it, it automatically charges. Before there was a prompt to connect it to the computer but now it just charges directly. I have tried downloading the Samsung Kies but it still won't connect.

2 places to check:

Settings -> Wireless and Network -> USB Settings, and select "Ask on connection".
Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging [disable USB debugging]

Try removing and reinserting your SD card.


In android does my google account saves my custom words from the dictionary of the keyboard? In android does my google account saves my custom words from the dictionary of the keyboard ?

Additionally is there a way to import/export that custom dictionary?

No android doesn't saves your custom words from the dictionary of the keyboard in your Google account .Normally default keyboard doesn't automatically sync your personal(custom) dictionary. But you can email it or make backup of it in sdcard .

Setting -> Keyboard -> Personal Dictionary
OR
Setting -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Type(eg HTC Sence Input) -> Personal Dictionary

Google saves all custom words up to 5 years


How to root without a computer I have a Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G and I was wondering about rooting my phone without using a computer. I just want to use my phone to root it. And z4root doesn't work.

You positively need a computer. Rooting an Android phone means running an exploit, that the phone will not allow to run on itself. It can be run only on "Debug via USB" mode.


How to access and modify previous commands (bash history) in Termux I use Termux on my Fairphone 2 and I want to speed up working with it. What slows me down is not having an up arrow key that I can use to access the last command in my bash history. I can do !! !7 and so on, but most of the time I don't want to actually repeat the commands, I just want to do something similar. I know some keyboard shortcuts to work with my bash history but they require a ctrl key, which none of my keyboards have. I use

AnySoftKeyboard
Hacker's Keyboard
AOSP Keyboard

None of them have up arrow or ctrl keys

At the moment, I select and copy text by touching, but this is still slow.

How can I access my previous commands more quickly?

See the Termux help page for how to input arrow keys using the VolumeUp button, VolumeDown for Ctrl and some additional shortcuts!
Volume Up+W → Up arrow key

Volume UP + Q to add Ctrl, esc, tab, alt Keys on Termux


Google account sign in problems Yesterday my HTC Tattoo (with software based on Donut) started giving me "No connection Retry" errors for Gmail, YouTube, Google Reader, Market and anything else that requires sign in with Google credentials.

After doing a "Clear data" on the Gmail app I get another message,

  There was a network error while trying to sign in to xxxxxx@gmail.com. Retry now or press the back button to cancel

Whatever "network error" there is, does not stop me from using the web browser. Indeed I am able to logon to the mobile (and unfortunately buggy) Gmail web app from the browser. I will note that I get "Security warnings" about the certificate for google.com.au: "the name of the site does not match the name of the certificate" when I logon via the web, although I saw that message months back and have been able to use my apps until now.

Any idea what could have triggered this? I've not changed my google account credentials, or switched SIM card, or done anything that I think could make it my fault.

I've the exact same issue on a Galaxy Tab P1000 with gingerbread 2.3.3 since about 2-3 weeks.
My current interpretation is that Google has updated its certs (the current one I get is dated 11/7) and the new ones are not trusted by Android anymore making it impossible to use any google account for mail/play store/etc... If this is the case, the only solution would be an update from the manufacturer or maybe rooting the device and convincing it that the new cert is good.

Guys I found the solution!

Follow the instructions to this link! 100% it'll work though not mine, credits to the owner.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2110225


How do I change my gmail password from Lollipop? I am running Lollipop and want to change my gmail password. How do I do that?

Go to this page in your webbrowser: https://myaccount.google.com/security/signinoptions/password

1. Goto your @EMAIL for Android (not the one for gmail and not in your account settings).

 2. Select the email account then hit your menu tab  goto -> more, goto -> account settings -> goto incoming -> change your new password here.

Hope this helps.

Edit : If this doesn't work, change your password in outcomming too.


Nexus 7 wont appear on my PC in the bootloader, semi bricked So I tried to root my nexus 7. I realized I done screwed up. However, when I looked for my SuperSU installed file in TWRP, I forgot to install it before hand, when I was at my bootloader, or before that. Now my Nexus 7 will not appear on my P.C to save my life. I have tried it one 2 different cables and PCs. It won't appear as a media device no matter what I try. I also cant open up the OS for some reason. I followed this guide and that did solve my issue of having TWRP. Say I have 0mb internal storage, but I still cant install super SU, or boot up my OS. Whenever I try and start it now I get a slightly lit black screen forever.

EDIT: despite all this I am able to do commands like flashing
EDIT JUST A FEW MINUTES LATER: removing TWRP via fastboot erase or something, then reinstalling allowed me to see my nexus on my computer, install super SU, and reboot... into a still black screen. i guess ill try and reinstall the system os rom?
EDIT: A few hours ago I reinstalled and flashed the System.img Straight from motorolas website. It worked. Thanks if you helped.

TL/DR:
Device won't show up on my PC. Device is semi bricked in bootloader.

Did you ever tried using Wugfresh? Try it, they have everything explained in their software, how to install/remove drivers, easy root, bootloader unlock, and many other tools.


control per app internet (non-rooted) while using actual VPN? I am trying all sorts of (non-root) security software that allows me to block internet for apps. so far every one needs some kind of fake VPN to gain access to traffic, I guess so no root is needed. I can't have this since I use an actual VPN which gets turned off if I use any of these security apps. is there no way to block internet for apps while using my VPN?

This is possible since Android 8 (when Block connections without VPN feature was added), also you will have to use VPN app which supports Per-App VPN (which is supported since Android 5.0?) e.g. OpenVPN for Android from F-Droid or Google Play.

Assuming you use OpenVPN for Android:

System settings → VPN → tap button with gear icon on the right side of OpenVPN for Android → enable both Always-on VPN and Block connections without VPN.
OpenVPN for Android → tap button with pencil icon on desired profile → swipe to ALLOWED APPS tab → select apps you want to exclude from using VPN → return to main screen → re/connect to VPN using this profile

This was tested on MIUI device, but I think should be pretty much the same on majority of devices (except those whose manufacturers removed or hid Android's default functionality from ROM (like Huawei from EMUI)). Also per app internet control access is built-in by default in MIUI.

You can try NetGuard, the non-root firewall for Android smartphones. It can help you in restricting the net usage per app.


Disable GO SMS Pro weekly nag messages About once a week, GO SMS Pro "receives" (I don't know if it comes from somewhere or if it's written into the application) a nag message from "c10000@go.chat" along the lines of:

  Most of users loves GO SMS Pro because of themes. Thinking of cool & stylish messaging experience? Try out another bestseller: ColorGlass Theme  (Apply it through menu->theme)

It's extremely annoying. I believe I've logged out of GO Chat (though it tends to log itself back in without asking and won't stay disconnected), and have tried going through the app's settings multiple times without finding any way to kill these notifications. They're driving me batty.

I'm pretty sure this will work but I can't test it fully because I never updated Go SMS to the "nagging" new version after reading all the complaints in the reviews...

You have to be rooted.  If you are, install Root Firewall Free and block internet traffic for Go SMS.  I don't get those nagging reminders but I tried it and I was still able to send and receive SMS messages but I could not use features that use the internet like the Go Chat. If you want to download a new theme or use one of the data dependent service periodically you can just toggle the block off from the firewall app and put it back on when you are done. Obviously this won't help you if you use those data dependent extra services regularly.

Alternatively, if you are not rooted you can revert back to version 4.56 of Go SMS.  You can download this version directly on the Go SMS website.  This is the version I have and I don't get any of those annoying nags.  When I started typing this answer I didn't think they'd post past version but now that I see that they do I'd say this is probably the better option.

The best way is to click on that message and then go to the top right corner and then click disable and confirm


Can my phone act as WiFi Access Point while Disabling Celluar Radio? Can Android act as a WiFi Access Point while the cellular radio is turned off?

I tried to accomplish that using flight mode, but that won't work. While flight mode is enabled, Androids portable Wi-Fi hotspot option cannot be enabled. Quite logical, because one cannot tether while cellular networks are disabled.

To my knowledge, there is no obvious dedicated option to only disable cellular networks. There is an Cell Radio ShutOff, but that app just crashes when pressing the disable cellular network button on my phone.

Are there any apps for setting up a cellular less, non-tethering WiFi Access Point or other ways to do this?

What's that good for? What is it, what I am really accomplishing to do? See background below.

Background:

For recording interviews, I want to use a newer Android device [Galaxy S3] as a video camera (MirrorOp Sender app), while using an older device [iphone 4] as an external display (MirrorOp Receiver app). In some sense as a  "wireless live preview" display.

The MirrorOp app has to my knowledge no WiFi Direct mode. Therefore I am using Androids portable Wi-Fi hotspot option, so the receiver can log into the WiFi AndroidAP (WiFi access point). Took me a while to figure out, but it works so far.

During recording, be not disturbed my cellar calls, voip calls, messenger or update notifications, I would like to disable the cellular network radio. That also seems useful to save battery.

Another reason for not providing internet access is to prevent the receiver phone from using use the WiFi as hotspot (which would in reality, be just a 3G network) to download bigger files, updates, etc.

I don't like blocking mode, because then caller think I pressed the "rejection" button, and because it also does not save battery.

FWIW I discussed a few ways to disable just the mobile connection here for a different reason but with the same result... depending on your Android version (you didn't mention which you were using), it's as easy as selecting the mobile icon in the notification settings to switch it off, or just selecting an invalid APN under Wifi->Mobile networks->Access Point Names or Network Operators.  But the absolutely easiest and most certain way as I suggested is to pull the SIM card while you're not using it.  As long as your device uses a SIM card for mobile (GSM networks do, Verizon may not), you should be good to go-- though I believe 911 calls will still work.  If you want to get really down-and-dirty, you can also root the phone, rename the binary blobs that work with your cell service, reboot, then do the reverse when you're done.  But I think the SIMcard trick should do it :)

A simpler method than @fattire's, I think.

Just download Do Not Disturb

It seems to work quite well.


Lost phone and WhatsApp issue I lost my phone and I have some contacts on WhatsApp which I don't have anywhere else.

Is there any way to get those contacts? I have already deactivated my SIM card.

Can I get the data back?

Sorry to say, but there is no or alternate way for this.

I had lost my phone and i was having some contacts on whatsapp which i dont have anywhere else.

This thing is a bit wrong, because Whatsapp would use your own phonebook to check which of your contacts have whatsapp. It won't let you add any user to your stock pile by just adding them as friends.

Is there any way to reach to that contacts .

If there is a backup of the data on Google servers, then there might be an option. But I don't think that would work! So there is no way to get them back.

I know this is not a technical question concerned with android

True, but actually this is a site for the Android questions. So you're in the correct place. To ask how to get data, but now about how to get data from a lost phone. Thats impossible.
Possible things that would help
Well these are not the helping materials, but just in case to remind you that, in the settings, did you check backup my data. If so, try signing in Google from other phone, it might give you some data.
Not sure of this but you said the contacts were no where else but on whatsapp, so try signing in to whatsapp again, maybe they still have those contacts for you!

Sign back into watsapp your contacts will be there.  I was surprised to find them there when I signed back in but using a new number. I had lost my phone. Im guessing watsapp recognises your gmail sign in so your sync contacts to your google and watsapp account will.automatically be available.


Is there a quicker way to turn on WiFi Hotspot? is there a way to automate (or at least reduce the number of steps) to turn on or turn off the WiFi hotspot on my Galaxy 3.

I have to

unlock
press the menu button
press settings
press More Settings
Tethering and portable hotspot
Slide portable hotspot on.

I can only recommend CyanogenMod, or, if you want to keep your ROM: HotSpot Widget.

CyanogenMod allows you to create a HotSpot Quick Setting Tile.

The widget is placed on your home screen and if you want to enable/disable the hotspot tap it.

I am using "Wifi hotspot settings" from android market. Only 24 kb in size.


Google Play Services required permissions Why does Google Play Services require so many permissions.  Access to my phone, contacts, text messages, camera, microphone,  and even body sensors cannot be turned off without constant push notices saying they must be turned on for it to work properly. I didn't know my phone had "body sensors". It is the only app in my phone with such a request. I find all these demands for access to every  aspect of my phone way too invasive into my personal information. No possible permission is excluded. Do I have to keep this app running or can I disable it?

Google Play Services is kind of a "service provider" for other apps on your device. A look into our google-play-services tag-wiki will give you some details and explain some of the permissions this app requires. For example it requires access to your location as it offers location services to other apps.

If you'd disable this, several of your apps will probably no longer function the way they did before. Some apps won't care. But especially other Google Apps will complain (Gmail and Google Maps definitely will). As the Settings app is not affected, you can try that out (if the effect is too strong, you can always revert your change).

On the other had, you could also try revoking some permissions from the Google Play Services app, if your Android lets you (it's a system app, so depending on your device and Android version you might not be able to do that).

It is because new android >6.0 ask for permissions on any app ,even on system apps. Don't be scared. Allow them, because it is services for all google apps. Without that youtube ,gmail, chrome won't work. It's neccesary. And because it is neccesary it request a lot. Google wants from you to doenload all their apps to use.
And it request contacts and dialing  because he want to backup your contact to google servers in case of losing data.


Messenger - How to not automatically turn group messages into MMS? How do I prevent the lollipop (5.1) from turning my group messages into MMS?
I have some friends who can't receive MMS so this is a bit peeving.

This question has been asked before but not answered, or is for previous versions and no longer applicable.

This is applicable to Google Messenger version 1.8.268 updated on 17 May 2016.

Go to Settings>Advanced>MMS>Group messaging

Select "Send individual SMS messages..."

Hope this helps.

The only solution I found to this issue was to install Textra app.


How to set up BIOS-like password on Android device? Setting a screen lock password or SIM pin or both is fine for securing some aspects of your mobile device. But what if, as a nasty joke, someone manages to grab a hold of your device and hits the magic power-home-volume key combination and proceeds to factory reset your device thus deleting your folder configuration, a record of what unpaid apps you had downloaded, and what is more, data stored on your phone!

So, is there a way to set up a password so that it must be entered when such magic key combination is issued (so that you can't factory reset your device without entering such a "BIOS" password?

Thanks!!!

The only thing similar to this that I can think of is device encryption, it's built in to the settings panel. Every time you power on your phone, you are required to enter a pass-code, that you created. If you forget it, it will be more difficult to get back into your phone

How To

Go to settings
Click Security
Under the Encryption group, hit Encrypt device (or phone on older devices)
Now it will guide you through the next steps.


Will WhatsApp verification delete my contacts & messages? I have a WhatsApp account in my old phone, but I have put my SIM card in my new phone. Now when I opened WhatsApp in my old phone its asking for verification. Will verification delete my contacts & messages?

I don't think verification will delete anything, usually it's just an SMS verification code that has to be entered into the app. 2FA ( Two Factor Authentication )

No, it will not delete any of your contacts & messages. It's an simple verification code not more than that.


How do I get more space and get my memory card to start working? I have a Galaxy S2 and it keeps saying "low on space" (phone storage is getting low) in my notifications. I bought a memory card and it still says low disk space so I can't download any apps. Also my Play Store app won't open. Can anyone help me out?

I have the same problem with Samsung Galaxy Ace 2. To make your default storage the sd card you need to modify vold.fstab. But to modify this file you need to root your phone.
I think there is no other way to do this.

Hope I have helped =).


Can I change (or add more apps to) the unlock screen in Ice Cream Sandwich? On the previous version I could swipe left or right to start with my camera, or just unlock the phone. I just got the Ice Cream Sandwich update and now I can swipe up or down to access the dialer or my text messages. Can I customize this at all? I'd love to have more apps accessible from the lock screen, and I'd also like to change from the default text message program.

Install WidgetLocker Locksscreen. Using it, you can put high no. of apps on lockscreen.

It can be done in ICS.

Go to Security under settings.
Go into Screen Security Go into
Shortcut Settings ... voila!


What is a "native web app"? I've come across the term "native web app" also known as "hybrid app".
I know what "web apps" and "native apps" are, the difference being that
the former are downloaded and run within a web browser and the latter
are code (not html) and run a little faster without requiring a web
browser to interpret them. So what is a "native web app", how can
a web app be native?

Unlike native apps, web apps can't access low level API of system (to access hardware etc) unless it is supported by web standards (most aren't supported to maintain web app portability). Here, native web apps comes to rescue.

In Native Web Apps, web codes (HTML, CSS & JS) run in a native wrapper code. The wrapper code is native (can use low level API) which contains webview to render the web app. So, it taps the benefits from both worlds (that's why its called Hybrid App).

For example, Facebook app (in Play Store) is a native web app. When you see your timeline, friends' profiles etc in this app, you actually see webpages. But, at the same time, this app can access your camera, Android's system-wide share menu etc.
Another great example is Google Currents.

Native Apps :
- Apps that are fully programmed in the development environment specific to each operating system.
- Stored on a device and require installation.
- Tend to have better graphics and a smooth user experience due to the interface with the device.
- Have full access to the device-specific features, including GPS, camera, gestures, and notifications.
- More expensive to develop, as they need to be developed for each specific operating system
- Take longer to develop. Maintaining apps on multiple operating systems is also expensive and time consuming.

Web Apps :
- Apps that are written entirely with web technologies (HTML5). and the code is executed by the browser and installation is optional.
- Content is a lot more discoverable on the web.
- Platform independent.
- Use features that are available in HTML5 like the GPS, the tap-to-call feature and native features remain inaccessible.

Hybrid Apps :
- Developed partly with the native development environment and partly in WEB language (HTML5).
- These are native apps with embedded HTML. They have most of the benefits of native apps.
- Like native apps, they live in an app store and can take advantage of the many device features available (including GPS, camera, gestures, and notifications)
- Platform independent, Increasingly rising in popularity as operating systems become more fragmented.


How can I view my WhatsApp messages on my Android tablet? I have an Android phone on which I use WhatsApp but for my convenience I would like to view them on my tablet which also runs Android. The tablet is wifi only so I cannot install WhatsApp on it. I'm hoping there is an app for that.

You can download the whatsapp.apk from the Internet (its like a .exe file for Android), just search it in Google.


Updated Galaxy s3 and SD isn't recognized I recently updated the software on my phone and it works great!! It's lollipop 5.1.1 , the problem is that the phone doesn't recognize the sd card anymore and my computer doesn't recognize as a removable drive anymore. I just want to know with that being the problem is there a way to downgrade back the the old software? and how if I cant use the sd card?

There could be simple fixes that will allow you to keep your upgrade. With each new "flavor" of Android new APIs are released with relation to enhancements to the OS. Have you tried a brand new SD card? or backup and format for the current one?  Also a reinstall of the USB drivers may help. I hope you backed up your previous stock ROM because if not you will need to find one online(if possible). It will help if your device is rooted.  Good Luck!


Block apps from accessing the Internet on Android device In Android, is it possible to block apps from accessing the Internet? Many apps will often connect to remote servers in the background, including Google's own apps or system services. Over time this can eat away at a user's data limit set by a mobile carrier. Does Android allow an app to act as a firewall whereby the user can select which apps have access to the Internet? Or does the device have to be rooted to have that ability?

If you don't have root access on the device, then you can use mobiwol to control the access various apps have to the Internet. Mobiwol creates a 'virtual' VPN connection on the device which allows control of the individual app connections. However, although the app starts when the device starts it is possible that there may be a brief period prior to Mobiwol executing in which apps could get Internet access despite the Mobiwol configuration.

If you have root access, there are more alternatives:

Remove the 'internet' permission using an app like Permissions Denied
If your kernel supports IPTables, you can use an app such as AFWall+ to control which apps have access to the internet.

I use Easy Battery Saver. Choose super power mode and configure the apps that allowed to accessing network.


Hangouts, Google Voice, and SMS is no longer supported Notification Although I have been a long time user of Google Voice and Hangouts, I only recently got my first Android tablet(WiFi only, no cellular).

The way the first two interact with the tablet is puzzling and frustrating:

As far as I can tell Hangouts is the tool that Google wants us to use for Google Voice SMS messages.
It seems that recently Google removed SMS support from Hangouts except for Google Voice SMS that is still supported, and provided a way to choose what app to use as the main SMS app.
With Hangouts installed everything seems to work but I get constantly spammed by a Hangouts notification saying that SMS is no longer supported.  I have found no way to silence this notification unless I disable all Hangouts notifications, which would make me miss other Hangouts IMs.
In the attempt to silence the SMS is no longer supported spam notifications I tried to install other SMS apps, but since my tablet is WiFi only, I am unable to install them.
I only found one SMS app that would install without the cellular hardware (I think called Messenger) and it spammed me with so many advertising Notifications that I had to uninstall it, The cure was worse than the illness.

I hope the community can help me find a solution, either by pointing me to a way to silence the Hangouts "SMS is no longer supported" notification, or by pointing me to a messenger app that will install on a WiFi-only tablet and stay nice and silent (which is ideal as I probably will never use it, I would only install it to silence the Hangouts notification).

Thanks.

I had the same problem and I also wanted to avoid installing an extra app just to get rid of a notification.

The only thing I could think of is Facebook messenger which I already use. After I downloaded it the notification disappeared and messenger was now the default app for SMS.

In case the notification doesn't disappear automatically go to:

Settings -> Apps -> (Gear Icon top right) -> Default Apps

and you should see 'SMS App' just tap on it and choose messenger(or any other app you want to try). My tablet has Android 6.0.1 so instructions may differ on other versions.

PS. Firstly I tried to revoke any SMS permisions to hangouts so I can clear it from the default app for SMS but it didn't work.

Unfortunately, this is even one of the sticky notifications which can't be just swiped out of the notification area.

If you, however, swipe it to the right and keep your finger pressed, a gear symbol will appear on the left. When you click this, you can permanently disable this notification. Did the trick for me, at least.

Cheers, Daniel


How to stop "Cell Info Display" in HTC Desire X Duos this question is with regards to HTC Desire X dual Sim. I have this device and since the day I purchased this device I am suffering a lot with the CID massages, in a minute I am getting 10-15 messages, and I am not able to turn that off. So please suggest me how to turn the CID massages off.

Put the SIM in another HTC mobile like Wildfire and go to settings > call > cell broadcast > uncheck it and delete any subscribed channels like 50.

Put the sim in any Nokia handset and deactivate the cell info to stop the irritating broadcast messages.


Can I install Ice Cream Sandwich on my HTC Wildfire? Possible Duplicate:
  When will my device get the Android 4.0 update (Ice Cream Sandwich)?
  Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

Please, I want to install Ice Cream Sandwich on my HTC Widlfire, can I do?
If I can, how?

Thanks so much.

I doubt it, but take a look at the new CM9 release of CyanogenMod and see if the Wildfire is supported. I have the HTC Desire and haven't bothered checking as I'm happy with CM7 (Gingerbread) but I think the Desire is missing some needed hardware features and as the Wildfire is lower specked than the Desire it is probably not going to be supported either.


QR code printer/reader? I run a small business repairing computers.  Sometimes I have very similar looking computers, and shenanigans ensue if the customer labels fall off or the serial numbers I record become detached from the computer in the course of repair.

Is there an app I can use to print a qr code of plain text information about a computer/client/problem?  I believe my current printer is equipped with bluetooth, but I wouldn't be appalled if I needed to purchase a specialized printer (zebra, or whatever).

Check out an app in the Play store called 'Barcode Generator / Reader'.

And here's a link on how to use it: LINK

Here is a simple example of generating and printing QR code from your android phone directly.

https://github.com/msayanece/PrintQR

Hope this helps.


Android 4.4.2 youtube/video stuck in pause Got me a shiny new Hudl 2 (8.3" Wi-Fi tablet with Android 4.4.2).

It's nice. It does the gmail and the facebook, etc.

What it doesn't do is play video from youtube, or other sources such as the BBC. This is either using the Youtube android app or inside the android chrome browser.

The behaviour is as follows:

Video box is displayed but is paused and shows the 'play button' in the centre (the right facing triangle).
Clicking on the play button, a few frames will play, maybe less than half a second of sound.
Then it wall pause again. 'Play' button is displayed in the middle of the frame.

It's like as soon as you press play, it immediately pauses again. Constantly tapping the 'play' button gets a stop animation of the video.

I have tries the following to fix it:

Un-installing and reinstalling the Youtube application.
Clearing the Chrome browser cache (don't know why that was necessary but one website seemed to think it could fix it).
Lowering the quality of the video, even down to the lowest possible setting.

I've tried this on both my home wifi and one other. In both cases, my Samsung Galaxy S4 (also Android 4.4.2) has no problems playing the exact same videos.

So, any advice?

The trick was to put the tablet into Airplane mode and then to take it out of Airplane mode again.

Unlike just disconnecting and reconnecting the wifi link, this actually unloads and reloads the wifi stack.

Since I did this, it plays videos from youtube, iPlayer, etc just fine.

I had similar problems, but after un-rooting every YouTube video seems to be working perfectly again.


How to install Amazon FR app alongside Amazon (US) This might be as simple as: It cannot be done.

I am an American living in Europe. I have an android phone with multiple accounts (one for each country where I reside).

I would like to be able to install the Amazon FR app alongside the regular Amazon app (US).
Attempting to do give me the following error: duplicate provider authority

Can I get around this?

Update: Each app as well as each URL (amazon.com vs amazon.fr) provides a different set of vendors, items, previous orders, order tracking, invoices, etc.  Both apps are in the Google Play App store and you can search for the Amazon FR app but you can ONLY install it if your logged in account while accessing Google Play is registered in France.

The most recent versions of the Amazon app allow for changing countries.

My current version:
6.0.0.100
Build:
6.0.61.71


How to install a web certificate on an Android device? To gain access to WIFI at university I have to login with my user/pass credentials.

The certificate of their website (the local home page that asks for the credentials) is not recognized as a trusted certificate, so we install it separately on our computers.

The problem is that I don't take my laptop with me often to university, so I usually want to connect using my HTC Magic, but I have no clue on how to install the certificate separately on Android, it is always rejected.

This is what is stated in their website

> Need for installation of official certificates CyberTrust validated by the CRU (http://www.cru.fr/wiki/scs/)

  The certificates contain information
  certified to generate encryption keys
  for data exchange, called "sensitive"
  as the password of a user.

  By connecting to CanalIP-UPMC, for
  example, the user must validate the
  identity of the server accepting the
  certificate appears on the screen in a
  "popup window". In reality, the user
  is unable to validate a certificate
  knowing, because a simple visual check
  of the license is impossible.

  Therefore, the certificates of the
  certification authority
  (CRU-Cybertrust Educationnal-ca.ca Cybertrust and-global-root-ca.ca)
  must be installed prior to the browser
  for the validity of the certificate
  server can be controlled
  automatically.

  Before you connect to the network-UPMC
  CanalIP you must register in your
  browser through the certification
  authority
  Cybertrust-Educationnal-ca.ca Download the
  Cybertrust-Educationnal-ca.ca,
  depending on your browser and select
  the link below :

  With Internet Explorer, click on the link following.

  With Firefox, click on the link following.

  With Safari, click the link following.

  If this procedure
  is not respected, a real risk is
  incurred by the user: that of being
  robbed password LDAP directory UPMC. A
  malicious server may in fact try very
  easily attack type "man-in-the-middle"
  by posing as the legitimate server at
  UPMC.

  The theft of a password allows the
  attacker to steal an identity for
  transactions over the Internet can
  engage the responsibility of the user
  trapped ...

This is their website : http://www.canalip.upmc.fr/doc/Default.htm (in French, Google-translate it :))

Anyone knows how to install a web certificate on Android?

For Android 2.2, the certificates (without renaming or converting) can be placed at the root of the sd card.

To install:

Go to the Settings/Security menu, Credential storage section.
Activate Use secure credentials.
Click Install from SD card.
A menu will appear with the available certificates.
Click on each certificate to install.

Those certificates will then be available to the wifi system.

I've done it typing in the browser "file:/" plus the name of the certificate file in the SD


Lock screen is not changing after updating to Android 4.4.2 I have updated my Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to 4.4.2 and after that I'm not able to change my lock screen wallpaper. It always shows a wallpaper which is already in the device which has red background. Home screen changes every time whenever I want to change but lock screen remains the same. But if I put a live wallpaper as my home and lock screen it applies to both home and lock screen. Please suggest something how I would be able to put any pic from my gallery as lock screen. I changed the lock screen through settings also but no use.

I have a HISENSE SERO7 e2371 tablet here. I could not get the lock screen wallpaper to change at all.

Finally figured it out and thought I would post it here just in case anyone is looking for a solution.

I went into Settings → Security → Screen Lock and changed  Hisense to Slide.

It seems that it was an issue with the Hisense custom lock screen they provided, so this may be  same on other devices where the manufacturer has added a custom lock screen option.

I think it is software glitch on the Grand 2. To solve the problem, try to transfer the SIM 2 to 1. You may be able to change the lockscreen wallpaper.


Change Play Store (web) device order My device order in Play Store web is currently like so:

I haven't even powered on the Nexus 4 in a month. How do I make Note 4 the default without disabling Nexus 4 altogether in Play Store Settings?

The list is sorted by last used date.

Go to the Play Store on your phone, maybe download or update an app, and the last used date should be set to the current date. And next time, it should be at the top.

As far I know, it can't be done. Google Play lists the devices in alphabetical order by default.


Changing the Google Now voice back to male? Not sure why, but today the voice on Google Now has changed from a male to a female. I'm in the UK and before I had a male with a British accent but now that's changed to an American female.

I can live it, although I would prefer to have the male one back. It sounded more human IMO. Anyone know how I can get it back?

I've tried changing the language setting but it didn't make any difference.

EDIT:
A while ago Google changed the voice to a female with a British accent and AFAIK there's no way to get the male British voice back. Not really a problem for me anymore as the new voice seems to have improved a lot.

Not sure if this question can be answered any more, because I have had the English UK male voice back for a while now. Turns out it was Google changing things - not me. Just one day it reverted back to the male voice. Thanks to the guys who answered though! :)

The default Pico TTS engine on Android is only a female voice. Your phone probably came with a second voice engine that has a male voice, and it sounds like the voice engine somehow got switched from that to Pico.

To change it back (on 2.3 aka Gingerbread), open Settings -> Voice input & output -> Text-to-speech settings, and click on Default Engine. Change the default engine back to the other option. You can then Listen to an example to make sure it is set correctly.

ICS and Jellybean should have similar options to change the voice engine.


The process android.process.acore/com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again This morning I tried to turn on my motorola xt-532 and right after the boot I get this two errors:

"The process android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."
"The process com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."

I can't do anything, because as soon as I press "force close" they appear again and again..

Any idea?

Go To Settings and open your app manager, then click on the lower left button to open the menu. Click on "Reset app preferences" and the problem is resolved.

It sounds like something got corrupted on your phone.  Could be a recently installed app.

I would recommend resetting the phone to factory settings via Recovery console:

Turn off the phone.
Turn the phone on, and as soon as you see the Motorola "M" logo, press and hold the Vol Down button.
Once in Recovery console, navigate to the option to factory reset the phone.

Keep in mind that the factory reset will remove your account, any installed apps and customizations.


Android not detecting USB though it is connected I am using YU YUREKA that runs on Cyanogenmod 11.0 with Android 4.4.4. Suddenly I found that my device is not detecting the USB connection. Though my phone is getting charged, it shows 'USB not connected' in the tethering option. I have checked that with different computers and USB cables but without use.

Later I go to Settings > Developers options > Android debugging and enable the Android Debug Bridge (adb). Then my device starts to detect the USB.

But when I turn off the Developers option, again it stops detecting the connection. If anyone could help me in this matter.

Also is it safe to use tethered data connection with debugging mode turned on?

To answer the last question first, yes it is save to tether with debugging mode on.

I'm not sure about the answer to the first question, because i'm not well known with cyanogenmod. If you were a normal android user i'd suggest looking if the MTP or PTP settings are set well. You can find these under Settings > Storage > USB computer connection

Hope this helps. I found this useful on my Nexus 4 using android 4 and android 5

update your phone to lollipop.i myself use yureka and after updating it worked fine for me.


How to S-Off on HTC One M7, HBOOT-1.61 I have a HTC ONE M7 purchased from T-Mobile. I rooted it and have CyanogenMod installed in it. Recently, I switched to different carrier. Now, my phone rejects foreign sim card and asks for Network SIM card lock. The unlock code provided by T-Mobile doesn't work due to rooting the phone.

I want to go back to T-Mobile Android stock ROM and try the unlock code. What's the process for it? Here are some details from bootloader screen:

* TAMPERED *

* UNLOCKED *

M7_UL PVT SHIP S-ON RH

HBOOT-1.61.0000

RADIO-4T.35.3218.16

OpenDSP-v35.120.274.0718

OS-7.18.531.2

eMMC-boot 2048MB

Feb 11, 2015, 18:39:53.0

Apart from help in doing S-OFF, I would appreciate if someone points me to right link for going back to Stock ROM.

The only way to get S-OFF on HTC One M7 hboot 1.61 is SunShine application which costs 25$. I was also searching for it and finally found Sunshine is the only working solution.

Here is the HowTo video about the application.


Google calendar syncing problem I have a problem with syncing with the Google calendar. Although the syncing in most cases does work, for some events it just doesn't sync. I create events on Google Calendar, but they don't show up on the phone. Actually, I create them over iCal, which is also synced to Google Calendar, but that shouldn't matter. I checked and all events are online on Google's servers.

Do you have any idea what could be wrong and how I can force it to sync?

(HTC Desire)

I had similar problem. I had to clear calendar cache - than re-sync worked for me.
The cache clear method is very similar like in this answer, but I clear the official Calendar storage:

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications. In the top of the screen select All. Scrool down to Calendar Storage, then open it, tap to Clear cache button.
Re-sync (Google) Calendar. You're done.

Maybe you have no Calendar Storage app, than I sorry, I have HTC Wildfire.

i had the same problem, some events from colledge iCal format just wouldn't sync, first time it happened, I force closed it an turned off my phone and it seemed to work, now it happened for the second time and now I tried what somebody suggested here as well as on the other sites, cleared data from the phone because I have everything backed up on my gmail calendar and it seems to be working... for now...


How can I integrate and manage SMS from many phones? I'm looking for a way to integrate SMS messages from my two phones and manage them online using a web site.

I mean that I will be able to send and receive SMS by web, and search my SMS by text.

Try to use smslemon.com. It is very helpful service. You can send, receive, browse and search your sms. Their Android app can be found here.


What if I don't want my music on the cloud? I just got my Nexus 7 tablet and I was trying to load some music/videos to it. I have about 10 gigs worth of .mp3 files with no DRM in my computer. Since this is Android, I figured I would not be subject to the pain that is iTunes and I would simply be able to drag the music into a "Music" folder if I plugged in the tablet to my computer. Sure enough, I saw a folder named "Music" and tried dragging a couple of files to it. When I go to my Nexus, however, I don't see the files. I started reading up on this and it seems that the way to do things on Android is to use the Google Music Manager which would then put my songs in "the cloud" and make them playable from any device. That's all nice and everything, but is there any way to simply put a couple songs into my device locally without any of that funny business?

TL;DR: I don't want to use Music Manager, how do I locally upload a song/video to my Nexus 7?

Android uses a so-called Media Scanner to index your media files (this also applies to your images and videos). This Media Scanner ships with the system, and fires automatically on certain system events -- such as after boot, or when you insert your SD-Card. It does, however, not react on a simple "file-drop" via network. For such cases, it might need a little help to get to know it has to act:

Rescan Media
Rescan SD Card!

Are two free example apps from the playstore which do exactly that: trigger the Media Scanner. Once the Media Scanner has indexed your new files, they will immediately show up in the corresponding apps such as the gallery (for images/videos) or your music player.

i usually put  all my songs into a folder and zip it into a smaller archive with an easy short name. something like mp3files.zip
move that folder( or a copy of it) to /android-sdk/platform-tools/
plug the nexus in with a good usb cable and go to settings/developer options set to "usb debug enabled"
next i use # ./adb push home/android-sdk/platform-tools/mp3files.zip /sdcard/Music
important to notice one space between path to file and path to destination   also make sure your capitalization is correct
while ./adb is moving your files you wont get any feedback that anything is happening until its finished so be calm and find something else to do
i also use the vlc for android beta media player availible from the vlc developers forum--it works PERFECTLY  its still a beta .but its not so much a hiccuped EVER for me  and plays whatever i throw at it(im not associated with the project in any way i just am passing along some info i have found)


Make an IAP in a Restricted Profile My boy is playing Scribblenauts on an Android 5.0 tablet, under the control of a restricted profile.

He's done all the levels, and there is an IAP required to purchase the rest of the levels.

Can't do the IAP from within the restricted profile, because no play store access.

I've purchased the levels on the parent account, but they don't show up in his restricted profile.

How can I get the new levels for him?

You could try temporarily unrestricting the account. Your phone must be rooted. I haven't tried doing this and have no idea whether or not it'll work. It's just idle speculation.

Make a full backup of the entire device, including all priceless user data such as documents, photos, and home videos. Store the backup on your home computer, or on a MicroSD card kept in a safe place.
Root the device. This carries risks, which I shall not list here.
Install SuperSU.
Temporarily convert the restricted profile into a non-restricted profile. Right now, I'm too tired to prepare a full set of instructions on how to do this. Instead, for now, you can pay a technician to look at this post. Upon seeing the post, she'll be able to figure out what to do.
Try to make your in-app purchase.
Set the profile to be restricted again.

I wonder if the in-app purchase would work, though. Would the temporarily-unrestricted profile have a Google account associated with it? If not, could it still make in-app purchases?

Maybe you'd have to add a Google account to the temporarily-unrestricted profile then remove it from that profile after making your in-app purchase?

Please leave me some comments about whether or not this worked for you.

I read on the site,  The updates may be higher (eg. PG) than the rating you have set (eg G) inmthe restricted profile
Try the following
Either turn the Parent controls off to allow update,  or adjust the maturity rating (temporarily) so the game can update. Once updated turn controls back on /or adjust maturity rating back to previous choice
Hope this helps


Installing ROM over another custom ROM Am using Samsung Galaxy Y model phone. I rooted my mobile and installed Jelly Blast v3 ROM in my phone. Now how to install a different custom ROM over this ? or if i install a new ROM in my mobile will that cause any problems ? Please help me get through this

You need to install custom recovery and flash new ROMs from this recovery. If you choose the correct custom ROM for you phone and follow the developer's installation guide, there won't be any problem. If you wanna know where you can find custom ROMs for your phone, take a look at this question. I recommend XDA developers. You can find a lot of ROMs with user's reply so you can consider before flashing the ROM.

If you are already rooted and using a custom rom you probably have a recovery installed. You wont have any problem if you change the rom but make sure you have made a nandroid backup before doing anything so that you can revert back to your current state in case anything goes wrong. Choose the new custom rom wisely and follow the instruction therein and you will be alright.


Device won't connect via USB I have a HTC G2 running Android 2.3.4 that I've recently tried to root using the guide at the XDA developer's site.  After step 3.3, the USB connection stopped working.  More precisely, when I plug the USB cable into the PC and the phone, the PC does not detect the phone (for instance, it is not in the devices manager) and the phone does not get a USB notification (though it does charge).  I've tried all the basic trouble shooting steps as outlined here, but I haven't had any luck fixing the problem.

As I see it, either one of two things has happened.  The phone's USB port needs to be replaced or I've introduced a glitch that prevents the phone from communicating with the computer.  Is there a way to find out which case I'm facing and if it's the second case, how to diagnose and fix the glitch?  Thanks

I understand your problem,Your device may not have supported  Drive and  check is it connect mass storage(memory card) or not .if you may change the setting in USB debugging,


Is it possible to use android phone as bluetooth headset for ps3? Does anyone know how to use the android phone as a bluetooth headset so that i can use it as a mic while playing several games (COD) for example.

I'm using Ice Cream Sandwich and i have a Galaxy Vibrant. I don't want to buy a bluetooth headset so i'm simply looking to use my phone as an intermediate adapter. I can connect my wired headphones which has a mic attached to it.

Thanks to an app that turns an Android phone into a more universal Bluetooth device, it is possible to control a PS3 with your Android phone as though it were a Bluetooth remote control. The connection allows the phone to be used as a virtual keyboard for entering text, and it even has a touchscreen trackpad for moving the cursor in the PS3's web browser.

The app, BlueputDroid, is in beta form right now, and is still a bit tricky to use, as the list of supported Android phones is not exhaustive, some of the phones require custom firmware and once you get the app installed, there are technical hoops to work through. A list of believed supported and unsupported devices can be found on XDA-developers.com, where the app was introduced. It also has details on how to download the app for those who own a compatible Android handset.

The independent developer has tested it out on the Nexus One, HTC Wildfire, and LG Optimus One - all with rooted firmwares. He was not able to get it working on the Optimus One.

BlueputDroid is the first app to allow a smartphone to pair up with the PS3 as an input device. There have been other Bluetooth apps for Android that more flexibility in syncing the phone to a computer, but this is the first working app for PS3 connectivity. If the dev can further refine the process and expand compatibility, we'll welcome the chance to use our phones to input PSN info or type in URLs - beats having a real keyboard tethered to your system, hm?

source: http://www.gamesradar.com/how-to-use-your-android-phone-as-a-ps3-bluetooth-keyboard/

Nope. Not possible. Only recognized or devices signed by Sony can be used for pairing with the PS3.

I don't think you can use ANY bluetooth headset. There are specific ones made for PS3.


Live folders for Contact groups? Does anyone know of an app which will allow you to place live folders on your home screen which are tied to a specific contact group? That is, when setting it up you would choose a group from your address book, and it would then show you all the contacts in that group, when opened.

I tried this app: Groupie, but it has a number of problems. The groups it lists are NOT the groups that are in my contacts (it seems to only list some common groups, but not the ones actually in my contacts). Even for a group with the same name as one in my contacts, it does not actually show any contacts when I clicked on the folder.
Plus, while admittedly minor, the icon for the folders is dorky.  ;)  Ideally would like one that uses a variation on the standard live folder icons (like All Contacts, Contacts with Phone Numbers, Received from Bluetooth and Starred Contacts)

Running on a Galaxy S Captivate, unrooted.

Dunno if this has gotten answered, but had to deal with this today and the app Groupy is great.  you can even hide groups so it lists only the ones you want, it handles multiple accounts setup on the phone just fine, and I know for sure if you drop a shortcut to the app itself it will open right up once you tap the 1x1 shortcut on the desktop right to the listing of the groups.

It also has some nice shortcut buttons to send an Email, SMS [or MMS] right from that listing screen [the icons are right across the bottom of the screen when the app is open.

I didn't see any widgets listed under widgets for it, but I haven't gone extremely in-depth with it yet.  I don't see a major need for them as when you tap the app shortcut the app opens right to a list of all the groups you have on the device [be they system, or created by you the user (if done via google contacts website be sure to either wait for the sync or go in to settings accounts and tap the account you modified contacts on and tap to clear then tap to add the checkmark back as that will cause it to sync right away [or of course hit sync now button if you have that available instead if you prefer]).
Of course if you go through and choose to hide any groups when you open the app it will only list that groups that have not been hidden.

You can even choose multiple groups to send messages to by tapping the checkboxes found on the right hand side of the screen for all the groups you want to send your message to.

PLEASE BE AWARE FOR BOTH EMAIL AND SMS OR MMS: Some carriers/providers do put limits on how many contacts you may send any one message to in attempts to curtail people from spamming too many people at once.  You will need to review the limits with your carrier in the case of SMS/MMS messages OR you provider for your email account for emails.
So if your groups [or groups] contain too many people your message may either fail to send at all or only send to soo many people [depending on how your carrier/service provider choose to handle the limit]

I don't know of any way to do this automatically, aside from some app I don't know of, but you can do it yourself by adding a new blank folder and then adding shortcuts to your contacts in it however you like.


Problems with ASUS Memopad 7 So my mom has been using an ASUS Memopad 7 for a while now, and she's been having some trouble with it lately. Namely, many of the apps are now basically unusable and almost always crash with "Unfortunately, [app] has stopped". I've tried checking it before but couldn't find any obvious problems (like lack of disk space, etc). I also tried installing an app to check the system logs (I believe it was named CatLog) but couldn't find anything relevant.

During the past couple of days, the problem became significantly worse. The tablet would always pop an alert "Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped", and after you dismiss it with [OK], the alert pops up again, repeat ad infinitum. The tablet is practically unusable now.

Complicating things is that it's difficult to get the thing to even boot. If I restart it, it loads into a black screen with the Asus logo and a spinning loading icon and stays there forever. Image for reference: http://i.imgur.com/NBhvZ2T.jpg . My mom says she can get it to boot sometimes but only after restarting several times (I don't have the patience for it, I've never gotten it to boot)

I've already managed to back up her relevant data, so I suggested that I do a factory reset. So I hold Power and Volume Up during startup and boot into the following menu: http://i.imgur.com/Anb5Kjl.jpg  There's an error message there, IDK if it's relevant.

From the Droidboot Menu, I choose "Recovery" and it reboots again. This time it boots into a screen with a dead Android mascot and the text "No command". Here's a shitty cameraphone image for reference: http://i.imgur.com/QgOvHkm.jpg  At this point, I'm not sure how to proceed. The Volume buttons are unresponsive. Tapping Power does nothing. If I leave it in this state for a while, it proceeds to try to boot and gets stuck again at the loading icon I showed in the first image.

Any advice as to how I can get this tablet back into a usable state?

You might need to replace the system. Using adb, type in adb sideload ____.zip (after installing a zip for the device) because ASUS devices are built with Android, just with a different launcher and features. NOTICE: Before you sideload, make sure to enter recovery mode and choose apply update from ADB. If the launcher is replaced, you should install ZenUI Launcher.


Internal storage missing: Nexus 7 16G down to 5.8G TOTAL My Nexus 7 now believes it has only 5G internal storage. It's shown in storage properties.

I noticed it after factory reset, and then a 4.3 update (I remember getting 4.3 OTA update twice, is it possible?)

I installed ClockworkMod recovery (back when it was on 4.2), but never rooted it.

No storage space analyzers show hidden files or such. Rebooting doesn't change anything.

I found /sdcard/0 directory with a content of my previous sdcard before a factory reset, deleting it freed some space, but total is still at 5.8G.

I found one complaint about a similar situation, but it's drowned in a simpler problems and was never answered.

df output:

Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/dev                   487.4M    32.0K   487.3M   4096
/mnt/secure            487.4M     0.0K   487.4M   4096
/mnt/asec              487.4M     0.0K   487.4M   4096
/mnt/obb               487.4M     0.0K   487.4M   4096
/system                639.8M   515.7M   124.1M   4096
/cache                 436.0M     7.3M   428.7M   4096
/data                    5.9G     2.7G     3.2G   4096
/mnt/shell/emulated      5.9G     2.7G     3.2G   4096
/mnt/asec/com.teslacoilsw.launcher.prime-1     2.0M    84.0K     1.9M   4096
/mnt/asec/com.loudcrow.goodnightmoon-1     5.0M     3.4M     1.6M   4096

cat /proc/partitions output:

major minor  #blocks  name
   7        0       2111 loop0
   7        1       5229 loop1
 179        0    7467008 mmcblk0
 179        1      12288 mmcblk0p1
 179        2       8192 mmcblk0p2
 179        3     665600 mmcblk0p3
 179        4     453632 mmcblk0p4
 179        5        512 mmcblk0p5
 179        6      10240 mmcblk0p6
 179        7       5120 mmcblk0p7
 179        8        512 mmcblk0p8
 179        9    6302720 mmcblk0p9
 179       32       2048 mmcblk0boot1
 179       16       2048 mmcblk0boot0
 254        0       2110 dm-0
 254        1       5229 dm-1

mount output:

rootfs / rootfs ro,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
selinuxfs /sys/fs/selinux selinuxfs rw,relatime 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,relatime 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/secure tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=700 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/obb tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,relatime,cpu 0 0
/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/APP /system ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/CAC /cache ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,nomblk_io_submit,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/UDA /data ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,nomblk_io_submit,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0
/dev/block/dm-0 /mnt/asec/com.teslacoilsw.launcher.prime-1 ext4 ro,dirsync,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1 0 0
/dev/block/dm-1 /mnt/asec/com.loudcrow.goodnightmoon-1 ext4 ro,dirsync,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1 0 0

I had the same problem as OP flashing to 4.4.3 on a Nexus 7 16GB (2012).  My total storage as reported by the storage module of the settings app was like 6GB and running df from BusyBox/adb was reporting the same.  This is clearly a partition table problem and not hidden files or anything else.  I think that the problem was caused by several failed/aborted flashes that I did.  I was able to fix it by reflashing from adb.

In other words, I downloaded the latest image, decompressed it, and ran the flash_all.sh script.  (Of course after running adb reboot-bootloader).

For the record, I did NOT have to change the commands to fastboot format X.

It would be nice to understand this problem better but for the time being, going from ~6GB to >13GB of usable space is quite a relief.

If you download an external file viewer, root explorer, oi file manager .ect. Then go to dcim on the phone or external sd card and there most likely is a file that is unknown when you click it and usually has several hundreds of megabytes take up on it, you can just delete it, also, it shoulf say thumb data


Cyanogenmod: Encryption unsuccessful I encrypted my phone. That worked fine. Then I installed another version of Cyanogenmod. This cannot decrypt the data (which is OK: There is no important data on the phone). It tells me to perform a factory reset, but even after the factory reset the phone is stuck at the "Encryption unsuccessful".

The error I get is the same as on:
Samsung Galaxy encryption failed

How do I convince Cyanogenmod that all encrypted data is deleted?

I have tried:

Factory reset
Installing the version of Cyanogenmod that encrypted the phone

The factory reset failed to format /data (and thus most likely left the old encryption in place).

Having formatted /data manually, the factory reset finally could complete successfully, and the new version of Cyanogenmod showed up.

Format sdcard0 (internal storage) to ext3 file-system format  and it is going to be OK!


Cannot add owner info to Lock screen - HTC One M9 In my other Android devices, I've always been able to set an "If found" message on the Owner Information shown on the lock screen.

Settings -> Security -> Owner info

But for the HTC One M9, this configuration item does not exist. I have not been able to find an alternate setting.

Apart from writing the owner info on the lock screen image, is there any other way to display a message on the lock screen?

The Android 7.0 Nougat release has added the lock screen message functionality.

There isn't a direct option. You could probably create your own lock screen wallpaper with your "if found" message on it.


How to keep screen turned off when plugging charger? I have an HTC Desire. When I plug charger into my phone with screen off, it always turns the screen back on. This is slightly annoying at night.
Is it possible to configure Android so that the screen stays off and charging is only indicated via charging LED?

SnooZy Charger (also in the Play Store) takes care of this. The free app (as in beer and speech) that lets you manage behavior during charger connection and disconnection.

It requires no permissions, but does require you giving it device admin permissions. These permissions are only used for to control device locking, as verifiable in its source-code. From quickly going through the app’s source-code, it looks totally harmless and benign.

If the app does not behave as you want, make sure to go through the Settings. For example, “Turn off screen only when locked” is enabled by default. This means that the app will not kick into effect if you have an on/off-button-press-lock delay or other related settings.

It works perfectly for my on a wireless charging pad and with micro-USB cable using a LG Nexus 4 device. I am very satisfied.

Update: I documented additional issues here.

I had a similar issue and fixed it by first turning on "developer mode" then deselecting "Stay awake" under Settings / Developer Options. Turn on developer mode by going to Settings / About Device, then touch/tap on "Build number" seven (7) times. Once developer mode is on, go to Settings / Developer Options, and deselect "Stay awake".  This resolved the problem for me.  Keep in mind that each android phone is slightly different in where "About Device" is located, but it is in the Settings section. Go there and tap "Build number" seven times to turn on Developer mode.


edit : battery drain *MYSTERY* UPDATE 06/02/2015

i have a Galaxy Grand Duos and i constantly faced battery drain issues. after MANY ideas to what the problem could be, (even by samsung service), i decided to root the phone and flash custom ROM. Tried some, problem persisted.
Finally i installed CM 11.0 without any apps, not even GAPPS just to narrow down what is wrong..

After some time i can tell you that there is something like a (maybe hardware related) BUG that for no apparent reason KICKS OFF and starts draining the battery (30degree slope drop in battery application) CONSTANTLY. I mean no matter what i do, if the phone is sleeping or w/e, that is the LEAST background battery consumption. Of course if i also use the device, the battery drops more vertical in the graph for that period of time.

Then, at some point, for no reason that i can spot until now, [maybe turning on and off the airplane mode, WiFi, Screen Rotation, or somth else] the BUG stops! And from that point forward (until it starts again) the battery drop is totally HORIZONTAL when I'm not using the device, as it is supposed to be! Note that this normal behavior can last for even 2-3 days.

What will be useful : Find what triggers the bug. Find a way to stop it if has triggered.

(*edit 11/2/15- i think i've narrowed it down to how i can turn off this "bug" after it kicks in. The way to do it, might be turning on and off airplane mode and WiFi for some times. The way to see if this worked, is to leave the phone at standby for some time (1-2hr) and check the battery graph. If the graph has become HORIZONTAL for that period of time, then voila i have stopped the drain)

Note #1 : please help..!

It isn't airplane mode.... airplane mode only stops certain hardware from running, making it physically impossible for that to be the reason

You probably have a bunch of other applications running when you go to sleep. but it will always say that Android OS used the most battery, because the operating system handles everything...

try installing cleanmaster or some other application cleaner, it will save a lot of battery.


what is this icon it won't go away I have an icon on the top bar of my phone that looks like a square with 2 hills. It won't go away when I clear it.

It looks like the first icon on the top in this image:

As stated in the comments, this is the screenshot icon.

If you pull down the notification bar, you should see a notification that says "Screenshot is being saved" (it's not "Screenshot was saved" because you can't swipe it away and it's not "Couldn't have screenshot" because it doesn't have an ! in it).

It's possible you accidentally hit the key combination to take a screenshot (like Power + Volume Down) and that made the notification.

Hold the icon for a couple of seconds and enter the application manager.. Find out which icon it is.. And force stop it .


Switch Live Wallpapers Automatically without Root I am wondering whether there is any way to switch between like wallpapers on my Pixel 2 without rooting it as it is a Verizon phone with a locked bootloader. I have 2 live wallpapers I like and would like for then to automatically switch... I've tried using Tasker and Automate, but both require root. If there is any way please let me know. Thank you!

You can try smart wallpaper from playstore
I've tried on static wallpaper
But it's worth a try on live wallpaper


Can I turn off Google/Google+ notifications on Samsung Galaxy S3? I know you can turn off notifications from the native email client, but is there a way to turn them off for Gmail, Google+, and other Google apps? I have my Google account set up on my phone, which is useful, but if I can't specifically turn off Google notifications I'm going to have to unsync it, because as it stands I have to either silence all notifications and miss important text messages, or get woken up by G+ comments and NYT emails at 4 AM.

To turn off notifications for Google+, open the Google+ app,
press Menu->Settings->[Your account name]->Notifications, then press the ON/OFF
toggle in the top right. In recent versions, notification settings are per-account.
To turn off notifications for Gmail/Google Apps Mail, open the
Gmail app, press Menu->Settings, select the account you wish to disable notifications for, uncheck the checkbox that says: Email notifications
To turn off notifications for Google Talk, open the
Google Talk app, press Menu->Settings, select the account you wish to disable notifications for, press IM notifications and select off, and the same for Video chat notifications
To turn off notifications for Google Voice, open the
Google Voice app, press Menu->Settings->Sync and notifications, and uncheck the boxes for text and voicemail notifications.

NOTE: This is based on Android 4.0+, some of these apps (especially Google Talk) may function differently on pre-ICS.

Launch the Google Play store app and hit menu then settings..
Then go to Google Admob ads and uncheck.


Low battery temp and wont charge galaxy note 5 after phone got wet The top of my Note 5 was wet, I dried it off and placed the phone in rice. 2 days later it began working again, 2 days after that I received the error msg that charging is paused due to battery temp too low. What can I do?

It depends. If this is a phone where the temperature sensor is within the battery, the battery can simply be replaced, but that does not guarantee that this is the only issue. If the sensor is in the motherboard or another piece, the phone is likely permanently damaged and will need to be replaced.

Try changing the charger port in service centers or try to keep the phone in normal temp.


I'm having trouble getting into safe mode trouble on galaxy ace I can't get into safe mode on my galaxy ace SM-S765C. I tried holding down power and menu buttons but it doesn't work.

Well, what you can try is firstly make sure that you have switched your device completely off, next step would be turning the phone back on, pressing power button+and also hold the menu button, now continue holding the menu button until you see the Home Screen ! This will boot you onto the safe mode ! :)


How to correctly identify your phone model and version? I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus and I'm trying to do a fresh reinstall of Cyanongenmod.

I see in their website that there are three different versions of this phone: https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Devices#vendor=%22Google%22;searchable=%22galaxy%22;

Now I am confused and don't know which version I have? I bought it in Portugal. But is there a way to automatically identify the phone?

Thank you

Go into settings then About Phone and it should display everything you need


How to turn off cell broadcast in HTC desire 816? I have been receiving about 50 flash sms a day, with my service provider name, from the number 50.

As I read here, it might be a issue with activating and deactivating cell broadcast on the phone. However, I could not find the path suggested for the deactivation (Setting/Call/Other Call Settings).

The option does not exist on this path. also it became an irritation for me. Whenever I am doing something with my device, that flash message popped up and I get interrupted.

To try deactivating this I have tried all possible steps (By blocking/deleting/stopping notification) but nothing worked out. Any ideas how to get rid of this?

Mobile: HTC Desire 816

Android Version: 4.4.2 with sense 6.0

Thank you

Go to Call Settings and uncheck "Broadcast" (homescreen -> phone -> settings -> broadcast).

For HTC Desire, go to Messages > All Messages > tap 3 dots > Settings > Cell Broadcast > OFF.


Can Waze cause the cell phone to overheat even after being closed? By closed I mean clicking "switch off" in notifications panel and closing it in "recent apps".

Waze consumes at most 20% of my battery during normal use but after turning it off, my cell phone keeps getting hotter for no apparent reason.

Things I tried:

Turning it off and back on. It does cool down when it's off but after turning it back on the heating continues gradually.
Using Juice Defender in agressive mode. No change.
Troubleshooting with Watchdog Lite. The process consuming the most energy is Android System (around 10-15%).

I suspect Waze has something to do with this because the problem exists even when I only opened this app that day.

Waze definitely not just causes my Samsung S3 to get hot, but always causes the phone to heat up wildly until it crashes due to extreme overheating.  I can get a maximum of 30 minutes out of it before my phone overheats and dies.  It's the only app that I've ever seen do that.  Also, it uses more power than my phone charger can provide, so the battery level drops consistently even when plugged in to a charger that can provide 2.1 amps.  I've had to stop using Waze.  Too bad, as it seems like a nice app, but I can't run something that's going to destroy my phone.

The simple answer is No!. Waze is just an app, a piece of software and has no bearing on battery life or heat generation.

Heat is generated from devices within your phone running with too much power. Waze maybe the app that starts these devices going, but ultimately, it is the phones hardware that is causing the heat.

Screens generate a large amount of heat to provide the brightness needed, try reducing the brightness level on the screen. Also, the satellite tracking system may be needing more power if the signals being received are too small. some phones have a self boost amplifier and these can also burn battery power. Anything that runs these types of hardware would cause you phone to get hot, and lack of cooling would not help.

Most phones are designed now to be as thin and light as possible, this is done by sacrificing heatsinking (the designers assume the phone will only be used for short periods at a time).