text:
Is there any way to enable the ringer ONLY for a particular caller/group of callers?
Is there any way or app that will take a phone that is normally on silent/vibrate, and enable the ringer for a selected group of callers?
My wife is notorious for leaving her phone on silent, and there have been several emergencies where I could not reach her because she couldn't hear/feel her phone ringing. I'd like to have a way so that when I or any other family members call her, her phone will ring, even though she has it on silent/vibrate.
I've read that the app "Locale" may work, but they offer no demo for their app, and I'd prefer not to spend 10$ if it doesn't work. Their dev hasn't responded to the email I've sent.
Any ideas or methods would be very much appreciated.

Have you tried WhoIsIt?

Setup different ringtones and vibration patterns for SMS, MMS, Google Talk, Google Voice, and K-9 for each contact


text:
How do I get SuperSU to update binaries after a reboot after using Ping Pong?
Screen shot of popup after reboot after checking if phone has root. So the "Grant" & "Deny" button at this point are unclickable! Why?Okay so I used the latest Ping Pong root.apk from XDA to root my S6  which worked fine but yet after doing the reboot after rooting with Ping Pong and opening SuperSU it never asked me to update binaries like it's supposed to. Is that why the Root checker app says my phone is not rooted? And how can I fix it? What is causing this? Other people with my model have successfully rooted.
Model of S6 SM-G920W8
OS: 5.0.2

Try downloading the latest SuperSU zip and flash from recovery.

Where do I find the latest zip?  And what does "flash from recovery" mean?  I'm using the stock everything.

First, you should have never proceeded without proper knowledge. Currently you aren't aware of even flashing (a vital part of rooting process). In case something messes up, it would be very difficult to recover for you. Second, heres the super su zip: https://download.chainfire.eu/396/supersu/ Third, android flashing-> http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6028/what-is-the-meaning-of-flashing-a-custom-rom and http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2885/what-is-the-difference-between-rooting-jailbreak-rom-mod-etc I suggest you properly read these links before proceeding with anything.

I was only going to try Ping Ping nothing else since I don't know much.

CF Root?  Ping Pong comes with pre-installed SuperSU. One click root!I don't have to flash a custom ROM or a anything.

To me, it looks like the problem is in a different place than you think. Looking at your status bar, you seem to have a screen tint/filter app. Try disabling it and check if the buttons on the SuperSU popup work fine.

@Arielle THANK YOU!  You were  correct.  How did you know? Will I have to stop using the brightness app permanently?

@verve I had that problem with a Night Mode app. And no, you won't have to stop using the app permanently. Just disable it whenever you install another app that uses root permissions. You can enable it again as soon as you grant or deny those permissions to the app. And let me submit my comment as an answer...

Yes, do the answer.  Is there any way to get SuperSU to stop asking for permissions?  It's annoying to open Datasync and have ask for permissions continuously.

The problem is in a different place than you think. Looking at your status bar, you seem to have a screen tint/filter app. For whatever reason, apps like that seem to interfere with system dialogue boxes, such as the SuperSU one from your example, or the package installer. Disable the app temporarily whenever you have to deal with one of those.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
How does the Orxify app do what not even the official TOR client for Android can?
I was looking for TOR in the Play store a while ago & did not find anything but then today I see that the official TOR site has Orbot for Android but apparently it cannot protect you unless you use apps configured to use Orbot & since I dislike messing with port settings etc. I kept searching to find an app called Orxy with a plugin called Orxify which claims to use the TOR network to anonymize all your Android traffic without any configuring.  Now is that even possible?  Or is it a false claim?  I see no real reviews on the web on Orxify and it seems they changed their name from Anonify...why change it unless they are trying to hide something?  Anybody know of this app and the validity of it's claims?
OS: 4.1
S3

It's possible if you use VPN.
VPN mode in android redirect all traffic to one app.
It's then app decision how to handle it.
Orxify did this. And also integrate tor library.
Tor community try this few times but not succeeded so far.
https://github.com/guardianproject/OrbotVPN
There is also Drony. Drony also uses VPN but redirect then all to Orbot app.
But apps are not open source.
This is not good starting point to be recognized by Tor community as safe to use.
by Drony support

Who is not open source?

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


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Fake homescreen loading every 60 seconds on an S3! How to stop it?
It started two days ago when my S3 on 4.1 would make noises and then a fake "homescreen" (which has functioning shorcuts! <--- how is that possible?) would popup every 60 seconds and sometimes every 2 min. In the middle of using other apps it just pops on tbe screen. I haven't done any updates or anything but I  have been trying some free software off Google Play but I'm sure I have uninstalled all of those...so first the  popup homescreen which is not what my real homescreen looked like it was Accuweather related so checked "active applications" and tried to delete every weather related thing but I couldn't find anything Accuweather related...here is a photo of the popup screen which is not my real screen:.... can you see the photo? (the pic is above the post now lol)...so I tried playing with the wallpaper settings etc. nothing is working.  Is it a virus?  Any tips? And, when I press my home button the fake screen shows up and I can't click on my real homescreen.  I just keep having to press the grey x on the fake screen to get back to normal....but then it sometimes comes back up seconds later.
Edit: Gotten worse now...every single time I try to get to my homescreen it goes to the screen in the attached photo so I can't open new apps, make calls...
Edit 2.0: so somehow it looks related to the docking function?  I unchecked every setting related to docking, homescreens etc. but of course when I press settings from my real screen it only affects my real screen...when the fake screen pops up it has a settings option but I'm so lost why I have two screens.  I have also never ever used the dock feature on tbe phone ever.
OS: 4.1

Can you get to the settings from the notification tray and force-stop it?

DanHulme I'm not sure what you mean...I don't see it as an active application...


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Samsung galaxy S3 continuously downloading on gprs
My mother in laws phone continuously downloads from GPRS, seemingly even when wifi is available.  Usually the downloads are very small and in multiples over a short period.  occasionally they are much larger, up to 50MB.
The records from the provider indicate that some of these downloads are from Facebook and youtube, however she has not used these apps or logged in.
The downloads are occurring so often that she is getting warnings that she will exceed her quota (200MB/month).
She has set apps so they don't update automatically. Also she syncs three gmail accounts to the phone.
Does anyone know what these frequent downloads may be, and also if it is possible to limit them to only when wifi is available.
Thanks

If she does not use GPRS, then best is to disable mobile data usage
But if you do not want to completely disable GPRS, then here is an article which shows how can you limit mobile data usage.
disable or limit mobile data usage
here are couple of apps to monitor and control you mobile data usage
control mobile data app

i also had similar problem, but now i will definately use this android app for mobile data monitoring and excess usage

authors: አፈ ወርቅ ዲ.ሠሎሞን


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Does 'Easy Battery Saver' work?
I ran some tests in my Moto G and it was quite disappointing. The first hour was dedicated to measure the performance in 'Intelligent Power Saving Mode', followed by an hour of the app uninstalled. This was repeated for a total of 6 hours and the results are in:
App installed

1st hour: 66-61 = 5
3rd hour: 58-55 = 3
5th hour: 52-45 = 7

App Removed

2nd hour: 61-58 = 3
4th hour: 55-52 = 3
6th hour: 45-42 = 3

The numbers indicate the percentage of battery charge consumed. During the test, the phone was in standby all the time. What's going on here? This app has more than 800k ratings averaging a 4.5 score! Am I doing something wrong? Is the app supposed to run only when not in standby?

Most of the battery saving applications are better termed as "settings managers", if you already know how to turn things on & off there isn't much they can do for you. Plus it is another application now running.
Newer phones also have employed better hardware , better techniques and more power savings into the whole system, improving that before installing these. The newer phones are also going to sleep/standby using less power than they did before, still staying radio connected to the towers.  Plus the phones have thier own settings for user adjustable power savings, like WiFi off when screen off , and data control.
Larger screens taking more power, plus major cpu sleepy modes, means there are times when a automatic backlight control could save more than (something like) turning off bluetooth.   Again all depending on how you use it.
The displayed percentages of a battery and its voltages are not a great indicator of a specific ammount of power used, Or capacity left. Depending on the method employed to provide the battery level vision to the user.  Testing for a whole battery cycle even might not determine a small ammount of savings achieved. High power use can drop the voltage seen quick, and other factors that do not represent the actual capacity left, or the moment it will no longer be able to make a call.
So in conclusion the usual battery management applications would be more useful for the unaware, and uncontrolled use of a phone,  the automation that can save some power, most of it the same control that a user in controll can do manually.  The phones themselves being much better at it , than when the origins of this type of application would have shown more differances.
 You would also have to test for days, not hours, somehow doing everything exactally the same as before, which includes odd things like distance to the tower, which is more power employed to connect to it.

What you did cannot really count as a testcase. How much a battery "drops" depends on many criteria – including the amount of charge left. Furthermore, just to check for single hours gives no meaningful results. If you really want to measure how much that (or any other app) might save you, you'd need to setup a real testcase, at least repeating each step 2, better more times. This could e.g. incolve:

charge the battery to 100%
start the app
disconnect the charger
let the battery run down to at least 20%
check how long that took

Compare with: Same procedure, omitting step 2. Now, having done that in standby with display off, you have some results – but still, nothing really useful. What should the app save when nothing runs? It consumes some battery itself, as it needs to run and check the device's state from time to time. So I wouldn't wonder if your device was running down faster with the app installed – it rather seems quite logical.
So additionally to the order of steps and their starting and end points, you'd need to apply the very same usage patterns: Leave standby, use the device as you would do normally. Or, to have something for more exact results, setup yourself a schedule like "from 9 to 9:30 read news, from 10 to 10:15 watch a youtube video", etc. Then follow the same schedule with and without the app. Repeat it, best multiple times, to have average values from both cases. Now you have meaningful results you can compare.


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Phone is lagging
Some apps lag on my phone. For example, Chrome, Opera Beta. But other apps are working quite normal.
I noticed that these apps redraw almost all screen, so I believe this is somehow related to graphics.
I heard that I need to enable force GPU rendering, but it's on already. Tried to switch it off, feels like nothing changed.
What can I do with it?
My phone is HTC Incredible S and my ROM is MIUI 4.2.28, android version 4.1.2.

Why have two browsers? How many tabs do you have open in a typical browsing session?

@t0mm13b I use Chrome only to see my bookmarks on PC. And I usually open 3 or less tabs, but it lags even when I have 1 tab opened.

When the screen redraws, that is usually a sign of low memory. Considering this device is 3 years old, has 768mb of RAM, a 1GHz single core processor and running an Android version that was never even released for the phone, lag is going to happen.
Chrome and Opera are both very memory hungry apps and since your device has a small amount of memory and an OS with unknown memory footprint and optimizations, other tabs will get purged from memory quite easily, leading to redraws when switching tabs.


text:
Connect to a WiFi-Direct Network with a device which doesn't have the WiFi-Direct feature
Can an Android device which doesn't have the WiFi-Direct feature connect to other WiFi-Direct networks as a peer connected to a Group Owner (GO)?


text:
Samsung Galaxy Ace - Sim card detection
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace android 2.3.7 with cyanogen mod-7-20130301-nightly-cooper version.
It is not detecting the SIM card.
Is it a problem due to Cyanogen mod or something else?


text:
I flashed Samsung Galaxy S and now it won't start beyond logo screen
I was trying to install Cyanogenmod and after the step in which I went into download mode and moved mod to SD card and do "hermidal zimage" which opened up Hermidal in which everything was successful; no errors and stuff.
Now about Zimage to be renamed recovery.img...that step I didn't do. Because that made no sense; first in the guide it said rename it if you are a Windows user but later on it says to use a file named that, so I had to rename it to the original. But I don't think this is the problem.
I can't get into recovery mode, or start it normally. What I can do is go in download mode.
Whenever I start it, it just shows a big "S" and  the Samsung logo and stays stuck at that boot screen.
It keeps flashing and then just stops flashing but after that the boot logo stays there.

If, as you say, you can get into download mode (Odin), then you can use the Odin desktop app to re-flash the stock firmware. I encountered the same symptoms multiple times for different reasons, and re-flashing the stock firmware fixed it.
The process is a bit tedious but not too complicated:

Download and install the Odin desktop app.

Obtain the firmware files. You can get them from samfirmware.com. For most Galaxy S4 models you can find them through GalaxyS4Root.com, which I find quicker. (You don't need an account to download, you just need to solve the advertising Captcha at the bottom.)

Boot your device to Odin mode by holding the volume down button, menu button, and power button. Add the power button to the combination last, and hold for a few seconds, until you see the warning that says A custom OS can cause critical problems..., then press the volume up button, which should bring up a screen that says Downloading...Do not turn off target!:

Connect the device to the computer with a USB cable. The Odin app on the computer should print the message Added!! in the message area in the lower left corner.

Click the PDA button, and browse to the firmware file with an .md5 extension (you may need to unzip the file you downloaded in step 2). Odin will go through a verification process. If you get an error message about a version mismatch, that means your .md5 file is for the wrong build number. The filename should include the build number (e.g. I545VRUNFNC5). If you don't know the build number—and obviously can't find out because you can't boot the device—just try all the firmware files available for your model.

Click Start. On the device, you should see some messages in red text (START followed by some numbers in brackets), and a blue progress bar. Wait for the process to complete and restart the device.

Be very careful to make sure the process is not interrupted!. If that happens, you can brick the phone (and I mean truly brick it; it's only soft-bricked at this point). Use a computer that's plugged into a power source, make sure your USB connection is not loose, and walk away from the general area until it's finished. Maybe leave the house and take a drive somewhere to make sure the vibrations of your footsteps don't disturb the connection. If that sounds exaggerated, that may be because I'm going through the pain of an interrupted firmware flash as I type this. ;)


text:
Difference between su vs root SSH login for mounting?
I have a bash script luks that I use in Android for mounting/umounting encrypted devices, that can be called in a terminal emulator with
 su -c "luks ..."

The script works ok for the first part, except at the mounting time, that in the script I do with:
 busybox mount /dev/mapper/${vol_arg} ${mount_path}

Despite the fact that I get exitcode 0 from this command, the device is not mounted. The command line
 su -c "mount /dev/mapper/${vol_arg} ${mount_path}"

does not work either in the terminal emulator yet it shows no error (df does not shows the device). When I try to execute it agan, I get mounting failed: device or resource busy. If I then try
 su -c "umount ${mount_path}"

I also get cant't umount...: device or resource busy. What's happening?
However, the REALLY strange point here is that, if I SSH to the tablet as root with the same terminal emulator, the command
 mount /dev/mapper/${vol_arg} ${mount_path}

mounts the device normally (??!!). In addition, if I execute the command
 'luks ...'

as SSHd root, it also works perfectly, even mounting the device.
Why does mounting is working if run as SSH root, and not through su -c?
Even more strange is the fact that the su -c thing works fine in Samsung Android 4.1.2, but not in Cyanogenmod 11 (4.4.2)...
Maybe the cyanogenmod people introduced some ugly bug?
Clues?
Thanks!!
L.

Now this is funny: after mounting through SSH, the root user sees the content of the volume in the ${mount_path}, as desired, while other users/apps see the previous content of the ${mount_path}!! It seems that Cyanogenmod mounting routines are broken.

Not a single answer...?

I upgraded to CYM 11 M10, and now su works fine. No doubt it was a bug. So now I can mount/umount encrypted stuff as I was always able to do.
It seems the problem is solved in the M10 build.


text:
How to backup protected apps for later use?
I there any way i can backup the protected apps as apks as it is possible to backup free apps using the avilable backups apps for later use.
why i want this: I don't want to download the apps again to save bandwidth as i have other devices too(with same email).

No chance without root I'm afraid. This was one feature ThinkAndroid wanted to put into AppMonsterPro, and they finally had to use SUPERUSER permission for that. So I doubt it's (currently) possible without root.


text:
rooted phone su user changes
Is there a way, once rooting is done, and i have customized my phone a bit (a change in one of the config files of linux), to change the user accounts and permissions? To create a new user account and change the user that is used by the phone to be a non-root, non-sudo, standard user. And all apps to use this or another standard user account.
And my app (that i installed after rooting) use another account. Only this account will have permission to read and write my app's directory.
Finally change the su user password, so that others cannot get into it unless they have that password.
So in effect protect my apps directory and allow the phone to work with a non sudo user from then on?
Next time phone re boots it uses another user say A (non sudo); without access to my apps directory. And when my app runs it uses user B (also non sudo) which has access to its dir. Others cannot read or list files in it or change permissions. So in effect my apps directory cannot be read by the user of the phone, in this new set up. I understand there will be ways around this.
But is this possible and how?
Rooted using https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/root-samsung-galaxy-on5-t3435457 but i can do systemless root if that is the way.
Phone model : Samsung On 5 Pro SM-G5550FY. Thank you much.

On Android stock from Lollipop/Marshmallow there is the multiuser. You can create a guest account completely divided from the owner. I don't know if this function is present in touchwiz, search it in settings.

For a rooted phone? And where do you set the per app directory permissions? I do not think this answer addresses the question.

In android you can't create accounts like Linux or Windows. This is a workaround. For more information you can check this https://source.android.com/devices/tech/admin/multi-user

In Android you can't use useradd command

thanks @rik99 i will try this out. on my 2 phones this is not exposed. they are android 6. i will try to enable multi user as explained in https://source.android.com/devices/tech/admin/multi-user


text:
Automatically connect to VPN when connecting to WiFi?
My university has an open WiFi that requires me to log into a specific VPN before I can access the internet.
Is there any built-in way or app that allows me to specify which VPN I want to start together with a certain WiFi connection? (Similar to Ubuntu's option to combine a WiFi with a VPN) Right now I have to start the VPN manually every time, and if I loose connectivity, the VPN will not automatically reconnect together with the network connection.
I am using cyanogenmod 10.2.0
EDIT:
To clarify, this is what the option looks like in Ubuntu's network manager:

I want to achieve a similar effect in Android/Cyanogenmod.

I am not looking for a VPN provider. I have an existing VPN service I want to automatically connect to. So apps that only work for a specific VPN provider won't help me unfortunately.

This is on the to-do list for Tasker (source).

Feature of VPNroot does exactly do what you want:

auto connect/disconnect on a specific WiFi (only for Pro)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.did.vpnroot&hl=en

Sounds awesome, but unfortunately I was unable to establish the VPN connection with this app even after trying out all possible settings I could think of. It works without problems with the built-in CM VPN tool, so I am not sure why this app does not work.

Which CM build do you use? Stable & official or some unofficial build?

Stable and official, on a Galaxy S3. The exact CM version number is in the question.

That's your problem -- you're running the "stable and official" version. You need Root for VPNroot to work. Go to Settings - About  and tap the build number until it enables Developer options, then go to the Developer menu and enable root for apps.

Looks like with privateinternetaccess VPN you can do it. You have to enter details given by the vpn provider into the smartphone settings so the app is not required:
Android-How to use " Allways-on VPN"
I guess other vpn providers can give you the connection setting to enter on your android device. If you use an app, I guess it's not that straightforward.
Enable VPN on airplane mode, before connecting

Do you know why when I tick "Always-On VPN" the button Connect get greyed out? Without this checkbox enabled it connects smoothly.

I was struggling too and today I finally found a solution (may be a bite late for you but may help others) that works for my stock rooted android device 4.4.2 :

Install E-Robot, a powerful tasker that have really great features
Then install Secure Settings, that will appear as a third party actions on E-Robot. There, you can choose Root Action and VPN, which should be supported.

You can now configure E-Robot to connect to a chosen VPN if an app from a defined group is launched/gains focus, and to disconnect otherwise!

Sorry, just realised I misread, but what I said is still a working solution for you : it's possible to define a global variable expression equivalent to  equals , and set as an event Wifi connected with condition your global variable, that'll launch VPN connection; and then do the same to disconnect it ;)

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
"Parse error" when updating swype
When I try to update the swype beta via the Swype Installer app, it starts downloading the Swype Installer, but then I get the error message "Parse error".
I tried downloading a new Swype Installer from beta.swype.com/android/get, but had not had any luck with that either. (same result)
Swype however does not let me keep using they swiping technology (or whatever it's called) and tells me I should update. (While having no built-in update functionality)
I am currently using Swype version 3.6.84.26668.t100.26701 (who uses version numbers like that, seriously...) and the Swype Installer version 1.1.26483 (12.15)
My phone is a branded HTC desire with Android 2.2
How can I update Swype or get a new version of Swype without losing my dictionary.
Update:
I uninstalled and reinstalled the Swype installer (now v 12.16), but now it seems to think my version is up to date and does not provide me a possibility to update. (only the ususal menu - watch video, etc) My Swype however still is in the old version and gives me a warning.

From Swype Forum:

Swype 3.25 update problems - Parse Error, Data Error, Download Failed, Password Reset
[snip]
If you are experiencing either of these problems please uninstall SwypeInstaller and get it again from our beta site: http://beta.swype.com/android/get This should get you up and running.

Don't forget to uninstall the previous SwypeInstaller (I don't think you need to uninstall Swype itself, only the SwypeInstaller).
If you still have any issue after uninstalling and reinstalling SwypeInstaller, you should bring the issue to the Swype Forum; they will be able to help better than anyone here.

Thanks. I uninstalled and reinstalled the Swype installer (now v 12.16), but now it seems to think my version is up to date and does not provide me a possibility to update. (only the ususal menu - watch video, etc) My Swype however still is in the old version and gives me a warning.


text:
How to update HTC One X (AT&T) without the SIM?
I tried clicking 'software update'
http://1drv.ms/1fJ5B3h (short video showing steps I've done)
http://www.htc.com/us/support/htc-one-x-att/news/

Navigate to the Home screen then tap All apps > Settings > About > Software Information and locate the Software version. If your Software number is less than 5.18.502.1, you should proceed with the upgrade.

I tried updating via 'HTC sync'

This phone belongs to my employer and I was advised agains breaking the warranty. So the recommended / official way of updating software is preferred.
I tried inserting another (not AT&T) SIM and it tells me that it is locked. Is that a case that software update doesn't work without the SIM?

What happened when you tried to upgrade without the SIM?

@BobbyAlexander - see the video (link on top of the question). I keep pressing 'software update' and nothing happens.

Did you try updating from the phone directly?

I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand the question: http://i.imgur.com/1TWArne.png

In your phone settings, there will be an option to perform an update. Try that.


text:
How to fix view of broken images?
Sometimes people MMS images to me from their phone, and it shows up like this:

When I save the broken image, and transfer it to my computer, it displays properly on my computer. Is there a way to get these images to display properly on my phone? I'm running Android 4.0.4 with stock messaging app.


text:
How can I recover Samsung Galaxy contacts?
I lost all of my Samsung Galaxy contacts by accident. Is it possible to recover my Samsung Galaxy Contacts? How can I restore contacts from Samsung Galaxy? I've tried many way, but doesn't work.

We probably need more information than this in order to help you. What are some of these "many way" you've tried to recover your data?

Is your phone synced to your Google account? If yes, go to https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#contacts then click on the "More" button and select "Restore Contacts".
Google saves all changes that were made to your contacts in the last 30 days.


text:
Does Google Play allow for the caching of your entire collection on a mobile device?
Without having to play each individual song once, is it possible to cache the music collection stored on a Google Play account onto a device (in my case, a Nexus 5)?

No option to do this exists. You'll need to select each song individually.
To make it easier you could arrange by album instead of song, because you likely have fewer albums than individual songs.

You don't need to select songs individually. You can mark albums and playlists for download.


text:
Google Drive does not detect internet connection
Yesterday I have updated Google Drive and installed Sheets. Since that time I am unable to open the spreadsheets I have created earlier.
When I try to open a sheet, I get Unable to access document. Please make sure that you are connected to the internet. I am obviously connected, Firefox works, I can even open documents, just not sheets.
If I try to set offline access to these sheets, they keep downloading, just like when I have no internet connection.
Anyone else has this problem, or even better, a solution? I have tried clearing the cache of Drive an Sheets, did not help.
I have a rooted Nexus 4 with 4.4.2

You can access your Drive spreadsheets from within Sheets once logged in.

Logged into what? I need to have an account to even download Sheets from google play, so how much more logged in can I be?

No additional login is required for Sheets. It already uses Google Auth. @András, this sound a little silly, but have you attempted uninstalling+reinstalling and/or clearing the data cache from both Sheets and Drive?

@András Into Sheets, but you don't need to do that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Used to have the same problem.
In my case, google drive was trying to open the document using Sheets app, but the Sheets app was allowed to access documents only via WiFi connection. Go to Sheets/Setings and uncheck "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox. Be aware, that similar "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox is also in Drive app, but this affects only Drive app, not the Sheets app.

I just upgraded google drive and it worked.


text:
Delete member from a Viber group
I have created a group for chat on Viber and one person joined the group.
How can I remove that person?

Viber doesn't provide facility to delete or remove member from group even if your are group admin.
Only option is you leave and delete group and recreate the group without that member.
Sorry

Damn viber for that.

just tap and hold the name which u want to delete, a recycle icon will appear , then recycle it that it


text:
How to be alerted when to get off the train?
Let's say I'm playing a game, reading a book, surfing the net or watching a video and I'm getting close to my stop. Is there some way (perhaps an app) that can alert me that it's time to get off?
Other situations where this app would be useful

Dark platforms at night where it's difficult to see where I'm at
Crowded services where I just can't see out the window reliably
Travel in a foreign country where signage is in a different script
Travelling along unfamiliar routes
Useful for other modes of public transport as well

How it would work
I imagine an app like this would allow the user to configure the location of the stop via maps and set the amount of lead time (e.g. I want to be alerted five minutes before we arrive). The app would then monitor progress along the route and also estimate the lead time based on progress so far or some other smart means.
Any ideas?

Hi edvinas, that would be a crude way to do it, but obviously I'm thinking of something that works off the actual position using the location services available to the device. Also, using the alarm doesn't take into account the service running late, which frequently happens here.

The general problem would be that GPS/WiFi location based solutions are not 100% reliable. Only if e.g. the train company pushes a notification to your phone that the train you are riding with just arrived at your end station, you'll get a good solution.

Ask your railway company. Or your government. Or both.
The Dutch Railways (NS) has an app where you can plan train trips, but also get notifications when you need to check in and out and change trains, and realtime information about delays and schedule changes.
And since all Public Transport data is freely available in my country (and some others), there are other apps that can do the exact same.
So just search for the names of your transportation comnpanies in the Play Store, and see what you find. You may be surprised.

Hi PeetzOr. Good suggestion, but as it is I live in a place where public transport receives very little funding. I'm more likely to have success finding a third party app.

That's too bad...
Even in that case' if there is an app for this, then you may find it by searching trough the Play Store for the names of the relevant companies or places.

Apps like this already exist. Try GPS ALARM or Location Alert.
It would also be quite easy to write your own if you weren't happy with either of those applications.

IFTTT.
Specifically, with the IFTTT Android app. The Android Location channel can trigger when you enter (or exit) an area you define.
Simply use one of the metric ton of possible actions (e.g., Pushover, Pushbullet, SMS, Android Notifications, etc.) with it. (Browse the recipes that use Android Location for some ideas.)

This app looks great. I'll definitely check it out over the weekend. Love the trigger-action configurability concept. Thanks.

Automation apps like Condi (free) or Tasker ($2.99) can allow you to configure rules based on specific criteria. I personally have used Condi and, though it cannot calculate the time it takes to get to a location like Google Maps does, it can display a notification/alert when you are within a certain distance of a point (eg. within 500 meters of your stop) that you can select using Maps. It is also very configurable for other very useful automated behavior.


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How can I turn off the shutter sound for the camera on droid x running 2.2 froyo?

Possible Duplicate:
How do I disable the 'click' sound on the camera app?

I'd appreciate any help

You should check this question for a solution.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


text:
Is it possible to use an AT&T phone for android development without rooting?
This question seems to say that it's necessary to root an at&t phone (like the samsung captivate) in order to install apps from unofficial sources.
My question is a bit more focused: if I'm working on my own android app, will I be able to load it on my at&t phone for testing (via the android SDK, etc.) without first rooting the phone?

The Android Compatibility Definition Document (direct pdf) says that “Device implementations MUST support the Android Developer Tools provided in the Android SDK.”
Any device which isn't “compatible with Android” according to this document isn't going to have the Google services, and in particular would not have the Google Play Store. Such devices do exist, but if you have one you'd likely know it.
(Lack of official compatibility doesn't mean you can't use the standard development tools, either, just that they're not obligated to allow it. The Amazon Kindle Fire is an example of such a device.)

This question seems to say that it's necessary to root an at&t phone (like the samsung captivate) in order to install apps from unofficial sources.

That is not true. While you cannot download apps from the Web, you can install apps through the development tools, or things based on the development tools (like the Sideloader Wonder Machine).

My question is a bit more focused: if I'm working on my own android app, will I be able to load it on my at&t phone for testing (via the android SDK, etc.) without first rooting the phone?

Yes.

I'm curious as to why you say you can't download apps from the web?  If you can download an APK file then you can install it.  Just because the majority of apps are only available in market, doesn't mean that you can't download apps from other sources.

@Captain Toad: AT&T phones block installs from the Web (via the phone's browser) and third-party markets. I suspect this may also block "file managers" from installing APKs located on SD cards, though I haven't heard about that one way or another. However, they cannot block the development tools and remain compatible with the Compatibility Definition Document (a requirement for having the Android Market).

Thanks for the clarification.  I didn't know that it was possible to block installs that way and none of the carriers in the UK (where I'm based) would be dumb enough to try.  All the Android handsets and slates I have seen or used have an "Unknown Sources" that allows installation of non-market apps

@Captain Toad: Yup, we Android folk here in the States are not happy with AT&T. :-(

Update:
AT&T has finally seen the light and allowed unknown sources on most of its devices; you should get an update.
If you want a real "developer phone" you can get the Nexus S (right now it's exclusive to Best Buy, so you'll have to go there. Make sure you get the AT&T variant if you want HSPA+). I have only booted stock once on mine - and it was not the first boot.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


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Can Android run on an iPad?

Possible Duplicate:
Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

Can Android run on an iPad ?

Please answer only if you are 100% sure (or even better if you tried)
If yes, should I use a jailbreaker ? Could you suggest me one ?
If yes, what are the limitations.. are the applications running on it without issues ?
If not, why... is there a good tablet to test Android applications ?

thanks

It's possible on the iPhone, it should happen with the iPad eventually: http://www.taranfx.com/android-on-iphone

"is there a good tablet to test Android applications ?" -- any Android tablet would be a better platform to test Android applications than would a hacked iPad. You want your test equipment to match what consumers will use. There will be a few orders of magnitude more users of a Samsung Galaxy Tab, for example, than will be running Android on an iPad.

Note that once you have Android running on one of these Apple devices the major problem is that they only have one button, and almost every Android app assumes that you have "Home", "Back" and "Menu" buttons at a minimum. You are much better off testing Android apps on a tablet designed for Android like Dell Streak or Samsung Galaxy Tab (and they're generally cheaper than an equivalent iPad).

@GAThrawn thanks, yeah that's true, they are cheaper, but I actually would love to test all software on only one device.. (because of my wallet)

You would need two devices anyway. Once you converted an iPad to Android, it would (probably) never again run iOS.

It would seem as thought it has only so far been developed to be booted on iPhone 2G and 3G devices. It's mostly up to the interest of keen developers whether it would be worthwhile attempting such a feat, I would assume whatever exploit used to run Android on otherwise locked down Apple hardware would be different in later hardware (yes, this means an iPad).
"Please answer only if you are 100% sure" - Then yes, an iPad COULD theoretically run Android because of the open source nature of Android allowing it to be ported to various devices. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it, it's looking at the realistic feasibility and time vs reward involved though.


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Uninstall Sprint apps without rooting?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

Is it possible to uninstall stock Sprint apps (such as Sprint TV and Nascar) without rooting the phone?  If so, are there any undesirable side effects?

Depends on your definition of 'rooting'.  Depending on your phone, you may be able to simply install a custom Recovery on the device, boot to that, and either manually remove the apps through the adb shell or using some sort of installable script fed through the recovery in the form of a .zip file.  (That's how it works on the Samsung Moment.  Again, not sure what device you have and what options would be available in the custom recovery of that device)
The custom recovery will give you 'root' access to remove what you need to remove, but it will be separate from the regular Android, which will in no way have root.  So if you're worried about the security risks involved in potentially allowing other apps to gain root access, that's not something that could happen with just a custom recovery.  However, if you're looking at it from more of a warranty standpoint, and simply don't want to make unauthorized modifications to the phone, well, not much that can be done unfortunately.

No. Sorry. Anything "System" cannot get uninstalled without being root. Some apps like ADW.Launcher allow you to "hide" them by making app groups in the app picker list. These apps will still start during boot, but like all android apps, as long as they are not running, they won't consume anything other than ram, and if android needs more ram they will be the first things just removed from ram the second the phone needs it.

LauncherPro will similarly let you "hide" the apps too.


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OS 2.2 on the Samsung Moment

Possible Duplicate:
When will my phone get Android 2.2 (FroYo)?

I currently have a Samsung Moment which has OS 2.1. Will I ever be able to upgrade to 2.2?
Is the hardware capable of handling 2.2?
If so, when will this happen?
What's the best way to be informed of any announcements related to this upgrade?

As of right now there will not be an official 2.2 release for the Moment.  Here's a thread to keep updated.


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Clock widgets and other widgets freezing on GS4
Often when I charge my GS4 phone two different clock widgets and my GNotes widgets freeze up. I have to restart the phone to make the widgets work again. The clock widgets are BeWeather and Fancy Widgets. I never had problems with them on older galaxy. Does anyone know what might be causing this problem? Thanks!   Edit btw I'm using Holo Launcher HD.

Consider using an alternative launcher like Apex or Nova and load up the widgets there and see if you have similar issues? Also, have you tried removing the widgets, restarting your phone and then adding once more the widgets to your current launcher?

Have you by any chance moved the apps holding those widgets to your SDCard (I know App2SD wouldn't let you do that, but there are other means to force it), and charge your device via USB from your computer? If "yes", does the SDCard get offered to the computer automatically via UMS? If again "yes", you've got your answer :)

I should have mentioned I'm not using the stock launcher but I'm using Holo Launcher HD. The apps are not on the sd card.

I'm getting a little frustrated with this problem now. I kept thinking it may be a Holo Launcher issue so I spent a lot of time installing Apex Launcher and setting up all my screens. For a little while I thought I solved my problem. However today all my widgets froze up again three different times.


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Internet shortcuts on home screen
I've a galaxy s4 running 4.2.2. Using the stock browser not Chrome. Not always but often when I click on Internet shortcuts on my home screen it doesn't take me to the correct site, but rather to the att / yahoo home page. When it does this all the shortcuts on one home screen won't work but go to another home screen and they do work.  Then sometimes later the shortcut will take me to the correct site.  It happens both on wifi and 4g. Sometimes when i toggle wifi/4g they go back to work. Why do the shortcuts not consistently work? By the way if the launcher has any bearing I'm using Holo Launcher HD.
Thanks!

Could you edit that information into your question? It is more visible that way, and comments are mainly for secondary, temporary purposes. Comments are removed under a variety of circumstances. Anything important to your question should be in the question itself.

"What's up with that?" Pat - I really can't think of an answer. Could you rephrase the question?


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Galaxy S5 device does not receive ip packet
I have the following setup:
Android Galaxy S5 Mini. Android version 5.1.1.
I have 2 network interfaces:

Interface1 with ip: 192.168.5.1
Interface2 with ip: 192.168.5.10

I create a DatagramSocket using Android SDK and bind it to address: 192.168.5.10(Interface 2), port 2525.
I put this socket in receive and wait for packets. I use another device to send the packets.
Packets from ip address: 192.168.5.4 is received.
Packets from ip address(different device): 192.168.5.1 (same as the device's Interface1 ip) is never received.
It seams that the network stack rejects packets which have source ip address which exists in the device, regardless of the interface it was received in.
If I modify the ip address for Interface1 to something other than 192.168.5.1 it works fine.
Devices on which it didn't happen:

Samsung tablet T113 Android 4.4.4 (Stock rom)
LG G4 Android 6.0 (Stock rom)
LG Nexus 5X Android 7.1.2 (Stock rom)

Devices on which it did happen:

Galaxy S5 Mini Android 5.1.1 (Stock rom)
Galaxy Note 3 Android 6.0.1 (CyanogenMod)
One+1 Android 6.0.1 (CyanogenMod)

What is the mechanism which rejects the packet with source IP 192.168.5.1(same as the device's Interface1 ip)?

I suspect IP address conflict, also you can't have gateway ip address match client ip address.

@xavier_fakerat I managed to use Android's VPNService and inject a packet to the system.
If it has the source ip of any interface - the problem occurs. It doesn't seem to be related to GW/Client issue.

+1 Yes you are right, I actually stumbled across this here: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/106291/send-a-packet-over-the-network-even-when-its-target-is-the-local-host. I reckon this needs root

I found why this happens, but not sure if I can do anything about it without root. There is a system configuration per network interface  called accept_local. For example: net.ipv4.conf.wlan0.accept_local. When it is set to 0, it can't receive packets from another local interface. Probably when it works on other devices, this configuration is set to 1. On Galaxy Note 3 it was set to 0. Once I did this, everything started working, but root was needed.
Update
Found a site which list the system variables values: https://census.tsyrklevich.net/
Specifically:

https://census.tsyrklevich.net/sysctls/net.ipv4.conf.wlan0.accept_local
https://census.tsyrklevich.net/sysctls/net.ipv4.conf.wlan0.rp_filter

fixed formatting

@xavier_fakerat I checked the value of accept_local on the devices that worked with no modification. accept_local = 0, which means that it shouldn't have worked on them. So how come it did?


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Developer Mode on VSN Mobil V.50
I have a phone made by VSN Mobil called the V.50.  It's running their own mod of 4.4.2.  The normal method of tapping Build Number seven times to access Developer Mode does not work.  I just need to be able to install and debug.
Has anyone successfully gotten a V.50 into Developer Mode?
[UPDATE]
After some back and forth with VSN's customer support, VSN confirmed that there is "no access" to Developer Mode on the V.50.  The V.45 does display the Build Number and it can be tapped seven times to access Developer Mode, but the V.50 does not display Build Number, so therefore Developer Mode is inaccessible.  Boo VSN.

It might be possible that the developer mode is only hidden, but still accessible using 3rd-party apps. You might try this and other similar apps from Play Store.

@AndrewT, I installed Developer Options by uDroid and it worked.  If you make it into an answer, I'll select it and upvote it.

Sometimes this can happen, whether it's a decision made by the vendor, or it's really an accidental mistake.
However, it doesn't mean that the whole developer option is removed from the system (though, this could really happen, as shown on the linked question). The workaround is to invoke the developer option through 3rd-party apps, such as:

Developer Options by uDroid (free)
Developer Options by SingleByte (free)
Developer Settings Shortcut (free)
and many more...

If it's still inaccessible, then the developer option might be really removed from the ROM, and you should contact the vendor regarding this.


text:
Samsung Galaxy Ace can't connect to home wifi
Any other gadget in the house can connect to the wifi except my samsung galaxy ace. It says "Connecting", then "Disconnected", then "Disabled. Secured with WPA/WPA2 PSK".  I've tried the #.#5 something solution and it doesn't make any difference. I've tried connecting with my aunt's wifi and it works just fine.

Can you provide a logcat of the issue?
Assuming you have ADB, connect your Ace to the PC, fire up ADB, and type
adb start-server
adb logcat > logcat.txt

The issue is probably because the router is having trouble giving out addresses, but I'm not sure.


text:
Why is Youtube draining the battery and what could we do?
A friend of mine just asked me a nice question:
His (stock) Samsung Galaxy S4's Youtube is draining his battery.
He said, that he hasn't been in the app today, and this morning he had the phone booting up.
Now, Youtube drained 51% of his battery.
I know, there are many possibilities, to "solve" this, like:

Rebooting the Phone to get rid of the wakelock
Terminating the Youtube-app via the Settings -> Apps menue
Clearing Cache/Deleting Data
Uninstalling Updates and deactivating the app

But besides these workarounds:
Is there any fix for this issue?
What could one do, if he'd have to terminate the app everytimes he boots up his phone?
Is there even something to do?
/NOTE
We try to achieve a better information about what exactly in the YT-app causes the battery drain using Better Battery Stats.
Stats will follow.

Is his firmware up-to-date?

Try to install Greenify.

It helps you identify and put the misbehaving apps into hibernation
  when you are not using them, to stop them from lagging your device and
  leeching the battery

It is a unrooted phone. And: Greenify is an app-solution. It's great, correct. But isn't there anything else that can be done but installing a third party app?

Greenefy works on unrooted devices. Try to block the process when you are not using it. I found this post, can help you(Spanish)
http://www.grupoandroid.com/topic/52737-optimizar-rendimiento-en-ics-sin-ser-root/

Greenify too, add YT to the app-to-close list when hibernate. You can do it another way. Run battery Doctor and locate YouTube in the list of running apps. Close YouTube, then turn off wifi and screen.

Get LeanDroid, thats the best one ive found (ive tried greenify, sounds great but isnt quite as good) but greenify is more straight forward. LeanDroid, takes more configuring. I am using a S6, my battery life is nearly 3x

Relaunching the YouTube app while offline fixed it for me, try closing and opening it while keeping the WiFi off

Greenify is a good application but the issue is that YouTube drain a lot of battery when you are watching videos and doing anything. I have seen in Greenify that background YouTube not drain battery; if you open it then it start draining battery battery.
So I think disable YouTube app and gets alternative that don't drain battery. for that I suggest NewPipe.

Very much in agreement about newpipe from a personal perspective, but the user has asked about a system app. Installing another isn't going to fix the youtube issue


text:
A seemingly random selection of apps keep crashing
Starting from today, some apps on my phone just kept crashing.
At first it was mostly Google-related apps, and since I've had issues with Google Play services crashing before, I took the usual route of deleting app data and uninstalling updates. However, the issues persisted, and spread to other apps. Google kept crashing, the stock e-mail app kept crashing,my third party SMS app kept crashing...
Some apps crash when I open them, some don't. For some the problem is solved by uninstalling and reinstalling them, for some it isn't. Google-based apps like YouTube and Play Store work fine, but others like Chrome don't.
I can't seem to find a single "triggering" event that could have started this, apart from maybe some background update.
I am running Android 8.1.0 on a Samsung Galaxy J7(2016).
Is there any way to solve this ?
EDIT : I found the common factor between all those apps : they all store data on my SD card, which is still accessible but awfully slow. I'm guessing this is the root of the issue. However, I didn't specifically chose for those apps to be stored on the SD card, it seems Android automatically offloaded data there, and I don't know how to reverse it.

Turns out uninstalling and reinstalling Google Chrome, specifically, solved everything. As in, it stopped other apps from crashing as well. No idea why.
I initially tried transferring everything from my old SD card to a new one, but it didn't solve the problem. This did. Go figure.

Chrome can be set as the WebView implementation on at least some versions of Android, under System -> Developer Options. May be why this fixed it.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Background apps get killed (by something other than battery optimization)
All of my background apps get killed when I turn off the screen.
This is particularly annoying for my most-used messaging app, WhatsApp.
I've looked at the obvious "Battery Optimization" option:

Based on advice found elsewhere, I've checked that the background process limit in developer options is the default (I've never changed this AFAIK):

And yet, it gets killed in the same manner as battery optimization would. If I look at running background processes:

When I then press the power button, and power it back on after < 10s, the list is the same. But if I wait longer than that:

...whatsapp has disappeared.
This happens for all apps I install that have some sort of useful background feature - the Battery Optimization setting doesn't seem to do its job anymore.
What else can I try to diagnose this?
NB0: Android 7.0 on DOOGEE S60
NB1: This just started happening some time ago, i.e., it did work propertly when I got the phone.
NB2: I know how to use adb
NB3: I'm also fond of trying new apps and have ~400 apps installed. Ideally, I don't uninstall/disable all of them 1-by-1 to see which one is the culprit...

Install Addons Detector or any other similar app and filter to see which apps have permission KILL_BACKGROUND_PROCESSES granted.

@IrfanLatif hmm only 2 apps show up. 1 is MX Player (presumably because it can make itself the exclusive media player?), the other is Tasker (which I haven't used in ages). Both don't seem likely candidates...Uninstalling them, trying again.

@IrfanLatif nope, no effect. Whatsapp is still killed. If it makes any difference, most of my widgets (clocks etc.) also stop updating after reboot + screen off...same thing I guess

Use this method to track kill syscall. Requires root.

...hmm. It would appear the DOOGEE S60 is not easily rooted. Not without significant effort and wiping the entire phone, that is. Any other suggestions?

Hit and trial. Check logcat for any hints why apps killed. Disable doze completely: dumpsys deviceidle disable all. Check appops restrictions: appops get com.whatsapp RUN_IN_BACKGROUND. Go through related tags, make searches on forums, and try everything possible.

@IrfanLatif thanks ever so much!

Welcome and do share if something works for you. Also there are other factors like battery saver, adaptive battery, aggressive battery, background data restriction, power saving mode or any other performance boosting settings. But those might not be directly relevant to your case. And obviously, low hardware resources is an obvious reason for background being killed by Android framework or kernel.

Go to "settings", "memory" and turn off "background auto clean memory".

Hi, just for confirmation, is this for the device mentioned in the question, Doogee S60? Otherwise, you might want to note the device model since Android is highly customizable, and not every menu is there on every model/version.

Can confirm; that setting is not there on my model...


text:
How can I view all of my attachments from gmail?
When I search in Gmail app for files that were attached to emails, Gmail can't find them.
Is there a way to see all of my attachments from Gmail? 3rd-party apps would be acceptable too.

Welcome to  Android Enthusiasts! Please note that recommendations like Is there an app for X are off-topic here (see What topics can I ask about here? for details). For where your question might fit better, you might want to look into Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions?. With the correct phrasing and details provided, you might try your luck at SR.

If you search for has:attachment within the Gmail app then you should see emails which have attachments.

If I search : file name:attachments I can find the file?

That should find the email/conversation that has the attachment with that name, yes.

Gmail attachments (I think) are stored on the server until you download them. When you do they end up in your downloads folder on SD/flash, so you can open the folder with file manager.

I delete all my download (to save place on my phone) ..so all the attachments that I download in the past not there and when I search on Gmail I can't found them.

you should use the new gmail INBOX + the "has:attachment" and you'll see thumbs of them all


text:
How can I scan barcodes on webpages in Firefox for Android?
Using Firefox for Android, I occasionally find web pages containing barcode images (or photos containing barcodes) that I would like to scan.
I could save the image, switch to a barcode app, open and scan the image there, and probably end up relaunching the browser to see the result, but I'd prefer to long hold the image and launch the scanning app directly (with no save step required).
Is there an open source extension (Android app, Firefox add-on, Firefox app) that can achieve this? I've tried looking on the Firefox add-ons and apps marketplaces with no luck.
Example images:

f-droid.org (rendered image, imperfect QR code)
cryptojunky.com (photo, imperfect QR code)
wikimedia.org (rendered Aztec code)

This might be a duplicate: App that reads images of QR codes?

In Firefox for android you can long press the image and select share. From there just choose "decode QR code".
Make sure you first install the program "QR droid".
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=la.droid.qr


text:
fastboot flashall -w Halts
I have a Samsung Nexus S.
I have erased recovery and boot pertitions using fastboot erase <partition>
and when I do fastboot flashall -w it stops on
sending 'boot' (XXXX KB)...
What might be wrong?
UPDATE:
I successfully managed to flashed my NS back to stock ROM.
Please refer to my own answer below.
Regards,

Have you tried only flashing the system image, or recovery?

NOTE: attempting fastboot flash on ur device may cost you your data.
  So be careful

I figured out that I had an outdated Android SDK. I downloaded the latest one, and did:
fastboot flash boot
fastboot flash recovery
fastboot flash userdata
and in a couple of minutes I had the stock ROM up and running.


text:
Is There A Keyboard Layout Creator for Android?
I have created a keyboard layout for the language I speak on windows using Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.
I want to port the same layout to Phones.
Before the cursing starts, I have done a quick research.:)
according to which:

all keyboard layouts are located at \system\usr\keylayout
all keyboard character map files are located at \system\usr\keychars
I went through the official documentation on Key Layout Files

Where Do I Stand Now?
Well, as I said in the start I have worked with a MS based app for creating keyboard layouts on Windows (obviously), The whole thing in Linux world is a bit gibberish to me at the moment because of lots of manual text file editing I guess.
So, my ultimate question is,
Is there such a tool which can help me create a new layout or import the existing layout which I created for windows to Android?
Update 2
I couldn't update my answer before because I didn't get the time.
I finally found a tool which helped me a lot. It's called Keyboard Layout Editor. Please don't forget to star this guys repo. KLE is really easy to use and functional and I could achieve my goal easily. Oh by the way this one is for Ubuntu(Linux).
For Android though, I cloned the Sample SoftKeybord  from Android source. You can download tar here. It's not a layout editor but the actual keyboard. You just edit it to suit your needs.

Does this help: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2497237

There is developer documentation found within the Android SDK that shows the basics of creating your own keyboard input method.
The actual sample of the touchscreen keyboard is part of the SDK sample, based off the documentation. Download the sample code, and look for the SoftKeyboard sources, there's a XML layout under the res/layout folder that represents the on-screen keyboard.
All that aside, let's look at the question objectively, using a custom layout that was developed on the Windows platform, may not be easy to "translate" to the Android version, as there is strings attached, you do need the pre-requisite knowledge of Android SDK, Java in order to achieve a custom layout, unfortunately.
As per @geffcheng's comment above the OP's question containing the linky that pointed to the appropriate thread on XDA, the blog entry highlighting how to come up with your own version, is more or less the same as the official developer documentation.
Other keyboard packages such as Swiftkey, Go Keyboard, SlideIT to name but a few, would have a feature to customize the layout appropriately using an add-on or third party to suit one's need, effectively tied to that keyboard. Using the SDK and documentation relating to the keyboard is the effective way to go about in rolling your own custom layout that is independent of Android version in use provided that the decision to support older versions is warranted.
If the decision to focus on Android v4.x upwards, the actual app is on the Google Play Store, the source code to the AOSP keyboard is available to download and play with from here.

One slightly low code option is to use Keyman Developer. It allows to create layouts for Desktop, web as well as mobile devices.


text:
Disabled samsung keyboard- now can't turn on my s3
I am in a weird situation. Few days back (I believe) I disabled samsung keyboard using nobloat app as i use adaptxt all time.
But i have an encryption password and as samsung keyboard is disabled, i cant turn my phone on. I click on the text box for entering the device storage password when it boots, nothing happens (obviously) :(
I will appreciate any ideas or hacks to work around this issue, so that i will be able to use my phone.
Is there a way using command line to restore my keyboard app? I would ideally not want to restore/format my phone.
Thanks!
Also i am travelling and just have my ipad. Any ideas to solve this problem without use of computer will be greatly appreciated!

Do you have USB Debugging enabled on your device? Probably this won't do either as it most likely requires the de-cryption to be done before, but you might be able to do something with adb remotely. If not, the usual last-ressort remains: factory-reset...

I believe usb debugging is enabled.

And do you have the possibility to connect your device via USB to a computer with the SDK (or at least ADB tools) installed? Then you could check whether it is listed with the adb devices command and, if so, you can access it with e.g. adb shell (I doubt this due to the encryption, but who knows: it might ask you for the key there, just a small hope).


text:
how to fix grey wifi icon (no internet), and how to track what caused that?
[SUSPENDED. see P.S. at end, any good way to deal with this suspended state?]
My phone have the grey wifi-icon problem, where you do not have access to internet.
Yesterday it was working fine, I changed nothing.
Usually it always connected grey and a few moments later it gets colored, but now it is forever grey...
I followed these tips from other questions that did not work:

turn wifi-off/on
turn air-plane mode on, wait 1min, turn it off (and wifi on)
forget/remove the wifi config and recreate it
reboot the phone
reboot wireless router
shutdown the phone
(NO) I got a tip to lower my router security from TKIP+AES to only TKIP, but it was working perfectly yesterday; so I will not do that for obvious reasons..

I can ping my phone from my PC.
I can JuiceSSH from my android into PC (intranet is ok).
I can do nothing internet related...
My phone is not rooted, should I?
My connection drops from time to time when I see "obtaining ip address" if I leave it on the wifi config page, but it was like that already before the grey icon problem..
Where I can see wifi log to try to understand what is happening?
PS.: my phone is working again, I did nothing either to fix it; my PC was connecting to internet while my phone not... now both are ok; I will keep the question as the problem may happen again and I wasnt able to track what caused and how to fix (if ever possible); just that it is not urgent for now... thx!

Logs can be viewed wither with one of those "logcat" apps from Google Play, or using adb logcat from a connected computer. You might wish to check some of the other logcat questions on our site for more details.

thx, finally I managed to see the adb logcat (required sudo to all commands..), now I need some time to examine and filter what is important related to wifi..

If you could ping your computer then your phone's traffic to the internet was being stopped somewhere on your LAN. I'd take a look at your home network the next time this happens.

@Mr.Buster I have a wireless router; my only guess was that some rule on the router internal firewall could be preventing the IP of my phone to connect to internet, as my PC was ok, but after checking I saw no rule; I am seriously puzzled.. Unfortunately, when I had a chance to keep the logcat on a file, I didnt do it, I thought the problem would bother me longer... so I cant even check just out of curiosity :(

Grey icons don't mean that you don't have internet connectivity. eldarerathis's answer explains:
It has to do with whether or not you've currently got a good connection to Google's servers for sync services and the like. From page 27 of their Android 2.3 Users Guide:

Network status icons turn green if you have a Google Account added to
  your phone and the phone is connected to Google services, for syncing
  your Gmail, Calendar events, contacts, for backing up your settings,
  and so on. If you don’t have a Google Account or if, for example,
  you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network that is not connected to the
  Internet, the network icons are white. I'm not really sure why it
  bounces back and forth between green and white sometimes. I've noticed
  it on my phone but everything works fine (I run CyanogenMod, though,
  so perhaps it has to do with that). It could also be that green means
  it's currently in the act of syncing, but the wording in the document
  is a little vague, in my opinion.

In the case of Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich, the colors are blue/grey instead of green/white, but they still have the same meaning.

Well, that is what happens here: if the wifi icon is grey, it wont access the internet. About "good connection", that is confusing, because it should be able to sync with a bad connection, just that it would be slow, but NOT prevented from connecting and syncing.. it must mean something else..; IMHO it means there is no internet connectivity, despite my PC was able to connect flawlessly :), but my cell phone could not browse internet but could browse intranet w/o problems.

I get that the two are associated with regards to your issue, but what is probably happening is the reverse: something else is preventing you from connecting to the internet, which does not allow the device to sync to Google's servers and thus the icon is grey. While this doesn't help directly in your end resolution, I thought I'd share what I had found when I was having a somewhat similar issue so that you would know where to troubleshoot and investigate further.

indeed, thx; anyway I think I will only be able to track this again if the problem ever happens again; what is most puzzling is being able to access internet from PC at that time..

I was getting the same issue with my tablet. Grey icon for wifi and SSL error on my Chrome browser. No internet whatsoever, started happening when i tried clearing cache files on system.
I was searching and googling for answers abt this issue with my wifi, then I finally tried fixing it myself. This was happening to my Lenovo ideatab A3000-h, then I looked on every settings I could see, to check if there are any changes on anything. I was almost about to give up, then I saw the time was incorrect. I checked the system date and time and I saw it was set to 8am 01/01/09. I then set the right date and time (automatic setup via mobile network), then poof, everything went running again. I see my blue wifi icon now..
The other guys are correct, grey icon means that there was an error on google sync, and in my case, since the time was all messed up, the syncing part was getting confused. Grey Icon for wifi doesnt always mean 'no internet'. just means, syncing is not successful

cool! btw I had to set my date/time manually as the automatic seems to not work long ago; I will surely look that first next time it happens :)

After my suffering with a Android phone last week ... I found the solution is certain for the emergence of the network in gray .... which in turn prevents communication with the Android market---
The solution is very very simple and without any programs all you have to do is :
Only change to Moscow Time Zone...  Then, change the device language to Russian Then wait less than a minute will automatically change the signal directly to the color blue then, return your phone as it was.

Switching to "Moscow time zone" might help when in Moscow (but is unlikely to help in Wladiwostok, Sydney, or New York). Though, you might have hit some clue here: if your time settings are too far off, that might cause trouble with SSL handshake (and thus keep Google Services from connecting to their servers correctly). So adjusting the time manually could indeed help.


text:
Create my own boot.img for rooting?
Among the files needed to root an Android device (such as superuser.apk and su), an unsecured boot image is also required (boot.img) to allow for the installation of the superuser and su.
I understand the theory behind the unsecured boot image (ro.secure=0 set in the ramdisk) - is it possible for me to make this file myself? Or at the least, where can I download it independently of the zip packages that it usually comes with? I'd prefer to create it myself or download the file from the source rather than rely on zipped packages (for version tracking and change logs).
Thanks!

Hey mate I think this is what we're both looking for.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2073775 And here mate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qRR2vseX4E

You generally don't need to edit the boot.img to root your phone.
What's your phone model, so we can give you the instructions?
Edit: To root a Galaxy Nexus, first you have to unlock the bootloader, which is really easy since the GNex is a dev phone, just google how to unlock the bootloader, and follow the instructions. I recommend droid-lifes tutorial, but anyone should do. Then all that's left is the rooting.

First you have to download this zip file
Then unzip the file anywhere on you computer, like C:\gnex\
Install the Samsung drivers that are in the zip
After you have installed the drivers, turn the phone of and connect the USB to your computer and phone.
Open a command prompt from the start menu, then move to the directory you unzipped the file to (e.x. cd C:\gnex)
Now you have to boot your phone into fastboot mode, by pressing and holding both the volume-UP and volume-DOWN buttons and then press the power button.
Next, type fastboot devices into the command prompt you opened earlier, and check that your phone is in the list.
Now we have to soft-boot an insecure boot image by typing fastboot boot boot.img into the command prompt
When the phone has rebooted, open settings, and go to Settings -> Applications -> Development and check in the USB debbuging option.
Now execute all of these following commands, after each other, in the command prompt:

adb root
adb remount
adb push su /system/bin
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/bin/su
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/app/Superuser.apk

Now your device should be rooted and ready.

I'm using a Galaxy Nexus.

@kaspnord try that, if there's something you don't understand, or that doesn't work, email me at demizide@gmail.com, and I'll try my best to help you.

I know how to root my device, but thanks for the taking the time to write them out. My question pertains specifically to the creation of the unsecured boot.img file needed for the rooting process.

you don't need to create an unsecure boot.img to root, you just need to unlock the bootloader, as i sais in my answer.

I can't speak for the OP, but I would also like to get the "secured" boot.img file directly from the stock phone so that I can go through the exercise of "unsecuring" it myself (changing to ro.secure=0) and booting with that one. I want to do this instead of using a boot.img that I download from the net that is part of someone else's root package. Thanks!


text:
Galaxy S3 stuck on Samsung logo, is there anyway i can backup my data in recovery mode without rooting?
i have the original Firmware, no rooting. Recently, i got this issue where my s3 doesn't startup, it just keeps flashing the logo over and over again until the battery drains. I've already tried pulling the battery, wiping cache partition several times but no luck.
So is it possible to root my device without losing any data or at least can i backup from the recovery mode?
I'm an Android newbie, so i have zero background on this stuff. What am i suppose to do ?
Edit: i'm specifically asking about backing up my data, is it possible?

Similar issue here: Galaxy S3 stuck on boot loop, Factory Reset didn't work. Maybe the answers there help you out?

thanks, i've already seen it. I'm just worried about losing my data, is it possible to backup in recovery mode without rooting?

Stock recovery doesn't offer a backup option. You could try whether the device is discovered by ADB while in recovery mode. If so, you should be able to use adb backup. See our backup tag-wiki for some details.

Boot into odin mode, plug into laptop,  get custom recovery and root via odin (this doesn't wipe data) then in the custom recovery do a nandroid backup then clear dalvik cache and try to boot. If this doesn't work then sorry you're gonna need to flash a custom rom or stock rom again

Thanks, i installed CWM, but clearing dalvik cache didn't do any good, so i backed up my device and made a factory reset and finally my device booted and was no longer stuck at the logo. All my photos, videos and music were safe and sound, however, all my apps were gone, as well as my contacts and text mesages. I appreciate your help :).

Yea no problem if you're rooted now get titanium backup


text:
DNSCrypt on Android
I'd like to install DNSCrypt on Android. I have installed it on Windows 8, Linux Mint, and Kali Linux. But I'm very new to Linux, thus dealing with Android as a Linux distro is way out of my league. I've Google'd a tutorial for this for hours, and everyone seems to be asking with no one to answer them. The DNSCrypt website has an Android-specific version which means it should be possible, some forum member has written a couple of commands like "and then you configure and compile" and such. But no specific "spoon-feeding" command to type in the Android terminal. So, how do we install DNSCrypt.eu on Android?
Update 1:
https://github.com/jedisct1/dnscrypt-proxy/issues/98#issuecomment-41883910
Here's a similar explanation to what I referred to. How Do I write a script?! what do I copy exactly? There are three folders when I un-tar and tar.gz from the link above.

How to fix SELinux errors when launching DNSCrypt as init.d script?

The solution is further down the same page:
https://github.com/jedisct1/dnscrypt-proxy/issues/98#issuecomment-62636551
I had a problem flashing the zip (made by qwerty12) in the link so you may need to extract the contents to the relevant directories (in /system) and make sure they have the correct permissions. I used Fx explorer for this. You obviously need root to do all of this.
Then set the DNS to 127.0.0.1 (I used Static DNS for WiFi but many programs will do this)
That's all it should take.
I have posted in the same github link confirming it works fine.
edit: No problem. I should mention that if you have trouble with setting the internal DNS to 127.0.0.1 (as I did) you may find it easier to just add the following to the 99dnscrypt file that is placed in the init.d folder. (add the following line to the end of the file, there should only be one other line in the init.d file anyway, the one that executes dnscrypt-proxy, so add it after that line)
iptables -t nat -A OUTPUT -p udp --dport 53 -j DNAT --to-destination 127.0.0.1

There may be a better way to do this (i.e. using something like AFWall with a custom script to switch the DNS to 127.0.0.1 when you need it) because this will affect your 3G connection (as it will expect to find a working DNS server, not 127.0.0.1) but it does work.


text:
How can a tabelt forget the SSID of a wifi network
We have a product that combines one Galaxy Tab 3 7"or Galaxy Tab 4 7" tablet, both wifi-only, with a Mikrotik RB951G-2hnd router. The Mikrotik has a hidden wifi network so we add it manually to the tablet. Most of the time it works great but for some reason, sometimes the tablet forgets the SSID of the hidden network.
According to our costumers, this happens when there's a power cut and the tablet looses its charge. After the power comes back, the tablet won't connect to our mikrotik device. When checking the WiFi connections on the device configuration the network won't even appear on the list.
This happens only sometimes in some tablets.
How can the device forget a manually entered SSID?

What is it that you finally want? An explanation or a remedy? Somebody from somewhere can popup and would say that it is a bug and that it is a bug because many people have reported the same problem and they would continue to cite [bug]  like a mantra - there goes the explanation. Would that be enough for you? If not, what would be enough?

@Firelord Thanks for answering. Even a kid could say it's a bug. That's just a statement. I would like an explanation and if possible a solution.


text:
Consequences of disabling com.android.SystemUI
I have not been able to find the consecuences of disabling the SystemUI app (com.android.systemui) on Android Lollipop. The tablet is rooted so to disable it I just have to send the command pm disable com.android.systemui on ADB.
So far no app has crashed or have I seen any issues. The soft buttons and the quick settings and notifications bar dissapeared. Does someone know if there are any other consequences?

Is it safe to disable com.android.systemui? from Stack overflow :

If you completely remove SystemUI.apk from the system, your device will hang on start-up and never fully boot again. Tried it before. ;) Framework-res and the system have some dependencies on SystemUI.

Please also read the comments where OP did what you proposed and is warned that it could result in soft bricking the device.

Thanks for answering though this is not about the consequences of removing the SystemUI but about disabling. +1 though for the useful information on the link, although not conclusive.

System UI deals with the Notification drawer, settings, Popups etc. Also many apps call these components. And when they do, you'll have continuous loop of crashes.


text:
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.

Note that Whatsapp can only be installed in one device only per phone number; if you put the old account on the tablet, that will invalidate the account on the phone.

Yeah, but there is no other possibility

Yep. I'm looking for a way to be able to read my whatsapp messages on the tablet. Guess nothing close to it yet.  I shall wait . Thank you guys anyways

There is a web app which allows you to use whatsapp in chrome. On pc it works, you need a app on your phone where whatsapp is installed. I don't know if this is working an a tablet


text:
sync android calendar (tasks) with calendar from PC
My goal is to have common calendar & task management between my PC and Android phone. Here is my situation:
On my PC (Windows 7), I have Windows Calendar installed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Calendar
It didn't come with it (it actually stopped being released after Vista) so I had to hack around a bit to get it on there.
I use Windows Calendar partially (20%) for appointments and their reminders. My main use of it, though, is Tasks and their
reminders. Nearly always, when I have a reminder, I snooze it; I rarely complete my task after the first reminder.
So, I usually end up snoozing my reminders minutes/hours/days/weeks into the future. Windows Calendar is perfectly suited
for this functionality and is the reason why I chose it and like to use it. The calendar is currently stored on the same PC
and is not stored remotely somewhere.
Recently, I got an HTC Desire 601. I would like to access the same appointments and tasks from the phone and, importantly,
have the reminders synchronized. To clarify, I would like to be able to snooze a task from my PC at 6pm for 2 hours, leave
home for at least 2 hours, and have the task popup on my phone at 8pm with a similar prompt to snooze. So, I'm looking for a fairly
complete synchronization effect between the PC and the phone.
So, to do this, I obviously need a shared service (Google Calendar, etc.) or a shared file (iCalendar, CalDAV) on a server
that both my phone and PC can access. One knock against Google Calendar is that tasks are deficient compared to tasks on
Windows Calendar. Google Calendar tasks don't have reminders (and, therefore, nothing to snooze), so I have ruled Google Calendar out.
I'm not familiar with other SaaS calendaring/task offerings (Microsoft, etc.)...maybe someone could advise if they handle
tasks more like Windows Calendar.
On the phone, there is a calendar built into Android which is pretty close to what I want for a native client. Popups for
reminders, though, have no snooze duration. So, I can't choose how long I want it to snooze. This is fairly significant
because I routinely snooze one task for 5 minutes and snooze another task for 1 week. So, I need a client on my phone
that has this type of functionality. Furthermore, I need a client that will connect to the "shared" service/file that I
mentioned earlier.
Am I stretching the limits of the SaaS offerings out there and the available native clients too much that I now need to write
my own Android client? I'm not sure about Windows Calendar "automatic synchronization", so I'm flexible enough to accept
changing to a client like Mozilla Lightning, if necessary. I have tested Mozilla Lightning and it synchronizes (appointments)
well with Google Calendar, for example.
Any advice for my problem?

As you're after a plain Android <-> Windows solution, apart from different hosted solutions, MyPhoneExplorer might also be worth consideration. AFAIK it can sync your Android calender with different Windows solutions, especially Outlook, but IMHO also others. According to its description, this also includes – tada! – even your favorite Windows calendar:

MyPhoneExplorer is a powerful phone management software for your Desktop PC. Some features:

sync your phone with Outlook, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Lotus Notes, Tobit David, Windows Contacts, Windows Calendar,...
manage your SMS, Calllists, Apps, Files, handle Calls, create backups...
  Connection via WiFi, USB-Cable or Bluetooth.

This is the client which is needed for phone, you'll need also the desktop-software which can be downloaded at www.fjsoft.at.

(emphasis mine)
I think this will suit you best. MyPhoneExplorer is said to be a real good solution (as a side-effect, it even helps you with backups, and other means of managing your Android device). Not being a Windows user, I cannot speak from my own experience, though – but a Playstore-rating of 4.6 with ~20k votes should mean something, too :)


text:
Signal problem with Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5630 mobile
I am using Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5630 phone with IDEA network provider. I am having signal loss problems many times a times. When I try to make a call, it says "Network unavailable". I though this might be the problem IDEA network, but it was not. I tried checking the same sim card in another mobile and it's working fine, this issue is  being observed mostly for every 4-5 minutes. How can I resolve this?

Your phone probably is fixed in 3G mode or is in auto 3G/GSM mode. I suggest you to switch to GSM only mode. That way you won't face a network problem.

Go to Settings > Wireless and Networks > Mobile networks > Network
  Mode

Select GSM only from that menu.
Also try going to Network Operators from the mobile network menu and try selecting a network manually.

Different network providers may use different masts.
The company of the second sim will have a stronger presence in your area than the company from the first sim.
Therefore, the ideal move would be to get yourself a sim from the same provider of the second sim.
I hope this helps,
Nicholas


text:
how to block an OS app popup?
Something on my smartphone sends a message once a day, sometimes I see a tiny fast dark background popup on the bottom saying it is doing so.
Such application seems related to the SIM card, as the popup I receive is from my cell phone provider/carrier/operator.
One second later I receive this:

The app name is "Serviços TIM".
That app package name is "com.android.stk" (I found that using Brevent).
It is an OS App.
It has the exactly same version of "SIM ToolKit" (I guess .stk means that), but at apps list it is in an independent entry with it's own options.
The real huge problem is that, when that popup shows and the screen is locked and remains like that for 8h+, the screen WILL NOT TURN OFF and will spend my battery from 100% to 40% or less and I may depend on having the battery at that time! :(. I usually let it out of the charger, and without that popup it would only spend about 5-10% of the battery.
My smartphone J7 is not rooted, I wonder if that would be the only option?

update:

This other app I think is the culprit from sending the message. It already had SMS disabled but not the phone permission! (I have other app to let me read/send SMS btw)

also the SIM toolkit, I force stop it (and disabled all notifications now 2019):

Final result is: none of these actions above worked, the popup still happens :(

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

First get the stk and stk2 package name and path, then back them up with pull :
adb shell pm list packages | grep stk

adb shell pm path com.android.stk
adb pull /system/app/Stk/Stk.apk

adb shell pm path com.android.stk2
adb pull /system/app/Stk2/Stk2.apk

Next we uninstall both :
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.stk
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.stk2

Old answer (in case you fear trying the uninstall steps above):
I managed to minimize the problem by using the "do not disturb" feature.
By "minimize" I mean that if I am using the phone the popup will still show up, otherwise it wont mess it's battery (neither show up).
I can allow all exceptions least "reminders" apparently.
Obs.: "do not disturb" is not 100%, I think about 10% of the times it will still allow that abusive popup to keep the screen ON for many hours!
The simToolkit app package "com.android.stk" (which I found out using Brevent), is called "Serviços TIM" and seems to be a mirroed/dup (???) package from the default simToolkit.
My next step (as soon that popup annoys me enough) is to try to uninstall that package by using this tip by @Izzy, thx!
How to remove the SIM Toolkit from my phone? (Without root or flashing any ROM)

adb uninstall failed
Uninstall via adb without root
How to disable Google Apps in Mi Phones

It seem to me like a flash message. These messages contain only two options- Cancel and OK. If you press OK, the plan mentioned in the message will get activated and it will cost you some money. This can be very irritating.
You can deactivate Flash messages but the process is different for different service providers
you can find the ways to stop flash messages in other operators here and have an idea about your own service provider.

Please see https://android.stackexchange.com/help/referencing

There is no app "SIM Toolkit" here that I can run (it is on the configuration that shows the list of apps but not accessible/runnable as a normal app, I dont understand why they do that...), but there was the "ServiÇos ..." one! but it hadnt equivalent option...

This is definitely flash SMS that you are receiving because it contains information about some calling plans. Is there any other SIM/operator related application on your device?

does flash SMS comes thru CellBroadcasts? if so, I got a tip about SMS app where I can disable it, still testing what happens tho. I also deactivated all I could from SIM Toolkit about notifications in popups. I will add some info to the OP btw :)


text:
How is the default launcher set after a factory reset
I would like to know how is the default launcher set after a factory reset. What files are in charge of telling the OS, for example, that the Touchwiz app is the default launcher for Samsung devices.
I do not want to replace the launcher, that is something I already know how to do. This is a very specific question regarding how the os works. I am interested in doing a system update via recovery and changing the files that tell the OS which app is the default launcher, in order to tell it that my newly flashed app (flashed in system partition) is.
I look forward to your response. Thanks in advance.
EDIT:
As stated, Samsung is just a given example but it is one of an endless list. This is an os general-behaviour related question not manufacturer specific.

Umm, most cases there's only one launcher so it's naturally set as default?

@AndyYan OP is talking Samsung. They often duplicate things. Wouldn't wonder if they had the stock (AOSP) launcher as well, while making their TouchWiz one the default. I vaguely remember having seen that on a device: installed Apex and of course got asked to chose – but out of 3 instead of 2 launchers (AOSP, manufacturers, Apex). Apex was the only user-installed launcher; still, no choice had to be made before installing it.

I don't believe there's ever any AOSP launcher built into Sammy devices I owned, but now that you mentioned it, I do remember there's a "Simple Home" or something named like that which is a very simplistic launcher for grannies and such.

If a ROM has multiple launchers, and one is not set by default in the default factory configuration, then after the Setup Wizard completes and the device attempts to go to the desktop, a pop-up appears asking you to select the Home application and it will give you an option to "Always do this".
You can select a launcher here, but until you select "Always do this" (or similar text) this pop-up selection window will appear every time the Home button is pressed.
This is common in custom ROMs which have multiple launchers pre-installed.

when you say "and one is not set by default in the default factory configuration"  you mean that it actually can be configured. What files do I need to set a particular factory configuration? Do you know?

@Storo I don't know that, that is outside of the scope of Android Enthusiasts as it is a question regarding development. It is possible though, as Samsungs do not do that, although most custom ROMs with more than one launcher pre-loaded force you to manually make a selection.

@Storo if that is the thing than yes but you will have to unpack file where settings are saved

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје Great, I have no problem in doing that, I am just asking which are the files in the /system partition or whatever where I have to modify.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
signing custom OTA update .zip file
We have a kiosk application that needs to be able to periodically do OTA updates using our self-made OTA update .zip files.
Our custom OTA update .zip file have the following files:
/data/misc/adb/
        adb_keys
/system
    /priv-app/
        MyApp.apk
    /vendor/
        build.prop
/META-INF/com/google/android/
        update-binary
        updater-script

We have used many different tablets like Galaxy Tab 3, Galaxy Tab 4 and Yoga 3, the only thing we have had to do is to replace the mount command arguments inside updater-script with the right ones for each tablet.
Of couse, since we do not have the release keys of each of these tablets, we have had to replace every Recovery with its own TWRP Recovery replacement, in order to be able to flash our custom OTA update file. All this worked like a charm every time.
Now we bought new tablets from a chinese manufacturer and when we tried to flash our OTA update package we got the following error:
Verifying update package...
E:footer is wrong
E:signature verification failed
Restarting adbd...
Installation aborted.

From that message is clear that error occurred because the OTA update .zip file was not signed. So, I asked from the manufacturer the release keys and the instructions in order to sign our OTA update .zip file and being able to flash it.
The problem is that the manufacturer's engineers have no clue of how to do this (signing OTA update files so they don't get rejected by their Recovery), which seems like a very common problem because we asked in multiple manufacturers and nobody knows how to do this.
So, I would like to ask for your help since I cannot find the instructions on how to sign it. Anybody knows how to do it?

No... And no one knows how to do this except software engineers, and if they give you the release keys they should be immediately terminated. This would be an extremely security issue, for example, if I had the release keys for any device, you could immediately bypass any and all security mechanisms, root, and access any data with near zero effort. If any company gave you the release keys, they are basically opening the doors and saying "here, take my business from me, you can have keys".

The tablet manufacturers actually build different ROMS for their clients so they generate different release keys for each generated ROM so there is no issue in sharing those keys with the company that is paying for that specific ROM. No "extremely security issue" there since our key will be different to all other keys they have generated in the past.

If you want to provide self-made OTA update you also have to use your own custom ROM. Then you are able to sign OS and OTA update using the same key.

@Storo Then only that manufacturer can give you the keys... Unless you use Robert's suggestion of building your own ROM.

@Robert and acejavelin what I am asking is actually how do I need to sign my OTA update file in order to be able to flash it. It is clear that it needs to be done with the release keys of the manufacturer of the ROM. What I need from you guys is to tell me what do I do with those keys in order to sign the ZIP file.

As acejavelin already told you you will never get those keys from the manufacturer. You have to options: create your own custom ROM with your own signing keys or as the manufacturer how much it would cost to create a "branded ROM" (with a custom signing key) for you (similar as the large mobile network operators have their own branded ROMs for some devices). In the latter case you could the the OTA-updates to the manufacturer and the can sign it with the keys for your branded ROM.