text:
I can't unlock bootloader on Nexus 7 (2013)
Process reaches the stage of Erasing userdata add stops. I was waiting for 1 hour but nothing changes.

Did you accept the confirmation prompt on the Nexus 7's screen about unlocking the bootloader?

@DanHulme yes. after that nothing changes in cmd on PC and nexus provides no reaction for any pressed keys. i can only turn it off while keepind power button pressed for about 5 sec

Could you have knocked the USB cable loose when you did it? If you've tried more than once that would rule it out.

@DanHulme usb cable was accidentally disconnected when i tried to do it first time. can I solve this problem other way? or there are no variants and i can only throw my tablet away?

I tryed to turn off my nexus when it worked by keepind power button pressed. It turned off, but can't turn on. When I try to turn it on, there is only Google logo on screen as long as it stay turned on and android can't load. That's why I wanna unlock bootloader and reinstall android.


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Re-Installing an unpublished purchased app?
Can i install a purchased app from playstore even if its unpublished from store?
I know it will be displayed on my apps list, but i think we can delete apps from that list too.In that case how I can find the app and reinstall it..

You'll have to just Google it and find a copy elsewhere on the internet.  If it's unpublished from the Play Store, you can't install it from there anymore.

Thank you IAmTheSquidward for the answer.I am a developer and this question is regarding our recent project, so i am sure the app is not available anywhere else, is its sure if its unpublished and deleted from my apps list then app is not available.I haven't purchased any apps yet, do there is any separate list for purchased apps..

Nope, there's one list. I'm pretty sure they just disappear from that list as well.

source: Stack Exchange

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

authors: თათია წერეთელი

sort: votes


text:
Coverting ROM for MTK 6575
My phone was already a dead unit but can still be detected by SPFT (Smart Phone Flash Tool). What I  have is a Stock Flashable Rom which is in zip file. Is there a way to convert this into .md5 or .pmt? Or how can I flash this through SPFT.
And also, while doing the (SPFT) memory test, I got an error saying "NAND Flash not detected on phone" How can I solve this?? Thanks!!
I'm using Alcatel OT 5020a

For MTK devices you should use SP Flash Tool please find a complete Tutorial here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1982587 propably this will save you from the currently situation. I am not responsible for anything may happen.

Thanks! But I do know how to use the Flash Tool, What I dont know is how to fix the NAND Flash, And how to flash a cwm flashable ROM using SPFT.
But still, thanks you for trying to help..

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


text:
Automatically turn on/off data when downloading MMS
With my Galaxy S3, my girlfriend's Galaxy S4 and her mother's Galaxy Core, we cannot download MMS automatically. We have to turn on data before doing so.
This problem is not happening with her sister's Galaxy Ace: whenever they receive a MMS, data is automatically turned on, and then off once the MMS is downloaded.
Now, this isn't a real problem most of the time (more of an annoying one), but my girlfriend's mother has a very low data plan (100mb) and often forgets to switch off data once the MMS is received, so she often maxes out her data plan.
I have tried something I found here: copy the existing APN and setting only "mms" as APN type, but it doesn't work.
My girlfriend and I are Orange (France) and her mother is Bouygues.
Thanks for your help!

Android 10+
This option is now built into Android:

Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile network
Enable MMS messages (Send and receive when mobile data is off)

Android < 10: disable mobile data

Settings > Mobile networks > Access Point Names

Lollipop: Settings > More > Cellular networks > Access Point Names

Select the APN for your carrier by tapping the name > APN type

Set the value to mms

Delete anything else in APN type
mms must be lower-case

Menu/hamburger icon > Save

At this point it should return you to the list of APNs. The 3G/4G indicator should go away. If you have other APNs in the list, you need to delete them.

Make sure your mobile data is enabled:
Settings > Mobile networks > ON

Lollipop: swipe from the top with two fingers > tap your mobile network name > enable the Cellular data toggle near the top right

You should now be able to send/receive MMS messages. Data usage for accessing the internet however will be restricted.
If you ever want to undo this and change back to the default settings, just to go back to the Access Point Names menu > menu/hamburger icon > Reset to default
More information here:

Answer: How to configure Android for MMS only on AT&T (no data)
Change APN to disable Internet while enabling MMS on Samsung Ace 2
APN type

Alternative: Use a different SMS app
If you want to do turn data on/off when sending/receiving MMS messages without completely disabling your mobile data for other uses, there are alternative SMS apps you can use that have this functionality built in, such as:

Textra SMS
chomp SMS
QKSMS
8sms
Sliding SMS

This is almost correct. There is one problem though, specifically with recommendations in step 5 (as of this writing). You must have only one APN profile which only has "mms". If you have other APN profiles with "default" or "*" or "supl" they will be used by the phone to access data even if they are not selected as the current profile.The APN type "default" is kind of a catch all for mms, data and supl. See: https://tamingthedroid.com/apn-type for information about the "APN type" setting.

Also its worth noting that your data does NOT "automatically turn on/off when sending/receiving MMS messages"; data is simply only allowed for MMS service without allowing data for all other usage such as internet.

@moo Thanks for the suggestions, I've updated my answer to reflect them, as well as to add a much better solution for Android 10+

None of the suggestions in the other answers worked for me. I downloaded a 3rd party messaging app called Textra SMS. It worked perfectly, it has the "automatically turn on data for MMS" option and a nice simple layout.

I used to use Textra specifically for that feature, but got a new phone and learned that apparently as of Lollipop, Android has removed the ability for any apps to turn mobile data on and off.

Again something tasker is able to solve (and maybe one of its "free alternatives" such as llama as well – but as a Tasker user, I can better describe it for that):
Both apps can act on events, and execute tasks. So let me construct a fake-profile (use it as "guide", not literally):

Condition:

Received Text (Tasker does not differentiate between SMS and MMS here)

Task:

Mobile Data → On
Wait → 1 min (set a time frame sufficient to connect and download the MMS)

Exit-Task: (optional)

Mobile Data → Off

The Exit-Task is optional. By default, Tasker restores the "before-state" automatically.
So what would this do? Whenever a message (SMS or MMS) is received, it would turn on mobile data for a minute to download the text, and then automatically switch it off again.
As I'm not sure whether an incoming MMS would even be signaled with data off, let's have a "Plan B":

Condition:

State→Mobile Network is On

Task:

Wait → 10 min (adjust time frame to fit your needs)

Exit-Task:

Mobile Data → Off

This would be a kind of "don't forget me" timer: If your girlfriends mother turns on data to receive the MMS, and forgets to turn it off again, it would automatically be turned off after the configured time-frame. Here the exit-task is mandatory, so Tasker does not restore the "before-state".

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


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Using Moto G (Boost Mobile/Verizon) as a Wi-Fi device without rooting
I'm planning to get a Moto G from either Boost Mobile or Verizon and use it as a Wi-Fi device. I read it that it's possible to bypass the activation and use it Wi-Fi only without rooting the phone. If it's true, will it be able to receive future OTAs? Will I be better off just getting a Google Play edition one?

I bought a Boost Mobile Moto G (2013) for the purpose of using it as a WiFi device as well. I have not rooted, so how I keep from having to activate it is I keep it in airplane mode.  I can still turn GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth radios on while still having it in airplane mode, so this works.
It will keep pestering you (once every day or so) to activate, but it will see that you are in airplane mode and can't activate. You click the button and it exits the activation and you can then use the device.


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Configure UART GPS module for Friendlyarm nanopc-t1 on Android
have a NanoPC-t1 device and I'm running Android 4.2.2 on it. I want to install my gy-gps6MV2 module and make it work as the device GPS.
Do I need root access? (I already tried to root device with SuperOneClick) I've pluged it into my UART serial port, when I run: adb shell root@android:/ # cat /dev/ttySAC0
All I get is white space outputs, while I know it's the gps module output but I can't figure out why I get white spaces.
When I connect my GPS module via a rs232 to usb I can read the GPS data like a charm (using cat /dev/ttySAC0)
What am I missing? please help me fix this problem, I'm struggling with it for two weeks...

I figured it out, the problem was originating from NanoPC-t1 config which used the USART port for output debug. It was over-writing the gps output.
I used Android Serial Port API, and rooted my device. Because accessing ttySAC0 port, needs root access.
I wrote my own NMEA parser to receive GPS fixes.


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Odin vs Clockworkmod
I want to flash a new Stock Rom on my Galaxy Mega. I'm quite hesitant using Clorkworkmod. Will I lose my Root if I use Odin to upgrade? Also, what happens to Clockworkmod if I use Odin?

They are 2 completely different things, Clockworkmod is the recovery on your phone, Odin is a PC appliction. The only way you'll lose root and lose Clockworkmod is if you flash a STOCK firmware to unroot and restore your device OR you are flashing a new recovery. Otherwise they won't interfere with each other. This question should cover the basics and also see this one

Can I use Clockworkmod to flash a stock rom? and will I lose my root if I do? Is there a performance gain if I use Odin to perform the Stock ROM flash instead of CWM and will I lose root?

You can't flash stock rom in Clockworkmod you need the STOCK recovery, which you can flash in ODIN. If you flasha stock rom in odin you will lose root yes. The stock ROM and CWM are totally different things by the way, your recovery is a different OS and has no bearing on the ROM, Samsung bundle the stock recovery with the ROM pacakage and it is flashed by ODIN as part of the stock installation.

So, I can flash any custom ROMs via Clockworkmod but Stock Roms can only be flashed via ODIN. Correct?

That's it yeah.


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How to add secondary patition on sd card to internal memory?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 which I have rooted. I have partitioned my 8GB class 10 SD card to have two partitions on it using AParted:

A 2GB FAT32 secondary partition.
The rest of the SD card into a primary partition.(FAT32)

The problem is, even after doing this and installing Link2SD and changing the install location to external, the apps are still being installed into the internal memory and I get a "low on internal memory" message every time I try installing new apps. When I check the Link2SD app list, many of the apps are showing that they have been already moved to the SD card and my secondary partition on the sd card is still pretty much empty.
What have I missed over here? (Sorry if this is a lame question. I'm new to rooting and stuff)

Note: Techicnally you probably couled use a FAT32 partition but I've had issues on several devices.
For Link2SD you need 2 partitions:
1) FAT32 this is your file storage, photos, media etc.
2) EXT3 (Or EXT2 or EXT4, but 3 has always worked for me) partition. This is the part this will be recognised as new 'internal memory'.
 There is a full tutorial on XDA here and the keypoints are:

Next, create an ext2/ext3/ext4 partition (I suggest ext2 cause it works on all roms and kernels). This is where your apps will go. I suggest a value of 512Mb would be big enough.

Personally I use 1024 Mb.

Open Link2sd. You will be prompted to choose between ext2, ext3, ext4 and FAT32. Select the one you used.
It will say mount script created. Reboot your phone now
Go to Link2sd > Settings > Check the autolink (to automatically move apps upon installation)
To check your memory, select “Storage Info”. This will show you the current state of your internal memory, FAT32, and Ext# partition.

I tried formatting the sd card again to make the above changes. But now, only 1.9GB of the 8GB is showing up in the format menu(exactly the same as the second partition I made on it). Please help.

Just undo all of it, make the SD Care ONE SINGLE partition, let's say FAT32, ALL of it. Then create your 2 partitions, one FAT32, and one EXT3. Or use a PC app to do the partitioning.

I tried doing that but now that partition is "unallocated". I'm searching for a way to get it back.

If you don't know how to partition things, then be very careful with your device, this could brick it. Allocate ALL of it to ONE SINGLE partition, then repartition it after.

Yeah. I got that figured out. But this still didn't work. I'm sorry. Now I have created 2 partitions a) FAT32 and b)EXT3. But still when I try to download something new it says "not enough space".

That's good so far, go through the xda link I provided, it will guide you step by step. You need to setup link2sd now again.

Finally after 3 reinstalls of Link2SD it worked. When I tried the second time Linked2SD crashed and showed up a blank screen. Thank you.

Oops.. Spoke too soon. The 'low on internal memory' notification came out again.

Use mini tool partition (windows )  or gparted(linux) to create another partition . The file system must be ext4 . Then when u insert it . You will be asked to format. Format the SDCard . Now open link2sd

Could you provide the link for the programs? How to use any of them to create "another" partition? Please see [answer].

Sorry for the inconvenience .  My mobile does not support the latest version. So i cannot format or  embed links in the answer. You can find the source in google. Thanks for your advice !


text:
Why does stock android include a shutdown option, but no restart option?
I've always been baffled by this decision. Does anyone know why this is the case?
Most OEMs will add a restart option when you press and hold the screen lock button, but stock never includes one.


text:
Android installation age
Is there a way to discover when my Android OS was installed? In other word: what is the age of the SO running in my phone (since the last FW upgrade)?
I have root access and I prefer not installing any extra apps to this task (altough, if it is the only way, I may install one). I already have a Terminal Emulator App.
I looked into "Settings -> About phone" and there is a counter since the last reboot, which is not what I want.
I am running Android 4.0.4 on a Sony Xperia P.

I have no idea how to know the last Android OS installation date. But if you logged in to your Google account at that day, you can search the log in date. Browse there, verify your phone model and check authorization date. Hope it works!

That date most likely is "refreshed" whenever you factory-reset your device. We had this topic already here, see e.g. Date of ROM installation – which gets you closer to the real one :)

Oh. I didn't saw that topic in my search.
Anyway, that method didn't gave me accurate results.
ls -l /system/ show a file (omxloaders) dated back from 2012, but I am absolutely sure that the last time I flashed this firmware was around just a year ago.

@Thiha method gave a more consistent date. I still think there must be a way to find this info more precisely on the device itself.


text:
gionee e7 mini screen lock problem
I aam using Gionee E7 mini. My phonee is working perfeectly but as soon i pick up up any call, the screen loacks and it reopens only when the other side hangs up.I am not able to disconnect any call in between vecause my screen go black. In call answering there is no problem but I cannot disconnect calls.

That sounds like an issue with the proximity sensor. It should go black when it is close to your ear and turn on when you move it away. You could try a proximity sensor calibration tool and see if it helps. It might be a hardware issue, but try to narrow it down.


text:
Samsung s3 makes "plugged in" noises while charging
I have recently bought a third party USB cable. I am still using the original wall adapter that I got. Now, I noticed that while charging, it sometimes makes the "plugged in" sound as if I had just plugged in the cable onto my phone. It does that several times randomly and I thought I just hadn't plugged it in correctly, but I've checked and that is not the case? Is there a problem with NON-Samsung USB cables (if such thing even exists)? The phone does charge, it never stops charging, but it makes that notification sound as if I had just put it to charge, even though it has been charging for some time already.

Seems like you have an intermittent connection. Have you checked the quality of all related wires and plugs?

I agree with @aureljared. Sometimes cables (third-party or not) just wear out, or have defects that cause an intermittent connection. There's no difference between Samsung and non-Samsung cables.

I had this, I bought a cheap micro USB cable, it worked fine. Tried the old cable again and now it also works fine :| Was very odd. It kept "charging" then "not charging" in a loop amd making the beep noise. Easiest thing to do is try a different cable (they're all the same)

This is odd. I have this external battery pack and I use the same cable to charge my phone and... guess what? It stopped making that noise. It could be the wall adapter after all...


text:
Connectivity issues with Windows 7 "hostednetwork" wifi hotstop
I have a 3g USB stick modem, connected to my Windows 7 laptop. I am sharing the internet connection using hostednetwork (Windows 7 facility to turn a laptop's wifi into an Access Point). Now... it works. Mostly.
My girlfriends iphone connects and works fine all the time. Her laptop connects and works fine all the time as well. An android phone (XPeria Z) I have connects all the time, wi-fi stays connected but network connection (not just internet) is very flaky. Sometimes it drops in 5 seconds, then at some stage it comes back again in a couple of minutes, then drops again and so it continues. Sometimes it may even stay working for 15 minutes but not often, most of the time it lasts a minute or two. I can reconnect wi-fi and get another minute or two of internet or just wait until it starts working again (also for a minute or two)
It's not just internet that is not working. I used a ping utility on the phone and when it can't connect to internet it can't even ping the host laptop.
I compared the wifi settings on the iphone with the android phone, they are the same. It's not the problem with the default gateway settings, because it does work from time to time and because, when it doesn't work, pinging the default gateway (laptop ip address) doesn't work either. For the same reason it's not a dns or other TCP/IP settings problem. It's also a quiet place around here and there's no other wi-fi networks around either. The problem happens with or without other devices connected to wifi.
The only thing that seems to make it work for longer is constantly using the internet. Well I am not entirely sure about that but that's what it feels like. If you keep it loaded non-stop sometimes you can get it to work for like 15 minutes.
Any ideas what I could try, how I can diagnose the problem? It's extremely annoying.

Does the same phone work normally on other Wi-Fi networks?

Yes, absolutely no problems.

If you have "Avoid poor connections" enabled in your Xperia's wifi settings, try turning it off:
Settings > WiFi > Advanced > Avoid poor connections

Good idea, haven't looked there. But Avoid poor connections was off already. Thanks anyway!


text:
Resume broken apk download
I am trying to install Asphalt 8 game which is 1.35 GB in size. However my wife network is erratic due to which the downloading stops after sometime. Is there any way to resume the download from the same place as currently the Google play store starts afresh.

Get the game directly from Gameloft (or if the free version is missing, get it from p2p).
On Linux/Mac, use wget to resume your download. On Windows, use a freeware from snapfiles to resume your downloads.
The problem then will be to transfer the game from your computer to the android device.


text:
What are these files in DCIM folder?
I was wondering if someone here knew what are these files:

I've put it in image format because their file names are weird? I just found out that these files are present in my sd card, inside the DCIM images folders and all images are gone except the thumbnails.
My images are gone and another problem is that I cannot delete them(maybe format but that's my last option i think). They stick in that folder and even moving isn't possible.
Any help or suggestions. Thanks!

Sorry I can't help but your SD card is defective. Try running a disk check on it on a PC, you may be able to recover some files. After that, reformat the card to use it again. However, in my experience, when a SD card has a defect you can't really fix it with format, it will break again. I recommend buying a new (and better) SD card

Thank you for your response.
Actually I can still use the SD card and access other files, but, yeah, those files are suspicious and probably harmful. And like what you've said buying one is the best and last option.

Back when computers still use floppy disks I saw these kind of files a lot. Floppies are not exactly known for their durability. These files are not really harmful, they are caused by mangled file information on the Allocation Table (which in turn is caused by a bad sector somewhere at the beginning of the disk)

@ThanhPhú You should write up your comments as an answer. After all, they do answer the question, "What are these files?"

Thank you @ThanhPhú, It seems that is the best answer for me. Thank you for information and advice!

These are not files but invalid file entries, caused by a corrupted allocation table on the SD card, which in turn is caused by a bad sector. A bad sector on the card is a good sign that card is defective and should be replaced.
You can try recovering some files by running a disk check program on PC.


text:
Google TV vs Android TV vs Chromecast
Can someone write or link to a clear comparison of all of Google's TV products?
I have the original Logitech Revue, I have a Chromecast dongle, and now there is Android TV.
What are the use-cases of each? Why 3?

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/389464/whats-new-in-android-tv-and-chromecast http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/google-chromecast-vs-android-tv-stick-which-should-you-buy/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/09/15/weekend-poll-chromecast-or-google-tv/ first 3 Google results. One is made by logitech so it's just a different product, the other 2 are explained in the links there. Can't write a proper answer, I'm on my phone.

Google TV is an old set-top box (STB) product line, conceived as a competitor with Apple TV, using Intel-based hardware and initially without access to Google Play. After a rushed launch and a series of bad product reviews, Google TV had been pretty much abandoned as a product line, and is now replaced by Android TV.
In addition, other manufacturers have brought out some Android-based STBs which are just normal Android devices in a different form factor. These support normal Android apps but have often been a bit awkward to use because each manufacturer has their own big-screen user interface, and because many apps don't work well without a touch screen.
Android TV is basically a new version of Android for STBs and smart TVs. It adds features to Android to provide more commonality between different TV products, and to make it easier for app authors to support this form factor. Like the earlier Android STBs, it's a stand-alone device (it could be the only Android device you own) providing a full Android experience controlled directly through the TV interface (e.g. with a D-pad on a remote). You can use it to read and write email on the TV screen, to play games, to watch videos from YouTube, &c.
In contrast, Chromecast is an entirely passive device. Chromecast is just a cable for plugging your Android device (or another computer with Google Chrome) into your TV's display, but as it's a wireless device there's no physical cable. Even so, it's only useful for using your TV as the display for another device. You can't control it with your TV, only with the device that's connected to the Chromecast. With Chromecast, anything you can do on your phone is visible on the TV screen, so you can use it to watch videos from YouTube or to see a game on the big screen (useful in combination with a wireless game controller), but there's no TV-based user interface.

So you would basically remove GoogleTV from the comparison. What you are saying is that AndroidTV is the successor to GoogleTV. You wrote "pretty much abandoned", I wonder what the official word is...


text:
How can I make my HTC One stop vibrating on notifications, but still make noise?
My HTC One vibrates every darn time the notification sound comes on, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get it to stop. I have "vibrate on calls" unticked in the setting, under sound, and it still does it. This was never a problem before that system update a little while ago.
I am seriously so mad right now.
Help?

Same occurs on HTC U Play... I'm equally annoyed at this problem!

Yes, I too went in to Settings > Accessibility and turn off for reminder of notifications. That fixed it for me. (For HTC 826)

I see no reason to add this answer since the content is already covered in this answer.

To remove vibration you should
Settings > Sound > deselect the vibration box

Go to Settings → Accessibility and untick the box for reminder of notifications. That might fix it.


text:
Educational tablet mass-customization
I am working on a small nonprofit project to bring educational tablers to rural areas of Thailand. I would like to ask you guys to help me out with the task. There are 100 chinese tablets donated. I am looking for a way to upload multiple educational apps at once and customize the tablet look and feel, so far I have found solution to upload multiple APKs with mass-apk-installer.
For customization I have found Themer, which unfortunately is not compatibile with the tablet. Then I came across Desktop VisualizeR this one looks promising, but customizing manually 100 tablets will be ages of manual work.
At the end I will have lets say 20 APKs with educational games. I would like to change the home screen so every one has different background and customized big icons, preferably 4x bigger than original size. The 'icons' should have custom descriptions. At the end I would like to fully customize one tablet and have some kind of solution to easily port all settings and customizations to rest 99 tablets.
I would kindly request specific answer to my problem, not links to general tutorials. Please help me out! The kids will grately appreciate your help.

Are the devices all of the same type (i.e. brand AND model)? What Android version is running on them?

Hi Izzy! Yes all tablets are identical 4.2.2 Androids

As the tablets are all identical, and run Android >= 4.0, the following approach could be taken – provided all devices should be configured identically:

Configure one device the way you want to have them all
Use adb backup to create a backup of this tablet (see our adb tag-wiki for a starting point if you didn't use ADB before)
Use adb restore to restore the created backup of the first device to all other devices

This should transfer all apps and settings from the first, manually configured device to all the others (including homescreen settings). You can play with parameters to adb backup to speed up the restore process, e.g. by specifying to only include the apps you added/modified, e.g.
adb backup -apk -shared -f backup_customized.ab com.package1 com.package2 …

(replace com.package1 com.package2 … with a list of packages you want to include). Skip -shared if you don't need to clone SDCard contents (you also could copy those separately, which even might be faster).


text:
Android: Default Battery Percentage Level for individual services to switch off
We all know Android OS switches off services one by one when the battery reaches critical level. But is there any fixed battery level to cut down individual services. For example, Bluetooth will be switched off at 20%, Mobile data at 15%, Wifi at 10%, etc. I am searching these information in Android documentation and Googling as well. But I am not able to find such information. Any help please.

"Services" doesn't mean what you think it means. A service is an app component that can run in the background. For example, an email app might have a service that's started every 15 minutes to check for new email (and stops itself when it completes). This means it's background apps that stop, not things like the Wi-Fi and mobile data.
App developers are encouraged to check for the low battery condition and stop battery-draining activities. This broadcast also triggers the "low battery" dialog, so it's easy to tell at what level it fires. It can be changed by the device manufacturer (since Android is open-source), but it's usually set to trigger at 15%.

Hi Dan, thanks for your response. I am very well aware of the term "service". And sorry for the confusion. I am actually writing a report where i need to provide the threshold values set by individual manufacturers. In fact, I guess even with the same manufacturer, the threshold values may vary with the device models. So I am just interested in at least 2 or 3 device models threshold values.


text:
Any solution for sharing text with friend but prevent copy?
Is there any App / solution can suffice the follow needs ?

I want to share some text with friends (not public).
I don't want them be able to copy the text in anyway.
able view the text offline.
cross-platform. (not a must)

Simple idea is to type the required message in any text editor on phone (or in any messaging app itself / or write a Gmail and save as draft) and then take a screenshot of the text and send it over to the intended people!

what if there is a lots of text, like a
Business Proposal ? Also, make it into image and send to the other will make it way too easy to share out.


text:
Transfer a folder with subfolders from PC to Smartphone Note 3 via WLAN
I'd like to transfer a folder with approx. 300 files (wma, mp3 etc.) in different subfolders to the Galaxy Note 3 External SD Card.
I've tried some possible solutions:
WiFi File Transfer Pro: does not transfer the subfolder-structure
AirDroid: is too expensive (approx. 20 Dollars per year)
Kies Air: does not work neither
Is there any (almost) free solution?
I tried and it was possible per hazard with this one:
"ES Datei Explorer" App --> Activate ES FTP-Server
Installation of FileZilla on PC and open this WLAN Server Nummer
It was possible to tansfer whole subfolder structure
If someone knows an even bether or easier way (because in the way describes with FileZilla you cannot directly transfer to the external SD Card, you have to move on the smartphone afterward) please let me know.

There are a number of programs.  You're described the functionality of an FTP or SMB service.
One of the best is Servers Ultimate.
You might also take a look at Airdroid.
Type this in the file explorer window of your OS to see a GUI resolution:
ftp://192.168.1.150:2121

(The IP address should be replace for the one that Servers Ultimate Pro gives you.)
You'll end up with a regular file browser window where you can drag and drop items between your computer and your Android.
This is a view of your drag/drop (copy option) in Linux:

This is a view of your drag/drop (copy option) in Windows:

The Android is on the left of the two pictures.  The PC is on the right of the two images.
When you drag and drop, you can drag and drop (transfer) full subfolders between the Android and the PC, or of course individual files.
Enable write access for the user:
Ensure you have setup a user for your ftp server and enabled write access for this user.  You can check this by clicking (from Servers Ultimate Pro):

Click on Servers then Click the FTP server you setup
Click Edit
Click General
Click Users
Click the specific user
Put Check mark in Allo write access

AirDroid (as desvribed above): unfortunately not useful, because 5 MB File Limitation
Servers Ultimate seems to be a cool tool, although ES File Explorer has also a FTP service

@user68212 Please look at what I added to the answer.  I thought this was inferred.  I believe you misunderstand the significants of an FTP server and the ftp client of ES File Explorer.

@user68212 I updated my answer to include an images in the description.

Thank you for the pictures. Unfortunately drag and drop is not possible (probably because of Update KitKat). Although it works very well with Samsung Kies 3.

@user68212 If you have a problem with drag and drop you, it's very obvious that you're doing something wrong.  The feature isn't depended on an OS version.  It is a default feature of ftp.  Depending on the error you get when you try, it might have something to do with some type of permission setting.  As far as update, I always run the latest updates on all my devices and encourage the same to my clients.  I'm glad you have the Kies workaround.  I tested it and removed it because of it bulkiness.  You're welcome for the images.  I thought you were missing the gist by your previous comment.

drag&drop from emulated/0/.. to PC = works
drag&drop from PC to emulated/0/.. = does not work
drag&drop from emulated/0/A/file.mp3 to emulated/0/B/ = does not work (without error)
renaming or deleting files from emulated/0 = works

KitKat issue:
drag&drop from extSdCard/file.mp3 to PC = works
drag&drop from PC to extSdCard/file.mp3 = works
deleting extSdCard/file.mp3 = does not work
(error 450 RMD fail)
renaming extSdCard/file.mp3 = does not work
(350 Target exists, 550 RNTO failed)
drag&drop extSdCard/A/ to extSdCard/B/ = does not work
(without error notification)

how to add return between lines in this forum?

@user68212 It's disabled in the comment feature.  Extensive discussion is discouraged.  A user can modify his question or answer to make things clearer.  There are, however, limited formating tools available by clicking on the help to the right of your text box when commenting.  But newlines/carriage returns isn't one of them.

@user68212 I added a section to my answer (enable write access) that should resolve the issue you're describing.

Thanks for your comment!................................ OK = Click on Servers then Click the FTP server you setup...... OK = Click Edit ...... OK = Click General ..... OK = Click Users ..... OK = Click the specific user
..... OK = Put Check mark in Allo write access ................................................ so with this you can drag&drop files from pc to emulated/0. although you cannot delete rename or move files or data from extSdCard because no app has write access without rooting the smartphone. There are only two solutions: a) rooting your device b) connecting with Samsung Kies 3

@user68212 Performing the steps on the computer will enable write access.  Deleting a file is write access.  Rooting your android isn't a requirement for managing files and folders in your personal area and your SD card.  If you actually perform the steps and have problems I'd be curious.  I don't root my clients androids.  But I do set up their androids (as well as mine) for this ease of access.

With OK i meant that I have exactly done this steps in this order....If I click to the Servers Ultimate: Information: I reed: "Connect using an FTP client. It looks like you're not using root so you can't access the FTP server on the default port 21 which might cause problems connecting when using default settings. If you forward the port manually make sure you forward TCP. It seems that the FTP root is not writable, this might b a problem if you try to write files."....I used "FTP Server" (not Proxy or Native)....the "allow write access is only under specific and users able to click

in "GENERAL" should I Put Check mark in ROOT: Use root for internal port forwarding or something else because under root there is no "Allow write access" possible?....It would be nice if it really would work to have write access to the extSdCard (because my smartphone is not rootet)

@user68212 Don't setup ftp on the default port 21.  I never tried to do that.  It appears that the application is actually preventing you from making this security concerned issue.  My androids are not rooted.  I use them unrooted so that it would be easier for me to see what my clients see when giving them setup and configuration advise.  I gave you steps above in my answer.  I wouldn't advise forwarding since you're only setting it up for your local network.  I haven't even looked at the other things you're referencing.  Try the defailts with port 2121 and nothing else changed.

I've used port 21 and it was not working.
So now I have done it again and corrected your comment because most users do not already have Servers Ultimate with a user, so I first have to set up a user.
I've done exactly what I corrected in your answer, I navigated to the extSdCard in the file browser and tried to delete a folder then it occured the following notification:
Beim Löschen einer Datei oder eines Ordners auf dem FTP-Server ist ein Fehler aufgetereten. Stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie die erforderlichen Zugriffsrechte für den Ordner haben. Details:550 Deletion error, possibly incomplete"

@user68212 The answer I gave you would never fail.  If you changed my answer and have problems, I believe it might be due to the changes you made.  I when over the steps I typed in my answer a number of times while making preparing the answer.  I'll have to study what you have done different by studying whatever changes you made and put the answer back to what actually is deeply tested and works.  I'll hope that you'll try the update and give feedback on exactly the steps that I have tested.  It'll take me a while to study and redo the answer (with test).  I'll advise you when it's done.

I fixed the steps in a easy to follow manner.  If you can't get to the step of putting the check mark in the user, please indicate the last thing you did when you got stuck.  If you did add the check mark and still can't write, you might check how you configured the client.  I can go into more details with the client.

Get ADB running on your computer (see e.g.: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?)
Enable wireless ADB on your Android device
on a command line: adb push <local_folder> <remote_folder> to get the files from your computer to the Android device – or adb pull <remote_folder> <local_folder> for the other direction


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After adding icon to home screen, the icon in the apps screen remains
I have put a few applications in a folder on the home screen, but their icons are still displayed on one of the apps screens.
How can I remove those still on the apps screen?

The app icon on the home screen is just a shortcut to the app. The purpose of the app drawer is to show all installed apps.
If an app is installed, you can't remove it from the app drawer, unless you uninstall the app itself.
Consider the icons placed on your home screen as shortcuts, like on desktop in Windows.

you cannot remove an app from the apps screen !
when u add the icon of a particular app on your home screen , you are just creating a quick shortcut to that particular app.
But if you really want to remove an app from your app drawer you could simply hide it with the help of applications from the play store ! .

Look for alternative launcher apps in the play store. See if they have the functionality of hiding or grouping apps in the app drawer.
Nova Launcher has this functionality only in the paid version.


text:
Inputting Japanese characters?
I am not a Japanese speaker, but I know a few words, mostly Pokémon names... In fact, in many cases the Japanese name will pop up in my head before the English one.
But I want to be able to type アブソル instead of "Abusoru" because the Romaji makes it look silly.
However at present the only way I can do this on my phone is to find an online converter and copy the result from there. Hardly ideal. But I can't find Japanese input methods anywhere in the keyboard settings. Plenty of other writing systems like Greek, Arabic, and I think Chinese, but no Japanese. Am I simply overlooking an option, or is there something I need to do to get such support on my phone?

I will show you the way/tip (steps by steps) how to config the keyboard for any language on Android OS phone (I'm using Android 9)

Open any text editor app or web-browser which you can call the keyboard. In my phone, I'm opening Chrome

Press and hold on Space-bar key to call Change Keyboard screen

If there's not the support keyboard for the language that you want, select option LANGUAGE SETTINGS to go to the screen with the list of keyboards are added

If you want to add more keyboard, select button ADD KEYBOARD  to go to the screen that allow you select more keyboard --> find out your desired language and proceed to adding

Open any text editor again, then Press and hold on Space-bar key to call Change Keyboard screen --> select your desired language, in my case I selected Japanese (if I typed "ka" it will displayed by "か")

Please take a look at Google Japanese Input: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.japanese
Swype keyboard has Japanese language built in as well: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuance.swype.dtc


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Device got bricked while installing JELLYBEAN
I was trying to update my ICS4.0.4 to Jellybean and clear cache partition and also Dalvik cache and unfortunately my tablet got restart and now it is hard bricked just show vendor logo and boot infinitely and now usb debugging was off now anyone please help me to get it unbricked.Thanks in advance. I know last option is to go to vendor service centre don't want to do so.
Now one more thing that if someone can help me to install any android version from starting then all posts are welcomed such as new device with no boot loader. Delete completely and install new boot loader hope you understand what i am saying.
Thanks in Advance.

"Clear Cache" and "Wipe Dalvik" shouldn't brick a device, as both only affect temporary data. If your tablet booted during this operation (and not during the update process to JB), simply repeat. // Apart from that: Is it stuck at the boot screen, or does it boot in a loop? In the latter case, please take a look at our boot-loop tag-wiki.

with fastboot tools you should still be able to access your device via usb. get the android-sdk-tools from google, and give it a try
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:_fastboot_intro
http ://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:_adb_intro
in this wikis you will also find plenty ways to unbrick your device:
unbrick android xda - Google-Suche
https ://www.google.de/search?q=unbrick+android+xda
Unbrick Any Android Phone
http ://www.beingtricky.com/unbrick-any-android-phone/
These 6 methods will help you unbrick any Android Device - Droidiser
http ://www.droidiser.com/2013/07/how-to-unbrick-any-android-phone.html
FASTBOOT-UNBRICK YOUR DEVICE WITH 'NO DISPLAY' - My Community
http ://forums.droidbeans.com//tutorials/fastboot-to-unbrick-your-device/
xda-developers - Threads Tagged with unbrick
http ://forum.xda-developers.com/tags.php?tag=unbrick
[RELEASE] One-Click UnBrick updated 10july11 - xda-developers
http ://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1153310
hope this will help

Your answer should not purely rely on links: someone in the future might find this answer and the links will be dead.


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Messeging or Hangouts - Open Directly to List of People
When I get a notification that I've gotten a new text message, I open Messaging to look. However, it opens usually to the last person I was sending texts to, which isn't always the person that I now want to look at. I then have to go back to get to the list, and then click the new message to read it.
Is there a way to have the app open directly to the list of people, every time? Thanks!

Have you tried pressing the notification instead of opening the app directly?

When you come out of the app pressing home button, it's state is stored. So no matter how many messages you get ,you still go the previous message you were looking at, if you press messaging app...  to prevent this, when you get a new message open notifications instead of messaging app.. This makes app refresh it's previous state to the current one..

That would go to the new message, not tje list of people. Which is better but not what s really am lookong for.

In that case you need to close the messaging app every time you leave. So that next time you get a new message, just click on the app. You'll be taken to the list of people


text:
How do you answer a call with a physical keyboard?
My Nexus 5 (Android 4.4.4) touchscreen has stopped working, and the warranty replacement is still a few days away.  Since I don't have any other phone to put my SIM in, I still have to use this phone even though the touchscreen doesn't work.
I discovered I can plug in a physical USB keyboard with an OTG adapter, and this suffices to navigate around the phone for the most part.  However I can't work out how to answer an incoming call using the keyboard!
Does anyone know what, if any, key combination you can press on an external (USB/Bluetooth) keyboard that will answer an incoming call?
(I worked out that Ctrl+Esc closes the lockscreen if there is no PIN set, but this does nothing when an incoming call is waiting to be answered.)

I don't know about keyboard shortcuts for answering a call on Android.
What you can do is to connect a USB mouse and use mouse gestures that replicate touch input, it is cumbersome but it should work. I've been doing that on a tablet with a similar problem.


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Using PIN instead of a password for encryption on Galaxy S5
I have a brand new Galaxy S5 with Kitkat (4.4.2) and am required to encrypt it for work. I greatly prefer to use the PIN lock screen instead of the password due to the annoyance of having to type in the password every time you want to check your phone.
My phone will ONLY allow me to choose "Password" for the lock screen type when I go to encrypt. However, my friend has the exact same phone as me, and is able to select both "Password" and "PIN" (whereas mine is grayed out and says 'Turned off by administrator, encryption policy, or credential storage').
I have restored the phone to its factory settings, and there are no 'Device Administrators' or user credentials installed.
What exactly has caused my phone to no longer accept the PIN? Was there some update to the security settings? Is there any way to restore the PIN functionality?
To be clear, I am not asking about separate passwords for encryption and unlock, I know that this is an Android issue that has not been addressed by Google, and I am not looking for Pattern, Swipe, or None, which don't work with encryption on any make or model.

You can choose a password that exists of numbers only. I've done that with Jellybean, and was annoyed when starting up the phone, and not having the number pad. It worked with Jelly Bean, and I hope it works with KitKat as well.
Only thing I would prefer is to have a password for startup, complex with letters and numbers, and a PIN for unlocking the phone. That is possible as well I've been told, but you need to root the thing for this to work.

So your phone, when encrypted, allows you to choose a PIN lock? That option is grayed out on my phone, but I've seen other Galaxy S5 phones where it is available, and I can't find any information why it works on some phones but not others.

I don't have a S5 here at the moment. I would try Samsung support. They may know how to solve this. One thing you could try is to enter numbers only as password, and see if that turns up the PIN keyboard when you unlock. When I restart my phone (Sony Z1) the normal keyboard turns up, which is quite annoying when you use a complex PIN (but good security wise), and after unlocking the PIN keyboard is used. So maybe this works the other way around for your phone?!

I have experienced this as well.  My first S5 was as you described your friend's, I was initially required to enter a password when encrypting the device.  However, after doing so, I was able to change it to a PIN.  Unfortunately, this phone broke and I was forced to buy a new one.  It would appear the loophole I took advantage of in the software on my first one has now been taken care of.  I no longer have the option to switch back to a PIN after encrypting.
Good news though, I found another loophole!  Go into the security settings page in your phone and ensure you have Android Device Manager enabled as a device administrator.  Once done, navigate to the app's website on your PC and select the option to "lock your phone".  You'll then be prompted to change the current password (with zero requirements) to a new one before the site sends a lock command to your phone. Choose the PIN you want and you're good to go.  This allows your phone to stay encrypted, but with the use of a PIN instead of password.  That said however, if you attempt to go in to your security settings and decrypt either your SD card or phone after doing this, you will be prompted to change back to a password.  If for some reason you find yourself in a situation that would require that, change your phone back to a password (as your phone requires) and then repeat the steps to set it back to PIN.

Go to Settings>Fingerprint>Choose Screen Lock to change from Password to a PIN

This works for encrypted phones as well?

authors: сергей Бетев


text:
BATTERY got wet, then won't work!
What is that little sensor for on my LG cell phone that lines up with the battery?
Went the battery got wet, it quit working.  What is that little round sticker on the battery that lines up with that sensor?  Can it be replaced?

You might be able to get a replacement battery.  That's much cheaper than buying a new smartphone.
Try here:
http://www.shopandroid.com/device-selector-lg.htm


text:
Files and Data loss when sd card is changed from java supported phone to android phone
I have changed my micro sd card from Samsung Star2 S5263 which is running on Java OS to a new android phone. Later I have connected my android phone to my PC to copy some files from the system.
And after copying, I have placed my sd card into my old phone (Samsung Star2 S5263) only to find some of the files, images and videos are missing. When I tried to open those, it says invalid file format.
Files which were absolutely fine a few minutes ago, now says invalid file format. When I have connected to the system, I haven't touched these files. Any reason why this happens? How to get the files back? (Those images are absolutely important!!)
Thanks

If you removed the micro SD card from a device (any device) while it was still in use, this can cause filesystem corruption. This can often be repaired by connecting it to a card reader on your PC and using a disk scanning tool (e.g. ScanDisk on Windows).


text:
Installing cyanogenmod 11
I have gionee gpad g3 whose specifications are 512 mb ram, 1.2 ghz quadcore processor and 4 gb internal memory. my device is not listed on CM supportable device list. so should i install it?

What do you mean 'should I install it?' What are you going to flash on your phone?
BTW since your tablet lacks official support, try looking on xda-dev if there's any unofficial support for your device. There's little to no hope so I wouldn't count on it much. Even if you can find an unofficial support, its likely to be very buggy and unstable. Better stick to your OEM firmware.


text:
Is there a way to "Turn Off" My Magazine on Samsung Note 3?
I just got a new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and it has the annoying feature of "My Magazine". I was able to unbind "My Magazine" from using Home button, however, is there a way to turn it off (like with some other apps: Settings -> Applications -> All -> {app name} -> "Turn Off")?
I have searched around the net and seems like that option is available for Galaxy S5 users, however, could not find anything for Note 3.

Unlock the bootloader root and flash cyanogenmod

This method is a little complicated but will work..
(FYI I haven't used Samsung in years..) You'll have to find the name of the package.. and then follow THESE steps..

The "My Magazine" feature is integrated into the Touchwiz launcher, so there's really no way to completely turn it off under Jelly Bean.  If you freeze/disable the app you'll see frequent crashes.
If you're still under Jelly Bean, you unfortunately cannot do what Robert suggests because it only applies to Lollipop.  However, the simple way to get rid of this piece of crap is to simply install say the NOVA launcher, or any other available in Google Play.


text:
Android x86 will not connect to the internet
I am using Android x86 4.4 RC2 (Dual-Boot not Virtual) and I can't connect to the internet. Whenever I click Wi-Fi, it stays on "Turning on Wi-Fi" and the Wi-Fi button is grayed out like the option is not available. I opened the terminal and used netcfg to see if the Wi-Fi driver (wlan0) was on but it wasn't so I turned it on by typing "netcfg wlan0 up" and it was up so I went back to the Wi-Fi settings but it still wasn't working. What do I do to enable Wi-Fi?

I'm going to guess that your WiFi chip is unsupported. What model of chip is in your computer?

I have Realtek RTL8187SE Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps PCIE Network Adapter


text:
Bootloop after CWM Restore
I have a Good Backup from CWM, after installing chainfire 3d, It went to boot loop, I restore the device through CWM, but the device is still in boot loop,.
dmesg.log http://pastebin.com/1u4PGhsr
recoovery.log http://pastebin.com/GKKsiN7N
How come my device is in bootloop if I have a good backup? :(

pefrom Factory Reset \ Clear Cache after the CWM Restore ,  the old Rom must save data you must delete in order for the CWM to work.

Don't you mean before CWM restore?


text:
How to change Android's default key press sound?
The phone is rooted, I tried changing the file/s;
/system/media/audio/ui/*.ogg

and their permissions;
-rw-r--r--

but still plays the default. Restarting the phone doesn't work also.  Am I missing something?

Do you mean the sound the keyboard app makes, or the sound made when you have audio feedback for screen touches turned on? If the former, what keyboard app are you using?

@DanHulme I'm referring to the latter.


text:
Airplane Mode Timer that LOCKS
I have found airplane mode apps where I can set a timer for when it comes on. However, I can't find anything that requires a password to turn it off. I need to set it up on my friend's phone for his son so that it forces the phone into airplane mode every night so his son goes to bed. I've tried various Parental control apps, and they suck. Also, it would be useful to have the option to manually turn the service off by sending an SMS from another phone.
Please, don't tell me that my friend needs to take away his son's phone at night. I agree. But it's not my kid so I can't do it myself.

You don't need a password for anything here, neither you've to worry much that the Airplane mode would get disabled by the kid.  Of course, if the kid is smart then s/he would find a way to by-pass the restrictions  imposed using the following solution.
For the solution, you need to use an automation app app like Tasker (paid but trial is available) or MacroDroid (free/Pro). I've demonstrated the solution using the latter because its free version does the job.
Note: Device needs to be rooted.

We would create a macro which would make sure that if the kid disables Airplane mode by any means the Airplane mode would get turned on automatically as long as the time period remains true.

Install and launch MacroDroid.
Tap Add Macro  → Airplane Mode Changed → Airplane Mode Disabled → OK.
Under Add Actions, tap Airplane Mode On/Off → Airplane Mode On → OK → (leave options unchecked) OK → proceed.
Under Add Constraints, tap Time of Day → choose Start Time and Stop Time i.e. for the time period where you want Airplane mode to get enabled and remain active until another time is reached, such as 22:00 to 05:00 → OK → proceed.
Name the macro as Persist Airplane Mode → OK.

Your macros would show up under Macros at the default page of app.
Create a new macro to start the Airplane Mode for the time where you want the kid to sleep or go to bed:

Tap Add Macro → Day/Time Trigger → choose Days of the week and Time of Day, such as Saturday, 22:00 → OK.
Under Add Actions, tap Airplane Mode On/Off → Airplane Mode On → OK → (leave options unchecked) OK → proceed.
Ignore Add Constraints and name the macro as Start Airplane Mode.

The Airplane mode can be turned off easily after the device is rebooted and before MacroDroid is started from startup. MacroDroid wouldn't activate the Airplane mode automatically after reboot unless told to do so.
To make sure that Airplane mode gets enabled automatically after reboot, make the following macro:

Tap Add Macro → Device Boot.
Under Add Actions, tap Airplane Mode On/Off → Airplane Mode On → OK → (leave options unchecked) OK → proceed.
Under Add Constraints,  tap Time of Day → choose Start Time and Stop Time i.e. for the time period where you want Airplane mode to get enabled and remain active until another time is reached, such as 22:00 to 05:00 → OK → proceed.
Name the macro as Activate On Boot → OK.

Now, create a final macro which would disable the Airplane mode at a particular time:

Tap Add Macro → Day/Time Trigger → choose Days of the week and Time of Day, such as Saturday, 05:00 → OK.
Under Add Actions, tap Airplane Mode On/Off → Airplane Mode Off → OK → (leave options unchecked) OK → proceed.
Ignore Add Constraints and name the macro as Stop Airplane Mode.

You also need to activate MacroDroid as Device Administrator so that it can't be force-stopped or uninstalled easily.

Go to Settings → Security → Device Administrators and choose MacroDroid in it.
Also, go to Settings → Apps → MacroDroid → uncheck Show notifications so that its icon and notification doesn't remain visible or persistent.

I've not tested the SMS feature in MacroDroid but I've no reason to believe that it wouldn't work. Give it a try.

The free version of MacroDroid limits to five macros.


text:
Is Microsoft charging for its patent from each Android device sold?
I read here that Microsoft is cashing Android handset ODMs for some patents that are allegedly used in their Android handsets. Why is Microsoft able to do that? Is this a HW or SW-based problem?

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because as per [help/on-topic] legal questions, such as "Will X void my warranty?" are off-topic.

The list includes 73 standard-essential patents, but there’s also 127
  patents that Microsoft claims are implemented in Android. Some on the
  list, as Ars Technica notes, include patents that Microsoft acquired
  as part of the Rockstar Consortium to bid on patents from Nortel.
  ...
  Microsoft is estimated to earn as much as $1 billion a year from
  Android-related licensing revenue.

ref : http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/16/5813710/microsoft-android-patents-list

Yes. Microsoft takes a small amount of revenue on OEM's device it has reached an agreement with. This includes Samsung, LG, Sony, etc. They are able to do it because they hold key patents to some of the methods most smartphones use to function. This includes patents related to interaction with user and network operations. Licensing fees for different OEM is different and not all device violate same patents. so it is both a software and a hardware problem.


text:
Can't install system update on Samsung Gear
I've just gotten a Samsung Gear Live and I get a card for a System Update (I currently have KKV81). It says "Touch to install", however nothing happens when I touch it. I swipe left and select "Open" and I get asked "Download complete. Ready to install?" Again, nothing happens if I press the tickmark to install it.
There are a bunch of other minor issues, but I'm hoping the software update will fix them.
I've unpaired, re-paired, restarted, factory reset and just about anything else, but nothing seems to make a difference.
Any ideas what might be wrong?

I had the exact same problem. This is how I solved it:

Hold the button on the right hand side of the watch down until the screen goes off (about 10 seconds).
Release the button.
The watch "rebooted" and came up with system update message that said swipe left to install
Follow instructions on screen

I had tried that already with no effect. The 10 second button press is just a restart of the watch. I did the same from the menu but it didn't help.

So today it worked for me all of a sudden. I think it was because I was no longer on my home wi-fi. I was on 3G data connection. I went through all the same steps and this time when I touched the tick mark, it installed and rebooted.
For anyone else suffering from this, try taking your phone off wi-fi, waiting a few minutes to make sure it's fully connected to 3G and then try again.


text:
How do I add more locations for weather updates in Google Now?
Currently, Google Now shows me weather updates of my home and work locations. However, I want to add more locations for weather updates. But I couldn't find any setting regarding the same? Is it possible to add locations which are not your home or work? If yes how?

I don't think it's possible, however Google Now will automatically pop in weather cards for the locations where you are traveling (based on mails in your inbox).


text:
Un-Googled Android Experience With CyanogenMod + Amazon App Store?
I was going to buy the new Amazon Fire store as I completely live within the Amazon ecosystem;  I've purchased apps there, I'm mainly a reader and audiobook listener.
However, with my new AT&T Next plan, I'm getting pretty screwed.
I do not have a Google Account and do not want to create one and do not want to live in the Google ecosystem.  Yet, the Nexus 5 at $350 is very appealing.
I was wondering what issues I might face if I bought the Nexus 5, installed the latest CyanogenMod snapshot, and used the Amazon App store on that phone.  Never installing Google Apps.
Does CyanogenMod out of the box provide a complete "deGoogled" Android phone?

If you install the latest snapshot, you're likely to face many issues. Install a release candidate or stable build instead for everyday use.

CyanogenMod, along with most1 other custom ROMs, only include Android code with a few Google parts - all under-the-hood, of course. They do not include apps such as Play Store, Google Now, Gmail, etc. These apps are available as a separate package commonly referred to as GApps2.
So the answer is yes, you may achieve a "de-Googled" experience if you opt not to flash the GApps package.

1 There are some instances that custom ROMs already integrate the Google Apps, but these are rare.
2 Google Apps


text:
Allowing some application to access my Gallery
While allowing some android applications to access my gallery, am i allow them also view all my pictures, downloads etc?
Or are they only be able to pick an image for example when i use an image through that application?

What exactly do you mean by, "allowing some android applications to access my gallery"? What actually happens on the screen:

@DanHulme thanks for attention. I mean, when i decided to install an app from Google Play, it asks if i allow the app to reach my gallery, and some other places. I wonder if these apps can read all my pics etc


text:
How to select specific folders to sync with Dropbox or OneDrive?
I've just bough a phone with Android, a Galaxy Note 3, and I have no experience with it, but I would like to have all my photo albums syncing to a cloud storage service.
I've tried OneDrive and Dropbox, however they just sync files that are located in the main camera album, if I take a picture with an App who has a folder of its own, this picture it is not synchronized. In both OneDrive and Dropbox don't see an option to select these additional folders to sync.
How can I accomplish this?


text:
Print via ad-hoc network to wireless printer?
Is there a way to print from an android device to a wireless printer connected to the ad-hoc network being broadcast by the android device?

Android devices don't support ad hoc networks very commonly, are you referring to the personal hotspot feature? AFAIK it creates an infrastructure network, not an ad hoc one.

Yeah, the personal hotspot mode. The printer successfully connects to the hotspot however when I try to add the printer via PrinterShare from there it doesn't find it. It seems like all the devices on the network are isolated from one another and the printer clients can't locally access the phone and vis-a-versa.


text:
Error: Duplicate Provider Authority
My android phone is asking me to update Google Play Store services, however when I hit update it will stop with the Duplicate Provider Authority error.  Ive noticed that others who had this error with game apps, etc... could just uninstall and reinstall the app, however I cant do that with Google Play Store.  Any suggestions?

Which phone do you have, and what version of Android is it running? Is it stock, or rooted/custom ROM?

Are you sure this is a genuine message, and not a scam from a website or a malware app on your phone? "Duplicate Provider Authority" is often a sign that a package is masquerading as a different one. Please describe in more detail how your phone is "asking you to update". Include a screenshot if that helps.


text:
Deleted mobile number keeps returning Galaxy S4
I've got a Samsung Galaxy S4, running ICS.
I keep my details including my own mobile number in my contacts.
Whenever I go to look at it, there's another number included (I think it's one I had a while ago) which makes it hard for me to remember which is mine!
I've checked my Google account and that only has one number for me.
I delete the number, but if I check a few days later it's back - any suggestions how I remove the number?

Are you syncing your contacts with anything else? Facebook, perhaps?

As far as I can tell I'm only syncing with my 2 Google accounts (which only have one mobile number for me) and the Samsung account stuff you can't remove. I disable everything to do with Facebook.

still a problem


text:
Which uses more battery? 4G lte internet or Wi-Fi?
I usually am within range of my Wi-Fi hotspot, and am using a Samsung Galaxy Note II. I've always wanted to know whether I'd have better battery-life if I was to turn off Wi-Fi? I have unlimited 4G lte from an old Verizon plan, so I don't have to worry about data charges.
By turning on Wi-Fi you get to turn off 4G lte, so I would think it would be a trade-off.
But the cellular connection stays on always, so wouldn't turning on Wi-Fi have a net increase in battery usage?
Also, my phone has the option to disconnect Wi-Fi when I turn it to standby, and reconnect when I turn it back on. I wonder if that makes a difference?

Easy answer
Depends on.
More detailed answer:
This is no easy yes/no question, but has many things to consider. Several factors have to be taken into account. Picking just the easy ones to make it less complicated:

what is the energy consumption in idle mode
how much energy is needed per time unit
how much data is transfered per time unit
how much data do you have to transfer
oh, and what's the signal quality of course

To make a raw calculation, I've collected some hard data on battery consumptions of components a while ago. You will note it lacks LTE/4G specifics, but you can rawly "deduce" those for an estimation. For some "practical examples", take a look at e.g. 2G versus 3G: Does it really save battery?
If you followed this far, you probably reached the same conclusion I came to: There's no "general rule" to give, all depends on "user habits" and "actual situation" (coverage etc.).


text:
"Couldn't move app. Not enough storage space." I have factory reset my phone, inserted & formated a new 64GB MicroSD Card
As my wife bought an Android Phone last year, she has been using an 8GB MicroSD card, recently she wanted to increase more storage space due to having more music and photograph files. As such, I bought a new SanDisk 64GB MicroSD card Class10.
I have successfully formatted the 64GB MicroSD card using the phone's Format function and copied all her photos and music files into the card, I can view all the photos and play the mp3 with no problem. I can also successfully install Apps from PlayStore.
The problem comes when I start to move Apps from Internal to SD using the "Move to SD" function, which will prompt me "Couldn't move app. Not enough storage space."
So I thought there might be some residual apps data somewhere in the phone memory, hence, I factory reset the phone, reformat the 64GB MicroSD, and copy all the photos (folder name: Pictures) and mp3 (folder name: Music) back into the MicroSD. Although I have nearly 50GB of free space in the MicroSD, unfortunately, I am getting the same error again.
Details of the phone:
Model number: e1901_v77gq2008
Android Version: 4.1.1
Build Number: e1901_v77_gq2008_20130131
Appreciate advice for any kind soul.

I'm having the same problem but it only affects large apps (still tiny compared to the available space though). None of the suggested solutions work. Funnily, I just got a 200GB card instead of the 64GB one I had and now I can move ~300MB apps but not a 1.4GB one. Makes no fricking sense. Edit: Nah, just stumbled on a 150MB app that I still can't move. Makes even less sense.

Had same problem: 32GB card works fine, but 64GB card won't move apps even though there's plenty of room.
Solution: connect the phone to the PC and fill the 64GB card with at least 32GB of data (music, video, whatever...).  Now when you try to move the apps, the phone will see less than 32GB free and it will work.
App manager in my HTC Sensation 4G apparently freaks out and chokes when it sees more free space available than it was originally programmed to deal with.

Worked with Sony Ericsson Xperia Active.

can't do that, as when I connect to the "PC" I have access only to the internal storage! :(

With some models of phones there is a difference between "internal SD card" and "external SD card", where the former is just a link to the phones internal storage (whyever). The latter is your real SD card.
It might be that you are not able to use your SD card in the way you like due to this limitation. Using a file explorer, can you see a difference between /storage/sdcard0 and /storage/extSDcard (or similar entries)?
What puzzles me most is that you said the problem occurs after a factory reset. So not even the smallest app is movable?

The problem occured to me when I repeatedly used my phone as an external storage device. After I removed my phone and tried to move an app to the external memory, it says "Couldn't move app, not enough storage space." even I still have plenty of space to use yet, so I waited for about ten minutes and I was able to move the app again.
Removing the sd card and inserting it again, rebooting the phone, reformatting and other similar actions won't speed up the process. Just simply give time for the phone to completely analyze your sd card.

There is a background service that analyzes how much storage space on a phone. It's not instant, and I did see I had to wait a few minutes for Free Space to update, even when on a UHS class 10. However I still get errors when moving apps to it so it may be unrelated.

Am having the same issue, with different SD cards.
When I tried to move the app using AppMgrIII, I got the error "This device doesn't enable users moving apps to the SD card. Usually, it's because of the manufacture removes the function of moving apps to SD from Android...". So apparently, Android could be blocking the copy....whatever target free space is available...

For me, with a Moto G5, I formatted a 16GB microSD card as internal storage, but was getting the "not enough space error". I tried ejecting and re-mounting the card - this apparently solved the problem. (I also tried plugging it in to charge)

If the phone/tablet can only handle 32gb of free space at a time partition your SD card... its just a shot in the dark as many android builds are not capable of seeing two SD cards... and the filesystem you can use are dependent on the kernel, fat filesystems seem to work on most is vfat fat16 and fat32... also ext 2 through 4 are native to Linux which android uses a moded Linux kernel, so you might try those... and in rare cases I've seen android not be able to see two partition of the same fs but could see them if they where different and I've seen the exact opposite too... they had to be the same in order to be recognized....


text:
Android webserver via usb not wifi
I was wondering is there a way to run an android websever via usb? I can find lots of wifi version of this but I would like to use this locally only while the pc is connected to the wifi and have it undetectable. eg via usb.
Does anyone know of any apps/software that this would work on?
Thanks
Paul

That's rather not a question of the app, but of the connection. You might wish to check usb tethering, which is used to establish TCP/IP over USB. See e.g. How to set up reverse tethering over USB? / How do I enable USB tethering on a JellyBean device?

I still think my question is phrased correctly..... I am looking for an app which I think I have found now called PAW server. However I require it to work via USB not Wifi. My question is has anyone done this? and has anyone found an app that can do this?

Again, this is not a question of "an app", but of "a connection". Given you can connect to your device using TCP/IP via USB, it doesn't much matter what app is running a web server there. But if you insist on an app, please keep in mind that questions like Is there an app for X are off topic here (see our [hepl/on-topic] for details).

You can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB, contained in the Android SDK) to forward the tcp connection:

adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080

This works perfectly fine. I had an Android device on a different WiFi network than my Linux PC - and I wanted to be able to connect to a web server running on Android (a normal Android App with an internal Java HTTP server).  I was able to do the adb forward - then the browser on my Linux system I would point to http://127.0.0.1:8080 - of course other ports can be proxied too.  Really it works similar to a ssh port forwarding.


text:
Mount Script cannot be created in Bolt A58
I have a bolt a58. I want increase internal memory by parttion. I followed exactly the same steps what you've in the turorial "How To Increase Internal Memory on any Micromax". After selecting FAT32/FAT16 format in Link2SD it gives error: "Mount Script Error. Mount script cannot be created. mount:No such file or directory". Its an 8GB card. I'll explain all I did before this--

Took backup of SD card and deleted all files (did not format)
I used "MiniTool Partion Wizard" to patition memory, the card being in a card reader
I reserved 1GB of Memory in FAT32(as primary)
Then copied back all files
Opened Link2SD and selected FAT32/FAT16....
and this gave the above error....

Please help me....
Thank you all...


text:
Split phone calls by day
Is there any Android app that allows me to see my phone calls (number, total time) split by each day?
Or do I have to dig it out manually from my call log (quite unhandy)?

Sounds like you are looking for a "sort by day" feature or App correct?

Correct, but not exactly. "Sort by day" will only sort... by day. I have to summarize number of calls and total length myself. I'm more like looking for "split by day", which will sort by day and summarize, how many calls (lasting totally how long) I made each and every day.

try call stats
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.movinapp.calls
there are other similar apps on Google play.


text:
Is there a simple offline contacts manager for android?
I don't want to sync all my contacts with my Google account. I would like to just keep my contacts on my phone and back it up myself. I have disabled contacts syncing in the accounts settings on my phone, but when I try to add a new contact through the 'Contacts' app, it tells me that my new contact will be synchronized with my google account.

Which Android OS version is your phone running? Also, the answer will depend on which "Contacts" app you are using. These vary between different phone manufacturers, so please add which phone model you have.

When adding contacts to the phone via Google's built-in Contacts app, it will give you a choice how to save the contact.  While adding a new contact, tap the "Google contact" to expand the drop-down for more choices on where to save it, and choose the option to store it only locally:

Keep in mind that various phone manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc. load their own versions of some system apps, including the "Contacts" app.  Your Contacts app may look differently, and have this option elsewhere (or may be completely missing it.)

It may well be the option Chahk describes in his answer is not present on your device. I've noticed some devices coming without a "local account". If that's your case, there's e.g. MyLocalAccount creating one for you.
For other contact tools, you might wish to take a look into my list ;)

You can go to App Drawer > Select Phone > Tap on the three dots > Select "Import/Export" > And then select "Export to storage". This will back up all your contacts on your phone itself. You can later on import from this backup if needed. However, you need to do this manually every time you modify your contact list.

In addition to the other suggestions, you can have a look at DecSync and DecSync CC Android app for keeping contacts (and calendars + task lists) on your device in simple text files.
It registers as a contacts provider and the underlying storage files can be backed up or synchronised via a 3rd-party app like Syncthing.


text:
Is it possible to to set a fixed NFC P2P RF speed for the Initiator?
In NFC P2P communication, the RF speed of the LLCP connection is set by the Initiator. The possible speeds are 106kbit/s, 212kbit/s, 424kbit/s.
Android always choses the fastest possible speed.
For example I would like to set the speed to 212kbit/s.
Is it possible to set a fixed RF speed rate on Android side?

From a user perspective: No, that's not possible.
From a developer perspective: Maybe. Android does not directly provide an API that lets you choose a particular communication scheme/speed (the idea behind peer-to-peer mode is that the two devices automatically choose the best scheme that's suitable for both of them). Consequently, there is no way to do this without somehow modifying the operating system.
You could, for instance, create your customized OS and adapt the Android NFC stack to only use certain modes (for NXP's NFC stack, see the NFCIP-1 speeds enum in phNfcTypes.h:955 and the methods setP2pModes() (in NfcService.java:1083) setP2pInitiatorModes() (in NativeNfcManager.java:352) and setP2pTargetModes() (in NativeNfcManager.java:358).
On a rooted device, there could be an even easier approach (i.e. one that does not require building the complete OS): While there is no public API for setting P2P modes, there is a hidden method setP2pModes() in NfcAdapter (in NfcAdapter.java:1373). However, in order to call that method, your app needs to have the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission (which is only granted to system apps).


text:
Galaxy fame wont work with otg
I am trying to operate an otg cabe with my Galaxy fame but am getting nowhere. When I run host diagnostic it doesnt recognise the phone Anyone help?

According to GSMArena, this phone doesn't support USB-on-the-go.


text:
How can I transfer my injustice from android to iPad
I have an account on android with all of stuff - regime superman arkham origins batman and death stroke. I recently got an iPad mini for my birthday, and I would like to put my data from android to my iPad.

If Injustice on iPad doesn't have a menu item to do this, and it doesn't sync game saves via the internet (very few games do this in a cross-platform way), then you can't do it. It's possible to extract the save games from Injustice on Android if your phone is rooted, but iOS doesn't have this feature, so there'd be no way to put the save file into your iPad.


text:
Play Store 4.9.13 insufficient storage error and icon issues
I've been having issues with the Play Store's recent 4.9.13 update on my Blu Dash 4.5.  Every time I try to install or update any app that is more than 1 MB, I keep getting an "insufficient storage" error, even though I have about 120MB on the apps partition free.  Apps do install and update on an older version, however.  In addition, the icons on the Play Store have weird black borders.  I have searched all over the internet and I have yet to find a solution for either of these problems.  Apparently, most devices affected by these bugs are using MediaTek chipsets and have Android 4.2 on them.  My phone is using the stock ROM and is not rooted.

Have you tried clearing the data for the Play Store app?

You definitely got a more updated version of play store than what I have.. The version I have is 4.8.20.... How did you update the play store app??...
One suggestion to... Can you do a force uninstall updates which is located on Settings>Apps>ALL and select the Play Store. See if reverting back helps. And if so I'd say there is a pretty bad bug within that version.

@Al E. Unfortunately, clearing the data does not help.

@Rushnosh: I actually did uninstall the update a few times.  I can confirm that it is a issue with the Play Store. Unfortunately, the update will reinstall regardless of settings.

The correct answer to this problem, and I always see wrong explanations, is that you have a duplicate /data/app-lib folder for the app or apps that are giving you that error.
To fix: Using adb, terminal, or root explorer:
compare /data/app to /data/app-lib
you will see, for example:

/data/app/example-app-1.apk
/data/app-lib/example-app-1
/data/app-lib/example-app-2   <--EXTRA

OR

/data/app/example-app-2.apk
/data/app-lib/example-app-1   <--EXTRA
/data/app-lib/example-app-2

So for 1st example remove directory: /data/app-lib/example-app-2
and for 2nd example remove directory: /data/app-lib/example-app-1
Then your app will install just fine!
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO KEEP THE SAME NUMBERS,
IF THE APK IS 1 REMOVE 2... IF THE APK IS 2 REMOVE 1!

Won't this require root?

Yes, that is the problem with this bug... I am just explaining what causes that insufficient space warning. For some reason, when apps update, sometimes Play Services does not remove the app-lib directory for that app. It happens to me quite a bit. And that is how to I fix it.

I don't think there is anyway to remove the folder without root. However until Google fixes the Bug, I would try to get the app's apk... asking for the app's apk online or if you already have it, I would suggest trying to install with adb, except use adb install -r application.apk the -r flag is reinstall. Check when Play Services was last updated and version, as it may be Play Services not Play Store causing the left behind app-lib folders. Then, I would get the apk for previous play services or play store and use it. That won't remove the app-lib folder but will prevent more.

@SudoSURoot
So in a normal case we are looking at this scenario (using the nexus5 - hammerhead):
root@hammerhead:/data/app # ls | grep -i vending com.android.vending-1.apk root@hammerhead:/data/app # ls ../app-lib | grep -i vending com.android.vending-1
@Crayon
Will try out our play store update and see if I can replicate the issue myself.

There is actually an app to fix this, which removes all extra /data/app-lib folders, but it needs root access. It is created by Jrummy apps, and the apk download is located at: http://jrummy-apps.com/faqs/ and click/look under section titled Google Play gives an 'Insufficient Storage Available' error

@Rushnosh just to be sure you understand, it is not Play Store having extra /data/app-lib folder, but the app giving the insufficient storage error. And yes that is a way to find the problem app-lib. On the second grep it would show com.application.name-1 and com.application.name-2. I just installed the app from my comment from above, as I usually just use adb shell rm -rf /data/app-lib/com.application.name-1 (whichever is extra, 1 or 2), and the app is simple, hit a button it removes all extras and tells which were removed. I had one currently and didn't even know it.

OK... So in the ctsao68 case the app which is referring to "File Manager". Yep got it...
So steps to replicate (I dont think I can since I have alot of space on my phone, but will try anyways)...

Install PlayStore Update (com.android.vending-4.9.13.apk)
Attempt to install anything above 1MB ... Or try File Manager
See results - adb shell commands

@SudoSURoot your solution did worked. How did you knew what to do? care to share?

I build system ROMs daily and saw the error quite a few times, and from browsing my system all of the time, I just noticed that the apps which were having this error had duplicate app-lib folders. Later I found the app I posted in comment above, by jrummy apps, that fixes it in one click. The problem has been fixed though I believe, in the newest play store app with KitKat, because I haven't seen the issue in a while and I was able to delete that app. I had filed a Bug Report, but haven't checked the status. But it seems to be fixed now. Anyway, thanks for the recognition.

@SudoSURoot Do you trust this app from jRummy? and which app is it? I can't find it.

Well it doesn't matter now anyway, I looked on the device and I don't have any files as you describe.

@Seth to answer your question anyway, I absolutely trust the app from JRummy. I reverse engineered the app back into java, and it does just what I explained. Second, JRummy is an excellent, well known, programmer. I've used the app myself, and he is the creator of ROM Toolbox Lite, ROM Toolbox Pro, Root Browser, ROM Installer, Build Prop Editor, and a lot more great apps that almost every root user uses... See Here: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=JRummy+Apps+Inc.) However, if you are running the newest Play Store (might have to be on KitKat or above) the issue has been fixed.

Provided that the device is not rooted - will a factory reset delete these folders?

I have this error on Android 4.0.4, where there is no app-lib folder in the first place. The jrummy app tells me I have no problems, but I do (can't update the app, and if I delete it, I can't install it back). I have plenty of phone storage and SD storage. The problematic apps are not even in /data/app.

You probably solved this, but for others, or if not: No /data/app-lib folder on 4.0.4? What about /data/app/com.example-app-name-1 or /data/data/example-app-name.com-1? I didn't start building Android until 4.2 so I do not know that much about the file structure of 4.0.4. Look for any folders with a 1 & 2 suffix with the same app name. If you have busybox, which includes find command you can do: find /data -type d -name *-1 Then look for duplicates. If you still cannot find the issue, let me know and I'll look back at the old code, to see the file structure.

First of all this is a bug somewhere on play store side so I think we can only get a work around not an actual solution, said that I solved freeing more space than it would be theoretically needed, using old version of play store works too.
As for how much space is needed I don't have a clear answer because my phone (also on android 4.2.1 and MTK based) is rooted and I symlinked some apps to a different partition to be able to use more than 1.5GB as internal storage (that's data size partition in my phone).
So I think this causes some problems on size estimation because Manage apps says I have 491MB free (correct)

but Settings->Storage says I have 195MB Available (not correct).

You can try removing some apps, I think 180MB free should do.
As for the black border I've had that problem since some months, I didn't dig much on the issue but I think they changed image format (new one is webp) and the transparency layer is not working well in our phones.
@Rushnosh
This version is out one month already but updates roll out not at the same time for everybody, if you want to try it you can update it manually downloading the apk from a trusted source like:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/07/22/google-play-store-update-4-9-13-adds-material-design-app-and-content-pages-apk-download/
For images problem look here:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/nexus/tw1FebzJQng
Looks like from Google the only answer is to ask manufacturer to update to KitKat.

@SudoSURoot I had that problem before, with something not being cleaned up, but it's not the current problem I am having with this play store version. I checked all possible duplicates that can be in: app-lib, app, dalvik-cache and I had none. The only two ways i was able to update was using an old version or freeing more space. The only key was app size and free space available. (can't comment in the other answer)

It works for me buddy. However, you have to uninstall more depending on your storage capacity. For example, my capacity is 2GB and the minimum allowance or free space left required to download is 160MB. If it's below 160MB (memory or no. of installed apps) you get an "insufficient storage error." Even if you download 1MB app and installed it onto the storage with 159MB of free space left and it will not install it until you have to either free memory cache or uninstall app at lest 1 MB.

Just uninstall google play store update to revert back to the factory settings. Then updating apps will be possible.

Try uninstalling the updates to put Google Play Store back to factory version, disconnect your connection, then set "Do Not Update" in Play Store settings.
My problem is fixed but I have an old version of Google Play. But I can update my application.

I thought the "do not update" option only applied to any app on my phone that's not the Play Store?  So far, the old version of the Play Store does work on my phone.  The problem is that it will update itself to the newest version no matter what I do.

Solution for this issue is to move some apps to the phone storage or sd card and not in the internal storage; like you go to phone or mobile settings>apps>go through each app that you installed if there is a button that says "move to phone storage" or "move to sd card" click on it,in this way application will be moved out from internal storage because most of the times playstore identifies storage of apps are on internal storage not on the phone storage or sd card eventhough you have plenty of memory storage on your phone or card so that may be the reason why you have insufficient memory storage..

Download the apk for 4.8 from android police, decompile, change package name, compile, install. I don't think it would be able to update then. You'd have two play stores, keep the original and wait for an update that fixes it, but use the other one in the mean time.
I hope this helps.


text:
Is it possible to make a call without having access to the contacts list?
Is it possible to make a call without giving access to the phone's contacts? I.E. say I let a friend use my phone, and lock my contacts such that it requires a pin for access - is there any way to allow a call to an arbitrary number that is not necessarily in the contacts?

In Android 5, a feature called screen pinning was introduced. The idea is to actually pin an active app screen so that it cannot be quit, no notifications are shown, and so on. Think of this feature as restricting yourself to a single app screen until it is unpinned again. More information can be found here.
To come back to your specific problem: start the call app, pin its screen and hand it  out to someone. This person is now able to use the pinned app screen, but cannot switch to another app. If you enable the corresponding setting, this person will also not be able to unpin without knowing your password/pin/pattern.
It should be noted that you need at least Android 5 Lollipop for this.

Link seems broken, and I don't have Android 5 yet, but what "dialer" app can actually call with  the phone but not have contacts access?

Fixed the link. Actually I am not sure if pinning restricts you to the current screen (activity) or the current app, so if it is possible to reach the contacts from the pinned dialer. I don't have a device supporting this at hand, but if you say that you are running an android version below Lollipop, then this is not the solution you are looking for anyway, sorry.

Well I will eventually upgrade to android 5, but even with android 4 and others, there are security apps that can "pin-lock" specific apps, so I could just do that to the normal dialer - the question is what app would allow the making of a call without viewing the contacts or requiring the "standard" dialer


text:
Internet sharing - Ubuntu
I have a smartphone (from a local manufacturer). It has an option saying 'USB Internet' with description 'Sharing windows PC internet via USB cable'.
My first question is whether I can bridge my Ubuntu internet connection with this option?
When I connect my phone to my PC Network Manager show a new ethernet connection 'Wired Connection2' with name 'Ethernet Network (Qmobile A36)'. The problem is that network manager try to connect to this network but always fails to do so.
I tried to apply every solution available on internet but failed to gain any success.
Output for lsusb:
Bus 002 Device 015: ID 0bb4:0004 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.)
...

Output for ip link show:
...
9: usb0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether a2:d4:38:5b:d8:72 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

Output for ifconfig usb0:
usb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr a2:d4:38:5b:d8:72
          inet6 addr: fe80::a0d4:38ff:fe5b:d872/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:246 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:380 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:7104 (7.1 KB)  TX bytes:86559 (86.5 KB)

Any help appriciated.

Are you trying to use the phone's internet connection from the PC, or the PC's internet connection from the phone?

PC's internet connection to phone..!

possible duplicate of How do you set up internet pass-through (reverse-tether) on linux?

@DanHulme I have tried that solution too. But no gain.

Did you do the manual assignment of an IP to usb0? (Because your ifconfig output depicts otherwise.) This explains the process in a bit more detailed way: http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/networking/guide-connect-android-to-linux-pc-t2825476 (I just tried it and got the PC to connect to the interface flawlessly; however, I had to use the Edit Connections option of Network Manager for assigning the IP, instead of the command line.)