text:
On system restore, will I lose my software updates?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and have it updated to 4.1.2 from ICS.
If I restore my phone to factory settings (either by going to settings or by rooting), will I lose my updates?
If so, is there any other way to restore without having the above setbacks?

Yes, you'll lose your updates, along with any other installed app that didn't come with stock. But you will be able to re-update the apps via Google Play, and you won't lose any purchases you made (they are stored forever on the Google cloud).
I'm not sure why you're concerned about it, though. I can understand not wanting to lose your settings and data, but the only downside to losing app updates is the time and bandwidth required to re-update them afterwards.
Edit: You are probably asking about OS updates. Your phone does not keep an original OS image. Thus, once you update your OS (either by OTA updates or by installing a custom Rom), you will not be able to revert to the older Android version. Doing a factory reset should just reset the phone to a clean slate of the current Android version.

I think he meant OS level updates.

Ah, that makes more sense. I'll update my comment.

That's correct: The term "factory reset" is a bit misleading. It does not refer to "the factory state of the device", but "the factory settings of the current ROM". So if there was an OS update (= ROM), this will stay. But all user data and user-installed apps will be gone.

Performing a factory reset on an Android device does not remove OS upgrades, it simply removes all user data.  This includes the following:

Apps downloaded from Google Play Store, or otherwise side-loaded onto the device (even if you moved them to external storage.)
Preferences and data for all apps, downloaded or pre-loaded on the device. This includes call/SMS/MMS logs, contacts, save games, etc.
Personalized system settings (e.g. saved Wi-Fi networks and passwords, etc.)
Any Google accounts you've added, along with saved credentials.

The factory restore does not touch the following:

Contents of "external" storage (micro-SD Card, or for devices without it a part of internal memory that is set aside for this purpose) such as web downloads, photos and videos you've taken with the device, music you've copied over from your PC, documents, and other media.  Exception is the apps that were moved to "external" storage.
Core components such as system apps* (along with apps pre-loaded by your carrier and/or manufacturer into the system partition,) Android kernel, and bootloader. These core components are what defines the Operating System version.
Network unlock status.

* Keep in mind that if you've updated any system apps via Play Store, those updates will be lost, and the apps will revert to the version that ships with the OS.

Definitely, you'll lose all your data but OS upgrades will still remain.
All the installed apps except system apps and their data including contacts, SMS etc. will be temoved, so you will lose your security pin, contacts, browser history and so on but not the system updates.
Your external SD card will not be erased so data present in it will remain.

This post requires editing. Please flag this comment as "no longer needed" if you think the editing is well done.

Not only did a factory reset delete my note 4 from 6.0.1 back to 4.4.4 it also took it from an un-locked phone and relocked it......o/o    not sure HTF that happened but I can guarantee you that the answer isn't always a definite no.


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How to protect my Google account credentials on my Android phone?
Currently I use Gmail on my desktop with 2-step verification (by SMS) enabled and I consider it secure. Now I'm buying an Android phone and I'd like to check Gmail on it sometimes, but I don't want to save my password on the phone.
When my phone gets stolen or lost, the thief would gain access to all my Gmail data. I've heard Android uses Google account for a lot of things, like downloading apps from the store. Is there any way to set it up so that it doesn't store my password and asks for it every time I'd like to access mail?
I don't want to protect my phone entirely (with entering the PIN every time I use it etc.), as it's prepaid and I don't really have anything sensitive there.

Using a free service like Android Lost, you can remotely control your phone from a web browser. You can wipe it, locate it on a map, read sms'es, take a picture remotely etc... to ease your concerns regarding security.
While not directly an answer to your question, it might be a viable solution.  Not storing your Google credentials on your Android smartphone and accessing Google services through the mobile web brower is not only very impractical, but also sort of defeats the purpose of a modern smartphone doesn't it ?

This and "APP Lock" application allowed me to do what I asked for. Thanks!

Your Google/Gmail account will be linked to the phone, you will not be asked to authenticate each time you access your mail, what you can do is this:

Enable two step authentication on your Google account
Download the Google Authenticator app for your shiny new android phone
Pin/password protect your handset [using a pattern isn't the most secure method as it can easily be guessed]
[optional] use a password safe service like LastPass
Proffit???

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Reading pdf books on my phone
When I want to get/download books from Google Play Store, I usually get this notification:

But then I am not sure what to do afterwards to be able to read those pdf books on my phone. I've installed to ebook reader apps (kindle and another one), I also downloaded Google Play books app but I can't find those books exploring in those ebook reader apps and I can't find Google Play Books app on my phone to check whether it is possible to read them there.

What do you mean '..downloaded Google Play books app..' and '..can't find Google Play Books app on my phone..'?

@Sid: This one and by the latter I meant I can't find it among the installed apps on my phone.

Actually I am looking for an elegant way of reading those books I find in the Google Play store on my phone!

you should have the icon in your app drawer. (search through every page carefully) If not, go to your play store app and search to find it. then try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

@Sid: And then those books will be available from the app?

Yes. it should.

You can download the Google Play Books app from the market (link)
If there is a problem with your installed app, open the app using Play Store app and uninstall and reinstall it. Now you should have the app shortcut in your app drawer.
In this app, you will be able to view your purchased books.

The app will show up as a blue book icon with the label "Play Books" (so you'll find it with the apps starting with "P" if your launcher sorts them alphabetically). Additionally if you're on a PC you can browse to http://books.google.com/  and (once you're logged in) you can click the My Library link (near the bottom of the page) to view and read books you've purchased in the Google Play store.

@GAThrawn: Yes, I knew what it looks like. Thank you. I can only read those book online, right?

@Gigili to read offline, you have to make them available offline and some books may nit be available for offline reading (info)

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


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What's the difference between the various lost phone apps?
I want to get a security app for my phone. I mostly need something in case my phone gets lost or stolen.
Researching this I have found several apps:

iTag
WaveSecure
LookOut

I am sure there are more out there too.
My question is why would I choose one of these over the others.
How do they differ? Does anyone have experience with wiping or finding a lost phone using one of these devices?
Thanks!

I use LookOut and have tested the lost phone function which works pretty well.  I need to upgrade my version of CM as soon as I have the time.  Before I do I'll try to remotely wipe my device and report back.

I'm using Prey myself. I'd just look at each one of them, check their features and see if they meet your needs.

What phone do you have? Some manufacturers (eg HTC and Samsung) make their own tracking apps that they embed in their newer phones. I have a Galaxy S and have Samsung Dive set up for mobile tracking.

I have a Galaxy S too, The AT&T Captivate. What's the Samsung Dive?

@Adam http://samsungdive.com/ integrates with the Mobile Tracker section under Location and Security in the phone's settings. Unfortunately I don't think that it's available on all of the US Galaxy S variants for some reason. According to this it should be coming to US AT&T Captivates "soon" http://www.theandroidsoul.com/2010/07/02/samsung-dive-unplugged-on-the-galaxy-s-enhances-security-features/

@GAThrawn - Yeah, Froyo is supposed to come to my phone "soon"; I'm still waiting. Oh well. Thanks anyways.

@Adam Mobile Tracker/Samsung Dive isn't specifically a Froyo thing, your phone company may be linking it with their Froyo release, but in Europe we had Dive and Mobile Tracking on Eclair. There's a chance they could give you access to this before Froyo.

I suggest LookOut.  I use it and it's quite good.  It also has the virus scanner and backup of data.

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


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Battery drain with in no time in Samsung Galaxy Ace
I have Samsung Galaxy Ace for almost an year now. The battery of my phone get discharged now with-in no time of charging. The battery status in Setting -> About Phone - > Battery use shown the following

Screenshot (Click image to enlarge)
I could not interpret what does this mean.
Is there some app which is eating up the battery or I need to replace the battery? Is it normal for battery of this model?

The image does not say much without knowing how long your battery lasts now (and how long it did before). How full is it at the time of that picture? The battery symbol looks like "full" (but it contains the charge-indicator, so it's hard to say). 14.5 hours is not bad a runtime nowadays -- but of course not if you did nothing in that time. What your screenshot basically says is: The current battery drainage is shared to 50% by those components. With your battery at 98% charge, each had used ~1% of it then. If you provide the missing info we might be able to tell more.

@Izzy Can you suggest some app which can help me provide you the missing information?

Well, you should know what the battery level was at the time of your screenshot (at least roughly if you've got no percentage). Also you should know how much you were using your device in that time, and with what apps. Aside from that, check the "Related" section of this question, e.g. What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device? and Is there any study on how which services/sensors consume the battery?, plus follow the [tag:battery-life] tag for more related questions.

Taking a look at the screenshot again: no apps, just phone? Seems to be a candidate for What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery?

As we already have a lot of related answers to similar questions, just let me sum up here:
As said in my above comment, the screenshot does not provide much information without having related details available. All it says is: The overall battery consumption after ~14.5 hours is shared 50:50 by "Phone Idle" and "Cell Standby". Let's assume the battery level at that point is 80%, then each app had consumed about 10% of a full charge -- which could count as "normal". If on the other hand the battery level was 20% (or even less), it would be a bad sign -- pointing a.o. to bad reception (see: What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery?) for the "Cell Standby" part.
I wrote we already have a lot of good answers on the "battery life" topic. Some are even listed in the "Related" (and now also in the "Linked") section of this question, as e.g.

What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?
Is there any study on how which services/sensors consume the battery?

Many more can be found following the tag-link battery-life. Please follow those links for closer information.
As the "battery info" is giving you so few information, here's a hint to some helpful app: BetterBatteryStats. With that app, watch out especially for the "Wake Locks", as those keep your device from entering energy-saving modes. Check the configuration of the apps mentioned in connection with this (a good example could be an email app with a too-high polling frequency, where you e.g. could reduce the frequency from "every 5 minutes" to "every 30 minutes" to save a lot of juice).
EDIT: Another helpful app I just discovered is Battery Stats Plus, which helps you find the "evil apps" on your device. Brought to you by our friend at XDA Developers...

I have installed an app called Battery Plus from the Play Store. It is incredible. Works great on my Android. It really reduces the battery consumption, and I can also kill the unwanted apps running through this app.

I have an Ace and have found a way to have my battery to last for literally days. It is at 50% currently and it has been 51 hours since I last charged it. I just turn off wifi, data transmission etc and at night put it in 'phone mode' and it makes the battery last longer.

Sure, if you cut the device off all network connections, that saves a lot! Cut off the phone network as well, and the battery will last a week or more. This may be fine for some people, but most bought a smartphone since they want to use its capabilities. However, putting it to airplane mode at night (when you do not intend to use it) might be fine for most people. But then, you also cut connect the charger at night as well... Moreover: How does that apply to the question? Here it's clearly not the data, but the cell network causing trouble.


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Dual Booting a Windows 8 Tablet/Smartphone with Android OS?
Is it possible and indeed practical to dual boot a Windows 8 tablet/smartphone with Jelly Bean 4.0 + ? Are there significant restrictions or limitations in doing so? If this is not achieveable as yet - What about running Bluestacks on these devices, just in the same manner that Bluestacks can run Android Apps as an emulator on a Windows PC (if i'm correct)

This would possibly/probably be considered a dupe of Can I install Android on my non-Android device? There are simply far too many devices out there for us to feasibly cover a question for each, and the vast majority of the time the answer is "nobody has done this yet".

@eldarerathis - I did look at that answer previously, but found it to be too broad in his initial question. I specifically want to know about a Windows 8 device being able to run android as well

@eldarerathis - I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that people like XDA Developers and Modders (i'm not sure if that is the correct term) were usually one step ahead of the game

Secure Boot technology on RT tablets would probably prevent dual-booting. But, it can be by-passed I think.

@Sachin Shekhar ok I will (in response to Android x86 below)

You could, but without support it would be difficult.
Android does not 100% support for all apps on intel/amd processors
As well as this, you would have to write a kernal / kernel object to support the specific hardware of the device.
This can be quite difficult if propriety information is unavailable.
You would be better to ask at http://forum.xda-developers.com and ask if someone has ported Android to your device, or a device you would be wanting to buy.

@ The Andro Nerd - Your final sentence regarding XDA and porting makes sense to me. I assumed there would be XDA people on this forum who might provide there 2 cents. What about Bluestacks ?

@Simon am a member of XDA - but I don't make ROM's. Bluestacks won't work on Windows 8 RT - blame windows for this, they don't allow 'desktop' programs running on RT versions of Windows 8.

Ah Ok fine, there are obviously different divisions/arms to XDA, shame about the Bluestacks

Very true, and I suppose you could ask them to try and make a Windows 8 RT/Metro version.

Update: BlueStacks Android App Player Now Has A MS Surface Pro Tablet - Optimized Version
Bluestacks android emulator has now finally arrived to Windows 8 (no RT Version currently available), and works like an absolute charm on Windows 8 PCs, notebooks and ultrabooks alike.
BlueStacks for Windows 8 supports an elegant interface and runs in full screen mode by default. The application is also fully optimized for the 1920 x 1080 HD display of Surface Pro.
BlueStacks for Windows 8 is perhaps the most interesting application to hit the OS so far. It’s a significant boost to the otherwise lukewarm offerings of Windows Store. BlueStacks works on all variants of Windows 8, but not on Windows RT. Testing was carried out on Windows 8 Pro 64-bit.
http://www.bluestacks.com/
The above extract was taken from an article entitled "BlueStacks Android App Player Now Has A Surface Pro-Optimized Version"  was written for Addictive Tips by Waqas Ahmed on 13th February 2013. For more in depth info:
http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/bluestacks-android-app-player-now-has-a-surface-pro-optimized-version/

@GAThrawn No I'm not the author (the authors name is stated at the bottom). I thought if I just provided the link to the article, someone would have told me that was no good (because links may diasppear) ?

It's still copyright infringement, even with the link.  You basically have to treat it like a school assignment -- short quotes and summarizing with a reference is OK, as is writing up your own version from the knowledge you've gained, but outright copying is not.  That said I don't believe we take action on this sort of thing unless the copyright owner makes a claim.  CC @GAThrawn

@MatthewRead Thx for informing, I was unaware.

@MatthewRead If you like i'll just include the first paragraph & then link to the article ?

@GAThrawn Have now re-edited answer.

@Simon looks good, it's actually easier to read and get the important info from it now too.

@GAThrawn To be honest, I got a little excited, because when Bluestacks initially came out I sent them a few emails asking them to develop a version for the Surface tablet - and now they have and if it really works that well, it should be an excellent choice for a tablet

The vast majority of devices aren't capable of supporting both OSes.  However, you can try Android x86 on non-ARM tablets; I've tried it on my WindPad and it works.  It's just like dual-booting with Linux.
Probably the most significant limitations are that some hardware is unlikely to work, as driver support is not comprehensive.

Thankyou for your response. I was thinking more in terms of if I purchased a Windows Surface tablet, or Nokia Lumia or HTC Windows 8 smartphone. I guess your saying it is not practical at the moment or hasnt been achieved yet ?

Android x86 wouldn't work on Surface tablet..

@Sachin Shekhar - Sachin Android x86 is the platform for ICS, Jelly Bean etc ?

@Simon Unable to understand your question..

@Sachin Shekhar - What is Android x86 ?

@Simon Search the web. Its a project which enables Android to run on x86 CPU architecture. Surface tablet doesn't use this architecture, but your PC does.

@Simon: if you follow the link in my post, it'll take you straight to their site.  As the name implies, it supports regular PC architectures (ie, tablets) as opposed to ARM.


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Android clearing recent applications list
After exiting the applications on my Galaxy nexus, they appear on the recent applications list. Do they still use CPU/battery? Do I have to remove them from recent applications list in order to save battery?

The recent applications list show only what applications have been recently used, it doesn't check whether they're still running or using memory/CPU. Therefore, this list doesn't affect battery use one way or the other.
Instead, you might want to check Settings -> Apps -> [swipe to the right] to show running applications, processes and services. Here you can see the apps that are using your device and consuming battery, and kill unnecessary processes by tapping the app and then Stop.

What's about cached processes? Do they still use CPU/memory? Should I end them as well?

Android does a really good job at managing its own memory; there's generally no reason for you to micromanage it. It's only in cases of a poorly-designed app or a stuck process that you even want to bother.


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Problem in setting up google account - "couldn't open connection to server."
I had just installed custom ROM cynogenmod-9(ICS) in my S Plus device and now I am not able to add Google Account in my android device. It gives the following error message,

Couldn't finish
  couldn't open connection to server.

So, what is the problem? why I am getting such kind of error?

ahh, very messy :(

Is your Internet connection working in your phone? Did you try restarting your phone?

yes already tried that couple of times.

It seems that there was a network problem or gmail was blocked in my office which was making the server not respond and giving exception -> couldn't open connection to server.. I tried at home with my wifi and it worked finally.


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Are there USB settings in CyanogenMod 10? If so, where?
When I shut off USB Debugging in the developer settings I get a USB Mass Storage prompt upon connecting the device to my computer.  However, for the life of me I can't find a place to shut off this prompt (i.e., turn it into a notification rather than have the window pop up) or change to MTP mode (I'm assuming I no longer get Kies mode — I have a Vibrant).  Does this exist?

If you go to Settings -> Storage, then hit the menu button, you'll find an item called USB computer connection.
Here you can set USB settings.

Thanks!  I didn't think to hit the menu button.  Do you know if there's any way to leave it on Mass Storage but disable the pop-up window when I connect the phone to my PC?

@MatthewRead I don't think there's a way to do this in Cy 10.  However, I think app developers are able to accomplish this.  In the doubleTwist media player app, it has an option to automatically go into Mass Storage for me on USB connect.  So I'm sure someone's made an app for this sole purpose.  If not, I think you're out of luck.  Or install doubleTwist, ;).  Sorry.


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TLS required but not supported by server
I recently upgraded my phone to ICS and now when I try to access my email I get the error message:
"TLS required but not supported by server"
What can I do to fix this?

Which email app are you using? The default one?

So turns out some of the email settings got munged and it was simply a matter of deleting the account info from the phone and then adding it in again.


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Whats App Web QR Scanner damaged?
I got a problem with my WhatsApp QR Code Scanner:

I use a Samsung Galaxy S5 with Resurrection Remix Rom (Nightly with Marshmallow) and WhatsApp 2.12.479.
Starting the "normal" camera and using it is no problem. It works fine.
All I could find with google are problems regarding a flipped scanner, but as you can see that is not my problem :/.
I already reinstalled WhatsAPP, but it doesn't work.
Thanks for your help,

after hours of searchng I found a post where a suggestion was just to hold the scanner on the qr code... It worked..
So nothing to do here ;)

authors: Алексей Смирнов


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Automatically Install apps after factory reset

I'd like to know how I can set up my android 4.1.2 (Galaxy S2 I 9100) that it will install all my apps in the Play Store (the one you can see when you click "my apps").
I think it was CM 10.1 where it worked sometimes and in stock rom I did not noticed it.
Is there a way to configure my Galaxy S2 so I don't have to install the apps manually?
I hope I asked clearly enough ;)
Thanks so far !

Edit: I reseted my phone, logged into samsung account to google account.
I always allowed to back up and restore my data. But the apps haven't been installed automatically.
And that was the only thing I tried. I did not try any ADB recoveries. And I did not use any backup third party apps or the stock rom backup.
I hope this information is enough. I fnot please tell me what information you additionally need!
Thank you again!

Rather similar: How to recover apps from a factory reset?

Does not work :( And I searched for "reinstall", "install after reset" but I did not guess to search "recover" ... :D

What "does not work"? The Backup/restore via ADB described there, or the Google backup? I'd recommend you update your question with some more details, to enable us to help you.

Make sure you have checked Automatic Restore and Backup my Data in Settings>Backup & Restore.
And also sync your google account right after a reset. You'll notice that all of your apps are reinstalling in the background.
Hope it helps.

I guess it has to do with what you had on your device installed right before
you wipe & flashed a new Rom.
Google remembers last apps and all


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Galaxy S2 turns off randomly

I got a problem with my Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100.
I have it for round about 8 monthts now and experimented with some custom roms. I installed cynogenmod 9, 10, 10.1 tested Syah Kernel and installed AOKP in DualBoot and so on.
Everything was fine until I installed CM10.1 as single boot.
There my phone started to turn off randomly and I thought that it would be a software mistake and reinstalled the Samsung stock rom. But the problem is still existing.
I dont use a firewall or antivirus program and did not checked up anything.
Can you help me with this issue or tell me how I should start detecting or solving the problem?
Thanks for your help!

Edit:
I installed awg Antivirus and scanned my phone. Beside SWFPlayer there was no app which is "dangerous". And my "marked" settings were "Enable Debugging", "Allow Third Party Apps".
Edit 2:
I now updated my phone via Kies to Android 4.1.2 but the problem still exists.

Edit 3:
I think I got the problem. I already wrote it in my last comment. The batterie infalted and I think  that's the problem. I ordered a new batterie and hope that's it. If not I don't know what it might be...

See our chat protocol -- it's not your phone, but CM10.1

I do not use CM 10.1 anymore. I reinstalled newest stock rom from Samsung.

Just to clearify: The problem started with CM10.1, but even persisted after you flashed to stock?

Yes thtat is correct!

Do you still use the dual boot kernel after flashing a stock rom? Try flashing the stock kernel also and check if it helps

When I flashed the stock rom I entered a recovery differing from the Siyah Recovery. So I think it is not installed anymore. But beside starting the recovery, I checked my Android information with one of my mates who never flashe dhis phone and the information are equal.

Do you use a battery saver app?  I have found that they cause random reboots and/or sleep of death with my GS2.

No I don't use something like that. Only AdAways, Firewall, AntiVir.

After I started the adb Logcat to find the reason for the shutdowns (and I did not find any) I removed the batterie. And than I noticed that it has inflated. So I think it is the batteire which is not working.


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Using Alt Gr on external keyboard with Android 4.0.4
I have Sony Xperia P with official android 4.0.4 on board. The Polish language uses some letters, that normally (on PC) are typed by Alt Gr+letter (eg. Alt Gr+a=ą). But using Alt Gr on external keyboard does not work as intended on android. How to make it working correctly?

There is no Alt Gr on a android keyboard... long press on the letter to get the popup of alternative variations of that letter, with umlauts, dashes etc...

@t0mm13b Sorry, forgot to mention that I want to use external keyboard... :p

I've found the solution some time ago. The app External Keyboard Helper Pro makes it work correctly.


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Is 4.1 the best for this 4? yr old device?
In my pile of devices I have what looks like a "Galaxy Tab 2 10.1". I believe it is 4?? years old.
It has 4.1.2.  When I try to update, it looks like I cannot update any further.
1) Is there a way to determine what the hell device / model year this is?
2) If I know the model year/etc.  How can I tell what is the "maximum" Android version?
3) In fact, is there a way to update this device?  It seems bizarre I can't update it further - it's pretty new.
4) Do I perhaps need to update the firmware in some way?

What's the story here.  Thanks very much in advance to all.

@JoeBlow: the community support for that device is so good that even after ~4 years, latest Android version (Marshmallow -> CM13) is under development. It is unofficial but is there. You should be able to find a stable Android 5.1.1 ROM for your device. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-2/10-inch-development

4 years is ancient in tech years. Your first pic holds your answers. The model Gt-p5110 and with Google it states that it was released in 2012. Came with android ice cream sandwich 4.0.3 and it is upgradable to android jelly bean 4.2.2. Also if you look at the kernel version you will notice that it was compiled in 2013. For update firmware you could check sammobile.com or similar sites.
To find your model number, look in the middle right of the screen shown in the first screenshot. The field marked "Model Number:" tells you the model number.

Brilliant answer, thanks. It seems to be stuck on 4.1.2 (not 4.2.2). Could it be (wild guess) I have to use "Keis" (ie, on a tethered PC) to make the next update?  Secondly, when I look here http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-P5110/ I think I bought the machine in France of all places. Notice it is 4.1.2 for France (4.2 elsewhere) -- is that the explanation there?  Finally, you've very kindly told me it is a "GT-5110".  Awesome - thanks. How the heck did you know that?   I've noticed on other Samsung, it tells you during the startup - this one does not tell you during startup.

Oh.  I guess where it says MODEL NUMBER in large letters in the middle of the screen shot, that would do it   :)


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Backing up Android device on Windows via wireless
I need a way to back up my whole Android device on my PC, which is running Windows 7.
I don't have USB cable for my phone, but I have wireless router, so my best option is using Wireless connection.
I have encrypted my rooted Nexus S device, and now I am locked out of accessing SD card via recovery. The only way to decrypt my device is Factory data reset, which will erase all data on my phone.
Before doing that I need to backup all my SD Card content, Apps, App data content to my PC.
I need something much like Ultimate Backup Tool, but instead of recovering data through USB cable, using wireless instead.

Not a duplicate, but a lot of information: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/390/how-to-backup-an-android-device?rq=1

Are you rooted?

Yes, I updated my post.

Definitely give AirDroid a shot. It's an excellent tool for accessing the filesystem of your phone over a wireless network.

I did it that way, I backed up all the apps using Rom Toolbox, and than used Airdroid to transfer SD card content to pc, which later I restore to Android the same way.

Summing up the solution from the comments and expanding:
This process basically includes two steps:

Create a backup
Transfer it to the Windows PC wirelessly

A further pre-condition for the following is that the device is rooted, which is the case here.

Create the backup
Depending on what you need to backup, there are different good solutions available (you can see the backup tag-wiki for more information):

With a custom recovery such as clockworkmod, you can create a nandroid backup
Helium - App Sync and Backup can be used to create an adb style backup of all your apps including their settings
Titanium Backup does backups of all your apps, data, settings, etc., and has proven well over all the years

All three options store their backups on the SDCard. So if your device features a microSD slot, you could even simply take out the card, and attach it to your PC using a card reader. This generally works without a cable, and such could also count as "wireless" :)
One thing you might need to care for manually are the media files, and other downloaded/manually created stuff. Usually, this is stored on the SDCard as well – but that could be the internal one, so in case of the "card-reader option" you might need to copy stuff to the external card manually, which can be done with a good file manager such as ES File Explorer.

Transfer via WiFi
Now for the WiFi transfer. This can be done with the just mentioned ES File Explorer, which includes a "Samba client" to access Windows shares: Just share a drive from your computer, and then copy all files over. This also can be done "the other way round", pulling the files: with e.g. Airdroid you can access your device from any web browser. Airdroid includes a file manager, and lets you upload and download files.
Another more elegant variant, especially if you want to automate things, is to use a sync tool. Here you might want to take a look at FolderSync: As the name suggests, this app lets you synchronizes files and folders. Like with ES File Explorer, you can use Samba/CIFS here to access a Windows share.
Elegant permanent solution: Set up scheduled backups with Titanium Backup, and set up a matching sync interval for TiBu's backup directory with FolderSync. That way you always have an up-to-date backup off-board your device, in case of brick/loss/whatever.

In my opinion the best and easiest no-cost and nag-free method of backing up [some or all] files from your Android to a Windows machine, uses an underappreciated feature of ES File Explorer, along with any FTP client software for Windows (my preference is a free download of Filezilla.)

Download & install ES File Explorer from the Google Play store.  (Documentation at bottom of post) ↓
Download & install Filezilla from Filezilla-Project.org.  (Documentation at bottom of post) ↓
 In ES File Explorer:

Tap the "hamburger menu icon" (at the top-left of the screen) to open the menu

Slide down to find and tap "Network" and then tap "View on PC"

Tap "Turn On" (at the bottom of the screen)

Note the IP address and port number that is displayed.
(The port number is the number to the right of the : colon.)

Click Connect.

 In Filezilla, you need to create a new connection to the IP and Port Number you were given.

Click the first toolbar button to open the Site Manager.

Click "New Site" and then fill in the values on the first tab as shown in the image below, and then click Connect.

Create a destination folder on your computer, where you want to store the backup.
You can now copy files by dragging them between your Android (in the right-side of Filezilla) and Windows (the left-side of Filezilla, or directly to desktop or other folders/shortcuts).

Note that Windows has alternative (less user-friendly) ways to open FTP folders that do not require an FTP client, such as typing the FTP address & port number (exactly as shown by ES File Explorer) directly into the address bar of any browser, or by adding a new Network Location in the "Network & Internet Settings" in the Control Panel.

More Information:

 ES File Explorer:

Official User's Manual
More things it can do
Downsides about it (I love it anyway and use it constantly.)

 Filezilla:

Official Documentation
Official Tutorial
Alternative Tutorial
Beginner's Guide

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


text:
Installing Android Market/Google Play on non-rooted Kindle Fire
Is there a way to install either the Android Market or Google Play on a Kindle Fire (Android 2.3 and Kindle version 6.3.1) without first rooting it?  I have access to a Windows 7 computer with Admin privileges, but no USB cable (I do have ES File Explorer running an FTP server, so I can easily send and receive files via FileZilla on the computer).

I don't think that will work. Android has elevated permissions for system apps and I guess that Google Play needs them, so you need to install it to /system and that requires root.

You don't need to root your Kindle Fire for this -- as long as the following source is still valid: Install Android Marketplace and Google Apps on Amazon Kindle Fire. As that howto speaks about "Android Marketplace" (and not "Google Play"), it may not be up-to-date -- but I doubt the change of the name affected the procedure of installation.
A more up-to-date tutorial is Install Android Play Store on Amazon Kindle Fire - The Easiest Way, but that involves rooting the device. Maybe it has to do with the framework and a newer Android version, which makes rooting a necessary step.
EDIT: You may also want to take a look at these video tutorials: How To Install Google Music / Play On Your Kindle Fire! and GApps on Kindle Fire Without Rooting. Looks like you can still have Google Play installed this way without rooting.

The link you gave explains that you have to root the Kindle Fire to install "Android Market."

Which link? I gave 4, and one of them even explicitly states: GApps on Kindle Fire Without Rooting (Play Store is part of Google Apps/GApps). The other links are for completeness; if you use a Google Search on the topic you will find approx. 90% of the answers insist you need root. So in case the one telling otherwise does not work, the questioner can check-up the alternatives and see if they may be acceptable.

The first link. Anyway, none of the Google Apps require root, but the Play Store (it is not considered one of the Google Apps) does.

You may be right about that: I just read about the Legacy Play Store, and even that (a patched older Market-App) must be placed in the system partition, which cannot be done without root. Strange, I did not remember having my Archos rooted when I side-loaded market etc. In this case my apologies. @KevinOrr If you consider my answer inappropriate and not helpful to you, I can have it removed -- just say so. Or we can leave it stay if you think you might consider these alternatives...

@Izzy No it's good -- I just wanted to know if "there is a way", and there isn't (not without root, anyway).  So +1 to both answers but I'm accepting yours for more info.

The necessary .apk files for Google Play Store, Services Framework, etc., must be installed in /system/app and doing so requires root access. So, you must root the Kindle Fire in order to do so.
However, you don't have to leave the Kindle Fire rooted. After you've installed it, you can always unroot the device (though I'm not sure why you'd want to do that).

IIRC you need to root the kindle fire. More information can be found at http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17338/how-can-i-get-the-android-market-installed-on-my-kindle-fire


text:
Setting's "Search" function doesn't work properly on Android N Preview 3
In settings of Android phone, there is a search button in the Action Bar and it cannot give me what I want to search. I find it works sometimes but 90% it doesn't. The 2nd image shows the very irrelevant results.
For example, I enter battery to search for battery settings, it gives me nothing.
My question is: how to fix it?

And result when enter ba:

Is this Android N? It works for me on a Nexus 6P with Android N: http://imgur.com/oEA8ZIZ

I have one M and one N with the same symptom.

It works on Moto X play stock 6.0.1.  Two things I noticed 1. Typing 'Battery'  letter by letter reveals all battery  related things 2. If your keyboard is prompting you battery and you select it make sure there is no space after the word (if there is a space it shows nothing, deleting space by back arrow reveals). In both cases,  I see Battery, Battery saver, Battery optimisation, Adaptive brightness and battery level as search results

It searches only for subgroups in my N. That bug I know.

@TungD.Nguyen What ROM/Device? From reading the answers and comments, this sure sounds like a ROM code problem and should be handled by the ROM developer(s).

It is the N on Nexus 6P

I have a very similar issue, but I was on custom ROM. So, I couldn't tell if this was ROM or Marshmallow issue.

This is the N Preview 3, released by Google.

May be the system bug. Try clearing cache and dalvik cache. If problem presist try factory data reset. If still presist, then its a Rom bug. If it is, then wait for the update for fix.

I tried it before: reset to factory/re-install rom/clear cache... The same results: enter B it can give bluetooth but no battery in the result section

Yes! After the update to Beta, the search function works again

I cleared data and cache from settings app and it's worked for me. Not factory reset and clear cache from recovery. I went into settings>apps>allaps,settings>storage and clear cache and data

What worked for me on Android 9 was: Find system app "Settings Suggestions", open app info, press force stop, press storage and hit clear cache and clear storage buttons.

Settings Suggestions is a system app: in order to show it in the All Apps list you need to tap on the more options icon (three vertical dots, aka kebab menu) in the top right corner of the screen and select "Show system".

Thanks! After forcing stop worked. But

Thanks. Forcing stop works! But not sure if the problem will return?

Problem returned next day! Now doesn't work anymore

Only works temporary, the issue returned the next day and forcing stop no longer work

It sounds like search may be disabled for you.
Go to your Settings > Apps > swipe to the “ALL” tab > select “Google Search” > press “Enable”.

Sorry, it does not work. All apps are enabled in this directory!


text:
How to report potential abuse in Aptoide without becoming a member?
The Aptoide store is an alternative platform where you can get Android apps.
I found an app on the Aptoide store via Google that has a size of 3.3 MB. The same app with the same app version in the F-Droid store has only a size of 1.1 MB. So I assume that this app is infected by malware.
The Aptoide's info about the suspicious app is

Xxxx is Unknown
This classification was assigned because: there is not enough information about the application in Aptoide Anti-Malware platform.

Scanned with Anti-Virus: Zoner Anti-Virus   Sophos Anti-Virus   AptoideGuard Malware Analyzer

No Infections Detected  No Infections Detected

On the Aptoide website belonging to the app, there is a "report abuse" button but this requires a login (which I don't have and don't want to have)
In the stores impressum, I found an email address so I wrote an email to the Aptoide store admin. I got an automated email reply that I should use a web form to contact Aptoide with a link to the web form. So I filled in the web form and submitted it.
This was a week ago and since then nothing happened. The suspicious app is still available in the store and I got no email response.
Is there any other channel to Aptoide where I can report potential abuse without becoming a member?

I would recommend checking for such things but I know that aptoide is filled with malicious apps and fake apps such that your report won't make a difference. Keep an eye out for outdated, malicious apps and use official channels / curated stores (like Google Play, F-Droid etc).

To answer my own question: Non-member complaint was not possible in my case.
After registering as a new member and then using the
"report abuse" link, Aptoide's "copyright infringement-workflow" did the job after one week.

After sending the second form I registered as a new user, loaded the page with the potential malicious app, flagged it as "virus", wrote a comment and pressed the "report abuse" button and send my text.
As a result of "report abuse" activity, I got an automated email

Thanks for your email!
Please submit your support request in this link
The form request is essential for us to help you, the ticket generated by this email will stay on hold with low priority until you send us your request via the form below!

where the link points to https://aptoide.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new
After one additional week, I got an email that the app has been removed from the store.
It was a reply to pushing the "report abuse" link that was made to handle copyright problems with the standard email-text for this use case

Aptoide is deeply committed with the respect of the IPR of Android Developers.

Nevertheless, the suspicious app is not available anymore.

First: Different sizes do not necessarily mean the bigger one is infected with malware. Or rather, that might depend on your definition of malware: F-Droid compile .apk files themselves, and while doing that, often exclude proprietary parts – such as ad modules.
Second: Aptoide has security checks running on their .apk files. You should find a shield in the app description: Green = checked and OK, Yellow = checked and something suspicious found, Red = checked and infection found1. You can also find details on the checks, where e.g. signatures are compared with other markets (usually Google Play).
Third: Different repositories at Aptoide have a different trust-level. For example, the repository named "Apps" is manually curated by Aptoide staff, and hence quite trustable.
Forth: You can contact Aptoide via a form on their website. You'll have to reveal an email address for that, so they can contact you back.
Fifth: For more details, please see How safe is it to use Aptoide?. Especially check this answer from Paulo (co-founder of Aptoide) and my own answer.

1You will never find the red shield, though – that's only visible for staff. At the same time a red shield is attached, the app is made unavailable for the public.

I have done (4) but got no reaction after a week. (1) the sourcecode at github does not contain proprietary parts (no adds, no google-services). Somthing has been added that is not in the github-s sources.

Yeah, 4 has its issues. Sometimes they react very fast, other times one can wait forever. I've reported an issue with their site software half a year ago. No answer yet, issue remains. Pinged Paulo, and they applied a manual fix a day later. Issue was back the day after that ;) So for your case to have effect, afraid you'd need to create an account there and flag the app.

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


text:
Watch my local tv on my Android device
I have a somewhat fancy tv that supports an external wi-fi module. If you connect that to the tv, you'll be able to stream media from a pc or other compatible device. At which point I thought, is there a way to consume that stream with an Android device?
I have searched google play, there's a fair amount of tv apps that are just shortcuts to some online tv websites. I don't want that, the idea is to watch exactly what I have on my tv, turning my phone into a portable tv.
What I imagine is a server box connected to the tv cable that streams it over WiFi, and then there's an app on my phone that consumes the stream.
I understand that may involve a combination of software and hardware that would need to be purchased. Happy with that, just can't figure what it would be. Have done my Google homework to no avail.
Please advice if there's a solution for that, or whether it's feasible at all.

It sounds as though you are using your TV as a media renderer for a media server (hosted on your PC or other computer device).
If that is the case, then yes, it is possible to use your android device as a media renderer for a media server. Download MediaHouse UPnP / DLNA Browser and a video player with a codec that supports your video file-types (VPlayer Video Player is the best that I've found).
If you instead meant that you wanted to stream the content provided to you from your TV service provider, then that is a bit more complicated. Generally, they do not allow this since they want you to pay some odd sum of money for an additional renderer that they own.
The process would go soemthing like this (if not otherwise allowed):

Use some kind of capturing device to record (temporarily or permenently) the video content transmitted through an appropriate cable (HDMI for example). You would theoretically need to split the signal or re-route it.
Then configure a media server on your PC to stream the recorded content.

This would not provide a stream however which would have to be in a protocol like MJPEG to work as an actual "stream". You would need something akin to an ethernet based capture card that provided a video stream over IP.

odd sum of money for an additional renderer that they own - nope, not the case here. We here pay fixed monthly fee for the fact that a cable enters the house. Nobody cares what happens within the house to the cable. In such case, what would be the most feasible way of presenting the TV signal as if it was coming from a UPnP server? (Happy to accept your answer otherwise.)

Lucky you. What do you have in terms of display connections coming off of your renderer (the cable that would otherwise go to your TV)?

Not sure if I understand. Coaxial cable enters the house and gets into a splitter (tiny non-powered box) that makes four cables out of one. Three of them go into tvs, one is currently vacant. Some tvs have a DVB-C decoder built in, they render digital signal. Some don't, they render analog signal (both kinds of signals are present in the cable). Am I to have a server that would accept the now-vacant cable into its tv-tuner card, and share that, somehow, over the network in a UPnP format?

Yes something like that. You'll need either a tuner card that takes coaxial input and plugs into a computer with software to stream the source over IP, or you'll need a standalone coaxial input tuner that has built in streaming software and wifi/ethernet connectivity. Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815345007

This one if you care about the additional features: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815645001

I knew something like that should have been invented :) Thanks, much appreciated!

NP, good luck with it. Beats the hell out of a restrictive DVR with horrible format support.


text:
How to send multiple contacts by email?
I've searched all over the place and couldn't find a solution.
I want to send around 30 contacts (names + phone numbers) by email, to someone. Now I can't seem to succeed with the feat! What can I do to send a simple list (or a table) containing the name and phone number of an entire group of people (they're already organized in a group).
Offering free cookies and upvotes for any good info!

I won't consider this an answer but a tip would be to use one of those backup programs to backup your contacts to CSV.  You can then pretty-up the CSV file and filter for the contacts you'd like to send.

I've though about that, but it can't be that there's no simple solution for this...

You're actually right.  The very fact that a program can dump all contacts implies theres a way to dump just some.  Its probably a case of there being no app to do this yet.

Do you need to do if from your phone?
Because if not, you can just use the Gmail desktop interface to do this, I do this quite often and it's fairly easy:

Go to your contacts (click Gmail in the upper left corner)
Select the contacts you want to export
Put them in a new group you can call Tmp or something random
Then click on that group and find the Export menu item in one of the menus (I think More actions)
Export to Google CSV if the receiver will import them through Gmail as well, otherwise you can consider vCard format. The file will download automatically.
Compose a new mail and put the newly created file as attachment.
(If you used Google CSV, the contacts can be imported using the same Contacts interface just by clicking Import in one of the menus)

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I did 2 days after I asked this question. +1, thank you :)

@MadaraUchiha
Is there any way to do the same from mobile?
Any app that does this task?

@coder you're asking me this? I'm the one who asked the question to begin with!

@MadaraUchiha, yes.. just checking if theres any news about it..

Open your sms app
compose a new message
Add text and then choose to add contact
add your contacts here is a message area
copy the text message

Welcome to the site! Could you expand your instructions a little? I think your answer works but it's very hard to follow.

I managed to do this from my phone just now.

create a temporary contract group, and add the contacts you wish to export to it.
change the peoples app settings of "contacts to display" to only show this group
when viewing the contacts, go to the menu "import/export" option
select "share visible contacts"

That's it. I hope it works for you.


text:
Does disabling 3G while having WiFi save battery?
If I have WiFi enabled and 3G data disabled, does it save any battery relative to having both WiFi and 3G enabled?  With WiFi enabled, I didn't know if 3G enabled would make any difference since it wouldn't be used.

Short answer: yes.
It depends on the currently enabled Wi-Fi sleep mode.  By default, Android disables Wi-Fi when your device goes into a sleep. In this case, 3G is the remaining mode of network communication, and it gets used by Gmail/Gtalk push notifications, etc. Obviously, this network communication takes its toll on your battery time. If you disable 3G you'll save some battery, but your device will be completely offline while in sleep.
However, if your Wi-Fi is "always on", your 3G will never be used, so it doesn't really matter if it is on or off. However, "always on" Wi-Fi is a big battery drain by itself...
Update: Note that sleep modes and sub-system energy consumption differ from phone to phone. Moreover, 3G energy consumption varies greatly, depends on which background services are enabled, proximity of the cellular tower, etc. I haven't seen any "authoritative" documentation on this subject.
I suggest you check your battery stats (in Settings -> Battery) and see how cellular communication affects your battery time overall. Usually, it is a very small percentage, so in general dialing your screen brightness a down a notch will have much greater effect on your battery life.

Is there any official documentation to support this fact? I ask because it was not the reality with my phone, and I would like to improve my knowledge on this subject if my conclusions are wrong!

Go into Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-fi settings , hit menu, tap on Advanced, it is in there where you can set the policy of the Wifi-Sleep. By setting the policy, some claim it can increase battery life, others say, it can cause the wifi to not properly reconnect on waking up, again, this is factoring into account of wifi chipset, kernel and drivers involved.

@Zuul: I updated my answer a bit. There is no official documentation on this subject, because it is very device-dependent...

Yap, I was reading it :) So, my answer still stands, it does improve, at the very least for Huawei devices! Tks. +'d yours!

Crucially, if you're in a area where cellular signal is weak, then that's the sucker-punch, as the telephony is trying to find the nearest mast/cell tower by "hopping about over the airwaves" to get at a stable frequency and nice juice drained from the battery :)

Well my nexus 5 is online when my cellular data are off, wifi on and device is sleeping (android 5 and 6)

I have a Huawei U8510-1 (Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread) and when I got it my battery was having a low duration between recharges.
After some tests, by disabling and enabling stuff, the battery cycle started to last more, about 2x more, with the 3G disabled. For me was great since I always use WiFi.
But this was not enough, the battery cycle still given me a short period of time, forcing me to recharge the phone more or less every two days.
The best solution that saved my day and allowed me to really save the battery, thus increasing each battery charge cycle was this APP:
Easy Battery Saver free
It works and really makes a difference. Now I charge my phone one, max two times a week, depending on the usage. :)
So, by my personal experience, disabling 3G even if it is not being used, helps saving the battery life, but doesn't make that much of a difference compared to an APP solution.

Related reading on this subject:
what drains more my battery? wifi, dataconnection(3g) or gps. ANDROID
How to Improve Battery Life on Your Android
How to Save Battery Life on Your Android Phone by Disabling 3G

I really don't think having battery monitors/widgets running, as they are counter-productive! Especially if they are badly written such as resource leaks which in turn can cause the dalvikvm to be running garbage collection a bit more than often... just saying :)

I could agree with you, but as mentioned on my answer, I've disabled the 3G and was able to double the battery life between charges, with Easy Battery Saver I've got a full week or more of battery between charges. This for me was wonderful since I talk a lot. Plus I haven't found any downsides to it!

Of course :) One man's treasure is another man's trash :) It all depends on the handset device, rom used, and kernel. Glad it worked for you :)

Actually, it worked on four smart Phones from my office :), I'll update the answer with their manufacturers names, current kernel, etc to help future readers.

Good idea :) That will help in fact, why not set up a wiki question so that the community can put in their replies?

I may give it a try.  I'm always a little leary of apps that claim to save battery, but I'm open to anything.

@t0mm13b Since this is a matter much related to the device specifications, manufacturer, wifi chipset, kernel and drivers! Yap, I agree with that. But isn't an OP's decision?

@Chance Been using this for 5/6 months now, and still have nothing bad to say about it. It gives you a deep configuration method, thus enabling you to totally have control on the way the app saves your battery.

@Zuul, after researching this stuff, I am more optimistic.  It looks like it smartly disables WiFi and Mobile Data, which could go along way.

@Chance Yap, I'm extremely happy with this solution :)


text:
Samsung Galaxy Note does not boot after ICS update
I've just installed Android 4.0.3 ICS onto my Samsung Galaxy Note with 2.3.6. The installation was done by wifi via official installer. I did not download anything specifically, just got a popup with something like "Do you want to upgrade to 4.0.3?" After answering 'yes', it downloaded some files over wifi, and restarted the phone.
But the restart didn't go well. I can see the initial Samsung animation, but after that the text "Samsung" keeps flashing in the center of the screen and nothing happens. I left it for a couple of hours - no changes. I tried rebooting and even remove battery - the same thing, it does not boot.
I have never rooted the device or replaced the ROM.
What can I do? How can I enter recovery mode or something? I tried to enter safe mode by tapping menu button while booting - didn't work.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1658440
enter recovery and try to wipe data then restart. what you describe is a bootloop after rom update, wiping your data should work.
hope you made a backup!

were you rooted?

I think if he was rooted the OTA kies wouldn't update

Holding Volume Up + Home + Power buttons while turning the phone on should boot it into recovery mode, where as @svarog suggests you can do a wipe.

@svarog, jlehenbauer, Chahk:
Thanks for your help. I wasn't rooted. Successfully entered recovery mode, then wiped all user data. Then rebooted. Didn't work, the same bootloop occurs.
What should I do next?

I would suggest flashing the stock ICS (or Gingerbread, if you prefer) ROM via Odin.  Full instructions here.

Get the official image from http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/ (search for "N7000" and select the download for the appropriate region.)
Download and install the USB drivers (for 32 bit or 64 bit Windows)
Download the Odin tool.
Extract the contents of the downloaded ROM and place it somewhere on your PC.
Reboot the phone into Download mode (Volume Down+Home+Power buttons.)
Run Odin and connect the phone to the PC via USB.  Odin should recognize the phone by showing a yellow [0:COMX] sign in one of the "ID:COM" boxes.
Select the "PDA" button and browse to the extracted TAR file.
Make sure that only two boxes are checked in odin - Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time.
Click "Start".

This should refresh the phone with a brand new OS and all prerequisites.

With the phone off, press power then let go and press and hold home and menu while it boots up.


text:
How does Google Maps Navigation know you are in a tunnel when it switches to night mode?
I suppose this isn't exactly a new feature but it is new to me since I don't travel through tunnels very often.  What exactly is the software using when it decides to switch over to night mode when in a tunnel?  GPS Location? A light sensor? A combination of both?

simply from rich google map data.

I don't think the map data on its own explains it--I travel all the time on the roads directly above without it switching.  But yes, you couldn't do it with poor map data...just ask Apple!

So, I think it uses also altitude value from GPS to determine whether you are in the tunnel or the road above it! As in its new feature, In-door navigation through some buildings, It uses altitude to determine in which floor you are (I'm not sure!).

The last time I used the in-building navigation, you had to manually select the floor.  I don't think it is using altitude, either that or I never have a lock on enough sats to derive an altitude value.  I park below I-95 and I'm always being routed directly from I-95 instead of the city streets that are underneath it (where I start).  I guess thats why I initially assumed altitude wasn't used.

Hard to say without knowing which device and firmware version we're talking about, so what follows is my speculation.
I have a Garmin Nuvi which continues navigating in a tunnel, turns and all, despite losing its satellite reception.  Mine doesn't switch to night mode, but it clearly knows it is in a tunnel from the map data. Since loss of reception is a given in a tunnel, the device must be dead-reckoning while it's in there. (Re-broadcasting is out because it would affect the signal timing which is key to calculating a fix).  In fact, I have tested this by entering a tunnel fast and decelerating once inside it.  The device alerted that it had lost reception and continued to display my entry speed, "passing" turnouts and the tunnel exit before I did.
From that, I inferred that the firmware was using map information, possibly cross-checked with loss of satellite lock, to know when I've entered a tunnel.

Hadn't thought about the satellite lock.  So would it switch to night mode even if the tunnel was lit (I don't have a lighted nearby)?  I guess I could put a flashlight on it.

Recently I was driving in Italy and I realized that this Google Maps feature works more precise in Italy than in my home country Germany.
I tested it a little bit in Italy and I found the following:

it does not matter if the tunnel is lighted or not, it always goes into night mode
drive into a tunnel and keep the speed constant through the whole tunnel and it will work perfectly
accelerate in the tunnel, then it will turn off the night mode too late
reduce the speed in the tunnel, then it will turn off the night mode too early
stop in the tunnel for several minutes, then it will turn off night mode after a while and won't turn it on again

From these observations I conclude that in Italy it relies entirely on map data and approximates when you leave the tunnel only by the speed you drove before the tunnel.

Easy solution to force night mode that I found.

go to settings
go to date and time
disable automatic date and time.
set your time to 7pm or later.

That should set the app to night mode you can change the time back when you're done traveling
(Galaxy S7. Version 7.0)

This doesn't answer how Google Maps detects when the user is inside a tunnel though.

Perhaps it uses the ambient light sensor in your phone and changes to night mode when there is less ambient light.

AFAIK, Google Maps doesn't use light sensors for tunnels and night mode. Sometimes I put my phone inside a bag or car compartment and it doesn't turn to night mode despite the darkness.


text:
What is the format of Android's logs?
I'm trying to gather data about my phone by analyzing the log files in /dev/log. I'm specifically looking at /dev/log/main. I always thought that any sane log format would be plain text, yet these files appear to be either binary or in some character set that neither I nor my Linux text editors can identify.
What is the format?
Here are a couple of screenshots:

First, here's a snippet of the log as interpreted by vim (^@ refers to the null byte; I'm not sure about the other colored control sequences):

Next, this is what the log looks like in a hex editor:

I'm using a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean. The logs were collected using root and a terminal emulator, since aLogcat doesn't seem to use root and thus can't access all logging info.

If you want sane information, I recommend sane commands :) (no offense meant, just kidding). So the question should read:
How to obtain log information from an Android device?
And now we are on the better side. There are multiple approaches which can be used:

utilize apps to display (color-coded) log information
utilize ADB (part of the Android SDK) to remotely extract the very same information
use ssh from remote (or a local terminal app) to aquire the information directly from the device

To fully handle this topic it takes more than this simple answer (if interested, you can e.g. find more detailed information on many web sites, or in Andrew Hoog's book Android Forensics: Investigation, Analysis and Mobile Security for Google Android, which I had the honour to translate into German. There are probably many other sources as well.
So I will just give a few examples here to get you started:
Utilizing apps
The probably best known app in this context is aLogcat, available for free in the playstore (and the dev will happily accept your donation for the other variant of the same app). You'll find a screenshot below1. The app allows you to filter the logs, to start/stop recording log messages, and even to store the recorded snippets to your SD-Card -- of course in plain text, as you requested.
Another app in this section is Log Collector, which simply tries to grab the entire available log and send it via the share menu2.

The Android Debug Bridge (ADB)
The Android Software Development Kit (SDK) includes the adb command for various tasks. Amongst many others, it offers the adb shell to execute commands on the device. Using this, you can gather your desired log information as well: Just prefix below commands with adb shell.
Command prompt on the device
Using a terminal app (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator or Terminal IDE) you can access the logs directly at the command prompt, locally on your device. A little more comfortable, this can be done running a ssh server (e.g. DroidSSHd or DropBear SSH Server) on your device, and access it from your computer. This way you can work on a big screen, while investigating your logs.
Commands to access your log information
There are a lot of powerful commands you can use to access your log information from the command line, and I will only give a few examples here.
dmesg
The dmesg command extracts the kernel log:
$ dmesg
<6>[82839.126586] PM: Syncing filesystems ... done.
<7>[82839.189056] PM: Preparing system for mem sleep
<4>[82839.189361] Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.05 seconds) done.
<4>[82839.240661] Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.00 seconds) done.
<7>[82839.242279] PM: Entering mem sleep
<4>[82839.242889] Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug)
<7>[82839.252410] vfp_pm_save_context: saving vfp state
<6>[82839.252716] PM: Resume timer in 26 secs (864747 ticks at 32768 ticks/sec.)
<6>[82842.091369] Successfully put all powerdomains to target state
<6>[82842.092468] wakeup wake lock: wifi_wake

logcat
With logcat, you can access many logging information -- but most times, this will require root. It has some parameters to filter the information, e.g. by selecting the log buffer to read with -b. Please read the information provided on the developers page on logcat for details. To give you two examples: logcat -b events would list up events, or logcat -b radio information on your device's radio modul.
dumpsys and dumpstate
The two commands dumpsys and dumpstate give you detailed system information:
$ dumpsys
Currently running services:
    LocationProxyService
    SurfaceFlinger
    accessibility
    account
    activity
<snip>
DUMP OF SERVICE account:
Accounts: 1
    Account {name=xxxxxxx@googlemail.com, type=com.google}
<snip>
DUMP OF SERVICE alarm:

$ dumpstate
========================================================
== dumpstate: 2012-08-18 23:39:53
========================================================
Build: Gingerbread GWK74 - CyanogenMilestone2
Bootloader: 0x0000
Radio: unknown
<snip>
------ MEMORY INFO (/proc/meminfo) ------
MemTotal: 487344 kB
MemFree:   10436 kB
Buffers:   14136 kB
Cached:    145460 kB
<snip>

bugreport
And if you are too lazy to remember them all, simply use the bugreport command -- which calls all above and bundles it for a nice, humm, bug report to the developer...
Of course, you can redirect the output from all those commands to a file to copy to your computer, and in most cases you should do so -- as your screen buffer would be far too small to handle it all: bugreport > /mnt/sdcard/bugreport.txt would be one example for that part.

$ dmesg or dmsg? There must be a typo in one of these :)

@jadkik94 that's my favorite one to check if anybody notices... No, forget the second part -- and thanks for noticing :) Fixed.

I always forget which one's the correct one :) and always too lazy to search for it... :P

All hail to the bash-auto-completion :) Moreover: I copy-pasted the examples from my book, where I copy-pasted it into from a real-life-example, so I knew which one had to be the correct version...

Thanks for this detailed answer. One question, though. While logcat provides most of what I'm looking for, is there a decent way to access the files directly? I'm thinking that when I want to grep through the logs, I might not remember to use logcat -f, and there are no man pages on Android. It seems that "everything is a file" has been somewhat abandoned on Android, which makes it more difficult to use.

That may get hard. Logs on Android are using a so-called "ring buffer". Due to limited ressources, they are not kept in the file system forever but are "recycled". These two facts taken together probably give you a reason why the files are using a binary format (probably easier to maintain for a ring buffer). -- And even if you forget -f, > mylog.txt works fine for all the tools mentioned. Guess the thing you rather care about is -b (to select the buffer, and how that one is named), -d (dumping the entire log) or -v (setting the log format). A little text file will do to remember ;)

I further noticed that logcat does support --help, so I think I'm good to go. Thanks.

By the way, do you know of a method to make aLogcat use root? It seems that non-root processes can only see their own log data, which makes aLogcat rather useless for trying to examine some other app's logging data.

There was a change in the system with JellyBean, which causes apps like aLogCat to no longer be able accessing certain logs. They work fine with at least Gingerbread (I use *aLogCat with GB devices, but have no 4.x devices to check). I'd say file a report to the developer -- but better check first if it's not already known to him ;)

The change had to do with a new permission required to read logs from other apps.  Currently aLogcat can only read its own logs.  In order to get it to read logs from other apps, you need to manually give it this new permissions like so: adb shell pm grant com.nolanlawson.logcat android.permission.READ_LOGS

Oh -- need to divert my above statement: At least some hail to Chahk :) Thank you and +1 for this info!

For developers (or other interested parties) who need to parse this raw file, here are some resources:

logcat (the program that can output binary logs), it calls android_logger_list_read() to gather log entries: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/master/logcat/logcat.cpp
Information about Android Logging in general: http://elinux.org/Android_Logging_System
The low-level logging library for reading/writing logs: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/master/liblog
An utility to dump raw (binary) logs, optionally switching versions: https://lekensteyn.nl/files/logread.c
Kernel source for logger: https://github.com/android/kernel_common/blob/android-3.10/drivers/staging/android/logger.c

The actual format of the log format is detailled at:

https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/master/include/log/logger.h

A copy of the relevant parts, slightly annotated and re-ordered for your convenience:
#define LOGGER_ENTRY_MAX_LEN (5*1024)

struct log_msg {
    union {
        /* Maximum size of entry: 5121 bytes */
        unsigned char buf[LOGGER_ENTRY_MAX_LEN + 1];

        struct logger_entry_v3 entry;
        struct logger_entry_v3 entry_v3;
        struct logger_entry_v2 entry_v2;
        struct logger_entry entry_v1;
    } __attribute__((aligned(4)));
}
/*
 * The userspace structure for version 1 of the logger_entry ABI.
 * This structure is returned to userspace by the kernel logger
 * driver unless an upgrade to a newer ABI version is requested.
 */
struct logger_entry {
    uint16_t    len;    /* length of the payload */
    uint16_t    __pad;  /* no matter what, we get 2 bytes of padding */
    int32_t     pid;    /* generating process's pid */
    int32_t     tid;    /* generating process's tid */
    int32_t     sec;    /* seconds since Epoch */
    int32_t     nsec;   /* nanoseconds */
    char        msg[0]; /* the entry's payload */
} __attribute__((__packed__));

/*
 * The userspace structure for version 2 of the logger_entry ABI.
 * This structure is returned to userspace if ioctl(LOGGER_SET_VERSION)
 * is called with version==2; or used with the user space log daemon.
 */
struct logger_entry_v2 {
    uint16_t    len;    /* length of the payload */
    uint16_t    hdr_size; /* sizeof(struct logger_entry_v2) */
    int32_t     pid;    /* generating process's pid */
    int32_t     tid;    /* generating process's tid */
    int32_t     sec;    /* seconds since Epoch */
    int32_t     nsec;   /* nanoseconds */
    uint32_t    euid;   /* effective UID of logger */
    char        msg[0]; /* the entry's payload */
} __attribute__((__packed__));

struct logger_entry_v3 {
    uint16_t    len;    /* length of the payload */
    uint16_t    hdr_size; /* sizeof(struct logger_entry_v3) */
    int32_t     pid;    /* generating process's pid */
    int32_t     tid;    /* generating process's tid */
    int32_t     sec;    /* seconds since Epoch */
    int32_t     nsec;   /* nanoseconds */
    uint32_t    lid;    /* log id of the payload */
    char        msg[0]; /* the entry's payload */
} __attribute__((__packed__));

You can tell the differences versions apart by looking at the third and four byte. The format is apparently also dependent on the endianness of your platform. For v1 messages, __pad equals to 0. v2 (and v3) messages use 24 (0x18).
For main, radio and system logs msg field is interpreted as follows (source):

priority: 1 byte
tag: 0 or more bytes
literal \0 as separator
message: 0 or more bytes
literal \0 as terminator

If this message is truncated, the trailing \0 may be missing.
For events log however, msg field contain the following binary data:

Tag: 4 bytes integer key from "/system/etc/event-log-tags" file.
Message: serialized tree starting from the root node. Each tree node starts with a 1-byte value from AndroidEventLogType enumeration:

EVENT_TYPE_INT - node value is 4 bytes integer
EVENT_TYPE_LONG - node value is 8 bytes integer
EVENT_TYPE_STRING - node value is 4 bytes integer length, followed by the length bytes containing a UTF8-encoded string
EVENT_TYPE_LIST - node value is a single-byte length, followed by the length tree nodes each of its own AndroidEventLogType.


text:
Why does HTC Incredible not update?
My HTC Incredible (Verizon) has tried to update to either Ice Cream Sandwich (android 4.0.x) or just build # 4.x (I'm not sure which) for the past two weeks or so.  Either way, it has not been succesful.
Sometimes I'll get a notification telling me that the update has been downloaded, and asks me whether I wan't to reboot to install.  I tried that a bunch of times, but neither time did it even shut down after the ten second delay/grace period.  Once I tried going to Settings > About Phone > System updates, and downloaded the update and tried to install, but the same thing happened: ten second countdown, then nothing.
Now, the notification never pops up, and Settings > About Phone > System updates indicates that no new updates are out.  What's happening?
Thanks!

I have had this problem with previous OTA updates on my HTC.  The problem I ran into is that my phone didn't have enough "space" for the update to actually install gracefully.  The bigger problem is that there are many different places the phone can run out of "space".  I ended up booting into the recovery to wipe the cache partition (for some details see "Low on space" warning with over 50% free).  I also ended up wiping the app cache and data on a number of apps (including the launcher -- lost all my icons, gmail, maps, etc) to reduce "space" used until the update installed.  I don't recall what exactly pushed the install over the edge and made it go, but it was painful enough that I'm not bothering with the latest update (its just a point release, despite the version number they're showing you its not an ICS update).

thanks for the clarification about the version (too bad: I was really looking forward to ICS, guess I'll just use CMod or something).  As for the whole cache partition wipe, I'll let you know if that works (I didn't realize until now that I actually have a lot of free space, and that the low space notification is actually a glitch).

If you have installed a custom recovery (Clockwork or other) you won't be able to install the OTA update. You have to be stock ROM, with stock recovery in order to install OTA updates.
I am assuming that you have rooted and installed a custom recovery since you listed rom-manager as a tag.
If you want the update you will first have to get back to stock recovery and rom. Your best bet at this point is to install a custom ROM that was built from the latest update. That should stop Verizon pushing the update to your device.

I have not rooted (yet) nor installed a custom ROM.  Where can I find an original, factory ROM from Google?

You could look at the XDA forums for ROMs. I'm sure the factory image is available there somewhere: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635 If you have not rooted your phone and aren't using rom-manager, you should remove that tag from your post.


text:
Cannot configure keyboard input language anymore
On my Xperia S /ICS, I had English and German language input configured. Worked as expected, could switch language on the keyboard. Then I installed a keyboard app and later uninstalled it. Now something strange happened:
The default keyboard is now "Xperia Chinese keyboard". Below this I have

Google Voice typing            (uncheckable)
Xperia Chinese Keyboard        (NOT uncheckable)
Xperia Japanese Keyboard       (NOT uncheckable)
Xperia Keyboard                (NOT uncheckable)

Now, when I configure the German language (or any other language) in Xperia keyboard, as Writing language, I still cannot use these languages, I only have English and Chinese available.
This is an untenable situation, since I write 70% of my texts in German. Any ideas? Can I get rid of Xperia Keyboard? Install another keyboard that does not kill my phone?

From Sony Forum I read Factory Reset is the only solution. So I have backup in progress, 4 hours left. Sucks ...

If the keyboard(s) appear as separate apps in Settings->Apps->Manage Apps, it might suffice to delete their caches and data. Never tried this, as I never experienced that situation.

Great idea Izzy, tried it, too bad did not help. Cache size of Xperia Keyboard is 0, the button is disabled. Event tried "Force Stop" of the stupid keyboard, did not help either. NOw doing factory reset.

Was worth a try -- chances were 50:50. It had no button to "Delete data"? Too bad... // Btw: when you're done (and hopefully solved your issue), feel free to answer your own question. Might prove helpful to others.


text:
Galaxy S3 stuck on boot loop, Factory Reset didn't work
My Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) was rebooting itself for the past few days, randomly. Today, it did it again, but didn't boot back up. Instead, it is now stuck on an infinite boot loop - it gets as far as the splash screen (Galaxy SIII logo), then reboots, and this goes on forever, until I remove the battery.
The first thing I tried was to remove the battery, SIM card and MicroSD card for 5 minutes. I then wiped the Cache Partition through the Android Recovery Mode. I then did an Emergency Firmware Recovery through Samsung Kies. This didn't help - the phone is still on the same boot loop. I then tried a Factory Reset through the Android Recovery Mode. This also didn't help.
I tried to view the boot logs through the Android SDK tools, but of course, the phone won't stay on for long enough to connect via USB. I'm not sure what else to try. Is there any other way I could possibly access the device's logs? Or should I try Odin instead of Kies?
Update: my S3 was had the official stock firmware on it, with official OTA upgrades, it was never rooted.
Second update: I've now tried flashing with Odin3. I used the firmware version appropriate for my region and carrier. Everything was successful, but I'm still having the same problem. I'm guessing there's not much else left to try except bring the device back to the dealer? ...

I'm afraid you will have to turn it in. If neither a factory-reset nor even a re-flash solved it, I don't see much other chances. As you never rooted the device, and always stuck to Sammy's officials, there should be no problem -- and you most likely will get a replacement.

My dad had this problem. His solution was to let me put CM11 on it ;)

Thankfully, I was able to fix it. I used Odin to flash it again, but this time, with an older firmware. I originally tried it with the Jelly Bean firmware. I thought it was a long shot, but decided to try again using Ginger Bread. This fixed whatever the issue was, and I used the OTA updates to get the phone back to the latest version. The thought of handing in the phone was a bit daunting. My girlfriend had to hand hers in recently. Her phone is only a few months old. It took them over a month just to admit they couldn't fix it, and she only got her replacement yesterday (after 5/6 weeks).

Julian, would you be so kind and make your last comment an answer, plus accept it after the "technical delay" of 2 days? In the comments, it might get lost -- and people with the same problem would not even read the details when there's no "answer". Thank you!

possible duplicate of Samsung Galaxy S3 not booting up, keeps restarting showing ”Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-i9300” black screen

I had same problem with logo loop.. I somehow screwed my EFS folder, but don't actually know how... Anyway I tried like 150 different thinks to fix it that I googled out but non of it worked for me..
Finaly I download orignal stock ROM but the old one with 4.0.4 android. Flashed via ODIN and only then get rid of logo loop and phone turned on normally (it took allmost 5 mins..) Then I restored my EFS folder. Than rooted the phone, installed CWM and made nandroid restore of my original ROM..
Not sure if this help, but saved my ass :) Wish you good luck

I had the same bootloop problem on T999 UVDLJA. I tried about 100 solutions, including flashing every possible ROM known and unknown.
Finally, the solution was very simple:

ODIN CWM
Flash ROM + Gapps
wipe cache, data, dalvik cache
install ROM
install Gapps (this is the part which I would always skip for later - BIG mistake as Gapps missing caused the boot loop)
restart, et voila!!!!

Try removing the power button.
I had the same problem and saw on a youtube video that changing the power button was a good solution. As I could not find a spare power button on, I just decided to remove it and it actually worked!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ-U-Q_NdOo

i got similar problem with any android based on 4.4 with my i9305, any system got stuck on boot animation, tried MoKee, Omni, CyanOgen and few other ROMs plus Stock JB (however this one was bootable just by factory reset after installation), with the same result; finally i was able to go further after format /firmware folder in CWM 6.0.4.7 or any other suitable recovery, actually i formatted everything excluding folders wiped by factory reset. Don't forget wipe Dalvik cache
i think this can apply for any SG3 or other new phones from Samsung


text:
What is the apps for the the two icons shown
What apps are icons shown on the 3rd icon from the left (a icon that look like a bug with an android head) and the 5th icon from the left (a icon with a phone in between two zig-zag)?

The first one you asked about means the phone is connected in debug mode to a computer:

and the phone between zig-zag lines means it's on vibration mode.

Please note that the USB debugging icon varies depending on the version of Android, for example in 4.0 (ICS) it is an ice cream sandwich shaped android, in 4.1 (JB) it is a jelly bean shaped android head, etc. Vibration mode icon has changed in new versions of Android too (currently being a tilted smartphone with straight lines surrounding it).


text:
Unable to update Galaxy S3 Android after flashing CWM
I just unboxed a Samsung Galaxy S3 and immediately, before first boot, rooted it installing CWM Recovery and SuperSU. I found it to be not the best idea, becuase I forgot to launch the Samsung update to 4.1.
In fact, stock upgrade does reboot the phone into recovery but then CWM says the signature is invalid, etc. I should have done all this in inverse order (first stock upgrade, then root).
The question is: how can I upgrade this Galaxy to stock JB?
Idea: restoring the original recovery... but how?

This thread gives a nice step by step tutorial on how to re-flash to stock ICS, which will relash the stock recovery.
In a nutshell:

How to restore Galaxy S3 to Android 4.0.4 ICS XXLAF2 stock firmware:

Download the ICS stock firmware file from here
  or here.
After the ROM file is downloaded successfully, you should extract its contents and you will get a single file with the ‘.tar.md5′
  extension. Save it on your computer’s desktop.
Download Odin3 3.o4 for Galaxy S3 I9300 from here.
Extract Odin.zip contents into a single folder and save it on your PC desktop.
Now, power OFF your Galaxy S3 phone and after this you will need to boot into download mode.
Boot into download mode by pressing ‘volume down’ + ‘home’ + ‘Power’ and release these buttons only after the display powers ON.
  Press Volume Up button to confirm that you want to load download mode.
Now, go to your PC and launch the ‘Odin’ executable file. The one you’ve extracted at step 4.
Next, connect your SGS3 I9300 to your computer and ODIN should display a message box saying ‘added!!’. If you don’t see this message
  then it means that the USB drivers aren’t installed on your PC and you
  should use the download links in the preparation guide, the ones
  listed above this tutorial guide. If Odin did find the Samsung USB
  Driver you’re free to move to the next step.
In Odin click the button that is called ‘PDA’.
Find the file you’ve extracted at step 2. It should have the ‘.tar.md5′ extension. Select it and it will be loaded into Odin. NOTE:
  Don’t change any of the Odin’s default settings and make sure that the
  ‘re-partition’ option isn’t selected.
Press the START button in ODIN and the program will now begin to install the stock firmware files. When the installation is complete
  you will see a ‘PASS’ alert displayed by Odin and this means that
  everything went according to plan. Your phone will also restart and
  after the Samsung Logo appears you are free to unplug the device from
  your computer. NOTE: If Odin gets stuck you are required to disconnect
  the phone from your PC and remove its battery and then re-insert it
  and, now repeat all the entire tutorial once again as something went
  wrong and the firmware wasn’t flashed.
That should do it, now your phone has been restored to factory stock firmware. Make sure to use the comments section in case you
  other questions.


text:
Recovery Mode does not find internal nor external storage
Before I had CyanogenMod 9 on my Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Then, suddenly it did not boot anymore and I could not boot into recovery mode neither.
So I flashed different kernels with Odin (speedmod, vodoo) to be able to boot into recovery mode - which worked.
Within the recovery mode (ClockworkMod Recovery v5) I can not access neither my internal storage nor my external SD card.
I just see: unknown volume for path [/cache...]
Also tried the vodoo Kernel with ext4 support (as I assumed CM 9 uses ext4).
Which steeps are necessary to get the phone working again? I can not access any storage at all...
I appreciate your help!

Do you have valuable data on it or are you OK with just moving forward and get it working again? If you can sacrifice your data just use heimdall and start over: CM's full update guide for the i9000. CM10 nightlies are here: i9000 and i9000 model B

I'm OK with flashing the whole device. The only thing I don't know how to flash the full ROM onto the device without using the RecoveryMode option "install from Zip". I only flashed different kernels onto the device with Odin, but never a full ROM. Does this work too?

You need heimdall only once to install a custom recovery (see my heimdall vs. odin remark in my comment below TheAndroNerd's answer). Then you boot into this recovery and do all further steps there (backup/restore/install_from_zip/wipe/etc.)

I actually can access a recovery. But inside the recovery I can not access my memory. so I can not backup/restore/install_from_zip. Probably I need to re-partition while flashing another kernel, but I still don't know where to get the partition information.

You should use Odin or Hiemdall (preferred) to flash a new ROM, and or flash a new partition table.
It sounds like the partition's have been erased, and as such should be remade by flashing a new ROM.

Heimdall is said to be more reliable (use ODIN for factory firmwares from Samsung). Source XDA

I followed this howto link to re-partition and flash a stock ROM. This worked for me.


text:
How to disable "reject call with an SMS"?
ICS introduced an option to reject incoming calls with an SMS.
Is there a way to disable this function. If yes, how?
Sony Xperia S handset running JB

Seems that there is no answer :(

So you basically want this option to not show up on the lockscreen when someone calls?

@ce4 Yep. (It's NOT on the lock screen though. It's on the bottom of the screen when someone calls me.)

I don't see that you can. It looks like, at best, you can change the possible responses to be empty fields. (Custom ROM solutions notwithstanding.)

@Al Everett Well, it kindda solves the problem. But a message still gets sent. So the base problem remains as is. :(

@Sid you can't disable it on default stock answer app but you can disable with a third party app like HD caller ID.

@avirk Oh no!! So will there be an option to this in a future software update? Using a third party app call functions is not a good option for me. Thanks for the tip though.

@Sid it depends on feedback of user to their phone company. If most people find it annoying then may be they will or Google but not sure if any future update will do that.

@avirk There are threads on their customer support forums, but they seem to just ignore them...

Unfortunately, there is no way to disable that. Sony is using a proprietary Dialer that has that function hard-coded into it. Without using a custom ROM, there is no way around it.
I know this because I have experience with this on Samsung devices (they also have a bar near the bottom that allows to Reject with Text), and having heavy proficiency with Android, outside of somehow recompiling the Dialer apk and using your knowledge of Java to find the entry, remove it, and recompile, there is unfortunately nothing you can do.

Just go to Phone > Call Settings (Xperia Z3 go to Settings > Call > Reject call with message). There you'll see an option to "Reject Call with Message". Go there and you will see some template messages. Just delete all the messages one by one and that's it. Your problem is solved.

Hacky. But it works ;)


text:
Selective syncing with Google?
By default if you sync with Google, contacts, calendar, app data and wifi keys are synchronized. Is it possible to synchronize only some of these things, e.g. only calendar and contacts? Thanks :-)

Please see your other question on the topic: What exactly is synced with Google?.

I think this is different.  The other question is about backup, this one is about sync.

System Settings -> Accounts & sync ->  Select your google account -> Make use of the checkboxes.

sync settings (click for larger image)

If the checkboxes aren't visible, it's likely because you have sync disabled completely.

Thank you. Absolutely correct. Will not see the checkboxes if sync is off.


text:
Dropbox export folder to SD card?
Is it possible to download a folder (or at least download multiple files at once) from Dropbox to SD card?
I do not seem to have the export option when selecting folders

Note the "Share" option doesn't have save to SD either.

I think this is unfortunately still not possible with the Dropbox app (discussed back in January here: Can I download whole folders in Dropbox app?

I use DropSync to keep a folder on my SD card synced with my Dropbox (it works more or less like the desktop app). The DropBox mobile app is more of a mobile app version of the web site, rather than a real sync tool.

@MichaelKohne I don't really need to sync my SD to Dropbox. I just need to download a folder from Dropbox to SD.

ES File Explorer has support for several cloud storage providers. It allows to "copy" folders from your dropbox folder to your SD-Card etc in a similar fashion as you would copy files locally. The "Network" Tab allows you to add an account.

Nice! I had ES Explorer installed but I didn't know about this feature. Thanks.

Is there a way to keep the folder synced with ES?

Astro File Manager (like ES File Explorer) also has support for dropbox and allows you to download folders.
For a dedicated app, there is Folder Downloader for Dropbox which works just with your dropbox account.

(I don't use the Dropbox app on Android; does it not keep local copies?)
DropSync keeps specified Android folders synced with specified Dropbox folders. No need to export; it's (almost) always there. 'Almost' as in: the changes I make on Android get uploaded right away; changes made to Dropbox files by some other device get downloaded at the next scheduled (or manually initiated) sync. The only time I ever need to think about it is when I have two devices open and I'm working with both of them.

I highly recommend Total Commander for Android and its totalbox plugin for Dropbox files manipulation tasks. It's almost as convenient as on a PC.


text:
Connection between Ubuntu and Nexus 7 does not work well
Following the instruction in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2004182
(I also see many other similar guides online)
The above method, shortly, is editing the file
(Do not follow the instructions below for connection, since it omits many steps and only for a description purpose. Using the link above if you want to do connection.)

sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

And put the device information in the file:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="18d1", MODE="0666"

It starts udev

sudo service udev restart

Create mount point and permissions

sudo mkdir /media/nexus7
  chmod 755 /media/nexus7

MTP in Nexus 7 is enabled.
(Do not follow the instructions for connection, since it omits many steps and only for a description purpose. Using the link above if you want to do connection.)
I successfully connect my Nexus 7 to Ubuntu 12.04.
For the first several trials (mount and transfer, then unmount), it can drag and drop files from Ubuntu to Nexus 7.
Now after I mount, I can see all folders and files of Nexus 7 in mounted folder in Ubuntu. But I can't drag and drop files anymore.
It would pops an error window, but with now any explicit information what's wrong.
How to solve it?
Another question: when I succeed in transferring files through mounted media, I transfer music files in Ubuntu to a folder in Nexus 7, such as /SoftwareEnginneringMp3. But all music files were automatically placed in the music folder. How to solve it?
I searched online and find some similar complaints. But I am not lucky to find the solution.

Could you please include an abstract from "behind that XDA link"? Makes it easier to answer. What tools are you using now, how do you connect the device? MTP?