text:
Send/receive or refresh inbox on native email client
Is there such an option for the native email client built into Froyo?
For example, I might send myself a document to the phone via email, and it won't come through straight away. Sometimes I need that option to check for new emails.
There's no obvious refresh option in the menu.

If you go into the Mail client, go into the mailbox you want to check the mail for, then press Menu while you're looking at the Inbox, there should be a Refresh option on the menu bar.
That definitely seemed to go back to the server and check for new mail when I tried it with the Hotmail account I've got set up in there just now, as it found the message I'd sent a minute before.

I have only: delete, list by, move to folder, view mode and account manager. Have Samsung messed with the Email client?

Mine's a Galaxy S running the Samsung Froyo release, so we should both be seeing the same thing either way. When I press Menu in an Inbox I see Compose, Refresh, Search, Accounts, List By and More (which has Account Settings, Text Size and View Mode).  I've only got Hotmail and Yahoo accounts on mine, and I think both these use ActiveSync, are you using POP/SMTP servers as it's possible these may have different options?

I'm using IMAP. That must be the explanation, although it seems odd not to have a refresh option for it anyway.

Is the account you're using listed in Settings | Accounts & sync?
If so, you should be able to select the account then choose Menu | Sync now.


text:
Show the time an SMS was sent, not received
Scenario is as follows-

Switch flight mode on. Go into meeting/go to sleep.
Switch flight mode off. Receive a message.
Timestamp on the message is the time received.

With my old Nokia, under details it would show the time the message was actually sent. Is it possible to show this on Android?

It might depend on your messaging app -- HTC phones with Sense don't have the standard android mesages app, for example.  What phone do you have?

Ah, I hoped there wouldn't be a handset dependency. It's a Galaxy S.

There is an app called SMS Timestamper that appends the received time to incoming text messages. Worth mentioning for those not comfortable with fiddling with the OS's internals, or those unsure if it would work on their version of the firmware. I'm on JPO so I didn't want to chance it.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Manually set a hostname for IP address (i.e. /etc/hosts equiv.?)
I am a web developer and am developing our website on my local desktop machine. I have an android phone (htc desire running android 2.2). I want to test what our web application looks like on android. I can connect to the same wifi network as my desktop machine, however we make use of several hardcoded fake domain names in our web application. On my Ubuntu Linu7x desktop machine I use /etc/hosts to set these domain names to local IP addresses.
Is there anyway to do this on android? I want "foo.xyz" (our testing domain name) to point to 172.31.1.67 (my internal desktop machine). Is there any way to do this without rooting the phone (as my android phone is not rooted now)

How are your other machines resolving that IP to the test domain name? If you're doing it properly and using DNS internally on your network, and updating the IP/name in DNS to point one at the other, then when your phone connects to your internal Wifi it should pick up your internal DNS settings and just work.

@GAThrawn I do web development too (though not specifically for mobile devices).  In my environment it's normal to have a number of local development sites configured in different virtual hosts, and to connect to them via /etc/hosts (or Windows equiv).  Since the OP is running Linux, it should be fairly simple to configure a dev DNS server.  We're kinda wandering off of this site's subject matter there though :)

@Matt was trying to suggest a better way to do it than changing settings on the phone. I'm a sysadmin, and would much rather have it all centralised in DNS. Hundreds of HOSTS files all over, all pointing different names at different addresses are a management nightmare to keep track of, and a huge headache and nightmare when anyone except the original creator has to any troubleshooting at all.

@GAThrawn +1 for the 'huge headache' - it certainly is :)  DNS is of course a simpler option - added info to my answer about specifying a non-standard DNS server in case that's useful to the OP.  My "I do web development" was meant to mean "...so I feel your pain" rather than a "...so I know what I'm talking about" - sorry if it came across as a bit lah-de-dah :)

I had a solution to this for a windows machine, which may prompt a Ubuntu solution, unfortunately I lost my step-by-step blog post. Using SimpleDNS I was able to host my own network DNS, so any domain I needed to hit and I had a domain consuming app so it was necessary I just added it and SimpleDNS would forward the IP address to the dev box on the network. Then in Android or iOS device just change your Wifi DNS to the IP address of the box running your DNS and you're away!

Yes DNS might be an option for me here now that I look into it (since we have a DNS server (sorta)) around. But is there no way to do this without a DNS server?

Firefox Mobile supports HTTP proxies, so whilst it's a different rendering engine you should at least be able to get a feel for how your UI performs on a small touchscreen.  Here's how to get to the secret config section - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/758279
The default browser includes proxy support in Gingerbread (although that doesn't help you and your unrooted Desire right now, HTC should be offering an OTA update to Gingerbread soon, or it may spur you into rooting and re-flashing your phone).
(For both of these, you'd need to configure a proxy on your network so that it can serve up your foo.xyz domain)
Finally, you could always use the Android SDK's emulator.  Performance will be painfully slow, but you would at least be running the same rendering engine.
Edit: As GAThrawn mentions in the comments above, you could also possibly achieve what you want using DNS entries on your network's default DNS server or a development DNS server.  Your phone will pick up your wifi network's default DNS server, or you can change it to something specific via Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi settings > Menu softkey > Advanced.

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


text:
Can I configure Google Now to recognize contacts by their phonetic name?
I have a lot of friends with names and surnames that Google Now cannot recognize, so I added an entry for their phonetic name.
When I say "Okay, Google" and then "call (phonetic name)", Google successfully transcribes everything, but instead of calling them it will open a search in the browser.
Is there a way to make Google Now recognize my contacts by their phonetic name?

You might wish to take a look at Voice commands for contacts with unusual names / Voice dialling - how to do this?

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


text:
Can you screen save on a Nexus 4?
I fly a lot, but never accept a mobile boarding pass as I need a decent signal to display it. My iPad allows me to save screenshots to the gallery. I find it incredibly usefull, but can't find it on my Nexus 4!!

If by "screen save" you mean a screenshot, yes you can :)
Just press both Power and Volume Down together and hold them for a second.


text:
Usage statistics in Android
Is there any intent or method to get the values which show in the usage statistics? We can get that manually by dialing *#*#4636#*#*.

If you're trying to launch an intent for this in code then you'll want to ask on [so]; development questions are outside the scope of this site. If not, then you may want to explain in more detail what it is that you're trying to do exactly, and why the dialer code is not sufficient. That will help people give you the most relevant answers possible.

If you simply want to add a shortcut to your homescreen to access that menu, some launchers offer to do so for "activities". That menu has declared such an activity publically, so that would be possible (and on-topic here ;).

How to add android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS to the application?

That permission cannot be granted to any third-party app. Visit this for more info: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/usage/UsageStatsManager.html Also, since this is a programming question I VTC it.


text:
Can I downgrade to an earlier version of Android after installing an OTA update?
I installed the KitKat upgrade on my Nexus 7, but I am unhappy with it. Is it possible to roll back to an earlier version of Android (Jelly Bean)?

There are no OTA's for downgrading. However as you have a nexus 7 you can easily download the factory images of 4.3 oder 4.2 for your Nexus 7 from the following site https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images and flash your nexus 7 back to whatever version you like.

@DanHulme: indeed. I will delete my comment then ;-)

Yes, it is possible.
One of the advantages of rooting is the ability to control the operating system that resides on your phone.
With that control, you can change the version of Android. There are two ways to go about doing this:

Flash the stock image https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
Install a custom ROM. If you know what an operating system is on a computer, a ROM is basically an OS for your phone. Just check XDA-developers for some great custom ROMs that offer any Android experience, with additional features!

I know for a fact Cyanogenmod still haven't released a KitKat based version and offer a close to stock (unmodified) experience with features that are actually useful. I would recommend to try them out.
Enjoy the freedom!

Trying this (4.4.2 back to 4.3.1) I get "Device version-bootloader is 'FLO-04.02'. Update requires 'FLO-03.15'."

Both of the methods I have listed require (to my knowledge) you to have an unlocked bootloader. Please note downgrading and unlocking the bootloader wipes all user data. This is why you should unlock the bootloader earlier, not later ;) To unlock the bootloader of a Nexus device just run fastboot oem unlock in the same directory on your computer that you have the fastboot binary.

Download factory image for your device from the official source
Extract image (you can use 7zip to extract *.tgz files)
Download and install ADB,    Fastboot and drivers (install system
wide). Download from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48915118
Connect your Nexus device to the computer with USB cable
Turn off your device
Boot your Nexus to bootloader mode by pressing and hold Volume
Down + Power buttons until you see bootloader menu
On your       computer open terminal (win+r -> cmd.exe -> enter) and
go to the       folder extracted in the second step (this folder
should contain       flash-all.sh file)
Run flash-all.sh command in terminal

Take this instruction from here


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How do I record a video with a file size larger than 4GB on Galaxy S4 exfat SD card?
I've searched quite a bit and called Samsung tech support who didn't have any documentation on this issue. They all say that there isn't a limit on how much video you can record. I want to record class lectures, they run about 2 hours long. I set up the camera and tap record. Camera runs properly for about 30 minutes then says "Maximum File Size Reached" and stops recording. This happens to occur at a file size of 4GB about where you'd expect fat32 issues to occur. This is a Samsung SGH I337 from ATT Android Version 4.2.2
Here's what I've tried. The camera is set to record to the SD card. The SD card is exfat formatted. I can drop a 16GB .iso onto the card from my windows 7 computer through the phone via the usb cord with no issues. This leads me to believe there isn't a file size limitation from the format of the card. The SD card is NOT full it is a 65GB card with 40GB free.
Does anyone know of an app or a tweak that will let me record unlimited video within the real constraints of my hardware, 50GB's of 1080P video at a time or until battery failure?
Thanks for your time.

I would change the video quality settings to a lower rez and try again
Leave it 16:9 At 1280x720 instead of 1920x1080. I would imagine your content will be watched on computers and iPads etc and not in imax theatres. You might get 2 hours out of that.
It is a stupid limitation .
I'm in the same boat so I'll keep looking. Maybe there are some developer options to fiddle with.
Cheers

The issue is not about the file size but about the video length. Devices that can record videos longer than 30 minutes are classified as video-recorders in the European Union and are subject of higher import taxes. That is why manufactures of smartphones and compact cameras limit the maximum video length to 28-29 minutes - to avoid those higher taxes (and som eof them do so not only for EU market but for other contries for simplicity in production). So reducing resolution or bitrate will not solve the issue.
PS. It is rumored that this regulation will be cancelled soon so the future smartphones will be "allowed" to record videos longer than 30 minutes. But as of now (Feb 2019) I couldn't find any reliable information about how soon it's going to happen

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


text:
How can I reset the default app for opening email attachments?
Every time I try to open an attachment from emails from a specific person it goes to Stumble Upon.  I think I clicked Stumble Upon and "Always" once, and now I can't undo it.  How can I stop this?

You need to clear the "Launch by default" setting for StumbleUpon.
Open up your phone settings, then go to Applications.
Look for the StumbleUpon app, and click on it. Here is where you can do things such as uninstall/disable the app, clear the data, etc.
One of the options is to Clear defaults. This is the option you need to run. It will restore the app-selection menu for any actions where you set StumbleUpon to be the default handler.

Or you can long hold the home button on the bottom of your phone and a little menu will prompt them go to task manager then go to tab that says clear defaults


text:
Unable to restore contacts through Titanium Backup after flashing a custom ROM
I flashed the 4.2.2 version of CyanogenMod onto my Galaxy S4 and had backed up my stock using ClockworkMod. I have been able to use Titanium Backup Pro to restore pretty much everything except my contacts. I think the issue is with my old contacts being stored in a newer version of Android. Is there any way to restore them? I would really like my contacts back
I had tried flashing with a stock ROM but the latest one I can get from SamMobile is 4.2.2. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

How did you try to restore contacts with TiBu? You just should make sure to have "migration mode" enabled to avoid trouble (changed database formats and the like). This setting is located in the "troubleshooting" section, if I remember correctly. In the very same section, it might be useful to also ensure the system's SQLite is used (and not TiBu's own).

I am trying to restore using TiBu from a CWM backup I created. I have tried adding those two settings in TiBu that you suggested but it doesnt make any difference. Once the restore is complete of the contacts and contacts storage I get 'Unfortunately, the process android.process.acore has stopped' and the only way I can get rid of it is by clearing the data from the apps.

Did you restart your device after the restore? That's required when restoring "central data" (like contacts, SMS, WiFi passwords, and the like).

Yes I did that too as it is recommended by Titanium Backup after restore is complete. Have tried the whole process a few times.

OK, that seems to leave you with your Nandroid backup from CWM. Please take a look at Extract App Data from Nandroid / CWM Backup / Restore only part of nandroid image, hopefully those will hold some value. Apart from that, I'm out of ideas.

Okay thats great I will check that out thanks


text:
Rescue data from an application
I was using Secret of Happiness for about three months, and created some notes during this time period. At one point when I wanted to add a new note, the application froze, and I had to force close it.
I tried to look for the directory where it stores data. I hoped it would be some database, XML, or CSV format so I could view the notes data, but wasn't able to find it. I also tried to copy the app's data to the SD card but it's not there either.
How can I find out where this app stores its data, and how can I view my notes again?

Each app gets a storage directoy assigned in /data/data/<package_name>1, so in your case that would be /data/data/com.soh. However, without root privileges, you cannot directly access that directory.
A possible work-around (for non-rooted devices) would be to create an "ADB backup" of the app (see our adb tag-wiki for details), and then "disassemble" that2. You should then find databases (SQLite) as well as "shared_prefs" (XML files) with additional information.

1 see also: Where in the file system are applications installed?
2 see: How do you extract an App's data from a full backup made through “adb backup”?, Is there a way to look inside and modify an adb backup created file?


text:
Add exchange account in Android 4.1.2
I have just bought three cheap china-pads and on all of them the OS registers as 4.1.2. On two of them, it says "build version" or something like that v 1.6rc1 but on the third it says 1.5.
The difference between them is that on the 1.5 pad, the option to add an Exchange account is present, but is missing on the other two.
Is there a way to fix this? I have tried a couple of apps, but would really like to integrate my work Exchange account.

Open the email app, type in the login credentials, go to manual setup and follow these settings here

I personally use POP3 for my exchange account.


text:
Recover contacts from Galaxy S2 when saved to an email
If I saved my contacts to an email on my Samsung Galaxy S2, and my email account was deleted on my phone, is it possible to recover my contacts?

If they're saved to your account then can't you just add it to your phone again or export the contacts from it? It sounds like you wouldn't need to "recover" anything, just retrieve them from the email account.

Only if your email was sync'ed before you deleted the account from your phone. Check from a PC in the email account you used has the message in "Sent" folder (or inbox if you sent to yourself).


text:
Nexus S battery drains after updating to 4.2.2 even if turned off
My Google Nexus S battery drains after updating from 2.3.7 to 4.2.2, even if it is turned off. One night I shut it off at 70% charge, and when I turned it on in the morning it was at 9 or 10%. I bought a new battery but it has the same problem. What should I do?

Sounds like a hardware problem to me.

You should calibrate your battery:

Fully discharge your phone
Fully charge it when it is turned off
Disconnect charger and wait a minute
Connect it again and turn your phone on
Delete your data/system/batterystats.bin file (with battery calibration for instance)
Reboot your device and disconnect charger

Also, it is common problem, so try to google it yourself
Hope this will solve it for you


text:
Turning on USB mode in Galaxy Grand
I have 2 mobile phones, a Samsung Galaxy S II and a Galaxy Grand. The Galaxy S2 has Android 2.3.6 and the Galaxy Grand has Android 4.2. When I am trying to connect the Grand to my PC, it gives me 2 options: MTP and Camera. MTP is media Transfer mode, and when I select it, restricts speed. On the other hand, the S2 has USB mode which works fine for me.
So is there any way that I can connect the Galaxy Grand with USB mode?

Possibly a duplicate of phone mounts as media device not usb storage or How can I use my Galaxy Nexus as an external USB storage drive?.

If your phone is rooted, try installing one of the "mass storage enabler" apps from the Play Store.


text:
Moto X rooting - ROM doesn't boot, but have Safestrap
I'm in a curious position. I don't have a working ROM on my Moto X, but I can boot into Safestrap, and from there fastboot. If I could get a ROM onto the device I could flash it with Safestrap, but I can't find a way of doing that.
The 'adb sideload' feature of Safestrap/TWRP runs, but the only safestrap-able ROM I have is 4.4.2, and my device lacks the kernel. I tried sideloading the stock 4.2.2, but that simply fails without installing, once loaded on the device.
Fastboot will recognize the device, but trying to flash anything, or do 'fastboot boot', gives 'permission denied' or 'command restricted'.
I can execute commands on the device from Safestrap, so in theory I have a working if crippled Linux OS running. I just can't seem to get files on it. Any help?

I am not familiar with safestrap, but I have used twrp to root my device. Do you have access to the install from zip option?

@Colin - yes, but I had no way of getting the zip on the device. Ultimately resolved, see my own answer.

From the OP:
OK, managed to solve this. Can't answer my own question for 8 hours, by which time I'll forget. If a mod can mark this as answered, please do
Fastboot will allow you to install signed images, apparently, so the trick is to use one of those.
Steps to resolve:

Downloaded a copy of the relevant ROM from here.
Unzipped. I couldn't just push using fastboot update because fastboot expects ROMs to contain certain informational files (android-info.txt and android-product.txt) which the above archive lacks.
Pushed each of the files using the following commands. mfastboot is the Motorola-specific fastboot, which I found here. That archive contains versions for Linux, Mac, and Windows, which is nice. (Darwin == Mac.) I'm fairly confident you can use that in place of fastboot everywhere below. Make sure you use the right carrier code and ROM! I have Verizon (vzw).

fastboot oem fb_mode_set
fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
fastboot flash motoboot motoboot.img
fastboot flash logo logo.bin
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
mfastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
fastboot erase modemst1
fastboot erase modemst2
fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
fastboot erase cache
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase customize
fastboot erase clogo
fastboot oem config carrier vzw
fastboot oem fb_mode_clear

Done! At this stage I rebooted and it was exactly as new.


text:
How to turn on Haptic feedback on Galaxy Tab 4?
I think I have searched in all the sub-folders for a place to turn on Haptic feedback on my new Galaxy Tab 4?
I know it just barely came out, but for the life of me, I can't find anything remotely close to turning it on.
Using stock Samsung keyboard and SwiftKey. Neither has helped.

Actually, I just purchased a Galaxy Tab 4 and the google keyboard when installed and configured to do so will provide a noticeable haptic feedback. The device does have a vibration motor but I can't find a setting to activate haptic feedback for the built in Samsung softkeys either (back and window change).

Welcome to  Android Enthusiasts! This is a question-and-answer site, not a forum. Please use the Post answer button only if you have a solution to the problem. If you have a NEW question, please ask it by clicking the Ask Question button. If you have sufficient reputation, you may upvote the question. Alternatively, "star" it as a favorite and you will be notified of any new answers.

"The Google keyboard supports haptic feedback on this device" sounds like an answer to me.  He doesn't need to prove that the Samsung keyboard or Swiftkey don't support it, or anything else.

I don't think that the Galaxy Tab 4 does have a vibrator motor, in that case it would be impossible to activate haptic feedback.


text:
Import 300 vCard files into LG v35 thinq
Is there an easy way to import 250+ vCard (vcf) files into my LGv35 thinq phone running Android 8.0.0, Kernel version 4.9.65 and Security patch level July 1, 2018?
Firstly, the contacts app on my phone has no option to import contacts. Most examples I found online show how to use this "import contacts" that appears when you press the three dots on the top right after launching the Contacts app. The app, however, lets me browse through google contacts. Again, I don't see any options to import these into my phone.
A related question: Is there a way to import multiple .vcf files into gmail at once?
The browser only lets me choose one file at a time.

The Phone app has a settings field and it too, doesn't have any options to import contacts.
I downloaded Coolmuster Android assistant and the option to import contacts requires me to buy the software.
I've successfully managed to download all the .vcf files into a folder on my phone. Is there a way to import all of them, at once, into my phone's memory?

You can simply merge all .vcf files into one file. On Linux just use cat *.vcf > all.vcf.
Common software should support this all-in-one vcf file (e.g. GMail import). Just import it and all your contacts should be added.

Thanks Robert - I ended up concatenating all files into one, copying it over to my phone (using whatsapp) and successfully imported all contacts. It is so weird that most people that explained how to solve this problem totally ignored this simple fix.

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


text:
Can I adjust a car radio volume by Bluetooth?
I have a Bluetooth radio on my car but the volume wheel is broken. I am wondering if there's a way to make my Android act as a remote control for the radio, allowing me to increase its volume. I don't want to play music from my phone, only control its volume.

It depends. Usualy when you would pair a device to you car audio player, the player would only want the files on it. But that depends on the player and what type of connection it makes with it's paired devices. So basicaly I think you will have to try and see if it works.


text:
I am looking for a simple way to translate words highlighted in the browser
This is my use case: I'm trying to improve my Spanish so I've started reading Spanish-language newspapers in the browser on my phone. What I'd like to do is this: when I need a word or phrase translated to English, highlight the text, hit the settings button, and have a translate option show up. Or something comparably simple.
Currently the only options that show up under settings when a word is highlighted are: Share, Find, Web Search
I have Google Translate installed and I realize that I could copy the highlighted text and then paste it into that app, but I'd prefer something that didn't require jumping between apps.

Have you checked with the "Share option"? Some nice gimmicks hidden behind it. And some might be added (or rather add themselves). You could check the playstore for some dictionary apps; I don't know which plug themselfs into the Share-menu, but a good choice to start with would be e.g. ColorDict Dictionary Wikipedia. If it works (I use it together with Moon+ Reader on my tab), it should be as simple as mark a word, menu, share, ColorDict -- et voila :)

@Izzy You know what? That's exactly what I was looking for. I even looked for the share option at one point and, despite listing it in my question above, completely spaced over it. If you want to add that as an answer, I'll be happy to select it.

Glad I found an exact match for you! Enjoy learning :) By the way: That's how I try improving my English: Reading English books with Moon+ Reader. If I get stuck at some word unknown to me, I mark it and look it up with ColorDict. Sounds familiar? :D Btw: I guess Google Translate (you mentioned using it) also integrates with the search menu -- at least that would make much sense...

You describe the options displayed with a word highlighted including "Share". Behind this item hides an entire menu, the so-called "Share menu", where many apps plug themselves in as receivers for compatible content. A highlighted word might serve as such content for several things -- e.g. a web search (so Google Search could pick it), send by mail/SMS, or -- the interesting part here -- some dictionary/translator app. While I'd suspect Google Search could cover that as well, I want to give you another interesting idea:
ColorDict Dictionary Wikipedia is an app that can be used for online and offline "word lookup" in dictionaries, be it translation, synonyms, or definitions. The app supports a bunch of dictionaries for offline use, as well as several online dictionaries and, the name suggests it, Wikipedia. If it integrates with the "Share menu" (which I guess it does), this would make the perfect candidate for you:

ColorDict (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

Thanks again. Google Translate is available through the share option and exactly what I was looking for. Very helpful for language learning, especially with its text-to-speech feature.


text:
How to remove this sliding app section?
A couple of weeks ago a sliding app section appeared on my home-screen. I have no idea how it got there, and no clue on how to disable/remove it. I tried all I could on the homescreen, to no luck.
Using Galaxy S3, Android 4.1.2, everything standard (so no custom launcher).

Any ideas on how to remove it?

It's part of Samsung's multi window feature, and was added by a system update. To disable it, go to the main Settings app. In the Device group, click on Display. In the General group, there's a Multi window item. Uncheck this setting to turn off the sliding tray.
If you want to use the multi window feature sometimes, but don't want the sliding tray there all of the time, you can add an item to the quick setting menu (at the top of the notification panel). The setting for that is also in Settings → Display. Click Notification panel to go to a page that lets you drag buttons on and off the quick setting menu. Multi window is one of the items, and that button toggles the tray on and off.

As far as I know (I don't own a Samsung device) you can also toggle it on/off (when it's enabled) by holding down the back button (or maybe it is the menu button, not sure).


text:
How can I stop my sent emails from containing raw HTML?
When I send an email from my official exchange server, the person who receives it, whether through web access or through Outlook, gets the email with HTML coding! It is very embarrassing and I have searched for the solution in vain. How can I stop this behavior?

You seem to have this tagged with two different phone models ([tag:samsung-galaxy-s] and [tag:samsung-galaxy-551]). Which of those do you actually have?

Apologies. Its a Samsung 551.

Making text encoding the default behaviour for the stock Android Email app is not possible. You can use K9mail instead. This question is already answered here.
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9237/disable-html-emails-in-composer


text:
How can I fix Google Speech Recotnition misbehaving: When it starts SR it freezes
Symptoms
If I launch Google Now it seems OK (I can scroll the list of Cards, etc.) but if  speak "google" it does not start voice recognition and it freezes (can't scroll the 'cards' down, etc.) or simply exits.
If I manually touch the mic, it sometimes works but usually it just exits without doing anything.
Google Chrome search (entering search term as text) works fine.
Google Speech Recognition freezes similarly in other apps when I choose the Mic from the keyboard (I.e., SR instead of keyboard for text entry)
Update:
This seems to be a general problem with Speech Recognition. SR isn't working in any other app I tried it with.
What I've tried:

Verified that Bluetooth is disabled.
Factory Reset
Cleared all Cache
Updated Google Now
Verified the Settings>Voice>Hotword ("google') detection is enabled.
cleared the App Data (not just the Cache) (for Google Search)
I'm going to try to figure out how to disable the offline Speech Recognition next.

Any other suggestions?
Motorola Droid Razr M, Android 4.1.2


text:
How can I uninstall the local Speech Recognition from Google?
My Google Speech Recognition isn't working.  When I use it (in Google Now, Evernote, etc.) it crashes the app.
I'm guessing this is because I installed the local SR.
(I did a Factory Reset on the phone (Motorola Razr M) and the problem persists AND the local SR is still installed.
Update: What I've tried
I can't find any App (Running or Installed) that seems like Speech Recognition. So I've not removed anything.  The only thing I've seen that looks like it might be what I'm looking for is com.google.android.voicesearch but there's only an option to Stop and Disable it, not uninstall.

What did you try to uninstall it and why did that not work?

@Nils see my update above.

You need a rooted device to remove system apps. There are many apps on the market which will do this or you can do it manually via the command line.
Link2SD, for example, allows you to "convert" or remove system apps.
Be careful when removing system apps and do not do anything unless you fully understand what you are doing.

You might try to stop/disable it. If I do this with a system-app on my Nexus 4 I get a question wether to uninstall all updates. Say yes here, too.
If you want to give it another try, re-enable that app and check for updates and install those.
This way (disabling that sub-component, then re-enabling it) I could get Google Street View to work again within Google Maps.


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How to put Google Voice into Hands Free mode?
Google Voice can be set to provide voice ptompts Always or only on Hands Free mode.
I want the latter.
But how do i put my s7 into Hands Free mode?


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"Google Now" and Moto Assist not providing Voice feedback when in Hands-free mode
I'm not sure if this is caused by Google Now or Moto Voice.
This is a Moto X (1st Gen).
I am using Moto Voice.
I have Moto set to Speak to me at Home and when driving.
When I am driving (or at home) it still does not provide voice output (" text from blah blah"  or prompts in response to my speech (Text Bob, "What message do you want to send".). It no longer provides those voice prompts, Just a beep.

From Moto app menu go to voice and then driving and see if that is checked

Also update your Moto app if not done


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NOTE TO SELF messages are not saved
If I use the Google voice command :note to self, it works and saves the message "using Gmail"  but I can't find it when searching on a unique keyword in the Note :

gmail
Google Keep
Google search

clicking on View My Notes link displayed after it saves the Note (it just opens Gmail)

Android version 7.0 on Samsung s7

Is your G mail and keep updated?

Also Google - I had read in Google forums that such problems were resolved by updating concerned apps, hence suggesting


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How to unroot HTC Droid Incredible rooted to Unrevoked?
How can I unroot a Droid Incredible with Unrevoked Forever to CyanogenMod?

You've got to do 2 things:
First, download the S-ON tool from unrevoked's site and run it according to the instructions.  The main thing to keep on top of is the radio compatibility, particularly if you've flashed any of the Evo's radios to your Incredible.
Once you're back to S-ON, flash the latest RUU.  Right now, it's 4.08.605.2.  This will replace the ROM & recovery with stock versions.  Be careful doing this, last I heard there's no way to permanently root the Incredible and regain S-ON after you've flashed a stock Gingerbread ROM.  If you would like to re-root in the future, at least keep S-OFF.


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Disable notification sounds for email
Is it possible to disable the notification sound for emails while still keeping the notification light and status bar notification?
I'm interested in this setting for a Motorola Photon (Gingerbread).

If you can chose the notification sound for email separately, you could assign it an "empty" (silent) audio file.

@Izzy thanks for the suggestion. I was trying to figure out if that was possible but the only options I see in Sound Settings are for Phone ringtone and Notification ringtone. Maybe there is a setting somewhere else that I did not see but I haven't been able to find it.

You need to look in the Email application's settings, not the phone settings. Each app handles its notification sounds and settings independently.

And often there's also one sound called "Silent" (i.e. no sound), which would then match your requirements.


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Is it possible to fully restrict/disable apps when they are closed?
I would love to have more control over when apps can run on my Android: I wish that apps can't run in background, unless I whitelist them, or unless I am using them.
"Background Restriction" offers something similar. But it kills the restricted apps when they're placed in background: I can't simply leave them open, running in the background, until I close them.
For example, I want my music player to be fully dead when I'm not using it: I don't want it to run processes in the background. But when I'm using it, it should stay alive until I close it, even if its activity is not in the foreground.
This experience is very natural on desktop computers: most programs work while you leave their window open (background or foreground doesn't matter) and die as soon as you close it. I wish to have it on Android too, but Background Restriction doesn't quite offer it.
The "Recents Screen" seems like the perfect tool for what I need: only the apps in the Recents Screen (and those whitelisted) should be allowed to run. As soon as I remove one from the Recents Screen, it should get killed and become fully restricted.

Can I obtain my desired behavior by tweaking some configuration or by installing some software?

Otherwise, would it be possible to implement it myself? I think it'd be enough to have a tiny script listening to/polling the Recents Screen and toggling the Background Restriction setting for apps as they are added to/removed from the Recents Screen. Are there any APIs to do this available from e.g. bash or python, without needing to create a full fledged app?

I'm using rooted phones with Android 11 and the stock ROM (I have a Pixel 3XL and a Nexus 5X). A rootless solution would be better of course. I'm willing to change ROM, if that's a solution.

To be honest I'd say since Android was ment to be a do it all OS, the recents menu wasn't meant to work exactly how you'd want it to work. The folks developing the OS ar pretty smart and if it was as simple as just opening a process and terminating it when swiped out they would've done that.   Furthermore many times in Windows when you close a program it still runs stuff in th background.  Lastly, there exists some programs that force close apps when not in use but they bring many unwanted behaviors and in my opinion don't save that much battery.

Be aware that OEM's battery optimizers as described in: https://dontkillmyapp.com/ which act similar to what you describe break the API contract between the Android framework and developers, but as it is your intent - just be ready to accept that certain apps won't work correctly. It would probably help to know which phone/OS version you are running.

I would whitelist apps that I care about, trust and want them to work properly. But I also have a bunch of apps that I need to use for a short session every several days and I want these apps to be as dead as if they were uninstalled when they're not in use: music player (I only use it when travelling: a couple of hours every few weeks), app to control my camera (I use it maybe once a month), app for the vacuum cleaner (once a week for half an hour) and more. They keep some processes alive in the background. I don't want this. I would uninstall them every time, but un&installing is too slow.

I have two phones at the moment, a Pixel 3 XL and a Nexus 5x. Both rooted, with the stock ROM.

Stock ROM doesn't tell anyone which version of Android. Assuming you are using a recent/updated one on the Pixel 3 XL, look at App Standby Buckets via 'developer mode' & adb: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/pie/power#buckets and see if 'rare bucket' is acceptable.

Ohh, sorry, Android version 11.
I'll check out the rare bucket.


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Screen orientation on Samsung Galaxy 9000
When I have my samsung galaxy 9000 (with Android 2.2) on a flat surface (table) and start an application, then the application is shown in landscape mode, even when the start/home screen was in portrait mode.
This does not happen when I hold the phone in my hands.
Is there a way to disable this behavior?
Update: I think I got something wrong: the home screen is never rotated, so the problem is simply that the galaxy thinks it is in landscape-mode when it is lying flat.

Maybe your table isn't perfectly perpendicular to all rays extending from the center of the Earth's mass that pass through it.  ;)

@Matthew Read: I don't care! It's called smartphone so I want it to behave smart ;-)

You want your phone to go into landscape when you intentionally angle it, right?  How is your phone supposed to know whether it was angled intentionally or not?  If calibration doesn't work, your table isn't level.  How is this a problem anyways?  You're standing, leaning over the table, looking directly down at your phone, and unable to turn it 90 degrees or rotate yourself 90 degrees?  Weird.

@Matthew: when it's level, I want it to be in portrait mode (not landscape). Why: the main screen/apps-menu is always shown in portrait mode, but as soon as I start an app, it switches to landscape. Of course I can rotate it, or tilt it to switch to portrait mode, but it's annoying.

Try recalibrating the orientation sensor from Settings -> Display -> Horizontal calibration. My phone does this too occasionally, since when the phone is lying flat, the difference between portrait/landscape is very small in the sensors.

You can disable auto rotation all together , the phone stays in portrait mode than, but won't switch to landscape when you are holding it, either.
If you would like to do this anyway: slide down the notifiction bar at the top and disable the 'auto rotation' option ( on my phone this is the icon to the right).

Thanks, I know that option, but it's not what I want. I'd like apps to be started in the same orientation as the home screen is currently being displayed.

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


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How to re-activate android device (with another email address)
I have an android device (registered to my gmail account), which I want to give to someone else.
What steps do I have to take, so that the device is no longer activated/registered/linked with my email address, and can be re-activated with the other person's gmail account?
What happens with any apps installed on that device (bought using my account)? Should I remove them manually?

You need to do a factory reset via Menu -> Settings -> Privacy -> Factory Data Reset (this may be under a different menu on newer versions of Android.)  Factory reset formats your device, erasing all 3rd-party installed apps and their settings.  It also dis-associates your accounts (Google, or any others you may have added) from the device, removing any synced contacts.
You may also wish to format your SD Card if you are giving it along with the phone.
Apps, books, music and videos that you purchased via Google Play Store are tied to your Google account.  You will be able to re-download them to your new Android device after signing in with your Google account.

Thanks! I updated/clarified the question regarding installed apps.

Edited my answer for clarity.


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Is it possible to activate an android device using a 'google apps' account
I'm using Google Apps for my personal domain and email.
Is it possible to use such an account (e.g. "name@mydomain.com") to activate an android device?

Yes.
Few years ago, Google Apps services were separate from normal Google services. Even cookies were different & compatible to each other. From last year, all Google Apps accounts are normal Google account (You'll have to sign out from normal Google account if you want to sign in with Google Apps account in a web browser).
And, it supports Android too. I've tested it.

My wife has only ever activated via a google apps account. I have multiple google apps accounts tied to my phone, so I concur, you can activate with a google apps account.

You've been able to activate with an Apps account since at least Cupcake and quite possibly since the very start (my first Android was an HTC Magic with Android 1.5 and that activated fine with my myname@mydomain.com Apps account).


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Turn off vibration when docking the phone
When I put my phone into the dock, it vibrates very strongly and for too long (IMO). Is it possible to turn that off or at least to decrease the intensity and/or duration of the vibration?
This is about a Samsung I9000 Galaxy S, with the Samsung ECR-D968BEG desktop dock/charger. The phone is running Android 2.3.3.

This app allows you to set duration of vibration

Vibration Notifier Makes Sure that You
  Don’t Miss Important Email and SMS
  Messages

This app allows to have settings based on conditions such as in a dock

With Locale and the Dock Plug-in Condition, your phone can
    automatically perform actions based on
    whether it is docked in the car, desk,
    or undocked. Automatically launch an
    app with the Shortcut Plug-in when
    docked at home, enable Bluetooth in
    the car!

Tasker can also be used to perform actions based on conditions.

Can you expand on that? How, exactly, would one use Tasker to solve this problem?


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Email application with notifications only for specified contacts (standard SMTP/POP3/IMAP)
I have a lot of mail traffic on my phone. But I want to be notified only for mail from certain contacts like my family, colleagues/boss, critical automated systems or at least any contact in my phone contact list (with email typed in).
Are there such applications which can access email on my personal/corporate server? Standard IMAP (or at least POP3) + SMTP, not some proprietary protocols like Exchange/Gmail.

Could you please edit your question with some details about your e-mail server? Is it Exchange, or SyncML, or something else? This will greatly limit your choice of Android apps.

Related question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/8028/is-it-possible-to-have-android-only-alert-me-when-specific-email-accounts-have-ne

That question assumes you are using the Gmail app, which you said you weren't interested in.  I would look into 3rd-party e-mail solutions like K-9 Mail (for POP and IMAP) or "Exchange for Android", a.k.a. "Touchdown" (for well, exchange).

Last time I checked, K9 did not support this.

From Touchdown FAQ
1.3 Can I use TouchDown with my Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo/POP3/IMAP account ?
No, TouchDown will not work with any type of accounts that are not hosted on a Microsoft Exchange server (or a compatible ActiveSync Server).
No dice :(

This isn't a direct answer, but I've found BuzzKill to be great for things like this. You can set rules to match particular notifications and then take a variety of actions. However, BuzzKill doesn't check your email for you, it just manages notifications.

I haven't found a standalone app but K9 in conjunction with WhoIsIt Lite supports this. It doesn't do away with visual notifications mind you, but it can silence them.
Alternatively you could investigate whether your workplace email support server based rules. You could use them to filter unimportant emails into a folder other than your inbox. Android's stock email app only checks for new emails in your inbox so the app would ignore the others.

Some functionality (customization of notifications per application) is already present in CyanogenMod.

not particularly surprising since this is eight years old, but link to app is broken, does not show up with search in Play store

You can use Gmail filters to label these messages, and set the notifications to only be for specific labels.

I do not use Gmail. I do not trust Google with my personal email.

out of curiosity, why don't you trust Google with your email?

@Denis ..well then an Android phone is probably not the best choice for you ;)

@Juri Android is the only phone OS with open sources and allows modifications without restrictions. For paranoids like me Android OS is as practical as it can be: open source and with established application market. I just do not use closed source, privacy infringing Google components, that is all.

I think most mail clients (like Touchdown, and the default mailclient, etc) do not have support for sophisticated notification schemes like you want.  I suggest disabling your mail-reading app's notifications and trying a separate email notification app.
Poking around the market I found this app:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.willdev.mailalert
and this app:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.netcompss.efilter
I have not tried either of these apps, but the descriptions seem a reasonable match for your problem.
I searched the market for 'email notification' and 'email filter' (the search returned a lot of irrelevant stuff, so there may be other useful apps buried in the results)....

Still looking for an email app with this functionality. But standalone app is better than nothing, awarded bounty, thanks.

I just needed to do this and it was fairly easy using this method:
Install IFTTT (free app that supports all kinds of awesome rules).
Create a new "applet" where:
IF This: checks gmail for messages according to whatever criteria you want
Then That: send notification
I'm doing this to try to get exchange messages from work (but cannot access or send content outside of work).  I wound up creating a rule in outlook that sends a new message to my gmail account with a set subject/body (via a script).  IFTTT searches for new messages with that subject and pops up a notification.
I used this page to help me create the script to create a new message:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/rules/send-a-new-message-when-a-message-arrives/
I saw that you don't trust Google with your personal mail.  The gmail account you use could be a dummy account (I assume you may already do this since you're on android).  Or you could use an alternative trigger from IFTTT.

If you don't mind paying money check out touchdown.  There is a free trial but I think it will do what you want.
http://www.nitrodesk.com/features.aspx

TouchDown will not work with any type of accounts that are not hosted on a Microsoft Exchange server (or a compatible ActiveSync Server).


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Can't get a Note 3 debugging
I'm trying to use my Note 3 to help me debug a website, but I just can't get it going. I've enabled developer mode and checked USB debugging in developer options, but that's as far as I can get.
I've installed Kies 3 and when I connect my phone using a USB 3 cable to a USB 3 port I can see my phone in Kies, I can transfer files to it and everything. I can do this using Windows Explorer or Kies.
However it cannot be seen by ADB or Chrome Inspect. Going through the instructions online they say I should be getting a popup asking me to authorise remote debugging, but I'm not getting that.
I've tried everything I can think of, I'm new to debugging mobiles and so my knowledge on how to get this is limited. Can someone help me get this working please?

If you unplug your device, reboot, does it still not ask you for permission? You're sure you have usb debugging on? Not trying to insult your intelligence, but I've had similar problems with android devices (particular the note and note 8), and sometimes I have dev mode on, but I forgot to scroll down and check "usb debugging". I don't recall of windows has the android transfer tool, but make sure that is turned off too if it's on. The other thing is on adb try to kill and restart the server. Can't think of anything else. Have you tried any of these?

Definitely have usb debugging checked and rebooting does nothing. I've killed and restarted the adb server multiple times, both removing the usb before and leaving it plugged in during the restart.

Interestingly, I've just tried this from my home PC and the prompt came up. I can view it in adb and chrome://inspect too. It must be something about my work PC but I wonder what.

it could be the ports are blocked. Maybe you could verify with network admin, perhaps to confirm? Other than that I would recommend bashing your work computer it until it works. lol j/p

Hehe, we're a small company and I wear many hats, including network admin. There's no reason why the USB ports should be blocked.

Many corporate boxes come with ports locked, but it could be Kies running and adb etc trying to run at the same time on the same USB drivers. Try killing ALL kies processes on the work PC. Make sure you run ADB as Administrator also.

I've tried it after rebooting (Kies doesn't autostart), I checked task manager and no sign of Kies, and had no joy. One thing I think it might be is the USB drivers on the computer. Whenever I plug the phone in it says it will perform faster in a USB 3 port, even though it is a USB 3 port. It's the same with every USB 3 port on the box. I've checked device manager and it says the drivers are installed properly with no updates available, but I think that is the issue.

Just to confirm, on your personal computer you don't have kies installed? There are a lot of problems that aries with kies. It plays nice by itself, but once you want to use other toys, it becomes a problem. I actually have kies installed on my work computer for firmware stuff, but on my personal computer I removed kies and all of the drivers it installed.

No, I have Kies installed on my PC as well. I specifically installed it to create the same situation as my work PC to try and figure this out. Today I uninstalled the USB hub drivers on my work PC, downloaded the latest drivers from Dell and installed everything again, still no dice. I'll try uninstalling Kies from my work PC though.


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How do I update my Samsung Galaxy Europa?
What is the latest official firmware for Samsung Galaxy Europa? I am currently on 2.2 Froyo at the moment. Can I update it using Samsung Kies, or do I need to update from somewhere else?


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Cannot get Moto G to output over SlimPort adapter
I am having a problem getting a display to my Panasonic TV from my Moto G when I connect it using a SlimPort adapter. I connected the HDMI cable to the HDMI 2 port. I connected the phone to the SlimPort adapter and the adapter to the HDMI cable. I changed to HDMI 2 on the TV. Nothing displays. Is this because my Moto G phone has limited capabilities, or what could be the problem?

SlimPort is not supported on the Moto G (nor is MHL). You can find a list of compatible devices on the SlimPort website.


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Screen mirroring with ASUS ME172 over HDMI
I have ASUS ME172 tablet with Android 4.1 and an HDMI cable, and I want to project the tablet screen to my laptop. However, when I connect the cable with laptop it doesn't do anything. I didn't find any option for HDMI on the tablet. Is there a way to control the HDMI output?

Are you using some kind of adapter? The HDMI port on your laptop is almost certainly HDMI out not HDMI in. You can't plug things into the laptop that way and display them on the screen.

you are right , the laptop HDMI is out port.
now how I can to mirror my ASUS tablet by USB?
is there any PC program or android app?

Related: How do I project the screen of my Android phone for a presentation?  Also, take a look at the screencast tag.


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How does Google Now retrieve public transit information?
I just activated Google Now and turned on location access, and found that it showed cards about public transit that was due at the stop I was waiting at. Chennai city as of now doesn't contain live tracking by Google, though.
Are they tracking other nearby GPS devices? I would guess that is not possible since a GPS device is a passive one. Can someone shed some light on how this works?

Most of the public transit info given by google for chennai is wrong. They were updated last in 2011 I guess. Google began public transit for major cities like Chennai, Mumbai etc in mid 2010.

and the transit were provided by private agencies

It's a new feature. But Google Maps has had transit information for quite some time, and keeps adding more.

@sameer - Is that publicly available to be shared as APIs ?

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/directions?hl=lv

And this is not a programming site. You better ask programming  related questions in Stackoverflow.

@sameer - please don't assume that my question lead to asking code stuff. In fact the javascript api link which you have shared is for the public transit. I was requesting you to share the piece of info which you meant by "and the transit were provided by private agencies". I wanted to have the data which was shared, just in case you got me wrong. No part of my question was related to asking "Please share me the code".

@AbhilashLR here is the list of agencies https://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/PublicFeeds

and http://stackoverflow.com/a/10625352/3275057


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Nexus 4 problem with red light
I have a Nexus 4, and I keep having to return it because of its red light of death. I usually am able to get back on my other phones with the same problem, but the new one I received just doesn't turn on with the red light incident. I was holding the power button for 10 seconds and the red light appeared and it was blinking. I had the same problems with my other returned phones, but this phone's light would disappear when I released my finger from the power button.

Normally, that red blinking light on a Nexus 4 means it's not getting enough power (the battery isn't charging, or is undercharged).
Try charging your phone overnight with a 2A charger.


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Both Bluetooth and Wifi not working on Galaxy S3 Mini
I have a Samsung Galaxay S3 Mini. I bought it from Canada and used there for 8 months without issue. However, when I came to Pakistan I unlocked it, and started seeing lots of issues.
First, I have both WiFi and Bluetooth turned on, but they do not work, even though I have fast WiFi. The second issue is is that sometimes I lose cell service, and can't receive calls or messages.

When you say 'unlocked it' do you mean SIM Unlocked or you rooted the device?

I had the same problem. WiFi and Bluetooth modules use the same antenna. This is a hardware problem and I fixed replacing the antenna but you should the check other possibilities. Check this link out: http://blog.brokenlcds.com/samsung-galaxy-note-2-bluetooth-and-wi-fi-problem/
About your second issue, it also sounds related to the antenna of the communication module.


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Can't update Uber app
I installed uber app from play store. But when i try to update it then it cant update and it shows error.

Are you able to update other apps? Tried removing and reinstalling the uber app?

Yes. I can update other apps. But uber can't update.

Follow below Step:

Go to Setting
Tap on Applications
Find the Uber app on a downloaded app
Tap on Uber app
Clear caches files and clear data storage.
Now open Play Store
Find Uber app, let see UPDATE button is visible


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Why does Jelly Bean no longer support Flash?
I am fine with the news that Android Jelly Bean no longer supports Flash. But being an Android developer, I am surprised that they did not release a reason for that.
Does anybody know?

Adobe decided to stop support for its Flash Player on Android mainly because of HTML5 doesn't need flash player to play videos. Unfortunately, that didn't mean all Web sites you visit would start using HTML5 instead of Flash (though it would have been nice). If some of the Web sites you want to look at are using Flash, the last version of Adobe Flash Player that landed on the Google Play Store will work with your Jelly Bean device.
 However, since it's no longer available through the Play Store, you'll need to install it from a side-loaded APK.
They've only stopped support, doesn't mean that it won't work but if it doesn't on certain devices then they won't fix it or support it.
You can still install it from here.

Rather than downloading the Flash player APK from a 3rd party site, you can still download it direct from Adobe, go to http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html#Flash%20Player%20archives and scroll down to the "Flash Player for Android 4.0 archives" section, there's even a newer version listed than on your other site.

It's not that Jelly Bean won't support Flash. Adobe decided not to support Flash for newer devices, starting from Jelly Bean and onwards. I don't know the know the reason though. Maybe they got tired of testing (and certifying) several devices?
Source.
You can still install Flash on Jelly Bean; there are workarounds for that.

The reason, perhaps not expressed officially, was because they never could get good performance from the technology on a mobile platform.


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Nexus 7 says it's charging but it isn't
I have had a Nexus 7 since September and today something strange happened.
I plugged it in, as usual, to recharge the battery. It charged up to 36% and now it still says it's charging but it never moves from that percentage.
How can I fix my device?

Could try turning it off and on again? Charging whilst off? Charging via PC using USB?

I was originally charging it via USB. Then I tried to use the wall plug. I still have to try with the device powered off.

If that doesn't work out, it might help to remove the battery for a few minutes, then put it back in.

It doesn't work. How can I remove the battery from a nexus 7?

You can't remove the battery that easy. I guess there is some app that's consuming too much power, and with normal usb charging it pulls only 500 mA. Reboot the device and try again.

What is the right way to reboot? I try to hold the power button and then press power off, but it seems just to hibernate rather than reboot

When you press power off and it hibernates, it goes to a deep sleep. You can still wake it up by a long press on the power button.

I solved my issue using a 2A charger instead of my phone 1A charger or the USB port that provides only 0.5A.
I am sure I have been able to charge my nexus with all the power sources, but maybe I left it on charge all night long.

As you have found, a bigger charger helps.  Also check to see what is running.  One graphics intensive game I play tends to consume 25% of the battery / hour when I have everything turned up.  Even the stock charger barely keeps up with it.

I wasn't paying. I was just surfing the web, reading the news and interacting on social networks

Actually Nexus 7 battery is easy to change. The back is easily carefully pried off, the connector inside comes undone without much effort. I replaced my battery with a new one still it only recharges to about 50% then begins to discharge. I'm going to try a slightly stronger charger. Though even fully powered off and charging over night did not increase charge though the indicator claims it is charging.

I don't think it addresses "How can I fix my device?"

Try calibrating (Completely Discharge battery), by playing games or watching videos. Once battery dries try switching your nexus on untill your device refuses to do so. The charge it from a wall charger. See if it works. I have a motorola MB855 , i generally claibrate 5-10 times in a month. That keeps its backup and life healthy.

"Calibrating" a Li-ion battery the way you do will cause the battery life to be reduced drastically. Don't do this.

I hav'nt faced any single problems past 6 years, either with laptop or mobile phones. I am using mobiles since 11 years when we have NiCd batteries, claibrating batteries will help you in taking full advantage of your battery.

Well, if you want to go against everything the mobile manufacturers say, more power to you! Enjoy your amazing battery life!

@ChinmayKanchi : Kid ... Read this http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490. Calibration is Highly Recommended by HP and Apple for their devices. Even HP laptop box comes with instruction to calibrate battery on regular intervals. And these days Mobile and Laptop batteries are both Li-On battery. Only sizes and mAH are different. If calibrating is considered as bad idea , then the laptop or tab manufacturer will suggest you to operate the device while charging. Instead they suggest to use it on battery as max as possible. Over charging or online usage is always said to be avoided

@See-Sharp The Apple article you post says "every few months", not "5-10 times in a month" or maybe once per month if you leave it plugged in constantly (not the case on a phone or tablet). Each time you do it puts wear and tear on the battery. You're doing it way more often than needed to keep the charge monitoring working.

I'm using a 7" Galaxy Tab (SHW-180S) and this same thing happened with me a few days ago. This is how I solved it:

Remove the battery from the device
Charge your battery from another electric source (I don't remember the device name but most mobile repair shops have them)

You can also try a hard reset. Changing your charger may also help if it isn't providing enough power to charge Nexus 7.

Unfortunately it is not possible to remove the battery from a Nexus 7

Would you please describe the reason of the down vote?


text:
How can I root my Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet?
Lenovo doesn't provide updates for the Thinkpad Tablet any more. I'd like to install a custom ROM and therefore need root.
How can I root my Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet?

The method "debugfs automated root" works for the latest official ROM of the Thinkpad Tablet. Like most other root methods, you need to have the Android SDK (or at least adb) installed and must be able to connect adb to your Lenovo Thinkpad (Enable debug mode).
Linux Users

Download the exploit from the XDA Post.
unzip DebugfsRoot_Generic_v2.3.zip
adb push debugfs /data/local/
adb push su /data/local/
adb push debugfsinput /data/local/
adb shell mv /data/local/tmp /data/local/tmp.bak
adb shell ln -s /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /data/local/tmp
adb reboot
adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/debugfs
Now run the exploit: adb shell "/data/local/debugfs -w /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 < /data/local/debugfsinput"
Cleanup: adb shell rm /data/local/tmp && adb shell mv /data/local/tmp.bak /data/local/tmp
Install superuser: adb install Superuser.apk

Windows
Just run the provided RootDebugfs.bat

Is this specific to that device, or kind of Generic for certain Android versions?

I believe that the exploit can be used on other devices too. But I cannot verify this of course. All I can say is that it worked for me with the latest stock version.  And this is the situation most people who want to root the TPT are in.

Hm, so I might give this a try with my Cat, before I return it due to its display error... Will take a look at the stuff if it does no harm when failing ;)

If you want to use the exploit method on anther device make sure to replace /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 with the correct device node.

Good point. Which one is it? I mean, the "target partition" (recovery, system, data...)?

/system (or just follow the steps RootDebugfs.bat does).

Could you state specifically the version(s) this works on?

At least the latest stock ROM for XEU. But I am pretty sure that it will work on every up to date stock ROM (although I can not verify this, since I only own an XEU device).

Tnx @Flow! Will try it ASAP and report back.

Grmpf. /system here is not /dev/... but simply ubi0_0 (UBIFS), so I better don't play with it I guess...


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HTC Desire HD Crash on Photo click
Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question.
My phone crashes every time I try to take a picture with 20-30% battery.
I have tried with Low and Mid quality picture (1-3 MB) but this didn't help.
Phone Details:

HTC Desire HD
Android Version: 2.3.5
HTC Sense version: 3.0
Software Number: 3.13.110.4
Kernal: 2.6.35.10
Browser Version: Webkit/533.1
SD Card: 8 GB (Available: 5GB)

Hope this info helps. Let me know if any one need any more details.

Are you really sure it only happens when your battery is at 20-30%? What about below 20 or above 30%. That seems strange to me, crashes shouldn't be related to the power source at all (at least they should occur unspecific if the battery is half dead). Does it not happen when you charge it? If yes, replace your battery and see if it helps. Maybe shooting photos draws more current than your broken battery can supply and your phone crashes due to a brownout.

Have you tried clearing the app data or cache? Force stop? Restart the phone?

ce4 - Yes it only happens when battery is left this much. Works fine when on charging.

@AlEverett- Yes tried clearing App data and cache both. No Force stop. And ofcourse phone get restarted automatically when it crashes.

I have replaced the battery and updated to 4.1 and all is working fine.

My desire HD too.
I just presumed that if the battery was too low and it tried to use flash, then it used too much power from the battery and turned off.

OP didn't mention anything about using the flash.


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Gmail Nested labels on android
I use nested labels on my laptop for organizing  email since it reduces the number of labels I see.
But on my android phone the nesting doesn't  appear to work.
Example
"HOA" as main label and "HOA/docs" as the sublabel. The label is the same of both laptop and phone, but they do not nest on my phone.
Am I missing some setting on my phone or is it just something  that a phone cannot.

I use gmail by an imap client (openmail). There it works well, the problem is only the assignment of the imap folders to the gmail labels.


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Android boot.img installing BusyBox with Dropbear
I have installed TWRP on my device, extracted boot.img.
Initially I just wanted to build Dropbear for Android and make it run from boot.img.
I don't need any app to have root access.
What I would like is to have Dropbear running root and be able to SSH into it having root access.
I'm not experienced with BusyBox. I used a little bit of OpenWrt with BusyBox 1.28, but seriously don't know it much.
What I need is to have root SSH access to be able to configure some things. Be able to do some configuration with Ansible Playbooks for the phone would be nice addition.
I'd like to be able install certain program packages, the similar way I did in Openwrt I recently installed cURL package. I need to write some scripts which will be executed as jobs, something like cronjobs.
So the question is, do I need BusyBox for that or just build Dropbear?
It seems BusyBox would be very nice thing in my case.

For scheduled jobs run busybox crond. On Android 10+ init services can be run as scheduled jobs with restart_period option, so you don't need a third party tool. // If you need remote shell adb in WiFi mode may help but doesn't fulfill my needs. So I run a full OpenSSH server: How to run SSH/SFTP server for multiple user logins with password authentication on Android?

@IrfanLatif I see you use busybox, have you just downloaded binary or build it yourself and run it on your android or you're using Magisk Core Mode Only which has busybox? Seems there's no need for me to use Magisk.

I have used different busybox builds but ATM I'm using my own (you can find it here). It's somewhat limited because for many tools I use static built binaries e.g. coreutils, util-linux etc.


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Front-Camera: What does each icon do?
I cannot find information on the front camera settings on the LG G4.
In particular, I would like to know what the icon on the leftmost side does (hand holding phone and arrow). See screenshot below for reference.
Any help understanding this icon would be greatly appreciated in addition to the functions of the other icons. A diagram would be most helpful. For some reason one for the front camera settings was not included in the user guides that I came across when I searched online.

Screenshot (click to enlarge)

LG G4 User Guide maybe it have detailed instructions about camera settings : www.lg.com/ae/mobile-phones/LG_G4_manual.pdf


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can't uninstall a harmful app

Screenshot (click to enlarge)
a pop notification is being shown about running a harmful app on my android phone Symphony H300 with an option disable. when I'm clicking disable, notification is disappeared and showing again after some time. If I click the notification two option is there, one is keep anyway(unsafe) and the other is uninstall. i'm clicking uninstall. but the notification is being shown again after some time.

Can't you just turn off it's SMS permission? Is this a system app?

You have a few options:

instead of uninstalling the app through the notification, uninstall the app directly from the "Apps" menu in your settings. Click "Settings", scroll down to "Apps", find the app in question and tap on it, depending on the specific version of Android you have the options will vary, but you should have an "uninstall" button. Press that.
some apps are a bit nasty to remove and require root privilege. If the above doesn't work, consider rooting your phone so you can get at the app and uninstall it. This should only be required if the app came pre-installed on your phone, or if the app is truly being nasty and blocking the uninstall.


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Xperia Facebook messenger acting strange
My sony xperia xa1 decvice keeps reinstalling why looks like a dated version of Facebook and messenger..have I been hacked?

Screenshot (click to enlarge)

Have you been hacked?  No.

It happened with me too.
Just reinstall Messenger again
It worked for me
I hope it will work for you too

Done, I will accept coincidence. I have deleted my former comments.


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How to connect 2 Bluetooth audio headsets to an Android phone?
How can two people listen to audio on an Android phone over Bluetooth?  I.e. they have two Bluetooth headsets and want to pair both at the same time?

As in most things, it depends. In this case, since you do not state your device, I will demonstrate from mine, a Samsung 8, running Android 9 (One UI). It explicitly allows dual Bluetooth through settings. If this is your device, click through to it at
Settings > Connections > Bluetooth > Advanced > Dual Audio > ON
The setting allows sound to two different Bluetooth devices.
If your device is different, look for the capability along a similar setting path.

It seems available on Samsung S** devices but not on A** devices: https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-a-series/galaxy-a8-2018-dual-audio/td-p/1009922
Is there another option?

Most Android phones do not have the feature that allows more than one device to connect concurrently, but it's probably possible to send audio to two Bluetooth devices with extra hardware.
If your phone has an audio jack, that signal can be split into two using an adapter.  That would then have two wired headphones working. You could probably buy the wired splitter for $10 or so.
If your phone has an audio jack and would like to connect two Bluetooth devices, you can buy a multi-point Bluetooth Transmitter, also called Bluetooth transmitter splitter sender, which allows two devices to pair with it, and you connect the transmitter to the audio out jack of the phone. eBay has them for under $20.
If your phone doesn't have an audio jack,  There are many small, rechargeable Bluetooth receivers that can receive audio from your phone. They output on an audio jack, and you could proceed as above. If you need just audio, it would probably be fine, but if you want audio synced with a video you're watching, there would probably be a latency issue with receiving and retransmitting the signal.
It's possible that some company has produced or will produce a single device that offers two Bluetooth connection points for a reasonable price, and that might even address the latency problem.

Apart from soldering 1 Bluetooth receiver output to two Bluetooth transmitter inputs, I cannot see a way to do it with the current Android Bluetooth setup. It only allows one device paired at a time. Could be an interesting hardware project if you are into that kind of thing.
Your phone connects to the Bluetooth receiver, while your two Bluetooth headsets each connects to one of the transmitters.

According to Send Audio to Two A2DP Bluetooth Devices Simultaneously, you either need a Samsung S8 or newer or Bluetooth 5...

If budget is not a constraint, and you just want to connect multiple headsets in a fixed location, check out the Plantronics Savi 7xx or 8xxx line of headsets.  They are intended to allow monitoring of telemarketing calls, but we use it when my wife and I want to talk on the same mobile phone call.

It seems only Samsung offers this feature on their Galaxy smartphone models.
But I found two headphone manufacturers which support a feature, which allows pairing the headphones itself, so it works independently of the device:
JBL ShareMe

Tap the ShareMe button once Tap the ShareMe button on the 2nd headphones twice ( ! ) The headphones will connect to each other

Teufel ShareMe

Listen to music simultaneously with a friend using only one smartphone by wirelessly connecting two headphones

It seems the Teufel feature depends on the app, so it's not completely independent of the device, but their exists an android app, so it should work with android.


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Tracking down which app makes HTTP requests
After configuring my Galaxy S4 (Android 4.4.2) phone to use a proxy server for debugging an app, I noticed that other apps on my device were making some suspicious HTTP calls.  I would like to track down what app is doing this.
Unfortunately, the request itself didn't have any clues... it only contained a generic User-Agent header:
User-Agent: Dalvik/1.6.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.4.2; SPH-L720 Build/KOT49H)

The response was also generic, and not related to anything I have knowingly installed.
Is there a way to log apps making HTTP requests on my Android device?

@DanHulme The answer on the question you linked to isn't appropriate in my case.  I'm not looking for network connections, I'm looking for information from HTTP requests.  In addition, I have considered running a packet capture over time but there isn't enough storage on my SD card to capture very long.

In that case, [edit] your question to say what information you want to capture. All you asked for is which app is making requests.

@DanHulme Yes... which app is making HTTP requests, not just general network connections.  I've edited the title to make it more clear.

HTTP is just one level above TCP, so use netstat (as described in that answer) and check outgoing TCP connections to port 80.


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HTC EVO with Evernote App - pictures upside down
I'm trying to use the Evernote app to take a photo and upload it.
I create a note, take a picture of a business card.  I'm holding the camera sideways, aiming down at the card on the table in front of me.  When I see the note in the Evernote app on the EVO or on Evernote site, the business card is upside down.
I've even tried rotating the pictures in the gallery and attaching them, but they always come out upside down.
I'm new to the phone, so could be I'm doing some really wrong. Or maybe Evernote has a limitation for the "free users"?
Update: I just uploaded pics to my PC, and they were upside down there to.  So the rotate/orientation on the EVO must own be for display there, not in the actual photo-file itself?
I'll try flipping the camera the other way... seems like I tried that last night, but will try again.

Try turning the camera 180 degrees.  Clearly Evernote is confused about where the top and bottom are.
Also, I have found when editing in the gallery then uploading to Evernote, if I only rotated the picture the edits don't seem to take. It does work however if I rotate it, then crop it (I don't really crop anything out, but just go through the motions) and save it.  On those photos, Evernote recognizes the edits.

Like I said in the post, "I tried flipping the camera the other way" i.e. 180 and 90 as well. I tried some the next day, and they worked okay, just looking for rules and consistency.


text:
How can I connect two android devices to the same network over the internet?
Many phone functions (local WiFi-only games, networking, etc.) are only possible/are made much easier by having the two devices connected to the same network.
I'd like to do this, if possible, between two Android devices. I imagine a VPN would do the job, but I'm not sure. How can I connect two (separated by distance) Android devices to the same network?


text:
Google Music Play reports "Can't download music right now. Will try again later."
I have a rooted Galaxy Tab 2 running Android 4.2.2 and Google Music version 5.6.1609P.1258283. I try to download albums and all goes well for approximately 5 albums. After that, Google Play Music reports:

Can't download music right now. Will try again later.

Later never comes, and any attempt to restart the download fails with the same error message. I have plenty of disk space.
I have a decent amount of Unix/Linux experience, so I started an attempt to diagnose. I checked logcat as root and it gave me this:
# logcat D
...
E/DownloadTaskImpl(12712): IOException: id=[3202, DEFAULT], remoteId=7b000cd1-13b5-3f89-8117-65e65dff70d0, owner=KEEPON, priority=100, seek=0
E/DownloadTaskImpl(12712): Download failed because of IO Error: The target server failed to respond
...

I get the IOException every time I try to restart the download. I logged this issue with Google support, but never got a response.
Any suggestions are welcome.


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Can't move apps to SD card on Moto E
I recently purchased Moto E with Android 4.4.2 and soon after filled up the internal 4gb with apps.
I installed a 32gb SD card and nothing moves to it. Not even new apps. How can I set the default install location to be the SD card?

YOu would need root, Google have completely stopped External SD card support as of Kitkat 4.4.x

And restored it even better in Marshmallow 6.x.

You need root access for it, so if you are not rooted, you can manually move the apps to the SD card (if that has been allowed by the app developer) in the Settings->Apps->(App to be moved to SD)->Move to SD Card. Or you can use a specialized linking app, such as App 2 SD, Link2SD or similar (if you have root).


text:
My phone's 3g/4g randomly stopped working
I have a Galaxy S3 and my 3g/4g suddenly stopped working. WiFi works fine, but how can I get my 3g to work again? I have already uninstalled apps and deleted unnecessary photos and videos.

How did you know that 3G is not working? Your apps/photos has nothing to do with it. Have you checked with your network service provider? It might be the issue from their side as well.

Need more info - what do you mean that it "suddenly stopped working?"  Do you have the icon in the notification bar?  Are you in data roaming mode?

Check that flight mode is not swithed on. This mode will disable any network (Wi-Fi, cellular network, etc).
Else, go to Menu | Settings | More Settings | Mobile Networks | Network Operators (Note: your menu options might be different due to the Android version installed on your S3) and reconnect to your telecommunication provider's cellular network. Note: You may need to select your telco provider's name when your S3 displayed a list of cellular providers.
Also, shutdown your S3. Then, take the battery out for 30 minutes. Reinsert the battery. Boot up your S3 and turn on Mobile Network option and see if 3G/4G has been restored.
Worst case, it could be an Android firmware's update that is causing the S3 to fail to connect to any cellular network.

Open your phone's dialer app(calling app where you type mobile no. to make a call) and type the following:

*#*#4636#*#*

It will open a mysterious looking menu before even you touch the dial option, yes! you won't need to dial it, but, just type in the code.
Touch on "Phone information 1" for SIM 1 in the menu in dual SIM phone, else it will show "Phone information" for a single SIM phone.
Scroll down, Make it look like "Set preferred network type: GSM auto (PRL)" by selecting "GSM" from dropdown menu.
Go back, exit the menu, reboot your device.
If you still don't get 3G speed knowing that you have 3G enabled by your carrier(ex. Vodafone, airtel etc.):
"Set preferred network type: LTE/GSM auto (PRL)"
It should allow you 4G/3G speed as allowed by your network carrier and towers available in your area.
Be aware that changing the setting to a wrong option will lead your device showing "No network" and you won't be able to make calls. So, make note of the default preferred network type before changing so you can revert the changes back to it if you experience problem.
I hope it helps.

Samsung phones usually take a while to switch on data. Wait for few seconds. Also try a reboot, that resolves the issue most times.


text:
How do I get my old WhatsApp account on my new phone?
I lost my old phone yesterday and it had my WhatsApp account on it. Today I bought my new phone and I was wondering how I could get my account back. I have both my the number for the account and the WhatsApp code for that account also.
How can I get my account back?

Have you seen Migrate whatsapp from phone (old expired number) to another one? Does that apply to your situation? I guess you told your provider to "expire the old device" (as you consider it lost), so it should fit.

authors: Максим Торееа


text:
Exchange ActiveSync device agent strings for Android OS version
I am creating reports based off of our Exchange ActiveSync logs. One of the fields in the EAS logs is "Device Agent" which tells me the device type and what version of Android the device is on. An example string from this field is:
SAMSUNG-GT-N7000/100.20306

where the first part before the "/" is the device and the second part is the Android version.
I am sure the version number maps to the Android version since these strings are different than the EAS client strings. An example of and EAS client string is "Android-EAS/2.0" where the number is the version of the ActiveSync client. Devices with those strings report the Android version in another column.
Here are some additional examples of the Android version numbers: 100.202, 100.20303, 100.20304, 100.20305, 100.20306, 100.40003, 100.40004
I was able to leverage this resource for the iOS devices: http://www.onesimplescript.com/2012/06/reporting-on-apple-ios-activesync.html
What I can't figure out is a mapping of the Android versions from these strings to their "friendly" names (KitKat, Ice Cream Sandwich, etc). Are there any resources available that map these numeric OS versions to the OS name?

Not sure if this question fits this Q&A site, but you might end up building your own hash list.

Are you sure that version number maps to the Android version, not the version number of the ActiveSync client?

According to the version numbers you've posted, they are the Android version numbers with zero padding. Therefore these can be directly mapped to "friendly" names, which can be found for example on Wikipedia under Android version history.
100.202   => 2.2   => Froyo
100.20303 => 2.3.3 => Gingerbread
100.20304 => 2.3.4 => Gingerbread
100.20305 => 2.3.5 => Gingerbread
100.20306 => 2.3.6 => Gingerbread
100.40003 => 4.0.3 => Ice Cream Sandwich
100.40004 => 4.0.4 => Ice Cream Sandwich

So the remaining should be:
100.105   => 1.5   => Cupcake
100.106   => 1.6   => Donut
100.2     => 2.0   => Eclair
100.20001 => 2.0.1 => Eclair
100.201   => 2.1   => Eclair
100.20201 => 2.2.1 => Froyo
100.20202 => 2.2.2 => Froyo
100.20203 => 2.2.3 => Froyo
100.203   => 2.3   => Gingerbread
100.20301 => 2.3.1 => Gingerbread
100.20302 => 2.3.2 => Gingerbread
100.20307 => 2.3.7 => Gingerbread
100.3     => 3.0   => Honeycomb
100.301   => 3.1   => Honeycomb
100.302   => 3.2   => Honeycomb
100.4     => 4.0   => Ice Cream Sandwich
100.40001 => 4.0.1 => Ice Cream Sandwich
100.40002 => 4.0.2 => Ice Cream Sandwich
100.401   => 4.1   => Jelly Bean
100.402   => 4.2   => Jelly Bean
100.403   => 4.3   => Jelly Bean
100.404   => 4.4   => Kit Kat


text:
What should I do before I try advanced troubleshooting
Are there any generic troubleshooting steps and tips to be followed before I search for problem specific troubleshooting options? Then what are they?
I only have a general knowledge on Android and not familiar with flashing, shell commands, etc.

See also: My device is getting slow, apps start misbehaving/crashing. What can I do?

There are several steps/things you can do before you do advanced troubleshooting. Most of the problems can be solved following these steps.

Backup your data. Backup your data first (of course, if possible). You don't need to risk it. Keep it somewhere else. It is better to have backups for personal data and app data separately.
Try rebooting your device. You can use your power key or a third party reboot app
Keep your device switched off for a while. Make sure you remove your SIM card (and the battery and SD card as well, if they are detachable) and wait about 30 minutes.
Try freeing some space. You must always have some free space. It is better to have more than 50MB free so that the apps can work smoothly. (Some say it should be 2% of total memory)
Try re-installing apps. If you believe your problem is caused by a specific app, try uninstalling and re-installing that app. Also you can try clearing the app cache. It will give you some more space.
No hardware fixes. Do not attempt to quick hardware fixes unless you have clear understanding of what you're doing. And keep in mind that you'll lose your manufacturer's warranty by doing such fixes.
Update your OS. Make sure that the relevant updates are compatible with your device, referring to your manufacturer's website.

If you are still in the problem, you can try searching help for your problem or contacting your manufacturer's customer support personnel. Remember to do this before you go to factory resets.

Sid, you may want to add: clean caches of misbehaving apps (as a separate item -- yes, I saw you have it in the "re-installing apps" section). This solved many app-specific problems in the past (especially Playstore). Insert before "freeing some space", and that then becomes "freeing some more space" :) Also: last resort = "factory reset" (needs backup before) might be a valid point here. Moreover, I would move "update your OS" 1 further to the end.

I have added that last resort before hand. Good thoughts by the way. :)

Travis Bemrose has a question regarding this post.  It would be good if you could please answer the question there, not here, so that we can preserve the comments which are there.


text:
Can I install Android 2.2 or 2.3 on a Samsung Omnia 2?
I would like to install android 2.3 or 2.2 in my Samsung Omnia 2.
Could you tell me how should I do?

is that even possible?

I think the Omnia 2 is a Windows phone normally? So it is very unlikely to have an official Android release for it. You're going to have to wait for someone to put together an unofficial release and hope that it's possible for them to get or write all the drivers, etc.
It looks like there was an attempt by some of the XDA people to port Android to the i8000 Omnia 2 back in February, but they hit problems because there were no Android devices using the i8000's ARM1176 S3C6410 CPU at the time.
Your best bet is going to be to keep an eye on (and offer to help out at) the Omnia II ROM Development sub-forum of XDA's Samsung Omnia II forums.

There is an Omnia II Android Development forum on XDA developers now. Current threads providing installable packages and instructions for Android 2.2 Froyo are:

Omnia II - Automated Installation - Android 2.2 by ChrisMitsis, Beta 2 version as of 5 June 2011.
froyo bundle and how to install (updated) by ritchietos, updated as of 17 May 2011.


text:
Why does my device shows a resolution other than that advertised?
I bought two different cheap android tablets, in the process of buying a dozen for my company. I haven't had much experience with them before and there's one thing that's bugging me.
I downloaded a few simple apps that show the screen resolution, and the values are 768x976 (portrait) and 1024x720 (landscape). The devices are advertised as 1024x768 (4:3) and indeed, they look 4:3.
What's going on here? Are the devices lying in their specs? Are the apps inaccurate? Is this because the apps omit parts of the screen that can't be used for apps?
The devices aren't well known but for reference, they are: Dinosaur Dino 9.97 and a Go On Touch DC97 IPS 9.7.
The apps I tried are: ScreenSpecs, Screen Resolution and Screen Resolution (same name).

"Why?" questions are rarely good here, and often lead to speculations, as most likely in your example. The obvious answer is the manufacturer advertised the wrong values -- but why he did so, and how that happened, etc., is nothing we can answer here.

Thanks for the edit. To clarify, the correct answer can be that the manufacturer advertised the wrong values, I'm not seeking an answer as to why they did so. Since I'm new to android devices, and since I tested two different devices with three different apps, I just assumed there was some known fact about how screen resolution is measured in these apps that would explain this difference. Knowing whether it's more likely that the advertised values are wrong is relevant to me in order to decide whether to return them.

Ah! I see. I recommend then you re-phrase your question (including its title) accordingly. Your comment looks much clearer :) Though I'm not sure if that's really an Android related question, and not a general hardware or a development topic (which both would it make off topic here, see our tiny [FAQ]).

You haven't specified the Android version, but on tablets the difference is generally because the system bar (or "combined bar") is 48px (specifically, 48dpi, but in your case that's 48 real pixels) and the apps are only considering available screen space when they report the resolution:

Portrait = 768 x (976 + 48) = 768 x 1024
Landscape = 1024 x (720 + 48) = 1024 x 768

Some references:

What is the true available resolution of a 10.1 Android tablet?
Asus TF101 tablet status bar steals 48 pixels
Metrics and Grids (from developer.android.com; explains why 48 dpi was chosen for UI components)

That makes a lot of sense, and thanks for the very complete answer!


text:
Getting around the lock screen and cannot reboot to do Hard reset
I purchased a ZTE Z970 MetroPCS phone from ebay sold as "For parts - Broken". The battery was drained completely when I received the phone. When I charged it for a bit and tried the Power + Volume Up key, it kept rebooting upon reaching the first Android logo. There's nothing I could do. I tried all key combinations and it just keeps rebooting.
Magically, after charging again for the second time, the phone boots up. But the seller put in one of those pattern based lock screens. I emailed the seller via ebay but the seller doesn't know the unlock pattern himself.
I connected it to the computer to see if I can access ADB but no dice. Now the phone is up at the lock screen and I do not want to restart it and attempt to go to recovery as I'm afraid that it won't boot up again. What can I do to either get around the lock screen or somehow reset the phone some other way?

You're going to have to restart it and go to recovery. The whole point of a lock screen is to keep people out who don't have the piece of information needed to get past it.


text:
Google Play , YouTube and Gmail show error message “No Connection – Retry”
Some Android apps (like Google Play, Google Chrome, Gmail, and YouTube) show an error message “No Connection – Retry”.
On the other hand, apps like Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp perform Okay and connect correctly to the network.
In Facebook, I can play videos, make posts, and search.
In Messenger and WhatsApp, I can send messages but I can't send images.
Can anyone help me to solve this problem?

Try these:

Clear the Cache on your Android device
To fight the No Connection – Retry error message on Google Play Store app on your Android devices, try to clear the Play Store cache since this could be a reason of this error of repeatedly getting this network error message.
To do this, go to Settings > App, scroll down to All apps and finally to Google Play Store app. Open the app details and tap the Force stop button to reach to the cache clearing button namely Clear Cache.
That’s all what you needed to do to clear out the app cache. Restart your app and you might have just got rid of the No Connection – Retry error message on the Google Play Store app.
Check Date / Time settings
In case clearing the cache did not work out for you, there can be a minor glitch in your date and time settings causing the No Connection – Retry error message on Google Play Store app of your android devices. Check the time and date since a plenty of users were facing this network error message because of incorrect time settings.
Make sure to enter the correct Google / Gmail password
Another solution is to check your Google / Gmail account password. Did you change it and forget to re-enter in on your Android device? Whenever you change your password your Android device gets a notification to re-enter it. As soon as you correctly enter your new password, your Android phone or tablet would be able to get all the Google services back on the device.
Still getting the No Connection – Retry error message on Google Play Store app?
Do a factory reset!
Of course this is the very last option to go for but you would have to do it if your Google Play Store app simply refuses to connect. Before resetting your Android device never forget to back up your data since factory reset would wipe out all the data.