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How Do I Keep My Droid X's SD Card from Mounting as a Drive in Windows?
Stock Droid X, running 2.1. I have the USB Connection mode set to "Charge Only".
Whenever I connect the phone to my computer to charge, the SD card mounts as a drive in the computer. In the phone's USB Connection settings, it is still listed as "Charge Only", but the SD card is not available to the phone.
They only way to get it back is to:

Change the connection mode to "USB Mass Storage" on the phone
Unmount the SD card within Windows.
Change the connection mode back to "Charge Only"

This works, but it is a pain to do this every time, when I should be able to just set the connection I want and plug it in. Is there anything I'm missing?
Edit: This happens with more than one computer - one running Windows XP, one running Windows 7. Neither have the Android SDK installed.
Update - The upgrade to Froyo seems to have fixed this issue.

Have you tried to unset the USB Debugging?

USB Debugging is not enabled.

Do you have DoubleTwist installed? It helpfully mounts the SD card whenever you connect the phone.

I do have DoubleTwist. I just checked that setting and it is disabled. Good catch though. I might try and uninstall it just to see if that makes a difference.

If the Froyo upgrade fixed this for you, could you add that as an answer and accept it (or accept one of the other answers) to get this off the unanswered list? Thanks

Motorola Mytouch 2.1
Settings -> connnect to PC -> Default connection type
Choices are charge only / Sync / disk drive
I leave it at charge, unless I want to get to the SD card.  It gives a alert that it's charge only, pull up that alert and it lets you change it.

Try this (not sure if it's the same for all phones):

Go to Settings -> About phone -> USB Settings
Select 'Ask on connection' (if it's there).

When you connect your phone via usb, it should ask you what to do. There was the option to 'do nothing' for me.

I don't see that option on mine. What version of Android are you using? Maybe that is something I'll get whenever the 2.2 update comes out for the Droid X.

@81bronco 2.1update1 on Samsung Galaxy S Gt-I9000.

No, these kinds of things vary from phone to phone (unfortunately). So, it is not connected to the Android version.

@Dr.Dredel is there some way to add/remove these types of things (available apps/widgets, number of home screens)?

I don't think there's a way to overwrite the pre-set "settings" options.  I'm pretty sure that each phone manufacturer works with the carrier to offer exactly the options they see fit to add.  Though Android is inherently malleable so there is probably *some way... I don't know what it is though.

@81bronco This option is hidden in different places on some phones and versions, on mine it's (bizarrely) under Settings -> Wireless and Network -> USB Settings, I can then select "Ask on connection"


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Why my photos end up half dark?
Sometimes my motorola milestone camera goes crazy and starts out to take photos half dark.
I noticed that it only happens when flash is on. Also, I've seem this happening when the battery is low (~20%), or the system is slow.
As an example, this is a photo I took minutes ago: http://twitpic.com/2q65bs

I've never seen that before....  the flash isn't being blocked by anything (like one of your fingers), is it?

nope, the problem seems to be intermittent; I took a lot of "normal" photos before, then some of them started to be half dark, others totally dark, and some looked normal.

@OtherMichael done! I didn't notice I was allowed to answer my own question :)

Sometimes you ask a question you're already researched, and know the answer, and you're putting it in here for the good of humanity. However, I'd leave the question open for a day or two before accepting in those circumstances -- in case a better answer comes along.

Definitely it is related to low battery, I tried a couple of more tests and if the battery is < 20% this always happens.

Take it back to wherever you bought it and demand a refund.  Regardless if this is a hardware or software problem, you shouldn't have a problem with the sales staff -- show them the picture you linked to.

I bought it 6 months ago, and it was the first time I saw this problem. I tried again some days after, and it didn't happened.

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Why does the home screen stay empty (no application icons/no widgets) sometimes?
I have a Motorola Milestone, and sometimes when I press Home to go back to the Home Screen, the screen shows no application icons, no widgets.
It simply stays blank, with the wallpaper on background. I can navigate to the other Home Screens by dragging to left or right, but every screen it empty.
The phone seems normal, no slowness, the app drawer opens up normally.
The only solution I thought was to restart the phone. I don't use any task killer.
I also noticed this started to happen recently, after installing many applications. And it normally happens after running some heavy app, like Angry Birds.
Did anyone notice this too?

Just FYI: the program that shows your homescreen (dashboard) and all the icons and widgets is also your launcher. Getting an alternate launcher might help.

Does it eventually load the icons and widgets?

I think your mixing some words here and some clarification may invite more responses.  Correct me if I'm wrong but by "Dashboard" do you mean "Home Screen"?  And by "Launcher" do you mean the "app drawer"?

@Matt: right, those are better terms, I edited the question.

@Bryan: no, I left my phone idle for several hours, and the icons didn't come back.

Are you using a the native home screen or a home screen/launcher replacement?  On the blank screen can you add new icons and widgets?

@William that's weird....  it's usually an issue of memory.  You can try uninstalling any unnecessary services you have running on your phone (See what's running under Settings --> Applications --> Running Services) and see if that helps

@Matt: it is the original 2.1 from Motorola, no changes. @Bryan: I suspect too it should be something related with memory.

I don't see how it could be a memory issue and be so persistent.  Bryan, do you know how those settings stored in Android 2.1?  I randomly had my wallpaper disappear once and it never came back.  Seems to me to be a similar problem with saved settings getting deleted.

The Milestone (original Motorola Droid to all you Americans) doesn't use the default home screen app because of the slide out keyboard, since the default home screen app doesn't support landscape.  Switching to one of the other alternate home screen apps might solve your problem.

Still the same problem with LauncherPro for me.

Didn't the Milestone ship with LauncherPro?  Try something else.

Not that I know of, at least for the U.S. version (Droid), which is what I have. Thanks

Took me a while to figure out but it happened to me only at work.  For some odd reason, when plugged into USB on Windows 7 Ultimate (to charge), this would occur.  At home, I use 7 home premium and everything works - driver and software.  The PC at work simply would not install the driver for the phone, and would leave my phone hanging.  Being I am at work, I don't have the 'time' to troubleshoot, but do notice this occurs often.  Hope this helps - from Toronto, Canada.

Not sure if this should be a comment or a new question, not really sure that it's an answer. On another note, it sounds like your company's admins have blocked the central Windows Update site (presumably because they're using something like ther own WSUS server) this will stop your work PC from being able to download random drivers from the Windows Hardware catalog, and often will leave a PC sitting there waiting for a time-out when it tries to find the drivers, and will (depending on the phone make/model) often prevent USB charging.

Milestone here and I get the same problem but almost never use the USB, so I don't think this is the answer. Might be a catalyst for some other problem.

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Install/Run Android Skype on ARM LInux?
I have a Chromebook with an ARM processor.
I have installed Ubuntu on that Chromebook.
However, since there is no Skype-binary for ARM Linux, is it possible to use the version of Skype of the android APK, and run that on my ARM Linux ?
Is there some kind of Dalvik enviroment or converter for ARM Ubuntu ?
What would be the minimal emulation environment, if I wanted to emulate android ?

It's more than just needing Dalvik.  Much of the Android API (such as the whole UI layer) is specific to Android and not available on other platforms.

One way to install Linux apps on Ubuntu is through Anbox. It's very resource efficient, using your Ubuntu kernel to run Android apps without emulating the Android kernel or running Android in a VM. However, it's still in alpha, so getting it set up takes a while and apps might crash or not work at all.
Also, you'll need to find the APK somewhere (e.g. APKMirror), as the Play store isn't included.

To answer my own question:
Yes, it's possible.
Microsoft has release a web-app for skype at
https://web.skype.com

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Clear Android Market Search History?
Any thoughts on how one might clear the Android Marketplace search history?
For instance, if I recently searched for an android app in the marketplace, the marketplace search maintains a history list of which apps/keywords that I have recently looked for.
Thanks in advance!

From the home screen go to Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All > Market then choose  "Clear data."
This will erase your market search history.  When you go back into the market it'll be like your first time.  They will ask you to agree to the terms and condition again and then it'll be just like it was before without your search history.  Your app Downloads and Purchases list will still be there because that list is stored online in your Google account.

note that clearing market search history has been added to Market 3.1

HistoryEraser claims to be able to clear this for you.  It can also clear YouTube, Maps, and Earth dearch histories as well.  I haven't used it in a while, though.  (Ever since I upgraded from 1.6 to CyanogenMod 6).

According to a Google Support forum post, clearing search history feature is added on Market 3.1: open the Market app, press Menu > Settings, and then touch "Clear search history."


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Security / Privacy concerns regarding custom android ROM
What are the security and privacy concerns surrounding using a custom android ROM like that of cyanogen?

One big thing to learn from the recent Ikee worm that spread across jailbroken iPhones, is to make sure that once you're rooted and running a custom ROM, you use a complex root password that no one else knows, and make sure that nothing else in there is left using a default password.

I would say the biggest issue with a lot of custom ROMs including Cyanogen's is that the OS and system apps are signed with test keys. These keys are publicly available, meaning that it is possible for someone to write an app that uses "signatureOrSystem" or "signature" level permissions. There are known cases of malware that targets these custom ROMs [1,2].
On a more positive note, if you run a rooted devices, you can do things like set up a host file to block ads, enable a firewall per application, selectively disable permissions, etc. Custom ROMs often ship with newer kernels, so a lot of security vulnerabilities that are kernel-based are dealt with faster than what Google can do.
[1] http://www.cs.ncsu.edu/faculty/jiang/Fjcon/
[2] http://blog.mylookout.com/blog/2011/06/15/security-alert-malware-found-targeting-custom-roms-jsmshider/

Well, it is open source so you can look at the code and build it yourself if for any reason you don't trust the binaries that are shared.
I believe the only data they collect is from crash logs, and maybe the number of installs (I can't find a source for this if anyone can help me out here).
Other than that, a lot of people use it as it is probably the most popular rom out there.  If there were privacy issues, people would be all over it.


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How do I hide the "App permission management is running" notification?
I have a vernee Apollo Lite which runs Android 6.0.
There's a permanent notification called "App permission management is runn..." The App name seems to be Permission Control.
It's always there and clicking on it brings me to the permission management dialog.
I would prefer if it wouldn't always clog up space in the notifications. Is there a way to hide it without changing to automatically allowing all permissions?

Longpress on notification than tap on 'i' and check block all notifications, but beaware if is permission management part of system you will maybe not be allowed to block notifications or it will block notifications that you don't want to block.

Unfortunately the "block all" choice isn't offered. Do you know whether this behavior is special to vernee or whether it's default for Android 6.0?

Yeah, i tought so. I'm not sure, some time ago I had same problem on SlimKat ROM where I couldn't hide that notification when permission manager is runing. There was some xposed module which allows blocking certain notifications but I can't remeber it's name. But now on stock marshmallow I dont get that notifications ever.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Full list of MessagEase commands
Yesterday I started using MessagEase and I love the concept. However it seems there are a lot of ways to use different gestures. Is there a full list of all gestures and commands of MessagEase?

All commends and settings of MessagEase are documented on the app itself. Please run the app and consult the "How to" section, or send us an email support at exideas dot com if you need more help.

The quickest way to access the MessagEase UI is actually through the keyboard itself: just press and hold down this key...

There are multiple How-To sections, an FAQ, and additional advanced instructions or settings.  Admittedly, it can be a challenge to parse through all the pages to find what you're looking for, and there doesn't (to my knowledge) appear to be any centralized compendium of all the gestures and commands available (there is something for all the symbols).  If you've tried but can't seem to find how to do something in particular, their support staff is very friendly and have answered back to my e-mail inquiries within 24-hours on the occasions that I reached out to them (whereas the Facebook community got 0 replies).

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How do I find out which App changes the Alarm Volume?
For some reason my alarm volumne sometimes goes to zero. I don't know which app is causing the behavior. Is there an app that can tell me the answer? An app that tells me when my volumne changes and which app is causing volumne changes?

Related: Can I know who is changing Android's media volume?

From experience with my  zte zmax2 with Android, it is the built in music player labeled " music player ". Which is a bug needing a patch yet to my knowledge. When on external speakers in the headphones Jack and a song on loop, it has the alarm look all the way up, yet went off at the music volume level despite saying otherwise. Hope this helps.


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How to change the device name in Google Play (formerly Android Market)?
I have bought a new phone and need to change the old device name to the new one. How do I change the device name in Google Play (formerly Android Market)?

Where do you want to see the change in your device name? Are you referring to the device list in the Google Play Store website?

Log in to the web interface of the Play Store and click the settings button in the top right corner and select My Orders and Settings (or use this direct link). Next, select the Settings tab and you'll see your devices. From here, just click on Edit and type the name you wish to give the device and click Update.

Great!! I didn't think about that!!

The new direct link is: https://play.google.com/library/devices


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Unlocked Nexus 6p stuck in boot loop
I have a Nexus 6p that is unlocked and rooted. Last night it restarted unprompted (this has happened a few times since Nougat) and it no longer boots into the OS. I get the initial warning about the unlocked bootloader, the white Google logo with the unlock icon, and then it just keeps on rebooting. I powered it off last night and let it rest but that didn't help.
This morning I downloaded the 7.0.0 (NBD90X, Oct 2016) angler image. I tried flashing boot, cache, recovery, and system manually with fastboot and it was still in a boot loop after restarting. I ran flash-all.bat and that didn't help either. I'm not sure what to try next.
Update: I found the hidden menu in recovery mode (hold power+volume up in the recovery menu). Then was having difficulties getting ADB to recognize the phone when I noticed there was a different ADB version running in the background by Droid Explorer. I got that sorted out and uninstalled when I still couldn't get ADB to see the phone when some combination of uninstalling/reinstalling the USB drivers from google and trying different usb ports finally was able to list a device when running adb devices.
So after running wipe cache partition and running apply update from ADB with the latest OTA update (bootloop), and the latest Marshmallow update (Warning: Nofile_contextThis package is for "angler" devices; this is a "".), I'm still stuck.
Update #2: well since I haven't had any luck with anything so far, I tried doing a factory reset with hardware buttons in the recovery menu. Still boot loops. Are there any other options or should I ship it off to Huawei?
Final Update: since no other options worked I contacted Google Fi and they are sending me a replacement phone. Even though I am a few days beyond the warranty's expiration they are sending it free. (I also contacted Huawei and they comically sent me an email telling me to call their support's phone number.)

I read somewhere about Android Nougat not letting phones with unlocked bootloader to boot to the OS due to SafetyNet API. You should relock the bootloader.

Interesting, I'll give that a try.

fastboot flashing lock appeared to erase something on my phone but it still just boots to the white Google logo and then reboots continuously. Although no more unlock icon or unlock warnings.

Now just flash the factory ROM and everything should be fine.

FAILED (remote: device is locked. Cannot flash images)

Seems like you can't flash with a locked bootloader. Unlock it, flash Marshmallow image then you can flash Nougat after the bootloop issue is resolved.

And, just a dumb question: Did you boot in recovery and erase the userdata + cache after flashing ?

When I would boot into recovery, it just says No command on the screen. I'll try the latest Marshmallow image and see if that helps.

Ugh: FAILED (remote: oem unlock is not allowed) - I'm really wishing I wouldn't have locked that bootloader...

From what I understand, you said initially that the phone was unlocked and rooted, added to that, since you get the warning message during boot, the bootloader is also unlocked (evidence is the unlocked symbol that comes up at the bottom center of the screen). I used to run into this trouble while rolling back to stock and clearing userdata and cache before the first boot. What you can do again is:

Boot into fastboot.
fastboot erase userdata  [or fastboot format userdata]
fastboot erase cache [or fastboot format cache]
fastboot flash radio <<radio img>>
fastboot flash bootloader <<bootloader img>>
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash recovery <<recovery img>>
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash boot <<boot img>>
fastboot flash system <<system img>> [at this point, you must see
 it actually recreate the system partition]
fastboot flash userdata <>
fastboot reboot-bootloader
volume up / down and get into recovery mode
Power button + vol up [then let go of vol up, then power] to enter
 recovery options
use vol up / down and format the device [I believe it's the last
 but one option]

Reboot device and sit tight for at least about 10 mins.

I unfortunately locked the bootloader without realizing what a PITA it would make things. I'm trying to see if there's a way to unlock again but instructions I have found so far require a device that can boot into the OS.

Please check to see if this is possible:  Download the latest TWRP for the N6. I can't link you right now as my office network doesn't allow me to. Then, via fastboot, do a fastboot boot <<twrp.img>> and see if it is able to boot into the TWRP recovery.

fastboot boot twrp-3.0.2-2-angler.img  downloading 'boot.img'... OKAY [  0.389s]  booting...  FAILED (remote: unlock device to use this command)  finished. total time: 0.413s

Oh no. You really are in a bit of a mess. At least for now. Let me see what else is possible.

On a locked bootloader, you still should be able to flash google signed OTA / images. Since your phone is in sort of a dead state now, can you format all the partitions via fastboot, do the OTA sideload via stock recovery? The instructions are available here

thanks, I had tried that as well. I contacted Google Fi and they are sending a replacement even though the warranty has expired. It would be nice to know what would cause something like that though...


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How do I disable the annoying auto-correction of punctuation on device keyboard?
Here are two examples: (I'm using the '|' as the cursor)
Example #1:
I want to put the next word in quotes |

type '"' followed by a word and closing quote:
I want to put the next word in quotes" |
I want to put the next word in quotes" f|
I want to put the next word in quotes" fa|
I want to put the next word in quotes" fai|
I want to put the next word in quotes" fail|
I want to put the next word in quotes" fail"|

Desired (and expected):
I want to put the next word in quotes "|

Example #2:
I want a space before the question mark |

type '?' multiple times:
I want a space before the question mark? |
I want a space before the question mark? ?|
I want a space before the question mark? ??|

Desired (and expected):
I want a space before the question mark ?|

I have all the auto-correct options unchecked in my Motorola Flipside's settings:

That's annoying.  Some of the soft keyboards do this too, I hate it.  I don't want anything I type to ever be changed, because I typo less often than the software screws it up.

@Matthew I know, it's so frustrating :-(

I believe the stock keyboard on 2.2 does not do that, type the word, space, quote, and another word, and a quote, and they all works just as you'd expect. I've tried reproducing the problem in Samsung keyboard, HTC's, and Swype, none of them seems to mess up with the spaces around ".

OK, I'll add the 2.1 tag, good to know.

I just tries to type in a user id an the b**dy keyboard caps the first character on «.». You have to backspace and type the «.» again several times to correct. Generaly the 2.3.3 keyboard is pretty good but with this I reactivate and suggest “Smart Keyboard PRO”. — I just hate Programs who think to be more clever then me. Of course they are not.

I installed Vlingo and I switched over to that as the input method and I no longer have the above issues.


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Cannot send/receive MMS on Project Fi with unlocked Blu Advance A6
I have been trying to get my unlocked Blu Advance A6 on Android 7.0 working with Project Fi and I can't seem to get MMS messages working in the default app or Signal.
Regular text messages can be sent and received OK, but when an MMS comes in it just says "Tap to download" and when I try to send one it says "Not sent. Tap to try again."
I thought that maybe it was due to the APN settings being incorrect but the Access point names menu that is supposed to be located in Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> More -> Cellular networks is missing. There is only a toggle for Data roaming and no other items.

Well it appears that installing Google Hangouts makes messaging work. Although the app is pretty slow.
For the APN settings, the Project Fi app disables that menu when it's installed according to this:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/F9TYPTE11to
According to that post, you can run this from an adb shell to re-enable it:
settings put global hide_carrier_network_settings 0


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How can I remove apps from my "cloud"?
When I delete an application from my Kindle Fire, it remains in the "cloud" in case I ever want to re-download them. Is there any way I can remove/disown these apps so they don't show up in the cloud?

In order to remove the book/app from your cloud, you'll need to visit Visit amazon.com/myk. Log into your account and find the book/app. Click the "actions" link to the right of the title. Under it you'll have the option to delete it permanently. After you do so, you'll have the repurchase the book if you want to read it again.


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What is meant by the Nexus S being a "developer Phone"?
I have heard lots of times that the Nexus S is a "developer phone". What exactly does it mean?

It primarily means that the boot loader is unlocked so it is much easier to upload ROM's for testing. Additionally the default installation will be the original AOSP version of the code and include root access to the phone's software.
It does not mean that the hardware is a "test" model. It's a fully developed phone. What it doesn't have is more important than what it does have. What it doesn't have is the additional locks and proprietary junk that a carrier modified phone normally has.

Thanks for clarification, that is what i thought,but how do i know if i have root access to phones software. i tried changing few files in system and it does not allow me to do so... Sorry i am new to Android. trying to learn stuff.

You probably didn't remount the file system in rw mode, or were running at a user shell instead of the root shell using su.

I am getting a permission denied error while trying to remount the file system. Also I am not able to gain SU access gives me the same error of permission denied, any suggestions?

It does mean that you'll have a stock AOSP android on it, and you will not have to do any tricks to get root access on your phone.

Does that mean, the phone is already rooted legally?

Yes, that's what i meant. You'll have full root access on any developer phone, like the android developer phone 1 and the nexus series.


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Is there a way use an RDP to configure a continuous offset from GPS calculations?
Is there any way to configure a location offset in such a way that my phone's GPS data would still be used to set a location, but an adjustment value would be applied to the base value? (e.g. all values adjusted 6.5m SW). Two cases where this would be useful are when using programs that have base maps with bogus offset data, but you want your phone to think it's in the right place on top of the bogus data. Also, sometimes the coordinates calculated from the GPS system on a given day are just simply wrong, and usually on a given day they are wrong by a fairly fixed amount. Rather that spending the entire day with my phone marking me 30m north of where I actually am, I'd like to correct the values automatically based on a known RDP location.
Ideally I would like a way to 'zero' my GPS by calculating an offset based on my current location being a set of known coordinates, then allow the GPS to adjust my location based on that. I would enter "I am currently at X", at which point it would figure out that number is 4 meters off of the GPS readout, and thereafter sets my location to be always 4m offset.
I realize there are lots of programs to set a mock location of my choice and even ones to follow recorded routes. These sort of things that entirely replace the output of the GPS with fixed or otherwise pre-programmed output are not what I'm looking for here. If it matters, my devices are all rooted and running CyanogenMod 11 M2 so root only solutions are acceptable, although if there is a non root way to do this that would be good to note.

In the UK we have trig points all around the country at well known and well characterised locations. It would be really nice to be able to go to one of these, and tell your phone 'I am at this trig point right now, please use this information to correct your position'.

i may have a solution if your phone is rooted. But i am not very confident that it would work on all models/versions

@MananMerevikSharma Could I suggest that you add your suggestion as an answer. As long as you mention "This will only work if rooted" at the top, it would help distinguish it from answers which don't require root.

@MananMerevikSharma Rooted is fine! I'd love to hear your solution in an answer.

Those offsets are normally used in differential gps. A fix point (station) knows it exact location (from manual measurments), calculates from the gps data the requred offset for correction and send this (quasi constant) offset (ex. 2.5m SW) to you.
The  assumption is that if you are close to this station the atomospheric error (=offset) is valid also for your position in some distance.
Im not too familiar with android, but you could send manipulated D-GPS data maybe?
For radio those are send with RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services), (you can get down to 2cm accuracy) - for mobile phones you need to stitch to Ntrip (Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol): http://www.rtcm-ntrip.org/home most of them are non free/paid, so you need to look around (if you really want there a ways to make your own low cost server (raspberry pi..))
would you still need offset if the accuracy is already very good? Boosting accuracy seems easier!
Have a look at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lefebure.ntripclient
==> ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION - Used for routing external position data to other applications. but this solution has also it downsides :-(

This is interesting stuff although it isn't a final solution. I see an port in the country near me has an NTRIP server, and I can probably rig up one of my own pretty easily. The data doesn't look complicated. Assuming I had a server that gave out the right data, now I need a program LIKE Lefebure's that allows me to connect to an arbitrary server instead of their BT device and adjust the GPS location stream (mock location is ok although not preferred!) Am I tracking you here?

For the server looks to me like lefebure apps lets you insert arbitrary ip/port (but havent tried it by myself to be honest).
Having non-mock data seems complicated to me without root, as googles code already tries to handle gps as best as possible with surly very sophisticated algorithms^^ But strange that they dont add NTRIP support out of the box in their A-GPS mode (maybe patents/licence fees?)
Try to contact the app-developer, im sure they are willing to help, also they seem to be very professional in this specific topic =)

i made a feature request for android. If you like, give it a star to push the idea. (This native implementation would be the ideal solution, but it will take the most time from all solutions)
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=65071&thanks=65071&ts=1390314248

This is application specific. For example, car navigation apps generally would snap your position to the nearest street when driving around.
I'm not aware if there's any way to set an offset for all applications, a rooted application would probably be able to do that.

This is not application specific. The OS provides the API that gives a location (and estimated accuracy and other data). Some apps do choose to DISPLAY this data differently (e.g. snapping an indicator graphic to the closest point matching their data set) but that does not change the fact that they are being fed raw location data. I want that raw data to stream as usual, plus an offset.


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How do I update my ROM to the CyanogenMOD M series releases using the internal updater?
All versions of CyanogenMOD released it the last couple years have an internal over-the-air style ROM update mechanism found under Settings > About Phone > CyanogenMOD updates. Using the Update types setting you can select whether you want to see only stable updates or nightly builds.
However, these two release lines are not the only options one might want to install. Notably absent is the ability to select the M series of releases. Technically these are basically milestone tags in the nightly line, but using them is recommended over nightlies for some users.
The M series builds do show up in the updater under the nightly list when they are first built, however that list seems to only show the latest three available builds. How can I select the most recent M build for installation after three or more nightlies have been built after the M build is released?
For example, CM 11 M2 was released earlier this month, but I was traveling and now over a week has passed and the updater on my devices only show the nightlies from the past couple days. Please note that I know how to download the files for my device and flash them manually, but I would like to use the built in tool.


text:
IMAP email is always delayed
I've got the oddest problem with the built in email client.  I've got an account that connects to a POP3 server that works fine.  I've got another account that connects to an IMAP server, and the email is always about a day late.  This is very weird.  AFAICT, all the mail eventually arrives, and the same mailbox viewed on a PC works fine, but the last email actually displayed on the phone is usually about a day old.  I could understand complete failure, or even randomly dropping emails, but I can't figure out what would cause a rolling delay like that.  Any help much appreciated.  Thanks!
Update: I'm looking more closely, and the delay is actually 20 hours, which seems like an awfully strange number.

To help eliminate a simple possibility, does the same thing happen when using a different mail app like K9?

I installed K9 and was shocked to see the same thing happen.  So the problem seems to be in the interface between the phone and the server, not the app, but I'm at a loss for what it could be.

I think I've finally solved this one by using some of the folder settings in K9.  In Settings --> Account Settings --> Fetching Mail, I set Poll Folders and Push Folders to "Only First Class Folders", and this seems to have done the job.  To be honest, I'm not sure what these settings mean exactly, but I'll live with that.

Check that you have correct date time settings both in the phone and in the server, perhaps you have set wrong timezone or set an incorrect AM/PM, and this somehow confuses the mail client about which messages to get.

Everything is correct and I called tech support and they confirmed that the email settings are correct.  They suggest calling the phone manufacturer, or the cellular carrier, neither of which seem very likely to be able to help.

@JoshuaFrank - I agree, the OEM nor the carrier are going to have anything to say while everything but this one account works correctly.

I would suggest trying K-9 Mail, like Mr. Buster already said. It's IMAP support is better than the stock app's. For me, it receives my emails almost faster than Thunderbird on my desktop due to PUSH support.

I tried K9 (see my comment above) and have the same problem.  I'm baffled.

I would get back in touch with your email provider's tech support. We know that your phone and network are working correctly (your other accounts work fine) and that your phone's apps are working correctly (you found no difference with K9). That means it's the IMAP connection you're trying to make with this particular server.

Do they have any backup servers you can try to connect to?
If you create a new account with them, for testing purposes, does it do the same thing?
Some providers prefer connections to use POP3 versus IMAP - using POP3 connection, do your symptoms change?

Your provider should be able and willing to help with all of these questions. If not, politely ask to be escalated to a lead.


text:
My phone has automatically called  *44* twice now, does anybody know what this means?
I heard my phone calling *44* while it was in my pocket.
Does anybody know what this code means, or do you know what process is calling this number?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S running Froyo 2.2.1 and I use a prepaid card.

Probably not relevant as I see you're in Belgium, but what stood out for me is that "44" is the UK dialling code.

@GAThrawn Yes , I know, but it really was 44 surrounded with * characters. And just only that.

It could be VAD. It stands for Voice Activated Dialing and is triggered by the service code *44*.
I'm not sure why it would do that all by its own without your interaction. An explanation could be that you are using a VAD supporting Bluetooth headset.

@Octvaian Damiean Thanks for answering - haven't activated AFAIK, nor am I using a Bluetooth headset. Can something like this be triggered by some other device. I was walking on the street and just passing a bus stop with a lot of people (just a (silly) thought ) ?

I don't think so to be honest. The Bluetooth devices would have to be paired to trigger that function I guess.

I suspect it could also be activated by the headphone button, or even a short (static discharge) in the headphone jack.  The other thing to look for is an accidental long press on the search button that may be configured for voice actions.

My Dream/Magic running CM6 don't do this with my headset (Plantronics 220) which supports voice dialing if you hold down the call button - I get the "Voice Dialer" application which tries to guess what I said.

@BMitch The phone was in my pocket, locked in the home screen and I was just walking on the street. We'll see if it happens again.


text:
What does APK stand for? What is the internal format?
Is APK an abbreviation for Android Package Kit? What about the file itself? Is it  an archive such as ZIP where during install the installer extracts and copies the files onto the file system?

Yes, APK = Android Package. It is an archive. This is a good question for the google.

Ironically, the google search is inconsistent on what "apk" actually stands for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APK_(file_format)
APK files are a variant of the JAR file format, which are built on the ZIP file format, with a .apk file extension.

in fact, you can unzip any APK with any program that can read the standard .zip format. To do the reverse though, requires running the zip through a converter to ensure that the zip file has the appropriate metadata and signature (and folder layout).

incidentally, being the APK de facto just a renamed ZIP file, the first bytes (magic / header) are PK, so that's a reference to the extension too.

APK (Android Package) file is a file format which is created by Google. This format is one of the group members of Executable Files (similar to EXE, MST, AIR).
APK file extension is in the Open Handset Alliance which is a mobile phone platform based on Linux. This file extension is especially created when using Google's Android SDK. APK files contain the code files, resource files and the AndroidManifest XML file extension. For more detail
http://edugoing.com/qna/index.php?qa=14&qa_1=describe-the-apk-format#a171


text:
How to take a screenshot with an Android device?
Is there a way to take a screenshot of an Android device and save it as an image file?

Do you mean on the phone itself, like it is possible on the iPhone (pressing the home and the lock button together) or from a connected pc?

on the phone. Yup, like pressing some button and then you can get a file

By using ADB: adb shell screencap -p /sdcard/image.png

If you have Android 4.0 or higher:
You can press the Power button + the Volume Down button at the same time to take a screenshot. It will be saved to your gallery.
Note: You need to keep the buttons pressed for around a second for this to work. This is to avoid the screenshot when this combination is accidentally pressed.
UPDATE 8.3.2021: If you have Android 10, you must press the Power button + Volume Down buttons ONLY BRIEFLY (< 0.5 seconds). If you press them longer, the Power menu will just open and the screenshot will not be captured.
If you have an Android lower than 4.0:
If you're rooted: you can install an app called drocap2. This will let you shake your phone, wait on a timer, or click on a notification in your notification bar to take a screenshot and it'll save it to your phone.
If you're not rooted: you can not run a screenshot app on your phone, period. You'll have to install the Android SDK on your computer, connect you phone via USB, and run a program called DDMS. This program is mainly used for developer debugging, but it has a screenshot utility under one of its menus.  For a tutorial, see this page.
Also, some constructor like Samsung have implemented this function on their phones (the buttons combination change from phone to phone, so search for yours).

Using an application such as ShootMe, you can easily take a screenshot of an unrooted phone.

@VarLogRant - that depends on the phone, some will work without rooting and others will not.

My old phone was froyo and i took a screenshot from a downloaded app, without root.

Screenshot via Volume-Down + Power device keys
Starting with Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich there is finally a possibility to create a screen-shot without 3rd party app or connected computer:
Press the following two keys at the same time: Volume-Down + Power
Note that it is crucial to press both keys nearly the same time. If your press and hold Volume-Down and afterwards press Power it will not work. (tested on Galaxy nexus 4.1.2)
Screenshot via Shutdown/Restart menu
On devices running plain Android 8 to 10 there is also a button for creating a Screenshot in the menu that allows you to power down or restart the device. You can show this menu by pressing the power button ~2 seconds. If the screen shot button is missing your Android version was modified by the manufacturer and thus does not include the button.

Limitations
However some screens are protected and therefore can not be captured, e.g. some system settings dialogs.

Doesn't seem to work on the stock Samsung Nexus. Nothing is displayed in the Gallery application.

I have the same issue: It says that it took a screenshot, there's a file in "My Computer\Galaxy Nexus\Internal Storage\Pictures\Screenshots", but it's 0 bytes, and when I double-click on it, it says "Invalid File". Is there a third-party no-brainer product that takes screenshots? Thank you.

In the Galaxy S Froyo (Android 2.2) you can take screenshots by holding the back key and tapping the home button.

I tried it.  Didn't work on droid running 2.2.

haven't heard, doesn't work (running Froyo)

Does work for me on my Galaxy S running 2.2. The key is to hold (not tap) the back button and then tap the Home button, I then hear the normal shutter sound and there's a new "ScreenCapture" folder in my Gallery with the screenshot in it.

That is a feature of the Galaxy S.

It works but stupid.  When I hold the bac button, the running application exit before I can take a snapshot

Does not work on the Galaxy Tab (2.2)

@Dennis: This does happen to work on my Galaxy S, and the running application doesn't exit.

"Unable to capture screen. Try again" with a vibration on my rooted Samsung GT-i5800, Froyo 2.2

Regarding what @Dennis Cheung says, that's what I do. I keep a finger on screen to prevent exiting the application. Then with other finger I keep the back button and then tap the home button. It works.

Install the Android SDK on your computer, connect the phone and run DDMS from the terminal and then select Device > Screen Capture (or Ctrl+S) and a screenshot will be made.

On a Samsung Galaxy S II, it's simultaneously pressing the Power+Home button. It's tricky though; 9 out of 10 times I can't get it. Obviously that's specific to that model of phone and not the Android OS.
As far as I know, there isn't any native app built-in to the OS for all phones, it's too bad really.
This is also applicable for the:

Samsung Galaxy S4 (I9505 Samsung edition)

It's apparently native to Ice Cream Sandwich.

@AlEverett It was available in Gingerbread for me. Funnily enough, ICS made it worse - in Gingerbread, I could hold home and hit power. In ICS, I have to press both at the same time and hold for a bit. ICS did change the screenshot animations/save location/clipboard, though.

I followed @Bob comment and it worked on the Note 2.  Be sure to hold both of the buttons and it will send the screenshot to the clipboard.

Also applicable to Samsung Galaxy S3 mini (Android 4.1.2).

The following method also requires root, but may be better and easier if you need the screenshots while writing articles, app reviews or documentation.
You do not need complex instructions or the Android SDK, and this works on all rooted devices.

Install droid VNC server.

Print Screen.
Profit!

Note that this only works on a rooted phone, from the app's description: "As of Honeycomb 3.2 there is no non-rooted display grab API... You need a ROOTED device."

On the HTC EVO3D, you may press lock button and home button at same time to capture a screenshot.
FYI the "lock button" is the same thing as the power button

A one line script should do this on a root 'ed handset, be aware that this is for Linux and hard-coded for 800x480 screen resolution and also, if your Android's Linux Kernel has framebuffer support compiled in:
#!/bin/sh
adb pull /dev/graphics/fb0 fb0 && ffmpeg -vframes 1 -vcodec rawvideo -f rawvideo -pix_fmt rgb565le -s 480x800 -i fb0 -f image2 -vcodec png $1.png && mogrify -flip -flop $1.png && rm fb0

And save it as for example, screenshotter.sh, with executable permissions and invoke it like this screenshotter.sh my_picture_of_android_home_screen
End result, is a PNG file called my_picture_of_android_home_screen.png is saved.
Caveat Emptor:
This requires ffmpeg and imagemagick tools :)

Hi, can you do an explanation of that script? Assume that I know what fb0 is. Also, do you really need to copy fb0 to a file, can't you directly feed ffmpeg with it?

Yes you need to copy to file so that ffmpeg/imagemagick can use it. And no you cannot directly feed into ffmpeg.. :)

Once rooted, I've liked working with Screenshot (Cyrket link).
Set the timer, go to your application and wait; or set it to “Shake” mode, go to your application and shake it. Hard. And files show up in a screenshot folder. Happy day.
I mean it. SHAKE IT HARD. Unless there's some trick to shaking and I'm doing it in the wrong direction, this is NOT a sensitive shaker.
UPDATE: yeah, I'm using the timer option. Either the Incredible has a lousy shake sensor, the app is implementing it weirdly, or something else -- but shaking was just ridiculous. Would have been a nice interface, if that worked.
(Variable) Timer to take screenshots works just fine!

Your phone has to be rooted. If it is just search "screenshot" in the market for many options. For an unrooted phone you can use dolphin browser hd with an addon to get screen captures of a website.

ShootMe does work for me on the Galaxy Tab (2.2), even if I did not root it and the ShootMe page says, that it works only for rooted devices.

On the Samsung Galaxy Pocket GT-S53001, you can do it without any third party software.
Follow these instructions:

Go to the screen that you'd like to capture.
Press and hold the Home button (center), then right after that, quickly press the Power button. If you wait too much it won't work and you'll just set the phone block.
If that is done successfully, you should be able to hear the classic click and also see a white border appear in your screen.
Go check your Gallery application.

1: It's possible that this works on all Android phones running Gingerbread, but I didn't try personally.

This works for the Samsung Galaxy S4, stock ROM

When I got the 2.3.4 Upgrade on my Sony Ericsson Arc (from 2.3.3) holding down the power button brings up the "airplane mode/power off/silent" menu, and new to 2.3.4 is the presence of a "take screenshot" button as well.

On the optimus black you can also use the lock+home button

On the Galaxy Note 2 you can also use the S Pen:

Press and hold the button on the S Pen and press it against the screen for a few seconds

What happens next is, a screenshot will be taken. Then you will be able to adjust it before either accepting or discarding the screenshot.

Old question , posting to add alternative using Google Now on Tap on Marshmallow, which does away with failed attempts in getting the right combo of keys correctly pressed (at times I ended up rebooting :-)
This has the advantage of better organising screenshots or sharing directly with contacts using Direct Share, which pops up when you wish to share

Press and hold the Home button until Google Now on Tap appears
Tap the share button in the bottom left-hand corner

(Images above from here)
On Moto X Play Power + Vol Dn  works

The interface has now changed, but if I just simply say or type in "take a screenshot", then Google Now will do it, which is convenient.

Some phones have the functionality built in, such as the previous mentioned Galaxy S. On the Droid Charge, hold the back button and press home. On most new LG Android phones, hold home and press power.
Unfortunately, the only universal method is using the Android SDK to take screenshots with a computer. Rooting and using a screenshot app works on many devices, but sometimes not, and it's not the easiest way to take a screenshot.

On Android 7.1.2, long press Home for OK Google and issue voice command Take Screenshot , it will respond with All right, taking a Screenshot, touch to continue.
On touching, screenshot is captured and Direct Share menu appears to share the screen shot, or if you have a file  explorer ( like ES or Solid Explorer)  that can save it to your device, use that to save it to your device
Only drawback of this is that you need to be online

You can also type the command.

The least time consuming method for me is using keyboard through USB OTG.
And then just press Print Screen.

On the xperia z5, you simply hold lock button and that gives you the option of taking screenshot.

On Android Pie, it is inbuilt with power-options (by pressing Power key)

(Click to enlarge)


text:
Can I make home screen contact icons update their picture?
I was just wondering if anyone knows how to make contact icons on the home screen update their picture when the contact's picture is changed, without needing to delete the shortcut and recreate it. Can this be done? Make the contact-shortcut's picture "live" as it were?
e.g. some of my contacts are linked to Facebook and their pictures on their contact records sync as expected, but the shortcut on the home screen will still show whatever their picture was when the shortcut was created.
I thought maybe rebooting the phone would cause it to refresh the icons, but it didn't.
Running on a non-rooted Galaxy S Captivate.

Good question.  The only way I've known how is removing and re-adding.  Hopefully there is a solution (might have to be a widget?)

Yes, I agree, good question.  I hope someone has an answer.  Like you guys, I have always had to delete and re-add.

Looks like it is logged as an Android bug.  If I'm reading right, there is no current plan for the Android team to address this.

@BCooksey Your comment should be the answer so @eidylon can mark it as answered.

Looks like it is logged as an Android bug. If I'm reading right, there is no current plan for the Android team to address this.


text:
Does Android come with free navigation in non-US contries?
The fact that free gps turn-by-turn navigation is available for new enough Android devices using Google-owned map data is well known.
Does Android offer free navigation in non-US countries as well?

If it makes any difference, it's Italy I am talking about. I'm not specifying it in the question body before somebody decides to go Too Localized on me :)

You're not limited to just Google-owned map data. Do a search for applications & questions referencing OpenStreetMap (OSM) here.

Google Maps Navigation is currently available in the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.

Okay, but is it free and bundled with new smartphones?

@badp - Whether or not something is bundled depends on the manufacturer and carrier. However, my dad's new Galaxy S came with it, and it's available on the market.

@badp I got it as a free update (downloadable trough the Market) when it came out here in the Netherlands. and yes, it's free.

I have an unbranded German HTC Desire. It has Google Navigation installed by default (IIRC, it came with the Froyo upgrade -- I don't remember seeing it in the preinstalled Android 2.1.).

It's definitely available for 2.1 phones, if you're in a supported country and don't have Navigation, go to the Market and download the latest version of Maps.

@GAThrawn Yeah, it might actually have come with a Maps update, not the OS upgrade.


text:
How can I install additional audio/video codecs on Android?
Does android separate the module between video player and video codec? If so, how do we install more codec to the system?

The video codecs are limited to what is supported by the device. This suggests that the codecs are in firmware and not software codecs like you are used to on the computer. This means you will probably need to use something like Handbrake to convert your videos to the phone. Unless there are in the h264 or 3GP formats that all android phones support.
Reference: Act1 Video Player FAQ

not every H.264 media android support, it depend on the profile level, AFAIK my G1 only support baseline level, since I tried to encode a video using x264 using main profile the device can't handle it.

good point, there are many ways to encode h264 just like for DivX/XviD. It seems that only baseline is universally supported.

if the codecs are firmware how do some applications do that ? i am trying to play Quick time video and my default application cant play him but mx player  for example can ...


text:
Is there any WEP cracking application available for android?
Is there any WEP cracking application available for android?
If not is WEP cracking technically possible with the API's and hardware available on your average android phone?
This is a purely academic question please leave ethical arguments out of it.

There is nothing available. While it is theoretically possible with the hardware, in practice it would be very difficult to implement and would probably need a custom ROM that supported it.
Even the tools for doing this on a desktop (Aircrack, etc.) generally require specific wireless chipsets and drivers to do wireless packet capture.
EDIT:
There's now a project that got monitor mode working on the Galaxy S2 and the Google Nexus One.
See http://bcmon.blogspot.de/

So how can I use that tool? Which app do I need to run it? or is it just an addon so you can use aircrack on the console?

The Broadcom bcm4329 chipset in a lot of android phones (Nexus One, Evo, G1) probably many more) supports monitor/promiscuous mode. The driver needs to be modified to allow monitor mode to be enabled.
Here is the source of the current drivers:
monitor mode flag
method to that sets the mode
In the second link, you can see that monitor mode flag is not even in the switch statement so it's just gets ignored when called.
Someone also got tcpdump working on a G1 so it's possible, we jsut need to put in some work to get it functional though.
A few more links about the chipset, drivers, and modifications to them:

http://forum.aircrack-ng.org/index.php?topic=281.0
http://aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=b43
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

technically no. however you can jailbreak it and install a OS on it and it would look just like a normal OS. just a smaller version. once thats done you can install softwares like aircrack exct. and it would capture the packets and then crack them.. now this does take some time.. anywhere from 15 minutes to a few days all depending on their encryptionsetings. but the average wifi shouldnt take more then 30 minutes.. tops. so yes in theory it is "possible" but it all depends on how much work you want to put into it in order to get it. there is no "app" YET.. im not sure if anyone is converting a software like aircrack from an OS to app compatable.. although im sure someone is somewhere.


text:
Can you connect USB devices to an Android phone?
I have an HTC Desire and would like to connect USB devices to it, for example an external USB thumb drive to transfer files or a USB keyboard.
Is this at all possible?

The Samsung Galaxy S2 officially supports USB On the Go (OTG). The official adaptor for the Samsung Galaxy S2 converts your handset's microUSB connection to a standard USB connection so you can connect a USB flash drive. Look for part number ET-R205UBEGSTD.


text:
Is there a way to customize the services in the direct contact shortcut?
I added a contact shortcut to my home screen, and I noticed that the Messaging icon in the pop-up changed to Handcent when I changed the default messaging app on my phone. One thing that's always bothered me is that there's a Facebook icon in the pop-up. Is there any way to customize what pops up when you press on a contact shortcut?

My guess is that it will either require root access or will fall into the category that my question about customizing the "Share" popup, un-customizable even with root (at least thats what the consensus was).

If you stop syncing Facebook with your phone book, that option will disappear.  I realize this isn't an answer to your question about customizing the pop-up but it may just serve your needs until a more skilled Android ninja happens upon this question.

I've never synced Facebook with my phone book.

Wow, I didn't realize it, but one of the Android updates must have turned on Facebook sync in my contacts. It has now been removed.

What phone make and model do you have? What version of Android? What are you doing to add the shortcut for the contact?
If I go to add a shortcut after long clicking on the homescreen I get an option for "Person". Then I choose the individual to make a shortcut for and I have the option of some things to add for that shortcut. If you choose contact card or quick contact you get a decent amount of options. Contact card gives you everything for that contact. Not as many options as you might want sure, but whatever you select from the contact card will use the phone default.

As I said in the question, its a shortcut to a contact. Long press, add shortcut, contact. Phone make doesn't matter. Version 2.2.

Phone does matter which is why I was asking. Different phones use different launchers and different contact systems which changes the answer. If you have an HTC phone then chances are you have HTC Sense running and I would have an easy time helping you as I have an HTC phone running an HTC based ROM. If you are not using an HTC phone or are not using HTC based ROM I could still help you but would need to load my non HTC based ROM. Since you say you selected Contact after choosing shortcut I'm guessing you are using a non HTC phone. Correct?


text:
What controls the 3G radio sleep time?
Is there any way to control how/when the 3G radio goes to sleep?
Is that, in fact, what it is doing?

JuiceDefender allows you to turn your radio on and off and to set triggers for this.
Tasker will also do this.
One thing to note, the "3G" radio is the same radio that you use to make voice calls, at least it is on CDMA phones.  By controlling the APN you can turn on and off your 3g data and reap gains in battery life without turning off the radio.
I'm not 100% on this but I believe for phones that aren't yet on Froyo (2.2) an app is required to control the APN like APNdroid or QuickSettings. I'm not sure how well these work with the automated trigger apps mentioned above.

What is APN...?

It stands for Access Point Name.  Basically its a string of data that is used to identify and connect to a data network like your carriers 3G network or it's 2G network, or the MMS service or the other data roaming networks.  Its more of a setting than a "thing" but for all intents in purposes, when the word is used in the context of the "end user" it is basically referring to the Data connection or the way the phone connects to the data connection...

Since turning off the cellular radio disables both the data and voice connections, there are apps that allow you to use the APN to disable the data connection. These apps aren't actually disabling anything, they are rewriting the string of data so it no longer works and then fixing it again when you want internet.  I don't know much about the technical implementation of this but I do know you don't want to uninstall your APN disabler while it's disabled because you won't be able to turn it back on (unless you reinstall it and turn it back on). Hope this helps.


text:
Why isn't gmail listed as a recent app when I long-press the Home button?
This would be helpful at times... I usually just end up pressing home and selecting the gmail widget from there but I've gotten used to long-pressing home to get to recent apps.
Could it be due to the fact that I get to email using the widget? Does it work with the native email client or other email apps?
Thanks in advance...

The recent app list is the recently 'started' app list. Aka you clicked their start icon to start them. The recent app list is not the recently opened application list wich would have been much easier to work with.

If you haven't opened the application in a while, it will naturally disappear from the list of recent apps.  Try opening it with the widget and then going back to the home screen.  If gmail is once again under you list of recent apps, you just haven't opened it in a while.  If it doesn't appear at all, then the widget you are using doesn't add gmail as a recent app.

Right, I wasn't seeing it even when Gmail was opened recently. It turns out it was due to the Gmail Unread Count Widget... if I go to gmail using the ordinary app, I see it in my recent app list.

You have to actually open the app from the launcher icon to get it to show up in your recent apps.  Another case of it not showing up is when you access it via the notification bar when you click on your email notifications.


text:
Android and iTunes
Is it possible to sync an Android phone with iTunes? If so, are there any limitations?

There is also a question on this at superuser

Yes, you can actually use DoubleTwist in combination with TuneSync (or TuneSync alone) to sync with iTunes although you are limited to songs that are not DRM'd by Apple.
You can also do it without any app on your phone with Notpod (Windows only).
The only drawbacks that I am aware with either of these are not being able to use DRM and people have reported some unreliability.  The problem in general with syncing Android with iTunes is that it may work today but if Apple changes something in an update you may get locked out until someone comes up with another work around.  If you are all Android now, I'd recommend on cutting iTunes out of the picture all together.
Edit:  Here's a couple other options I've come across that are pretty awesome:

Dazzboard
iSyncr WiFi Add-On.  You need an app and a desktop client.  The app costs a little but the desktop software is free. This one seems like the coolest option so far.

Edit 2:  I happened upon another app...

Music WithMe: Syncs your phone iTunes over Wifi or 3G.  It doesn't stream the music, it download it to your phone.  Also, I don't think it can handle DRM'd tracks. It's little pricey at $15, especially with the currently less than stellar reviews, but it may be one to watch.

Dazzboard only fully supports some devices: http://www.dazzboard.com/help/

+1 for Notpod (previously iTunes Agent). It's just what I was looking for.

There is also Missing Sync for Android to sync your iTunes playlists (and associated files) to your phone.
It works pretty well.

Not that I am aware of, however you could try Double Twist for similar functionality.

The easiest way to do this is use Google Music, and specifically the Google Music Manager.

Go to music.google.com and download the Music Manager.
It will run in the background on your computer and upload everything in iTunes, including new downloads/purchases, to Google Music.
Finally just download the Google Music app to your Android and you are all set.

A few caveats:

This seems to be a one-way sync. So deleting a file from iTunes will not delete from Google Music, or vice versa
The Google Music app on Android is a little different from iTunes/iPhone model. The music is not automatically downloaded to the phone unless you explicitly set it up that way. By default you have to stream the music, which requires an internet connection.
Apple DRMed content cannot be uploaded to Google Music and therefore won't be transfered using this method.

Is there an easy way to set it up so the music is downloaded to your phone?


text:
How can I deal with "Low on Space" messages on my Android?
I keep getting the "Low on Space: Application data space is low. To free up" [the rest is cut off] message.
I've moved every app I can over to the SD card, cleared the cache, compacted my K9 mail cache.
Advanced Task Killer (ouch!) says I have 98M Available Memory
File Manager says I have 223M/748M (29%) free.
That's not so bad -- but I'm stuck in the no-updates scenario. The market downloads won't really start, gmail won't update, etc. I've rebooted several times, and nothing changes. Aaaargh.
What can be done, other than uninstalling everything ?

FWIW, I've been getting these often with my HTC Incredible. Clearing the data in HTC Sense seemed to be the one thing that solved the issue for me. (I'm using Zeam launcher besides.)

See here how Android calculates your personal space limit: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4991#c145

This timely post from Lifehacker may help... Were you the one who emailed them? ;)
What Should I Do When My Android Runs Out of App Space?
Here's the summary, in order of easy to hard:

Move Bigger Apps to SD Storage - currently requires Froyo (2.2). Navigate to
Settings > Applications > Manage Applications (or something similar). View the All Tab, sort by size. You can't do anything about the big hitters, namely Gmail, Browser and Maps will always be pretty big.
Clear the Cache, and Maybe Data, on Some Apps Similar to #1, navigate to Settings > Applications.
Clear Out Apps You Don't Actually Use Shouldn't this be #1? ;)
Android 2.2: Set Your SD Card as the Default Installation Location LifeHacker points to the Androinica blog how-to here.
Root Your Phone and Set Up Apps2SD Disclaimer: rooting may not be fun for non-geeks. LifeHacker how-to-root and custom firmware CyanogenMOD (also supplied by LifeHacker).

Of course some of the comments on the post are helpful as well. Hope it helps.

You can use an app like DiskUsage to see which applications are taken up the most memory on the internal storage.
Clearing the cached data stored by app (from application screen in settings) is also a way of freeing up space temporary.

It may be time for you to start removing old applications that you no longer use or don't use very frequently.  You've already moved your apps to the SD card and cleared your caches, there isn't much more you can do.

And rebooting the device after doing all these things. This way the "Low storage" message will disappear.  Otherwise, we risk to see this message "sticking" there no matter how well we do the cleaning.

Ok guys I was having this problem a couple of days ago... I reset my device, deleted all the apps, had LOADS of free space but when I tried to install something it would tell me "insufficient storage available"
I searched everywhere, for more than a week, and found nothing. Now, i found the solution, and want to help everyone that is happening the problem!
Get Storage Analyser then open it, and you will see that instead of having free space, you will have -xxxx!
Yes! A negative number! According to my phone I had -8GB of space! There was this rogue app from Gameloft that used up all my space! And didn't get deleted with a factory reset!
Open the Storage Analyser and delete the huge app/folder! Then reboot and the problem will be solved! I promise 100% that this works. I recommend opening the app once a week and deleting the useless big stuff!

Please DO NOT use URL shorteners here.

Storage Analyser app is no longer to be found. I've clicked on the given link and got a blank page with this announcement on Google Play website: "We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server."

I tried all the standard cache cleaning and uninstalling updates which helped a lot. I tried storage analyser but that didn't help the internal storage. Wasn't keen on rooting the phone. Then I came across Clean Master and used it on my wife's Samsung Ace which is notoriously short on internal memory and no option to move most apps to the SD card. So far so good.


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In my Samsung Galaxy S under Settings - Status - Phone number is says 'unknown': Why?
Title says it all ( I think ), if I look under the 'Settings - Status - Phone number' on my Samsung Galaxy S mobile phone, it says 'unknown'.
What does that mean ? Do I have to enter the number some where ? And if so, do I need it, or why should I do that ?

This is just showing whether your phone number is saved to the phone number description property on your SIM card. Some networks always program this in for you, many don't. Some phones let you write to this property, some don't, some read it, some don't.
It has nothing to do with what actual phone number is attached to that SIM card by the phone company.
It is possible to put your phone number in there, and is easier than you might think:
Go into Contacts -> [Menu] -> More -> Settings -> Own numbers -> [Menu] -> Create and type your phone number into the Number field, now Save.
Then switch your phone off and on again, and it should show the correct number (or whatever number you entered) in the status now.

unfortunately, this doesn't appear to work on the galaxy s2

There is no "Own numbers" anywhere in the Contacts app, at least not on a stock Galaxy S4 Mini.

Some Android phones don't support such advanced features as "setting own phone number". In this case try set it on a different phone, preferable a dumb phone.

The easiest way to do this is to insert the sim into an iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > My Number. Here you can set your phone number and save it.
Now if you insert the sim in an android phone, you will be able to see your number.

To edit your SIM-Card content (including own number), open phone dialer and input the code ∗#∗#4636#∗#∗ and then go to "Phone information" -> ⋮ (menu) "View SIM address book" and change there the entry of the own number beginning with AA_. After that reboot the phone (tested on android 6)

Such code is not doing anything. When I tap the Call button, it simply tries to dial such number, which doesn't exist obviously. Tested on Samsung Galaxy S8+ (Android 8.0.0).

There is also a problem with some 2.2-Froyo code for the Galaxy S that can cause this to happen, even if your number was shown under 2.1.  (This is the case for me).

There was no above suggested path on my phone either. Instead following worked for me:
Go into call settings (call button then settings)
Scroll down and find Additional Settings.
Then there is set My Phone Number where you can set your number.

Can't find Set my phone number in Additional settings on my SGS3 Stock...

First off, what phone company are you with because it would help greatly to at least know that much more than just the name of the phone? If it were an integrated phone such network providers Sprint, Verizon etc companies with 3G phones because 3G with such providers worked without SIM cards. If so that would mean the phone isn't programmed and needs to be and I do believe same thing applies towards companies that required SIM cards used in their phones for service such as AT&T, T-Mobile etc.
If the SIM card you are using hasn't been activated it wont display any number or if the SIM card isn't the preferred SIM for the phone the number wont display. There are a few other reasons as to why you are getting this unknown reading for your number but mainly it's due to errors within the SIM and phone compatibility. If I were you I would find some WiFi to connect to via your phone with SIM inserted and then download a SIM manager app so that you can find and resolve this error with your number being displayed.

Do you have some evidence that this is caused by an error in the SIM or phone compatibility, or that it means the phone isn't programmed and needs to be? Everyone else, including the suggested answer, says it's just a setting in the SIM card and makes no difference.

I have evidence the issue can be an inactivated SIM. Took me a while to realize that the SIM needed to be provisioned. I had an inactivated SIM in a Galaxy S5. It started showing the phone number after the SIM was activated and the phone was power cycled.


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How can I determine which app is accessing GPS?
I have an Evo 4G with one app that I allow to access GPS periodically so I leave GPS enabled.  However I see the GPS icon show up far more frequently than is scheduled for that app.  I've shut down everything I could find that was a likely source.  Any way to tell which app is accessing the GPS?
I do have some other apps that can be battery hogs at times so watching battery usage isn't really going to cut it on this one without some usage changes.  I'm hoping for either an app, a setting, or a log that will tell me.

Download Spare Parts.
When in the app, tap "Battery history", then in the first dropdown select "GPS usage".
In the second dropdown select whichever you want to see ("Since last unplugged", "Total since boot", or "Total in all time") and you should see which apps have accessed the GPS.

Try the 'Testing' mode.  I'm lead to believe it's a standard part of Android, so should work on your EVO - it works on my HTC Desire HD.
Dial the following number:
*#*#4636#*#*  (or *#*#INFO#*#*)
Then, to see GPS stats, tap Battery History, Other Usage and then GPS Usage.
If I'm reading this right, this then displays a list of all the apps that have caused the GPS to consume battery power, which I think is almost what you're looking for.

Tried it and the number just disappears on my Evo without actually doing anything.  Thanks though.  :)

Sorry about that.  Looks like ToxMox has given you a way of getting to the exact same functionality though, so +1 for him :)

Occasionally the browser will access GPS since the browser on my phone has location turned on. So most likely the application(s) runs in the background and updates data based on your location. Social networking, maps/directions apps and other location-sensing apps could be accessing GPS data as they run in the background. Try to narrow it down by seeing which apps sync and how often.


text:
How do I prep my rooted and moded phone for resale?
I have a rooted MyTouch 3G (HTC Magic) that I want to sell to help defray the cost of my new phone.  I have been running CyanogenMod on the phone. My problem lies in the fact that I don't really want to stick somebody with the slightly buggy way the phone runs now.  I could just slap the stock rom back on it but I don't hear very good things about it and I'm pretty sure the fact the phone is rooted will still prevent new updates to the phone from HTC.
So, what I'm asking is: What should I do to make this phone easily usable by whomever might end up with it? Is there a mod that is going to be super user friendly that won't require constant tweaking on the part of the user? Or is there a way for me to return the phone to vanilla stock?

Are you sure you want to put it back to the stock OS? When I was looking to buy a spare Android phone on eBay a few months ago, I noticed that pre-rooted phones tended to sell better and for more money than ones running the stock OS. I guess there's buyers out there that want a rooted phone but don't want to take the risk (or go through the hassle) of rooting themselves.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/4623/i-have-sold-my-phone-on-ebay-what-should-i-do-before-i-send-it-off

I would keep the phone rooted, with the sale option of restoring to stock rom (if that's what the customer wants).  Or you can give the phone back with a stock rom with root.  Clockwork should let you do that.
Make sure you factory reset the phone before you give it to them (rooted or not) and format the SD card too.

Oh, yes. Formatting the SD card is important.

Bryan, I know you use CyanogenMod, do you have any input on his question about whether there's another mod that will be a little more novice friendly?

@Matt Personally, I haven't used any other mods than CM. Plus the htc-magic might have different mods that I cannot load on my Droid or G1.  I can't provide much input on that area

If there's anything particularly private on the SD card, don't assume that formatting it will stop anyone seeing those private files. I've recovered files from formatted disks and cards a lot of times (and earned quite a bit of gratitude and beer for saving them) http://superuser.com/questions/6810/best-undelete-tool-for-ntfs-fat When in doubt keep the card or destroy it, don't pass it onto anyone else.

you can overwrite the whole card with other files.

Bryan - there's little to difference between a DeathSPL'd G1 and a Magic, as "DeathSPL" is really a Magic bootloader.

If I was buying a used device, I would expect that a factory reset would have been done to it. Either way, I'd probably do a factory reset myself anyway, just because.
Unless, of course, I rather wanted a rooted phone.
I think a factory reset is the better option. You wouldn't want someone to stumble upon some of your personal data.
In any event, it's best to make sure the buyer knows exactly what they're getting.

I was planning on wiping all my data and replacing my sd card anyway.  I was more wondering if I should keep it on cyanogen or if there was a better rom to offer.

Factory reset won't wipe custom recovery / engineering bootloader.


text:
Why do apps get smaller when they are moved to the SD card?
For example, the Barcode Scanner app takes up:
Total: 0.96MB
Application: 0.92MB
Data: 40KB
on the phone. When I move it to the SD Card, it changes to:
Total: 524KB
Application: 484KB
Data: 40KB
How come it changes?

Like Bryan says (I can't comment so had to add another answer...), it doesn't move the whole app. The size given after the move is the bit still on the internal storage - it doesn't give any size for the elements that have beend moved to SD.
So in answer to your question, the app doesn't get smaller, just amount of internal storage used gets smaller.

What parts of the app are moved to SD Card and what remain on phone?

As far as I know, it moves as much of the app as it can from the internal storage to the SD card.  So for instance, databases, images, or other resources would be moved over.  I do not know the exact details of how it works.

See Where can I find my Android applications? on app space distribution and locations.
See also What are the drawbacks of moving an app to SD card?

There is no effect on the application performance so long as the
  external storage is mounted on the device.
  The .apk file is saved on
  the external storage, but all private user data, databases, optimized
  .dex files, and extracted native code are saved on the internal device
  memory.

So odex file of any app still remains and takes space in the internal storage at /data/dalvik-cache.


text:
Why does Google Talk never appear on the "Recent Applications" list?
I frequently will get a message on Google Talk.  I will drag down the notification bar, click the message, and answer.  However, if I then press "Home", and it occurs to me that I wish to send yet another message to this person, I am forced to go find the Google Talk app icon, launch it, select the relevant conversation, and enter my message.  Why does Google Talk not appear on the Recent Applications list, accessible by holding down the Home key?  Every other app I have does...

What phone do you have?  This works fine on my Galaxy S.

I have...  a Galaxy S.  Vibrant.

Google talk and Gmail each behave this way. I found this out by asking here actually. So when you drag down the notification bar, GMail and Google Talk will not appear in the recent apps list. However, you will see them in recent apps if you navigate to them using an application launcher.
I'm not certain if the same is true for Google Voice.

This is because the Recent Applications list only displays the applications activities. In Android, an Activity is the "window" of the application. Google Talk and GMail always run in background, as a "Service", not an Activity.
The application activity is killed by Android when it is not used, and this is the case with those applications, even if they still run in background.


text:
Revert from MIUI to Motoblur
I am a proud owner of Motorola Defy. A few months ago I upgraded my defy from 2.1 to 2.2. Although it had new features it became a bit laggy and so finally I decided to root my defy and install MIUI Gingerbread.
I was using MIUI Gingerbread all this time and suddenly it started itching me and a thought came to my mind that I want to experience Motoblur again.
I had already created an image of my Motoblur Froyo before installing MIUI Gingerbread. So I went ahead and reverted the Froyo image back on my defy.
But then some of the things stopped working: e.g. Camera is not working now.
I found that the Foryo image did not copy the Motoblur Froyo Kernel and when I reverted back my defy is still having the MIUI kernel.
Can someone help me getting back to Motoblur Froyo or can I download the original kernel and re-install it back to my defy?
Anything would help....
Thanks.

There is this tool called RSD Lite, which is (AFAIK) an internal tool from motorola to flash their phones. You should be able to find it around the googles.
And here you should be able to pick up a stock firmware for the Defy.
This method worked for my Moto Cliq XT, but don't let this be a  guarantee for your Defy!

thanks a lot buddy...i will try and will let you know if it works..thanks again


text:
Is there any graphic-accelerated PDF reader for Android?
I use Adobe's Reader and ThinkFree Office, but they both are too slow. Any suggestions?

Adobe would typically be the one of the first ones to implement hardware acceleration.

Starting with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), Google introduced hardware accelerated 2D rendering pipeline. For now it's a tablet-only feature, but hopefully we'll get that in the unified Ice Cream Sandwich platform.
That should be a bit with that slowness issue with PDF readers since they are only able to do software rendering in Gingerbread and older.

There is no hardware accelerated PDF reader for Android at the time I am writing this (correct/edit me if I am wrong).
As kernal already sad, the performance depends on your phone. You could try to downsize the images in the PDFs for better performance on your android device.

It seems like the better choice is ezPDF Reader. It's a paid app, but the screenshots look just great!
Remember the performance depends on which phone do you have... :-/

Yeah, but is it hardware accelerated on phone that support it? E.g. GS II and Sensation?


text:
Is there a Japanese input method for tablets that fits the screen better than Simeji?
I do a fair amount of e-mailing in Japanese from GMail in Android. On my cell phone (Nexus One), I use Simeji to type Japanese characters, and it does a good job. However, I recently got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, and I've found the Simeji doesn't scale well to the large screen.
Samsung's Android keyboard, the stock Android keyboard, and Hacker's Keyboard are all installed on my tablet, and all of them have a nice, large, easy-to-type-on display on the 10" screen. Simeji on the other hand, although functional, is displayed with keys sized more appropriately to a 4" screen, and is stretched awkwardly around the bottom 10-15% of the screen. At least this is true in landscape mode.
I'd like to have a Japanese input method for my tablet that makes better use of the screen real estate, and is easy to type on with two hands. Does anyone know of one? Or alternatively, is there some way I can change Simeji's configuration so it works better on a 10" screen?
Update on August 20, 2011
As of August 2011, I've noticed that Simeji has been updated to work well on a tablet now, so it's no longer necessary to have an alternative. Still, this question may benefit future searchers who just don't like Simeji for whatever reason and want an alternative.

A second-hand answer - from here -  http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=8339
"Keyboard-wise, I like the MultiLing keyboard for my Xoom tablet. It's not particularly great as a keyboard, it's just that it scales nicely and fills the screen properly in Japanese mode, unlike any other keyboard for the tablet. It's sort of a Jack of All Trades, Master of None keyboard, in that it's adequate for Japanese, but it will drive you nuts. (But Simeji on a tablet is an even more horrible experience.)"

Since I first asked this question, Google has released their own Japanese Input method for Android.

Swype is a great general use keyboard and has multi-lingual support.

I recommend you check out Smart Keyboard. They have a Japanese add-on for their Keyboard. It scales nicely on my Asus Transformer and I use it to type Hiragana all the time for my Japanese class. It does katakana as well but I don't know how to write in that yet. The keyboard is setup so that if you type ku on your keyboard it will display く. This means you don't actually see their Hiragana characters. It still works great for me.


text:
How to flash Darky's ROM from Cyanogenmod 7?
I want to give Darky's ROM a try on my Samsung Galaxy S; I'm currently running CM7 RC1. How would I go about doing this? Can I flash using recovery, or do I need odin? Do I need to revert to stock first?

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/13021/can-i-install-darky-rom-using-cwm-even-if-im-not-coming-from-a-previous-darky-ro

Most Darky's packages I've seen are your normal update.zip variety that are flashed through recovery, so you should be good to go.  If it's an Odin package it should say so — always vet your sources (here's a good one).
I see no reason to believe flashing from CM would be a problem either unless it messed with your partitions.  If you have problems you can always Odin to stock and then root, install ClockworkMOD, and flash Darky's again.  The whole process only takes a couple minutes.  (So if you're concerned, go right ahead and Odin to stock, it costs you nothing; just save your backups to a PC first.)


text:
Does the stock mail app log out from the mail-server?
There is an email app provided by Android.
Does this app keep the connection alive all the while?
OR
Does it login/logout from the mail server each time it polls for new messages?
If the latter is true, how does one tell the app to log out from the mail?

Is there any special reason why you want to know this? If so, tell us. Maybe there is a different and better answer...

Two reasons
a. I'm paranoid about the connection being on the air (even if encrypted)
b. Bandwidth is at a premium hereabouts, I wouldn't want to poll for mail automagically unless I tell it to; it follows that I'd like to be able to login/logout explicitly

About your concerns:
Connection on air
There is nothing that a log out at the end of every session would improve. If you don't use the email client, it won't transfer any data. And if you use it, it will query the server for new email etc. If the client would perform a log out at the end of every use, it just had establish a new connection again. Conclusion: Data related to the e-mail connection will be the same time on air if you don't use log out as when your e-mail client would log out every time. No gain here. Just make sure that you have enabled a secure encryption.
Bandwidth
You are right, that polling is the worst thing that could happen. But not from a bandwidth perspective. Polling is just a quick packet asking "Is there something new" and the server replying "No" or "Yes and here is the data". The data would be send later on anyways, so no big bandwidth consumption. It is more the battery life that should concern you, when you have a polling e-mail client on Android.
That said, trust the Google engineers to build a e-mail app that tries everything to reduce battery consumption. If you use gmail you are safe, because the email app will use push notifications for new e-mails. If you use an IMAP account it depends on the server if it support the IMAP IDLE extension. If you use POP3 you are doomed, because it's a plain polling protocol.


text:
Can I re-install a purchased app from Google's Play Store?
I've successfully purchased an app from the Market via my Android phone. It's currently too large for my internal memory (still running 2.1), so can I uninstall it and then re-install it at a later time?
Will uninstalling the app (after the 15 minute eval period elapses), also ensure that I can't re-download it again or do purchased apps remain linked to my Google account even if they aren't currently installed?

I thought the evaluation period was 24 hours.

Google changed it to 15 minutes in the latest market overhaul. I have no idea why 24 hrs was too long.  I think 15 minutes is excessively short.

So do most people, devs and users alike. The best compromise solution would be to allow the developer to choose a suitable time frame, IMHO

You can uninstall it and the market will remember that you bought it.  It'll say "purchased" in the market and you can reinstall any time. Every time I reflash a ROM I go into my downloads section of the market and I see all my purchased apps.

My friend and I tried it out, it was successful in the end. So if you do decide to delete it, I can assure you that it will comeback saying, "purchased".

Procedure for most Android phones is: Open the "Market" application, click your phone's Menu button, click "Downloads" or "My Downloads", click name of App that you previously purchased, click Install button.
Note: If you've also changed the Google Account associated with the phone, then you'll lose the ability to install apps purchased under the old account.

Yes, good points.

You have just to log in with the same Google Account when you bought the app. and you will be able to download/install it without paying again ...
Google store all app. / devices ... of each account
PS : Once on Google Play, go to My Application and you will find ever the purchased and non installed app. Or just look search for the app. and you will be able to download it without paying ...


text:
Link2sd: boot loop at reboot
I'm happy with link2sd functionality (just installed: everything looks awesome, lots of free space). I reboot and my Acer liquid metal is stuck in bootloop.
I take the sd out, boot again and everything is ok. I pop the sd in while the phone is one and I can't see my apps on sd :(
Something is wrong with link2sd mount script but how can I debug this?

Could you explore /data/sdext2 folder? Is there any files and/or folders?

Can you read the contents of the card on your PC via a card reader? If so, I suggest you back up all the contents on the FAT partition, format the whole SD card, re-partition and try again. With Link2SD, ALWAYS unmount the card before ejecting it.

Have a look at the following
Issue with the Apps that are installed on SD Card after reinserting the SD Card
I was one of the Hard user of Link2SD application. What I observed from this app is that you should not remove your SD card once you have applications on your SD Card. While phone booting some of the applications gets initialized.
If the phone system does not find the SD Card and its applications then it is going to break the link between the SD Card applications and the system.

You might be seeing those applications on Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications
but they won't be accessible.
To answer your question there might be a way but not known to all. You can mail the developer of Link2SD mentioning the issue. They might give you a solution.


text:
/data/data nightmare: FC's because of 100% Utilisation
I feel like I need to clear things from /data/data every 2 to 3 days to prevent cascading FCs when it becomes 100% full. Is there any possible way to move any of that data to the SD card (and still have it be accessible from my apps), or to increase the maximum size of the folder? I am rooted and running cyanogenmod 7.1 on my HTC Incredible. Thank you all so much for your assistance.

I have the same problem occasionally, though not as often as 2 - 3 days, more like every couple weeks. its more the /data/cache directory that gets full for me too, as I do a wipe of the cache and I am fine for a while. How many apps do you have installed? This is very annoying, and I will be watching this to see if there are any solutions to the problem.

Have you tried moving your Apps to the SD Card?  Go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> Downloaded tab then tap on any 3rd-party app and then tap on the Move to SD card button (if available.)  This should move most of the app to the card, thus freeing up space on the /data/ partition.  Not all apps support this method, but do try it on the largest space hogs like Flash Player and Adobe Air, for example.
Unfortunately moving Apps to SD Card this way doesn't touch the apps' cache or Dalvik cache.  To move those you'd need the old-school "apps2sd" hack.  The basic idea is to re-partition your SD Card and create a 2nd partition with Ext2/3/4 format.  The contents of /data/ folders are moved to the SD Card's Ext partition and the phone's internal memory is therefore freed up.  Then a script is added to Android which mounts this partition at boot time and links /data/app, /data/app-private, /data/data, and /data/dalvik-cache folders to their corresponding locations on the SD Card's Ext partition.
There are some apps on the Market that automate this (except re-partitioning the card, which you'll need to do manually.)  Try Link2sd or Simple2ext for example.  Of course make sure you have a nandroid backup of your phone before trying anything.
There are obvious pros and cons to this method. The pros are the ability to greatly extend the phone's storage for apps, while keeping the internal memory relatively free.  The cons are inability to cleanly un-mount and remove the SD Card (since the apps are mounted on the 2nd partition that the OS isn't aware of,) and possible slow-downs in launching apps depending on the speed of the card.  There SD Card will also be subjected to more wear and tear, since it will be used by the system for reading/writing more than usual.

Thank you! I think this is definitely the best answer for me. I will try it out and see if it is worth the performance hit.

@LauraBooth How did it turn out for you?

Obb2sd. App available on Google play. Writes your app data for each downloaded app (including Google apps that come preinstalled in most androids) onto your external sd.
Have a good file manager, and one of the first few folders will be labeled 'android' and have 2 sub folders - 'data' and 'obb'. These record all your user activity and can fill up memory very fast. Every map, every song, every search, every level you play, every achievement, and sometimes app resources as well are in these folders. The 'obb' folder usually contains the ever-increasing data from some of your downloaded apps.
If you have external SD, a similar 'android' folder exists but the 'obb' folder doesn't always contain the data from apps you moved to SD. Some apps by default ONLY write your internal memory and OBB2SD changes that permission.
Totally solved my memory dilemma.


text:
Sort  contacts by different field (not first \ last name)
Merging the gmail contacts with the phones address list has many advantages, but also one nagging problem.
While the gmail contacts contain full names, and in English, I want the display name in the dialer to be in Hebrew and I often use nicknames or first names only. Is there some workaround?
The easiest method I can think of is to use another field, such as nickname, for the Hebrew name. But this requires a contact manager that lists contacts by nickname, and not just first \ last name.

In Gmail, why can't you input your contact in Hebrew to begin with?

Dw contact manager supports this feature
http://crowdin.net/project/dw-contact-group-manager


text:
Can I use the stock SMS/MMS app on an Android tablet without UMTS module?
I just got my Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet. It does not have a GSM/UMTS/3G module but there is an SMS/MMS icon. What is the purpose of this app? Does Android allow me to send and receive SMS/MMS over my Wifi Internet connection, or is it just a leftover?
I am not interested in any alternatives to the stock app. I am more curious if it serves any purpose on a device without a UMTS module and if so, how to configure and use it.
So the questions could also be phrased like: What purpose serves the stock Android SMS app on an tablet without GSM/UMTS module?

I can't speak to the stock app or the device in particular, but it depends on whether your carrier has something like UMA for extending services like SMS over the public Internet.

As for now I consider the stock SMS/MMS app a leftover on tablet devices without an GSM/UMTS module. I serves no purpose on such devices.

You can download an app such as TextPlus from the market for free and then send MMS & SMS from that app. I am not sure what app you are talking about since I don't have a ThinkPad tablet but I know that you can use TextPlus.

Ayman: It looks like the Tablet has the original Android SMS/MMS app installed and it claims to be able to send and receive SMS although I have no UMTS module and couldn't find any preferences regarding configuration of the app (SMS-Call center ID, etc.).

Another app/service to try would be Google Voice.  You can get a phone number and send/receive SMS (and voicemail).  This may only work (or work well in the US, though).

P.T.:Thanks for you answer. :) But I am not asking for alternatives to the stock app. I edited my question and made that more clear.