text:
Why is an OTG not detected when a micro SD card is already inserted in the device?
I have tried this on both Realme XT running Android 11 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ running Android 12.
Whenever there's a micro SD card inserted and I attach a USB drive/SD card from my camera via OTG, it is not detected. But if I remove the micro SD card and try again with the OTG, it is detected.
I have realised that a micro SD card and another SD card/usb drive is not detected simultaneously on both my devices.
Am I missing something or is this a shortcoming of Android?

Mast likely the manufacturer has configured Micro SD-card and OTG device to use the same mount point and thus only one of both works.

That makes sense

I just had the same issue, and I can tell you this is definitively not an Android issue, as I have devices that work fine, for instance, a Fire HD 10 running Android 9.
I think the issue is hardware related, as I have seen this problem with other devices, for instance an in-car entertainment system (Honda vehicle), where it tells you that you can't access the SD card while the USB port is in use, so I need to unplug my phone to use the SD card.
BTW, I just confirmed with Samsung support that in fact, you can't use both the SD card slot and the USB (otg) port at the same time.

Thanks for the answer. I thought I was doing something wrong but now I know.


text:
Can I repartition the internal storage of my device to make space for apps?
I have a T-Mobile Concord and it has little memory (probably standard amount).  It is used up by applications that I don't use or don't need.  I would like to partition the OS so that I can increase the internal memory so I can download other apps or play games that I have downloaded.  Is this possible or am I just S.O.L.?

Highly doubt if this can be done, even if it is feasible, it is extremely risky and could render the phone bricked!
Some handsets have the capability to resize the partitions used.
For example:

The Zte Blade is one very good example that can enable through what's known as TPT transfer, where the /system, /cache and /data can be resized conveniently, albeit in a limited fixed way, such as 2Mb /cache, and 210Mb /system. See this example of the alternative layouts that can be used for this handset.

The software used to achieve this, is not easy to find on the internet, known as, testpoint, although it does require specialized knowledge on how to use it, and does involve the risk of overwriting the IMEI number for this to work.
There is one for Qualcomm based handsets and is floating around on the internet.
Now, going back to T-Mobile Concord handset, not sure if there's one for specified handset concerned, as GSMArena indicates that this is a Broadcom chipset...
It might be best to dig around on XDA to see if anyone has achieved it.
If not, then take it as a no-go!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How can I select which folders to sync via Exchange ActiveSync?
I am using Exchange ActiveSync with Android version 4.1.2, but cannot find the option to choose which folders to sync within my mailbox.  A technote on the Samsung website (albeit the US version) says this option should be there. Does anyone have any ideas?

I found sync settings for individual folders under Settings - Data Usage - then left menu softkey, make sure "Auto Data Sync" is selected.
Also, Settings -Accounts - Email - Settings -select exchange email acct, scroll down to "Exchange Active Sync Settings" lots of options for syncing, including individual sync settings for folders.

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


text:
How do I remove previously download apps from my Google Play account?
When I click on "My orders and settings" it shows me all the apps I've ever installed, including ones I've deleted from my phone. I would like for apps I've uninstalled to not appear in this list. How do I do that?

You can fix that for yourself:

open the playstore app
navigate to Menu→My Apps
chose the "All" tab
next to the apps you've no longer installed, you'll find a symbol looking like a striked circle ("parking forbidden here"). Long-tap that for the first app you want to get rid off here.
at the top of the page you should find a notice that you've marked one app. Now tap all other apps you want removed from the list to mark them.
having all marked, tap on "remove" there

Done.


text:
Google Nexus One Android 2.2 -- Listen Volume very low
I find that podcasts have very low volume on my nexus one, using the google listen application while using headphones.  My headphones have no volume control, and the nexus one is turned up to the max.  I don't suppose there's any way to up this more?  As it is now, I can't listen to podcasts while I'm on the bus/metro since the ambient noise drowns them out.  Maybe I can talk to the city to see if they will lower the volume on their public transit systems!

Similar question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1766/increase-music-playback-volume

This website has some audio hacks for some phones (looks like HTC phones).  Also it may not work on Android 2.1+.  You have to rooted to use this.

How does this "let you bypass normal volume levels beyond what the normal UI lets you do"?  You are the second person to recommend this but I don't see where it is indicated that it will allow you to bypass the manufacturer's volume limits. All it does is puts all the stock volume controls in one place.

@Matt strike it, I found something else that I had found before.  Only works on HTC phones tho. I think the other app that as posted was because some (or one specific) phones have a UI bug with the sound volumes?  I believe it is the Droid X, but I can't remember.

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

authors: Раде Ратковић


text:
how do I know the time involved in updating the firmware of my samsung I5801 phone via KIES
The official update for samsung I5801 is available now.
Has anyone done it before (using KIES, any samsung phone)?
How long it will take to update the firmware via Samsung Kies pc suite?
What are the additional things to do before and after I update my firmware?
(* I have taken backup of my contacts, messages and applications on the phone's memory card * I will reset my phone before and after updating the firmware using the settings -> factory reset option)
If something goes wrong then what can be done to revert.
Please help me as I don't want to fall in trouble after attempting an update.
Thanks

+1 because you alerted me to the update for this phone. YES! Have you succeeded yet?

@amir75: Yes. I was able to update successfully. Without any hiccups or glitch. I must say that Samsung has done a real good job by creating such a no-pains update system for it's phones. Awesome.

Well done. I couldn't get Kies to recognise my phone, so I'm stuck. I'm not in India, so maybe that's why. Ah well, good for you anyway.

Oh, could you pls specify your Windows version? Kies won't recognise my phone on Windows 7, so I'm wondering if it's worth trying another OS. Thanks

@amir75: I use windows XP professional with Service Pack 2. You can do it on any of your friend's machine having windows xp.

The actual update should take at very most half an hour, the download time may vary though.  Other than a backup, I don't see what else you'd need to do.
If you have trouble, come back and post a separate question with details.  The update usually either fails entirely (in which case you can try again) or works fine, you shouldn't end up in some half-updated broken state.

Thanks Matthew. :-) actually I tried it yesterday and everything went fine. It took around 40 minutes for the update process to complete. Posting the screenshots for other's reference.

Updated the firmware successfully. :)
Took almost 40 minutes for the upgrade process to finish completely.
After the update I was amazed to see that all the settings, programs, contacts and accounts were there. I didn't have to restore from the backup that I took earlier.
Froyo is much faster that eclair.
Hope this answer is helpful to those looking to upgrade their firmware but feared (like me) the risk of data being lost or phone malfunctioning.
Go ahead and upgrade your firmware. You will love it.
Here are the screenshots


text:
What do the values in "Running Services" mean?
When I go to following path
Settings : Applications : Running Services
I see:
Other: 78MB in 4
Avail: 109MB + 58MB in 8
What does above mean?
Specially, [78MB in 4], [109MB + 58MB] and [8]

As far as I know, it breaks down into this:

Other: This is RAM that is unavailable right now because it's in use by services that are actually running (it might be ones that can't be killed, in fact). Using your example, there's 78 MB of RAM in use by 4 processes, hence "78 in 4".
Avail: The first number here is the amount of RAM that is completely free and not allocated to any process (the 109 MB in your example). The second number is allocated but the process is in a state where it can be deallocated. Thus, "58 MB in 8" means there are 8 processes that are currently holding 58 MB of memory, but they are paused/frozen in the background and that 58 MB can be reclaimed by the OS if an active process needs it.

Edit: As Jake pointed out in the comment below, you can find a description in this entry on the Android Developers Blog (scroll all the way to the bottom).

More info available here, near the bottom of the post: http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/02/service-api-changes-starting-with.html

@Jake: Thanks! I think that's the link I originally read this at but I couldn't find it when I wrote this.


text:
Will I get automatically lifetime FREE updates if I pay for an app?
If I buy a paid app, will I be able to get free updates for the rest of the lifetime of that app or should I pay later for the updates?
What's the norm? Can you perhaps give 1-2 examples?
Thanks!

If the developer keeps releasing updates to the app as the same packagename and you already purchased the application previously, then should receive updates for the application for free.
E.g. if you went and purchased my app then you should get updates so long as I keep updating this specific packagename of the app: net.mandaria.cardashboardpro
However, I could at some point in the future decide that I want more money for the application and release a newer version of the application under a new packagename: net.mandaria.cardashboarddeluxe You would not get a free update to this app, even if it is technically the same application, I have chosen to release it as a separate app in the eyes of the Android Market (which determines two applications to be different solely by their package name).
However, I could still charge you for more money by including (optional?) in-app purchases or subscriptions that did not previously exist without changing the package name.  Carrying the same example, I could still use net.mandaria.cardashboardpro but have an in-app purchase for the "deluxe" features.
Most developers will not do these things to users who have already purchased their application, but it isn't impossible. Once such example of a developer trying to charge for a newer version of his application was psx4droid. The backlash was so vicious from his users that he went back and updated the older (version 1) of his app to the newer version (version 2).  He now has to maintain three versions because of this (version 1 and 2, plus a free version) instead of two.  Talk about a developer headache.
So ultimately it depends on what the developer decides to do.  In the majority of cases, the developer will keep supporting the same app and you receive the latest updates for free after your purchase.

So marketing-wise, is it silly to promise 1 year of free upgrades?

@curiousguy I wouldn't think so. Users, for the most part, are going to expect updates to their applications. Developers that do not tend to their applications (bugs, errors, feature requests) will watch their applications slowly die. There are very few types of apps that you could declare "feature complete" and not update any more.

The norm definitely seems to be for developers to update their app and those who have already paid for it will also receive the update.
However, this is definitely not enforced in any way, shape, or form.  Unless you have a contract stating otherwise (and you ensure it's enforced), you only get what you pay for (the current version of the app) and that's it.  The developer can easily choose to upload the new version as a "different" app and expect old users who want to upgrade to pay for it.

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


text:
Where can I find open source Android apps?
I'm not an open source zealot, but I generally prefer to use open source applications over proprietary ones if they stack up. Are there any directory sites with reviews, ect that specialize on open source Android apps? The closest thing I've been able to find is Wikipedia's list.

Looks like the Wiki list you found is a good answer to your own question. FYI: You can answer your own questions here and even accept your own answers.

You can install F-droid to get a market-style repository of Free and Open Source android apps:
http://f-droid.org/

You are free to submit apps.There are over 200 apps in the queue, however.To help, convert submission into metadata form and submit via git.Full instructions @ f-droid.org!

Review of F-Droid by Android Central

Google Code seems to be the predominant place for open source Android apps:
http://code.google.com/hosting/search?q=label:Android

Note: the above answer was written a LOOOONG time ago when Android was fairly new and lots of people hosted open source Android projects on Google code.  There may be other places people tend to host them now.

Can't find any directories that specialize in open source apps, but you could do worse than a simple search on one of the regular app directories (like this or this)
Otherwise, I'd say your Wikipedia list looks like a pretty good source.

This is another source:
http://www.aopensource.com/

How about crawling Aptoide? Not all are Open Source, but there are many!

As anyone and his little sister can have his own repository on Aptoide, it might be worth pointing out which ones can be considered safe. See e.g. How safe is it to use Aptoide? and Android Markets: How safe are alternative sources? I recommend sticking to the "Apps" repo, which is manually curated by the Aptoide team itself – and to those you know having a trustworthy maintainer as well.

As far as my own experience goes, Aptoide is really great. I discovered it when I was trying to find something similar to vshare for the iphone on android***.I downloaded the APK Installer for the app directly from their website - aptoide.com.*** I don't really know anything about f-droid, I might try i though. I did try blackmart before and didn't go very far with it, it didn't feel trustworthy. That was awhile ago though.Anyway, I have issues with google play and try to avoid it as much as possible, so I am solely dedicated to aptoide and it hasn't failed me yet. As far as safety goes, I occasionally install software such as AVG and Advanced Mobile Care if I feel I might be taking a risk. I haven't been afflicted with any malware from aptoide's markets yet! On the other hand, my 10 yr. old son is not as critical as I am when he chooses to download something from them on his own tablet, he also refuses to run any software like AMC & AVG and his tablet does have adware.But for as far as it goes , it doesn't seem to be doing any real damage to his device.
\

This is a commentary. Please stick to main topic. It's not worth telling a reader that you didn't try F-droid or that you don't trust Blackmart (unless you've a source to confirm it's shady). Google Play (no need to mention). Besides, you're relying too much on AVG and some other apps as a security measure which itself is a flaw. That said, could you mention the link to source code of AVG and other app? I've doubts reserved for them. About the last part, nowadays malwares are either spywares or adwares -- they don't usually damage your device, they just spy on you. They breach your privacy.

You can install F-droid or you can go to fossdroid.com (frontend web of F-Droid) to browser open source apps by trending, popularity, ect... (with screenshots).


text:
Can I backup my APN settings?
Where are my Access Point Names stored in the file system? Can I back them up via adb shell?
My phone is unlocked (AT&T Contract. Le sigh.) and I'm inching towards modding it but I want to be sure I've got my APN settings.

Yes, just copy the /system/etc/apns-conf.xml file.
You can also use an app like APN Backup & Restore: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.riteshsahu.APNBackupRestore
Edit: To backup manually-entered APNs (or ones otherwise not part of your ROM, such as ones "imported" when you insert a new SIM card) you also need to back up
/data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml

APN Backup & Restore does not do this.

I actually just dug out /system/etc/apns-conf.xml but ... that file contains the default T-Mobile APNs not the APN that I entered manually for AT&T. Under Settings > Mobile Network > Access Point Names on my phone itself I see the correct APN for my carrier. Where is that stored?

(An academic question. I'm just curious. I copied the settings I need using the age old "eyeball and pen" method.)

Hmm, that's a good question.  I just checked mine and it doesn't have info for my carrier either ... can't find any information about it or files that look promising.  Maybe it's in a database somewhere.

Ha!  Found it!  /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml.  Note it only seems to contain the current APN, so if you entered more than one the others aren't there.  I don't know where the others are.

I've just got one. That's it. Perfect.

It doesn't appear that you can restore by just replacing the com.android.settings_preferences.xml file.  I think the actual data is in a db somewhere.

The db for the actual data is in "/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony.databses/telephony.db" --> http://bradchow.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/apns-file-in-android/


text:
If I uninstall an app do I lose the data?
I want to install Angry Birds from the Amazon App Store but all I get is errors. My guess is it's because I already have it installed. I'm afraid to uninstall just in case I lose the data. Any ideas?

Apps store user data in different ways:

Some store the data on the SD car in a public folder and as long as you don't manually delete the folder after you uninstall the app, it will still be there when you reinstall.
Other apps store data this way but have their configuration data in the secured portion of the internal memory and that data is lost when you uninstall (example: podcast app that stores the podcasts, and they subscription data on the SD card but the login, password and settings data internally.  You'll still have your podcasts and subscriptions but you'll have to re-enter the other data).
Some apps store all their data in the protected memory so you'll lose everything when you uninstall unless you use some kind of backup utility.

Angry birds stores data in the protected portion of the internal memory and all is lost when you uninstall.  There are apps that specifically backup Angry Birds data and other apps that backup apps.  There are so many there's no point in mentioning them here but just search the market for "Angry Birds Backup" or "App backup".
Titanium Backup is the best in my opinion but you need to be rooted to use it, while others you do not.

Use a program like Titanium Backup to back up the data, then remove the program and install the new one, then restore the data.  But.  Often the data will be incompatible between versions and this may lead to force closes.

In this case, the data does not seem to be incompatible between the Android Market version and the ad-free, paid Amazon Appstore version.


text:
What percentage of devices have each of the Android versions?
We're starting out with some Android development in our company, and I'm working out which  Android versions we should support.
In one of Google's videos from 27th May 2010 (22:34 minutes in) there is a pie chart showing roughly a third of users each for Android 1.5, 1.6 and 2.1.
Does anyone have a more up-to-date source for the percentages of active Android devices with each version of the platform?

Check out Official Android Developer's Dashboards.
Data as of September, 2017 1

Version
Codename
Distribution

2.3.3-2.3.7
Gingerbread
0.6%

4.0.3-4.0.4
Ice Cream Sandwich
0.6%

4.1.x
Jelly Bean
2.4%

4.2.x

3.5%

4.3

1.0%

4.4
KitKat
15.1%

5.0
Lollipop
7.1%

5.1

21.7%

6.0
Marshmallow
32.2%

7.0
Nougat
14.2%

7.1

1.6%

1 Data collected during a 7-day period ending on September 11, 2016.
Any versions with less than 0.1% distribution are not shown. (Note: Beginning in September 2013, devices running versions older than Android 2.3.3 do not appear in this data because those devices do not support the new Google Play Store app. As of August 2013, devices with versions lower than 2.2 accounted for about 1% of all devices.)

Just a tiny side note for those who don't follow the link: That data is based on devices hitting Google Play (I presume this includes devices checking for updates), so it should be representative of devices in general use.

If you're interested in the distribution over time, there's a guy on the Wikimedia Commons that makes a nice graph from the Developer Dashboard data, which is updated ~monthly.

FYI Google has stopped publishing the Android version data on their dashboards page. Android Studio offers similar data but that doesn't seem to be regularly updated.

As the Google dashboards page has stopped giving version percentages for some time, years to my memory, I thought I'd give an updated answer to this salient issue. First off, when you create a new project, on the screen where you enter your minimum sdk among other items there is a 'help me choose' link which will bring you to a list of android version use percentages, info similar to that given in the old dashboard pie chart. Also similar to the old dashboard chart, it is terribly obsolete.
Websites with current use version info include https://www.appbrain.com/stats/top-android-sdk-versions, https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/android/mobile-tablet/worldwide, and https://apilevels.com/. The latter appears to give the most current numbers.
 Android Studio Chart - Obsolete

 apilevels.com - Current as of Jan 6 2022 on this writing Jan 23

I use the Pareto Principle, that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes, in determining the percentage of devices to support. In this case, 80% of the issues (and potential 1 star ratings) come from the bottom 20% of android API levels. I found this out the hard way starting out. My minSdkVersion is now 28, which still covers the top 78.4% of android versions according to apilevels. Coincidentally, android tends to support only the top 80% of API levels, so that could be another metric for the 80/20 maxim. Oreo is no longer supported.

Here's the latest from Android Studio. It appears to have been last updated on Aug 4th of 2022:

Thank you for posting this update.  Does Google make this data readily available to people who don't have Android Studio installed?

I couldn't find a way besides Android Studio...I did use Androidcoder's source from the answer above as a sanity check: https://apilevels.com/

Thanks for the update.  Appreciated!

Browsing the source code for the dialog on Android Studio, looks like the data is taken from https://dl.google.com/android/studio/metadata/distributions.json (download only) // cc: @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket

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


text:
How can I stop an ongoing sync process on my Desire?
yesterday I decided to upload all my phone's photos using PICASA. I thought the task would have required one hour or so but instead it is still running and is extremely slow! I would like to stop it but it seems impossible, I have the 'notification' of the ongoing process and whatever thing I do (reboot phone, shut down, advanced task killer, android assistant) as soon as I start an internet connection the process appear. Please help me close it!
Thank you!

I've tried but they didn't seem to make the icon disappear. After wandering through settings and application as suggested by Matthew this is what I finally did and it seems to work: Settings --> Application --> Manage App --> Running --> myuploads --> Force Stop and eventually the icon of ongoing process was gone! Thank you for the important clue!!!

I'd go to Settings -> Accounts and sync and if you have an entry for Picasa, shut off sync for it.  If that doesn't work disable Background data in the same place, then go to your Media app or wherever you set up the sync and shut it off.  If you can't then you should go to Settings -> Applications -> All and clear the data for the relevant app(s).

Go to your Setting and from there click on the application manager
Once you are on application manager, swipe across the categories to find All. This will give you a list of all applications on your phone. Your application manager has three categories - a) Downloaded b) Running and c) All.
Once you select All, scroll down the list of applications to find Download Manager.
On Download Manager, click on the button that says Clear Data. Once the data is cleared, the download notification on the notification window will go away.


text:
Recognize and tag mp3s
Are there any Android applications which will recognize my mp3s from a directory and tag them automatically?
Some of my mp3s have wrong file names and tags. I want to organize them correctly.

There are many PC apps that will do this. You could simply plug your phone into your computer, mount the SD card, and configure the app to search the sd card.
I haven't tried this myself, but I found an app on the market called DroiID3Tagger that appears to automatically tag mp3s. There are plenty of others that allow you to edit the tags manually.

Could please let me know some good PC apps which can do this? Thanks in advance...


text:
Photoshop: how can I access other directories beside DCIM?
Screenshots apps store their images in different locations. For example:

ShootMe uses SD card/ShootMe
The native screenshot tool in ICS uses SD card/Pictures/Screenshots
etc

I am wondering, is the Photoshop for Android able to access other directories beside SD card/DCIM, because all the pictures I can see are the ones taken from the camera? Obviously this makes screenshots editing (e.g: cropping) difficult.

There are two very different Adobe PhotoShop apps for Android, the free, limited PhotoShop Express that lets you slightly tweak pictures, and the full (paid) Photoshop Touch. Which one are you having problems with?

Asssuming you mean Adobe Photoshop Express it is set by default to only show you Camera pictures. You should be able to change a setting to make it look at the rest of your phone's storage.
Open Photoshop Express, press Menu (on ICS press the ... in the corner of the screen), select More and then Settings and scroll down to near the bottom where you should see the option Show camera photos only in Phone view, take the tick out of the box and press Back to get back to the main Photoshop Express window where you should already see it filling up with all the pictures it can find.

Ah I forgot to mention that I'm using PhotoShop Express. BTW, it works. Thanks :)


text:
Contacts with and without international extensions
I'm in the UK. My Nexus S received its update to 4.0.4 yesterday, and I now have the following problem.
If I have a contact with (say) the number 07123456789 and I receive a text from this contact, it comes up as +447123456789. However the phone no longer seems to recognise that these numbers are the same (i.e. one is with the international extension, one without) and the contact name is not displayed with the text. Is there a setting or anything that will fix this?

This is a known problem with ICS (up to 4.0.3, I think) :

http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!topic/mobile/ZVK3xcu2NrA

If you follow this link you'll also see a solution to the problem (I'd recommend backing up your contacts first, just in case):

Assuming your phone is synced with Google Contacts
Disable contacts syncing. From the home screen: Press Menu -> System Settings -> Accounts & sync
Erase all contacts from the phone: From the home screen: Press Menu -> Manage Apps. Scroll down to Contacts Storage and press Clear Data.
Restart the contacts sync as in Step 2.

I also have a Nexus S and am in the UK and have just had version 4.0.4 rolled out to me yesterday, I haven't had a chance to download it yet BUT 4.0.4 should have 'Improved phone number recognition' according to the Android team, I'm assuming that's a reference to the problem we've been having and should fix it. Here's the link to statement from the team:

https://plus.google.com/104629412415657030658/posts/NgGwavbmkQ7

Here's another solution, that's been posted on the top link I gave you, I haven't tested it personally but others in the thread seem to have and have said it works. Try the first shorter one before this though. Here it is:
    1- menu --> people
    2- option --> import/export
    3- export to storage --> OK
    4- option --> import/export
    5- import from storage --> after searching
    6- import one vCard file --> ok
    7- choose the file which you exported early (00001.vcf) --> wait for import
    8- now your issue is solved and you can try if it works with you. but we got another error of duplicated names here.

    if you want to solve the duplication on names here. follow the below:
    1- menu --> settings
    2- accounts & sync
    3- enable the sync and choose to sync your gmail account
    4- after finishing the sync. go to your laptop and open your gmail email.
    5- press on the contacts tab on the left side
    6- select all the contacts --> more --> find & merge duplicates

Thanks - the second solution seems to work for me. I will check if there are any more issues in the next day or two. Maybe remove the first solution, as the second is pretty simple? Also my phone was already updated to 4.04 but maybe it just needed this kick up the butt.

I'll move the second solution up to the top but keep the other one in at the bottom just in case the first doesn't seem to work for people. Let me know if there's any more issues with it and what they are, I'm going to try it when I get in as well as I've still got the same issue, just needed a bounty to get me to look at how to solve it.

Cool, it definitely seems to have worked, got a few people to do test replies (which come back as +447...) and no problems so far

OK, nothing works for me but I found something in the web that could help mitigate this problem. It consists of editing "/system/build.prop" and adding this: "ro.phone.min_match=8". Of course, you should replace the length "8" to a value more convenient to you. (in fact, 8 is the best number)
Then, you need to restart the phone. Some phones put the cell on hibernate when you power down. So try to restart instead.

It might help installing an Android app called Right Number (source available). It reformats the numbers of all your contacts to the international format, and then automatically adds the local prefixes whenever you do a call.
In other words, keep all your numbers in a common, sane format, and then stop worrying about those prefixes.
Disclaimer: I know personally one of the authors of that app.


text:
open-gpstracker: Export all tracks or access the SQLite database
I am using open-gpstracker to track routes. After quite some time I have collected a large number of tracks that I like to export as GPX files. The application allows to do that, however, there is no export option for all tracks at once.
I am using a device without root access. Is there any way I could access the SQLite database of the application? I also thought of modifying the source code of the opensource application to my requirements, but I am afraid of losing my data when I install the customized version of the app on my device. Am I right, that this can be a problem?

Update: I came up with the idea that I could use the ContentProvider of the application, if there is one included and if it is public. I could write another application that uses the interface to access the database. Do you think this is possible? How can I see if there is a public ContentProvider?

Each app on Android stores its data on internal storage by default, below the /data/data/<package_name> directory. Due to the sandbox princip, except the app itself and root nobody has access to that if not explicitly defined otherwise by the developer (e.g. Skype currently has a serious security flaw giving everybody read/write access to all its data, including plain-text passwords). So no, you won't be able to get access to the database, which most likely is located in the /data/data/nl.sogeti.android.gpstracker/databases/ directory without having root access to your device.
As for your second question: You are assuming correctly. As you don't have access to the developers certificate (for good reasons), you cannot "update" the original app with your modified version. You would have to uninstall and then re-install -- or giving your modified version a different package name. In both cases, you won't have access to the original apps data.

You can backup the app data using TitaniumBackup and restore (only the app data) onto a differently signed app with the same package name though (root required).

Good point -- I didn't consider that. Sure, that should do -- thanks for pointing it out!

@ce4 Interesting option. However, I do not have root access. How about my updated question regarding the ContentProvider?

The full path of the database file should be /data/data/nl.sogeti.android.gpstracker/databases/GPSLOG.db. Source: 1

There is a solution for debuggable apps. Another post here.


text:
Why do I get phone storage is getting low when I've un-installed almost all apps?
I keep getting "phone storage is getting low" constantly even though I've removed almost all the apps I've installed. Is there a way to look in the phone storage to see what are the contents?
Google Talk and Facebook fail to function because of this.
I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc running Android 2.3 (Build 4.0.2.A.0.62)

Install Disk Usage.

Maybe because you haven't removed only the small apps that doesn't take significant space.
Go to settings -> Apps -> Select "All" on apps tab -> Click menu and click sort by size.
You'll see the apps sorted by the size it takes on your phone. Check if the top apps in this list are taking most of your space.

I was able to delete the data for a few unused apps that were collecting geo data and get back about 100MB of space. Thanks!

Go see my answer to that similar question:
Space problem in Samsung Galaxy Pocket GT-S5300
It solved all my problem. Samsung told me to reset my device to factory firmware. I did not want to have to reinstall everything and now I know it will always happen after a while. Follow the procedure at that link and you might have to do it once or twice per year to keep it clean but you will not have to reset your device.


text:
system ( com.Android google.com.gms ) share from gallery app suddenly stops working and crashes
there is a prominent gallery app that I am using  -f-stop .
been using it for very long time and never had this issue .
gallery app itself seems to be working but when I select more than one picture and invoke system share so I can   share  those with other apps like WhatsApp... everything crashes.
it gives me an option to view the  app log  crash in an email attachment, that it prepared to send to Google for feedback unfortunately selfish as it may sound, I cannot send that attachment to my email   It just directly sends it without even keeping a sent copy in my Gmail. using some kind of a hack I pulled up all that log info and I am putting it in  pastebin_with_crash_log_info
The relevant error is:
Caused by: android.content.res.Resources$NotFoundException: Resource ID #0x7f08007a
at android.content.res.ResourcesImpl.getValueForDensity(ResourcesImpl.java:246)
at android.content.res.Resources.getDrawableForDensity(Resources.java:905)
at android.content.res.Resources.getDrawableForDensity(Resources.java:880)
at com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity$TargetPresentationGetter.loadIconFromResource(ResolverActivity.java:669)

here are the more relevant details
crashing system share app concerned is
com.Android google.com.gms

Source file
ResourcesImpl.java
Source class
android.content.res.ResourcesImpl
Source method
getValueForDensity
Line number
246

os details

magisk rooted Android q project treble ROM

I would assume that one of the installed apps that are listed in the shared apps list has a problem loading the app icon. Unfortunately the error log has no indicator which app icon fails to load. What apps have you recently installed or updated?

Is there any log related to ResolverActivity$TargetPresentationGetter.getLabel()? Based on the code, it should state the application name.

@Robert gotcha you nailed it ! yes indeed there was that one app that I actually installed offline from a SD card second partition and apparently the app had changed maybe that app could be a split kind of app. once I removed that we are good to go. if you post that comment as an answer I will accept it   thank you  stay home stay safe. let's all drive thru this dark fog  , into good sunlight and hopefully soon.!

is there any way I can control the the the system share app list I would like to trim that list and remove apps that are of no use and collapse WhatsApp menu at the same time also want to manually add in that list certain apps that don't auto. show up in system share. I'd imagine the latter would be e difficult to accomplish just bi admin means. but is there something I can change in terms of app property file like manifest file to ensure that the app shows up in system share menu . would changing  config files as a root still cause  changes in apps signature &  other complications

Considering that the error seems to be that an icon can't be loaded I would assume the following:
The sharing menu shows a list of apps to share the selected content with. This list shows for each app it's app icon plus the app name.
It looks like one of the installed apps, that is shown in the sharing apps list, has a problem loading the app icon. Unfortunately the error log has no indicator which app icon fails to load.
Unless you recently installed a system update the problem is caused by one specific app that has been installed or updated recently recently.
Note: The sharing list is AFAIK automatically generated by the content type to be shared. Each app contains in it's manifest rules and content types it can accept. Upon installation these information is AFAIR copied into a central system-wide XML file (don't remember the exact file name). Hence by modifying this file it would be possible to remove certain apps from the sharing menu, however this XML file is updated/modified if you install or update an app. Hence the manual changes may be overwritten frequently (I never tried this therefore I don't have any experience how long a modification can last in this XML file).

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


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Add APN (+ Button) Option Missing
So my gf and I both have the Xiaomi Mi A2, her works perfectly, but when I tried to setup mine, I realized I had no data connection.
In order to make it work with my provider, I must configure a new custom APN but for some reason, the button to add a new one is missing. I´ve checked, however, my gf's mobile, despite being apparently the same in every aspect, she has such button.
Then I thought there must be some differences between both devices operating system's version, so I wonder if is there a way to compare both to check what I'm missing in order to have the option that I need?
If not, any way to fix this would be really appreciated.
Thank you in advance

What provider? In some cases the carrier locks APN changes with the SIM card, but you can't remove the SIM and set them up either as the SIM over rides any manual change. What I am saying is that this is likely not a device issues, but a carrier/SIM issue.

@acejavelin thanks for the reply. As I mentioned, I've 2 identical phones, and in one of them I can configure the apn, whilst in the other (the one I have to use), I can't. It´s clearly a device issue.

Dial *#*#4636#*#* from your phone app, you will get a menu where first item is phone info. Tap the 3 dots menu on top right which has "enable data". Try that or by toggling carrier info in the menu and see if it helps. Factory reset is always an option but ideally if nothing else works

Dane, is there a reason why you reverted the changes I earlier introduced in your question? I definitely improved it, except the beginning where I erred on replacing the word GF. Your title does not tell us what you want with the question. I ensured that a person understands what the asker wants just by reading the title alone.

For some reason, without the SIM card or other cards the plus button to add APN appears, which doesnt when having my own card.
Finally I found an app called MyApp, that after installing, it allowed me to edit the APNs, so now everything works as it should, despite it's a workaround.


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Motorola Triumph changes Volume between Songs or with Notifications
I have a VirginMobile Motorola Triumph, stock but rooted.
I listen to music with both Pandora and Google's Play Music app.
When listening to music, the volume has two modes, 'soft', in which all the way down is too quiet and all the way up is too loud, exactly as it should be.  The other setting is loud - just loud.  The first click of 'loud' is enough to hurt my ears.
I can change the volume from 'loud' to 'soft' by playing with the Ring or Alarm volumes (not Media).  They don't have to change, but they have to be altered briefly to 'reset' it back to 'soft'.  Furthurmore, if I receive a notification, text, call, or any other sort of message, the volume becomes 'soft' again.
While listening on 'soft', if the song finishes and naturally continues to the next, the volume will jump to 'loud'.  There are other occasions where it does this as well, but I haven't figured out exactly what they are.

[ORIGINAL]:
I have a stock rooted Motorola Triumph (which does not have MotoBlur) with Pandora installed.  Media volume is pretty loud, so I keep it on the first click, always (I also have Audio Manager installed, but this problem was happening prior to installation).
However, when Pandora goes to the next song (either because I skipped, down-thumbed, or just finished the song), the volume gets really loud.  It doubles in volume, if not more!
The weirdest part though is that none of the volume sliders (anywhere!) have changed.  Not one.  Furthermore, altering the Media volume (still on 1st click), has no effect other than to make it even louder.  However, if I alter (or even touch) the Ringer or Notification volumes, the song volume drops to where it was.
I'm tired of changing my volume between every song.  I'm willing to talk to whomever (Motorola, Pandora, Google, etc) in pursuit of a fix.  How can I address this?

Did you happen to solve the issue somehow? Maybe tried a factory reset (I had a lot of instabilities after rooting of some devices, which were immediately solved by a factory reset)? If so, it would be nice to let others (who might be affected as well, as the upvotes might indicate) know the solution :)

No, I never found anything.  I found that it's not simply a Pandora issue - the issue affects at least Play Music as well, and who knows what other apps.  To be honest I've quit listening to music on my Android - I'm thinking of getting an iPod... :(

Known issue with older ROMs on the MT. AFAIK its been fixed, but I've since moved on from the mighty Triumph!

I've had a similar problem on my Optimus V, and according to other users of the ROM, it is specific to the ROM.
Sometimes the volume is max level no matter what. The temporary workaround is to actually turn the volume up all the way, then turn it down. As soon as I hear the volume blasting, I have to go against my intuition to turn the volume down (as it usually is in the lowest setting already) and turn it all the way up, then down.
Try that and see if it solves the symptoms. If so, the developers of your ROM need to fix the underlying bug that causes the volume indicator to be out of sync with the actual volume.

I reccomend you contact the makers of Pandora about this issue, as this looks like an app bug rather than a phone issue.
I would suggest emailing them with as much info as you can possibly fit in.
Another option would be to check the settings in Pandora - you may have missed an important setting that is causing this issue.

Nope, it's not just Pandora.  The Google Play Music app does it as well.


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How to create shortcuts to a certain subset of files
I have a large collection of books on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, organized by topic in many nested folders. I have a certain subset of them (coming from multiple folders) that I expect to refer to frequently, let's call them the "popular" books for convenience.
I'd like to have a single icon I can press on my home screen that will, one way or another, bring up the list of popular books, from where I can select a book to open.

I want to preserve the organization of the folders, so creating a separate folder containing the popular books is not an option.
I want to save space, so I don't want to make copies of every popular book and put all the copies in a separate folder.

Given these constraints, there are two approaches I can think of to do what I want.
First way:

Get an app "A" that can create shortcuts to individual files, and puts the shortcuts on the home screen.
Get an app "B" that can take arbitrary items on the home screen, and bundle them together into a single folder on the home screen.
Use A to create shortcuts to all the popular books on the home screen, then use B to bundle them together. Clicking the icon created by B should bring up a list of the popular books that I can then select from.

Second way:

Get an app "C" that can create shortcuts to individual files and put them in the file system, like (for example) Windows can - in Windows Explorer, I can right click on any file and choose "Create Shortcut", and the shortcut appears right there next to the file, not on the desktop.
Get an app "D" that can create shortcuts to folders in the file system, and puts the shortcuts on the homescreen.
Use C to create shortcuts to all the popular books in the file system, move them all to a single folder in the file system, then use D to create a shortcut to that folder on the home screen. Clicking the shortcut created by D should open the folder, which contains links to the popular books (this, presumably, does not have the same space issues as having two copies of every popular book).

So, here are my questions:

Are there any other approaches you can think of to doing this?
Do you have any recommendations for apps that would fill the role of B or C? I currently have Linda Manager, and it is only able to do A and D, as far as I can tell. For B, I have looked at Folder Manager, whose purpose is to create folders of apps on the home screen, but (as far as I can tell) it can't see the home screen shortcuts that Linda Manager creates to individual files.
Are there any issues with either approach I proposed above that might prevent them from working? For example, are shortcuts "in the file system" even possible in Android?

Many thanks for your help.

Did you get any answers to this problem. I would like to be able to shortcut to single [ASCII] documents

Were you able to solve this problem, @Zev ? Or maybe, you, @Burrowsnz?

Install Astro File Manager.
Long tap homescreen & choose Shortcuts. Then, choose Astro from list. Using it, you can create shortcut of any file on homescreen.
Bundle these shortcuts in a homescreen folder using your default launcher. I use in-built folder feature of ADW Launcher EX (my default home launcher).

If your default launcher doesn't have folder feature, you can install Folder Organizer. Using it, you can create folder widget on homescreen. You can put shortcuts in this widget & Astro will help here again as in Step 2.

Both approaches are possible. In fact, you don't need an app "B" as most Android launchers has folders. Most Android launchers doesn't allow you to create a home screen shortcut to a file or folder; however many popular file manager do allows you to do so.
With regards to creating shortcuts in the filesystem, Android is based on Linux, and Linux have symbolic links, which is like Windows' .lnk shortcut, only much better implemented.
Another, much better option is a single app that is specifically designed for your particular use case. Try "EStrongs File Manager" with its plugin "EStrongs Bookmark Manager". Both are free and can be found on the market.


text:
How can I determine how much total RAM my device actually has?
I bought a SIM locked ZTE v790 in Egypt. It tells me that it has 181MB of RAM, but it supposed to be 512MB.
Is there a way to check how much RAM my device physically has before deciding to get it replaced?

Can you post a screenshot of your RAM. 181MB usable for a 512MB RAM device is way too low. Download Antutu Benchmark and check your Device Info again for the actual usable memory.

here is some screenshots
http://www.mediafire.com/?6kqar6p9b19n2ax,avck581678jx67c,bb7vp7giddc1lvw,4pq6cl5a66yohob,dzs34v9m04z24o3,386gklhmkj7o7qs
thanks for editing

This is like fraud, a device with 512MB ram should have 300MB+ usable RAM like my Xperia Play. Most likely your unit is fitted with only 256MB RAM because I looked at the internet with others having 270MB RAM usable of the same ZTE v790 model. Did you just recently bought your phone? you should ask for a replacement.

I know this is an old questions but it comes up first in Google so I thought I would put a simple answer.
Depending on the version of Android:

Settings > Applications > Running services
or Settings > Apps > Running services
or Settings > More > Application Manager > Running (at the top)
or Settings > System > Developer Options > Running services

At the bottom you will see RAM, used and free.  Add both number together to get total usable RAM for the device. Note that this might be less than the RAM advertised for the phone model, as the system may reserve some of the RAM for itself as explained in other answers.
Cheers

Android StackExchange encourages good answers to old questions, there's even a badge for it :)

This has become a little more involved since the release of Oreo (v8.0.0.0), you need to enable developer options through  Settings > System > About Phone then tapping on Build number until it says you're a developer, then you can find the RAM under Settings > System > Developer options > Memory

I just found out there are actually 2 versions of the ZTE v790
The 512MB RAM International version that is posted in GSMArena
And the lower cost 256MB RAM version
mostly sold to carriers
If you believe you have been given the wrong unit, you should ask for a replacement from your carrier or from the store that you bought it.

i bought it as The 512MB RAM International version >>i will try to replace it
but how  Antutu Benchmark  show it as 338 mb ram once ??
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?386gklhmkj7o7qs
and other time 275 mb
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?dzs34v9m04z24o3

That is just the performance score of your RAM. It has nothing to do about actual RAM capacity. Open the Info tab and slide to System Info to check your actual RAM size, and post the screenshot if you can.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z8dbi73c7i718ij
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?avck581678jx67c
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?bb7vp7giddc1lvw

No doubt you have the 256MB version. Even my sister's galaxy Y lists 270MB RAM out of 384MB. Better get it replaced.

In Android 8 it is:

Settings > System > About phone > Hardware information

This displays RAM size, ROM size, Display resolution and a bunch of other similar parameters.

You could simply use a terminal emulator (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator) and run the command free
$ free
             total       used       free     shared    buffers
Mem:        487344     472504      14840          0       8348
-/+ buffers/cache:     464156      23188

This example is taken from my Motorola Milestone 2, which is supposed to have 512MB RAM. Check with Alex's answer what might make the difference here: My output shows 476MB total RAM. Using above command at least you can know for sure how much RAM you've got to work with.

free not found :(

Urgs... Either your manufacturer/ROM creator completely forgot to include the binary, or it's simply not in the PATH. You might try it with different paths, e.g. /system/xbin/free. Some filemanagers might permit you to browse for it, or you can check different locations from within the terminal app.

Alternatively, one could install Termux, (See: https://termux.com), as it comes with it's own coreutils package.


text:
Nexus 7 blank screen
After watching a bit of 4oD last night on my Nexus 7, I turned it off. When I tried to start it up this morning, I was greeted with a blank screen whilst being plugged into the charger. I held down the power button, and Google flashed onto the screen for about 3 secs. When I disconnected from the charger, the screen switched off completely.
I have only had this for a week and a half. It is obviously still under warranty. Can I just send it back? I am completely dumb when it comes to computer issues!

Just plugged it into my laptop, I now have a black screen with some coloured 'crackling' moving across the screen. I haven't dropped it or got it wet!

To me, it sounds like flat battery. Charge the device as it is for couple of hours with its original charger and cable and try powering on with a very long press on that power button.

Its been charging all day, tried the power button hold down, nothing happened. JUst held down volume down and power button now have the green android with his chest open,the only option on the screen is fastboot mode. started this and got a blank green screen. I shut it down and again pressed the volume down and power button, have again the green android??? STUCK!!

Ok, if you would like to learn things, I would suggest you to learn and do unlock the boot loader, flash a factory image to restore. On the other hand if you don't want all these fuss, better return it.

Thank you Narayanan, I have come down this morning managed to power it up, it is obviousley a problem with the charging. It seems to be a common fault. will return I think!

The same thing had happened to my N7. Here's what worked for me.
Let your device stay in that state for as long as the battery lasts, i.e wait till the battery is dead.
After that is done, Power on the devise by Holding the two volume buttons and then connect the charger or connect to a computer.
Use your volume buttons to navigate to START and click on the power button
That should bring it back to life
Edit Here is a photo of the boot loader I found on Google which shows the Start


text:
How is a Nexus device "provisioned" when you buy it from Google?
I noticed during checkout for the Nexus 4 that you are given the option to have it provisioned:

When purchasing a Nexus device from Google Play, you'll notice a 'Link this device to my Google account' checkbox appear in your cart just prior to checkout. When you link a Nexus device to your Google account, we'll automatically send your name and username to the device when you first power it on. You'll just need to input your Google account password to get started.

I'm not sure if this is cool or creepy.  How does this provisioning happen?  I'm not concerned with what Google is doing on the server side so much as:

What is sent to the device?
Is it encrypted?
How does the device receive/process the message?

Is there a special service that sends my IMEI to Google and then receives the info back, or something?

I asked for my Nexus 7 to be linked to my Google Account, but I didn't notice anything different when I got it. I still had to do the same setup and configuration I always do when I first turned it on.

Sounds just like what Amazon have done with their Kindles for years, where it arrives already linked to your account details.

I saw this, and also looked into it briefly.
Basically, as you are using your Google Account when buying the device, Google will link your Google account to your Nexus device at the factory, and send your details to your email address.
This means that the Google account setup is already complete when you receive the device, so you can download apps as soon as you turn it on and enter your password.
It is unlikely to be encrypted, however as the password has yet to be entered no sensitive information such as emails or card details can be access should someone else receive the device.

Hmm I thought it might have been an on-device config before it ships but I assumed they were not fulfilling orders directly from the factory and figured they wouldn't open them up after the fact.  Do you happen to have a source at all?  Just for curiosity's sake.

@MatthewRead No source sorry, mainly assumption (I didn't just say that). They most likely just flash a new (provisioned) system image to it. I suppose someone had better order a provisioned nexus to check...

I would think that the DeviceID (or event the IMEI) is tied to your account. So when you power it up and it "phones home" it knows that it is already tied to your account. The IMEI is usually "barcoded" on the side of the box so it would just take a scan and then in the back end the server knows that you want it "provisioned" to they prep their end (which is probably just bridging your device (imei) to your account in some database.

Ryan Conrad said pretty much exactly what I was thinking. Since the device contacts Google during setup, it would be trivial for it to retrieve the desired account name. I considered having my Nexus 4 provisioned in this manner, then concluded that it was of no practical benefit because I still have to do the harder task of generating and entering a new Application-specific Password.


text:
Loss of internal memory after rooting HCL ME V1
I have HCL ME V1 tablet with android 4.0(Icecream Sandwich) OS. It has 4GB of internal SD memory and 1GB DDR3 RAM. When I connect the device to the PC in storage mode, it shows the 4GB SD memory; which is fine, I belief.
Since this device didn’t come with Google play store, I rooted it with “Android Commander” and installed Google play store and Google services. Then I reset the tablet to factory setting.
After resetting, when I connect it to pc it shows me total size of internal SD as 1.5GB out of which 900 MB approx is free.
My question is – Where did the additional 2.5GB internal storage space go ?

I have viewed the "Settings -> Storage" and found the storage distribution as below,
FLASH:
Total: 4 GB, Firmware 3.09 GB
DATA STORAGE:
Total: 0.91 GB, Apps 228 MB, Available 698 MB
It seems the internal SD still has, 4GB, out of which 3.09GB is eaten up by firmware. So How can it be corrected. Earlier it was much lesser.

Could you please check on the device itself: Settings->Storage (optionally link a screenshot if you need help intepreting that display)?

It can't be possible that you lose your internal storage because of rooting, as firmware is your OS and drivers. Which are taking space and don't even related to rooting in any way.

In other words, as mentioned by @karan, your OS and drivers are the same after the root process!

You can try flashing your device completely and install the lightweight generic ROM from Google.


text:
How can I view Google My Maps on my phone (Nexus One)?
I have a collection of locations in Google My Maps but I don't know how to access it from my phone. Using the browser and go to google map site doesn't help at all. Do you have any idea?

Bearing in mind I'm using CyanogenMod6 + Google Apps your mileage may vary - but I can access my My Maps as follows:

Open Google Maps (the application, not the full site)
Click menu
Select Layers
Select More Layers
Select My Maps and your maps should be displayed

Job done
[Edit] Looks like I'd installed the wrong Google Apps package when I flash my ROM last night, (tiny instead of medium), and the updated version has the Layers button up next to the search bar - so I don't need to open the menu (step 2) anymore.

You can use the official 'Google Maps' app to view your collections. If you click on the 'Pin' next to the search box to bring up the Places screen, then press 'Menu', you'll see an option for 'My Maps' so you can access any of your previously created collections.
Google Maps app -> Pin Button (next to search box) -> Menu Key -> 'My Maps'
Link to Google Maps just in case you don't have it installed
(Alternatively, you can skip a couple of steps by opening Google Maps using the 'Places' shortcut, which takes you directly to the Places screen, from where you can press the Menu button, then select 'My Maps')


text:
how to change the lock screen clock style?
I know we have "LockBot" and "WidgetLock" to change the style of the lock screen. But they are not free and it seems they do not allow me to change the clock styles either. I do want to change the lock screen style, only the clock style on the lock screen. Do we have apps like this?
P.S. my Android phone is HTC G1, with CM6 mod; and I expect the clock on my lock screen looks like this.

Please do not use URL shorteners.

If you have a rooted phone which I assume you do since you're on CM6, see this post detailing how to change the font of the clock on the lock screen.
Basically you need to replace Clocktopia.ttf in the /system/fonts folder with your desired TTF font (remember to rename new font as Clocktopia.ttf) and reset permissions to be similar to the old file.
If you're willing to use WidgetLocker, there's the freeware Make Your Clock Widget Beta - that will, as the name suggests, allow a user to customise and create a clock widget as per your taste. You can then use this custom created widget in conjunction with WidgetLocker.

that post only teach me how to change the clock font, not the style. i want my clock style change to something like this: http://goo.gl/9HNJO

You can create a flip-style widget and then use WidgetLocker. I don't know of a freeware solution to do the same.

@davidshen84: please do not use URL shorteners on this site


text:
Searchify results not showing up
I have installed Searchify on a HTC Legend running Froyo. Unfortunately, it none of the commands are appearing in search. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Have you enabled Searchify as a 'Searchable Item' under the global search settings?

To do this in Froyo, press the search button from the home screen to bring up the Quick Search Box, then press MENU, then Search Settings. You then have to go into Serachable Items and make sure Searchify is checked.


text:
Mobile Data only working when used as hotspot
I recently bought a HTC One. Everything worked fine including mobile-data and Wifi. Until I once used my phone as Hotspot for my laptop.
The whole time while using the hotspot I had working internet on both my phone and laptop. But the next day (hotpost disabled), I couldn't get the mobile-data to work.
I don't get an error, it just doesn't load.
Wifi connections still work.
Now I tried reenabling hotspot and to my surprise it works. I now have internet on the laptop but NOT on the phone.
It seems that somehow the mobile-data will only work when the phone is used as hotspot.
What have I done wrong?
Android 4.2.2

Somehow there was a proxy set up in the APN settings …
Edit: To change the proxy you have to go to the settings and click on mobile data. Select Access point names, select the active APN (or the one you're having problems with) check/reset the Proxy/Port settings.

@dot: Pit will have to wait two days for that.

@Pit: It would be nice to have the steps to reach those settings for future readers who find themselves in this situation.

@AlEverett I added the steps to reach the settings

If you're using Android 8, follow the Path
Setting -> Network & Internet -> Mobile Network.
Change to the tab the represent your active cellular SIM (in case of dual-sim phones)
-> Access Point Names -> [3 dots icon] on TOP RIGHT -> Reset to default.
Worked perfectly for me right after reset.


text:
How to quickly write an apostrophe with Swiftkey keyboard
In Swiftkey how do you right an apostrophe (') for words like "can't", "hasn't", or "the dog's bone"? Is there a way to do it without taking your finger off the keyboard and going to another menu?

At the bottom there is no apostrophe like there is in swype, only a period. To get to the apostrophe you need to click on the button that says "123" but that requires taking your finger off the keyboard. Auto correction/auto detection has nothing to do with it since using an apostrophe to show possesion can is just as allowed as not having an apostrophe there to show plural e.g. The dogs bone vs The dog's bone.

How do you use SwiftKey Flow ? If not, you just have to type on the dedicated touch. It is with the lettres.

@air-dex I cannot understand what you are saying.

I asked you how you use SwiftKey. Do you use "SwiftKey Flow", the SwiftKey feature which enables you to write words just like Swype ? Or do you write words just like on a classic keyboard, by tapping on virtual keys ?

@air-dex in settings it says SwiftKey flow is enabled. Does that answer your question?

I think that it is due to the keyboard layout.
SwiftKey's QWERTY layout do not put the ' key in the "abc" part of the keyboard. If you want to type a ''' with the QWERTY layout, you have to go to the "123" part of the keyboard and then type on the ' virtual key.
But unlike the QWERTY layout, the AZERTY layout has got the ' key in the "abc" part of the keyboard :

To switch to the AZERTY layout, go in SwiftKey settings > Languages and layouts. Then go to the keyboard language (the one you use) and type on the keyboard icon near the checkbox. Then select "AZERTY" when the list of available layouts is opened.

I tried and both QWERTY and AZERTY appear to have the ' character in the 123 menu

Yes but with the AZERTY layout ' is ALSO in the abc menu. Look at my screenshot (and your phone too ?).

The way I do it is to have space insert the suggestion. That way I write cant and hit spaces and Swiftkey inserts the suggestion of can't in its place. I basically never use the apostrophe key.

I am not an user of Swiftkey, rather an user of Swype. I am suggesting this with an assumption that both apps should not be miles apart in their feature.
In Swype we can do this by moving the finger through apostrophe, considering it as a part of the word. So, if you would like to type can't then start swiping on c, to a, then to n, then to ', and finally finish at t.
You can see this demonstration video as well.

Yea I used to be a user of swype and I know what you mean. The problem is the apostrophe isn't on the same menu, you have to go to the other menu to get to it. Know what I mean? Like how the dollar sign isn't available in the default menu (or whatever it's called).

Still can you swipe through the key assuming Swiftkey will be intelligent enough to interpret and give a try?

It seems there is someone who raised this to Swiftkey's support - see whether it helps.

But this is different because they are talking about words that always have apostrophes. For example "Im" isn't a word so it obviously should be "I'm" where as "Dogs" is a word and "Dog's" is another word that shows possession so auto correct is not applicable in this situation.

I tried and the screen shot is what is shown.

If you hold down on the 'v' key for a brief pause it will type the secondary character, which for that key is the apostrophe. Each key has a secondary character which is shown in black in the top right corner of the key.


text:
Do Android Stock Browser, Firefox Mobile and Opera Mobile use proxy server to perform rendering
It is quite interesting to know that, Opera Mini is using Proxy Server to perform all the rendering work, instead of relying the phone itself to do it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Mini#Functionality) This will help to reduce required processing work, especially in lower end phone.

Do Android Stock Browser, Firefox Mobile and Opera Mobile also employ the same technique? Current Android Phone is having powerful processing capability. Does the above technique will bring more harm than good?
Will request having to go through an additional will slow down the whole process, compared to letting the rendering work done by phone itself?

In Opera Mobile, you can enable Opera Turbo to use the same proxying technology as used by Opera Mini.
Android Stock Browser does not use compressing proxy at all and I believe neither does Firefox Mobile (though given that Firefox Mobile has plugins system there might be a plugin for that).
Several lesser known browsers in the Market does use similar proxying technique, but I can't recall off the top of my head which ones though.

Amazon's "Silk" browser which is pre-installed on the Kindle Fire tablets also proxies the traffic and pre-renders page elements in a similar way as Opera Mini, see http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/introducing-amazon-silk/

The stock android brower uses WebKit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit as rendering engine.
The solution adopted by Opera assumes that network speed is there, whilst processing power is not.
These days this is not a given, the new dual core phones have power to spare (SGSII has a hardware accelerated browser!) whilst the 3G network is often congested in main urban spots.
It might improve things on lower end android devices.

Opera proxying tend to reduce the size of the total downloaded bandwidth as well, which will be advantageous when used in congested urban areas.


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How the f*&% to stop voice-to-text from censoring profanity?
The voice-to-text feature is very useful, but every once in a while when sending an SMS or email message to a friend, I want to really let loose.
However, Google, in their defense of my virginal eyes, replaces such words with hashes (####) if it recognizes the word at all.
How do I turn off this ####### "feature"?

There is a checkable/uncheckable option called Block offensive words under Settings → Voice input & output → Voice recognizer settings.
In Android 8.1, that setting is in Settings → System → Languages & input → Virtual keyboard → Google voice typing → Block offensive words
For Samsung phones, the settings are named slightly differently: from the Settings app, try Language & input → Voice search settings → Block offensive words. This of course only works with the integrated Google voice recognition.
You also have to go to the gboard where the virtual keyboard is and also turn off that block for offensive words
For Android 4.3 (and possibly earlier versions):
Settings → Language & input → Google voice typing (settings) → Block offensive words
For Samsung S8+: Settings → General management → Language and input → On screen keyboard → Google voice typing → Block offensive words

I have a Moto E on Boost Mobile. It's a little different. Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Text Correction (There is also a setting called Current Keyboard. Make sure to go into Google Keyboard instead.) "Block Offensive Words" switch off, and you can curse like a sailor!
Edit-  That didn't change the censored output, but they're right! There's another one. Settings, Lang. & Input, Google Voice Typing, Block Offensive Words switch. This one made the output change. Wonder what the other one is for?


text:
Which are android OS is for tablets and devices?
I am interested to know that which are android OS is for tablets and devices among below listed.
Cupcake:
Android 1.5

Donut:
Android 1.6

Eclair:
Android 2.0, also 2.0.1
Android 2.1

Froyo: (short for "frozen yogurt")
Android 2.2, also 2.2.x updates

Gingerbread:
Android 2.3, also 2.3.x updates

Honeycomb:
Android 3.0, also 3.0.x updates
Android 3.1
Android 3.2

Future Versions:
Ice Cream Sandwich:

So far only Honeycomb is a tablet-only version. Other versions are used on phones, tablets and other devices (TVs, android-x86 etc.).

While there are tablets that were able to munge other versions of Android to be used on a tablet form factor, only Honeycomb (Android 3.x) was designed specifically for tablets. (And, because of some of the kludgey wizardry they needed to do for that, they've not released the source code for Honeycomb.)
Ice Cream Sandwich merged the phone-only and tablet-only codebases.


text:
Service for sharing list of installed apps
I'm thinking of web app for sharing lists of installed / recommended apps with people.
Optional comment for each app on how/when/why it's useful. Something a bit similar to usesthis.com, but for sharing Android apps and open to everyone. Is there such a service?

AppBrain.
Generically, a user's app list will be at http://www.appbrain.com/user/{username}/apps-on-the-phone.
You can also create other lists to share with the world.

Thanks, perfect! Here's my list by the way: http://www.appbrain.com/user/cuu508/cepes-apps

Although it's not a webapp ShareMyApps is quite useful. It is tiny in size and can share application list via email where you can edit your application list freely.


text:
Will flashing ROMs multiple times degrade the performance of phone?
Will flashing ROMs multiple times degrade the performance of phone?  If yes, is it possible to retain the performance? If no, then is there any procedure or sequence to flash a ROM on a Samsung Galaxy S?

If you always wipe the device between ROMs (clear system, boot, cache, etc [not data]), then there should never be any degradation of performance. While flash memory does have a theoretical write limit, you won't make any sort of noticeable dent in the life of the device by constantly switching ROMs to try out new ones.
However, if you don't do a full wipe, you could see performance issues creep up. More likely, you'll run into bugs and random crashes as files left over from a previous ROM conflict with the new ROM. This is why you should always do a full wipe if you are installing a brand new ROM.
As for how to flash a ROM for your particular device, xda-developer forums for the Galaxy S are a good place to look. They list instructions on how to root the phone, install ROMs, and other helpful guides.


text:
Can the Kindle app scroll mobi files vertically?
The Kindle Android app makes the mobi files scroll horizontally. This poses a problem if a certain portion of the text is in the previous page and I need to keep scrolling left and right. Instead can it let me scroll selectively from top to bottom? How?


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Why can't I use my iPhone Headphones with my HTC Thunderbolt?
I am trying to use my white in ear iPhone/Apple headphones with my HTC Thunderbolt.  I can hear, but the mic does not work with the thunderbolt.  Any suggestions for a fix?  A specific app or setting I should use?
For clarification. . . my headphones work fine with my Apple iPhone.  But when plugged into my android phone, the mic does not work.  A guy from BestBuy said, that Apple iPhones doe not work with Android devices.  This seems odd (and likely incorrect). . . hence my post here.

You mean the mic on the phone itself won't work while the headphones are plugged in, right?

I think he means the mic on the headphones. Don't iPhone headphones have a mic?

@Daniel Presumably some do? I haven't seen ones with a mic myself.

I mean the mic on the headphone does not work.  But the headphone set is not broken--it works fine with other phones.  I was told my a bestbuy guy, that apple headphones do not work with android devices.  That sounds really odd.  Hence my post here.

@Matthew Good to know - for some reason I thought they all had a mic.

I tried my iphone headphones and it identified them as a headset (different icon in the notification bar) but wouldn't use the mic for calls. The buttons worked for playing music, but double pressing any of them placed a call to the most recent person in my phone list. I didn't like that "feature"

Have you tried another headphone with mic, just to check if the plug is ok? My GS2 doesn't work anymore with any mics or button control, can't find why either

They both may have 3.5mm jacks, but if you look at it you can see the the insulating plastic bands around the metal jack. The problem is that Apple wire these sections of the jack up to different inputs than other manufacturers, so that different sections of the jack carry different signals than normal.
I have heard that as long as you're happy with getting mono rather than stereo sound out of the speakers, then you can get the microphone to work by pulling the jack out of the socket slightly. RIM used to do the same thing with their 3.5mm jacks on Blackberrys, but I believe they use the same configuration as most manufacturers (except Apple) now.

I tried this. . .  makes sense.  But it actually did not work on the Thunderbolt.

For what it's worth, Apple use the industry standard pinout for their TRRS (headset) jack on their devices (macs as well as iPhones/.iPods). I have a DInc and several HTC Evos, and the "designed for iPhone" klipsch Image s4i headset works as expected. The mic works, the play/pause button works, and I get stereo sound out of the 'buds.

@devnul3 This is the industry standard, which Apple does not follow

That's one industry standard, yes. Apple follows the more popular CTIA standard, which seems like the appropriate standard for a wireless company to adopt.  http://blog.audio-technica.com/audio-solutions-question-week-can-use-microphone-ios-android-device/

An Apple accessory only working in Apple hardware - sounds about right to me ;-). You can get converters take a look here but it's probably cheaper to just get some 'standard' ones.

I really don't want to use an adaptor.  Besides both have 3.5 mm headphone jacks

That's understandable, but Apple is known for not following standards. Hard to fight that. If you want to use the i phones on a non i product - adapter. Or cut the cord and rewire. I haven't tried it myself, but it sounds like the Mic and Ground conductors are swapped between the Apple headphones and standard ones.

@zkidd: Not all 3.5mm jacks are the same, Apple have obviously made theirs so that the contacts do not line up with the 'standard' configuration.

@DilbertDave. Yes they are.

I stand corrected (maybe) but the fact remains that @zkidd (and others) are having problems. The headphones are not faulty but won't work with the Thunderbolt. Maybe I should have said 'not all headphones are the same' ;-)

I have been neck deep in exactly this for a long time, the problem is Apple innovates special stuff that's not compatible with other brands, they have deals with many accessory manufactures to make stuff that has many functions like Mic and buttons that do great things like change tracks and skip etc.
What I find is Android is totally lacking, and it's a gamble when you try it. Some things work with either or, some with specific phone models, there's just so many different things all trying to do everything at once.
I use Skullcandy headphones, which i love, and have a Thunderbolt
I found out certain types of headphones only work with Apple, the label says it, some with both Apple and Android, to an extent. Apple has the button actions that Android doesn't, the Mic OS hit or miss. I found there's the buttons on the wire that have a rocker with center, they seem to only work with Apple, Mic too, but the smaller single button works with the Mic.
I can turn my mp3 player with one press and call the the last number connected via voice call with double press...but its so complicated and many variables, just don't try to use headphones for both platforms if they specifically say works with iPhone, iPad and i-etc...what a ramble...

This (the mic not working) is apparently a widely known bug with the Thunderbolt. Sorry, this is probably not the answer you were looking for, but it appears to be an issue with that particular phone and TRRS (tip ring ring sleeve) headsets.
Out of curiosity, do you see a "headset" (little boom below the 'phones) icon on the phone when you plug it in, or just the stereo headphones icon?
Apple uses the standard pinout in their headset jack, and the button works the normal way (by crossing ground/common and mic). If you have a phone that follows the standard, it should work

The guy at Bestbuy has incorrectly informed you, it will work, but it depends on the phone. It works on my Droid Charge.. with the mic, I had to force the headphone plug to go further into the phone... and the mic work... the remote however requires a driver... that has not been made yet (to my knowledge) for the headphones

I have the Droid Incredible 2, and I was running into the same thing, but I figured out a way to get it to work: hold down the volume down button of the headset while inserting into your phone.  You should now see the headset recognized as a microphone headset, and so your mic and your clicker should both work.

This makes my headset get recognized properly, but still the mic doesn't work.

On my phone, this trick allows the internal mic not to be disabled. You only think you're recording with your headset. Basically when you press the centre button, you're shorting out the mic, so it's as if you plugged in a T/R/S headset with no microphone ring on the plug.

The configuration for i devices in the case of headphones that also use a mic is different than for other products in general. Headphone & mic combos that state "designed specifically for ipod" etc. often will not function with non mac devices. The headphone may function but mic and volume controls etc may not function correctly. If you're lucky they will, if not so lucky....

Yes, you can download an app to change the priorities of the buttons.
I just got myself the Etymotic mc3 set (for iPhone), and use Headset Button Controller.  You can make different profiles, and there are many options for the buttons... almost too many.
IMO, it's better having the three-button mic if you also own an iPod touch or iPhone.
You could also look at Klipsch S4a (Android), if you can find them.

Found a fix after a couple minutes of messing with the headphones!! Plug your apple headphones with mic in then hold both volume up and down keys on the headphones until you see the symbol on the thunderbolt showing a headphone with a mic!

Meh. I have a Thunderbolt running Cyanogen 7. I have a Sony headset with three buttons, and this didn't do anything.

"I was told my a bestbuy guy, that apple headphones do not work with android devices." thats not true you can video chat with someone on qik or tango and it works fine plus i have a pair of sony and bose that also dont work with it. and it has three rings at the input part of the headphones. I also have the HTC Thunderbolt.

Not an answer, use add comment instead.

Try downloading btunes for the thunderbolt and then holding down the volume button as you plug the head phones in. I have some Bose headphones I bought at the apple store and this seems to do the trick


text:
Is there a weather app that can be moved to an SD card, with a separate widget program?
In know some apps offer separate widget apps so you can move the main app to the SD card.  Is there any weather apps designed like this?  I haven't been able to find one, so does anyone know if one exists?

You can move any of them to SD card... only their Widgets wouldn't work.

@SachinShekhar Edited the question to take that into account.

@SachinShekhar Are you sure 'bout that? I know that I can on my CM device, but I have that s2e app installed which allows me to. Can you store any app to your SD card by default?

@Steven For "by Default" thing, there's a glitch... the question is asking different thing.

@Steven And, that statement was for weather apps.. There are other things than widgets which can screw things up..

Separate widget app may be available in case when wigdet covers only a small subset of the main application functionality. However, for the weather app and weather app widget the main difference is the screen representation, the processing routines are almost the same. I'm sorry to say, but it's very unlikely to find the weather application with the separate widget.
Moreover, with the Froyo/Eclair moving into the obsolescence quite steady and newer version of Android having "unlimited" app storage in the range of 8-16GB, it's very unlikely the new developers will ever be inclined to make that kind of widget app.

What do you mean by unlimited app storage?  You can only store as much as you have room for, unless you don't have to store the app on your phone.

by "unlimited app storage" I meant "any contemporary android device comes equipped with 8-16GB of internal storage, where you may store your programs, which renders completely unnecessary moving content to SD or vice versa"


text:
Control bluetooth volume on phone?
Seems like the volume control button on my bluetooth headset is broken, is there any way to change the bluetooth volume directly on the phone? I am on Android 4.1.2, just in case it's relevant. I found settings to change the normal front speaker volume, but nothing for the bluetooth volume.

Is that headset mono (for phone calls only) or stereo (also supports playing music)?

You can have a look at this if you are interested in trying a different approach, see my answer here How do I disable the google voice typing/voice search 'ding' sound?

See if this helps. I am not sure though:

Settings >> Sound >> Volumes

If this doesn't help try this Bluetooth Volume app. This should do it.

Unfortunately no BT options in the mentioned menu ):

Does changing media volume there helps?

Thanks, but no it does not help, it also doesn't change to a lower volume when BT volume is changed during e.g. a SIP call. I noted that on a normal call I can change the bluetooth volume using the buttons on the phone, that's how I got maximum BT volume back. problem for the moment is, that I have to make a normal call to increase my BT volume, annoying :D


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How to remove spywares from factory reset list?
I have a lenovo phone with Android in it. The phone is so infected by auto installed apps for the past few weeks that I've decided to do a factory reset. However, the factory reset happen to reinstall all of those unwanted apps (Takatap, EasyTouch, OmniSwipe, Privacy Guard etc)
Even when I uninstalled those apps before factory reset, it got installed back by the factory reset itself.
How do I remove these apps?
I've tried:
- Disable auto restore
- formatted sd card

Are they system apps, or user apps?

I'm sure it's user apps. I don't think lenovo actually install Takatap? and a bunch of other useless auto-reinstall apps?


text:
Disable camera completely
I'm writing a program that depends on the camera.  I need to test how my program reacts when the camera is not present or disabled.
Is there a way to turn it off completely?

Well, you could always take a Sharpie™ to the lens. Honestly you'd probably need a custom ROM to do that.

If your application requires a camera, you should use the android manifest to declare that your app requires it. This will prevent the app from being displayed in the market on devices which don't have a camera.


text:
Record android screen Droid Razr
I've been trying to connect my Droid Razr running 4.0.4 to record its screen, but have had no luck. I've tried VNC server, Tight VNC, and just tried the android adk using the adb or monitor tools, and nothing. I did list devices in adb, checked see devices in android debug monitor, and noticed that my device was not there. I have USB debugging and connected as media device when USB is pluged in.
Can anyone help me with this, so I can use something to record my screen?

possible duplicate of Record android screen

Better duplicate (when you follow the dup chain to its end): http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/5652/how-do-i-project-the-screen-of-my-android-phone-for-a-presentation

Debugging this would be easier with more information. What happened when you tried to use the various VNC solutions (i.e what was the specific problem)? What steps did you take when trying to configure them?


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Redeem Google Checkout coupon on Google Play
Are Google Checkout coupons redeemable on Google Play?
I've created a coupon on Google Checkout for a paid Android App on Google Play but when trying to buy it as a user, I can't find the place to enter it. On one device I saw a "Redeem" option along with the credit card but when I entered my coupon code, it returned an error message. Is there any way to make this work?

Unfortunately, coupons are not supported with Play Store..

There is a way to use Promo Codes now. It's kind of hidden but it's there. Just find the app you want to buy in Google Play and click the buy button and continue until you get to the Payment Options window. Now click the "Pay With:" dropdown and select "Redeem Google Play Gift Card or Promo Code". You'll now have a box for entering Promo Codes.
(Click image to enlarge)

There is no way to use coupon codes with Google Play.


text:
Syncing music without iTunes...or can you?
I just switched from iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and realized that music syncing isn't going to be the same - but maybe it can be better.
I downloaded doubleTwist from the Play Store because it had gotten amazing reviews on the web and the reviews on the Play Store seemed to back up the love it was getting on the web.
I tried to connect via USB and then became aware of the "USB mass storage" setting being unavailable in Jelly Bean 4.1.1. I paid for doubleTwist AirSync and it stunk.
So now, if I just move folders of music over to my Note 2, it's all recognized by the standard player, but I'd really like to sync it all and not just add and delete folders.
Is there one good app that will sync my music, let me create play lists, show album art and details and won't force me to sync over Wi-Fi? When it comes down to it, is there a way to get functionality like iTunes, but for Android?

Welcome to Android...Simply the Best !!

Creating playlists, Album Art, wired sync - Winamp for Android App

Google Music -Your can upload your music files from your computer to Google music cloud storage. Then the uploaded music is automatically available in your android device and also you can listen to those music in web interface. You can upload up to 20,000 songs. The problem is that your have to use Google Music player in your android phone and the uploaded music won't be available if you use other players. And also this service is not available in all countries as of now.
Media Monkey music player. It recognizes almost any Android devices. You can configure it to automatically sync media files from computer to phone whenever you connect your phone through USB cable. I use it for syncing my Music to galaxy nexus with android 4.2.1. I tried multiple players including windows media player but this one seems to working well.

I would try out Google Music. It will be the most native with your device, and gets relatively close to syncing, in theory.
The first thing you will have to do is go to the Google Music Homepage and download the Music Manager tool. Once downloaded, you tell the Music Manager where your music is on your computer, and it uploads it all to the cloud!
This music becomes visible as soon as you log into Play Music on your phone with the Gmail account that you used to set up Google music on your computer.
Then whatever music is placed on your computer in your music folders is accessible at music.google.com and on all of your Android devices.
The difference is, your music does not actually sync to your phone, but is streamed when you choose it on your mobile device.
This can be slightly modified by selecting an album or such on your device, clicking the little expansion arrow (usually at the bottom right of the item), and choosing the Offline music option (it has a picture of a pin next to it). Your phone will then download this music so it does not have to be streamed to play later.
You would have to do this with all of the music you do not wish to stream, but if you have a decent internet connection, streaming is very much a viable option. And saves TONS of space on your phone!
Hope this helps!

FYI, Google Music is USA only, despite previous rumors that it was coming to Canada in November.  Decent bets say SOCAN and/or CRIA are being jerks (as usual) and blockading things.

Google music is actually available in the UK now @Compro01

Agree with Liam, Google Music is definitely in the UK

Google Music is now in many more countries, including Canada, Switzerland, Germany and many more. Your comments are out of date.

I'm a huge fan of iSyncr. It syncs to iTunes, so if you're coming from an iPhone you can use the playlists you already created. What sealed the deal for me was the fact that iSyncr syncs play counts and ratings back to iTunes. Not to mention the fact that you can sync over wi-fi or sync via USB cable.
EDIT: I see you're asking about syncing without iTunes, but if all your music is already there iSyncr will work.

If you want to use Google Music you will need to upload your iTunes M4P music to Google Music.
However, Google Music only supports .mp3, .m4a, .wma, .flac and .ogg files. And DRM-ed M4P music is not supported. In order to upload M4P to Google Music, you need do a conversion first.
Since iTunes M4P music are protected by Apple's DRM, you cannot use a common audio converter to convert M4P to Google Music supported MP3. What you need is an all-in-one DRM converter that can both remove DRM protection from M4P and convert M4P to MP3 for Google Music.
Aimersoft is taken as the best choice to help you transfer iTunes M4P to Google Music. With it, you can legally strip DRM protection from M4P files and convert it to MP3. In addition, it can convert audio files that are not supported by Google Music like .wav and .aiff. Now download it and follow the steps below to convert iTunes music for Google Music.
http://www.aimersoft.com/drm-media-converter.html
How to convert M4P to Google Music supported MP3
Add M4P files
After downloading the DRM converter, install and launch it. The main interface is as below. You can either click the "Add..." button to add M4P music files of directly drag the files to the main interface. As you can see, you can also add video files to convert.

Specify MP3 as the output format
Then you can click "Audio files to" and select "MP3" as the output format. Note that Google Music prefer MP3 with 320kbps Bitrate. Here you can click "Settings" and choose the Bitrate as 320kbps.

Start converting M4P to Google Music MP3
When all the settings are OK, click the "Start" button on the main interface to start the conversion. When the conversion finishes, you can tap "Find Target" to access to the converted DRM-free MP3 files. Then you can upload them to Google Music as you like.
Apart from that: Why not utilize what you already have - especially if that iTunes list is big.
Here are 2 alternatives:
TuneSync™ allows you to sync your iTunes playlist and songs with your Android™ device. It copies the unprotected music to your SD card and creates playlists that match your iTunes playlists. TuneSync™ does this all over your wifi connection. There is no need to connect your Android™ device to your PC or Apple Mac.
See its home page for tutorial setup
http://tunesync.com/
Google Play Store Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.highwindsoftware.tunesync
I think a better alternative to what you might consider is to use Winamp (for Mac):
WinAmp(for Mac) can take any existing iTunes playlist (which is what you already have) and sync it directly to an Android device without jumping through any other hoops.
Features:
Wireless and wired sync with an Android phone, requires Winamp for Android
One-click music and playlist import from iTunes and Mac desktop
Keep Winamp updated automatically with Watch Folders and iTunes library sync
Play local files, create playlists, and manage playback with a play queue window
Instructions
Download and install Winamp (link depending on PC or Mac)
http://www.winamp.com/
http://www.winamp.com/mac
Launch Winamp and you'll be prompted to add media to Winamp library. Select "Import from iTunes". This will import all of your music in your iTunes library into the Winamp Media Library.

Click "Library-> Import iTunes Media Library" in the bottom left-hand corner of the player.

Sync the playlist to your Android phone connected to Mac or PC previously.
Other than serving as an easy way to sync iTunes to Android, it also makes for a decent desktop music player.


text:
Invalid IMEI on HTC One X after factory reset
I performed a factory reset on my phone, and now it says that I have an invalid IMEI. I cannot call anyone or get calls.
Phone model: HTC One X
Android Version: 4.1.5
Baseband Version: 201206010808
Kernel Version: 4.1.5
Build Number: ONE X 4.1.5 HTC
Build version: 4.1.5

How did that happen? A factory reset just wipes the /data and /cache partition, something is missing from this... just saying... were you messing with something there that is omitted from the question?

Related: How to fix “Invalid IMEI ” after Factory reset?, How can I restore IMEI code after factory reset?, How to restore my IMEI?