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"Find my iPhone" for Android
There are a lot of "Find my phone" type apps out there for Android and I am finding it difficult to find one that has the features I want without being too bloated. My wife and I are primarily looking for a solution to let us know where the other one is when we are out.
The most important thing for us is to be able to view each others location from our phones (Android, though iOS and Android would be great) and via the web. We would also like to find a solution that is as close to real time as possible so we could link up when we are both out.
Though not critical, it would be nice to find a solution that also would be able to lock/ring/wipe the device in the case that it was stolen. This way I could run just one program instead of several. I know it's iOS but "Find my iPhone" is an example of everything I want in this type of app ...

Can track/view devices from other devices and the web
Close to real-time updates
Can lock/ring/wipe device remotely
All in one program

However, I prefer Android to iOS. If there was a solution that worked for both iOS and Android that would be even better. Thanks for any suggestions.
P.S. I am running a VZW Bionic while my wife uses the VZW Galaxy Nexus

I have tried Glympse (www.glympse.com) and though it is a nice program I don't want to have to remember to activate/create a Glympse each time I go out. I would rather just have something in the background all the time.

Google Maps has Latitude built into it which does tracking of location (of people/devices).

If you simply want to find each other, I would use Google Latitude, included in Google Maps, which allows almost live updates (about every five minutes-ish, usually), and gives all the options of Google Maps, including just a few clicks to see a map or use the built in turn by turn Navigation to find each other.
See this similar question for some other options for the latter options, but I personally use Android Lost. This is their website, and they offer a long list of options for lost devices, including, but not limited to:

Read SMS'es
Read the latest SMS'es from your phone and send them to your email.
Remote control alarm
Have you ever misplaced your phone which was put on silent mode? Now you may sound the alarm on your phone from your PC!
View on map
Find the location of your phone on a map. With AndroidLost you can find your phone with GPS precision. Even if the phone is indoor you will get a nearby location by network accuracy.
Send SMS'es from your PC
You can send SMS'es directly from your phone by typing them on AndroidLost. All replies will still go to your phone.
Lock the phone
You can lock and unlock the phone from the web. If you forget your pincode you can simply overwrite it or remove it by entering an empty pincode on the web.
Wipe the phone
Don't want your personal messages in the hands of anyone else? With AndroidLost you may wipe the entire phone so all SMS'es, contact and google setup is removed.
Pop up messages on the phone
Send a message to the friendly guy who have found your phone so you may let him know where to give it back.
Forward your calls
You can send keys to the dialer of your phone. That way you can forward your calls from your mobile to a nearby phone.
No battery use
AndroidLost will not use any battery since it does not poll any server to find out if it is lost. It uses the latest technology from google to send messages to the phone.
No pre installation required
You didn't install AndroidLost on your phone? No problem! You can push the AndroidLost app to your phone from google market and initiate the connection to googles servers by sending an SMS with the message "androidlost register" to your phone.
Read status
Detect how much battery is left, display IMEI, SIM card ID and much more.
SMS commands
You can set up a phonenumber which can control you phone, i.e. start the alarm by sending an SMS to your phone.
Erase SD card
Click a button and your SD card will be erased! Very useful if you have some naughty pictures on your sd card.
SIM card changed
When the SIM card is changed an email will be sent to the owner of the phone.
Hidden SMS
When the phone receives an SMS it plays a sound and displays an icon in the notification bar. But if it starts with androidlost it will not play any sound and not display any notification.
Call list
A list of incomming and outgoing calls will be sent to your email.
Camera
AndroidLost can take pictures with the front facing camera in case the phone is stolen. Only for android 2.3.
Tablets Honeycomb
I think I have fixed it so AndroidLost works on tablets. The call functions will obviously fail if the tablet have no phone installed.
Text to speech
You can make your phone speak out load. Suppose you have lost it on a café then you can make the phone say: 'I am lost - please pick me up!'
Multiple phones on the same account

NOTE: AndroidLost will do all of the things you ask in one application, but Latitude is simpler for your primary usage.

Thanks for the information on Android Lost. Do you know if the web portal for viewing location can be viewed using a mobile device?

I don't know for sure, but I know you can set it up to have it send the location to your email, which you could obviously view from your device. As far as within the website, I don't know at the moment. I'll test this!

you can! viewing the page on your phone and sending the "Send GPS status" option will poll the phone's location and send it to your email AND give you a popup on the webpage that shows you a map.

Well, you can try using avast! Anti Theft, but you must first install avast! Mobile Security because it comes bundled with it. Can be considered as bloat because you don't seem to need the anti-virus features. But avast! Anti Theft is integrated online, which means that you can control your phone using the avast! web site, apart from controlling the phone with another phone via SMS commands (which many others can too).
If you like simplicity, try aeGis because it works through SMS only, while a lot of similar apps are dependent of data/internet connection. I personally recommend this because it contains all the core features that an anti-theft app should have, yet small in size.

Look into Cerebrus and its volume license options.  Does all of these things + scary stuff like remotely recording sound and video.

Any idea how much power and CPU Cerebrus takes running in the background?

Also, does the Cerebrus website support mobile clients so you can track your phone from another device?

@webworm I've never noticed any lag with it running, and yes I've had no problem tracking using the android browser :)

If you want to see where each of you are, and send messages in case you need help or to see if you're all OK, then Life360 Family Locator is the free way to go.
For security, like locking phone, taking pictures, an all-in-one, then download Android Lost.
If you want to password protect your apps (e.g. connecting 4 dots), then so far I've been using Smart App Protector.


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WiFi connection loss on Galaxy S2 I9100G
After upgrade from stock 2.6.3 to Stock ICS4.0.3 (XXLPQ) WiFi disconnects after a few seconds. Disabling and enabling WiFi helps for a few seconds only.
Has anyone experienced this? How do I fix it?

Can you once check your wifi sleep policy?

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Android updates for Nexus bought from Amazon
Is there any difference in terms of either phone features, software versions or time to get new updates if I bought the Galaxy Nexus from Amazon instead of waiting for it to be sold direct from Google in the UK?
Any reasons I should wait?

Galaxy Nexus goes by variants such as yakju, yakjuxw, and takju. However yakju and takju will receive updates directly from Google. While the rest will be receiving from Samsung or probably network provider.
The difference between yakju and takju is that takju has Google wallet while yakju does not. Takju can only be purchased from Play Store.
I assume the one being sold directly from Google in the UK is the same one offered at Play Store which runs takju while the one on Amazon runs yakju.
In term of phone hardware they are exactly the same.

Where can you see those model codes? Nothing like that shows up under "About Phone" as far as I can see?

Thanks. So in theory the Amazon one is better with support for the wallet? Is it as unlocked as the one from Google. Yes I'm talking about the one from the play store btw.

@GAThrawn There are two ways you can do it:

By viewing build.prop.
Or the easier way by using GN Official Update Checker

@Adam I won't say that it's better just because it has Wallet. As I don't find much usage for Wallet since it is not supported in my country. I'm not sure if it is unlocked thou. Sorry.

Thanks, in the end found it this moprning in Android System Info, under System -> Build Info. Contrary to what you've said though, my Galaxy Nexus bought through my provider in the UK, with no Wallet support, is a YAKJU.

It seems like it's the same case with me. There is no Wallet although it's Yakju. I guess Yakju with Wallet only available in the US.

After further reading I discover that I had it wrong. Takju has Wallet while Yakju doesn't. Sorry for providing incorrect information.

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


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Can I set a default address in the "To:" header for outgoing mails in the EMail app?
On my phone I mostly send emails to myself and I'd like to save the few clicks from selecting a recipient.
Is there a way to prepopulate the "To:" field with my address?
Or any other email client which supports this? It has to support Hotmail.

If you ever tear yourself away from Hotmail and start using Gmail, the "note to self" voice command does this.

You could create a shortcut on your home screen to your Contact info.
First make sure you've got an entry for yourself in your Contacts with your email address (not the "Me" Contact, but an extra one).
Then go into your Applications screen, tap the Widgets tab at the top, find either the 4x1 or 1x1 "Contact" widget and add that to an empty spot on your Home screen, when prompted find your Contact in the list.
Now when you want to create a new email just tap your Contact icon on the Home screen, tap the EMail icon and it should open up a new email, with your email pre-populated in the To box.

I know it's a workaround, but I frequently use SelfMail, which adds itself to the pretty-much-universal "Share" action. As an example, open a picture, select Share, and pick it from the list.

You could just save drafts (with GMail), no need to send the massage at all.

or

You do not need to use the "To:" header to send yourself mail at all but instead can send email to a `default-BCC field and leave the "To:" empty.

K9 allows this:

+1 for saving as drafts.  As soon as the message is saved, it immediately becomes available on all GMail clients (web, Android, etc.)  Works great with attachments as well.


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skullcandy earbuds with mic
My skullcandy earbuds with built-in mic only partially work with my Maxx.  The earbuds do their part broadcasting sound, but I have to talk directly into the phone's mic to be heard.  The earbud's mic, which I assume is opposite its volume control, does/perceives nothing. Any clues?

Is Maxx your Android device? Can you elaborate its name?

@ejej is most likely referring to the Motorola Razor Maxx.

You might need an adapter. I know that when I bought a couple of ear plugs with a mic once, I got an adapter with them that stated the adapter was for Samsung, among other brands. On the surface it looked like a "3,5 mm > 3,5 mm" adapter so I wasn't sure what the difference was, but upon inspecting it I noticed the plug had three "lines" where it usually only has two (I think). Don't quote me on this, but it obviously had a point since they included it.
So in short, it might be that your Skullcandy earbuds are made to work with iPhones for example, but the designers did not consider how the plugs are made for Samsung or other Android devices. If you have a working pair, try comparing the plugs.
To fix it, I guess you would need an adapter. In the future this could be good to know as well, so you can adapt your purchase after what product supports your phone.

You will need an male to female adapter that switches the ground and mic connectors. See the image below:

More details


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How can I determine my Galaxy Nexus model variant?
I have a Galaxy Nexus phone I want to root.
Manual differs between Verizon, Sprint and GSM subtypes.
Where can I check this subtype?


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My Device Keeps Rebooting (LogCat attached)
For some reason, after I changed my device's battery. It just keeps rebooting and here's a LogCat of the error:
E/JavaBinder( 1305): *** Uncaught remote exception!  (Exceptions are not yet supported across processes.)
E/JavaBinder( 1305): java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: length=5; index=6
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at com.android.internal.os.BatteryStatsImpl.updateAllPhoneStateLocked(BatteryStatsImpl.java:1907)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at com.android.internal.os.BatteryStatsImpl.notePhoneSignalStrengthLocked(BatteryStatsImpl.java:1937)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at com.android.server.am.BatteryStatsService.notePhoneSignalStrength(BatteryStatsService.java:211)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at com.android.server.TelephonyRegistry.broadcastSignalStrengthChanged(TelephonyRegistry.java:564)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at com.android.server.TelephonyRegistry.notifySignalStrength(TelephonyRegistry.java:325)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at com.android.internal.telephony.ITelephonyRegistry$Stub.onTransact(ITelephonyRegistry.java:95)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:338)
E/JavaBinder( 1305):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.run(Native Method)

that is all that is in the logcat? how are you getting the logcat, it clears when the device reboots. There could be something else causing the crash but you never get to see the logcat for it. Did you wipe your data before changing ROMs?

No that's not all the logcat, that's the critical part. I got this logcat from aLogCat and saved it right before the device rebooted. If you want to see the full logcat, it's right here: http://pastebin.com/v0dsEuRQ

Almost everything in the full logcat is an error. I would suggest going a full wipe of Data & Cache and then reinstall your custom ROM. There is no way to know for sure that the part you posted in the original question is the one causing the reboot. They system rebooting may not allow the actual app that is causing it to write to the logcat.
You are hiving errors in everything from Telephony to the Installer. It sounds like there is something in the system that is causing a problem, See if clearing the Data and Cache fixes it, especially if you never cleared it before switching from one ROM to another.

Based on your comment that you have tried clearing the cache and data, i would suggest then to try and clear the battery stats. This can be done in Clockwork Recovery, I think there are apps in the market that can do it too, but I dont know if you can get to those as your device is rebooting all the time.
If that doesn't solve it, I would try a different battery because if you have cleared the cache and data and also tried multiple ROMs and still have the same problem, then it sounds like faulty hardware.

Always clear my cache and data, tried numurous ROMs and still, no result.

if you have tried multiple roms, and cleared cache and data on them all, you may have faulty hardware. one other suggestion, try clearing the battery stats. If that doesn't do any thing, then try a different battery.

Tried clearing battery stats and tried the battery that shipped with my device. The problem goes when I use the other battery, but if I reboot the device, then the problem comes back. Also, I noticed that if I boot without the SD card, the problem goes away completely.

do you have any apps installed to the sdcard?

Yes, I do have apps on my sd card.

I suggest removing the apps from the SDcard, or moving them back to the device and see if that solve the problem. One of the apps may not run well while on the sdcard.

I have about 300 and something apps, and only 1 gig of Internal Memory :s. Isn't there a way to know which app this is?


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Turning on Wi-Fi on demand
Is there a way to reconnect to Wi-Fi whenever an application accesses the network?
Background: I have a rooted e-book reader that runs Android 2.2 (Sony Reader PRS-T1). The system offers an option to automatically enter Wi-Fi standby mode when the connection is idle, which I like: This behavior saves a lot of battery juice when reading an e-book.
Some of the preinstalled apps know how to reconnect the Wi-Fi whenever they need network access. Unfortunately, conventional Android apps do not know how to do this and fail. For example, I have installed the Kindle for Android app, and it fails to sync reading positions unless I have manually re-enabled the the Wi-Fi before trying to do so.
Is there a method to leave Wi-Fi standby mode and reconnect to Wi-Fi whenever there is demand?

Like everyone seems to be saying I too say that you can do this with Tasker and here's a small tutorial
In your profiles screen, click the + button and select application.
In the following screen that shows with the list of your installed apps, choose the app that you would wish to turn the WiFi on when opened.
Go back and you will be asked to create a new task. Create one and add the action WiFi and set it to on.
Now go back and long press on the task you created and click 'Add exit task' do the same thing as you did before but instead of setting it as on, set it to off.
So now whenever you open that app, the WiFi is turned on and at other times is off.

I'm not certain, but I'd expect Tasker to be able to do this.

Not that I know of, at least not out of the box. I have Tasker on my phone, and I cannot find an option to trigger a task when an app accesses the network. Maybe you're thinking of a specific Tasker or Locale plugin?

The behavior described in the question sounds to me like a custom WiFi standby solution - this wouldn't be something available in Tasker. What one could do, though, is have Tasker toggle WiFi on/off (perhaps with a short wait in between). That might kick it out of standby.

Sure, Tasker can kick wifi out of standby. The question is -- how can this be triggered on demand, automatically?

Easy to do if Wifi should always be active when certain apps run in the foreground (just select those apps as conditions for a profile). But if they simply "want to access" while in background, there's nothing I can think of.

I'm thinking of WeFi app, but it's probably not a good idea since it would be looking for a WiFi connection all the time.

WeFi app wouldn't do, it has a completely different job (checking for available Wifi networks close-by). The question is not about Wifi availibility -- but about the apps demand to use it.

The only way of doing this would be Tasker. This app allows you to set conditions for functions of the phone and apps. For example I'm using this to enable lock screen when I disconnect from my home WiFi and connect to 4G when I'm not connected to any WiFi. Give it a try.

You wont find any app to do it. By default Wifi maintains the connection while consuming very less power. Power gets consumed only when data is exchanged.
Also, I am not sure which ROM you are using but most ROMs should contain something like "Wifi Sleep policy" to help you turnoff wifi when your phone enters sleep mode. If you cant find this option then you can try an app called Llama (similar to tasker) which allows you to control your wifi sleep policy based on location, time, profile, etc


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How can I share a post on my wall using the Facebook app?
On my PC, I can repost (share) a post from a friend on my own wall.
How can I do that in the official Android Facebook app?

You can re-share your friend's post using FriendCaster for Facebook app. Simply install it and use it as your primary fb app. Its better than official fb app in many aspects..
Update (November 2012):
In recent version of official Facebook app, this feature has been added. Happy Re-Sharing!


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How to simulate long press home button?
I'm running ICS on HTC Desire. Long pressing the home button brings the list of recently opened apps. Is there a way I can launch this without using the home button?
Please note that I want to do what long-pressing home button does, i.e. bring the stock opened app list not any third party one.

Related: How can I make a shortcut to the "Recent Apps" dialog?

You can open the recent apps list  using adb.
Setup ADB in PC, connect the phone into PC, enable USB debugging in phone, launch a shell on PC, and enter:
adb shell input keyevent --longpress 3

3 is a KeyEvent to call Home. See more of them here. Also, if the recent list isn't bind to long press Home key but to another key like Menu/Overview key then the command wouldn't result in any visible activity on device. In that case, look for the KeyEvent associated to your key.
The parameter --longpress isn't available to Android versions prior to Kitkat release so the command would give you error on ICS or JB.
Alternatively, in my devices I found that the activity responsible for bringing that list is managed by SystemUI. You can call that activity using ADB to show that recent apps list.
adb shell am start -n com.android.systemui/.recent.RecentsActivity

(Add --activity-clear-task at the end if the activity doesn't show up in front. Space is important before --.)
This worked on Android 4.2.1, 4.4.2 and 5.0.2. For Lollipop, use com.android.systemui/.recents.RecentsActivity to show up recent apps list in 3D, otherwise, you would see a 2D list which is usual for Android 4.x.
As for launching it within the device without entering the commands, simply use QuickShortcutMaker or Tasker to make home screen shortcuts for the said activity.

One can consider this answer too : http://stackoverflow.com/a/20537408/4720957


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After ICS, Touch screen is not working when mobile is overheated
I have Sony Xperia Mini pro, i recently updated it to ICS. But now when the phone is overheated (especially during recharging). The touch screen becomes unresponsive, even if i restart my phone, it stills that way.
It goes back to normal by itself after some period of time.
What should I do to fix the problem?

Here's some more info. In short: the touch sensors are too sensitive and trigger by themselves when the phone is hot. I found that updating to newer Sony firmware does a recalibration, best have your phone a little overheated when you upgrade and the recalibration is OK afterwards.

Your touch screen needs to replace now. Please contact nearest Sony Service Centre.

CPU can also be an issue...

@SachinShekhar That is a known issue with some Xperia Mini's - and is acknowledged. The answer given by chancal1987 is the correct answer.


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Why does Android Wi-Fi not get disabled?
I have Android 2.3.4.
I have noticed that even When I turn off Wi-Fi, I still keep getting notifications, like - Gmail, Gtalk and Google+ notifications. If I open the said App then it says that it is not connected to internet.
So, my hypothesis is that maybe when I disable Wi-Fi, Android does not terminate currently established connections. It only denies new connections. But this does not explain why in this case the notifications are usually delayed, sometimes, by few hours or a full day.
What is happening and how do I actually disable the Wi-Fi?
PS: I use the "Status Switch" widget to turn/off the Wi-Fi.
UPDATE: the phone doesn't have a data plan, so data isn't coming in that way.

Turning off your wifi actually disables the wifi radio hardware, so it can't be that it's maintaining existing connections unless you have an extremely unusual build of Android.

Hmm.. I am not sure, but it does keeps on sending notifications. More weird is that sometimes I get the notifications after many hours. I have Sony Ericssion Xperia. Maybe it is isolated to Sony phones.

my best guess currently is that "Status Switch" does not work properly on your phone; check that the Wifi is really disabled through the Settings app.

Yes there it shows up unchecked.

Are you sure, your 2G/3G/4G connection is not running? Put a random string in your APN...

Yes I am sure else I would have got a huge bill.

If you turn off Wi-Fi, but you have a data plan with your carrier, you'll still be accessing the internet using your cellular mobile radio.
Opening the app and having it say that it is not connected to the internet could thus be because you have poor signal, or you haven't used your phone in a while and it's been auto-disconnected from the mobile network to save battery/bandwidth by either the phone or your carrier.
You can use Airplane Mode to turn off both cellular and Wi-Fi radios.

My Data traffic too is disabled. If my phone uses carrier data then that would reflect in my bill. My carrier charges too much for data usage. Also, I have strong network signal.

You should definitely mention that in your question then.

Oops. Sorry about that.


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I get no ping repsonse to my phone. Why?
I went to www.whatsmyip.org and got my public IP address for my phone.  Just for kicks and grins, I tried to ping it, but didn't get a reply.  Is ICMP turned off on my android phone?

Was that the same IP address your phone had locally? If not (which is very highly likely), you're behind NAT and won't get unsolicited packets.

Either your phone silently drops pings, or the router it's behind, either your wifi router, or the 3G network's router that NATs your phone drops them.

It is very likely that the provider's network and the phone's configuration itself both block incoming connections of any sort, except any that the provider specifically wants open. +1

Your phone can have a lot of different IP's on different interfaces but that one is not yours. It's internet gateway of your mobile operator.
If I'm wrong consider the point of describing to customers why they should pay for some pings or face the hell of ICMP incapsulation of freebies masters.

Not entirely sure what this answer is saying, but it seems to have originated from a very naive idea of what IP addresses are and how they are assigned and used.


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randomly trying to call will not ring once, beep and hang up
I've been experiencing this problem quite randomly.  I've asked some friends around who have Android phones as well and this happens to them as well, so my first thought was that this is an issue with Android.
I try to call a number, and without ever hearing it 'ring' anytime, I get a Conditional Call Forwarding Active message and a small beep, and it hangs up.  I then re-try, and sometimes the call goes through, sometimes I get the same message.  Sometimes, on occasions I have to try 4 - 6 times to be able to make the call. On very rare occasions, everytime I try I keep getting the message, beep, and hangs up.  This is extremely frustrating.  Any idea how I can look into this?
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, stock Android (4.3 as per latest update).

Update 1
This has nothing to do with Call Forwarding apparently.  I've disabled it from the Call Settings, and now it still happens, without showing the Call Forwarding activated message.

Are you using LTE?

As strange as it may be, I did find a solution to this problem.  I noticed that if I switch data / 3G, the call would immediately go through.  I've tried this a lot of times where I couldn't call, switch off 3G and it immediately works.
Also, I've recently switched to CyanogenMod from the native Samsung Android installation, and I don't recall this happening again.  Not sure if it is some kind of bug in Samsung's version of Android.  I'm also using a more recent version of Android, so that could also be the reason.

This is the only thing that worked for me, except in my case it was 4G.  Answer is still relevant six years later! On my phone, it was under Settings -> "More" -> Cellular Networks -> "Enhanced 4G LTE Mode".

If you go to: settings-call-call settings-call forwarding-voice call forwarding -- You will most likely see that for unanswered or unreachable calls it's not disabled because it forwards it to your voicemail, that's why it says conditional call forwarding is active. If you disable all options you won't get the message but then unanswered calls won't go to voicemail

Yes, it was switched on. I've disabled it and will see if it does it again.  However, ideally I would still have that option because currently using that, my operator can send me a message when I am not in range, that somebody called me.  If it solves the problem, does this mean it's an issue of the operator?

the problem wasn't solved.  Now it's happening the same, but without the Conditional Call Forwarding active.  That message has got nothing to do with the problem apparently, and it is shown everytime a call is initiated.

I deleted my call log, and all my text message conversations, cleared my cache, restarted my phone and now it all seems to work.  Hope this helps!

When this happened to my Note 4, I had to reboot, which fixed the problem instantly.

In my case reboot never fixed it.  For me, I had to switch off 3G strangely enough and calls went through.  Check post marked as answer.

I tried calling on my Galaxy Note 5 and had same problem with all numbers. I rebooted phone and it started back working.

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


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After rebooting phone, app shortcuts from sd go missing
I own a Samsung Galaxy S Advance (i9070) with stock android 4.1.2
There is not a lot of internal storage, so I tend to move all possible apps from phone to SD card. However, when I reboot the phone, the shortcuts from the homescreen dissapear and i have to put them back in place all over again. Very annoying.
How can I fix this behaviour?

So I have found a great solution. Using a micro SD-Card with 2 partitions. One normal fat32 and second ext2 so the app link2sd can use it as a fake mobile memory on the second ext2 partition. Now all the Jelly Bean internal apps run on the mobile itself and all the other apps I have installed on the second sd-card partition. Have more apps than ever and still over 150mb left on the mobile. GREAT. And the great side effect is, that all the shortcuts and widgets of other apps now work perfectly and dont disappear after reboot. YES!

It's worth noting that this work-around requires a rooted device.


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Force install of custom rom on unsupported device (MT6575)
A friend of mine bought a fake iphone coming from Thailand. It have a fake iOs rom on it which is translated in English but a lot of part aren't... Is there a way to install a CyanogenMod even if the device is not supported ?
Info :
BB Chip             : MT6575
MS Board            : mobitek75_ics2
UBoot Ver.          : 2010.06
Kernel Ver          : 3.0.13 (root@zonglibo-desktop) (gcc version 4.4.3 (GCC)
Android Ver.        : 4.2.0
SW Ver.             : ALPS.ICS2.MP.V1.20
Custom Build Verno. : 1371628671

Thanks !

@DanHulme In fact, I know where to find it, the main issue is that none that I found supported my device and I'd like to force the install... That's my question :)

That won't work and will very likely brick your phone. You need to find a ROM that was built for your exact model of phone.

I highly doubt if you could flash a custom rom onto this, especially coming from Asia, where those devices are unheard of and more than likely, if not, often, unsupported! You may have to dig up chinese forums to find one, not on european/USA sites will have that info...


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How to flash Samsung devices from a GNU/Linux host running on ARM architecture?
To flash a Samsung Galaxy S (where do not have root access in the currently running OS, and with a stock recovery) with a new firmware (OS), I need to connect it with a USB cable to another computer and flash it from there.
There is a further problem if the other computer (which runs a GNU/Linux, Ubuntu) is ARM (it's a Toshiba AC100). So to flash a new OS onto the Samsung Galaxy S through the USB cable from the other computer, I'd need something like heimdall for ARM. It's not among the available pre-built downloads for heimdall. Perhaps, I will have to try to build it for ARM then...
Is obtaining heimdall for Linux on ARM possible?

Perhaps, it would more convenient to try to build a distro source package, so that I can apt-get build-dep required for the build of heimdall in my Ubuntu 12.04. I'll have also a look for source or compiled packages in https://launchpad.net/+search?field.text=heimdall . I've already found one at https://launchpad.net/~heimdall-packagers/+archive/heimdall/+packages . It's a pity that AFAIK builds for ARM are not provided for PPAs at Launchpad.

A packaging request for heimdall for Ubuntu: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1036869

I don't quite know the virtualization situation with ARM, but you might also want to explore if perhaps it's workable to install a lightweight Linux distro running Heimdall in a virtual machine.

@Lie Ryan: I'll have to learn how to "forward" USB devices from the hostsystem to the virtual system.

ARM is currently not supported officially by heimdall.
You might have luck compiling it yourself:
https://github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall/
My advice however:
Use a supported platform once (Win/Mac/Linux-x86/x64) and enjoy on-device updates from then on via ClockWorkMod recovery (CWM) or RomManager.
Reason: Heimdall is only needed to install a bootstrap CWM once. After that you use the regular CWM.
Here's the guide from cyanogenmod:
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S:_Full_Update_Guide
CyanogenMod releases for CM7/9/10 in various flavours (stable, release candidate, nightly build) can be found here (Galaxy S i9000):
http://get.cm/?device=galaxysmtd

Thanks! BTW, the link to the latest version of CyanogenMod (at least) at that "Guide" page is a misleading (outdated): it points to a page that suggests CyanogenMod 7.2, but there's already a CyanogenMod 9 stable release for Samsung Galaxy S; check it at get.cm/?device=galaxysmtd&type=stable . Don't know whether the "latest release" to ClockworkMod recovery really points to an uptodate latest release, or there's likewise a newer one.

Added download link

Yep, you should be able to compile from source.
Here are the steps to install ClockworkMod with heimdall from GNU/Linux or Ubuntu or whatever (I tested it with Samsung Galaxy tab 2.0 7 P3110):
0. by following the steps below be prepared to lose your guarantee or brick your device. Also make backups of your personal data.
1. install Heimdall (and Heimdall-frontend) this software is a flash tool which copies firmware images to device's specific memory area. You can find several guides how to install this even from source. You don't need windows stuff such as odin or Kies or a fake software which contains the usb drivers because most probably the kerner drivers are preinstalled on your GNU / Linux OS.
dmesg
2. download the recovery image to your host computer from clockworkmod rommanager (I'm not allowed to post URL. This is www dot clockworkmod dot com slash rommanager). Find your device on the list and download some files from 3 columns. Currently there are 3 columns:
~ROMs / ClockworkMod : contains superuser.zip: copy to sim card or to device. This zip contains application which allows to execute android apps with root mode. It is not needed to backup/restore device partitions. superuser.zip can be installed in recovery mode. Default recovery of Samsung (stored in RECOVERY partition) does not install the zip due to error: signature verification failed. If you want to root your device you must install a custom recovery image. Backup of original firmware does not require this superuser hack.
~Download Recovery: this is a custom recovery partition: you can install zips or create backup or flash partitions. You can navigate between the menus with keys only - no touch : volume up and down and choose with power button. Copy this to your GNU/Linux host (this image will be written to device with Heimdall)
~Download Touch Recovery: this is a custom recovery image. You can navigate between the menus with keys or touch : volume up and down and choose with power button. Don't forget to scroll there are a lot of menuitems!

turn off the tablet (wait around 10 secs while screen goes black)
hold down the volume key which is next to the power button and hold down the power button. You may keep it pressed as long as you like: logo appears then device reboots. When logo appears release keys. Android system recovery <3e> loads. Choose wipe data/factory reset with volume then select with power button. Choose Yes -- delete all user data.
choose reboot system now and don't allow it to reboot: immediatelly hold down the power button and the volume key which is on the far side. Keep it pressed until warning appears. Connect tablet to GNU/Linux host with USB cable then press the volume button next to power button.
with root permission run command on GNU/Linux host and be prepared for executing next step immediately
sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.2.7-p3110.img
when it completes it restarts the device: remove the cable and immediatelly boot into recovery mode: hold down the volume key which is next to the power button and hold down the power button: keep it pressed until logo is displayed on 2nd time then release them.
ClockworkMod Recovery loads... scroll down to see all the menuitems. You can create backup with "backup and restore" menu then "backup to external sdcard"
After all use last menuitem: +++Go Back+++ / reboot system now. "ROM may flash stock recovery on boot. Fix? : If you choose No then you can do the procedure again... / If you choose Yes then Samsung's recovery firmware gets overwritten by ClockworkMod Recovery.

What was your host computer? Was it ARM machine? If no, this is not an answer to the quesyion at all. If yes could you please share your experience of compilong heimdall onARM and perhaps the resulting packages.


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Haptic Feedback with Gingerbread on Samsung Galaxy mini 2
How can I turn off vibrations when I long press on start screen (to add a widget, etc.) or in Opera mini when long press on a link?

The Haptic Feedback is a global setting provided by your phone, you can turn it off by:

Click your device "menu" button";
Tap "Settings"
Tap "Sound";
Tap "Haptic feedback" to remove the green tick, thus disabling this feature.

What is "haptic feedback"?

Haptic feedback, often referred to as simply "haptics", is the use of the sense of touch in a user interface design to provide information to an end user. When referring to mobile phones and similar devices, this generally means the use of vibrations from the device's vibration alarm to denote that a touchscreen button has been pressed. In this particular example, the phone would vibrate slightly in response to the user's activation of an on-screen control, making up for the lack of a normal tactile response that the user would experience when pressing a physical button. The resistive force that some "force feedback" joysticks and video game steering wheels provide is another form of haptic feedback.

More about this at Wikipedia.

@lily I've updated the answer with a small description and example of Haptic Feedback. Ps: Does your device have Gingerbread installed?


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Tamil Font problem in Android device
I'm developing a Tamil web app (using PhoneGap) where I use unicode to display the Tamil language. The problem is, it is working fine in Android Emulator and in web (Firefox), but the fonts are not displaying in a Galaxy S device. I'm sure that I have used the following in my HTML file
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://code.jquery.com/mobile/1.2.0-alpha.1/jquery.mobile-1.2.0-alpha.1.min.css" />
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.7.2.min.js"></script>
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/mobile/1.2.0-alpha.1/jquery.mobile-1.2.0-alpha.1.min.js"></script>

I really don't know what I'm missing.

What version of the OS?

For potential Close voters: This is not necessarily a development issue. Whether a device/OS supports a particular font/language is on-topic here.


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Shortcut to turn Wi-Fi on/off on Samsung Galaxy Nexus?
Since the sync utility I use to sync my Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Outlook only supports Wi-Fi instead of USB, I searched the AppStore for an application that adds a shortcut on the screen to make it easier to turn Wi-Fi on and off.
I tried DroidMania's, but it doesn't seem to work (when clicking on the icon, it simply displays a text page). Next, I tried Hotspot Widget, but nothing happens when I click on the shortcut. Other apps seem old, are only 1.0, and might not work either.
Hard to believe something that simple couldn't be found easily.
Does anyone know of a very simple application that

Simply adds a shortcut on the screen to do this.
And, definitely works on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus?

Don't the standard widgets work for this case? I do not have a Nexus device, but all my devices have a Wifi toggle widget by default (AFAIK this already comes with AOSP). Just long-tap on an empty space on your homescreen, select Widgets, and check the list. Next to a single stand-alone Wifi widget, there's usually also a combined "power-widget" which includes a Wifi toggle.

On the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, you can add the Android built-in "Power Control" widget to your screen, this has a one-click button for turning Wifi on and off on the left-hand end of the bar.

(screen shot is from the home screen of my Galaxy Nexus, but this power bar has been built-in to Android since at least v1.6, though some manufacturer customizations do remove/change it)
To add this press the circle-with-dots-in icon at the bottom of the home screen to go to your apps list, then select the "WIDGETS" tab at the top of the screen and scroll along until you see "Power Control" or "Settings", hold your finger down on that and it should allow you to drag that to an empty spot on one of your home screens.
Also, if you've received the Jelly Bean 4.2.1 update, it contains a quick settings menu that allows you to get right into the Wi-Fi page in settings. You can swipe down with two fingers from the notification bar, or swipe once and click the button in the top righthand corner.

Then you long-press on the Wifi icon to turn it on or off.

If you have Android ICS you can simply drag the notification area and turn wifi on/off from there.

That option is not available in Galaxy Nexus, at least there's no such a thing in my phone.

I can confirm that it works on my Galaxy Nexus. @GAThrawn's answer shows how it should work.


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Tablet not recognized as removable storage
I have an Android A-13 Android tablet version 4.0.4 Baseband version 4.0.14  I have been trying to get my PC to recognize it so that I can download my music to it.
But I do not know if the PC does recognize it or not as the tablet does not show up on the removable storage. I have tried several different things to get it to do so but none of them work.
One of the attempted things is to enable USB mass storage on the tablet. But when I try to do that it does not have a place for it in the Settings. Can anyone help me with this?

When you plug it into the computer, does a notification show up in the status bar asking if you want to mount it, or something like that?

On Android 4.0+ devices, certain devices without a separate memory partition (i.e. separate sd card) don't have the USB Mass Storage option, rather Android now uses MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) or PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) to transfer files.
NOTE: If your device supports SD Cards, please make sure that an SD card is available in the device before connecting it to the PC.
To configure between MTP and PTP (and USB Mass Storage if an SD card is available): go to Settings > Device > Storage > Menu > USB computer connection.
To transfer files to your device via MTP, make sure it is in the MTP mode, then connect it to your computer via a USB cable.
On Windows: wait for Windows to install the necessary drivers, then your device will be available in My Computer. (more info)
On Mac: You have to install the Android File Transfer software. Follow the steps on this support page.
On Ubuntu: follow the steps in this article.

I Factory Reset my tablet (On the Lenovo TAB 2, select Settings, Backup and reset, Factory data reset). All my data and apps were erased, but it was worth it since all but one of the apps were free anyway and the lost photos were easily replaced from my laptop. This solved the problem.

Try removing the SD card from phone/tablet.
Put it in a card reader or laptop card reader.
Can you open it?
You may need to try a couple of times,
When you do get it to open, run scandisk (right-click the drive, select properties, open Tools tab, select scandisk).
After scan and repair, defrag the SD Card.
This should fix any file errors, you should be good to go.
If the SD card wont open, maybe you need to try downloading the free Minitool Partition Wizard software. This should access the card and allow you to rescue data. (The Rescue My Files program is also good)
Sigh If all this fails, format the card and get a new life but this time subscribe to a free cloud backup system.


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Automatically modify bluetooth settings when launching an app
Here is my use case: my phone is connected to my car via bluetooth, with only the Phone audio enabled.  Media audio is off, so I can keep listening to the phone's GPS and the car's radio at the same time.
But from time to time, I'd like to listen to Spotify directly through the car's audio system, which means I have to switch the bluetooth connection's Media audio back on.
Is it possible to automate that ?

While connected to the car's bluetooth, if Spotify is launched, enable the connection's Media audio.

Perhaps with Tasker or IFTTT, but I couldn't find how to do it with IFTTT, and I couldn't find a way to try Tasker for free.

As for Tasker: Definitely possible. 7 day free trial available, see our tasker tag-wiki.

Just installed the trial.  Very sadly, it's possible to toggle Phone Audio (called Bluetooth Voice in Tasker), but not Media Audio (or at least I couldn't find it)... :(

I never had the need for that, so I didn't check into it. Be welcome to take a look at my Tasker resource collection (especially see the graph close to the page end for what's "hidden" where). Several things may need an addon (or simply work easier with one). In your case, wouldn't simply raising the media volume solve your issue?

Try Trigger or MacroDroid?

Depending on Bluetooth device, routing audio through it may only be possible using SCO. Try automating it with Automate (free), it has an Bluetooth SCO set state block.


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Android suddenly pops up ad
Suddenly my Android always pops up this ad that always in that position, even sometimes a video ad, when I wake my phone from sleep. Anyone has idea?
When I open the recent used app, it displays the correct recent used app.
I have tried uninstall my but no luck:

FF Record Keeper
3rd party theme

Are you using a 3rd-party homescreen/launcher? When did this start happening?

I use 3rd party theme from Samsung store. I don't think there will be ad because of that? It was yesterday start happening when I went back to my country, even I was still inside plane turned my device on.

I don't know (I don't have Samsung device), you may want to check that on the Store. Anyway, it means that you're using a Samsung device on default TouchWiz launcher, but using 3rd-party theme? You may want to determine which app is drawing on top of other apps, or if it's okay for you, just uninstall that theme and see if it still happens.

I don't suspect ad to be the root cause because I have used it for some months. Anyway I have uninstalled my latest installed game FFRK and will update here later.

still the same..

Please check my updated post...

Perhaps this related question might help you. Otherwise, try this question

I advice you to try and find which applications are running by using a program that displays your current processes. One of those will be the adware. You could also try and install some android anti-adware blocker, or even cut out the banner with an image editing program, make an image search and find which program or advertisiment the image matches, then you will know which program it is and you can find instructions how to remove it.
If you install termux you can run the command ps -al|more and paste the output, then we will see which processes are running.

Do you have a suggestion of app name that can display my current process?

@Rendy We can try and install a "task manager". I need one myself. Or can try with termux and run the ps -al and see.

@Rendy Just open Settings › Apps and check the "running" tab. Focus on the apps you've installed last, those are the most likely candidates. Anything you've side-loaded (installed from a different place than Google Play)? This app would violate Playstore rules (by showing ads outside the app and not making the relation clear), so if you've installed it from there I recommend to report it to Google.

Well my last installed app is FF Record Keeper. I have tried uninstall it and will update here whether ad still pops up or not.

@Programmer400 termux is very hard to be understood reading its log from mobile..

Please check my updated post...

Not sure why and how, but the ads gone by itself in 1 week. I still believe this is a malware though.


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Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Gallery not showing external storage images and videos?
Prior to move my images and videos to External Storage via File Manager, I was still able to see them in Gallery, but not after I have moved all.
How to enable Gallery, to show my External Storage images and videos?

I am not sure how Gallery can be enabled but see if both apps mentioned here can help

My bet is you need to rerun the media-scanner to update the corresponding database. Easiest way to achieve that is a simple reboot (for more details, follow the link). Have you tried that already?

Yes I have tried both of you guys suggested but nothing works..


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How to tilt Google Maps in an emulator?
I am using the emulators (AVD) by Google to run an application which contains a Google Map Activity? On a real device I can use two fingers to tilt the map and see 3d buildings in certain zoom levels - as shown in the screenshot.

How can I tilt the map on a virtual device when all have are the input devices of my computer (keyboards, mouse)?

Thanks to Nicola's hint I searched for SDKController in Google's bug tracker. There I found a recent (Jan 28, 2016) and helpful comment:

Specifically, a pinch/rotate gesture was added in Emulator release 25.0.4 preview 5 - hold Alt to bring up the interface.

Then I tried the Alt and the right mouse button ... and it works!

the only thing I've found on normal emulators (AVD) is to use hardware emulation:
http://tools.android.com/tips/hardware-emulation
But I've never tried it. Honestly I prefer to use Genymotion devices which allows you to interact with just CTRL, ALT, SHIFT and mouse, no pain!

Thank you for the advice. However, the emulator crashes immediately when I enabled port forwarding from the device before. - Related post.


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Google Maps disable prefetcher service
I have a Motorola Cliq, running Cyanogenmod 7.2. I've cached my local area as an offline map and would like to disable or stop the PrefetcherService that sol runs all the time on wifi. I can't find an option to do this in Google maps.

I'd love an answer to this question. My Pos^W phone has so little memory that foreground apps are constantly being killed and I miss incoming calls because the system slows down to such a crawl that the call has gone to voicemail by the time Phone has clawed its way back into memory, yet somehow this entirely useless service is always running every time I check, despite the ram shortage.


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Wi-Fi doesn't stay connected
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace running Android 2.3.6. The problem is that when I'm in the middle of internet browsing, I completely lose my Wi-Fi signal. I've tried a factory reset which didn't help, I've tried different Wi-Fi hotspots, but that didn't help either. I know it's not the connection thats the problem, as the same Wi-Fi connections work perfectly on my laptop. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here is the solution that worked perfectly with me: the problem lies in the DHCP settings of the ADSL router.
Follow these steps:

Login to your router and go to DHCP settings (for belkin its
  192.168.2.1) and find the item called lease time. The default values of the lease time is usually Forever, which produces a bug in Android. All you have to do is to change the value of the Leasing time
  from forever to any other long value (depends on the routers options).
  Here I changed the value from forever to 2 weeks -- and since then I
  didn't have a single WIFI disconnect.

I recommend the default lease time to be something between 12 and 24 hours.

Gingerbread has certain power saving options. Make sure that the Wi-Fi settings aren't set in such a way that make the Wi-Fi sleep if it's inactive. (The menu varies from phone to phone. So can't be specific)

I've checked all that. I can't find anything like wi-fi sleep.

Settings > Wireless and Networks > Wi-Fi Settings > [Menu Button] > Advanced > Wi-Fi Sleep Policy

Wifi sleep policy has no effect on wifi during "in the middle of internet browsing".


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Wi-Fi of Galaxy S2 is not working after ICS update!
I updated my Galaxy S2 with the official OTA update to Android ICS 4.0.3
After the upgrade, my wireless worked for a couple of hours, but after a restart it doesn't work at all (for a week now).
I tried a couple of tricks (none of them working):
1) *#*#526#*#* combination
2) WiFi Direct activation
3) Static IP
4) Changing to 2.4 GHz
None of them are working!!!
Somebody has any other ideas?
BTW: I'm not getting an IP from my router. The router is working fine with other phones.

Can you try changing the channel? Also by not working what do you mean? You can't connect or you don't get IP or you can't browse?

i tried that. no luck. :(

I was having the same issue for the last 2 days. After upgrading to ICS wifi was working but stopped working suddenly after a day. This is how it got fixed:

selected the network and clicked forget
turned off wifi
turned wifi back on
connected the wifi network again

tried it. no luck. it displays: "Saved, secured with WEP", but still no IP, no internet.

From what I'm reading, it sounds like your best bet will be to reset it to factory defaults. That looks like it's fixing the problem for others. This will, of course, delete your apps, contacts, calendar, and a couple other things that escape me at the moment. Make sure that you have your phone set to back up everything with your google account, and I'd recommend using Titanium Backup to make a backup of all your apps.

That's what I'm trying to avoid. I've read that others reseted to factory defaults and had the same issue.

There's a few things you could try:

Turning phone and router off and back on.
Changing the SSID of the network.
Changing the password for the WiFi.
Changing the encryption used on the router (ie. from WPA to WPA2 or the other way around, or even turning it down to WEP)
Changing the channel that the WiFi is using.
Turning off the password for the WiFi and trying to connect (don't forget to turn it back on later though).

I know some are fairly basic but I've had problems in the past connecting to my Virgin Media router and they've worked for me.

I know you are trying to help, but if you read the comments and the original post its clear he has tried all the basic stuff :)

He has said he's tried 4 things, none of which I suggested in my post, but I know what you mean. However other users might find it useful. The one I'd recommend trying the post is turning off the WPA2 (or whatever), so no password, and trying to connect then and seeing if you can.

same issue I had. Only thing that worked for me is restarting the router and then connect back to router. But the issue is that there's no internet after 3-4 minutes maximum. and then go restart again the router and again 3 min of internet...


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How can I make a point-to-point VoIP call over Wi-Fi?
I am searching for a way to make a point-to-point VoIP call between two Android devices without having any intermediate server (SIP server) or an Internet connection. I just have an access point (or multiple access point connect via LAN) and I want to make VoIP calls over Wi-Fi only. Is this possible?

I've rephrased your question a bit as app recommendations are generally off-topic (they are essentially shopping recommendations). However, if there is an app out there that supports this functionality it will be just as much a valid answer to this re-phrased question as your original one.

zix> Did you find a way to do this?

You can use CSipSimple to add a local SIP account on both phones without having the need for an intermediate SIP proxy (or server).
Add a general 'Local' account. You only have to provide a SIP username for it.
When that is done on both phones you can call the other phone:

You have to know the IP address or dns name of the other phone
You need to know the just set up SIP username of the other phone
Dial 'SIPusername@IP-address' to call the other phone
You need to switch from the initially shown number pad to the extended 'SIP uri' input window

Click on the green marked spot in the left image to navigate to the SIP input activity :

Have just tried CSipSimple's "Local" mode with "Wi-Fi hotspot" feature. It fails because of "no network => won't listen 5060" idea...

Are you logged in into any wifi network? That's the only prerequisite (the OP already stated to have an access point)

The device is acting as Wi-Fi AP itself. One device is AP, other device is it's client. On client device all OK, but on AP device it's "no network".

The AP feature of Android is for tethering only, i.e. you can only use it to expose the 3G internet connection to other phones. Client to AP device communication is firewalled. You need to set up an ad-hoc wifi to get device-to-device connectivity. Just use a ad-hoc mode or a real AP instead.

But it's also good to connect two devices when they are "far away from civilization". They can network, but one of then "thinks" that there's no network. Especially strange for CSipSimple's "Local" mode which is designed for server-less operation.

it makes sense though. the ap network is normally a dead end as there are only clients which you supply with internet. from a programmatic POV it's most probably marked as unconnected. Say you want to download something and it would try that dead end. fail. the only active & real inet connection is 3g, which the local mode doesn't like. use ad hoc or a small portable ap

"use ad hoc" => Ad hoc mode configured in rooted device's Linux console is also "not a real network" for applications. "or a small portable ap" => Just to workaround this "too clever" logic? I want to configure things to work just as "wifi walkie-tolkie".

maybe mess around with 'ip route', give the wifi net an ip + a def. gateway or use a 3rd party app, barnacle wifi tether. Just my thoughts, have no experience with this kind of problem. i'd need to test more to be able to give a better advice, sorry. +: the OP already stated he has a dedicated AP. maybe also possible: use a 3rd phone as AP

3rd phone will work. "ip route" is Linux-level thing, but the problems lies in Android level. It does not like when network is being configured not by Android.

Submitted an issue: http://code.google.com/p/csipsimple/issues/detail?id=1843

Use uSipServer + SipDroid (or whatever SIP client) configured at an explicit IP address.
Like one device has uSipServer, started Wi-Fi AP (in "Tethering" menu) and SipDroid connected to test1@127.0.0.1. Other device connects to Wi-Fi and use SIP account test2@192.168.43.1 and calls to "test1".
Update: Have just tested that this configuration actually works:

Put first device in "Portable Hotspot" mode (Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Tethering & portable hotspot -> Portable Wi-Fi hotspot)
Start uSipServer on the first device
Connect the second device to AP created by the first (Setting -> Wireless & networks -> Wi-Fi settings -> Wi-Fi networks -> "X10i" (or whatever name)
Start SipDroid on the second device, specifying, for example, "qqq" as user and "192.168.43.1" as SIP server. The indicator goes green.
Start SipDroid on the first device, speciftgin, for example, "eee" as user and "192.168.43.1" or "127.0.0.1" as server. The indicator stays yellow.
Can phone from the second device to the first, specifying "eee" in the lower call field; can phone from the first device to the second, specifying "qqq" in the lower call field. No external entities (like extra access points or cellular provider) involved.

I tried other SIP clients (like CSipSimple and Linphone), but they refuse to work on the first device when no "normal" network is configured. And SipDroid (which is fortunately dumb enough to overlook network "absence") is not codec-compatible with everything else I tried.
Note that if there are other network connections present, SipDroid may confuse them and send the wrong IP to it's peer resulting in "one way" phone. Test with only Wi-Fi hotstop/Wi-Fi client enabled.


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Automatic switching to the strongest Wi-Fi Access Point
Both at home and at work I there are multiple Wi-Fi access points nearby with the same SSID and security settings.
My Samsung GS2 used to switch to the strongest available access point quite quickly. Now that I have ICS 4.0.3 installed it seems that my phone is sticking to the previous access point too long. This causes my network speed to very often be too slow as I'm consistently connected to "the previous hallway".
What are the solutions available to fix this issue? Is there a system setting I've missed? Is there an app that can help?

While not the easiest way around the problem, it is possible to do this using Tasker. This is a program that allows you to script various things within Android (e.g. I have it set to turn off the keyguard when I connect to my home SSID.) The following profile for detecting Wi-Fi signal is quoted from this thread:

Profile: Low WiFi (1)
Event: Display Unlocked  Enter: WiFi (2)  Task: WiFi Sig (1)
A1: Variable Set [ Name:%wfs To:%WIFII Do Maths:Off Append:Off ]
A2: Variable Split [ Name:%wfs Splitter:Sig: Delete Base:Off ]
A3: Variable Clear [ Name:%wfs1 Pattern Matching:Off ]
A4: Variable Split [ Name:%wfs2 Splitter: Delete Base:On ]
A5: Variable Set [ Name:%WIFISG To:%wfs22 Do Maths:Off Append:Off ]
A6: Array Clear [ Name:%wfs2 ]  Task: WiFi (2)
A1: Write File [ File:wifitest.txt Text:Task start: %DATE %TIME  Append:On ]
<Signal check>
A2: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:15 Minutes:0 Hours:0 Days:0 ]
A3: Goto [ Type:Action Label Number:1 Label:End ] If [ %SCREEN ~ off ]
A4: Goto [ Type:Action Label Number:1 Label:End ] If [ %WIFII !~  *CONNECTION* ]
A5: Perform Task [ Name:WiFi Sig Stop:Off Priority:5 Parameter 1  (%par1): Parameter 2 (%par2): Return Value Variable: ]
A6: If [ %WIFISG < 3 ]
A7: WiFi [ Set:Off ]
A8: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:0 Minutes:5 Hours:0 Days:0 ]
A9: WiFi [ Set:On ]
A10: End If
A11: Goto [ Type:Action Label Number:1 Label:Signal check ]
<End>
A12: Write File [ File:wifitest.txt Text:Task end: %DATE %TIME  Append:On ]

I've never personally done anything that complicated with the Wi-Fi, but the profiles I have set around SSID work like a charm.


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Can I store contacts on my SD card? How?
I have 400mb of internal storage on my HTC, 100 of which is consumed by my (extensive) contacts. I am constantly low on storage--is there any way to store my contacts on my SD card?
I looked in the application options and the option to move data to SD is grayed out.
Are there other smart ways to manage the size of my contacts list? I can't figure out how to create groups in Google contacts--i don't need to sync my entire addressbook to my phone but I do want to keep the full list. I also don't need to store photos for each contact, but Google seems to add those automatically.

If you don't like photos in your Contacts, you could try the GO Contacts EX app. It has an option to hide the photos.

Do either of these links help at all?
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/628/how-can-i-store-android-apps-on-my-sd-card
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2065/what-can-i-do-to-manage-my-phones-internal-storage

As far as I know, all contacts in Android stored in a SQLite database inside the private folder of the "Contact Storage" app. The location is at /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts.db
So if you have root access to your device, it is theoretically fesible to either bind a folder on your SD card to the above location, or it is possible to make the above folder a symbol link (soft link) to a location on your SD card.
However, this is not recommended because the stability and performance of your device can be affected. For example, if you connect your phone to PC and mount it as drive, the SD card is temporarily unmounted on the phone.  Another risky situations is when you boot your mobile phone and before the SD card is mounted. The Contact Storage app may try to access the contact list (maybe for caching some of the favorite contacts, or maybe someone call you) during this period, all these may not be expected by the Contact Storage app and could result in unpredictable result (e.g. a dirty state of the app which make your contact inaccessible).

Don't know about forcing contacts onto your SD card, but here are some good approaches to minimizing the volume of contacts that you sync to your phone:

Sync only Gmail "My Contacts" group on android 2.3
How do I sync only "My Contacts" from Google on Samsung Galaxy S?

Both refer only to managing how the phone displays contacts. The contacts are all still synced and take up device memory.

You can Backup your contacts to sd-card : Open Contacts app and press menu button. Click on 'Back up Contacts'. Select 'Memory card'.
Creating Groups in Google Contacts : open https://www.google.com/contacts and sign in with your Google account. There is an option to create groups(The last but one option on Left column) click it and name the group. New group is now created under 'My Cantacts'. You can add contacts in it.
Filtering Contacts : You can filter contacts from particular group. To do this, Click on menu button and select 'Filter' option. Click on your Google account(Last option with email id). Uncheck the groups you want to filter out and click OK.

I believe filtering applies only on how contacts are displayed, but all contacts are still synced and thus take up space on the device.


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Wi-Fi connects but can't browse
I'm opening a virtual router through my laptop, and my Galaxy S2 can see and connect to it fine. However, when I try to do anything that requires the network, it doesn't work (for example, I can't browse). The top bar shows the wireless icon and the connection appears perfect. What is causing this?

What operating system is your laptop running and how are you setting up the connection on the laptop?

windows7, i'm creating hot spot trough mhotspot, and it's working how i sad but why can't do any stuff in the phone when it seys that i'm connected

What do you mean "do anything that is connected to a network"? Like access //mycomputername?
Connecting to a share on a computer connected to the same network is not part of wifi, it is another protocol called SMB or CIFS. Android does not support connecting to cifs out of the box. There are apps that allow you to browse for files on network shares, like Astro File Manager (with the SMB plugin).
There are Custom ROMs that do have built in support for CIFS, like CyanogenMod for example.

But i don't need to share files, i need to share network connection.

so you want to share your internet connection from your phone with your computer?

No.. from the computer to the phone

the computer doesn't share its network connection when you have a router. but I don't really think I understand your question then. If you are connected to the wireless router then you should have internet access on your device.

Man, I have virtual router, it's not a device, just a router. Doesn't mater i'll try something about the DNS and IP becouse, i think this is the problem, and will produce results, soon.


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Can I use my Android device as Wi-Fi Adapter for my PC (i.e. Tethering to PC through USB, but using Wi-Fi not Phone Network)?
I want to use my Android phone to connect a desktop (windows 7) PC to the internet via Wi-Fi (ie, not muching though my Data plan). Is this possible with the various tethering options out there?
The reason I ask is, most suppot wi-fi the other way around, ie, the phone is the wi-fi hotspot, and the internet connection comes over the phone network. I want to connect to an existing wi-fi network, and share that with the PC.
Background - for various reasons our office LAN network is b0rked and very slow. The office WiFi network on the other hand is happy and fast. But my desktop PC is wired only. If I can use my phone as a wifi dongle/modem/adaptor, and connect to the office wifi, then I'll get a much faster connection.
Edit: I've got an HTC Desire HD, I haven't rooted it so far.

This does depend on what phone you've got, and what version of the OS you're running. Froyo has a lot more options for tethering in it, including sharing some of the phone's connections over USB to a PC.

You can achieve this natively on some versions of Android (for me it works on KitKat 4.4.4). All you have to do is connect the phone to wi-fi as usual and then connect the USB cable and do a USB tether. Some devices may require you to enable WiFi sharing in the mobile hotspot settings. Your computer should detect a new hardware - a "USB ethernet" or similar, you may need to install drivers for that, ymmv. Then it behaves just like any other network card. This works for all common operating system, including Windows (where the drivers part may apply).
Just to be sure, you can disable mobile data on the phone for the time being but the phone should be smart enough to route traffic via wifi automatically when it is available.
No root needed.

The only problem is connecting through ssh to the pc, since the usb tethering is on a different netmask. Is there any soution for this?

You just need to have correct routes and gateway set.

Should this be done on the android mobile ?

For me this didn't work. When I check the tethering toggle, it turns itself back off automatically. When I turn off WiFi it works just fine. I'm pretty sure I have stock Android on a OnePlus 2.

This is excellent. Started a new job & couldn't connect to their wifi from my laptop (dunno why but spent way too long trying). Then I found this and connected right away. Solved my problem.

You can do this using PdaNet.
From KnowYourMobile.com:

To use your Milestone as a mobile broadband dongle, you will need:

Motorola Milestone USB Drivers
PDANet Tethering Software ($15.95 to buy right now, limited trial also available)

Step I:

Tap the upward pointing arrow on the Milestone's home screen to get to the app menu
Tap the Settings icon
Tap Applications
Tap Development
Check the box for USB debugging

Step II:

Install the PDANet software on both your PC and Milestone -- when installed on the desktop, it should automatically install the USB driver for you but if it doesn’t, you will have to use the driver you downloaded above.
Connect your Milestone to your PC via USB, then launch PDANet on your device
  Click on "Turn PdaNet On" on the Milestone
  Right-click the PDANet icon in the taskbar on your PC, then click Connect

PDANet claims to be able to do this. Other phones, such as my Sidekick, do this out of the box.

I get an error download unsuccessful this content not supported on this phone. I'm using sanyo zio android 2.2

Assuming your computer doesn't have a Wi-Fi card already and you're not rooted, I would probably just buy a USB Wi-Fi card.  You can almost certainly buy one for less than the cost of PDANet.
If you are rooted, Cyanogenmod has had built-in tethering in the Wireless & network settings menu for a while now.  You can enable USB tethering and connect your phone to the hotspot to essentially have it act like a USB Wi-Fi card.
For my other tethering needs that aren't covered ROM-covered (e.g. Bluetooth network tethering) I've preferred Android Wi-Fi Tether, which is free, although I don't know how well it works on the Milestone.

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


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Samsung Galaxy S Advance Continuous Focus in Video Recording
I am interested in Samsung Galaxy S Advance. But I noticed that this phone does not have Continuous Focus function in the Video Recording. How can I have Continuous Focus function in Video Recording? Is there any apps that can solve this?


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Play music from Android to Airplay receiver
Is there a way of playing music on my Android phone to an Airplay receiver (like Airport Express etc)?

If Airplay is compatible with the UPnP specification, you may try an UPnP app such as UPnPlay (free) or BubbleUPnP (paid).

Thanks @Cutter, I tried UPnPlay but couldn't find the devices. It was able to find music on my laptop which was neat though.

The Airsync add-on to the Double Twist player adds this ability. It's not free, but was worth it.

As far as I can tell, Airsync supports the Apple TV, but no other Airplay devices.

Sorry, I was referring to AirTwist, but either way it appears to only support the Apple TV and Sonos http://www.doubletwist.com/help/question/what-devices-are-supported-by-doubletwist-airplay/


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Slide to answer is not working on HTC Wildfire S
When trying to answer an incoming call, the slide up to answer never works! It moves, but doesn't actually pick up the call. Is there any way to change this??

At android 2.3.3 you have to slide up/down the bar trying to move out of the screen.

If you update the phone to Android 2.3.5 given by HTC the lock screen changes to

were you have to move the green/red phone in the down grey ring, which may solve your problem.

I don't know why should this happen, but I guess it is a problem with your dial-launcher. You can try some other apps with dialing function, and see if the problem still exists. I need further information to help you.:)


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How to debug a battery issue?
I have HTC Sensation 4G. I have a very peculiar issue with the battery. I've been using the phone for just over one year now. There are some periods (about 7 to 15 days) when battery performance is absolutely fine.
But then after certain days of good performance battery starts behaving weirdly: Phone gets switched off even at over 60% battery. Restarting it shows about 5% battery, again switches off, restart shows around 20% etc.
So I guessed there is some calibration issue. Taking out the battery at the time of this erratic behavior makes it work fine for a little while (half an hour to a couple of hours) then again the stupidity starts. I have tried draining the battery to 0% and then a full charge, tried various usage models (not using wifi, disabling animations to reduce usage etc.) nothing seems to work.
I can't properly debug this issue properly as connecting to computer starts charging and when its charging there are no such issues. This is REALLY frustrating, Any one has any idea how to debug it?
(I have come to know that certain batch of HTC sensation has this issue, not everyone has experienced similar problems but there are people and no one has been able to point me in the right direction)

Instead of investing too much energy (LOL), have you thought about just buying a replacement on ebay? (BG58100 or BA-S560 battery model). Here in the EU this costs only about 7-13EUR. It'll bring you back the runtime of a new battery as a side effect.

Yes i'm getting a replacement but this weird bug, well it bugs me! Before I switch to the new battery i would like to at least give a shot at debugging or try to know the cause of this problem

I have diagnosed several battery related anomalies with a combination of two apps: one called Diagnosis and the other GSam Battery Monitor Pro.  GSam isn't as robust but it offers a greater filtering options to sort the culprits by CPU usage, power usage, memory usage....  In every case it turned out to be a problem with an app or a setting or my current ROM but those apps helped me track down the problem.
You may also want to check your device's logs for clues.  You can use aLogrec to record your logcat, then note the time of a spontaneous shutdown then check the log to see what events lead up to it.  I can barely understand what is contained in my logcat but this forum post may help you.

I'm using log cat, not able to find anything useful. I'll try out Diagnosis.

I updated my answer, I got confused and didn't realize that I used GSam along with Diagnosis each time.  Basically GSam allowed me find the problem and then Diagnosis allowed me to drill down to the specific process that was going rouge.


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Tagging photos when importing them from my Galaxy Note
I tried to import the photos I have in my Galaxy Note. While importing them the computer asked if I would add a tag to them -- and I did.
The strange thing is that when the computer finished importing the pictures, I found pictures of strange people in the same folder and with the same tag!
Does this mean that my photos will appear to whoever chooses the same tag?

Do you have those strange pics on you phone as well? If you happened to import them via USB they must have come from your SD card. To answer your question: No, other people of course cannot access your pics if they use the same tag.


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Android and Windows 7 Homegroup
I have an Android tablet and my PC running Windows 7 Pro. I am using ES File Explorer on Android to see shared folders.
I added some folders to the Music/Picture/Video libraries and shared them in a homegroup. I tried to make the homegroup not need a password and it'll let me access my PC from my tablet and view the root folders but as soon as I tried to access a folder (Music) it'll say permissions aren't available. It will work if I set a password and login with my account.
The second issue is that I'm seeing folders that I don't want to see. I can see a ADMIN$ folder (which is C:\WINDOWS), C$, D$, E$ (the HDDs), IPC$, print$, User. As well as Music, Pictures, Videos from the library. The folders in bold aren't shared so I don't know why I'm seeing them.
The last issue is that a folder (a whole drive actually) isn't being shared. I included the whole E: Drive in the Videos folder but it won't show up in the Video folder from the tablet. However if I include a folder from within the E: Drive then it will show up. Can I not include the root of a drive in a library? I mean it works on the PC.


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during reboot stuck on "Samsung" logo
After installing CM9 on my Samsung Galaxy S+ (Plus) it gets stuck in the "SAMSUNG" screen whenever I restart, the very first screen (I guess). I have to press the Power button 10 seconds to restart when I come to that point. Did someone discover that kind of problem before, how can I solve the issue?

I have experienced something like this when I first flashed CM10 on my vibrant. I thought it was stuck so I pulled the battery, then rebooted in to recovery and reflashed (wiping data and cache) then rebooted. The screen was "stuck" there for some time again, but I let it go for a bit and it did eventually boot past it, it just took longer then I expected.

This is a common outcome for many possible problems. If you can get in to clockworkmod(or whatever custom recovery) try reflashing cm9. If that doesn't work try doing a factory reset from recovery (clear data/factory reset) and then reflashing cm9.
On the international SGS you always had to flash cm-roms twice (on first flash it sets up the partitions and on the second flash it finaly flashes the rom).
If you still can't boot, flash a stock ROM with Odin (I think it is Odin you use for flashing stock ROMs, since it is Samsung device, if not use whatever is recomended on XDA-developers under topic named something like "restoring a stock ROM"), and check that it boots that. After that install root, recovery and cm as before.
If you still can't get it to boot after that, let us know.

My SGS+ is running correctly with CM9. I can boot (if phone was shut off) and shutdown correctly, only when explicitly restarting the problem occurs.

If everything else works ok, than this is most probably a bug in cm, or just a wierd conincidence in your particular configuration. Either way I would not worry about it since there is a simple workaround. If you want to restart it power it off and than back on. The whole thing is to small to lose sleep over it.


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What is involved in upgrading Android to a later version, if the manufacturer no longer supports the device?
I recently acquired an Android-based tablet which is now running a rooted version 2.2; however, the manufacturer no longer supports or sells this particular tablet.
I'm interested in seeing if I can install Android 4.0 onto it by keeping the Linux kernel from 2.2 and just replacing everything else. Despite the GPL, the manufacturer never released any source code for their custom modifications so I can't, for example, compile a new kernel. So my basic plan is to replace the software stack with the stock Android 4.0, copy any custom applications over from 2.2 that came with the device, and see what happens.
Has anyone here tried anything like this before and can advise on any potential pitfalls before I go ahead and inadvertently brick my device? Thanks in advance!

Can you specify what device you're talking about? It would help preparing accurate answers..

Sorry, I should have mentioned - it's the Entourage Pocket Edge.

Oh, and you won't be able to update your tablet by just copying over ICS files. That will most likely softbrick it.

You might want to look for a "Custom ROM". For many devices, the community provides custom-built ROMs which bring newer Android versions to their devices -- often even improved over the manufacturers version (better optimized, no bloatware), and even covering newer versions where the manufacturer stopped.
A good source to find out if there are any custom ROMs available for your device and which is TheUnlockr, where everything is nicely grouped by manufacturer and device. Also, it seems to be the most complete source. Alternatively, there also is CommunityRelease (you can filter by device, Android version and developer) plus PDADB (no filters at all: over 800 pages to check, and not restricted to Android devices -- so it will be hard to find things here. Though, it may serve as a kind of "last ressort").
As you report your device to be rooted, the most important pre-condition to install a custom ROM is already met ;)

Thanks for your advice - even though I can't seem to find any custom ROMs for my particular device, this is a great starting point to appreciate the work involved!

I was afraid of that -- there are so many devices around, they are probably not all covered. But you may want to re-check later: Could very well be it gets added (whichever it is). And feel free to "up-vote" if you like an answer ;)

While there doesn't appear to be much activity on the development front, I have found one nice little enhancement for the PE.
This mod will enable the Google Play Store, as well as the other Google apps.


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Enable notification badges on the Galaxy S III
Is there a way to enable notification badges on the Galaxy S III?  For example, when I have 5 unread emails, the email app shows a red circle with a 5 in it.  Can other apps that I install do this as well?

Yes, other apps can do that, but it is up to the app developer to implement Notifications.
This morning when I grabbed my phone I had two different new email notifications (multiple accounts), a Facebook message notification, an app update notification, a Draw Something nudge from my daughter, and a notification that I had new podcasts downloaded in DoggCatcher.


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How to display several RTSP streams at once?
I want to be able to show several RTSP live streams simultaneously. Like, the phone screen divided in, say, 4 parts and in each part a separate stream from a separate IP camera displayed.
How can I do that?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts, your question as is, is considered off-topic by our FAQ, as it falls under "Can you suggest an app that does X?". Consider rephrasing it to prevent it to get closed.

I have edited the question to ask for a solution rather than an app recommendation.

@Al Everett Thank you very much, this is exactly what I wanted to ask. I'm sorry, not being a native English speaker, couldn't rephrase myself better

Hm, 4 parts from different cameras -- looks like IP Cam Viewer is capable of that:

Not that hard to find: Just entered "ipcam" in the search box at the playstore site, and clicked on the first result. You might want to try the others, maybe you find something even better suited for your requirements. Or use this one to better restrict it (ipcam + rtsp).

I've tried that but can't get it working with my Axis rtsp camera... I have P5512 Axis camera

I don't have any IP camera, so I cannot test. Did you follow the other links, and check some of the other offered solutions? The latter search had only a one-page result set, so it shouldn't take that long. You could also check this overview (German -- but just Ctrl-F and check for "dvr", from there you can use the app links. And there's always Google Translate).

Looks, that program doesn't support RTSP

@Alex Sure? App description in playstore says: RTSP, h.264, MPEG4 support


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ADB Shell command that can test MLS / SPC codes?
I am a Republic Wireless subscriber with the Motorola Defy XT. The Defy is a decent phone, but unfortunately very little space has been dedicated to internal application storage (300MB) and often we are running out of space so we are on a quest to get root access to alleviate our issues. Sadly, RW has not provided us with the MLS / SPC code to modify the device.
My question is, is there an Android shell command that I can issue that will directly / indirectly test the validity of an MLS / SPC code. In other words, a command that changes a setting that requires the MLS code to be passed along as a parameter.
My hope is that I can write a script that will test all possible combinations of the six digit integer.


text:
Do Android Default apps (phone, browser,...) support NFC?
Is there any default support on Android basic apps (phone, browser, contacts...) for NFC?
Because if I want to develop for NFC, the user will need to install my NFC app. But for simple tasks that use default apps like phone, is there any default support? For example if I want to make a NFC tag to call my phone number. Or would I need to create an app even for this?

I think it is OEM-oriented, and each phone maker has its own developed apps in phones. My Xperia S has some apps and capabilities built-in for NFC. for example I can set a NFC tag to launch my browser or call a number, which all of these are done by an app that Sony has built into its ROM.

Essentially the individual apps don't need to have any understanding of NFC at all, they just respond to one of their standard intents that's been pushed to them by Android's central NFC Service. By default, that NFC Service handles reading the NFC tag and triggering the relevant intent to pass info on to another app on the device, like the Dialler.
One very easy way to play around with triggering actions by NFC is using Microsoft's ON{X} app (yes, bizarrely this is a Microsoft app that's only available on Android). As long as you've already got the hardware support, this lets you trigger a whole lot of actions with an NFC tag, with an absolutely minimal amount of simple scripting. See their recent blog entry on NFC for some of what you can do.

Since the introduction of NFC in Android 2.3 Gingerbread  there has been some basic support for NFC included, such as opening the browser when scanning an NFC tag with an http:// URL, opening the phone app with an tel: URI, messaging with an SMS: URI, email with an mailto: URI, adding a contact with a vCard tag, etc.
Since Android 4.0 ICS, some standard apps and many Google apps have been extended with the function to share data via Android Beam, too. E.g. the current browser URL, a displayed contact, the clip URL in the Youtube app, displayed location in Maps, etc. By default also non-NFC apps share their Play Store URL via Android Beam.


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Using software keyboard in AOSP custom build emulator
I was finally able to build my own AOSP image, and I want to debug some problem with the software keyboard. However, the default emulator has a physical keyboard emulated, and I don't know how to disable it.
I know that the Android SDK allows disabling the keyboard when creating an AVD, but I was only able to create such AVDs for the platforms that come with the SDK, and not for my own build.

I found a solution. I don't know if it is the best place to do such a modification, but I was able to edit the default emulator skin at
development/tools/emulator/skins/HVGA/hardware.ini

And set hw.keyboard=no there.


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Delete Files from Directory that are Older Than a Given Time
I've been searching for this for several hours but couldn't find any solution. I have a folder (Call_Rec) which contain thousands of files and I want to delete only those files that are older than a given date. It seems like a basic feature or requirement but I'm unable to find any solution for it. How can I do so in Android? Is there any app or way to achieve this?
Best Regards

Have you tried using a regular file manager and choosing to sort the items on their modified date? I would recommend using Solid Explorer because I know with it you can long press a file, then scroll and long press another file and it automatically selects all files between the two selected files. That way you can choose from what date to what date you want to delete.
Another option is to plug your phone into a computer and use the computer to sort on date, then click the start file and shift click the end file to select all within a range.

Thanks for reply. I'll check solid explorer. I knew about sorting but selection of files or unselection of few hundreds out of thousands was an issue. I'll see if it could be overcome with the detection method you described about Solid Explorer. I wish there could be an app on which I could give a data range and it could filter the files based on that.

Thanks for help. My issue is resolved and I've deleted the required files by using Solid Explorer. But I still wish there could be an app or option in the file explorer app whoch could filter the files based on date range.

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


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What should my tablet be charging at?
I just got a RocketFish USB wall charger with 2.4 amps and 5 Volts. The charge meter that I am using is telling me that it is charging at 50 mA. I also notice that when I try to turn it off to charge, it will have a red 'X' on the battery icon when I turn it back on while it wasn't there.
Is it safe to be charging it with this charger? Should it be charging this slowly?
The charger model number is RF-AC1U2N.

Although charging it slowly will not have a problem, in your case your shouldn't as it is giving a 'x' mark..But you should take care you're not using your tab while charging. Since the charging process is slower than normal, if you simultaneously plug in and use the tab, the battery might deteriorate. Also use quality charger.


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External SD card no longer able to be read on CM11
I successfully installed CM11-M2 snapshot on my Razr Maxx (xt912, spyder). I was able to use my camera successfully on the device after install. However, now a few weeks in, I am experiencing a few issues related to my external SD card.

My camera no longer works with an error "Insert an SD card before using the camera"
When attempting to download a file through the browser I get an error stating that an "SD card is required" to download the file
I use the app EBookDroid, which allows opening files from the filesystem, while I have an entry for sdcard1 (my external SD card), I cannot view any files inside of it
With root permissions on my File Manager, I can navigate through and view files in my external SD card, but cannot open them in any other applications

After a little investigating, I see the path /mnt/media_rw/ which contains two mounted partitions of sdcard0 and sdcard1. These paths belong to the user and group named media_rw. My best guess is that this issue is related to these permissions. Here is output of ls -la on /mnt/media_rw
drwx------ media_rw media_rw             2014-03-06 12:47 sdcard0
drwxrwx--- media_rw media_rw             1969-12-31 19:00 sdcard1

Is there an fstab file I can verify (I dont see one in /etc/fstab). Or am I barking up the wrong tree with media_rw. Can anyone assist?

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/64770/how-can-i-mount-an-ext4-formatted-sd-card-with-correct-permissions-with-root
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/11301/sd-card-formatted-to-ext4-and-permissions
Similar issues, currently unfixed.

That a nightly build??

How old is your SD card? Does it work under stock? If it doesn't work under either, I wonder if the SD card is going bad? How long have you had it and do you do a lot of writing to it? If so, then the card might be going bad as SD cards have a limited lifespan. The more you write to it, the shorted the lifespan.
Do you have another SD card you could try? I would also do a chkdsk on it to see if any bad sectors are found. If so, time to ditch it and get a new card.


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Where does twrp keep the internal storage backed up?
I have chosen to backup everything and all extra partitions on my twrp backup. When browsing the twrp backup folder, I renamed the .win extentions to .tar and unziped them using linux but I cannot find where twrp keep the internal storage contents. eg. emulated/0/

Related https://android.stackexchange.com/q/123558/131553

TWRP doesn't backup "internal storage"

Well, the 2 first comments are completely useless as they don't answer the question at all. I've been downvoted for no reason. However I thank @acejavelin for his answer as it answers the question.

I assume you got downvoted for "common sense"? Backing up internal storage and saving it to internal storage is a contradiction in itself. Not that I downvoted though... Also, since TWRP 3.1.0, there's a big fat yellow warning that explicitly warns people that it won't back up internal storage.

@Andy Yan Common sense would mean I expect a full system back up which includes personal files if the data partition was backed up just like the windows system image backup and thats what most people would expect so your argument make no sense saying I have no common sense. Also I'm using twrp 2.8.7 and 3.0.0 not the latest.

We're still talking about different senses... I mean, did you expect a full backup of internal storage to be stored in internal storage itself (that's the default)? Anyways, not backing up internal storage was the norm ever since custom recoveries existed on Android, and with external SD cards quitting the scene and OTG not really catching up, I don't see this changing in the near future... Sucks for people who want to play it safe.

I misread the question and marked as duplicate.. Sorry, retracted close vote

I didn't expect a full backup on the internal storage. I actually used a 64GB flash drive for the backup so no. Twrp does let you use flash drives for backups.

@beeshyams as long as you understand. Thanks.

in fact, this behaviour is not common sense.. common sense would be, not allowing to store backup files at the device itself. however, excluding media does allow backup for devices with no external sd / usb otg support. after backup just adb pull -a -p /sdcard advanced users who can't live with it, feel free to tweak your twrp with a shell script

@alecxs ok boomer

TWRP does not backup internal storage, like your photos, videos, music, ebooks, etc. (things in /data/media), that is why you can't find it.
As noted in the TWRP's FAQ from their official website:

Creating a backup of the user data partition will NOT include
/data/media (your internal storage)! That means if you save photos or
data on the internal storage (e.g. some apps will save data there as
well) those will be NOT included in a TWRP backup! There are many
people thinking that this is the case but due to a decision taken by
the dev team this is the current way of how it works.
To be absolutely clear when you do something like this:

Creating a full backup in TWRP (including /data partition)
Factory resetting your phone
Restoring your previously taken full backup
Result: all your saved data will be there but your data on the internal storage gets LOST!

Source page of quote

Are you sure about that? As the backup created by TWRP should be complete, where is it gone then? In fact, what OP is looking for is partly in data.ext3.win.gz and partly in the boot image. The emulated/* stuff AFAIR is setup at boot (with a lot of mounting and cross-symlinking which I never got into my head completely). If I'm wrong, please back your claim by a source: where does it say what TWRP does not backup?

@Izzy Yes, I am positive it doesn't backup internal storage, or "internal sd card" as some call it. It never has. I will update my answer with a verifiable source.

Thanks! That explains something I was wondering about a while ago. On an older device of mine it did backup everything, but on a newer one I wondered why that part was missing. Thought it was specific to the device (and TWRP implementation for that), but it's rather specific to the ROM structure it seems. Note the intruductional phrasing: "When you have a device with a /data/media storage as internal storage". So it seems there are such and others ;) Thanks for pointing out and mentioning the source, +1 now from me :)

@answerSeeker and acejavelin  FYI https://android.stackexchange.com/q/200713/131553