text:
Backup ALL Android files to PC?
I've had this issue with both my GS3 and now my N5. I routinely wipe my phone and start over fresh, so using apps like TitaniumBackup and Helium does not help me since I don't plan on restoring any of my apps in the future.
My problem arises when I connect my phone to either my PC or my Mac laptop, and attempt to just backup ALL of the files ("Backup ALL the files!") to my computer or an external hard drive. The computer will start copying the files, but then the progress bar disappears after a few seconds (well before hitting 100%) with no errors or messages. Upon checking the copied files, some folders and files are completely backed up with a simple drag and drop, but other folders don't.
I have the phone set on MTP and debugging is enabled, and all of the files show up. I realize that some folders don't allow you to just drag and drop them (possibly the "Android" folder?), but others, like my "Downloads" folder, shouldn't have any restrictions, right?
How can I simply make a full backup of all of the files that are on the phone? I've done this successfully in the past, but cannot remember what method or program was used.

In addition to the answers below, take a look at the answers here. Should get you going.

MTP might not be reliable enough for that. Several approaches I can offer:
using on-board capabilities via ADB
This requires ADB tools being available on your computer (see e.g. Is there a minimal installation of ADB? for how to meet this). Now let's see how to get the files over.

open a command prompt, and (optionally) switch to the directory your adb executable is in
Make sure usb-debugging is activated on your device
connect your device via USB
assuming your SDCard is mounted/available as /sdcard on your device, let's copy it with its contents:
adb pull /sdcard /home/chris/android/sdcard

Just adjust the path to your needs ;)
using an app with a more user-friendly GUI
I use FolderSync to keep several directories backed-up. The big pro of this approach is: even if your device hard-crashes one day, you still have a quite up-to-date backup of all files on your computer.

FolderSync: Main screen, folder pairs (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
FolderSync supports a lot of services and protocols – not only cloud storage. You can easily use it with Windows shares (aka Samba aka SMB), or via SCP on Linux, or FTP with any server, amongst others. Simply define folder pairs (which directory on your device shall be kept in sync with which remote directory), and setup a schedule (e.g. whenever connected to your home WiFi, at 3 am), and there you go. With the Pro version (which I use) you can even set it to "manual only", and trigger it via tasker.
Of course, you also can set it to "manual", and then initiate the transfer whenever you find it useful. Being a "Sync tool", it will always only copy those files needing to be copied – if the same file exists on both ends with the same content and timestamp, it doesn't need to be copied again ;)
Other options
Plenty of them. More sync tools. Or a remote manager like AirDroid. Or using a file manager with remote capabilities, like ES File Explorer. Just to give you some ideas ;)

There is a way to create one in all backup at once using ADB (will include your own data as well as apps data etc).

First setup ADB from above link (make sure you install proper drivers first).
Enable USB Debugging on your phone and connect it to pc. You dont need to go in recovery or fastboot mode. Connect it while its normally powered on.
Open CMD/Terminal and run the command adb devices. If it returns some output that means that phone is successfully recognized by ADB. Otherwise if there's no output then you will need to reinstall correct drivers.
Once the phone is recognized, we now begin real process. First, to tell you what we are going to do, we will use adb backup to backup entirely everything! Including internal memory, system, apps, data etc etc (you have options to choose what you want to backup).
The base command syntax for adb backup goes like this->
adb backup [-f ] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|nosystem] []

To explain parameters:
1) f: This switch determines your backup location. For instance, -f D:/Backup/mybackup.ab will save the backup file inside D:/ drive and then inside a folder called Backup and with file name mybackup.ab.
2) -apk|-noapk: This switch is responsible for including APKs (to include APKs, or not that is). By default if you do not specify any option, it uses -noapk. Personally, I suggest you turn it on so you dont have to download APK from market while restoring. If you decide not to include APKs, only app's respective data will be backuped without APK itself.
3) -shared|-noshared: This is used to enable/disable backup of /sdcard contents. Although I suggest that you manually backup your personal photos, music etc since sometimes it doesn't backup everything. Default is -noshared if not specified.
4) -all: This is used to backup ALL apps. Unless you are backing up some specific app, I would say just keep it on.
5) -system|-nosystem: This is to include system or pre-installed applications in your backup too. Default is -system
6) <packages...>: This allows you to backup specific apps/packages. Just mention the name here (for ex-> com.facebook.orca (just an imaginary name)).

Once you have chosen your command and swiitches and what you want to backup, run the commmand in cmd. For ex, for me, I used the command adb backup -apk -shared -system -all -f D:/DroidBackup.ab.
You will see a dialog box on your device asking a password for encryption. Enter the password (if desired) and RETAIN IT TO BE ABLE TO RESTORE DATA.
It may take quite a time depending on what you decide to backup.

NOTE: Depeding on what you backuped, you may need to root your device to restore. For ex, if you backup system apps, then you can do that without root. But you will need root while restoring the backup. Since we need root to write to /system partition.
How to Restore:
Connect to ADB the same way as above. Then use command adb restore PathToBackupAndFileName.ab.
You will get a prompt on your device, enter the password you chose in previous step and press Restore my Data button on phone.
NOTE:
This does NOT backup Messages, so use some external app to manually do that.
When I performed this about a 2 years ago, it didn't work unless I gave it a password. So try not to leave that password field blank (although that bug is likely to be fixed now. Just telling in case its still there...).


text:
I am having Xolo Play smartphone. I want to support it Gujarati Font. How can I do that?
I am using smartphone xolo play.
I tried to download the gujarati font library to support Gujarati Font. But not able to achieve it.
So please guide me how can I support Gujarati font in my xolo play smart phone.
Thanks in advance.
Bskania.

Same as with most other fonts I'd say. Have you checked the corresponding questions? There are even some posts specifically to Gujarati.

You can use the Gujarati fonts package addon to view Gujarati webpages without any other installation on Firefox for Android.

That wouldn't provide system-wide support for the font, would it?

In order to get a font of the regional language you will first need to Root your device.
Follow this  in order to understand what does rooting a device mean and this question on how to root.There is one more site which is providing rooting specific to your device

After you have rooted the device then you need a file manager
application like ES file Explorer
Now download the  font
file
Open Es file explorer (give root access open the file
explorer>Config > Give root access)
Copy your font file and paste it to (Root)/System/Fonts
Set permissions as 644 or RW.
Reebot/Restart your device.
Now if you want to give gujrati as the input font download the keyboard app from the play store.

Rooting your device will void your warranty and you will be doing on your own risk. Please understand the risk's or data loss involved and go ahead only when you have the complete knowledge of it.

Root the mobile first. Then install the app "Font  Installer" from Play Store. Download some Gujarathi font, keep it in SDCard and install through Font Installer app.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Ringtones ring only once for alarms and calls in Cyanogenmod 11
I have the latest monthly Cyanogenmod 11 installed on my Samsung Galaxy SII phone. This past week, I noticed that the alarms I set (with both the built in alarm app and the I Can't Wake Up app from the Play Store) only ring once then goes silent (the alarm is still on the screen and the phone still vibrates). This is also true for incoming calls, the ringtone rings only once. I tried changing ringtones to no effect.
Looks like this is an issue that's not limited to a specific ringtone or app. How can I troubleshoot this? Thanks!

Are you using built-in ringtones, or your own audio files like MP3s?

I am using ringtones installed via the Zedge app. I checked, the builtin ringtones ring fine and repeat, but not the ones from Zedge.

In recent Android versions in order for a ringtone to repeat on a loop, MP3 and OGG files must include a label in their metadata called android_loop with a value set to "true".  If you are not using built-in ringtones (that already have this label,) your files most likely do not have this label in their metadata.
You can use a number of freeware utilities (such as WinAmp, for example) to edit the metadata of OGG files and set this flag, or MP3Tag for MP3 files.

Thanks for your answer!! I installed those ringtones via the Zedge app, and after checking they are indeed missing the android_loop tag set to "true". However, after adding the tag those ringtones still don't repeat! Is there anything else I can try? Thanks!

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


text:
8GB Nextbook8 only showing .98GB internal storage
Running 4.4.2 KitKat. Does the OS really take up 7GB? I've only got like 5 games downloaded and already running out of space for apps. :(

Is "Does the OS take up 7GB?" actually your question, or do you have a more substantial one?

and welcome to the Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange.
Android partitions are an odd subject, especially when you're used to Windows-esque devices.  Android runs on a version of Linux, and it's root directories are split up into partitions on your device.  When a manufacturer says their device is 8GB, they mean exactly that - in total, you have 8GB.
All the Linux partitions on your device each have their own allotment of storage space.  For example, /recovery may take 200MB, /cache may take 1GB, etc etc.  Long story short is this: with an 8GB tablet, yes, the OS will take up a substantial amount of storage space.  I'm guessing you have around 1GB free to install applications.


text:
Why can I see '/' in a file manager when my device is not rooted?
My device is not rooted: I have rooted it before, but I did a full factory reset using the Nexus Factory Images. Root Checker tells me it's not rooted, and SuperSU tells me that it cannot find SU Binaries. However, when using multiple file managers, they can all see the '/' folder, and all the folders and files beneath it. I thought that root was required to do this. Is this correct, or am I imagining things? How can my device can see these? When actually going into Cheetah Mobile's File Manager Settings and checking the 'Root Explorer' option that apparently allows me to see the '/' folder, it says is cannot gain root access. How come multiple file managers let me see this folder? Thanks in advance.

You may want to be careful about using Cheetah apps based on a new report out about Cheetah, and Google Play actions against them. See this: https://www.xda-developers.com/google-bans-600-apps-play-store/.

I thought that root was required to do this.

That's not quite right. Any user can see that directory, but only root can write to it. Directories lower down the hierarchy such as /data/data are not world-readable, so while you'll be able to see that that directory exists, you won't be able to see its contents on an unrooted device.
Some file managers choose not to offer the option to display system directories like the root directory unless the device is rooted, simply because it's not very useful to do so when you can't see the contents of some of its subdirectories or change it.

Also, there are some r/w directories outside the sdcard path, as e.g. /data/local, which are useful to access is specific cases.

authors: Владислав Небеснюк

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


text:
Will Google play store auto update in future if I install latest store APK manually for now?
I'm desperately waiting for play store to update to 4.9.13, now it's been three weeks since update release and I'm losing control now. I want to ask that for now if I update play store manually with the latest APK from android police website, will I receive next update as an OTA or will I have to update it manually? And will there be any problem if I install play store update manually with APK?
Thanks in advance!

Yes, It will :)
I do this all the time when a update comes up and available to my phone.
I too am using Play Store 4.9.13.
Even if this doesn't work out, you can uninstall updates in app settings in your phone.


text:
How to partition SD card on Android 4.1.1 using Linux?
Hi I have a HTC Desire X and this device has a SD CARD with 16 Gb. I want to extend my memory using Link2D. I read I have to make partitions on my SD Card. The problem is that I do not know how. If I connect my phone in debugging mode with my Linux Mint laptop, it will connect with MTP and therefore I cannot use a partitioning tool. The Team Win Recovery Project Partitioning Tool (2.5) fails while partitioning the card and installing the app "APparted" or a busybox fail as well. How can I partition my SD card in the phone using Linux or Android?
The phone is rooted and SU is installed.

Is this an external SD card?  If so, you can simply remove it from the SD card slot, and use either an SD card reader on the laptop, which may be built in, or you can get a cheap adapter that takes an SD card, and acts like a USB drive.  I've seen them on Amazon for as little as $2.25 including shipping, or nicer ones for $5 - $10.  Search for "sd card reader" to see.
Then, you can use gparted to partition it.  Just make sure to use the correct filesystem(s).

Yes it is an external SD Card and actually I wanted to avoid it to buy an adapter.

I have several that came with the sd cards. They can be useful, especially if you decide to simply use the extra memory for media files; you can have multiple cards, and set them up on the desktop for later use in the phone.  It's also faster, I believe.

@IrgendwPointer I would advise against partitioning in the phone, or even in most built-in laptop SD Card readers.  Many of those don't properly write partition tables, and will corrupt the card, requiring another round of re-partitioning. A basic stand-alone SD Card reader is heaps more reliable.


text:
How can I tell if I need a valid SIM card (active phone #) on my old Smartphone to use an App?
I gave my old Moto RazrM phone to my daughter. The phone and Mobile internet had stopped working. So it only has wifi. It also has not valid phone "account".
Will this limit her ability to use Apps?
If so, how can I tell when that's causing problems?
(Several apps/games she's downloaded are not working. And at least one of them worked previously.

The phone service (which includes texting) is a feature of the Android.  Tablets don't have this feature.
Without being connected to a phone provider will cause you to loose features the service provide.  However other features of the Android OS will not be affected.  You don't need phone service to use many apps.  Also there are many apps that can be used without Internet service (as long as you have a means (such as USB tethering to get the app on the device.
In other words the Android device should function very similar to a computer that works offline with applications installed and online when connected to the Internet.


text:
Other than comma, are there any supported pause characters in a dialing string?
On a Blackberry, a phone contact with the form:
1-800-555-1212 x1234#12#7#123456
1-800-555-1212 ext1234#12#7#123456
1-800-555-1212,,,1234#12#7#123456
all worked.
On my Android (Samsung Galaxy S5 with 4.4 Kitkat) the shortcut x, and ext do not work. You are supposed to use a comma (actually three).
However, Outlook (in Office2010 at least) will not let you save a contact as:
1-800-555-1212,,,1234#12#7#123456
It insists on inserting a space before the commas.  But Android sees the space as end of phone number processing. Interestingly, it lets you enter this in a Meeting location, or as a string in an email, and Android will process this properly.
Are there any alternate pause characters I could try, so as to get around this Outlook limitation?

Have you tried  "P"  for pause gives a timed pause on remote phone and at least some other phones.   Use more than one if you need additional pause time.

A long-press on the * key on my Samsung Galaxy SIII's Phone application's Keypad corresponds to the P next to the * and inserts a comma, which as this site explains, on Android inserts a pause allowing for special characters to be entered once the phone number has been dialed.


text:
Are 'Apple/Android Specific' USB charging ports really different?
I have a portable battery with two USB ports. One is labelled Android and one is labelled Apple. Apparently each has charging circuits optimized for that particular type of device. This sounds unlikely to me (both ports appear to charge my Android device just fine), but I don't know much about it, especially regarding Apple devices. Is there any truth behind this? What is the difference between the ports and can I charge any device using either of the ports? I've also seen tablet and phone specific charging ports. Do they simply differ by maximum output current?

Here's an article you may find useful: http://lifehacker.com/does-it-matter-which-charger-i-use-922783980.  The short answer is yes. Using a charger made to deliver a different power than your phone is designed to take can be damaging (in the long run) to your phone and battery. It depends on the charger really.

Thanks for the link. However that article seems to imply that the only thing that matters is amperage. Of course voltage is important too but won't that always be 5V for USB chargers?

I looked at that lifehacker article, and was surprised that it was only one year old - it sounded like it was really old.  It was too simplistic and general.  It doesn't really address the real issues.

There are two USB charging standards; the official one and the Apple one. You can get a copy of the offical one from usb.org. How charging works depends on whether you are connected to a computer, USB hub or wall socket. For the sake of this discussion I'll just talk about wall sockets, what the USB spec refers to as a Dedicated Charging Port (DCP). Per the USB2.0 spec, a DCP shall short the D+ line to the D- line and supply 0.5 to 5.0A at 4.75V - 5.25V. However, a device being charged cannot draw more than 1.5A. (http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/devclass_docs/BCv1.2_070312.zip)
Apple tends to do things its own way and the charger identifies itself to the device by the voltage it applies to the D+ and D- lines. A little write up is here https://learn.adafruit.com/minty-boost/icharging. An anecdotal story; I used to work for Nokia so had Nokia phones. I had a car charger that wouldn't charge the phone very fast but it was iPhone compatible. I pulled it apart and shorted the D+ and D- pins so to matched the USB spec and it then charged the phone properly.
One more thing to point out; it is the battery charging circuit in the device being charged that determines how much current it draws, not the charger. Of course if your device can draw 1000mA and you only use a 800mA charger then it won't charge as fast as it could but plugging it into a 1200mA charger won't make it charge any faster.

USB chargers supply 5v and are capable of 500ma. That much is standard. These days we have chargers with higher current capabilities - that is, they are able to supply more current if the device tries to draw more. An Apple compatible USB charger connects to the USB data lines as well, in a way that tells an Apple device what the charger's current capability is; that device in turn, only tries to draw that much.
USB chargers don't "push" current. They are, up to their current limit, (more or less) constant-voltage power supplies. Using a charger with a capacity for supplying more current than the device needs does not mean that it will push any more current at the device than the device can handle; that is controlled by the device. Using a charger with a lower current capacity than the device needs will reduce the charging rate, or the charger's voltage will fall as it tries to keep up and the device will be unable to charge properly.

I've done a little research on this (well I read the Wikipedia article on USB) and it seems that for fast charging there are two standards: the Apple one, and the non-Apple one.
So yes, the two ports on your portable battery are different.
The real question is - does it matter?
My experience is that some devices don't care which socket they are plugged into, and others do care.
For example:
I just bought a no-brand wall-wart charger and it works great with my iPad (1.5A measured current), works slowly with my Android phone (0.5A) and works not at all with my Windows8 tablet. A bit of investigation with a multimeter showed that it is built to the Apple fast charge spec.
Another charger which is non-Apple spec works great with the Windows tablet (1A), the phone (0.8A), and also to my surprise, with the iPad (1.5A).

actually every apple device I saw, ONLY charges on apple's chargers and Macs, so I think the port is 'modified' to be used with apple devices, something to identify that the charger is from apple
But when we talk about android, anything with >4.5 volts will charge the phone, but it depends on the charging current, plus, I have a tablet that doesn't charge on PC because my PC gives around ~350, but that's for a tablet, the original charger is around 2A, the tablet puts a red " mark on the battery to tell you it isn't charging, but actually it's charging but the current is less then the usage.. Actually I notice it to charge some percents after hours, and if you turn the device off, it will charge but a bit slow

Conclusion

Android: will charge on >4.5 even if it says not charging
Apple:  need the charger to be verified that it's from apple before it can charge
NOTE: I'm not pretty sure about apple devices because I haven't used much, maybe someone will correct me or maybe help you better

Thanks. Yes -- I lack experience with Apple devices too. Perhaps I should ask this question again in the Apple stackexchange.

Be careful about using a single, or very limited number of devices, to make general conclusions.  Only a little of what you posted is true.  My wife's iphone will charge from my Samsung charger.  She's at work, so I pulled out my old iPod touch 1 and 2, and both charge from my HTC charger, my LG charger, and my Samsung tablet charger.  Also, the USB spec is 5 volts, at 500 ma; any less is a defective charger.  If the charger is not designed for the specific device, it may require a special "charge-only" cable to charge quicker, like from Mediabridge, etc.

Yes they are. They may charge normally, charge slower, or not charge at all.

My experience is that it does matter, but it's not so simple, because not all Android devices are the same.  Some Android devices will charge just fine from an Apple charger, some will charge slowly (regardless of amperage), and some will not charge at all.  Plus, I've found that there is some variability among the Apple chargers.
For example, I have a couple of Scosche USBC202M Dual 10 Watt car chargers that are pretty nice; they are mainly designed for iphones, and they work fine on my wife's iphone, and on my LG G2 (at the full rate, as monitored by Android Tuner Pro), but my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 doesn't even register it as being connected, even using a charge-only cable or adapter.  Yet I have another car charger, also made mainly for iphone, that works on all 3 devices.
I suspect that many newer Android devices may now be compatible, where they were not in the past, although I have no evidence of this.
Traditionally, and perhaps currently to some degree, Android devices will not charge at currents above 500 ma (USB standard) unless you use a charge-only cable, which shorts together certain pins to force it into higher current mode.
So, the bottom line is, it may work fine, it may work at reduced current, or it may not work at all, depending on brand. Much of the time, when people say it works for their device, they don't have a clue whether it's working at full output.

Thanks. I am a little surprised that not all Android devices would charge from any particular micro USB lead (I assumed in that case any device would charge given enough current).  I suppose my main confusion arises around Apple devices since I have no experience with them and from what I've read their devices require some kind of 'special' charging circuit. I may ask this again in the Apple stack exchange to see if people there can tell me more about this from the Apple side of things.

The problem arises because the standard USB (1 and 2, anyway) spec only allows for 500ma without special software (the driver) to determine when a device needs more.  Apple's software works differently than a PC's (no surprise), but any manufacturer can write drivers to do whatever they want. Then, the charger needs to simulate whatever the driver would do.


text:
Can i read the RAM and CPU usage of other applications-Android
I want to know whether is it possible to monitor the CPU, RAM, Network and Battery usage of each and every application installed in my device through my application dynamically? Does Android's security policy allow this to be done?

Probably you are looking for something like this app.

Yes. To get such elaborate details, does the phone needs to be rooted?

Yes. This requires root.


text:
moving apps to my SD card on my Xperia E 4.1.1
Okay, I have an Xperia E android 4.1.1. It has 2 GB internal space and so I got an 8 GB SD card. I noticed that any app I download occupies space in my internal memory. I tried moving them to SD card but I can't do it in the way given on Google - Settings>apps>manage>move to SD card. When I go to my settings I don't get any Manage Applications. I just get my apps and there are options like Move to phone or Move to Internal Storage. I also tried App2SD. But it didn't work. Isn't there any other alternative than rooting my mobile? Please help

Rooting is the only option.

Android no longer natively supports moving apps to SD Card.  Some manufacturers that ship phones with SD Card slot (like Samsung, for example) often do include this functionality.  Apparently Sony is not one of these manufacturers, so you will not be able to use your SD Card for app storage with their stock firmware.
If you decide to root your device, you will be able to use apps such as Link2SD to move apps to your SD Card.  Note that you will need to re-partition your SD Card (and re-format it) in a special way to be able to take advantage of this feature.  You will also not be able to easily swap the SD Cards in and out, as it will become an "extension" of your phone's internal memory.


text:
Is it possible to control the strength of the vibration of the phone when ringing?
When the phone is ringing, is it possible to set such that it gradually increase the strength of vibration instead a predefined strength of vibration? (When the vibration mode is turn on but the ringer tone is muted)
The concept is something like the 'gentle alarm clock' that will wake me gently, rather than jolting me from my slumber. (It work by having the alarm that gradually grows louder and louder until it becomes impossible to sleep through.)

No. Android doesn't give apps a way to control the strength of the vibration, so you won't find an app that can do this for you.
That said, there's an app that claims to be able to change the vibration strength on Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 phones, using a device-specific method that requires root. Some users report that it doesn't work at all, but if it does work and you have a supported device, and your device is rooted, you may be able to find an app that does what you want.


text:
Is it possible to make my phone as a remote shutter?
Is it possible to set a android phone to act as a remote shutter that can connect multiple devices (phones and/or camera) via bluetooth to take photos?

I don't know any cameras with a Bluetooth shutter interface. Are you sure yours can do this?

These types of remote shutters usually rely on a more standard 3.5mm jack to plug into the camera. The only Bluetooth solution I know of is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Bluetooth-Wireless-EOS-D2000-Compatible/dp/B00ANWQMWK
but unfortunately it looks like its only for Canon DSLRs with a hotshoe.

Yes you can use your android phone to act as a remote shutter for certain digital cameras. Helicon Remote, Remote Release and DslrDashboard  are popular apps that uses USB OTG cable to control various Canon and Nikon DSLRs. EOS Remote is an app from Canon tailormade for its EOS series for DSLRs but it makes of use of wifi though. The only application with description that makes use of both bluetooth and IR to control your camera is DSLR Remote Plus by bitshift. Try the free version available in playstore to check the compatibility with your devices. If satisfied buy the donate version and help the developer.


text:
Why does the YubiKey Neo only use Firefox, not Chrome?
I want to use the YubiKey NEO with Chrome, and when I tap the NFC sensor to the phone, the only app I can use is Firefox.
I would like to have SSO work with Chrome, but not sure how they were able to make Firefox listen for NFC events.

Have you tried doing it with Chrome already in the foreground? Android gives the foreground activity priority to handle NFC tags, but only if the activity asks for it.

Yes, I tried it.  My only choices are Firefox and now after I installed it, YubiClip.

7 years later, preliminary research showed that back then in 2016, it needs the Google Authenticator app to work (1, 2). Fast forward to 2020, looks like Chrome is using Google Play Services (and also Google Authenticator) as the backend (3). I don't have YubiKey to test, but I'd assume that it's now working on Chrome, except that it may still not shown as an option when tapping the NFC.

Have you tried clearing your defaults for your browser? If you have Firefox set as your default browser, anytime anything on your phone makes a request that needs to be handled by a browser, Firefox will start up by default with no other options.
You can easily tell if Firefox is set by default by tapping a link in another application, such as email or Facebook.  If you are presented with a list of apps to choose from to open the link (e.g. Firefox or Chrome) and 2 buttons - one to use the chosen app every time to open links moving forward, and one to open the link with that app just this one time only - you have no default browser set.  If instead when you click on the link Firefox opens immediately, Firefox is set as your default.  This could be what is happening here with your YubiKey.


text:
How can I re-arrange sharing application icons?
When I click on Share from within an application, say an RSS reader, I will see a multitude of choices. See screenshot.

How can I re-arrange it so that my often used applications such as Hangouts and GMail can be moved to the top of the list of applications?

With the built-in "Share" menu, that's not possible AFAIR. However, there are alternatives available – I know of two: AppChooser and AndMade Share:

AppChooser (list view / grid view) and AndMade Share (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
I'm using the paid variant of AppChooser, and am quite happy with it. As above screenshots show, you can sort the list alphabetically. You can also hide items you don't need (they still show up if you select "ALL" at the bottom). If you didn't order them alphabetically, items are listed in a "last recently used" manner – which keeps your frequently used apps at the top of the list automatically. Works great, I'm using this for quite a while now.
AndMade Share has a paid variant as well. In the third screenshot above you can see its advantage: you can sort your list manually as you like. Which one to chose, is rather a matter of taste :) Both hook into the "share intent" – so on your first "share" after installing one of them, you will be asked whether to use the built-in share menu or your new alternative. I did so, and made AppChooser Pro the "always use" default variant – never regretted that or turned it back :)

authors: Юрий Воробьев


text:
No Internet when another Android device is connected to router
Like the titles says, i have a weird problem.
I have a brand new device A (Android phone V4.2, manufacturer is called "Vivax"-not very popular outside Europe), which is having problems accessing internet.
Internet works only if there is no other smartphones connected to router.If the other phone (some older Samsung) is connected, there is no internet access on the device A.If i disconnect the Samsung device, turn wifi off and back on on device A, it can browse internet.
But if the other phone is connected, there is no internet access at all.
I checked the router and i think it is using WPA2 encryption.Also, there is no IP address conflict.
Anybody have any ideas what could be the problem?

uboat55 seeks clarification: What if you reserve an IP for device A on your router?

by reserving I guess uboat55 means to .. suggest the use of static IP address. you can configure your router to work with static IP address instead of a dhcp service.which I also feel should do the trick .
configure your router with fixed IP address and latter use that IP address.
or you can even try to assign IP address directly to ur device A. without changing any thing on the router part.
just remember the IP address range.
eg
192.168.1xx.xxx to 192.168.255.254
and chose any one IP address within that range .
and remember the default subnet I.e 255.255.xxx.xxx or something similar
and the router IP address and use this on ur mobile .

If you want to add more information to an answer, you do this by clicking [edit] and editing it. Don't post a whole new answer to add more information, or the page will become very hard to read!


text:
something permanetly reset my email accounts from installed mail applications (Samsung Note II stock and Gmail app)
I've met with a very annoying and strange issue regarding email applications on my Samsung Galaxy Note II. My search in Google across multiple Android forums has has not given any result. I used for about a year on this device Samsung's stock email application to work with my mail accounts at some local mail servers and Gmail server. Also I used Gmail stock email app to work with my several Gmail accounts (some of them are the same as in Samsung's stock email app and some are different).
One nice day several weeks ago I've suddenly disclosed, that all my mail accounts in the both apps are totally removed, that is all accounts settings and data (incoming messages loaded in the local cache, my drafts etc). When I called any of these two app, it starts as the very first time, that is offers me to configure any account before I can start using the app.
Futhermore, the default Google account in the general stock settining ssof the account has been removed too.
I have restored all accounts in the both apps and the default Google account in the device`s general settings. But several days later I've suddenly found out, that the both apps had reset and were empty again. Well, I've configured them once more... and now they are empty again.
I suppose, that this issue is very probably conncted to the fact, that I use the same Google account as default account on two different Android devices, that is Samsung Galaxy Note II and LG G-2. Well, I have read here at the forum many different topics with the same questions, whether it is OK to use the same Google account as a default one on multiple devices, and the answer was always "Yes, without any problems". But seems, that the matter is not so simple. Anyway I can not imagine any other reason for such strange behaviour. Furthermore I suspect, that the problem occurred the first time after I've bought and configured my second device LG G2. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to be so.
What seems to be essential, all data and setting of these email accounts on my LG device is not affected any way.
Are there any ideas how could I detect and fix this issue? It is impossible use my Note II this way.
Many thanks in advance!

Since it's not caused by using the same account on two devices, you'll have to give us some more clues. Did you install any new apps around the time it started? Have you been clearing any app's data from the settings?

Yes, I have installed some new apps in the meanwile. But I very doubt, whether some of them can be connected to to this issue. Anyway none of these new apps deals directly or indirectly with email, even less should they handle my device's general system settings.

Well, some days ago I have uninstalled antivirus software Norton Antivirus (or something lalike, I don't rememeber the exact name of the app). Could it take with it my email accounts data from the two main email applications? I'm not sure. The problem is, that I have not noticed the exact moment, when the data has gone.

Well, like the other forum I would also say there's just no problem with using two or more devices over a single gmail account. I remembered you said that "local mail servers and Gmail server"data gets deleted. I think that might happen because of something else i.e not related only with the gmail account. Do one thing try factory resetting your device and then try putting the gmail account back in place and see if that again disappears or not!
PS: Make sure you backup your data before moving forward with the factory resetting.

Thank you for your advice, but during many months I have tried so hard to configure my device and installed applications accoring to my needs... So I'd pefer not to lose all my custom settings unless we make a conclusion for sure, that there is no any sofer solution.

Well, I am sorry but I can't think of any softer solution for fixing this issue up !

authors: Зока Сайфуллаев


text:
What causes Android to have slow WiFi performance?
I have a Samsung Galaxy SII (GT-I9100 with Android 4.0.3) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1(GT-P7500 on Android 4.0.4). They both perform awfully slow on WiFi for internet related Apps.
Either Facebook, YouTube, Any web browser (Chrome, Mozilla, Dolphin and native) perform like if the WiFi connection was a slow one. Frequent time-outs in Play Store, videos taking forever to buffer, etc.
I Know for sure that at least at home the router/modem is not the issue, as I can have two laptops running Windows consumming WiFi at normal speeds, i.e. each one streaming a video on YouTube without pauses for buffering, but at the same time, one of my androids woul not even be capable of playing the same video, or take, say 1 minute to load a page that on my laptop loads in 2-3 seconds. The same happens in other WiFi Networks I connect them to. My devices have developed this behavior from 10-8 months ago and it has slowly worsened over time,
Is this something related to the Android Operating system? Could it be one of my apps? And if it is one of the apps, how can I identify and kill it?
It does not seem to be a disconnecting from network problem, I get steady connection indicator.
Note: I consider myself almost a lean user: I don´t keep a lot of apps and dont usually leave running the ones I use (i.e. I close the browsers, the facebook app, etc, and constantly check whether apps are running with the app manager).
Note 2: These devices sometimes work faster on 3G, wich doesn't make much sense because here in my country the provider is not very good and many of the cell towers(antenas) are clogged with a too many users. In these cases I normally get the normal, expected lag of such network.


text:
Variants of Samsung Galaxy S5
I am planing to buy Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. However, I am confused between the variants of this phone. The following versions are available in my country but when I click on each of the variants, the site doesn't specify any difference between the versions.

Samsung Galaxy S5 3G G900H
Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900H
Samsung Galaxy S5 4G LTE G900F

What are the differences between these variants? Especially between

1 & 2
2 & 3

The 3G G900H and the SM-G900H are the same, but SM-G900H is the proper name for it.
Now that we know those two devices are the same, we can compare the SM-G900H with the G900F-
SM-G900H
Only supports 3G HSPA+ networks, no LTE support, and will work nearly everywhere in the world except some markets in north/south america
Uses an Exynos 5 Octa 5422 processor (Split into a quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15, and a quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7)
Does not have a good development community for custom recoveries/ROMs
SM-G900F
European model
Supports LTE networks (bands 1,3,5,7,8,20)
Uses a Snapdragon 801 (quad core 2.5 GHz)
Has a fairly good development community (custom recoveries/ROMs/etc)
Benchmark

Misc
SM-G900H has a 133 MHz higher stock RAM speed than the SM-g900f, supports hardware assisted virtualization, and is generally more power efficient.

I just looked up US T-Mobile LTE band and it is stated to be 4. Does it mean none of these models will have LTE on US T-Mobile network?

Pacnet presented the main differences, here is a detailed comparison:

Some local variants:
Samsung SM-G900F for Europe
Samsung SM-G900I for Asia
Samsung SM-G900K/G900L/G900S for Korea
Samsung SM-G900M for Vodafone
Samsung SM-G900A for AT&T
Samsung SM-G900T for T-Mobile

3G Network  HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - SM-G900F
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - SM-G900M
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - SM-G900A
HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - SM-G900T
4G Network  LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - SM-G900F
LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - SM-G900M
LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - SM-G900A
LTE 700 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - SM-G900T

all of those variant have same hardware (SM-G900F).

A longer list:
Galaxy S5 SM-G900F - LTE 800/850/900/1800/1900/2100/2600 Europe(LTE Variants) for Europe
Galaxy S5 SM-G900HNO - Europe(3G Variants octa-core)
Galaxy S5 SM-G900I - LTE 700/850/900/1800/1900/2100/2300/2600 Asia
Galaxy S5 SM-G900K - LTE 700/900/1800/2100/2600 Korea
Galaxy S5 SM-G900L - LTE 600/850/1800/2100 Korea
Galaxy S5 SM-G900S - LTE 600/850/1800/2100 Korea
Galaxy S5 SM-G900W8 - LTE 700/850/900/1800/1900/2100/2600 Canada
Galaxy S5 SM-G900M - LTE 700/850/1700/1900/2100/2600 USA for Vodafone
Galaxy S5 SM-G900A - LTE 700/850/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 USA for AT&T
Galaxy S5 SM-G900T - LTE 700/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 USA for T-Mobile
Galaxy S5 SM-G900T1 - LTE 850/900/1800/1900 USA for MetroPCS
Galaxy S5 SM-G900P - LTE 850/900/1800/1900 USA for Sprint
Galaxy S5 SM-G900R4 - LTE 700/850/1700/1900/2100 USA for US Cellular
Galaxy S5 SM-G900V - LTE 700/1700/2100 USA for Verizon

FYI: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/89990/12202
There is also the Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos SM-G900FD, a.k.a. Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos LTE, which is pretty much like the SM-G900F but dual-SIM.

authors: Ольга Муравьева


text:
USB debugging doesn't work - switches off automatically
I have a Xolo Q800 phone with following specs. I'm trying to connect the device to my Macbook Pro with OS X Mavericks, Android Studio / Eclipse and adb working perfectly.
XOLO Q800
Android 4.2.1 (Upgraded, device came with 4.1.2)
Rooted
Mediatek MT6589M Chipset
Quad-core 1.2 GHz Processor
1GB RAM
Recently I noticed I'm not able to connect this device to any machine as USB Debugging will switch off automatically almost immediately.
Settings > Development > USB Debugging.
After I switch it on, the device reconnects to the computer but is not detected by adb.
On device go back one menu and again in Development, I see USB Debugging as disabled.
It used to work perfectly before as I have used this device earlier for development.
Not sure if the update to 4.2.1 broke it as I do not remember any issues after it.
Can anyone please give some pointers here? The manufacturer support is pretty non existing in this matter.

http://android.stackexchange.com/q/63444/53576 this may help

I had same issue, if you follow these steps you should be able to see your device.

Install SAMSUNG USB Driver v1.5.33.0 from here.
Restart your PC.
Connect qolo q800 and enable USB debugging.
Go to device manager and click on update software
Choose browse my computer for software. Then choose 'let me pick'
Choose adb interface

Thats it. Open eclipse and make your minimum SDK is 4.2.1(API level 16) or below.


text:
remove locked by android device manager message
I have played with Android device manager and I have blocked my phone. I have deblocked but everytime my phone enters into standyby it apears me the message "locked by android device manager" and I have to enter the password again.
Do you know how to remove this message?

Remove "locked by android device manager" without factory reset.
Here are the steps:

Ask the owner in order to get the passcode or password
(Once you have the passcode or password) Go to settings > Lock screen
Enter passcode or password
Select none or whatever you choose to use
In order to see it, swipe down from the area at the top (Notification panel)
You will see a new (android device manager icon) at the top of your screen. The icon looks like a raindrop (green in color) with a bullseye (white in color) icon inside the circle
Tap and hold the ADM (Android Device Manager) icon
Tap app info
Tap Manage Space
Tap clear all data

Now the icon has been removed.

You can remove the password from Settings -> Security -> Screen lock, enter the specified password and choose your desired new lock type. If you previously didn't have a PIN, Pattern or Password lock, use the Slide option.

I've done that but it keept apearing me the same message. I had to restore all the settings to make it work again.

Yes. I had to perform a factory reset, because I think I've tried everything. Changed the password on android device manager and blocked again. It appeared the new password, I have deblocked again, went to Settings -> Security -> Screen lock entered the new password and I choose None. I restarted the phone but it keept appearing me the text "locked by android device manager". After the phone ringed on phone that I set on androide device manager I could enter the phone without entering the pasword.
So I performed a factory reset and erased everything from the phone and got rid of all the problems.
I use an zte blade q maxi phone.

Go to settings >display >security >credential storage> clear credential..
It will do it for you :)

Not sure how that should be related. The settings you refer to are security certificates for SSL you've added yourself (e.g. for websites using self-signed certificates). Even if there were any related certificates, that would just affect the ability to access a site/server, but certainly not a device-manager lock. Can you give a reference?

The key to unlocking and removing this is hard for the galaxy note 3. I had to reset the password multiple times because with the note 3 if you put a passcode it wont let you,but if you put a password it will always be wrong...So the only solution is putting in the orignal password instead of the device manager.
I tried to put a new password on my phone because my mom changed my password and wouldn't tell me because I got a C+ on my report card. She acts like she pays the bill for it.
The ultimate thing to do is not to put a password on it from device manager!

Get into the phone change the password to a pin like 1234. Go back to find my phone and set the lock phone on the find my phone to the same pin you already have your phone set to. Used LGL21G

Ok so here's how I fixed mine on Moto X.
Go to Settings>Security>ScreenLock>ClearCredentials
Go back to Screen lock, the option to choose "None" as the screen lock is now available.
Thanks for the help Sumit Sharma :)


text:
Backup to SD card in kit kat
Is there a backup program that will allow me to back up directly to my SD card in Kit Kat without an internet connection?
I currently am forced to back up to the internal storage {after clearing space} then copying to the SD card, then deleteing the copy on my internal storage.  this wastes much time and effort.  My phone storage is only 2.8GB free, but my SD card has 28.0GB free.

What exactly are you currently backing up, and how? Are you using some 3rd-party app or tool?

I purchased MyBackup Pro a while back. I have backups from that going back over a year.  I would be willing to pay for an ubgrade, but they refuse to fix the software.

There is a very good method of making backup even for non-rooted devices but it will make backup on a PC. See here

I'm not sure what you're wanting to back up, but most backup applications on the Play Store will do this for you.  Examples are MyBackup Root, Titanium Backup, and Helium.
EDIT:  Scratch that.  As mentioned by Izzy in the comments below, you must be rooted for these apps to work, as there is a..."feature"...in Android 4.4 KitKat that prevents "rouge" SD Card access: link

Not without root, sorry – not on Kitkat (except maybe on Huawei devices). You forgot about the mess Google created with the SDCard permissions on Kitkat, I'm afraid ;)

UGH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT UGH I HATE KITKAT (I fixed that as soon as it happened and haven't worried about it sense, so I completely forgot haha)

"If we cannot force manufacturers not to use SDCards – we can at least care for them being unusable". A Nexus has no such, thus the UX on it isn't affected. And no warning in advance, which is the biggest thing to blame.

Actually you do NOT need root.  Doggcatcher writes to the SD card on my unrooted phone.  You simply must use a space on the card that you (each app) owns.

These answers are incorrect.  Apps CAN WRITE TO THE SD CARD ON UNROOTED PHONES.  The only res G eiction is that they must write thier own locations.  Doggcatcher writes many GB to my SD card every week.

@RobertFarley that is correct, however, backup apps are considered to write arbitrarily when moving devices and ROMs. It's a known issue with many prominent apps, such as Titanium and MyBackup

@RobertFarley while apps may be able to write to the SD card without root access, apps cannot read the root folder of internal storage without root access, only the public folders. Thus, it will never be a complete backup.

KitKat all but broke any usefulness of SD cards. The solution is to export your backup to your PC. The sad thing is this is easier than using your SD card. Use a program like SnapPea or one of the many others like it.
To root most KitKat devices, you can download towelroot APK. Do a quick Google search for it. Go to settings, allow apps from other sources. I think it's in developer options, been a while since I needed it. Install with the Package installer. Open and click make it rain. Now you will either reboot and be rooted or nothing will happen. Install SuperSU. Update binaries, install BusyBox. Install your choice of backup apps.


text:
Nexus 10 does not show stacktraces anymore
I have an Nexus 10 with Android 4.4.4 (Stock, no root).
Today I noticed a strange behaviour: When an App crashes, the device doesn't show the Stacktrace in Logcat.
I purposely implemented a Bug in an App (parseInt("A)") without any try/catch. If I execute this on Nexus 10 the App just freezes and shows the "App isn't responding" Dialog
In Logcat it shows only one line: threadid=1: thread exiting with uncaught exception.
Does anyone know how I can get my Stacktraces back?

How are you viewing the log output? Very likely you've forgotten you have a filter set on it which is hiding the exception output.

I already checked for filters. I tried viewing it on IDE and Console on different computers.

Did you recently switched to ART? Maybe this stuff is hiding StackTraces.

Hi, no, haven't tried ART on this device yet. Also did a factory reset that didn't help.

I am facing the same problem, my real device is not showing stacktrace but avd is showing. this happened when I installed a custom ROM in the device. I haven't found any solution yet.


text:
Exchange calendar syncs to Android, but not to Google
I feel as though I am missing a simple configuration change on my Android device.  I recently setup my work Exchange account on my Galaxy S4.  My calendar entries from Exchange show up on my Android calendar just fine.  However, I want those entries to actually get pushed to my Google calendar.
Is there an easy way to have my Android device push those events to my Google calendar instead of keeping them local to the phone calendar itself?

possible duplicate of Sync 'droid with Outlook

@Chahk I don't think that question is related. The person who asked that question wasn't using Exchange at all, and wanted Outlook on a PC synced with a Google calendar.

@DanHulme The solution is the same though. Unfortunately neither Google nor Microsoft provide a way to integrate their calendars with each other. In order to have a true sync (not just see both entries in Android's calendar app) you have to use a 3rd-party software running on your Windows machine. Related recent article on the subject

@Chahk The dupe suggestion is the reverse of what the user wants. I've shared a possible solution, but I can't test it because of security policies in our company.

Share the ICS URL of your Exchange to Google Calendar.
From an Oregon State University HOWTO:

Click on Calendar in the lower left corner
You should see all your calendars in front of you. On the left side of the window, you should see the list of calendars and their names. Under My Calendars, right click the one you wish to add to your Google account.
After right clicking your chosen calendar, right click, go Share > Publish This Calendar (Publish This Calendar to the Internet)
A new window will pop up. Select the options for which best suit you.
When complete, press Start Publishing in the lower right corner.
A couple of urls will show up for you to copy. Find the one that ends in .ics and copy that whole url.
Go to Google Calendar
When logged in to view your calendar, go find Other Calendars on the left side of the window
After finding Other Calendars, there should be a box with a triangle in it to the right of the text. Click that box and find Add by URL.
A popup will show up. In this popup, you want insert the .ics URL from your Outlook here.
Press Add Calendar below.


text:
Do all Android devices have USB OTG support?
I am using  celkon A98. The specification of my device says it does not have USB OTG support ..  I tried OTG troubleshooter app... it says USB host is supported ... Do I have USB host functionality **or was that a bug in the **OTG troubleshooter app ?
L

the manufacturer should make the kernal to support OTG

No, not all Android devices have USB-on-the-go support. GSMArena claims that your device doesn't, but they'll only be going on the specification.
The tool could be reporting that your phone has the software support for acting as a USB host, but unless the hardware also supports USB-OTG, that's not going to help you.

Actually all androd 3.0+ devices have the hardware facility ... @Dan Hulme

@Joe_Vj_95 That's quite a bold claim. I'd be interested to know where you heard it.

@DanHulme check Android official docs at http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/index.html: "USB accessory and host modes are directly supported in Android 3.1 (API level 12) or newer platforms"

@GuidoGarcía That doesn't say anything about the hardware, just that the OS supports it.

authors: w̢in̡͢g͘̕ed̨p̢͟a͞nt̡͜͝he̸r̴


text:
Android/HTC One screen anomaly?
I was wondering what has happened to my HTC One. Is it a hardware issue or an Android/software issue?
The screen has usually moved half way between when I enter and exit any app. Since a picture speaks a thousand words:

Notice in the picture/screenshot from my phone, that I have a partial view of both screens. That is strange and I am not sure what the problem is.

I've seen this once or twice on my old Galaxy Nexus and even on my Moto X, where a swipe from one screen to the next seems to have gotten stuck half way. If a restart hasn't fixed it, try clearing the data for the launcher.

Happens on my Galaxy S4 the odd time. Sometimes it's due to a little sweat or dirt on the screen, sometimes it seems to be the launcher. Why not install a free launcher (I love nova personally) and see if it persists. You can swap back to blinkfeed at any time and see. Narrow it down to software issue hopefully and proceed from there!

It most certainly is not a hardware related issue.
I would begin by rebooting the device.

Rebooted. Problem still occurs. Do you think it might be some sort of micro-crack propagation in the screen?

The screen still responds to touch when you slide left-right ?

Yes, the screen responds to swiping and returns to its "correct" state of being centered on a single screen.

If this was a hardware issue, the whole screen including the notification bar and the bottom menu would be shifted, and it wouldn't appear in screenshots.

Rebooting doesn't help, and a hardware issue is very unlikely... Clearing the data and Cache for the Launcher app would be next step.
Go into Settings / Apps , swipe to the right untill it says "All" instead of "Downloaded" or "Running",
I don't know what the HTC launcher is called, but chances are it will have the word "launcher" in the name. Select that one and push on Clear Cache and Clear Data in the next screen.
This ought to reset the Launcher app to defaults.

Change your font size, that fixes the same problem for me.


text:
Avoiding Cross-Contamination of Auto Suggest Dictionaries
I recently switched to the Galaxy S5 and am encountering what I can only think to describe as cross-contamination of my auto suggest dictionary. I use multiple languages every day, and so the first thing I did when I set up my new phone was to  install the German, Turkish, and Spanish keyboards (stock keyboards, not third-party apps).
As a result, now when I type in English on the English keyboard, I get auto suggestions based on the other languages installed.
For example:

for -> för
  I (capital i) ->  İ
  Ask -> aşk

It is almost as if there is a single dictionary that now contains entries for all languages, regardless of which keyboard is selected.
So, is there any way to prevent this "cross-contamination"?

While not as complete of an answer as I'd like, I was able to improve my typing experience vastly by doing the following:
First, it is important to understand the difference between auto-correct (or auto-replace, as it is known in the settings) and predictive text. Predictive text, when enabled,  is what is shown in the black bar above the keyboard. Auto-replace automatically replaces whatever string you've typed with the most probable string pulled from a dictionary file.
Instructions:
By going into my keyboard settings and enabling predictive text AND auto-replace for ALL installed input languages I was able to greatly improve the function of the keyboard. For whatever reason, it would seem that unless auto-replace is enabled for all languages, the probability algorithm doesn't effectively limit it's results to the current input language.
I tested English, German, Turkish and Spanish and was able to receive useful predictions and auto-replacements for each language.
That said, it isn't a perfect solution. Text predictions at the beginning of a sentence are more likely to contain unhelpful suggestions (probably due to limited data fed into the prediction algorithm), and intruders do still occasionally make their way to the front of the auto-correct list.
For this reason, it's probably important to absolutely avoid lazily entering text in a language other than the currently selected keyboard in order not to muddle up the predictions.
Notes:
It is still unclear to me how the dictionaries are actually stored on the device, so hopefully a more in-the-know user can provide a more satisfactory answer in the future. From the observations I've made, it would seem that a single, combined - language dictionary file is being used.

Well, I guess yes there is a way to prevent this cross contamination, head over the Settings>Application manager>Choose Samsung Keyboard>Clear the Data stored by the application and it will reset back all the suggestion to back in the time you first used your device. See if that can be of any use.

While I appreciate your suggestion, i don't wish to do away with suggestions, but instead to confine them to the currently selected input language. For example, I shouldn't be getting 'ferric'  as a suggestion when typing "ferrocarril" while Spanish is the selected input language.

Well @Milchgesicht In that case I should say I just ran out of options, because all the time the Samsung Keyboard is collection the information you have stored and based on that suggestion is feed. I can't comment more over it rather than try using some other keyboard application like swift keyboard etc. See it that can help in avoiding cross contamination.


text:
moto g cyanogenmod 11 android 4.4.4
Are there any links for cyanogenmod 11 for moto g android 4.4.4?
If there are then please suggest me the one which is stable,equipped with the theme engine and is under 100mb.

You can find all official CyanogenMod downloads for Moto G (falcon) here.
Although you must understand that Android custom ROMs virtually were never under 100MB in size; if they were, it was before Android 2.x. KitKat ROMs nowadays usually fall within 200MB.


text:
How to use MMS with disabled data roaming?
Can I disable all data except for MMS in roaming on Android 4.4 KitKat (Xperia Z1 Compact)?
Disabling Data Roaming disables also MMS. I want to use MMS, but not any data (because of high expenses).
I realized that in phone there are two APNs: one for internet and MMS. Active is Internet APN, which has settings for MMS empty. Can't this be leveraged somehow?
Or any other ways to use MMS with data disabled?

Usually MMS are sent/received via GPRS connection.Get the GPRS and MMS settings one again from your carrier.Try to  Set your default carrier to MMS. Now if you turn on mobile data it will not connect to internet.


text:
Recent activities log
Is there an easy way to view a list of recent activities? The one I'm looking for doesn't seem to be showing up in the main recent apps view, and adb logcat is so noisy I'm having a hard time finding anything.

What kind of recent activities are you looking for?

Really just any activity that is appearing on screen.

For Lollipop do adb shell dumpsys activity recents. For some earlier Android version, run adb shell dumpsys activity activities.
Alternatively, you may run adb shell dumpsys activity | grep -i run as noted by loeschg here.
You would get a list of recent apps' package name, component (activity) name, flags among other things.
In Lollipop, if you've root access, you can browse to /data/system/recent_tasks/. You'll find some XML files with numeral names, such as 317.xml. Each of them consists of the same aforesaid details, but each XML file is created for an individual app.
You can also get some info from adb shell dumpsys usagestats.


text:
install missing apps after installing rom?
I've installed a new ROM. In the previous times I've done this, Play reinstalled them once the phone booted. But this time it didn't (I've tried reinstalling the ROM a second time to make sure).
I have a backup of all these apps in Titanium, but I can't find a feature to install missing apps (just "restore" them, which apparently means just restoring settings & data for those already installed)
Is there anything I can do other than going to 'my apps' in Play and installing them one by one (I have many)?

Titanium should restore the APKs as well as the data.  But another method is to go into Settings>Backup/Restore (or similar), and there is an option for backing up and restoring data from Google Play.

none of these work

In that case, you'll probably have to restore one-by-one, manually.  I don't know why Titanium didn't back up APKs.


text:
"User 0" message displayed on notification bar of android KitKat
I recently upgraded my Lenovo P780 to kitkat and yesterday applied an update from Lenovo "P780_ROW_8G_S222_140817". After applying this update, I have started seeing text "User 0" in the notification bar (next to the setting icons on right top corner) and additionally, U0 text is displayed in the notification area below the icons.
I am not able to cppture screen for the notification area hence unableto attach the screenshot.
Does anyone have any idea on how to remove this text or is this a bug with the new update?

Do you have a Google account set? It might be that the upgrade included multi-user support but your username isn't set. It should happen automatically if you have a Google account.

Are you the same person who asked this the other day? To add more details to a question, you need to log in as the same user and click "edit". Creating more and more questions for the same issue just causes confusion and makes it harder to find information.

@Dan- I created my account few hours back. It might be some other user.

@ Onik - I do have a google account set. Though can you let me know how do I confirm the same.

This is a "feature" on the update for the Lenovo P780 I'm afraid. Other users are reporting the same issue (amongst others) with the device.
User 0 is the "first" user on the device, i.e. the "administrator" profile. You could then add subsequent profiles (1, 2, 3) etc for other users of the device. This information is not usually displayed.
You can read the  support thread here  on Lenovo's support forum.
Example:
Post from Kannanovo (user on Lenovo forum)

I have "User 0" and "U0" in the notification bar i don't know whether this is an issue,

And there are others there.
The reply from Lenovo, last dated the 22th August 2014 (which is the date I'm writing this) follows (from  page 7 )

Hello there,
Thank you for all your information.
  We are analysising all the issues received, some of you might have received separate email or message for further information. Please do help us to collect the details, that is very important for us to root cause your issues and provide correct fix in further update.
  please drop you issues here or email me. We will work hard and try our best to give our customer best experience.
  Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
Wang

As Dan mentioned  another user posted a similar question  without enough detail so I would imagine this new 'feature' is common enough.


text:
HTC One M7 Keeps Restarting Itself
I have recently bought a new HTC One M7.
Since the moment I turned it on it's performing random reboots. At the begining it was every few minutes but now its every time I unlock the screen.
I've performed 3 factory resets - didn't help (I think that even made it worse)
I've entered "safe mode" - still rebooting
I've tried to enter recovery mode but the phone got stuck on the loading screen (exclamation point icon)
Anyone might have an idea what's going on?
Is the phone defective? Might it be a hardware issue?
As I said, the phone is new, so no custom ROMs or strange apps installed
Thanks

This seems to be a hardware issue or ROM corruption. One solution would be to try re-installing the ROM, or even change the ROM.

doesn't a factory reset re-installs the ROM?

I think it only wipes the internal user data

So how do I re-install the ROM? where can I find a tutorial and image for a stable ROM? Thanks a lot!

At the end the problem was with the internal thermostat.
Had to replace the device.
Thanks for all the answers!

I had the same problem, still rebooting in safe mode. I found Amazon's software was using up approx. 55% of the CPU, and was kicking my computer off of the internet. Disabled Amazon, uninstalled all updates, and disabled automatic updates, and now phone is back to normal.

what you have to do is hold the up volume button and press the power button once. once you do that you will see a set of commands and once you do that you will want to select the wipe cache partition and once you do that it will just clean out the battery and it should allow it to work from there.

While "wipe cache" is in fact not a bad suggestion, I've never heard that "will just clean out the battery", Jaime. Are you confusing something here? ;) // You describe booting into recovery. I've just added the link to details on that, as the process might be different on different devices.


text:
How do I purge the gallery on my Samsung Note 3
All of the pictures I ever took with my old phone were automatically backed up to my google account, thousands of pictures of stupid things, receipts, flight schedules and private pictures.
With my new phone, a Samsung Note 3, all of these images are now in my gallery.
I can find the offending images on picasaweb, no way I could find them on google+
So, what I would like to do, is purge wherever the files from my online pictures are downloaded to, remove the backup pictures from picasaweb and let the phone sync again.
TLDR
Where are the picasaweb/google+ images downloaded to on this phone?

Have you tried unchecking Google+ Photos and/or Picasa web albums from the sync menu in Settings > Google?

With the Note 3 do the following:
Open
-settings
-General
-accounts
-Google
uncheck'Sync Picasa Web Albums'
The "gallery" button is found in General> applications manager
Select All
Scroll down and select Gallery
Tap Clear Data


text:
How to configure VPN using pcf profile and custom certificate
I want to connect the VPN of my university with my Android device.
My university provides a .pem certificate, a .pcf profile and instructions how to set up the vpn connection under a "normal" GNU/Linux distribution - on Arch Linux this works perfectly.
On my Android phone I tried the built-in connection manager and the "anyconnect ics+" app by Cisco, but I'm stuck:
Basically I can't import the profile: the built-in app doesn't provide any form for this; the Cisco app only allows xml-profiles (which is strange as I want to use a Cisco technology...).
The Cisco client doesn't even allow me to import the certificate: when importing it asks for a password, but I don't know why. For the built-in app I could convert the .pem to a .crt file (issuing the command openssl x509 -inform PEM -outform DER -in chain-dtag-dfn-uni.pem -out chain-dtag-dfn-uni.crt) and import the converted certificate.
Do you know other ways or other apps that allow me to connect to the VPN?
(I use Android 4.4.2 on a Samsung SIII Neo.)

Is your device rooted? Then it would be possible to add the certificate as "trusted system certificate". Alternatively, you could try a different VPN app.


text:
How can I root my Orange Hi 4g (ZTE Blade Apex 2)?
I search a lot can I can't find any useful method to root the ZTE Blade Apex 2. Someone says that the bootloader is unlocked. Is that true? If it's true, can I install CyanogenMod using the CyanogenMod Installer?

Which are you actually trying to do: root your current ROM, or install Cyanogenmod?

I was trying to find the root first, backup some things, and later install CyanogenMod. On my others experiences with Android I've always root first and later install CyanogenMod, in fact a lot of CyanogenMod funcionality requires root.

I've just get working the root with Qitu Root. Thanks to this video wich explains step by step the root process.


text:
Install application in sd card by default using Linux
I've seen plenty of tutorials related to installing applications directly to the sd card instead of using internal memory but none relate to using linux as a method to tweak the system and I'm not managing to understand it by myself. I have android studio installed and consequently the sdk and development tools aswell as my device is in developer mode but I'd like to understand what I should do next to directly install into the sd card.

I don't understand what the problem is. You don't need a Linux-specific tutorial: the dev tools work exactly the same way on all three desktop OSes.

It is as simple as running adb install -s someapp.apk. However, the app should be ready to run from external storage.
adb resides in the path to ADT/sdk/platform-tools directory.
Related question: Move to SD Card doesn't move everything


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 not working after FACTORY RESET & HARD RESET
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3. Everything was just fine a week ago, untill it started freezing like 10 times a day. I deleted the apps i recently installed but the phone kept on freezing. yesterday i used the factory reset. Now when i turn i get this window popped up: Android is upgrading. Optimizing app "x" of "Y". It stops upgrading in the last 9 apps.
After this i Hard Reset the phone. Got however the same result. I tried there after flashing roms and using ADB.. but since my debugging is disabled it wont let me use the ADB SHELL command. I have searched now hours and hours for the solution, but i got no closer to the solution. please help me.
Hyun

How long did you wait making sure it "stopped in the last 9 apps"? It sometimes can take a while to generate the DEX files, especially for larger apps on slower devices. If you interrupt the upgrade process, it has to be repeated on the next start (at least for those left-over "last 9 apps").

You can flash rom using Odin and you can download the stock rom zip from Samsung firmware or you can download any custom rom zip(if rooted) and flash it using Odin.


text:
How can you sort apps alphabetically in android jellybean 4.2.2?
I use a Lenovo S600 tablet with Android Jellybean 4.2.2 OS,  the problem is that the apps are arranged randomly as I install them which leads to a lot of confusion.  I would like to arrange all the apps alphabetically so I know where to find the specific one I need. My previous tab had ICS OS which provided the option to arrange the iapps according to date or alphabet. But my current tab does not do so. How do I arrange them alphabetically?
Help would be appreciated.

From a Home screen, touch Apps.
2. Touch Menu ➔ View type.
3. Touch Alphabetical grid

I believe you are describing the difficulties associated with the automatic introduction of shortcuts by Google play to the Home Screen. This is indeed dependent on the download order you personally control. The problem you are describing is common to new users of a tablet or smartphone, and indicates the need to become familiar with the techniques of 2 separate applications: Google Play, and the Launcher that controls your Home Screen. On the devices I'm familiar with, there is no automatic resorting function of shortcuts on Launcher screens.
Google Play is the easiest to control, by starting its app and exploring the Settings menu. You probably have enabled "Add icon to Home screen". As apps are downloaded by Google play, their shortcuts are added to the Home screen. As each fills the available space on the grid, additional screens are created to accept new ones. They are maintained in the order the apps are downloaded. You may turn off this setting, or, based on your new understanding, capitalize on this action. I personally have it disabled, and create shortcuts manually, leaving myself a tightly-controlled layout.
These shortcuts can be shifted, deleted, and added manually from the Launcher, which controls the Home Screen. Press and HOLD them and they will follow your drag movement to new spaces, or to the Trash icon to delete them, or carried to other screens by dragging them to the screen margins, and waiting for the screen to shift in until it becomes the active one. It will accept its new location when your finger is removed, indicating it is dropped as to your preference. Some experimentation is acceptable, and the techniques will strengthen within minutes. To add a new shortcut, while on the specific Launcher panel, open the App Drawer, which will open to your alphabetic list of apps. Press and HOLD, and possibly drag, the specific app to create a new shortcut at your desired location.
Find specifics to your device in this User Guide. Chapter 1 clarifies the use of the Home Screen and Recent Apps.

Thanks very much for the answer but I am not actually talking of the icons on the home screen/(desktop?)  I am asking about the main menu? (Sorry, I am unfamiliar with the technical terms) Where all the installed apps are displayed. Thanks again.

We  are actually taliking about the same things, and it is evident from the device's User Guide. See the section about Home Screen and Recent apps in Chapter 1. It is a shame the manufacturers do not distribute effective documents with their devices, so that searching it out is your only option.

I am really sorry I may sound dumb, but I couldn't find an option to sort the apps in an alphabetical order in the app list even in the user guide in the link you provided. Thanks for all the trouble, mate!

One last try, and this is from my experience with a Samsung Galaxy Tab, which will have an App Drawer controlled differently than on a Lenova (assuming), but the technique may be the same. On my Galaxy Tab, when the App Drawer is open (Settings>View Type) presents "Alphabetical Grid" and "Customizable Grid". Mine is set Alphabetical. See if your Lenovo has a similar settings menu and choices.

Thanks, man for all the trouble. I appreciate your efforts.

Is it the  settings > Applications > Manage Applications > {Downloaded | All}  listing that you are speaking of.  If it is then click on the Menu button, and then choose "Sort Alphabetically" switching from the other way would bring up "Sort by size".  The view shows the application name and the size, but it does not show a date.

Get to the applications screen, hit the menu button (mine is upper right with three dots), click on view type then hit alphabetical grid.  The customizable list allows you to move the icons around

I am using kitkat and found out that when you press and hold the blank space on the home screen you will see options then touch the 3 dots and under drawer settings and sort by choose title that way all your apps will be arranged alphabetically.

Please search "launcher" in the Google Play store. Pick one you like. Almost all of them do alphabetical sorting by default. Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, SmartLauncher are some examples of what you will find when you search on google play store. What a launcher does is basically it changes visual layout of your icons and widgets. If you don't like a particular launcher, you could easily revert to previous or original layout simply by uninstalling it.


text:
Android won't boot after accidentally uninstalling a system app
My android version is 4.2.2 so while I was installing an app on the system using Moborobo I think I might have accidentally removed a system app.
I have checked all over the internet and I am pretty sure I don't have access to my original ROM that comes with the device. Even Clockworkmod for my device isn't available so I hadn't made any backup.
I have tried to factory reset using the recovery option that came with the phone and it boots fine. When I power it off or reboot it won't start until I do another factory reset. Where do I start to fix this? I have connected the phone to ADT but I can't get the logcat to pause so that I can post the output here. Meanwhile if there is anything I can do let me know as I try to get the logcat output

You need to find and reinstall the stock ROM. I think that's your only option.

Well, is it possible for you to share your device information like model number, manufacturer etc. We couldn't help you out with the flashing process until or unless you don't mention the ... !

@Peter Carlos
Model number Bird Leader
Brand Bird
Android Version 4.2.2
Build number MP.V1.2
Custom build version MX1029W_BIRD_LEADER_K-V1.03.20140324-QHD

@qualebs "I can't get the logcat to pause"? adb logcat -f <file_name> saves the output into a file, which you then can edit with your favorite text-editor to cut'n'paste the relevant parts.


text:
Can hangouts send text-only MMS to certain contacts?
Most of my friends and family have iPhones that are capable of receiving MMS messages. I'd like to be able to type longer messages without having them be broken up into smaller SMS messages, because they often arrive out of order when going to a different carrier.
Is there a way to force Hangouts to send MMS messages when the text is too long for one message? Even better would be if I could have certain contacts set to always receive MMS no matter what.

To convert a long SMS into a MMS, Long press the attachment paperclip to add a subject line in the hangouts app


text:
Smartphone on usb rings on computer
I got a smartphone on android, and when it is attached trough USB to my computer (windows or linux), I'd like to have it ring or do notifications in the headphones of the computer.
Is there a way to do it ?

Using the Bluetooth you can very well get it. After the bluetooth connection is established, you can use the bluetooth menu to activate

playback of music from Phone on Computer,
Receive call on Computer which you have a option to take it on the hand phone if you want ( this is available on the android phone screen page when the call is in activation)
To exchange the files between the computer and phone
SMS the message from computer that goes via phone.

That sounds good, so what do you have to do to make this work?

Yeah, I've seen this happen on my laptop with an Atheros BT chip. After pairing the phone with the PC, the phone will show options for streaming audio to the PC in the Bluetooth menu. When connected, the PC will show a Windows Media Player-like interface for controlling playback.

No. As far as I know, this is not possible.
May be this can be done through custom application. But I think there is no app that does this, at least, for now.


text:
How to Set the default storage of apps in my samsung galaxy young?
I have a samsung galaxy young. How can I Set The Default Storage of my apps from Internal memory to SD card. I can't Download Anything right now. Can you tell me how?

I'm pretty sure the same advices valid for other devices will apply to the GY as well. Specifically check: How to Install Android Apps to the SD Card by Default

You first priority is probably to clean-up downloaded files, cached files, old APF (installation) files to give yourself more room and operate more efficiently.   You can clear cache individual applications through settings > applications > clear cache.
Use any File Explorer to remove files no longer needed or no longer wanted from your
downloads.  Each browser normally has its own downloads folder.  "SD Maid" includes a File Explorer if you don't already have a separate application.
You can clear cache files much quicker by installing
"Clean Master"

get rid of "Junk Files" such as cached files

"SD Maid".  Some items within  are

"Overview"  help to see what you are working with.
"CorpsleFinder"  find and delete files SD Maid believes belong to your old/deleted applications
"AppCleaner"  is a premium feature so you can use "Clean Master" to get rid of cached files, would need to mount your removable SD card, and once mounted, you would have to unmount the card before you physically  remove your card.
Settings > Storage > External SD Card > Mount/Unmount SD card.

You have to set default storage individually per application.  Some applications would slow down everything if they used your removable SD Card storage, such as "play store", and applications that start at startup.
To move an application to your SD card:
Settings > Applications > choose application > "Move to SD card"
To choose applications:
Settings > Applications > on SD card
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1772970/set-default-download-location-card.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-mobile-galaxy-s-ii/137116-can-i-set-external-sd-card-default-media-storage.html

I think he asked how to set default storage as SD card...


text:
Nexus 4 with no signal (sleep mode)
I have a problem with my sister's Nexus4.
When I try to call her I have the reply that the phone is off while if I call the other phone (HTC Legend with the same operator) I can talk regularly.
It happened both at home or outside.
It is not a operator problem because I change the operator twice and with the same operator in the same places I can phone with no problem.
The strange is that when a try to call N4 I am not able to start the call and after that the N4 receive a sms with the "lost call" and return it on-line.
it seems it falls in a sleep mode when the creen is off

What's your question? It just sounds like you have a faulty phone.

How can i solve it? I think all hardware are the same, so I am not a solution

Try to call the phone with a landline. If the problem persists try a factory reset, if that don't fix the problem I'm afraid you have a hardware issue.


text:
Prestigio PSP5457DUO Android 4.2.2 does not connect to my academic network
In my university, I have a free internet WiFi access with eduroam system. However (double-checked the login and password already) I can not connect to the network with my phone :(
All the security parameters are fine (my Asus laptop connects with no problem).
When I had a Samsung phone, I was able to connect. I had to sell it, and now ended up with Prestigio. However, I can connect with other WiFi networks around using my phone. What might be the problem here?

This is something you should ask the IT support people at your university about. Most mysterious problems like this are caused by security settings on the Wi-Fi network itself. Probably it is MAC-filtered, so only devices that have been registered with the network administrators are able to connect. You might have forgotten registering your previous phone if you've had it for a long time.

I threw out this phone a long time ago, it was a piece of garbage. But thank you anyway :)

It is possible that your device doesn't support the encryption and authentication methods that eduroam uses. While normal WPA2 encrypted WiFis use TKIP encryption, eduroam uses AES. In addition to this, the device must support Enterprise authentication (sometimes called 802.1X), and a compatible EAP method (EAP TTLS-PAP, PEAP, EAP TLS EAP FAST). Which of these is used is up to your network administrator.
Like the other answers said, try asking your network admins for help.

Well, that's weird I would say if the device is working with the other Wi-Fi network then have you tried talking with the Network Administrators? Sometimes they block mac address to prevent misuse ! I would say this problem can only be solved from the network admins. Try talking to them about the problem.


text:
need to undo an imported calendar file
I accidentally imported an iCalendar file 2x to my tablet from work.  I now have 2 of every event. How do I undo this without manually deleting them 1 by one. there are years worth of events.

The only way I found was one by one...a better choice would have been to create a new calendar in google calendar  which could have been deleted in whole.


text:
I can't unlock bootloader of my moto g xt1033 android 4.4.4
Guys I've been stuck at this step for a while. My device as Motorola says is unlockable and I also have the unlock code but still it says in the command window that error occurred. I've installed android SDK and in it I've installed the platform-tools and all the other build tools.
Link  to screenshot:https://www.dropbox.com/s/wgqpq7jdki6sik5/Untitled.png

Have you checked that there are no typos in the unlock code? how did you obtain it?

Typos? What are typos? And i obtained it from Motorola's website

Did you type it or paste it? Typos are where you mis-type something. If the code is wrong, get on to Motorola and get a new one.

There is a bug in Android KitKat 4.4.4 which causes this issue. A thread in the motorola forum explains how to resolve the issue.
Follow these instructions only if you have upgraded to 4.4.4! If you have 4.4.3 or 4.4.2 it is more likely that you misspelled your unlock key.

Download the boot loader patch (this the link from the forum)
extract the ZIP file & read instructions
your user data might be erased as part of this process
Then run following commands:
$ fastboot flash motoboot motoboot_41.15_testdrive.img
$ fastboot reboot-bootloader
... your device will reboot in fasboot mode
$ fastboot oem unlock [UNLOCK KEY]
... wait for unlock confirmation ...
... you might see some error messages here, ignore them...
$ fastboot flash motoboot motoboot.img
$ fastboot reboot

It's a current issue with the bootloader in the 4.4.4 OTA upgrade. There are two solutions: If you still can, You should unlock before you accept the 4.4.3 or 4.4.4 upgrade (but in your case, it's too late as you have already upgraded to 4.4.4) or you need to manually upgrade the bootloader on your device to get rid of this bug. There is a thread on the Motorola forums to join the seeding program for the updated bootloader.


text:
Question about Galaxy S3 Mini: Weird Problem
So, the back story is, I had a keyboard loaded on my s3 mini and I received an update from Samsung. Like every one get excited I was also excited and update my device but after I update I head over to send an email the keyboard which I have been using just disappeared. When I head over to the settings to find Keyboard the Samsung keyboard wasn't there? Now I am unable to type anything can some one help me out in sorting this problem out?

You could try installing a third-party keyboard for now.

@DanHulme Well, yes I can do that but what about the samsung stock keyboard? Does it mean that I can't user the stock Keyboard anymore?

There's a few options that I can think of.

Reinstall your ROM. Do it through Odin on PC or Heimdall on *NIX systems. This won't void your warranty, and will just install the ROM again. Ensure it is EXACTLY the correct one for your device / network. Check Sammobile for your firmware.
Extract the keyboard. Download your firmware zip and extract the keyboard.apk and install it manually.
Find the apk online (HUGE security risk IMHO)
Use an alternative keyboard.
Try wiping your cache in recovery and rebooting see if it fixes the issue.
Check if the keyboard is there at all in your 'all apps' list and force start, clear data, reboot.  (There probably isn't, but look for Google Keyboard as well, no harm)

Well, this looks good ! Can I try performing a factory reset I have backup all my data and I guess I can... ! So,I was thinking if I perform a factory reset instead of flashing ROM... then is it going to help me ???

Factory reset might help but I'm dubious to be honest. If you flash your stock firmware over your current firmware all your apps should be unaffected, but  hopefully you'd get the keyboard back. Of course flashing ANY firmware carries a risk to it. It's really up to what you want to try and risk losing.


text:
how to 'cancel' automatic standby while reading?
I look for an app/a setting that allows me to cancel/revert (automatic) standby more easily than by pressing the power button.
I think of something like turning off the screen for a few seconds before standby, so i can cancel it by tapping the screen.
Similar like the lock screen kicks in only a few secs after standby.
WHY?
When reading eg. webpages, automatic standby can be annoying. I need  to press power, thats annoying. I don't want to change the standby timeout either.
I don't want an app that permanently allows wake by tap/shake/proximity, as this potentially eats battery and unwanted wakeups.
Also, an app to disable the auto standby is not good, i want the standby to still kick in, eg. If i fall asleep.

The only phone(s) with that are Samsung, they detect if your eye is looking at the screen and don't lock if you are looking at it. Outside of just changing the timeout to 10 minutes or similar I can't see what you can do without getting an app, but even then the timeout is probably easier.

If what you want is to keep the screen on while a certain app is running in foreground, there are several apps around which can help you out. I personally use tasker for this (ever since I bought the app years ago) successfully with a recipe that rawly reads:

Condition: App (select the apps concerned)
Task: Display timeout (set higher, or disable it completely)

Done. While my default timeout is something like 1 minute, whenever e.g. I read my RSS feeds it kicks in only after 5 minutes – which is perfectly fine, as if I didn't touch the screen within that time I'm not really reading ;)
If you don't feel like buying Tasker for 5 bucks (it's definitely worth the price: just follow the tag link to see what other uses it might have. Sometimes it feels like every second question here can be answered with "Tasker!"), there are plenty of apps specialized on this, usually having "Keep Screen" in their names.

Note to Sjharrison: No exit task needed. Tasker automatically reverts to the "before state" whenever the condition is no longer met – unless the trigger was an "event". App in foreground is a "state" AFAIK.

Thanks @Izzy for your reply, I wasn't aware of this as always implemented a exit task, saves a lot of reverse tasks!

Exactly! Rule of thumb: First try without, add later only when needed :) Sometimes it makes sense nevertheless, especially when you have "overlapping" tasks dealing with the same settings. Example: "0am to 6am: turn WiFi off" and "at home: turn WiFi on" – works as expected when you're always home before 0am. But one day you come home at 1am, and WiFi might not turn on again at 6am as it was off to begin with (or rather stay on from the moment you come home). But no such overlapping to expect in our case here, as long as you don't have another task tampering with "screen timeout".

Your demands are too much for one app or phone to fulfill, but there is this feature in almost every android phone (which i've used) they turn their brightness to minimum before going to sleep. So if your screen timeout is set to 1min, they will go to minimum brightness(dim display) for a few seconds before and then turn off the screen. I think this is exactly what you're asking for, very dim display saves the battery and you can tap the display to bring it back to the set brightness. So it should be already there in your phone, if not then you're going to have a hard time finding a solution for that. [I use Nexus 5 and it has this feature, and before that Xperia S, that too had this dim the display before going to sleep feature]. Hope this helped.

Well, I would say there isn't any app available over the market which can help you in keeping the device display on while your are reading the book. But I would say you can find this feature over the samsung smartphone particularly in S4, it has the feature named smart stay. I would say if that is too much important for you and as you stated above you don't what to change settings, then why don't you try purchasing a S3,S4,S5.

No? 19303 results for "keep screen on" – also see my answer. And while you have to pay several hundred bucks for those Sammy-devices, Tasker is available for just 5 bucks – much cheaper :)

Well, I would say that is just a good thing ! I am sure your post can help user out as well as for me too, as this time I have came to know something new. But I was wondering that it do results in higher battery consumption. And what if I fall sleep while reading the book which I usually ran onto most of the time.

See my approach. I don't turn the timeout off completely, but just set it reasonably high when a corresponding app is running in foreground. So in case I "fall asleep", the screen turns off as usual – just a bit later. Keeping it on permanently might be useful though for e.g. navigation apps – but those usually take care for that themselves with wakelocks.


text:
How do I prevent my phone from waking up when I slide out the keyboard?
I have a Motorola Droid 4 which has a slide-out keyboard.  The problem is, the sliding action takes very little force, and if the phone is in my pocket, just simply walking can cause the slider to open just a tiny bit.
This is a Very Bad Thing for two reasons.  First, the battery drains far faster than it should because the screen is frequently turning on.  Second, my leg often activates the Emergency Dialer on the lock screen and starts pressing buttons.  I'm worried I'm going to pocket-dial 911 some day.
So is there a way to disable waking up when the keyboard opens?


text:
Twitter Feed is auto refreshing
This has been happening for a while and I'm finally trying to fix it. Whenever I open my twitter application, it always auto refreshes the timeline feed. If I haven't checked it in a while, it automatically goes to the top of my feed. I've tried clearing the data, uninstalling, even switching phones. Does anyone know whats going on? If not, are there other suggestions for twitter clients?

I believe this is the default behaviour.

This is what twitter is supposed to do, it's not a bug, however if you want to try some other twitter clients here are some (Paid and Free)
Talon for Twitter - Paid
Carbon for Twitter - Free
Plume for Twitter - Free

Correct and +1 but I just want to add that apps like Carbon are only allowed 100,000 tokens for Twitter and tend to fill up quick as people don't know to drop the token if they aren't using the app anymore so you may have that issue with some apps.

@RossC It's pretty annoying, I wish twitter would loosen up a bit, they can still insert sponsored tweets into your feed so I don't know why they aren't more supportive towards 3rd party clients