text:
Google Maps now shows addresses for some of my contacts
I realized I can see all the addresses of people whose phone number I have on Google Maps. I doubt these people intentionally made their addresses available publicly.
How does the Google Maps app populate the places found under the My Places tab?  Where did Google get these from?

Can't say for sure, but the obvious answer is: Don't you sync all your contacts with Google? If so, you simply made them available to them. And even if that's not the reason: checking the permissions of Google Maps clearly shows READ_CONTACTS, so it can access all contact details on your device. Let's assume you didn't store their addresses as well, there's always "reverse phone number lookup". Be it some "Yellow pages", or details of other people's accounts at Google. Welcome to the "transparent society" ;)

I bus Google must Havre used donne sport of Yellow Pages  service.

As mentioned on Izzy's comment, Google Maps can read the addresses from your Google Contacts. The feature was added on April 27, 2016 (v9.25.1). From AndroidPolice,

Contacts Appear in Your Places and Maps
One of the biggest complaints about using Google Maps for navigation to a friend's house is that the address had to be manually saved or searched; otherwise, the only way to pull it up was through a contacts app. Forget those days because all of your friends' addresses are now listed under the LABELED page on the Your places screen.
Previously, this list contained standard entries for Home and Work, plus any locations with manually added labels. Those items are now followed by a list of addresses pulled from the contacts database. There doesn't appear to be any fast way to sift through them, so there are probably going to be a few more changes to this screen in future releases.
Each entry has an overflow menu with the option to hide the contact from Maps so it won't show up in this list or anywhere else in Maps, and another to remove the address from the contact entirely.
The contacts will also appear as landmarks while looking at maps. You'll have to be zoomed in reasonably close to see them, but they appear like any small business.

One important thing is, Google doesn't publicly show your address to everyone (exception: Google+). It's only taken from the contact info (whether it's right or wrong address), and only shown to you.

Interesting enough. The next thing to wonder about is how some of the addresses under the contacts app actually got into the contacts app itself (for some of these I don't remember adding them). Thanks.

I can't say for you, but for me, if you use Google+ and add them to your circle, then the info is taken from there.

That may be how some of the info got there, thanks.

If you want to hide your contacts on Google maps try this:

Open Google settings.
Tap Personal info & privacy
Tap Activity controls
Tap Web & App Activity
Turn the switch on or off.


text:
What does the report in "block and report" do?
In the August Marshmallow 6.0.1 update, there appears to be a new feature called "block and report", which is triggered for some new calls. In this case, it was actually spam. Blocking adds the number to the phone application block list. What does the report do?

I normally file call complaints with FTC Do Not Call Registry. Does report do this for me?

"Report" does what it says, report the phone number as spam to Google. This will help users of Google's caller ID (e.g. Nexus device users) in the future, since number reported as spam will be shown as "Suspected spam caller" or "Spam" as caller ID.
From Nexus official support,

Mark calls as spam
You can mark all calls from a number as spam to keep from getting any more and report the spammer.
Spam detection
If you see "Suspected spam caller" or "Spam" as the caller ID, the call might be spam. You can answer the call, or block and report the number.

I normally file call complaints with FTC Do Not Call Registry. Does Report do this for me?

I believe no, because DNC is country-dependent (e.g. FTC's National DNC Registry in US), and I've never heard Google working together with these kinds of government instance.

Actually it looks like Google is now working with government agencies, at least in the US: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-robocalls-idUSKCN10U18L

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to create folder in app drawer of galaxy A3?
When using galaxy S4, I could create a folder in the app drawer. But after I changed my phone to galaxy A3, I couldn't find any menu to create a folder in the app drawer. How can I do that in galaxy A3? Thanks before in advance.

The creation of folders depends on the launcher.
If you can't simply drop one icon on top of another (a folder would be created with two icons inside), try changing launcher.
Go launcher gives you the option of adding folders on the app drawer, so give it a go. The downside is that go launcher on the last years has been supported by ads. Give it a go and see if it's too much or if it's bearable.
Nova launcher is a good option (low on resources and plenty of customization) (you can add drawer folders and tabs with prime, I don't know how much but not a free solution)
Both are two good and stable launchers that have been evolving for a couple of years now. See which one suits you best.

I changed my question. I'm sorry what I mean is app drawer. I already installed the Nova Launcher, I can create folder in home screen. But I still cannot create folder in the app drawer. Please help. Thanks

No problem :-) I also edited my answer.

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

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


text:
How to restore damaged Internal SD card partition layout? Tried everything
I have Samsung S 3 mini.
I did something really bad to my INTERNAL SD CARD partition layout.
As I remember correctly, I tried to repartition my External SD card via fdisk right on Android via 'adb shell'. And I delete existed (there was only one as I recall) partition on mmcblk0 (which is appears to be not an External, but Internal =)
Now I have:

~ # cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name
 179        0    7634944 mmcblk0
 179       64       2048 mmcblk0boot1
 179       32       2048 mmcblk0boot0
 179       96    3866624 mmcblk1
 179       97    3862528 mmcblk1p1

~ # ls -la /dev/block/mmcblk*
brw-------    1 root     root      179,   0 Jan  1 10:30 /dev/block/mmcblk0
brw-------    1 root     root      179,  32 Jan  1 09:28 /dev/block/mmcblk0boot0
brw-------    1 root     root      179,  64 Jan  1 09:28 /dev/block/mmcblk0boot1
-rw-rw-rw-    1 root     root      16777216 Jan  1 10:07 /dev/block/mmcblk0p20
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Jan  1 10:07 /dev/block/mmcblk0p22
brw-------    1 root     root      179,  96 Jan  1 09:28 /dev/block/mmcblk1
brw-------    1 root     root      179,  97 Jan  1 09:28 /dev/block/mmcblk1p1

~ # df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                   411756     16452    395304   4% /dev
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1   3858432   1473472   2384960  38% /external_sd

~ # mount
rootfs on / type rootfs (rw)
tmpfs on /dev type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,mode=755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,relatime,mode=600)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 on /external_sd type vfat (rw,nodev,noatime,nodiratime,fmask=0000,dmask=0000,allow_utime=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)

~ # tail ./etc/recovery.fstab
/system     ext4    /dev/block/mmcblk0p22
/cache      ext4    /dev/block/mmcblk0p23
/data       ext4    /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 length=-16384
/efs        ext4    /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
/boot       emmc    /dev/block/mmcblk0p20
/recovery   emmc    /dev/block/mmcblk0p21
/preload    ext4    /dev/block/mmcblk0p24
/modem      ext4    /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
/sdcard     datamedia   /dev/null
/external_sd    vfat    /dev/block/mmcblk1p1

~ # tail ./etc/fstab
/dev/block/mmcblk0p23 /cache ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /data ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p22 /system ext4 rw
/dev/null /sdcard datamedia rw

~ # parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
GNU Parted 1.8.8.1.179-aef3
Using /dev/block/mmcblk0
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print
print
Warning: /dev/block/mmcblk0 contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a
GPT table.  However, it does not have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it
should.  Perhaps it was corrupted -- possibly by a program that doesn't
understand GPT partition tables.  Or perhaps you deleted the GPT table, and are
now using an msdos partition table.  Is this a GPT partition table?
Yes/No?

My ClockWorkMod recovery tool can't mount anything (/cache, /system, nothing). This is what kind of stuff I get in CWM:

-- Wiping cache...
Formatting /cache...
Need size of filesystem
E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p23
Cache wipe complete.
W:failed to mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p23 (Block device required)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log
W:failed to mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p23 (Block device required)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/last_log
W:failed to mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p23 (Block device required)
W:Can't unlink /cache/recovery/command
Formatting /data...
warning: get_file_size: Computed filesystem size less than 0
Need size of filesystem
E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p25
Error formatting /data!
W:failed to mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p23 (Block device required)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log
As you can see, there is no partitions for /system, /cache and other stuff, that should be there. (but /system, and /cache folders are present in dir listing)

I really did everything I could. I tried: restore from backup (I have one, made with recovery tool), install new ROM (With recovery tool), install stock firmware and stock kernel in ODIN mode. I even tried some PIT file: nothing did absolutely nothing to my status.
Frankly I miss some important part in understanding of filesystem, partitions, images, what is ROM, what is stock kernel, how does those 22, 23 25 partitions are created etc ...
What should I do?
UPDATE!
Oh, looks like I have everything in console buffer (full history of distraction actions)
In the beginning I had this:
cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name

   7        0       2111 loop0
 179        0    7634944 mmcblk0
 179        1        128 mmcblk0p1
 179        2        384 mmcblk0p2
 179        3       1024 mmcblk0p3
 179        4       1024 mmcblk0p4
 179        5        512 mmcblk0p5
 179        6        512 mmcblk0p6
 179        7        512 mmcblk0p7
 179        8        512 mmcblk0p8
 179        9       1024 mmcblk0p9
 179       10       1024 mmcblk0p10
 179       11      16384 mmcblk0p11
 179       12      16384 mmcblk0p12
 179       13      16384 mmcblk0p13
 179       14      51200 mmcblk0p14
 179       15         64 mmcblk0p15
 179       16      14336 mmcblk0p16
 179       17       2048 mmcblk0p17
 179       18       2048 mmcblk0p18
 179       19      16384 mmcblk0p19
 179       20      16384 mmcblk0p20
 179       21      16384 mmcblk0p21
 179       22    1228800 mmcblk0p22
 179       23     860160 mmcblk0p23
 179       24     327680 mmcblk0p24
 179       25    4945920 mmcblk0p25
 179       64       2048 mmcblk0boot1
 179       32       2048 mmcblk0boot0
 179       96    3872256 mmcblk1
 179       97    3868160 mmcblk1p1
 254        0       2110 dm-0
/ $ df
Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/dev                   402.1M    84K   402M   4096
/mnt/asec              402.1M     0K   402.1M   4096
/mnt/obb               402.1M     0K   402.1M   4096
/dev/shm               402.1M     0K   402.1M   4096
/system                  1.2G   414.5M   766.6M   4096
/modemfs                15.7M     4.3M    11.4M   4096
/cache                 826.8M    84.8M   742M   4096
/efs                    15.7M     4.5M    11.2M   4096
/preload               315M    64.2M   250.8M   4096
/data                    4.6G     4G   699.2M   4096
/mnt/.lfs: Function not implemented
/storage/sdcard0         4.6G     4G   699.2M   4096
/mnt/asec/com.spruds.transport.pro.tallin-1     2M   888K     1.1M   4096
/storage/sdcard1         3.7G   905.7M     2.8G   32768
Even before everything went wrong I tried to use parted command and get an error
~ # parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
GNU Parted 1.8.8.1.179-aef3
Using /dev/block/mmcblk0
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) list
list
  check NUMBER                             do a simple check on the file system
  cp [FROM-DEVICE] FROM-NUMBER TO-NUMBER   copy file system to another partition
.....
.....
        copyright information of GNU Parted
(parted) print
print
Error: Unable to satisfy all constraints on the partition.
This is fdisk print before disaster
~ # fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 954368.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
   (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 7818 MB, 7818182656 bytes
1 heads, 16 sectors/track, 954368 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16 * 512 = 8192 bytes

              Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1               1      954368     7634943+ ee EFI GPT
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
And then I deleted it
~ # fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 954368.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
   (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 7818 MB, 7818182656 bytes
1 heads, 16 sectors/track, 954368 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16 * 512 = 8192 bytes

              Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1               1      954368     7634943+ ee EFI GPT
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary

Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table
fdisk: WARNING: rereading partition table failed, kernel still uses old table: Device or resource busy
UPDATE 2
I can see difference from initial state. Now I have 4 heads instead of 1 and so 238592 cylinders instead of 954368. How do I change number of heads?

Have not used fdisk on android and would not touch it with a bargepole either! The internal NAND partitions are set by the factory, either fdisk is mis-reporting number of heads/cylinders on a internal partition...its a NAND chip after all...

I found it!
The answer was in PIT file, because as it says here:

you will only need to use this if a firmware update needs to change your partition layout (very very unlikely) or if you mess up you partition table (you don’t want to do this)

Which is definitely my case.
So, I tried that GT-I8190N and GT-I8190 should be used with different PIT files (I tried to use for GT-I8190 one). So I found long list of PIT files here.

How did you apply the PIT file to your device? Same here, tried with odin and getting re-partition failed error constantly. I also tried to repartition with and without a firmware, CDS file and PIT file alone. Nothing changed.

RECOVERING AN ANDROID DEVICE WITH BOOTLOOP OR STUCKED IN LOGO
Compilation by: Julian Lopez
2017-05(May)-08
I had similar problems, but the internal memory in my phone GT-i9003 is defective. I've used all pits without success. Maybe this procedure helps you, some of them are complex but safe:
Requirements:

An android device stucked in the logo (but with fully OS started), to
work with ADB and CWM-Recovery, better if had the android developer
options active and usb conection in comunication mode (also known as kies, MTP,  debug, etc) not in usb-data mode
Data Cable USB  Pc with highspeed USB port available
Updated Device Drivers
ADB and fastboot platform tools(windows) for manual backup and restore...
ADBD info sources: thanks for sharing the knowledge to Rotohammer [ADB Roto backup - manual backup] and Amalautpavathas [ADB android tips]
Another operative and identical device (very convenient)
A Good+original 16GB and above Class10 (forget about class4) MicroSDCard (I've had some problems with generic 32GB and bigger), prepared with a standard-fat32 partition which is limited to a maximum of 4gb for each files, but it works to backup. It's very important, to create in the root of the microSDcard a empty text file called DO-NOT-INSTALL-THIS.zip just for reference and identificacion from inside Recovery). The usb ota usually is not recognized and we require permanent USB conection with PC.

Extract :
If the device is in bootloop or stucked in logo but active by ADB, after the logical and basic options  follow this procedure to clone and restore manually (via command dd) the defective partition:
Warnings

Discard of all responsabilities about the use and abuse of this information
Please read the tutorials about ADB and android
Don't wipe with the MicroSDcard in, you can lost all data in without notice, every reboot/odin change/CMW mount and storage action, can change the mount point of the sdcard
When working on ADB; exit of the shell and use remount frequently.
When you can't access files get root access (CMW - root/unroot option).
Keep a list of files and mount points before proceeding, after every copy keep an eye on available capacity with df -k command in Kbytes and df command in blocks, with ls -al command you have a record of permisions in format xrwxrwxrw (an initial cap or - for type, x execute, r read, w write, in 3 tiers -user-group-others. Use  chmod to change command) and owners of files . This tip avoid 50% of the errors using file copy, or changing files in the device.
Take full information about the device (imei, macs, software versions, fw, updates, special app, register full versions and date of installation, specially backup software)

 Actions
1.-With no external memory (MicroSDcard out, because some kernels and tools exchange the external memory with internal without advice) save a layout of the partitions. Important info is; start block, end block, filesystem type, block device name, order and mount point(path). Yes using ADB fdisk but without change anything.
2.- To take a manual backup of every partition (and specially, individual backup of the folder /efs, where is the imei and mac addresses for wifi, BT, etc) in the defective device with ADB and "dd" command (be careful with the available space after every backup), Repeat the same procedure in a good identical-device. transfer this backup to your PC and to a microSDcard (yes both)... Don't insert into the device. It requires:

Folder in windows explorer with \ADB and FastBoot-platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools, (no installation required)
The device must be conected to the PC via usb cable and detected with the right drivers )
We must to write (yeah i heard you, with the keyboard) in a CLI (Command Line Interface) known in Microsoft as CMD (Command line); go to Windows Explorer, open the black box by selecting CMD option with a simultanoeus combination of keyboard left [SHIFT] key and mouse's right click on a empty space inside the folder. In order to get the option CMD in the menu, avoid selecting or marking anything inside de windows explorer.  Use this manual till Roto restore Section, Rotohammer ADB Roto backup - manual backup

3.- To create with (ADB) fdisk the missing partition(s) matching all the original characteristics (start block, end block, block numbers-size, fs type).
4.- With the device turned off (battery out), insert MicroSDcard
5.- Start your device in Recovery mode (CWM), go to Install ZIP from SDCARD if you can see the text file with extention .ZIP prepared in last point of requirementes (DO-NOT-INSTALL-THIS.zip), you can restart the device. In any other way go to -- mount and storage -- dismount everything and mount the prepared MicroSDcard, repeat with internal Sdcard, emmc, usb  till you can see the zip file. Restart the device in normal mode (maybe only logo is visible).
6.- Connect the device to the pc, via usb and activate CMD from ADB to copy the partition-backup to one internal device's filesystem out of the MicroSDCard. turn the device off, extract battery, extract the microSDcard, and turn the device on. Proceed with one of this alternatives to Restore
6a.- The easier way, warranty proof use the original brand's emergency software restore, KIES's and ODIN for samsung, MTP for chineses brand, etc.
6b.- The easy way, if you only have a bootloop, start device with another tested good MicroSDcard, failures on external memory happens and app crash if they were moved to bad microSDcard. If this Doesn't work, start with no MicroSDcard in recovery mode, Wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache. Still on failure?, move on with the guide..
6c.- Because this method works with an image of partition on any android, any devices and brand, this make it independent of configurations (special filesystem types and assignations, mount point, vold.fstab, fota.rc, init.goldfish.rc, init.d's files, corruption of internal memory, failures in apps like link2SD and viruses). Start making an image of defective partition (via ADB + command dd) and all of them for congruency, make another from the image of a good device, and if the affected partition es /system or /, take a copy of the original /efs folder (this could be important later in case of the imei and MAC don't match with the hardware, consult your brand for imei location). Solution By: Rotohammer (same link), etc... Save it into the PC, in the MicroSDcard and the cloud.
6d.- Is your device still in warranty by the provider or by the CreditCard?
 (an available warranty, not the type Pluto during an eclipse's warranty), don't hesitate, go for it... The backup will keep safe your data and you can send it to RMA after a deep wipe and clean...
6e.-For Easy solution [Flashable Filesystem Check and Repair Tool | HTC Desire - XDA][3] ... With ADB you can install and run APK, or run /sbin/fsck,   /sbin/fsck, /sbin/fsck.ext4. Note: some root filesystems keep older type (raiser, ext2, etc)
6f.- Restore from CWM backup or your favorite app
6g.- Use your original emergency restore software, Kies, mtp, etc.
7.- Restart, first time waiting for the autocheck of the filesystem and second time to verify the operation.
8.- In case of boot errors, boot in download mode, use the right versions of firmware update program (like Samsung's ODIN and MTP) to apply the right PIT (partition information table) with repartition checked. If the failure persists, apply the full original STOCK ROM to verify.
9.- In case of IMEI errors, proceed with solutions:  ( forum.samdroid.ne t /attachments/f28/2082d1281453181-complete-imei-restore-how-bml10.img.zip)
10.- for internal memory errors check this  [2]: http://amalautpavathas.blogspot.com/2013/08/
Disclaimer
This is an individual and personal compilation so, i sincerely hope this extract help someone, sometime, somewhere, but... Myself nor anybody will take responsibility for any actions you take using these instructions or applications. ROM flashing can void your warranty and should be the last option. Please proceed with caution and at your own accord and risk.
Flashing will completely erase your device's memory. Make a backup of everything you need, for this objective i present more than 3 backup options, please use it all of them.
If you want to flash a cooked ROM you need a patched SPL. How to do that is described in forum.xda-developers main page
You also can flash the ROM directly from the microSD-card! The guide is found here forum.xda-developers
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE KNOWLEDGE´S PEOPLE
This is my very first post, so i have not permitted to include more people and sources, please excuse me, my invisibles partners not included at this list:
(forum.xda-developers
(amalautpavathas)
(samdroid)


text:
Why does my Moto X phone support mDNS but my Samsung Tablet does not?
I have a device that is broadcasting mDNS, I am using this app to view it in the Bonjour Browser:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.he.networktools&hl=en
On my Samsung Tablet, it cannot find my device.
On my Moto X, the device comes up in the bonjour browser list.
Why does my device show up on the bonjour browser of my Moto X and not my Samsung Tablet? (and how do I fix it?????)
My Samsung tablet cannot detect mDNS packets. I tried the code here and it failed on my Tablet but worked fine on my MotoX. http://cafbit.com/entry/testing_multicast_support_on_android

Your question is unclear. In the second sentence you say "On my Samsung Tablet, it cannot find my device". and then you ask "Why does my device show up on the bonjour browser of my Samsung Tablet and not my Moto X? ". Whether you have problem in Moto x or your Samsung Tablet?

I fixed the text

The standard Android distribution (as of version 6.0) doesn’t support mDNS resolution nor announce it’s device name on mDNS yet. So it’s up the device manufacturer to add support.
I’ll investigate how much effort it would be to write a mDNS client for Android to announce a device name. Shouldn’t be too complicated, though mDNS resolution wouldn’t be possible for an app at the current API limitations.


text:
Only connect to certain Wi-Fi networks
I have a Bionic and recently upgraded from Gingerbread to ICS. I used to have my home Wi-Fi and my work Wi-Fi networks saved in my phone, and I had it set to not look for any other networks. I never got notified about Wi-Fi networks being in range, it just connected to those two when it could.
Now that I'm on ICS I keep getting notifications about Wi-Fi networks being in range and the only way I've found to resolve that issue it to turn the wifi off completely. Problem is, then I forget to turn the wifi back on when I am at home or work.
So my questions are:

Is there a setting to turn off the Wi-Fi notifications and I'm just looking right past it?
Is there a way to set up my phone to only connect to a couple of Wi-Fi networks and to ignore the other ones unless I go in and tell it to connect to them?

It sounds like you want to go into Settings->Wifi and then press the menu button to get to the "Advanced" menu, where you can then uncheck the "Network notification" option. This is the first option on the "Advanced Wi-Fi" settings page of my Galaxy Nexus, so a caveat here is that Motorola may have altered the settings menu.


text:
Why does Google Drive for Android say "Failed to open the document"?
Periodically, when I try to use Google Drive for Android, it will show the list of documents, and when I click one, it says:
"Failed to open the document. / Unable to open the document. Please make sure you are connected to the Internet and have permission to open the document and try again. / Cancel / Open in browser"
I had the problem Tuesday and couldn't open any documents; by Wednesday it was normal again; today it's back and I can't open any documents.  The app is the newest version and has not released any upgrades in the meantime, so I'm thinking it may be caused by the server. Is that plausible?  Is there a fix?
I am using Cyanogenmod 10 (Android 4.1.2) on a Samsung Captivate.
[More info:  When I choose "Open in browser" it does open in the browser.  But it still doesn't open in the Google Drive app.]

After months of mysery, I found the solution: go to docs app (instead of the drive app): if it says you need an update you are lucky as this solved my problem.

thx @user226449, error gone after updating DriveApp from playStore.

Google Docs requires an active Internet connection, when that error happens try testing whether you can access Internet on the browser.
You can alternatively make a document available offline in the preview document screen, you still won't be able to edit it but it will be still be readable.

Go to the following link being signed in with your google account:
https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps
Then, Turn on the less secure apps and your are good to go.

Of course they say no connection instead of saying that you're on cellular.

In Google Play, update Google Docs. Looks like they fixed a bug causing the same error message.  Worked for me on my Nexus 9 after this issue cropped up a few days ago.

I looked at each of the earlier suggestions, and they each were either irrelevant for me or did not work.
Luckily, what worked for me on my Pixel 3 running Android 12 was simply to restart the device.
Then I was once again able to open the single problematic Google Doc.

Just open google drive in your apps and update it... worked for me

The original post (now 5 yrs old) stated the latest version of the app had been installed. Your result may have been accurate for your out-of-date installation, but this would not be instrumental to the original post.

similar problem

Used to have the same problem. In my case, google drive was trying to
  open the document using Sheets app, but the Sheets app was allowed to
  access documents only via WiFi connection. Go to Sheets/Setings and
  uncheck "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox. Be aware, that
  similar "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox is also in Drive
  app, but this affects only Drive app, not the Sheets app.

In this case, go to Drive/Setings and uncheck "Transfer files only over Wi-Fi" checkbox.


text:
How to disable "dreams" system service
Some Android users often complain about some system service constantly executing, so just want to get rid of it at any cost to avoid battery drain. In my scenario it's DreamManagerService which is unimportant right now.
Since this is a system service (service list | grep -i dream) i can't find it in the process list (ps -x | grep -i dream), and interestingly also not seeing it in init.rc or similar. So my question is more about: how to stop a system service? (specifically on android)
EDIT: android version is 5.0.2 for the current question. It has been reported by other users that in android 6 apparently this service is visible and can be handled much better.

As a short introduction (bonus FYI), the so-called DreamManagerService namely DayDreams or simply screensaver, makes sense for OLED screens which turn off black pixels, but some LCD IPS phones also allow this functionality (unreasonably).
Obviously I have already checked that the configuration is okay (disable screensaver), but the service is still running and somehow preventing the CPU from sleeping, thus eating up the battery. This fact can be diagnosed by using Wakelock Detector app or similar one.

Nopes! This internal service is not listed no-were in the app -- I've already investigated with disable service,  additionally can't find any app named My Android Toolbox.  Did you try it yourself?  Internal service name is "dreams".

I  used ROM toolbox to freeze that Basic Daydreams on 6.0.1- you need to edit your question to mention android version and this is the other app, sorry wrong name earlier My Android Tools

Thank you @beeshyams, i've been looking at your suggestion but apparently on Lolipop does not work (still hidden). I'll post my 'manual' answer later.

The short answer to kill whatever is running on Android is by using the Activity Manager, Package Manager, and deal with the Service Interface (see here).
However the DreamManagerService on my Lolipop is very tricky and it will complain it's not running at all (even if it is). So what I did was:

Enable the simple screensaver Clock and configure it to run only
when docked. This makes sure it's working properly.
Execute with root the KillDreams.sh script, which kills everything relevant. As a bonus I run it automatically after every reboot using Apps2SD.
sleep 5
echo Normal procedure for am...
am stopservice dreams
sleep 1
echo Force procedure for am...
am force-stop android.service.dreams
am force-stop android.service.dreams.IDreamManager
sleep 1
echo Stop service...
stop dreams
echo Finished...

And voilà! It worked!
Currently my battery lasts nearly double, compared to having it run in the background.


text:
Remove credit card from google wallet, will it affect purchased apps?
I use my credit card to buy app on Google Play Store and now that I changed my credit card, I want to remove my credit card info from my account, but Google gives me this message:

You are about to remove the following credit card:
  Visa ending in xxxx
The following orders will be affected by removing this credit card:
  [list of apps I purchased]

What happen when I remove my credit card, will I lose all my purchased apps? Or what will happen exactly?

Yes.
Your in-app subscriptions attached with that card will be disturbed. And, an app developer would be unable to refund money if you've purchased that app using that card (but, this is solved by contacting Google support).
But, you'll not lose any purchased apps. Even pending purchases will not be affected if you attach a new card with the account. Otherwise, it'd be cancelled.

@Richard More general answer is really more helpful here. Anyone is interested in paid features, not the paid apps. Plus, what I have wrote is my personal experience which can be verified easily. It should be on Google's support documentations, I think. I haven't searched there by the way.

@RichardBorcsik "Remove credit card from google wallet, will it affect purchased apps?" "Yes." Where's the problem? Refunds fall in the affect category. And, just because OP did miss some details of his problem, I shouldn't drop in-app subscriptions.

Nope, The purchases generally go though, because your bank usually won't clear the funds till the next business day. I think Google simply gives that message for some legal reason.


text:
What would the effective memory space be in a 8GB Nexus 4?
So, the Nexus 4 doesn't have an external micro SD card slot, which of course is bad. So, how much of memory space would I get to use for installing applications, copying music, videos etc ?

I would assume that it would be similar or the same as the 8GB Nexus 7, which is about 5.92GB.


text:
Media on external sd card can be browsed but not seen by other apps (including settings>storage). Not part of the .nomedia file fiasco!
As the title says, if I fire up a file browser I can access all the files on the sd-card without a problem. I can even view the pictures with the gallery and the music app plays my music files alright, if I select the file from the browser and then use the corresponding program to deal with it.
If I just use the gallery or the music app or songbird or any other media player, they all report an empty media library. Media on the phone's internal memory can be scanned by these apps and included to their library without a problem.
Here is a screenshot of the settings>storage screen. As you can see it does not even try to index the contents of the sd-card, which are ~6gb of music and a few photos:

After lots of searching around on the web, I found that most people that had this problem, managed to solve it by deleting some stray .nomedia files that were in their sd-cards.
So, I searched my sd card for those files (I know they are hidden), both through the phone's file-browser and by connecting it to my computer, and I failed to find anything. For good measure I backed all my data up, formatted the card, restored the data, cleared the media storage data and restarted my phone, all to no avail. I know that the sd-rescan apps are irrelevant here but I tried one of them anyways. It didn't help...
I should note that I have not tampered with the phone in any way (not rooted, no unlocked bootloader or anything else of that kind).
If someone has any idea about what the problem might be, I'd love to hear from them.
Thank you in advance.

I tried formatting the card again, this time on my computer, using gparted and it worked. I cleared the data of the media storage app and restarted the phone and now all media is visible to all apps again!

Did you format it into FAT32? Or other filesystem? Seems like I'm having a problem similar to yours, except that the mp3 files fail to play even if I navigate to them in a file manager.

@Cyril : Sorry for the necromancy. I have no idea how I missed this comment. I used FAT32.

Load your SD Card on Windows and go for a check disk using command prompt as follows
Chkdsk E: /r
Here E: is the drive the SD card is loaded on

How would that help given that the files are all intact?


text:
Wearing down battery as fast as possible
I am trying an experiment and I need to wear down my Droid Incredible's battery as fast as possible. What apps are known battery hogs? I've already beaten Angry Birds so that one is off the list for the time being.

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


text:
How can I turn off the "low battery" noise?
I've started getting a loud beep notification when my battery hits 15%.  Possibly this happened after an Audio Manager update but I don't see any settings in the app to change it.  Previously the notification was silent, I didn't even know it could have a sound!  There doesn't seem to be a relevant setting under Settings -> Sound.
How can I disable this notification sound?
I'm rooted, running 2.2 (TeamWhiskey's NextGen v1).

If you go into /system/media/audio/ui, you can delete/rename LowBattery.ogg to remove the low battery sound. This will work as long as it is using the system low battery sound as an alert. I don't know anything about Audio Manager, or whether this is even possible, but it may be using its own sound, in which case this would not work.
This requires:

A rooted device
A SuperUser enabled file browser/terminal emulator
/system to be mounted in read/write mode

For the rest of us reading this, this requires root.


text:
How much data does Google Maps navigation use?
Does anyone have a rough number for how much data Google Maps navigation uses per, say, 100 miles or something? I know it will vary slightly by user and area, but I'm just looking for an average/estimate.
I'm going to be driving to Canada soon, and trying to estimate how much "International Data" I should purchase on my plan to cover the Google Maps Navigation.

Okay, I did a brief test the other day... only drove about 80 miles, ... obviously longer drives would give better averaging samples.
But from my short drive, it seems that Maps navigation uses roughly 1 MB for every 10 miles.

also note that Maps will cache the map data; so as long as the map can fit into the allocated cache space, it should use less data if you drive along the same roads. You might also want to precache the map while on a Wifi and use offline navigation if you have a recent enough navigation.

Precaching really wasn't possible, because I needed to cache the basically the whole state of New York and some of Canada, and it was too large an area. Would be nice if from the Google Maps website you could select a route, and ask it to cache everything 20 miles off that route to your device. Ultimately wound up using Sygic GPS. It allows you to download regions as offline maps. Worked very well, even in some pretty rural, backwoods areas of Canada.


text:
Can you actually determine the mAh of a battery?
You can skip the story part but for better reference, please read it:
A Little Story
My phone claims it has a battery of 4000 mAh that lasts for 3 days. I got the phone, really psyched because of the battery. When I bought it it has 50% left on the battery. I did some texts and some first time testing on the phone, but no heavy usage. The phone lasted 19 hours before saying it was now low on battery (5%).
The next day, I charged it for six hours, turned on the 3G and used the Facebook app, Opera Mini, and Google Play for four hours before I removed the 3G. The battery read 29%. I was disappointed. Most of the people who bought this phone reported that it should last 10 hours with 3G on and heavy usage. Most people even say that with heavy usage their phone lasts 2 days, using the internet, apps that require it, and gaming with the phone.
Now I'm on the process of claiming the warranty and I called some service centers to determine where I will take it to. The first service center claimed that all Android phones last for only one day, the second one claimed that even if only a Messaging app is on, if I leave it open even if my screen is off the battery will be drained quickly. The third one basically told me to go to the Play Store and download a Task Killer. The last one I called told me to bring the phone to the service center so they could "observe it". That doesn't sound good to me.
Question
My question is can technicians actually tell if the battery has the capacity it claims it has and if the battery is healthy? I want to go prepared to that service center if the observation they'll be doing will be to look at my "Battery" setting only and asking me what I've been doing only for them to say that's what been draining my battery.
Also can 3G drain a battery within 4 hours if a battery has 4000 mAh?
Note: My phone is a rebranded Innos D9, it's a Cloudfone Thrill 430x.

Multiple things with your issue:

I would never trust a tech who recommends a Task-Killer for this problem. Disqualified 100%.
Same for the one claiming all Android phones last for only one day. That's bogus. It always depends on usage. I have one lasting 7 days (well, no SIM card inserted, not WiFi activated -- it's rather used as a stand-by computing device for some apps -- but it's a phone, and it runs longer than 10h ;), and my "standard phone" ends up at ~75-80% after 14h usage.
tech #2 and #4 sound more reasonable: any app (especially if "consuming push services") can be the cause for such a problem (see below), and monitoring battery usage is a generally good idea (that tech I would trust most from the ones you mentioned)
Different kind of usage causes different battery drain.
Sometimes processes go havoc and drain the battery quite fast. I had that "big surprise" multiple times already, last time yesterday: went down from ~80% to 5% and "emergency shutdown" within ~2h while in my pocket -- I only noticed that by the "beep" on shutdown. But this should not be a regular (daily) issue; I experienced this maybe 4-5 times in a year with my current device.

recommendation: Take a look at the battery statistics (usually found in Settings → About Phone) to determine which app(s) are causing the most battery drain. Maybe you've got some "bad egg" on your device, if this happens regularly.
second recommendation: Take a look at How to deal with (orphaned) WakeLocks? -- maybe that's what affects you. Again, this could be a mal-functioning app.

battery only lasting for ~10h is nothing rare with heavy usage. Remember these are no longer "dumb-phones", but rather "pocket-computers which also can make phone calls".

Useful resources also include:

How can I tell what is really draining my battery?
How to debug a battery issue?
How can I find out what causes “Android OS” to consume battery?
Follow the tag battery-life

Whoa, quite a comprehensive answer! Might I just add that I don't know what your phone is but the battery seems impressive. This leads me to think my 4000mah phone really has a problem.

Nah, the phone is no big deal (HTC Wildfire/Buzz). Thing is: just for fun, try one day without data services enabled (i.e. no WiFi, Bluetooth, mobile data, etc.) -- you will get big eyes. Then take out the SIM completely, and have another shock. Once you removed these "permanents", there's not so much left eating your battery. OTOH, my main device (Motorola Milestone²) ends up with ~75..80% as well (fixed to 2G, and kept all data eating apps well configured to not eat to often).

Could ram probably eat my battery too? I made a new question here http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/36828/0-ram-free-on-ics where I found out my ram usage was maxed out. Anyway, I think 3G's the one at fault on this. I used the Facebook app for a straight 4 hours without even turning the screen off. I was left with 29% when I disconnected the data.

Nope. There's no such thing as "unused RAM" on Linux/Unix based systems. But the Facebook thingy: Yeah, 4h with screnn on on 3G, that's it. Check the battery-life tag for questions on battery saving/usage, I've made an answer somewhere detailing what components are especially "battery hungry" -- ah: here it is.

So you're saying that 4 hours continues 3G using the Facebook app can deplete a 4000 mAh battery? Great link by the way.

No. I said the combination of having the screen turned on permanently while heavy-using 3G have been the biggest contributors to that. Taking a look at the linked table, you see you only could top that by (additionally) recording a video ;) Values for your device will certainly look different, but making a raw estimation: just those two items ~ 8000mWh; @4V -> 2000mA = 50% (not accurate, just wildly calculated).

Oh man, yeah I should definitely rethink the whole brightness scheme of my phone, thanks!

You're welcome -- glad I could bring "light" into your issue (though that might sound ironic in this context ;)

How far can we trust on the battery capacity that these manufacturers mention in their devices and in their product specification? This is one important question which we can't overlook during such debates.  Also, the battery capacity is at its best during its first charge cycle and it actually drops with every successive cycle, though the rate of drop varies from type of battery to number of cycles and many other factors included.
So, the only true way to measure the current battery performance is to monitor how many amps being drawn during a particular operation/duration. Unless you are doing for a research purpose this kind of investigation doesn't pay off in any way.
BTW, if your 4000 mAH battery drains in 4 hours from full charge, the current handled is around 1 Amps and I think that is too much for these kind of electronics.
In your case, I would lay all my suspicion on the over optimistic battery rating of your manufacturer.

But people actually claim the battery claim is true, the majority of them anyway. In a group I'm in, all the members claim that the battery is what they say it is, excluding me and another person whose battery drains like crazy only second to mine. The first charge cycle means the first charging I did after I got the phone? That's the 4 hours in 3G. So you're basically saying that the technician couldn't possibly check if the battery has the capacity it says it has?

First charge cycle - correct. With a Multimeter/Ammeter and with few wiring you can even trouble shoot. Take a bulb with a known wattage and connect it to your fully charged battery and see how long it sustains (and do the math).  This can ascertain whether your battery is defective or not.

Hey bud, if you're reading this then you'd know I chose the other answer. Lesson learned? Don't accept answers too eagerly. To make up for it, I made up my mind that my other question you've answered has been satisfied. Thanks for answering my questions! :)

Reputations? It means nothing for me other than a number. So down voting, up voting, accepting or rejecting an answer are all not that attractive for me from reputation point of view, rather I am happy to see you've got better answer. :)


text:
How to extract SMS from an HTC One ICS SMS backup file?
I have an HTC One V and I backed up my SMS using the phone's messaging application (which is a part of the ICS stock ROM) to the SD card. The resulting backup is a file called SD_20121221_448193_0 and stored in the SD card in /sms_backup
After that, I updated to an unofficial Cyanogenmod 10 and I don't see any options in the messaging app that comes with CM10 to backup or restore SMS.
How do I restore my backed up messages? Alternatively, how do I extract them from that backup file or convert them into another format? (I tried opening the file using a text editor and it seems like a binary file, I also tried opening it using SQLite Browser but it says that it isn't a SQLite database. So, to be honest, I don't know the format of the file and it would be great if someone can at least tell me what format is this file supposed to be...)

You could determine the file type by looking at the files header. If you're running a Linux machine, there's a helper available: simply call file SD_20121221_448193_0 and it should tell you the file type. It will most likely be some compressed XML. So on Windows, you could try opening it with WinZip -- with some luck it is simply a .gz (GZip) compressed XML.

Executing "file SD_20121221_448193_0" in Linux outputted: "SD_20121221_448193_0: data". And no luck opening it as an archive, neither using file roller on Ubuntu nor using 7zip on Windows...

So if you open it with some editor/viewer (easiest: head -n 1 SD_20121221_448193_0), is there any readable content within the first few characters?

I executed that and got this weird output: ����t

"Weird output" was to be expected, as the file is binary. That's why I asked for the "readable part". To give an example: .jpg files have a "JFIFF" in the first line. If your SMS are not too sensitive stuff, you could put them somewhere for download, then come to chat and we check further?

Okay, I am in the chat room now...

As we checked out on chat, the file was not (as originally expected) some compressed XML in any known format -- so there seems to be no easy way to read the contents of that file. Which leaves you with a few options:

re-flash the stock image to your device, import the backup, then use a good backup app like SMS Backup & Restore to back up your SMS. After that, flash back your current ROM, and import with the same app.
This should always work (and did in the OP's case), but means a bit of effort as one has to flash the device at least two more times (to stock, and back to current). Before doing this, consider making a backup if you already put some customization/configuration work into your current ROM.
Similar: Use an Android Emulator (the one from the SDK, or Jar of Beans), load the same Android version you had on your device before, import the backup, and use one of the mentioned apps to export it from the Emulator, as well as to import it on your device.
Note: this might only work for "Plain Vanilla Android", as the emulator will most likely not support device-specific (or manufactur-specific) stuff. Unless there's an emulator around supporting device-specific images, of course. In the OP's case it did not work, as the app in question was bound to HTC's Sense stuff.

Unfortunately we've been unable to determine the file format used. For completeness, one other thing we tried:
If a complete Nandroid backup is available, the SMS database can be found in /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db and explored using any SQLite frontend (recommendation for a graphical one: SQLiteman). Unfortunately, in this case the database was empty due to the wipe occuring when unlocking the device.

Unfortunately, the second option doesn't do it because the emulator supports running plain Android images (without add-ons like HTC sense UI) so I wasn't able to run the messaging application which was shipped with the phone on the emulator :(

I was afraid of something like that. So you succeeded with the first option?

Yeah, re-flashed and was able to export the SMS...

@Lawand Tnx for the feedback! Updated my answer accordingly.

@Izzy .. I have same problem, where I exported sms from old HTC and dont have that phone now. And cant open the exported sms on my new Samsung phone. Can you suggest anything?

@Garry unfortunately not without knowing what you used for backup. And even then I'm not sure. I'd suggest you ask a new question (link here and state you've read this, pointing out why it doesn't work for you), include what you've used for backup plus brand, model and Android version of the device then. That should give us some pointers to work by.


text:
Will my phone still be unlocked after I install CyanogenMod?
I've recently unlocked my phone so that it can work with any SIM card, and I want to install CyanogenMod.
What I'm wondering is, since CyanogenMod is going to wipe most of the data on the phone, is the lock status going to be changed too? i.e. will I end up with a locked phone again?
Edit: My phone is HTC One M8, previous locked to EE. I got the unlock code from EE.

What phone is it, and how did you sim unlock it? Mention it in the OP

@GokulNC, I've added the phone model to the post and how I've unlocked it.

Do you have the unlock code with you or can you get it again? And do you remember how to unlock it? If yes, proceed to flash CM. Or else, try to find if unlock code is stored in phone (requires root I guess).

See if this helps: How to SIM-Unlock Your HTC One for Free

Actually I've already unlocked my phone and it works fine with any SIM. What I want to know is will it still be unlocked after I install CyanogenMod? I know that from CM I cannot SIM unlock (it has to be done from the stock ROM), so I need the unlock status to be preserved. Not sure if that makes sense.

Will flashing CyanogenMod reset the status of SIM lock on Nexus S?, Will flashing re-lock my unlocked phone

No!
CyanogenMod will wipe the DATA partition, all the CACHE partition and the SYSTEM partition while installing. It will not affect anything about lock/unlock of sim card.

I confirm. After installing CyanogenMod, the phone was still unlocked.


text:
How to find out what application triggered the notification sound?
Something is randomly triggering a notification sound on my phone, but there's no banner, and if I check under "Notifications" in the settings there's nothing there either.
Is there any other way to find out which app it was? I've tried to use adb logcat but there's so much info in there I'm not sure what to look for. Any suggestions?
For info this is a Samsung S9 Galaxy.

After checking the adb shell 'dumpsys audio' I found the log entries related to that ring tone:
01-12 13:33:02:962 new player piid:6415 uid/pid:10277/29559 type:android.media.MediaPlayer attr:AudioAttributes: usage=USAGE_UNKNOWN content=CONTENT_TYPE_UNKNOWN flags=0x800 tags= bundle=null
01-12 13:33:02:983 player piid:6415 new AudioAttributes:AudioAttributes: usage=USAGE_NOTIFICATION_RINGTONE content=CONTENT_TYPE_SONIFICATION flags=0x800 tags= bundle=null
01-12 13:33:02:983 player piid:6415 has OP_PLAY_AUDIO:true in uid:10277
01-12 13:33:03:007 player piid:6415 state:started uid:10277
01-12 13:33:04:955 player piid:6415 state:stopped uid:10277
01-12 13:33:05:751 releasing player piid:6415

However it doesn't give me the name of a specific application. Any idea if it's possible to find, from this, the name of the app? Maybe based on pid?

See if my answer helps: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/217612/96277

Thank you, I tried that but there was nothing for today's date. I also tried less filtering by removing the grep command but nothing obvious came up

There is an answer on that same page which uses adb logcat. See if that brings something up. // When was the last time you observed this sound?

@Firelord, thanks, I found the log entries related to that annoying notification (see updated post), however I'm not sure it gives any useful information. Any ideas?

After getting the UID from the logcat, you can try the answers on How can I find app name by UID?, e.g. adb shell pm list packages --uid 10277 to get the app's package name.

That's brilliant, thanks! It turns out it was com.uniqlo.uk2.catalogue, the Uniqlo app. I'm going to remove it and hopefully that should be it.

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


text:
When are Android apps auto-updated?
In the Play Store, I have checked the box "Auto-update" for my application. However, although the app received a new version several hours ago, it is not being auto-updated on my phone.
What I'm wondering is how often are apps auto-updated (if at all)?
Edit: It's been one day and the app hasn't been auto-updated yet. I've tried letting the mobile charge to 100% overnight but it didn't help.

@NicolaBastianello Although I cannot discredit your information, can you please cite an official source? It is possible that you speak from experience, in which case, things are okay for me?

seems to be a duplicate but unanswered: What time does Google Play update apps when it is set to auto-update?

Auto updates are not limited to WiFi-only by default. This setting must be selected in Google Play settings "Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only"

@NicolaBastianello, I've tried your suggestion of charging the phone and giving wifi access but that didn't help unfortunately. I wish there was some documentation on when or under which conditions an app is going to be auto-updated.

There is some apps that needs approval first due to app permissions requirements changes so it needs manual update and accept new permissions in order to update

While this question is a few years old and I never really cared about when and how often my apps auto update (I assumed they did and I set it for all), developers like Microsoft (MS To Do, previously Wunderlist) have started the anti-pattern of nagging their users to manually get an update from the store, instead of checking if auto-update is enabled and ask themselves the question »why don't we roll out phased updates faster?«.

If a user has auto-update enabled in the Google Play store, apps will be updated according to:

Developer preference.  Developers can specify that only a certain amount of users receive an update to an app, and then, if the update is successful, roll out the update to more users (either all at once, or slowly).

Region.  Sometimes specific updates are only for certain regions, so only users in certain geographic regions will get updates.

Device compatibility.  Only devices with hardware compatible with the update will receive it.

Android version compatibility.  Only devices using an Android version compatible with the app update will receive the update.

Apps requiring more permissions should prompt the user to accept new permissions before auto-updating.  I have heard about cases where this did not happen as expected, but have never experienced this myself.

Check Sync is enabled in settings & background Data is not restricted
Then Check app update is given to your Region.
In Play Store, It is possible to distribute app by Region. For example, If A developer  given an Update to the US REGION, But you are staying in Some other countries(Even if you have downlaod US version) Play store will not update the app.

authors: Геннадий Чернов


text:
How do I import a user CA for the Email app properly?
For my own setup I use a personal CA: "Gert van Dijk CA". I'm using this for HTTPS and VPN successfully by importing the CA certificate into the Android keystore. I'm having trouble getting the Email app recognize this. Here are some notes about the current setup:

The custom CA is listed perfectly fine in Settings -> Security -> Trusted Credentials -> User.
Chrome and "OpenVPN for Android" are working with this custom CA. I can see a green location bar when connecting to https://mail.mydomain.tld.

This all looks good, until I come to setting up my Exchange mail. It simply won't connect to mail.mydomain.tld with the error "Couldn't open connection to server". However, when I change "Security Type: SSL/TLS" to "SSL/TLS (Accept all certificates)" it will sync my mail just fine! This makes me believe the stock Email app isn't taking the user credentials in the key store into account. Why?
Logcat shows me this line when receiving the connection error:
I/Exchange(10278): IOException while sending request: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: Trust anchor for certification path not found.

To verify I've set up my Exchange server correctly, I navigated to https://mail.mydomain.tld/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync and the location bar is perfectly green!
How can I make the Email app take the user trusted credentials into account here? I don't want to trust all possible certificates for security reasons.
Android versions: 4.4 (Nexus 5), 4.3 (Nexus 7 2013).

Ah well. It appears that the Stock Email app doesn't do SNI. This means that in the initial connection to the server it was presented with another certificate it should discard (but didn't). It seems to me that this is a feature request for the Email app, as other apps do implement SNI.
Changing the Apache SSL configuration to use SNI with an initial certificate signed with the "Gert van Dijk CA" still didn't solve it. Logcat then showed:
I/Exchange(12307): IOException while sending request: Cannot verify hostname: mail.mydomain.tld

Setting mail.mydomain.tld as initial certificate solved it. I consider this an ugly work around until this has been fixed in the Email app.


text:
What's an alternative to the KitKat-People's app groups view in Lollipop's Contacts?
In Android KitKat's 'People' application I was able to access my contacts per group assigned, as shown below using my Nexus 5:

The new 'Contacts' application since the Android Lollipop upgrade does not appear to include this functionality. It's reported to Google in issue #79803 and it appears lots of people are affected by this change.
What is an alternative to this? I'd really like to access my contacts again by their group.

FWIW; A Google employee mentioned today they're evaluating returning the groups functionality (comment 501 in the issue).

There is an alternative option for users which can be found on the Play Store: Contacts Groups for Lollipop

According to this https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=79803 the only workaround is to install a new Contacts app (like Contact+).
Hope Google will bring this feature back in a future update.

-1. You link to a page full of comments by lots of users of which most are only frustrated. Also, this bug report is already mentioned in my question. And I cannot believe there's no alternative contacts application in the Play Store with this functionality.


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Does android Support RAW image capturing?
I'd like to capture RAW images from my Droid Camera rather than those compressed jpg's, is there anyway to achieve this?
EDIT: I saw that it's not possible due to kernel limitation, but, what kind of limitation? Do i need to load a kernel module? or the kernel must be modified and re-built from scratch? Is there ANY way to achieve this? i can chroot Ubuntu, i can load Kernel Modules, i will do everything just to achieve this

Possibly relevant: Is there any way to save a raw image from my phone's camera?, How can I save photos that I take with my Android's camera in a lossless format?. I think this is something that may be in the Android L camera API: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8274/understanding-androids-camera-hal3

@eldarerathis oh, i've been searching for around an Hour for some answers but i didn't able to find anything, how i didn't come a cross them, ahh..


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Any way to install Drivers for USB On the go?
How can I install a driver for Android for devices plugged through USB OTG? Is that possible?

USB HOST Mode requires Android 3.1 or above. So long as your device is running the correct OS you should have the required drivers to run USB Host Mode. However not all ROMs are equal.
You can find USB Host Mode driver apps in the Play store for some models that do not have the drivers built in.
HTC Incredible
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=751535
Nexus One
http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb_host/
Installing and using the USB Host Diagnostics app from the Play store will allow you to run diagnostics showing if the OS currently supports USB Host Mode and if your device has been detected.
Loading the USB Host Mode drivers allows your device to connect to a USB device in Host, however you still need the drivers for that device to be present. Many devices will function under generic drivers included in the OS, but not every device is compatible with generic drivers, nor has their specific drivers included as well. I would proceed by installing the correct driver for your dongle before proceeding. However, if you want to bridge these connections, this is not a function supported out of the box by Android. A good router would be a better choice. To enable bridging on Android you will need to be sure that your wifi module is linux supported, a working wpa_supplicant module from linux for that dongle, recompile drivers for the dongle, recompile a bridge utility from linux, and time. Would be easier to use two andoid devices, each on a different wifi network, connect them with bluetooth, and in android 3.0+ you can bridge the two wifi networks this way.


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How can I reset my developer options, or otherwise boot my Galaxy S2 on CM10.1 again?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and the ROM I'm using is CM10.1. I was messing with the Developer Options and I saw an option called "Simulate Secondary Display". I clicked that and selected 720 then it froze. I forced rebooted it and it stopped at the end of the boot animation and get stuck there.
Any ideas how to fix this, preferably without flashing a new ROM?

Booting into recovery and factory-reset should solve this. Don't know of any other solution at the moment.

I'm quite sure this will work.. i will use this method as my last option.. if you came across another solution please let me know.. thanks

Ah, sure: You might try booting into Safe Mode. This is normally used to uninstall misbehaving apps which otherwise cause a force-close-loop. I'm not sure whether you can reset any dev-options from there (or if it even boots to safe mode), but it's worth a try. See How to Boot Android 4.1+ into Safe Mode for details. Please report back -- if it works I convert this comment into an answer.

I have to say that you have just saved a lot of time and it's working again .. i booted into safe mode .. changed the developer options back to normal .. rebooted and bam! :D
thanks a lot ..

Glad it helped you! I converted my comments to a more detailed answer. You might want to mark it accepted to indicate "this problem has a solution", which is helpful to further "searchers". Unfortunately you cannot upvote before you earned at least 15 rep ;)

In this situation you have two options, which I'd try in the given order:
Safe Mode
Boot into Safe Mode (details for what Safe Mode is and how to boot your device into Safe Mode can be found in the article How to Boot Android 4.1+ into Safe Mode:

Method 1:

hold down Power button until the power-menu pops up
press and hold the "restart" option
in the dialog box, select "Safe Mode" and hit "OK"

Method 2:

Reboot your device
hold the Vol+ and Vol- buttons at the same time to enter Safe Mode.

A "Safe Mode" watermark in the lower left corner tells you you've been successful. Obviously, you'd have to chose Method 2 as your device won't power up normally.
Now, while in Safe Mode, change the "Developer options" back to normal. Then do a normal reboot to leave Safe Mode.
Hint: If your device sticks in Safe Mode, power down and remove the battery for a few minutes. Then re-insert the battery, and the device should boot up normally.
Factory Reset
As a last resort, you can do a factory reset. Be aware that this will delete all your data, plus the apps you've installed yourself (i.e. the pre-installed apps won't be touched; your SDcard should also remain untouched). As your device still is unable to boot up normally, you can reset it via the recovery menu. Check your device's manual for how to boot into recovery; on many devices, this is done by holding the Vol+ and Power buttons pressed simultaneously until the device booted up to recovery. Other devices may use different combinations; so either try a few, try Google search, or search our site for it. Of course you can ask it in a separate question if you're still out of look ;)

wish i can vote your answer but i need my 15 rep :( ..

You just need 2 more. Simply ask another good question (or, even better, check some other questions you might answer -- upvoted answers earn more rep). Getting a little rep here and there is not that hard, believe me :) Thanks for accepting!


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How can I block Android apps to send emails on my behalf?
In some Android apps there is a "Login with GMail" option. I often login with that.
Some apps are sending emails on my behalf to my GMail contacts, as I saw them in my "Sent items". I want to know how can I stop those apps spamming my friends? This is very irritating.
To stop the spamming I logged out from my device but still there are sent mails. If I uninstall the app there is no more sent mails, but I don't think this is the best solution available. Are there any better solutions?

You will need to go into your Google Account settings and revoke issued permissions for any app which you no longer wish to have access to your Google account.
You can review connected apps at https://accounts.google.com/b/0/IssuedAuthSubTokens?hl=en


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How can I make files available to a restricted profile?
For example I have an emulator and I want the restricted profile to have access to the ROM directory but it seems like the restricted profile has it's own directory structure separate from admin.
I foresee similar problems with any side loaded media like video, audio, eBooks, etc.

Put them on the SD card. App data on the internal storage is completely segregated between users (regardless of whether they're full or restricted users), but there's only one SD card for all users. You can add a fake SD card to an emulator: it's another file on the host system, like the fake internal storage.

Unfortunately I'm using a Nexus7 so no SD card slot and the emulated one must be user specific as it's not showing the roms folder


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Nexus 7 Not Booting; Backlight Turns on while Charging
A friend of mine has a Nexus 7 2012. Although it used to work, it now won't turn on. I would mark this off as a broken battery or screen if it were not for this one oddity: the backlight turns on while the device is charging. I am unable to reach the bootloader or recovery mode. He does not know what Android version it runs, so I can be of no help there. He also says that this happened after he let his Nexus turn off due to low battery. Is there any way I would be able to fix this issue (say jumpstart it and use USB debugging to fix it?), or is the device truly broken?

What happens when you plug it via USB into a computer?

Nothing happens.

The problem is that the device was stuck in fastboot. I had to use ADB to get into the bootloader, and change to normal boot from there. Now, everything works. I assume he let the device run out of power while updating, as it completed updating once it was out of fastboot.
Thanks for all the help you gave me. You may not have solved my problem, but I still appreciate it.

My Nexus ran the battery flat and would not restart, although I did not have the backlight issue that you mention.
There are a number of tricks suggested at:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2668668?hl=en
which involve powering on and pressing volume buttons.  This worked for me and the Nexus now behaves as well as it ever did.

The power and volume button combos will not work, as I have already tried them all (I can't even get to the bootloader), but I will try the other fixes.

Was having this problem and didn't do anything about it until just now.. But I would plug it into a wall outlet and the back-light would be on along with some flickers of white light
I did the factory reset (power and BOTH volume buttons at the same time for 40 seconds) and let it "charge" for about an hour off of the wall outlet (I couldn't tell if it was charging or not obviously, but I just let it sit there for a while).
I came back, did the factory reset a second time, and plugged it into my computer to discover that it booted right up. This literally just happened as I was typing this... But bottom line it got rid of the issue!


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How can I transfer photos to my Android Jelly Bean device while preserving the original timestamp?
I recently bought a Nexus 4 and I would like to transfer my photos of my previous device to it. My previous Android phone used the standard USB mass storage which gave 0 problems to copy back and forth stuff, but the Nexus 4, like many other modern Android phones I suppose, uses MTP instead, which has the interesting feature of refusing to copy the original dates/timestamps of the files, using instead the date at which the files are being copied.
This is obviously a huge bummer when it comes to photos; not only because one cannot check the original date at which the picture was taken while browsing on the phone, but also because they end up completely unsorted.
Is there a way to transfer photos to a Jelly Bean Android phone that doesn't support USB mass storage preserving the original timestamps?
Things I've tried so far:

Transferring via USB MTP
ADB push (both full folders and individual files)
Transferring via SSH (using SSHDroid + WinSCP)
Uploading and downloading from Dropbox
Transferring a ZIP file via MTP and uncompressing the file on the phone
Transferring from the other phone via Bluetooth

None of them preserved the timestamp, and this is driving me insane.
(Also, I am not rooted yet, but if the only viable way requires root I would welcome that answer as well.)

Does Android support untaring .tar files? If so, maybe you could copy a .tar file of the pictures.  I don't know if the untaring would change the timestamp of the individual files or not.

@Chance tried that before but didn't help either; the issue is nothing has privileges to write the timestamp by default, so there's nothing one can do but rooting right now.

Related: Is there a way to backup contents of internal SD, while preserving the file's modification date?

You can't, this is a current permission problem (bugreport here) of Android 4.0+'s /sdcard folder if it's not using FAT32 (but FUSE).
Reason: There's a transition away from FAT32 to unified user storage for both apps and media data (using ext4) on a single file system.

We got tired of seeing OEMs include many GB of internal storage for music, while users were still running out of space for apps and data. This approach lets us merge everything on one volume, which is way better.
-- Dan Morrill, Android engineer at Google

The old FAT32 properties are emulated using a FUSE layer to be compatible with existing apps. Also: /data/ and /sdcard on Google devices starting with the Nexus 7 use a single partition only (/data/media represents the "sdcard" content and is exposed using the FUSE layer to apps).
Here's CyanogenMod's implementation of the FUSE driver if you're interested in seeing the source. Looks like setting timestamp attributes is implemented, though.
EDIT: It only works with root.
Exact reason: All files are owned by root.sdcard_rw (see here).
A caller withouth uid=0 can't call the utimensat() syscall, it fails in the VFS layer already (EPERM) for timestamps other than current:

the caller's effective user ID must match the owner of the file; or
the caller must have appropriate privileges.

To make any change other than setting both timestamps to the current
  time (i.e., times is not NULL, and both tv_nsec fields are not
  UTIME_NOW and both tv_nsec fields are not UTIME_OMIT), either condition
  2 or 3 above must apply.

Thanks for the info, let's hope this is something google can and would be willing to address, because as far as I can tell the problem is not the fuse layer or the mtp protocol, but the strict privileges that were set there, which by the way appear to be pretty recent (4.2.1?) since the Photo Date Correction app posted below did seem to work with older, 4.0 fuse/mtp based devices such as the galaxy nexus.

Update for future readers: this remains unfixed in 4.2.2.

Update for even more future readers: unfixed in 6.0 marshmallow.

I recently came across this issue on a Nexus 5 and tried most the solutions listed here with no luck. In my case, it looks to be caused by a recognized bug with stock Android (source).
My solution was as follows - I used Windows 8.1, but no reason this wouldn't work on OSX/Linux (root is required on device however).

On your PC, create a .tar.gz archive of all the files you wish to transfer.

I used 7zip for this - It's worth mentioning on Windows, you'll need to create the .tar archive first, then apply the .gz compression.

Transfer the archive to the device using FTP, ensuring the MFMT command is used.

On the PC, I used Filezilla - you do need to ensure Transfer > Preserve timestamps of transferred files is checked.

On the device, extract the archive in a shell as root.

Using Terminal Emulator, first ensure you have root access by using the su command. You may need to grant access if SuperSU pops up.
Navigate to the directory now containing the .tar.gz archive with the cd command e.g: cd /sdcard/
Extract the archive using the following: tar -xvf ARCHIVE_NAME_HERE.tar.gz
Note: For some reason, when I extracted directly to the DCIM/Camera directory, the pictures would not show up at all in the stock gallery app. If this happens to you, I suggest you extract to a different directory and then move (not copy) the files to your camera directory. I suspect this is caused by a permissions issue. You can use the terminal or your file manager of choice to move the files.

Reboot for good measure.

This allowed all the files 'date modified' attributes to remain intact, and left all photos in the correct order when viewed in the gallery app.

They show not up in the gallery because of the media index. It does not recognize your terminal operation but if you use a file manager app it reports the new moved files to the index and now they are found again. Are you sure that the ftp part is really needed? I wonder because the ftp can not change the files that are inside the tar, so why should this be important?

@mgutt I guess you're right about the FTP part not being required. I was piecing together pieces of information from other suggestion solutions and this was what ended up working for me!

As mentioned in another answer, on devices that use FUSE for SD card emulation (such as modern Nexus devices), only root can change timestamps of files in /sdcard.  Since things like MTP and ADB don't run as root, you can't preserve the timestamps with these methods.  However, if your device is rooted, you can fix the timestamps with a separate step afterward.
While restoring a full backup of /sdcard from a Linux PC to my tablet, I used this command to fix all the timestamps after uploading the files with adb push:
find . | while read file; do timestamp_stat=$(stat -c "%y" "$file"); timestamp=$(date +"%Y%m%d.%H%M%S" -d "$timestamp_stat"); echo "$timestamp: $file"; adb shell su -c "touch -t $timestamp \"/sdcard/$file\""; done

This should be run from the root of the directory on the PC that corresponds to /sdcard on the device.  (Or, if you uploaded something other than a full /sdcard backup, change the path in the touch command near the end.  But you should run this from whatever directory on the PC corresponds to the directory in the touch command.)
The way it works is that it goes through all the files on the PC side, gets the timestamp of each, and runs a touch command as root on the device to set the timestamp of the corresponding file there.
Note that this will run a separate su command for each individual file.  If you have logging enabled in your root program (e.g. SuperSU), you may want to disable that to avoid producing large numbers of log entries.  And if you have your device configured to prompt for confirmation on every su request, you'll probably want to change that temporarily.  (It may be possible to come up with a variation that pipes a stream of touch commands into a single root shell on the device, but the straightforward way of doing that didn't work when I tried it, and I didn't want to spend much time on it.)
I've used this with success on a Nexus 10 running Android 5.1.

This is a question which really trouble me a lot when come across with devices which only have MTP but not the Mass storage mode. I also have concerns about it with exactly the same reasons with Mahn.
After some testing, I have find a temp solution which maybe able to preserve the timestamp.
It makes use of the excternal sdcard / OTG card reader and also the cp command with -a
the timestamp will be able to preserve. But the requirement is the phone need to be rooted.

First copy the data to SDcard.
Read it with memory card slot / OTG card reader
use adb shell and acquire root permission (su)
cp -a * the data from card to internal memory.

If you use the Google Photo app and you want your file to be listed in the right order there's a solution.
The background of the issue
This is an Android Bug.
It does not allow non-root user to change the modification date of files (https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=18624 since the introduction of multi-user / sandbox with FUSE filesystem).
And does not preserve the timestamp when copying files with MTP protocol (https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=92635).
The workaround for Google Photo users
Photos are ordered using the EXIF information if available, so you can just use any manners of setting the right EXIF data to them. Any camera should set this automatically for you, just make sure the date/time is correct in them.
For videos or if you do not want to set the EXIF data just go to https://photos.google.com/ and upload your video / photos from there. It preserve the modification timestamp you have on your computer and since it is synced with your device you'll see the photo in the app, correctly sorted, as soon as you are done with the upload.

I have the exact same issue. It seems that it's being blocked by fuse on the Nexus 4 running Stock JellyBean 4.2.1.
SYMLINKS:
/sdcard -> /storage/emulated/legacy
/storage/emulated/legacy -> /mnt/shell/emulated/0

MOUNT POINT:
/mnt/shell /dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated fuse \
    rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=****,group_id=****,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

That info was taken via an adb shell session; I presume that fuse will be in the mix for all app-level accounts.
TL;DR
From the looks of it, it can't be done without rooting the phone.

My "solution" for the time being is to upload pictures from past phones one at a time in chronological order, with pauses in-between, in a different directory.
Here's the Linux shell script I'm using:
[old_pictures]$ for f in $(ls -1 * | sort -t _ -k 2); do   adb push $f /storage/sdcard0/DCIM/Past/;   sleep 3; done;
If you go this route, do a test upload first to be sure you're satisfied. Also, disable Google+ Instant Upload while you're at it so you don't get "double uploads".

Thanks, that helps; as your for script: both mtp via windows and adb push drop the connection for me after the first thousand files or so in my case, plus some files randomly end up corrupted, are you seeing the same? basically as this issue describes here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=35185 (perhaps I should make a separate question, since this is not directly related with the timestamps themselves. Gotta love mtp though)

Preserving Date Modified on Nexus device (no root needed)

From Android to PC: Use MTP
From PC to Android: Use Droid Explorer

It preserves Date Modified.
I don't know how Droid Explorer does it.
But it just works.
Make sure USB debugging is checked before using Droid Explorer.
There's one limitation though.
Droid Explorer only can transfer files, not folders.

With Droid Explorer, copy files into an Android phone on some specific folder
Then with the file manager inside Android, move those files into the folder we want. Do not use copy because copying will alter the date modified while cut doesn't.

Droid Explorer requires ROOT, doesn't it?

@AntonK Yes Droid Explorer needs Root to preserve the timestamp. If Root is not available it will overwrite the date: https://www.maxrev.de/android-bilder-videos-verlieren-beim-kopieren-datum-zeitstempel-t368672,start,20.htm#4463149

You can use ADB

Enable Developer mode on mobile.

Enable USG debugging on mobile.

Install ADB on your laptop.

Connect your mobile to your laptop using USB.

Open your laptop terminal and log in to your mobile using the below
commands
adb devices
adb shell

Find the exact path where you want to put your files.

Exit ADB shell using the command exit.

Use the below command to push files from your laptop to mobile without any metadata (created/modified time) being affected
adb push source_path target_mobile_path

You can push folders and multiple files using the adb push command in one go.
You can use the same procedure and command adb pull source_mobile_path target_laptop_path to copy files from mobile to laptop without affecting dates.

Use a synchronization tool like e.g. FolderSync, which should take care for timestamps accordingly. Synchronization tools should be specialized in handling all aspects of really maintaining synchronous copies -- including time stamps, of course.

I tried a couple of sync tools, but none synced the timestamp, because I guess there is some sort of protection. Thanks for the answer though.

Did you try FTPSyncX Trial? Not the most sophisticated look maybe (the dev is no designer). But I use the Pro for about a year already, and it syncs timestamps fine via SFTP/SSH (the only protocol I use -- the app can handle more).

I'll check it, but considering SSHDroid didn't work for me I guess I won't get the timestamps with it either.

I almost bet it will. I still remember how hard that part was for the dev -- we sat hours on Skype discussing the issue :) There was that ugly time problem on Windows, which sometimes reported things wrongly... Oh, getting OT :) Simply try it, cannot hurt, right? And let us know how it worked out...

Nothing. FTPSyncX Trial as a client on the phone, freeSSHd as a server on my laptop, I'm able to connect and sync files via STP/SSH, but the timestamp of pictures transferred to the phone is still getting overwritten to the current date.

Gosh. Then it must have to do with changes due to Android 4.x/MTP. Sorry for that, I have no 4.x device to check -- but it still was worth a try.

Np, I appreciate the help. I guess I'll have to give up for now, already wasted too much time on this.

Yepp. That's one of the reasons I'd never buy a device without a removable storage (here: Android device w/o sdcard slot). If the device becomes unresponding, you cannot even take your data to another. For me an absolute no-go.

FolderSync preserves the timestamp only for uploaded files and only if you use FTP or SMB:  http://www.tacit.dk/foldersync/faq#Q26 If you download them f.e. to a new phone the timestamp is lost. Because of that I'm having a complete backup of all my media files on my nas with correct timestamps, but I'm not able to move them to the new phone without loosing that :(

In the worst case, one can always restore timestamps for photos from their Exif data. Tools for that exist for most platforms. But granted, I wasn't aware that FolderSync keeps them one-way only as I rarely sync from PC to Android (usually just the other way around). My photos are kept on the external SD card, so I can simply replace that ;)

Use PTP instead of MTP when connecting your phone by USB.
It works for me, I use a Samsung Note 4 connected to Ubuntu 14.04 machine.
However, connecting as PTP only allows copying of pictures/images.
All other methods od copying files (bluetooth, WIFI, file manager) into an external drive will change the date.

I tested that with Windows 10 and a Note 3 using CM 12.1 (Android 5.1.1). I moved the files (the only way windows allows preserving) but it did not preserve the timestamps. :(

Backup solution using "SanDisk Memory Zone" to preserve timestamp date. copy/moving files from Android device to external SDCard - Tested on Samsung Note 2, Note 3 and Mini SIII
Just backup your photo files to SDCard and move the card to other Android, PC, Apple or other device - if not used to backup your photo files, follow this simple 8 steeps instructions"

Search on Google Play and install "SanDisk Memory Zone".
Start the App and wait for index file to finish.
Select Backup/Restore and change or mark settings.
Select Memory Card destination and what to backup (contacts, sms, photos, music, etc).
Verify required and available capacity, and go on CONTINUE botton.
Wait for the backup to complet.
Now you have a copy of the files in your SDCard on ".memoryzone_backup/files/1"
Now you can move your SD Card files like photos to your Windows, Linux or other Android device preserving original Timestamp.

copying files to external SD-cards doesn't cause the problem with the modification timestamp

I have a Nexus 4 and had the same issue with time-stamp and photos (indeed all the files).
Here are the command lines (with a rooted phone) I used, thanks to a post on Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb

(on Ubuntu if Android SDK is not installed)
adb devices
cd /media/my_backup_folder_where_i_put_a_folder_with_all_my_data_named_"savandroid"_in_it

In order to go in my folder "backup" which contains the folder "savandroid"
adb root
adb push savandroid /sdcard

All files and folder that are in "saveandroid" are sent to SD card worked nicely with all time-stamps correct!
Note: On Cyanogenmod I had to select root for "apps and adb" in developers menu. By default it's only set on apps.

I moved to a Moto X 2014 and I had this problem.
I tried many things as well, a solution seemed to be "Motorola Migrate" to synchronize with WiFi two phones (an old gingerbread backflip). In the gallery, the situation was good (even in details), but strangely in file manager the date was changed, and after few hours even the gallery also shown the transfer date.
The workaround, if the files are not too many, could be manually copy one by one, changing each time the date and hour on the phone.

To copy files from your Android to your PC keeping timestamps:
adb shell tar c -C /storage/emulated/0/XXX . | tar xv

To restore them back to the Android:
tar c . | adb shell tar xv -C  /storage/emulated/0/XXX

This works by creating a tar file within the device, that is immediately extracted on your host, and viceversa.
The "v" lets you see the name of the file being copied.
Of course this assumes that you have "adb" installed, that the phone has USB debugging enabled, and that you already validated the debugging certificate.
sudo apt install adb

Quick and easy solution: simply use a PC or Mac to copy the files from the old SD Card (or PC) to the new SD Card.
Use a PC/Mac with an SD Card reader/writer (there are USB-to-SD Card converters) which sees the card as a FAT32 USB storage.
When you're done copying, re-insert the new card in your phone and reboot.

I will add my solution that worked on Ubuntu
First install simple-mtpfs and install fuse.
Then:
cd ~
mkdir myphone
simple-mtpfs ~/myphone

Now you have your phone folders mounted on this directory, you can use rsync -t , or cp -p to copy the pictures and the created/modified/accessed times will not be changed.
Work for me :)

In the terminal, while mounted with simple-mtpfs, timestamps appear as preserved. But when accessing the files in the phone, the timestamps seem to be all reset.

Try the app Bluetooth File Transfer.
It preserves the modified date with a move. And I believe with a copy too, but try with one file/folder first to make sure. It can also explore other devices via Bluetooth.


text:
2-step authentication calling me in Thai. I don't speak Thai.
I setup google 2-step authentication through Google Apps.
I linked my Skype number by Voice instead of SMS.  SMS wasn't going through.  It's a US number.
I'm trying to login on my Android phone in Thailand.  I bought the phone in Thailand with a Thai sim.  I set the Android language to English.
2-step is calling me and giving the number in Thai.  I don't speak Thai.
There's no obvious setting to change the language of "Google sign-in" app on the phone.
I looked in the Domain Admin app and didn't see a setting to change the language.  It's pretty frustrating.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

I looked on Wikipedia to translate just the numbers out of the call.  Not so hard.

Did you took a copy of Backup Codes which are provided while enabling 2-Step Verification? They can help you to login if you've them.
Otherwise, try resetting your password. That's the only option left. And, from the next time install the Google Authenticator App from PlayStore as it creates code by itself and comes very handy. No reliance on SMS/Call.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator2&hl=en


text:
How to flash root.zip in fastboot
I need to flash the root zip I downloaded from Chainfire without having to install recovery like Clockworkmod. I have fastboot and adb and that's what I used to flash 4.4.4. This is for my Nexus 7 2013 Wifi. I have to leave in under 20 minutes, could someone write the correct fastboot command to do this

Answered with 5 minutes to spare!

Step 1: Unlock the bootloader; fastboot oem unlock This WILL wipe your device. Skip if already unlocked. Set up your device and put SuperSU.zip into it.
Step 2: Download the appropriate TWRP/CWM image for your device.
Step 3: Boot your phone into bootloader; adb reboot bootloaderwhile the device is on or hold the power button and the volume down button while the device is off.
Step 4: Make sure your device is detected by fastboot; fastboot devices
Step 5: Temporarily Boot into recovery; fastboot boot nameofrecovery.imgThis will only boot the recovery, not install it.
Step 6: Flash the .zip file using the recovery and reboot.
You will have stock recovery and root access.

Try using:
adb sideload root.zip

That is generally the way for SuperSU. To be honest, a recovery would be better long term and in the time it takes for me to reply and you to read this you'd have it done! Might be worth considering. As far as I understand you need a custom recovery to do this. I would recommend installing one.
However, you could try this command:
fastboot -c "lge.kcal=0|0|0|x" boot customrecovery.img

This should allow you to use a recovery without installing. I don't recommend this as it is easier with a custom recovery and you can restore the stock one if and when you need it.
Alternatively you could try the Nexus Root Tookit and untick "Custom Recovery". I have not tested it though.

The fastboot flash recovery flashes the recovery, not boots it without installing. That would be the second command. Also, it is worth noting that you can not root the device using fastboot, you need something that can mount the /system partition as writable; most preferably a recovery, but also a live system can be used.

Yeah I was rushing given the time limit, assumed he was rooted. Deleting this, thanks

Best Method on Nexus
Use: TWRP
http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/103
get ADB drivers + binary
(From cmd or Powershell)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588979

Linux "Drivers" + adb, fastboot (ubuntu)
sudo apt-get install android-tools*

Windows commands - Open Powershell (as administrator)

command
adb reboot bootloader

ADB tells android to reboot to bootloader. Wait for reboot
command
fastboot flash recovery TWRP-recovery.zip

if it doesnt like it, just unzip it.
In linux, instead of powershell = Terminal
First command "sudo su"
thats it...
PS: Almost forgot
TWRP will install and fix SU automatically.

authors: Антон Александрович