text:
View Android phone's call log from PC
My Android phone's screen suddenly stopped working - gone totally blank. I am getting lots of incoming calls, but am unable to view who is calling or pick the call. Also just before it stopped working, I had put it in Silent Mode with Vibration. So I have to listen to vibration to know that someone is calling, and there is no way I can turn Sound On now.
I want to access my phone's call log from PC by connecting using USB cable. There are many softwares, but they require to be installed on phone also. While I can install the software on the phone using MobileGo, but I may not be able to read the port no. on which the software is listening.
Is there any software which I can install just on my PC (like MobileGo) and directly access phone's Call Log? MobileGo has many useful features but this one is missing.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Are you rooted? Which phone? What version of Android?

I am not rooted. Phone Model is Motorola Fore XT 535. Android 2.3.x I guess (can't verify now)

You can also install the software directly from the Android market. But you won't be able to start it easily. You can use ADB to start the app as described here
I recommend MyPhoneExplorer. You'll also need to install the desktop program and then start the app on your phone as mentioned in the link above.
Be mindful of any optional toolbar that might ask to be installed on your desktop though.
UPDATE: I didn't need to start the app on my phone, merely connecting the cable was enough. Galaxy S2 on Gingerbread 2.3.3 (rooted, but that shouldn't be a factor).

Thanks. I was able to install MyPhoneExplorer client on the phone. I have gone through the adb command to start an acitivity on the phone, but it requires package name and activity name. Using MobileGo, I was able to find package name, but how do I find which activity? I gave this command in adb shell:  am start -n com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client.apk, but it says Bad Component Name .. I guess because I have not specified Activity Name.

I was able to run the PhoneExplorer client on my phone using this command in adb shell: am start -n com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client/com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client.MainActivity. I came to know about the activity following the steps in this link: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5728903/reading-activity-names-from-apk-file-in-android. Finally I installed MyPhoneExplorer on my PC and was able to view the Call Log! Thanks a ton! Sparx, you have been of great help.

One last question, I had mentioned that I had put my phone in Silent Mode just before the screen problem happened. How can I now turn Sound On on the phone using my PC?

If your screen alone isn't working, I expect your volume keys must be - just press the side volume keys while your phone is on. When connected via the cable the phone will be on so one can probably increase the ringer volume then.

If you were rooted, I'd suggest androidscreencast - https://code.google.com/p/androidscreencast/ | it allows a user to control the android device using the PC/mouse but it needs root.

adb shell input keyevent 20 << will simulate pressing vol up. More details here - http://thecodeartist.blogspot.in/2011/03/simulating-keyevents-on-android-device.html

Complete your user profile - that will give you some points instantly. Also, look for a tick mark next to the answer. Clicking that means you accept that as the best answer.

You can install any software from the Market / Google Play. Log in using the account used on your device and you can install any software.
The app will be automatically downloaded (pushed) and installed onto your device when the device is online.
Via USB I think you can only access such information in case the USB debugging is enabled on your device. With it enabled you have access to the file system and further options via Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
But as your device is defect it would be much simpler to just buy or lend a cheap device and use it instead...

Use Android Device Manager. Install the device both in your android phone and your machine (pc) . Then sign in using your details and you can view all the details in your PC. That's like basically remotely controlling your device.
Hope this helps.

If you're referring to Google's "Android Device Manager" that comes up at the top of this search then you're mistaken as to what it does.  You can find/erase/lock your device but there is nothing like basically remotely controlling your device.  If you're referring to another app, can you provide the link and more information?  (also, what do you mean Install the device...?)


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How do you remove a custom word from SlideIT?
How do you remove a custom word from SlideIT?
(hint: the User dictionary list in Language & keyboard settings, is, quite obviously, not the answer)

Check this video.

To remove a word press on - sign.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Reusing old Android phone?
I was curious if there is anyway to reuse an old Android phone? I have a Motorola Droid 1 that has been sitting around since I got my HTC Thunderbolt. Is there a way to use the phone as a "PDA" with the cell radio disabled? I got family member that would find it neat.

You could always let your family member friend use it as a phone as well...

You can still use all the functions of the phone (except carrier based calling of course) without a carrier contract.  However, the cell radio will eat up battery hugely!  To turn off the radio, dial *#*#4636#*#*, scroll down and click the "Turn off radio" button.  Bluetooth and WiFi will still function normally.
If your phone is rooted you can actually turn the radio off by setting a script to run that will automatically turn off the radio at boot time:

Create a script as a text file at the root of your SD card containing this text:

    #!/system/bin/sh
    #!/system/bin/radiooptions

    radiooptions 1

Install Script Manager app.
Open Script Manager and then select the script you created.
Check the "Run as root" option and the "Run at boot" checkboxes.
Click the "Save" button, and then click "Run" to test.

I do exactly this with my old og Droid myself and use it as a dashboard cam when I'm driving to record in case I'm in an accident.

very cool, this makes it actually worth reusing the old phone because I can isolate it from the cell network. Thanks.

My Galaxy Fame s6810p didn't have the radiooptions binary by default. Installed it via adb shell. When I manually run the binary with argument 1, the cell radio turns off for a few seconds, as indicated on the status bar, but then gets back on and reconnects to the cell tower. I'm manually running radiooptions via SSH after boot, maybe this is the problem.

I have an original Motorola Droid that no longer has phone service, but it works great as a WiFi device. It does almost everything except make phone calls and texts. Android MArket works, Amazon App Store works. Google Maps has a feature (look under the Labs menu) to pre-cache 10-mile square areas of a map. Then you can see where you are even when you don't have an Internet connection. I've even had it navigate somewhere with me, as long as it has WiFi coverage at the start, and as long as I don't go off course. Browser works. WiFi Analyzer works. It's still a great device even if it's WiFi only.

Yeah, just put it in Airplane mode.  Hold the Power button for a second and choose it from the pop-up menu.

Wifi will still work in airplane mode, but Bluetooth won't.

@Broam: Wifi doesn't work in airplane mode

@Lie On what phone? It works just fine on my SGS (turning on Airplane Mode will shut off WiFi, but it can be turned back on) and everything I've read says it's true for the Droid as well.

@Matthew Read: that's what I said; Wifi doesn't work when airplane mode is active, i.e. Wifi is disabled when airplane mode is active.

@Lie Airplane mode stays on when WiFi is switched back on.  You can shut off the mobile network via Airplane Mode and then turn on WiFi to keep using it while wasting less battery on cell standby; WiFi does work when Airplane Mode is active.

You can use it as anti-theft device for your bike or anti-burglary system for your home.
http://oplasoft.wordpress.com/products-3/

You also mention this shareware software in another question. If you are affiliated with the product please disclose that. Also refer to our FAQ about promotion.

If the phone is part of a carrier contract and the contract is still active, you might still be liable to pay the bill until the contract ends or you might have to pay early termination fee.
If you truly owned the device (i.e. the contract has ended or you purchased it without contract), then just contact your carrier and tell them that you're disabling the service (or transferring it to your new phone). Android should still work as a Wifi-only device.
Obviously since the phone will no longer has an always-on internet connection, so you might need to make adjustments to how you use the phone as you find certain applications becomes useless without an always-on internet connection. For example, live train/bus schedule application becomes useless and you would find an alternative that stores their data offline, Google Map might become less attractive, and apps that polls data every 5 minutes becomes just a battery waster since it can't get you the latest data anyway.

Ok so in my case contact Verizon and they can tell me what I need to do?

If you transferred your Verizon number from the Droid to the Thunderbolt, they've already done what they can do.   Follow @Matthew Read's advice and put the phone in Airplane mode, then turn Wifi on.    Mine's been in that setup for almost two months.

If the SIM card's been taken out, then you should be able to use it as a PDA, an MP3/video player, a pocket gaming device or even a mini web browsing tablet over Wifi without any problems. This is exactly the same as the people who reuse their old iPhones as iPod Touches for family members.

Its a CDMA phone, no SIM card.

With some certain programming and a google voice number, you instantly have a wifi sipphone. Basically free calls anywhere as long as you don't need 911 service on it. All you would need is sipdroid a google voice number and the google voice program on the device. Search around the net and you will find how.

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


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How do I remove the search bar in ICS?
Is there a way to remove the search bar from all of the home screens in Ice Cream Sandwich?   I have a Nexus S, which already has a hard-button for search, so the search bar is redundant.  Long pressing on it doesn't seem to do anything useful.

You can't remove it from the stock launcher, it's a permanent fixture. You can, however, install a custom launcher which is based on the stock one like Apex Launcher or Nova Launcher.
You can also disable the Google Search app completely if you want to, but then you won't be able to use it at all (also discussed on Google Groups).

Disabling the Google Search app completely doesn't require root; I just did it.  But as far as I can tell, the only way I can search now is to either open the browser and type my search into its bar; or else long-press the search button and speak my search terms.

@offby1: Thanks, I'll update the part about needing root.


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Does my HTC Wildfire S data cable work with a Samsung Galaxy S2?
I have a HTC Wildfire S and I was wondering if it works on a Samsung Galaxy S2. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum.

The Wildfire S uses a microUSB cable, same as the Galaxy SII, it should work fine

Just to add more info. MicroUSB is used by the vast majority of smartphones. It's just not used by Apple devices and tablets.


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Can I hook up an external GPS to Android devices without a built-in GPS?
I know there's a number of solutions that allow you to use a Bluetooth-enabled external GPS antenna but what if you don't have Bluetooth?  Does anyone know of a way to connect a USB GPS antenna to an Android device?
*A little background: I just ordered this cheap resistive screen tablet primarily to be a less expensive dedicated Kindle/Nook Reader but I'm also thinking up other ways I can use this thing.  One way I was thinking was as GPS unit mounted on my dash, only problem... no GPS.

Off-topic, but I'd love to hear from you about you how like that tablet sometime.

Yeah, I'll report back as soon as it arrives.  I'm still trying to figure out if I should have dropped the extra $70-80 for the Augen or the Cherrypad that are running 2.1.  Basically, this was the cheapest way I could find out how bad a resistive screen actually is with Android.

I'm cancelling my order on the Cherrypad.  It still hasn't shipped and I'm going down to Sears right now to get this badboy: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00382001000P

@Matt What was the outcome of this?

If it has data or voice, you should be able to use triangulation from cell towers to get a rough location.

@Ryan Conrad: I returned that tablet and got and Archos 70 which still applies to this situation.  I haven't found a suitable solution yet.  The Archos has bluetooth and like I said I have seen Bluetooth enabled GPS antennas and there are some apps in the market that enable you to use an external BT antenna but I explored that route because I'm holding out for a USB solution which I haven't found yet.

I believe Bluetooth is the only way to do this.
In order to be able to do this via USB the device would need to support USB-OTG (basically be capable of acting as a USB host); given that you are excluding Bluetooth, I doubt there would be a device with USB-OTG but without Bluetooth. You'd obviously need a GPS capable of sending data over USB, as well.

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


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How can I display an image from a URL on a home screen?
I want to load an image from a URL and have it get updated regularly from a web page.
Something like a widget that would show my current Stack Overflow flair.
Another badge/flair example is to show the weight loss banners at myfitnesspal.com like this:

I've tried searching the market for photo widgets, webcam widgets, and URL widgets.   I'm not sure how to get the above image that updates onto my home screen.
Any ideas?

This thread goes way back but I still were unable to find one in the market that seems to fit the description, so I made one myself. Get it here:

The widget updates hourly, and currently there is no way to configure that.

This works great!

@Lie Ryan I would love to have this on my ASUS transformer... anything special I need to do to get it to work?

@DeaconDesperado: not as far as I know, you just need to allow non-market apps installation. I haven't tested it in a tablet-sized screen or anything other than Android 2.2, but I don't expect there to be any problems as the program itself is very simple. Put in a reply in the comment if you need a different aspect ratio or a different widget size.

@LieRyan Worked as you described.  League of Legends stats banner FTW.

I've implemented that app because I wanted it for myself:
URL Image Widget
Have fun!

Pls fix link. Dead

I wanted an app to do this, and I wanted it to be professional, reliable, and easy to use, and I wanted to know it would be maintained in future and work with new Android versions. As I run a software business, I decided to make it our next product.
Showr supports Android 3.1+, and you can use it as a lock screen widget on Android versions that support that feature. It supports images from RSS or Atom feeds, and from other apps (such as the Gallery) as well as from a fixed URL. It also integrates with some websites, such as Tumblr and Stack Exchange. Unlike the accepted answer to the question, you can set how often it updates, and it has a Smart Updating feature to save battery life and network use.
Download Showr free from Google Play, or see Showr on StackApps.

You might need a very specific widget that is coded to retrieve some data from the said web page in a specific format (XML, JSON, API calls, etc.,) then parse and display it.
For example, a quick Google search for "android flair widget" brings back this app.  You need only to provide the user's ID (e.g. http://api.android.stackexchange.com/1.1/users/3646 for my profile,) and it polls the stackoverflow.com servers once every hour and retrieves the "flair".

I'm looking for something that works for non-stack overflow sites as well.

There probably isn't a "magic bullet" app that would work on every site.  You will need a custom solution.  First, the site itself needs to be specifically coded to provide information you are looking for via some sort of an interface (RSS, XML, JSON, API, etc.) Then the app/widget would have to be coded to retrieve this info (simple polling or more advanced push), make sense of it and display it.

I'm looking to use the published interface for stack overflow flair and for myfitnesspal sites which is a url to an image file.

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


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How can I distinguish important calls?
I'm a freelancer and have a somewhat erratic work schedule, so it is rather difficult for me to tell people at which times I'm available, which means that occasionally people call me while I'm at a client's site.
I'd rather not blanket reject or ignore calls as occasionally there is something urgent that needs my attention.
Now I'd like to have my phone on silent while I'm at the customer site, but ring when the same person calls another time within five minutes of being ignored.
Is there an app that can do this already, or can it be done as an app within the normal permission framework?

Harass Me by Samuel Tardieu available from Google Play Store does what you want:

Tired of missing extra-urgent calls because you forgot to switch your phone off silent mode?
This application will turn the volume on if the same number tries to call you 3 times in 3 minutes (configurable).

Looks good, have to test whether it works.

I was able to set up a pair of tasker profiles that raises the volume to a particular level when a second call comes in from the same number within a five minute interval.  It's fairly specific (it only acts if the second call is from the same number as the most recent missed call, doesn't reset the volume after the call, etc.), but it could be a starting point.
First profile: Context: state=missed call
Tasks:  Set variable Missedcallnumber to called number // wait 5 minutes // clear variable Missedcallnumber

Second profile: Context: phone ringing & caller = %Missedcallnumber
Tasks: Set ringer volume to 14

I would investigate Llama and see if it can do what you want. I don't think that it can do directly what you want with the current version(1.2011.12.29.1124), but the developer is pretty responsive if you email him, and this is exactly the kind of thing that would work well with what it does.
And an app that has an average rating of 4.72/5 on 3,256 reviews is pretty good.


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How do I remove the search bar?
On my Android 1.5 MID, there is a Google search bar in the main screen.

Does this have any value to me if I don't use the Internet?
How can I remove this from the main screen?

I don't know about Android that old, but in 2.x anyway, the search bar also pulled up contacts and apps.

Long-press on the search bar; after a second or so, a trash can should appear at the top or bottom of the screen.   Drag it to the trash can.
Alternatively, you could drag it to an open space on another screen by dragging it to the left or right edge of the screen.   The screen will flip to the next panel and you can drop the widget on any open space large enough to contain it.


text:
Message application deleted
A friend just rooted (don't know if it is the correct word) my Galaxy 551 and some of the applications he deleted, Orkut, some games, etc, he also deleted the Message application.
I can't send or receive messages, the icon com menu has disappeared.
How can I get it back? Samsung Galaxy 551 with Android 2.2
Thanks in advance

See if your friend created a backup of your phone - that's a suggested step in lots of root instructions, and it is possible he did this so you can just re-add the missing application.
Assuming this wasn't done though, you may want to just start over. The following webpage has information on using ODIN (Samsung service application) to restore the original software to your phone. It looks like it covers all the regional variants, you'll need to read carefully to find the applicable software and process for your region. If you provide more regional information, I'll see if I can find more precise steps.
https://galaxy551.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/the-stock-rom-and-odin-thread/
UPDATE:
I don't speak the language and the Google translate is very sloppy - so I may be misunderstanding this thread. Hopefully you speak the language.
For a Brazilian phone, this forum thread has steps for installing a rooted stock 2.3.4 update (sounds like a prerelease leak of an official ROM, which are common to Samsung devices) and reply #8 in the thread also gives steps for installing the 2.2 version that you have installed right now.
Update #2:
Since I started replying, that forum stopped responding. Hopefully just a temporary glitch, but just in case, here's another page I found that includes links to download the Brazilian software.

I'm from Brazil and couldn't find on the link a way to download

If possible, I want to restore it completely, like the way i bought it =) Root again and try to make the right thing ;)


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How do I enable Google Now on my Galaxy Note 2 (NT-7100)?
I go to Google Search app but no Google Now "cards" are showing.
I do the ff:

Long-press Menu soft-key to bring up Google Search
Press Menu -> Settings
Under settings, I only get 3 entries: Voice, Phone search and Privacy & accounts (no Google Now)

My friend, who uses an HTC Sensation with MIUI ROM, and Google Now works nicely.
Question is, how do I enable it on my Note 2?
*I am suspecting that this has to do with my Privacy settings or Location settings but I still haven't gotten it to work despite changing those settings...

I wouldn't think that it's to do with your location services, I know that if I have "Access to my location" turned off in "Location Access" in the phone's settings, then as soon as I open Google Now the first card says: "Location service is off: To continue using Google Now, you need to turn on Google's locations service" with a link to the relevant section in Settings.

Is it country-locked? Where are you located?

The answer has already been provided. It was with the Language setting.

The language setting was my key problem - after changing the OS language from Croatian to English (U.S.), Google Now is miraculously ready to go!
Watch the video How to get Google Now talking to you... for an instructional guide on changing your system language.

This solved the issue. I had to change the language to English (United States) to get it working. Thanks.

You must be running at least Android 4.1 to use Google Now - please ensure this is true.
If you are running at least Android 4.1, then ensure you have the latest Google Voice Search update from the Google Play Store - be aware that it is listed twice (at least on my old device).

The Galaxy Note 2 I got had 4.1 out-of-the-box. I have also updated Google Search and Google Voice Search doesn't have an Update option when I checked today.

@Eric Strange. Have you tried clicking on the voice search widget?

Yes. Still no "Google Now" in the Settings menu

Have you checked that you are running the latest version of Google Search? The easiest way to update is to visit the Google Play Store page for Google Search and check to see if it will allow you to install or update the app.
Ok, so I found how to turn on Google Now on my GN2. If you have the Google search widget, it is as simple as hitting the settings button (left light-up one) while inputting a query for the search widget. This brings up a menu, hit settings then you can turn on Google Now.
I accidentally opted out when in early setup, and now I am curious.

Yes. I uninstalled updates and re-installed updates but Google Now still isn't showing under "Settings" in Google Search

Ok, I think this is how you do it.
Open Google Search from the app drawer. Tap on menu and then settings, then tap Google Now - you should be able to toggle it on from there.

Oops, just saw your other post about Google Now not showing in settings of Google Search.  Seems pretty odd.  I wonder if you need to do a factory reset?  The other thing to do before that maybe is just to try clearing data in Google search?

I have tried clearing Google Search data to no avail. :( I guess I will try to do a Factory reset soon because I too think that this is the last resort. Thanks for contributing.


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Calendar Bug in Android 1.6 on LG GT540
On my Wife's LG GT540, the calendar has 2x 3rd of April, as you can see in the following picture:

As funny as it is, it isn't very helpful...
I'm wondering if anyone else has heard of this and/or knows a solution?

That's...weird. What widget is that?

If you install a different calendar app or widget does it happen on those too?

Haven't got the phone near me right now, but it was whatever the default one on the phone was. I'd install another Calendar to check, but the Market won't download... http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3547/market-app-downloads-always-fails-never-starts

If your phone is still running Donut, did you know that an Eclair (Android 2.1) update should be available for that phone, Eclair starting rolling out to the Middle East in September and the rest of the world should have had it by the end of 2010. See the official GT540 update guide on LG's website. You should be able to download the necessary LG Mobile Support Tool software from here.
I would hope that such a glaring bug has been fixed in the updated calendar/widget.

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


text:
How you can know if a Particular Screen has a "Menu" options available?
I have 2 questions which are making my life difficult in using the Android phone a hell, may be I am/was an IPhone user.

I was wondering if there is anyway to know if current screen has "Menu" options available?
How I can know how many activities/screens are on the stack?

uhm same goes for the iPhone, how do you know you can 'tap'/'long tap' the screen to do something

Is that a rhetorical question? If not, try asking at the Apple Stack Exchange

Press the Menu button and see if anything happens.
Count.

If you're looking for a programmatic answer, you should be asking on StackOverflow.


text:
Android large empty storage marked as full (new phone)
So I purchased this brand new X27 Plus with 64Gb storage, the phone shows 63Gb of free space when checking but I keep getting "your storage is full" errors.
When I plug it as MTP on my computer it actually shows the 64Gb disk as used space while it's empty. When I plug it as USB storage, it divides it as a full 1.25Go G: disk and an unreachable H: disk. I tried to access it with "DIR/A h:-s" and get "the device is not ready".
Any ideas of what's going on and how to get this working ?

Isn't it encrypted?

I added the screenshots, sorry I have nearly 0 skill in such field, I can't tell if it's encrypted or not

@Phil your device looks to have 4GB storage, not 64GB. Can you share output of adb shell df -h and adb shell ls /dev/block? Also adb shell blkid if it works.

@Phil troubleshooting fastboot problems is not directly related to your original question. It's better to leave the question on-topic or edit it to reflect your new queries. Asking unrelated questions in a single question is against rules.

I doubt that these screenshots show a X27 Plus device running on Android 9. This looks like some custom ROM running an old (Android 4? - because of the USB storage option which was removed on later versions) version. Adding the strange difference of shown and actual flash memory available I would assume that you bought a forged device.

Do not unlock the bootloader because you will lose warranty.
Check the following command to proof it's a fake X27 plus or install this app
adb shell cat /proc/partitions

Claim the phone to the seller and get your money back

according to your fastboot screenshot it is a mt6572_v1 (old SoC model). phone is fake

Wow thanks, that's exactly my phone, the app reveiled the true specs and I've been refunded, thank you for all your time !

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


text:
Charging paused, battery temperature too low
I dropped my Samsung Galaxy S2 in water, and now when I plug it in I get a message that says:

Charging paused, battery temperature too low

Is there any way to fix this?

How long ago did you drop your phone in water? Hours, days, weeks? Was it clean water, dirty water or salt water? Are you sure that it is entirely dried out, and there aren't any droplets shorting anything out inside the phone? See these previous questions for more info on water damage: Fixing water damage in phone and [http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/24436/](My android device has been splashed/soaked by sea water)

@GAThrawn At least an hour ago and clean water.. i will take a look thanks :)

if you have a hairdryer, use it and blow it to your S2's backplate and battery removed back for at least 10mins so it's inside will heat up a bit and maybe evaporate some water that got in.


text:
Unable to update or uninstall LiveWare
I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, and I am unable to update or uninstall LiveWare.
Every time I try to update, a message pops up saying:

Error package file was not signed correctly. Uninstall the previous copy of the app and try again.

However, I am unable to uninstall it as there is no option for me to do so, only the option to update. I also cannot open LiveWare, and because I can not update it my SmartWatch is not working properly as I am unable to install apps to the watch.
My phone is up to date as I have downloaded the latest updates to 4.0.3
I have reset my phone to factory settings updated it and done everything I can think of. What's causing this issue?

To reinstall LiveWare™ manager or Smart Connect

From your phone’s main application menu, find and tap Settings > Applications.
Select LiveWare™ manager or Smart Connect.
Tap Uninstall, then tap OK.
Install LiveWare™ manager or Smart Connect application from Google Play™ again.

Note: The Smart Connect application only works for Sony phones running Android™ version 4.0 and later. All other Android™ phones still need LiveWare™ manager application.
(Source)


text:
How can I send service commands from my Nexus 7?
I have a Nexus 7 3G and I often need to send network service commands (e.g., to use top-up codes or to activate/de-activate data-plans), but can't find a way to do it from the tablet. Instead I'm forced to take the SIM card out of the Nexus and put it into a mobile phone temporarily. Is there a way to do this directly from the Nexus 7?

Could you please clarify a little how you do that in a phone then? This might give us (at least me) a clue what exactly you are missing/needing. Are you talking about USSD codes? In this case, you might try to install some dialer app from the playstore (just a raw guess).

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Some carriers allow you to send 'service commands' to change some options in your subscription. With my current carrier, if I dial something like *139# on my cellphone, I can check my balance, while *100# allows me to perform other operations (incl. top-up).

I think USSD Checker is the app that you are looking for.
It allows you to send USSD codes to your network without the use of a dialer. I haven't tried it myself though so comment whether it works or not would help.

Thank you (can't vote up because of reputation). Strangely, none of these applications are compatible with my Nexus 7 3G...

It might be because the Telephony app is not installed by default. This is required to have SMS, Call functionality including sending USSD. You should try a custom ROM with telephony built-in and it should work.

Thanks, but that is not very helpful - I'd rather avoid having to resort to custom ROMs to get what is usually standard functionality.

Any terminal commands available that will check USSD response?

came across this, check if it helps.
......
i'm in indonesia, i use nexus 7 lte 2013,
first i do is unlocked n root it. then i install ussd dialer from play store...
voila.. its worked..
last thing i do is install xposed framework n xposed sms module..
no problemo with pre-paid card...
heheheheh

This needs more explanation.  How do you operate it after installing these things?


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Can not receive some mails sent by SMS Backup+ Android app when using Gmail mail delegate feature
I currently backup my Android phone data using SMS Backup+. Data entries are written to Gmail: e.g. each phone call is logged as one message labeled with the call log tag and automatically archived.
I want to share those entries with another Gmail account so that I use the mail delegate (e.g. "Grant access to your account") Gmail feature, but I cannot see the SMS Backup+ mails in this delegated account.
I can see other auto-archived mails normally, such as Facebook notification messages.
My question is: How can I view the SMS Backup+ log messages in my delegated Gmail account?

I'm afraid the question is a bit unclear (to me at least). Once you grant access to your account, that other account will be able to access ALL your email, but they won't show up in the other account's inbox, instead you will have to "switch" accounts in gmail. Something like this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/88791830/Selection_001.png.

We read the delegate mail directly in our own inbox after granting access Hamzeh


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Reducing the memory usage of Contacts Storage
I have an HTC Desire running 2.2 and have noticed a lot of low memory warnings lately.
I think this is due to my Contacts Storage taking up 33+ mb of space.
How can I reduce or limit the amount of space the contacts take up?

Related, but not identical to: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17479/can-i-store-contacts-on-my-sd-card-how

The only way to reduce this number is to remove contacts. Now this could be setting apps like twitter and facebook to not sync contacts. But if you have pictures for everyone, it is going to increase the amount of storage as well.

Thanks, I'll try removing the contacts sync from Facebook etc. Will doing this shrink the memory usage or will it hold on to what it has got already?

I believe it will "unsync" but I am not 100%, i always tell it to not sync my facebook and twitter contacts.

After removing the twitter, facebook and last.fm contact sync, my storage dropped from 10MB+ to ~1MB. What's weird is that the contacts from those services are still in the list.

i know the twitter one is huge for me. I follow like 600+ people so to add that many would blow out the size of the database. i forgot about last.fm, I uninstalled that as soon as they announced they were going "pay for mobile" unless you have a WP7

After removing the sync from Facebook and Twitter the contents didn't reduce much. I had to delete all the contacts and let them resync from my Google account to finally get it to reduce the size.


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Whats the core difference between Kies, New PC Studio, PC Studio 3.1 from Samsung?
The web site doesn't specifically say...but I assume that Kies is for Android based devices, NPS and PCStudio are for W7p and other Phone OSs?

Kies is also for Bada based systems - maybe even primarly, because the built in "Samsung Apps" store only carries Bada apps.

New PC Studio is for Samsung's proprietary OS1.  I believe PC Studio 3.1 is just an older or region-specific version of NPS.
RoToRa is correct that Kies is for both Bada and Android.  It appears they are transitioning to using "Kies Mini" for Android, which is really just a means of updating the device software.  Media management, sync, etc. is intended to be done through the "cloud" on Android devices.
After looking at the Samsing website, I believe they do not have management software for their Windows Phone 7 devices.


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Resistive Screen Zooming Option for PDF files
I'm looking to buy a resistive screen android tablet for reading PDFs. Is there an app that lets resistive tablets to zoom into the text for a PDF file? Or is their a specific resistive screen for it I heard there was a 2 point and 5 point but not entirely sure or are all resistive screens the same.Thanks.

Resistive touch and Capacitive touch will operate the apps the same way, the same way a laser and a mechanical mouse are two different technologies designed to do the same thing for the user. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, for instance try using your capacitive iphone screen with gloves or finger nails, it wont work. A capacitive screens are known to be more accurate in general, although some nokia n900 users would argue that point. If you are buying a cheap tablet, I would not expect a resistive screen to be as accurate or responsive as a capacitive screen used on most mainstream models out there.
You should be able to pan zoom even if the screen only supported "2 points" multitouch I wouldn't stress about that. All PDF viewers will be compatible its a matter of trying a few out for yourself one by one, probably start with the official Adobe PDF Reader and go from there, everyone will have different tastes in what they want from a pdf viewer app.
Keep reading if you are still interested, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen#Technologies

Thanks, that was my main question if a resistive screen would be able to pan zoom into a PDF file. Since I find no reason to pay $700 for just using a tablet for reading PDFs thats why I was looking at a cheap 10.2" resistive tablet. If I would use it for something else ofcourse wouldn't mind paying for Mot. Xoom put I have no use for it other than for my PDF files to read to replace my Mac Air for convenience.

No probs, but I would rather go for something like a nook color with a warranty than some other cheap tablet made to be nothing but well, cheap. A nook should be around the same price point just a slightly smaller screen http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nook-color-barnes-noble/1100437663 These things are also designed to make them money through the book stores etc as well as being cheap, which is an ok compromise ;)


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Connecting Android to Windows 7 fails
My Windows 7 doesn't recognize my android phone. HTC Wildfire S
Are there any updates of drivers that I need?
If I use VMWare it works properly here's what it showed in VMWare.

But here's what happens in device manager on my windows 7 on the same computer

Please help!! I've installed HTC Sync and tried connecting, my phone and the PC fails to connect. Help!!!

Have you choosen that windows will look online for drivers?

Thanks for all answers, but my case was a very unusual case. I tried everything but It didn't work. I reinstalled windows. It works now.

You might want to try modifying the Android SDK driver's .inf file to allow the drivers to be used for your device.  I have instructions in another answer here.

Whenever I have problems with installing an Android device's drivers, I install PDANet.
PDANet is a desktop tethering app, but that isn't why I install it.  PDANet comes bundled with phone drivers for all of the major phone manufacturers.  Once you have installed the drivers, you can then uninstall PDANet (and it will keep the drivers).

PDANet is not even passing the installation of the Android Driver. It cannot even find my phone.

@Mob Not sure what else to suggest, PDANet has always fixed driver issues for me.  Did you try uninstalling what is installed already in the device manager first, then install PDANet (and drivers), then plug in phone?


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Password sync with Chrome
I know about Xmarks and LastPass, but is there a free solution for password syncing between Android and Chrome?

Keepass is an option. You can set up the KeePassDroid app to use a password database that you keep synced with Dropbox (a good tutorial is available at AndroidPolice). Not very elegant, but it might be what you're looking for.

You might like to try http://phonemarks.blogspot.com/

Thanks, but that is just for bookmarks. I was asking for a tool for password sync.


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Import OPML file to RSS Android?
I have "liferea feed reader" on Linux for RSS feeds. Is there a way I could import all my added feeds there to Android? (NOTE: the extension of RSS exported file is "opml".)

Android doesn't have a built-in RSS feed reader, but there are many RSS feed reader apps (and websites) that will happily import an OPML file.
If you want to use a website, or an app with a website-synced back end, then Google Reader is very popular, and you can definitely import OPML files into Google Reader. On your device you can then either visit the Google Reader webpage, or use the Google Reader app, or one of the other many Android apps that sync with Google Reader.
To import an OPML file into Google Reader, click the cog/gear icon in the top-right of the page, then click Reader Settings and then  Import/Export. You should then see the option to upload your OPML file.

Note that Google have announced that they're turning off Google Reader effective July 1, 2013.

RssDemon imports OPML files.
JustReader says it does, but I couldn't find it and have asked the dev about it.


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How to remove Google Account that is set for Android Market in device?
In my Device I have entered the the xyz@gmail.com as google account and I have also set that account as the Market account.
Now I want to use abc@gmail.com as my market account but I am not able to do that.
So how to set that another account for the android market.
I also want to remove the account xyz@gmail.com from my device completely. That Account I have set at the First time in to my device and now I am not able to remove it from the Device.
So what should I have to do for it?

If you only want to change the account you use for the Market, and don't need to remove your current primary account from your phone, then see also this question: How to change the account for Android Market?

You can't currently remove the primary Google account that you used to set up your Android device, the quickest way to switch to your new Google account would be to restore factory defaults and set up your device to use the new account.
The location of the factory reset depends on the Android version of the device. On ICS (4.0+) devices it's in Settings -> Backup & reset -> Factory data reset. On Honeycomb (3.x) devices it's in Settings -> Privacy -> Factory data reset. The same goes for Froyo + Gingerbread (2.0-2.3.x) if i remember correctly.
Note that this will clear your apps and their data, and depending on your device, MAY wipe your internal and/or external SD card, as TryTryAgain mentioned.

Note that this will clear your apps and their data, but won't clear your internal or external SD card. isn't entirely true. Many phones come with an option to wipe the SD as well. This, if I remember correctly, is the default option sometimes too. So, be careful and be sure not to COMPLETELY wipe everything.

@TryTryAgain OK, thanks for the info, will add to the answer. I've only used Samsung's and Google's devices, which don't wipe the SD from here.

When you are on the home screen, click the Menu Key, then choose 'Settings', select 'Accounts and sync', click on the account which you want to remove, and finally press 'Remove Account' ... no big deal, no factory reset :)

as GAThrawn said, you just need to add another google account in Options -> Accounts&Sync, and in Google Play application press Menu -> Accounts and link it to this new-linked account..


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Can you get MAC drivers for Huawei U8180?
I have a Huawei U8180 (sometimes called X1).
When I mount the USB I can see the SD card and there is also a tool on the device to install the Windows drivers. But can't seem to find anything for Mac.
Does anyone know if you can get Mac drivers for it so adb commands will run on it?

You do not need drivers for a Mac.
What you can do so you can access adb from anywhere is create an environment variable that
points to the path of adb.

Open Terminal
Type cd ~ this will take you to your home directory
Type touch .profile this will create a hidden file named profile
Type open -e .profile this will open the file you just created in TextEdit
In the file, type export PATH=${PATH}:/pathToTheAndroidSdkFolder/android-sdk-mac_86/platform-tools
Save file, close TextEdit, Quit Terminal, and Relaunch Terminal

now when you run adb devices, in a terminal, you should see something like the following:

List of devices attached
  5751A45CB25EF device

if you don't see anything listed for devices, make sure you have USB Debugging enabled in Settings > Development > USB Debugging

"make sure you have USB Debugging enabled in Settings > Development > USB Debugging" - Thanks, this did the trick. It's always the simple things that I seem to forget ...


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Exchange Email Notification doesn't clear
I have a couple Google Mail (apps and gmail) accounts linked to my phone. If I get email the phone notifies me. If I read the email on a PC, the notification goes away. I like that.
I also am using the "Email" app with an Exchange server for my day job. If I get email the phone notifies me. However, if I read the email on PC (outlook or outlook web access) the notification never clears. So, I see the notification on the phone, tap through and... find nothing new.
Is there a setting that I'm missing?
[edit] running 2.1, if that matters.
[edit] Feb 1, 2011. This is still an issue since the Android 2.2 update as well

I should ask: Has anyone else seen this behavior from the non-gmail email app?

Yes, I see the same thing with the built-in e-mail app.

Don't use the built-in Email app anymore, but I definitely used to see that when I had it connected to a POP account, the notification never went away until I opened the Email app, even if I'd already read the mail via that account's web interface.

You could always use the "Clear" button when you pull down the notification area. That'll get rid of the notification without forcing you to go into the app.

Al E -- that works if I'm sitting at my desk exclusively managing email in Outlook. Which rarely happens. Instead, I find myself looking at that new mail indicator on the phone wondering if that came in since my last look at Outlook or not. Did I remember to clear the phone then? Or was I busy and working and missed a new one.

The problem went away after the ICS update was pushed out.

How often is your Exchange email on your phone syncing to the Exchange server? It may not be going away because the sync isn't set soon enough?  My guess is that it doesn't know that the email was marked as read until it syncs back to the server.

The Account Settings assure me it is in Push mode.

As a side note: I've experimented with  push and various interval times. No diffs.

The issue persisted even after the 2.2 upgrade.
Switching to Touchdown is one reasonably inexpensive alternative.

While I haven't made the switch to Touchdown yet, a coworker has been using it for a while and is very happy with it.

I did the 30 day trial. Liked it quite a bit but haven't yet pulled the trigger on buying.

I'd suggest using K-9 Mail, a much better email app than the built-in. On my IMAP4 accounts, the notifications are cleared when the phone pulls the emails again. Haven't tried this with a push account, but i'd imagine it will work with a possible delay of your pull interval.

K-9 looks interesting, but the "quirky" warning about working with Exchange servers makes me rather nervous. My initial attempts to use it haven't gone well, I'm afraid (we don't have IMAP4 enabled).

Oh yeah, sorry about that, forgot that I didn't test Exchange on K9.


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Samsung Galaxy S2(Format or restore factory setting through pc?)
I accidentally sat on my Samsung Galaxy S2 and it has resulted in screen crack. I am planning of repairing it instead of buying a new one.
The phone with the cracked screen works (except the screen) and contains personal and sensitive data.
I do not want to expose it in any way while I give it for repair.  It would be nice if I can factory reset or wipe the phone before I give it to service.

A hard reset restores the original factory settings and erases content, including downloaded ringtones, images, programs, and contacts stored in the internal memory. This feature allows for resetting of sound profiles, display settings, and phone or memory card settings.
To perform a hard reset using the hardware keys, follow these steps:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold both Volume Up and Volume Down keys at the same time.
Press the Power key only until the phone vibrates once, then release only the Power key.
Continue to hold the Volume up and Volume Down keys until the Android System Recovery screen appears.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight Wipe Factory Data.
Press the Home key to select.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight Yes - Delete all user data.
Press the Home key to select. Press the Home key to reboot.

But as you said, your screen is broken. Check the screenshots and see how many times you want to use down and up volume key, so that the according to number position you can do it.


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Phone only charges when plugged into AC adapter or computer
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 x. It only charges when plugged in to the AC adapter and my laptop, and doesn't charge using battery packs or in the car. I use the same cord for everything. Why is this?

Not enough current?

I agree with agent, you would need at least 1A charger if you want to charge smartphones nowadays. Even more 2A for a tablet. Your PC cannot supply that much specially if its below USB 3.0 standard.

my pc is 3.0 usb

Open your car charger and at the back of the USB socket solder together the two middle contacts. These are the D- and D+ signals. Most Galaxy phones don't like an open circuit there, so now you have made a nice loop. Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus


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Why are animations from an Animated PDF not showing?
I am going to prepare PDF presentation, with some basic animations, using LaTeX. A classic example can be found here.
I am able to view animations only when I view the PDF from my PC. No animations are showing while the viewing the PDF in Android. Is it a problem of my device (i.e., LG Optimus L5 with Ice Cream Sandwich) or does Android itself not support this? (e.g., some restrictions like opening a .zip attachment).
I am using Adobe Reader version 10.3.2, build 67615; it shows the images but not animations, while other readers like Polaris Office and Kindle Reader are unable to show the images also.
Could someone explain why this is? Am I missing something? How can I view these animations?

Showing animated GIF is noting to do with the Android or for the matter any operating systems. The application with which these GIFs are viewed should do it. If you had already tried Adobe Reader, try ezPDF which in my opinion is way better than other PDF readers.

@Narayanan: Kindly look the sample more closely. It was not a gif file embedded in PDF, rather it was compiled through LaTeX!

My mistake. Terribly sorry.

The only possible solution is to keep trying every possible app until you ran out of options. I use proOfficeSuite that somewhat supports powerpoint animations, not sure about LaTex though. It reads PDF files too.


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Change to and from 4g using Tasker
I downloaded Tasker for Android and I'm trying to do the following:
Condition1:

On Chrome browser startup, go to "mobile network connections" and change from 3g to 4g.

Condition2:

On Chrome browser exit, go to "mobile network connections" and change from 4g to 3g.

Can you write the steps down for me to do the above please?

Maybe you should consider Llama - it has almost all the features but it is way simpler to use.

I guess i read your question wrong

No worries :)
But do you have the answer to my original question?

What phone are you using? What version of Android? Are you using a custom ROM? if so which one? The answer depends on these things

Galaxy note 2, international version, unrooted.

You could use this one here as Tasker plugin.

Your GSM carrier might have different APNs for 3G and 4G service. If so, you might be able to find a way to use Tasker to automate the modification of your data APN between the two. I've looked, but all I can find is using Tasker + APNDroid to append "apndroid" to the APN name to disable mobile data entirely. Useful in its own way, but not in your use-case. If anyone else can figure out a way to make it happen though, I think the potential is there.
Otherwise, I found a forum post describing how to use Tasker to toggle 4G data. They list instructions for toggling LTE; I don't know if it will work for toggling HSDPA/HSPA+ 4G on your Note II but it might be worth a shot. Here are the juicy bits, modified slightly for clarity:

You must be rooted and running a custom ROM that supports 4G toggling (i.e. AOKP).

Step 1: Download Secure Settings
Step 2: Open the app, go to Options and scroll down to Custom ROM Actions and ensure that "LTE" is checked
Step 3: Open up Tasker and create a profile entitled "4G On" and choose your first context (App = Chrome)
Step 4: Click New Task at the top of the tasks list and name it 4G On.
Step 5: Click the + button and scroll to Plugins and you will see Secure Settings. Click it.
Step 6: You will see edit configuration; click edit
Step 7: Now you will see a list of the options you have enabled in Secure Settings. We care about 4G, so scroll down to LTE and click it. Then it will ask you what state you want LTE to be in. This is the 4G On profile, so click On. Save and apply the task.
Step 8: Repeat steps 3-7, but now choose the context you want for 4G to be off, name your profile and task 4G Off, and when you get to the configuration settings in Secure Settings, make sure you check Off for the state of LTE. Save and apply the task.

Thanks for replying!
I have a note 2, GSM version, International version.
It's not rooted so no custom ROM.
I presently use this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wmba.android.toggle4gforrazr (4g Toggle) to first click the icon, then change from 3g to 4g and vice versa, which is quite a pain in the behind.

@Ryan - Sorry, I've got no idea where I got "Atrix" from! Do you know if your carrier has different APNs for 3G and 4G service?

No idea, How do I find out? My carrier is "tele2" in Sweden (www.tele2.se)

I'm relying on Google Translate here, but I think the answer is yes. Are you using the "4g.tele2.se" APN? Here's how to check. If you can find a way to automate the modification of your APN settings with Tasker you might be in luck.

Ok, did some digging, the APN is 4g.tele2.se as you said, there is just one APN that I seem to be using. It (seems that) I dont need to change the APN but I need to change the "Network mode" from "GSM only" to "LTE/GSM/WCDMA (Auto mode)"


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Not able to access photos, songs from phone storage
I am not able to access data on my phone storage through mobile apps. However, I am able to access the same data from my PC using s USB connection.
I already erased all data available on the phone, restarted the phone, and took some photos but the Gallery app still says "no photos/videos available". How can I fix this issue?


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Is this Android phone Android 9.0 or Android 6.0?
I purchased an XGody Mate 20, advertised as Android 9.0.
Indeed, if you switch it on Settings -> About Phone reports Android 9.0:

However, when I plug the device in, Android Studio reports it to be Android 6.0:

Also the DevCheck Android App also reports the device to be Android 6.0.
Is there any way to find out which is it really? I bought this under the understanding it was an Android 9.0 device.

I’m not an expert but the about phone screen screams Android 6.0. I imagine DevCheck and Android studio are correct. The phone itself sounds like a cheap Chinese ripoff and seems fishy. With my personal opinion, I would avoid using at all costs.

they have just changed a 6 with a 9. kernel is still old version and security patch level is 2017. besides this you can check from adb shell permissions of /system. android 9 should have system-as-root

Id like to note that it says build is test-keys. Any reputable stock ROM I've seen uses release-keys. This is obviously an illegitimate ROM and should not be trusted

@colbycdev: Is that just a label that they forgot to change, or does it involve getting the "official" signing keys from Google?

it's just a flag you can change

@grawity no official keys from OEM, used for dm-verity and such

If you ever get into such a problem again, refer to this (check the left-side navigation bar) to compare Android versions.

I wanted to turn some of the comments into an answer that can be used for additional verification in case someone else runs into a similar issue where the vendor also reskinned the notifications window.
Android 9.0 was released in March 2018. The Security patch level is May 2017. This doesn't make sense at all. Would you trust it if the vaccination card for a 15 month old toddler says the most recent vaccinations were given 10 months before he was born? Not to mention that I'd really recommend against using a phone which is over 2 years out of date on security patches.
The Kernel Version also doesn't match: Android 9.0 has one of 3 kernel version: 4.4, 4.9 or 4.14. The stated version, 3.18.19, matches that of Android 6.0.
The Build Number also is cause for concern. MRA58K is related to the Android 6.0 ROM, and vendors are not supposed to use test keys for released products.
Overall, these are all causes for concern. This device has been tampered with (either rooted and the build.prop edited, or a full ROM edit), and poorly at that, since if they were competent, chances are they'd have edited the above values as well to be less suspicious. There is no way to know what other changes they made. At best they're trying to mislead you. At worst they're spying on your and stealing your money.
I urge you to get a refund. If that's not possible, I recommend you install a clean version of Android so you have less reason to worry about malicious intrusions. However, that might not be enough, because there might be intrusions in the device, either hardware or software, that can interfere with anything you do with the device. I agree with the others though that it's a security risk to use the device as-is.

it is a low budged phone there is no reason to assume they have done anything bad with it. they just changed the version number and this is probably done by the manufacturer itself. it is a common practice in china. he can use it as a normal android 6 don't be scared about a simple changed text

@alecxs even if it's just a stock Android 6 with no other modifications other than s/6.0/9.0/, 1) it was marketed as an Android 9 phone and sold on the understanding that it was an Android 9 phone and 2) The security patch version date (which already is something which is known to be faked on low cost brands) is over 2 years ago, which is an eternity when it comes to security patches. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with using a phone which hasn't had security updates since 2017 as a daily driver.

Thanks. It's a cheap device, £50 (about $70). I write game apps, and needed to test our apps on android 9.0 devices. It'll only get used to profile/debug our games, not for day to day use. And yeah, the time zone was set to Hong Kong when I bought it. The CPU is fine, but the RAM is so slow it hampers everything.

@StevenHaggerty If you're going to test your games on Android 9.0, it's better to get a more representative phone that is more commonly used by Android gamers. I don't know your user numbers, but I doubt Android gamers will commonly have 50 quid budget brand phones. I think the really popular Android gamer devices are generally around the 3-400 USD pricetag.

@Steven Haggerty since your phone runs Android 6, it is completely useless for testing with Android 9

Related, see Backdoor Built into Android Firmware. CyanogenMod (then) and LineageOS (now) seem like better choices then fly-by-night manufacturers doing shady things. I think even an official Google image for Nexus would be a better choice.

Pull down the notification shade. If it looks like this:

It is android 6.0
If it looks like this:

It is android 9.0

Thanks, looks like it's android 6.0 then. I guess the only thing that would give this kind of result is a tampered with version of android, made to show these results in About Phone?

@StevenHaggerty Certainly possible and likely not very difficult. If you plan to continue to use this phone I would install a clean version of the OS on the device as you can't know what other changes have been made. Or try to get a refund.

@StevenHaggerty Note that android 9 was released in August 6, 2018, and your screenshots show that your phone has the security patches from May, 2017, another sign that there was some tampering

@StevenHaggerty with root and build.prop, it's possible for anyone to fake the Android version (ref: MIUI forum)

Thanks all. Assuming I treat this phone as a BIO HAZARD and want to nuke it from orbit, is there a generic android 9.0 I can install? It appears 9.0 is only appearing for certain devices at the moment.
I can put an axe through it, but it'd be nice to get some use from it!

It's a normal android you can use normal. android 6 is still supported official

Android 6 Marshmallow is not, in fact, still supported. Its last security update was released in August 2018.

Interesting, concise answer. +1.

While this is a useful quick check, it's worth noting that many builds of Android are heavily customised by OEMs (e.g. Samsung's "Touchwiz"). It would be perfectly possible to build a ROM based on Android 6 that looked very like your second screenshot, if someone was trying to pass off the phone as something that it wasn't. The system information in Nzall's answer seems a much better clue.

I agree with IMSoP. While useful as a "quick check" this is far from foolproof (my old stock LG phone running 6.0 looks closer to the "9.0" screenshot than the "6.0" screenshot!). The process in Nzall's answer, while a bit more involved, provides much more concrete confirmation.

this is not android pie
you can tell this because the little circle at the bottom looks like O and not ◉

just wondering, how is this unhelpful?

I didn't down-vote, but my Samsung phone (running Android Pie / 9) has a somewhat square unfilled outline like the first O. This is not at all representative of the Android version, since most manufacturers customise it.

@toothbrush most non Samsung phones don't have nearly the same amount of customisation but thanks for reminding me about that


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How can I determine if my device has USB Host Mode (OTG) support?
Some Android devices can act as a USB host, so that you can use other USB devices attached to them. For instance, browse or import the photos stored on a camera from your phone, or copy files onto a USB memory stick attached to your tablet, plug a full-size USB keyboard or mouse into a tablet, or use an external GPS or wifi device.
How can I tell if my device can do this?

On my tablet with OTG, it says it in the specs on the product page online on Amazon. Look at the datasheet. If it says it has it, well there you go. If not... I'd say no. They usually like to "advertise" and "show off" what their products can do. (Even if nobody except electrical engineers read datasheets.)

Is there a definite way to know if my phone supports USB-OTG or not?

To use an attached USB device you need to have:

A USB OTG (USB On-The-Go) cable
USB Host Mode drivers loaded on your device
A version of the Android operating system loaded on that device that supports USB Host Mode
An Android device (eg phone or tablet) that has built-in hardware support for USB Host Mode
And finally there need to be drivers on your device, for whatever USb device you're plugging in.

Operating System
USB Host Mode support was introduced in Android version 3.1 (Honeycomb), so if you have Android 3.1, or newer installed on your device then you should have the necessary support for it in your OS, Android 4 also adds additional USB and OTG support. Also, many third-party ROMs add support for USB Host Mode to phones that have the hardware support, but don't have the necessary OS or driver support in the official operating system release.
Host Mode Drivers
Most devices that have both hardware support and a new enough OS will have the necessary drivers loaded to enable USB Host Mode, but some don't. You can find driver apps on the Play Store for some models that don't have built in drivers. Some models with 3rd party instructions and drivers available are:

Nexus One
HTC Desire
HTC Incredible

Cable
You can't just use a normal USB cable. As these devices can act as both a USB "slave" device (for instance so that you can plug them into a PC and copy music onto your phone, or copy pictures off the phone) and a USB "host" (for example so that you can plug a USB memory stick into your tablet and copy files on or off it) they need some way to tell which they should act as at a given time.
A USB OTG (USB On-The-Go) cable is what is used to tell your device to act as a host, this is like a normal USB cable but it has one of the internal pins connected to Ground at one end to let that device know that it should act as the host (technically pins 4 & 5 are shorted to ground in an OTG cable).
Additionally, as most phones have micro-USB sockets, but most USB dongles have "full-size" USB plugs, as below many OTG cables have a male micro-B USB plug at one end, and a female USB-A plug at the other to convert between the different sized connectors.

The Motorola Camera Connection kit, which is a USB OTG cable
USB OTG cables can be bought fairly cheaply on places like eBay or the Amazon marketplace, as well as many small electronics shops. You may also find that your device's manufacturer sells an official, branded one, often called something like a "Camera Connection Kit" or "USB Memory Stick Connection Cable". If you're brave you can also find various tutorials on the web on how to make your own OTG cable from a standard USB cable.
USB device drivers
When you plug your USB device into your Android phone or tablet it needs to know what that USB device is and what to do with it. For common devices, like USB memory sticks, or cameras that support PPTP or USB Mass Storage, these will often already be built into the OS. For other USB devices, like Wifi, 3G or Bluetooth dongles there may not be drivers pre-built into the OS, or only drivers for certain specific devices.
How to test everything together
There are some apps that can help you test whether you have all of the necessary hardware and software to do this, such as USB Host Diagnostics. Using it to test your device's capabilities is very simple

Install USB Host Diagnostics from the Play Store
Run it
Tap the Start Diagnostics link, and following the directions first ensure that you have nothing plugged into USB on your device and then plug a device (such as a USB flash drive) in when prompted

If everything works you should end up with a summary screen like this, showing firstly a few details about your device and the running OS, then letting you know whether or not your device says that it supports USB Host Mode, and then the all important final Verdict that lets you know whether testing the Host Mode access worked or not:

If everything is working and the app successfully detected your USB device (showing that your USB Host Mode is working) you should have "Yes"s in the ringed sections, and some details showing how much access 3rd party (ie non-built-in) apps have to the device. If not, there should be details there to help you track down where the problem is.
Alternatively, Chainfire, the author of USB Host Diagnostics, has a (long) listing of all the reports that people have submitted after running the test on their devices. You can look your device up in the list and see if people with your device and operating system version have passed all of the tests, or not. Have a look for your device here: http://usbhost.chainfire.eu/

Chainfire also has a listing of all the devices for which information has been submitted by the diagnostics app and the results they got.  Useful if you want to check for support before you buy the device.

Thanks @Compro01 hadn't spotted that, have added a note mentioning that link.

Anybody knows samusng GT-S5830V supports OTG? please ans if you any custom kernal does that!

Does it show which version of USB OTG is supported (e.g. USB3 OTG vs USB 2 OTG)?


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Is there a way to customize keyboard settings?
On my Samsung Captivate (AT&T) they have (for no reason that I can fathom) split the voice command key out of the Swype keyboard. So, I seem to have to make a choice, do I want to use swype or have easy access to my voice command mic.
I was hoping there's some way to add a custom keyboard where either I designate the keys when I set it up, or (more ideally) they are already set up in the obvious way, but with both the voice entry available on the Swype keyboard.

There is a nice (free) alternative keyboard on the Android Market - that is somewhere between Swype and the built in keyboard - called TouchPal.  It allows for three different layouts (16 key, 20 key and QWERTY) and you can set a default for different orientations - i.e. 20 key for portrait, QWERTY for landscape.  And there's a bunch of other things it does that make it nice and easy to use.
One thing to note is that it's made for Chinese and English input but there are options to turn off the Chinese input.  Also, some version of Android have a bug that sometimes prevents a newly added input method editor (IME) from showing up properly.  You may need to restart the handset after installing.
All that aside, I use it every day on my HTC Desire as a replacement for the stock keyboard and I couldn't do without it.  Have a look at CooTek's Site or search Market for CooTek or TouchPal.

It is possible to develop your own keyboard input method. However, this isn't a trivial thing to do. You can either code it yourself or wait for someone else to do it. Sorry :-(


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Save merged contacts information
I just spent a lot of time merging contacts from different sources (two Google accounts, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Skype), and now my contact list looks somewhat clean for the first time in months. So far so good.
In the past, when I reset my phone (I'm a CyanogenMod user, so resetting my phone happens from time to time), I lost all info about merged contacts, which is really a pain. Is it possible to back up and restore this information somewhere, e.g. through an app?
edit: I did the merging in the stock contact manager of Ice Cream Sandwich (CM 9 alpha)

Your contacts should all be backed up to the Google account you registered your phone with, provided that you are saving your contacts to Google and not your SIM card.  Check to make sure that you are using Google as your default contact list, and that syncing for contacts for that account is checked.
UPDATE:
You can use Titanium Backup to migrate settings between ROM wipes for other apps/contacts.

The contacts are synced, that isn't the problem. What doesn't seem to get synced to Google is the information on joined contacts from other providers (Skype, facebook, ...). That information is lost after a reset AFAICT

Although just a "little" late I did create a free application called Total Backup to save and restore most of the contact joins without needing root. It can be found at Google Play or Amazon Appstore. Don't hesitate with feedback.


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How do I use an external microphone with my Galaxy Nexus?
How do I use an external microphone on my Galaxy Nexus, and what kind do I need?
I know if it should use a jack plug (3.5 mm), but not all jack connectors are the same, and I don't know if the lower or middle or upper part is for the microphone.
I want to use my phone for a video conference, but there is going to be a lot of noise around me, so I need an external microphone without all the background noise which the microphone in the phone gives.
I don't think the Gnex can handle a USB mic through the micro USB port, correct me if I'm wrong.

Some people over at the XDA developers are also looking for a solution to this quistion. And after another google search, i only found something about iPhone, but i don't think they are using the same jack stick... Hmmm, would be really happy if someone has tried this before :)

Looks like you're not alone: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/19339/any-success-with-external-microphones-for-android-phones-or-tablets

Yeah, he is also talking about a external mic, but via USB on a tablet, i don't think micro usb on Gnex can support that, so i'm talking about using my jack stick with the mic, but i need to know which of the areas on the jack stick which belongs to the mic :) But thanks anyway, now i at least know im not alone :)

There's this, for the Nexus One: http://dsynflo.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/nexus-one-headset-controls-issue.html - not sure if it's the same wiring as the Galaxy Nexus, and this says that the Galaxy S has ground and mic swapped: https://www.kvconnection.com/Articles.asp?ID=165. Either way, a Mic will work if if wired to the sleeve and last ring.

Today i have made some progress in this question.
On iPhone you can buy a iRig Mic which can do the job (and it should work on android too).
But since i want to use another external microphone i have decided to make the adapter myself from some different adapters (which does the same thing as iRig Mic, but with a female 3.5 mm jack output, so i can use my wireless microphone with it)
I have ordered the parts from an online store in denmark, but you can get it all over the internet, you just need to know what you need :)
The first thing you need is a 3.5 mm male 4 pole conductor jack (TRRS) to RCA adapter.
Like this one
Then you need a RCA to either female jack or XLR adapter (either if your mic has a jack or XLR output)
Like this one
And thats all.
Then you can plug everything together and use the mic of your choice on your Android phone.
(BTW some stock camcorder apps can't use external microphones, then just use this camcorder app: https://market.android.com/details?id=rubberbigpepper.lgCamera&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsInJ1YmJlcmJpZ3BlcHBlci5sZ0NhbWVyYSJd )
I'm using this app ^^ with this set of wireless microphones
And i'm just waiting for the last adapter in the mail tomorrow..
So from tomorrow i can record with my galaxy nexus and record the sound via the wireless microphone on a distance up too 30 meters :D
And if i need to go around with the phone and the microphone, i will just plug in a wired microphone to the female jack and go around with the phone and microphone in my hand :)
I hope someone in the future can use this information which was very hard to find on the internet :)
When i have some time later today or tomorrow, i will upload a couple pictures to illustrate my setup :)

Do you know what the wiring is on those connectors? cause then you could also post which poles of the jack correspond to which component (speakers, mic)...

You'll need a TS connector for mic-only or TRRS for a headset with a mic, see this Wikipedia article.
For example, this TRS to TRRS adapter is supposed to work with the Galaxy Nexus and includes a mic.  I'm not sure if you would need to plug in headphones for it to work, but you could certainly plug them in and not use them.
You didn't mention Bluetooth; you could also potentially use a Bluetooth headset or mic.
Of course, it may be the case that the stock camera app won't record audio from the external mic, in which case you may need to run a separate audio recording app or simply use a different video recording app.  This app looks like it can record audio from a headset; I'm sure there are others.

Hi Matthew..
Maybe i was not precise enough. It is a microphone like this one:
http://www.podconsult.dk/wp-content/uploads/audio_technica-2-1024x1024.jpg
I like use, and then i need a connector from it (3.5 mm jack 2 pole) to the Galaxy Nexus 4 pole jack connection.
I have found one for the iPhone 4 http://www.podconsult.dk/wp-content/uploads/KM-IPHONE-MIC-2.jpg but im not sure the iPhone 4 is build in the same way as the Galaxy Nexus (they both have 4 connection areas on the 3.5 mm jack but i'm not sure they are made so the mic is at the buttom  on both of them)...

Even though it was'nt what i was looking for, you were the only one to answer me, and game me some ideas for searches.
I had proberly not found the solution myself without the ideas i got from you. So you get the bounty :)

@dev0 Ah, I didn't realize you had a specific mic in mind already.  Glad I was able to help somewhat :)

Yeah, i was properly not precise enough in my question, but you definitely helped me.. I would not have come up with my idea without your reply. So thanks again :) Have a great day :)

I am unable to answer your question fully, but the part "and I don't know if the lower or middle or upper part is for the microphone", you can verify it quite easily.
What you need to have is a head phone that came with your device or the one that works (both mic and headphone speaker should work), a 1.5V battery cell and a pair of small wire.
Just wear the headphone and hold the battery in your hand with one wire connecting the battery's negative terminal to your head phone's lowest terminal (ground). Connect another wire to the positive terminal of the battery and touch the other end of the wire on any other terminal of the headphone connector.  You can hear a pop or hiss on one of your ear. If you do not hear anything, then it could be the mic or you haven't completed the circuit.  By this way you can identify the parts of the head phone connector (Right, Mic, Left, Ground, generally in this order, but varies from device to device). If you are ready with believing what you is see, then the following image will explain.

Are you sure about this? Every other reference I've found puts left out on the tip, right out on the first ring, and the mic input either on the second ring or the sleeve (usually the sleeve). The remaining sleeve or ring is ground.

No I am not. That's why I start with asking the viewer by testing their pin connection themselves and ended with the sentence as in the answer.

I originally wrote this article for iPhone microphones and audio inputs, but it applies almost equally as well to any Android device that has a headset jack (TRRS, as mentioned in other answers).
The two primary things you need to do are:

Make sure the physical connection works—thus the need for a TRRS to TRS adapter like those made by KVConnection.
Make sure the input signal has the correct impedance. For the iphone, this is about 600Ω. Not sure what each model Android phone uses, but this makes the level of the microphone or audio device match up correctly to the input on your phone. Some phones will cut off the audio completely if the impedance is way off, as a safeguard against blowing out the audio circuit.

Once you can make the physical connection and have the right impedance, you just need a good audio recording app that will use the headset audio input. See my article for some ideas.

Some phones will cut off the audio completely if the impedance is way off, as a safeguard against blowing out the audio circuit   - this helped me !! thnx!

I was Googling for the same product that works for my Galaxy Tab 2 tablet. I found the iRig microphone too, but it was somewhat of an overkill for my purpose since I already have a microphone.
So I searched for this "3.5mm 4-Pole Mic Headset adapter" on eBay and found this item. It costs only $4, and it will allow you to use a standard microphone.

I use  the Irig Pre XLR  input adapter and headphone output with Phantom power on my HTC Wildfire. It works fine in flight mode. I use the Tapemachine PRO app.

There are professional Bluetooth-to-XLR adapters availabe (Google search) that work just like any Bluetooth headset with HFP or A2DP profile.
Quality (especially the HFP mode may be subpar) and latency may vary from wired solutions, though.
JKAudio has such a product: Daptor 3

http://www.startech.com/Cables/Audio-Video/Audio-Cables/35mm-4-Position-to-2x-3-Position-35mm-Headset-Splitter-Adapter-Male-to-Female~MUYHSMFF
I think this is what you are looking for.

Thanks, but i have already made the adapter...

Or this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SENSITIVE-TIE-CLIP-LAPEL-LAVALIER-MICROPHONE-for-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-SMARTPHONES-/280916075048?pt=UK_Music_Instruments_Microphones_MJ&var=&hash=item4167e72228#ht_2015wt_872

Could you at least give the name of the product plus a short description, and state why this would be a good solution? eBay links tend to be short-lived.

authors: Артём Нечунаев


text:
App Installation Fails Every Time
My wife uses a Droid (first gen) running v2.2, and in the past month or so she can no longer download or update apps from the Market. We've tried rebooting the phone without any luck. The phone has internal storage available, so I don't believe that's an issue. Please help!

It would be helpful to know specifically is happening when she tries to dl or update an app. Does she get an error? Does it start and get stuck? Does nothing happen?

The phone can download the app just fine. It's always the installation that fails.

Maybe you also want to check the "Linked" section to the right? There are some matching Q&As like http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/682/android-an-app-failed-to-download-install-what-do-i-do / http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/15932/package-install-via-market-sometimes-fails-and-gives-seemingly-random-error-mess

If she is rooted, try the following here.
Otherwise, does long pressing on the download --> cancel, then re-starting the install work?

I don't know what you mean by "long pressing on the download --> cancel" mean. (I'm not very familiar with Android, sorry).

Go to the Android market.  Go to the downloads screen.  Does it show that they are simply "downloading"?  If so, long press on on the item it is stuck on "downloading", then select cancel from the modal popup.  Then you can try to re-start the download.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1518/dropbox-always-downloading-on-htc-incredible/1519#1519

As I stated above, the phone can download the app just fine. It always errors when it tries to install it ("Installation unsuccessful).

Go through the app install process again.  When you click install/download it'll kick you back to the download screen.  Click on the app name again (while it is downloading and installing).  At the top of the screen it should list the install error code when it fails.  Please report back what the error code is.

When I install an app from the "Market" app, it doesn't take me to the download screen. It kicks me back to the home screen. I only know it's downloading/installing/failing via the notification area.
If I go back to the Market app and go to the download screen, when I click on the app, it pops open a menu that gives me two options: View Details or Cancel Download. View Details just takes me back to the Market page for the app.

@RHPT At the top of that screen, when the install fails, it should provide an error code right there.  If not, I'm not sure what else to suggest

I managed to successfully install aLog. Here's the log file with the error code highlighted: http://pastebin.com/c7H2rf5v

It looks like you're trying to install Angry Birds.  Do you have sufficient free space on your phone?

It's not just Angry Birds though. The phone has plenty of space. Here's another log when some apps installed OK, while others failed. http://pastebin.com/mcE58K6Z

It might be because those apps are trying to default install to the SD card.  See this XDA post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=753437  It does indeed look like the install failure is the same as mine.  "Unknown reason -18"

I've also found the need to Cancel the download, then restart the phone, then start the install again. In some cases, I had to uninstall the app and then reinstall to fix the problem.

If all else fails do a factory reset: http://www.ehow.com/i/#article_5634169


text:
Google video hangouts on 2.3.5 Android phones?
Can one use Google's video hangout on a 2.3.5 Android phone with front camera? My phone has both a front camera and a back camera.

Yes, any phone that has a front-facing camera and is running Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x) and above will be able to join and initiate Hangouts with the latest version of Google+ app.


text:
How to install new Recovery image from .img file
I recently found that I could upgrade to the new CWM touch recovery version for my EVO 4g! However, to do this through the ROM manager app or get it directly onto the phone at all, it required a payment, although they specified it could be found (the same version) for free on their website. So naturally, I went and downloaded it as soon as I could.
But instead of a .zip file, as things that I usually flash, it is an .img file. This made sense, since I figured I wouldn't be installing a new recovery through the current recovery version, but I am unknowing as to how to install this new recovery image.
Anyone know what my next step is?

where do i fine that recovery.img file? Link please

If you have a fastboot-enabled bootloader version (such as the old 0.76.0000 engineering HBOOT in the EVO's case) you can use that to flash it from a PC via USB. Reboot into your bootloader, then select the "Fastboot" option from the boot menu (if it has one, it may start up fastboot automatically). Once it's ready, go to your PC's shell and execute:
fastboot flash recovery /path/to/recovery.img

You should also be able to use the flash_image binary if your ROM has it (or you install it from XDA). Copy the recovery.img over to your device somewhere then do the following:
C:> adb shell
$ su
# flash_image recovery /path/to/recovery.img

used the second method. worked like a charm!! Thanks to both of you

where do i fine that recovery.img file? Link please

It depends on your device and the version you're looking for. Team Win Recovery Project has a list on their devices page that can find the .img file for your phone. You can also visit Clockworkmod, who doesn't seem to provide .img files anymore, but prefers you do it through their app (linked there).

One way is to open ROM Manager and choose "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery".  Select your device when it prompts and wait for it to download the latest (non-touch) recovery.  Using a file browser, go to /sdcard/clockworkmod/download/<site>/recoveries and paste your .img there.  <site> may be mirror.kanged.net or something else, just check the folders till you find an IMG file with the current date.  Rename the existing .img to something else and rename yours to the exact same name as the existing file was named.  For example, rename recovery.clockwork-3.0.0.0-evo.img to bak.img and then name your file recovery.clockwork-3.0.0.0-evo.img.  Then return to ROM Manager and flash the recovery normally.
Another method is to use fastboot from your PC.  Put your device into fastboot mode and then:
fastboot flash recovery <path/to/your-recovery.img>

Another is to use a terminal on your device:
/data/data/com.koushikdutta.rommanager/files/flash_image <path/to/your-recovery.img>

(You can move flash_image somewhere more manageable first, just make sure it has execute permissions.)

thanks! Edited the question. Which option do i chose in ROM Manager though? Each button to flash a Recovery doesn't let me chose it from my SD card..

@jlehenbauer I should have added that, it's not exactly straightforward through CWM.  The second and third options are better.

where do i fine that recovery.img file? Link please


text:
How can I type Indian Rupee symbol?
I want Indian Rupee Symbol (₹) font in my android, so I can type it in message or anywhere I would like to. But, I can't find it in my keyboard.
Can anybody please suggest me where can I get it?
I am using Samsung Galaxy Grand and Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2

You should change the title. Having the font and being able to type the character are two different things. AFAIK, all fonts on Android are unicode, and they should all have this symbol.

What keyboard to you use?

I stumbled on this website after trying to answer your question which says CM10's stock keyboard has this symbol.

Google recently released Google Hindi IME (Input Method Editor, a techy name for keyboard) which I now saw with my friend's Nexus 4. It has the requested Rupee symbol:

You can try SwiftKey. It shows the rupee symbol over the key 'X'.

Just make sure you set the language of your phone to "English (India)" otherwise you won't get the rupee symbol (link).

You can also use AnySoftKeyboard, which supports the ₹ symbol now. Just long-tap the $ key.

If you hv swift key no need to pay money just click hold alphabet 'x'  you will get the option for ₹.  Thanks

Would you explain the reason behind posting this answer when the content is already covered here, except the fact that the app is free to use now?


text:
Share to bookmark
Is there any way of having a "Bookmark" as part of the items in the "Share" options that show when one clicks "Share" on a given app?

I found an app Bookmark Home which adds Add bookmark to the share list. If you send a bookmark to it, it will be stored in the apps own storage, but there is an export option to save all of them in the Browser bookmarks.


text:
Disable buttons for emergency call and volume control in lock screen
When you see Android's lock screen, there are still some controls available that may be used without unlocking the phone. For me (Android 2.3.3 - LG version) it's the volume control and the button for emergency calls.
Unfortunately, it has happened a number of times now that, when the phone was in my pocket, it somehow automatically started an emergency call or increased the volume. I don't know how this could happen but ...
The only solution I can imagine is to disable those controls. Is this (easily) possible? If yes, how?

I don't know that LG makes the lock screen configurable like that, but you could always try a lock screen replacement. Something like Widgetlocker or Lockbot might do the trick for you. Lockbot has a free version, so I'd start with that and see if it does what you want.

Thank you, good idea! But unfortunately, WidgetLocker etc. don't really replace the original lock screen. Instead, they're just a normal app which opens directly, right? They don't offer PIN unlock and the other security options.

Well, I've played with widgetlocker and lockbot free, and they both pretty much replace the lock screen (turn your phone off and when you turn it back on, there's the new lock screen), and I'm looking at lockbot's options, and it allows you to do password, pattern or (in the pay version) shake to unlock. So as far as I can see, it's a full replacement for the lock screen.


text:
replace native samsung galaxy s3 email app for gmail app?
Is it possible to disable the native email application that comes with the samsung galaxy s3? I feel that the UI is inferior to the gmail app.
If so would this require rooting into my phone?

If you don't set any email accounts up in the native app, then it won't be used. Just set your accounts up in the app that you do want to use. No need for rooting or anything like that? You can only use GMail accounts in the GMail app, but there are many other email apps in the Play Store that you could install and use.

If your device is running Android 4.x, you can simply go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications, scroll to the app, oben its entry, and hit the "Disable" button -- et voila, it's "gone" (in case you need it lateron: It's at the end of the very same list), it will no longer appear in any other place.

Could you all make those an answer so i can mark them answered?

@Izzy, this is normally the case, and very well may be on the Galaxy S3, but on my Note 2 it seems that Samsung (or T-Mobile) prevented the disabling of some system apps. For example, I could not disable email, "touchwiz launcher", "t-mobile my account", browser, just to name a few that I tried to disable.

@chrisjlee Done, and added some more useful hints as well.

Summary of comments, as requested by the OP:
If your device is running Android 4.x, you can simply go to Settings → Applications → Manage Applications, scroll to the app, oben its entry, and hit the "Disable" button -- et voila, it's "gone", and will no longer appear in any other place. If you need it again at a later point, it will still be at the end of the list, so you can enable it again.
Note though, that some manufacturers / ROM builders decided to preventing some apps from being disabled. Nothing you can do in that case without root. If you rooted your device, on the other hand, apps like e.g. Titanium Backup ★ root would let you freeze those apps as well.
Note also GAThrawn's comment: If you don't configure the email app, it won't run. Some homescreen replacements (aka "launchers") allow you to hide unwanted apps from the app drawer (e.g. GO Launcher EX), so you at least can ban them in some way.

Always glad to help :)


text:
Low resolution album artwork?
Why does Google Play Music and other music apps display album artwork with such terrible quality? This occurs even when high resolution images are embed into the audio files. How can we fix this?

There is a solution, but unfortunately it is a bit tedious. This issue occurs because Android caches the album art at a low resolution. It also generates file names for the thumbnails in a weird manner (apparently by the value of the system clock the first time the album appears). This means that the fix will be manual unless you employ some computer vision software.

Navigate to Internal Storage\Android\data\com.android.providers.media and copy the albumthumbs folder to some local directory.
You'll see files such as 1345139729376, 1345139731350, etc in albumthumbs. These files have no extension but are actually just jpegs. You can just edit these files if your image editing software supports it, but we could add .jpg to make it easier. In Windows this could be done via the command-line with ren * *.jpg.
Now if you're on Windows you'll probably see image thumbnails instead of the generic file icon and it will be easy to edit the images. I'm sorry if you have a lot of albums, but since the file names are as good as random we need to actually look at each image and replace it with its high resolution counterpart.
If you changed the file extension we can change it all back with ren * *. (note the period at the end). We can then paste our modified album art back into the original albumthumbs folder on the device.

The result:

That would defeat the reason for thumbnails. Though it might fix your issue with the media players, it would slow down the gallery previews − especially with many/large albums. Plus it would use a lot more space, and all your images would be duplicated. Of course, that also depends on what you understand by "high resolution counterparts": not taking the "full resolution" image 1:1 but chose a resolution "between" might make it a "relative issue".

I agree, but right it defeats the purpose of having nearly full screen album art. It is a terrible design decision, and it is unfortunate such a workaround is required. Personally I wouldn't accept anything less than at least the displayed resolution, but of course you can can experiment to see if there's any benefit with intermediate sized images. I've simply put this answer out there for those that were equally frustrated with the low quality.


text:
Is it possible to install the Nexus One Calendar app on the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate?
I've been using the Galaxy S for a little while now, first on the stock 2.1, and then on stock 2.2. I'm mostly happy with this phone, but one of the things that I don't like is the Calendar app that comes with it (most of all - the fact that the it doesn't display the appointment titles on weekly displays).
So I've been looking for various calendars in the market, but the version that I remember being most happy with is the Calendar that comes installed in the Nexus One.
Is there some way to install it on another phone?

Did you manage this ? I too am looking for a better calendar application than the default one on my Galaxy S.

@Edelcom I'm guessing he did not, after a long search I could only find a N1-style calendar for the SGS on 2.1, not 2.2.  I might try to port one myself.

No, sadly, I did not manage this.

You'd have to find someone who's extracted it to an APK file, and side-load it onto your Galaxy. This link gives a nice tutorial on how to side-load an app.
Probably the best place to start to find it extracted would be in the forums on XDA.

Do you have a link to an APK file we can use? I don't believe you have to side-load the app if it's an APK. I've installed plenty of apps extracted from the Nexus One (e.g. Car Home, Gmail 2.2.1) onto a HTC Desire without having to side-load them.

I don't... extracting apps is not in my skillset.  :)  . Some of us do have to side-load even APKs though, thanks to AT&T who locked our phones out of installing anything that isn't through the market. I get why they did it, but they should've at least given us an option to re-enable it if were are more advanced users. Grrr.

This thread, while for the facinate, has the calendar files needed. You will have to delete (backup them first) the TouchWizCalendar.apk & "original" CalendarProvider.apk. Then put the "stock" Calendar.apk and CalendarProvider.apk on the device.
You will have to have root to do this since these files are in /system/app.

I have done exactly this - but the calendar fails to work correctly. I've tried using the pre-existing CalendarProvider.apk with the current calendar, but the sync now only works one way (it takes events from my google calendar, but does not post them back), and trying to access the "Calendar" menu option results in the app crashing...