text:
Is there a technical reason Android update story is so bad?
Is there a technical reason why Android phones general lag a lot behind the stable released version of Android?
This applies to both new phones, for example a recent trip to the phone shop everything was 4.0 to 4.2.1, KitKat could not be seen. And also old phones, my girlfriend's iPhone 4 had an OTA update to the latest OS, this is a July 2010 phone, whilst a July 2010 Android is basically a paperweight.
Presumably Android itself doesn't concern itself with the actual hardware, and thus talks to the OS via abstractions? I guess then the handset maker just provides the drivers for the specific hardware, thus I can't see the issue with pushing OTA updates if the ABI remains stable (my phone doesn't grow new hardware features).

Any way we have http://forum.xda-developers.com/?__utma=248941774.885253082.1394986357.1394986357.1394986357.1&__utmb=248941774.1.10.1394986357&__utmc=248941774&__utmx=-&__utmz=248941774.1394986357.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=34129058

Hardware drivers are internal to the kernel and the ABI is not internally stable.  There is no strict correspondence between Android version and kernel version, either; manufacturers may or may not include kernel upgrades with userland upgrades.  If they do, there is no binary compatibility with your existing drivers.  The bulk of the burden on the manufacturer will still have to do with adapting to the new userspace, however -- I don't see how the nature of the ABI is particularly significant at all here.

Your last paragraph suggests to me that you have a misapprehension about just how much Android does behind the scenes. Abstractions and interfaces have to keep changing to support new hardware features, as well as better software representations. Perhaps you might ask a follow-up question about it.

Except that the iphone that got updated now runs like a dog and forces you to upgrade hardware anyway whereas the Android phone runs as well as it ever did and simply does not include new features.

See this image released by HTC. It describes the update process in a very detailed form:

Image resized (click to see the full size)

While the image is certainly helpful for those who can open the image, see it, and then understand it, I'm afraid it's less helpful for the rest. Anyone feels free to [edit] and transcribe/explain the image in textual format!

Android phones have at least 2 fingers in the pot that iPhones do not: the hardware maker and the network carrier. The hardware makers often consider their drivers trade secrets, and therefore must learn the new versions code and then adapt their drivers. Manufacturers also often provide custom "skins" that must be updated for the new version, and sometimes wholly redesigned.
Any changes must then be approved by the carriers. They often addon their own features, which must be updated/redesigned and tested. Then they must run networks tests for each phone to ensure it won't crash the network. While these tests must go on for iPhones also, they are probably done before the new version is released, as Apple can produce all the phones running the new version at once for testing, before the code is released to even developers.

This is a 2-part question. Part 1 asks why Android phones do not get the newest update right away, and has been answered adequately by the other answers. Part 2 asks why older phones often never get the newest update, and has not been answered yet.
As LeBeau says, there are other corporate stakeholders besides Google. Google only creates the new versions, and, besides the phones it directly creates, like the Nexus line, it does not get much say over whether and when the others put them into the phones. Also like LeBeau says, all these other stakeholders have to learn the new version before they can implement it. This is why the phones get new versions later, and why certain phones, like the Nexuses, get the versions before anyone else, because Google has already learned the new version.
As for part 2, the hardware makers want us to keep buying new phones every couple months, right? Otherwise, how will they keep all that dough rolling in if we keep using our old phones? They'd be in the same position the computer companies are in: with storage and RAM enough for any purpose, why buy any new hardware? The answer is to stop updating old phones, so if we want the newest features, we have to get a new one. Google probably doesn't do this as much, as it is already selling you Android, so why does it need to sell you phones, but it probably does it a little bit. The network carriers, for their part, probably help with their draconian rules like preventing rooting (or else you void your warranty). This is why, as you say, "a July 2010 android is basically a paperweight".
As for your comment about improvements being "mainly userland", I don't know how all that works, but I'm sure it's not that simple. The upgrades may be in software, but not all software talks to the user. Plus, the hardware makers put "skins" on our phones, so we do not see the inner workings, and it's likely that when they finally upgrade to the newest version, they put some new stuff in themselves, so that an HTC One phone at Android 4.2 is different from a Samsung Galaxy SIV phone at Android 4.2. Probably either HTC or Samsung throws some new features out to put in 4.3, and you do not even notice they did it. Then, when let's say the HTC One does not upgrade to 4.3, but the HTC Two does (I'm making this up), you are forced to get HTC Two to get (some of) the new features of 4.3, as well as some features of 4.2 you didn't get with HTC One. I am not certain this happens, but it is normal business procedure, so I would not be surprised.

I think there are a number of reasons why updates are so slow for android devices:

The time it takes a manufacturer to apply their customisations to the new version and ensure everything works OK can be quite long. This has improved over the last year or so as Google give them an Android PDK, or the Platform Development Kit which should allow them to work on their customisations several months in advance of the public even hearing about the next version of Android.
The time it takes for networks to test the update and apply their customisations.
There is little incentive for manufacturers to apply the update  (especially on 1+ year old devices) as they are trying to sell their newest devices to customers.
Most customers don't know or care what version of Android is on their device so why would the manufacturer spend time and money updating the device to the latest version.

You can also look at this article which goes into a bit more detail, including why Apple is able to release updates 'so much quicker' (essentially because they control both the hardware and software).

In addition to the incredibly long HTC infographic in Mpeti's answer, other manufacturers have come out and said why their updates lag behind official Google releases, and why they don't release updates for older models:
Sony Mobile: Ice Cream Sandwich – from source code release to software upgrade, selected excerpts and headers below:

However, before we can roll out those software upgrades, there are a lot of activities to first of all get Ice Cream Sandwich to work and become stable on all Sony Ericsson phones. We call this the Bring up phase.
Secondly, and perhaps most important, we must certify and approve the new software release with all the different technologies, networks, and hardware that a modern smartphone should work with. We call this the Certification and approval phase.

The Bring up phase: Getting Ice Cream Sandwich to work on our phones
Integrating Android patches
Getting the software stable and adding localisation
The Certification and approval phase: Making sure the software and hardware is compliant
Additional approvals might be needed
Many operators also want to customise the software according to their requirements

When all of this is done, we are ready to roll out the software release variants as software upgrades to operators and consumers around the world.

Motorola used to have a good blog entry on this, but seem to have deleted all their older blog content in the last few months. However the Wayback machine has an archived copy of it: Archive.org: Motorola Update on Ice Cream Sandwich, selected text and headings below:

Once source code is released from Google, it doesn’t automatically update to your device.
Each new version of Android launches with one device partner, in what is called the “Google Experience Device” or GED, the showcase device for a new Android release.  The GED partner for each launch works with Google during the development of the OS so that the device and new Android version are ready for a coordinated simultaneous launch.
Once that GED device ships, the rest of the Android community gains access to the Android source code as its made public shortly after – a critical milestone for device manufacturers and component suppliers, enabling us to start work on integrating the new release into our existing products.

Merge and adapt the new release for different device hardware architecture(s) and carrier customizations
Stabilize and ‘bake’ the result to drive out bugs
Submit the upgrade to the carriers for certification
Perform a Customer pre-release
Release the upgrade

We are planning on upgrading as many of our phones as possible.  The ability to offer the upgrade depends on a number of factors including the hardware/device capabilities, the underlying chipset software support, the ICS support and then the ability to support the Motorola value add software.

Also, PC Mag Why It Will Take So Long to Upgrade Phones to 'Ice Cream Sandwich'

When Google releases a new version of Android, the build is then processed by the manufacturer. This takes several months for them to assure the update can take advantage of the phone's features, and so they can install any additional features they want.
The process is then repeated for the carrier, which again takes several months.

Hmm.. That's the reality of the situation I guess, but if the improvements are mainly "user-land" then they keep the hardware ABI on major versions shouldnt this process be more streamlined. At this rate, blogs etc.. we should really compare iOS 7.1 to Android 6.2


text:
My Android (Samsung Note 4) keeps disconnected after a while from a sign-in required wi-fi
I've a Galaxy Note 4 (udpated to latest OTA) device and I'm trying to setup a reliable wifi/vpn connection to my dormitory network. The procedure to connect to internet is to connect the wi-fi network and then enable a PPTP vpn.
It connect to wi-fi network, then I see a notification which says "Sign into Wifi Network". I enable the vpn and I get connected but after a few minutes it get disconnected (bcz the wi-fi get disconnected).
I've tried to turn on/off smart switch, power saving mode and different developer options but nothing has changed. I also tried 3 other router in the dormitory and nothing has changed. I've an old android 4.0 phone (Sony WT910) which is able to connect to the network and provide reliable connection, there are other android phone (such as Galaxy Note 5) which have no such problems. Also, the problem is with this particular vpn enabled network and I can connect to other wi-fi network such as my home wi-fi which doesn't require the user to sign-in through vpn and directly connects to the internet.
I suspect that the problem is with that "Sign into Wi-Fi network" which tries to open up my browser as well for a url. I can connect and enable the VPN but since the wi-fi get disconnected after a while I don't have reliable connection (I have to re sign-in each couple of minutes). It seems that there is a stupid mechanism (I'm not sure) in the software which thinks that the wi-fi can't access the internet (bcz of no sign-in) and hence disconnects the wi-fi. This is independent of vpn, with/without enabling the vpn, the wifi get disconnected.

Galaxy Note 4 (SM-N910C)
Android Version: 6.0.1
Android security patch level: April 1, 2017
Kernel Version: 3.10.9-9197253

p.s. I've tried lolipop DHCP (legacy) as well but nothing has changed
Update:
here are exactly the same problem:

Android device disconnects automatically from a sign in required WiFi
WiFi Disconnecting (Special Issue)

This seems a Bug/Capability which check the connectivity of a WiFi connection using client3.google.com (Spying?) and when see it is not connected (in most cases sign-in required and you should enable a vpn) the android decide to drop the WiFi!

I've searched and it seems this problem is not related to VPN. It's a capabilyty/Bug [at least] in some android devices (esp Samsung) which turn off the wifi when it found it not connected (without considering the simple fact that it might have connected through a vpn!). So this is a Bug. It seems this helps somehow.
In a nutshell current solutions are these:

Block client3.google.com in your router
Fool your device by setting up face proxy (then the sign-in required message goes away) and then modify it to none proxy again
disable wifi assisted location

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to view HTML file's source code on Android?
I have to view my HTML file which I have loaded into my Android mobile from Gmail. I don't want view it as HTML page. I just want to view its source code and note it down.
How can I do this?

What do you mean by "executed"? Is there Javascript embedded in the HTML file? Why not just open it with a text editor and remove any script?

Your question is a little confusing. In this answer I am assuming you want to see the HTML code and not the webpage(which is obtained by parsing the said code).
First you need to find where on device is your html file located. Then you can use a file explorer like ES File Explorer/Pro to long tap the file and select OPEN AS-> TEXT to view the source code.

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


text:
Galaxy note 8 battery drain with mobile data
I've confirmed that battery drain issue in my Note 8 is because of mobile data and hotspot. I have evidence.
Here is battery usage with mobile data and hotspot ON. AOD was OFF

As you can see it shows battery usage over 7 hours going from 100% to 35%.
Here is the usage of screen. As you can see it was only on for 2 hours. As I said always on screen is disabled. That leaves 7-2= 5 hours of screen being OFF

Now here is 4 hours battery usage going from 100% to 95%. Screen was on only for half hour but mobile data was also OFF. That means my mobile data is literally draining as near as display. That's a huge amount of battery getting wasted. Any ideas? What should I do?

My note 8 is only 2 weeks old but ive confirmed and its original. Only mobile data seems to be doing bad job (battery charges fast and seems good)
I mean even if LTE consumes high battery it should not consume as much as display.
What is the logic here?

To be fair, I think this should be the expected result considering the device is using a lot of resources which are mostly power (CPU) hungry.

When using mobile data and additionally have mobile hotspot activated, you essentially utilising two communication radios (4g and WLAN) which themselves require considerable power.
It is mostly like there are some services running in background when there is an active internet connection. (e.g sync, silent updates etc)
This power we are talking about is coming from the battery hence it becomes very hot, just a symptom indicating it's "working very hard" to supply power to the device' resources and consequently a heavy battery drain is inevitable.
Although screen is considered to cause a high battery drain when the device is idle, its certainly not the case the the device is active and using its other hardware.

You may want to further analyse the batter statistics with other third-party tools from playstore (e.g battery drain analyser)
Also try to regulate the up-time of your mobile hotspot, to minimise battery usage.

Thanks for the answer. I dont notice any overheat in my phone though. Just a little bit while its fast charging but its normal i guess. Is there any app that will automatically turn off hotspot and mobile data when its not used for more than say 10 minutes?

Oh, just noticed. My mobile hotspot is set to automatically turn off after 20 minutes of inactivity. But it doesnt. Probably something keeps running in background. Ill use 3rd party app to monitor this behavior other than battery manager of my phone

If it automatically turns off then its ok. But again I doubt it 4g network would   use that much battery, there must be another culprit. Try getting stats with adb shell dumpsys batterystats command with [tag:adb]


text:
How to solve "Unfortunately, Launcher has stopped." Galaxy Note 4?
I'm receiving this error after enabling ultra power saving mode:

"Unfortunately, Launcher has stopped."

Its dialog only has the option "OK". Restarting doesn't work. Clearing cache partition through recovery doesn't work.
I can access settings by pulling down from the top of the screen but the settings menu is not complete; It only has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Mobile networks, Location, Sound and Display entries.
My device is not rooted. It seems that the device is still on ultra power saving mode, even after clearing cache.
I have the option to factory reset through recovery but I prefer not loosing my data, if it's possible. What can I do?

Related: Samsung Note 4 power saving mode problem

Go into safe mode, this will filter out any third party app which could be causing problems.
Here's how to enter safe mode

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power and Volume down key.
Release the Power key when the Samsung logo appears but continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.

When in safe mode, disable ultra power saving mode. You could also clear data for your launcher. To do that, go to settings>apps, in the menu, select 'show system apps'>touch wiz>storage>clear data.
If there are any third party apps that you suspect of misbehaving, you should uninstall them while in safe mode.

Thanks for your answer. I've booted into safe mode but I'm still getting the launcher error, and again, settings menu is not complete, so I can't access power saving setting or clear data. It seems that ultra power saving is still on in safe mode.

Firstly, the settings you are seeing is normal for u power saving. Those are the only settings i see on my phone when in UPS mode. When you pull down the notification bar, is there no 'notification' that said 'turn off ultra ps? That's what i have on my s5. I'm afraid your only option is a factory reset. Before you do that, see if removing your sd card fixes the issue

I see a notification about turning off safe mode, not ultra power saving mode. Isn't there any other workaround to solve it (like using adb etc)? Doing a factory reset just because of UPS is not what I expected ...

True, how did i not think of those other options? Maybe it's because i don't know much about it. The only thing i can suggest at this point is, as soon as it tells you that launcher has stopped, press ok and right away press on the three dots on the top right and press exit upsm. This is assuming that you have that split second before it crashes again. The other options I'll leave to someone else to answer


text:
ADB commands to get the adb version of mobile phone
This might sound stupid, but after reading this post (which seem complete) I still dont see how to get the "abd version" of my android, the output I expect is something like this Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.31. I tried (based on this answer)adb shell and then adb version and I get /system/bin/sh: version: not found.
The reason I want to know it is to see if it is compatible with the adb version I have in my desk. Thanks!
UPDATE:
Although I could not see the adbd version of my android. At the end I did not matter as I could command my phone from my desk using the last release of adb here. So thanks all anyway for their contributions, cuz although I did not get exactly what I wanted it help me to reach the a solution to my problem.

First of all, Android since Marshmallow doesn't come with adb binary (client) anymore, but only with adbd (server), for communication with an adb client on Desktop.
In a nutshell, this is how the communication takes place:

your Android device has adbd, a daemon, which is started during boot process, and listens on USB by-default for communication from desktop clients;
your adb tool in your desktop acts as a client and sends request to adbd on your Android, and you get to run adb commands successfully subjected to fulfilment of certain conditions.

If there are compatibility concerns, they would arise if adbd is depreciated or adb client on your desktop is. To see the versions, run:

adb version                 // to check adb client version in your desktop
adb shell adbd --version    // to check adbd's version in your Android. Please note that some users reported error with this if executed without root access.

You shouldn't be worried about adbd's version but only with adb client version in your Desktop since official adb client is backward compatible.
Now to the localized issues you ended up with.
You incorrectly executed the commands. Nowhere the linked answer instructed to execute adb shell version. The correct procedure is:

adb version // adb version (client) on your Desktop
adb shell   // launches shell on your Android device through adb client on Desktop
adb version // the version of adb (client) binary that used to come with Android prior to Marshmallow.

The last two commands have no relevancy to your question since they intend to ascertain the version of the adb client in your Android. As I explained in the beginning, it is adbd (server) alone which communicates from Android device's end, not the adb binary in the Android. That binary in Android can be used, if available, to talk to other Android devices (USB-OTG, WiFi, etc.) or to the same device if adbd (server) is listening on network too.
Also, when you ran adb shell version, it meant: launch a shell on Android and execute the command version. There is nothing named version which is to be executed, hence, you got the error.

Thank you very much for the time you took in explain it to me, now I have a better understanding of the issue. I execute adb version  and adb shell adbd --version , and I got  Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.32 Revision 57224c5cff69-android for the first one, and for the second I got the same error /system/bin/sh: adbd: not found. It is strange cuz then when I execute adb shell getprop I get all the properties of the mobile phone but anyway I dont see the adbd version  among them.

Honestly, I don't know why you are getting that error. It works fine here: https://i.sstatic.net/GuHMe.png

I downloaded adb application (to execute from window 10) in this link: http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r23-windows.zip, after it I run cmd in the file "platform-tools" and I get that error, am I doing something wrong with the executable I am using?

I do not know. It may be best to try asking it as a separate question. Others might be able to help better if you ask it as a new question.

Makes sense that OP sees /system/bin/sh: adbd: not found, because adbd usually resides under /sbin, and that directory is typically accessible only by root.

@BurNor Were your phone rooted, you could've ran su from a terminal emulator app, followed by adbd --version, which would've worked.

@DeathMaskSalesman, hi, no my phone is not rooted.Then I guess in the case of Firelord, his phone was rooted

@Firelord, is your device running some kind of custom ROM? I suspect that you were able to run adbd --version and OP cannot because adb cannot run as root in production builds.

@DeathMaskSalesman Now that I think about it, it may have something to do with the custom kernel I'm using, but I didn't use root access for the commands in the screenshot and I did check that userid was 2000 (shell), not 0. I can't afford to flash stock kernel (don't want forced encryption) so I cannot do cross-checking.

@DeathMaskSalesman but this mention of code is in stock Android kernel as well and in my system shell user can read sbin, and r-x the adbd as well. Magisk however may have something to do here though.

@Firelord Possibly, yes. I'm running LOS 14.1, and my adbd is owned by root.root and with permissions rwxr-x--.

Correct syntax for checking ADB version of Android SDK is
adb version
When in shell, issuing command
adb
or adb help
will give output of both version and available combinations of options && parameters.
You can not get ADB version of your device, but only properties for which answers in thread you already found is appropriate.

Hi, I am new in this, but I understood that shell is to access to your android device (mobile phone) I want to get the abd version of my mobile phone, when I try your suggestion I get the properties of my Desk

There's often no need to check the adbd client version on your phone as it's tied to the Android version. I.e. you can safely assume you get adbd version 5.1 on an Android 5.1 device. There hasn't been great new feature introduction since very long ago so different versions of ADB client should make little difference.

I based my question on this. https://android.stackexchange.com/a/132921/246747 . However, when I follow the instructions I get /system/bin/sh: version: not found

adb became backward-incompatible after 1.0.31 I believe.

here the script that works for me in both cases regardless if adbd on the phone is default (non-root) or insecure (root):
#!/bin/bash
clear
echo
echo "if adb runs in user (non-root) mode:"
adb shell "su -c adbd --version"
echo
echo "if adb runs in root mode:"
adb shell "adbd --version"
echo

This does NOT work with Chainfire's old & discontinued adb insecure app installed and active on the phone:
adbd: unrecognized option `--version'
cannot bind 'tcp:5037'

most likely because it applies a very outdated insecure adbd (latest in his package is from api/sdk 21 = Android 5) which does not fully communicate with current Desktop adb binaries.

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


text:
Why does the Nexus 7 have a notification bar?
In some of the reviews I have read of the new Nexus 7 tablet, it seems to have a notification bar. For example:

Why is that? I was under the impression that Android 3.0+ on tablets ditches the bar for a tray in the lower-right corner, next to the software buttons:

So why is this? Did they ditch the tray in 4.1? Is it because the units currently reviewed are not final, and the ones that will be sold will have the tray? Is it because it's too small at 7"? (although, the galaxy tab shown above is 7" as well, but maybe they changed the size limit in 4.1?)

Apparently, in the SDK the 7" form factor has the phone layout and tablet apps. The 10" form factor will still be tablet layout and tablet apps. I also heard that in 4.1 they expanded the functionality of the notification area so that notifications can do more (e.g. Reply to sms from notification area). I don't know how true that is though.

The expanded functionality of the notification bar was announced in Google I/O a several days ago. You might want to watch the opening keynote for some demos of Jelly Bean.

I didn't actually watch the IO (meant to but still haven't gotten around to it), I was reading up on it though and seen that. Must see what it's like because it sounds pretty good.

@ConnDarcy See the notifications UI on the JellyBean platform highlights here http://developer.android.com/about/versions/jelly-bean.html#ui (though that's on a phone form factor), note the call-back and message-back buttons below the  missed call, the preview text from the 3 unread text messages, and the transport controls on the playing music.


text:
Jelly Bean update for an Unlocked AT&T HTC One X?

Possible Duplicate:
When will my device get the Android 4.1 update (Jelly Bean)?

Now that the Jelly Bean update for the One X has been made official for atleast the GLobal version: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/htc-jelly-bean-one-series/
Would I be able to update an Unlocked "AT&T" HTC One X when the update is releasaed?
Thanks

Installing the Global version of 4.1 firmware on the AT&T-branded One X model will most likely be impossible due to the hardware differences between the different variants of this handset:

[AT&T variant] is 0.4mm longer than the international model, and
  features a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (MSM8960) SoC with
  an integrated on-die LTE (4G) modem instead of the Nvidia Tegra 3 [found on the international model]
  which requires an external modem and is LTE-incompatible, and 16 GB of
  internal storage instead of 32 GB.

You will either have to wait for HTC and AT&T to release an official version of Jelly Bean for your model, or take the plunge and root, bootloader unlock, and flash a custom ROM on your own if you want 4.1 sooner.  Instructions for doing so can be found at XDA-developers forums.


text:
Gingerbread,HoneyComb,ICS ROM for Galaxy S

Possible Duplicate:
Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

I  have recently purchased a galaxy S with Froyo to do some tests on my App. I would like to upgrade to use ROM like Gingerbread, Honeycomb,ICS. I have searched the web and I have found many ROMs but i can't tell if they are trusted or not (no bugs, no low performance..). I would appreciate if someone points me to some ROMs that he had used before for these Android version. I know that I can use Nandroid Backup if I disliked one tested ROM. Does some Roms able to turn my phone out of service?

ROM recommendations are off-topic, sorry, the question I've linked is the closest we get.  Check out our [FAQ].

However this is a specific ROM recommendation?

But isn't a question meant to be specific? And not so broad that the user will be overwhelmed?

First of all, do not install HoneyComb on the galaxy s. HoneyComb is designed for tablets, not phones.
Secondy most of the roms on XDA are good, just check the comments and see whats wrong with them.
Check out this post here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1398223 seems pretty legit, only a couple of bugs that hardly matter (check below)
Bugs:
Lockscreen occasionally does not react to touch
Formatting external sd formats internal
Facebook sync pictures are low res(but at least it works)probably not fixable from our end


text:
How can I disable chat heads?
My grandmother has a Motorola Droid Maxx 2 running Android 6.0.1 and she would like to disable chat heads entirely, for text messages and Messenger. A preliminary search through her notification settings, Google, and this site yielded no results. How can she do this?

In Messenger, click on your profile button on the top right.
Scroll down to the "Chat Heads" setting and toggle it off.

Source for above (I don't use Facebook) http://mashable.com/2017/03/27/how-to-turn-off-chat-heads-messenger/#lZQjIPfMVmq1

For SMS , from the 3 dots menu turn off notifications

@beeshyams Where are these three dots?

In the screen where you see SMS, on the top right hand corner having SMS notifications.

There should be a menu called "Advanced Features". Tap on that and then you will find something about smart pop-ups. Find the messaging app and disable it from there.
On my Samsung A50:


text:
Trouble Unlocking Bootloader on Android Device (RCA Voyager Tablet)
Okay, so I've figured out how to set up ADB on Mac OS X and I've followed all the instructions on how to get to Fastboot from ADB. The last command I use is:

fastboot oem unlock

This command in ADB is supposed to unlock the bootloader.  On my device, it asked for confirmation to unlock the bootloader, volume up is yes and volume down is no.  Well, the "no" option works perfectly fine but then the "yes" option does absolutely nothing on the device or the terminal window.
Does somebody know what's going on? I can seem to figure it out, even though I've searched all over the internet.
Some sites say that you have to take the device off of the charging cable before booting into fastboot, but I've tried this and found it unsuccessful.
My device is running Android Lollipop.  All the developer settings are enabled like they're supposed to and ADB commands all work until the point where I get stuck.
EDIT: I'm attaching a screenshot of what my developer settings page looks like.  I can't find the OEM setting anywhere.Image

In developer options, have you enabled "allow oem unlock"? Also, have you seen the XDA guide on RCA Voyager RCT6873W42 Unlock Boot loader and root? As you only say "all the instructions" but not which ones, it's hard to guess.

I have already checked that page, however, the ADB terminal code was invalid when I typed it in.  They used something like "fastboot flashing unlock" which just showed an error in the terminal window.  I've been using https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/24-06-2016-oneplus-2-how-to-unlock-bootloader-flash-twrp-root-nandroid-efs-backup-and-more.345478/ for the process.  I've checked the developer options, however, "oem unlock" doesn't seem to be an option at all.

The fastboot flashing command is e.g. used on Verizon devices. OK, I have neither, so I am out here. Just thought to mention the XDA post; couldn't know you'd already seen that.

Thanks I appreciate your help.  I was going to follow that XDA post, but it seems the links to the downloads on it no longer even work :/ Oh well, hopefully someone can help me out or I'll con across a solution I haven't found yet online.

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the site anymore after 4 years, and no upvotes on existing answers). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

Do you have the USB DEBUGGING CHECKED BOX ON. I know USB DEBUGGER has to be on. Theres also a box about ADB/ADT make sure that is checked along with the setting install from unknown locations has to be on for 3rd party apps other than the ones from google play. It sounds like that is all that has to be on in your settings under Accessibility and under Developer options in your Settings menu.
Your other question about your volume up and down button. You need to shut your phone off then hold down on volume button and power button at same time until you see the Android bootloader settings pop up on screen then let go, somme samsungs you also have to be holding down on the menu key as well as power key, volume down.all at same time till bootoader then hurry let up

I'm not having an issue entering fastboot. But when it asked to confirm unlocking the bootloader the volume up key doesn't work, which is the button you need to press yes to confirm.

It should be the VOL UP but you may want to try the VOL DOWN as weel I remember on another RCA device that people having that problem that it only worked with the VOL DOWN.     By the way which version of Android does you device run? Were you able to turn on OEM unlocking in developer Settings?

I remember seeing others having the same problem.
One of the solutions I have found that worked is to hold down the the Vol up while you enter the command on you PC and hit enter. Then when release the VOL UP and press the POWER button.
You may want to go thru the following 2 threads on XDA Forums From what I remember there were some other solutions to your problem there.

[Guide] RCA Voyager RCT6873W42 Unlock Boot loader and root

The above solution I found in the middle of post #103 (its a long post and the poster first says he wasn't able to get it and then edited the post with this solution).

RCA Voyager rct6873w42 rooting help


text:
Wifi turning off automatically when turned on
My phone is lenovo vibe k5:
I am facing the issue when I turn WiFi on, its turning on-off continuously!
"Scanning Always Available" Is Also Turned Off and there is not any saved network...
Still I am facing this issue.

No, its Wi-Fi problem not hotspot problem


text:
How to install P12 certificates in mobile Firefox?
I successfully imported my .p12 certificate to my two android devices (Galaxy Tab E SM-T560 (Spreadtrum SoC) running Kitkat 4.4.4 and Xiaomi Mi A1 Global Version (SD 625)(was) running (Oreo 8.0.0) Pie 9.0 . Now I would like to import the cert  to Firefox on both devices, but I don't actually know what to do. I searched for answers on reddit, but couldn't find a general procedure to do this. Is this even an option in the mobile version of Firefox?

At this time, Firefox for Android does not support importing a PKCS #12 certificate.  This is bug 868370.
If you have root access to your device, you can import it manually using a Linux computer attached to the phone with adb.
If your client certificate came from a <keygen> form, you can use the same form in Firefox for Android to generate and install a new certificate directly (skipping the PKCS #12 step).

Thank you for you information. I'll give it a shot with magisk and se how this work out. I have root access to both devices, but still I'd like to some official way.

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


text:
what is the use of VPN Connection in Android phone?

Possible Duplicate:
What is this VPN setting good for?

Is it used for remote machine access? How to configure the VPN setting?

It is the same use of using VPN with desktop computer.  You can connect to a network and become a part of it to access its resource.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, which means that you can join a network (typically a organisation's LAN/WAN) through Internet and access its resources link printing or accessing intranet web portals etc.
As you has asked, it can be used for remote access for computers which are not exposed to Internet and are connected to LAN only.
You can see this link for more information.


text:
Does Xposed Framework require to be buillt specifically for the device or just the Android version?
When installing the Xposed framework do I need the device specific binary (like custom recovery or ROM) or just the app that works for Android (4.4.4 in my case). The device is Galaxy Tab E T560.

Update 12/7/2018

I tried to Install the framework as on the custom ROM as well as on the stock firmware but with no luck. It seems that Xposed is device/arch/firmware dependent.

To my knowledge, there are no device specific builds. It just needs to match the Android version. Worked that way for me on multiple devices for years.

Built for the Android version, plus the device architecture (arm/arm64/x86). See the Xposed Framework download page (e.g. Android 8.1 (SDK27) here).
The reason behind this is that part of Xposed Framework is a modified app_process binary (Zygote), which is different for each arch.

Hi! Thanks for the info.  I heard that you must find the correct one and flash it via twrp. I am also downloading many versions for my T560 (Lineage OS) and cannot install any xposed app with Unknown sources set to on.

If you're rooted then you can also use the Xposed Installer app which should automatically find and download the correct stuff for your Android version and arch. What you described sounds like another problem entirely.

I am getting this error: Xposed is not (yet) compatible with Android SDK version 19 or your processor arch. ( armeabi-v7a). CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE: cannot link symbol "ZN7android14AndroidRuntime5startEPKcS2" referenced by "/data/data/de.robv.android.xposed.installer/cache/app_process". The device is also rooted with Chainfire SuperSU

@S4NNY1 Android 4.4? You'll need an ancient version (e.g. 2.6) of the installer.

Every damn version I try, the Install button is disabled and the error remains.

Then I have no more ideas. I don't have an Android device with Android version as low as 4.4 to test it out myself either...

Hi! Thanks for the effort. I'll try to somehow solve it and post the solution here it I find it. Thnak you again.

No problem, and please do, I'm also curious to see how it turns out.

It seems that it won't let ne install any XF on Linage OS.

I  have updated my post. I tried to Install Xposed on both custom and stock.


text:
How to enable mac address filtering in Wi-Fi Access Point on android 8.1?
I can do this by modifying /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.conf directly on android 6.0.1,but android 8.1 always covers it.
Namely,can I run hostapd manually without settiings?I tried this,but looks like  the wifi device is disable:
#hostapd -e /data/misc/wifi/entropy.bin /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.conf exited with code 1,and logcat shows "Could not read interface wlan0 flags: No such device".
How should I enable it?
Wifi is enable in settings:
#ip link show
1: lo:  mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: bond0:  mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default
    link/ether **:8d:**:5b:**:fa brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: dummy0:  mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default
    link/ether **:c8:**:b0:**:c6 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: sit0@NONE:  mtu 1480 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default
    link/sit 0.0.0.0 brd 0.0.0.0
5: rmnet_ipa0:  mtu 2000 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/[530]
6: rmnet_data0:  mtu 1500 qdisc htb state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/[530]
7: rmnet_data1:  mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/[530]
and more rmnet_data...
34: wlan0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 3000
    link/ether **:03:**:c2:**:43 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
35: p2p0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DORMANT group default qlen 3000
    link/ether **:03:**:c2:**:43 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

$ls /sys/devices/soc/600000.qcom,pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0
broken_parity_status
class
config
consistent_dma_mask_bits
device
devspec
dma_mask_bits
driver
driver_override
enable
ieee80211
iommu_group
irq
local_cpulist
local_cpus
modalias
msi_bus
net
power
remove
rescan
reset
resource
subsystem
subsystem_device
subsystem_vendor
uevent
vendor
Wifi is disable in settings:
#ip link show
1: lo:  mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: bond0:  mtu 1500 qdisc noop
    link/ether **:8d:**:5b:**:fa brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: dummy0:  mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue
    link/ether **:c8:**:b0:**:c6 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: sit0@NONE:  mtu 1480 qdisc noop
    link/sit 0.0.0.0 brd 0.0.0.0
5: rmnet_ipa0:  mtu 2000 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000
    link/[530]
6: rmnet_data0:  mtu 1500 qdisc htb qlen 1000
    link/[530]
7: rmnet_data1:  mtu 1500 qdisc noop qlen 1000
    link/[530]
and more rmnet_data...
wlan0 is missed.
$ls /sys/devices/soc/600000.qcom,pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0
broken_parity_status
class
config
consistent_dma_mask_bits
device
devspec
dma_mask_bits
driver
driver_override
enable
iommu_group
irq
local_cpulist
local_cpus
modalias
msi_bus
power
remove
rescan
reset
resource
subsystem
subsystem_device
subsystem_vendor
uevent
vendor
net and ieee80211 are missed.

"can I run hostapd manually without settiings?" Do you mean like through an adb shell? I believe so if you are rooted. This command might start it adb shell su -c hostapd -B /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.conf

@BoLawson I tried,#hostapd -e /data/misc/wifi/entropy.bin /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.confexited with code 1,and logcat shows "Could not read interface wlan0 flags: No such device".I've edited the question.


text:
BLU Advance 5.0 HD: Unknown apps source: androidrbx, mfn, swak news
On my year-old BLU Advance 5.0 HD phone (running Android 6.0), I recently had a few suspicious incidents where the Audio Profile seemed to have changed from Meeting to Normal on its own, and once where the phone started playing music by itself (and not anything that's on the phone). At this point, I noticed three strange entries in the apps list: "androidrbx", "mfn" and "swak news" (all lowercase), all with generic icons. I have never installed anything of the sort, and the swak news one had all kinds of app permissions, which I had not granted. I deleted all three, but they were back the next day. Repeated this for a few days then figured I had malware and did a factory restore.
On the fresh install, the only additional (Play store) apps I added were Safari Queue and Duolingo, which I hoped were fairly trustworthy. No reappearance of the above trio until today, after an update of 6 apps — 5 being Google system apps (Calculator, Keep, Android Messages, Gboard and YouTube), and the last being Duolingo. Now they are back. I foolishly did all the updates at once, so I can't pinpoint the culprit (although Duolingo obviously seems most likely, unless one of the Google apps somehow got corrupted).
So now I'm trying to gather some intel from those who have more experience with the platform before I continue on the tedious process of trying to isolate the offending app or update. (If there are better forums, please point me there.) My main question is whether this is known malware, or at least has the hallmarks of such? I have searched and found no references to any of these names (except for a seemingly legit but different Swak News app), which surprised me, but perhaps the names are randomly generated. If these are legitimate "helper" apps or something, I would like to know to which app they belong, but they seem awfully suspicious to be such.

Not a virus (no such thing on Android), but definitely smells for some malware – which even might have managed to convert itself into a system app, so only flashing a clean ROM would safely get rid of it. Might also play "sleeper" after the reset waiting for updates or some other events, to make it harder to spot. You could try fresh again, and not accept any updates for a week (plus after that, only applying them one-by-one starting with the "most trustworthy"). I'd suspect none of the named candidates, Duolingo included.

You're right, @Izzy, I used the wrong term. Was going to edit my post, but you beat me to it! Done now. Your assessment is what I suspected, but I've already done a factory restore and limited installs and updates, though I got careless with the last batch, since they were all Google system apps, save for one. But I'll start over if there's no other likely explanation.

Thanks for the update! Though you still missed one "virus" :) And as I wrote: if it's really a malware that managed to convert itself into a system app, factory reset won't get rid of that. You'd really need to flash a clean ROM then. I still very much doubt one of those apps is the culprit: we'd heard many more people crying then. Not only for the GApps involved; Duolingo is a well established software, too. Though I've not heard it came pre-installed on any device; so make sure to check you didn't catch a fake/clone with that one.

Thanks, @Izzy! I did mention that Duolingo was one of two apps I added, beyond the pre-installed set. I agree, I would have expected much more noise about an infection in an app like that, so maybe it's not likely. It's curious that I did not see the mystery apps return (and I was checking regularly) until after today's update, when they had been reinstalling every day prior to wiping the system. I will have to look into the clean-ROM option. No idea what that entails. But thanks for the tips!

As I wrote above, that might be an "initial sleeper-mode" so you don't suspect the source. Not sure, though – just a possibility.

I also have a BLU (Advance 5.0 HD), which showed similar behavior a couple of weeks ago: it played random sounds, kept turning the wifi off, and once displayed a popup on the home screen (unfortunately I didn't read it before closing it). The app list also showed "Androidrbx", "mfn", and "swak news". After a factory reset, all seemed fine for a couple of days, and now the behavior and apps are back. The Avast app on the phone shows nothing, and there is no suspicious activity on the associated Google account. I don't have Duolingo installed. Seems like this may be an issue related to BLU then?

At least two more people with BLU phones have the same issue, see https://www.amazon.ca/gp/customer-reviews/R1TSX0FHVEK6SK/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01E9BNCQ4. I've contacted BLU about this.

Thanks for letting me know about the Amazon thread, @flo_ca! That helps narrow it down. If I have time, I will install updates one by one to see which one has the code in question. I will contact BLU as well (the more they hear about it, the better), but please post back here if you learn anything more!

I've contacted BLU and they are clueless, don't know about the issue and won't take responsibility for it

Update: "mfn" and "swak news" have come back 3 days after a factory restore, even though I've turned off all updates and have nothing but the factory apps. ("androidrbx" has not returned yet, though.) So looks like @Izzy was right about the sleeper mode. So now the question is whether they are part of the restore image or somehow attached to the boot loader (or whatever it is that remains to do the factory reset).

Did you get any OTA (aka "official update") from your provider/manufacturer shortly before the issue started? Then they might have messed up. If not, you must somehow have caught it (installed something shortly before the issue started?), and it managed making itself into system. Finding the culprit is a tedious job. Easiest approach would be flashing a clean image.

@Izzy: There was an OTA update, but my recollection was that it was a month or two earlier. I hadn't installed anything recently when I first noticed the problem, but the malware activation could have been delayed. I will look into the clean-image route; not something I'm familiar with, and I don't know how to find a trustworthy source for the ROM. (There's nothing on the BLU site.)

For the latter, may I point you to Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?


text:
Why my S3 device sounds when magnetic card is put on its back?

Possible Duplicate:
Why does my Galaxy S3 make a noise when I put it down?

Why my samsung S3 play a sound when I put above my gym magnetic card? Only with this card the device play this type of sound. Nothing happen if I put it above credit card or other magnetic/chip support.
The gym card open doors and let me enter inside the gym if I've paid. There's a way (maybe an app) to read what happen when my s3 grab that card?

NFC, most likely.

Can you better define magnetic card?

You were right. For magnetic card I mean a card with a band all along the card, in opposition to chip card i.e. a card with a single chip on it.
My gym card doesn't have a chip (or at least I haven't found it), so it's more likely that this is a magnetic one (even if I can't see a sort of magnetic bar).

Seems like a duplicate of Why does my Galaxy S3 make a noise when I put it down?

Yes, it's duplicate. Confirmed that I want something to read data above card and data exchanged between devices.

Your S3 has an NFC chip in it that can read and write NFC tags which are a type of RFID. RFID is most commonly used for things like identification chips for dogs and NFC for public transport payment cards like Octopus or Oyster. It's also in quite a lot of credit and debit cards now too.
The card will have some kind of tag in it - the NXP TagInfo app will give you information about what kind of tag it is.


text:
"Charging paused. Voltage too high" on Samsung Galaxy S2 after upgrading to ICS
I am keep on getting this pop-up every 30 sec. I searched on the internet, and most of the solutions are to play with the charging pin.
It's also showing it's charging when it's not.
My phone thinks it's charging
I think this has to be a software issue.
Does anyone have any solution?

Granted the timing is coincidental, but have you investigated the charging pin as you and the linked previous question mention? That seems to be the solution for many people, OS upgrade or no.

@Mr.Buster I have observed the same thing, replacing the USB resolves the problem, but I do not see any point in doing that, because software upgrade triggered it so I suspect that it should be software problem, and Stack Exchange is the place I can trust people. Hence, question.

Short answer:
That's no doubt a software issue, reported across forums after an upgrade to ICS 4.0.x.
Some users reporting this can be found here:

Galaxy s2 charging port problem - xda-developers
Re: ICS 4.0.3 Charging Paused, Voltage Too High an... - Vodafone eForum

Don't know with certainty if you've upgraded the firmware to ICS 4.0 or any other variant, being the latest ones 4.0.3 or 4.0.4
Nonetheless, you either roll back and wait for a new version that doesn't cause that issue or you can try some of the suggestions provided below (all reported to have worked without problems by other owners of a Samsung Galaxy S2).

Extending the answer:

First and above all
Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you are not going to lose anything either by rolling back or trying a new/different firmware.
e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, etc...

You can go with one of these suggestions:
Once the backup is concluded, the following solutions are documented as to have solved that particular issue on your phone. Solutions ordered from the simplest to the most complicated:

Clearing cache data
The problem you're facing can be related to old files still in cache. Follow these steps to clear your cache and see if it solves it:

Boot your phone in recovery mode, to do that press and hold VOLUME UP and MIDDLE KEY, while holding both press POWER ON;
You will see your phone booted in recovery mode , in recovery mode touch screen will not work so use Volume UP and Volume Down to navigate through options and MIDDLE KEY to confirm;
Choose “wipe cache partition” from menu;
It will clear the cache data;
Now select reboot system now;

Factory Reset
Samsung has a master reset code used to factory reset your phone. You can try this as to cleanup your phone and wait for a better ICS version, or try another ICS version (see suggestion n.º 3):

Make sure you have a backup of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, etc).
Take your SIM and memory card out of your phone
Turn your phone back on, and wait for the dial pad
Dial the factory reset code: *2767*3855#

This will wipe, reset and then correctly format the internal storage. After the process is completed, place your SIM and memory cards back on the phone.

Firmware Flash (Odin)
Download the Latest Samsung Odin here, and install either one of the latest ICS versions or a previous one that can be found on the links at the very end of this answer.
3.1. flash your firmware to the Android 4.0:

XXLPQ — Update Galaxy S2 to Android 4.0 Official Firmware Manually

This firmware and the guide below is compatible only and only with Galaxy S2, model number i9100. It’s not compatible with any other device, including US variants of S2, the Epic 4G Touch, T-mobile Galaxy S2 and AT&T Galaxy S2 along with Skyrocket. Check your device’s model number in Settings » About phone.

3.2. Install Android ICS 4.0.3 XXLPJ Firmware Update:

Install Android ICS 4.0.3 XXLPJ Firmware on Samsung Galaxy S2 GT I9100

Here is another tutorial how to Install Android ICS 4.0.3 XXLPJ Firmware Update on Samsung Galaxy S2 GT i9100. Samsung Galaxy II got the Official XXLPQ Firmware update recently. But the Firmware had some bugs and users reported it. Samsung revived the Android 4.0.3 and added some other latest features

3.3. flash your firmware to the Android 4.0.4:

XXLQ5 - Download & Install Official Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware for Samsung Galaxy S2

Finally, you can download and install latest official Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich Firmware on Samsung Galaxy S II now. Yup, there is a leaked official Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware for Samsung Galaxy S2 ~ XXLQ5 Firmware (Europe region).

Update Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 to Android 4.0.4 ICS XXLQ5 Leaked Firmware

Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 has been running on the Android 4.0.3 firmware and recently there were rumors that said that it won’t receive the Android 4.0.4 ICS update. However, all these rumors were shattered today because there is a new leaked firmware for I9100 that is based on Android 4.0.4 ICS and with XXLQ5 firmware, which means that Samsung should eventually launch the new update in the near future.

Useful and related links:

The official Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) website.
A very extensive list with Official i9100 Firmwares LPE/Q/7/2/F/S/4/7/G/9/W/D/F to Download and an how-to guide to flash your firmware with Odin.
Android Firmwares.NET - Samsung Galaxy S II Firmwares.

I'd recommend Heimdall instead of Odin - Odin is leaked software and Heimdall (it's Free Software clone) is available in source code form.

@Broam I did not know Heimdall! I like it already, is cross-platform, available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Tks for the recommendation :)

@Broam I've only used Odin and with no issues so far! I'll give a go to Heimdall as soon as an opportunity arises.

@Zuul, thanks for the detailed answer! I am going to try that today, will let you know the feedback!

It got fixed by itself!

Definitely not a software issue for me. Cleaning lint out of the charging port with a pin fixed it completely. Perhaps the "fix" just disables a new feature that detects abnormal voltages?

I went to Sprint yesterday because all of a sudden I'm having this frustrating problem.
I was told that it is a software issue and nothing more. An email from the higher-ups directed techs not to switch out phones because the problem is going to persist (until Samsung fixes the software).

I don't own a Galaxy SII. However according to this thread it seems the problem lies in the USB port as when it is replaced the issue has been resolved.

With mine, clearing dust out of the USB port with a pin and then plugging a charger in and out a few times fixed the issue.
So it's not necessarily a bug in the software. Perhaps Android OS 4.0.x has a new feature to detect and report voltage problems when charging, while previous versions did not (and any software "fix" will just disable this feature).

+1, Cleaning the USB port with air and a pin worked for my wife's phone as well.


text:
Can a non-rooted Android 4.0.3 smartphone’s ROM be backed up?

Possible Duplicate:
Full Backup of non-rooted devices

I am using a smartphone running non-root Android 4.0.3 and am also a desktop Linux user (Ubuntu 12.04 amd64).
In Linux/Ubuntu, I could backup my whole system (whole partition) into a file image and when necessary, restore my whole system (including MBR) back on my desktop computer. (e.g. using "clonezilla")
It seems that there are similar Android apps (e.g. ClockworkMod) for system backup (Android rom backup) on a rooted Android device. However, I am not sure whether there is similar system backup apps for a non-root Android device ? Could anyone tell whether it is possible ?
I have difficulties in using root-device rom backup apps such as "ClockworkMod" as my smartphone (ASK SP404) is not a branded smartphone and I could not find any rooting procedures for this phone, although there are good discussions on the web that talk about this, e.g. HOW TO ROOT your Android phone. (This thread talks about Android rooting procedures for many branded phones, but not my phone ! )
It would be great if anyone could suggest a rooting procedure for my phone, or some directions that I could try. Thanks in advance for any advice.

"not branded" here means the manufacturer is not a very big company and the manufacturer does not support user activities relating to rooting, update recovery and/or update rom.

To answer your first question, you cannot do a whole image backup from within Android without root, as no application or service you can run will be able to read the system partitions.
If the "recovery" console (a small, BIOS-like image installed on the device) contains backup support, it has access to the raw partitions and could create a "Nandroid" backup image (see About the android recovery mode).  If your phone's default recovery does not support image backup (it would be somewhat surprising if it did), you may be able to install a new recovery, without "rooting" the Android installation.  Booting into recovery is very device specific (e.g., hold down power and volume down), and its features (and replacability) are fairly specific too.
If you have a recent Android Development Kit (ADK) installed, you can use the adb backup (and adb restore) commands to backup your installed apps and (some of) your data.  But its not a complete image/ROM backup.  I can't find any official documentation, but this   XDA Dev Forum post goes over it in some detail.
To your second question, see: How do I root my Android device?  There are suggestions and pointers there that may work for you.

It seems "SuperOneClick" may do the job of rooting. However, I may try rooting later as it involves risks. Thanks for the suggestion.

The manufacturer/vendor theoretically could have provided such an option (called "Nandroid backup") in the recovery menu (that's where the Nandroid backup has to be placed). However, I've never heard of any vendor/manufacturer doing so.

You might also be able to replace the recovery without rooting.

Thanks for all the updated answers/comments. After some trials, I could now enter the Recovery Mode of my phone ("power on" + "home"). But unfortunately, there is no "Nandroid backup" option in this mode. There are only "Reboot", "Version" and some hardware test options there. I find from the "Version" option that "SW Ver. : HTC_A100_V401" and "Custom Build Verno : 1331982298". Does it mean that the Android rom in my phone is the same as that in HTC A100 phones ? Should I try the HTC rooting procedures for my phone ?

As suggested by Matthew, could I replace the "recovery" in my phone with one that has "Nandroid backup" without rooting my phone ? Is there any pointer for further information ? Thanks for any suggestion.

you could try 'adb backup' also, thats possble with android 4.0+

@user1129812 We don't have a good question here at SO about replacing the recovery on an Android phone.  Could you ask another question about that?  Ideally include the specifics of your phone's current recovery.

@ce4 added some notes about adb backup, though that's not really a "ROM" backup, it gets most of the useful data ...

Thanks. "adb backup" seems a workable solution for applications backup. However, for a more complete ROM backup, I think "rooting" / "update recovery" would be a necessary step. I have opened a separate thread : Beginner's questions on tweaking non-branded Android phone (rooting, update recovery, update rom) on this topic.


text:
Google position sharing (permanently) from Secondary Android User - Fails - Is that possibile? (Motorola Moto G8 Plus - Android 10)
We configured two users on our Motorola Moto G8 Plus:  one admin (primary user)  and a one Secondary user.
We usually use the secondary one where we have personal WhatsApp, and google account.
With the personal account, on the secondary user, we have a problem with Google position sharing; In detail I can see the positions of contacts who shared the position with us, and I can also share with them our (secondary user/account) position, BUT only for limited time (you can choose the time, max 1 hr). With the admin user I can share the position permanently, with the secondary user I cannot.
When I try to start, with the secondary user, the Google position sharing settings page (in Andorid Geolocation config, I have an OFF setting on "enable position sharing" (I have the exact name in Italian, this is a fair translation of the field name) it fails with a dialog error: "Cannot start ... "
I already tired:
to disable position share for the admin, primary, user account, but this has not unlocked the setting page on the secondary user.
I also tried disabling completely geolocation for the admin, primary, user account, no changes for the secondary user.
Motorola Moto G8 Plus runs Android 10.
Is there any trick to enable permanent position sharing for the--secondary user--google account?
It seems that the primary, admin user, google account stops updating its position when secondary user is active. In alternative, is there any way to keep updating that?
Regards,

You have to give the secondary user administrator access for direct location value. I would not give my guest user that authorization. A risky patch would be sharing WhatsApp identity if you just require the location. You can Try experimenting with applications that share location abroad and you can share app identity on the device.

Thank you for the suggestions, but in the scenario where the guest is totally trusted... or the same guy..  For the sake of curiosity: How do I give administrator access to a secondary android user? [I have not seen that option around, do I need developer's settings?], Regards


text:
Phone unlocks when call comes in
I have a Samsung SM G930V, Android v 7.0
My phone is set to lock with the fingerprint scanner, but when a call comes in the phone automatically unlocks and when I pull it out of my pocket half the time I inadvertently hang up because I touch the hang up button as I am pulling it out of my pocket.
How do I make it stay locked even when a call comes in?
Meaning I want it to wait till I unlock before letting me answer or hang up.
Of course, if I am in the car with bluetooth I still want the answer button in the car to work without having to unlock it manually.

Are you saying that you want it to ask for your fingerprint before answering?

Ask for fingerprint or correct swipe gesture. Am I really the only one with this problem?

Why don't you disable the setting for using volume/ power button for disconnecting call? Of course, you would have this behaviour persistent when when screen is unlocked

I am tapping the soft, red hangup button on the screen not the power button.

No, you can't do that unless you are using some other app for calls that doesn't shows incoming call screen while the phone is locked.
As phone apps are generally set with a  FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED flag, which enables them to show incoming call while phone is locked.

Always love it when I can add a non-technical answer. Thinking outside the box, you simply need a protective phone case from Ebay. For example I have this little beauty headed my way for my brand new Pixel 4A 5G with CalyxOS.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/353791237308
The case will prevent you from pressing any buttons inadvertently, and additionally it will extend the life of your screen. Problem solved.


text:
Android 4.3 external and internal sdcard
I am new  in Android so please be gentle.
I have the problem, that my phone doesn't use the external sdcard and try to save everything on internal 2gb storage.
So I rooted the device and get a shell on my device.
then I checked the mount point and saw that the /dev/fuse is used everywhere
   /dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0
   /dev/fuse /storage/emulated/legacy fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0
   /dev/fuse /storage/emulated/0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0
   /dev/fuse /storage/emulated/0/Android/obb fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

   /dev/block/vold/179:33 /storage/sdcard1 vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0

my idea is to change the mounts everywhere and change /dev/fuse to /dev/block/vold/179:33
is there any special program technically location in Android to edit and save the new mount points?
Thanks!!

don't do that.. there is the option to format your SD to "adoptable storage" which makes it kind of part of the internal storage

Hi Robert, thanks for the advice, but in my android 4.3 there is no option like this. I suppose it's only in new android versions. Do you know where can i find fstab or something like this? because vold.fstab is not the right one

Yes that feature came with 6.0... 4.3 is kind of old. Anyways, I don't know for sure, but in settings -> apps ->  -> storage , there should be a button ”change” on some of the apps ? I'm not sure if 4.3 had this...

Sorry I can't give you firsthand experience with this. Best to change your title/question and tags to reflect android 4.3 usage

there is only mount/unmount, delete and move data to sdcard, but it doesn't use after move, just store.... :D
so there is two ways new os or change the mounts. but I do not know androit enough to find the "fstab" or similar file

Try the SDFix application (for KitKat Writable MicroSD) on Google Play, which simply adds a line to the platform.xml permissions file (at /system/etc/permissions) to allow writing on the extSDCard.


text:
Why can't my Galaxy S7 send and receive messages simultaneously?
So I've had my S7 for several months now, and by and far the most annoying thing is that it can't seem to send a message while simultaneously receiving a message. Way too often I'll be texting back and forth with a friend, and I'll hit send at the same time my phone receives a new text message. This causes my message to "spin" (the circle next to it spins) for about thirty seconds, before the notification about the message failing to send appears. It's super annoying, because I'll usually copy & paste the text and send a new message before the failed message notification even appears, because the new one will send instantly, while the other still is spinning!
Is this a common issue for the S7? I don't recall it happening with my Galaxy S4. Or is this expected behavior for the messaging app?

It's also possible that it's a network issue.

This is not your mobile phone's problem, but it is the issue with service provider, which don't allow this to be done. There is a point where it gives a few seconds to check if there are any stuck messages. It may also be the messaging app your using which might have a bug. During call, do you receive messages ?


text:
Can't install TWRP on Galaxy A3 (2017)
I want to root my phone, but first I was trying to install TWRP. The phone is Galaxy A3 SM-A320FL (2017).
(Edit: System is Android 7.0)
What I did:

Turned on OEM-unlock and USB-debugging on the phone
Installed the Samsung USB drivers on my laptop
Turned off phone, went into "Download Mode" by pressing Volume down - Home - Power
Started Odin. Connected the phone. In Options I ticked only "Auto Reboot" and "F Reset Time"
Clicked on AP and selected the TWRP file and hit Start
Then PASS was flashing in Odin and the phone rebooted immediately.
Turned it off and tried to enter recovery mode. (I think I did it with Volume Up - Home - Power)

...and then a blue screen came and said "Installing system update". After a while it changed to a blue screen that said "No command". Then after a while it changed to a screen that I think is the standard recovery tool. So no TWRP. I hit Reboot and the phone rebooted normally.
Then tried to do the whole thing again with a different TWRP file but it went exactly the same. I'm newbie with all this so I might be using a wrong TWRP file or something, I also seen tutorials where it says dont thick Auto-Reboot and they press all sorts of button combinations. I don't want to brick this phone so I wanted to ask how to do this right before I try it again. Thanks for help!

For those that came here, the problem is that when booting, twrp is erased by stock recovery. The goal is to avoid the normal boot.
Firstly, uncheck "Auto Reboot" in Odin.
Then finish others Odin steps, and when you see PASS here we go:

Volume down+Home+Power to exit installation/start reboot process.
Instantly when something change (screen should turn black) switch to Volume UP+Home+Power (combinason to enter recovery mode), and there it should be okay.
(if you are too slow it will again boot normaly and twrp will be gone again).


text:
Route Media (Music) to headphones only
Look, about once a week at work I put on my headhpones, choose my music track, and then proceed to play the music for the whole office because I didn't actually plug in the headphones to the player. There are thirty people within earshot of my cubicle, but this place is quieter than a library. Except for me.
Is there any way (settings, app, etc.) to make music only play out the headphones?

Estimated, at least 50% of the questions starting with "is there a way (settings or app)..." can be answered straight away with the "big T" -- Tasker. That's an automation tool which doesn't come cheap (about 5 bucks; a free trial is available at its homepage), but is worth every cent. It works with so-called "profiles", where each profile consists of conditions and a task. So let me propose such a profile for you:

Condition:

Cell Near (set this up at work, let Tasker record all "cells near")1
State → Headset plugged (check "invert" to make it the opposite)

Task:

Audio → Silent2

1 this refers to your provider's mobile cell towers, and is the "cheapest" location mode in terms of battery (as the cells must either be scanned for calls/SMS/mobile data being available). If that's not exact enough, you may add GPS location or WiFi near (to scan for e.g. your office's WiFi AP) -- which then only kick in as soon as one of the listed cells is detected, again to save your battery.
2 Check whatever you want here. You could completely silence your phone (that would affect ringtone and phonecalls as well), but you probably just want the media volume set to zero.
So what happens with that profile? As soon as you come near to your workplace ("cell near", the mobile tower(s) close to the office), and the headset is not connected, media volume (assuming you chose that) will be silenced -- as the condition is completely met ("at office, headset not plugged"). Now you start your player and hear -- nothing. But once you plug the headset in, the condition is no longer valid -- and Tasker reverts to the settings as they've been before the profile was activated (so you can hear music via headphones).

That is awesome. I will happily fork over $5 to never blast Weird Al to the rest of the office again.

Meant to add:
Thanks for taking the time to reply and walk me through the steps to make the app work.

You're welcome! If it works for you (and I'm sure it will: I use Tasker for at least 2 years now and never regretted to buy it), don't forget to "accept" the answer :) Once you've acquired a taste for it, you'll find a bunch of more "recipes" here (e.g. via the tasker tag or tasker search :)


text:
Google Navigation forgets/ignores "Access to my location" setting - Nexus 4
Every time I attempt to use Google Maps Navigation on my stock (rooted) Nexus 4, I get the Searching for GPS screen.  The phone never finds GPS though.
I've found that if I go to Settings>Location Access and switchAccess to my location off and on again the Navigation app finds GPS instantly, every time.
Nevertheless, the next time I try to use navigation, I will have to do this again.
Has this been reported as a bug anywhere, or is there a fix?
I'm on Android 4.2.2.

Uninstalling the Yahoo Weather app worked for me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2293566&page=2


text:
MMS and Restricting background data
Using GT-I9300, JB 4.1.2.
I can't seem to find details on how "Restricting background data" works (with Mobile Data enabled) exactly.
What is considered "background" data?
E.g., if I'm sending an MMS and the phone goes to sleep, will the MMS be sent? If I'm sending an MMS and press the Home button, will the MMS be sent?
Do I need to have the Messaging app open all the time for it to be sent? Is it okay, if I'm looking at the settings of the said app?
I've asked questions pertaining to MMS, but I'm also wondering about the general case.

Background data is anything that involves mobile data or Wi-Fi; it will use whichever is enabled (I think Wi-Fi has higher preference). This includes autosync, background polling, notifications, and other similar operations that will access mobile data.
Assuming you don't have any task / data killer that runs in the background when your phone sleeps, the MMS will be sent You do not need to have the Messaging app open. However, if the sending fails (after a certain number of retries), it will fail and you will have to resend it manually.
Update #1: Autosync depends on background data. If background data is disabled, autosync is also disabled. Autosync is used by accounts defined in settings (In S4, System Settings > Accounts).
BUT it's also possible to have background data enabled, and autosync disabled. In this case, apps could poll and show notifications (e.g. Twitter).

Does it make sense to have both Restrict bg data and Auto sync enabled? I'm guessing that the Auto sync setting also relates to anything that involves mobile data (and not WiFi)?

@Howie See Update #1 in my Answer. Also updated first paragraph; background data will use Wi-Fi if it's enabled. If not, it will use mobile data.


text:
My phone displays: "Notification has been set" at each boot
I am in doubt. My Galaxy SII phone began recently to display a standard pop-up notification box with the text "Notification has been set" at each boot. I uninstalled the software that I suspected was displaying this popup, there were no notifications in notification area left, but this popup has kept appearing on the screen.
How to track which software is displaying this popup?
Android 4.0.4

What kind of "standard pop-up notification box" is it? Is it a dialog that appears in the middle of the screen (and you have to press a button to get rid of it), or a toast that appears near the bottom of the screen for a few seconds, or a notification that shows an icon in the notification bar?

Also, my first look would be the logs (logcat). When in doubt how to look at them, search for "logcat" on Google play -- lots of apps to help you there. With some look, filtering the system logs for "notification" will bring up the culprit.

@Dan Hulme: it is a "toast". Thank you for the terminology.

@Izzy: I studied the logcat through, but haven't found any decent culprit. May be I have overlooked it. I'll look more attentive in a couple of days.

--From another user-- "I also just got this on my LG Optimus G running 4.1.2 My phone also vibrated a few times for nothing without anything in the notification bar... I've looked through the logcat without much success. The only recent thing I've changed is I've updated from Swype Beta to the paid one from Google Play"

Found it. I messed around with adb logcat, adb shell dumpsys and Titanium Backup's Freeze feature. I have succesfully narrowed it down (on my device) to an App called "Pullups 2.04" by "NorthPark" from the Play Store.

I'm not sure new users can reply as a comment, I'll add this for you to the question but I've flagged this answer for deletion.

Yea I just read on that, seems I need rep before replying as a comment on a post other than mine. Anyway, I think I just found the answer, at least for the exact same toast notificaiton on my phone..

Well since you seem to have found a possible answer there's a +1 so you can comment, and I'm not sure how to remove a flag but sure the mods will see this.

Thank you for the exact information! Unlike you I had multiple applications from NorthPark: Pull ups, Push ups, Sit ups, Squats. To make this toast disappear I had to remove all of them. These applications make this toast appear although they have notifications turned off in their settings.


text:
Cannot install or move Android Apps to SD Card - is it a flaw from the Android or from the phone manufacturer?
From my understanding, while the Galaxy S4 does offer a memory card slot, it's worth mentioning that you can't install apps on the memory card and can only use it for storing movies, music, pictures, etc.
So, is this a problem with the Android 4 OS not capable of allowing phone user to install or move apps to the SD card?
or
is it that the phone manufacturer are not capable of producing a phone that allow user to use the SD card slot given that the limited space for a 16 GB Samsung Galaxy S4?

Android supports moving apps to the SD card since version 2.2 (only for apps which allow it); however, this feature can be disabled when building the ROM. Apparently Samsung decided that about 9 GB of user-accessible internal memory should be enough for apps, and disabled the “move to SD” function in their stock ROMs for the 16 GB Galaxy S4 model.
However, there are recent news that Samsung heard complaints of 16 GB Galaxy S4 users and enabled the “move to SD” function in a software update.

Exactly. The same applies to the LG Optimus 4X, by the way. And in the support forum the techs claim it's Android's fault ("Android 4.x doesn't support this") -- which is absolutely not true and confuses users. So right: Android supports this starting with Froyo (2.2), and did not stop supporting this feature. If it's not available, you either have no SDCard, or the manufacturer diesabled that feature.


text:
/sd-ext gets suddenly remounted read only during work
I have an HTC Desire with cyanogenmod 7.2 (with pdroid patch) and with an partitioned microSD card (first: FAT, second: ext3).
The second partition gets automatically mounted read/writeable as /sd-ext as it should be.
I'm using S2E to store my apps and the app data on this ext3 partition.  The mount command shows me that the ext3 partition is not only mounted to /sd-ext but also to /data/app and /data/data.  All of them are mounted read/writeable.
My first question:  Is it normal and secure that multiple directories are bound to the same partition?  Are there no conflicts?
In the beginning everything worked fine.  I could install and use my apps without problems.  But after a while more and more apps begun to crash and I always had to restart my phone to get rid of those crashes again.  I discovered that the crashes where caused by a read only data partition.  In fact all the directories /sd-ext, /data/data, and /data/apps where suddenly mounted read only.
My second question: Why does Android sometimes remount my ext3 partition in read only mode while I work with my phone?

I finally managed to get rid of the filesystem corruptions.  I configured S2E so that it mounts the ext3 partition only to /sd-ext and /data/apps.  Since then the partition is not remounted read only anymore.  So it seems that the simultaneous write access to the different mount points of the ext3 partition (/data/apps and /data/data) caused the filesystem corruptions.

Remounting as read-only is an action taken by Linux-based operating systems (including Android) in case of errors accessing the filesystem. In this case it probably indicates that your micro-SD has been (partially) corrupted. There are several possible causes of corruption like this:

Using the phone as a USB mass storage device and unplugging it while a write is in progress
The phone rebooting while an app or the OS is writing to the filesystem
A bug in the ext3 driver in the ROM you're using
A physical error on the SD card due to excessive heat or cold, mechanical shock, manufacturing defects, strong magnetic fields, &c.

Whatever the root cause, try plugging your card into a card reader on a PC and checking it for filesystem errors (for example, using fsck on a GNU/Linux box).

Thanks for your answer. You're right with the FS corruption. I verified it with fsck. Unfortunately, I could not identify the cause for the corruption. I checked your points. 1 and 2 are definitely not the cause in my case. 3 is pretty unlikely I think. Regarding 4 I checked the FS on my PC. But badblocks could find any hardware errors.


text:
Can't see my device in Droid Explorer
But my device still could be seen in adb devices, it said
List of devices attached
DU2TAN1581059861        device

I've turned on usb debugging and MTP mode on my android.
Screenshot:

Try this : http://visualgdb.com/adbfix/

@AnuragThakur I've fixed that message, still can't see.

what exactly you can't see?

I posted the screenshot on, can't see anything but three buttons.

Can you execute any commands from ADB shell like reboot? Also please give more information about the device that you are using

@AnuragThakur Yes I can.

What happens if you click on 'i don't see my device'

@AnuragThakur It pointed to a web page, a tutorial for how to turn usb debugging on.

Well, I guess I will have to try it out myself, but I can only test it tomorrow.

The format of the info returned by the

adb devices -l

Appears to have changed. So the regular expression extracting the info doesn't work any more.
I have worked out a new one, but haven't worked out how to submit the change into the github repo.


text:
How to recover lost data after a factory reset in samsung note 3 SM-n900 series?
My Samsung Note 3 SM-N900 series got stuck in the bootloader loop, due to which I had to do a factory reset. The good thing is that my smartphone is out of the bootloader loop after the reset but all my private data including documents and pictures have been deleted.
I am trying to recover the data using testdisk in Redhat, but the results of deeper search through testdisk are not fetching anything back. So, I decided to shift to windows 10. I was watching this tutorial to recover the data back using testdisk in windows. The problem I am encountering is that when I connect my device in the computer, It does not show any "sdb" drives connected to it in the command line interface, But I am able to see and access my device in the graphical user interface "This PC".
How am I suppose to access this device through command line interface to proceed further? Also any other methods to recover the lost data are also welcome.
I am adding images of the output displayed by the testdisk tool on windows:
for photo click hereor

Image source: My personal computer

Please take a look at our data-recovery tag-wiki, and Recover deleted content from userdata partition. You'll first need to create a disk image, as you cannot directly access the storage of your Android device from your computer anymore (no USB mass storage mode).


text:
Continuous pairing request from a smart watch
Some time ago I replaced a phone to a new one using Android 7 (before it was 6) and my smart watch updated to Android Wear 2.0. Hard to tell what was the reason but since then each time a bluetooth connection between the devices is broken and going to be re-established there is a pairing request with a code which needs to be confirmed on both devices. Is there a way to make a phone and a watch to trust each other once and forever and to connect without re-asking a confirmation? This was the case with Android 6/Android Wear 1.1.
Not sure it matters, but the phone is
Asus ZenFone AR and the watch: Casio WSD-F10.

What phone and what watch is it? They should only need to pair once so it sounds like a software problem in one or other device. Please [edit] your question to say what, so perhaps someone with the same combination can find your question and help.

It is an issue across most Android wear devices, Wear 2.0 and any watch.
You'll see this issue all over the Internet.
I have two Moto 360's and both constantly have pair requests with my Android 7 Motorola Droid 2.
I have factory reset both, followed Google's directions and still does it.
Hopefully Wear OS 3.0 will fix it, but I've heard both of my watches are not getting that update, which is BS.


text:
Stream any audio to DLNA/UPNP speakers
Is there a generic ways how to stream any audio from my mobile or table to my WiFi DLNA/UPnP speakers? By any audio I mean any audio output from any application - YouTube, Audible, BeyondPod, any music player etc.
I figured out partial solution for BeyondPod, a podcast client, and BubbleUPnP, where BubbleUPnP streams to the speaker when it is set as "external" player for BeyondPod. It's a partial solution because it works only for applications with support for redirection to external player. YouTube or Audible has no option to use external player.
And it is not ideal solution either. For example playlists are tricky, both BubbleUPnP and BeyondPod have their own playlists and they don't play along well. BubbleUPnP is unfortunately not just just audio forwarder, it's full fledged media player and its own broad functionality in this scenario it gets in the way :(
Is there a proper audio forwarding (re-streaming, re-directing) solution, an app or a driver, which would take any audio output and forward it to my external speakers? My speakers support UPnP/DLNA, Airplay and Bluetooth.

The only app I know that streams the entire audio output of your phone is AirAudio. It is capable of streaming to UPnP/DLNA speakers but does also support AirPlay.
It does require root privileges, though.

Looks promising. I haven't so far rooted my device but when I do I'll give it a shot. Thinking about it, forwarding all audio probably would require root. So far I'm stuck with bluetooth solution.

airaudio requires a license


text:
Refresh POP Accounts
In my Gmail account, I use "Refresh POP accounts" by Emmanuel P to add a simple button at the top of my email list to quickly refresh all the POP email accounts I have attached to my Gmail account.
I cannot, for the life of me, find a method to do this on my LG Optimus. Is something like this available for Android?
Update
I use the official Google Gmail app. Gmail automatically checks pop accounts, but does not check the accounts on a regular schedule. The POP accounts can be checked manually via "Refresh POP accounts" Labs plugin in desktop browswers. However, this is not available in the Gmail app or in mobile browsers.

Not an answer but if you use Gmail app, you don't have to bother with this.

I do use the Gmail app. You may want to read about Gmail and POP accounts. Gmail automatically checks pop accounts, but does not check the accounts on a regular schedule. The POP accounts can be checked manually via "Refresh POP accounts" Labs plugin ins desktop browswers. However, this is not available in the Gmail app or in mobile browsers. - Added to Question edit.

I have some bad news for you. You may not wish to hear this, but it looks as if it is not possible. Or, at least it is not possible until google make it possible. Sorry about this!

I am also pretty sure that Google won't provide a solution: To check mails on a POP account you have to pull them, and that's what every service provider wants to avoid in terms of resource consumption.

have you considered using an alternative email client like K-9 for both your GMail as well as your POP3 mailbox?

No interest. I am happy with Gmail as my client. I simply want to be able to check the POP accounts from my Android phone the same way I can from Gmail in a desktop browser.

You could give POP3 Refresh for Gmail app a try. It sounds like it does what you are looking for.

That looks perfect. Being it was just released today, I think I will wait a few days to check out the feedback. Yes, I realize it is only $1.29, but I don't buy Andriod apps unless they have fantastic user feedback.

Great support as well! There was a bug and it was fixed promptly!

Alternatively to a standalone app, I’ve just added this link to my home screen, after saving my Gmail credentials, and click the “Check mail now” link next to the account to do the POP3 refresh.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&fs=1&view=pu&st=labs#settings/accounts

Using the desktop vesion of gmail works, even though it's a bit clumsy. Here's how to access it:

open Chrome, go to gmail.com
click "go to the mobile Gmail site"
open Chrome's options menu (3 vertical dots), tick "Request desktop site"
roll out the hamburger menu in gmail (button with 3 stripes), scroll down and click "View Gmail in: Desktop"
switch to the "standard" Gmail view instead of "basic HTML" (at the bottom right)
you should now see the standard gmail app, which has a refresh button

click it and wait for a bit, your POP3/IMAP emails should be fetched


text:
What Trusted Root CAs are included in Android by default?
There doesn't seem to be a central Android resource that lists the Trusted Root CAs included in the OS or default browser (related question on SO), so how can I find out which are included on my phone by default?
With the number of root certificates that have been compromised, and the number of fraudulent SSL certs created over the last couple of years, this is an issue for anyone relying on SSL for security, as otherwise you won't know if you want to remove any trusted CAs.
(not listing my manufacturer or OS version as I'm looking for a generic resource or solution that should be applicable to any device)

I have used this app (root required) to list and delete individual root certs: CACertMan or on Play Store. The guradian project also maintains an edited version of the standard keystore: https://github.com/guardianproject/cacert

Play Store link in previous comment is wrong - Here's the right one Play Store

@Michael: Thanks for the hint, seems I messed up with my copy/paste buffer (leaving the comment, as you and eldarerathis both provided the correct one)

On ICS or later you can check this in your settings. Go to Settings->Security->Trusted Credentials to see a list of all your trusted CAs, separated by whether they were included with the system or installed by the user.
Earlier versions of Android keep their certs under /system/etc/security in an encrypted bundle named cacerts.bks which you can extract using Bouncy Castle and the keytool program. The summary is to first pull the bundle using adb (you need a root shell) then you can use Bouncy Castle to list the contents of the bundle:
shell~$ adb pull /system/etc/security/cacerts.bks`
shell~$ keytool -keystore cacerts.bks -storetype BKS -provider org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider -storepass changeit -v -list

There's also at least one app that you can try if you'd prefer not to use the shell: CACertMan (requires root to modify the list, but should allow you to view the list without root). I believe it came about due to the DigiNotar fiasco since there were no particularly easy ways for a user to revoke the cert at the time. Since the certs are stored differently on ICS and later this app will only work on devices running Gingerbread (or earlier), but it is obsolete on ICS/JB anyway.

Yep, it came because of DigiNotar. Root is only required for editing CAs out (e.g. Chinese state CAs), not for viewing I suppose (IIRC).

@ce4: I don't recall if you need root just to browse with CACertMan or not - I'll check that real quick. Update: Think you're right, I can list them if I deny it root access, I just can't save a modified list. I'll clarify that.

Is there a (rooted) way to edit/add certificates from the shell?  The Settings method claims success on my tablet, but the certificates aren't actually installed.


text:
Are there Andoid versions > 2.3 for my Sony Xperia ST25i (as of July 2012)?

Possible Duplicate:
When will my device get the Android 4.0 update (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

Like the question says, are there higher versions of Android for my phone? Will Sony release a 4.0 update for my phone?

Not officially yet. According to Sony, the Xperia U will be getting ICS in Q3 of this year.
That said I believe there are now some beta 3rd party ROMs floating around with various degrees of success.


text:
Facebook - Comment as Page
When on my desktop browser, I am given the option when posting on somebody else's page to comment as myself or as one of the pages I have. But on my Galaxy S7, there seems to be no way to do this.  If I use the Facebook app, the option to "Comment as" is not even displayed. If I open up Facebook on my phone, on Chrome or on Microsoft Edge for Android, the option to "Comment as" does display. But as soon as you click your page, the checkmark automatically goes back to your personal profile. Even tried clicking on the "Desktop Site" option in Chrome, but this does nothing.
Is there anyway to do this?

This sounds more like a question for Facebook support than an Android question. Since it's about how Facebook's website works (or doesn't!), it seems unlikely that this is something you can fix in Android.

@DanHulme - My question though is if I am loading the Desktop site, why would it be any different than on my desktop browser? Is this a User Agent String thing?

Actually just tried installing Dolphin and the "Comment As" worked as expected. Must be some sort of glitch with Chrome and Edge for Android. I suppose it would be nice to know why these mobile browsers don't work though, or if there is a fix for them.


text:
Why does chrome has access to google account not firefox?
When I go into google accounts on chrome from my android phone , it automatically recognizes the google accounts that exists in my phone. But not when I go there on my firefox browser. Why is it so?
I understand that google owns both android and chrome , but why cant firefox and other browsers dont do it?

Why is it so?

Because the Chrome developers decided to integrate with the accounts on the phone, to make it easier to log into websites with your Google account. The Firefox developers chose not to add this feature, because it's not as important to them, or because they don't want to add the "use accounts" permission to their app.

wouldnt it be against some kind of law when it restrict access to one browser not all?

Maybe it would be against some kind of law to do this, but that's not what's going on. Android isn't preventing Firefox from adding this feature. Firefox just lacks the feature.