text:
Exclude possibility of damage of Android device while chargin with another charger
Is it true, that if I have one Android tablet with mini-usb from Philips, one Android device with mini-usb from Sony, then if I connect Philips charger to Sony charger, then it is possibility for a device to blast or cause any damage?
I heard about a story, where woman connected charger of other manufacturer and during phone call device blasted. I don't know if it is a rumor, or this is truth?
In the other hand, workmate says that solution is on a hardware level and devices detect voltage and solve this issue automatically.
Is it safe to charge with different manufacturer charger or not?

Workmate is correct: all USB chargers supply 5 V with current limited by the design of the charger.  However, the device won't draw more current than it needs -- connect a 2 A capable device to a 500 mA charger, and it'll charge at 500 mA, but connect a 500 mA device to a 2 A charger, and it'll still only draw 500 mA.
Battery fires and explosions are caused by internal shorts and excessive current draw from the battery, not by charger mismatches (within USB voltage spec).


text:
How are the Android Market ratings (stars) calculated?
I was looking at the reviews for an application which was rated as 3.5 stars in the summary.
From reading the reviews, there were few 5's a lot of 1's and very little in between. My "gorilla math" estimate is of the 50 or so reviews I read, it was probably averaged a 2.75 or lower.
How is this rating calculated? All reviews in history? Most recent? Some kind of bad review filter I cannot see?

You're missing the ratings of users who did not leave comments.  A large, significant number of users do not leave comments, but they do rate apps.
This is what a developer will see in their dashboard, a breakdown of all ratings of their app:

So I have an average rating of about 4.57 out of 331 ratings.
However, in the dashboard I only have 6 pages of comments, and each page has up to 20 comments.  So I have no more than 120 comments on my app.  So you'd only be seeing 1/3 of the ratings for my app in particular.

Thanks. I guess the iPhone store works that way too, I had used it as well, but never rated anything. Interesting lesson for how you should decide, because most of the 1 stars was complaining about serious Force Close problems...

Keep in mind, too, the human nature of not speaking up about good experiences. We tend to be much more outspoken when things are not going well. :) I tend to take individual poor ratings with a grain of salt and look at the overall score myself.

count of 5 star * 5+
count of 4 star * 4+
count of 3 star * 3+
count of 2 star * 2+
count of 1 star
Divided By
Number of people rated

The calculation formula was not really the question here (that most likely was what the OP used). It was rather which reviews/ratings are included – see the accepted answer by Bryan.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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sort: votes


text:
Navfree required space
I was wondering how much space Navfree needs for its maps. I know it depends on what parts of the world you download, so is there any place I can check it, other than the app itself? (Alternatively how much does it take to download the entire world, Europe and France for instance.)
(Note: I think this is a good place to ask this? Couldn't find where it would be asked better, please tell if I'm wrong and I'll move it.)

As you had said yourself, the maps size can be known only when you start to download.  The app itself takes approx 20Mb (Total size = App size + data) and it includes no map (actually app will say installing World map, but unless you download a country's map you wouldn't be see anything on screen that resembles a map).
Map for France:

You might also be interested to download other stuffs other than map. For instance for UK, you can download postcode database which can be very useful for locating a destination without Internet connection. Also, it would be worth while to download speed cameras database so that you would get a warning when you approach one and warn if your current speed is high to cause you trouble.

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


text:
Dropbox can't find live wallpapers on android phone
I would like to add live wallpapers to my dropbox from my android phone but I can't find them. I can find my apps from the backup folder, but how do I find the live wallpapers? I have tried going to the android folder, but it doesn't find anything. At all.

The stock live wallpapers are actually apps found in the /system/apps folder. User installed ones are in /data/app. You will need to be rooted and have a root explorer to access these folders.


text:
Is there an Android Equivalent to iMessage?
I don't get mobile reception at home and would love to be able to send and receive SMS either via the phone or by computer.  I currently use Skype to send SMS but can't receive that way.  I have tried a few apps but nothing seems to work unless you're in mobile range.  My daughter has an iPhone and she can send and receive SMS with ease.  I have a Samsung Galaxy S III.
I am in Australia so I need a service that is available here. Google Voice is not available here.

Ever consider Viber?

Viber won't work on computer. Wha about Google voice ?

Back to square one.  Google Voice not available in Australia, apparently.

Since you are in Australia, I would suggest trying t0mm13b's suggestion of Viber. You will have to "Validate" your account with Viber in a location that you have mobile data connection, according to this article, first, but then you should be able to use the service just fine on wifi.
If available, Google Voice is a good option. You will be able to send and receive SMS from it on both mobile network and wifi.
It is probably your best option as it doesn't require the other person to have a different application to be able to receive the messages. Most of them will require the person receiving the message to have the same application.
Google Voice doesn't require the other person to have a special application. It will send the messages as SMS. It will, however, require you to use the Google Voice application to send the messages.

One stickler to keep in mind about Google Voice: no MMS (unless you are on Sprint and want to deal with weird workarounds).

There's not because iMessage is a private protocol developed by Apple. You can use Telegram.
If you have an Android phone and a Mac, there's an interesting app, iMessage for Android which allows you to sync your Android texts with Apple Messages (iChat) app.

The best application you can use for this purpose is KiK Messenger . This will solve all your problem you dont need mobile reception for this. All the other apps actually map your account against your mobile number. But you can create account on kik without any mobile number.

Two ex-googlers created the app MightyText. Give it a try:

"Send & receive SMS and MMS from your computer or tablet, using your current Android phone number. Messages stay in sync with your phone's SMS inbox."
"SMS directly from Gmail on your computer."
"text from [your] phone as [you] normally would... in the U.S. or international."

Disclaimer: I haven't actually tested it in Australia ;) But I'd be happy to hear if it works for you!

Did you try WhatsApp? It's available on both iOS and Android. Google Voice is the best option though if available in your country.

What's App plays a bit fast and loose with user data. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/01/28/technology-whatsapp-privacy.html


text:
Remove SMS notification on Lenovo A800
How can I remove the SMS notification in status bar? I think I have no Notification setting.

If Lenovo didn't change the stock messaging app: open Messaging and press the Menu in the down-right corner and choose Settings. Scroll down to the Notifications section and uncheck Notifications.

thank you sir..bt my LENOVO A800 dont have notification settings

@mickhagon Could you take a screenshot of the settings page?


text:
How to set active APN on ICS
Android 4: Under Mobile Network Settings I have Access Point Names menu, which lists 4 APNs, first one's got a radio button selected next to it.
I'm trying to select one of the other APNs - which takes me to edit mode for that APN, however there doesn't seem to be a way to select an active one (as in - put a radio button selected next to it).
Long tap and menu options don't provide that ability either.

Your provider might offer different APNs for different things -- but you can only select between those for "internet access". As you ddidn't give closer information, I cannot tell about yours -- but I have e.g. an APN for MMS which has no radio-button next to it (as it's only for the messaging service). So I assume there might be other "specific ones" as well.

exactly, there are several APNs - one for pay monthly customers, one for Pay As You Go (I'm on O2 UK) and some MMS ones, the one I need is PAYG APN, which happens to be second in the list - but my question is how to get it selected? the UI behaviour is counter intuitive.

You could check with your provider which APNs are obsolete for you, and simply remove those. Maybe one could tell more if you could include a screenshot with your question.


text:
Keep getting invalid package error when downloading app from Play store
I can't download any app from Google Play, I get invalid package message.
I know this is an old problem and I that I have to clear Dalvik cache.
Problem is that I can't down load the file manager to do this.

Please see: Package Install via Market sometimes fails and gives seemingly random error message and Error downloading apps in Google Play Store with Samsung Galaxy S3: “Package file invalid”

Problem is that I can't down load the file manager to do this.

You can download a file manager from the browser and install it. OI File manager avaible from the web page as are many others if you search around.


text:
Tecno N3 keeps rebooting
In my case, my tecno n3 keeps rebooting even with the sd card removed. What can I do? Pls help.
Didn't install any new apps recently.
Only followed Barca_Ac Milan commentary online.
Also, how do I hard reset the phone?

Do you mean factory reset instead of hard reset? As in clear user data?

Did you check the initial help in the tag-wiki for "boot-loop"? (Simply hover your mouse over the tag, and in the popup click the "info" link. Quite often that place already contains initial help. For your convenience: click here ;)

Press Vol up + Power button for about 4 seconds, keep until reset menu appears.


text:
How to unbrick my Samsung Galaxy Y
I put custom ROM ussrv8_evanlocked@ogy@xda after rooting my Samsung Galaxy Y, and then I wanted to update kernel to overclock my phone (I followed this set of instructions).
Now the phone is not starting. It shows
E:failed to mount/cache(invalid argument)
E:can't mount/cache/recovery/last_log
E:can't open /cache /recovery/last_log

in recovery mode. I tried to reboot, but then it shows can't mount data/rebooting... and the phone shows the Galaxy Y logo.
I also tried to unbrick by Odin in download mode, but whenever I'm trying to connect the phone with PC it shows "device driver is not successfully installed".
What to do?

Please help.I'm still stuck

Have you done a full wipe, reflash the ROM from recovery. You can install the USB drivers with Samsung Kies but make sure ALL kies processes are NOT running when you use ODIN. I'd say try and wipe the device and flash a ROM again from scratch.


text:
"Phone" item using 10-15% of Battery Life
I've attempted to search for other questions answering this, but keyword ambiguity is working against me.
On my Galaxy Nexus, my battery drains rather quickly. Very frequently, when viewing the battery use details, the "Phone" item is the second-largest battery use after Screen. Items such as Cell Standby use much less. This happens even on days when I do not make any voice calls, so I'm not certain what this could be.
Is there something I can do to reduce this battery drain? What causes "Phone" to use this much battery?
edit: Here's a screenshot demonstrating what I'm talking about. I don't believe I made or received any calls on this day.

Could you add/link a screenshot of the corresponding "battery usage" screen? That may make things a bit clearer.

Try booting into safe mode. It should set things right up. You could determine the problem much easier there. That will turn off all 3rd party services, leaving plain android behind.
To goto Safe Mode,
Press the Power button on your device.
Touch & hold the Power off option in the dialog box.
Touch OK in the following dialog to start safe mode.


text:
Turning off cell broadcast messages in HTC One X Plus
I have been receiving about 50 flash sms a day, with my service provider name TIM RS 51, from the number 50. As I read here, it might be a issue with activating and deactivating cell broadcast on the phone. However, I could not find the path suggested for the deactivation (Setting/Call/Other Call Settings). The option does not exist on this path. Any help?

Eliana, could you please add the information what Android version your device is running (the name of the device might be useful as well)? Those settings appear on different places, depending on Android version and sometimes even on device. You will find this information in Settings->About phone usually.

Depending on your Android version, either a duplicate or at least related: Turning off cell broadcast messages in Ice Cream Sandwich

Some more digging: My LG Optimus 4X has it nowhere in its options, but it has an additional app pre-installed ("Cell Info"). Also, some other places to check include this XDA thread, an issue at google code (about not being able to turn it off), and a video at Youtube.

I show the setting under
Settings | Wireless & networks | More... | Cell broadcasts

with three options to choose from:

Show extreme threats
Show severe threats
Show AMBER alerts

(Android 4.1.1 / Galaxy Nexus)

I cannot find that on my Optimus 4x (Android 4.0.3). Could you please add which Android version you refer to, Al? I mean, I wouldn't wonder if that again is a special "LG cleanup" (the Optimus also misses the detailed battery usage stats with the bars for network, wifi, screen on, awake)...

It's Settings->Call-> *uncheck* Cell broadcast -> *click* OK to the confirmation question.

Unfortunately, there is no checkbox or option about cell broadcast under settings/call. I cant find this option anywhere on the phone, specially not under Settings/Call/Cell broadcast. Thanks anyway, do you have anyother idea?...Android version is 4.1.1 and phone model is htc one x plus.

That does not resemble the option under Android 4.1.1 - that looks more like Gingerbread or earlier....


text:
Google Play Store gives error "No Connection"
I have an HTC Desire HD. I am having trouble connecting to the Google Play Store. Every time I try to connect it just come up with an error "NO CONNECTION". I really want to download some apps (in particular Words With Friends). I know I am connected to the Internet; I can access my mail and Facebook, etc.
I have uninstalled Play Store and re-installed it but no luck!
How can I fix this?

Have you tried the usual steps to deal with a truculent app?

Also, how did you uninstall/reinstall the Play Store?

I had a similar issue and found it was due to having previously installed Adblock-Plus. It requires you set up a localhost proxy in your WiFi connections. When I removed Adblock-Plus I forgot to undo the proxy settings. When I removed the proxy the connection worked fine.

@SteveLorimer My I ask what procedures you did to undo the proxy settings, does proxy affect /system/etc/hosts?

Update google-play-store

Solution 1
You need to uninstall(only after force stop it & clear data and cache) Freedom app in your mobile phone if you have. There are some reports that Freedom App causes "No Connection" error.
Solution 2 -
Check your Gmail / Google account password. Have you recently changed it? If yes, then you will need to re-enter your password on your Android device to get all your Google services back. As soon as you change your Google account password, your device gets a notification to enter the new password. Do it or your Google Play Store or any other Google service will not sync or work properly.
Solution 3 -
Clear the Play Store cache. The Google Play Store app on your Android device stores some cache data on your device which could be one of the reasons why you are not able to connect to Google servers using the app and keep getting the “No connection – Retry” error message. How to fix it?
Read the quick and easy steps below:

Go to Settings > Apps.
Scroll to All apps and then scroll down to “Google Play Store” app.
Open the app details and tap on the “Force stop” button.
Then, tap on the “Clear cache” button.

That’s it. Now start the Google Play Store app on your phone / tablet and it should load and work absolutely fine!
Solution 4 -
Check the date and time of your device. Yes, this was the problem with majority of users complaining about this error message in their Google Play Store app. If your date and time are not correctly set, you will again the “No connection – Retry” error message.

I was facing the same issue as i had installed the freedom app on my device and then uninstalled it..  Once it was uninstalled i lost the play store with the no connection error.  Once i installed it back again it started working

My old Android phone's date was 3 years behind. Updating the date/time resolved the No Connection - Retry issue for me. Thanks.

Google Play Services kept crashing on a Nook but I fixed that and now I'm getting this error. None of these solutions work (I can't find how to change the time, but it appears accurate). Any other ideas?

I found I had to restart my phone for the above to take effect. @TravisBemrose

The other answers did not work for me, but I did find a potential work around.
I opened my /etc/hosts/ file in a text editor and added a # in front of Google's IP address, commenting it out. After that, I was able to connect again. You'll need to be root in order to do this.

I installed some stupid ad blocker in my device which put the wrong ip in hosts. Fixed it by deleting the hosts file itself.

Make Sure that Background data is enabled on your Phone.
For 4.0 (ICS), check it in Settings > Data Usage > Menu > Uncheck Restrict Background Data.
For any other Android flavor, look for Backgound data in Settings, and try enabling it.
It might help you.

If background data restricted he should get a notification that "Background data is restricted" while he opens Playstore(Not "No Connection" error).

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


text:
SGS3 USB not connecting to PC
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, running Android 4.1.1.
I am having problems connecting the phone to my PC. I can connect other S3 phones to my PC. So, I presume that it is not the PC (Windows 7) that has problems.
I am using the original Samsung cable. The URT is set to modem and USB is set to PDA.

I had the same problem: phone was charging OK but not recognized as external device.
I found this solution on the Internet and it worked in my case:

Power off your phone
Power on the phone in Download mode (Volume Down + Home + Power)
Press Volume Up to continue in Download mode -> you should see an Android bot and some informations about your OS (rooted or standard, ...)
Plug your phone into your computer using your USB cable
Windows should now discover it and load the driver (from Windows update)
Power off your phone
Power on the phone (classically this time)

I followed your steps but nothing happening. Android logo appeared with title downloading but nothing happening. Am I supposed to do any thing else or missing something?

Well assuming that you can charge it okay, it is not the cable. Also, other phones get recognized by your computer so it's not that either. However, it's always good to have more than one verification on something. Try plugging your phone into another computer. If that works, you have a problem with your computer. If it doesn't work, the only option left is that it is your phone. I would just back up your data and do a factory reset. If that doesn't fix it, call Samsung.

Don't rule out the cable that easily: charging uses only 2 of the 4 contacts, data is another one. So also try another cable, just in case -- as you have several devices, you probably also have several cables, so this comes with no extra costs.


text:
Android distro for reading?
Is there an android distribution that presents a stripped-down ereader interface and nothing more?  The reason for this is just a matter of ultimate usability.

Android doesn't have "distros", and your custom ROM options are going to be heavily influenced by what device you have. This is possibly covered by Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

This is a classic case of asking about the supposed solution instead of asking about the problem to be solved.

Android is just a platform like OS that anyone can add toppings (apps) to.
If you want a really clean minimal OS good for E-reading then install Titanium Backup or Root Uninstaller, and just uninstall all of it (including default Homescreen) and just leave your favorite E-reading app (Kindle, Aldiko, Cool Reader, whatever). This way you will have a dedicated E-book reader like device without resorting to flashing a new ROM.


text:
How to upgrade the HTC One X (with AT&T) from ICS to Jelly Bean from Indian telecome?
I purchased HTC One X unlocked (with AT&T) with Android ICS. I am using this phone in India with Airtel SIM.
How can I upgrade the device to Jelly Bean?

If you have bought an unlocked phone then there's no issue of what kind of carrier you have and which country you are in. Just connect to the internet and get an OTA update from settings, provided they have rolled out the update to their customers in the country where you bought it from.


text:
How to block my mobile provider from showing their ads?
Whenever I use apps that have banner ads (I guess that thing is called AdMob?), I get ads from my mobile service provider. This happens only when I connect using the mobile data.
I don't have branding or any apps from my mobile service provider. In fact, I'm on a rooted vanilla stock froyo ROM.
The ads are very annoying. Most of the time, it is about Value Added Services (VAS) and hence If I accidentally click those, I get charged instantly. (for subscription to whatever that stupid ad displayed).
Please don't give me solutions to block the ads completely. I want the normal ads, just not the ads from my service provider.

Provided you are rooted, Ad-Away is one such ad-block, and it can be customized to allow specific hosts.

Both works the same way. While the usual AdBlockers block all ad-related servers/IPs, you can do the same for selected ones.
Provided your device is rooted, you can block their specific IPs via your hosts file. Just add the server name one per line, and send it to an "invalid" URL such as e.g. 0.0.0.0. An example entry would look like:
adserver.myprovider.com  0.0.0.0

Of course this would mean you have to figure out the URL of the ads displayed. Here apps like OS Monitor might prove helpful, as they show all open network connections:

OS Monitor: Open connections and WhoIs information (source: Google Play)
When such an ad is displayed, immediately open the connection tab in OS Monitor and check the list. The first screenshot1 shows the app in charge is displayed along with the corresponding entry. The status column will most likely hold either CLOSE_WAIT, LAST_ACK, or (less likely) ESTABLISHED. Tap the entry which seems fitting to get the WhoIs information2. On that page you see the hostname right on top ("DNS"), which is what you then put into your /system/etc/hosts file as described above.
Don't forget to clear the app's cache afterwards, as otherwise cached ads might still be displayed. Continue until you caught them all :)
Another solution is available for certain providers (at least here in Germany): Opt-Out of provider billing, either completely or for given companies. Of course you still need to pay your contract (that's not what is meant here), but you should no longer be automatically charged for ads etc. via your phone bill. Which does not mean nobody might scare you with accuses of a subscription you "bought" -- but that would no longer work for those ads.

+1 for this interesting solution! Sounds handy, but it could be tedious when my provider uses lots of random multiple IPs instead of a handful of hostnames. I'm guessing maybe using proxies might work but I don't know how to make proxies work on an all app level.

Yepp, it might take a while to get the collection complete. But it's not the IP-addresses which are your concern, but rather the host names (you always map them to 0.0.0.0, as described). And once you recognize a pattern (e.g. adXX.myprovider.com with XX being digits), you could go pro-active and map them all (00..99). Proxies: they mostly need root as well, and you would need a filtering proxy customized for you. So the hosts variant would be easier for you -- unless you can setup your own proxy using wildcards.

Ooops... Yes, no I see what you've meant: he could be using IPs instead of hostnames. Well, you could block the entire segment then: usually the first two groups stay the same (123.456.789.0 -> 123.456..), so you would only need to block... um, 64K addresses in the worst case... But I cannot imagine more than 100 IPs wasted for that by your provider. Still, you've got to figure out. In the hosts file it should work the same then: 123.456.789.0  0.0.0.0.


text:
How to keep the phone screen on while charging?
I have Moto G gen 3 updated to latest system update, not rooted.
I need a simple solution to keep my phone's screen awake when it's plugged in.

There's a checkbox exactly for that in the developer options, you'll just have to enable them to show up.
To do so, locate the about/version information in the Settings app and tap the build number repeatedly until you get the confirmation.
Then go back and look for the Developer Settings. Make sure to not touch any option you don't understand. Wrong values might make your device unresponsive or unusable, they could also compromise your data's security.

@Mario how can I revert back the developer setting that I unlocked? If I revert it will the settings that I changed also will get reverted?

You simply have to do a Factory Restore to hide developer options again.Yes, once you do factory reset all settings will revert back to Normal.

Factory reset also erases everything on your phone.  That's not really a solution for how to just hide the developer settings again.


text:
Why does google maps need WiFi?
Sometimes google maps gives a notification that goes something like:
"for increased accuracy please turn on the Wifi"
I can understand if it said "For faster loading of map layers....", but how can a better internet connection result in increased accuracy by the GPS?

Some related questions here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1522/what-is-assisted-gps http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1648/how-does-android-get-the-coarse-location

You might be interested in Assisted GPS

Assistance falls into two categories:

Information used to more quickly acquire satellites

It can supply orbital data or almanac for the GPS satellites to the
  GPS receiver, enabling the GPS receiver to lock to the satellites
  more rapidly in some cases.
The network can provide precise time.
The device captures a snapshot of the GPS signal, with approximate time,
  for the server to later process into a position.
Accurate, surveyed coordinates for the cell site towers allow better
  knowledge of local ionospheric conditions and other conditions
  affecting the GPS signal than the GPS receiver alone, enabling more precise
  calculation of position. (See also Wide Area Augmentation System and
  CellHunter.)

Calculation of position by the server using information from the GPS
  receiver

The assistance server has a good satellite signal, and plentiful
  computation power, so it can compare
  fragmentary signals relayed to it by
  GPS receivers, with the satellite
  signal it receives directly, and then
  inform the GPS receiver or emergency
  services of the GPS receiver's
  position.

Many mobile phones combine A-GPS and
  other location services including
  Wi-Fi Positioning System and cell-site
  triangulation and sometimes a hybrid
  positioning system.[4]

"Assistance falls into two categories" ← None of these described categories need Wi-Fi. Only the last sentence has something to do with Wi-Fi, but it is very vague. Sam's answer should be the accepted answer.

If I'm not mistaken it is to access Google's (presumably large) wireless MAC address location database which like Skyhook (a competing service, also previously used on iOS devices) allows a handset to scan for wireless networks nearby and send their MAC addresses (possibly SSIDs as well, I haven't looked into it too depply) off to Google to compare to their database and fire back an approximate location based on their data collection (which you consent to help provide by enabling this feature).
To the answerer mentioning A-GPS, I think the OP was already using A-GPS and using Google Maps over a 3G connection but had Wi-Fi disabled.
I believe this technique is achieved similarly with the use of cell towers, measuring the signal strength between the connected and neighbouring towers and comparing it to a stored database (such as Ofcom's attempt available in the UK), Location Area Code (LAC) and Cell ID (CID). For anyone curious you can find these on most Android phones using the *#*#4636#*#* code in your dialer although for whatever reason it's encoded in hex so just convert it back to decimal if you like.
TL;DR - Triangulate your location quicker using Wi-Fi signals while your GPS gets a satellite lock, A-GPS serves the same purpose but achieves this using a different method (Secure User Plane Location I think, if anyone wants to read up on it).

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


text:
What Google Talk compatible iOS apps can I recommend to my friends?
What good Google Talk (or in general: XMPP) apps can I recommend to my non-Android friends (especially iPhone users)?
I'm fed up using many different apps to chat with some of my contacts. I just want to 'talk' to any of them with that single solution.
Google Talk's usefulness increases by network effects, i.e. can you reach all your contacts (who may use iOS (iPhone), Windows Phone, Blackberry, others) with one single solution?
Existing solutions and what I don't like about them:

WhatsApp (proprietary, paid app, battery hog?, has privacy concerns)
eMail (pretty much ok, but not that realtime)
SMS (needs GSM, costs too much, no added value)
Facebook chat (proprietary, battery hog?, privacy concerns, not all want to sign up)
Skype chat (proprietary, battery hog?, privacy concerns)
iMessage (proprietary, incompatible with Android?)

If you have too many of those apps installed you will see a difference in battery life in the end. Google Talk is already there and connected either way, so I prefer this (and not WhatsApp).
Side note for iOS: iOS' push notification system seems to be the reason why the decent apps there are paid apps. (Need to relogin every 7 days to keep push messages alive and such, i don't really know).
PS:
 - There's a way to encrypt Talk messages, so it's not a privacy concern
 - is Talk open: Yes (it's XMPP). I have friends with accounts on their own servers that i 'talk' to
 - You can use 3rd party Jabber clients to login to Talk

For the record: I know it's not that directly an android question but it bothers me and I haven't found anything decent on iOS (that doesn't cost 10$) that really works. Apple wants iMessage and Google's effort is almost null and void (there's only a web app for talk officially, eww). I just need some arguments and a working path to convice them to switch to talk (the easier the better. WhatsApp is really good at this)

Although Google Talk is certainly well integrated into Android, finding non-Android apps that work with it seems rather out of the scope of this site. If you want iOS specific answers then you may want to craft some version of this over at Ask Different (assuming it falls within their FAQ - I don't know that).

Well, I really anticipated that. In fact, I had rather loved to take this to the chat first however there's only little activity and not many are logged in regularly. Where should I ask (besides on meta) next time I'm unsure a question fits or not next time? Plus: only common thing in the answer is 'talk', WP doesnt fit think different either. Honestly: saying it bothers me as'n android user so much that I want a single answer for all diffrnt OSes for talk. That's why I considered it being a (not so good) but partially fitting android enthusiast question (google talk enthusiast speaking here).

Apple iOS
No official native solution by Google (except for the safari web-app with a subpar user experience)
Beware: All 3rd party providers seem to need your friend's plain google password to be able to offer push support (not just their app)! All have some sort of session timeout for push notifications (when the app is in background): Needs a relogin after that timeout (eww!).
3rd party apps I found:

IM+ Pro, free, ad supported, push with unknown session timeout
IM+, 9.99$, no ads and longer push session timeouts as above. Good reviews.
BeejiveIM for GTalk: free, push session timeout up to 7 days, no voice/video
Chat for Google Talk Pro: 0.99$, push with unknown session timeout, noticed bad reviews in Germany, good in US though

Windows Phone
todo
BlackBerry
has good support, download here
Symbian
todo
Bada
todo
Send me your findings, I'll happily include them here.


text:
Phone restarting again and again
I am having samsung galaxy ace GT-s5830i.
The phone is restarting again and again after installing a game from 4shared.com.please help me out.
Phone is rooted one.

Did you try to uninstall the game and/or unrooting?

Related: LG Motion Keep Rebooting (Boot Loop) After Installing Beat Audio Installation. One more hint: Hover your mouse over the boot-loop tag, and follow the 'info' link: Many of our tag wikis already contain general help, as in this case (always worth a look ;)

Yeah, I had a similar problem with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus after downloading some apps I had developed without testing them on an emulator first (whops). Take a look at this question:Phone restarting over and over after rooting Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830i. I know there is not an accepted answer but you might have some luck with it. I had to reset mine and that seem to do the trick but if not I would recommend the safe reboot described in the linked question. The actual problem is probably caused by an over load maybe of to much memory required for the graphics (as it was in my case). I would just be careful when downloading apps not from Google Play, especially any sort of game that uses a lot of ram and CPU. Hope this helps. Cheers.


text:
Extreme lag with Sony Ericsson WT19i after update to 4.0.4
I have updated my Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman to 4.0.4 from 2.3.4 and now the system lags horribly. I have to wait for a considerable time for an application to exit. Even the in built basic applications like phone and contacts take about 5-7 secs to load.
Has anyone faced a similar problem? What can I do that would cure my system of the lag?

Yes, Sony made the ICS upgrade a horrible experience which does slow down the handset and lag.
Two choices:

downgrade to Gingerbread 2.3.x
Try switching to custom ROM called LegacyXperia to use JellyBean.

The experience is more satisfying and smooth. For that to happen:

need adb, fastboot binaries
if your bootloader can be unlocked, check Sony Warning if yes and proceed to do so, you will lose your data
you would need to backup your apps (there is other questions on this site about this topic!)
download the LegacyXperia ROM, extract boot.img from zip, flash it to bootloader
reboot and toggle volume keys to get into ClockworkMod Recovery
choose wipe data/cache
choose install from adb sideload, CWM will wait,
adb sideload name_of_zip_file, CWM will start loading and installing the ROM.
reboot and enjoy JellyBean.

I've updated my phone as well, yesterday, and It's indeed quite slow at times. Here are two easy things you can do;

Replace your home screen with LauncherPro, it's a lot faster
If you're rooted, lower your vmheapsize (24m seems like a good value)

Now these small tweaks are probably going to be insufficient, but at least they're safe. The other thing you can do is to find the original Android 2.3 ROM for your device, and flash it to your device.


text:
Add an application to the Open With Menu
I'm using a Samsung Note II running Jelly Bean 4.1.2.
I would like to add an application to the open with list. I have downloaded a photo editing app. While in the gallery, I would like to be able to select a picture and open it with this app but it's not in the list.
Thank you. :)

Well this is defined per app in its manifest. It registers to a certain Intent.
The app that implemented the 'open with' option checks which applications react to a certain Intent, and shows the list of those applications.
I don't think you can modify this at runtime.
(Or you could create a new application which reacts the the 'open with' and creates another Intent which the photo editing app reacts to.)


text:
Can I have a separate notification sound for my Twitter alerts
As above, I want a different sound for incoming Twitter alerts so they are not the same as my normal texts. It's so frustrating to keep looking at the phone when I am waiting for a particular private text, but I dont want to get rid of my Twitter alerts. Surely like email sound can be different this should be too. How do I do it please? I have an HTC Sensation.

In the Twitter app...

Tap the Overflow menu (three vertical dots) and choose "Settings"
Tap the account (your username, not general) you want to change
Under "Notification Indicators" tap "Ringtone"
Choose the Ringtone you want to use for Twitter notifications for this account

For more recent versions of Twitter, this something controlled at the OS level.

Long-press the app icon and choose App Info, or go to Android Settings, Apps & notifications, and choose "Twitter"
Tap "App notifications"
There, for each Twitter account, you can control which notifications you get, whether they make a sound, and whether they also show a pop-up
Tap the notification you want to change, make sure "Make sound" is on, and then tap "Sound" to choose the alert ringtone for that notification.

(These instructions are based on Android 8.1 and Twitter 7.40.0.)

But strangely it is not working. Only default ringtone is getting applied even after I changed it a thousand times.

This doesn't work for me in Twitter Version 7.14.0. There is no overflow menu, and Settings->Notifications has nothing for Ring tone. Android 7.0 on Samsung Galaxy S8+.

Yep not working. No overflow menu, no username or general section as indicated, only enable sounds effects and this defaults to the system sound. How about posting a screenshot?

@EugenevanderMerwe: Do note that this answer is from 2013. The app has obviously changed a lot since then. I'll see if I can add more recent instructions.

I've added instructions based on Android 8.1 and Twitter 7.40.0. Depending on your OS and app versions, this may vary.


text:
Android 4.1.1 consumes too much memory
My HTC One S has been upgraded to 4.1.1 and I noticed that it started consuming too much memory.
When I had 4.0, average memory consumption was about 300-450 MB. But now it is on the level of 700-850 MB. Is this a normal situation for the current version of Android or did something go wrong after the upgrade?
All system apps were upgraded with the OS. I have 1 GB of RAM.

Have you a record of how much memory the apps used to use, and how much they use now?

This could count as a good sign: There should not be such a thing as "unused RAM". Linux and Android in special do a good job to make the best use of it by caching things. If there is any RAM not currently needed by running apps, it can be used to keep e.g. pieces of the file system for faster access -- which also helps to save battery life. Once there is additional RAM needed, those caches are the first things to be cleared.
For more details, I recommend to take a look at the following related questions and their answers:

0 ram free on ICS
Are there guidelines on how much free RAM a phone should have?

I read the answers in the links above and have a question: will not it degrade performance by clearing that RAM for a new app? If the RAM is free it could simply occupy it, but now unused RAM has to be freed up first and then to be occupied.

Au contraire. It would degrade performance if you'd permantly kill apps, and they had to be loaded again: I/O reading from the (slower) storage, initializing the app, etc. And by killing the app you would also "clear" that RAM (just to have it re-filled by the re-starting app in most cases). Leave that headache to the system :) The only things which might need some adjustment (in some cases) are OOM values (i.e. the configuration of the system behind this).

what is OOM values? Honestly, I had asked the question about memory usage because I felt that my htc is working a bit slower than with previuos version

See e.g. Auto Memory Manager, which serves this issue. But "feeling slower after update/upgrade" can have many reasons (never version might need more ressources, update can have "messed up" something, etc.pp.).


text:
Samsung Galaxy S 2 new software won't connect via USB with Mac?
My Samsung Galaxy S 2 just got updated software over the weekend and now it's completely different to use.  I've nutted out most of it but it is no longer recognised by my laptop and I can't share or transfer files via USB anymore.
My laptop is a MAC and runs OS X version 10.7.5.
I plug my phone in and then go to settings > wireless and networks > more settings > USB utilities > Connect storage to PC but nothing happens, it just tells me it's not connected to a computer.
When I try opening my Android file transfer app on my laptop it tells me that it cannot detect an Android device.
Is there an update for my file transfer app that I'm just not finding or something? I have tried with two different cables and I still get nothing.

What Android version did you have before, and to which version is it updated now? My suspicion is that it was using UMS (USB Mass Storage) before, and no longer offering this now (having switched to MTP instead, which needs different software on your Mac).

Do you have Samsung Kies? http://www.samsung.com/us/kies/


text:
How can I download apps on the Onda tablet?
How can I download apps on the Onda tablet?
It is Android-enabled, but it doesn't have internet.

Can you be a little more precise? Doesn't it even have WiFi? No SDCard either? I never heard of that tablet before, so please forgive me not knowing those details ;)

@Izzy - see this... looks to be some cheap chinese tablet... :\ Either the OP is uncertain in how to enable Wifi or there is no internet connectivity in the OP's location?

According to t0mm3b's link, there are multiple different Onda-tablets. Grainne, could you pick the one you have and add the corresponding link? It looks like they support WiFi and even WiFi direct. So if you have a WiFi access point, you could use the Internet that way.


text:
Auto rotation, proximity sensor issues in Xperia Arc S after updating to ICS
My auto-rotation and sensors was working fine in my Xperia Arc S with Gingerbread, but when I updated it to Ice Cream Sandwich via Sony PC Companion, now the auto-rotation and some sensors are not working. I have also checked it by reflashing the other custom ROM, but same problem exists there. I guess its a Sony's built-in bugs, because I have also checked other Xperia Arc S with ICS, same issues exists there. Any help in this regards will be highly appreciated! Please help me how to fix it, or any other alternate to auto-rotation and how to turn off proximity sensor manually.

What "other" custom ROM did you use? Is the device rooted? You say "other sensors" but really only talk about the proximity sensor; what else is affected?

Al Everett Thanks for your reply, Other custom ROM that I used:ultimate HD (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1920207), other sensors means: compass sensor, light sensor, proximity sensor. Can you help me ? I shall be very thanksfull to you :)

Yes my device is rooted, but problem was there before rooted. Can you help me that which files to change to fixed this problem as I am also an android application developer but dont know much about this problem.

I'm afraid I'm going to be of little help. I'm not into flashing custom ROMs. However, there are other people here who are, and they may be able to help you. One other thing: comments are, by their nature, impermanent. It would be a good idea to edit your question to include the important information you clarified in your latest comments.

yes, thanks for your advice, actually i am new here. if I go back to the official ICS (unrooted), then can you help me on stock ROM?


text:
How to clean the voice mail in the notification screen?
How to clear the notification screen, without listening to the voice mail?

The phone is Galaxy Ace GT.

Don't you have a Clear button in the top right corner?
This is what it looks like on my HTC Desire running Android 2.3.3.

What happens if you press and hold the voice mail? Do you get a menu to clear it out?
Update:
Tapping the notification dials the voice mail inbox, right? Unless you can tap and hold it to get a context menu from where you can remove it, then I'm afraid there's not much you can do about it.
I just talked to a Samsung rep and he was not aware of a way to remove it. He said you have to pull down the notifications menu, tap it, and then close it (essentially dialing and then ending the call).
I also had a look at the manual for the Galaxy Ace (GT-S5830). There is not much said in it about this (full manual, 127 pages, not a quick guide). They pretty much just tell you what voice mail is, how to set up voice mail server and listen to voice mails.

In Idle mode, open the application list and select (phone icon),
  Keypad and then tap and hold 1. Follow the instructions from the voice
  mail server. You must save the voice mail server number before
  accessing the server.

They don't even tell you how to clear the notification bar. They seem to be expecting that the user will know this by logic. Most manufacturers of Android handsets seem to be under the impression that Android is intuitive enough that they don't need to say many words about it in the manuals. Some manufacturers have more proper manuals, thoroughly explaining every detail, while some will just have quick guides.
I'm sorry I couldn't be of any more help to you.
May I ask why these notifications about voice mail bother you so much? Are you using voice mail? If you are not using it, then there is always the option to disable it, and you won't be getting any more of those.
So here are the options you have.

Tap to listen
You can tap the "new voice mail" icon from the notification bar to dial your voice mail inbox and listen to your voice mails.
Ignore it
You can always just ignore the icon.
Disable voice mail
If you are not using voice mail, or if you are not using it frequently you always have the option to disable it.
Upgrade to Android 4.2
If possible, you could try upgrading to Android 4.2. That requires rooting your phone and installing a custom ROM.
Get a new phone
This is the least wanted option for several reasons, the expense being usually number one. But sometimes it is the best and quickest solution that allows you to get on with your life and worry less about problems with technology. I would personally not change my phone just to get around this type of issue.
Make sure you thoroughly test your new phone so you know it does what you want. It's usually not possible to test every feature in the store, you need to take it home and test it properly. Some carriers will allow you to bring the phone home and test both the phone and the service for 14 days, without commitment or signing any contract. My carrier (Tele2) has this option.

How to disable voice mail on Galaxy Ace

In Idle mode, open the application list and select
Settings.
Select Call settings.
Select Voice mail number
Remove the number and save changes. If it doesn't allow you to leave it empty then type in some bogus (fake) number like +1 123456789 and save.

There is also the option "Voicemail service". See if you can just disable the service that way, instead of messing with numbers. It doesn't say in the manual what options you have, so you need to see for yourself.
Note!
You can always continue using your voice mail. It's just that you won't be getting these annoying messages every time you get a voice mail. All you have to do in the future is just call the number for your voice mail inbox. You can just save that as a new contact and call it to check for new voice mails.

wow, I will see when that happens again if what you say works

Okay. The first three options will always work. You can tap to listen, or ignore it, or disable voice mail altogether. The option to upgrade to Android 4.x is tricky, leave that as the last resort. Yeah, you can also try to press and hold to see if you get any menu. Don't be afraid to mess around with it, you own it. With these Android handsets, more often than not, there are hidden (secret) options and key combinations that are not even mentioned in the manual. I hope you will find a working solution.

Here's some reading on 4.2.2 upgrades. The mentioned Maclaw Studio release can be downloaded here. It looks like there's also a Cyanogen 10.1 release for Ace. You can find all the device-specific posts about the Ace at XDA here. If you decide to flash, make sure it's for the S5830 (if that's what you have).

You also have a great resource for all things Samssung over at SamMobile. Should you decide to try flashing a custom ROM.

So you just reboot the phone?... is that what you're saying?

Well, that's good to know. But it's too bad they didn't make any kind of option to clear it without having to reboot the phone just to clear out some annoying notifications. That's just lame on part of Samsung. Thanks for the update though.

On Android 4.x+ you should just be able to swipe it to the right to dismiss it.

it doesn't work

This only works for phones running Android 4.0 and newer unless it's included in the rom.

Good point. Edited.

The Galaxy Ace GT comes with Android 2.3 and can be upgraded to Android 2.3.6.

All you've got to do is hold it down, go to app info, untick and retick 'show notifications' and then it should stay off the notification bar after reclicking it

If your device is running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or higher, this app seems to be able to clear them.


text:
Is the HTC One known by another name?
Have just taken delivery of the new HTC One (15th March 2013) and am struggling to find relevant Internet search results.They all come back with info about HTC One X, HTC One V, HTC One S, XL, XT.. you get the idea.
So, is there another name/word which might narrow down the field when looking for HTC One specific info ?
Thanks in advance.

I've noticed that the HTC One is sometimes referred to as M7. Also, adding '2013' to a search improves the results, eg:
HTC One 2013 M7

"One" is a line of phones and also a phone itself, much like Samsung and their Galaxy line.
There is a phone called just the "HTC One" (Which I believe is the newest HTC phone), but there also 14 other devices under the "One" name and are differentiated with 1 or 2 letters after the name.

Ok thanks. Seems like they haven't really thought about how people searching for the 'new' HTC One will find it, with so many 'old' HTC One's around. I was hoping there was another way to differentiate this latest one...

@sergeantKK - Yeah, HTC is doing things kinda backwards.  Samsung started with the Galaxy (it was an Android 1.5 device and their first Android device AFAICT) and then started adding on numbers, letters, and words, whereas HTC started with a bowl of alphabet soup and then used nothing.

Whenever I search for info I type "HTC One 2013". That narrows things down a little.

I knew that HTC One is called also HTC One M7.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_One,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2215
http://leadergeeks.com/2013/02/19/code-name-m7-the-htc-one-is-finally-unveiled/

HTC One is the latest phone released from HTC in their "One" series.
They named it "One" for its simplicity, which confuses a lot of people, when they look it up, and compare it to other devices from the series such as One X, One S, etc.
You can always look this phone up by it's codename which is M7.
For full codename list, you can check Wikipedia


text:
How can I find the saved password in Android browser?
I have Prestigio Tablet with ICS. I forgot a password from important site. It's remembered in the tablet's browser. How can I see it without rooting the tablet?

And this site doesn't have a password recovery mechanism?

There is no functionality to view saved passwords included in the stock browser.
The only method for retrieving passwords saved in the stock browser is to open the webview.db file (it's an sqlite database) in /data/data/com.android.browser and look at the password table (it's stored in the clear, no encryption or anything), but that requires root.

The best decision so far is:
Download SQLite Database editor. (Root is required!)
Go to "Application Databases"
Choose : Internet (with icon of Earth and small script com.android.browser /data/data/com.android.browser/databases/webview.db
Choose from TABLES - "password"
Press SELECT*
ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can try those 3 steps, using 2 devices (second must be rooted):

use adb backup com.android.browser to create a backup of browser on your device
use TitaniumBackup to restore to another device
copy webview.db from /data/data/com.android/browser/databases/ and extract password from it.


text:
Cannot find unzipped files from WinZip Android app
I have installed WinZip for Android and unzipped a file. However, I cannot find the extracted files anywhere on my SD card. I always have to open the WinZip app and go to the last zip option to view all the files.
Is there any option to view the unzipped files on my SD card or to select the path/folder before extraction?

The app's description on the playstore does not speak of "unzipping files to your sdcard". It rather seems to simply "handle" them, only temporarily extracting files to process them. Which would explain why you cannot find the files anywhere outside the zip-file itself (or outside that app).
If you want to extract files to handle them separately, you might rather wish to take a look at e.g. AndroZip Dateimanager instead, which is explicitly stating to extract files:

AndroZip File Manager helps you copy, delete, move, unzip/unpack, compress, encrypted ZIP supported, search, and organize your files, music, pictures, and folders just like you would do on your PC.

Thanks a lot Izzy.. Gave me a clear insight.. Will install these apps !


text:
How to get Google Play in China
I just bought the Samsung S3 in China and Google Play is not installed - how can I get it, or at least get my Gmail?

Possibly relevant: How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, ...) on my Android device?

^ this also requires root and custom recovery to flash the google apps zip. Also, in order to access the play store server, you will need a VPN service to bypass the Great Firewall of China

I don't know it works or not. I just Googled and found this link.
According to the link you might want to use VPN services which changes your IP to other country IP which is valid in Google Play and also according to comment on same link one has changed his OS to Hongkong OS(i.e Google Play available OS).
You might want to go through LINK once. Hope this might be helpful for you!


text:
Is there a maximum number of devices allowed on a Google Play Account?
Many schools are looking at using Android tablets in classrooms.  Some have classroom sets of 35-40 tablets.  As a means to manage apps, having them tied to a single Google Play account would be ideal.  Is there a maximum number of devices allowed?
This setup would also be cost effective, if the school uses any pay apps, as the app is linked to the account, not the devices.  Does anybody have any experience or knowledge beyond, "I have 5 devices in my family all synced and it works."?

Note that sharing in such a way would probably be against the Google Play Terms of Service: Sharing. You may not use Products as part of any service for sharing, lending or multi-person use, or for the purpose of any other institution, except as specifically permitted and only in the exact manner specified and enabled by Google (for example, through “Social Recommendations”).

Related: Can I use multiple Android devices with a single Google account? Sync Multiple Devices Simultaneously With One Account

This applies to Music, but seems it also might generally apply to all Google accounts regardless if they use Google Music or not.

Any user can associate up to 10 devices to his or her account.
  ...
  We limit the number of times you can swap out new devices at the request of some of our music partners in an effort to limit abuse.

But you may also run into an issue if there is a credit card associated with the account used to purchase apps - any student could purchase whatever from the market.
If you're serious about doing this, and you didn't make it very clear what you're actually wanting, you might want to consider contact a device manufacturer and setup a contract to create tablets specifically for your needs.

If you have more than 100 devices per account it seems like you will get logged out on previously signed in devices.
In the Google Dashboard I also can only see 100 devices at a time.

As for the app management, another approach would be using Aptitude. Unfortunately, the app is gone from the playstore, but the concept should still work: Set up a central repository on a server, maintain all apps there, and have the clients on the devices configured to (solely) using this. As for paid apps, it would surely be possible to find an agreement with the devs.
For details, also see the Aptoide article on Wikipedia:

Aptoide is an Android (operating system) distributed Marketplace for Android applications driven by the community. In Aptoide, there is not a unique and centralized store but each user manages their own store.

Further links:

Aptoide Installer
Aptoide server
ApkTor (an Aptoide fork)
Aptoide specifications (PDF)
F-Droid is also using the same format (and thus compatible)
Bazaar uses an Aptoide client

There were also scripts somewhere to maintain your own repo (on your own server), I just cannot find them currently.

F-Droid index is no longer compatible with Aptoïde, but the process is easy and is explained in the manual. Like Aptoïde the software is free so you can manage your own store.

Currently have upwards of 100 devices associated with a single Google account for test purposes. Came here for this same reason.
No issues with this number.
Edit: Just noted the date tag....

Can you please link to the source or proof?

ElefantPhace provided an answer for Music.
Here's for Books:

You can access your books on different devices, including compatible
  Android devices, iPads, iPhones and iPod touches, or on the web on
  your computer. No matter where you read your books, when you're
  connected to a network (via Wi-Fi or a data connection on your device)
  we'll automatically keep track of your reading place, so you can pick
  up right where you were last reading the next time you open your
  ebooks
Note: In rare occasions when a user tries to access books on a number of devices at the same time, our system may temporarily block
  them from opening new reading sessions. This can happen when too
  many readers are open on different machines or browsers. If your other
  reading sessions are closed or inactive, you will be able to read in
  this browser after a short delay. If you believe this is an error
  please contact our support team.

The limit is 10 devices, it is a known issue: https://support.google.com/googleplay/known-issues/1335215?hl=en

This is specific to Google Play Music, not the app store. I don't believe there is a limit on devices there.


text:
Problems cutting people off
I am a complete novice with these phones.  When I have a call I seem to cut people off with my cheek on the screen - how can I stop this?

Are you saying that you are accidentally hanging up on people because the screen is touching your face?

The simple (and stupid) answer is to try holding the phone a little bit further away from your face (as in, make the handset touch your ear but not your cheek) -- however, if this keeps happening it seems more like a problem with the handset, and you should bring it up with the manufacturer.

This should normally be prevented by the proximity sensor. Either your device doesn't feature one (which would make me wonder), or something is wrong with it. What device do you have, and what Android version is it running?

If  you cannot keep distance between screen and your skin (cheek) as bigbadonk420 said. Then, in my experience, always speak from your phone with headset connected. There by not having the tension of cutting the call and giving freedom to the hands simultaneously.  Simple isn't it...

One solution you can try is to lock the screen after placing or receiving a call. This way you won't cut the call accidentally by touching the screen.


text:
How to hyperlink to file in KingsoftOffice?
I have an Excel spreadsheet created in Windows and open in Kingsoft Office. I would like to be able to create a hyperlink to specific files on the tablet itself.  For example, I want to be able to link to /Root/sdcard/Cool Example Folder/12345.pdf.  How would I go about doing this?
If Kingsoft Office won't do this, is there an Android app that will let me do this?
Samsung Galaxy Tab, Android OS 4.0.4.


text:
Automatic video on boot
I want a video file to be open automatically on my LG tablet when it boots. Is there any app or setting in Android?
There is a video presentation that I am sending to my clients and all I want is that when client turn on the tablet, my video presentation starts playing automatically.

Could probably be realized using Tasker:

Condition: Boot completed (or Monitor Start)
Task: Start App

Not sure if you can specify a video file directly here. But there might at least be some video player supporting to automatically start playing the latest playlist, which should make up for it.
You can find a free 7-day-trial of tasker on their homepage -- or try alternative automation apps such as e.g. Llama - Location Profiles. Another possibility is to create the profile with Tasker, and then export it using the Tasker App Factory; this way you'ld get a "free version app" of your profile to distribute on the tablets.

Wow, I haven't seen the Tasker App Factory before! That's looks like a really nifty app; I'll have to try it out.

Yupp, do so! It even permits you to sell the results :) Ooops, close to off topic now #D But the main thing is: You'd only need to buy Tasker once (for your account), and could provide the profiles for all the other accounts for free.

VideoKiosk may be what you are looking for.


text:
How can I use the volume buttons for skipping songs?
Is there a way to use the volume buttons to change songs on the Nexus One?

When the lock-screen is enabled, Android disallows apps to interact with buttons in the way you ask. However, though it's not an app, but I believe CyanogenMod ROM allows for this. And if that's the case, there will be other ROMs out there that allow for the same.


text:
Any reason not to allow automatic updating for an app?
Since Android 2.2 (Froyo), you can select "Allow automatic updating" for applications. For some reason, I haven't started using this yet. The benefit would be to save time, but are there any good reasons not to use this feature?

This isn't an answer really, but it may help you to know that if an app's permissions change, it will not auto-update - you'll have to manually update. So don't worry about not noticing an app make a power grab or something.

@Klondike: I was about to make the same point.

I leave it off so that I can review the list of pending updates and see what changed.  Of course, that only helps for the apps that list changes in the market description.
Every once in a while, developers do release updates that are a step backwards- either because of introducing bugs or major redesigns that lose features (Astrid, I'm looking at you).  If you wait long enough before updating, then you may be alerted to that situation via comments.

Ditto here. I like to know what has changed.

The main reason why i won't use the feature is traffic. In germany, we have mostly traffic limitated flatrates. So after 250 or 300 MB of traffic or something like that, you'll be forced to only use 2G connections for the rest of the month. Because of that limitations, i only update my apps when i have wifi access somewhere around me.

Interesting, I didn't consider traffic limited situations. You'd think the network could discern app updates from other data and perhaps not include it in the total usage.

I noticed in the latest GMail update, there is not obvious UI to stop or suspend the download. This is problematic for the scenarios mru described.

Doesn't market also have an option to auto-update over WiFi only?

Yes, but only with a recent version. You can now enable auto-update only over WiFi in the Play Store app.

Sometimes a developer might release a controversial update: interface changed, ads added, or a lot of bugs were introduced and therefore you may want to hold off before upgrading (or at least give yourself a chance to back up the apk).  A good example of this recently was psx4droid.

Backing up the apk is a good call... thanks for the answer.

Everyone offers plenty of good reasons not to auto update so I'll offer a solution -- Use a good backup app such as Titanium Backup, and you can safely leave autoupdates on and manually revert to an older version if an app changes in ways you aren't happy with.

Good advice. I went with the first answer by shmuelp but you make a great point.

Doesn't Titanium backup require root?

Yes, it does. I know others differ, but I'm of the opinion that root should be pretty standard for Android power users.

Also, you might want not to update apps automatically if you have a old/cheap device.
On my HTC Hero, installing apps kind of takes a lot of resources and I don't want the device to slow down randomly.


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Is it possible to shut down all antennae except for the gps?
I am thinking of buying an Android phone soon (Probably Desire HD), and would like to use it to record hiking trips GPS data.
All those run tracking apps seems just right to me, but I am looking for something that can run more than a few hours, so I figured that turning off the wifi/3g/cell antennae will give me a much longer battery life.
Is it possible to achieve it easily? Maybe only with root access?

Similar (but not duplicate) question here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/745/android-app-to-turn-off-cellphone-sim-radio

You can activate the Airplane mode to shutdown everything (calls, wifi, etc), and then re-activate the GPS. Only the GPS Antenna will be activated... I think :D

This is possible with a free app called quick settings. You don't need to root your phone. You should know that if you turn off your data, you won't have real time set to the maps, but you'll still be able to record your gps data. To get around that you can download offline maps app like maveric.  Ill add links to this answer later when I'm not driving  and using speech to text.

wow.. impressive that it's all written with speech to text.

If you must resort to answering while driving, I'll slow down some ;)

So THAT'S where I'm going wrong.

You can use APNDroid to toggle your data on/off.
Alternatively, if you still want data and have a SIM phone, you can force it use 2G only in the network settings.


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Add user (personal) dictionary to Android stock keyboard for unsupported languages
I am sure many people have noticed that in the stock keyboard (Android 4.2 in my case) has more language layouts than it supports predicting. For many languages a dictionary / corpus is missing.
So since it is rather easy to build a corpus, I wanted to add my own dictionary for some languages which have no official dictionary. But I cannot find any solution. Has this been achieved before?
Note: Adding the words 1 by 1 is not a solution. :-)
If there was a solution, many people would be helped I guess. Thanks for any help and hint given!


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Switch to another keyboard language using stock keyboard
I have an Xperia (SOL21).
How can I fast switch to another keyboard language, using the default keyboard?
I'm mostly typing in Japanese, but usually swiftly change to Swedish and English (on a non-Android device). How do I do it on Android?

Which Android version does your phone run?

It is Android version 4.0.4.

I got another Android too, a Galaxy SIII, at 4.0.4. I'm unable to do the same thing there as well. It seems like the only languages available are English, Japanese and Korean. Did the makers (Sony and Samsung) deliberately remove all other keyboard languages? I assume Android should support most keyboard languages by default.

I opened another question regarding default keyboards, as it seems that the devices I have don't have the default keyboards. http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/40881/install-default-android-keyboard Other answers around here all assume the default keyboard is there.

I would recommend leaving the stock keyboard and using the Google Keyboard. It does  have a language change key that is great for changing inputs, unlike some stock keyboards. I've set up English (QWERTY), English (DVORAK), and Spanish. Its compatible with Android 4.0+.

This doesn't really answer the question. That's not to say you are wrong, but some people (like me) came here because they are trying to leave the stock keyboard, but fail, because they need to change their language (to English) to enter their wifi password and install another keyboard.

I'd refute your "observation" by noting that OP has said nothing about not being able to access their wifi to install another keyboard app. You can also sideload apps, even without root. Wifi is not strictly a requirement to have new apps installed. OP is only asking for a quick way of switching between keyboards.

To switch to another language, you need to open the keyboard selection menu, where every language will be listed as an individual keyboard (named Android keyboard). This menu is in the notification area (just as another notification, present when the keyboard is visible).


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E-mails sent from Android not syncing to IMAP "Sent" folder
I'm using the stock e-mail app of Android 4.1 (Motorola razr i), and when I send a mail from the phone, the mail app afterwards shows the sent mail in the "Sent" folder, but it seems that folder is not synchronized via IMAP. Thus, I cannot see those mails from my PC e-mail client.
Is there any configuration for this, or will I have to use K9 or some other app?

Unfortunately, the Stock Android Email app has the IMAP folder names hard-coded in the application, they cannot be changed by the user. The app expects the folders to have the following names:

Inbox
Outbox
Drafts
Trash
Sent
Junk

If your IMAP server uses different names, they are not properly synchronized with the Email app. There are two solutions to this:

Use different Email app
Get Android source code, modify names in Email application, rebuild Email application and replace original Email application on your device with the modified one

However, the second solution (of course) requires a rooted device and basic knowledge of how to build an Android application. But, I can say, I tried it and it works. The file where the names are stored is <Android-source-code-root>/packages/apps/Email/res/values/strings.xml. See the following excerpt:
<!-- Do Not Translate.  This is the name of the "inbox" folder, on the server. -->
<string name="mailbox_name_server_inbox" translatable="false">Inbox</string>
<!-- Do Not Translate.  This is the name of the "outbox" folder, on the server. -->
<string name="mailbox_name_server_outbox" translatable="false">Outbox</string>
<!-- Do Not Translate.  This is the name of the "drafts" folder, on the server. -->
<string name="mailbox_name_server_drafts" translatable="false">Drafts</string>
<!-- Do Not Translate.  This is the name of the "trash" folder, on the server. -->
<string name="mailbox_name_server_trash" translatable="false">Trash</string>
<!-- Do Not Translate.  This is the name of the "sent" folder, on the server. -->
<string name="mailbox_name_server_sent" translatable="false">Sent</string>
<!-- Do Not Translate.  This is the name of the "junk" folder, on the server. -->
<string name="mailbox_name_server_junk" translatable="false">Junk</string>

I have no idea why Google decided to make the names unchangeable withing the app. Probably they want to force people to use Gmail (I was told, the folder names work with Gmail).
If anybody with programming skills is motivated, I would love to see a patched version of the Email app, where the names of the folders can be adjusted in some configuration dialog. Should not be a huge thing to implement, I just did not have the time for it.

Download Microsoft Outlook and have it replace your default Android app. When I did this the problem was fixed without making any special changes.

I didn't know the Outlook app existed, thanks.  However it did not work for me.  My email account requires specific port and security settings.  Upon trying to create an IMAP account in the Outlook app, those settings are unavailable.  When the login fails (due to said security settings) the app kicks me back out to the account creation screen.  Total fail.  That's a bummer too, I was excited there was an actual Outlook app for Android.

I have found a solution for this problem with my Internet provider that doesn't involve hacking the app or anything so complicated. In the Android Mail app (Android 5.0 on Samsung Galaxy S5; the same app was present under Android 4), go to Settings → Manage accounts → (select the account) → MORE SETTINGS (button at bottom of screen — scroll down) → Incoming settings → IMAP path prefix. Enter the appropriate IMAP path prefix. (Get that info from your ISP. For my ISP, it was: INBOX) I did this today, and now my Sent folder syncs just fine, same as all the other folders.

Surely that depends how your actual inbox is called. It didn’t work for me, yet. Would be good to have a setting for the outgoing path.

This is a good suggestion. However, from my experience (on Note 4 ), the app uses INBOX by default, if needed.


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How to enable USB connection mode on Samsung Galaxy Fit?
How to enable USB connection mode in Samsung Galaxy Fit mobile?
When I connect my mobile to laptop via a data cable, I am unable to transfer data between PC-mobile and mobile-PC.
The option "USB settings" under Settings tab is missing in my mobile. I have enabled USB Debugging mode under Applications tab in my mobile.
I tried all the viable options but still am unable to select the mode as Charge mode/USB mode etc on my mobile.
What could I have missed?

Hi try clicking Notification Scroll down to find 'USB Connected' like option... press go navigate


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Is it possible to use adb backup in order to make a clone of a tablet?
Is it possible to use adb backup in order to make a copy of tablet? In fact I want to recover the contents of a tablet using adb backup and then install it on the tablet that have the same type with the same version of Android using adb restore  backup.ab.

Just to make clear - the ROM must be identical, otherwise there will be room for errors, force-closes etc. The part is not 100% clear - do you have two identical tablets - same make, manufacturer, ROM? (Am not 100% sure if you're implying to adb backup and restore on to the same tablet - hence my comment) :)

I have two identical tablet but not the some list of application installed in both. i used the first and i executed adb backup -all. Then i executed  restore for the second, i found their is  icon of some application that are installed in only one of them, but when i try to run application. i have a message application is not installed

Did you sign into your Google account on the second tablet (the destination of the adb backup)?

uses, i use the some google count

We already had this question as part of Restoring an ADB backup onto a different phone of the same model?. It should be possible, at least theoretically, and at least when all devices are of the same brand and model as well as share the same Android version.


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Apps take up space but do not show up on app list
I'm developing applications using Icenium (new IDE for hybrid app development), I have been testing all day without any problems, deleting the apps from phone, rebuilding the apps, etc.
At some point during the night, my apps stopped being displayed on my phone when I compile them, the apps take up space but don't actually show up anywhere on my phone.
Things I tried:

Reboot
App Cache Cleaner (app)
Fast Reboot (app)

I only managed to free up a couple of MB though (right now I have 15MB out of 153MB free - even though I have very little apps installed!!).
What can I do to delete these application files and hopefully being able tor rebuild my apps again?
EDIT:
Also, when I try to move apps from SD card to phone - I get the "Not enough storage space" error, even though it should supposedly fit (app is smaller than 15MB).

Is your device rooted?

Yes, I have root access.

To close-voters: Though it's a dev asking this, and it's about his self-developed apps, the real question is "how to remove an app from the Android device if it's not visible in the list of installed apps" -- which IMHO is perfectly suitable according to our [FAQ]. @JoaoFerreira you might want to edit your question's title, if I assumed correctly :) For the second part of your question: please check the insufficient-memory tag-wiki. If that doesn't answer this part, please ask a new question and point that out.

Install Titanium Backup.  Hit menu key on device.  Under storage option click clean dalvik.  Might not free up much, but maybe a little

Even if an app doesn't show up in the app drawer, it must still be listed in Settings → Apps. You can uninstall it from that screen. If it's not listed there, it really isn't installed.
Uninstalled apps get their internal storage deleted automatically, but files they created can still take up space on your SD card. Of course, it's also possible that they added content to other apps (such as contacts) which would continue to take up space.

As they are user-installed apps, thy should be user-uninstallable. Not being shown in the list of installed apps complicates things a little, but should not make them impossible: as you developed the apps yourself, you will for sure know their package names (I will use com.package.name in my example).
One-time setup

Your computer must have ADB installed. As you say you develop yourself, you most likely will have the Android SDK installed already (for other readers: Either install the Android SDK, or check Is there a minimal installation of ADB? if you don't need the full SDK).
Turn on USB Debugging on your device (if you not already have done so, that is)
Connect your device to your computer
Your computer must be ready to deal with your device. For Windows, you will need suitable drivers (see Universal Android USB Driver). On Linux (and most likely Mac as well) you just need to configure udev (see Is there a minimal installation of ADB? again).

Deal with the app
Above steps only need to be performed once to be able to deal with your device. Now for the remove-part:

Connect your device to your computer with USB Debugging enabled
From a shell/cmd window, run adb shell pm uninstall com.package.name

Done. You optionally can add the -k parameter to pm uninstall if you just want to uninstall the app, but keep its data.
Edit: As Dan pointed out in below comment, instead of using adb shell pm uninstall, you also could simply use adb uninstall (which can count as an "alias", and thus also supports the -k parameter). One more remark is: if you've already got some terminal app on your Android device, you could also take this instead of adb, and simply use pm uninstall locally.

You don't need the shell pm business: just adb uninstall com.package.name does the trick.

If your device is rooted, another great option is to use ES File Explorer. it has a great root Explorer function that let's you view all installed apps at the system level. I've used this to delete apps on an amazon firetv that do not show up in the regular list. I'm all about using the terminal, but this is another option.


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List of open ports on Android
Is there a way, on a non-rooted Android device, to see a list of what apps are listening on what port? Or even a way to see if an app is listening on a specific port?

Can you nmap from different computer?

@roxan The problem with that is I need to know specifically what app is using a port. I've written 5 apps that all listen on the same port and somewhere somehow one of them isn't closing it and I need to know which one(s).

I was able to see which app had an open port using standard linux knowledge.
Install terminal emulator or do an adb shell and execute the following:
shell@android:/ $ cat /proc/net/tcp
 sl  local_address rem_address   st tx_queue rx_queue tr tm->when retrnsmt   uid  timeout inode
  0: 0100007F:1C23 00000000:0000 0A 00000000:00000000 00:00000000 00000000  1001        0 2111 1 e22cc000 300 0 0 2 -1

The important stuff above is:

0100007F:1C23 listen IP-address:port in hex notation, here 127.0.0.1:7203
00000000:0000 remote address empty (listening)
1001 uid of the app

You can map the uid list to apps via
How can I find app name by UID?

Hovewer, it not list all applications. I scan my device on wifi - it has 2 open ports, but in that file there is no rows, which correspond to that ports.

Install OS Monitor. It will list all the open ports.

Why want the app that I allow so that it can make phone calls? Why does it want to access my gallery?

If you're using mobile data connection, you don't have to worry because you should not be able to open ports (at least I am not).
If you are connected to wi-fi, you can open ports. Then you just need a computer which is connected to same network and install nmap on it and do a port scan but first you have to find out your phones local ip (not by going to  i.e. whatsmyip.com). You should be able to find your ip from your settings.
To run port scan on linux you have to just type: nmap (your phones ip).

I have always used netstat since its available on almost all android versions
netstat -n

It will list unix and transport layer sockets and their states without reverse dns.

To list TCP and UDP ports:
ss -lntup


text:
Deny the installation of apps or add new accounts (kiosk mode)
I have a tablet that I want to give to people to go on the internet, but I don't want them to mess with it (install/unistall apps, add new accounts, change relevant options, etc).
Is there a way to lock the device so that it can only be used to go on the internet?

SureLock promises this amongst others, see its entry on Google Play.
With Android's rapid development, this is however a rather quick moving target.
I suggest you search also for 'android kiosk mode' on Google or of course in the Play Store.
Besides this: There's already a question for that on stackoverflow:
Kiosk mode in Android


text:
Anyone having the same problem with Facebook/Android not showing photo's uploaded from the phone
Has anyone noticed the problem when uploading photo's to Facebook using the Facebook for Android application ?
I uploaded photo's last week , and they displayed ok in FB/Android.
I did the same this weekend (uploading photo's using FB/Android), and now they are not visible in FB/Android (just showing the brown image place holder), although they are uploaded and displaying fine on FB/Windows .
My collegue noticed the same here.

From a couple of days a noticed too, that some pictures from Facebook are not shown. If I login later they will show up, but other pictures will not.
I saw a news that they made some changes to photos infrastructure so it's possible to be a temporary outage until they consolidate the new changes on all servers.

I've noticed that a few random photos will not display even when selecting them using different browsers in mobile mode. But reload using desktop setting and all fb photos display fine. I've removed both fb messenger and fb app due to them being so flaky. There's more stable ways to use fb on Android. My new Android rule is not to use an app where a browser can perform the same task, sometimes less convenient but always more reliable.

You may want to take your picture first, then upload it to Facebook via the Share button in the gallery app.

ABryan Denny: That does not make a difference.


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What is Google's Stance on Keeping the Android Market Open to the General Public
(And by "General Public" I mean, people who aren't paying $30 a month for data transfers, and just using wifi instead.)

Not sure what you mean here. Who pays Google $30 a month? Android is completely unconnected to carriers.

@Arda Xi The key word in the question is "Keeping", The questioner is concerned that carriers will put presure on Google to only allow the market to be used of 3g and not wifi.

@trampster Actually I was just trying out the Android SDK to see what Android was like, and the default system image doesn't come with anything...not even a calendar.
Then I found out that you needed the Android Market to get some of the applications and it appears that you can only get Market outside of a phone carrier by taking the risk of bricking your device.

You do not need the Android Market to get applications at all. You can install them manually.

You can download applications over a wifi connection without any phone plan.  For example, I recently removed an HTC Hero from my phone plan and was able to download applications to the phone over Wifi with no problem.... even though I could not make calls.
Since Android is not limited to phones or devices with wireless data plans, requiring a phone plan would not be possible for all Android devices.
Additionally, with competion in the works like Amazon's upcoming Android applications market, there will be too much disincentive for Google to require a monthly fee for market access.

So when is that Amazon Android Applications market due out?

According to the WSJ article link I just added above, they haven't announced a date yet.

FWIW, this has been out for a while now: http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b/ref=sa_menu_adr_app4?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011


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Do I need root to use NewzDroid?
I would like to use NewzDroid for usenet, but I'm not sure if I need root for it to work.

Why are you using it? What's the problem with Google Groups? I'm just curious..

Their website doesn't say that you need to be rooted to use it.  Just need a NZB file and a Usenet account.

How can I import an nzb into newzdroid?

@James http://www.newzdroid.com/tipsAndTricks.html


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Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card
I have a Motorla Droid running CM6 (essentially Android 2.2).  I'm connecting to Windows 7 machines via USB.  Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card as external storage.
How can I stop this behavior?  I haven't really noticed when it started, sometime after I installed CM6?

fyi, my droid running stock 2.2 doesn't auto-mount.

I kind of borrowed your question http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/15380/every-time-i-plug-in-my-phone-via-usb-it-automatically-mounts-the-sd-card-xperi

Apparently the Winamp app has an Enable auto-mount setting that is by default set to true.  Problem resolved.

Also I found in the past that the DoubleTwist app annoyingly does this too.

I believe in both cases the publishers of these apps consider this a helpful feature.

I find it highly annoying because I usually just plug in my phone via usb to charge, not mount as a drive

Well, at least there is the option to turn it off.

While connected via USB, you will notice a USB icon on notification bar.
Drag the notification bar down, you will see a "USB connection" item. Click it.
Select "none" or "nothing" (I'm not sure about the option name in english, because my Motorola Milestone is in portuguese).

Doesn't answer the question. His is auto-mounting, before he picks anything from the notification item.

You only have to do this once. The next time you connect your phone via USB, it won't auto-mount.


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How do I change gmail accounts when using the share functionality of an app?
I have 3 gmail accounts coming into my gmail app.  I also frequently use the "Share" feature of many apps (Browser, Gallery, BeyondPod...) to share links via gmail however when it opens up the email compose screen sometimes I am given a dropdown to choose which account to send it from and other times it defaults to the account of the last inbox I checked and doesn't give me an option to change it.
This does not seem to have any rhyme or reason to it. Does anyone know how I can make sure to always have the option to choose which account I'm sending from?

Hello? Anyone else have this problem?

HELLO... HELLO... hello... [/echo]

Is it an issue with a particular app? For the apps that give you a dropdown menu, does it at least consistently provide the dropdown?

Well, it is particularly with the Gmail App.  When ever I choose to share something via gmail from my browswer or gallery or music player... it pops up Gmail, however sometimes it defaults to the last gmail account I used as the "From Address" sometimes it gives me a choice.  No, it doesn't consistently provide a dropdown.

I'm sure this is fixed in the latest Gmail App which you should be able to download from the Market.
(This used to bug the hell out of me - sometimes the drop down would work, other times not, completely at random. Haven't had the issue since the last Gmail App update)

Thanks!  It seems to work now.  I'll have to give it a couple days to make sure it's fixed for good.

@Matt I'm genuinely pleased for you! I use this feature a lot and it really drove me crazy, especially as it was so random :)


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Is there anyway to connect to a WPA Enterprise Wi-Fi network with version 1.5 on a Motorola Backflip?
The only available security options when adding an new Wi-Fi network are:

None
WEP
WPA Personal
WPA2 Personal

I was hoping to connect to WPA Enterprise either by getting it added to the list, or finding a workaround/hack to do so.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1386
Short story; Android uses wpa_supplicant for its WPA support, so it can connect to WPA Enterprise, however the configuration app lacks the UI to configure wpa_supplicant for WPA Enterprise.
As a workaround, you can configure wpa_supplicant configuration files manually, try this: http://waipeng.blogspot.com/2009/08/howto-wpa-enterprise-on-android-htc.html


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Bluetooth 3G modem
I have a Nokia 6500S-1 which I previously used as a 3G modem (with Windows). Is it possible for an Android device to use this phone as a modem (just like the windows PC does), but expose the modem functionality thru bluetooth instead of USB?

Yes, your phone supports two ways to export its internet connection via bluetooth:

DUN-GW (Dial-Up Networking Gateway)
PAN-AP (Personal Area Networking Access Point)

See also this question (its answer about bluetooth).
In short: PAN is supported from Android 3.0 onwards as client. Android <3.0 users may have luck with Wireless tether for root users. DUN is not supported out of the box, there are apps though. Go for PAN if it works for you (DUN requires parameter and possibly eats more battery).

Thanks for your answer I'll try it first thing in the morning.


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Google Tasks not syncing (events do) on the phone
I have a OnePlus One running CyanogenMod 12.
I started using tasks within Business Calendar 2 PRO app heavily. They synchronize using google tasks. So I can see my tasks in google calendar. This works well with my Nexus 7 2013 tablet and PC and worked well with the phone too. The phone recently stop synchronizing correctly and does not want to work again.

Screenshot - Sync (Click to enlarge image)
I noticed that arrows stay present after trying to sync the Calendar. First they wiggle instead of turning awkwardly and end up staying there. The events get synced, the tasks not.
I also have a "Sound Search for Google Play" syncing problem, but I turned that one off for the reason so that it does not interfere.
I have no idea what to do. Once I had a similar problem with Google Keep and I managed to find a card that was causing some db problem on google site - I removed it and synchronized and it started working again. But I could not see anything interesting in the logs this time.

Well in the end, I managed to fix the problem by

removing my google account from the android device.
Then I opened up Business Calendar and it was still showing the dead task list on the device although the calendar and other task lists were not present.
I removed the traces of the tasks and list which was dead and then I think I reinstalled Business Calendar (not sure).
In the end I readded my google account to the device and opened up Business Calendar and it was working again with the sync.

However, the arrows at the calendar are still there. But everything seems to be working.

Following instructions worked for me:

On my HTC M8, I went to Settings → Apps → found the Business Calendar 2 PRO app (it is listed as "Business Calendar") → cleared  Cache → cleared data of the app (did not need to uninstall/reinstall).

I went back to the Business Calendar app on home screen and it wanted to set up as new but my calendars and most of the data synced very fast (I think it is because I did not uninstall the app).

I had to again choose my tasks' Gmail account and then Tasks were synced correctly!
Also, check your other settings for calendars and others.  I have another Android phone so I use it to confirm that settings match.  The tasks on other phone were syncing fine on Business Calendar.

I fixed it by going into the "TASK LIST" Tab in Business Calendar 2 and remove the google Account in the bottom. After a little while, when the Tasklists disappeared as well, you may just click on the google Account again and a window will pop up to grant the app permission to access the Tasks.

This worked for me, too. As a bonus, all the tasks were magically restored from somewhere and I did not even need to recover tasks from backup that I had earlier done (via Settings).


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Motorola Moto G 2014 freezes on lock screen
Since today I've been having a problem with my Motorola Moto G 2nd Gen(2014). When I boot it up, it works fine for a few minutes (except from the WiFi, which doesn't auto-connect for some reason, happens every time), and then it goes into sleep mode. When I press the power button, the screen turns on again and the lock screen shows up, but it's completely unresponsive. Sometimes it freezes before going into sleep mode and it freezes my home screen. I then get a popup "Google App is not responding" and killing it just gives me an unresponsive black screen.
I've looked the problem up on the internet and I got some answers stating I had to force reboot and that would help, or even wipe the cache partition. I've tried both of those, but the problem persists. What do I do to get my phone fully working again?

What is your android version? and Did you try factory restoring the device? As you have tried wipe cache partition and rebooting. The next thing you want to try is to soft reset your device. But make sure you backup everything before you do the factory reset.

@Lucky I'm running Android Lollipop 5.0.2, guess I should have mentioned that. I'm kind of reluctant to try factory reset, as it'll take a while to set up my phone again, but I'll try it, thanks.

Factory reseting won't take much time. Only the backup stuffs and restoring it takes time. If you don't want to backup any important stuffs then you should be able to do it in 15-30mins  ;) . If you have ideas on backing up your device data, you may want to look into this question on Full backup of non-rooted devices

@Lucky I only have to backup internal memory right? As in, I can just remove the SD card while factory resetting? Also, the problem seems to have stopped, suddenly. I've been using my phone with no problem for the past ~20 minutes. Any idea why?

No most of the app's data will be stored on your internal memory too. So SD card backup isn't the only thing you need to backup. Apps like Camera, Whatsapp will store data in your internal memory as default. So you need to have atleast an adb backup of your phone if its unrooted. Couldn't guess about your problem though.

Okay, so I found the solution a while ago and I haven't experienced any problems since, so I guess it works.
I tried different options to get the device working again, but to no avail. The only possibility left was a factory reset, so that's what I had to do. Here's what I did:

I made sure the backup settings on my phone were all set up.
I used adb backup from my computer to make a nearly full device backup, as suggested by Lucky in the comments. More info here: Full Backup of non-rooted devices

For this, make sure you have a password set and configured in the developer settings. This is really important because it might not work otherwise and you'll lose data (happened to me, would not recommend).

Then I reset the device. https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod_answer_detail/a_id/99825/p/30,6720,9151 for more info how.

It took some time to reconfigure everything and redownload apps, but after a week or so, my device was back to normal and I haven't had any freezes since.