text:
Tasker (switch off mobile data automatically) causing trouble under CyanogenMod
I used to use this Tasker profile for nearly a year now already and it used to work fine, until I recently switched from the Samsung default UI TouchWiz to CyanogenMod on my Galaxy Note.
The Task triggered by the profile (which I'll post further below) looks like the following:
<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="4.2u3m">
    <Task sr="task15">
        <cdate>1390655578675</cdate>
        <edate>1391243001675</edate>
        <id>15</id>
        <nme>mobile data [off]</nme>
        <Action sr="act0" ve="3">
            30
            <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
            <Int sr="arg1" val="11"/>
            <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
            <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
            <Int sr="arg4" val="0"/>
        </Action>
        <Action sr="act1" ve="3">
            37
            <lhs>%SCREEN</lhs>
            <op>1</op>
            <rhs>off</rhs>
        </Action>
        <Action sr="act2" ve="3">
            433
            <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
        </Action>
    </Task>
</TaskerData>

And this is the profile which triggers the above task:
<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="4.2u3m">
    <Profile sr="prof16" ve="2">
        <cdate>1390655626259</cdate>
        <clp>true</clp>
        <edate>1391189579981</edate>
        <id>16</id>
        <limit>true</limit>
        <mid0>15</mid0>
        <nme>auto mobile data [off]</nme>
        <State sr="con0">
            123
            <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
        </State>
        <State sr="con1">
            110
            <Int sr="arg0" val="1"/>
            <Int sr="arg1" val="1"/>
            <Int sr="arg2" val="1"/>
            <Int sr="arg3" val="1"/>
        </State>
    </Profile>
    <Task sr="task15">
        <cdate>1390655578675</cdate>
        <edate>1391170165892</edate>
        <id>15</id>
        <nme>mobile data [off]</nme>
        <Action sr="act0" ve="3">
            30
            <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
            <Int sr="arg1" val="11"/>
            <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
            <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
            <Int sr="arg4" val="0"/>
        </Action>
        <Action sr="act1" ve="3">
            37
            <lhs>%SCREEN</lhs>
            <op>1</op>
            <rhs>off</rhs>
        </Action>
        <Action sr="act2" ve="3">
            433
            <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
        </Action>
    </Task>
</TaskerData>

What the profile should do is switching the mobile data connection if it's turned on-off 11 seconds after the display turned black. Seems not too tricky.
But running CyanogenMod, it doesn't work anymore; what now happens is: after I booted my smartphone, everything works like a charm (connection via mobile data is stable and accessible immediately after you turn it on). But after the first time you switch off the screen (that's when Tasker kicks in), nothing works anymore. The mobile data is switched off, yes - or at least, there's no connection anymore. But the system itself seems not to realize this properly as both, in the settings as well as in the notification bar, it's still displayed as "on". You can switch it off there too, but either way, there's no way to turn it back on (yes the switches still work, but they don't have any effect).
Description:
Profil: mobile data [off] (16)
    Status: Displaystatus [ Ist:Aus ]
    Status: Mobiles Netzwerk [ 2G:An 3G:An 3G - HSPA:An 4G:An ]
Eingang: mobile data [off] (15)
    A1: Warte [ MS:0 Sekunden:11 Minuten:0 Std.:0 Tage:0 ]
    A2: If [ %SCREEN ~ off ]
    A3: mobile data [ setzen:Aus ]

(Sorry, it came out in German since I use Tasker in German)

Which version of Cyanogen are you using? Are you using a stable, testing, or nightly version? Have you reported this problem to the Cyanogen developers?

I use stable, 10.1.3 which is Android 4.2.2. Haven't reported it to the CM-Team (yet)

Hmm, the XML descriptions are not as useful as they could be, due to the  tags. Could you replace them with the contents of Tasker's "Description to clipboard" export, please?

A few more thoughts: Does Tasker deactivate the profile when the screen turns back on? If you explicitly execute a Tasker task to enable mobile data, does it help? If you connect to WiFi, then disconnect again, does it help?

@TreborRude sorry, but how's that workin'? Couldn't find nothing about that in the helping-section.

About what, @user43961? Exporting task / profile descriptions? For that, long-press a task or profile, then tap the '...' button in the action bar. Select Export, then Description to Clipboard. Then edit your question, and replace the XML with the description that was exported. Or was it something from my other comment that you were asking about?

oh dear, I thought you referred to a function within this platform (like that there was a special way of posting code) ... I'll add it in a sec

What about my questions four comments up, @user43961?

Yes that seems to work in terms of the effect. But let's say mobile data is set to "on". If I now disable it via tasker, the CM-Interface still shows the mobile data to be swiched on... it just doesn't realize that it's already turned off.


text:
iRola DX752 does not charge after a while
The iRola DX752 purchased for Christmas does not charge. It worked for a while, but then does not work when plugged to an outlet either.
Is this a known hardware failure? If it isn't, are there any suggestions?

I'm not sure any of your fellow users will be able to help you with that. It sounds like you need to take it back to the shop.

You're not the first person to have trouble with this model of tablet.

Have you tried different cables? Different charging methods, like USB versus wall charger? Does anything happen when you plug it in? Any pop-ups when connecting it via USB to your computer? If all turns out negative, I'm afraid you've got to follow Dan's above advice.

I also bought 2 DX752 tablets which displayed similar symptoms. It seems to be a hardware fault, and you should have it replaced by the manufacturer. Here's the contact information provided to me via Kocaso.com:

Global Phoenix Computers T&S
  Phone #s (607)257-7279 or (866)777-0069

They responded by asking for my receipt and then they will send me a replacement.

This was my Christmas present to myself also.  It only charges with the 2.5mm plug on the AC Adaptor that was supplied with the tablet.  The mini-USB port and the supplied cable works well with transferring data, but cannot be used for charging.  I've tried different mini-USB cables, different AC wall plugs, but the mini-USB will not provide a charge.  At least the supplied AC charger works, but if it ever breaks, good luck in finding a replacement, as the Chinese manufacturer is hard to reach.
I have seen a car-charger adaptor kit from Radio Shack for $20, that will do the job from your car's cigarette lighter port.  Those are the only two options I've found so far.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
"App not installed" error while trying to install Nexus Media Importer
I'm trying to install the Nexus Media Importer app with an APK file, but I am frequently getting an "App not installed" error. I am not rooted and I have Nexus 5.
Any solution?

Did you check Security > Unknown sources?

What is the exact error message? Is the app you're trying to install already installed on the device (e.g. in an older version)? If you're installing it manually from an .apk file (side-loading), do you have unknown sources enabled?

Yeah  I have installed other apks like a million times, and the app I'm trying to install is not installed currently ..when i press install i get a message app not installed that's it..

USB Media Explorer claimed to be Nexus Media Importer app back in the past, and it's a paid app. This may or may not affect the installation.

Because this app checks your license. If you buy this app from the Play Store, it runs automatically. Otherwise, if you try a free version of this application, it shows the "application not installed" error.

While it's true that paid apps may check the license used in Play Store, I don't think the check is done on the installation.

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

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


text:
Samsung Galaxy S2 shuts off when plugged in: screen goes black then a grey empty battery appears
Samsung Galaxy S2 shuts off when plugged in. The screen goes black then a grey empty battery appears for a second then disappears. This "flashes" several times in about 4-5 second intervals. I can not turn the phone on unless the phone is unplugged.
If I try to holding the power button for around a minute it then goes to the "charging screen" (the battery with the charging level in green). This happens even if the phone is partially charged. If my phone is on and I plug it in it stays on for almost a minute then the screen goes black, grey battery appears blinks for about 3-5 minutes same as I mentioned above. When the phone is fully charged, when I get it to that state, it does stay charged.
I have taken out the battery, I have tried a different charger. I am convinced this is a hardware problem. Also this started happening about 3 days ago. Any ideas as to what may be wrong are welcome.

I followed this approach and it worked for me (and looks like for other people too):

The way I got mine working was, remove the battery, plug the charger in, wait 5 seconds then start touching the battery on and off of the contacts on the phone, did this quite quickly, then the phone will vibrate. As soon as it starts vibrating, push the battery into the phone so it's permanently on. I got a picture saying the battery with nearly fully charged. Then when the picture goes off, the red LED came on to say it was charging. I left it like that for an hour, then turned it on and it's been working since.

It's an issue with your battery. The same thing occurred in my Panasonic P66 phone too. It usually occurs when you're running an application which drains the battery more(ex: Games, Camera) while the phone is plugged. And when the battery percentage is about 15%-25%. You can overcome this issue by replacing your battery.
Yesterday I bought another charging cable. and now the phone charges as usual. So try replacing the charging cable before replacing the battery because, cost for a battery is higher than that for a cable.

Clean lint out of usb port with a safety pin, be careful with connector inside...lint from pocket is issue

Why would you assume lint is the cause of the problem???

It is the issue with the micro USB on the phone. Best you get it checked at a authorized service center.
For a temporary fix:
Take a sharp pin and put it under the micro USB port and twist the USB port towards the screen. That should be a quick fix.

Are you maybe using a non-supported charger? I know they can produce wrong internal voltages which can corrupt the functionality of hardware. If I try to charge my z3c with my iPhone charger I'm unable to use the screen anymore since it won't recognize any input. And very sensible Hardware like the CPU will instantly shut down when noticing wrong voltages. Maybe that's causing it.

authors: رياحين الجنه


text:
What is the system APK that handles the calls in ICS?
I'm trying to figure out what system APK handles the calls in Android ICS? I've found that Messaging is the one for SMS, but what is for phone calls?
The reason I'm asking is because I'm adding them to Greenify. Since Greenify has a feature that wakes them up whenever there's an SMS or call, I want them hibernated when not in use since I don't text or call often.

Is it the default dialer.apk you are using or a custom (HTC/Samsung) etc one? Also, would greenify make any difference to something that doesn't run unless there is a broadcast received ala SMS or incoming/outgoing call? I'm not sure, hence the question, but I would have thought in this case unhibernating, receiving text/call and hibernating again would have a higher overhead than just leaving it in this specific case.

I'm using MIUI that is based on ICS. I tried Greenifying the Phone app but that doesn't seem to be it. I'm not sure if it makes any difference but I'm still doing it just in case. I've got a pretty old phone so the more I save the better.


text:
Is there a contact book that allows partial access for apps?
In my phone book, I have both personal contacts and work-related contacts, like clients, contractors, etc.
Applications such as 'WhatsApp' are great and easy, but I do not necessarily want to add all contacts to all apps that use the contact book.
Is there either an alternative contact book that allows only certain people (groups?) to be shared with an app while keeping others out, or a privacy setting in the default contact book that allows certain contacts not to be seen by every app?

Do you have root access on your device? What Android version is it running?

Yes I have root access. At the moment Stock, 4.2.2. I'm willing to upgrade/change to another stock (i.e. Cyanogenmod) if that makes things easier.

Even with a rooted phone with Xposed installer running XPrivacy, you still can only limit the access to a yes or a no. Unfortunately, you cannot specify the exact label that the app can read from. (I just tried it with xprivacy)

That's what I had in mind. Other alternatives include LBE or, at least with Android 4.3, maybe AppOps. But all with the same effect: either the app in question can access the contacts, or not. No way to let it have access to "selected contacts", at least I've never heard of such a solution.

@Zlatty , thanks for trying this out. Maybe install a separate Contact app, and run default contacts and "private contacts" in those two. Whatsapp etc will only check one, not reading the other one. On the other hand, this would be an awesome development idea for a new contacts app!

@wolfgang - give it a try and post back!

Wolfgang, is information provided by @piquer useful? Could you please check? Thanks.

The pro version of XPrivacy can do just that. I use it to allow WhatsApp selective access to contact book entries only if I know that the person in question is already registered with WhatsApp.
Blocking contacts by default:

Allowing partial access:

You have to enable/disable contacts one by one in Xprivacy. It would be nice to disable groups.

Unfortunately don't have paid version of XPrivacy right now to check the desired functionality. I see that thread is almost 2 years old. @Wolfgang Haak, could you please check this and verify? Thanks

Use the app in Dual Messenger mode (dual account/secure mode) and turn on the option "Use separate contacts list".

Just a note that Dual Messenger is a Samsung's specific feature. Other manufacturers may have a different name (e.g. Xiaomi's "Dual Apps") and different settings.

As of 2023 the only vendor-agnostic solution I could find, was to use work profiles. Apps like Shelter help with setting this up.

I found OpenContacts that allows you to manage a second contact book that will be isolated, so no contacts will be uploaded.
Yes, there is no way to setup partial access, however you can open chats from OpenContacts, directly. It's a good solution if you have business contacts that you use only for calling, SMS and email.

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


text:
Change native Android SIP dialing settings
My SIP Trunk (hooio) has a specific dialing plan:
[Country Code][Phone Number incl. Area Code]

However, all mobile carriers have a different dialing plan:
[Local Phone Number]   OR
+[Country Code][Phone Number incl Area Code]

The main difference here is the 'plus' character.
All my phonebook entries are geared to work with the +[country][number] plan. But when I dial these using the native SIP client, I get errors - since the trunk does not like the plus (should this not be a standard?).
I'd really like to keep using this trunk, and they apparently can't or won't change their dialing plan. The only alternative is to have duplicate phonebooks for mobile vs internet calls - and I don't like my provider enough to waste time on this :(
Is there any way to configure rules for dialing with the native client, like removing the plus before dialing?

I suppose "Prefixer" (written by "253°Below") or another app "PreFixer" can make the job of cutting the "+" symbols from the numbers' beginnings. However you will need to switch the Prefixer off to make the regular GSM calls. Else you can let the Prefixer do a smarter job by cutting pluses only from the numbers which look like "+123....." transforming them into "123.....".
Also there is an application which automatically transforms all the local(short) numbers in the address book into one standard by adding country codes and area codes. Its name is "Contacts Clean-up". It might do a portion of the required job, too.

This answer would be a lot more useful if you would link to the apps you're recommending.


text:
AbsListView on Samsung Galaxy's logcat running Android 4.3 JellyBean
I've been having an issue on my Galaxy S4 following the 4.3 update whereby it will occasionally reboot the phone then go into a reboot loop. If connected to a charge the loop will stop and the battery will be fine (e.g. at 80%).
Now one thing I've noticed in trying to diagnose this via logcat is that the following message:
13:37:54.600 AbsListView unregisterIRListener() is called

occurs about 26 times a second. Is this normal behavior? If not how can I find and eliminate the cause?

I observer similar problems with my S4 (after 4.3 update, random crashes and then boot loops). I am not expert in Android internals, but the "AbsListView" seems like some image resolution issue: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16445635/galaxy-s4-and-maybe-all-hd-phones-out-of-memory-error-inflating-layout My guess is it has nothing to do with it. Still your question is valid!

For others wondering - my problems disappeared after servicing the phone in official Samsung repair shop. So maybe the 4.3 upgrade was just a coincidence. The report from repair indicated battery being replaced and software upgrade (but I don't believe the last one, as exact the same build version is reported in Settings).

From this question on SO, it seems an issue affecting some of Samsung devices, and looks like a debug log. Nothing serious.

try to replace in the adapeter:
view = context.LayoutInflater.Inflate(Android.Resource.Layout.SimpleSpinnerItem, null);

with
view = context.LayoutInflater.Inflate(Android.Resource.Layout.SimpleSpinnerItem, parent, false);

Ref#: this link

Sorry Chris but I no longer own the phone this query was about. Also I wouldn't have known how to implement your answer in any case.

No problem .. I post this answer maybe it will be helpful for the new users too. Thanks for your comment :)

Sorry, but this site is not about Android programming. Your answer will be helpful for Android programmer, but for end-user, they cannot do anything to solve this issue.


text:
Turn off power notification sound on LG G2
I've got an LG G2 (Verizon) and I'd like to turn off all the notification sounds for when I plug in my phone, when I unplug it, and when it gets to full power.
I've turned the system notification volume setting to zero, but I still hear these sounds.
What am I missing?

Tried going to settings > Sound and see if there is an option for this?
There might be a similar setting in settings > Battery.

I checked both places and there isn't anything. S'why I asked here. :)


text:
Samsung Galaxy Ace stuck on boot after failed rooting attempt
I've been formatting my Samsung Galaxy Ace (GT-S5839i) and it worked pretty well. Then for some reason, I tried to root it, which I failed, and now my phone won't turn on anymore. It just stays on the boot logo (the one where Samsung GALAXY Ace is printed) and it never goes any further. Before my phone stopped working, I tried to install some "ClockWorkMod", and I guess I didn't follow the steps as I should've.
I can access the recovery menu, but each time I tried to just wipe data/factory reset or wipe cache partition, it didn't help, so right now I'm stuck with a non-working phone. I can still put files on the SD card. I just don't know how to go back to the Gingerbread version I had before.
So I'd like to know if anyone can offer a solution?

If you have had ROM manager before, then you can install any ROM which you will find on different sites.

According to the OP on the 2nd revision of the question,

I kept searching and I found a guide about ODIN and flashing the phone, and it worked very well! My phone is now working like it never died!
You can find the guide I followed right here (The guide is in french, but if you look for flashing a phone with Odin, I think you can find a guide in English)


text:
What's the difference between Data and Internal Storage?
I came across installing ROMs, but I can't install it because I need to wipe some things ...
It told me to wipe / do a factory reset ...
Then, when I go to the Wipe Section of the TWRP Recovery, clicked on Advanced Wipe, I noticed that there is Data, and there is Internal Storage.
Here's a picture of that: (from androidtipsandhacks)

TWRP told me that Data, Cache, and Dalvik is the only wipe that I need.
Will wiping Data remove my apps, music, photos, videos, and app data?

Answer:
Data
Data is your user apps (installed from Google Play Store, or with an *.apk) and its app data.  It is stored on /data.

Your user apps is stored on /data/app.
Your apps' data is stored on /data/data.

NOTE: You must be rooted to see the contents on /data/ ...
Therefore, if you wipe your data, it might also delete your user apps, and its app data, but excluding your music, photos, videos, etc.
Internal Storage
On the other hand, Internal Storage is actually the storage where your other data are saved, such as music, photos, videos, other app data, downloads, etc., and is usually stored on /storage or /sdcard.
NOTE: /sdcard is different from your external SD Card.

Music is saved on /sdcard/Music.
Photos are saved on /sdcard/DCIM.
Videos are saved on /sdcard/Videos.
Other app data are saved on /sdcard/ (App Folder).

Other apps choose to store their app data on /sdcard/ ..., such as Minecraft: /sdcard/games.

Downloads are saved on /sdcard/Downloads, and can be easily found if you have the Downloads app.

Two relevant aspects before answering your specific questions :

You are planning to install a new ROM
The device is going to be with you so you are not bothered about wiping all personal traces ( like you would be if you are planning to sell)
See What should I wipe in TWRP? from official TWRP help . That would take care of your needs for installing a new ROM

If you are switching ROMs (changing from one ROM to a completely different one) then you should perform a factory reset. A factory reset wipes data and cache (which includes dalvik cache). A factory reset will also wipe sd-ext and android_secure if your device has those items. 99% of the time, this is all that you need to wipe and you only need to do it once, not three times as some people would lead you to believe.

(Emphasis supplied)
factory-reset is equivalent to Wipe data,cache, dalvik. It will not remove your pictures . See Firelord's answer which has other useful references as well

...Factory Reset would remove everything under /data (excluding /data/media which serves as emulated storage available through /sdcard as internal SD card)...

What's the difference between Data and Internal Storage?

Data is what is contained in the / datapartition. Internal storage world refer to the entire device directory structure and what is contained in them as well

See What happens when I wipe the internal storage of a device using TWRP?
Also TWRP help explains further

....you may have options for wiping internal storage, external storage, sd-ext, android_secure, and/or an option for formatting data. There's almost no reason that you would ever need to use these items....

(Emphasis Supplied)

Okay, thanks for the info!
Is it okay to remove the SD Card (and the SIM Card) during the wipe process to ensure that no data from the cards will be lost?

The existing two answers are nice, but there are two things which are not quite correct in how TWRP handles and calls the different wiping options.

[This statement is wrong]: "Internal storage world [sic] refer to the entire device directory structure and what is contained in them as well."

Instead, the term "Internal storage" as used by TWRP refers to /data/media.

[This one is also incorrect]: "On the other hand, Internal Storage is actually the storage where your other data are saved, such as music, photos, videos, other app data, downloads, etc., and is usually stored on /storage or /sdcard."

More correctly, "Internal storage" is actually stored at /data/media (indeed it is usually mounted at something like /storage/emulated/... and /sdcard as well).

Source: https://twrp.me/faq/datamedia.html

this should be comments on the existing answers, not a new answer


text:
Is there an Android equivalent of diskutil?
I'm a Mac and Android user. I've used simple commands in the Terminal from time to time. But now I'm trying to understand the Terminal Emulator included in the Rom Toolbox app for my Android.
What I'm really trying to accomplish right now is finding if there's an equivalent of diskutil on Android. I just want something simple enough to do disk erases and formatting, etc..
Is this possible, or can I somehow use bash commands like on my Mac? (Sorry I'm very new to this)
Anyway, thanks for reading my question. If you have and questions for me, in order to progress my search, please feel free to ask.

The android terminal emulator uses busybox linux. Hence you should look at the busybox commands to find out what all you can do with it.
Follow this link
try this command

fdformat DEVICE eg. fdformat /dev/sdcard

I'm really trying to not use OS X.. That's the whole point of the post...

oops i misunderstood your question, though it was not very clear. But anyways I have edited my answer.

or try this .. busybox fdformat [-n] DEVICE

did the command work?

No, it did not work.

You might need to check your Busybox install. I found that when I reinstalled a new BB version I was able to use functions I hadn't been able to previously.

What I'm really trying to accomplish right now is finding if there's an equivalent of diskutil on Android. I just want something simple enough to do disk erases and formatting, etc..

If you specify your question a little bit it might be easier to answer. You can both erase files and format partitions straight from the terminal. You remove files with rm, for safe deletions there's also shred. If binaries are not on your phone, you should be able to just install them to /bin/ or /usr/bin/
Formatting in Linux can be done for example with the fdisk command, some more info on that here, or as always you can do man fdisk (probably not on the phone terminal though as manuals might not be included).
Also, in relation to the other reply on busybox: What is Busybox?


text:
I'm trying to put a ROM onto my SD card in my phone through USB storage?
But i cant find the folder for my SD card anywhere, does anyone know where i need to put the ROM?

What type of phone? What version of Android? How are you trying to copy it over? What operating system are you running on the PC you are using (if relevant)? This is not enough information.

You should be able to mount your SD card to your computer, and it will show up as a separate drive from the internal storage.

Easiest option is to shut the phone down, remove the SD card, and put it into an SD card reader in your computer. You generally have to reboot into recovery or a bootloader anyway, right?
Typically the folder is /sdcard on the phone's filesystem. If you can put the phone in "Mass Storage" mode (as opposed to Kies or MTP mode or whatever stupid your manufacturer does), it should just be the /sdcard folder.
If you have to flash a recovery or a new bootloader first, you can flash from  /data/local as it is supposed to be user-writable.
If you have adb set up, you can use the adb push command.

For my samsung galaxy ace phone, i had to install samsungkies to be able to mount the sd card in the pc, didnt work alone. Maybe is the same with you

You should be able to drop the ROM image anywhere on the SD Card and then use, for instance, ROM Manager to install it; Just open ROM Manager and select 'Install ROM from SD Card' and browse to where you dumped the ROM REMEMBER TO BACKUP YOUR EXISTING ROM BEFORE PROCEEDING


text:
What happens when an SDcard is inserted?
I have a rooted Sony Tablet S, and one of my issues with it is that there is little onboard storage. The Sony-recommended way of dealing with this is to transfer files between internal and external storage, as many apps do not have access to the external storage.
Having rooted the device, however, I am able to use mount -o bind /mnt/sdcard2 /mnt/sdcard/2 to mount this. I was then intending to rename the media folder on my external sdcard to .media, and use mount -o bind /mnt/sdcard2/.media/$F /mnt/sdcard/media/$F/external for each folder $F in that directory. The problem with this is that on removal of the external sdcard, or on reboot, these mounts are lost.
On my Maemo phone I did something similar, and was able to have this mount behaviour occur when the external storage was attached. As Maemo5 is a truly open OS I was able to do this fairly easily, and there was a lot of community support.
When trying to do the same under Android I have come across an app called Tasker that performs actions as I would need, however this is paid software and I would prefer not to have to install something that performs actions which should be build into the operating system.
TLDR;
I'd like to know what is actually happening on my device when an SDcard is inserted - are scripts run? Are signals sent which could be used to trigger scripts? Has anyone attempted to do similar (I don't understand why this would not be the default behaviour to be honest - the fact that external storage is hidden from apps is frustrating to say the least)

Android in general handles SD cards more nicely than this, I think it's just your device.  That said, there are events broadcast when the SD card is inserted; that's what Tasker would use.  You could certainly write your own app to do the same.

@Matthew if you could point me towards some of the resources that would be useful for this, I would consider that enough for an answer. I have experience writing software but am new to Android, I have not found it easy to find resources on what this would require.

Dev questions are off-topic here unfortunately, and I haven't done any Android development myself.  However, this might help: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html

If your intention is to have your script run each time the card is inserted, or the device is booted, I'd recommend the already mentioned app Tasker, maybe in connection with Scripter. The latter can be used to execute (and manage?) scripts, but AFAIR you can do that part with tasker as well.
You would need to create 1 task (execute your script), and 2 profiles using this task (as there is no possibility for a logical OR with the conditions). One is for the boot_completed event, the other is for the inserted SD-card. That should do it.
In case of trouble (or hard understanding), just comment and I see what I can do :)


text:
How to hard reset a Samsung Galaxy GT-i5800?
My Samsung Galaxy GT-i5800 has had the wrong pass entered too many times, and now it's not opening up. So how do I do a factory reset on it, since all the workarounds I've tried (phoning it, mashing keys, putting 'null' as the password') haven't worked?

A few questions: You don't get a button pop up in the bottom-right allowing you to enter your Google password to unlock the phone?  Or a timeout before you can try again?  Do you mean the i5800 rather than 15800?  Have you rebooted the device?

I'm pretty sure it's the 15800. When I enter my Google account, it comes up with an error, despite me entering it correctly. It's permanently locked. I have rebooted it.

the GT-15800 is the galaxy apollo; GT-i5800 is the galaxy 3

@RyanConrad According to Samsung the Galaxy Apollo and some Galaxy Minis are i5800 and the Galaxy 3 is the i5801, all three just variants of the same thing.  15800 is just a misreading, that's why I always lowercase the i.

Reboot into recovery, where you can select the option to factory reset (scroll up/down with the volume keys, use power to select).
Two ways to get into recovery:

Install the Android SDK on your computer and run adb reboot recovery
Power off the phone, hold down both volume buttons and (while holding) click the power button.  Release the volume buttons when recovery appears.

Method 2. did not work, but method 1. worked as expected. (Well, once I figured out how to enable USB debugging.)


text:
Unable to move files to external SD card on SGS2 XXLP2
Running a rooted Galaxy S2 with ICS XXLP2 official leaked rooted build. I have a 32GB microSD card mounted at /sdcard/external_sd in addition to the 16 GB internal storage. I'm unable to copy files to it now, it says write error or permission error.
I use a terminal emulator to create a file
touch /sdcard/external_sd/test

and this works fine. If I use a file manager (ES File Explorer, which supports browsing / on rooted devices), I can't copy files from internal storage to the external SD card. Also, earlier I used the external card as the camera photo storage location, now I can't do so and the camera defaults to internal storage (which is low on space).
If I do an ls -l of both sdcard and external_sd, I see the difference - sdcard has all files listed as belonging to sdcard_r, while external sd lists them as '1023'.
So is this a leftover UID from a previous ROM install?
I'm scared to do
chown -R sdcard_r:system /sdcard/external_sd

Is that the way to go about it..or is there any other way to fix permissions?

So your ls -l should also have revealed the permissions, next to the owner. Here the last 6 fields should read r-wr-w for an SD-card (at least as long it's formatted using FAT). Is this so? Otherwise, simply adjust that permits everybody to read and write here.


text:
How do I delete a calendar/swipe lock-screen that appeared after Android 4.3 update?
Recently, an Android 4.3 update appears to have created a strange and unwanted calendar/swipe lock-screen on my Galaxy S III which is pictured here.
The calendar provides an inaccurate date with a visible calendar event, and the X... ...zZ has to be swiped before I can get to my regular unlock pattern.  I am unable to get rid of this screen which pops up irregularly and is really annoying. Any ideas? Thanks.

(click image for a larger version)

Try checking you calender app's setting for an ability to disable intrusive activities... If not why not simply get an alternate calendar app? There are plenty of great calendar apps with better features and simplistic designs!

That is the S-Planner notification, i.e. the Samsung version of Google Calendar. Do you have an entry in it for this to go off every day? Have you cleared the data/cache and logged back in? Alternatively you could disable S-Planner and just download the official Google one, or many alternatives from the play store.


text:
Why does Google Location History stay in the same place when I go out?
What's happening is that I go out and about and at the end of the day I check the location history and it says that I've been at my house all day when I've been out. I take my phone with me and it stays on, the GPS is on.
I do have a tab that stays at home but there's no location settings allowed for it, there isn't even a glimpse of the location to out of my house. It looks like it's tracking my tab but it's not set for location data to be used for apps. I do not have any apps on the tab that would need my location anyway, but the GPS is off on it so it wouldn't be able to track it besides using the WiFi location.
The location simply does not move, it might go out on the street but there's no indication whatsoever I went anywhere other than my house.

Same problem here, location history updates on more recent android with samsung phone seem to be many hours apart. I would prefer something like 5 minutes or less between location history updates.

If you are using Google Latitude than sorry it has been retired
Instead use Google+ from here

So it doesn't work anymore? If so what are the incorrect location marks for? Also, my friend still uses it and it works for him.


text:
How to change network interface used by Android?
When I boot up my Android Device and go to WiFi settings, the status of WiFi remains "Turning Wi-Fi on" forever. I looked it up in logcat logs, and below is the error that I see.
E/wpa_supplicant( 1713): nl80211: Could not set interface 'wlan0' UP
E/wpa_supplicant( 1713): wlan0: Failed to initialize driver interface
E/wpa_supplicant( 1713): Could not read interface wlan0 flags: No such device

Below is some useful information.
root@android:/ # netcfg
netcfg
lo       UP     127.0.0.1/8   0x00000049 00:00:00:00:00:00
gannet0  DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00001082 1e:e9:6e:bf:45:f7
dummy0   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000082 ba:ad:f6:ae:6a:09
rmnet0   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet1   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet2   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet3   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet4   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet5   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet6   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet7   DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000001 00:00:00:00:00:00
sit0     DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000080 00:00:00:00:00:00
ip6tnl0  DOWN     0.0.0.0/0   0x00000080 00:00:00:00:00:00

Contents of /system/etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf:
update_config=1
ctrl_interface=wlan0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1

Question: How can I enable Android to use some other interface other than wlan0?
Things tried:

I tried to edit ctrl_interface parameter in /system/etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf using adb pull and adb push to other interfaces shown by netcfg, but Android still tries to use wlan0.

I also tried to start wpa_supplicant daemon using the below command.
/system/bin/wpa_supplicant -Dnl80211 -idummy0 -c/system/etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf

but this gives an error.
E/wpa_supplicant( 5390): dummy0: Failed to initialize driver interface

Are you sure dummy is a WiFi interface? The typical WiFi interface's name is wlan0.
If you're 100% sure it is the right WiFi interface, you might also need to change the wlan0 inside the wpa_supplicant.conf file.
If that still fails, run the wpa_supplicant command under strace and try to get more info from there.

Run in an ADB shell:
wpa_cli

It will open a new type of shell in which:

Command help will give you all possible commands.

Command interface will show you all your activated interfaces.

Command interface_add will add a new interface to use, with following parameters
interface_add <ifname> <confname> <driver> <ctrl_interface> <driver_param> <bridge_name>

ifname being the single optional parameter.


text:
Samsung Gio overheating and no power
I have a Gio and recently have an issue with the phone being hot and not responding.  I have to pull the battery to get the phone to work.  Any help is appreciated!

Try replacing battery. Restore phone via factory reset

If you're in a hot area (in a car, outside in Florida) this may happen simply because of the surrounding temperature. If this is happening regularly under normal conditions, you may want to contact your seller, as the problem is most likely with the hardware of the phone or battery.


text:
Why Automatic App Updates In Market Don't Work?
Every time i see a few of apps trying to auto-update themselves but just stalling when it says "Downloading". In other words, automatic update for apps does not work and I am only left with cancelling download/update and doing this manually.
Is there a reason why automatic updates do not work?
Additionally it would be good to know if there was a way to schedule updating of apps or somehow to update a few at one time because updating many/most apps after accessing internet after a long period of time just bogs down system.

Also experience this on the HTC Sensation with Android 2.3.4 and have done since the phone came out.  I've seen it work on other Androids with a different version of the market to what we have.

Maybe it has something to do with permissions?

Fro the scheduling aspect of your question, see this other question Can I set the schedule for automatic Market updates, e.g. every night?

It is CyanogenMod and i don't have that. Since i bought smartphone, i never rooted or changed to other mods and to this day i still use Android 2.3.3 that came with it.

This can happen if the download cache is full or nearly full, and the download would fill your internal storage.  Try cleaning out your caches to free up some space (SD Maid is a good free app for this) and seeing if the downloads will complete then.

I have seen problems when I don't have WiFi on for a while.  Some updates are marked as WiFi-only due to the large size, even if you have turned off "Update over Wi-Fi only" in the Market settings (which I assume you have unchecked).
I think there may be other quirks with the Market app.  For example, if you are in airplane mode but have WiFi on, the Market may think you're offline and refuse to work.
It may (or may not) help to switch between having auto-update on globally (in Market settings) vs. having it off but enabling auto-update for individual apps.
BTW I just enable auto-update for apps that I trust and know I won't read the update log for before accepting the update.

I don't have such setting in my Market v2.3.4

You mean that your phone is Android 2.3.4, right?  You'll find these settings while in the market app by pressing menu, then settings.  You'll also see the version of the market app on the settings screen, called the "build version", which will be in the neighborhood of 3.4.4.

No my phone has Android 2.3.3 But i will try upgrading to Police Market. By the way can i reverse to previous version in case something is wrong?

I don't think you'll be able to downgrade, unless you have a saved copy of the market app.  That is likely more effort than you're interested in.

How do i backup Android Market app? All i have found in system/app folder is MarketUpdater.apk

Look into Astro File manager or Titanium Backup.

@ProjectJourneyman The OP and I seemed to be on an older version of market (the mainly green one), mine has updated itself in the past few days, with no warning or confirmation I might add!  Hoping the OP is as lucky and will get the update soon.

@RichardBenson Your updated itself recently? To which version? Mine did not update itself for a long time if not since smartphone's purchase.

@Boris_yo updated itself again to "Play Shop" yesterday, version 3.4.6

@RichardBenson What is "Play Shop"?

@Boris_yo is Google's fancy new marketing term for the market! market.android.com now redirects to play.google.com


text:
Can't unlock LG Optimus P500
I have an LG Optimus P500 phone with Gingerbread.
Suddenly I am not able to unlock it by drawing the pattern. I remember the exact pattern, but its not showing what I draw there. It's not even turning its light on when I draw it.
Removed battery, re-inserted, and done every primary thing.
Strangely I can receive phone call by swiping to answer.
Tried turning it on by pressing power button + home button, but it went to some fast reboot mode and nothing happened.
Can anybody help me in repairing my phone?

What options do you have under the pattern dots? Is there any option to unlock it using your gmail username and password?

See: Cannot unlock tablet as have no internet connection?

All you have to do is HARD RESET Your Device.
Before it,try wrong  pattern continuously for 10-15 times .It will show some option where u can unlock your screen with your Google play account.
If it doesn't work try hard reset.
For hard reset

Switch off your phone.
press power button+volume up/down(try both separately) for 10-12 seconds.
It will show several option .
choose the appropriate one (don't choose options which you don't understand)

for selecting the menu press 'menu' button or try some other buttons if it doesn't work.
the menu choice depends on the different versions of Android phone.

Bad advice to just factory-reset and lose all data ;) Luckily you gave at least one alternative first. More alternatives can be found here: Cannot unlock tablet as have no internet connection?


text:
data packet automatically activated on gingerbread 2.3.6
I just upgraded my samsung galaxy SL to gingerbread 2.3.6
After that, everytime my data packet is automatically activated all the time.
I switch off my mobile network data and lock my phone, and then switch it on again/unlock, the network data are automatically enabled.
I ve noticed, that when i un-tick/deactivate "use packet data", lock my phone with power/lock button and then unlock it, this option is ticked again (= data are enabled).
Please advise.

Install CatLog to check what's happening at the time of unlocking. Without logs, its hard to tell how to fix it.
Factory reset is the last option (not applicable if your firmware is broken).
If factory reset is unable to fix it or you don't want to do factory reset, install third-party apps which could turn off data by renaming APN. I'd recommend Widgetsoid for it. After installing it, add Data Toggle widget on homescreen & choose APN Renaming as data toggle method from its settings. The bug can't by-pass it, for sure.

I had same issue I think.  When you power off in gingerbread you get a power off popup confirmation screen. one of the other options shown will reset packet data. if you hit that by accident it will restore the packet data connection. There is an alternative way to stop 3g rather than turning packet data off but its pretty permanent for the mobile network you use.

Maybe a factory reset will solve the problem, or if your phone is rooted and you have a custom recovery, then clear the Dalvik cache.


text:
How to restore/add google search to android browser - Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830L
I own a rooted Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830L.
My carrier decide it was a good idea to remove Google search from the default android browser replacing it with a absolutely useless search engine they provide (which I hate with the burning passion of a thousand suns).
If I go into the browser's settings > Select search Engine, I get the carriers engine as the only option.
Is there a way to install google search or restore the browser back to a non carrier customized version?
I already have Opera mini installed but I want to use both so please do not suggest this as a solution.

Are you able to access the Google Search app to install it from the Market? This will allow you to add the Google Search box to your home screen, as many Android devices have it set by default. I'm pretty sure that this should also add it to to the browsers list of search engines for those who want to search from the address bar.
Other than that you'd just need to change your browser's home page, which (assuming your carrier hasn't locked that down) you should be able to change in the browser's settings (open the browser, press Menu, scroll down to and click on Set Home Page and change to http://www.google.com (or your regional version)).

Since you are rooted, you could try to replace the Browser app with one from a "stock" rom that doesn't have the different search engine. The problem would be if the device is odexed, you might not be able to just replace the app. in which case you would have to install a completely different ROM for the device.

Installing a custom ROM was my next attempt, but I like the idea you suggest about replacing the Browser app with one from the stock ROM, could you elaborate more on that, please?

i will post more on it later, but basically you will get an APK from somewhere else and put it on the device. as i said though, most stock roms are odexed so you wont be able to just use any apk file.


text:
What is my lcd density?
How can I figure out what is my tablet's lcd screen density.
It is a cheapy one with no official site...
Is there any settings option I could check to see the display resolution configurations?
Is there any other way for it?

You probably have a diagonal screen size, and a resolution.  Use the Pythagorean Theorem on the resolution and divide the result by the screen size to get the DPI.
For example, my Vibrant is 4", 800x480.  sqrt(8002 + 4802) / 4 = ~233 dpi.

Even a cheap tablet with no official specs normally mentions the screen resolution on the box, didn't yours?
If not, then you could visit a web page like http://www.whatismyscreenresolution.com/ (there are many other similar websites out there) or install an app like Android System Info that will tell you your resolution as well as your DPI.
The DPI is just a measurement of how many pixels there are on an inch of your screen, so if you know your screen resolution, you can measure the size of your screen and calculate the DPI from  there to get the actual density.

I've created small app to check phone screen density. You could check it. Phone Density Information


text:
market links to google play in browser
I just bought a desire HD. I did the factory reset. When I click on Market (old app or at least old icon), it opens a new window in the browser with the policy of google play. At the moment I click, I see the accept and decline buttons shortly but can't click on them, they then disappear.
Basically I can't use market. There is no google play app on the phone either...
Does anyone else have this issue? Does anyone know how to solve this?

After trying several times I managed to click accept before the link opens. Then I had to accept google play terms and now I still have the old market app and logo but when I open it it seems to be new like google play... really weird...

So your problem is solved? Maybe you want to put your solution into an answer and accept it, so it can be helpful to others?

I found if I went in and cleared the Market Data (from settings -> applications), it then let me accept the terms and then started the same browser.  The next time after that, that I clicked on Market, it took me to the proper interface.


text:
Undo "Flag as spam" on Google Play Store?
I've accidentally marked some reviews for some apps as spam, and they were removed (or were hidden from me).
The problem with clicking on this button is that there is no going back. It doesn't ask you anything about it.
How can I undo my mistakes?

I've done this myself. I don't think there is a way to undo it in the store. I can't find any of the reviews I've marked as 'helpful' or 'unhelpful' on my Google+ account or anywhere.

it was an accident. i was confused with the other buttons (maybe because I was tired, I don't remember). I don't want to harm others by this silly mistake. I don't even know what happens when I click on the "flag as spam" button, other than making it disappear for me.

It's probably the usual "investigate if x number of users report it as spam" system to be honest. And as you say it hides it from you. I doubt it will really effect anyone if just the one person does it. As I said I've done it by mistake myself a bunch of times. Edit: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/4971/does-voting-on-market-comments-have-any-effect   Seems like what I said is about right, I think you're ok!

@RossC buy I was wrong and I wish to fix my mistakes... :(


text:
Change action of headset button
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2. When I connect my headset and press the button on the headset, it plays/pauses the music.
Actually, I need to record calls, so when I press the headset button, it starts recording, and after hitting it again, stop it.
Is there any solution to this kind of issue?

There are a bunch of "headset button controllers" out there in the wild, several are even going by that name. A search for "headset control" will give you a list of candidates. Some are generic ones, some are specific to a given headset manufacturer (but still working with others). Don't let yourself be disappointed if the first one you chose doesn't work exactly as you wish, simply try another (I found mine on the third match): it's not that your headset is "incompatible", it's the combination of headset, device, and app to make the perfect match which might need a couple of tries.


text:
Daydream goes to standby when touched
My Nexus 4 runs Android 4.4 and is set to use the standard "Clock" daydream while charging. It has no screen lock. This works fine so far.
Expected:
I would expect the screen to wake up when I touch the daydreaming screen.
Problem:
Sometimes the screen turns off when I touch it, rather than waking up.
Symptoms:
There might be a time element because this seems to happen when I have not touched the phone for many minutes, but it seems to work OK if it had only been daydreaming a few minutes. AC or USB charging does not seem to make any difference.
→ Why does the screen turn off instead of waking up, and how can I "fix" that?

This issue still occurs on Lollipop. However, I haven't tested if it's daydream-dependent or not.

I had this problem some time ago. It went away after i flashed kitkat as i didn'twant to wait for OTA update.
Try rebooting or write what you already did to try solve the problem

I reboot regularly; that doesn't seem to be a solution.

Nope, even after I flashed Lollipop, the problem still persists (or it became worse, actually)


text:
App force opens Play Store when I try to open Chrome
I downloaded and installed GO Launcher and there was an icon preinstalled with it. I clicked on it once accidentally, and it opened in the Play Store. Now when I try to use Chrome anytime, it force opens the Play Store right away to Spartan Wars. I can't use Chrome at all now and this is driving me nuts.
I'd like to fix this issue without having to uninstall GO Launcher, since I just it set up. In the meantime, I downloaded Firefox so I can ask this question.
I also installed the game then uninstalled it to no avail. Could someone explain why and how to prevent it?

I'm not using Chrome; but could it be it has a "start page" defined in its settings? If so, this is what was probably done by that "icon". Simply remove that startpage from the config (or set it to something else).

Chrome has a bug which cause it to keep the last intent it received from another application when you open chrome normally. For example: you made a search on Google Search/Now, you clicked on a link that opened in Chrome, then until you force close chrome, restart your phone or something, every time you will open Chrome normally, the link you clicked on Google Search/Now will reopen...
So I'd say this is the chrome step that helped you (you can put your answer in a answer yourself and accept it)

From OP themself:

I got it fixed although I'm not sure which one of these things did the trick.
I went into the Application Manager and scrolled across to "All"
I then scrolled down Google Play Store and cleared the data.
Next I scrolled down to Chrome, I force stopped it, cleared the data, then turned it off and then back on.
Doing that seemed to do the trick, although I'm not sure which one of those steps was the right one.

settings -> applications -> manage applications -> chrome -> clear defaults might help you.


text:
Sign in to WhatsApp account on old number without old SIM card
I want to restore my phone to factory settings, which means WhatsApp will be deleted. I use my old number on WhatsApp, and I don't have the SIM card. If I downloaded WhatsApp again and tried to sign in with my old number, can I do that?
Example:

Old no. 555-1234 - WhatsApp
New no. 555-9876 - no WhatsApp

Can I use the old one once again?

Nope I can't anyway, it seems to send an SMS, and register the SIM not the device.

The way WhatsApp authentication works is that it sends an SMS to the number for verification. This means that you won't be able to re-authenticate to that account without access to the phone number (as you have said in your comment)
A possible workaround is if you root your device, you can back up the WhatsApp data using something like Titanium Backup and then restore it on the fresh install. Depending on how their authentication keys work, you may trick the app into still using your old account.


text:
Can't hear people unless switched to speakerphone on Galaxy S4
I have Samsung Galaxy S4 and I cannot hear callers unless the speakerphone is on. The caller can hear me well but there is only a very faint which is inaudible sound back.
I have gone to all the settings but it does not change anything.
How can I fix this?

Possibly related: Earphone is not working well, volume is very low in Galaxy SIII?

I fixed mine using following instructions:
Go to Settings → My Device → Sound → Samsung Applications → Press Call → Turn Off Noise Reduction.

A user has suggested this for non-Samsung phone owners: https://android.stackexchange.com/review/suggested-edits/179819

"My Device" does not exist on my phone.

I had the same problem and tried  everything for two days, even did a factory reset, but nothing worked. Then I had an idea: the earpiece  could've been  blocked so I took an old toothbrush, brushed the ear piece for a minute to clear any debris and low, and behold it worked. So give it a try.

If you have the plastic screen protector on the front of your phone, make sure it isn't covering your ear speaker.

I tried many fixes but nothing worked. What worked was rolling a piece of hard paper to the size of headphone jack and inserting it to and fro several times until you see on screen headphones changing into ringer.

Your earpiece speaker may be dead.  When you put your phone in speaker mode it uses different speaker(s).  Some people use a bluetooth earpiece to get around this, but if that's not something you want to do then you may want to check and see if your phone is still in warranty.
Also, depending on your phone you can try taking a small brush and cleaning around your earpiece speaker.  In some cases dust and other debris can collect and muffle the speaker, and considering how tiny these speakers and their speaker grills are (again, depends on your phone) it doesn'take much dust or debris to make it hard to hear.  When i worked for Verizon this was a common problem that we encountered on a daily basis.  Hopefully, that's all it is.

Plugging in and out the headphones multiple times worked for me


text:
What is the resolution of the camera preview and picture in Samsung Galaxy S4?
I need to know the camera preview and picture resolutions that the Samsung Galaxy S4/S4 Zoom (SM-C101) supports for its rear camera.
I'm building an application that does real-time image processing on the frames received from the camera. By default, the highest resolution is set which makes the processing very slow. So, I want to know what resolutions are available so that I can set a range within which to select from at runtime.
I noticed that some common lower resolutions aren't supported on the S3, so I had to increase the range. So I need to know if I need to change it for the S4.
Someone on Stack Overflow has created an application which records this data and makes it publicly viewable here (archived). I guess using this would be easier than manually looking up the resolutions.

According to the Samsung site, the rear camera is 16MP with 10x Optical Zoom and enhanced SMART Modes, OIS, 24 - 240mm, F3.1 - F6.3.
You can probably use this tool to calculate for a rough estimate of image dimensions. Probably better if somebody with an S4 Zoom can provide actual values.
4000 x 4000 (16,00) - aspect 1:1 (1,00 - square)
4472 x 3576 (15,99) - aspect 5:4 (1,25 - photo)
4512 x 3544 (15,99) - aspect 14:11 (1,27 - photo)
5096 x 3136 (15,98) - aspect 13:8 (1,63 - photo)
4616 x 3464 (15,99) - aspect 4:3 (1,33 - photo)
4736 x 3384 (16,03) - aspect 7:5 (1,40 - photo)
4896 x 3264 (15,98) - aspect 3:2 (1,50 - photo)


text:
Export SSL certificates from Chrome for Android
I have a Nexus 5 with the latest Android 4.4.2. I'm registered on using Chrome. They use client certificates to authenticate the user. I installed the certificate and could successfully use the site on my mobile. However, now I want to use the site on my laptop, but Chrome does not seem to sync these certificates.
I did not find an option in Chrome on my mobile regarding certificates. I also could not find anything in Settings > Security > Trusted credentials
Is it possible to export these client certificates from my Android device, so I can import and use them on my laptop?

If you root the device and get a prompt, you should be able to just search the entire device for a .crt in what looks to be a Chrome path, no? For a non-rooted device, using only stock functionality, I'm almost sure you cannot do this.

Just faced with exactly the same problem. I googled for an answer but this is page the only case I found.
Solution is simple for rooted device:

Open and file explorer with root-access (I prefer ES file explorer)
Go to /data/misc/keystore/usesr_0 and find there the cert and key files.
Transfer it securely to your desktop.

If you have a non-rooted device then root it and start with step <1>.

authors: Александр Ичетовкин


text:
Advantages of updating through Samsung Kies compared to OTA?
I have Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and I am still waiting for the KitKat OTA update. If Kies would allow me to end the waiting, I would definitely give it a try.
Does Kies provide any kind of advantage towards getting a pending update?

Usually, Kies will inform you of updates faster than OTA will. However, OTA is more convenient because you don't have to plug in your phone to the PC. So, it's really just a matter of getting the updates quicker versus convenience.

Thanks for responding... Unfortunately, I tried but the update is still not there... On with the waiting!


text:
Change default music app used by ES File Explorer
I tried to change the default music app executed with ES File Explorer with not success. I tried to clear the data of the app, uninstall and install again and set the default music app with Default App Manager.
Is it possible to set the default music app for ES File Explorer?

What's the app that is currently launched when you open a music for in ES? Find that app in the Settings > Apps and tap on Clear defaults (not Clear data). Note that you need to clear defaults on the music player app, not on ES File Explorer.
Alternatively, you can go to ES Settings (open ES, then tap on the icon to the left of the current folder path, then tap on Settings on the bottom) > Cleanup settings > Clear defaults.

The music is played with ES Explorer itself. I tried your second solution. Now, if I click on a music file, I can choose a different player. But if I select a folder and play it, it is still played with ES Explorer (it should be the default action for ES Explorer)

Why you want to select the folder in ES ? Just go to your music player and select the folder there. All modern music players have this feature of selecting a folder to play the songs!!.
Phonograph is a music player that i use.

@rajatpunkstaa Not every player allows browsing to network located files. ES can choose them there and play. It also may use another player, but is limited, can't send to jetAudio for example.
To choose another player means to cut out esteemed feratures

Steps to change default music player
Select Mp3 file>tap and open as >>Select app to open mp3>> Tick Set as default .
Attached >Gif


text:
WhatsApp friends profile image not showing
It's been a few days now since my friend's contact images started to disappear on my Samsung Galaxy Sii. WhatsApp is up to date. Android is 4.1.2.
I've already tried:

Turn off/on the phone;
Add/remove the contact from the address book of the phone (my contacts are on the Gmail account);
Clear the phone cache (under App Management). Just the cache. I don't want to lose conversations;
Checked WhatsApp space usage (under App Management). It's like 23 MB in total. Some apps use much more;

Some facts:

Some friends (a few of them) are still showing the profile images. They are from the same source (Gmail Address Book);
If I delete/recreate those friends with profile images, their image is re-downloaded correctly. I also deleted the profile image in the "Profile Pictures" folder and WhatsApp downloaded it again;

My guess: Users that are changing their profile image recently are being set as "no profile photo" (in the server). This propagates to everyone else who refreshes their address book for any reason.
Can somebody check my findings?

Is it all friends ? If it is just one, are you sure your friend did not remove his/her photo from whatsapp?

just one or two, 100% sure he didn't remove as i could see it in my other phone (iphone 5)

2 things I cannot guarantee it will work !

Go to SD Card / Whatsapp / Profile Pictures and see if that persons pic is present

Refresh your contacts once in whatsapp

tried,not working and now, the whatsapp can't even detect him from contacts

Can you be specific is it just one or is it two, for all I can see is this is a localized situation! Since whatsapp cannot detect him from contacts, can you check if you iPhone 5 still has him ? Refresh the contacts on that phone too

actually is 2 frds in my samsung note 3, i had both of them in my contact list and i did refresh the contacts in whatsapp

I noticed that it happened after my latest Whatsapp upgrade. I could check one of my friends who I can't see its profile pic anymore: she hasn't upgraded it (and yes, she has a profile pic and have me on her addr book). By now I'm narrowing this issue to only whatsapp newest version. Mine is: 2.11.152

I noticed that in the whatsapp site (http://www.whatsapp.com/android/) there was a newer version: 2.11.163. Thus, I've downloaded it directly from there and upgraded my whatsapp on the phone. Seems that friend's profile images are coming back again after I restarted the phone (power off/on).

This week - as of Feb, 17th and forward - it seems that all is well again. I think it was something server related as well. Their e-mail reply to my support request was very vague, like: "this problem has been fixed. Wait for the pics to come back".
In addition, Zuckerberg wanted to have a Whatsapp account and Facebook bought it couple of days ago! That's an expensive phonebook Facebook has now...

From WhatsApp FAQ:

Privacy settings allow you to hide your last seen, profile photo, about, status, or read receipts. You might not be able to see someone else's information because of how they’ve set their privacy settings.
If you can't see someone else's last seen, profile photo, about, status, or read receipts, it might be due to one of the following:

There's a temporary network issue.
You or the user changed your [privacy settings][1] for last seen or profile photo.
You and the user both need to resync your contacts.
You're blocked by the contact.

Seems like WhatsApp has recently applied some patches at their backend. If you have any contacts in your phone who don't know you (i.e. they don't have your number saved in their phonebook) then their profile pictures are not visible. Recently started happening on my phone too.

Any changelog ? Honestly I think this should have come in lot earlier! But i just added someone who doesnt have my number, basically i have a new number ! I can see their picture

both of my frds did save my number in their phone, and we have been chatting all along, just a sudden that i can't see their profile pic

I don't think this 'feature' of not showing profile pictures of someone who didn't add you to their phone is the issue here. I could check many friends who did not remove me from their phonebook that I can't see their profile picture anymore.

If it's one friend, maybe your friend removed the picture from his/her profile. If it's happening in multiple contacts, somehow the image cache of the app may have gotten corrupted. If you are used to getting around in android then force stop the app, clear data and cache. Or just uninstall and reinstall the app. Both ways would force the app to load the whole image cache again.

i did uninstall and reinstall whatsapp and even my phone too, but still the same situation

Has anyone tried to grab your friend's phone and add a number from another of your friends (no yet in his/her phonebook) to see if their profile image show up? Example: You have John and Jim on your addr book. John doesn't have Jim on his phone (and vice-versa). All of you have profile pics. Then, you ask John to add Jim on his phone. What does happen?

If your friend didn't add you into his/her phone book, then you can't see your friend's profile picture.

this is not true!

Actually, it seems to be true since a few days ago...

they did add you into their phone book >.< but still dunno what happened...could anyone help? thanks alot


text:
How to renew Google Play Music All Access from Android?
I got the 30 days free trial for Google Play Music All Access, but I cancelled it. I'd like to renew it. How can I? I can't find a way. Here's an image:
]1

If you canceled the trial and want to renew the TRIAL, I think you'll have to wait for another offer.
If you want to renew the actual service, go to Play Music, settings, Subscribe to All Access.


text:
How can I find a compatible device for a given app on Play Store?
There was an app (Carrot Fantasy, already removed) that I can't install directly from the Play Store on Android tablets. It does run on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, but I have not yet had any luck with any tablet I have tried.
I managed to have the Play Store on a Google Nexus 7 shown the app, but it would not offer an Install option and just said This app is not compatible with your device. without any further information.
On other devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, the app does not even show up in Play Store.
I have searched for other similar questions, but they usually seem to be asked from the developer point of view, i.e. how to modify the app manifest or how to check one's settings in Play Store. They did not provide any insights into what to do on the user side.
Certainly, there must be a way for me as a user to diagnose why the app is deemed incompatible, what specific requirements it has, and then pick an Android device that fulfills those requirements - how?

Maybe you could contact the app developer and ask what tablets they support.

@AlE. I believe you are pretty close to the issue. It looks as though it isn't compatible with any tablets. I have 17 different tablet models listed on my account in Play and none of them show up as compatible. Only my phones. (I don't currently have 17 tablets, but I don't remove them from my list on the Play Store for compatibility testing reasons, just like this.)

@AlE.: As described in my comment below, I now have, and they have merely suggested to download the app from their website rather than using the (presumeably Google-verified) Play Store version. I am looking for a place that compiles information like what abqnm could find out about his or her own tablets, but for lots of tablet types.

It appears that you have already tested the surest way.  Attempt to download the app and it will specify its compatibility.  You still might not be absolutely sure until you actually try to run the application.
As mentioned in the comment, you can ask the developer or communicate with others who have used the app (via feedback on Google Play or the author's provided web site).
The only way the author can be totally sure is by testing it on every Android or getting feedback from their users.  There are many occasions where based on feedback, the author has to go back to the drawing board to work on glitches to support some devices originally thought to be compatible.
I have a number of Androids.  I just clicked on the install option and find that it's compatible with my Samsung Galaxy S3, my very old phone (the Samsung Galaxy Prevail).  However, it's not compatible with my Samsung Galaxy Tab7 or my Acer-7 tablet.
By the way, good question.  It really appears there should be something specific since Play Google is using some criteria to display compatibility.

Also keep in mind that app developers can exclude all tablets if they wish (for whatever reason-technical or UX or otherwise). It is highly likely this app has been set to phones only as it doesn't show as compatible on any of the 17 different tablets listed on my Play account.

I have contacted the author of said app for a list of tablets that support the app. However, they only responded with the recommendation to download and install the app from the Website.

Before I get a new cell phone, just to install a certain app, I would like to make sure I'm buying a cell phone that could install that app.
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7353455 shows the app developer all the versions they are making available. But how about the end Google Play user, how can they check too?
So we must buy a device, test it. Buy a device, test it... Repeat until we run out of money. PS, assume the developer won't give us an answer.

Bypass the Google Play Store altogether. Use an app like Shareit or APK Extractor to transfer the app directly from a device where the app is compatible, to the device where Google Play claims it's not compatible. I've done this with several apps, and it typically works, in spite of the Play Store's predictions.

Yes, but what if we're doing this for our head of operations. We can only use official methods.

This did not work in my case. It was blocked from installing with the same "app isn't compatible with your phone" error.


text:
Watching Android Tablet app on connected TV
I was looking into whether a vanilla Android app running on a tablet can have the tablet screen output to TV via an AVI or HDMI output jack? The intent is NOT to view video content but just the app screen on a large TV. An example of how this would be useful would be a 'low-tech' training session for a bunch of people on how to use the app.

This may depend on the tablet, but as far as I know anything with Honeycomb and an HDMI output will simply mirror the screen when plugged in. My Motorola Xoom, for example, will mirror everything on the screen to a TV when my HDMI cable is plugged in. I can use it for app demos and the like at work just fine, so what you're looking for is (from a purely technical standpoint) possible.
Saying that it will work on every device would a very broad and presumably incorrect generalization on my part, though, so I would assume that I cannot accurately apply this rule to every device out there. You'll probably want to look at the specs for specific devices before you purchase one, and ask a retailer (or a manufacturer, if necessary) about it's video output capabilities.
On top of that, there are also some devices like the Galaxy Tab 7 which support composite output via a special connector cable. This also mirrors the screen, as I recall, but I don't know of any other devices that support composite hookups offhand.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S 2 - Recovery mode
I am trying to install an application to my Galaxy S 2 using the "apply update from sdcard" option from the recovery mode (the script in the update.zip is written to do that). The problem I am facing is that when I choose that option, I can't see my external sdcard (where update.zip resides).
Anyone can help with that please ??

Take it off your external card and put it on the internal SD storage which is located at /sdcard.  Confusing, I know, but that's how Samsung has decided to do things.


text:
How can I get missing apps back after factory resetting my rooted x10 Mini?
I rooted my Sony Ericsson xperia x10 mini and linked my apps to my sd card using link2sd, I then factory reset my phone from the android privacy settings.
superuser still exists on my phone

how do I get my linked apps to become visible and usable?
my Android Market has the (killing me) "starting download" forever (and I don't have GTalk, Google Talk that I was told I need to resolve this.) I've tried both wifi and SIM data connection

I've tried clearing market cache+data and nothing
I can't access my memory card because I can't download link2sd and I cant use the Market.
I want my phone to show my linked apps and for the market to work
If you need more info please don't hesitate to ask...

Are you running a custom ROM on your Xperia x10 mini? If you are missing the Google Talk app, this means that factory rest deleted some of the Google apps required for Market to work properly. I would suggest finding the appropriate GApps package for the ROM you are running and re-flashing it.

Im not running a cutom ROM. So how do i get the GApps package and re-flash it?

And is there a way to find out what ROM im using?

What i done is i found a programme called "Android injector" which installs .apk files from your pc to your android. Downloaded and installed the google apps and that sorted the market problem out. but i ddnt get to keep my old apps after i got link to sd it was blank. oh well....

Sounds like the factory reset removed the changes that link2sd made. but if you now moved apps that are system apps (like talk) they are now "gone". I am not 100% sure how link2sd works, if it uses an ext3 partition on the sdcard or what exactly it does. But it sounds like it really botched up your system.
Your best bet at this point it to find the Stock ROM and reflash the device back to the original stock setup.
For future reference, a factory reset does not return the device to "stock setup", it deletes all the user data off the device, as if it has never been used. It does not add any system apps or reset their "state". If you make those kinds of changes, a factory reset does not fix them.


text:
What is the synchronization source for the internal clock
Using a tool to compare the internal clock of my Android device to internet time servers, I noticed my device is 30 seconds wrong.
So that made me wondering what is the cause of this error. Where does Android gets it time from, so I can adjust or complain there:
I can think of the following sources:

Provided by the cellular network provider.
From GPS.
From a NTP server on the local WIFI network.
A global NTP server (hosted by Google)?

I've never understood why smartphone clocks are typically never synchronised by the OS with the time data received from GPS. I understand that there are 3rd party apps that can do this, it just seems a really obvious feature.

When I go to my Date & time settings, there is option that says: Automatic - Use network-provided values.
So, basing on this wording (also in other languages), I would say that automatic time is provided from your carrier.
There are apps, that can sync your clock with GPS satellites or NTP servers.

Note that there are carriers that doesn't provide time synchronization service, on those carriers you have to synchronize your clock manually

And without the device being rooted, those apps can only adjust the device's time when it's at least 30s off, unfortunately...

When I set a wrong time and switch back to automatic time, it's off by 0.2-0.3 seconds. Do you have anymore info on how this carrier-provided network time works? Like, does it literally go "Hey what's the time" -> "it's 12:43:30.2" or is there some back and forth to figure out the latency? Because 0.2-0.3s latency sounds fitting to me over 3g (HSDPA) abroad and would be a really stupid way of doing this.


text:
Manually Sync Outlook 2010 contacts/calendar only from Windows PC to Android cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S II) via USB cord only
How do I manually Sync Outlook 2010 contacts and calendar only from Windows PC to Android cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S II) via USB cord only. I do NOT want to use any kind of web based product, i.e. Google, nor pay 3rd party software program to do this, unless I have to. I don’t want automatic syncing; I just want control of my data by plugging my cell into my computer via USB cord and manually hitting sync.  If I make a change to contacts or calendar on my cell, when I plug it into my computer it transfers data and vice versa without it cutting off data in the notes of contacts or anywhere else because web based products only allow a certain amount of data to transfer. Also, what applications do I need to have on my cell phone for the contacts and calendar to work? I use Gmail separately for my emails by going to Google, but do not want that on Outlook 2010. Also, NO I will not give up Outlook.

If you don't want to use third party software then you need to use Samsung's Kies.  It says here that it supports syncing with Outlook, though I don't know the details.


text:
Restoring messages from ClockworkMod backup
Here's the story. Today my phone (modded with Cyanogen mod) started bootlooping. So, I did a ClockworkMod backup and went about installing the latest version of Cyanogen mod. When that was done, I restored the backup, but it started bootlooping yet again. So now, I have a fresh install of Cyanogen mod but none of my texts or call logs etc, all my contacts were sync'd from my Facebook anyway so I can get them back easily.
Does anyone know how I can extract my text messages from the ClockworkMod backup without sending my device back into a bootloop?
Cheers!

This won't help you currently, but something to consider for the future: if you find yourself switching ROMs frequently, you can try an SMS backup application like SMS Backup & Restore which backs up your messages to an XML on your SD card, or SMS Backup+ which syncs your messages and call logs to your Google account (essentially as GMail messages).

Use Titanium Backup pro (Paid). It can restore individual apps+data from CWM backups!
It clearly colors data containers with Green. And, names of container which keep contacts etc. vary as per Android version & manufacturer, but they are generally human readable. Keep Green color in mind. If you find Contacts which is not colored with green, its app.. not data container.


text:
How to turn off flashlight when the phone rings?
I have LG G3 with Android 4.4.2. When the phone rings or when I get a message, the flashlight will turn on.
How to turn it off?

Do you mean the camera flash comes on when the phone rings?

This setting should be found in Settings -> Accessibility -> Flash alerts. It's primarily used to notify people who are hard of hearing about calls and messages.
Source: Sprint's LG G3 User Guide


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 Wi-Fi connection problems
When I try to connect to Wi-Fi on my Samsung Galaxy S4, a message comes up, "Checking the quality of your internet connection..." and then "Network disabled because Internet connection is slow". This happens at home and when out and about when other devices connect straight away. This has only been happening in the past 4 to 6 weeks.
How to fix this issue?

Do you have switch to mobile data activated in your wifi settings? try disabling it.

I think it can be disabled in the WiFi menu. Press the hardware "Menu" button, then go to settings.

Sorry, but as of current writing, this answer lacks enough detail: which specific settings should be disabled?


text:
Does Android L Developer Preview fix the mm-qcamera-daemon problem?
I have a Nexus 5 running on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, and the mm-qcamera-daemon problem appeared today for the first time (I don't have the usual culprits like Snapchat or Skype).
Does Android L Developer Preview fix this issue?

Since this is a developer preview not intended for full-time, normal use, you may find the cure is worse than the disease: even if this problem is fixed, there might be new problems that are harder to live with.

@DanHulme Well, yeah maybe, but I can't think of a worse problem than the battery being discharged extremely quickly.

The battery being discharged extremely quickly such that the CPU melts. That's not likely on a dev preview, though. But deleting all your data, not being able to access the cellular network, or being unable to use a particular app are all more likely outcomes which would be problems for everyday use.

@DanHulme Thanks, I'm gonna stick to KitKat at least until the official release. Also I thing I found the culprit in my case, because I remember that earlier in the day this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nionsoftware.flashlight malfunctioned, and must have caused the problem.

Unfortunately I was still getting this issue (seems to come and go) under android L, so to answer your question, no, it's not fixed.
See https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=70755 for others who are reporting the issue still exists.

Fast forward to October 2014 and December 2014, Google's Android devs claimed that it has been fixed and added a few layers of protection on Android 5.0 Lollipop, though your mileage may vary.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 update installs strange applications
Today I updated the software to latest version. It took around 148MB to update and when finished, I started getting 4 new apps:

mytaxi
kaufDA
pizza.de
BILD

Wondering why these apps were installed, because my friends' S3 didn't have this.
Please let me know, if this is not an original phone or why, as I understood this seems to be a German version. However, when I checked the IMEI, 7th and 8th digits are respectively 0 and 5, not 0 and 8 to be German.

Yes, those apps are stock apps in the German-localized ROMs for the Galaxy S3 (the i9300 version). Likely they were there in the original ROM but you uninstalled them and later forgot about it. It's fine to just uninstall them.
The seventh and eight digits of the IMEI don't have any meaning in current phones. Before 2004, they indicated the country where the phone was assembled, but the structure of the IMEI was changed then so those two digits don't have a special meaning of their own.
There's nothing here to suggest your phone is a fake.

Thanks a lot, do you have any idea why does galaxy s3 gets sluggish when returning from lock screen to home screen? its damn slow. appreciate your reply.

If you have a new question, use the Ask question button. Posting it in the comments below an answer is a good way to make sure people won't see it.


text:
Kindle Store opens web browser instead of its native Kindle store
On my new Samsung S5, when I press Kindle Store button, it opens web browser view and not the native Kindle store.
Any help?

What Kindle store button? Since we can't see your phone, you have to describe very clearly exactly what steps you take.

Inside Kindle app you can click on cart icon to buy ebook etc... Doing this kindle app show the content like using a browser and not native app. I hope you understand better (sorry for my poor English ).

I was able to re-enable the Samsung Apps (or whatever it's called) and download the Kindle for Samsung app, which works fine.

Here install it again - Amazon Kindle.
Comment if not worked.

I've tried that. But same problem. I'd same problem with other Android tablet and I'd resolved, but I don't remember how....

I think that this app is kind of designed like that because I have tried it for myself yesterday.

I don't think so because on my mediacom tablet the Kindle store open like in native app. The Kindle version is the same. I repeat the problem was also in this tablet but for some reason was resolved but but I don't remember how I did....


text:
"Unknown address" when receiving text message on Samsung Galaxy S3
I have Samsung Galaxy S3 and whenever I get a text message from my friend, my phone says "Unknown address" although I've already saved the number. All their messages are kept under "Unknown address", so I can't really find out whose message they are.
I want to receive messages under the right conversation group, how can I fix this?

The question is a bit confusing, can u assure if ALL the SMS you receive are saved with unknown address, or just the SMS from one contact?


text:
Why does my Android phone think it was in Japan?
According to Google location history, I was in Tokyo in February. It could be that I had so much saké I'm forgetting something important, but as far as I know I've never been to Japan.
Other questions on inaccurate location history seem mostly related to minor inaccuracies because of phone connecting to nearby WiFi points.
But what technical issue could cause the location to be off by ~6000 miles?

try running the GPS for few mintues so it will pinpoint your real location.

Not really a rare question: Maps location out by 12,742km - the other side of the world / Google location history wildly inaccurate / Google Maps Location History is showing an incorrect location / Gps mistaken my location and get me to trouble / ...

@Izzy the answer on that question concerns errors of several orders of magnitude less.  the other questions concerning international size mistakes do not have answers

wim, check all of them (best before asking anew, as too many duplicates make it hard to gather the facts). Easy example: Two weeks ago I lived in Japan. Now I live next door to you. I didn't change the SSID of my router, and Google didn't yet update its database. So whenever your device sees my SSID, you're in Japan – according to Google... as onik also pointed out below. We've got this question at least 10 or more times, so all the facts are probably "spread around them".

One reason could be that that location was determined from a WiFi access point, which had been previously moved from Japan to somewhere near you.
Google registers the location of each WiFi access point Android devices are connected to (if allowed in settings) and uses these to obtain a location when GPS is slow or unavailable. Unfortunately it takes some time to update the location if the access point is moved, so this kind of error can happen.


text:
Set ringtone to start from a specific point
I recently got my Nexus 5 and I would like to know if there is any way that I can set a ringtone to start from a specific point from a track that I have on my phone.
Is there any way that can help me do that, considering that I don't want to cut the track to the point that I want my ringtone to start from?

Well, I don't think that can be done! Why don't you use several MP3 cutters to cut the song over to the appropriate place you like?
There is a load of song cutter apps available over the Play Store, as well as software also available for PCs. I have tried searching over the Play Store and got several apps names MP3 cutter which can help you out with cutting the ringtone to a specific point and then then you can set that as your ringtone.

There are two ways to create custom ringtones.

Through an Android app from the Play Store

Real player MP3 cutter which cuts the MP3 from the desired starting time (from where to start) and the end time as well (till where it should play)

Now for this-

[...] considering that I don't want to cut the track to the point that I want my ringtone to start from?

is completely irrelevant because without specifying/cutting the start time, how will the audio file start to play as all the audio/video files start from 00:00?
The audio file cannot randomly start anywhere you like. It has to have a point where you need the song to start (00:00 till the end but not from 2:50 till the end).
Ex:- Suppose you have a Beethoven audio file in which you want the phone to ring from 4:00 till 4:35 i.e. 35 seconds then with the help of an MP3 cutter, you will set the starting point from 4:00 and ending point to 4:35 . After you have set the slider, then you need to cut that particular portion and it will be set as 00:00 to 00:35. This song will not replace the original Beethoven song but will add an extra song of just 35 secs as a ringtone.

Actually it's possible to include a start/end point in the meta tags of the audio file. For example iTunes can do this. But it isn't applicable in this case since the start/end points can't be defined as "ringtone-only", so it has the same effect as cutting the file.

Not a complete answer, but an important detail: I discovered that from a song length of 1:30 (90 seconds), Android seems to pick a fragment from the middle of the song instead of the beginning. So, if you cut your own ringtone and expect that it starts from the beginning, it must be less than 1:30 in length. 1:29 is fine.
(checked with a Galaxy S10)


text:
Getting "The application [APPLICATION NAME] ( [APPLICATION ADDRESS] ) has stopped working unexpectedly. Please try again"
I have a Motorola Razor running on Android Version 2.2.2.
Over the past 3 days, whenever I turn on the phone, the following message appears on the screen:

"The application [APPLICATION NAME] ( [APPLICATION ADDRESS] ) has stopped working unexpectedly. Please try again". Application name: Email, Messaging, Google Services, Market, The Weather Chanel, etc.

After force closing the initial message, up to 10 similar messages appear until the home screen finally opens.
If I click on the Google browser or any app, the error message(s) again appears and as a result I cannot access the Internet or run any apps.
Does anyone out there know how I can solve this issue?

Sounds like a database got corrupted, but perhaps it's just cache.  Try clearing your cache via ClockworkMod Recovery if you have it or an app like this if you don't.  Running "Fix permissions" in CWM or ROM Manager might also help if you're rooted.
If that doesn't work take a look at your logcat and see if there are any errors that are more clear about what the problem is.  Otherwise I'd probably opt for a factory reset; unfortunately, I don't think it would be easy to track down what exactly was corrupted without more info.


text:
Can Tablets deal with USB Sound Cards?
I've found this thing on eBay. It converts the USB to a microphone input and a jack-speaker output. I'm just curious, if my tablet is compatible with it as the description doesn't explicitly mentions it.
My device is rooted if that makes any difference.

Please DO NOT use URL shorteners here. Use the full, real, URL.

As far as I know, the Galaxy SIII is the only android device that currently supports USB Audio.  I heard that Cyanogenmod also enables this though.

Extremely doubtful, to the point where I'm confident saying no, it wouldn't work.  It would require either the OS dev team having included Linux drivers that would work with the USB device, or the USB device manufacturer having released Android-compatible drivers that you could install on your tablet yourself.

It's not vendor specific - these things use the USB Audio standard, and don't need device specific drivers.  All it would take is google enabling USB Audio in the stock OS.  Really don't understand why they haven't done this.

I believe that product is an DAC. As long as your device has OTG/USB host support, it'll work.

As far as I know, the Galaxy SIII is the only android device that currently supports USB Audio.  Stock ICS does not.


text:
Synchronize/copy OSGB Map
I've paid for & downloaded a map from Great Britain Ordnance Survey onto my Android phone. I want to copy it to my tablet. Can anybody tell me where (i.e. directory) the map is within the phone, or how to copy the map properly?


text:
Paragon NTFS doesn't work on enforcing mode
I need to mount 2TB SeaGate external HD to my Galaxy S4 LTE, and I'm using Paragon NTFS for that. The app worked when I was still using EchoeROM. I recently switched to Paranoid 4.4.4 and now this app won't work.
Is there any way to make it work again?

You'd need to add a lot more details to your question, for example what device you're using, which version of Paranoid, what apps are you trying to use to access the drive...

Ok i added the details. Please help me now.

Does the app give an error message? Did you try mounting other drives? Have you checked that you have all the requirements for the app, mainly fuse kernel module?

Yes. It says that it doesn't work on enforcing mode.


text:
No more free storage space
My Galaxy S2 plus (4.2.2 JB) keeps saying I only have 416 Mb of free space on my internal space despite moving all apps to external storage and deleting junk files. Any solutions for this persistent problem?

I think it is an application that is notifying about less memory. R u using cleaning apps?

Happy for you. Please add your answer so that others with same problem get benefited.

You can root your mobile and can use some partition tool or go through this link http://www.android.gs/increase-galaxy-ace-internal-memory/.

Rooting isn't a solution.

Thanks guys I'll check them out; but I already found my own solution. Cheers!

@MANI By itself, rooting isn't a solution, but it is only one of the steps that vikki listed in the overall solution here. And the OP didn't specify they only wanted non-root solutions.

Solution: use foldermount to move all apps with big data storage to your ext sd card. Simple and easy. All you need is a rooted phone and internet acces to download the app from the playstore. The rest is easy...


text:
Clearing recommendations in the Google Play Store?
Due to some careless browsing being hacked, definitely hacked, my Play Store recommended apps are somewhat NSFW...
I looked in privacy settings for my Google account, but only found the option for search.
Is there some way to clear those recommendations or do I have to just keep browsing and installing other apps?

I believe (based on past 'hacks') that the search history and installed apps are the two sources Google uses to make recommendations.
If you go to Settings and Clear Search History that should help, also if you go to My Apps, swipe left and click the x by the offending NSFW apps.


text:
Prevent zooming when clicking a link on Chrome
I'm pretty good at clicking the link I want to click. Most of the time it magnifies and makes me tap again when the first tap was sufficiently centered. I want it to just assume I got close enough and go to the link closest to the center of the area I tapped. Is it possible?


text:
Preview Facebook Messenger's message on lock screen
I had this feature on for like 24 hours, but now it's gone. It's when Facebook messages would pop up onto my lock screen and I could see the message without having to actually turn on and unlock my phone. Now I cannot find how to change this.
Where is the setting for this feature?

I have noticed the same thing.
It appears the latest Facebook updates have actually removed the feature as there is no setting in the app for the lockscreen.