text:
New TF300 is not showing anything on the screen
I purchased an ASUS TF300 from Amazon and it arrived today. The manual says to charge it for 8 hours for optimal battery life, so I plugged it in and let it charge for a bit. The power button is now displaying a green light after about two hours of charging (it's still plugged in), and when I press the button the tablet's backlight comes on. However, the screen is blank - nothing is being displayed.
I've tried forcing a reboot (holding the power button down for 8 seconds). The tablet makes a chiming noise and appears to reboot - based on the backlight turning off and then back on - but there is still nothing displayed on the screen.
Any suggestions? Is it possible it's DOA?

@RichardBorcsik "To prolong battery life, fully charge the battery for up to 8 hours when using the ASUS Transformer Pad for the first time and whenever the battery power is fully depleted." :) Seemed a little off to me as well, which is why I just gave it a shot after it got a few hours of charge.

I was unable to resolve the issue through all types of hard/cold resets/reboots (PWR+VOL, PWR for 30 seconds, hard reset pin, etc), so I returned to Amazon and received a working tablet today. It appears that mine was just DOA.


text:
Can apps be controlled through adb?
Can an installed application be completely controlled via adb?
For example:
Consider I need to to export my Contacts to SD Card. So here there are basically 5 Steps involved
1)Open Contacts application
2)Press Menu Key
3)Select Import/Export option
4)Select Export to SD card
5)Confirm Export
Can any/all of them be performed via adb?
This can be useful when you have an unrooted phone with a bricked display and all access you have is via adb.

Why didn't you have all your contacts sync through Gmail or Hotmail?

I prefer not giving up my contacts to google or any 3rd party for that matter.
I tried Kies but it won't detect my Galaxy S (The bricked phone)  while it works perfectly fine for Galaxy Mini.

Why not go back to your carrier's shop and get them to do it for you - they'd have the means to do this kind of thing for customers who are clumsy?

you can generate key events  with adb. technically it should be possible to launch a thoroughly crafted series of key events to an app.

Thanks a lot ce4. It worked!
Exported my contacts to SD card.

Yes and no. You can issue intents with adb but that's it. So the steps you described can't be achieved with adb.
Edit: ce4 showed a blog post which mentions the input binary which is able to simulate key events.
adb shell input keyevent <keycode>

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How do I disable Google App?
I'm using Android 6.0 (non-rooted) phone. Holding home button opens up Google App which I never use.
I don't think that I can change the behavior of holding home button at least as non-root user. (If there's any way or work-around then don't forget to tell me!)
So, as I never use Google App and also want to stop opening Google App by means of home button, I want to disable it as it is a system application hence I can't uninstall it.
But when I opened Google App from system settings, I found disable button is disabled:

So, How do I disable Google App or there is no option except root?
By the way, it is also not being force-stop with the help of force-stop button!

Rooting is a key to gain privileges like reputation is for this site!

You must be rooted.

Have you tried adb shell pm hide com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox?

@Firelord no. I'm not familiar with adb.

Have you tried opening the Google app, settings, direct search, disable?

If this is sock app, how it doesn't have uninstall updates button, or you allredy done that?

If you didn't uninstalled updates than pres on 3-dot button (if there isn't such than holding recents button should have same effect) and than see if disable button becmes usable. Btw, which device you have?

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје There is not update installed of Google App. Device:Lenovo A6600+

@xangua it's grayed out

You can change the behavior of holding home button even as non-root user (at least on my LG G Flex 2 with Android version 6.0.1):
Settings - Apps - Configure apps - Default Apps (in Advanced section) - Assist & voice input - here touch the text "Assist app Google app" not the icon on the right edge - here select None.

Though the answer is not about disabling Google App actually but as it solves my issue, I've accepted. +1 for helping out

Worked for me (stock Miui10), 2 years after the answer. That is, these steps helped disassociate the Google app from the home button on my phone (center button for me).

Clear all the data of google app then
Go to play store > options> My apps & games.

Go to 'installed'>Google app > uninstall
Now don't do anything it will show to two options 'update' and 'open'
minimize and close play store.
Then head to the settings > storage & USB > internal storage > Go to google app.
Now you should be able to disable it.

How do you "minimize and close" Play Store? This isn't Windows.

After uninstall, app(user app) is completely removed from your app list. Then, how can you disable it.

I was able to finally disable the Google App by updating the app then uninstalling the updates from the 3-dots menu in the top right.  This caused Android to present the Disable button.

I went to Settings, Apps, Google App, then Modify System Settings, then switched off
Allow modify system settings.  I could then force stop the app, and disable it. The icon even disappeared from the app drawer with a refresh of the launcher.  Android 7.1.1.

There is no such option in Android 6.0

I tried Carl's suggestion above on Android 8.1.  It worked.  However, the Google launcher didn't launch.  I had to pull down the menu at top, go to settings, apps, and enable Google Play Store.  The Google App was enabled again also.    Maybe with another launcher it would have worked.  (On the 7.1.1 I had another launcher, Apex).

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје

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

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


text:
Difference between Accelerometer, Orientation sensors used in Android devices
Android phones have sensors. I heard about following sensors but there is need to identify difference (or different use) between following terms:

Accelerometer
Orientation
Auto-Rotation
G-sensor & Gravity sensor

From above which deals with auto-rotation of screen and what are other different specific use of them

In simple terms, Accelerometer is a sensor(Hardware) in your Smartphone which is Highly accurate can detect small changes in the position of your phone.
While Orientation sensor & Gravity sensors (Hardware) refers to a less accurate accelerometor sensor can detect only when major change occurs(Ex.Changing the phone from portrait to landscape or vice versa) . As the  Orientation sensor & Gravity sensors are less accurate,They cost low. So, they are used in low cost android phone.
Auto-rotation is a software in Android which gets the information from Accelerometer(or Orientation sensor/G-sensor) and changes the your screen orientation.
Note:In phones, Accelerometer can be used for screen rotation,gaming purpose & also to measures the force. But Orientation sensor & Gravity sensors can only used for screen rotation.

The only "real" sensor there is the accelerometer. The other 3 are actually synthetic; the device uses the data from it's accelerometer to find "up" and down" (relative to the ground) and magnetometer to identify which direction is "north". From those pieces of information it is possible for the device to know it's absolute 3-dimensional orientation relative to the Earth. Your best bet is to read the explanation of the sensors provided for Android developers.


text:
When app is moved to SD card, where is the app data stored on SD card?
My phone (Sony E4g, running Android 4.4.4) offers the possibility of moving some of the installed apps partially onto the (removable) SD-card. I use this feature regularly, and -in theory- quite a big part of the apps are already moved on it. My problem is however that I can't find these anywhere on the SD-card, and there are no separate partitions on the card either. So my question is: where exactly are this moved apps stored on the external storage in KitKat ? Thanks.

OK, after some research it seems that all the apps moved to external SD-card are in the virtual file system /mnt/asec, which is, in turn, an abstraction layer over the encrypted files stored in the hidden .android_secure folder, on the ext. SD-card.

Generally, you cannot see app data files on internal storage unless you have root - I would assume that this is the same with data files on external storage. A quick check with one of my apps shows me that even after moving it to the SD card, the data is still in /data/data, without a symbolic link or anything. Of course, this doesn't mean that the files aren't on the SD card - maybe the Android system itself just "sees" the files as on internal storage but really they're on the external one. There also doesn't seem to be anything in the /storage/sdcard1/Android/data/app.package.name (or /external_sd/Android/data/app.package.name) folders, however that's where I would assume they're stored. I see your point though, and I would like to know myself exactly where they're stored - but I can't exactly fit this all into a comment. Some apps use root and a second partition to completely move app data and create "links" (specifically symbolic links) between where the actual files, libraries, APK files etc. are stored and where they normally would be. This is done on a second partition as there is a large risk that the first partition will become unmounted when you plug your device into a computer in MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode, and if it was unmounted it would render a large amount of apps useless.
When you've got a large amount of apps moved onto external storage, make sure that the microSD card is always plugged in and that you don't delete anything off it. You can run into issues such as the whole app being unavailable and yet still taking up space on internal storage if this happens.

Thanks for the answer. My phone actually restarts as soon as I try to unmount the external SD-card (in the settings menu). One remark to your answer: connecting in MTP mode does not result unmounting any partition.

Really? Link2SD states in its description that Android unmounts the first partition when you connect your device to a PC ad mass storage. I assume that's MTP...

Oh yeah, your answer seems right. It makes sense that they're stored there

No, MTP is not mass storage. The problem you describe was a big reason for Android to change from using mass storage to MTP. See http://android.stackexchange.com/a/56094/12442 for more details.


text:
How can I add data to apk?
What I know is:

I can get .apk of installed application from /data/app
I can get data of installed application from /data/data

What I want is:
Add/pack this application-data into .apk so-that when I install application from .apk, application should be installed with data.
Is it possible? Then How can I...?
Note: I use rooted device with android 4.2.2

Any problem in using adb backup? It creates a .ab file containing both the apk and data files. All you've to is execute adb restore to restore both.

That said: Please visit our backup tag-wiki for details :)

The same way you add music to .jpg

@SarpSTA: What does that mean? What are you implying? Please be precise.


text:
WhatsApp end-to-end encryption
Earlier this week, I saw below message on WhatsApp
 (Click for larger Variant)

What does this means to the User?

With end-to-end encryption, messages are scrambled as they leave the
  sender's device and can only be decrypted by the recipient's device.
  It renders messages unreadable if they are intercepted, for example by
  criminals.

My question is: Does this end-to-end encryption applies to individual chat and to group chat between Android-only devices or it also works on other platforms, Since WhatsApp is available on iOS, Windows Mobile also.

Whatsapp End-to-End encryption includes chats, group chats, attachments, voice notes, and voice calls across Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Nokia S40, Nokia S60, Blackberry, and BB10.
The idea of End-to-End encryption is to make a communication more private (like Face-to-Face Conversation) that is when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. None can see that message which includes cybercriminals and hackers. Because the End-to-End Encryption means the content of communications are not stored in plaintext on WhatsApp’s servers. Nor is the company able to decrypt users’ messages to access them since it does not hold the encryption keys. So WhatsApp will be unable to be compelled to hand over messaging data — even if served with a warrant by authorities demanding access.
This is applicable to the Users running the most recent versions of WhatsApp on any platform now get full end to end encryption for every message they send and every WhatsApp call they make when communicating with each other.

There are other attack types for non-encrypted messages, such as MiTM attacks. Since end-to-end encryption prevents this technique, I think you should mention this in your answer.

It appears to be between all platforms, as its written here:
https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp-complete/
"Over the past year, we've been progressively rolling out Signal Protocol support for all WhatsApp communication across all WhatsApp clients. This includes chats, group chats, attachments, voice notes, and voice calls across Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Nokia S40, Nokia S60, Blackberry, and BB10."

is that a official WhatsApp site? I guess we need reliable source to confirm on this Q!

https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/28030015  This may lead a bit further, but still no "they say exactly that" though. But actually for me its quite clear now. Where should be the sense in making this feature platform-depended?


text:
How do I investigate the memory Usage?
I've a Micromax A74 with (rooted) Android 4.2.2. Recently I've faced the crashing of some application and started to analyze the usage of RAM.
Settings>Apps>Running is not helpful:

Sometimes I found only 2 MB free!
I want to know which applications are consuming the memory?
I've also tried top -n 1 -m 8:

But I can't figure out the top applications which cause for lowering the RAM.
On GNU/Linux I can run top -n 1 -o %MEM which displays the applications that consuming most of RAM but such feature isn't available with /system/bin/top or busybox top.
So, How do investigate which applications are consuming a lot of memory? so-that I can force-stop them.
Note: Don't suggest any app like ram booster, it is the different question.

What does adb shell dumpsys meminfo tell you? See if this document helps: http://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/debugging-memory.html

@Firelord error: device not found. I don't have any connection to PC with my Android phone. I want to investigate using phone only. If you've any helpful solution/suggestion, you can post an answer.

Do you've root access? Do su -c 'dumpsys meminfo' in that case.

@Firelord http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/27726834#27726834

It seems you wanna order by ram usage, I believe that is
top -n 1 -m 25 -s rss

But I get it from your question. Thanks.


text:
Trouble with finding an app on play store
I'm using Android 6.0 (non-rooted) phone and looking for an application called call tools optinno.
Though it can be easily found by searching on net : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.calltoolsoptinno , However, I can't find on play store by searching call tools optinno or by call blocker etc.

I've also tried by entering id : com.calltoolsoptinno on the play store but didn't get.
Note: I've scrolled down multiple times but can't find the app I'm looking for.
What's wrong with searching mechanism?

Sorry, but I'm afraid this question is rather "Android independent": we cannot do anything about the search algorithms built into Google's websites. And I bet the whole thing doesn't even run on Android :)

Why don't you search for "Call blocker and more tools" for a more direct approach?

@Izzy Is there a SE community/site for/on which this question is suitable?

@Pandya no idea. Ask Google? #D Not that it didn't annoy me every now and then (you search for the exact name, still get n pages of irrelevant stuff first if the app appears at all). Not always, though...

It's possibly being filtered out because it's not compatible with whatever device you're searching on.

@eldarerathis I'm using Android 6.0. Does it show for you?

There's more to it than just Android version. Developers can also restrict their apps based on geographic location or hardware features. I'm not sure if either of these would be necessary for this particular app, but it's certainly possible. You'd probably have to contact the developer to find out, or you could try visiting the Play Store in a browser that's signed into the same account that's on your phone; then it should tell you if it's incompatible.

There are two reasons - I think -  an app can't be found in Google Play Store: The app is not designed for your phone model and/ or android version and/or it is  a geographic specific app. Use a VPN if it is geographically unavailable for your region/country.

I've tried VPN but still have the same issue.

Try this, connect to a VPN, set a country, eg. USA, Go to Settings > Applications > Google Play and clear data & cache then open Google Play, find your app, download. Have fun.


text:
Security options grayed out
I have my mobile phone (Samsung Galaxy S2) running on ICS. Recently I activated Microsoft Exchnage ActiveSync to connect to my corporate email. It disabled all the security options like 'Pattern Unlock'. I hated it, and removed my microsoft active exchange account from the phone, but these options are still disabled. How do I get it enabled?

This is a guess, but give it a try. Settings, Security, Trusted credentials, User, and remove anything connected with your corporate e-mail.

@CraigStuntz: I cleared all credentials from security settings..still doesn't work.

As a last ditch effort, you could try this:

Use Titanium Backup to backup all your Apps + Data.
Reset the phone to factory defaults.
Restore all apps and data except for Activesync.

This will definitely fix your issues.  Question is, "Is it worth the effort?"

Just an idea, have you tried doing a full reboot of the phone?  I have been guilty of overlooking the simple solutions before. :)

Yup..rebooted at least thrice after changing various settings..I would really hate to reset to factory defaults..I will still play around with it sometime to see any other solution exists.

Reset the phone to factory defaults and restored..Nothing else worked. Thanks.

Had issue that "None", "Slide" and "Face unlock" were all greyed out.
Went to Security->Clear Credentials and all options became available.

Now, what to do when "Clear credentials" is greyed out.

Okay, stab in the dark, but try this:
From the home screen, press Menu ->Settings->Location & Security->Select Device Administrators and look for something related to the Exchange account, most likely Corporate Sync. You should be able to change settings/disable it from there.
I've never used an Exchange account, so I can't test this :/ But it looks from reading around (here) that this may be your problem, otherwise it may be forced Exchange settings as described on this technet forum.
Let us know if this works, or points you in a new direction!

It says no device administrators in that section :(

rough :/ so i would assume those settings were set by the Exchange servers your company had set up, I would try connecting the account again and looking for some settings within that account that could change things back

Try connecting to the Exchange server first, then delete the setting in Settings > Location & Security > Select Device Administrators, once you delete the settings, disconnect from it... this is a long shot... :)

I recently ran into the same issue. After connecting to Exchange 2010 I was not able to reset back to a swipe unlock... even after removing the exchange account and clearing the credentials. Turns out that the policy of this Exchange connection required that you have high unlock security of a 6 character password including at least 1 digit and it encrypts your SD card (among other security features). I was not able to change back to the swipe unlock because the SD card was encrypted. At the time I had a 4 digit PIN (medium/high) as the security to unlock my phone, however the security was set to Password (high). Therefore I was able to get into my phone with the PIN, but not able to get to the options to decrypt the SD card.
To resolve the issue and decrypt the SD card I had to go through the Password security setup and create a password. After I created the password I was then able to get to the properties of "Encrypt external SD card" and uncheck the option to encrypt the SD card. Once the encryption was removed from the SD card I was able to change the unlock back to swipe.

This is already answered, but here is an alternative that does not require you to remove whatever credential/configuration caused this in the the first place.  After all, you needed the credential/configuration once and you will probably need it again.
This is probably caused by some configuration that installed a certificate on your device (such as a VPN profile, an exchange account, or secure wifi network). It could also could be caused by an app that has administrator privileges.
Here's the loophole: only the graphic interface for selecting these options is disabled.  I was able to get around this using third-party apps.  I used Tasker in combination with the free version of Secure Settings.  In Tasker ... New Task -> Add Action -> Plugin -> Secure Settings -> Edit ... then choose your options.  To make it take effect immediately, just press 'Run' when you get back to the Task Edit screen (looks like a 'play' button).
Please note:

This requires your phone to be rooted.
Encrypting your phone or SD card disables less secure lock options.  I am unsure what effect the method described herein will have in those cases.
This method retains the configuration needed access the culprit account/service, but circumvents its security requirements.  To use someone else words:

There is a specific reason why an administrator configures such a policy, and I would recommend it to everyone. If your phone gets stolen nobody will be able to read your company's email, which is a secret. Lots of industrial accidents occurred because employees lost their mobile devices (laptops included) with sensitive data not protected enough.

I suggest associating the Tasker task with a Tasker profile that is only activated in certain situations (for instance, when you are at home).

On a Galaxy S4 I had the exact same issue. Corporate Exchange policies grayed out all locks screen choices except password and pin.  "Clear Credentials" was grayed out.  After removing the Exchange account all options were still grayed out.  I had to go through the Password Security setup wizard to create a device password.  I then had to go into "Encrypt external SD card", even though I had no external SD card inserted, and turn that off.  I could then, finally, change my screen lock types (I chose pattern lock).  Took an hour of sleuthing, but this thread finally gave me the clues needed.  Thanks all.

Have you got VPN set up? - it requires it. I had VPN set up then decided i didn't it so after i removed the VPN (settings > other > VPN > long press > delete) the 'None' option for removing pin/password got enabled again


text:
Are rooted Android phone more vulnerable to Malware Apps than non-rooted ones?
From my understanding, a rooted Android phone mean that the user will be accessing everything on the phone, just like a root user. So, installing a Apps mean that the Apps will also have root privileges.
So, does a non-rooted ones more safer than those rooted phone? (In another word, will rooted Android phone make it a easy target for Apps that are actually malware or virus to attack?)

The user doesn't access everything as root. See Does rooting mean I will always run my device as root? and the dupe it was linked to for more on that (not sure if that affects your question any).

Note that there has been malware that actually attempted to root devices itself.  I'm not sure if that would allow it to work around SuperUser / SuperSU if it was already in place or if those apps would actually protect against it in the manner that the answers explain.

With root privilege, a malware app can certainly do heavy damage, but it doesn't work like that.
Just because an app is on a rooted device, it doesn't mean it gets root privilege automatically. With modern rooting standards, you'll have to permit it. When an app requests root access, a pop-up from SuperUser or SuperSU app appears asking to allow it or not. If you don't know much about the app, simply block access. If you don't pay attention to this, you deserve to experience bad things.
Update:
As a last line of defense, I'd like to add that nobody knows from where nasty malware apps can exploit a loophole. You find un-rooted devices secure, but there're apps which are able to even root a device from inside (There was a positive-purpose app named Root Exploit in Google Market which was later kicked out by Google). So, if you want to be secure, don't install unknown apps. And, if possible, use Play Store only. These suggestions are irrespective of your device is rooted or not.

Note also that SuperSU is now used by many people instead of Superuser, because it is apparently better. I must say I couldn't get Superuser to work any more after an OS update (I think it was 4.1), but SuperSU worked.

@Cerberus I don't see any difference in their core functionalities. Only nice thing about SuperSU: Its pro version adds feature of OTA RootKeeper. Anyway, I have added it to answer. Thanks...

Right, I don't think there is any difference in that regard.

@SachinShekhar, so can I assume that if the device is not rooted and it does not have the SuperSU or SuperUser apps installed, so, when a app wish to gets root privilege, will android pop-up a message saying that 'Oh gosh, the app wish to get root privilege, would you wish to let it have it?'

@Jack Without SuperUser or SuperSU, there'll be no pop-up... no matter device is rooted or not.

Yes, and No.
If an app had root access, then it could cause untold damage - but you have to specifically give it that access.
The SuperSU or Superuser apps allow you to specify which apps have root access, and what commands they run. You can use this to stop malicious apps, and to also determine malicious apps.
So, to conclude:

Root access can be dangerous
Apps can only get root access if you allow them to
You can see the commands the app runs as root


text:
How do you eject the samsung device when the device is currently being used for testing using the Android-ADT
I connected my Samsung Device(Android 4.1.2 ) for testing my app through the Android-ADT(Eclipse).

After closing the workspace when I tried to eject the device through
Eject I get a dialog box saying the phone is currently being used
please close any running software using the phone.
Thereby forcing me to unplug the device manually.
Any help appreciated.

From command prompt try adb kill-server  and then eject

@Sameer it wonderfully worked by terminating the server from command prompt

Okay I will make that as an answer

From command prompt you can enter the following command
adb kill-server

and then try ejecting.

The dialog you mention is nothing to do with USB debugging: it's because the device's storage is mounted (via MTP or USB mass storage), and some app has a file open from that storage. It could be that you have a file manager window looking at the device's storage, or that your music player software is automatically indexing files on it, or something else.
To avoid the dialog, you need to find and close whatever software on your desktop computer has files from the phone open. On Linux you can use the lsof tool to help; on Windows you just have to guess.


text:
Is there an app that can turn off wifi for me when screen goes off?
I have a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9. I have looked for a WiFi Sleep Policy (or similar) setting under Settings -> Wireless & networks -> WiFi settings -> (menu button) Advanced but there is none.
Is there an app available for this device that can set WiFi to turn off during sleep?

You may want to try this simple app.

I have tried it. It seemed to work perfectly!


text:
Rooting issue on my xperia m
I have got my Xperia M and somehow now it says "Type password to decrypt storage." I have tried all ways but nothing has helped. Will rooting the phone help my cause? Will it remove the encryption?

There is a lot of information about this out there, so I suggest you try searching first and then come back if you are still stuck. This search should get you started.
Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to factory reset the device, which means you will lose your data and installed apps. I really don't think rooting is going to help you since that will not give you the needed decryption key in itself.
Hopefully you have a backup. Good luck.

I have already tried factory reset opton,but its of no use.. What more can i do?

Any one found solution?

authors: Сергей Вороной


text:
What is android.process.acore?
What is the purpose of android.process.acore?
I see many, many questions about acore-related error messages and how to fix them, but not really anything about what the process is in the first place. All I was able to find is this thread at xda-developers which suggests it has something to do with Contacts storage. Can anyone provide a more detailed explanation?

android.process.acore seems to be a process specifically defined for an activity of ContactsProvider/ContactsStorage app. See what is  android:process and the answers for Usage of android:process. Overall, it's a process name defined by an app for its component. That's all I needed to know.

For me it belonged to /system/app/ContactsProvider.apk


text:
Is it possible to get Android 6.0 if you have any Android 5.0 device?
As you may know, Google came out with the new Android 6.0 but it is not available in my country right now. I was wondering if I bought an Android 5.0 device from the store, would I be able to upgrade to Android 6.0 manually in the future?

Without knowing your exact phone's model number, carrier etc. We are unable to tell you if the manufacturer planned to roll out Android 6.0 for this specific device.

Possible duplicate of When will my device get the Android 6.0 update (Marshmallow)?

I'm not sure if you understand how Android works. You can't just throw purr Android 6.0 on any phone. You need the device drivers, then you have to include them into the OS. This is a very technical process that very few people can do. You'll have to find a custom ROM that somebody else made for your phone, or you'll have to hope that your manufacturer released a ROM for your phone.

You need to choose carefully, since many vendors and carriers will abandon devices quickly as they release new ones. So no, you cannot guarantee that ANY device running 5.0 will be able to upgrade to 6.0.  However, here are some suggestions to improve your chances:

Get a recent Google Nexus device. These are always the first to get new releases because they are Google's Android showcase devices. Check this page for devices that have 6.0 firmware available.
Get a device that is on this list. CynaogenMod (CM) is a very good alternative firmware that has breathed life into many, many old
devices that have been long-forgotten by the vendors. CM13 is the
version based on Android 6.0 and they are working hard to expand the
number of devices supported.
Take a look at XDA-Developers device
forums and look for devices that have unofficial Marshmallow
builds. Keep in mind that many of the ROMs posted there are
experimental and possible unstable, and this may be especially true of a new 6.0-based ROM.
Get a device that has an upgrade guarantee or a device that the manufacturer has stated will be getting 6.0. This article is a nice recent list that will get you started, and there is also a Community Wiki on this site tracking status.  However, keep in mind that even if you have a device from this list, the carrier may take longer to (or never) push out the update. As an example, I once had a phone where HTC had released an update but my carrier took almost a year to push their branded version to my phone.  If you can't root your device, you may be at the whim of your carrier.

Not to forget 5. What's really new in Android 6? Is it worth the hassle?


text:
Share my location in real-time with friends without letting Google know where I am?
Is there an easy way to share my location in real-time with friends without letting Google know where I am?

Don't you mean "without you knowing that Google knows where you are"? (just adding to the privacy complex)

Fair point. Related to that -- the "Use wireless networks" option adds a great deal of location awareness without GPS usage, but requires consenting to Google's (anonymized) collection of location data. To track your location without the wireless networks option, you're going to be running GPS constantly. TO help cut that down you could look into one of the many rules-based GPS triggers -- turn GPS on or off based on cell tower or nearby wifi networks. There are a few apps for that, such as Tasker or Locale.

I'd really like to know how to do this without a data plan.  An SMS autoresponder that replies with a google maps link to my latitude and longitude?

@endolith - I think you want something like Inserty http://www.appbrain.com/app/inserty-(free)/com.roomfour0four.android.market.inserty

I figured out how to do it with Tasker, so my phone automatically responds to SMS messages with certain keyword and sends the person a google maps link and my speed.

Glympse seems like a good alternative. Just pick who you want to share with, and for how long, and they can follow you on their phones or computers (and they don't need Glympse installed).

I have used Glympse and like the way it works. It does not require an account to use. It generates a unique URL that you send to those who you want to track you. You set the duration for how long someone can track you. I gotta believe the company that makes "Glympse" will be bought up by some corporation for big $$.

Glympse looks good, except the longest you can share your location to someone is 4 hours. No Latitude replacement.

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/2.5/


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Delete folders from the SD storage
I have a Nexus 4 smartphone and in external storage there are many folders which I believe to be unused and/or empty.
Is it possible to delete them safely? In other words, if I delete an empty folder that is really needed by an app, will it get recreated automatically or will I break the app?

Removing empty folders may not account for much space, but the following will help you remove them.
Install "SD Maid" from the Playstore then run 'SystemCleaner' from within.
To remove junk files install "Clean Master" then click on  'Junk Files', cache files  and APK files may use up a significant amount of space.   Faster here than clearing cache files for each application and it is not just browsers that have old cache files.

If they are empty, they can be deleted. They will be recreated as needed. Before deleting them, make sure that they really are empty. As in, not even hidden files are there, except for ones like ".nomedia"


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How to install games directly to SD card without going through phone or internal memory
I have a Micromax Canvas A177 Android device which has 4GB of storage and 1GB of RAM.  Currently, I only have 700 MB of storage available and I cannot install any more applications.
I have a SD card installed in the device, but to move an application to the SD card, I first have to install it in the phone storage, which I cannot due because of limited space.
How can I install an app directly to external storage without first having to install it in phone storage?

Go through the one time steps mentioned on this link.


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Photos copied via bluetooth from LG 4X HD to Xperia Z are no longer sorted
I recently copied all my photos and videos from my LG to my Xperia Z using Bluetooth. It took a while but the all copied over fine and are in  a single album, My Album, under a folder named Bluetooth.
The problem is that they are now unsorted. On the LG phone, I had all of the media files organized by different albums but now they are all in a single album.
Is there a way to copy these using Bluetooth or another method without losing the album structure and naming?

It seems you have lost your folder structure ("albums") due to the Bluetooth transfer. A possible solution would be to copy not over Bluetooth but rather with a Computer (USB) or over Wifi and a network share, to retain the folder structure.
There are many file managers available in the play store which can use network shares. You may also consider using DropBox or that kind of service.

If both the devices have NFC then try that or else as @Markus has said you can only do is transfer only through the USB cable. USB cable is a better option for faster data transfer and the best part it retains the file structure in the way it was stored on another device.
For that first you need to store the file as it is on the System later connect your xperia and transfer the same file .
USB transfer is best for moving files >10MB (more then 5-6 photos) to reduce time whereas NFC is best for single or couple of photos


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How to boot an HTC Cha into Safe Mode
On my HTC ChaCha I've been having problems with the bottom menu keys being periodically flakey and non responsive for which I wanted to try booting into Safe Mode to see if that fixes things.
Does anyone know the key combination  needed to  boot HTC ChaCha into safe mode?
I tried a generic HTC instruction I found online i.e. hold volume down key during reboot. But unfortunately that did not work.
Any other ideas?
Edit:
Android Version 2.3.3
HTC Sense: 2.1
Software number: 1.20.720.1
Kernel: 2.6.35.10-g28523b8

Some instructions say hold Volume Down + Power 5 seconds to open the boot menu. On a ChaCha with software version 1.57.161.3 opens the boot menu immediately; I just hold Volume Down and get the boot menu within a second.
Booting works differently depending on which Android and ROM version you have. Open Settings, About this phone, Software and add in your question which version you have. On another ChaCha with software version 1.54.401.3 I get re reaction at all with holding Volume Down, but maybe the button is physically broken.
Update:
So 2.3.3, and presumably original ROM installed?
HTC did release updates from Android 2.3.3 to 2.3.5 -- see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_ChaCha
Which phones got that update was supposedly Carrier-specific. I've seen mixed info on forums and official. On 12th June 2014 I tried (manually) to access the update servers listed in the ChaCha device props files (the ones used for OTA = Over The Air/half-automatic updates), and it is possible that OTA no longer works for ChaCha.
(I've seen the Facebook button start making trouble, and that slows down the phone to almost unusable levels -- and then it needs either repair or if you install a ROM that ignores the Facebook share button.)

Thanks @Simon B! I added my versions. Let me know if I gave the right info. I still get no reaction.

Perhaps my Vol Down key is broken too. Is there a workaround? Any other way to boot into safe mode?

After thinking more on this, since the home button is a semi-softbutton (touch, but below the actual color display area) I guess your digitizer (touch sensors) are starting to loose functionality.
I have a ChaCha with a flakey Facebook (hardware) button that I can't bring into the boot menu, and this same phone has trouble detecting touch on some parts of the left half of the screen + the home button. So maybe this is a common problem with HTC ChaCha when they get more worn down.

B: Would that mean an impending dead phone? Or can a mod, new software etc.possibly fix it?

You could try adding Handy Soft Keys (if ChaCha-compatible, not sure about that) which gives access to Switch/Home/Back buttons as a pull-out menu that you can place somewhere on the screen where it's comfortable and where touch is working well. That should prolong the phone's life a bit.


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After splash screens, Moto G screen goes black. Stock recovery won't start either. What to do?
I have a one-year old Moto G (1st Gen) that suddenly today refuses to boot usefully (a boot loop? Not sure.), has a blank dark screen but backlight stays on. Tried to restart it using the power off button.
I get the splash screens & a startup vibrate but then the same dark screen.
Succeeded in getting it to the boot menu (Version 41.13; Battery OK; Device is locked; Status Code 0) using power + volume key press. If I try selecting recovery it reports "Boot up failed".
Selecting any of the other options on the boot menu just brings me back to the original dark screen + backlight.
Any other things I can try? Phone is out of warranty so trying doesn't hurt me.
If I keep the phone on the dark screen it gets warm. Not sure if that's merely the backlight or there's some hung processes running.
Ideas?
Edit 1:
Some more information:
Yes, I've an alternate phone that I can use in the meantime.
No custom ROMs etc. were ever installed on this phone or even attempted to be installed. The phone was purchased new without any contract. It is running the Stock Google-Motorola Android.
Have not tried installing any custom recovery MOds yet.
Tried contacting Motorola using their online chat and went through the troubleshooting steps he advised. Nothing fruitful. He has asked me to call their Level 2 Support. I will on Monday.
The only procedure I found to get into Safe Mode asks to keep the on screen soft power off  button long pressed and wait for a prompt. I cannot get an on screen power button so not sure how I can get into safe mode.
History before the problem occurred: Phone was in  a call in progress. Suddenly had a lot of popups warn that various applications were being terminated. After that it went into this blank screen unresponsive state. No recent phone drops or other mishaps.
The one thing that I have gotten to work from the boot menu is a menu item that shows the IMEI / Sr No. / SKU / Purchase Date in Bar Code Format and Text.
Edit 2:
More Progress. Got fastboot. Posting some basic output below. If any other fastboot / adb commands will help in getting more debug info I'd love to know.

Did you already phone Motorola for tech support? Do this before you install a custom recovery. 2. What version of Android is installed? 3. Are you running Google/Motorola Android, or a custom ROM? 4. Have you tried installing a custom recovery such as ClockworkMod? 5. Have you tried replacing Google/Motorola Android with a custom ROM? 6. Do you have a spare phone you can use for calls and SMSes in the meantime, or at least do you have a Google Voice or other VoIP account? 7. By the time you see the boot animation, you can use adb shell. Use adb shell then enter ps. What's the output?

And finally: What country and city do you live in? (Please put this in your profile.)

Please [edit] your question and put in answers to my questions as well as some progress updates. Every time you edit, it bumps your question to the top of the homepage, potentially getting your question more views.

Let me add:  Even if your phone is out of warranty, you may still be eligible for free telephone tech support.

And: 8. What are the most recent changes you made to the phone before the problem started? When? Did you drop it on the floor? 9. Is there some way (maybe holding down some buttons) to force a first-generation Moto G to boot up onto safe mode? Safe mode is not the same as recovery.

A)  I found some instructions on you might be able to boot into safe mode in your situation.  But I don't know if the instructions are correct or not; and, even if they are, they might apply to the 2nd-generation Moto G only.  B)  If you can't get into Safe Mode, phone Motorola level 2 support.

C)  If that doesn't work:  Improve your question's title.  I suggest:  "After splash screens, Moto G screen goes black.  Stock recovery won't start either.  What to do?"  Also edit your phone's Android version into the question's body text; I presume it's 4.3.  Also do adb shell then enter ps, and provide the output.  D)  Ping me again.  E)  While you wait, I dunno whether or not this might help you.

F)  If Motorola can't help you at all, then while you wait for further replies here, you might also want to do adb backup and then to try installing a custom recovery like CWM.  I don't know much about custom recovery images, though, and so I have no idea whether or not the installation could backfire and damage the phone further.

@unforgettableid Did call Motorola support. They are not of much use. The price they want me to pay for support is close to the price of a new phone. So that option is out.

@unforgettableid: Those instructions seem wrong. They start by asking me to remove the battery. The phone does not have a removable battery. Too bad.

@unforgettableid adb itself does not work. I can only get fastboot to work.  So I cannot try adb shell nor adb backup

I am no Android expert, and don't know enough to advise you what to do next.  You can keep on editing the question as your research progresses; each edit will bump the question to the top of the homepage.  Or you can try asking for help in some other venues.  Or you can do both.


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Where can I find the OTA update file?
I'm trying to locate the zip file that contains the OTA update for my Droid Bionic.  Right now, its failing to update, and every time it fails it deletes the file and I need to re-download it (takes a long time).  I was hoping to save off the update so I could try a few things on my phone and try the update.  I read online its somewhere in a /cache directory, however I dont see anything at all when I mount it to the PC and do a search for cache or even "*.zip".  Does anyone know how I can find the zip file?  Maybe I need to change the PC settings or something to search for it (I have changed the folder settings to view hidden files and system files).

/cache is typically a separate partition on your device, which wouldn't be mountable by a PC via USB. You'd probably need to first use a file manager (or shell, or something) on your device to move the file from /cache to your external storage. You probably need root for this, though.

@eldarerathis - Thanks for the response.  I have rooted my phone and downloaded "ES File Explorer File Manager" from the market.  In /cache, all I see is a file called Blur_Vesion.5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US.zip which was the last update.  The new one I would expect to be something like 6.7.246.XT875.Verizon.en.US.zip, but there isnt anything like that there.  The file is about 368 MB.  Any other ideas?

Hm, not sure. I would have expected the newest OTA to be there as well, and I don't know of any other places offhand that it may have ended up.

@eldarerathis - Well I guess that file is the update for ICS.  So if you want to post it as an answer I will accept it.  Not sure why the decided to mislabel the file, but I just got it working and that was the file that got me to ICS, thx!

Two pieces of ground I want to cover here:

/cache is typically a separate partition on your device, which wouldn't be mountable by a PC via USB, which is why that isn't working. The USB connection generally accesses a directory named "sdcard" (or similar) which is used as an external storage device, although this storage area doesn't have to be physically external to the device (it may just be a partition named /sdcard rather than a physical card).
If the OTA is in /cache then you should be able to find it with a file explorer or shell on your device. Once you've found it, you could simply move the file from /cache to your external storage and then copy it over USB. You'll need root in order to access /cache, though. There are a number of file explorers that support root access, but I personally use ES File Explorer.

My device is HTC One M7
I managed to find the OTA by doing a dumpsys | grep .zip
I was already in a adb shell su session as the file was being downloaded,(after I exited and re-entered the shell and tried to run the dumpsys command I couldn't find it. I'm guessing dumpsys works on a temporary log.)
eventually I found it in the
 /data/data/com.android.providers.downloads/cache
folder
I managed to copy it to /sdcard but it wouldn't show up in Windows Explorer until I unplugged and re-plugged the USB cable in.
I guess Windows doesn't refresh the folder/directory index (or something) to see new files created in there

For Lenovo ,the location for Downloaded Update file is : internal storage > LenovoOTA or sdcard0/LenovoOTA  folder
after download completes mount to pc ,copy then execute on mobile/device otherwise file 'll be deleted after update

For samsung device /data/fota
Search for fota folder.
In that folder, you will find update.zip

Alternatively, you can flash an FXZ rom image for your current version or later. The benefit of that is that it doesn't matter what state your phone is in or if its missing bloatware that the OTA update requires.
Things you need:

FXZ image for the desired version (google search for it)
RSDLite (google search rsdlite 5.7 download)
Motorola device drivers (found on motorola's site)
USB cable

I found the OTA package in following location
/data/data/com.lenovo.ota/app_otapackages/

For my Lenovo K3 Note

for Lineage or /e/ these are saved at /data/lineageos_updates/, if you can enable an adb root shell you can pull files from there.


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what does SERIAL and proc permissions stand for?
Often in my rooted android device, since I have installed xprivacy manager, applications ask me for serial perm in category identification (hardware) (that very often, translation may be approximate), and sometimes /proc perm in same category as seen in the following screenshots.
what are these perms? Should I allow or deny them?

Screenshots (click images for larger variants)

Just guessing, hence no answer: Serial is most likely one of the device identifiers (IMSI/IMEI etc.). No idea concerning the /proc one, though. Have you checked in the app's settings inside the XPrivacy app itself, where all its permissions are listed? Maybe from the context it gets a little clearer there.

Since SERIAL is all-caps, it can refer to android.os.Build.SERIAL: A hardware serial number, if available. Alphanumeric only, case-insensitive.

@onik thank you, so should I allow it?

@Vinz243 If you trust the application, yes. Otherwise I'd try to think what the app could use it for, and decide based on that. Maybe try to use the app without allowing it first and see if it works.

@onik what does app would need it? I am sorry for being a noob.

@Vinz243 It could identify if the app is being installed on a new device, or use the serial for hashing/salting encrypted data, or use it as an identifying key for ad networks... there are many uses depending on the app, some useful, some not so much.

@onik thank you very much. It seemed to work w/o the perm so I'll keep it until it doesn't.

/proc/ is a filesystem that contains special files describing the current state of processes and the kernel.
/proc/mounts contains information on the current mountpoints. Mountpoints are similar drive letters in Windows.  Since there is only one file hierarchy in Linux, any file systems that aren't the operating system's FS (like an SD card, /proc , etc) need to be grafted onto this solitary tree.
Details on these graftpoints are accessible by reading /proc/mounts.  Part of the info that can be retrieved from this file is the current space utilization and capacity of each filesystem.
Because it's a file system usage utility, this app probably needs this info in order to tell you how much free space there is on the SD card and/or the main OS filesystem.
Serial permission allows the app to grab a unique identifier for for your phone.  I'm not sure specifically how this app intends to use it.

Thank you very much. What about serial? Should I allow it? And not only for diskusage, but also for 98% of y apps.

Edited the answer.  I'm not sure why this app needs it, but serial allows an app to get a unique identifier for your phone.  For internet enabled apps, should anything need to be stored on an external server, the serial number can be used as your "account name", and can be associated with your data.  As stated, though, its unclear how DiskUsage intends to use this.

fortunately when apps don't need network, I deny inet :)

Yeah.  What i usually do is email the developer.  S/he may have accidentally left the permission in from a testing phase, or (more likely) could be using a method or package that just requires this permission, giving him/her no choice but yo ask for it.  The only sure way to know is to ask.  BTW, if this answered ur question, don't forget to mark it as answered.


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Recovery is not working on Huawei MediaPad 7 lite
A friend of mine owns this tablet and has entered the password incorrectly too many times and now the device is locked asking for a Google account. Unfortunately the Google account password is forgotten.
I figured the only way would be to factory-reset the device from the Recovery mode but when I enter the recovery mode (by holding Vol Down + Power Button) it reboots the device after a few seconds in recovery screen.
Now I'm stuck and have no idea what else to do. The tablet model is S7-931u.

I've just added the locked-out tag to your question. Its tag-wiki contains further information. Especially take a look at Cannot unlock tablet as have no internet connection?

I had the very same problem for like 4 months. And finally, in one day, the problem was solved. Follow these steps:

Switch off the device.
Press power button + Volume up button until the device is switched on (followed by a small vibration).
As soon as the device is switched on, let go of the power switch but keep pressing the volume up button.
After a few seconds, a screen will appear showing a green android symbol with rotating gears. When this screen appears let go the volume up button and keep pressing volume down button.
Hold like this for a few seconds. till a big green 'OK' appears on the screen.

After this the device re-starts automatically. It may take some time. After this, it'll be like you're switching on your tablet for the very first time. You have to provide your GMail address (optional), name, system date and time etc. All the apps and files that was previously in your device, will be gone.


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Missing "move to SD" on HTC Desire 310
So, I bought this phone some time ago, an HTC Desire 310, which should have 4GB of internal memory, of which 2GB actually available to the user.
On the phone I also installed an 8GB SD card for picture and similar.
However, recently I keep getting "not enough space" when I try to update some of the bigger apps I have installed from Google Store, even if there are about 250 MB free.
I have tried cleanin the caches, so regaining some 50 MB, but still "insufficient space".
I also tried to move the apps to the SD card, but it would seem that the version of android here installed, some custom 4.2.2, does not allow moving apps to SD.
How can I then solve such a problem? Is there a way to restore the missing "move to SD" option?

As phones with significant amounts of internal storage became prevalent, Android started to store application and user data on the same partition. As the latter was  traditionally stored on an SD card, these phones now call it an "internal SD" card, although no actual SD card is used. In this arrangement, it makes no sense to "move apps to the (internal) SD card", because it would still reside on the same internal partition, occupying the same space, so these  implementations of Android do not have this button. Sadly, they didn't feel the need to allow moving apps to the external SD, because they thought the internal storage couldn't reasonably be exhausted simply by installing apps - or that this option would confuse users. So, you can not move apps to the external storage. You can, however, move personal data (e.g. music, videos, pictures) to the external SD which will free up space to install apps on.
Also, if you have root on your phone, you could create an additional partition on your external SD card and move apps there using an application or script designed to do that - my favorite is Link2sd, you can look it up in the Play store.

All of my picture and music are already on the external sd card, so there is nothing I can move, it's all app data really...

Also, there are some apps that keep a ridiculous amount of cached data, for example the Facebook and 9gag apps. You could wipe data of these applications to regain space temporarily - although you will have to log in again to these apps. Other than this and jettisoning some apps you can't really do anything on an unrooted phone to help the issue.

Should the phone be rooted, what are the options?

You could then use Link2SD. You have to create a second partition on your SD card for this app. This app can then move other apps to this partition and leave links in their place which occupy next to no space. The other apps and the user will not notice any change. I'm sure there are other rooted solutions, but I never really bothered to look since this is what always worked for me and what I can recommend.


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How can I enable USB Debugging on an LG G2 (vs980) with a broken screen?
I have an LG G2 (vs980 - Verizon). The digitizer and screen is broken - I can view it, but not submit input.
The device has fastboot and TWRP capabilities, and I can get to ADB from TWRP.
The device previously had USB debugging enabled and was associated with my PC's public key.
It seems the only thing preventing me from accessing the device via ADB while booted normally is LG's 'USB connection type' setting, which defaults to 'as a media device' or 'as an installer'. This phone requires me to choose 'as an internet connection' / 'ethernet' once I hook up the USB cable from the notification panel for ADB debugging to work. As the screen is broken, I cannot do this.
How to I write this setting to the system from recovery mode? Perhaps a build.prop tweak or a sqlite3 edit? (I have sqlite3 on the device; I just enabled my wifi with it).
$ adb shell getprop | grep persist.sys.usb.config
[persist.sys.usb.config]: [mtp,adb]

Since I can access ADB from recovery and my rom has a /system/etc/init.d, i can run commands after the system boots from here.
My current plan is to switch ADB to connect over wifi and proceed from there.

enabling adb in recovery mode:
http://android.stackexchange.com/a/69600/60711

@tomasb I saw that, but it does not work. This is a LG specific misfeature - it presents as a CD to install drivers or as MTP, and ADB fails to work.

Also see: Broken screen while debug mode was disabled. How can I re-enable adb?

In this situation, since you have rooted your phone and can access the device via recovery adb, create a startup init.d script to set adb to wifi listening and then connect via wifi.

/system/etc/init.d/97adb
#!/system/bin/sh

if [ -e /sdcard/adb_wifi ]; then
    /system/bin/adb_to_tcp &
fi;

/system/bin/adb_to_tcp
#!/system/bin/sh

# Close STDOUT file descriptor
exec 1<&-
# Close STDERR FD
exec 2<&-

# Open STDOUT as $LOG_FILE file for read and write.
exec 1<>/sdcard/did_adb_tcp

# Redirect STDERR to STDOUT
exec 2>&1

while :
do

/system/bin/iptables -F
/system/bin/iptables -P INPUT ACCEPT
/system/bin/iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
/system/bin/iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT

setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
stop adbd
start adbd

/system/bin/sleep 120

done

/sdcard/adb_wifi

Ensure the former two files are +x and that the final file exists. Reboot. Wait. You now have 120 second intervals to:
adb connect [yourip]:5555
adb shell ps | grep sh
adb shell
> su
> kill -9 $PID_OF_SH


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Moved microSD from droid to droid 4 but apps don't show
I moved my microSD card from my old moto droid to the droid 4, but I can't see any of my old SD card apps. Is it possible to import them? Neither phone has even been rooted.
Thanks!

I've found the sdcard-ext directory and tried copying stuff out of there to sdcard with no luck

By simply moving the SD card between devices, it is possible to transport data. The apps you are referring to are probably the once you moved to SD card via App2SD -- this will not move the entire app, but (hopefully) the biggest part of it. At least a small piece remains on the device -- which is, amongst others, how the device knows about those apps. And which is why "the other phone" won't show them: It simply doesn't know they are there, as they are not "registered" with that device.
So if you want to move them over, you will have to re-install them on your new phone (here: the Droid 4), and then (optionally) delete them on the old. The apps data are lost that way -- unless you can export them from within the app on the "old droid", put them on SD card, and import them with that app on the Droid 4. Or, alternatively, if both Droids are rooted, and you use Titanium Backup to backup app and data on the old, and restore them to the new phone.
EDIT:
If your idea is to permanently switch the card to the new device (i.e. not just temporarily, and then switch it back to the old), you might want to follow these steps:

check with your apps list (from the homescreen, press the "menu" key, select "apps", and then again "apps" -- second place might be titled "manage apps", not sure, as it differs between devices and Android versions) which apps you've installed on your card, and write that down (just for safety).
with the card in the old phone, uninstall the apps you've installed on the card (don't worry, you can re-install them later -- even the paid ones, as they are connected with your Google account)
remove the card from your old phone, and use a card reader to attach it to your computer. With your file browser, check whether the directory .android_secure is empty. If not, just remove it. This step is optional, and should help avoiding trouble when re-installing the apps.
now put the card into your new phone. All your data (stored on the card) will be immediately available.
hopefully you've configured your device with the same Google account -- so now you can go and re-install those apps.

Alternatively, if your old phone has sufficient internal memory, instead of uninstalling the apps (step 2) you could simply move them to internal memory. Then, if you configured your phone to backup apps+data to the Google cloud, you should be able to just "sync them back" to your new phone (in step 5). I've never tried that, but the possibility exists.

thanks a lot for the detailed answer. one quick question - I actually moved the apps using the builtin install to SD. it would appear that that makes no difference, right? I'm worried about reinstalling apps on the same card and possibly overwriting data...

by "builtin install" you probably mean "App2SD", and having the card defined as "default location" -- that is exactly what I was talking about before. If you want to permanently move the card to the new device (and do not intend to put it back), there is a way to avoid this issue. I'll just update my answer to include this issue.

Sorry for all the confusion and thanks for all your help. I'm traveling today, so I'll try this when I get back. Thanks!

You're welcome -- good luck then, and a safe journey now! When done, let us share your happiness of success, please ;)


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How to open .conf files with File Expert?
I have a rooted Android device running 4.0.3. I bought full version of File Expert in order to browse root file system.
I navigate to a .conf file and want to open it, but the app says There is no handler installed on your device for this file format. Would you like File Expert to find one for you?.
I select OK, but I get another error: Sorry, currently there is no handler for this format....
If I force this file to be openend as text file Open as text, and choose FE Text Editor, nothing happens.
Any chance to make this work or I'll have to buy another app for this?

Any chance you don't mind being suggested different app ?

@roxan Which app did you have in mind?

I use ES File Explorer,its free has tons of feature and if you go to settings you have option to mount root folder as well.

@roxan Can it browser root directories? I set Enable root but no root content appears. Does it require to buy root browser plugin as well as some other root apps?

I've set default location to / so every time I open it, I get inside /. No it doesn't need any plugin or so.

@roxan Funny, but I cannot see the content of root nor it ever ask about gaining root priliveges (like other apps do).

@roxan Found it. I was selecting the wrong permission. It's working now and I can see the files. I get said when I think that I paid the same features when I have this one for free. And the paid one did not work :((

File Expert at the moment cannot open such files.
I recommend using the app called ES File Explorer! It's free and you just enable root option in the Properties, and you have root access.
DO NOT buy File Expert's root plugin as it's a waste of money!!!


text:
How do I configure which programs autostart when connecting to the internet?
Right now skype starts, email clients send/receive.
I really don't want skype to start and login when I connect to 3G, but it's OK if I connect to wifi.
How do I configure which programs autostart when connecting to 3G / wifi?
(Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, NOT rooted)

Without root you only have the control the app developers give you: If an app allows you to configure this behaviour, you can do so -- otherwise you can't.
If your device were rooted, on the other hand, you'ld have several possibilities:

Use DroidWall to define which apps may use 3g, which Wifi, which both, and which none (1st pic below)
Use LBE Privacy Guard to do the same, and more (2nd pic)
Use Autorun Manager to disable certain listeners of apps, so they no longer get informed about network changes (3rd pic; experienced users only!)

This is just a selection, and thus the list is very incomplete. As you already wrote your device is not rooted, it doesn't make sense to put all those details here; it's just to give you an idea what would be possible with root, not to elaborate all options ;)


text:
How does Android get the coarse location?
I read that Android (and similar operation systems, e.g. iOS) get the current coarse location by using either WiFi or GSM tower triangulation. I get the basic idea but have questions about the details.

Does Android normally use both methods, or does it prefer one and fall back to the other?
Does it communicate with a server to get the position via WiFi? (e.g. sending the SIDs of the WiFis to a web service)
Does it communicate with the carrier to get the position via the GSM towers or is this done on the device?

It is really up to the developer as to how to implement the location service.  The full description is available on the Android Developers official site (as captured on 24 Sep 2010)
The graph about 1/3rd down the page is pretty useful to see what a typical app might do, but again, it is completely up to the app developer.  The location service types are:

Cached Fix
Cell-ID
WiFi
GPS
Mock Location

If the app requests permission for coarse location only, it will not use the GPS to determine location.
To answer your questions:

It is up to the individual app developer, but in most cases, the sequence will be Cached Fix, Cell-ID, WiFi, GPS, in that order.
Yes, after acquiring the tower IDs or SSIDs of the WiFi signals, that data is transmitted to Google to determine a rough location.
No, Google has done something really clever here.  Google has their own database of cell tower locations and does not require an interaction with the carrier to determine the location of the tower.

An article by Francisco Kattan on "Dynamic Cell-ID" has some of the detail. The short version is that, when you use an app like Google Maps, the app will send the current Cell-ID information back along with your current GPS fix.  In this way, Google gets a very good sampling of the signal strengths in various locations and is able to build a very rich database.

I like your answer pretty much, but I'm not sure if your right on the "it's totally up to the developer"-part. As far as I can tell, the developer can only decide to get the fine or the coarse location. In other words he can use the LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER and/or LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER to obtain the location. I think he can not decide or even see, if Wifi or GSM is used, right?

In the most common case, the developer will not care if the data is coming from WiFi or Cell-ID, but the dev could put in restrictions to only allow the app to work when WiFi is disabled or GPRS/GSM is disabled.  I took your question to mean: "Is there a standard sequence that all apps follow" and the answer to that is no.  However, with specific regard to the difference between WiFi and Cell-ID, the app developer has limited capability to specifically request one type of location service.

A lot of this is carrier-specific and I'm not a dev but here's what I could piece together from the interwebs and the trainings I've had in electronic crime investigation:

Yes, but it depends on the specific apps LBS priorities which are set by the dev and can be based on current course accuracy, power levels, predefined priorities, etc.
Yes. The carriers have proprietary WiFi base station location DBs.
I can't speak to Android specifically, but generally, this is going to be the carrier and network type (CDMA or GSM). Phones are capable of both, but at least a few years ago they did this work on the handset because of the bandwidth constraints of doing it OTA.

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/LocationManager.html

Your phone knows what the closest towers are.
There is a provider database for each country in which the location of tower IDs on the map is stored. This database might be small enough to be preinstalled by your provider or supplied over the air. How an Android phone gets this data, I don't know.

Does it communicate with the carrier to get the position via the GSM towers or is this done on the device?

The device could be used if you want to use triangulation, but you need to use the carrier if you want to match the Cell-ID and the localization of the GSM (or CDMA) tower.

but is this an option that can be determined by an app developer or even an end user or is it something that is determined by the carrier?

It is mandatory, if you want to use this way for localizing a device. Using triangulation or another method allows you to know where you are versus antenna position. But if you don't know the lat/long of the antenna, you won't be able to get your position on a map.
I home I'm clear :)

@Rob But you don't need the carrier to find the location of the tower. Each tower broadcasts a unique ID, anyone can independently pick that up and map it, with no carrier interaction. Google have been doing this for a while for cell towers and WiFi access points. The Google Streetview car picks the info up as it travels, and users of Google Maps on various platforms also send back anonymous data matching GPS fixes with antenna and wifi IDs and strength. This is similar to how Google pick up a lot of their traffic data in cities, they aggregate speed and positions from lots of Maps users.

Are you sure ? Looks surprising. For instance, in Germany (and other countries in Europe), Google has been sued for collecting wifi information, so looks like they did not use this resource.
For the GSM database, if Google owns one, it should be accessible, and I never heard about it.

@Rob http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/06/google-enables-location-aware.html "The phone knows the ID of the cell tower that it's currently using. If the phone has GPS, the Maps application on the phone sends the GPS coordinates along with the cell ID to the Google location server." can't find the link right now but they announced a while ago that the Blackberry Google Maps app was sending back nearby WiFi SSID and strength for the same reason. This isn't the same as the programming "error" in the Streetview software they're being sued over that captured more WiFi data than it was meant to.

+1 Thanks for the link ! So, Google has a database w/ localisation of the GSM towers... How interesting. Do if we can access this webservice ?


text:
Do the apps purchased via SlideME.org give you notifications about available updates?
SlideME is a website where you can purchase apps (useful for countries where Play Store does not support purchase yet).
Will I get a notification if their apps are updated?

SlideME Application Manager (SAM) will notify you if there's an update to the apps purchased from SlideME.

SAM supports SlideME's Storage Locker. This allows you to re-download or upgrade Android applications you have previously purchased in case you lost or reset device.

when will it be released?


text:
Google Drive’s image recognition on Android 4.1 demo available on older versions?
There is an example of text recognition from an image on the recent Android 4.1 demo. The example is a picture taken with the phone of a post office receipt that is then OCRed and indexed. Is this OCR and indexing already available to all Google Drive users or just limited to Android 4.1?


text:
Audible Caller ID on Galaxy S3
Every time I recieve a call or a text message my phone audibly says out the name of the caller/sender.
How can I stop this?

It is a configuration that must be active to give you that information, usually it is used when you're driving, to prevent accidents:
Turn off the voice notifications:

Go to settings menu
Click on "Voice input and output" option
Select the option "Text-to-speech settings".
Uncheck the Driving mode setting.

From the user's manual
Driving mode: Activate Driving mode to provide audible notifications for incoming calls, messages, or event details.

Change alerts on call settings:

Settings
Call Settings
All calls
Alerts on call
Change from "voice" to "vibration" or "off" etc

I don't have the option within Settings as mentioned above on my S3. Instead I drag down the top toolbar and uncheck the Driving Mode option. (Scroll to the right as it is not usually immediately visible.)

Great - thanks - didn't know I could scroll top toolbar down so somerthing else I've learned !


text:
Losing connectivity with my carrier, how can I reconnect?
I'm not sure why this happens, but I've lost connectivity (phone service, 3G) with my service provider a number of times now. Not just for a short while, I may be off the air for hours. This is worrying, as I'm not aware that this is happening. I have to reset the mobile.

Is there a way to get a notification that I'm off the air?
Is there a way to reconnect without rebooting the phone?
Is this something that happens to others, or am I just lucky?

I have a Samsung Galaxy SII.

I experience the same with my SGS. But only once or so in a month. Sometimes switching to and from Airplane mode reestablishes the connection or I have to reboot the phone.

I've only had this phone for about a month, and it's happened already three times.

In my case, I noticed this happens when I stay connected a long time to a fixed Wi-fi network. At work, I connect to our Wi-fi net, and once I leave, I lose 3G/H/E completely and have to reboot. Happens every day. Using Android 2.3.4 on a Samsung Galaxy Ace. I'll try the suggestions from both answers and see how it goes.

I encountered the same issues sometimes and I couldn't detect it without trying to make a phone call. I then went into the parameters panel, into the Mobile network part. There, I force the phone to select my operator (and remove the auto-detection option).
Since this modification, when I'm disconnected from GSM network I have a little warning sign (grey triangle with a white exclamation point inside) in the notification toolbar.
To force reconnection, I go in the same menu and force the phone to search available networks, I select mine and it is (almost every time) reconnected.

Sounds good, I'll give that a try.

This actually works :-)

Is there a way to get a notification that I'm off the air?

I don't think this is possible, but there might be an app out there for it. I'm not sure. I'm fairly certain that it's not a native function in Android though.

Is there a way to reconnect without rebooting the phone?

Airplane mode on/off seems to be the easiest route. If that doesn't work, you can try going into "More..." on the settings menu and look for available networks manually. Maybe you'll find that you find other networks, just not your carrier, and in that case it's actually a coverage problem, or a problem with their equipment since you can actually see networks, just not the one you want to connect to.

Is this something that happens to others, or am I just lucky?

Connection drops to the network is very common, but it's usually different kinds of drops for different reasons. If you have rooted your phone and you're running a custom ROM, you might need to check out GetRIL. If you're running stock, try a factory reset/reinstall of your device first, or see if there's any updates available from Samsung.
I get drops at times on my Galaxy Nexus as well, but I only lose data connection, I still see my carriers name and I can recieve SMS/phone calls. This sounds completely different from your issue if you are actually losing contact with the GSM network completely.
I'd recommend that you check out if you can find other carriers networks or not (mentioned above), if you can find others you need to notify your carrier first of all. If you can't, it's probably phone-specific but even there your carrier/Samsung should be able to help you if you still have warranty and the device is not rooted.

I'll give that a try. I'm using the factory default.

About the notification, it's strange, but when there's an unknown WIFI network available, I see a WIFI symbol with an interrogation. You'd think something similar could be done for the loss of carrier.

That something "can be done" is very different from it being implemented and ready for use ;)

Airplane mode isn't working. Not reconnecting.

Has anyone found an app which notifies if the connection is lost? Even if it is quite simple to reconnect, I first need to be aware I lost connection :(

I have same problem with my Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos. The second SIM often loses the connection to the GSM network, but the phone fails to notify me about that. It reports network signal strength as usual, but the number is inaccessible. It happens several times a month, the last time I did not notice it for several days - very bad.
It seems this problem is common on Samsung phones. The Galaxy Ace I bought for my mother did it a few times too, but it happens less often on this phone.
I upgraded the software on both phones with no luck. I tried to hard-select the network, so hopefully I will at least get the notification.
On one SIM phones you could try this app; it notifies you when GSM connection is lost. I can't tell if it works though, because it only works with the first SIM and I get trouble with the second one. If it relies on info from Android, then it probably won't work, because Android thinks it is connected all the time (the signal bar is on even if the SIM inaccessible).
I am actually thinking about switching the phone and avoiding Samsung and/or Android in the future, because this is obviously not an isolated problem and neither Samsung or Google seems to care to fix it.


text:
Nexus 7 capacitive buttons and display
So both the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 have dynamic capacitive buttons instead of actual physical buttons.  I was actually under the impression that this black bar was a separate capacitive display from the main display.  Now that I actually see a Nexus 7 in person, this black bar appears to be just a part of the screen.
So am I actually getting 1280x800 pixels?

The 1280x800 pixels count for the whole display, including the black bar for the buttons.
Google decided to stay flexible by moving physical buttons to the touch screen permanently.
Benefits:

No capacitive buttons needed (cheaper?)
Better user experience: Rotating 90,180,270 degrees rotates also the virtual buttons
Less frame space (the button's space belongs to the screen now)
You can hide the buttons in full view (e.g., video playing)
Maybe: Avoid Apples infamous rectangle with a single button tablet design patent


text:
Monitor data usage per connected (individual) wifi
I'm looking for a way to monitor data usage by individuals (connected wifi)   from my Android WLAN hotspot.
After enabling hotspot, It shows me no. of users connected and provides a feature to block individuals. But I want to check or monitor how much data is being used by individuals. I'm also interested in watching/monitoring bandwidth (transfer speed)  being used by individuals (connected wifi).
Is there any way or app available which can do this job?

Not sure about the "by individual data usage", but the closest I could find in my list was the Data Sharing app. Natively, there's nothing coming even close AFAIK. Portable Wifi Hotspot Manager claims to meet all your requirements – no guarantees, though :)

PS: MobWifi could be your candidate. Calculates "per session", but from the app description it's not clear whether that means "client session" or "global hotspot session". In the app comments, the dev responded to the question "How do i know how much cost per user." with "MobWifi provides a receipt for the data usage per session." So it seems to fit.

@Izzy Data sharing shows total hotspot usage activity for present time, daily and monthly usges. It detects users, displays their MAC and IP address but doesn't show individual data usage - Good application though. Mobwifi doesn't detect even connected users mostly. Portable Wifi Hotspot Manager's claims are not right.

Thanks for testing and reporting back! I'm curious whether something suitable turns up. Please ping me in case it does!


text:
Auto refreshing the signal
When we go to the area where signal is not reachable, we experience "Emergency calls only" or "No service". But after coming-out from that area we sometime found phone is not receiving signal and still showing "Emergency calls only" or "No service" in-spite of no problem of signal in that area. And in that case I usually do "Flight/Airplane Mode" off-wait-on and phone starts receiving signals again.
So, in order to overcome situation (and also consider a case of network-jam), I think should have some solution like running script that auto refresh signal after every n minutes or an application that provides such function.
So, How can I refresh signal from command-line? (or interested in turning "Flight/Airplane Mode" on and off vial command-line) and how about making script that can do this job as per requirement (for example every 30 minute)?
Also suggest any application available and does such job at specified interval of time.
Note: I use rooted phones

Combine How to turn off cellular radio in Lollipop/JellyBean using adb? with an automation app such as Tasker. Alternatively, you can use other ways provided by automation apps. I think MacroDroid offers toggling airplane mode and so as Secure Settings. Anything would require root access here.

I suggest you try an automation app in this case. For example:
You can use Automate app here.
(Click image to enlarge)

The block for Airplane mode is available under Connectivity category. (Requires root access.)
The Delay block can be traced back to Date & Time.

Configure them as you wish.  Make sure to have the flow run in a recurring manner, such as shown in above screenshot. You can also setup a trigger for full automation or manually start the flow.

You can also try Tasker to setup a home screen shortcut or a fully automated profile in Tasker. The task should have the following action at least:
Code → Run Shell

Command:
while true; do
settings put global airplane_mode_on 1;
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE --ez state true;
sleep 2;   # requires BusyBox or Toybox installed and available under $PATH
settings put global airplane_mode_on 0;
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE --ez state false;
sleep N;    # where N can be any number of (s)econds or (m)inutes or (h)ours. Make sure to use the relevant suffix, such as Ns, Nm or Nh.
done

Instead of while and sleep command, you can use the Wait and GoTo actions available under Task category.
The commands are drawn from this answer of DavisNT, re-posted here by Andrew T.
tick Use Root

Note that once the task is initiated it would continue to run unless you stop Tasker's service or force stop it or reboot the device.
You can get rid of all the command-line stuff by using Secure Settings with Tasker. It also requires root access however.

MacroDroid is yet another app capable of achieving the task. It has all the relevant actions i.e. to toggle Airplane mode, wait for certain time and run a macro (including current macro) to achieve a loop. Give it a try.
It is to be noted that a home screen shortcut can be made by all the aforesaid apps.

Note that I've not bothered to check the battery consumption caused by continuous execution of those tasks. I just gave hints. Pick the ones most suitable to you and tweak them per your environment settings.


text:
What/How quick reboot works?
On my Android 4.2.2 (Micromax Canvas A74), From System settings >Accessibility, there is option for enabling  "Quick Reboot" as follows:

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)
So How it differs from normal reboot? Or what enabling this exactly work?

I do not see this Accessibility option on my Samsung S3, which uses TouchWiz. What phone and Launcher is this?

@wbogacz Edited question with phone model, using default launcher and I don't think/believe that launcher affect system-settings!

I've never seen this option built-in, but there are several apps/widgets on the Playstore offering a "quick boot" as well. The term is a little misleading, as it's usually not a boot at all.
For some background information, let me first refer to my answer on Can somebody explain the boot process of an Android device?. Quick-reboot usually kills everything down to the "system server", so Zygote has to start it anew. As Zygote is the parent to all apps, basically the "Android-part" of the system is completely reloaded – while the underlying "Linux-part" keeps running.
From the users' point of view, this looks like a "quick reboot": the graphical interface (all apps, including the home screen) disappear, and then the system comes up again exactly like after a "boot". But during this process, the first 4 steps of a "real boot" (as outlined in the linked question) were skipped.
I'm not 100% sure if the "quick boot" option you are seeing there is the same, but it's pretty likely. Because, if it were a "full boot, just quicker" – then why shouldn't that be used in the first place?

And also you should once per week do a normal (slow:-)) reboot to "refresh" your device.

@SuperThomasLab only if necessary. If everything works normally, why reboot? I usually don't boot more often than once a month, if at all.

This is a different quick boot compared to the other answers.
Qualcomm and MediaTek devices have this feature and it basically another name for Hibernation mode. When enabled, powering off the device hibernates instead of fully shutting down. (In turn making boot faster)

There is no hibernation mode in Android. So, what are you referring to?

There's none normally but that's what QuickBoot adds. Here's a video of how it works in the OnePlus One (works the same here) https://youtu.be/hiKTL-bg9yk

That is not hibernation. All that mode does is to put the device into airplane mode, lock the screen, send the device to normal sleep mode and make sure that the device doesn't wake up unless the power button is long pressed. It is not hibernation, neither literally nor technically. You can still launch apps using adb or access device's storage - when device is powered off using this quickboot mode. My findings are based on Android Lollipop.

On the 3 devices I have used it on, it didn't do that. You couldn't access the device. It actually did shut off but it can only be done on certain hardware as its a feature of the SoC. Yes hibernation may have not been the best wording, but it is a hardware specific low power mode which is what hibernation accomplishs just in a different way.

I have two Blu Phone, the Dash 5.0 with 4.4.2, and a 5.0 HD also 4.4.2. The build numbers are different though. The HD has the quick boot option. The Dash does not. Before I enabled the quick boot the boots times were the same about 35 secs. But now with it enabled, the HD boots in 14 seconds. So it does what it says and does not seem to work any differently after booting.

I think we understand the meaning of "quick" literally, but how/why does it work? OP specifically asked that questions.


text:
Alarms are not working
I've been facing the issue of missing alarms for a week. I can set alarms successfully, it displays in notification but not running.
Though if I try to check it will have work or not by setting alarms after 1-2 minutes, then it works ok. But if I set alarm before sleeping then it doesn't ring on morning.
One another thing may be related: I'm getting "Unfortunately clock has stopped" alert randomly about 2-3 times in a day (though it is not happening exactly while setting alarms).
So, I'm not getting what's going wrong with alarms. How can I recognize the issue and fix it?
Note: Running (non-rooted as running under time period of warranty) Android 6.0 on Lenovo .

Not sure, but could it be you've "dozed" the alarms app (or something related)? Btw: Never heard there's an Android 6.20. Must be something Lenovo specific :)

@Izzy I've disabled only calculator (also "force stop" would not be case as I've tried reboting several times). Btw was typo.

Could you be specific about your device model?  Are you using only the stock Clock app?  Have you tried clearing the data for that app?

@MatthewRead Lenovo A6600 Plus. Yes, using only stock Clock app. Ok I've cleared data now let me check for next alarm.

@MatthewRead Clearing data worked. Now alarms are working fine and "unfortunately clock has stopped" message has gone permanently!

Excellent!  It's always nice when that works straight off.  I've turned my comment into an answer.

Try clearing the data for your Clock app.


text:
How do I logout from Youtube?
I have multiple Google accounts on my Android 10 (Samsung Galaxy M10s). Until today, I was using YouTube without signing in. Today I signed into YouTube with one Google account. Now I want to sign out from YouTube app but I don't find any such option.
I searched on internet and found Google Support Page which suggests to remove account from device in order to sign-out from YouYube app.
What I did:
Opened YouTube, go to manage accounts, removed the account from device, through which I have signed in YouTube; Then cleared the YouTube application data also.
But what I found is YouTube just auto signed in with my another Google account.
How do I sign out from YouTube?

I would assume that as long as one Google account is registered on your device the YouTube app will use it. The only chance I see is using a n alternative YouTube app like NewPipe available for example on F-Droid.

@Robert Yes I mostly use NewPipe. I used YouTube app for commenting on one Video.

I think it should be possible to revert to yesterday's state which is I had been YouTube without signing in.

Yes, the logout option is not available but after clearing the app data, the logout option becomes available.
Before clearing app data:

After clearing app data:

So, the solution that worked for me is: Clear the app data to make the Logout option available.

Use your browser to get onto Youtube.
Log in, using the account you want to have logged out.
Then use the 3 dot menu to sign out.
Now clear the data in your Youtube app.
(I also think that you can sign out with the settings in the Youtube app, but I can't say how as I don't use the app.)

No, Logging out from browser doesn't work.

I managed to sign out from the Youtube app by downgrading it to a lower version via adb (I used 14.39.55), signing out and reinstalling the newest version.

Force stop the Youtube app if already running
Clean its internal data and cache
Download the older Youtube app on your PC. Source: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/youtube/youtube-14-39-55-release/youtube-14-39-55-android-apk-download/
Connect your phone to the PC, activate developer mode and enable USB debugging. Check if adb sees the phone by typing adb devices
Install the apk via the command adb install -d 'com.google.android.youtube_14.39.55-1439552000_minAPI19(arm64-v8a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk'
Open the Youtube app. It won't be able to connect to the server, but you should be able to click on your account logo on the top right and see the “Sign out” button. Click it.
Re-update the Youtube app to the current version. You should now be logged out.


text:
Can't install custom rom: "Can't mount SD card"
I've some trouble with my HTC Desire and I'd like to ask for help.
I've recently rooted it with unrevoked and turned in S-off mode. All went well, or so it seemed, until I decided to flash a custom rom. I get problem either while doing nandroid backup and backup using rom manager (free version). Both cases give the following error:

can't mount sd card

I'm pretty sure my sd card is working well cause I'm using link2sd and it works well. The sd card has 2 partitions done with g-parted: Ext3 and FAT32.
Moreover I have trouble downloading a custom rom via rom manager, it gives a download error.

What order are the partitions in (as in, which is first in the partition list)?

the first is ext3, the smallest one used as 'second rom'

You may want to try putting the FAT32 partition first and the ext3 second, if possible. Android might only be looking at the first partition on the SD card.

Finally I did it, the problem was the partitions' order. Thank you @eldarerathis !!!

@eldarerathis Your comment hould become a answer :)

As I noted in a comment, one thing to be aware of is that (typically) the order of the partitions matters. Android basically only looks at the first partition in the table, so you need to make sure the FAT one is first on the disk and the ext2/3/4 one is second. Otherwise Android will see the ext partition and won't know what to do with it.


text:
pin request at the startup lock screen
I was trying to set up a VPN connection and it asked me about medium and high level security and a password which I didn't understand well! I failed to use VPN but now each time I try to unlock the phone, it asks for that password/pin. I removed the created VPN connection to get rid of it but to no avail. How can I remove this pin request?

Go to Settings -> Security -> Screen lock, enter the PIN once more and select Slide (or what ever you had before).

If none of the other posted methods work, try the following solution, which solved this problem for me.
Open Settings and then navigate to More and then Security and tap Clear Credentials. After that you can navigate to My Device and then Lock Screen where you can change the screen lock to whatever you desire.
I'm not sure what other credentials it clears besides the screen lock but I haven't found anything so far.
I've tested this on a Samsung Galaxy S4 running Android 5.0.1. The exact locations and names of different settings may be located in different places depending on your device.
Hope this helps.

I had the exact problem for my galaxy note 2. I fixed it by following these steps:

Go to settings from the menu button on the home screen.
click "my device".
click "lock screen".
click "screen lock".
enter your passcode.
click whichever security setting you used before.