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Quick way to enter three dots (ellipsis)?
The Samsung keyboard has a Quick Symbol key, where ".,?" are on the same key and accessed similar to the T9 method (don't know if this is standard for Android keyboards).
A good idea, but how can I quickly enter an ellipsis (three dots)? The best I could come up with is:
dot space del dot space del dot

Quite clumsy, but much faster than tapping dot and then twice wait until a next tap wont change the dot anymore. There surely must be a better way?
Update
On the Galaxy Tab there is no option to choose another keyboard layout; apparently on other Samsung devices there is (see GAThrawn's answer). Here you can see what options I can choose from:

I recommand you to install AnySoftKeyboard (available in Android Market), it a bloody good keybaord, by pressing 1 sec. on [.] key there is an additional key wit the three dots !
What I also find great in this keyboard is that you can install your country keyboard what the standard Androïd keyboard does not provide... Test it ... you will adopt it !

I'm able to change the keyboard layout of the standard Samsung keyboard under Input language; but I do like AnySoftKeyboard. It even features no-delay umlaut keys, which would have been my next question...

Switched from AnySoftKeyboard to GO keyboard, as there is a layout featuring buttons with the German umlauts and also the "vanish" button which makes the keyboard disappear (could find this with AnySoftKeyboard).

You know you may get an additional set of related characters on holding a key pressed for a while on Android's native keyboard. I have a Nokia 6 with clean Android Nougat. You can enter the dots of ellipsis character (not three dots/periods/full stops/decimal points) by first switching to the numeric mode (using the ?123 key at the bottom left) and then holding the dot key (between the space bar and the Enter key at the bottom right). Since the dots of ellipsis is the only additional character envoked this way, it is simply entered on releasing the key…

it might be worth cropping that screenshot a little ;)

It sounds like you're using the Samsung Keypad with "Portrait keypad type" set to 3x4 Keypad, and "XT9" switched off?
For starters, your device has a lot of different keyboard types pre-installed, if you switch to a different keyboard or mode, you can just press "..." with 3 presses on the "." button.
Before I go into your other keyboard options, you can teach the phone the "..." sequence as a new learned "word". Go into Settings -> Locale and text -> Samsung keypad, you should now see an option XT9 make sure that this is ticked, and then you can go into XT9 advanced settings and scroll down until you see XT9 my words press Add word and type in the three dots as if they were a word and save.
Now when you're typing you should be able to do it as dot (wait) dot dot which is slightly faster.
Alternatively change your keyboard mode, go into Settings -> Locale and text -> Samsung keypad, Portrait keypad types one of your options here is Qwerty keypad this keypad looks a lot like a normal computer keyboard, and you can just press dot dot dot without any need for pauses.
Finally you should also have the Swype keyboard pre-installed on a Galaxy Tab, to turn this on go into Settings -> Locale and text -> Select Input Method and pick Swype. This looks a lot like the Samsung Qwerty keyboard, and you can use it the same way to do dot dot dot, it also a totally different and fast (once you've had some practice) way to enter words by swiping your finger across the keyboard. Swype should pop up a tutorial to show you how to do this when you first switch it on.

I don't have the option Portrait keypad types under Samsung keypad, no way to choose another keyboard. With Swype I haven't practised much yet, I will give it a try; the AnySoftKeyboard mentioned by @Cedric works nice though.

@pesche fair enough, I like Swype, not everyone does - use what you like the best. It might not be exactly called Portrait keypad types on yours, but you should have an option called something similar that lets you pick between the different Samsung keypad layouts.

see the updated questions for the options available to me. Where do you have the keypad types option?

@pesche It's above Input language on your second screenshot, I've also got a few more minor options on that page. I am looking at this on a Froyo Galaxy S's Samsung Keypad settings, but I'd have assumed that the Qwerty option would have been there on the Tab as it makes far more sense on a large screen than T9. in the Portrait Keypad types I have "Qwerty Keypad", "3x4 Keypad" (this is the T9 style) and  "Handwriting box 1" & "Handwriting box 2" options.

Quicker way to switch to Swype: long-press any text input box and a menu should pop up with "Change input type" or something like that.


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Text message time issue
My text message app is behaving rather oddly:
When receiving a text message from a friend, and instantly replying, so that the time of receiving his or her text message is equal to the time of my reply, my reply is placed above the received text message.
ASCII example ;) :
From Theodor 16.23: Dinner sounds good, when do you want to eat?
From Anna 16.23: Do you want to have dinner tonight?

The phone is a HTC Wildfire S running Android 2.3.3

Nice clear and accurate question. +1 for making the effort Theodor.

I don't think there will be a solution, perhaps short of a replacement SMS app. Obviously the time is only recorded as precise as a minute, and when faced with two equal values is more-or-less choosing at random which to show first. If the data was saved to the second it would be a non-issue. Even a third-party SMS app is probably using the same underlying data, so that probably won't help.

@AlEverett - Yes that's what I thought at first, but wouldn't it be more likely that the app is comparing the timestamp longs of the text msg, which is in milliseconds (no?), and hence something else is wrong. I was thinking if the system time on the phone is not set right, but slightly off, the time stamp from the received sms might be of a higher value. Does the os use the timestamp from the service provider or system time for received messages by the way?

i believe this is a problem with most stock messaging apps (i have had this problem with several stock sms apps, as i re-ROM a lot ;) ), and i believe the app may be comparing times with the cutoff at minutes, and have a filter that says if they're at the same time (same minute) display the incoming before the outgoing. This is only my guess.
My solution every time has been to use a replacement SMS app (i've never had a third-party SMS app behave badly in this way), and they usually have more functionality anyways. If you would like to try some, i've used Handcent SMS for a long time, but recently switched to GoSMS and love it.

+1 for "may be comparing times with the cutoff at minutes" - I think this is the key to the problem.

GoSMS Pro for Android works pretty well. You can try this.
AFAIK, the stock messaging app considers the network provided time values. You can try syncronising your phone's time with that of network provided values.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Why doesn't my Desire S support RTL?
When I bought my Desire S in Israel I was under the assumption that it's OS (Android 2.3) came with built in Hebrew support.
When I turned the phone on I discovered that there isn't an option to choose Israel as a locale and that I don't even don't have a Hebrew keyboard.  That doesn't bother me (despite the fact that it should be supported) as much as the fact that even after I downloaded a Hebrew keyboard my SMSs and other little things in Hebrew appear left to right and not right to left (RTL).
What can I do to make it appear in the correct RTL way?

Android supports Hebrew, it's strange that the carrier/manufacturer didn't have Hebrew put on the phone for sale in Israel.

From my experience I would guess you've bought a device imported by a private store rather from a local carrier, the people where you bought it should have replaced the stock rom into a hebrew supporting one after opening the package. I had the same thing done to my device after purchase and it won't void your warranty in any way.
either ask them to do so or just root your device and flash a hebrew rom from the web (may void warranty).

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


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How to force network operator selection once and for all?
I'm using HTC Desire running stock Android 2.2 (with HTCs enhancements). There's a network operation selection in Settings / Wireless & netwokrs / Mobile networks / Network operators, which allows to "Search networks" (and thus select one operator manually) or "Seleect automatically" (which would probably connect to anything it will find).
There are 3 major cellular network operators in my region currently and they allow inter-operator roaming, but for a huge roaming fee. I want to avoid this huge fee by manually forcing selection of operator once and for all. It seems to work if I select my operator (say, "Operator A") in "Search networks" mode mentioned above, and it kind of works - until I travel underground and GSM module faces following situations sequentially:

Operators A, B, C are available (on surface) => using preferred "operator A" and everything's ok
We move in the subway, no GSM network is available at all => everything's ok, it shows that network is not available
We start to emerge on the surface, and "operator B" becomes available, while "operator A" (preferred one) does not. Device stops execution of whatever was running and pops up annoying menu to "choose" new connection opportunity - "operator B". One can dismiss this menu with "Return" button, it as situation slowly changes and more operators become available, this menu would pop up a few more times.

So, the question is - how do I force mobile operator selection once and for all, and disable that extremely annoying (interruping currently running activities) popup menu with recently found cellular connections?
UPDATE: I'm using GSM / GPRS / EDGE / 3G (HSDPA) networks and in fact question refers to both voice and data traffic, so restricting APN probably has nothing to do with it. Normally, concurrent operators in the same region don't allow to roam through each other, so this problem probably doesn't exist for most normal users.

I've got a CDMA phone so I'm sure our options are different but I do have two that look like they'd be helpful to you.  I can toggle data roaming, and I can set my roaming mode to "Home only".  Do you have any options like this?  Also, are you talking about just Data or voice too?

"I'm using HTC Desire running stock Android 2.2 (with HTCs enhancements)" sad to say that might be your problem right there. CyanogenMod has options to disallow roaming, and it seems to allow you to force a provider (although granted I only get one choice, AT&T)

APN Lock may work.  It appears to give you the ability to block certain networks APN's which won't affect your ability to use Voice or SMS but won't allow your phone to make a data connection with the networks you block (by changing the APNs so you phone fails to connect).  I'd be careful though, messing with the APNs can cause problems this app doesn't have any comments yet.

I don't think it will work, as I don't have problems with APNs specifally: in fact, I have only 2 APNs (one for generic internet communication and other for MMSes) and I don't need any "locking" with them. I've clarified that question refers to both voice and data cellular transfer now.

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


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How long does an erase message sent from Android Device Manager last; when can I turn it back on?
I lost my phone recently and sent an erase message from Android Device Manager. I got my phone back and, because the battery was flat, it hadn't gone through. I had cancelled phone and had no WiFi, so I went into Google Settings and turned Android Device Manager off. Connected to internet without it being wiped. Is it safe to turn Android Device Manager back on without worrying that the original intent to wipe the phone will continue? How long do I have to wait to turn it back on?


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Can Hangouts limit the number of SMS messages for specific contacts?
One of my SMS contacts has several thousand messages; I'd like to limit the number of messages per contact to a much smaller number (my prior SMS app had a per-contact setting).  I found an option "Delete old messages -- delete old messages when storage is low" and enabled it, but it hasn't helped.
Is there a way to limit the number of SMS messages kept by hangouts?


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How to hide / show the pull out drawer that is pre-loaded on some Samsung devices
Some newer Samsung devices have a pull out tab that stores some of the commonly used applications. I have accidentally enabled and disabled it a number of times, but I don't know how. I don't see anything related to it in device settings or any of the installed apps that would control it.
How do you hide / show this pull out bar?

 (Click on the image for larger version)

What device and Android version? I don't seem to get this when I employ the suggested action, and it seems to be an interesting feature.

That's part of Samsung's multi window feature; see also: How to remove this sliding app section?

You can enable/disable this pull out bar by long pressing the back button.

What device and Android version? I don't seem to get this when I employ the suggested action, and it seems to be an interesting feature.

at the current time I am working specifically with a Galaxy Tab 8" (SGH-I467M) with Android 4.1.2. In the past I've seen this same pull out menu thing on other higher end samsung phones/tablets as well, but I don't have a list of all models that I have seen it on.


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Receiving an EACCESS Permission denied error when copying files to ExtSDCard
My ExtSDCard has begun to act funny over the past few days. I have downloaded and used a few file managers in the past, and my current favorite is ES File Manager. However, over the past few days, I have been unsuccessful in using it to copy anything to the ExtSDCard, always receiving a "Failed to copy" message. I tried the same with Ghost Commander, which is clearer in its failed operation message, yielding the "EACCES (Permission denied)" error message.
To try to correct the error myself, I moved everything I needed to retain to Internal Storage, and reformatted the card. It was virtually empty - barebones. Upon trying to move things back, it did not work again with either File Manager, however, the most simplistic file manager MyFiles did the operation without problems. So now my files are back on the ExtSDCard, but I'm concerned that my favorite file manager ES File Manager is now useless, as is Ghost Commander, too. MyFiles as a file management system really lacks sophistication.
I have uninstalled, and re-installed ES and Ghost Commander without recovering their former functionality. I have rebooted the tablet a number of times, thinking the disk was locked through some system lock that would reset. No luck. I have proved that Dropbox can export a file directly to a location the card, too, so writing is possible, just not with these tools.
I am not looking for alternative file manager suggestions. Anybody have any ideas what is causing well-distributed file managers to lose functionality like this? If it makes any difference, I'm not rooted. It's a Galaxy Tab, which just received an update OTA to 4.4.2 a couple weeks ago. The file managers retained their functionality until just a couple days ago; I don't think the upgrade has anything to do with it.

It's a Galaxy Tab, which just received an update OTA to 4.4.2 a couple weeks ago.

There you have the reason: Kitkat introduced restrictions concerning access to the SD-Card. While apps still can read from the card, only system apps are permitted to write to it (with the exception of app-specific directories in /sdcard/Android/data).
For non-rooted devices, there's no solution or work-around available (except waiting for the Lollipop update to lift these restrictions a little). There are, however, several solutions for rooted devices, some of them can be found in this list. If you're interested in those (maybe you've meanwhile rooted your device, or rooting became an option for you), watch out for apps like Kitkat external SD card patch or SDFix.

for me file manager is able to write files to memory card (ex:ES Explorer), i wonder how!, i am an android dev and having this issue with my application on android 4.4.2

@user229813 I cannot tell you how – but I'd wonder if it was on the very same device. Some manufacturers (e.g. Huawei) fixed that stupid restriction in their own distributions, so it doesn't affect all devices. Also, most custom ROMs included a patch for it.

It's definitely the same device, there are 3 devices I tested with, lenovo tab 2 A7-20f , lenovo tab 2 A7-30, moto e, running Android 4.4.2,4.4.2,4.4.4 respectively , lenovo tab 2 A7-20f is the one I have problem with

No idea then. And as you're speaking of an app you write: development issues are off-topic here, so please do not ask for how to code that.

I am aware about stack exchange community, hence so I didn't ask for any resolution but pointers for, if anyone know, thanks anyways

I didn't accuse, it was just a hint :)


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Voice on calls are too quiet
I got a new phone and sometimes it's hard to hear the person on the other line. Sometimes people say it's hard to hear me. This is a high end phone and I don't think this should be happening. What options are available to change? I've pressed the volume-up arrow to the top when I'm on a call and it's still too quiet.
What exactly do the options: Speaker voice enhancement, equalizer and microphone noise suppression do?

After many months of suffering that others cant hear me, i found whats wrong with my Z2.
Go to settings - sound&notification - Accessory settings - Mic sensitivity
Set it to "High"
Auto does not work good for me...
Yes I know that it looks like this seting is for acessories.. but no, its for internal mic, you can test it in settings - about phone - diagnostics - test - microphone.. change mic sensitivity and try this test.. on high you can hear yourself back.. on low you almost can't hear yourself back.

Reason for this problem  :It is a bug in the xperia software, which lowers your call speaker volume also whenever u connect a headphone for phone call and reduces it's volume.
Solution :connect a headphone. Call someone and maximize the volume. Then, remove the headphone and see that your call speaker also has maximum volume.


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I do not wish Gmail contacts to appear on my device
I'm using the same Gmail account for Google Play with two cell phones. I do not wish for one of those phones to sync the contacts in my account, but it has done so automatically. How can I fix this?

If you look on your settings depending on what phone you're using there should be an "account" section where you can click on your gmail account which will bring up the sync settings, in these settings there should be a contact tick box, untick this box and the contacts should be removed.
As mentioned, this is depending on the make of the phone as steps could vary
In future, it is best to give as much information as is possible


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Completely Full /system on CM11?
I installed CM11 from this thread on my old Nexus S 4g, thinking I could use it as a tiny server or something. However, it seems that the /system mountpoint, where things like /etc live, is ~100% full:
Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/dev                   193.1M   136.0K   193.0M   4096
/sys/fs/cgroup         193.1M     0.0K   193.1M   4096
/mnt/asec              193.1M     0.0K   193.1M   4096
/mnt/obb               193.1M     0.0K   193.1M   4096
/mnt/fuse              193.1M     0.0K   193.1M   4096
/efs                     6.8M     1.6M     5.2M   4096
/cache                 469.5M     2.3M   467.2M   4096
/system                503.9M   503.9M     8.0K   4096
/data                 1007.9M   351.4M   656.5M   4096
/mnt/media_rw/sdcard0    13.3G     6.8G     6.5G   4096
/mnt/secure/asec        13.3G     6.8G     6.5G   4096
/storage/sdcard0        13.3G     6.8G     6.5G   4096

Is this normal, or a strange feature of the particular rom I have flashed?
Is there any way to expand /system without wiping my device?
Can I do an overlay mount and have files in some other directory automatically appear in /system?
Can I take the rom zip I have and modify its install scripts somehow, so that when I flash it I get a bigger /system?
Is there something I can safely delete to free up space on /system?
How do I effectively administer a Linux system where no files can be created under /etc?


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How can I diagnose if my LG G2 screen is defective?
Until until yesterday, my LG G2 smartphone worked beautifully. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason (no drops or indication of damage), this occurred.

Click for full size image
Clear horizontal and vertical lines appear across the screen. Note how the very top is perfectly fine, and gets worse towards the bottom of the phone.
I am willing to buy a replacement screen an replace the entire part. I have some experience in fixing electronics, and there are lots of nice online tutorials. However, since there was no damage to it whatsoever (it sat on a desk overnight), I began to wonder whether it was the screen at all.
Is there any method or software to diagnose whether my screen or other parts of my phone are defective, other than buying a new screen and trying it out?

As far as I can tell, the problem is that the LCD is getting interference from the antenna.
To fix it, place some tape in between the white antenna cable and the circuit board. Basically, on the bottom, there are 2 parts that snap on, and then there is another square that is left "floating around". This has to be flat the same orientation as the LCD. Place the tape above it so it insulates it from the white cable that should be passing above it.

Welcome to [android.se]. Thank you for your contribution. I suggested an edit to clean up your post, including changing "circuit square" to "circuit board" (I believe that's what it's called). Feel free to improve it further.


text:
Why does my phone show less storage than it's supposed to?
I have a Lava Iris X1 (8GB ROM), but the storage shows up in two types.
Internal storage total space is 3.54GB:
Available                         : 2.52GB
Apps (app data & media etc.)      : 0.97GB
Cached data                       : 48.17MB

Phone storage total space is 2.50GB:
Available                         : 8.55MB
Apps (app data & media etc.)      : 27.54MB
Pictures, videos                  : 1.85GB
audio (music, ringtones etc.)     : 313MB
Downloads                         : 25.92MB
Cached data                       : 64.14MB
Misc.                             : 223MB

I am confused about why my phone memory is less than 8 GB. Is my phone's total ROM capacity 8GB or not?

The flash chip inside your phone is 8gb, but not all of that space will be available to the user - some of it will be used by the other partitions, such as /system/ where the Android OS is installed, and the /cache/ partition which is used for temporary storage, among other things.
You can install this app to see how your storage is partitioned:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cls.partition
For example, my Xperia SP also has 8gb storage
According to that app:

/lta-label - 16mb
/system - 1211mb
/cache - 542mb
/data - 5500mb

The /data partition is the one you'll see as internal storage.
Note that this doesn't actually add up to 8gb (more like 7gb) - the other point to remember is that device manufacturers always lie about capacities - e.g. my 16gb microSD card is actually 14.8gb. (It'll usually be a gig or so below what's reported, possibly much more for bigger devices.)

I think a lot of SD card makers use 1000 to mean Mega, rather than 1024, so you get 1000 Kb in a Mb, 1,000 Mb in a Gb etc, so each time the actual size is decreasing. 1,000 x 1,000 x 1,000 = 1000000000. 1024 x 1024 x 1024 = 1073741824  And that's not factoring in Kb etc below these values!

Agreeing to Ross' comment, one more thing to consider concerning your SD card: storage media usually have "reserved areas" to e.g. be able to prevent data loss in case of block errors, usually 5..10% of the available space, and the file system has such as well (see e.g. here, first paragraph and the layout table). Hence the usable space of a 16 GB card is something around 15 GB – and the manufacturer did not "lie".


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Can a mouse emulate swiping?
I use Moon+ Reader software to read pdf files on a Sony xperia tablet. Instead of swiping on the screen to scroll the pdf, I would like to use a mouse with scrolling wheel instead to scroll. Is this possible and what do I need?
Using 4.2.2.

Most likely you'd need a mouse with a scrolling wheel :) Honestly: Have you tried whether it works? What happens if you scroll? As long the answer is not "nothing", you could check with Moony's config and adjust it accordingly.

I have to get a mini USB to USB to test. I don't expect it's in config because what I am asking is unusual. No there's no mouse setting in Moon+. I am asking if there's a software driver/tool which translates mouse wheel movements into swiping commands which Android understands and which any Android software responds to.

How do you know there's no "mouse setting" in Moon+? Sure it's not labeled such, as it's rather unusual (as you already noted). My hope for you is the scrolling event submitted by the mouse might match one of the other events which can be configured. Small chance, but at least it is.

If it's a setting that deals with the mouse, why would it be labeled something that doesn't mention mouse!? You're talking about low level programming. People usually don't use a mouse with Android and among the tens of Android apps I used, none mentioned mouse in any of their settings.

It wouldn't be labeled such because it was not intended for this. Let me explain by an (incorrect) example: couldn't it be the scroll-up event triggers the same "interrupt" as the volume-up key (unlikely, but I wrote it's incorrect)? In that case, wouldn't Moon+ react as if you had pushed the volume-up key? And if so, couldn't you use that for your purpose, substituting "scroll-up" with what's named "volume up" in Moon+?

There's no scroll or mouse setting.

This answer shows that you can capture touch input from the raw device (`/dev/input/event2') to a file, and then play it back whenever you like. You could then automate an event to play back the captured touch input each time you want to scroll.

Are you suggesting I program this? I am not an Android programmer. I am looking for a tool.

If your Xperia tablet is rooted... use an app called Tasker. It is able to emulate to send touch and swipe events to the screen. I have used it in several apps to scroll the screen up. Of course you can use Tasker if the device isn't rooted, but I'm not sure if you can send shell commands.
In Tasker, create a new task, Action category CODE--> RUN SHELL--> input swipe X1 Y1 X2 Y2
Check out this link: http://www.pocketables.com/2013/07/how-to-emulate-touch-input-using-tasker-and-root.html
You can also use Tasker to send button events to emulate a directional pad. Just send x amount of clicks in order to scroll the appropriate amount of the screen.
Now you just have to figure out how you want to trigger that task to run.
If this works, let me know!

And how to bind that to the mouse? AFAIK there's no way to tell Tasker the mouse input directly, but I might have missed that.


text:
Is there a Google Docs editor for Android that actually works?
I have tried several Google Docs editors for Android and none of them has fully featured editor functionality. Selecting things like fonts and colors is absent and I have actually tried two editors that completely messed up a document I had initially created using a computer. I read several reviews stating similar things. Does anyone know of a way to edit Google Docs documents using Android?

What's wrong withe the original google doc app?

Have you actually seen the user interface of the spreadsheet app on Android?

@Flow The editor is completely flawed. I ran into three bugs in three minutes. One of them was that a number of characters were inserted into the document at random. I tried both the official Google Docs app and just using the standard browser to access Google Docs mobile web pages. Same bugs occurred on both.

I just tested QuickOffice Pro and it will do this.  It didn't seem to ruin my existing google doc either.

I have tested QuickOffice (trial version), and it works flawlessly on simple documents.

One reason you will not find an editor for android that supports fonts is probably because almost all android devices only come with 3 fonts, Droid-Serif, Droid-Sans and Droid-Sans-Mono. There are some devices that have other fonts, but from what I have seen, they are not "standard" fonts like you would see on a PC/Mac.
Also, the editors are limited because of screen size. You may see better editors come along with tablets, but even then, you are limited in screen real estate since you would need to have the on screen keyboard open with the editor.

As I write in my answer, Firefox for Android is able to present all fonts.

There is a Google Docs app available on the market but I myself wasn't too keen. However, there is an called Documents to Go which allows the creation and editing office documents and Google docs.
To edit and create though you do need the paid version of the app as the free version is only a viewer but you need the free version installed with the paid version as the paid version is an unlock app. The app can be found at https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dataviz.docstogo&feature=search_result
Hope this helps

I am not willing to spend the money needed to test the editing capabilities of Documents to Go. I have been disappointed by so many other editors. I also doubt that Documents to Go will have real-time syncronization.

Not entirely sure what you mean by real-time synchronisation. If you are talking about the google docs sync then it is instant as soon as you save to google docs it will be there on any other device with access to google docs. It is quite an expensive app but you can try it out for 15 minutes and then uninstall it if to get your money back if you are not happy with the app.

The best solution I have found so far is to access the desktop version (not mobile version) of a document with the FireFox browser for Android. This way, I am able to see all fonts just fine and edit the document without it suddenly adding characters at random or messing up the document. The only problem seems to be that FireFox does not seem to understand when to present the keyboard. I can force this by long-pressing my menu button. Sometimes I have to fiddle a bit before the characters I type show up in the document (maybe the reason for this was a flaky connection).


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How can I remove pictures from contacts to save space?
I am desperate for app space on my HTC Desire. When looking at what I use app storage for, i can see that 12 mb (since this question was first asked this has grown to 16 mb) is spent on contacts. This is probably because I sync contacts with Facebook, and therefore have pictures of a lot of contacts. Now, to save space, I would like to delete these pictures. How can I do that?

I find that this data usage grows with time even when you aren't adding many contacts. Therefore, I think it includes information like latest status updates (from facebook, twitter, etc.) So the picture delete may not help...

On my phone I have an option to delete bulk contact pictures when I push the menu button when in my contacts. However this is using a custom rom on an htc desire hd. I'm pretty sure if you're still running sense you can choose to uncheck the sync with facebook option, along with a delete contact picture option. If worse comes to worst then you can always manually delete the pictures of each contact after you uncheck the sync with facebook option.

I somehow managed to do this. I am not quite sure how, but I created a fake Facebook profile with no friends (hence no pictures to sync). I then tried to set up the syncing of contacts with this Facebook profile. I got an error message that the service was unavailable when trying to log into this profile, and suddenly all the pictures disappeared from my contacts! I am now down on using 9 MB on contacts instead of 16 mb.


text:
Complete list of hardware keyboard shortcuts for Desire Z?
I like to use the hardware keyboard of the Desire Z including shortcuts, however I haven't found a complete list. For example, the HTC help pages don't mention Function + Backspace = Deletion of text left to the cursor.
Can anyone provide a complete list or further "secret" shortcuts? This might also involve the usage of the optical "trackball", e.g. selecting text by using it while pressing Shift.

http://www.htc.com/www/howto.aspx?id=18599&type=1&p_id=325 has some info.
Also see - http://www.htc.com/ca/support/desirez-bell/help/tips-and-tricks

Thanks, these were the help pages I referred to... hope there is more to come!

In apps where there are shortcuts. Press menu once, then hold menu. The titles of each option should now show their keyboard shortcuts, if available.

As the links in the comments are partly broken, I try to sum some things up here -- before the remaining links go to Nirvana as well.
Global Shortcuts
Access number pad – Tap the 12# button on the keyboard
Turn on CAPS – Tap and hold the up arrow/Shift key until it has an underline.
Access keyboard settings – Tap the Gear icon on the keyboard

Browser Shortcuts
Homepage – Menu + Spacebar
Find – Menu + F
Select text – Menu + E
Page Info – Menu + G
Share Page – Menu + S
Downloads – Menu + D
History – Menu + H
Settings – Menu + P

Messaging Shortcuts
Press C to compose new message
Press R to reply
Press A to reply all
Press F to forward

(Source: HTC.COM)
Assigning your own Shortcuts
While on the Home screen, you can quickly open an app or an item by pressing a keyboard shortcut.

While on the Home screen, open the slideout keyboard.
Press and hold any of the keyboard keys (A ~ Z).
Tap OK.
Tap Apps or Shortcuts, and then tap the app or shortcut that you want to assign to the selected key. If you are assigning a shortcut to an item on your phone, follow the screen instructions to proceed.
While on the Home screen, press and hold the key you’ve assigned a keyboard shortcut to. The app or item opens.

(Source: HTC.COM)


text:
How to fix "Invalid IMEI " after Factory reset?
The question is simple "How to fix "Invalid IMEI " after Factory reset?"
After factory reset my phone starts showing "Invalid IMEI" on both SIM slots and I can't call or to being called.
The phone is A738 with Android 2.2.1 and CPU chip is Media Tek MTK6516 416MH
Hope that information is enough.
** UPDATE **
This is the phone

What phone?  Much more important than the CPU in my opinion.

The phone is A738 here is the link http://www.chinabuye.com/a738-android-2-2-gps-tv-quad-band-dual-sim-smartphone-416mhz-2g-ram

Have you installed CoPilot on this phone?

Yes, before the reset I have installed CoPilot

I found a good solution:
DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK

Need to root the phone - I use z4root
Install Root.Explorer (in the archive)
Using Root Explorer you must replace (maybe you will need to press "Mount R/W" on top right corner of the program screen) .modem.img  from the archive to this location of the phone /etc/firmware/.modem.img (do not delete the old file !!! replace it!)
Set permissions for the .modem.img file to rw-r--r--
Restart the phone and maybe will be OK, but if it is not go to next step
IMEI information is stored in /data/nvram/md/NVRAM/NVD_IMEI/MP0B_001. Maybe changing of your original IMEI is not good idea because it is against the law but if you don't have copy of that file BEFORE the factory reset you can use temporary IMEI file located in the arhive.

The archive with files needed

I re-upload it, must be ok now.

Since the archive was on MegaUpload it's gone now. Does anyone has a copy or can anyone upload it to some other file sharing service ?

comment by Mircea D.: You can also create your own brand new IMEI file if you have the code at the back of your phone, with the IMEI generator. See this guide for more details. // @MirceaD You might wish to place that as an answer, including an excerpt of the linked guide.

I have formated the nvram accidentally with a tool. My IMEI also resets now. To keep my IMEI why do I need to replace the modem.img (4.89MB) and to what to replace? also is that is replaced, why need /data/nvram/md/NVRAM/NVD_IMEI/ files? There I have MP0B_001 120 byte ST6TA001 412 byte ST6TB001 412 byte and not only MP0B_001. My chipset is MT6589T, phone THL: W8S

Install the Mobile MTK Engineering Mode app. This will only work on devices with a Mediatek chipset.

This Application allow you to run Advanced Setup from Engineering Mode Menu of MTK phones, also called SERVICE MODE

Other apps which can show the MTK Engineering Mode Menu will probably work too.
If you can't find or don't know your phone's IMEI, then install the Bb IMEI Generator app to generate one for you. If your phone has dual SIM support, you'll need two IMEIs. Note the generated IMEIs by Bb IMEI Generator.
In the Mobile MTK Engineering Mode app go to > MTK Settings > Connectivity > CDS Information > Radio Information > Phone 1.
At the AT+ line:

Enter AT +EGMR=1,7,"ENTER-IMEI-HERE", then tap on 'Send AT Command'. If you have a dual SIM phone, enter AT +EGMR=1,10,"ENTER-IMEI-HERE" then tap on 'Send AT Command' again. Note: The quotes are included. There should be a space after AT.
You should get a notification that the AT Command(s) were successfully sent. Restart your device. You now shouldn't get the 'Invalid IMEI' notification.

This solution works even without getting notification. Note that copy-paste causes Mobile MTK Engineering Mode crash.

Before proceeding, check your country's law regarding tampering IMEI. It might be illegal. However, the answer is meant to restore the IMEI back to original.
The answer can work on Mediatek devices mt65{89,75,77,92,82}. Simply, its applicable on many Mediatek devices.
In my situation, T1000's answer didn't work for my device Micromax A110q Canvas 2 Plus. I used this  video (backup) on YouTube which first format and then flashes your device.

If you have a an MTK-Phone that has an invalid IMEI after performing a factory reset from nandroid, your NV-RAM is corrupted and you CAN NOT fix this with any of the MANY IMEI repair tools on the web. YOU NEED TO FORMAT YOUR NV-RAM and flash a stock image! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH IMEI TOOLS!
After that you can just restore your original NANDROID backup and be on your way again! (Source)

Remember to take a backup of everything you think is important for you.

Method #1
Procedure:

Download a scatter-based ROM (Stock ROM preferred) for your device. Google for such with details like device model name, chipset, etc. You can also look at this collection listed at Androidxda.
Download ADB drivers for your device, install them and verify that your device is getting detected. You can Google for them like Step 1.
Extract files from downloaded ROM and look for Scatter File.
Download latest SP-Flash Tool and follow the usage guide either from the aforementioned video (using old version of the tool) or from here.
Extract this tool, look for Flash_tool.exe and execute it by Right-click -> Run as Administrator.
Once the interface comes up, click Scatter-Loading button and locate the Scatter file there.
If you have custom recovery installed and don't want to replace it, then uncheck it and check the rest of the listed options (partitions). It is better to uncheck the recovery in case, the tool doesn't succeed.
Click the Format option. Under Auto Format Flash check Format whole flash except bootloader and uncheck rest (0:57/1:57). Make sure Validation is checked.
Hit Format/OK and then connect your phone through USB cable into PC, remove and plug the battery but don't turn it on manually. You may have to press Vol. Up or Vol. Down button to let the PC detect your phone.
The tool will format the partitions and will show a green ring as success.
Press the Download button and re-insert the battery again.
A green ring will be shown if its flashed well.
Close the tool, unplug the phone, start and boot into the Android. Check the IMEI now.

(Source YouTube video and Androidxda guide.)

Method #2
It could be possible that you might not be able to see IMEI still, but we've come far away from Invalid IMEI issue. If the issue persist, a different issue with IMEI I assume, then consider the solution on YouTube here (backup). You can also look at this (backup) solution which is published by the same uploader.
This solution requires Maui Meta 3G, Scatter based Stock ROM, CDC Drivers. Google them to download the latest version. You may look the this and this video, or this guide for the procedure. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a synopsis for Maui Meta 3G.
Procedure:

First enable USB Debugging in your phone. To do this go to Settings -> Developer options and enable USB Debugging in it. In case you don’t find developer options in your settings just go to Settings -> About phone. There you can see build number. Tap it 7-8 times and you can get Developer options now.
Now install Maui META 3G tool then open it after installation.
Click Options -> Connect smart phone into META mode.
Then click Reconnect.
Now turn off the device and connect it to pc using USB data cable.
The device will boot up and stay in boot logo (META mode) and won’t go past it (don’t panic it is normal).
As soon as PC detects the mobile it will start searching for drivers.
If it fails to install any driver, mainly CDC driver you have to manually install it (this driver is mandatory and without it Maui tool will not detect your device). Hop down to the next point to know how to install CDC drivers. For Windows 7 and above make sure you have disabled Digital signature Verification.  You can Google out how to disable digital signature verification.
Go to Control panel -> Device manager, locate CDC… (The CDC… option will be displayed until the device is connected in META mode, it will disappear after you disconnect it). Locate CDC in device manger list and right click on it. Now choose update driver software -> Browse my computer driver software -> then browse Android_Gadget_CDC_driver.inf through browse option -> Click next to install driver -> Choose install it anyway -> done.
After successfully installing the drivers  the Maui tool will detect your device.
Close the pop-up info window then choose IMEI download from the drop down menu right below the menu bar of the Maui Tool.
Main app.
After clicking IMEI download it will popup a window like below.
vlcsnap-2014-11-21-00h20m20s28.
Click Change NVRAM database file and load your device stock ROM database file. (This file will be available in your device SP Tool flashable stock ROM. Don’t use any other device database file and use only your device file).
After loading NVRAM database file successfully now enter your IMEI(SIM_1) and hit Download to flash.  Repeat the same process for SIM_2.
Now you have flashed the IMEI successfully on your phone and you can close the tool.
Unplug the device from PC, remove the battery and insert it back again.
Now turn on the device and DONE…!! Now you will have your lost IMEI back permanently.
  [More Info : Here (backup) on YouTube]

(Source)

About SP Flash Tool

Smart Phone Flash Tool (SP Flash Tool) allows you to Flash any Stock Rom or any Custom on the Android Smartphone.

Note: I've provided backup for every YouTube video if the original cannot be reached somehow.
Method 1 is tested by me. Method 2 is tested from the video only. Procedure for Method #2 is mentioned for the purpose of quoting and answering.


text:
Trying to remap my hardware buttons
Since I have a broken back button I have remapped my buttons in such a way that my original volume up button functions as a menu button, and my original menu button as the back button. I've done this by changing the key values in /system/usr/keylayout/generic.kl.
The problem is, I've flashed a new ROM so I had to do it again, but now it doesn't work anymore. The changed values are persistent but my phone ignores it, it seems.
And yes, of course I've rebooted after making the changes again.
Anyone have an idea?

Without knowing which phone you have, which rom, or what version, it's hard to tell you exactly why, but the simplest explanation is that you are editing the wrong key layout file. Cyanogenmod roms tend to support various key layouts specific for certain devices, and those take precedence over the Generic.kl file, for obvious reasons. Key layout files are mapped to individual device types. There may be other .kl files that are specific for your buttons, like sec_key.kl, sec_jack.kl (for Samsung hard buttons and headset buttons), cyttsp-i2c.kl (for Cypress TrueTouch e-ink display controllers used in the B&N Nook), gpio-keys.kl, etc etc.
So you need to see which ones are there, which one is for your specific device (hopefully it's commented), and edit that one.

I would guess that the keymappings are only read at the first boot after flashing the ROM and will be stored in a database on the /data partition. This database won't be updated when the values in generic.kl are changed. You can test this thought by doing a data wipe. This will trigger reading your changed values from generic.kl (AFTER DELETING ALL YOUR USERDATA!). Another way would be finding this database and editing it by hand or just removing it and rebooting for a re-read of generic.kl.

Thank you, that seems like the solution if i can find that database. Do you have any idea or guess where to find it?

That's absolutely not how android handles the key layout and key char map files.


text:
Why does my phone think it's low on space?
Before downloading a 1.14GB app on my Samsung Galaxy Phone, I had 1.24GB free in my internal storage. Strangely, I wasn't able to download the app and I got a message saying "Low on space. Phone storage space is getting low."
I don't understand why I only have 189MB left of internal storage on my phone when I didn't even manage to download the app. I already use Cache and Memory Cleaner and a task killer and I restarted my phone. I've tired looking through my internal storage folders on my PC, but I don't see anything that I can delete. What's happening here? Can anyone solve this?

Have you looked at any of the suggestions in the insufficient-memory tag wiki?


text:
Make phone calls using a computer through an Android phone, both connected by WiFi
I have a computer and Android phone connected by WiFi. I want to use my computer to make calls through the phone. Is there any way to do this?

Do you want to also use the computer's microphone and speakers? Or do you simply want the computer to initiate the phone call, after which you'll physically hold your phone and talk as you normally would with a cell phone?

Its kinda obvious he wants to make call with pc mic. Did you find a solution? SideSync seems to work only for Samsung device, Remote Phone Call isnt really good app as Iv read some reviews, push bullet is nice but only for text messages not phone calls and Google Voice + hangouts is cool but it doesnt use your GSM provider but their own (paid) service AFAIK (so its not actually standard phone call).

Remote Phone Call (Click Here to View App on Play Store) might help you with the GSM Calling via WIFI & BLUETOOTH.
Google VOICE & HANGOUT (Default app on android Phone)
for PC you need plugin for installing HANGOUT..

There is a startup in YCombinator's incubation center that is currently solving this very problem, they are called PushBullet.
https://www.pushbullet.com
Unfortunately though, their app is still a chrome extension, and it does not allow you to directly make calls from PC, your phone is connected with PC over LAN (read wifi), and it binds a port from your phone to the PC and allows you to add one more layer of abstraction between your phone and PC


text:
How to display mobile data usage for whole month and not last 7 days?
I have monthly cycle for measuring mobile data from 1st to 31st but it always measures last 7 days. How do I make it measure cycle I have configured?

Full resolution image

The vertical bars have handles where they meet the bottom of the graph, so you can adjust the date range that it presents. Just tap on the handle for the left bar and drag it all the way to the left of the graph to see your usage from the beginning if your billing cycle:

Thank you, but every time these bars reset to range of 7 days and I have to adjust them again. I was wondering if I could set them for a range of whole month as default

@Boris_yo: You cannot. You'd have to find a custom ROM that implemented that feature, or perhaps an Xposed module or something. I'm not aware of anything that exists for that purpose. For whatever reason, the Android devs decided to make it show the last 7 days when the screen first appears, and that's not configurable.


text:
I forgot my tablet PIN
I'm trying to log-in to my tablet, which I haven't been on in about 2 months. I can't remember my PIN. It's not giving me a chance to log-in with my Google account, so I don't know what to do.

I really doubt you've used a correct tag here.
If it's not a samsung-galaxy-s, then please update your question. Mentioning correct tablet model might help in receiving help.
...As well as rebooting your device can.

How to unlock device when I forgot my password?

Can not unlock my Android device as have no internet connection?

Instructions:-

Download Aroma File Manager latest version
Place it in the root of your sdcard(Preferred)
Reboot into recovery

4.
    For CWM:
Mount all partitions (including sd-ext if you have it)
And flash Aroma File Manager from sdcard
For stock recovery:
In stock recovery, there is no option to mount partitions, so
Flash Aroma File Manager, Click on menu option and go to settings
Select Mount All Partitions
Now, exit from Aroma File Manager and reflash it.
Now, you will see each partition is mounted
5. Now, go to /data/system
Note : If you have sd-ext mod to increase internal storage, go to /sd-ext/system/
6. Now, If you have to remove pattern lock, long press and delete gesture.key
If you want to remove password, delete password.key
If you want to remove gesture, delete gesture.key

Exit the Aroma File Manager
Reboot

I read that Aroma does not work on stock recovery. Does it?

If you have not rooted your tablet just hard reset it.

I don't think it matters if you are rooted or not. You can do a factory restore either way.


text:
Phone screen went black after getting wet and will not turn on
My phone got wet in the rain, and the screen went black and will not turn on. I left it alone for 2 hours but to no avail. Now I'm charging the phone and it still wont work, the phone just vibrates every 3 seconds. I took out battery and put it back in, but that did not help. What do I do?

It's not quite a duplicate, but the answers on this question should help you out.

Dont charge the phone right now! You'll fry it!

Most of the advice I've seen for a drenched phone (of any stripe) is to immediately turn it off, remove the battery, bury it in some uncooked rice for several days, and pray. If, after three or four days, if it won't take a charge or turn on, it's time for a new phone.


text:
A phone as a home 4G modem/router?
I live in a rural area where traditional cable, fiber, and even DSL are not a possibility.  I am using a weird wireless system a local ISP set up for this area, but its flaky, slow and expensive.  The only thing it really has going for it is there are no data caps.
I can get 4G signal for T-Mobile, however (and Verizon, but their data caps drove me away), and I'm considering making my home internet connection consist of a dedicated Android phone on a T-Mobile 4G unlimited contract, using its WiFi hotspot.  (I would probably set up another wireless router for the actual LAN so I'd have good coverage of the house, but it would use the phone's network as its uplink.). I would use a phone rather than a USB modem to take advantage of T-Mobile's unlimited data package.
Is this a bad idea?  Would the phone fry if I left it on and broadcasting its WiFi hotspot 24/7?  I have an N5 but I've never used the hotspot for an extended period before - are they flaky?  Would it drop IPs or anything like that and require reboots?  Would T-Mobile decide I'm breaking a rule and throttle me down?

Why would you use a phone and not a dedicated USB 4g modem? Some routers allow these to be plugged directly to the router for sharing...

Good question - you use a phone because all modem data contracts are capped (as far as I know). TMobile phone 4G contracts gave an unlimited option.

Updated reasoning in my question.

I can't really answer the more general questions of whether or not this is technically feasible, but for T-Mobile specifically it's probably worth noting that their ToS states: Unlimited 4G data includes 2.5 GB of tethering. It's not entirely unsurprising, though, since otherwise they'd have basically no market for their mobile broadband plans.

@eldarerathis Oooh, that's a really good catch.  The assumed un-cappedness was the big draw for me.  Probably a dealbreaker...

For any UK readers, Three are offering unlimited mobile data with 30GB of tethering allowance for £20-£25 per month depending on contract length and included call minutes. The data/minutes can apparently also be used in various countries with no extra charge.

That's not a bad idea at all. I have Verizon Wireless and I do this all the time. That's what tethering is for, and the USB option as well. 4G is fast, and for what it's worth, based on what you've said, it seems like a fantastic idea.
To answer your second question and forward, no - -  your phone wouldn't fry, providing you got a phone with good specs.
As far as I'm concerned, they have been more reliable than regular average routers. It's LTE after all, so it's not a surprise. Can't speak about the throttle, that depends on T-Mobile and their terms. I think they do throttle, but it's not a huge difference.
I'd recommend talking to someone from T-Mobile and asking them what device has best specs and battery power. Also, you can get a data monitor to monitor all traffic and block / allow certain connections via incoming addresses or devices. Those apps are available on Google Play so let me know if you need them.
I have a family member who uses T-Mobile tethering  amongst six devices at home, two of which are a PS3 which plays Netflix and it's not slow at all. Randomly given of course, every server has ups and downs.

So there is no cap to the tethered data on VZW?  How are you tethering?

Oh, there certainly is a cap on Data. But I have a family plan that has more than enough data, and the other members in the plan barely use it. But now that I'm back in college, I don't need to do it.

I use the built-in tethering feature.

There are some older devices that would get quite warm when tethering for a long time. Wouldn't recommend permanent tethering if you've got one of those. Most newer devices generally can handle tethering without issues though.

Another reason to use a phone is that a lot of 4G modems disconnect because of memory and other problems, causing multiple reboots. The phone is more reliable

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


text:
Incredible 2 Sync Problem
I've downloaded the HTC Sync software onto my PC in order to sync my new Incredible 2 with my Outlook, etc.  After plugging my phone into the PC with a USB cable, however, it tells me "No Device Connected."   How can I get the computer to recognize the phone?

Check your phone if you have selected a default action when you plug in your phone. If memory serves, it connects in "Charge-only" mode by default, and pops a menu for selection. If you have already chosen a default action, go to `Settings->Connect to PC" and change the default. You'll need to choose "HTC sync" mode or somesuch.


text:
How to read out the data in HTC Desire SMS backup file?
Unfortunately my HTC Desire SMS app crashed (HTC official android 2.2), all SMS and MMS were lost. When I tried to recover from a previously backed up SMS file (generated by Desire SMS app), but it didn't work, prompting failed to recover. But I found actually most of SMS and MMS had been recovered, with some important ones still missing. I want to open the backup file directly to read out the missed SMS, how to do it? Someone said the backup file is SQLite file, right?

All the messages in Android are stored in an SQlite database on the mobile. So, I guess this Desire backup application simply copies this database to an accessible folder (presumably sdcard).
Since it's an SQLite file, you can simply download and use an SQLite Browser and view the SMS in there.

Thank you very much for the answer. The SMS backup file is stored in /mnt/sdcard/sms_backup folder. I copied it to my PC(Windows 7) and tried to load with SQLite3. With .schema command, it prompted an error: file is encrypted or is not a database. Seems not work.

you can try decrypting the file, in that case. Though I doubt if that will certainly help. You can use one of the following: SQLiteCrypt API, or SQLite Encryption Ext. or SQLite CEROD. Again, do create a copy of the file before applying these techniques

I tried SQLiteCrypt, the problem is I don't know the encrypt password. If I tried changing password by .changepass, it does not work either. I had made a new SMS backup file with the same method, which can be restored by HTC Desire correctly. However, the new file can not be opened with SQLite3 or SQLiteCrypt. I guess HTC had changed something of the backup file.

either that, or it's a different file altogether.

Yes, agree. Don't know whether anybody had ever read out the contents of SMS backup file successfully?

A standard SQLite header should begin with "SQLite format 3" or contain "SQLenc" if encrypted. I checked the file and it's not the case.

Try the unix strings command against the db file directly. This will search the binary db file for human readable strings and print them on the console.


text:
Sync without gmail playing big brother?
My happiness turned to despire when I realised that to have Android0based cell means to have a mandatory GMail account and an mandatory sync of all data to Google even if one just wants to sync just PC and cell in good old fashioned way. :(
I am not comfortable being forced to use GMail, moreover I don't want an online sync! I just want my phone and my PC to be in sync. Is there any other good way to achieve this without smashing my cell to pieces and hating Google for the rest of my life?
I am really unhappy that Google is this ruthless for data, maybe I made a mistake switching. Please help me if any of you have a solution, I have invested quite a lot blindly trusting Google. :(

Possible duplicate: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/7774/suggestions-for-syncing-data-to-someone-besides-google-funambol

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6677/how-can-i-control-the-frequency-of-synchronization-with-google and http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/8025/can-i-use-the-google-market-without-syncing-other-google-data.

If you don't want to be tied in to Google, why would you choose an Android phone?

You need to be explicit about what exactly you're trying to sync ... I don't know of anything on my PC that requires GMail to sync.

You can easily limit what data is synced by navigating to Settings > Accounts and Sync. ( Your menu may look somewhat different than this but should be similar.) From there you can deselect Background Data, Auto-Sync as well as individual accounts such as your Google (@gmail), Facebook, etc. However, I believe this will just prevent syncing from occurring automatically. If you open the GMail application, I believe it will sync your inbox/outbox/etc. BUT, if you're not using GMail, this wouldn't apply to you.
While you're at it, you can navigate to Settings > Connect to PC > Default Connection Type. There you may have another option regarding Syncing (with a PC). I see "HTC Sync" but I'm not certain what other manufacturers have in that menu.

This is what I did to solve this Google forcing on me problem.
This method will most likely void your warranty for your device proceed at your own risk.
First of all my phone was already rooted so, I did not need to root my phone. So you will need to root your phone. You will need to install titanium backup on to your rooted phone and run a full backup of your phone apps. Then you will need to look for a file called Google Contact Sync and uninstalled/or freeze it. It is also wise to install droidwall firewall or even Avast mobile firewall. Now I have to do something about calendar syncing to Gmail, None!


text:
Why won't Android switch between wi-fi and 3G seamlessly?
I don't even know whether this is a good question. But it's annoying me and I don't get why it works so badly for me, and it's annoying me that I don't get it.
Point is, when switching from one mobile cell to another, you don't notice, right? The internet connection just continues. There's no noticeable interruption. Even if the cells use a different technology, like HSPA, GPRS and whatever there is. But when switching to wi-fi or back, there's a dropout. A loading web page will say that there is no connection available and stop trying to load. An online game will kick you out immediately, probably discards your progress and asks if you want to reload the game (like Clash of Clans).
When switching between connection types, there's a hard drop. Being able to freely use hundreds of wi-fi access points during a trip is completely useless! While I think the whole purpose of public wi-fi access points is a strong and reliable internet connection, the result is exactly the opposite! (unless you stay in one spot with strong connection to one of them of course).
I asked myself why this was the way it worked when I had my first smartphone, with Android 2.3. I'm using my fifth now, with 5.1.1, and the problem is still exactly the same. How is this possible? Doesn't anyone care? Isn't there some internet connection layer in Android that applications communicate with, regardless of connection type? Or why is there no option to use mobile and wi-fi connections simultaneously? I would be okay with it if switching network type would cause a small delay, but instead it's just immediately dropping dead, destroying partially loaded stuff.
I can think of several solutions, none of which anyone seems to have worked on. Maybe the apps shouldn't be programmed to whine that much about connectivity. But still, if the connection you're using (either cell or wi-fi) just doesn't have any throughput for a second, that's no problem at all. Unless it switches to another type! Even though that might be done in a second as well. How do apps even know the difference? IMO, they really shouldn't. Or is it the case that Android always turns off mobile data as soon as it starts connecting with wi-fi, even though the connection isn't established yet? That would be extremely stupid.
Meanwhile, my 'workaround' is a terrible one: just switch off wi-fi while I'm moving. But obviously I forget that pretty often, or forget to turn it back on when I'm home.
Can anyone shed some light on the matter for me?

Are you looking for a recommendation for an wifi-turnoff app? Would an automation tool like Tasker or Llama do, which can check for proximity, can perform timed actions, etc?

No android update will sove a problem that is a) not a problem and b) not related to android.

TL;DR: When you switch internet connections you get another IP address, the online services have to drop and re-authenticate because it is the only way to know who you are from a new IP. It has nothing to do with Android.

It has nothing to do with Android, and everything to do with how TCP connections and IP addresses work.
When you switch cell towers, the cell provider servers re-route your cellular communications (including your internet traffic) to the next tower, but the provider servers KNOW you are you (from the IMEI of your phone and your SIM card), and the fact you switched cell towers is not transparent to the internet. You remain with the same IP address (most of the time), and all your connections are kept alive.
This same effect can be achieved with your home wi-fi, if you have a repeater in distinct rooms and just move around. The DHCP of your home router will remember your machine (from the wi-fi MAC address), and just redirect your traffic to the other repeater.
When you switch from 3G to WIFI, you are getting your traffic to another network device, another network entirely. Your IP address changes. The services you were connected to have no chance to tell you are you. And it is a good thing otherwise anyone on the net could impersonate you on facebook (or any other online service for the matter). "Whining about connectivity" is actually caring for your security and online identity.
So you have a hard drop. The apps have to re-authenticate themselves, to show that it is still you, and not another person.
The same issue would happen if you were traveling with a PC laptop and jumping from hotspot to hotspot.

With REST you're not having that problem. There's still a small pause tho.

@ott-- but the specific APP must implement REST. Not the case for the vast majority of apps as of this writing.

Not every app can implement REST. But for the rest (sic) they have missed the bus.

Thanks! That explains it. So apps will never be able to /keep/ the connection, because you can't have the same connection over multiple networks. They could, however, make a new connection in the background and for the user make it look like everything keeps flowing, but that's more complicated or restrictive to build.

@MarijnvdZaag there are some techniques to "keep" (mind the quotes) the connection alive when switching networks, but that means using some tricks to recognize server/client even when IP changes. Read about REST, that ott-- mentioned above. But as a rule of thumb, switching IP (or gateways) means re-connectiong all the services. Some are just more seamless than others

I agree and disagree.
I have a voip app. On iPhone the handover is fast enough that you can continue a call. On android the call is dropped while the app reconnects.
The aggressive wifi to mobile handover option has no effect. Reading on the option it would seem to merely drop the wifi in favour of mobile data at a higher rss.

Enable and open Developer Options and toggle the option that says "Wi-Fi and Network Always On" or "Aggressive Wi-Fi to Cellular Handover" for faster switching.


text:
New contact besides Google Contact

Every-time I try to add a new contact, my Nexus S force me to put the contact under "Google contact from [my address]@gmail.com". Is there any way to change this? As I am concern on privacy. I do not want to let Google server to have every of my contacts.
After adding new contact, I have to go to "Display options". Under [my address]@gmail.com, there is a no name group (The first group with name is System Group:My Contacts). Is there any way I can assign name to the no name group?

You don't get the "Phone only, unsynced" option when you hit add? I thought that was in the standard Gingerbread contacts app.

No. I don't get the option. Can you show me the screen shoot? Also, where I can hit add? I can only hit Menu -> New Contact -> (Fill in the form) -> Done button.

Whoops, sorry, I meant "New Contact", not add. I assumed it said add because of the + sign on the button but I never read the text very carefully...Anyhow, when I hit "New Contact" I get a little menu that has my gmail accounts listed and then "Phone only, unsynced" at the bottom so that I can choose where to put it. I would have thought you'd at least get the choice to put the contact on your phone even if you only have one account set up, but it sounds like that's not the case :-/

You should get the option to add them unsynced.  Like this:

Weird. I do not get this window. Does it pop up automatically once you click on "New Contant"?

Yes.  I go to Contacts and hit Menu -> New Contact and it pops up.  Could it be because you've only set up one account?

If I go to Settings -> Accounts & sync, I have account for Google, Twitter and Yahoo. When I click on "Add account" button at the bottom, I do not see something called "Phone".

If I understand Android correctly, those “unsynced” choices are particular accounts. Can you tell us what type of accounts they are, or what application provides them, even if you can't tell us their specific names?

As far as I know, contacts are always filed under some account. Presumably the design intent is that contacts are usually stored somewhere else, in some reliable storage, in case you lose the data on your phone.
I'm not in a position to try this myself, but here's a possible way to get an “unsynced” account: Install the free “The Missing Sync for Android” app. This app is intended to sync contacts directly with your desktop, and the desktop half is a paid app, but the phone side can be installed for free, and if you never sync it the data will stay on your phone.
The Missing Sync app will generate an account on your phone called “MissingSync” (which will be labeled “unsynced” even though it actually is synced via the Missing Sync app), which you can add contacts under.


text:
HTC ONE X: The process "com.android.phone" has stopped?
I have just brought a Second had HTC ONE X from an auction site,
When booting up the phone it works fine, with no sim card.
However I have a 2degrees (New Zealand) Micro SIM which is a snapper sim I.E. it has a java applet on the sim to work with NFC as a payment method, when I insert the SIM I get a few seconds later.

The process com.android.phone has stopped.

I have no cell reception, and, in the settings for "Mobile Network" It has:

Disconnected because service is unavailable

The process then proceeds to crash again every ~30 seconds. Often displaying the quick notification

Preparing Sim Card...

The Sim toolkit usually displays:

SIM Toolkit is not ready or is unsupported.

But the one time I did manage to get into it, it did say it was 2degrees.
I have a custom ROM installed, when I brought the phone it came with a custom ROM, thinking that was going to be the issue I have reflashed it with a different rom, with the same symptoms.
I attempted to log what was going on using logcat, but it got 5K+ entries in a few seconds with the majority seemingly important, so this is viewable here: https://gist.github.com/3977367
Below is my device.txt from logcat
build.board=unknown
build.brand=htc_europe
build.cpu_abi=armeabi-v7a
build.device=endeavoru
build.display=IMM76D
build.fingerprint=htc_europe/endeavoru/endeavoru:4.0.4/IMM76D/89015.2:user/release-keys
build.host=ABM041
build.id=IMM76D
build.manufacturer=HTC
build.model=HTC One X
build.product=endeavoru
build.tags=release-keys
build.time=1344347715000
build.type=user
build.user=root
version.codename=REL
version.incremental=89015.2
version.release=4.0.4
version.sdk_int=15

Ok, so after some extensive troubleshooting I found the issue,
Long story short, you need to have the Snapper application installed.

Snapper Application

The issue was confirmed to be the combination of the snapper sim and no application when the SIM was switched with a different network, non-snapper SIM, the phone started working correctly.
Next the SIM was put in a different network, vanilla HTC ONE X, the exact same symptoms occurred.
Leading me to the conclusion that it was the difference in the SIM crashing the process.
After installing the Snapper application the process instantly stopped crashing.


text:
What does Settings->Privacy Settings->Back up my data do?
I'm Running 2.3 Gingerbread.
There is a setting
Settings->Privacy Settings->Back up my data
If checked, what data does this back up?
Where is it backed up?
How do I restore it?

possible duplicate of What info does Google backup?

This setting backs your data up to Google's magic cloud. It includes what apps you have installed, and some apps' settings (if they are written to take advantage of it) which are restored when you first sign in to a new phone.
Relevant quote from the Android 2.3 user guide, pg 18:

You can choose to back up some of your
  data, such as your bookmarks, your
  user dictionary, your Wi-Fi passwords,
  and many other settings, to your
  Google Account, on Google servers.
  Some third-party applications may also
  take advantage of this feature. That
  way, when you need to replace your
  phone (when you upgrade or replace a
  lost phone), or if you reinstall an
  application, you can restore your
  settings and other data. For
  information about changing this
  setting later, see “Privacy settings”
  on page 370.

That setting controls apps' ability to use this API, which includes Google's apps such as Market.

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


text:
how to copy android home shortcuts from one device to another?
I have 2 Android (2.2) Galaxy Tab mini tablets with android 2.2 I am setting them up for show presentations.
I put on both of them a directory filled with content. The directory is identical in both devices.
On one I set up many home screen shortcuts to the files in that directory.
How do i COPY all the short cuts from one device to the other ? Where are these shortcuts physically located ? in some kind of home application settings file ? where is it on the file system ?

Perhaps you could use a backup program like Titanium Backup to perform a full backup of apps and data and then transfer that backup file to the second device. After this, restoring said backup on the second device should transfer stuff, IMO.
No experience in this, so YMMV.


text:
Why doesn't my Nexus 7 synchronize since Android 6?
Normally, Wifi is deactivated on my Nexus 7 to preserve battery. I'm mainly using it to read and watch videos when I'm commuting so I don't have Internet most of the time when I'm using it.
I'm using Tasker to switch WiFi on between 5AM and 5.10AM so my tablet can synchronize everything once a day. This worked perfectly before: in the morning, I have all current emails and Apps are updated frequently.
Unfortunately, this doesn't work with Android 6 anymore. If I'm correct, WiFi does switch on, but it doesn't connect to the wireless network. Maybe this has something to do with the new battery saving techniques, if the screen is off, WiFi is not actually connected.
I tried to extend the period by 5 minutes and added another task in tasker to force a connect, also doesn't work.
Does anyone experience this behavior too? Any ideas on how I can force the tablet to synchronize everything once a day even if the screen is off?
Thanks
Update:
This night, I had my tablet plugged in and surprisingly, synchronization worked! I found an option in the advanced WiFi setting to keep WiFi active always or only when plugged in. This setting is on always on mine, so that shouldn't be the issue. Any other ideas?

Good point, I don't think they have. But i did try the profile while my screen is on and that still works correctly.

Meanwhile, i can answer my own question. Found a description from Tasker that explains and solves the problem here http://tasker.dinglisch.net/userguide/en/androidpowermanagement.html
The important part for my Nexus 7 with Android 6:

The location of the setting may vary per device, but a common method is to launch the Android Settings app, select Apps, click the cog icon top-right, then Battery optimization. Click All apps, then Tasker, then Don't optimize.

Didn't know this menu, good to know for other apps too.

They call that battery optimization, doze mode.


text:
Is there a successor to CSipSimple?
The goal is to use the CSipSimple on a TMO Galaxy S5.  I found the .apk files, however they are dated 2012:
https://code.google.com/archive/p/csipsimple/downloads
CSipSimple-0.04-01.apk installed but returns an error at boot up:

Can't load native library CPU arch invalid for this build

Is there a simple fix to overcome the error message?
Is there a successor (fork?) to CSipSimple?
Is there a version of CSipSimple that is Marshmallow compatible?

Ideally there would a site that stores more recent .apk files.

I don't believe so. CSipSimple was a project started by Régis Montoya in 2010, the last stable build was in 2014, and it was abandoned in 2017... It was removed from the Play Store for download mid-2018. Source
The issue you are experiencing here isn't (likely) the Android version, but the architecture. CSipSimple was never made to support a 64-bit OS or instruction set and it only supported a 32-bit arm environment. CSipSimple was not compatible with any device other than "arm" architecture, and was not compatible with arm64 or other platforms.
To answer questions specifically:

Is there a simple fix to overcome the error message?

Yes... Install the application in a device with compatible architecture. Otherwise, no.

Is there a successor (fork?) to CSIPSIMPLE?

To my knowledge there is no SIP softphone that officially states it is successor of CSipSimple. My guess would be that several SIP softphone software on the Play Store is likely based on, or uses some code from, CSipSimple's code base as it was one of the first stable generic SIP softphones out there for Android. Application recommendations are outside of the scope of Android Enthusiasts.

Is there a version of CSIPSIMPLE that is Marshmallow compatible?

As I stated earlier, the OS version is not the issue in this case. I can tell you from personal experience it runs on Android Oreo just fine as long as it is a 32-bit OS, so Marshmallow compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
Although it is beyond the scope of this forum, you could download the source code and attempt to modify it yourself. It is still available in the Google Code Archive here.

Excwellent response: is there an authoritative source that can be cited to support the claim that CSIPSIMPLE requires a 32-bit ARM architecture?

The Google Code archive provides 2012 .apk install files.  Please consider adding a link to your response to the final 2014 stable build in the first paragraph?  Thank you

There is a GitHub project which has it's latest commit 2015, however it has no releases, therefore you have to compile it yourself. From that project there are some forks. The most interesting fork seems to be from user skadyrov (last commit 2016)

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


text:
Why am I getting an SSL error on my captive portal?
I setup a captive portal on a wireless access point.
If I use a laptop to connect to it, the laptop pops up a browser telling me to login to the captive portal. I can open any browser on the laptop (IE, Chrome, Firefox) and it works fine.
With my Samsung Galaxy S8 (Android 9), when I connect to the wireless access point, Android automatically checks for captive portals, same as every other device does these days. Since it detects it, it also pops up a browser and tries to load the login page, and on my phone, it shows an SSL cert error. Other Android phones don't have this error.

If I tell my phone to stay connected to the WiFi despite not having logged in, and open Chrome on my phone, the exact same captive portal redirect loads without any issues. It is clear that whatever internal browser my phone is popping up, it's not the regular Chrome browser, as that one works fine. It also doesn't appear to be the "Internet" app my phone shipped with, as that shows no SSL error either.
What browser is my Galaxy S8 using to detect captive portals? Why does it have an SSL error when other browsers and devices don't? How do I even begin to debug this?
Note: My SSL cert was generated by LetsEncrypt. It points to http://ocsp.int-x3.letsencrypt.org as the server for verifying that the cert hasn't been revoked. I added this domain to my captive portal's walled garden (bypass) list, so that connections to that domain are NOT redirected, but it didn't help.

Your captive portal has the HTTPS url https://cprewrite.hyperlinkinc.ca? Do you correctly publish the captive portal via DHCP (see rfc7710).

Yes - the device creating the captive portal redirects requests to our login page, located at cprewrite.hyperlinkinc.ca. I know normally captive portals redirect to a web server on the LAN, but ours is remote. As you can see, cprewrite.hyperlinkinc.ca has a legitimate certificate issued by lets-encrypt that is accepted by every modern browser there is. It sounds like the DHCP option might help Androiid detect that there is a portal if it wasn't detecting it, but it clearly does, or there would be no popup.

I would say it is the other way around: announcing login portals via DHCP is the standard and captive portals are outdated hacking techniques.

Please check the developer settings on the device which browser is selected as "WebView Implementation". Make sure the same web browser is selected as you had used for opening the captive portal page. Note: According to SSLLabs the used server certificate is not trusted.

@Robert My Galaxy S8 WebView Implementation lists Chrome, and Android System WebView. Chrome is selected. The other one is greyed out. The Captive Portal popup is definitely not using Chrome, so it's weird that this setting says it should be. Unless you're seeing different results on SSLLabs than I am, or I'm reading it wrong, the report says that the Grade is capped at B because the server doesn't support Forward Secrecy, but the certificate is trusted by "Mozilla, Apple, Android, Java, Windows", which is almost everyone. Certainly Android.

I made a quick change on my Nginx server to enable SSL Forward Secrecy, and now SSLLabs shows an A Grade, but my S8 still shows the SSL cert warning.

My SSL is handled by a reverse proxy, which means the client browser needs to support SNI. I thought maybe whatever browser this was, didn't, so I bypassed my reverse proxy so that a public IP would always return the same SSL certificate. Didn't help. I've been stuck on this problem for months.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

After a ton of digging, I finally figured it out.
First - a quick recap: The captive portal's job is to intercept any requests to the internet, and redirect it to the captive portal's login page. Because my login page is cprewrite.hyperlinkinc.ca, a remote website, I had to add it to the whitelist. Any requests to that domain will actually get online. This works great.
The problem is that when the user is redirected to that web page, the web page's HTML reference some external resources. My page relied on bootstrap for some css formatting. My bootstrap was stored locally, on cprewrite.hyperlinkinc.ca, so that wasn't a problem. Unfortunately, when I read the source code for bootstrap (bootstrap.min.css), one of the first lines reads:
*/@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lato:400,700,400italic");

Essentially bootstrap references an external resource for its fonts. This makes the Galaxy S8 try to load the resource. Because the link is an HTTPS link (not HTTP), it is expecting to receive an SSL cert for fonts.googleapis.com. Since fonts.googleapis.com was not in the whitelist, my captive portal was redirecting the request to itself, returning its own SSL certificate, rather then the expected one.
Some browsers, like the regular Google Chrome browser on Android, just fail silently. Others, like this In-App browser, fail loudly, and show an SSL warning.
I'm still not entirely sure what this browser is that pops up when captive portals are detected, but the question is now moot, since I know why it didn't like my page.


text:
Extract sms and other personal data from Android Backups without device (ADB, Nandroid, ODIN Backup [.tar.md5])
I have some old backups of my older phones (samsung galaxy S4 / i9500). One of them is a Nandroid backup, one is ADB, and i guess the third one is an Android Image created most probably by ODIN (.tar.md5 file). Since I dont have the mobile device with me anymore, is there a way i can extract my personal data (especially sms) from those backups directly in my Windows 10 Home edition PC ?
My Nandroid backup has the following files:
boot.img, cache.ext4.tar, data.ext4.tar, efs.ext4.tar, modem.img,
nandroid.md5, preload.ext4.tar, recovery.img, recovery.log, system.ext4.tar

Probably not from the ADB Backup (to my experience, SMS are not backed up with that) – but from the Nandroid it should be possible. You'd need to extract that, find the messages database, and then you can access it using some SQLite client (depending on the OS your POC runs). The Nandroid should also hold all other personal data, but might lack your "internal SD card" data – which might be part of the ADB backup, depending on how that was run.
Some types of Nandroid do file-system images. But the default nowadays is a Tarball, i.e. a simple archive containing the directory structure and the files within. That's also the case with yours, as you confirmed – so you can open data.ext4.tar (which holds the contents of your /data partition) in e.g. WinRAR/WinZIP and see if it lists directory structures. I expect it does. You're after something in data/com.android.providers.telephony/*, where you should find a file named mmssms.db or similar (I don't remember the correct path and file name by heart). That's where your messages are in.
For completeness: would your Nandroid be an image file, you can e.g. use Testdisk to browse and extract contents from it.
As for other "personal data", depends what you're after. See our data-recovery tag for further hints.

I recently did this to restore and merge my SMS messages from a previous NANDROID backup  stored on my Linux PC that I could no longer boot in to using my phone.
I extracted the file /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db from the data.ext4.win002 tar archive of my NANDROID backup.
I logged in to adb shell on my phone and made a copy of that same file on the phone to backup the existing SMSes.
Then I logged in to QKSMS (my SMS app) and made a backup of the 9 new messages since I replaced the ROM on my phone.
Then I used adb to push the mmssms.db file (that contained 2000+ old messages) from my PC to my phone and used root privileges to copy it to the same location as the existing (providers.telephony as above).
Then I just had to run these commands in adb shell:
adb shell chown radio:radio /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

adb shell chmod 660 /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

adb shell chcon u:object_r:radio_data_file:s0 /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db


text:
Solution for "ghost touches" - Procedure to disable a small portion of the screen from being sensitive to touch?
So I ordered a cheap Chinese phone (umidigi) as a secondary device and the unit I got, out of the box, was afflicted with a faulty display. Troubleshooting it I have diagnosed the problem precisely:

There is an intermittent false touch input occurring in the bottom right, very far bottom right part only of the screen
Lowering the brightness appears to minimize the presence of the false input
Is likely to require disassembly of the device to remedy the issue

I alerted the seller I bought the phone from, and they're sending me a new unit pronto, and told me to just keep this one. Yay.
So, Id like to eventually permanently resolve this phones issue and open it up myself, but in the meantime I'd like to get some use out of it. But, with the ghost touch using the phone with anything other than a Bluetooth mouse is maddening.
The area effected is at the very, very bottom of the phone and may occupy 15px or so at most. I attempted to use a few apps, one called 'Partial Screen' and some others like Screen Shift. However, the adjustments to the display only result in cosmetic changes and do not desensitize the adjusted portion of the screen to touch input and thus the false input creating problems.
Can anyone point me to a procedure, adb input or otherwise, that could ensure that some specified portion of the touch screen will not respect any touch input?
Thanks.

If you have a screen protector that came with it... Take it off !

Connect your phone to a PC via ADB and use this command: adb shell wm overscan left,top,right,bottom where left, top, right and bottom are the coordinates upto which your screen works properly.
For example, if my phone with a resolution of 480px × 854px, would have had this problem, I would write adb shell wm overscan 0,0,0,839 to disable 15px at the bottom of the screen.

Thank you for the answer this saves me lot of money and time. But can you tell me how to calculate the values to exclude, like what is the suitable resolution dpi and pixels.

Looks like it's a hardware issue. As you are thinking to make that particular portion of the screen less sensitive, it is not possible, because the touch sensor all over the screen is a single unit. The only thing you can do is to ignore the touch inputs coming from that affected part of the screen. So, use an app that can overlay at that portion and can block/ignore the touches at that portion of the screen. OR, Take your phone for a repair.

Thanks for the tip! Could you suggest any apps that meet your description ? Im doing more research and trial now, as well. Thanks.

I have found "Partial screen" to be very useful. Although my phone's screen is absolutely OK, but I had tested it. As you had mentioned, it only change the appearance of the screen, it is not like that.


text:
Record log before device reboots
I need to record an log even if device restarts cause when I open a specific app my phone restarts so I need to log why.

As you can reproduce the crash you can connect your phone via USB to a computer and start
adb logcat -b all

and then start the problematic app on the device.
You will get the logcat output until the device reboots. Hopefully there is an indicator why the crash happens.
Note: this requires enabled adb on the device and adb running on your PC.
There is a second way reading the kernel messages after the reboot happens, but the path (e.g. /proc/last_kmsg) of the saved kernel messages have changed over the time and it is not enabled by default on all devices.
If you are interested in this way see for example this topics:

How can I enable last_kmsg?

As a side note: kernel log is not usually helpful when fixing apps related problems. kmsg includes logs only from kernel and some native daemons including init, not Java framework of Android. But pstore can be configured to get logcat if device doesn't boot to adb stage.


text:
Remove second shutter button from S10e camera app
The stock camera app on my rooted Sampung S10e is working fine, but since a few days there is a second shutter:

I can move it, but it is useless and troublesome wherever I put it.
How to remove it? I only need the default shutter button.

is the position of the second shutter button fixed or does it move? It it is the latter it may may mark the focus point. Or it is simply a bug.

I'm guessing this has something to do with Accessibility feature, but I can't test my hypothesis since I don't have Samsung devices.

Touch the second shutter and hold it
Move it on top of the original shutter
Release it
The second shutter disappears

You can check that it really disappears by putting it a few pixels besides the original shutter, and see it disappear.
If you ever want this second shutter again, just hold then move the original shutter, it will create the secondary shutter. You can dispose of it again the same way.

If it was not there before, You can try clearing app data of camera.
Long press Camera app -> App Info -> Storage -> Clear Storage

I just tried, it works, thanks!

I'm glad to help, you may mark this answer as accepted. :)

The other answer has the advantage of not resetting all of your camera settings, though :-)

That's Better then.


text:
Vi-style text editing method for Android UI
I have been using ConnectBot to connect to shell sessions on Linux machines from my Android phone. What amazes me is how easy it is to use the Vim editor using the virtual keyboard, because the Vi/Vim command mode puts so many useful actions at your fingertips. It is so much easier to edit text that I would like to be able to do it in the same way everywhere in the Android UI.
That is to say, I don't want a Vi editor on the phone, but in the UI itself.
Is something like this available somewhere? What would it take to develop it? What places in Android must be modified? Is there some easy plugin framework where you just fill in some functions and you provide a new text editing method?

This rather looks like a development question?

Is development off topic? I don't want to develop anything, if I can just install it. But I have not been able to find anything.

Yepp, development questions are off-topic here (see the [FAQ]). And I don't know any other way to get it "into the UI", whatever you mean by that (maybe you edit your question above to make that a bit clearer).

vi/vim is a text editor, it's not specifically a development tool. The main part of this question is not a development question.

Is something like this available somewhere?

Not at the moment, although there are a couple vim-style text editor:

Vim Touch
aVim Editor

however these are currently implemented as an application, not as an IME.

What would it take to develop it? What places in Android must be modified? Is there some easy plugin framework where you just fill in some functions and you provide a new text editing method?

Android provides the framework for creating custom keyboard (officially known as IME). Anyone that is interested in creating a vim-style IME for Android should check out Creating Input Method.

Thanks for your answer. I see from the Creating Input Method page that an input method doesn't just supply characters. It has access to the text field. So it seems that Vim-like editing is at least doable in principle.

I hope the Hacker's keyboard will help. Don't forget to switch to normal keyboard for passwords or keys.


text:
Do any phones other than the Samsung S have gyroscope capabilities?
The Samsung S, Android's first official phone to support 2.3 will have gyroscoping capabilities. Do any other phones have a gyroscope?

This one's a good question, specific and objective :)

The Samsung Galaxy S series phones have a 6-axis accelerometer, which is not a true gyroscope although a good approximation.  Hopefully it is actually a true gyroscope in the Nexus S.  Motorola's next big phone is rumored to have a gyroscope, but who knows.  I don't believe any other Android phones have a gyroscope, but the iPhone 4 does.

so the iphone4 is 2.3 compliant, awesome.

Well the iPhone 4 does use a processor made by Samsung that is very similar to the Snapdragon used in the Nexus S. Overall it's practically begging to be an Android phone!

After a little search I've found the following Android devices with built in gyroscope:

HTC Sensation
Samsung Google Nexus S
Samsung Galaxy S2
Samsung Galaxy R
LG Electronics P990 Optimus Speed

Can't say anything about whether they have a true gyroscope or not

Most Android phones from the original G1 upwards have an accelerometer (often called the G-Sensor in HTC phones) and compass inbuilt which performs the same job. There's very little you'd get from a true gyroscope that these don't offer you.

You actually need a gyroscope and an accellerometer to fully sense motion.

Accelerometers cannot detect rotation.  And what about motions at constant (or near-constant) speed?

My only true (and deep) interest in this is first person shooters. Nova 2 and Modern Combat 2 on iphone are just too awesome. I wish I had a gyroscope on my Acer Liquid Metal :(