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Galaxy SIII SCH-I535, Android 4.4.2 - High Battery Drain
I am not quite sure where else to turn with this issue. It's been happening for about a week now. When looking at the stock battery section in Settings, I see that "Android System" is always using 35%+. It's up to 45% right now. Whereas I usually would not need to charge my phone for a few days, now, even though I still haven't changed my phone usage habits, i need to charge almost every day.
I do not have my phone rooted, or anything really special on the phone. But I am wondering why this would be so high, and how I might be able to figure out what's going on. I can provide any information that is needed.

When I first received my SCH-I535, it performed an OTA update. I was shocked at how much battery this brand new Samsung was using. After lots of research, I reinstalled the update through my PC. You need to attach with a USB cable, let it install software from the phone onto the PC and perform a phone system update through the installed software. Basically, something got messed up with the OTA update. Reinstalling the update through the PC fixed the battery drain.
Also be aware, though, that if you're coming from a phone that didn't have an AMOLED, like an HTC, you're used to seeing the display hogging all the battery. On a Samsung, you're more likely to see the OS using more power than the display.
Hope this helps!

Yes, I do remember for some time that Display is the biggest culprit; this is fine, as I use the minimal brightness and only really give it casual use. I'm shocked you found this; I posted it nearly a near ago. But maybe I'll give this a try sometime!
EDIT: At the moment, the phoneis at 84% from 9 hours on battery; Android System is the highest at 37%, with Phone coming second at 10%. It's definitely still a problem. Only thing now is, I have the phone rooted. I don't know if this would cause problems with installing new software, though I'd probably have to root again.

Another question; do I just plug in the phone and run the installation you were talking about? Or should I factory reset again, and install fresh?

It has been a while since I did the update but I don't remember needing to factory reset before running the PC update. You may need to root again, but if you haven't tried this method before, using "towelroot" is super quick and easy.

I did use towelroot! I've got the apk somewhere. I'll definitely look into this.

Okay, new comment. I do have the driver software for "SAMSUNG Mobile USB Composite Device", as well as the "Verizon Wireless Software Utility Application for Android" installed. When I run this utility though, nothing actually happens; looking at task manager, it seems UA.exe runs, but WerFault.exe runs at the same time, and they both close a few moments later. I may have to ask a new question to get it working, since Verizon's community website (where potential answers are) is totally down.

Okay, so I cannot get the Wireless Update Utility to install properly, so I want to do it through Kies. I'm going to assume that upgrading the Firmware is essentially the same thing as updating the OS?

There are many possible causes unfortunately. I had a seemingly impossible to find issue on my S5, even using ultra power save. I found it to be OpenVPN - once installed and used once, the drain  started even when it wasn't in use and even after a restart of the phone. Removing OpenVPN and restarting puts battery use back to normal.


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Just updated to Android 4.2.2, Facebook Messenger doesn't push notifications now?
I just updated my Samsung Galaxy S3 (model SCH-I535) to Android version 4.4.2. It seems fine, except for one bug I've noticed recently.
Facebook messenger will not always give me a notification that a message has been received. I've got it set to flash the light and show the icon on the top task bar only, but here is what I have determined:

If messenger is currently open while the phone is locked or the screen is off, no notification is pushed.
If messenger is off screen but still running while the phone is locked or off, some of the time it pushes a notification, and sometimes it does not.
Mostly I notice a small (1) next to the messenger icon, but no light notification.

Is this just a new feature? I have tried everything I can think of with the settings, uninstalling and reinstalling, clearing the cache and stored data for messenger, and I'm out of ideas.
Does anyone know what this could be?

Seems that Facebook Messenger has updated overnight, and I do not notice this issue anymore. Sorry for jumping the gun!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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HTC One won't play any video after update
My Android HTC One is currently running Android Version 4.4.2, a few days ago it updated a bunch of apps, about 27 I think. I honestly can't remember which updated and which didn't.
Since then it won't play any videos. It won't play any video files from my memory card and it won't play any videos from YouTube, Facebook etc...!

Screenshot (click for larger variant)
A similar error pops up for every application.
Has anyone else encountered this issue?

I've got what I think is the same issue with my Nexus 4. I can't pin down exactly when it happened, but it's likely to be around the latest OS update. On YouTube I get "connection to server lost \n Touch to retry" but I can still successfully chrome cast the same video. Does that describe your problems? (I don't want to create a duplicate question)

@Mike My problem was across every video player on my HTC One, chrome cast, youtube and even the the playback feature for videos I had recorded myself. Different errors for each piece of software but none of them worked. I took Husman's advice and went over the list of apps I had updated and for the in the comment section of the youtube app, there were several comments from people with the same issue I had. It seems as if the youtube app was behind it, (but no one was too sure). I just restarted my phone and the issue seemed to resolve itself.

You can go to the play store and view the 'my apps' section. This should list your most recently updated apps. You can check the top 27 or so and see if it helps you determine, which one may be affecting video playback.

ah cheers Husman! I'll chk that out asap.

If you are using a third party video player of your device,say, VLC Media Player, then go to setings>Apps>Manage Apps>VLC>Clear Data, and reset the data.
Once done, use a system cleaner app like Cleaner Master and clear the Junk on your device. This should solve he problem.
If the problem still persists, opt to reinstall the video player app.

Cheers for the reply Kanishk but I haven't installed any third party video player. As far as I now, it's still using the video player that came with it.

Turn your phone on and off it worked for me

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


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where to find the folder "/driver/net/"?
I am trying to build an adhoc network using Samsung Galaxy S4.
Having established the network on the first handset, I am trying to connect another SGS4 to the same network.
The second SGS4 seems to discover the network and connect to it, however it generates, locally, a different network MAC address (BSSID) and hence can't actually connect to the same network, though it is connected to the same SSID (network-name).
In order to set a fixed BSSID in the second SGS4 I need to change some flags on the wireless-driver which usually is located in /driver/net/wireless/. Nonetheless, looking around, I can't find this folder in my rooted Samsung Galaxy S4. I've searched almost everywhere but can't find it.
If there is any other way to set a fixed BSSID, I'm of course open to that as well.

Could you please [edit] your question and add some background: What do you need that directory for? What should be in there? What do you want to accomplish, what issue to solve? It could e.g. be you're "on the wrong track", or there's a better approach to solve your issue (see: What is the XY problem?).

Yepp, much clearer now (fixed up the remains and added the adhoc-specific tag). Guess I don't need to point you to How do i enforce wpa_cli to change the BSSID of a network?

Isn't the path in question a path in the kernel source tree rather than a path on the running device? Where did you read you need to set flags there?

@DanHulme: please check in here

The discussion you've been reading is about compiling a modified kernel and a custom ROM for the Galaxy S4, using a replacement wireless driver that's been changed to add support for ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks. The path /driver/net/wireless is a path in the kernel source tree, which contains the source code for the driver that needs to be changed before compiling the new kernel. It doesn't refer to any path on the device itself, or anything else you can change on the device.


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Show volume indicator on notification bar (just like WiFi/battery)
I want to be able to see the volume level of my phone as a scalable icon that behaves just like WiFi and battery. If the volume is on full, it shows up completely white, empty shows up gray, etc.
Is there a default setting that I can't access (going into Volume on my phone's Settings causes Settings to crash), and is this even possible with an app?

Perhaps related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/33263/is-there-a-way-to-display-the-media-volume-in-the-status-bar?rq=1

By default the answer is a no.
Since changing the color of notification bar means modifying the system it can't be done by a normal application. Best you can do is an icon that can be added to the notification bar.
But there is a way if you are rooted.
Xposed Framework  is a great app that lets users modify every single action executed at system level. You can use Status Bar Volume for what you want to have.
Thanks to Izzy for finding and sharing the name and link of the module and letting me using it in my answer


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How do I put only one SIM card in dual-SIM smartphone to "Airplane mode"?
In Airplane Mode, the device lasts noticably longer. The "Cell standby" shows 76% in battery settings.
There are two SIM cards inserted into the device, but now I only use the second. I expect that if I disable the first SIM card, it should consume less power. I don't want to remove the SIM from the phone though, as it's easy to get lost or to forget it when needed.
How do I disable (as in "Airplane mode") only one of two SIM cards on Android? If there is no proper way, can it be done by some root trick?

You missed the very first configuration menu item: "SIM card management".
There are checkboxes to enable first and second SIM cards, as well as to choose which card is used for data and for calls/messages.

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


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Uninstall apps installed from their APK
I'm developing a game from Unity for Android, I created the first version, uploaded the APK to the phone, tap it, installed, nice.
Now I have a new build, if I do the same, it won't install because the app is already installed.
How do I completely remove the app? If I long press and drop into the bin, it does nothing. The app does not appear under "My Apps" in Google Play Store.
Using Android 4.1.2 and Samsung Galaxy S2.

It won't be shown in Google Play Store because you have not uploaded it to the store. To uninstall the app go to
Settings -> Apps -> find your app -> Uninstall

Also, if you have root access, you can manually delete it from terminal. Or you ca use command adb uninstall <package_name> to uninstall a package. Guide to use adb shell to uninstall package: http://stackoverflow.com/a/18756111/3127685

where should it be installed? I did not find it


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"Damaged SD card" error on internal storage
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and after rebooting my phone yesterday, it's now giving me a "Damaged SD card" on /storage/sdcard0. Here's the thing... I've never had an SD card, and there's no SD card in the phone. Yet all my data (pictures etc) and my camera are not working, saying there's no storage device available.
Any thoughts? How do I mark this as clean? I tried to "cd" into it on the terminal and got permission denied.
The device is rooted.

/storage/sdcard0 is pointing to the internal SD card. If this one is broken for some reason you probably need to reformat it. Sometimes it's enough to just fix the partition headers (and leave the file tables intact) but often the partition is completely broken and you need to wipe it. Were any apps accessing the storage right before you rebooted?

@GiantTree Internal SD card, as in something I cannot physically access? That's weird. Any tips on something I can try before I do a full reformat (my pictures were on that)?

You could back it up (if your device is rooted or adb in recovery works) and have at least an image of the broken partition. Then you could try to fix the file system headers, but I'm not professional enough to give you all the commands for that.

Internal sd card like in emulated (virtual) card from a partition of the internal flash storage. Backup all data that's on it and try to erase it from settings -> storage (make sure you don't erase the wrong one)


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How to turn off Viber 5.3 vibration?
I upgraded Viber to 5.3 version last night. after that , I have vibrate on my phone when I receive new message on Viber.
There is "Vibrate when ringing" in notification setting that it doesn't select
before upgrading I didn't have this problem.
My phone is  Sony Xperia Z2 and Android 4.4.4
How can i turn off vibrate on Viber messages notification?
UPDATE:
Viber support :
Hello Mohammad,
Thank you for contacting Viber support.
We received numerous complaints about this problem and are currently investigating it.
We will contact you back if we need more information.
Thank you.
UPDATE 2
this problem solved in the new version

Thanks for reporting. We are aware and we're investigating the issue. We hope to have a solution shortly, so we thank you for your patience.


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My dialer's in-call experience is sideways
Okay... something really weird that just started happening.
Before getting into the details, my phone is an AT&T Galaxy S3.
I'm running AOKP build aokp_d2att_jb-mr2_milestone-1.
The in-call experience, and the "answer call" screen on my phone are "sideways", for lack of a better word. Normally, the in-call experience should look like this:

However, my in-call suddenly started looking something like the following image:

I have no idea how it got that way, or how to turn it back. Can anyone tell me how to reset the orientation of the call experience screen?
The same thing happens on my "answer call" screen, but the actual DIALER screen, to place a call, displays normally.

This may be solved by clearing the cache and data of the dialler app.
To do this, go to Settings › Apps › swipe to All › select the Dialler application from the list › Clear Cache and Data.

Did it! Awesome, thanks. Wish I knew how it got that way... but, least I know how to fix it now.


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Pop-up advertising message filling the screen
Sony Xperia M, model C1905.
Android 4.3 official firmware, build number 15.4.A.1.9
 Screenshot (click to enlarge)
The blue button on the message is a link to play.google.com of "du speed booster" page. It is a useless application. All of applications on a phone installed from google play site.
First time I thought, this message is an android generated to force me to free some internal memory. Now there is enough free memory, and the message still appears.
I do not know how figure out the harmful application.
I searched in Google by words in message to find people, who faced the same message and solved the problem, but there are no such results.
I have installed the AirPush Detector, but it did not find anything.
Must I do full wipe?

That's not an Airpush ad. Also, these kind of ads are forbidden by the Google Playstore TOS. Always pointing to the same app suggests another app from the same developer placing it, not an ad module.
I'd first check which apps are running when this happens (Settings→Apps, select the corresponding tab). See if there are "non-essential" apps listed which you can live without. Note them down.
Second, check permissions of the apps installed. There are some permission checker apps available which make things easier for you. Fot this specific case, Permission Explorer seems to be a good candidate:

Permission Explorer: List of permissions, apps using a certain permission (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
As the screenshots show, this app allows you to browse your installed apps by permission. Your screenshot looks like a system alert window, so the offending app most likely has the SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission. Check for apps having this permission. Note them down.
In a third step, compare your notes: apps that were running when the message appeared, apps using the SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission. If you find a match, you most likely found your offender. Uninstall it, and see whether your issue is gone then.
If this has solved your issue, don't forget the following to help others: check if that app is still on Google Play, and if the version there matches the version you have installed. If so, first report that app to Google, as it violates the TOS, and put a comment warning others. Google should react by removing the app from the store.


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Unlocking Nexus One without pressing the power button
The power button on my Nexus One doesnt work smoothly any more, sometimes taking nearly half a dozen attempts before the unlock screen appears on the phone. I was wondering is there is any other way to invoke the unlock screen on my phone, apart from pressing the power button. I have Gingerbread 2.3.4 on my phone.

There are custom roms like CyanogenMod that allows you to unlock using your trackball, dont know if there on market is and app for that,... some minutes ago... hey here is one https://market.android.com/details?id=org.liberty.android.anyunlock&feature=search_result , there are other apps like this

also, you should consider to change you nexus one case/body, i mean a new housing http://shop.brando.com/google-nexus-one-replacement-housing_p4572c587d4.html

@yeradis, I can confirm that AnyUnlock and other similar apps do work on the Nexus One.  Go ahead and post that as an answer.

@Yeradis thanks a million! Problem solved, AnyUnlock works wonderfully on my Nexus One. Incidentally, also discovered Intelligent Keylock Unlocker which uses the proximity sensor to enable or disable the screen when things are close to it. Not the same thing I was looking for but again, quite nifty.   https://market.android.com/details?id=com.splunchy.android.keyguard

yes, really nice, the problem is that that using the proximity sensor will drain your battery because will be running always, is not like calls that just use it when you get it

@yeradis Nice about the new case, now I wish I had a Nexus :)

Here is my comment as an answer xD
There are custom roms like CyanogenMod that allows you to unlock using your trackball, dont know if there on market is and app for that...
--some minutes ago...--
hey there is one at https://market.android.com/details?id=org.liberty.android.anyunlock&feature=search_result called AnyUnlock,
there are other apps like this.... --as you discovered xD --
pd: rate with 100 for the effort :p


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Is the class rating of my MicroSD card relevant?
Does Class 4 perform differently from Class 6, and so on, when it comes to Micro SD(HC) memory cards on smartphones? Samsung Galaxy S to be specific.

This probably depends on what you're doing. Strictly speaking it would necessarily perform differently because they're different cards with different minimum transfer rates, hence why they're different classes. Will you notice on a day-to-day basis? Probably not. Will you notice if you're transferring 4 GB of files on or off the card? I'd certainly imagine so. What kind of context are we talking about when you say "perform differently"?

Many of the people actually running android on sdcards (ie, as /system and /data, not just for storage) seem to think that the class 4 cards may actually be faster at small operations, the theory being that the optimizations for high sustained writes on class 6 cards (presumably for HD video recording) come at a cost.

This is not an Android question, except insofar as Android phones use Micro SD cards.

It is an Android question, I read about this in an article saying there's no point in getting SD Cards over Class 2 for Smartphones (Android, iPhone etc) because the smartphone hardware can't reach higher than I/O Speeds of Class 2.

The general consensus seems to be that a Class 4 is just fine, and you definitely would not need anything faster than a Class 6.  Unless you're seeing a lot of lag during IO intensive operations, though, I wouldn't be worried.  The best way to test might be to take a few minutes of 720p video.  If it records and plays back fine — and it should — you should be good for anything. Since L3 video at 1080p is just over 5.5 MB/s, a class 6 card is sufficient.  The Galaxy S II only takes 1080p video at up to 3 MB/s, and I don't know of any phone at the moment that takes higher-quality videos.
Note that the Galaxy S uses the internal SD storage for most things (possibly including video; not sure if you can choose the save location).  So the external SD card may in fact be irrelevant most of the time.  I've had my Galaxy S nearly a year and used the external SD card approximately twice.
If you're copying large files onto the SD card, it will obviously take less time if the class rating of the card is higher.  This might happen on file transfers from the computer, or 4G downloads with low network usage, but not during general use.

Is the SD card the same filesystem format as the phone's internal storage? I would have guessed it would just be FAT32 (unless you formatted it in some other way, of course).

@eldarerathis Ah, you're right of course.  I will blame my mistake on Samsung referring to one of their internal storage partitions as an SD card :P

Oh right, it's one of those phones. I did always find that setup a little bit unintuitive when you can in fact have both the internal "sdcard" space and the external space...

Is this answer still relevant in 2014? Esp. since there are phones with 4k video out now and I believe Kit Kat allows you to run certain apps on the SD Card

@Diskdrive I think the logic remains the same -- compare the bitrate of your video to the speed of your storage.  Apps are not normally going to require anything near these write speeds.

Simply put, yes,the higher the class number the faster the performance. Prior to purchasing my class 10 32gb HD Micro SD card, I visited Samsung's support web site to see what they were selling retail for their Tab 2 tablets.While I was there I chatted with one of their techies and he stated the faster the card the better the performance so I purchased a Class 10 32gb Micro SD card from Amazon!

So someone from a vendor tells you that you need the more expensive model... who would have thought?
Seriously, read the better answers above - figure out if you need the bandwidth or not, chances are you don't.


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How can I remove Sense UI from the HTC Desire?
So I'm pretty much sick of HTC Sense (and therefore my Desire in general) for the following reasons:

THE BIG ONE:  Lack of space on the phone partition
The Sense UI calendar is rubbish.  No view of the day of the week you're picking when creating a new event ... WTF?
Contacts sync with Google Contacts: I have absolutely no way to sync selected groups.  I've spent hours going through forum posts ... seems to be a very common problem, and for the desire I see no solution to this one.  When my contacts are taking up 15 MB of precious space, I have 2 options: delete a stack of them from my Google account, or find another option on the phone (this is the option I'm leaning towards).
Speed. I played with my friend's Nexus One with Gingerbread, and the speed is incredible.  My Desire's speed is lacking.
Battery life.  I'm pretty sure Sense and all its background processes are sucking a lot of battery power unnecessarily.  I cannot get through a day without charging.  If I go to work and forget to charge it during the day, it'll be dead before I get home.  And I hardly use my phone at work.

So, assuming Sense is the cause of all or most of the above issues, I figure my Desire and I would be much better friends if I could rid it of all that Sense gunk.
Has anybody done this? Got any links to tutorials I can follow (since I haven't even rooted my phone yet).

and your question is? Stack Exchange websites are for questions and answers, not discussions. If you want to discuss how to speed up your Desire, there are more appropriate forums, e.g. xda-developers, cyanogen, etc.

Options? To remove Sense you'll need to Root. See also: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3728/how-to-root-htc-desire-froyo-2-2-without-putting-a-custom-rom-flashing http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3911/upgrade-rooted-htc-desire-with-unrevoked3-clockworkmod-to-froyo-2-2 http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2694/htc-desire-why-not-to-root-and-install-froyo-no-porting

Lie, I was not aware of the fact that StackExchange is only for questions and answers... i've used StackOverflow for ages and have had many interesting and engaging discussions on there.  Same goes for Photo.StackExchange... so what makes Android.StackExchange so special?

The entire idea of Stack Overflow and, then, Stack Exchange is for places to ask questions and receive, hopefully, one good, correct, answer. It is not a discussion forum; open-ended questions are, for the most part, discouraged. Android isn't "special".

bah.. its a very fine line you're talking about there, and i'm not sure who's responsibility it is to 'police' those that step over that fine line... personally i dont think my question was that open ended, it had a definite end purpose in mind (solving the issues i have).  I'll answer my own question, to demonstrate..

Okay so i've solved all of my issues.  It was quite simple really, and involved the following:

Root the phone.  Easy done - here's a tutorial:
http://theunlockr.com/2010/09/20/how-to-root-the-htc-desire-unrevoked-method/
Backup the current phone setup just in case i want to rollback... tutorial:
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-perform-and-restore-a-nandroid-backup/
Download a new custom ROM to install.  I went for the Oxygen V2 RC6 Gingerbread ROM for HTC Desire.  Its excellent... fast, stable, resolves the space issues by enabling user to force apps to install to SD card, calendar shows the day when picking dates and even in agenda view, selective contacts sync is supported, and battery life seems better.  It also makes it super easy to switch between 2G and 3G modes which saves heaps of battery (in 2G mode that is).  The ROM is here:
http://android-roms.net/desire/2011/01/06/oxygen-v2-0-rc6/
Tutorial on loading custom rom here:
http://theunlockr.com/2010/06/07/how-to-load-a-custom-rom-on-the-htc-desire/

Reboot and enjoy the wonders of a pure Android experience... no HTC gunk, no Telstra rubbishware, just pure unadulterated Android excellence.
Note: I do have an issue with this setup... the network seems to drop out occasionally (Telstra).  Monitor this thread for a solution:
  How to fix Telstra network dropouts on Gingerbread Oxygen ROM?

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


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How can I get to recovery without Volume Up hardware button?
Or, 'My tablet's hardware "Volume Up" button is broken, now what?'
I'm trying to root an Asus TF300TG Transformer tablet (a 2012 model, unlocked) following this guide on XDA Forum:

I have installed the USB drivers on my computer
Rebooted tablet to fastboot
Flashed the TWRP recovery without problems
(Rebooted normally, verified that tablet still works as usual)
Rebooted to fastboot again
Got to the point where I should boot to the new recovery

That step requires me to press the Volume Up button to select the recovery option on this screen:

In my tablet, however, the button is broken (and has been for some years now). Is there a way to get into recovery without actually pushing it?
What I've tried:

Pushing harder
Pushing the other two HW buttons: Volume Down moves the selection, Power does nothing
Connecting the keyboard dock: there is a Volume Up button, but it doesn't do anything in fastboot mode; none of the dock buttons do anything
Connecting a USB keyboard via the dock: no keypresses seem to do anything in fastboot
Rebooting to recovery using fastboot reboot recovery: invalid command
Booting an image using fastboot boot twrp.blob (and various other recovery images from my computer): loaded to tablet, then failed (note the empty error message)
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [  0.398s]
booting... FAILED (remote: )

Is there a different way to get to recovery?

This seems related, but I was fortunate enough that the "normal" mode still worked: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/36552/how-to-get-recovery-without-the-hardware-key?rq=1

Yes, there is a way.

boot the tablet normally
enable USB debugging
connect to computer by cable
from the computer, run adb reboot recovery
tablet reboots directly to recovery
Done!

I was trying to issue this command in Fastboot (where it's not supported) instead of ADB (where it works).

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


text:
Dual epub reader
I have started using my tablet for reading epubs and I have found a lot of different versions of the same book.
So, is there any application that allows me to compare, i.e. to see both versions in a split screen?
I thought it would be easy to find this because it is such a useful utility!
I have tried the 10 most used application for reading epubs and no single one allows me to do this.

Please note that recommendations like Is there an app for X are off-topic here (see What topics can I ask about here? for details). For where your question might fit better, you might want to look into Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions?. With the correct phrasing and details provided, you might try your luck at SR. As this one's really hard to find, I've made the exception of answering it, though.

PS: I've pinged our mods on both ends, asking if this question should be moved over to Software Recs. Hope that's fine with you. Not sure whether they migrate it, though, as SR is still in Beta (and thus no "official migration target").

Marc, if you wish to have your question moved to Software Recommendations, I've just got "green lights" from a mod over there (we'd need to apply some cosmetics to your question then, though). Up to you now to give it a go (or not).

Yes! Of course! I have corrected some minor grammar mistakes. I have no problem in moving the question, as you wish.

Thanks a lot for your updates! I've asked for "the move", so let's see whether it's done.

There's EPUB3 Reader available on F-Droid and Github (not on Google Play – though an app using the same package name exists there, it's not the same, but obviously based on the original developers engine; long story behind that, not fitting here). Its app description explicitely mentions this feature:

parallel texts (e.g., original text and its translation into another language).

Find some screenshots here. Picking one example:

Looks exactly like what you're after.

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you very much. I didn't knew about F-Droid, so double thank you!
Amazing help that you give.

Glad I was able to help! For some more background on F-Droid (and some other markets), you might wish to read my article here (F-Droid and Aptoide have some apps which are not on Play; the article discusses their security measures, quite impressive). For this specific app, I already had some contact with the devs, which are quite responsive (it was a students project, the Profs answered me when I informed them of the "package name trouble" mentioned above).


text:
Why do we need emulated sdcard?
Why is there an "emulated sdcard" in Android? I suppose it is located on the same internal flash memory (there is only on physical default memory, right? (excluding separate physical sdcards of course)) as Android itself, so why do I need to "emulate" it? Could we not just write to the "internal" storage?

I'm guessing this is related to Android's multi-user feature, which organizes each user's files in their own respective folders on the storage partition (/data/media/0 for the first user, /data/media/1 for the second, etc.) I'm not sure though.

Historically virtually all the early Android phones had a removable SD card and a very small amount of internal storage (by modern standards).  Apps were written expecting to be able to get access to the external storage and use it for data storage.  Then phones started shipping with more internal storage but no sd card and to keep these older apps working had to emulate external storage.  We now had the ridicules situation of real external storage with an sd card and emulated external storage being quite a common setup and some older apps not being able to use the actual real sd card.
If you were starting from scratch now and could ignore all the old software then things could be tided up but as it is it's a confusing mess for the consumer and the developers.

if it existed one and only one part of Android which was not "a confusing mess"...


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Possible to root Archos 79 Platinum
I want to root this device:
Archos 79 Platinum
Is it possible, and can someone link me to a guide please?
(I couldn't find a clear cut answer whether it is rootable or not)

Current generic suggestion: Try towelroot by geohot, should work with most devices. Please don't forget to report back whether you succeeded.

Towelroot only works on latest Android-dist. I tried it and it doesn't work. However, I managed using VROOT. See Answer to this question.

YES! It is possible to root the Archos 79 Platinum using the following methods:
VROOT-root exe file for use on Windows machines
And to replace the superuser-app with an English version:
English Superuser and busybox etc
Yoy may also first want to check out the following link to make sure USB works properly (also google on how to enable developer-mode and USB-debugging on Android devices in general):
Enable Archos USB devices
I just rooted my device, so I know for sure that it works.


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Xposed goes into bootloop -Can I still make Xposed work somehow? (Device Pipo X8)
I have installed Xposed onto my Android device and it doesn't work and goes into a bootloop. If I disable Xposed I get out of the bootloop so no problem there, except that I really need for Xposed to work. Is there something I can try to make it work? I tried rm -r /data/dalvik-cache but it doesn't help. What else can I do?
The device is a Pipo X8 media center with Android 4.4.4 and Windows dual boot, however I only use Android. For Kernel-version it says:

3.10.20-00003-g7240abc-dirty ibuilder@Exdroid #26 Thu Jul 23 17:21:56 CST 2015

It would really help, if you add specific details about your phone, software, firmware, Xposed version etc.

You say you are under 4.4.4 are you using dalvik or art ?

I don't have the option to select runtime in developer options. How can I know/choose dalvik or art?

If there's no option, it will be Dalvik. ART was still experimental with Kitkat. Something else to check: How did you install Xposed? Did you use the installer? If not, did you pick the correct version (AFAIK there are 3 different versions: one for up to Kitkat, one for Lollipop, one for M)?

Did you use the installer here: http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer?

Yes I used adb to install de.robv.android.xposed.installer_v32_de4f0d.apk (stable for Android 4.0.3 or later.)

I managed to get Xposed Framework 2.6.1 working on Pipo X8. I have described the steps necessary in my reply #15 on XDA forum. Please have a look:
Xposed for Pipo X8 -infinite bootloop


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NFC on S4 doesn't work at all
I have an S4 with which I try the Yubikey Neo with NFC on. I also tried another tag but I can't get any response from the phone whatsoever. Not even a beep. NFC is turned on for sure.
I bought an (relatively) expensive original battery (not from any suspicious ebay dealer) and it says Near Field Communication on it, as I understand the antenna is located ontop of the battery.
Does anyone have any ideas why it doesn't work? Is there a way I can test if the NFC is completely dead, or some logs I can look into? I have tested various apps for my tags but can't seen anything.

There is nothing related to NFC marqued on batteries, original or fake! What you bought seems to be a fake, even though it was expensive. And what do you mran by the antenna is located obtop of the battery? Didn't you find any option in the settings about NFC?

Well, as I understand it, the NFC antenna for the S4 is located on the outside of the battery. Have a look at http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000029781/1f6a_orh500w750/Samsung-Galaxy-S4-Battery.jpg . It clearly says "Near Field Communication" on it.

I can see a rectangular pattern on my battery so it seems the antenna would really be there.

The antenna is located on the back cover. Not on the battery itself. Check if there is an option related to NFC in the Settings.

You mean the plastic case? I highly doubt that. Could you refer to some source pointing to that that is the case? First of all, there are no electrical connections to the cheap plastic cover.

I don't own an S4, but never heard that phone manufacturers place antennas on [removable] batteries.

Please google it.

I did, and found nothing  related to this. Except one thread on XDA where it is mentioned on the battery itself.

http://i59.tinypic.com/8x9e93.jpg

You are right on NFC being on battery, it is the RFID which is on the reader. AFAIK,  battery logs or other logs do not provide view of NFC circuit working. My best guess would be faulty battery, syncs you have tried multiple tags / apps. Unfortunately, expensive doesn't mean original +1

This is the second battery not working though...

You can use apps mentioned here and in comments to confirm if the NFC functionality is working on your device from sensor perspective http://android.stackexchange.com/q/120232/131553 . Of it isn't there is little one can do except expensive hardware trading replacement

Can you let me the serial number on the battery? I mean the model number printed on it- it should be same as that of original battery

Also how many terminals does it have? Did it work fine with original battery?

Ser#: AA1H721WS/2-B   ...Maybe it worked. Many batteries since I last tried. 4 terminals.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

Luckily a friend of mine has an S4, here its  back. See the 4 gold metallic pins? Those are  the NFC  antennas connectors
The antenna is on the back cover, not visible on the photo bellow, his back cover is not an original one, so no NFC antenna.

It doesn't make sense the NFC antenna be ON THE BATTERY ITSELF! Despite the fact  is it written on the battery. My S5 battery also has Near Field Communication writing on it.
If NFC doesn't work, you should check if your back cover has something similar to this from my S5:
EDIT:
Effectively, the  battery contains a built-in NFC antenna. And it is recommended to handle the battery carefully to avoid damaging the NFC antenna, may be that's what happened to you.

Could we get some clarity into this subject? Someone?

I suspect one of the terminals are for charging: https://www.technobezz.com/how-to-add-qi-wireless-charging-to-the-galaxy-note-2/

I wonder if it can also work as an ordinary NFC antenna?

http://www.andytags.com/blog/can-you-use-nfc-and-qi-wireless-charging-or-is-there-incompatibility#.WKxJUFf8tpg

Which one is for charging? The connectors in the right are for the NFC.

Which ones do you mean?

The 2 at the right side, above SIM card slot. Below R1 mark. (Check the first image)

It turns out that you were right. On some models, the NFC antenna is really located on the battery. I Just looked closely to an S4 battery and there you can clearly see the antenna.

It turns out it was the battery that didn't work. I tested with the battery of another phone that worked -and then it worked!
The battery that worked had serial#:

YS1DC02FS/2-B

While the battery that didn't work (fresh from the store):

AA1H721WS/2-B

All the batteries that didn't work started with

AA...

Someone else hinted me in that direction in another thread. Now what's up with batteries whose serials are starting with AA? It says NFC on them and the antenna is visible through the decal. Why don't they work? One of them had original laser markings that I read none of the fakes usually have. What's going on? Someone?
something


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HTC Desire S not listed on HTC support website?
I should be getting a HTC Desire S android phone in the next few days. It is listed on the HTC website at http://www.htc.com/uk/product/desires/overview.html, but doesn't appear on the HTC support site at http://www.htc.com/uk/support.aspx.
Does anyone know why this this is, or how I can get to the support page for this phone? I'd like to have a look at the Users Guide before the phone arrives.

It's listed there now.

Have you tried the manual from the International site?


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I have broken screen. Can I root my phone only with downloading mode and recovering mode?
I want to recover my data from my Samsung S Duos. I have broken screen, so I can't do anything, even unlock (because I have a password to enter the phone). I tried to install CWM and connect with ADB, but USB debugging isn't turn on, so I can't connect with ADB at all. Is there some way to root my phone via recovering mode (with CWM) so I can turn on USB debugging and work with ADB? Maybe there is some easier way to recover my data? I thought e.g. about connecting keyboard to my phone, so I can unlock it and normally connect via USB, but my phone doesn't support OTG :/ any ideas?

Can you access CWM via adb? Also, which version of Android is your phone running?

I don't know, how to access CWM via adb? My phone is detected by computer, but the content is blocked, because of the password so is there a way to use adb then? Android 4.0

Just buy a new screen digitizer, you're lucky, they go about $15 for your particular model. Use Youtube to guide you through the process. And use a hair blow dryer to heat the glue off the screen. The new screen digitizer usually comes with a plastic separator tool thingy to help you separate the old screen.

Second option: if the screen is only partially broken, you can root your device, and replace the password pattern file. This way, any pattern, or any password, will be able to open your device, if the device can't find that file. But I agree with the answer's advice, you should definitely try to backup your device through recovery mode (which you should be able to do).

I made backup and got the needed data. Thanks!

I think you should be able to use adb on your phone while in recovery. adb devices should show something along the lines of YOUR_DEVICE   recovery.
Once you have access to your device in recovery, you can mount the data partition using adb shell busybox mount /data and then you can use adb pull to pull data from the data partition, for example: adb pull /data/ phone_data/ will save the entire contents of your /data partition (which includes apps, wifi settings and app preferences) to phone_data in your current directory. If you want to pull data from your sd card for some reason, simply do adb pull /sdcard/ phone_sdcard/.
Note: I prefer using TWRP (which you can find for your device here), so if any of the above steps don't work you should try using it.

That requires custom recovery. On Alcatel Pop C9, I can't even go to Download/Fastboot mode to install a custom recovery (though the phone is rooted). Any ideas?

How do you do this when using FDE (full-disk-encryption)?


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How can I execute command in the terminal as root?
How can I get root permissions in a terminal?

Type su and your terminal prompt should change from $ to #. This is assuming that your device is already rooted.

AND that su is installed.

i try it but this message shown "permission denide"

@mahdi: Is your device already rooted?

no i try it on emulator

is it possible to do root on emulator ?

'Permission denied' usually means the command or program itself is does not have permissions for execution. Use chmod to set the permissions of the file (Google it) and then run

@HXCaine: If you don't have permission to run su, you probably don't have permission to chmod it.

Works, thanks! On FairPhone this will cause the OS to prompt allow SuperUser privileges for the used shell. Approving this will yield a shell in SU-mode. I used Terminal Emulator

Thanks, that was super helpful. (su seems to work by default in the Android x86 iso.)

See the following questions:

What does "to root a phone" mean?
How do I root my phone?
I've rooted my phone.  Now what?

But how does this address the question?

Production phones don't ship with root access, developer phones do. If you have a production phone (likely: you'd know if you bought a dev phone), you have to "root" them first. As @Joe_Casadonte points out, there are some great instructions here and elsewhere (Notably the CyanogenMod Wiki and Android Rom's google group) to get you started rooting your phone. (And if you get stuck ... come back here with your questions!).
Once you've rooted your phone, you can gain root privileges in the adb shell or the terminal emulator with the su command.
Note: it sounds from some of your responses like you haven't yet rooted your phone. So you'll need to start there.

Assuming that:

Your Android device is rooted;
The su binary is located at /system/xbin/su;
The shell binary is located at /system/bin/sh; and
Your Android device has Terminal Emulator installed.

If all the 4 conditions above are satisfied, then:

If you want to enter the shell and become root (superuser uid 0) so you can execute commands without uid restrictions, start the Terminal Emulator app and just execute this command:
su -

In order to disconnect from the uid 0 (exit superuser status), press Volume - and D, or type exit and hit Enter
Alternatively, if you want to always start Terminal Emulator as root, then start Terminal Emulator, go to Preferences, scroll down to the SHELL section, tap the Command line option and modify the command so it becomes this:
/system/xbin/su -c "/system/bin/sh -"

After you change the command, exit Terminal Emulator (close the application) and start it again. Notice how Terminal Emulator's shell interface now shows you root@something by default.

For my 8.1.0 go edition phone. It is /sbin/su -c "/system/bin/sh -". I struggle too much to figure out where is su binary file(in my case su binary not exist in the /system/xbin/ path). I found a path /sbin/ is exist in ROOT directory and su binary is exist in that path. And of course i rooted my phone by magisk manager. Hope this answer will help someone.

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


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how to identify and change apps which are set as startup items
I am coming from Windows back-ground (never used Linux), and HTC Wildfire is my first Android phone.
I can see that many app like Facebook for HTC Sense, Flickr, Footprints, Friend Stream, Gmail, Peep, Stocks and many more as start-up apps.
How can I find which apps are start-up apps, and how to remove a particular app from starting up at boot (or say soft reset)

Related: Disable autostart on boot.

See also: How can I stop applications and services from running?
First, I strongly caution against messing with this.  If an app is hogging system resources or otherwise being a problem, uninstall it.  Android is designed to manage running services and apps automatically, and manual interference is tricky and can cause various problems.
There are apps that claim to allow you to edit start-up processes (example), but I don't trust them.  Many of them either do nothing or simply force close the app every time it starts.  Many services auto-restart so your phone will never sleep, the services will just be run and closed over and over.  Many of these apps don't require root, so I'd be surprised if they could do anything at all.
With root, you can use an app like Autostarts to manage which apps are triggered by events.  This isn't quite the same as preventing apps from running at startup, but it can help prevent them from restarting after they've been killed.
I recommend Titanium Backup for uninstalling system apps.  Make sure you don't remove actual Android OS apps/services, just third-party apps that have been protected (e.g. bundled software like you'd get on Windows).  Some of these apps are more important than they appear (I hear Motorola phones have a lot of "useless" apps that the system relies on for no good reason), so use the backup feature of Titanium first.  (Note that if you break something badly, you may not be able to get into the phone to restore and fix it!)
Be very careful how you use all of these tools.  If you remove or disable a system process, you can make your phone unusable.

An Android App should have a good reason to start at system boot. To discover the Apps that are able to start at system boot, install Aspotcat and list all apps that are able to receive the "boot completed" intent. If you believe that an App of this list should not start at system boot AND if this App does not provide an option to disable this behavior, uninstall that app.
Also, I would not uninstall any system services/apps. As others said before, Android does a good job in managing the limited resources of a smartphone. Don't take your Windows paradigm along to Android.
BTW, the intent system that enables "start at boot" Apps has nothing to do with the Linux on which android runs.


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Can't pass the initial setup wizard on SG3 with broken screen digitizer
So i burned digitizer on i9305 by flashing corrupted recovery. Then i flashed new working custom ROM and recovery, after Stock JB tried some KitKats like MoKee, Omni, CyanOgen 10/11 but i'm facing the same problem with all of them. After booting fresh android i got stuck on the welcome screen / first run setup wizard, cuz can't click anywhere. This phone supports USB OTG so i am able to use mouse in TWRP recovery for example, but the driver is not working on the welcome screen yet. Also i cant use ADB to simulate screen touch cuz it doesn't connect when the initial setup is active. I don't have any backup of initialized/configured android so this is no go either.
Any ideas how to get further?
Thanks for any tip.

tried modify ROMs build.props with ro.setupwizard.mode=DISABLED, deletting gapps, deleting SetupWizard.apk/Provision.apk or OneTimeInstaller where applicable but the initial setup is present still. may a copy of any of these be located in boot.img too?

also found a tip on XDA to delete /system/app/SetupWizard.apk on already installed android via adb with device in recovery, found that app in /system/priv-app but no change

How can you burn a digitizer

Question answered in the first sentence. Another option is to flash healthy but wrong version of recovery or ROM. Any electronic part can be burned by powering by higher voltage than it is designed for. Low level software controls such things too.

What device's recovery did you install . Didn't know that software could fry a digitizer

Version was correct, for i9305, maybe some subtype was present there also, i am not sure after those years... download was corrupt, better check md5sum or something like that next time.

Finally found solution via editing /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db file via sqlite3. Just adb pull that file to your computer, if you use stock recovery you must mount userdata partition manually, in that case see Android ADB Shell Recovery Mounting for hints. Also you can't just pull the file directly but copy it inside adb shell to your sdcard or some intermediary filesystem. Eg. busybox cp sett* /sdcard
To get rid of the initial setup:
update global set value=1 where name='device_provisioned';

update secure set value=1 where name='user_setup_complete';
insert into secure (name,value) VALUES ('device_provisioned','1');

Yes, the device_provisioned must be present in both tables. However on the stock JB there was no global table, so you don't need to take care of it and the secure table is missing some records we update here so these need to be inserted instead. On stock JB before editing the settings.db run PRAGMA wal_checkpoint and PRAGMA journal_mode = DELETE described here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/21258892/881375 otherwise updates on existing rows won't take effect because android will rollback on reboot. For CyanOgenMod 11 just delete the settings.db-journal file and it should be OK.
It was neccessary after pushing the settings.db file back to folder on device to
chmod 660 settings.db
chown system:system settings.db

in this order, because chmod may set the owner and group back to root
USB OTG mouse is still not working sadly, so i guess i must get access for adb anyway.
To enable USB debugging (ADB):
setprop persist.service.adb.enable 1 ('setprop persist.sys.usb.config mtp,adb' if needed)

settings.db:
update secure set value=5037 where name='adb_port';
update global set value=1 where name='adb_enabled';

After booting dialog to confirm PC's fingerprint appears. To avoid this get your adbkey.pub (on linux may be located at ~/.android):
adb push adbkey.pub /data/misc/adb/adbkey.pub
cat adbkey.pub >> adb_keys

After all of this you can input tap|swipe|text anything to control your phone and get access for bluetooth or OTG mouse/keyboard etc. I hope this helps.
The fingerprint injection is needed for Android 4.2.2+.
Thanks to xda-developers and android issues with adb security at code.google.com.

all these commands were entered when the phone was in recovery mode so it was not necessary to deal with permissions

the command cat adbkey.pub >> adb_keys you entered in your phone or host?

Long time but ... phone I guess because you need your phone knowing your host, sorry for unclear code blocks

yup.. i found it out, but thank you for the answer, anyway ;)

I had the same problem. Solved it by installing ShareKM (app that allows you to control your android phone with a pc's keyboard and mouse). After you run the ShareKM app it will probably tell you it is outdated and you won't be able to run it. A workaround (found in this xda thread) is to first kill the app, clear its cache and set the date on your phone to 3/30/2014.

How do you install it in recovery mode?

authors: Ādåm Mĩtćhèłł


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Powering Samsung Galaxy J7 using an external DC power supply
I would like to turn on Samsung Galaxy J7 using an external power supply. The problem is that it uses 4 pins (+,*,-,*) to connect to its battery. The first pin is the positive and the third one is negative, the other two I think are used to transfer data to the battery.

When I connect my external power supply to the positive and negative pins, the smartphone stays on just for a few seconds, then it shows a message that the battery is low and turn off.
Can anyone help me how to cheat the smartphone in order to make it "think" that my external power supply is its battery?

It is possible to "cheat" the mobile into thinking that is connected to battery, while it is in fact connected to external power supply
How to use phone without battery provides instructions on doing it and has a 4 pin configuration as on your device. I am not elaborating on the details involved as

This is not a standard method and more of hobbyist/ DIY project
I would not recommend any methods that are different from OEM specified. Battery Charging is fairly complex and attempting to replicate by such methods can cause harm to battery/ battery life / device besides being a safety hazard.

Drawbacks
To give you an idea of what  typical OEM battery charging does and what you would not be able to implement (since you don't know how the drivers are designed):

The IC (fuel guage IC) monitors a voltage drop across a small current sense resistor connected in series with the battery to determine charge and discharge activity of the battery. Compensations for battery temperature, self-discharge, and discharge rate are applied to the capacity measurments to provide available time-to-empty information across a wide range of operating conditions.
Battery capacity is automatically recalibrated, or learned, in the course of a discharge cycle from full to empty. Internal registers include current, capacity, time-to-empty, state-of-charge, cell temperature and voltage, status, and more.

What does it mean if you can't implement these features (listed above)?
Li-ION batteries have four stages of battery charging- Constant Current,
Saturation (Constant Voltage), Ready (No Current) and Standby. The battery charging hardware and OS is tuned to ensure that the battery spends required time with appropriate Voltage and Current levels in each of these stages to ensure proper charging
Charging directly by external power supply cannot achieve this resulting in Short term- Battery not delivering rated capacity for every charge and Long term - reduced life of battery. To understand more about Li Ion charging, see BU-409: Charging Lithium-ion
Related: For getting an understanding on the possible reasons for have 4 pins, see Why does this mobile phone have 4 terminals. Unless you have the specific pin out diagram for your battery, you can't be sure of the reason for fourth pin (my guess is NFC related). This is the only source I am aware of for getting pin out diagrams


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Disable TouchWiz launcher on a rooted Samsung device
I used a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (Android 4.1.2) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (Android 4.4.2) for a product. I have been searching for ways to disable permanently the Launcher of Samsung's TouchWiz application (leave the rest as it is). I've found only two approaches which do not fit my needs. Both of them are:

Replace the launcher with another launcher one, and
Rooting the device and replacing the stock ROM with a custom ROM.

This is what I'm currently doing, but it's not enough because if my custom launcher (developed myself) crashes, then the selection box will ask again to set the default launcher (mine or TouchWiz's). I want TouchWiz's to get out of the equation (list of available launchers).
Replacing the ROM is not an option because I would have to test again my whole product. So this is not an option.
Is there a way to disable the TouchWiz's launcher component of the TouchWiz app? Maybe through ADB? If anyone knows I would love the help.
My devices are rooted and my custom launcher is a system app.

It's easy. Install Nova launcher (or the like), set it as default, then root uninstall TW launcher. Your problem is your custom app is crashing.

@AaronGillion How would I uninstall Touchwiz Launcher without uninstalling the whole Touchwiz?

You can't uninstall the entire thing. That's why we have custom ROMs. You can find the launcher at /system/priv-app/TouchWizHome.apk. The rest of TouchWiz is contained in SystemUI and framework-res.

@AaronGillion There is no TouchWizHome.apk neither in /system/priv-app/ nor in /system/app/. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (4.1.2) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (4.4.2)

My S5 uses that location, the S4 uses /system/priv-app/SecLauncher3.apk and the Note 2 uses SecLauncher2.apk

Found /system/priv-app/SecLauncher3.apk and /system/priv-app/SecLauncher3.odex. Should I disable just the APK using pm or do I need to do something to the .odex file as well?

Yeah, pm disable and the odex doesn't make a difference after that.

There's no need to uninstall the TouchWiz's launcher or install a new ROM. The solution to this particular scenario is to disable the package associated with the TouchWiz's launcher APK (thanks to @AaronGillion for pointing out its name and location).
To do this, just execute the following command as root in the ADB shell:
pm disable com.sec.android.app.launcher

In both, Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7" WiFi (Android 4.1.2) and Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7" WiFi (Android 4.4.2), the previous command worked correctly.
Having my custom launcher installed but having selected deliberately the TouchWiz launcher as the default launcher, after disabling its package, my custom launcher was set automatically as the new default launcher.
Just as a side note, notice that I had the same results on both tablets even though I installed the custom launcher as a regular app on Tab 3 and as a system app (/system/priv-app/) on Tab 4.

Use Titanium Backup to force uninstall it (possibly?) but make a backup in case your launcher doesn't work correctly.


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Wipe /data/ but not /data/media/ through ADB shell or fastboot
I know I can use fastboot -w or fastboot erase userdata, but these erase /data/media/, the internal storage which is located at /data/media/0/..., which I don't want.
Is there a way that doesn't include hitting the factory reset option in your recovery, but doing it manually? I'm using ClockWorkMod.

worked like a charm, recoveries kept screwing me over but this seemed to do the trick. hasn't fixed my issue completely, but it might just need longer to wipe. how long does it usually take? shouldn't be too long at all right

@Firelord Please make that an answer (but include it requires root powers) :) for dir in /data/*; do if [[ $dir =~ media ]]; then continue; else rm -rf $dir; done – I really love shell power :) Oh: as the regex compare might fail: if [ "$dir" = "/data/media" ] should work as well. You can test it safely replacing the rm -rf with the echo command.

Boot into your custom Recovery, mount the data partition either using command-line or via GUI, and choose any of the following method:
(Note that TWRP already has the option to clear /data without touching /data/media. It uses rm -rf commands1.)
Go Immune

Make /data/media immutable2 i.e. immune from any modification. You can do so by executing:
adb shell chattr +i /data/media

You can also use -R for recursive immunity, though it was not needed in my test case.
You can see the immune attribute (i) in the output of
adb shell lsattr /data/

Time to go berserk
adb shell rm -rf /data/*

All the files and their holding directories inside /data/ should now be purged except the ones inside media, for which you would get the error (non-critical) Permission denied for every file inside that directory.
Now revoke the immunity using
adb shell chattr -i /data/media

Use -R if you used it previously.

If-Else
Manually pick each directory under /data and use rm -rf on it. Could be tiresome, so you may consider  Izzy's shell-fu
adb shell for dir in /data/*; do if [[ "$dir" = "/data/media" ]]; then continue; else rm -rf "$dir"; fi; done;

Replace rm -rf with echo for a dry run.
The command  picks up each file-path3 under /data, then  checks against whether the file-path is for media folder: if yes, then pass; else nuke the file.

1: TWRP FAQ: What is a data/media device?
2: Wikipedia: chattr
3: General overview of the Linux file system: Sorts of files

Would making a partition immune be persistent after a reboot?

The last time I checked, immunity is set as an attribute to files and not to a filesystem. If you want your filesystem to remain unmodified then mount it in read-only mode.

Even if it was immune though, it probably wouldn't survive a .kdz flash would it?

The attributes are enforced in an environment where the latter understands those attributes. Besides, the flashing is usually done on partition level so once the partition is unmounted the attribute is of no value.

authors: Борис Хаверо


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Android tablet not auto-updating applications
I have an android tablet that is leveraging an internal company network. It appears that this device and all others similar to it are not auto-updating applications from the Play Store even though all the appropriate settings are correct.
I can see there are apps to update and I can even manually update an app but the auto-update never runs for any apps.
The same tablet in my home network will run the auto-update.
Could the companies internal network somehow be blocking the auto-update? If so how does the auto-update work so I can add exceptions to the firewall.
UPDATE
This device is a HP Slate 21 Pro All-In One and has both a WiFi and an Ethernet (wired) connection. We found that when the device is connected on the company network using a WiFi connection it DOES auto-update but it DOES NOT when connected using the ethernet connection.
My guess is that the Playstore (GMS) is checking if there is a WiFi connection and if so downloading the updates and if not a WiFi connection it does not download the updates. Similar to how a true mobile device behaves where there is either a wifi or cellular network connection.

Can you update manually? Do you get update notifications?

Yes, I can view my installed apps from the play store and it lists all those that have updates. I can then manually update them.

I didn't mean to manually check, but whether it retrieves update information automatically. What I'm after is possibly ruling out (or not) your company network blocking the port required by GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) to retrieve incoming information. To cross-check (and rule out it's that specific device/installation): Taking that tablet to your home network, does it work then there?

It am guessing it is retrieving the update information as when I view My Apps in the Google Playstore it states there is an update available, and yes the tablet works from my home network.

Could it be you disabled notifications for the playstore app? But that wouldn't explain the very same device working at home. I'm not sure how exactly it works, but it might well be for "passive notifications" (without the user triggering anything by e.g. opening the app), a separate specific port is being used (which might be blocked in the "corporate firewall").

Apparently this is a known issue and HP is aware of this. At this moment there is no fix for this issue.

This issue has been reported to HP and has been confirmed it is an issue on their end or with the Play Store software.


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How to stop the LG phone launching preset applications when the phone is locked and inside your pocket?
This design concerns more LG phones, in my case it's LG G2 Mini, but it was reported also on LG D605 Optimus L9 II and probably other LG phones with the same logic.
On the back of LG G2 Mini (Android 4.4.2), there are 2 buttons, which keep being pushed in my pocket.
Unfortunately, there are applications mapped (by manufacturer setting) to the up and down buttons (some drawing notes and camera) when the phone is locked. They keep being launched unwillingly in my pocket.
I've searched through all the settings but couldn't find how to get rid of this mapping and set the buttons' action to void in the phone-locked mode.
My phone is rooted so I can change the system settings but don't know where it is stored.

EDIT: In the official LG upgrade of Android (5.0.2) the problem is solved, see my answer.

How did you perform the mapping? Stock or custom firmware?

I want to get rid of the mapping, it's built in! It comes with the phone :(

Just a guess - Have you tried pressing and HOLDing until some sort of dialog appears to unset the mapping?

@wbogacz; pressing and holding is exactly what launches these stupid applications!

@Honza - correct. Their manual says 3 seconds of pressing will launch. Holding longer (to express an intentional, different intent) - Anything?

Holding longer doesn't do anything different, unfortunatelly.

NEW SOLUTION:
In the official LG update of Android (5.0.2) LG finally came themselves with an option to turn off the "feature".
Settings | System | Shortcut key

ORIGINAL so called a "solution":
After a long research, I am answering my question by stating that in Android 4 (the original version of the phone) it does not have a proper solution.
I called to LG helpdesk as well as wrote them emails. They always answered that "It's a feature, not a bug", the buttons events are hard-coded and that I can use a protective case if I want to avoid the accidental push.

I don't know a hack, but I think the buttons are hard-coded to only work with the LG stock ROM, so I think if you flash a different ROM (Cyanogenmod for example) the buttons simply will stop working.

"Key Plus for LG G3, G Pro, G2"
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apptuners.keyplusapp
This app works for me, but only for volume down on lg g2 mini
via http://www.reddit.com/r/lgg2/comments/2q6chq/app_key_plus_change_lg_g2_volume_key_shortcuts_to/
There is also G2 Tweaksbox but it depends on application which requires root
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.ptoti.g2_tweaksbox&hl=pl
http://forum.xda-developers.com/g2-mini/help/long-press-volume-camera-t2826540

Your solution does not work. The buttons still call the built-in apps :(

maybe something changed. I don't have this phone anymore so I can't test it

authors: سعد الشهراني


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How do I scroll to the top of a list?
On iOS, I can single-tap the top of the screen to scroll any list all the way to the top. This doesn't seem to work on my Nexus 4 (4.2.1 / CM10.1) and for instance in the list of phone contacts this is particularly tedious.
Is there a similar gesture on Android?
I'm surprised that I couldn't find this as an existing question, but I did search for it.

Apple probably has a patent on that... But I do not know of a gesture that does something like that in android.

Yeah, annoying stuff: always before you touch anything you need to ask yourself: "May I touch this -- or is it patented by Apple?" :-(

This isn't a question about Jelly Bean per se, but I don't know what an appropriate tag would be. "Touch"? "Gestures"?

This http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/39230/how-do-i-scroll-to-the-top-of-a-list

@JnC.Enterprises you're linking to this very page. Is that really what you intended?

There is a way to do this, based on the Xposed module installer. This requires rooted device!
As per this thread, tapping on the status bar will bring the scroll to the top.
It started out originally based on a thread in Reddit where this user blogged about her experience after ditching Apple for Android, and one of the things the user found troublesome was there was no way for Android to scroll to top, one of the devs that is a regular on the Xposed scene, developed the module to circumvent it.

Updated question and answer for 7.0 with semi-working solution for non rooted devices using the volume keys.

As far as I know, there's nothing built into the OS for that.
I guess it depends completely on the developers of the app you're using. I've seen some apps where, once you start scrolling, a "handle" appears on the side of the screen that you can tap-and-drag to scroll faster. I've even seen an app or two where you could touch the top of the screen to immediately scroll to the top of whatever multi-screen thing you're looking at. But it's certainly not universal.

Apple's ridiculous patenting spree is one reason I left that camp. What a pain in the #¤%& if every app developer needs to hand-code this into his app (and thereby violating a patent)!

If you're willing to root your device, there's an app called OneClick Scroll that will jump to the top or bottom of the page when you tap the notification bar at the top of the screen. It will work for all apps (which is why it requires root).
Lifehacker has a review (and a video demonstration).

As user267 said, it depends on the app.
On the phone contact list in Android 4.2 you have a little blue handle on the right.
In the stock Android browser, you just swipe up fast enough and it will scroll to the top quickly enough.
In Chrome for Android, It didn't find a way, and it is very annoying, because going back to top of a long page is often necessary.


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Can the RECEIVE_SMS permission be used to intercept SMS messages?
I've noticed quite a few apps requesting the RECEIVE_SMS permission. Two things are clear to me here:

RECEIVE_SMS enables an app to "snap" incoming SMS
READ_SMS just applies to SMS already stored

As some of the apps just were asking for RECEIVE_SMS, but not for READ_SMS, I got curious: this seems to imply RECEIVE_SMS is not only targeted at the receiving part, but the app can also do what it wants with the received message – e.g. read it, then throw it away silently (so the user doesn't even notice there was an SMS – which might be the way TAN Trojans act to snap identifiers for online banking transactions).
But would it also be possible for such an app to "intercept" the message, i.e. receive it, read it (and process its content in any way, e.g. forwarding it by other means such as via IP), and then pass it on as if nothing had happened? In other words: Can it spy on the user this way?

Yes, it can, but only on Android 4.3 and lower. This is used for example in Whatsapp. When you activate the app, Whatsapp sends an SMS to the number you reported, and the app intercepts it quietly and reports to the servers that it has received the SMS. This is how the account is tied to your number.
Of course, this can be used in harmful apps also. If an app registers as an SMS receiver with the highest priority, the app can listen for incoming SMSs, process them and either dismiss them without the user ever noticing, or forward to the next SMS listener with the second-highest priority.
This has been redone in Android 4.4, and if I understood correctly, only the default SMS app has access to all incoming SMS (SMS_DELIVER_ACTION), and the other apps with correct permissions will only receive a notification of the incoming message (SMS_RECEIVED_ACTION). In addition, the SMS_RECEIVED intent is non-abortable, it can't be stopped. I assume that in Android 4.4, this is done to allow the user to see all incoming SMS messages in the default app.
Edit: Found some more useful info on the Android Developers Blog. I'd test this further, but my only Android phone is currently WiFi-only, so no SMS :/

Thanks a lot for the insights, onik! Didn't know about those KitKat-changes. With those in place, did I understand correctly that e.g. WhatsApp would now need the READ_SMS permission as well to access its "activation code" – or do apps with the RECEIVE_SMS permission "receive a copy" now (except for the default SMS app, which would "receive the original")?

@Izzy I have a question about this too. Would the user now see these control texts directly in their default app now? Or would it be an option to be able to see "consumed" texts, but not actually show up in your regular text app?

@Cruncher I was the one asking the question, so I'd say your question is better directed at onik or daamit who answered it. If an app presents an option is up to the dev, I'd say. It's unlikely to be "mandatory".

@Izzy If I understood correctly, the apps which are not set as the default SMS app can access a read-only provider, meaning they don't need READ_SMS permission, but they are unable to edit the SMS (mark as read, delete etc.).

@Cruncher The messages should show up in your default SMS app, since only that app can write to the SMSProvider in order to delete the messages.

Thanks for the update, @onik! Useful insights behind that link (and interesting side-effects when it comes to multiple SMS apps or backup/restore ;) I'm accepting your answer now – but continue looking forward to your promised updates ;)

@Izzy It was directed at onik. I pinged you because I figured you'd be interested too, and onik was getting a notification anyway.

"Yes it can". But only on Android 4.3 and lower. Since 4.4 SMS_RECEIVED is a non abortable Intent. Please add that important fact. See also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20021492/enabling-sms-support-in-hangouts-2-0-breaks-the-broadcastreceiver-of-sms-receive

As things stand

Android 4.3 and below without Hangouts app : Any app with
SMS_RECEIVE permission can read/abort an incoming SMS (ala Whatsapp)
Android 4.3 and below with Hangouts (SMS mode turned on) : Any app
with SMS_RECEIVE permission can read but not abort an incoming SMS
Android 4.4 and above : Any app with SMS_RECEIVE permission can read
but not abort an incoming SMS

In all three cases, READ_SMS will give the app permission to read all the SMSs not just new incoming SMSs.
As onik mentioned things have change quite a bit in Android 4.4

Thanks for pointing out Hangouts might make a difference for Android < 4.4! Guess that corresponds to what onik pointed to with an app registers as an SMS receiver with the highest priority, and Hangouts is doing exactly that (so no other app can top it)?


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Can't install Aptoide
I'm having this problem since I was trying to upgrade Aptoide from 6.5.X to 7.X.

I was trying to upgrade Aptoide from inside Aptoide: Installation failed.
I was trying to adb install or pm install it, got the same response:
Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_CONFLICTING_PROVIDER]
So I removed the older Aptoide version and got the same response exactly except for several times where I got Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_URI].
I tried upgrading my CM version (My device is OnePlus One with the latest official COS12.1), didn't help, same response.

I checked the list of packages, and there were no conflicts with the name in android:authorities in AndroidManifest.xml and there were also no special characters in that file (I used apktool to decompile the APK and look at the files).
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong but I don't want to mess with the package and there's nothing I know I can change in my phone's configuration that would fix that.
Any ideas?

Figured it all out!
Apparently Aptoide-dev was installed but somehow only for the guest user.
All I had to do was switching to the guest user, going to Settings -> Apps and remove the Aptoide-dev package.
Going back to my profile did some weird stuff (I can't switch between apps, it'll probably work after restart) but I managed to install Aptoide finally.
Thanks.

If it's a third-party app (which third-party apps are installed as .apk) you should go to Settings > Applications > and then enable Unknown resources it 'Allows installation of non-market apps'
I hope that helped and worked

It isn't making sense. OP has explained that even installation from adb is failing and has mentioned the error code as well. Unknown sources settings has nothing to do with that. That setting comes into action if only you're trying to sideload using GUI.

authors: Михаил Яковлев


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What does "hand with small restricted icon" status icon represent?
Can anyone help me identify this icon that looks like "a hand with small restricted icon", and how can I remove it?

Click image for larger version

It means you have interruptions disabled. When your device is in this mode, you will not receive any visual, audible, or vibration notifications except for alarms you've explicitly configured to be allowed.
On vanilla/Google Android, this setting can be found in the "Sound & notifiation" category, but ASUS may have moved it elsewhere. Alternatively, if you press the volume button up when not in a media app (music player, video, etc) it should display the ringtone/notification volume overlay, and you can use that to adjust your interruption settings.

I use Do Not Disturb a lot. I decided to turn it off and a hand icon appeared on the top left of my screen. I also received a call from an unknown number that my caller ID and blocker allowed. They said nothing when I answered.
Googling it gave me: it's disabling glove touch. In Android, I never used glove touch although that would be great. There are gestures that can be used on the Moto Stylus. I've checked for that and so far nothing.
My phone may be telling me to split the screen (if it gives suggestions as cookies do for shopping). I really have no definite answer. Perhaps this will help someone see options in their problem-solving.

This is the sign for glove touch-sensitive. If you turn on the glove touch-sensitive, it will appear on the notification bar, but when you turn it off, it will not appear. For a solution in Asus, go to Setting - Asus customized setting - Glove mode and turn off the mode.


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Alarm Controller is sending me unwanted notifications, ads
From many days I am getting unwanted ads and notifications. I uninstalled many app, and also did a factory reset also, After searching, I found Alarm Controller may be the culprit. As I lock my screen and the then try to unlock it again, the on-screen ads blinks all the time. I had a screenshot of the app

Please help me to get rid of these ads. Let me know if any more information needed.

It's a known malware. First thing first, can you uninstall it? Are you rooted? Seems it's installed as home launcher, can you change it to other launcher?

No i cant uninstall it. also it automatically install hola launcher. so i can change my launcher to hola launcer

Is there any message when you failed to uninstall it? Also, when you change to Hola Launcher, does the ads appear again? (I know it's not the perfect solution, but if it can work as workaround for now..)..... so, try turning off the Accessibility setting for Alarm Controller. Also, look at Security - Device Administrators and disable it (if exists). Then try to uninstall it again.

I think recent versions of android has capability to turn off notifications for particular apps.

No it simply says uninstall unsuccessfull, No Still i get the ads either i switch to hola launcher, I am always turning off the accessibility but as i lock and unlock the phone it again turn on automatically.

At last I got a solution or workaround, I installed NoRoot Data Firewall and then created a VPN on my own mobile and now I am having full authority to whom to give access to network and whom to not.
This is just the workaround I found, it doesn't remove the Malware. But it worked and get me out of the frustration.

I have a similar situation ..I  have tried all the stuffs suggested here..
1) Using CM Data Manager - Speed Test - It does not work. It only allows to Create restriction at firewall with 2g network and not with wifi.
2) Turning Off the Accessibility option in Settings for Alarm Controller - is again temporary solution as the it gets turned "ON" by itself with few minutes.. Malware is doing it i guess.
In the meantime the malware is getting strong. Now the alarm controller is no more version 2.0 like before and has updated itself to 4.0 (i hv no idea when and how) . Apart from installing several random apps (hola launcher quite repeatedly) by itself now this malware is creating some shortcuts with porno icons which on clicking takes you to some linkup websites and/or result in some downloads.. its getting really frustrating.

have you tried the workaround i followed? (In upper comment)

No i havent.. I need to try it..
BTW Did u say, u tried Factory Reset without restore (google apps ) option yourself and still face the issue..
Another thing, I got update for Android marshmallow 6.0 but am unable to install.. During installtion it erros out.. Did you (or anyone else) face this issue. Please confirm

Use firewall to restrict the network. Try this:

Install firewall app (e.g. CM Data Manager - Speed Test)
Open the app, go to Network Firewall setting. You will see all the apps are unrestricted
Set Alarm Controller to restricted app: tap ON to restrict the app. It will stop the unwanted notification & ads in your phone.

I will try it today

I Tried this solution but it Creates a firewall with 2g network and not with wifi . So it didn't worked for me. Noroot firewall worked for me.

Turn Off the Accessibility option in Settings
Settings → Applications → Alarm Controller → Clear data & Clear cache  → Disable and Force Stop.  I tried it and it works for me.

Just click stop button and power on/off your phone to reset from scratch. Click Settings and you will get various options to deal with. It's very simple and you won't get such ads, all the best !!
IF NOT, than you should go for Factory Re-set of this phone, thanks.

I tried all the things.. but no luck

authors: Сергій Камлик


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Nokia Glance-like lock screen clock on Android
Is there any way to get Nokia Glance like power-saver clock + notifications on android phones with AMOLED screens?
It's very useful feature IMHO and does not consume much battery on phones with AMOLED screens.
I am not asking for app. It can be anything from an app to a ROM that has the feature.
EDIT
For those who don't know what Nokia Glance is:
It is a feature that shows digital clock when Lumia devices (and Nokia N9 if anyone still remembers the phone) with AMOLED screens are on stand by mode. The best thing is that it is ALWAYS there and you don't have to touch the screen or press a button for it to show up. It uses very less battery because it lights up only the necessary pixels with rest of the pixels turned off, something that is possible with AMOLED screens.
Here is a picture showing the feature in work:

Since there aren't many Nokia users here, it might help if you [edit] your question to describe what this feature does.

Besides, it would be a much better fit for Software Recommendations, as "Is there an app for X" type questions are rather off-topic here (see our [help/on-topic]).

@Izzy: I am not asking for just an app. It can be anything ranging from an app to a ROM that has this feature. One could argue that it still is off-topic but I can't find a better place to ask this question. A similar question is unanswered on xda dev forums.

I understand. Still, strictly speaking both are not quite on-topic ;) OK, thanks to your update I can give you indicators. If I remember correctly, those features have been described with the Moto X. They require an Amoled display, or they'd drain your battery pretty fast (only with that display you can "turn on selected pixels only" while keeping the others inactive). There are apps emulating this on other devices I've read about; not having and Amoled, I "note them down" then...

The keyword is: "Active Display". Use that in a search (a better custimized Google Search here) turns up a whole lot of good candidates (oh, and a bunch of not-candidates, unfortunately). It might be useful ignoring the ones from Motorola itself, as they are probably intended for their device(s) (checking can't hurt, though). Just a few picks right from the first page:

Active Display & Battery Active Display are two examples of apps emulating Moto's Active Display on other devices
As I wrote, these are only the first two candidates picked up, and there are probably several more you might wish to check out for yourself. Good luck!

Dynamic Notifications is another good candidate.

I use Glance Plus. It does not consume much battery and has lots of options and very useful features like 'in pocket mode'. It lights up all pixels of the screen, but very dimly. I have used the app for a week, it appears to have made no difference to the amount of battery consumed

Click image for larger version

Please edit your answer to include more information, such as description, and screenshots. Your answer as it stands is not eligible to remain on this site.

Are you not affiliated to the linked app?

authors: Äbdö ÄL-HłäWänŷ


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Android Frozen At Custom Boot Animation
I used the application by JRummy to change my boot animation to a code animation that I found in an xda post. While loading an application, my phone decided to randomly restart, but it got stuck at a point in the boot animation. I tried to restart it, but it keeps getting stuck at the same spot. to be specific, it was when "81324112-8" is most clearly  visible on the screen. I tried to factory reset from recovery mode and wipe cache partition, but none of them worked. The boot animation is still there. I have a rooted, encrypted, Nexus 5 running 4.4.4 stock rom.

I can't say you why the animation is not working, but I would try to replace/delete the bootanimation.zip at /system/media and see if the phone boots normally.

i cant change it if my phone isn't booting up and my computer doesn't recognize it. It does say installing driver, but it doesn't show up in the devices. This has happened even while the phone was working fine and I think it may be because of the encryption


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What can I expect if I unroot my Droid?
I am thinking about rooting my Moto Droid but I don't know much about the subject, I've been doing some reading, but I'd like to know:

If I were to root and then wanted to unroot later on for some reason would my phone return to the state that it was before I rooted?
Also, if I were to "brick" my Droid is there any means of bringing it back to life?

Check out Are there any risks to rooting a device?
and Unroot a device without wiping
and How easy is it to return to stock after rooting with unrevoked

Also, if i were to "brick" my droid is there any means of bringing it back to life?

It depends. There's bricking, and then there's really bricking.

If i were to root and then wanted to unroot later on for some reason would my phone return to the state that it was before i rooted?

Not completely -- but you can unroot it -- that is, revoke root permissions. If you used root to uninstall OEM apps -- those are still gone. If you installed apps that require root, those will not function w/o root permissions.

Basically you would take a NANDROID backup (which is a image of your device as it is) immediately after you root your phone.  Then at any point in time you can revert back to this backup, and unroot your phone.  Also: Clockwork Recovery will actually let you push an unrooted stock image of Android back onto your Droid phone.
As to bricking: you should be able to get yourself out of any tricky situation you might get yourself into.  But if you follow all instructions, etc. you shouldn't have any problems.  If you do have problems, try googling or referring to the XDA forums (the people there really focus on mods, hacking, etc. for Android phones and might be able to help you out).  There are only a few ways to really brick your phone (installing the wrong cell radio for the phone would be one, for example).

Root access is not permanent, so if you install apps that demand root access, you should know that they are working because the root access is still available. Once you remove root, those apps will fail because they won't find the same access the used earlier, except for removed system apps. It can't come back because root access isn't a recovery or restore point.


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If I format my SD card or replace with a new SD card, what will I lose?
If I format my SD card or replace with a new SD card, what will I lose?

What Personal data
What Application data
What downloads

In short I want to find what, where and how data is stored on SD.

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> SD Card to see what apps are on the SD card.  Other things that might be on it include pictures and videos.  There aren't a lot of things that default to the SD card, but it depends on your device and software.  The easiest way to find out what's there is just to look!

To see what's on your SD card, you can use an app like ASTRO.
Or, you can hook your device to your USB port and enable mounting and look at with your computer's file explorer. Or pop the card into a card reader.


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How does the application Xprivacy give fake private data to applications?
I was wondering how the Xprivacy app worked exactly. Does it do something with native Android code? With Java? Does it put itself between the data and any application that requests them, or only if the application has a restriction active for the relevant permission in Xprivacy?

Waiting for XPrivacy developer to report in...

XPrivacy is not a stand-alone application. It's a module of the Xposed framework, and thus utilizes the latter to achieve its goals. So if the Xprivacy dev "reports in", he might just say: "Waiting for the Xposed team to show up"...
Oh, if you don't wanna wait: head straight to the Xposed thread at XDA for all the details. The intro over there states:

I extended the /system/bin/app_process executable to load a JAR file on startup. The classes of this file will sit in every process (including the one for system services) and can act with their powers. And even more: I have implemented something that allows developers to replace any method in any class (may it be in the framework, systemui or a custom app). This makes Xposed very powerful. You can change parameters for the method call, modify the return value or skip the call to the method completely - it's all up to you! Also replacing or adding resources is easy.

So in short and simplified words: Xposed replaces some system resources to "expose" the system API, so other apps (acting as Xposed modules) can use it. Amongst those other apps is – tam-tam-tam-tam-tam – Xprivacy.