text:
How to set in-call volume
How can you set the in-call volume to be higher for Android 2.2, please?
In the Settings options there's only these options:
Incoming Call Volume (which I presume is the ringer volume)
Media Volume
System Volume (which would probably increase the in-call volume, but all the others as well)
Notification Volume
Thank you.

From searching android forums I see that some people had screen protectors covering the speaker. Could this be your issue?
I also saw reference to the Quick Settings app which has a Voice Call Volume setting. Hopefully you can set that to its highest setting and your calls will at least be set to the loudest setting.

Thanks, Gary. There's no screen protector. I gave forums a search as well before posting only to see some having sound too low and other having it too high... I'll give that app you're mentioning a look and come back. Thank you.

Hey. It's a really useful application, however it does what the side volume keys do. This probably means I must raise the Master level to get better spearker volume, which is something I would have wanted to avoid.

During a call press the volume UP (+) button. You're bound by what levels the manufacturer allows for in the phone & any other law needed to be met within your country.
If you're technically inclined,

Flash your phone with a kernel that
  uses Pershoot audio booster (usually
  OC/UV)

Thanks, Sparx. I had already tried the side volume keys, I'm not that 'amateurish', although the question does look like that at first glance.


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What are important things to look for when choosing firmware?
I just got a Pandigital eReader and I'm browsing the firmware options(official and hacks).  What are important things to look for when choosing firmware?  Is there anything important to look for?

Stability
Battery life

You should be able to get an idea from reviews/comments/etc. about how well each ROM performs in those areas.  For an eReader that's really all you need.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Headset to HTC Desire?
I'm looking for a wired headset to my Desire (no pun intended ;)). My clients complain about sound quality when I use the one that comes with the phone.
All suggestions are welcome.
(I would have made this question a community wiki @ StackOverflow, please do so instead of closing it)

I've used both quality Bluetooth and wired headsets adapters with my HTC Desire without anybody complaining about sound quality. In general I don't think you can go wrong with Plantronics headsets, I've been using their landline ones for years.

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


text:
Looking for a parts list application
I am looking for an application like a shopping list, that will let me put in items with the prices and give me a final total...so that if I have a project, I can put in all the prices(scanning barcodes would be a plus) of items in the project while i am out and about.
I have tried a couple different searches, but havent gotten any really good hits on it.

Wow that is a great idea for an app. Any Android devs out there? Either way I'll see what I can find.

ShoppingCalc does this pretty simply if you're willing to live without the barcode scanning (I like the zero-clutter interface).

It works for me for now, i guess ill have to write something for this myself... thanks

A quick Google search returned ToMarket . It looks like its original purpose and design is for Groceries but you can use it for any type of item. The description says it supports bar codes and lets you put items with prices and quantity in the cart and gives you a final total. Sounds like exactly what your looking for based on the question. It looks like a nice app, I'm downloading it now for myself.
EDIT: This app is actually pretty cool, it has some default items when you first open it but if you go over to the "need" tab it is blank. When you add an item it gives quite a few details you can add to it, including whether or not it is taxable. I also noticed there is a feature to export your lists or to share it with others via SMS or email.

I've suggested Springpad (their website and on appbrain) as a good note-taking app but it would serve this purpose well too. Especially since it has a scanning feature and web-sync.


text:
Can I connect an Android phone to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse?
Is it possible to somehow connect a monitor, keyboard and mouse to an Android phone and then use it as a lightweight computer (netbook-like)? If it is, what Android version / phone type support it, and how can it be done?
I know that 2 years ago, the guys behind REDFLY presented a proof of concept working with their terminal; but I've heard nothing else about it and a lot has changed with Android over the past 2 years.

Samsung have a dock for the Galaxy Tab which connects it to a pretty much full-size keyboard, and props the screen in a position where it's like a laptop's screen. There are also a number of Android devices that have a video or HDMI out capability to output their screen onto a TV, often needing a special converter cable.
Bluetooth is an option for connecting keyboards, KeyPro (AppBrain Link) (Official Website) andTeksoft Blueinput (AppBrain Link) (Official Website) load drivers onto your phone to let you use Bluetooth HID to connect up many Bluetooth keyboards  (trial versions are free to test your device's compatibility, but it looks like if you want to carry on using it you'll have to pay to register to make it work fully). There are other options for loading Bluetooth HID (keyboard) drivers onto your phone if you root it.
Also, see these previous questions regarding connecting peripherals, such as keyboards and mice, to Android devices using Bluetooth.

Bluetooth keyboard with Android?
What else can Bluetooth do?
External Hardware Keyboards

From Android Honeycomb (Android 3.1) upwards certain devices, that have USB Host support built into their hardware, can attach and use normal USB keyboards and mice (with the appropriate USB host micro-USB to USB converter cable). I have occasionally plugged in used a keyboard this way on my Motorola Xoom.

Motorola have just been showing off their 'Atrix' phone which does pretty much what you're after.  It's apparently due 'later this year' (source).
Here's a video of the docking features.

Very impressive, though I hope this can be achieved with other phone types as well.

Yes, I sure hope so.. PLEASE. I'm buying a LG Optimus speed btw.

As a (former) Atrix 4G owner, I can comment that this is an awesome idea, but executed very poorly by Motorola. First, at launch the dock used to cost as much as the phone (~$500). The price came down significantly since then though ($50 online from AT&T). The biggest drawback is the outdated and very restrictive Linux build Motorola used for the Dock functionality. Long story short - a laptop replacement it isn't. Maybe a netbook.

Samsung Galaxy S can output to TV using a special Micro USB to HDMI cable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQBAx_BDfk

I'm typing this response using a bluetooth keyboard, bluetooth mouse, and external monitor hooked up to my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. It works great and was very simple to set up. No special drivers or apps needed. I'm using a Dell S2409Wb monitor, an old RocketFish Keyboard and an old RocketFish Mouse.

That sounds great! Did you have to do anything special, or just you just pair the devices from the Bluetooth menu and that's it?

Nothing special. Just pair through the bluetooth menu. I used an mhl adapter for the display.

The Asus EEE Pad Transformer is close to what you are after and available now. I like the way it also extendes the battery life. I would wait for something with a bit more power for this purpose though. I have a feeling that using a single core arm processor with 512Mb ram in my case would feel pretty slow as a desktop experience.
Another thing to note is that Android won't support all the keyboard shortcuts that you are used to on a desktop. I hope this changes because for me it is an obvious evolution. Indeed the concept of a personal computing unit like this is something I have been waiting for for 15 years!

typing this comment on Asus Transformer Prime - it has even a touchpad (however not everything on the web hears mouseover events when its' cursor hovers over it, especially it's true for autohiding menus in flash videoplayers)

even better now , the padphone! tegra 3 everything device. Hope it turns out well!

Google for ubuntu for android, the video demonstrates how your android phone can be connected to an external monitor and used as fully functional desktop, while still being used as android phone. Great stuff, mind blowing!!

Ubuntu for Android indeed sounds great.  However, Canonical said that they will initially work with manufacturers and carriers to build this functionality into new devices going forward.  Even if/when they release it to the masses, with the hardware requirements being pretty high-end http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/features-and-specs (dual-core CPU 1+GHz, accelerated graphics, HDMI out, USB host) it would not work on a lot of older handsets.  Other than that it's an awesome development.

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


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Enable developer options on LG Stylo 4
The following is not working on my LG Stylo 4

To enable Developer options you have to go to About Phone (or About phone > Software info) and tap Build number 7 times.

The reason being is I don't have an "About Phone" option in Settings.
How to enable the developer options on LG Style 4?

Can you show us your Settings in a screenshot ? On some phone the option may be different

Ok, tell me what your last option fron the settings looks like?

settings is the last option

The settings has a couple of options. The settings should have a GEAR icon

my bad, SYSTEM is the last option

Check my answer

From the Verizon support page :
To enable Developer Options, navigate to: Apps > Settings > About phone > Software info then tap Build number seven times.
Ensure the Developer options switch (located in the upper-right) is turned on
Tap USB debugging to enable or disable.
Enabled when a check mark is present.
If presented with Allow USB debugging? screen, tap OK.

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


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Automating Wi-Fi Calling or Airplane mode toggle with Tasker
I am absolutely 100% new to Tasker. I have bought and installed this app to automate a few things which IFTTT simply can't.
Here is the situation:
My bedroom is in a basement apartment and so I do not get good cell service reception at all while I'm down there, and since it doubles as my office space (on days I work from home) and my gaming area, I tend to spend a decent amount of my time in my room. This being said, I have an LG V30 ThinQ with Android 8.x Oreo and my current service provider offers a Wi-Fi Calling service. Naturally, I turned it on, and bingo... calls are now crisp and text messages sent without a hitch. Well... that's at home at least.
However, at my work, the opposite is true: The Wi-Fi is bad, but the cell service reception is always super strong. Yes, my phone does have a setting to use Wi-Fi calling as a second priority to my cell service (meaning that it will use my cell service before using the Wi-Fi Calling) but instead of switching intelligently based on the strength of the cell service reception strength, it only switches to Wi-Fi Calling once I stop having cell service reception period. Which doesn't work well in the basement, since sometimes I get just enough signal to toggle it back to the bad cell service for calling.
So, I would like to create a task with Tasker that, once connected to/disconnected from my home network, would allow either the Wi-Fi Calling to be toggled; or for the airplane mode to be toggled. That way, as long as I'm connected to my home network, my phone will be using the Wi-Fi calling capabilities, without having to toggle them on and off again manually.
The problem is since I'm new to this, I don't know the first thing about programming a task in this version of Tasker. All tutorials I came across were very little help.
Could somebody work me through setting up something along those lines?

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the site for more than 5 years, and no answers have score above 0). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

Create a profile "Home" with state "Wi-Fi Connected" and SSID set to your home Wi-Fi  network name.
On the profile create a task that

Turns on Airplane Mode
turns on Wi-Fi

This will be triggered when connected to your home network.
On the same profile create an exit task that

Turns off Airplane Mode

This will be triggered when disconnected to your home network.
Finally set your Wi-Fi Calling preference to "Cellular Network Preferred" (or whatever it is on your phone).

The task action that turns on Airplane mode, when run by itself, gives an error message and it is unclear how to give Tasker adequate permission to change Airplane mode.

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


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Moving unmovable apps to SD Card
My target was to get enough space on my Tecno Camon CA7 running Android 8.1 and get it a 32 GB SD card but only to find out that some applications cannot allow me to transfer them to SD Card. This sounds like the legitimate law of some apps developer suggestions.

Does this mean that after rooting my device I can have access to transferring every app with storage suggestions?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gmail.heagoo.sdcardmovable
open the app,
goto "only ROM" tab,
press and hold the app,
tap "make it movable",
"uninstall" (the original app),
"install" (the patched apk),
then check again from your app settings if the "change" (storage) button appears.
Note: the app will no be longer updated from Playstore. You lose all app data on uninstall

After installing it, it ends up only deleting my existing app and cannot re-instal the patched apk

check for android settings - security - unkown sources (this will allow installing apk)


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Stock Phone app doesn't work in split-window mode on Android Nougat
I have Wiko U Pulse Lite running on Android 7.0 Nougat. I would like to use Google Keep or Google Drive in split-window mode with the Phone application. This is because every time I perform a banking operation, I need to copy numbers and passwords from one window to the other, otherwise I need to recur to open and paper to use as my buffer for storing these data.
Is there a reason why the Phone application with its dialer keypad won't work in split-window mode? Is this fixed in later version of Google's Android OS?

It works in Oreo in OnePlus 6, but the implementation of stock phone app can vary. https://i.sstatic.net/IR6fw.jpg // In which Android phone did you have that issue with split screen mode with phone app?

I have a Wiko U PULSE Lite.

A possible workaround is to try 3rd-party dialer (try Google's own app?) and check if this also happens on all Phone apps (which I somehow doubt), or only on Wiko's stock Phone app.

Thanks but I get an error message saying my device is not compatible with this app when I open the page in the play store. Thanks.

If Developer options is enable, you can set "Force activities to be resizable" to On.
Settings -> Developers options -> Force activities to be resizable
Then, restarts the phone.
It has worked for me when there were apps not developed to use split screen by default.

For an app to be allowed to work in split-window mode, there is a certain parameter android:resizeableActivity=["true" | "false"] that has to be set to true.
Since Android 7.0, this is true by default, but it's still possible to be set to false if the developer thinks the app will not behave correctly in split-window.
As @Andrew T. suggested in a comment, all you can do as a user is to find another phone app that allows split-window.


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How can I make the Swype keyboard type "I" when I press "i", now it types "ki"?
I am using the Swype keyboard preloaded on my at&t Captivate (Samsung Galaxy S) phone and I like it a lot. My only problem is that when I try to write I I'm used to just pressing i and letting the phone capitalize it. However Swype routinely writes ki when I am trying to write I.
I am wondering if anyone else has this problem and if they know how to fix it?
Also, is there a way for me to remove ki from Swype's internal dictionary so it'll never attempt to write it? It might be useful to modify that dictionary for other reasons too, so I can add personal names, local street names, etc.
Is there an auto text replacement app that I can use to always change ki to I?
Thanks!

Actually I had the same problem as you, and I searched the help dictionary. You have to swype from "I" down to the spacebar in order for it to auto-cap. It's not as easy to find or widely known. Also as a heads-up you can do this with "a" too. The brilliant thing about it is that you only have to be close to the "I" and "a" in order for it to space/cap.

...or fling up above the top row. This is mentioned in the tutorial isn't it?

Open up the memo application (or anywhere that you can enter text), enter the "ki" that's giving you problems, highlight it and hit the Swype key on the lower left; it will prompt you to delete the word.
In general it will remember new words that you enter; you may have to type them out letter-by-letter first.

I'm not getting that prompt to delete the word when I hit the Skype key. What's it look like? How do I get it?

@adam: I couldn't reproduce the exact behavior that your were seeing, but it seems 'ki' is a built-in word (it's the TLD for Kiribati).  I think you'll have to spell out the 'I' by hand for a while until Swype's prediction algorithm chooses it over 'ki'.

Oh so the technique you are describing only works for user added words? That's still useful just not in this case. Is there no way to delete words from Swype's internal dictionary? Shame I use the word I more often than I type out URIs to I-Kiribati websites. Thanks!

@adam: the "official" way to enter 'I' is to sweep from the 'i' key to the space key.  Have you tried that?  Eventually your phone should learn that you refer to yourself more than to island nations in the Pacific. :)

Capitalizing in Swype is pretty easy.  If I wanted to swype Joe I would hit the j and then swype to a point above the keyboard on the screen, then back down to o and e.  If I wanted to do JOE, I would swype from j to a point above the keyboard, then do a little loop while still above the keyboard, then swype to o and e.
So, in order to get a capital I, hit the letter i and the sweep up above the keyboard and then let go.

Yeah I'd rather not have to do that. I never type i as a single lowercase word. It should auto-capitalize without me having to remember to sweep my finger up.


text:
Does Nexus One WiFi traffic go through Google?
When I use the default browser (what is it? Is it Chrome? Firefox? other?) to view a site (not necessarily via Google search), does any of that visit information reach Google servers?
How about DNS?

The default browser is custom for Android, separate from Chrome.

Why would it? Are you using google for DNS?

@Uninspired: many people probably do, they type "android stackexchange" instead of "android.stackexchange.com"

@Lie: That's just a search result. Once you click through the domain lookups and traffic aren't involved with Google anymore (unless it's a Google site on the other end). The traffic is going to be on your Carrier (if you're using 3G) or your ISP (if you're using wifi).

As an aside Firefox Mobile is now available in Android Market if you'd rather use that http://www.appbrain.com/app/mozilla-firefox-web-browser/org.mozilla.firefox

@Al Everett: Precisely, many people (e.g. me) are just too lazy to remember the URLs of websites, and just use Google search result as a "domain name server" (loosely speaking).

@Al If you've ever seen search engine stats you'd see that very few people know the difference between the URL bar and the search box on the default home page. I cringe and try to explain when I see my non-technical friends type something like www.facebook.com into the Google Search box and then select the first result instead of just typing it into the URL bar.

Actually the predictive search from the address bar sends the text you enter to Google to provide the search predictions. For example, if you start to type "search" and get to "sea" it suggests "sears", "seattle times", "sean parker" etc...

You can configure that "Settings > Search > Google Search settings > Show web suggestions"

No, the data shouldn't pass through Google servers unless you are viewing a site hosted by Goolge.


text:
Browser to use in 3G with optimized (in size) content retriaval
I need a browser to use when running in 3G due to the fact that its speed in my country is far for nice especially in some areas.
My wish it to have a browser that does not download images, video, ads by default but only text. It should still keep a decent pagination.
Then, if I see an image description that interest me, I would like to click and allow download only that image.
Do you know if does exists a browser with these options?

Twidroyd just release an internal browser that does this. You click a tweet with a link and it loads up just the text on the right side.  A browser app that did this would be awesome.

Try using the Opera browser. It compresses the webpages before sending to your phone.
EDIT: Here's a test done by PC World that Engadget featured showing the Skyfire browser being slightly faster than Opera Mini.


text:
Is there a way to automatically change SMTP server?
I have a friend with a ntlworld.com email address. For desktop setup the SMTP server is smtp.ntlworld.com, but this only accepts email from IP addresses served by Virgin Media (who bought NTL) as ISP. When on 3G, they can use the SMTP server of their network provider.
So is there a way to have one SMTP server for WiFi and another SMTP server when not on WiFi?

There are a number of apps that allow you to program-without-programming to set up conditions on your phone that trigger changes in settings and such. Tasker is one a friend at work uses, and I know there was at least one other (though I can't remember the name right now). I've never used them personally, so I don't know exactly what trigger conditions they have (such as switching from a specific wifi network to another data connection). You may want to check those out though and see if they meet your needs. Oh, another is Locale, which looks (according to appbrain) to have a lot of plugins developed for it to add additional triggers and actions... you may even be able to get a plugin written for it to do what you want if there isn't one.

They support authentication to use the mail server to send email - particularly since these days the service is run by Google.  This page covers the settings in detail, but the key points are:

Configure it to use authentication
Configure it to use SSL
Configure it to use port 465 for SMTP if selecting SSL didn't change it already


text:
Root N1 and keep the official ROM
Is it possible root my N1 with 2.3.3 without flashing custom ROM?

Yes.  According to this XDA thread, you can unlock the bootloader with fastboot and then flash only a custom recovery.  The custom recovery will allow you to put su on your device.
You could also flash a stock 2.3.3 ROM that has been altered slightly (i.e., pre-rooted).  For example, this one over at XDA.


text:
How can I unroot OG Droid Gingerbread to latest stock firmware
I want to unroot my Motorola Droid from CyanogenMod 7 RC (Gingerbread 2.3.3) to the latest version of stock Froyo.
I've been told there's some complications that can happen because of the new file system used (ext4 instead of yaffs).
Are there any instructions on the internet on how to do this? Reading all these unroot instructions are confusing. So many different ways and some don't seem to work.

I was going to post a complete answer, but this XDA thread has everything I was going to say and it would take me too long to reproduce it :P.  This post is basically a shortened version of the other, if you prefer that, but it seems you'd prefer more detail.

I essentially downloaded RSD Lite 4.9 and downloaded/flashed an SBF file from http://www.peteralfonso.com/p/downloads.html I had to use FRG22D not the latest since those are debug builds. After that my phone works fine.


text:
Is there an easier way to update Swype?
I currently have the Swype beta installed on my EVO - not the pre-installed one that comes with the newer updates, the actual beta from their site. I noticed yesterday that if I launch the Swype Installer it will check for updates to itself, then download and install the new version for me. This is nice, since it is not distributed in the Market.
However, I can't seem to find the same functionality in Swype itself. The Installer doesn't check for updates to the actual keyboard, and it just greets me with the "Congrats! Swype is installed!" screen after launch (even after updating). The only way I can figure out to update Swype at this point is to:

Find out if there's a new version somehow (Google, Swype's website, etc)
Uninstall Swype
Reinstall Swype

Is there an easier way to do this? It seems odd that they have no update feature built in since they deliberately chose to distribute Swype outside of the Market, but if such a feature does exist I have no idea where it is.

The latest version of Swype beta (or at least the version before the most recent version) is a bit more self-sustained.
All I had to do when I updated was to go to the Swype installer app.  It had an update for itself.  After updating, it then presented an option for me to update Swype and stepped me through the process, including disabling, updating, and then re-enabling Swype.
Now the old way of updating Swyped used to be you had to uninstall the current version and it's installer, then re-install the installer, then re-install Swype.  It seems as if they have improved on this former method (that often had me raging because it wouldn't generate the license file correctly).

Hm, maybe mine will start doing this correctly now that I have the most recent version of both Swype and the installer. I was going from 2.17.xx to 2.29.xx. Thanks!


text:
Need help in Upgrading My HTC Magic from Android 1.6  to Android 2.3?
i want to upgrade my HTC Magic Android Mobile form Android 1.6 to Android 2.3, before that i was curious to know what are the steps to be done for this, i downloaded Terminal Emulator in My Mobile and executed su root, it throws me permission denied, then i findout how to root a device,it gives me a warning,I want to know whether these steps are need to upgrade OS in my device, if not pls tell me steps what i have to do to upgrade the OS

Sankar,
There's some speculative chatter on the internet to suggest you'll have a hard time running 2.3-Gingerbread on first generation Android devices (such as the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic). It looks like some folks on XDA are working to port the OS but you're definitely looking at CyanogenMod in that case. Which means that ...

Yes: you will have to root your phone
  to upgrade your OS.

It also means that you might consider doing something a little less drastic, like upgrading to a somewhat more stable ROM. (Especially if the idea of rooting your phone is giving you the willies!) @matthew_read tipped me off to the ROM Bible which is a great place to identify ROMs that other HTC Magic users have successfully installed. The ROMs there will still require you to root your phone, tho.
Check out the HTC Site to see if they have any supported updates though -- it looks like HTC India does offer at least one ROM upgrade for the Magic.

Thanks for the Info, when i went to HTc site->Support-> ROM upgrade it ask my serial Number , i gave my Serial Number, Sorry, this software download is not suitable for your device, Why you want to Upgrade my ROM , i want to upgrade Android OS, what is the relationship Between Upgrading ROM and Upgrading Android OS

Sankar, This ought to help you answer that: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2885/what-is-the-difference-between-rooting-jailbreak-rom-mod-etc/7337#7337

First generation devices are not seeing much support any more.
The best thing you can do is root your phone and install CyanogenMod on it. However, Cyanogenmod support for the Magic stopped at CM6, which is Android 2.2.  You will not be able to get CM7/Android 2.3 on the device this way.  There may be some way to get 2.3 on your phone, but you would have to see if there is anything about it on XDA forums.
Start here for Cyanogenmod, the wiki will tell you how to root and install CM on your phone.
YOU WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY BY ROOTING YOUR PHONE. MAKE SURE YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING. DRAGONS BE HERE.

Are there really first generation devices that are still under warranty?

If someone is still under a 2 year contract or similar, it would void their insurance/warranty on the phone from the carrier.  So it might still be possible.  It's just a general disclaimer that you are at fault for any damage you may cause to your phone (although it is highly unlikely).

Thanks for the Info, when i went to HTc site->Support-> ROM upgrade it ask my serial Number , i gave my Serial Number, Sorry, this software download is not suitable for your device, Why you want to Upgrade my ROM , i want to upgrade Android OS, what is the relationship Between Upgrading ROM and Upgrading Android OS

@Amanda I got my Magic on the day it was released, my 18 month contract would have expired in November, but if I'd had a 24 month contract (or bought it after it had been our for a while) I'd still be in contract now. So, yes a lot of them are going to be still in contract and warranty right now. As it is my Magic was stolen and I bought out of the contract early and moved on to a Galaxy S.

Not sure which network you're on or which of the two Magic versions you've got, but there is an official 2.2 release that many networks have pushed OTA to their phones already, I know that a friend of mine who's still on a Magic got 2.2 pushed to him by Vodafone UK in December.
If you've got one of the ones that HTC update, rather than your network updating OTA, then you may be able to download the update if you go to http://www.htc.com/ and pick your country, then the Support section, then go through the Downloads available for your phone.

Of course you can upgrade HTC Magic to Android 2.3, you just need to do some research and do some simple technical stuff. More info in this question:
Install Ginger Yoshi 1.4 on HTC Magic 32a, which radio do I need?
Ginger Yoshi XDA thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932118


text:
Can I set Parallel App or Dual App as a default app?
If more than one browser, media player, PDF reader, etc. is on an Android phone; it asks for the default app for browsing the Internet or opening a web link, playing music, and opening a PDF file.
Like this, there are two WhatsApp (primary WhatsApp and WhatsApp by Parallel App) running on my phone.
How to set WhatsApp by Parallel App as a default WhatsApp?

WhatsApp is not a browser or SMS app or contacts app that the phone can allow to select one from many as the default in its category.
Furthermore, your primary WhatsApp is "separate" from WhatsApp in Parallel space. They don't see each other and are not aware that the other exists, making it difficult to select a default.


text:
How to activate time left notification in Google Family Link?
I installed the Google Family Link app on my kid's phone, mainly to limit his screen time.
He asked me to be notified before his time is running out but I can't find a way to activate such a notification.
Is there a way my son can tell how much time he has left to use his phone?

Possibly related:  "Showing how much per-app screen time allowance is remaining, on a child device running Google Family Link".


text:
Laptop webcam works with BlueStacks but not with Nox
I have an MSI laptop with an integrated webcam and I need the camera to function using Nox Player. I've read everywhere that the camera is supposed to work out of the box with Nox. However, it doesn't.
I installed BlueStacks to check and it worked with BlueStacks.
On Nox, whatever app I install, it acts as if there is no camera.
How to fix this?

MEMU is suspect and is "not safe" to use in my experience, and my camera has sync issues with that emulator that messes up my apps and network settings.
My understanding is the latest NOX version uses Android 7. The webcam at this time is not supported.
That's all the info I can find on this. And sadly, BlueStacks records me sideways.

For fixing the Camera sideway problem in some apps in the BlueStacks, open the BlueStacks settings, then Display and then select a portrait view or a custom resolution with the same width and height pixel.

Install "CPU X" app on Nox, then go to "Camera" menu and back. that's all.
It may correct your problem.

'CPU X' is nice tool but it is not a solution for this question.

You can try ManyCam. ManyCam comes with additioanly several features. For example: It can be reflect desktop screen in camera for Qr code read process.

So I gave MEMU a try, and it has all Nox features + the camera works.
MEMU is an Android emulator very similar to Nox Player. Installation is straightforward, nothing special is needed, and the camera works out of the box.


text:
Why is the bURLy app no longer visible in the Play Store?
Dan Hulme posted a (deleted) answer on How do I stop Play Store from randomly opening when I'm in other apps?, mentioning an app called bURLY.

I made an app bURLy which lets you control what your phone does when an app tries to open a web link, such as to a Play Store app page. Even when other apps (such as the Play Store app) can open the link directly, it lets you preview what link will open, and create rules. You can make a rule to automatically ignore links to apps on Google Play, except when you allow it first.

However, it is no longer visible on the Play Store. Why?

After a career change a few years ago I stopped updating these apps. When GDPR came in, Google required all app developers to update their apps' privacy policies to show GDPR compliance, even if the apps weren't collecting any personal data etc. Because I didn't update the apps' privacy policy, Google removed them from the Play Store. Because I wasn't logging into my developer account and keeping track, I didn't find out until months afterwards.
If I get around to it I might dig out the source code and publish it somewhere, so any interested party is able to update the apps and maybe to keep developing them.
Thanks for your interest! If people had been that interested at the time I might have been able to keep developing bURLy and other apps.


text:
Logging off Viber account on my stolen phone
I lost my phone last Friday, May 31. I was able to get already a replacement SIM card for me to use the same no. again for my new phone now. My Facebook was already hacked yesterday since my FB app in my lost phone was open just like my emails and VIBER accounts.
With this, I would like to know how to log off Viber on all devices that I previously opened so my info will not be compromised.
My Viber is now open on my new phone and my laptop but I want it to log off in my lost phone and all other devices.
Is this possible just like Chrome, or Google, Yahoo, and even Facebook?

The fact that you are able to use Viber on your new phone means that it is logout of the former as explained here:

Lost or stolen phones
If you have lost your phone, or it has been stolen, you can deactivate Viber by simply reactivating your account with the same phone number on a new phone.
Setting up Viber on a new phone will close your account on the old device, and no one will be able to access the chats stored in there.

For other apps such as Facebook, Gmail, etc., change your passwords.

Activate it on a friends phone, then deactivate it on the same phone. It will deactivate your account on all phones and PCs.


text:
Run windows 10 ARM on QEMU
I have downloaded the Windows 10 ARM on my Android phone, but it stops when I press any keys to boot from the CD or DVD.

Click the images for full-size
This is my start.sh file:
#!/bin/bash
sleep 2
echo "Starting ..."
qemu-system-aarch64 \
  -M virt \
  -cpu cortex-a57 \
  -smp 6 \
  -m 1G \
  -pflash QEMU_EFI.img \
  -pflash QEMU_VARS.img \
  -device VGA \
  -device nec-usb-xhci \
  -device usb-kbd \
  -device usb-mouse \
  -device usb-storage,drive=install \
  -drive if=none,id=install,format=raw,media=cdrom,file=arm.ISO \
  -device usb-storage,drive=drivers \
  -drive if=none,id=drivers,readonly=on,file=drivers.vhdx \
  -device virtio-blk,drive=system \
  -drive if=none,id=system,format=raw,file=Hard.qcow2 \
  -vnc 127.0.0.1:2

And there it stops working. What can I do to make it go off successfully?

I think you must compile qemu-system=aarch64 by yourself, but go into the /arm folder of the source code. You have to go in the file virt.c and modify line has_el3=false to has_el3=true.
Microsoft Windows wants a trust zone, so we emulate it. It will compile, though it will have no GUI, and you have to start this from the command line back on Android, and then vnc into it.
The OS seems still experimental though.


text:
Tegrak lagfix: how do I install it?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=920711
I've seen the above thread but I have no idea how to install the kernel. I've got a Galaxy S running Froyo 2.2 "JPO".
Since removing the OCLF lagfix the phone has been really slow, so I need to find out what I need to do to get Tegrak working.
I have Odin 1.3 which I used to install Froyo, but that was following a detailed step by step list of instructions!
It says in the thread I need the latest stock firmware before trying to install Tegrak, but it doesn't state what that is or where to get it. It also doesn't really go into detail beyond saying "use Odin to install it".
Additionally, how do I go about making sure the apps I have bought from the market are saved so I don't have to buy them again?
I'm a web developer, so it's not as if the tech stuff is alien to me, but the Android specific stuff is!

Load the kernel .zip file into the PDA field of Odin, and (if you have it, should have come with Odin) load the 512 .pit file into the PIT field of Odin.  Then flash it just like you did for the Froyo ROM.
A stock ROM is just a ROM that's not modified by anyone, it came straight from Samsung.  If you aren't using a lagfix already, you probably don't need a stock ROM however.  You should be able to find one easily enough in the XDA subforum for your device, if you want it; use JS5, since that's what the kernel is based on.
Your paid apps are recorded in your Google account.  You will never lose your purchase rights to them (barring any service suspensions and that sort of thing).  You can, however, use something like Titanium backup to back them up (requires root).  You can back up the entire device using ClockworkMod / Nandroid; look for ROM Manager in the Market (requires root).
One question: Why are you using that over straight Voodoo?  Voodoo's perfect, and I believe Supercurio has taken stock kernels and added only Voodoo so you don't get any other random stuff.

Thanks for the answer. In answer to your question, I thought this was Voodoo, because when I searched in the market for Voodoo this is all that came up... perhaps an error on my part there. Is Voodoo on XDA?

No problem.  Here is supercurio's Voodo thread for the i9000 on XDA and here is the stock ROM thread, you probably want I9000XWJS8 if you're using supercurio's (JS5 for the other, as mentioned).

Cheers, going to go for JS8 & use Supercurio's Voodoo. I suspect there may have been issues with JPO, for example it's never let me apply any update.zip...


text:
Can a Factory Reset fix Malware Problem?
This recent story appeared on Slashdot regarding various malware apps that had invaded the Android Market. Google quickly removed them (and I was not infected - I don't typically download apps), but I was curious - would a factory reset fix the problems that this malware caused (including rooting)? If so, why not?

+1 I found your question very interesting, I saw another article - http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/03/01/the-mother-of-all-android-malware-has-arrived-stolen-apps-released-to-the-market-that-root-your-phone-steal-your-data-and-open-backdoor/ mention that the malware apps are able to root the phone and even install a backdoor. What if it is able to change the image on the ROM in the phone, then performing a factory reset will be useless since the image is not the original and so the backdoor will still be there. Are there other solution to ensure that the image is not manipulated?

For that/those particular piece(s) of malware, the answer is probably yes.
A factory reset does not completely undo rooting, especially with the more "invasive" methods used for a few hard-to-root devices.  A simple/common exploit like the ones probably used in these rogue apps is less likely to allow them to persist.
A factory reset should also wipe out installed apps (including the malicious ones) or, if they're stored on the SD card or something, at least reduce them to uninstalled apps just sitting there -- and they can't do anything unless the user reinstalls them.
Factory resets generally leave the /system partition intact, however, and any malware could theoretically have replaced system binaries with malicious versions or something along those lines.  To be on the safe side you would want to re-flash your ROM and not just do a factory reset.

Adding to what Matthew Read stated, it most likely will not unroot, but on top of that, it will not stop the damage that it has already done with your contacts or data. I mean if it collected contact data and personal passwords ect. then you need to start changing passwords and all that good stuff.

Definitely agree, and understand this. I was just wondering if it would stop further damage (which Matthew Read answered pretty well). Basically, I didn't know if there was a way the trojan could install itself in such a way that a factory reset WOULDN'T remove it. (I don't know exactly how factory resets work - is it an uneditable image within the phone? Something else?)


text:
Browser clipboard copied but disappears immediately?
The web browser that comes with my phone (Nexus One) allows selecting and copying web page content to clipboard, through the Settings menu ("select text").
The problem is that when I select and copy web page to the clipboard, I receive a confirmation message: "Text copied to clipboard" but... the clipboard is still empty!
How is this possible?
I downloaded from the Android market the free Clipboard Viewer app so that I can see what's in the clipboard and it shows no data in clipboard.
What am I doing wrong?

I assume you've tried actually pasting it, rather than just using the viewer?

Was it having this problem before you installed the free 'Clipboard Viewer' app?

@Matthew No, I didn't try pasting it. I just tried to view it immediately after selecting & copying to clipboard.

@Uninspired I can't really answer your question because before installing the clipboard viewer I had no way of knowing whether there is anything in the clipboard.

Try actually pasting it.  You could try the often-built-in Memo app, GMail, Email, or something like Docs to Go if you want to save it.

Yes, pasting it works. Weird. I thought that a clipboard viewer was supposed to display clipboard content before being pasted.

Yeah I would have expected that too.


text:
Why do certain non-Latin characters show up as empty boxes, and how can I fix them?
See this screenshot for an example (view the original page here):

As you can see, most of the missing characters have some sort of accent/breathing mark on them. This occurs in all applications that I've tried (such as opening a text file in Dropbox), not just in the browser.
Does anyone know what is going on, and how I can fix it? I am running Android 2.1 on a Samsung Fascinate (not rooted).

Looks like your standard charset problem.  The file's in UTF-16 and the app only supports UTF-8, or you don't have the font for the "weird" characters, etc.  More than likely there is nothing you can do; Android internationalization support is pretty bad and most apps don't even try.

How can I install a font for the "weird" characters? It seems strange that the default Android browser wouldn't have internationalization support, even if third party apps don't.

I don't know how Android handles fonts or if you can install them.  You might try temporarily changing your system language.


text:
Persistent lines on screen
This morning I noticed my phone has several light grey horizontal lines on the display, that don't go away when I change applications, or restart the phone. They don't rotate when I rotate the display - it reminds me of when we were warned about images "burning" into the display of PCs, hence screensavers.
Last night I went to bed with Winamp running while the phone was charging, and I have noticed it doesn't always seem to go to screensaver/black with Winamp. But the lines don't seem to correspond to anything in the Winamp UI, so...I have no idea.
What else should I try to get rid of these lines?

Sounds like a hardware problem (assuming the lines extend all the way across the screen).  Could just be a bad connection.

Agreed, but "just" a bad connection would be pretty hard to fix ;)

True.  This is where you're glad for (or miss) a warranty.

I doubt it's burn-in. It might be stuck pixels. But, yes, definitely sounds like hardware.

It's somewhat been coming and going, which makes a bad connection seem fairly plausible. Boo :(


text:
Mobile internet doesn't work on browsers with VPN turned off, but it works in some apps, and works via Wi-Fi in all apps
I cannot use any browser with a VPN turned off using mobile internet, but I can use other apps, such as BBC or Viber. I also can access the internet via Wi-Fi with a VPN turned off.
What I have tried:

I have reset APN settings many times, but it will not work.
I cannot turn off the proxy because there is no such option. The proxy section is blank. When I fill in the blank with some random letters, and then blank it again, the internet begins to work, and after a few searches on the browser stops.
Actually, when I change some other sections of APN the internet starts working, but then stops.
When I put a SIM card from a different provider into my tablet, it worked. And when I put my SIM card into another device, it also worked on that device.
I called the company for help. They say that my APN settings were out of order. They sent me new ones. That also didn't solve the problem.
I have even reset the tablet to factory settings. To my chagrin, it hasn't worked.

I am clueless about whether or not the problem is with the tablet or the mobile data provider. Tell me please what is wrong.

And by the way I had not had such broblem before on the device I use.

Navigate to Settings > System > Reset options. Click on "Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth.
This will however reset your your phone network settings.
I had experienced a similar situation and this was the only solution that worked for me.

It have resetted it; nfortunatly, it hasn't worked

Resetting the WIFI didn't work for me, what worked was resetting the internet instead. Go to your Settings > Network & Internet > Internet. You should find a reset button somewhere here. On my device it's a button with a refresh/reload icon located on the upper right corner of the screen opposite the back button.

It depends on which VPN app you are using.  Some turn off the internet for safety whenever the VPN is off.  Others have a setting such as the one I am using.
Some apps use internet like the browser does, which will get blocked.  Others are using direct connection such as REST calls.  And I suspect these don't get blocked.  Similarly, depending on your VPN app, WIFI may not get blocked.
You can uninstall your VPN, reboot and test to prove it.


text:
Removing multiple entries easily from the Google Play Store's "My apps & games" library
I have so many apps in my Google Play Store's library, and I want to delete all of them. However, individually deleting each one would be tedious.
Are there any easier/more convenient ways to remove multiple apps from there?

Google Store doesn't offer a public API like most Google products/services, thus writing an app or service with this capability would be a tedious work, and would require probably some low-level hacking and analyzing the protocols of the Google. On my best knowledge, no one did it until now.
According this answer, until around 2012, we could uninstall our apps from the web, which could have been a quicker option. Since then, even that was not possible any more.

You can use "Tasker" or any other type of automation apps to automate the process of removing each item (app) from the library. Then, program the tasker to repeat that process. I generally do this for repeated actions.

This seems like a lazy answer or a throwaway answer. Your intention might be right to answer this, but the result is not up to the mark. Consider editing this answer to add the necessary detail, which involves the steps needed to use Tasker to achieve the objective.


text:
How to remove quick links in Chrome for Android homepage?

How do I remove these quick links from Chrome for Android app?

I have not found an option to remove the icons, however you can configure certain options via chrome://flags. Search for ntp (stands for new tab page).

To remove one at a time:

Long-press on a link ( I think the correct name is shortcut).
When a menu appears, click Remove.

To remove all:

Click on the 3-dot, then Settings.
Click on Home page, enable it if it was disabled.
Click on "Open this page". Enter about:blank or any website you would to open when you open Chrome. You might have to restart Chrome for the changes to take effect.

However, they will re-appear again based on the history.

Go to Play Store and uninstall Chrome. It will uninstall the updated version. Then go to your Chrome. Shortcuts never appear again. You can update Chrome. 100% true solution, fixed my own Chrome.

Aside from Chrome will revert to the original version if it is a system app (otherwise, the app will be really uninstalled and need to be reinstalled), I think this will have the same problem that it only clears the links temporarily, and will reappear after some usages.


text:
What are .vm files inside /mtklog/audio_dump folder?
When I walk through the system folders of my old Android phone to clean it, I could see that there was a mtklog folder containing an audio_dump folder, itself containing many files in the form VMLog_%Y_%m_%d.vm in the Internal Storage folder.
As the name of the folder suggests that I have to make audio files, I tried to play them as a PCM RAW file, without success. Despite several searches on the file format, I did not find any information.
Someone knows what these files are, if it is possible to read them to know what they are, or just if there is a risk to delete them because I would not like to make the system unstable by deleting them?

Deleting something from Internal Storage (/sdcard) won't make system unstable. Stock apps are habitual creating such type of junk. But if you are curious, you can try strings on those files to take an idea what they contain. Or you can watch the directory to track which and when an app/process writes those files.

Thank you very much for your time and your clear answer. What's is 'Stock apps' please ? I have use strings program with different encoding on .vm file but the files are binary file without usefull strings informations. I have also try 'hexdump' and the only usefull informations is two bytes (probably more) repeated in the file and other bytes also repeated in the files. But with this 'MAGIC header value' I have no found any result on search motors.

Stock apps are those shipped with original ROM (OS) by OEM. Usually there are a lot of bloatware among them. If strings and hexdump don't work, you can watch the directory to find out the culprit process.

A MediaTek SoC based Android phones usually ships with a lot of "MediaTek Apps" that much of the apps has logging turned on by default. Logging is used to debug or in layman's terms "Identify bugs, problem or issues easily" so that it would be ready for production use or "normal user's daily driver".
They didn't turn off logging when the phone ships because maybe they are plain lazy or they "forgot". It has been over a decade that MediaTek phones has this "mtklog" folder.
You can safely delete this folder as it has no use at all for a normal user. It doesn't affect anything in the phone's ecosystem and this option is supposed to only be used in factory or the manufacturer and deleted before a device is sold to normal users.
Technical Information (Advanced users only):
I have seen this folder everywhere when I use a MediaTek device. It takes up a lot of space because I think the logging level is set to "Debug" mode. It usually takes up to 70MB and it is basically useless unless you want to fix an app or the system's services or you want to study the MediaTek environment. Nothing is inside the "mtklog" folder besides "every single move that has been captured" and saved to a log file of an app or service. It might introduce vulberabilities if personal information are logged.


text:
How do I move apps to Micro SD card in Nokia 6.1 (Android One) device?
I got a Nokia 6.1 for my son in an effort to get him out of the Apple world. One of the big advantages for him was the ability to store Netflix videos and large games in his SD card enabling him to expand storage when necessary. However, Nokia 6.1 does not have the option to format the Micro SD card as internal storage.
What other options do I have to move the apps for him?
I don't want to shell out money again for a new phone.

The Nokia 6.1 has a reported issue with using SD card as internal storage,
detailed on the XDA Forum.
To summarise:
The ability to use an sdcard as internal storage is avaiable with build 00WW_3_206_SP01
However, users have found files put on to the sdcard get corrupted at random 4096-byte boundaries.
In terms of options open to you, Google Play does have the instant app, which allows the user to use apps without installing them on the device. This might help in a small way.

Thanks for the link. So, it seems like the phone is not going to meet my primary purpose.

Yeah, shame not.
The Android one is a really decent scheme, the implementation on the nokia seems a bit hit and miss.
For similar money to the 6.1 theres the Xiaomi Mi A2, the second generation Android one device, comes with either
Processor & Memory (Internal Storage)
4GB+64GB / 6GB+128GB
If you sell the Nokia, you'd probably find this worth considering
https://www.mi.com/uk/mi-a2/specs/


text:
what do you call the black bar at the bottom of the Honeycomb interface?
I'm googling for a problem with the black bar on the bottom of my ASUS Transformers screen. the one with the navagation icons, notifications, and battery info. I'm not sure what the official name for that UI element is.
ps: i solved my origional problem. this bar thickens to addjust the aspect ratio when using HDMI output though I still dont know it's name.

To answer your question on what the 'black bar' is at the bottom of the screen - it appears to be called the System Bar.  I thought it was the Notification Bar but apparently that is part of the System Bar.
Here are several links that I found in my search:
Android 3.0 Highlights from Android Developer site
TalkAndroid.com
Esato.com
PhoneArena.com
StackOverflow Question where someone called it a 'System Bar'

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


text:
Trying to uninstall a keyboard, 'uninstall' grayed out, no root
I'm trying to uninstall PDAC Multilinugal keyboard and its language packs. The uninstall button on the app is grayed out, and I don't yet have root - is it possible to remove it without root access?

What phone do you have?  Did it come pre-installed?

Looks like the PDAC multilingual keyboard comes pre-installed on a lot of HTC devices.

@Matthew - HTC Desire.

Most pre-installed keyboards are system apps.  System apps can't be uninstalled without root access.

Damn. The thing is I wouldn't have minded it staying, the problem is it keeps overriding Swype as the default keyboard. Looks like I have to root it then.


text:
Why does my Galaxy S now displays 'couldn't connect' when I press the microphone key
I have been entering numbers using the microphone key on the keyboard fine yesterday.
All of a sudden, when I tried to enter numbers with the microphone key some time later, the message 'couldn't connect' is displayed when I press the microphone key.
Anyone any idea how to fix this ? Restarting the phone, does not seem to help.

The text-to-speech conversion in Android is all done on the cloud.  The phone sends in your recording and returns the speech.  You need to make sure you're connected to either 3G or Wifi for this to work.
Do other apps that require connections work?

That's it. I am not always connected - only when I am explicitly looking up things. The first time I was entering numbers like that, I obviously was connected. While later on, I obviously wasn't. Never occurred to me I should be looking in that direction to find the answer. Thanks.


text:
Can a phone manufacturer's custom interface be changed?
This is related to this question about removing apps, but I thought it was different enough to merit separate focus.
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy 2 S, and it has a custom interface designed by Samsung.
Mostly, it's fine. However, some things bug me. For example, at the bottom of the screen, where there are standard buttons like "Phone" and "Internet" - things I'm likely to access very frequently - they have this stupid "SP Mode" mail app thing that I will never use. Ever.
I'd like to kill it, but after searching options, I don't know if I can make that kind of change.
Is it possible to get different "skins" and load them into the phone? Are existing interfaces modifiable?
Is this another thing that would require rooting the phone?

Your best bet would be to go with either LauncherPro: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fede.launcher my personal favorite, or ADW: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.adw.launcher
Both provide customization to the dock (set of icons at the bottom), number of homescreens, transitions, app drawer effects, as well as custom themes and widgets. Note: there are free versions of both, but the paid versions add more features.
While you can cover up some of what Samsung has done, things like the Notification bar and lockscreen aren't affected by these apps. In some cases rooting and/or installing custom ROMs would be required to manipulate them.

Good recommendation. I'm trying it out now and it has removed the offending email from the bottom menu.

There are a number of customized launchers for Android, not just these two. Personally, I prefer Zeam. A search for "home screen replacement" or "launcher" on the Market should give you a good bunch of options.

I think the SGS2 has a newer version of TouchWiz than my original SGS Vibrant, but hopefully you can still customize those icons.  I don't have my phone on me but I believe t The process is:

Open the app drawer
Press the Menu button
Select "View Type"
Choose "Customizable Grid"
Press the Menu button again
Choose "Edit"
 Exit the app drawer (return to the home screen)
You can now drag icons off the dock and drag new ones on

nice, I just put all of the operator's bloatware apps to a "banned" folder and freed up the app drawer


text:
In general, do Android apps use encrypted connections? If so, is public WiFi safer?
I know that connecting to public WiFi carries risks.  I know that much of the risk has to do with sending data over a public connection, allowing it to be intercepted.
So, my question is, do most or all Android apps use SSL or some other secure protocol?  Is SSL forced via Android policy or technical limitations?  Would I only have to worry about websites in my browser that use http?
If an app uses a secure connection, does that mean it is significantly safer to use on a public WiFi network?  I know that people creating their own WiFi network or spoofing others is still a risk, but is there anything else?

There's nothing that forces the use of HTTPS for Android applications. Some data may not make sense to transfer over HTTPS, instead relying on other mechanisms (say, GPG key signature checks) to verify the data.

Your concern is very real.  Most developers and users don't understand the benefits of using SSL and other forms of encryption.
You can guarantee encryption by using an SSH Tunnel, although it will only ensure the stream is encrypted to the exit point (which would be the server to which you're connected).  This is good if you are simply trying to prevent your ISP from spying on you.
Another way would be to use TorProject's Orbot.  This has the same idea in mind, except you will not be required to provide your own tunneling server and benefit from being able to change your exit point at will.  Orbot also uses multiple proxies to help obfuscate your identity.  Of course, you are encouraged to help participate and provide a relay if at all possible.
In order to have 100% stream encryption, neither of these options are fool-proof, but may help you in your endeavor.
This is why it is important (especially now) to use different passwords for different sites, as some sites/services won't provide the same level of security as another.
SSL on a public WiFi, while still much much more secure than non encrypted streams, does not provide 100% failsafe protection.  Unfortunately, Root Certificate Authorities are vulnerable to hacks, and some (Trustwave) have even been caught issuing certificates to companies they knew were not the owners of the website SPECIFICALLY to allow said companies to spy on encrypted connections.  It is also easy to strip SSL out in applications that do not require secure connections.
You do, however, have a few options that will provide you with stronger security.

You can use gpg to encrypt messages and data using your intended target's  public key.
One pass encryption has the highest level of security for certain applications.

TLDR;
Your phone is insecure.  It is up to you to decide what conveniences you need, and how they will impact your security.  There are many practices in which you can become disciplined that will help minimize your risks, but at the end of the day it is your responsibility to safeguard what you deem private.  I would be more worried about the data that each app you have installed is trying to offload to it's servers.  Read through the 'Permissions' of each app you install before you download it, and decide if it really needs half of what it says it does.

Personal VPN was not mentioned, you purchase the service and all traffic flows through a secure connection to the VPN provider, then to the destination site.  VPNs may add anonymity and some can unblock services.


text:
Will gingerbread system apk apps upgrade over froyo's?
On my froyo , I just found several apk files of gallery, FMradio, etc etc inside "/" directory using filemanager.. I was wondering if gingerbread's system apps can be used to "upgrade" over these froyo system apps.. Would it void my warranty? would it cease OTA upgrades?
If anyone could also give the sources to gingerbread system files apk's it would be good.

It would almost certainly void your warranty, even if you somehow managed to do it without rooting.  They also probably wouldn't work -- 2.3 introduced several features that aren't present in 2.2.  And apart from Google apps, many apps like Gallery/etc. are device specific.


text:
Is there any application that can Pause and Record the video?
I own Xperia mini Pro with Android 2.1-update1. I noticed that my mobile Camera is not allowing me to pause and record the video. I had to record the video continuously without any pause. I know this is little annoying me. And I started searching for video applications which can do this job.

This seems to be a limitation of either the Xperia mini Pro Camera software or the hardware itself. The camera that came with the Stock Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant (SGH-T959) I could pause and resume recording of video. I am now running CyanogenMOD on the device, and I can also pause and resume recording.
So either the developers did not want to include that functionality in the camera software, or the hardware has something that prevents them from allowing it.


text:
How to flash stock ROM over ADB sideload
After successfully rooting my phone, I mistakenly soft-bricked my phone by modifying the build.prop file. Some research tells me that the only way to repair it was to flash the stock ROM.
I have already downloaded the stock ROM. All I need to do is flash it.
I tried flashing the ROM using SP Flash Tool, as my phone uses a Mediatek processor. However, it doesn't work.
So now I thought of flashing over ADB sideload. So could you please tell me how is that supposed to be done?
In the command adb sideload <filename> whether the <filename> has to contain the zipped version of the stock ROM or something else.
Thanks.

What didn't work with SP Flash Tool which is the champion in flashing MTK phones? 2) Which device have you got, and which Android version did you brick? 3) Can you share the link or the tutorial from where you obtained the stock ROM? 4) Do you have a custom Recovery installed? 5) See this for ADB sideload.

The SP flash tool doesn't do anything when I connect my phone and click on "Download". 2. It's a Karbonn A52+ running 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. 3. I downloaded it from http://www.needrom.com/download/karbonn-a52-2 4. No, it's running the stock recovery.

Do you have a backup of the original build.prop? Can you still boot into... oh, stock-recovery. Strike that part. Can you flash a custom recovery (e.g. CWM/TWRP) to your device, and would that be an option?

Unfortunately I don't have the backup of the original build.prop, but I remember what I had edited.. I had just added a line to the top.. And unfortunately I don't have much idea about flashing custom ROMS..

The ROM you downloaded is a scatter based ROM meant to be flashed using SP Flash Tools (the instructions at that needrom page are half-baked)  and I don't think adb sideload would help with that ROM (that just an opinion because I never tried flashing a scatter based ROM using adb sideload) // There is an alternative here.

And please use @ followed by the name of the person to whom you want to convey your point, otherwise, no body will come to know what you wrote. (e.g. @Izzy for your last comment).

Yupp, @Firelord is right: without his comment I'd get no note (only OP always receives notifies). To get an idea, you could start with our clockworkmod-recovery tag-wiki. It would allow you to run ADB while in recovery, mount /system, and revert your changes. // Hint for "next time": Most stuff you can try out using adb shell and the setprop command. If that crashes your device, a simple reboot fixes it :)

@Izzy I tried adb shell command but it shows error:closed..

@Firelord could you please hunt me a .pac ROM for my device, as I'm unable to do so..

@Firelord thanks for the link.. It shows me a link to Google Drive, i.e., https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0Bx-UuraN82UeQWNPR05SSmUwWVE
So after decompressing it would it give me a .pac file?

@TanmayVij Sure, stock-recoveries usually do not have an ADB daemon running. custom recoveries like CWM/TWRP do, that was what I was pointing to. So you'd first need to get a custom recovery installed, then boot into that, and then you can run adb shell. That's not only a restriction of MTK devices, by the way ;)

FINALLY MY DEVICE IS RUNNING FINE :) :) The SP Flash tool worked like heaven for me :) The problem was I didn't have an SD Card in my phone while using it. After inserting the card it worked fine for me :) :)

As I said the very first time, it is the champion. Now that the problem has been solved, could you please write an answer to your question so that others can benefit from it? Please be detailed.

I finally was able to solve this problem, as Firelord said, adb sideload wasn't able to help in the case of this ROM. And SP Flash tool turns out to be the best for MediaTek devices.
Most of the ROMs (Stock or Custom) are available on http://www.needrom.com, so I would recommend it to others for downloading ROMS. However, the website requires signing up in order to download ROMs.
SP Flash Tool, in order to work, needs the following things:

A formatted SD Card in your Mobile Device
Battery to be re-inserted after removing (within 10-15 seconds)
Media Tek VCOM drivers to be installed in your PC. (Link: https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B9srKhKuVIMnalFkV3EzWjVXdUE)
A scatter-based ROM for your device.

Note: SP Flash tool needs to be Run as Administrator while using it.

A factory data reset from the Recovery mode is advisable after successful flashing.


text:
Real root can not change any thing on /system original files!
On my rooted device running Android 4.2.2, I have following tools installed:

Terminal Emulator
BusyBox Free

On Terminal Emulator, su command successfully changes user to a real root:
root@hwH30-U10:/ # id -u
uid=0(root) gid=0(root)

Then I remount /system as R/W:
root@hwH30-U10:/ # mount | grep system
/emmc@android /system ext4 rw,realtime,noauto_da_alloc,commit=1,data=ordered 0 0

Then I even:
root@hwH30-U10:/ # chmod 777 /system

But I can not change any thing e.g. permissions or contents of /system original files like /system/build.prop!
I am sure that permissions and mounts are OK because I can create a new file, /system/tmp.prop, change it's contents and permissions by Terminal Emulator.
I really have no idea why these operations are not permitted while in Linux point of view, all things are OK for root to do these changes!
Is there any hard-coded further protection inside Android e.g. in kernel?
How to figure out this, please?

What is the result of executing chmod? Have you tried any sorry of root explorer app like ES File Explorer in root mode to change the file permissions? What is your root management app and Android version?

I use SuperSU, 3C Toolbox and BusyBox on Marshmallow and KitKat without any issue.

@TamoghnaChowdhury, chmod says Operation not permitted. and Yes, ES File Explorer in root mode, FileExpert and many other apps are unable to change any thing! My root management app is KingRoot on Android 4.2.2 (as I mentioned, id -u on Terminal Emulator says me that I'm realy root with id 0).

Could it be there are some SELinux enforcements in place? Not sure if the ls in place on the device supports it, but you could try it with either of the -Z/--context/--lcontext/--scontext parameters to have any potential SELinux context shown.

@Izzy, ls -Z say nothing about any context, however, Google says SELinux has been equipped into Android from version 4.3. mine is 4.2.2.

From the root terminal can you perform these steps: cp /system/build.prop /system/build.prop.orig; echo lolcat > /system/build.prop; cat /system/build.prop; mv /system/build.prop.orig /system/build.prop. I'm interested in the output of cat command.

@Firelord, echo lolcat > /system/build.prop fails with k_shell/10210:17681: can't create /system/build.prop: Permission denied as I guessed. echo lolcat > /system/build.prop.orig works! and mv /system/build.prop.orig /system/build.prop fails with failed on ' /system/build.prop.orig': Operation not permitted as I guessed. So, output of cat command is not interesting; It's the original contents.

Interesting. Can you give the result of lsattr /system/build.prop?

@Firelord, the result of lsattr /system/build.prop is -----i--A----, five dashes then i then two dashes then A and then four dashes.

There is the problem. It is set to immutable attribute which means the file  can't be deleted or modified. Change it like this : chattr -i /system/build.prop and then try that lsattr command. If the output differs this time, try my lolcat commands and tell the result.

@Firelord, excellent! I was aware about it's i attribute but in Linux vi, the command :w! can write even with this attribute, but it seems that BusyBox's vi can not! anyway, thanks a lot! If you would like, add an answer and I'll mark it as answer; Or I'll answer my question. Thanks again :)

It's actually odd if vi can edit a file having immutable attribute. Are you certain the attribute was set when you tested vi on that file? I can't save modification in the  file, even with vi, so immutable attribute works as expected in my system.

@Firelord, Previously I got messages like (add ! to override) and :w! could write. But now I created a file then chattr +i and you're right, vi can not bypass i attribute! Unfortunately I could not remember previous files lsattr but I'm sure that :w! could solve some messages like (add ! to override). But I cannot re-produce it now.

Based on my comment and Yasser's subsequent comment , I can conclude that the issue was the immutable attribute set on the file build.prop. If other files and directories also can't be edited or deleted, then they may also be having the same attribute or append-only attribute.
The remedy is to use this command with root privilege:
chattr -i FILE_PATH    # FILE_PATH is the file which currently has immutable attribute

Use -iR followed by a directory's path to remove immutable attribute from a directory recursively.
It is to be noted that OP already has busybox installed. chattr and lsattr aren't the utilities found natively in Android.
Relevant info about the used chattr command and append-only attribute can be found in my answer here.

A note to readers: a file with immutable attribute depicts that it can't be edited, deleted, moved or renamed. You can read about Linux compatible file attributes here: http://linux.die.net/man/1/chattr


text:
How do you backup your stock recovery from an unrooted Android device?
TL;DR
Okay, so for the past month I have been researching how to do this, either on Windows or Linux..
I have yet to find a direct answer, or anything which is relevant.
I am a lot more comfortable doing this on Linux than I am on Windows, as I am a lot more familiar with Linux than Windows.
I'm relatively new to this whole thing(as well as Stack Exchange).
Question
If there is a relatively universal way of backing up your stock recovery from an unrooted Android device (on Snapdragon and MTK chipsets) that would probably be preferred, unless that is something that is dependent.

For backup of non-rooted devices with an MTK chipset, I've seen recommendation of MTKDroidTools at some places.

Possible duplicate of Creating a .dd image of a Galaxy S3 without rooting the phone

Afraid there is no such thing:

stock recovery itself doesn't offer any backup options
other means of backing up a partition (and we're speaking about the /recovery partition here) always require root, as no other user has the required low-level access to file systems

Creating a real complete backup of a virgin device before attempting any system modifications (such as root, flashing custom recovery) is a hen-and-egg issue: you cannot create images of the device's partition without root – and the partition ends being "virgin" as soon as you root the device:

to create images from partitions other than /recovery, you'd need a custom recovery (to run dd or do a nandroid backup)
to create an image of the (stock) /recovery partition, you'd need to root the device (in order to run dd from within the running Android system)

To sum up: if you want complete stock images, you'd need two similar devices. One you root to obtain the stock recovery – and the other you flash a custom recovery to obtain images of the other partitions. Hen and egg get a little bit smaller only, though, as in many cases1 installing a custom recovery again requires a rooted device.

1: there are exceptions to that, but I can't give you a complete list. To my knowledge, e.g. Samsung kies seems to permit flashing alternative ROMs and recoveries. Plus some stock devices seem to accept update.zip files to flash from recovery even if those are not signed with the manufacturer's key.


text:
How to completely save large chat history of WhatsApp in Android phone
To save a large (group) chat history of WhatsApp on an Android phone, I have looked to the internet for help - but still cannot save/backup the entire conversation/chat from the beginning.
For information, my example is a group chat with history composed of maybe a few hundred text messages (starting in 2017), containing maybe thirty images, a few videos, and some short voice files. It definitely should not exceed the limits of the WhatsApp system. There is nothing rude in the chat but some strong feelings are expressed by some, in any case, should not fall foul with any censorship.
I can see the entire chat (from beginning to current) on my phone, but when I export the chat via email and Gmail it only shows approx. one month of chat.
I use the procedure advised by the internet including this forum that I am writing in. I use the selections: More, Export Chat, Include Media, Send chat via (and each time click Email or Gmail), type into the To field, then send. It sends but in checking the sent mail, can only see recent chats.
So why can I not backup the entire chat history? What is limiting and preventing seeing (exporting?) the entire chat history?

Does this answer your question? Whatsapp: Export chat with media does not work properly

There is a limit which is imposed because of the maximum sizes of emails.
See the WhatsApp FAQ section of their website

If you choose to attach media, the most recent media sent will be added as attachments. When sending with media, you can send up to 10,000 latest messages. Without media, you can send 40,000 messages. These constraints are due to maximum email sizes.

there is nothing specifically different in having to save chats in groups differently.
Suspect this would be worth raising a support ticket with WhatsApp

justamarkprime, thanks for quick reply. I knew WhatsApp had the limits (with / without media), however, our group chat history is only composed of maybe a few hundred text messages (quite short and starting in 2017), it also contains maybe thirty images, a few videos and some short voice files. That size of history should not exceed the WhatsApp limits mentioned. It would be very surprising if it did. If it did exceed limit, why when I export via Email/Gmail it can only backup about one month worth of chat which is about 30 messages???

Surely something else must be causing the limit/restriction? If these constraints are due to maximum email sizes, how do I backup the chats that are over a month ago all the way to 2017 when the group chat began?


text:
Blue pointer in Google Maps isn't moving, but stays still
I'm using Redmi Note 4 on Android 5.0 Lollipop. When I enter into the navigation mode of Google Maps, the pointer doesn't move at all. But when I exit the navigation mode, the pointer moves on the map.
The GPS is working finely, and the map is getting the info but doesn't work for the navigation mode only.
What is the reason, how to fix it?

Do you have any vpn service/ad blocker running? I had similar issue, it was solved after I deactivated th ad blocker.


text:
How do I record audio of an application when sharing the screen on Zoom Android?
I am using Android's Zoom application to screen share with other people. They all see my screens are fine, but the audio from the application is mute.
I can mute and unmute the hardware microphone (it picks up the ambient noises or my speech), but the sound from the Android application itself (e.g. video playing, system sounds, youtube video, etc) is non-existent.
In the desktop version of Zoom, when you screen share, there is a checkbox for sharing system sounds or the screen you are sharing, but I don't see such an option with the Android version.
How do I record audio of an application when sharing the screen on Zoom (Android)?
I'm using Samsung ActiveTab 2 (on Samsung's Android 9 I think).

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/103589/is-there-a-way-to-mirror-my-screen-to-a-pc-with-sound
this is not zoom but might be an option for you


text:
Downloading file using wget in Termux fails due to the character '&' in the URL
When I simply put this URL in my Android Chrome or any web browser:
https://api.worldtradingdata.com/api/v1/stock?symbol=AHT.L,AZN.L,AUTO.L,AVV.L,AV.L&api_token=39W3kqXKo1zm04k5De0yutk7iNtEKygnYPqDTowXy94EwgBUNAb3yY3XHHbN&output=csv

I get the file: worldtradingdata-realtimeprices.csv
But when I put this in Termux:
wget -O /storage/emulated/0/Download/worldtradingdata-realtimeprices.csv https://api.worldtradingdata.com/api/v1/stock?symbol=AHT.L,AZN.L,AUTO.L,AVV.L,AV.L&api_token=39W3kqXKo1zm04k5De0yutk7iNtEKygnYPqDTowXy94EwgBUNAb3yY3XHHbN&output=csv/worldtradingdata-realtimeprices.csv

I get this instead
Redirecting output to ‘wget-log.2’.

When I press enter, I get
[1]- Done wget -O /storage/emulated/0/Download/worldtradingdata-realtimeprices.csv https://api.worldtradingdata.com/api/v1/stock?symbol=AHT.L,AZN.L,AUTO.L,AVV.L,AV.L [2]+ Done api_token=39W3kqXKo1zm04k5De0yutk7iNtEKygnYPqDTowXy94EwgBUNAb3yY3XHHbN $

It breaks where "&" comes in my URL after AV.L and before api_token,
How to download a file having '&' in the URL with wget in Termux?

Put all the URL argument into a single quotes. You'll get something like this:
wget -O /storage/emulated/0/Download/worldtradingdata-realtimeprices.csv 'https://api.worldtradingdata.com/api/v1/stock?symbol=AHT.L,AZN.L,AUTO.L,AVV.L,AV.L&api_token=39W3kqXKo1zm04k5De0yutk7iNtEKygnYPqDTowXy94EwgBUNAb3yY3XHHbN&output=csv/worldtradingdata-realtimeprices.csv'

Single quotes will disable special meaning of meta-characters like &
In addition, I'd suggest you to regenerate the api token.


text:
Why are the app labels missing in "all apps" list?
My "all apps" list doesn't show the app names and I have no idea how I turned it off. Because I'm using a theme I have a really hard time figuring out what icons belong to which apps.

Screenshot (click to enlarge)
How do I turn the labels/names back on for the apps in the "all apps" list?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! It might help if you [edit] your question and include device name, Android version, and the launcher used – without that it's hard to tell for us as well.

@Ariella Which launcher and theme are you using?

1 - In your homescreen, press and hold on a free space to get to this menu

2 - Click on the up arrow to enter advanced settings and you'll be presented with a screen like this

3 - Scroll down till you get to Drawer Settings(Do not confuse it with Homescreen Settings).   In the Icon Labels options change it to Show

Thanks for the detailed answer (with pictures!) On how to solve my problem.

I'd wager that you're using Cyanogenmod or CyanogenOS with a custom theme. The fourth icon in first row belongs to AudioFX, quite common in Cyanogenmod.
If that's the case then go to home screen, press Menu button. You would see options such as Wallpapers, Widgets and more. Swipe up that dialog and change Icon labels under Drawer Settings from Hide to Show.
That should take care of the issue.

That was it. I'm still new to android so I wasn't even aware this was a launcher setting? I got this with my phone so I never installed it myself. I thought it was a phone setting, hence the lack of information with my post. Thanks a bunch!


text:
SMS not vibrating
I'm using a USA T-Mobile G2, stock Froyo OS. My phone used to vibrate when receiving SMS text messages, but now it doesn't; I can't figure out why.
As far as I know, there are two settings that are supposed to control this:

Messaging App: Settings -> Vibrate. Currently set to "Always."
Settings App: Sound -> Vibrate. Currently set to "Always."

So why isn't my phone vibrating when I receive text messages?!

As usual, the minute after I post a question, I figured it out. Timerrific had disabled vibration in some magical way.


text:
Suddenly can't find several apps in Market
So I've been using several apps for a while now, and all of the sudden, I can't seem to find them in the Market anymore. If I look on the "My downloads" page in the Market, it does show as installed, and I can even update them if I hit "Update all". However I can't seem to navigate to the apps's page, neither through the "My downloads" page nor through simply searching for it. It just says it can't find the item. Note that this doesn't occur with all apps, just specific ones.
As mentioned before, the apps were installed earlier and I didn't have this problem back then.
The apps I've run across that have this problem so far are the following

WhatsApp
eBuddy
PingChat!
ebuddy XMS

I've tried uninstalling them through app management, but this leaves me with an uninstalled app with no possibility of re-installing it through the Market. I'm using a UK Motorola Milestone running the official Froyo update. Any ideas anyone? :D

It seems like the content rating filter on my phone was the culprit! I recently updated my phone to Froyo and the Market's content rating filter was added after the update! Just set it to "All Applications" in the Market's settings screen.

Ah, I should have thought of that :P

@MatthewRead You did point me in the right direction I looked on market.google.com and found an article on it in the knowledge base! :D

I would assume that the app listings were changed so that they don't show up for users with certain phones, OS versions, or carriers.  The best way to tell for sure might be to try installing one of the apps from the Market website, like eBuddy, and seeing if it gives you an error (and what the error says).

Nope, it doesnt give me an error, it says it will be installed on my device shortly, but it never does.

That's quite bizarre.  Maybe you should try clearing the Market data (Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> All, find the Market, click it, click Clear Data).

Found out! Check my answer! Thanks for your help anyway! :D


text:
is Android DHCP server when tethering?
I am on cyanogenmod 7 and wonder when I do usb tethering if Android is DHCP server?

Yes. Specifically, CyanogenMod uses Dnsmasq for its DHCP services. You can see it being invoked on this line in the TetherController.cpp file of their source code.


text:
Is it possible to backup settings and apps for SGS with Samsung Kies?
I want to backup my phone (Samsung Galaxy S) before having the carrier upgrade the Android version.  I don't want to root it because then the carrier won't upgrade it for me.
Is it possible to backup all the settings, SMSes, phone contacts (i.e. not those on google contacts), apps etc using Kies?

Even if you phone is rooted, you can always switch back to an state/fw without root so that your provider won't see the rooted phone.

@Flow: where can I see how to do that?

Kies allows backups, but not the application settings, only limited content such as contacts, bookmarks, music, photo and videos. You can see the Kies tutorial on backup : Open Kies v2.0, "Help menu->Kies Tutorial->Backup & Restore mobile phone data" section for details and a movie. You can also try MyBackup free from market, which does not require root. Wish you luck!


text:
How can I install Skype on my NexusOne phone?
I search for Skype in Android Market application and cannot find it. I live in Vietnam.

See also this previous question on various International options for installing Skype: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9664/can-i-install-skype-on-my-xperia/9666#9666

Skype publish their app directly into specific country's Android Markets, they don't publish it to the "Rest of the world Market", Vietnam doesn't have its own Market, it uses the "Rest of The World Market".
Skype's FAQ says:

Why can’t I download Skype from the
  Android Market?
The Android Market only distributes
  applications in certain countries, so
  it’s possible that your location isn’t
  supported. To find a full list of
  supported locations, please visit
  Android Market Developer Help.
If you live in a country that's not
  listed,  then you can still download
  Skype for your Android phone from
  GetJar.com. Simply search for “Skype”
  and download it for free.

You can search for Skype on the Android Market or you can download the APK file directly from the Skype website, click here.

Please note that in my OP I said I can't find it on Android Market


text:
Send audio using bluetooth
I have an Acer Liquid Metal with Froyo and an Alpine Car Stereo (bti 114).
I can use the stereo as headset perfectly and I've noticed that I can also hear the phone notifications when using it.
Can I stream phone mp3s to my car audio?
Any detailed information is very welcome :)

The stereo supports bluetooth hands-free but not bluetooth audio, which is used to stream music, so no, this is not possible. For more information see Bluetooth profile on Wikipedia and compare Hands-free Profile (which the stereo supports) and A2DP (which it doesn't).
Theoretically, you could stream music through the HFP but the quality would be terrible, like listening to music in a phone call.

This is what I call pain


text:
HTC Desire - phone's dead
I was trying my application on HTC Desire when I realized there was a problem with the app so I force stop it. Next thing is the screen freezed - HTC white welcome screen. I tried rebooting several times, but it never got into the desktop. Sometimes it restarted itself. I tried removing the battery as well to no avail. Now my phone is completely dead. I cannot turn it on and when I charge it, the red/green light is not on. What should I do? I was thinking of resetting the phone via command line or something like that. Thanks for any suggestions!

I don't know what your app did, but I find it strange that it is no longer booting. I would suggest trying to get your device in to recovery mode. I have never done this on a non-rooted device so I am not 100% sure you can do a factory reset from the "stock recovery". But I know you can do it on a rooted device.
I found these steps, but again, I am not sure if this pertains to only rooted devices.

Turn your desire off, Now hold the volume down and power button in to boot into hboot.
Now use the volume button to navigate to boot recovery and select it by pressing the trackpad button.

No, it does not work. Is it possible that the phone is dead because of the device heat - due to computation? though I am not sure my positioning app will take a lot of resource.

doubtful, try bringing it back to the carrier, if you can, or even the manufacturer.


text:
Difference between formatting & wipe
Is there any difference in "wipe" (from the recovery mod) and factory reset from the android OS?
Does factory reset/wipe remove the custom ROM?
I need to know because after doing the "ALL wipe" from ultrajack recovery, I flashed a ROM. But the old boot animation, the system apps all remain!!
How can I fix this? or should I manually remove the system apps by mounting it as Rw. etc etc?

Do you mean pre-installed bloatware type apps (from a carrier, for example) when you say "system apps"?

Yes, like dataviz office suite etc.. but now I did WIPE /cust from ultrajack and they went

A factory reset won't remove a custom ROM unless the backup image in the custom ROM is for a ROM other than itself.  This would be pretty unlikely.
I think we'd need to know your phone model and the ROM you used to help you figure out why it didn't write over the system apps.  That's definitely not normal.  Normally virtually no trace of the old ROM should be left.

Im using Huawei IDEOS u8150 and have ultrajack v6.2.2. I did the first option of "Wipe ALL data.." option in ultrajack and it said successful. Then I flashed rom from ZIP from sd card. The old boot animation and system apps remained. However when I re entered ultrajack and went to another option called "Wipe /cust" , the bloatware, boot animation etc went off; So My problem is solved anyway. Thanks for letting me know the difference!


text:
How to send BTC from my Coinbase account using shell script in Android only
I am thinking of automating sending BTC from my Coinbase account to another Coinbase user via email. I read Coinbase API documentation and the only thing that is close to what I need is the script below:
#!/system/bin/sh
curl https://api.coinbase.com/v2/accounts/2ccf394c-193b-5b2a-9155-3b4732659yam/transactions/
  -X POST \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer abd90df5f27a7b170cd775abf89d632b350b7c1c9d53e08b340cd9832ce52c2c' \
  -d '{
    "type": "send",
    "to": "EMAIL_ADDRESS",
    "amount": "ALL_SATOSHI",
    "currency": "BTC",
    "idem": "9316dd16-0c05"
  }'

but it is not working at all. When I wrote it in a script named send.sh, it says -X not found, and some other stuff. There is no API key and API secret specified in the script, I don't know if that is the problem.
How can I get this working only in Android? All I need is a script that once I execute, it will get the specified Satoshi amount in the Coinbase account that has the associated email address specified as the receiver.

Well, if you're determined to play with Bitcoin... You seem to be missing a backslash at the end of your second line.
#!/system/bin/sh
curl https://api.coinbase.com/v2/accounts/2ccf394c-193b-5b2a-9155-3b4732659yam/transactions/ \
  -X POST \
...


text:
Switch between search engines on Brave Browser
I am using the Brave browser on Android and would like to know if there is a way to switch easily between search engines.
This feature exists for Firefox and Opera who provide small icons of different engines when typing in the search bar and you just have to click on the one you want to use. Here is an example with Firefox

For example, I am mostly using duckduckgo.com but sometimes would like to use Google. I already know I can add "!g" in DuckDuckGo, but I'm looking for something more straightforward.
Given Brave is based on Google Chrome, I guess that it explains why it is not implemented natively, but maybe an alternative exists in Chrome that would do the job on the Brave browser?

@Didier Yes but I already know that. as I said I already switched to duck. what I need is a straightforward and simple way to switch easily like for Firefox

You can do it by using keywords.
Go to Settings -> Search Engines -> Manage Search Engines -> Default Search Engines. There, you will see the keywords for different search engines listed, which you edit to your liking. For example, for Google, the default keyword is :g. So if you prefix your search with :g, it will search on Google, no matter what your default search engine is.
I have modified the keywords as per DDG bangs. For instance, I use !g instead of :g for Google.


text:
No pattern and password lock screen in AOSP ROM for HiKey 960
In AOSP ROM for HiKey 960, I can only choose swipe or none as lock screen.
How do I get the option to choose pattern or password?

Feel very welcome in this forum, thanks for closing the question after 11 views, so no one else could see it and be angry about it. Turns out the question was not about   writing and publishing Android apps, writing custom ROMs, and other topics that are primarily of concern to developers after all; but nobody knew that until it was answered.

Apologize for a late welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange, a Q&A site focusing on Android end-users solving their issues. We tend to be wary about questions related to building/customizing ROM since usually end-users can't really help. However, if the question can be reworded to be asked from end-user POV instead (like, mentioning an already baked custom ROM that has the same issue), then it might have a chance to be reopened.

it there a way we could make this a good question for this forum by asking for system-lockscreens which could be installed on a random rooted device or aosp device in /priv-app/ - do you see such a possibility for this crowd?

After some consideration, I took a chance to make the question at least end-user-y (While Android.SE doesn't really accept building ROM, it allows questions on flashing available ROM, including AOSP ROM). At the very least, consider reposting the answer with sources/references.