text:
One-tap audio note file that sends to email
It often happens that I want to take a quick note to self when I have my phone, so I won't forget something, but I want to do it as quickly as possible because I'm in the middle of something else. Later, when I'm doing tasks, I'll have time to dedicate to do it, or make a proper task for it in my task management software.
The shitty way
What I currently do is open up Gmail and write an email to myself. That's takes about 3 times longer than necessary, because I need to:

Unlock the phone
Open the GMail app
Wait for it to load
Press compose
Tap the first two letters of my email address
Wait for the autocomplete box to appear, which can take a long time if there's internet connectivity problems
Click my email address
Tap in the Subject field
Type the memo (in very concise words of course)
Sometimes the typing goes wrong (I swipe) and I have to correct it
Close the GMail app and lock the phone

There are 11 items in this list. I'm looking for something much shorter. Here's how I'm imagining it:
The good way

Unlock the phone
Tap the record button that's on a widget on my desktop
Say the message
Let go of the button
Lock the phone

The crucial part is that the message will be sent as an audio file to my email, so I'll notice it. (I don't want to have to check the app for it, I want it in my email.)
Is there an app that does that?

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

Try Blitz Note. I have developed it exactly for such cases.
It allows you to sketch an idea and instantly send it to your email.
If you cannot find it on Google Play, here is the shortcut: http://volidar.com/blitznote

Sorry, drawing is too slow.


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Possible to disable LG Cliptray?
My LG G2 (and I assume other LG phones) have a "Cliptray" which replaces the clipboard with one where you can access the history. I'd like to remove this function as 1Password cannot remove copied passwords after a set time.
Phone is rooted, if that helps.

I can't find an answer anywhere. The only suggestions I can give are to either call LG themselves and ask (it is a horrible security hole in their system IMHO) or go into your system apps and see if there is something with a name like Clip Tray or such. Be wary of deleting it rather than freezing it, and of course disabling this could have unforseen consequences. Alternatively a custom ROM could be used without this feature in the first place.

The LG G3 also has this. Before I flashed CM12, I looked to see how to disable this. I could not find any settings to turn it off, and the "app" itself could not be found either. It seems that LG put this in as part of their Core OS, so there isn't a specific app to disable. It is part of the Core OS because it shows up everywhere, and in conjunction with the "copy/paste" system menus.

Since the device is rooted, here's a way of disabling Clip Tray:

Go into Clip Tray and delete all entries.
In the file /system/etc/permissions/com.lge.software.cliptray.xml, change this line
<feature name="com.lge.software.cliptray"/>

to
<!-- <feature name="com.lge.software.cliptray"/> -->

This will put the feature in comment, and will not grant permission for this feature.
Reboot the device.

Note: You might still see the option Paste, Cliptray in your stock LG keyboard, which will not work after this modification but cannot be hidden or removed. A way to work around that is to use an alternate keyboard, like Google Keyboard.

Please update to the latest version of the o/s now they have added this functionality...
To enable automatic clipboard clearing, go to Settings > Security > Automatically clear clipboard and tap on the the time interval that you would like. Like for example 30 sec and after 30 sec your clipboard will be emptied.
I hope that this helps!

It doesn't remove the entries stored in the Clip Tray history, only what's in the clipboard at this moment.

With that permission edit, it affects how the screenshots are saved.
You get a warning toast about the file not saving, and then the "saving screenshot" notification, never goes away, until you reset your phone.
The screenshot does actually save though.
Edit:
You can avoid this side effect by instead running this command (source):
rm /data/data/com.lge.systemservice/databases/clipdata.db && ln -s /dev/null /data/data/com.lge.systemservice/databases/clipdata.db

Or
Select option B from this app, which enters the command for you: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jfsoftware.disablecliptray

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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I want to move sd card
I want to move a micro SD card from an HTC Aquire into my Galaxy s2 so that I can access the pictures and the music , how do I do that ?

GSMArena's never heard of a phone called HTC Aquire, nor even Acquire. Could you give some more details about this phone?

Well you should not use that site to check for phones then! Google confirms it exists! http://pcdphones.com/our-devices/products/172-adr6285om

I'm not sure what is so complicated about removing a micro SD from one phone and putting it into a another. What is your problem exactly? Can you not find the micro SD card? Can you not get the back off the Acquire?
Seem like a very simple thing to do - something that doesn't usually require the assistance of the internet!

Open the back of the Acquire, gently remove the micro SD card. Open the back of the S2 and gently insert the micro SD card... Result!

It looks like it could be a variant of the HTC Evo 4G based on the specs. Or at least it appers to be very similar to it. http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_evo_design_4g-4202.php

If you go into storage options on your phone under external SD card there should be an option to unmount SD card for safe removal. Select this option and once it is unmounted open the back of the phone eject the SD card, open the back of the Galaxy S2, insert the SD card and you've successfully moved your SD card!

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


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Can't open menu in apps without a menu button or physical key
My device doesn't have a physical menu button, and the app that I'm using doesn't have one of the menu buttons that users can click (the three dots).  How can I open the app's menu without a menu button or key?

On most devices with softkeys for home/back/task-switcher, long-pressing the task switch button (right-most button, see below) will simulate pressing the menu button.

On Samsung Galaxy S7 that works as activating "split screen" for the current opened app. Any idea how to make that button act as menu button by long-pressing it?


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How can I fix a bootloop on my Nexus 5 running Cyanogenmod 11?
I've been running the Cyanogenmod nightlies on my device. If I remember correctly, I was running the nightly from 2014-09-07 (7th of September).
Yesterday I flashed the M10 release without totally understanding what it was all about. I thought it was newer than the nightly but apparently not.
My phone is now stuck in a bootloop. It boots all the way to the home-screen for split second and the whole process repeats all over again.
I've messed this up real bad and don't want to lose all my data. Is there a way I can fix this? Can i just side-load the latest nightly and flash it onto the device or do I flash the same nightly that I was running?
This sort of question has been asked so many times before but I couldn't find one that explains how to resolve this. Thank you.

As you've used the boot-loop tag: Have you checked with its tag-wiki? Do the pointers help you with your case? If that didn't solve the issue: What have you tried, and where are you stuck? If you've solved the issue: Be welcome to answer your own question to share your solution and experience. Thanks!

Yes I've checked the tag-wiki. I even cleared my cache and my davik-cache from the recovery but the bootloop continues. I know it's not an app-related issue; it was the ROM I flashed. Now all I need to figure out is whether to reflash a newer one or the same one to resolve this? Thx.

It could also be the data of some app which is in the way, if it's a "core app" needed to run the system, so a factory-reset might be required. Of course, you could also boot into recovery and try deleting the app directories below /data/data one by one (i.e. delete one, reboot to see if the problem is gone, if not repeat with the next) to avoid a complete reset – which can be compared to the "delete data" button in "manage applications". The corresponding apps would re-create their directories then.


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No way to acess menu buttons on recovery mode - SM-T530NU
my SM-T530NU running on Android™ KitKat 4.4 has a "Device memory damaged" problem. I tried to factory reset via recovery mode but when I enter the recovery mode (by pressing power, volume up and home buttons) I only see the Android guy laying down with the exclamation point but without the menu options.
How do I get the menu buttons?! That way I could reset to factory mode and it would be okay again!
Thanks

It sounds like it's failing to boot into recovery, which means the problem is too big to fix with a factory reset. You might need to re-flash the stock ROM.

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the network 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.

Try holding the Volume Down button. Keep holding the button, and then also press the power key for 3-4 seconds. Release both buttons.

so hold menu button and volume up and power on once you see the sasmung logo release the power button and hold the home key and volume up button unless you see the rest option worked for me on the SM T530NU

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


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Is the analog clock widget somehow tied into the unlock screen?
I've encountered something bizarre on my phone which I think is just an innocent side effect, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn't indicative of something malicious.
From time to time, right after I unlock the phone, the LastPass prompt pops up and asks me if I want to input my master password in order for it to autofill the password for "Clock Widget."  I don't use the clock widget on the lock screen, though.
I don't ever provide it the password, but initially I was concerned that there might be a program masking itself as the clock widget.  Since the prompt is so closely correlated with the unlocking, I have to believe, though, that LastPass is offering to fill in my unlock code, even though it can't.
Is the clock widget somehow associated with the part of the OS that controls the unlocking of the device?  Is there any legitimate reason why it would ask for a password?
I have an LG G2 running 4.4.2 and I have scanned the device with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware as well as Kaspersky and I haven't found anything at all with either.
I wasn't able to grab a screenshot before the LastPass prompt disappeared, unfortunately.

What's this LastPass you're talking about?

@MANI See https://lastpass.com/  It's a well-known app and browser add-in

Looks like pretty famous and secure too. Then why bother about giving password when prompted. If still unsure try to grab a screenshot when it happens again.

@MANI I trust LastPass, I'm just curious about why the clock widget would prompt for a password.


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Start/join Google Hangout without Google+ account
Is it possible to start and/or join a Google Hangout on Android without also having a Google+ account?

From the support page

Do users need a Google plus account to use Hangouts?
No, but some features—using apps in video calls, sharing photos, and using circles to control who can reach you and how—require a Google+ profile. See the following for more information: Hangout video call features available with or without a Google+ profile and   Hangouts Chat vs. Google Talk

For Google app users the additional information states:

Although Google+ provides a superior experience, it is not required for Hangouts for Google Apps to work.

In the Android gapps package it appears to require a Google account, but only Google plus to send pictures.

I am specifically asking about Hangouts on Android, not the Web interface.

Sorry, added now, had to run at the time, slipped my mind @ale.


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Problem rooting Xperia E Dual
I am following the below post to root my Xperia E Dual.

How To Root Xperia E! Latest Update! (Locked Bootloader)*LINKS
  UPDATED* NOOB
  GUIDE!

In step 4 to install Framaroot APK we need to Check the option "Unknown sources" and "Usb dubugging" (in Developer options)
But when I am turning on the Developer option Flashtool is showing an message like below:
08/048/2014 01:48:38 - INFO  - Device connected with USB debugging off
08/048/2014 01:48:38 - INFO  - For 2011 devices line, be sure you are not in MTP mode

I have tried changing the Usb connection mode but problem is not resolved. Could you please help?
Some info:
Operating System Used to flash: Windows 8.1

Are platform tools updated to 33.x (34.x has some problems reportedly//did you change port and cable?

Have a look for towelroot tr. It might work on your device. It is just an apk you can install and start. It uses a kernel vulnerability. Chances that it works are high if your firmware is older than june.
To your issue: did you enable (usb-)debugging mode? Its in developper options. If you do not see them in your settings, go to AboutDevice and hit build number 5 times quickly. It enables a (secret) menu in your settings where you can enable adb.
On some samsung devices you can change usb mode by typing *#0808# into your phone apk. Without hitting the call button, a service menu opens up immediately. Perhaps this works for your device too. Did you try to do adb shell or adb devices from your commandline?
New devices now usually ask for an ok on the device screen  before you can connect. Disconnect and connect again, watch out for this popup. Did you check the developper menu in settings? There you can also flush the known pc's and their settings. Allowing the popup to sow up again after connecting.

Towelroot is not working for my device. 2. My problem is USB debugging mode is detected wrongly by the Flashtool software. When I am turning the USB debugging on then the Flashtool is detecting it as turned off.


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Why are there different versions of each firmware for different country?
For example why is there different version of the same fimware but for different countries? e.g. version 2.1 for Canada, version 2.1 for US, version 2.1 for international/generic. What does international/generic firmware mean?

There can be several differences, or reasons for having two firmware versions.
Sometimes there are two completely different hardware variants, sold in different regions. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a variant based on a Snapdragon MSM8960 system-on-chip (SoC), and another based on an Exynos 4. Because the hardware is different, the variants need different ROMs.
Even when there's no hardware difference, there can be other differences. Every language in the ROM increases its size, so usually phones come with a few languages that are common in the region they're sold. For example, a phone sold in the UK might have a "Western Europe" ROM with English, French, Spanish, and German languages. It would also contain APN settings for carriers in Europe so you don't need to input APN settings when you insert a SIM card.
Finally, if a ROM includes bloatware by third-parties, this will usually be specific to the country it's sold in. Our example UK phone might have an app for a British online music service, as a kind of advert, whereas the US ROM would instead have apps for some US online services.

And there might be considerations towards cellular "bands" (frequencies) and other technology used. Devices for Europe e.g. generally use SIMs, while carriers in the US often do not use them. Some areas use specific frequency bands which are not used at all in other areas, or even completely different technologies, similarly for WiFi vs. WiMAX etc., see e.g. List of mobile phone standards and the table in 3G breakdown (right-most column).


text:
How can I save / get to Walmart's e-receipts from their Walmart app? Where are the files stored?
The Walmart app has a section called Savings Catcher, which allows one to scan a barcode from their receipt or to submit some numbers from it, and for the app to find lower prices. Anyhow, an exact digital duplicate of one's receipt is then shown. This receipt can be accessed at anytime (as far as I can tell). One can also zoom in on the receipt to view it at what looks to be 100% zoom.
I really would like to be able to save these receipts in jpeg format. When one is looking at the receipt, there is no option for saving or sharing the receipt.
Now, I am hoping that maybe the receipt gets saved somewhere on the phone or sd card, and am assuming that if it is, it might have an odd file extension (based on previous experience with another picture app. The file would open in photo programs and also if one would change the extension to .jpg.)
I have used ES File Explorer to search for anything named Walmart, but nothing shows up. I have no idea where the files are saved?
Does anyone have any idea as to where the Walmart app's files are saved?
My Android version is 4.0.4

Not sure which version this is supported on, but on mine, there is a share button at the top of the receipt, so you can share with email and the jpeg will be attached. Note, this is on the itemized view, not the receipt image view.

Currently the share function sends a png image.  I'm not sure why they aren't using pdf format since its mostly text.

You'll need to be rooted to access it, but anything owned by an app will be in /data/data/[app package name] where [app package name] is the full package name for the app. Usually it will be something like com.walmart.mobile or similar.

The entire /data folder is empty. I am not sure if I connect it via USB to the computer if I will see things in it.

It's empty because your file manager isn't running as root


text:
How to make Hangouts automatically fallback to sms when no data connection?
I use the latest Hangouts version (the one rolled out a few days ago, which now supports voice calls) on a Nexus 5. I have set Hangouts as my default messaging app. In the past the following behavior was possible: when I was sending a message to a contact on Hangouts, if either I or they didn't have an internet connection, Hangouts would automatically send it as sms. Now it doesn't behave like this.
Currently, if the sender has no internet it would show status sending under the text of the message forever. But if the receiver has no internet, it would show the message as sent on the device of the sender, giving you no clue, that the other party hasn't actually received the message. Is there a way to revert to the old behavior (similar to iMessage on iPhone) - if any of the two doesn't have an internet connection - use sms?

I suspect this might be the cause of the problem, but hope there is still a workaround.


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Can I pull data off of a Moto 360 (smart watch) using ADB?
I am a complete beginner to the world of Android, but I am also an intrepid forensics examiner. I have been given the opportunity to conduct research into pulling data from certain wearables, namely Android watches. A colleague of mine suggested I examine the Moto 360 smart watch, but my initial research into the methods of conducting that examination has fallen flat.
I come to you enthusiasts with some very basic questions.

Can ADB (or another tool) extract valuable data from this specific smart watch? If so,       how?
If there are no available data extraction techniques at this time, should I shift my focus to another wearable?

Thank you very much in advance!

Have you tried this: http://blog.timmattison.com/archives/2014/07/16/common-android-wear-tasks-for-developers/


text:
MTP not working but ADB works fine
I use Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Android Phone, its MTP mode is not working just after I plugged it in to another PC some time for just USB charging.
I re-installed the driver on my PC and removed the device, re-installed the driver again, and tried some methods like these.
But it was not working with my PC, however, I can view the files on the smart phone with the ADB command on the command prompt.
I am not sure what the situation is.
I cannot connect it via MTP, and its driver failed to install, showing exclamation mark on the Windows Device Manager.
However, I can view the files with ADB command, but not convenient as MTP connnection.
Can I recover this device to be shown without exclamation mark? Everytime when I connect the phone, My Windows 7 tries to install the driver but failed, but ADB works.
I searched many internet sites for the solution, but I tried regedit to remove "UpperFilters", deleted and re-installed driver, tried PTP mode (even it seems not working), and etc.
I am also thinking there might be a problem on the phone itself. (Because I have rooted it once)
Can I get some help from any expert? Thanks very much in advance.

Are you using windows 7 or windows 7 sp1 ?

I am using Windows 7 SP1. It was working, now it isn't.

I assume you tried connecting in different usb port, rebooting PC, installing samsung driver etc.Try updating windows media player to 11

I checked the version of Windows Media Player, it was 12.0.7601. For Windows XP users, Windows Media Player Version may be a reason, but I am using Windows 7. Can 12.0 be a problem? I re-installed Samsung driver twice. I am going to re-try with a different USB port, I am not sure the port might be a problem because I tried on a different PC already.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867518 you can even try this

Related: Android 5.0 Lollipop device not detected via USB

do you have samsung kies installed? For me the kies driver worked when a manual install didn't.

I had tried tons of proposed solution and it seem doesn't work for my Samsung Note 3. However i finally solve without installing/uninstalling anything.
Problem Solved as following;
1) Reboot phone to Recovery Mode.
2) Wipe Cache Partition.
3) Restart phone and connect to PC.
Bum!!! Window successfully installed your MTP driver.

From this xda post

Plug in device
Open device manager
Right click the ADB device and select update
Choose the manual option
Select the option to choose from list of drivers
Select MTP, go and it'll work!


text:
How can I search my Favourites in Chrome and stock on my S3?
I have thousands of favourites in  my stock browser and chrome and every time I'm looking for a specific link I have to scroll through a lot. If I start typing in a word in the URL box in either browser that I'm sure is in the title of the link it never finds it!!  Any tools  out there to help? I tried several bookmark managers from Google Play it always crashes or the app is never able to load my thousands.  Or the app will duplicate links a lot and I
ended up with 11,000 faves once.  I'd like to be able to search all the favourites of every browser at one time.  Any help?
OS: 4.1
S3

I am using chrome beta and it succesfully finds my favourites when I start typing in the top bar (or even the bar on the home screen) could you try installing chrome beta and seeing if it works?

@ollie: but I need to search all the favourites at one time or then I have to open each browser separately searching for stuff.

So you want a method of merging favourites from different browsers, I would recommend you give up in the stock browser, and move your favourites to chrome


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Game won't update: difference between Play Store and manual Install ? (Plants vs Zombies 2)
my "Plants vs Zombies 2" won't update (it never did).
I wonder if the reason is that, for the rush to have the game, I probably installed it manually downloading it from the internet.
BUT, Play Store says the game is already installed, and won't update it.
Do I have to manually remove it and then install it ?
How do I have to backup my savegame ?

How do you know there's an update?  I accidentally bought Angry Birds on both the Play Store and the Amazon App Store, and the former will happily overwrite the version from the latter when there is an update.

My guess is that you have to remove it, then reinstall it from the Playstore. It will probably see the installed file on the phone, but your Playstore account doesn't know about this, and won't activate the update.
You can use Titanium Backup to backup the game, if your phone is rooted. Titanium Backup can backup apps and their data, and restore either of them separately. If the phone is not rooted, I don't know how to do this if the app doesn't have an export function.
But... probably it won't overwrite your personal data. I can't give you any guarantees, but you probably won't lose your personal settings.

Titanium Backup also has a feature to attach or detach apps from the Play Store.

@MatthewRead that doesn't work anymore. Play now always scans all installed packages and re-links them – even if installed from "other sources". I didn't check however what happens on a signature mismatch (e.g. packages from F-Droid use their own signatures), maybe those are left alone – which might explain the case, and approve the path recommended by this answer.

thank you very much. Sadly I'm not rooted, do you have any suggestions to backup my PvsZ2 savegames before I go on with the suggestion to remove - reinstall the game ?

No suggestions. It's a gamble. Your settings probably won't be overwritten.

If your device isn't rooted, but runs Android 4.0 or higher, there's also Helium Backup you could use to backup (and later restore) the app and its data. By default, Helium only backs up data – so if you do that, then uninstall the app, re-install it from Play, in a final step you might be able to simply restore the data and be done.

@Izzy Play doesn't re-link apps that have different signatures. Apps installed from Amazon or F-Droid contain different signatures, and if the OP downloaded a non-official version, it definitely wouldn't have the correct signature either.

If you uninstall the app, you will lose all your game data (unless you can back it up with some utility). And you can't update/install from the Play Store because Android doesn't allow updates when the signatures don't match. The only option is to uninstall the original and install directly from the Play Store.

@StephenSchrauger Apps on Aptoide often have the same signature as those on Play. Same applies to .apk files a dev might send you by mail (I know that, got some that way for testing quite often in the past). So since they've got the same signature, you're premise no longer holds – thus they get "linked" again.


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Embedded Youtube videos don't play in browser
I have a Samsung S4 running Android Kitkat 4.4.2 (latest version on Verizon).
Both in the Android default browser and chrome browser, when I'm on a page with an embedded Youtube video (all pages with embedded youtube videos), the video doesn't play inside the page. It launches the Youtube APP instead. With my Firefox mobile browser, I don't see a still of the video, instead I get the error that a plug in is required to display content.
All of this just recently happened, so I probably messed up a setting or something related to the Youtube APP itself. Unfortunately since the Youtube app is native to my phone, I can't try uninstalling and reinstalling.
Looking for some advice on how to fix this issue.
Thanks

Can you go to Settings>More>Application manager>Youtube and try clicking on Clear Defaults, failing that try the same in Google Chrome and / or Google Search. Each has their own record of the default application.

possible duplicate of Youtube videos open in browser by default


text:
Mounting a remote folder as local folder
I have spent hours researching this and unable to come up with a solution, if anyone knows of one please let me know. I am looking for a way to mount a remote folder on a server (using either WebDAV, FTP, etc) on my Android device as a local folder so that all apps can have access to it and save and read from it as if it were just any other folder on the phone or SD card. Note that I am not looking for a way to "sync" a folder on my phone with a folder on my server, everything in this folder should be stored on the server only and read as if it were local.

On a rooted phone you have several options -- via 3rd party app, directly through a unix mount command, see How to mount SMB/CIFS Network Shares on android device?
If your phone is not rooted, I do not know how to do that, maybe there can be some app on a play store that is able to mount a network share (NFS, SMB, FTP, ...) via normal privileges (it is definetly possible under unix).
If you want to share just music and/or video you can use DLNA (your phone does not have to be rooted for this to work) -- install a DLNA server on your PC/router and than something like XBMC for Android or BubbleUPnp on your android device.

I highly Do Not recommend doing this. It might cause the data on the remote server to be corrupted unless it is mounted as read-only. Android recognizing it as a remote file is much safer as it knows how to treat the file the right way when it is unexpectedly disconnected.

I was looking for the same today.So maybe it is because some time has passed but Googling on "how to mount a webdav drive on Android" has a couple of pages with apps who do exactly that.
For example:

DAVx⁵ or
FolderSyncPro

I bought a license on FolderSyncPro and configured it to sync my data from my webdav drive to my Android folder. It works great. One thing to note here is that when you have a token for your webdav drive instead of a username or password then just ignore the username and fill in the token instead of the password.
You can also schedule it to sync on a schedule. Each sync will then show you either in green ok or in red when it encountered something and will then explain in the logs where the problem is.
It also allows for one-way only syncing so that you have your webdav as master and your android only as a read only instance for e.g. some data you only edit on laptops.
FYI the FAQ for FoldersyncPro: https://foldersync.io/docs/faq/webdav/
While investigating I also found https://www.resilio.com/individuals/, which takes a different direction and syncs directly from your system to your mobile devices. This may be an alternative route.

Try SSHFSAndroid. Seems to work fine.


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How to restore a Helium backup?
I am transfering to a new phone, and I backed up my stuff using helium to Dropbox. Later I copied that folder to carbon folder on my sdcard, but helium doesnt seem to detect it. Any idea how I can restore that? It looks like the format is different.. Regular backup seems to be carbon/com.appname/files but in my dropbox backup, its only files, no folders at all.

There are multiple ways you can achieve this:
On the device

Start Helium
pick any "dummy app" to create a backup from
Exit Helium
Check where it placed the backup files, and which files those are (a backup consists of multiple files)
Copy your backup files to that location
Check if for each app there are all the files you've checked above1
Start Helium again, it now should find the backups
Restore whatever you wanted to restore

If the "old phone" is still up and running
The app is called "Helium App Sync and Backup". So when you go to its Restore and Sync tab, you should be able to transfer and restore the backups across the devices. I've never tried that, so I cannot give any details on it.
Using your computer
Helium Backup uses the same file format as ADB (in fact, it uses ADB locally to create and restore backups). So with the backup files on your computer, and the device connected via USB with usb-debugging enabled, you could simply restore the backups from the command line. Just pick the .ab files for that, and run
adb restore com.foobar.ab

(of course, you've got to replace com.foobar.ab by the real file names). See Is there a minimal installation of ADB? if you didn't set up your computer for use with ADB yet. The downloads mentioned there can also be found here.

1: I rawly remember from a while ago that Helium might "ignore" a backup when one of those files were missing

Hey, Sry was about to delete this q actually. I ended up backing up again to sd card. Was a lot smaller this time.. and I was able to use bt sync to transfer it to my new phone, and it is restoring right now. My dropbox backup was not detected by ur first method, hence the q. 2nd I believe requires premium

I followed this idea to backup a dummy app first and confirmed it was copied to the Carbon folder. I copied two of the backup folders to the carbon folder on my new phone using Astro file manager. I can see the backup folders I copied in the folder. In helium Restore and Sync on my new phone I see the dummy app for restoration (even after a force restart) and one of the backed up apps but not the app I really want to restore data for. Also,  I restored the 2nd app, Yr.No weather app, and none of my previous locations are showing :-(Any advice appreciated.

@boardtc Apps can opt-out of backups (i.e. the dev can define that they shall be ignored). So please check whether the files for those apps exist in the folder, and the .ab file has not 0 or 41 bytes (0 standing for failed and 41 for opted-out). If those files are correct, I can only refer to the last part of my answer: "using your computer" to restore.

@izzy amazing!!!! "adb restore com.mobeam.beepngo.ab"  and lo and behold it's there!! Thank you :-)

@boardtc as outlined by the answer :) Glad this solved it for you, too!

my OP6 phone generates a *.json file as well. and my old xiaomi note 3 pro doesn't. That's why I couldn't backup my files. after coping the new backup (json) files to old backup worked like a charm. <3

Dropbox backup lacked the folders for each app somehow, and thus was not recognized when I tried to copy it to the new phone. I instead made a backup to SD card and transferred it to the new phone to restore. Seems to be working thus far.

Corresponds to my first suggestion (I had the SDCard in mind there, though not explicitely mentioned). Glad you've solved it – and thanks for sharing your solution (+1 to that)!

Yeah @Izzy my problem was that copying the original backup as per your instructions, it didnt work. My guess, is a backup to dropbox is a different format from a backup to SDcard

If the files were .zip files as made by Helium V1.1.4.6 you can:

Unzip them until you have a folder example app backup folder with a example app backup file.ab file in it.
Then you can put that folder on your phone in the folder \carbon.
Then Helium detects it, since it also stores its own backups in that location.
Restore the app backups from your dropbox.

The difference is that when you export backups it creates zipfiles, otherwise it creates a folder with .ab files in it, as Izzy's answer mentions.
This way you can:

Restore all the files at once
Without requiring to set up a connection with the pc.

Tested on Android 6.0.1


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How to uninstall android lost app
I have installed android lost app from www.androidlost.com in my Samsung Tab 2 GT-P3100. How can I uninstall it?The app is not visible in the list of apps.

From the apps playstore page: If you have trouble uninstalling, please read the FAQ - there are several one-click solutions! Have you checked that?

To control the breadth of activities this app declares for itself, it probably has set itself up as a Device Administrator, to control the ability to run many aspects of your device automatically. It probably hides itself from uninstall while Device Administrator rights are active. I would start by searching Settings>Security>Device Administrators, and deselect the Android Lost App. Once deselected here, check the Task List to see if it has stopped running. Force Close if necessary. It may then appear on the Settings>Application manager list to allow for uninstall. If not, attempt a reboot, and check the Task List again. If necessary, Force Close the app again and attempt an uninstall. Understanding of these types of apps and their unmittigated control is why downloading from Unknown Sources is intentionally complicated.

I had to go to their web site, choose "push from google play" and then when I used the menu button on my Samsung I could access a menu that allowed me to revoke administrative privileges and then remove the program.

Go to 3 stripes appearing on the left corner of the screen. Click it. You will get next screen with few option in which 'Remove Administrative Rights'. Click it once to disable to the administrative rights. Now, you can delete the app like deleting any other app. Cheers!

OP said the app wasn't visible in the apps list! Should disabling the administrative rights make it visible?


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How to export email settings from an android device to another one?
I have configured the stock-email application of my phone to use my four imap accounts. This is quite long and I would rather avoid repeating this for my tablet. How can I export my email settings smoothly ?
I want to point out that I don't use gmail, nor K9 mail.
Thanks!


text:
Google Keep quick add item to list?
Is there any "quick add entry to list" shortcut in Google Keep?
Previously I used a todo app on Android that let me have an icon on my homescreen for adding items to my list. One click and your're in the add entry input form.
Is there any similar widget/shortcut in Google Keep? I would like the least amount of clicks to add an item.

Yes, the Keep 4x1 and 4x4 widget has a button to add a quick note.

I don't really want to add a new note, I would like to add an entry to an existing list.

Lists? Keep just adds notes... It would be quicker to download it or use the http://keep.google.com to have a look how it works than for me to explain it tbh. You could just click on the note and add to it... if that works. I don't know what you want from it.

No, Google Keep can keep lists of items too :)
I've got an unsorted todo list and when I'm on the go I want to add entries to this list from my Android device with the least amount of clicks. Then when I'm back on my computer I sort this list.

Yep my bad. Am blind, it's buried in the UI a little. So there is only the option in the Widget to "Add a quick list" IF your list is on the widget you can click it and edit / add to it. But the Widget only displays about 3 or so objects in it (list or note) so unless it's up the top regularly that won't work out.

After a week of use I can say that my question really is a non issue. Keep launches very fast and remembers the list you left the app in last. All I have to do is to launch Keep and start typing, no extra clicks required and I'm happy :)

Cool, well that's handy! I've only really started using it myself to be honest so I'm not too familiar with it. Usually use calendar for personal stuff and Evernote for work stuff.


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Is it possible to clear-default of an app using an ADB command?
Not sure if that's the place to ask this (maybe stackOverflow is better), but here we go:
Background
There are plenty of possible commands that you can perform by using ADB.
I use many of them on my tiny app-manager alternative app.
The problem
I can't find a way to clears the default of a specified app.
I mean the clearing of the app as the default one to handle some actions, as being shown on the "app-info" (AKA "manage-app") screen.
What I've tried
In the past, it seems that it was possible by having a certain permission and some API commands, but it's no longer possible.
A possible workaround would be to disable&enable the app, but that causes weird things to happen on some other apps, for example launchers will remove the app's icon when it becomes disabled.
I've also noticed a file on :
/data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml

that has some xml tags that include apps, and when I clear-default of an app, it is gone from this file. I don't think that playing with this file would be a good workaround, as things can change over time, and I don't even know if changing it will do anything, especially not in the current session.
The question
If there is no such a command?
Is there any way to do it using root?

Since you're a developer, and happy to investigate the internals, why not take a look at the source of the Settings app, and see what the real "Clear defaults" button does?

@DanHulme I tried, and for some reason I only found the interface of the functions (meaning just signature and name) and not what they really do. Also, even if I do succeed, I'm not sure I will be able to find a way that will work well on all Android devices, and if someone else has a better way to handle it, I want to know about it. I will try to look further.

I believe the code you found was similar like this, and I can confirm that there is no implementation code of those, only the interface, which I'm afraid that the answer is: no, it's impossible to do that using ADB.

@AndrewT. That's too bad. even with root, I can't find how to do it.


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How do I remove Selfmite worm?
In June this year I experienced what I've found to be called the "Selfmite" worm on my Nexus 5 smartphone.
On 24.06 and 29.06 it sent the message "Dear [contact name], Look The Self-time, http://goo.gl/[...]" to 13 of my contacts, chosen in what seems to be a random order.
Once I realised this had happened, I looked the issue up on Google through the phrase used in the message and found that this worm should actually install itself as an app called "The self-timer" that you should be able to uninstall, but I could not find this after looking through all of the installed apps listed in the settings page.
At the time I had enabled the security option within Android that allows the installastion of apps from unknown sources and I realized my mistake then, though I do not know how the worm actually reached my phone since I had never clicked any dodgy links in messages or the internet.
After this I disabled the installation of apps outside of the Play Store, and installed the avast! Mobile Security app for whatever help it may be in the future.
It wasn't until this Saturday, on 23.08, that the messages were sent again to the same contacts. I had not touched any security settings, nor had I accessed any sketchy sites, and once more I have found no unusual app to have installed itself.
My question now is, does anyone know of a way to prevent another occurence of this without actually wiping my phone clean? Though I wouldn't know if this would even help as I don't understand how the worm exists in the phone in the first place.
Would activating Avast's firewall within their app be of use? Rather, I'm asking if going through the hassle of rooting the phone is worth the trouble.
Thank you in advance to anyone who has advice or opinions to offer.

Wipe your phone, and reinstall the OS following the official instructions. Make sure to download the ROM images on a computer that isn't backdoored, and verify the checksums before you install.
That's the only way you'll be able to trust this device with private data again. Since you don't know how this malware was installed, you also don't know what other malware might already be on your phone.


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Add contact to ActiveSync on Samsung phone
I have two Samsung phones connect to my Exchange email using ActiveSync.
When I manually add a contact they are stored on the phone and not ActiveSync, how can I set the default storage mechanism to be ActiveSync?
Thank you

Please make sure contact syncing is enabled for the particular activesync account. You can check by going to Settings > Accounts. Select your activesync account and ensure Contacts are selected. You can also check accounts settings from the contact app by opening the menu. Then try creating a new contact, it should prompt you to choose a destination (phone, email etc).


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Extract Android Image from Samsung Galaxy S4 device
I'm quite happy flashing stock versions of Samsung Android to my Samsung Galaxy S4.
What I'd like to do is install some apps on my phone and then extract the phone into an image that I can flash back to say another S4.
Is this possible?  I have been using Odin to flash the device so far.

If both devices are identical, that could be accomplished via Nandroid. But as you're speaking about stock versions, it probably won't work for you – unless you're using at least a custom recovery.

Our current approach is to load up a stock image using Odin, then use ADB to automate the installation of some apps, rooting, tweaking and unrooting.

Yes, I've understood that. There are ways to upload images to a device that way. But AFAIK no way to download – except for the mentioned Nandroid images.

Go to recovery and create backup or use titanium back up to back up apps. One more way is to recompile rom zip with placing needed apk in installation folder. You can find more details on xda forums


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Can't backup my tablet
I tried to Backup my tablet with both CWM and TWRP but didn't success to get it backed-up,
in CWM :
the tablet stuck in the step of "generating backup boot imgae"
in TWRP :
the tablet fails in backup and gives me the following messages in log:
Updating partition details...
E :Unable to mount '/emmc'
E :Unable to mount '/emmc'
E :Unable to mount Storage.
E :Unable to mount '/emmc'

and worth to mention that in TWRP it Reads the tablet Storage as 0MB either with Internal SD Card or with External SD Card , in addition to it doesn't allow me to choose either of them while configuring any settings in it.
Hint: I'm using Lenovo Idea Tab A3000-H

What's your question?

@DanHulme my question is: How to overcome one of these two issues?

Are you absolutely sure that both recovery images you were using were designed specifically for your device model?

@Chahk I think So, as I tried some wrong recovery images at first and it wasn't even boot, but I get these images after my search for a recovery specially for my device.

@MuhammedRefaat are you sure the tablet wasn't encrypted?

@Chahk I think it wasn't besides I already reset it once and format the sdcard once


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moto G MTP not connected on windows XP
My Moto G MTP is not working in windows xp for any files transfer from pc to device. I tested the same device on Windows 7 and ubuntu, and it worked like a charm . Does Windows XP needs any special drivers to detect the device MTP ?

Have you checked the Group User Policies for USB device detection and driver installation?

where can GROUP USER POLICIES for USB be found ?

Provided the details in my answer below.

The MTP driver was bundled with Windows Media Player 11 on Windows XP. To get Media Player 11, you must download it from the Microsoft site here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/download-windows-media-player

Well, I guess the drivers need to be installed, why don't you try connecting your PC with the internet and then try connection you device. If it still doesn't works then I couldn't say much about it but I think the problem may lies because Microsoft has take down support with the XP. So, I think that may be the reason behind !

Peter, tried to check the drivers with option (check from internet) but it did nt work

Well, can't comment over it exactly but I think i have ran out of option. I think the problem may be encounter because of the support I guess. As you have said that its working over other OS i.e. Win7 or Win8 then I guess support may be the reason. :( wait a bit more while to see if some other user can came up with something more on this. :)

You may try this:

Go to Run and type gpedit.msc and hit OK.
Go to Administrative template under Computer Configuration. Then Custom Policy setting and select Click on Restrict Drives.
Double-click on Disable USB Removable Drives .
Select Disable for Allow to USB Removable drives and click OK.

Now go to Run again and type regdit and hit OK.

Navigate to the following registry path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor
Click on USBStor , then Click on Start in the Right Panel.
Type 3 in Value data Box , and click on Hexadecimal , then click ok


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Whats App+ in Moto G
Recently i bought a Moto G phone. When i tried to install Whats app+ in it, it won't allow SMS verification as well as voice verification.My Android version is 4.4. I also enabled install from third party apps. I don't know what is the problem with it. Please suggest me some solution .

Uninstall Whatsapp plus and delete Whatsapp folder using file manager.
Install official Whatsapp from Play Store and Verify your number.
After complition of verification, just chat with few and then Uninstall Whatsapp.
Now finally install Whatsapp Plus and this time it will verify your number.

Done.

Sorry Whats app+ is down. They infringes the rights of use of whatsapp.

Tat means we can't use whats app+ here after or what ? Since i have it working perfectly in my old mobile(samsung). Why it can't be able to install in New one (moto g)

An application made for old mobile which is running on an older Android OS might not work on newest Android OS. Its all about compatibility. Get it?

@MANI But WhatsApp+ is not made for older mobile rite. I even downloaded the .apk file newly and tried but fails.


text:
Slow home screen load, applications restarting
The problem has a few symptoms. 1) Whenever I return to the home screen it takes a few seconds to redraw. 2) Most applications restart when I switch back and forth between them. 3) If I go to the Running Apps menu many of the apps are listed as "Restarting". 4) Some background applications quit unexpectedly (like playing music in the background).
This is on a Moto G Android v4.4.4. The phone is a few months old and the problem appeared about a month ago. At all times free RAM is ~200 MB out of 870 MB.
Could anyone give me some hints of what is going on? The Internet tells me to factory reset my phone, but that's a bit of the "Reformat your C:" of the PC world back in the day.

Have you changed any of the developer settings in the main settings app? Do you remember installing any apps around the time the problem started?

I don't even have developer settings enabled and the phone is not rooted. The only two apps that I remember installing around that time are "CatLog" and "Super-Bright LED Torch". I have since removed both.


text:
Scan for Existence of Other Devices
Is it possible to know how many devises are in a certain area? I'm just trying to passively count the number of people in a room and I was hoping that my phone could recognize them by WiFi, Bluetooth, cell or some other frequency. I don't actually need to connect - just want to get a count.

There are several apps for sniffing and port-scanning to identify devices on the network. But how would you make sure to only gather devices located in the same room – and not in front of the door or even further away? No such tool considers physical topology of your surroundings IMHO.

I'm not too concerned with the topography of the room / picking up people in the next room. I guess I threw that out there as an example, not a rule.Do you know if any of these apps are able to be embedded in another project as a jar file?

No. Android apps don't come "as a .jar file", but as .apk file. Though the file structure is comparable, I doubt they can be used that way.


text:
Quickest way to sync video taken with Android to computer
I'm taking a video on my Nexus 5 and I want to view it on my computer immediately afterward. What's the quickest way to do that? Here are the options I know about, please tell me if there's something faster.

Connect the phone to the computer with a USB cable: Transfer would be blazing fast, but having to connect the phone physically would suck.
Use Dropbox's auto-upload to get that video automatically to my Dropbox: This is great in that there's no need for fiddling, but it takes way too long, as Dropbox is not smart enough to transfer the file directly from phone to computer through the LAN, but rather first uploads the entire file to the Dropbox servers, which can take hours. (The file is a few hundred MB big.)
Use AirDroid. The upload transfer is reasonable, but having to turn on the app, go to the browser, navigate to the file in their interface... That's annoying.

Isn't there a way to have the video automatically transferred to my computer over LAN after it's taken? Or better yet, while it is being taken, to make it even faster?


text:
Closing my LG Quick Cover disables alarm clock
I've recently bought a Nexus5 and a LG quick cover, and I discovered something very bothering :
When I set an alarm clock and close the cover, the alarm doesn't vibrate as I'd expect. I need to keep the cover opened to hear the vibrations.
Does anyone know a solution for this?


text:
How to set alarm?
How can I set alarm in my android phone? My phone is SYMPHONY Xplorer W35. Android Version: Jelly Bean 4.1.1
I can set alarm through many apps. For example in my phone there is a app called "Clock". Is there any built in process by which I can set up alarm??

Clock is the standard application for alarms. In Android, pretty much every feature is an Application, and one application can be replaced by the other.


text:
Download Photosphere images
I have Google Cardboard which works great with Photosphere. I've created a few of my own, but I'd really like to get some spectacular images (e.g. Times Square, Grand Canyon etc) to install on my phone to demonstrate to people.
I have found Photosphere images online, but they are only viewable online - is there a way to download these images** so they can be viewed as photosphere images on my Android phone ?
** Assuming of course that appropriate license allows me to download a copy.

As photosphere pictures are just "normal" jpg-files, you just have to download the photosphere image. If you use android you can view photosphere images with the google+ app. There is no real download-button, but you can use the share button and then send the picture to your email-adress for example. The standard android gallery viewer will open the picture like every photosphere picture you make with your mobile by yourself.

Google+ has the option "Download" on most images, in Chrome you can long press the picture and "Save" it. They're not necessarily JPG format either.

If you donwload the image with long press, make shure that you don't download the thumbnail preview of the panorama. The panorama-informations are saved in the XMP metatag of the jpg file. Detailed information here... What else format than jpg did you see, Ross?

Sorry, that got cut off as I had to run to a meeting. If you are downloading it online it might be saved as any format. I have seen them online in png etc, but yes the device does save them as JPG generally. I was more thinking "don't go online looking for only jpg files." Good point on the thumbnail, but that's up to the user really!

You need to add " PANO_ " without the quotes to the front of the jpeg name, PANO_ abc.jpg for instance. Then you also have to add metadata. You can do that here. http://photo-sphere.appspot.com/.  This is a google page which you upload your image and then add metadata in respect of place. Then you download the image again and put it in the 360 Panoramas folder of your phone. Sorted.


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Samsung Galaxy S4 USB Screen Lock Error
I have no idea what happened, but the last few times I have connected my Galaxy S4 to my Mac OSX to try and transfer music files (or any files for that matter) I get the message "can't access device storage If your device's screen is locked, disconnect its USB cable, unlock your screen, and then reconnect the USB cable."
Only problem is my screen is Not locked when I connected it in the first place. I have tried disconnecting, locking my screen, unlocking my screen, and then reconnecting but that doesn't work either…
Is there a way to fix this? All and any answers would be greatly appreciated.


text:
Unable to see newly added contacts on Viber for Nexus 7 LTE
As title says, I've been looking for a solution to this issue but it seems like its something to do with Viber itself. To describe the issue, I'm using a Nexus 7 LTE version with KitKat 4.4.3. It works perfectly on the device but neither can I search contacts nor see a newly added contact (before the last update) under Viber when added through Google's default "People" app.
And soon after the latest update I could search for the contacts but not the newly added contacts been seen though the user is a Viber user.
Quite amazing is that when I switch on DATA on my mobile (which also has the same Viber number configured) & sync the contacts which then the new contact start to appear on Viber under both Nexus & mobile device.
I don't know whether this is a bug with Viber for Nexus devices as I've not seen any solutions to this so far. An output or advise on this will be great!
Thank you in advance.

Never come across it on any of the Nexus devices here (that's a 4, 5, 7 (2013) and a Nexus 10)  Maybe reach out to the Viber Devs?

Well, for me I've tried installing twice as a fresh install but still was the same.. I'm fairly sure its not the device but viber.. before it had searching issues, but after the latest update it started working..

As the Nexus devices get updates fast to Android some apps do go a bit funny as the devs try to update them for the new version. This happens a lot with Whatsapp and others like it. That's why (I'd guess) they've a dev preview of Android L so that devs can get their apps working again, for example Android L can break certain JINI related calls.

I hope so, but its the other way around for me. Whatsapp shows all the newly added contacts quite happily by updating its contact list but Viber does not.

I mentioned whatsapp as I didn't work at all in ART initially and had issues with any 4.4.x update initially too.


text:
Can I mod my phone with bootloader locked?
I have a Motorola Defy ('jordan') that I have just recently rooted. I would like to add a mod to it though as it is running on Android froyo still but my bootloader is locked so i'm not very sure how to go about this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you are not sure about anything... goto XDA forums.It has everything

If your bootloader is locked, and if there isn't an unlock available, you are probably stuck on your current android version/ROM. Root alone doesn't let you update the kernel.

Even if the Defy's bootloader is locked, you can still root it and install custom roms. It's with the help of a software called 2ndInit.
As mentioned in the comment, you can search in the xda forums to get the details. You can start here by rooting and then install any custom rom. :)


text:
What are alternative IDEs to ADT eclipse ? the emulator in adt eclipse is VERY SLOW
I tried to develop apps in standard ADT - but it is very slow to respond to my clicks on the virtual smartphone..
Are there other FASTER alternative IDEs to ADT and better simulator coming with it?

The emulator is part of the developer tools, not the IDE, so switching to another IDE will leave you with the same emulator.

Use BlueStack App Player Its extremely fast and easy to use with eclipse. In order to use it with eclipse, just open the command prompt and type
adb connect 127.0.0.1

then you can launch your apks on it and it will run without any hassle.
Find the detailed tutorial here


text:
Use Easily.Do offline?
I installed Easily.Do on my android device, which is offline. But says I have to sign in. Is there a way to use EasilyDO without internet on my phone?

If you have to sign in then you'll need the Internet. You could ask the developer?

You have to at least sign in once in the app, it cannot be used without connecting an account to it.
Now how much the app rely on online data to work, it's hard to tell without actually using it. So far, I've tried it and some informations like appointment and the weather are accessible (cached), but the app warns you that no data connection is available. Obviously, you won't receive any update while offline.


text:
How do I stop Play Store from randomly opening when I'm in other apps?
Play Store is randomly opening when I'm in another app. It is simply showing me an app it thinks I would like, even though I haven't initiated any action on Play Store. I'm running Jelly Bean on a Motorola Razr Maxx.

I don't know of any legitimate software that does this. It sounds like you've got some malware there. Look under "Security>Device Administration>Device Administrators" to see if anything you've recently downloaded has placed itself here. That'll give you a start to removing it.

I second wbogacz in his suspicion. If there're any apps you remember having installed right before this begun, one of those is the most likely "culprit". Same advice then: Try uninstalling it and see whether the trouble is gone. If so, avoid apps from that dev in the future.

Thanks - I don't see anything there except "Motorola Device Policy" and "Android Device Manager". I doubt it is one of these that's the problem. I'm going to just uninstall the app where I'm having the issue. Hopefully that will resolve the problem.

Are you clicking on ads inside apps? Because they would pop-up Play Store immediately. Remove all those apps which pops-up ads very frequently. If no - try signing out of the Play Store and stop it forcibly using App Manager. Then start it and login again. Post what happened.


text:
View Google Play In-App Purchases on Google Play Store
When viewing an application on the Google Play Store (for example, Sygic GPS Navigation), it says underneath the Install button "Offers in-app purchases". Unfortunately, I don't see a way to view the in-app purchases unless I download the app.
Is there any way to view an application's In-App Purchases without downloading / installing the application?

There currently is no way to view the list of options for in-app purchases in the Google Play store itself.  However, Google Play does actually know what in-app purchases are available to any given application because all in-app purchases have to be registered in the Google Play Publishers Console before the In App Billing (IAB) platform will function for those items.
https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/billing_admin.html
Each in-app product has to be registered in each application for which it applies.  The process to set up a single product is quite involved.  Google Play does have the information available but they don't, at this time, make the list of items available for purchase to users of the Google Play store.  That is up to each application.  In addition, making that information generally available to users might lead to upset users.  For example, a developer decides to add a new highly-requested feature that they initially decide will be $1.99 but then decide later on to raise that price to $2.99 just before releasing it.  Those expecting to get it at $1.99 because they saw it early on might be upset at that change.  Also, if a developer utilizes the IAB Products API to synchronize a product list from another tool, it might push products into Google Play that are not actually used in the app itself.

In-App purchases come in a wide range including unlocking features, making donations, adding bonus content and buying specific items but they all fall under the single permission.
I've also seen them broken down as:
Permanent enhancements to the app,
Expendable updates (i.e. extra lives or tokens),
Subscriptions, and
Auto-renewing subscriptions
If the type of in-app purchases are not listed in the description of the app or in any reviews for the app I would ask the developer via email. Other than that you would have to download it to find out.

No without the download/use of the application one cannot exactly say what kind of     in-App purchases are available in an Application.
One can only guess through the views in an application provided by the play store.
As you can see in one of the screen shots as above you cannot exactly say what all features you need to purchase some applications write about the purchases in the about section such as a demo application which can be purchased through the app.
Also in the recent updates of the play store there's a separate section for the deals such as Top apps /Deals section wherein various app are listed giving details about what kind of discount is available for the particular purchase in an Application (i.e.25 % discount on upgrades etc.).


text:
Where are contacts located on Xperia P internal storage?

I have SE xperia P, and it stopped working, or at least the display did. I can access the internal memory (where I've been saving all contacts, which i didn't back up), is it possible to find and extract them? If so, how.

These file I see when i connect the phone to PC, but I have no idea where to find contacts or SMS/MMS and such.

There is nothing when i search for %contact%, when i search for %data% and %.db% i dont get any good search results as well

If you go manually into /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts what do you get? Do you have root, are you using a root explorer, do you have read access to the /data folder?

this is the only data folder I can see/have access to http://imgur.com/OE4RWh1

/Android/Data/ is not the same as /Data the latter is in the / folder, otherwise known as the [tag:root] folder, so I guess without root you cannot access the database. There are code ways to access it, that would be an app with the "Read or Write Contacts Data" permissions.

You need a phone with root access. The folder that usually stores the contacts is data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts.db As  you would imagine they are placed in a 'safer' part of the device storage.
However, the /data folder is accessed via root directory /
You can root the device or you can use a Contacts Contract to access the database programatically, but as a normal user you can't.
As noted in the comments /android/data is not the same as /data


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how to backup cell phone contacts to gmail, and view them on pc
i have synced my phone LG E975K (whatever that means!)
i have tried to save contacts to my gmail account. (gmail account only shows email contacts on - not the phone numbers from my smartphone)
i basically dont know how to save information from my smart phone to my computer.
i need a button repaired on my smart phone, and i dont want to lose all my information when i take the phone in to be repaired...
i believe there is a way to import or export? but my phone threatens me with possible loss of information, so i am scared to try it.
i see there is an option of merging contacts when i looked for info online, but my phone doesnt offer that option
i want to save all my phone information in gmail.
i dont know how to do it,
and i dont know how to find it if it has saved it
and i dont know how to restore it to the phone after it has been repaired, if information is lost....
can anyone help, but give instructions in layman's terms or explanations........

Can you check whether the synch of contacts/People is enabled under Settings?
Settings -> Accounts (google) -> click on Synch -> contacts is checked ? and Synch is successful.

Go to Settings > Accounts - Google > Tap on your account >. Now
select the checkbox for Contacts and see what is the last synced
date and time shown below.
Now login to your Google account and go to Google contacts. You will
be able to see all the synced contacts

From Panel:
Make sure you export all your contacts from sim/phone to gmail account via phonebook, then sync contact again through the direction given above.

thank you.have done all the above. still only shows my email addresses and not the telephone numbers from my LG..  any other suggestions? :(

In Sync list, do you see anything like People Details ? Try syncing that too.

I know this is an old post that the bot brought back to life, but just throwing my two cents in. Make sure to save contacts as gmail contacts when adding them as a contact. If they are labeled as a phone contact, I am pretty sure they don't get synced. Recently had to help a coworker out with this.


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Cannot hear audio from other side of phonecalls or voicemails
When I make a phone call (this includes to voicemail), I cannot hear the other party and the other party cannot hear me.
The problem is isolated to calling. When I'm having this problem (or more precisely, when I can replicate this problem), the following behavior is consistent:

entering numbers with the dialpad produces the usual audible beep,
the Sound Recorder app on my phone works fine,
any apps that use the speakers work fine (e.g. Apollo, ES File Explorer audio service).

Rebooting my phone temporarily resolves the problem, which seems to recur an indefinite number of hours following a reboot. I have been unable to identify any specific app or service which causes this problem.
(Unrelated to the problem, but still relevant - CM hangs when I attempt to boot into safe mode, which is only resolveable by popping the battery and booting back up normally, at which point all configured widgets sans lock-screen Torch have been removed - these reboots also fix the problem - so tl;dr: being unable to boot into safe mode, I am unable to determine whether a particular third-party app/service is the cause of this problem).
I have a T-Mobile SII (Hercules SGH-T989) running CM 10.2.0-hercules (corresponds to Android 4.3.1, baseband version T989UVMC6 - I assume this is the radio). I have no call recording apps - the closest thing I have is the Dialer app, which (it seems) does not handle any calling, and simply hooks into the stock Phone app to make calls.
This began a number of months after I upgraded to CM 10.2.0-hercules from 10.0, so I highly doubt that CM is the problem here.

lots of people who plopped in new "other" firmware onto a phone lost the ability to make a call (couldn't hear and/or be heard).  Myself I could not believe they would continue trying it after that. "the only thing wrong is it isnt a phone anymore. :-) So while you are sure it is not that, you still have to go back to see :-(

Unless someone built a time bomb into CM 10.2.0, I seriously doubt that's what broke my phone, since my phone worked for a solid two months after the upgrade.


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How do I know whether my HTC One m8 has quick charge 2.0 capacity yet?
Although the HTC One m8 has a Qualcomm 801 processor, the Quick Charge 2.0 capacities has been disabled and the charger that the M8 comes with is a Quick Charge 1.0 one.
Apparently, some markets have had a firmware update that have enabled this feature.
I just got my phone so I was wondering, how do I know whether my m8 supports QC2.0?
I'm thinking about buying one but don't want to buy it if it is turns out my device isn't supported yet.


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Can't save Shared photos
There is an option on Facebook messenger that lets you view shared photos  I can't save any of them to gallery. After I long press on photo it opens but there is no options.

You need to go to Settings within the Messenger app, then to Photos and Media and select "Save photos". After that, all photos will be saved automatically. This is the only way AFAIK.

Maybe he doesn't want all photos to be downloaded

But maybe he does. We don't know. "Any" can be 1 photo or all of them. My answer gives the correct end result, as the OP asked. The process of how he wants it to work is not specified in the question and is probably  irrelevant for the problem.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Unable to add contact to SIM
I want to add new contact and save it in SIM Card.
I use OnePlus One with CyanogenMod 11S, which is on top of Android 4.4.4 and inside I have O2 pay-as-you-go card from UK. When I used Gingerbread and Ice Cream versions of Android in the past, I always had 3 options when creating contacts - Google account, Device and Sim.
Now when I tap on New contact icon, I cannot change the type from Google contact to anything else (tapping it just doesn't do anything).
I know this might be stupid question, but I cannot check it with other card. My real question is - is this problem specific to O2 (carrier), or Cyanogen, or Android 4.4? Or am I doing something wrong and there is some option I need to enable first?

I don't know about SIM (I no longer use it to store contacts or SMS for ages). But I've noticed some newer devices/Android versions seem to offer "Google only" for contacts. A work-around (if you don't want to store contacts in your Google account) would e.g. be using an app like MyLocalAccount to create a local account to use instead.

After some investigation, I believe this in Android 4.4 issue.
It seems to be designed to use only Google contacts, synchronized with Gmail. I could not find any option to even display SIM contacts - they can only be imported from SIM to Google.
I know for sure, that in Android 4.2 devices, user can choose between location of contacts and can display all contacts, regardless of where they are saved.


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Connecting a Nexus 7 (2013) to a VGA projector
I would like to connect my Nexus 7 (2013)  to an external projector or monitor. I know that there is a SlimPort to HDMI adapter (I have it and it works when plugged through HDMI), however, projectors at my work still have VGA (and no HDMI) socket.
In addition to the SlimPort HDMI adapter by Analogix, I also bought an HDMI to VGA adapter. The problem is that the external displays do not display any content (the SlimPort to HDMI cable is working, though). I also saw a SlimPort to VGA adapter from Analogix, but apparently it did not work either.
Has anyone succeeded in connecting the Nexus 7 (2013) to a VGA display? Even with complicated or costly systems.
I was wondering if something like that could work:
http://www.miniinthebox.com/hd-video-hdmi-to-vga-scaler-converter-box-black_p296227.html
Thank you for your help!

If you have a laptop with USB ports that can also connect to the VGA projector, then you can use Droid@Screen (http://droid-at-screen.ribomation.com) to show the Nexus' display on the laptop and in turn, on the projector.
Depending on what you are doing, this might work while you figure out a more robust solution. I say this because the main downside is lag, so it's not a good solution if you are trying to project video or show off a new buttery interface.


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How do I retrieve my contacts from my google account to my phone!
So I saved all my contacts by selecting the google account instead of saving on the phone.
But I removed the accounts from the phone, and when i added back the accounts to the phone, i could not find most of the new numbers..
Please help!

So you Saved contacts to your google account. Then Deleted them from the phone... Then synched to google (deleting them from Google)... then tried to restore them? Is that the flow that happened?

@RossC OP wrote he removed the accounts from the phone, not the contacts. // Paul: Please [edit] your question and add some more details: What device are you using? What Android version is it running? Did anything else change on the device between removing and re-adding the account? May sound stupid, but just to be sure: Have you checked you've added the correct account – just in case you're having multiple accounts?

Also, the contact sync is not instantaneous. The synchronization (especially phone-to-cloud) happens once every 10-15 minutes. If you happen to remove the account before the next scheduled sync occurs, the newly added contacts may be lost.  You could force a manual sync via Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> <your account> -> Menu -> Sync now.

As MemCtrl mentioned, go to http://contacts.google.com and see if your contacts (with the new numbers) are there. If not, you can restore them using "Restore contacts..." option (hit the "More..." button to see it), provided they weren't deleted more than 30 days ago.

Go to contacts.google.com - see if you can find them there. If not, then I'm afraid you're out of luck.


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How to troubleshoot OTG cable?
Because android doesn't handle the broken screen problem very well (frankly, it doesn't handle it at all) I bought OTG cable in hope that I'll be able to connect my mouse to the device.
I connected it to the broken phone (Huawei U8500) and nothing happened. Well, I tried my new android phone Samsung GT-S7710 with Android 4.1.2. However, still no effect. I tried USB flash disk, but that didn't do anything at all.
How can I debug the USB OTG function? To find out what's actually wrong?

Use adb over Wifi or Bluetooth?

What is ADB? Sometimes comment character limit sucks.

A tool for developers to communicate between Android and their PC. Unfortunately it needs developer mode to be enabled first which a broken screen might not allow you to do so.

I had fortunatelly enabled that because I thought I'll have some time to make android apps. I didn't even have time to figure out this broken screen issue in two years.

Are you sure your device is OTG-A (meaning it provides power to a peripheral device)? You might need a powered USB-OTG adapter instead.

Maybe try OTG Troubleshooter first to check if your setup is working:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homesoft.otgtroubshooter
It will check if your device supports 'usb host mode', if your OTG cable is working and if a mass storage device is found.


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Unchecking the "show notifications" for the Phone app
My carrier keeps sending the voicemail notification to my device. I can force-stop the phone app (makes the notifications go away), but EVERY SINGLE TIME the device reboots or do something phone-related, boom, its back.
In the app info, the checkbox for notifications is shaded.
Is there any way to make the checkbox unmarked?
I have root, terminal emulator and ADB to play with.

Since you've root access, you can easily allow or ignore the notifications of any app.

Install a file manager having root explorer feature such as ES File Explorer or MiXplorer.
Go to /data/system and open notification-policy.xml.
Add <package name"PKG_NAME" /> between <blocked-packages> and </blocked-packages>, such as:
(Click image to enlarge)

Replace PKG_NAME with the package name of the app whose notifications you don't want to see. See View app's full package name?
Save the file and reboot the device. The "Show notifications" checkbox would now be seen unticked.

There's also an alternative approach which didn't work for me. You may give it a try though. Find it here.


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how do I save all my texts before I reset it?
I have an android HTC 660 how do I save all my texts before I reset it? Not for sure how to send to my SIM card

HoverChat has an SMS backup feature. It saves all your SMS in a .ninja file, then you can send it in a mail. You must have HoverChat if you want to restore your backup afterwards.

I have looked up on the web there's a couple of applications such as :

SMS Backup+
G Cloud Backup
SMS backup restore

Personally,I would take a couple of screenshots and send them into my PC(as backup). Then reset my cell phone and re-transfer my pictures into it.
But if you want them as a txt form, use an application to back up them.

Install Superbackup and make backup of contacts , texts and call logs and you can move it local SD card to your inbox.


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Moved Chrome to SD Card and broke it
I have a Sony Xperia C2305 with Android version 4.2.2.
I was trying to free up internal space using Titanium Backup Pro by moving applications over to the SD Card.
I converted Chrome to a user application and then moved it tot he SD Card.
When I run it i now get the following error:
"Critical functionality required to run Chrome is missing; either your Chrome installation is incomplete or not compatible with this version of android".
I attempted to do the following:

Moved back to Internal Memory and Converted to System Application - Same Error
Rebooted - Same Error
Converted to User Application & Uninstalled - Downloaded from Play Store - Same Error
Converted Downloaded & Installed Chrome to System Application - Same Error

How can i get a working version of chrome back on my phone?

After trying the "Quick Fixes", nothing worked.
The Solution was to re ROM the phone with a factory ROM.
In future, use Titanium Backup to first take a full backup, then freeze the application for a week or two and then if the phone is stable, remove the frozen apps.


text:
Runaway process named "data5"
I have an issue on an Android TV device from Amlogic. As you can see below there are three important processes: .amlogic.dvb.service and com.amlogic.dvb. These processes are related to the UI of the TV player and the controller of the TV stream.
data5 is very confusing. It does not steal the CPU all of the time. However, when it does, it causes the TV display to become distorted (because there is no longer sufficient CPU power to render correctly, I assume).
Does anyone know what the process data5 is? I think it is probably part of Android itself, however I have yet to find anything on Google relating to it.
User 9%, System 86%, IOW 0%, IRQ 0%
User 53 + Nice 4 + Sys 525 + Idle 21 + IOW 3 + IRQ 0 + SIRQ 2 = 608
  PID PR CPU% S  #THR     VSS     RSS PCY UID      Name
24786  0  48% S    25 741952K  37912K  fg system   .amlogic.dvb.service
 1541  0  42% S     1      0K      0K     root     data5
24743  1   0% S    27 814488K  71752K  fg system   com.amlogic.dvb
 1540  1   0% S     1      0K      0K     root     aml_nftld
25319  1   0% R     1   1228K    520K     shell    top

It's very likely to be specific to your device. Has it always had this problem? If so, you probably need to contact the manufacturer.

I thought so too, but they do not recognize the process either. I will get them to dig deeper. It exists after a clean firmware flash, so it is definitely to do with the firmware.


text:
History of installed/uninstalled apps
I don't know if there is already a thread about this particular issue, but if so forgive me. I would like to know how can I see the date when I installed and uninstalled a certain app some time ago (provided that I deleted it from Google Play history, so I can't go that way). I've been doing some research and logcat appears everywhere, but I don't see how can it solve my problem. Thanks in advance for your help.

See Where can I find out when I installed an app?

Logcat won't be much help here, as it only lasts back a limited time (it uses a ring buffer with a fixed size, so older entries get overwritten with new ones). Instead, better focus on the package manager:
adb shell "pm list packages -u -3"

gives you a list of all apps you have installed (the -3 restricts it to apps that didn't come pre-installed – essentially meaning "3rd party"), including those you've already uninstalled (-u). The returned list looks like this:
package:com.ceco.gm2.gravitybox
package:com.mohammadag.xposedpreferenceinjector

This still doesn't give you the details you wanted, so lets bring in some help from Firelord's answer here:
First, we need to cut of the leading package:, so we modify our command to pm list packages -u -3 | awk -F: '{print $NF}':
com.ceco.gm2.gravitybox
com.mohammadag.xposedpreferenceinjector

Already better. Now Firelord kicks in mentioning the dumpsys command for details, which we integrate in what we have so far:
for pkg in $(pm list packages -u -3 | awk -F: '{print $NF}'); do
    dumpsys package $pkg
done

That should give you full details for each app, including their install date (firstInstallTime), last update (lastUpdateTime) and, hopefully also the uninstall-time – unfortunately, on the device I've tested this right now, uninstalled apps didn't turn up despite of the -u parameter, which might be a device-specific issue (as the pm documentation clearly describes it such).
To give you the same thing as a one-liner which also should work on Windows:
adb shell "for pkg in \$(pm list packages -u -3 | awk -F: '{print \$NF}'); do dumpsys package \$pkg; done"

+1. I actually had the same approach in my mind but I rather posted a comment since that -u in pm didn't yield anything good to me.

@Firelord OK, so it's not just me. Maybe it's a deprecated parameter no longer used since Android x.y. As usually, documentation is a rare thing with those.

You can use this command on Linux:
adb shell logcat | grep install for install app see in logcat
adb shell logcat | grep uninstall for uninstall app see in logcat
Otherwise In windows you can use Cygwin. You can download from here

Is there anything equivalent for Windows?

@jabadejat Grep is available for Windows, but not packaged by default.  It should also be part of Busybox for Android, so that you could do the grep-ing on your device rather than your PC.

Since the log is stored in a circular buffer, so that old entries get overwritten typically within a day, this doesn't seem like it would help find the date of installing an app.

How to obtain the size of Logcat: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6321555/what-is-the-size-limit-for-logcat

On Windows: adb shell "logcat | grep install". Note the quotes: this tells adb shell to run the whole thing on Android – where it finds the logcat command as well as grep. But the point is: limited use. This way you might see what happened in the last few minutes – but for sure not a couple of days back.

PS: I've just done a test-uninstall. Your command didn't yield that. What worked: adb shell "logcat -v time | grep -i uninstall". Note the -i for case insensitive grep (the log has it as "Uninstall"), plus the -v time parameter (OP wanted to see when that happened, not only that it happened :)


text:
Need advice on problem using TeamViewer to remotely control a PC
I am running Windows 7 on my PC and the latest version of Android on my Samsung 7" Galaxy 4 Nook tablet.  I installed the newest versions of TeamViewer on both as I wanted to be able to control my PC remotely from the tablet.  Setup went easily and flawlessly and the connection does allow me to take full control of the PC. This is a dynamite app!
However, one annoying idiosyncrasy popped up.  As soon as the connection was initiated, TeamViewer caused the PC display to change resolution and size to match the landscape format of the Samsung screen.  Looks great on the Samsung but miserable on the PC's display.  Moreover, when I broke the connection, the PC display did not return to its former resolution or display shape.  I had to reboot to return to its original condition.
Any suggestions on how to keep the PC in its "normal" display mode during the remote connection, or at least how to immediately restore the format as soon as the connection is broken?
Thanks, Phil

Just click on the "VIEW" voice. There are two voices: quality and scaling. I disabled "auto select" under the quality menu and just left "scaled" active under the second menu.
This way your desktop will be scaled to the screen of whatever device you use, without modifying desktop's resolution...


text:
Is it possible to sync your Exchange/Outlook calendar with an Android application?
I have decided to install CloudMagic to be able to receive Exchange e-mail on my Android phone without having to accept restricted company security settings. There are many e-mail clients that support Exchange without enforcing company security settings.
I was wondering if there are also Android applications that can just make the Exchange calendar available?

I just managed to get this to work on an Acer Z200:

Click the Settings wheel
Under ACCOUNTS, select Corporate
Add your Exchange account there and set its sync options

I now see my Exchange email and calendars in the standard Calendar app, and I get notifications for my Exchange calendar appointments.
Before doing that, I installed Microsoft's Outlook app and added my Exchange account as an account of type Outlook. This allows me to view my email and calendars in the Outlook app, but I didn't find a way to make it send notifications for calendar items. (If it is possible, please correct this answer.)

Please indicate what version of Android you are using on your device.

What it came with: Android 4.4.2.

If you use the built-in email app, you can get you calendar on your phone. When you are setting it up, just untick sync email, contacts and your calendar will appear invite default calendar app on your device. You can purchase calendar apps that will only sync your calendar, but the are about €9/$9/£9 so your best option is use the default app.

I'm using Team Calendar Sync to sync an Exchange server locally to my Android devices.
For Outlook.com, you can try TouchDown for Outlook.

Yes. There are many apps out there which can sync your exchange calendar with your android device. But most of the easier and more elegant software are paid-for apps. The only good enough free app I could find is this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.mp.calendar.sync

Good but it doesn't support OWA.

Install the App "nine" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ninefolders.hd3&hl=de
There you can choose what to sync before the first sync and you can just enable the calendar sync.

My working solution is :

Setup your Exchange account and enable all syncing (email, calendar, contacts)
Go into settings -> apps -> all apps
Clear cache and data from the following apps :
-Exchange-services
-Gmail
Restart calendar app and the exchange account is now visible in the list of accounts.


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ls: <filename>: Cannot allocate memory
I'm having out of memory problems with rsync in CYM11. However, I realized now that the problem is more serious. For some files, when I simply try to list one single file with name somefilename in the terminal emulator, I get:
 $ ls somefilename
 ls: somefilename: Cannot allocate memory

If I do ls over the somefilename parent folder (with 30 files only), I see several files but not somefilename.
But then, after a wile, the error is gone...
Clues? Maybe a card problem?
Thanks!
L.
PS: [rant] I'm having too many problems with CYM11! [\rant]

My first guess would be a bug in the memory management in the OS. Are you using a nightly? Have you tried a different nightly or a more stable build?

I'm honestly at the stage of "CyanogenMod, there's your problem" and the frequency of this is increasing. Maybe another ROM would be an idea, or as Dan said something more stable. (I know they do great work, but I've never tried a build that didn't have something preventing it being a daily driver on ANY device)

@DanHulme: Yes, I'm using a nightly for the Galaxy Note (n7000). I cannot use a stable build, unless I go back to 10.1.3, since there are no M builds for the N7000.

No wonder you're having too many problems then. Nightly builds are not intended for everyday use.

@RossC: Indeed, that's my experience too. Unfortunately, I've experienced several problems with Cyanogenmod, and there is very little support (I've never able to get ANY answer from Cyanogenmod website). Not sure if any other ROM is better, though....?

@DanHulme: But then, which would be a solution? No M builds for the Note, it seems that device has been completely abandoned. I just upgraded to the last nightly, and the problems persist.

@RossC I know people who use stable builds on popular devices without problems. It's just that porting ROMs is hard, and there aren't enough people willing to lend a hand.

@DanHulme yep as I said they do some great work but are really up against it at every turn. Nightly build are a no no for sure, unless you're testing for them

Maybe some of you can point me to a better maintained custom ROM, at least for the Galaxy Note? CYM11 clearly sucks on it.

Cyanogenmod 11 is extremely buggy on the Galaxy Note I (N7000), and this seems to be one more of its bugs. I solved it by reformatting the card to ext4 (reformatting to exfat didn't solve the problem).


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Moving applications to SD card
I own a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT8010-Wifi) model and I would like to move some of my apps to the external SD card and change the default installation location to be the external SD card from now on. The Android version on the tablet PC is 4.1.2 and I have rooted it following a guide on the internet which can be accessed via the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv8440QhHsw
I would be happy to get some assistance on this matter, thanks in advance.


text:
Inverting screen colors on Nexus 5
On my old phone, Samsung Galaxy sII, there was an option to invert colors. Now I have a Nexus 5, and I don't see that option. Is there a way to invert colors on it? (i.e. have the screen show a negative image, black becomes white and white becomes black.)


text:
on the fly view of download pdf
Can I set up my Android tablet to display downloads on the fly as in  a windows machine.  I am thinking mainly of pdf file links although XL files would also be useful.
Rob Thirlby


text:
Is it safe to use launchers?
I am new to android OS.I recently purchased nexus 5 and came to know about several launchers.They are just mind blowing experience.But one of my friends suggested me not to use launchers as they override native os or something like that.
My question is that is it really safe to use launchers? I don't want to make any harm to phone OS or anything.
Does it clear all data and clean up everything when I uninstall it?
Kindly provide me knowledge of launchers and what are the disadvantages of using it.
Thanks

Launchers are pretty much safe. Just look at the app permissions before installing. I recommend Solo Launcher from my side. It's my favourite ;)

As with any app:  look at the permissions it requests and think about whether the app legitimately needs those permissions.  There's nothing inherently unsafe about using a custom launcher, but if it requests permissions that shouldn't be needed just to display a home screen, it may have hidden malicious functionality.  (Or it may use them for legitimate purposes:  for example, some popular launchers request permission to "directly call phone numbers" so that they can provide the ability to put direct-dial icons on your home screen.)
To see the permissions of an app you've already installed, go to Settings -> Apps, find the app, and scroll down to the bottom of its info page.  You can also see an app's permissions in the Play store before you install it:  scroll down to the bottom of the app's page in the Play store and tap on "Permission details".
Note that a launcher app will (naturally) know which other apps you launch with it.  That's generally not a problem, but if the launcher app has Internet permission, it could potentially send information about which apps you use to a third party, which would be a privacy violation.
When you uninstall an app, any data stored with the app itself is removed; this generally includes things like customization settings.  But if the app has "modify USB storage" permission, it may have also created files in your phone's shared storage area — the files you see when you plug the phone into your computer with a USB cable.  Those aren't deleted when you uninstall an app, but you can delete them yourself, either with a USB connection or a file-manager app on the phone itself.
A custom launcher doesn't "override the native OS" in any unsafe way.  It's really just a normal app that happens to respond to the phone's Home button.

In short, yes, most launchers are not harmful. They are just a skin to your phone and does not clear any of your personal data when you uninstall it. I recommend you look at Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Solo Launcher, or any other popular launcher. Good luck with your new Nexus!

I was always kindof worried about those launchers getting my info and using for malicious purposes. I guess it is one layer more of apps getting that info, but shouldn't be worse than, for example, spotify having it, right?

Launchers are not much different from any other app in this concern – so you should deal with them like with other apps. While one argument has already been mentioned multiple times here, let me sum up the basics in short:

check permissions as recommended already.
check votes (how many people have rated the app), downloads (how many have installed it), and ratings (how well is the app received). If inexperienced, try avoiding apps with no or only few downloads/votes until you get a feeling for it.
check reasonable comments (i.e. skip the one-worders like "good", "bad", "like" etc, and concentrate on those coming with real details)
try searching for reviews
when looking for an app, app listings on "trusted sites" can be helpful. I run such a site myself, where you can find ratings, votes, permissions incl. explanations, and links to reviews etc. listed along each app, so you might wish to check there.
Avoid "downloading" apps from sites you don't know, better stick to safe markets.

Helpful links:

our security tag and its tag-wiki
Are the apps safe? How can I make my Android more secure?
What do the permissions that applications require mean? (more detailed list here)
Android Markets: How safe are alternative sources?
How safe is it to use Aptoide?

Yes launchers are safe. But not all. Recently my Kaspersky detected trojan in CLauncher. Personally I am in love with Nova, light and flawless. Even it supported by almost all IConPacks too.BTW, Nexus 5 has already overhauled KK launcher . So , I dont think you need any launcher. But if you are willing to install one, I would suggest either EZLauncher or Nova.

You can use launcher in your phone,no problem with that. Before installing the check its permissions and you also need to trust that application. There are many good launchers in play store like google now,apex,nova..etc
You want to know that running 2 or more launchers can also heat up your phones ram,sometimes causes hanging .Nexus 5 has a good native launcher.

Since when does "running 2 or more apps" heat up RAM?

yes ! you don't need to be wory m8. according to my experience most of the launchers are pretty safe so far although most of them try to make us to install their related apps but it depends if you want to go with them or not basically launchers are made to give a better look to OS whenever you want to install a launcher you just need to give a look at its details,ratings,reviews and description as well and I recomend you a few best launchers like Hola Laucher,CM Launcher,solo Launcher,aprex launcher .