text:
How do I get the GPS icon to show in the status bar in CM7?
Just did a fresh install of CM7 in my Incredible, it's fantastic, but whenever I turn on my GPS, it does not show in the status bar that it's on, like it does in the stock 2.2 OS.
Is there a way to enable this show it shows when it's active?

Are you actively using an app that needs the GPS? It usually only displays while it is in use, open Google Maps and see what you find.

Indeed that does work. Is there anyway to display that it's on? I've accidentally left it on before without realizing it, and I'm used to seeing it in the status bar.

Not an answer, just a comment - leaving GPS enabled isn't going to have a significant impact on battery life, since it will sit idle until you run an app that requests GPS location.

It will only show up if you open up an application that will use the GPS for something. For example just open up Google Maps. If you want to know if you left the GPS activated, just slide the notification panel and at the top you will have the toggle buttons, one of them is the GPS.


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Very light overlay-ish home screen
Is there a homescreen that will basically pop up when I hit home, and I can go right back to what I was doing with the return softkey? It can require root, as I have that.

I actually found TaskXP for MultiTasking which someone recommended. It's just what I wanted. It shows my recent apps and any apps that I pin, in an overlay that I can quickly hit back from.

You could just press your home key to go to your home screen - do what you need to there, even open another app. Then just long-press the home key again to pop up the list of recently used apps and select the original app you were in to return to where you were.
Should work.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
French QWERTY keyboard for Nexus S
When using the French language the default virtual keyboard on the Nexus S use the AZERTY keyboard layout.
That might be fine in Europe but not in North America (e.g. Quebec) where everyone uses QWERTY keyboards.
How can we globally change the keyboard layout on the Nexus S ?

If your phone is rooted, it's possible to do this by modifying system files that govern the keyboard.  A much easier (and safer) way would be installing a 3rd-party keyboard replacement app that has a French QWERTY layout.
Out of keyboards I've personally used, I can recommend AnySoftKeyboard with French Language Pack. It includes both AZERTY and QWERTY (French-Canadian) layouts.

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


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Application ROM Manager is uninstalled, but market wants to update it every day
I uninstalled ROM Manager. Since I did so, I've received daily notifications from the Market saying there's an update.
I've logged into the market via the desktop browser and ROM manager is not listed as an installed application. (Though many I have uninstalled ages ago are listed, but that's another matter).
The notifications are annoying. How can I kill ROM Manager once and for all?
HTC Desire running Cyanogenmod7

How did you uninstall it? AFAIK it's a system app in CM7, so if you used the Market or your phone's Settings it only uninstalled the updates.

I'm echoing what @eldareathis said, I'm pretty sure ROM Manager is a System app and you only uninstalled the updates to it.

ROM Manager shouldn't be a required Systems app to run CyanogenMod.  Take a look at the steps over here to remove a system app from your phone: http://oldwiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/Barebones
Something like:
adb remount
adb shell rm -f /system/app/RomManager.apk

ROM Manager is a system app on CM6 as well. It's not required (Replicant removes it).

I'm not sure why one would want to remove ROM Manager since it alerts you of OS (CM) updates and lets you backup your current ROM, but to each their own.

@BryanDenny: It's kind of useless if you don't use ClockworkMod recovery, IMHO (I use TeamWin's recovery, for example). Don't you also need the pro/premium version to get CM push updates? I thought that was how it worked at one point, but that could have changed.

@eldarerathis oh, you may be right. I have the premium version, so I forgot about that

ROM manager is also not Free Software, which is why Replicant removes it. The point is there are reasons.

Why? "HTC Desire". I constantly have no more space on the phone. I need to remove all but the essentials.


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Remove google-account from older smartphone
I gave my sister my older smartphone without removing my google-account.
How can I remove that permission without removing her settings completely, or how can I remove that certain android device from my google dashboard?
If possible, it would be great if I could do it remotely (via my google dashboard).

If you are using Google Two Step authorisation, then you can revoke the one-time password that you assigned to the phone remotely from your Google account's settings, I don't think that this is possible unless you are using the Two Step authorisation.
Go to your Google Account Settings page, click the Edit link beside "2 step verification", click "Manage application-specific passwords", look down the list for the password assigned to your old phone and click the "Revoke" link. Next time the phone tries to access your Google account, it should be denied access and your sister will see a warning asking her to enter the new password.
If you haven't set up the two step authorisation then, to do it directly on the phone, as long as the phone is running Android 2.1 (Eclair) or newer, then you can go into Settings -> Accounts and sync -> then select the account and you should have a Remove account button at the bottom of the screen.
Once you've done this switch the phone off and on again (just to make sure that no apps are running that have already logged in), and it should be removed.
Note that this won't remove all of your old data from the phone, it will just remove some of the Google synced data, and stop anything new from coming down from (or going up to) your Google account. To be sure that all of your old data is removed from the phone, you will need to wipe the phone with a factory reset.

Thanks for that. I don't have Two Step Auth enabled, so I'll remove the account from her phone.

This will only work if the OP's account is not the primary account used to set up the phone; otherwise, a factory reset will need to be done.

@Logos checked and you're right, but only seems to be true up to Gingerbread. The Gingerbread manual mentions this, http://www.google.com/help/hc/pdfs/mobile/AndroidUsersGuide-2.3.4.pdf (p130 & 374) the Honeycomb manual doesn't mention it http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en//help/hc/pdfs/mobile/AndroidUsersGuide-30-100.pdf (p96) in my defence I've most recently added and removed accounts on my tablet.

If the account is the one you used to set up the phone originally, you won't be able to remove it without a factory reset.  You won't be able to save the phone settings, but you can at least back up the apps & data using Titanium Backup.


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Google cache links in search results
When searching for something while the target is offline its most convenient to click on Google's cache link for that certain target or search result. But I don't see such link on my android phone using the default browser. Is it related to mobile Google search? I wonder if I could reenable this. I use Android 2.3.3 with Samsung Galaxy S i9000.

Space is at a premium on a mobile screen. I expect that Google's mobile-optimized search results have dropped the link to the cache from the results. I know that search results have had a bit of a makeover recently any way and the cache link it hidden behind a mouseover event, which, of course, you can't do on a phone anyway.

If you go to the bottom of the search results page, you will see something like (View Google in: Mobile | Classic), you can click on "Classic" to view the current search result in desktop version of Google, which of course have the 'cached' link.

Yes!, I've searched for this, but overlooked, Thanks!


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Sync Android contacts to Gmail
I am trying to backup contacts from my phone (Galaxy S, Android 2.2.1) to Gmail account. The procedure I found on the Internet goes as follows:

Open Contacts
Menu -> Import/Export -> Export to SD card
Menu -> Import/Export -> Import from SD card -> Google (i.e. save imported to Google account)

For some reason I don't have option to use SD card, so I use SIM instead. However, when I import contacts, they save to the phone (there is no prompt where to store them). I changed settings to automatically save contacts to Google and it works for newly created ones, but doesn't affect importing.
Am I missing something? Or could you verify this behavior on your phones?

I remember this. When I first got my phone I made the same mistake, setting my contacts to save to my phone instead of Google. I believe I ended up using the free version of MyBackup to backup my contacts, then restore them as Google contacts.

Contacts, by default, that are saved on the device, will sync with the google account ( or accounts ) that are signed in on the device.
If you have contacts on your sim, you can go in to the contacts application, go in to the menu and select "Import/Export", then you select Import from SIM. This will import your contacts that are on your SIM to the account(s) that you are logged in to on the device.
Finally, make sure you have Contact Sync enabled for your account. Go in to the settings -> Accounts & Sync, Select the Google Account you want to sync the contacts and then make sure "Contacts" is checked.
In response to your last comment about "you can save contacts to SIM", I guess that would depend on your device. AOSP (Stock) Android 2.3.5 does not give you the option for phone the device and SIM. Below is a screenshot of all of my synced accounts, and the only option for "unsynced". Since you say you see icons next to some of them, I would be willing to guess you have a samsung device that is running touchwiz. There is a setting that you can change to "always add to 'this' account". Don't bother "linking" multiple contacts together, it is only on the phone side, it does nothing when syncing.

You're wrong. If you set contacts to be saved on device, they don't sync.

No, contacts saved to the sim do not sync. If you "add" them to an account they sync. "Saving to the phone" does not save them to an account, so they do not sync. "Saving to phone" is saving them to the SIM card. I have ad multiple android devices, and never has it defaulted to save to SIM/Phone, it always defaulted to my google accounts.

also, did you read my answer, I told you how to import them if they are saved on the phone/sim... and it doesn't require you to use a market app to do so.

I think there is some misconception. Actually you can save contacts to SIM (sim icon will appear next to the contact), physical device (no icon) or Google account ("g" icon). They will be synced only in the last case.

see my original post for some more information.


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Spotify/pandora timer
Is there an app that is preferrably free that will shut off (not just mute the phone as I don't want Pandora sucking bandwitdh all night) that will shut off Pandora or spotify after a certain amount of time?

Not free, but you probably can use Taskerto do this.   I use Pocket Casts to listen to podcasts, and have a Tasker profile set up:
3 Contexts: Shake left-right; app Pocket Cast running; Not Docked Car
2 Tasks: Notify (turn LED on, title "Sleep"); Wait 12 minutes, then Pause Simulate Media Button, then Notify Cancel title "Sleep"
Net effect is that I can shake the phone left then right, and Pocket Cast will behave as if the Pause button on a headset were pushed 12 minutes later.   I used the notification LED so I could tell whether Sleep had been activated when the screen is off.
I'm guessing Pandora would observe the headphone pause function; if it does, this profile should work for you.

Sometimes I feel like a Tasker shill because about half of my answers here mention it, but it really is like a Swiss Army Knife for personalization of my phone.

I would add that Tasker's user interface is a little on the opaque side, but once you get the hang of it, you can do all sorts of things.

Yes tasker is the key but I prefer llama because its free and its awesome. Actually its location based profile app but it can be used for your condition.
There is a condition called "time between", add that condition and choose "kill application" for its action. Add your desired time and application


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Does a carrier know I am tethering via Wifi Hotspot?
I am using my phone's built in Wifi Hotspot to share wifi with my laptop and my other devices.  I am using android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and the phone I have is the HTC Desire Z.
Questions
Is it possible for a carrier to detect that I am using "Wifi Hotspot" and sharing my mobile data connection with other devices?
Furthermore, is Wifi Hotspot a feature that most android devices have? and is it a feature that can be disabled by the carrier (on a phone-by-phone basis)?

The reason iPhone users were so easily found out is that the iPhone would use a different APN for tethering vs its own data connection. Android phones do not do this.

It is not detectable, but using tethering on Android with an second device leaves a lot of traces:

User-Agent Headers within HTTP that come from non-mobile browser
Increased Traffic consumption
Connection to services that are not available on Android/Smartphone devices (e.g. World of Warcraft)

and many more I can't think of atm.
But I have never heard of a carrier that goes for a trial, even if it's a violation of services from most carrier contracts. IMHO Mobile carriers have other problems at the moment, like overall increased mobile data traffic because of the smartphone boom. These is currently handled by soft limits of data traffic, that when reached only allow traffic over 2G connections.
Or, to answer your second question, if you buy a smartphone from some carriers, the build in tethering function is locked and not usable.

One thing I tend to do is ssh from my tethered device and port forward to a remote proxy on my server. Then the only thing the network ever sees is encrypted SSH traffic.

Wrong answer ! When I’m using tethering (which isn’t blocked by the phone), all my laptop traffic are redirected to captive portal (all ᴅɴꜱ requests resolve against captive portal website and ping is blocked but not from phone) stating that I need to pay 4 times more than I’m paying now in order to access tethering !

If that is the case then there is some software on your phone which makes this possible. I assume such a software is non-standard.

While your carrier wouldn't be able to directly detect you are using WiFi hotspot, they might notice that you are using a lot of data.
This is often a red flag in their systems, and might get you a phone call and/or your bandwidth throttled/capped.
WiFi hotspot is not available on all devices.  For instance, my og Droid with stock ROM doesn't offer this due to limitations artificially imposed by Verizon.
While a carrier cannot disable WiFi hotspot on a phone by phone basis, they most certainly can limit your bandwidth and/or cap it at a certain amount (for instance, I get full bandwith until I hit 2GB total, at which point it slows WAY down).

Wrong answer ! When I’m using tethering (which isn’t blocked by the phone), all my laptop traffic are redirected to captive portal (all ᴅɴꜱ requests resolve against captive portal website and ping is blocked but not from phone) stating that I need to pay 4 times more than I’m paying now in order to access tethering !

/u/user2284570 : "tethering" and "wifi hotspot" are not interchangeable terms.  Also, this is seven years old - perhaps you might take into consideration that technology and carrier operations have changed the teensiest bit since then, eh?

I just got off the phone with T-Mobile because I am being throttled and I was upset. He said I was not using tethering even though I had been so it appears that no, they can not see that you are tethering.

Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I thought tethering worked by setting up NAT traversal and forwarding packets from your tethered device through your mobile device. This would leave a trace in the IP packets since the NATed ports need to be embedded in the communication for NAT to work. Since your IP packets aren't encrypted the carrier should easily be able to determine if you're tethering just by observing your data stream.

No, you are wrong. NATed connections don't leave traces in the IP header that couldn't come from a normal connection too.

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


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Is it possible to free up phone storage while keeping HTC Sense?
I recently factory-reset my HTC Desire to free up space for apps, because it was suffering from constant 'low space' warnings, and it wasn't possible to free up space.
(Initially I installed Cyanogenmod, but didn't like various things about it, so returned to the HTC Sense UI).
However I can see the phone storage problem is going to come back soon - after moving 4 apps off the phone and onto SD card (the only 4 that supported this) I ended up with 10MB LESS space on the phone!
So I am wondering if there's a way to get more stuff off the phone and onto the SD card while keeping the HTC Sense UI. I have heard of 'A2SD+' for example. Can I use that while retaining HTC Sense?
(My phone is rooted and has S-OFF).

I also have the safe device and had faced the same problem. I have two wonderful solutions:
1) Use link2sd. This app moves your app's apk, lib and dex file to second partition of you SD card. It will leave only the data files in the internal memory. So you can install nearly five times the more apps. I have a blog post if you want to try it out.
2) Use sueprnova ROM. This ROM is the stock ROM with data2sd support. So you can even use 2GB of SD space as internal memory.
Both of this solution requires you to have a better class of SD Card.

A better class of SD Card - meaning a faster SD card than the one that came with the phone?

Yes. Class 4 or class 6 SD card. As the files will reside on SD card the speed matters.

New card ordered!

I thought I would give an update: I installed suprnova on a 10x SD card (requirement was for a slower 6x card). I have been able to install as many apps as I want, but the downside is that the phone is incredibly slow to use. On balance I am not sure if I'd recommend going through the hassle to others.

I have a LeeDroid Rom on my Desire, and it has Sense and A2SD+. There are many roms with sense...

Okay, so it sounds like the answer is to install a ROM with Sense (and presumably also do some work to set up A2SD+).

Yes. But it really requires very little works to set up A2SD+ with a rom that includes it. I only had to partition and format the SD card in a particular way before flashing the phone.


text:
Saving a PDF file downloaded from browser
I have the need of downloading and forwarding a PDF receipt downloaded from Firefox (Firefox runs in Honeycomb, not on PC!). I know that the PDF should be "protected" because Adobe Reader on PC says so, however in Adobe Reader for Android I don't have any option more than "Info on Adobe Reader" to save or forward the file in an email.
My stock ROM comes with the shareware Docs To Go that wants me to buy the full version for saving/forwarding a file.
Am I missing something in Firefox to show some kind of open/save dialog instead of directly opening the file in a reader?
Thank you

Actually, I found that all downloaded files are always stored in /mnt/sdcard/Download no matter they are "opened" or "saved" so I can grab them from there with any file manager


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Could someone confirm the status of Google Gtalk App on Android?
I am a new android user but I am a computer and internet search veteran, however today I have been unable to find information about the status of google talk for android.
I simply want to download and install the Gtalk app for Android, but I cannot find it on the market. I find many references to it elsewhere, but the app itself seems to be gone from the market. I also find many references to voice and video chat in Google talk on android, so is it the case that google have removed the basic chat app in favour of google voice?

Google Talk was never on the Android Market.  It should have come with your device if it was a "Google Approved" device, e.g. one that met their minimum requirements (see this for the Gingerbread requirements).  The Google apps that come pre-installed on devices are usually not listed publically on the Market.  An exception is Maps, for example, which isn't preloaded on some devices either.
You should look under your app drawer for "Talk" (rather than "Google Talk", it's easy to miss if you look for that instead).  If it's not there it can probably be side-loaded if you root your device, but that's another issue.

That explains it. This must not be an approved device. So the next step is gain full access to my property.. :)

If you can find the apk for the Talk app, you can load it without having to root your phone, just make sure you enable the Unkown Sources option under the Application Setting. You could try a forum like XDA to see if anyone there can provide the Talk App. Sending it to your phone via e-mail or loading it onto the SD card. Click it from either and it should load fine. Just let them know which version of Android you are running as there are probably different versions of talk depending on the version of android.

I am finding that specifically, the Talk app is not so easy to load. There are dependency issues.


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Android Auto fails to start on the car monitor
I have a Samsung Galaxy Android Phone which runs on Android 10, One UI Version 2.0. It is an AT&T phone. I also have a Subaru Crosstrek.
The phone connected to the car thru Bluetooth and it does react to phone calls and texts without any issues through the Android Auto. All other applications work fine.
However, when I tried to connect the phone with the USB wire, the Android Auto application is not available on the car dashboard.

I tried to connect a different phone - works correctly.
I tried to put the SIM card from my phone to some other phone - works correctly.
I also tried to re-install Android Auto and re-pair the phone with the car - still USB connection doesn't work
I also consulted with Subaru. They exchanged the radio. It helped for a while and then it stopped working again.

When the phone does not connect through the USB, just Bluetooth - Android Auto does start on the phone and establishes the connection to the car. Then everything works fine.
Basically, I am connecting the phone with the USB and the button to the dashboard does not become enabled.
Any idea how to fix it?

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


text:
How do I run 2 Android phones on a PC simultaneously so that DroidCam on one phone & TC games screen mirror on another phone?
I have 2 Android phones and I want to connect both of them to my PC via USB cables like this:

Motorola Moto G3 5.1.1 (Lollipop) goes to the DroidCam app to use as a webcam.
Samsung S4 Zoom (KitKat) goes to mirror screen Android to PC app called "TC games" for screen share and controlling my phone from my PC.

Right now, I have Universal ADB Driver installed on PC and I can't run both programs at the same time. This message pops up when I use DroidCam at the same time with Tc games: "adb server is out of date. Killing...".
How can I connect Motorola to DroidCam as a default, and TC games to Samsung and run both of them at the same time without any problem?

Are you using the Lollipop device for webcam & mic audio or just webcam? If only webcam but no audio on Lollipop, can you swap webcam android and mirror screen android devices so that you can use something like QTScrcpy so like Robert stated use one adb version? Or can't as you are streaming over Skype or something?

Applications like DroidCam or Scrcpy that require adb to work often include an own version of adb. For DroidCam you can see it in the sub-directory adb the three files that belong to adb:

adb.exe
AdbWinApi.dll
AdbWinUsbApi.dll

However adb is designed to be present one time on a system because when it starts it remains loaded invisible in the background.
Now if a program has it's own adb version it prefers this versions and therefore when it starts it's own adb version the previous adb daemon running background is killed and replaced with the different adb version.
In your case the message adb server is out of date. additionally indicates that you have two different versions of adb installed and the newer version kills the older version that was already running (old version = out of date version).
Some programs like Scrcpy allow to specify via environment variable where adb.exe is located so that you can redirect it to one adb versions that is available on your system.
I am not sure if DroidCam also supports such an environment variable.
But in any way you should "equalize" all adb versions you have installed:

Search your system where it has adb.exe installed
On each found adb.exe execute adb.exe --version and identify the newest version (the version installed with Android Studio shows at the moment Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.41 - Version 30.0.2-6538114
From the newest adb version copy the three files adb.exe, AdbWinApi.dll and AdbWinUsbApi.dll to the other locations adb.exe was found overwriting the existing files.

This should at least solve your problem that the adb versions installed have a different version.

thank you for your answer. the problem is with the old android in s4 zoom it can run only with TC games screen mirror via USB because TC provides older adb:
adb-1-0-32-platform-23-0-1.exe
adb-1-0-40-platform-28-0-2.exe
adb-1-0-41-platform-29-0-6.exe
I've tried so many time connect s4 zoom to iVCam via USB and it did not work, but it has worked via WiFi. and when i copied the 3 adb files from TC folder to iVCam the 2nd did not work correctly via USB with neither 2 phones.


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Cannot use the "Alt-C" app on Android phone and Mac laptop
I bought a Samsung Galaxy A71 recently then I installed an app called Alt-C on my phone and my MacBook air. It works fine, but the app cannot copy text from my own phone to my Mac, and a message appears on my phone, saying:

Alt-C could not paste text to PC: make sure you copied the text on your device.

and a notification appears on my Mac saying:

there was no text in the device's clipboard.

Does anyone have a solution for that?

Had the same problem and it seems that since Android 10, apps can only access the clipboard if they are in the foreground. So the only way for the copy to work from Phone to Mac is to open the app on your phone after you've copied the text, and then paste on the Mac.

ah, makes sense for security I guess. Better than nothing. iOS and MacOS clipboard sync is so good I missed this feature when I went android.

I just tested Alt C on Android 11 and it works in the background, at least when I've recently opened it. It wasn't working before that though.

In Android 12, I faced the same issue where I was able to copy text from PC to phone but not able to copy text from phone to PC, it showed "couldn't paste text from realme", but later I found the way to copy text from phone to PC.
Basically, when you copy text from your phone then you have to open the Alt-C app in order to sync with your PC, and when the app is open on your phone, then you try to paste it on your PC, then it will be paste. It worked for me in Android 12.

I've found that Alt C works on Android 11 if you've recently opened it on your phone, or if you allow it to keep use battery in the background.
For the latter, the ways to do this vary - here's an example for Pixel phones. I haven't tested this thoroughly with Alt C.


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Chrome Android redirects to web.bwanet.ca
Downloaded Sophos Intercept X today cause my Chrome browser kept opening to https://web.bwanet.ca all of a sudden + all my open tabs were gone.
Is it due to Sophos? If so, is there a specific feature in the Sophos app that can stop future hijacks?

Not sure about the Sophos download, but as far as bwanet is concerned, on several online forums (see below) people mention that if your phone is from Bell/Virgin, then that is who is "hijacking" your home page to bwanet.
The solution is to go into your browser settings and change the home page Bell/Virgin sets upon every browser install.
I gathered this from the following pages:

r/virginmobile on Reddit (2021-01-20)
Google Chrome Help (2019-09-02)
Samsung Community (2021-12-21)

First it is totally unclear why the tabs are gone. Can be anything between a simple bug in the web browser or a sophisticated attack.
And second nobody knows what bugs and vulnerabilities are hidden in the browsers you mentioned and additionally what bugs and vulnerabilities are introduced in the next version.
Hence from my perspective the only answer you can get is NO. Nothing can prevent or stop unknown problems in a constantly updated software browsing constantly changing web sites.
You can always protect yourself only against known problems. This also applies to  software like Sophos Intercept X.

well on windows desktop years ago i remember lots of software that worked well to stop browser hijacker malware, but on android i'm unfamiliar with which part of the anti-virus/malware apps work to protect browsers.


text:
"This app is compatible with all your devices", but the Install button is greyed out on the web version of the Play Store
On the web version of the Play Store, the "Install" button is greyed out even though the message says: "This app is compatible with all of your devices."

What is the possible reason, and how to fix this?

this happens to me all the time with some apps. The app is available if I use the play store app in the phone though.

I had the same issue. I think it is a google bug (or an unexpected feature effectively working as a bug). However, I still could install anything I wanted to, only not from the web.

Just saw this workaround posted by a Stefan Brunnauer on Google Play Help, and it worked perfectly for me
"Had the same problem - I removed the missmatching &gl=US query parameter at the end of the browser URL and it worked. Maybe this helps."

Still valid at 06/2022

Still valid in 02/2024!  Thanks!

It turns out that even if the app is compatible, it might be blocked in your country.
As mentioned here, removing the country parameter on your url will help.
For example, if the URL is
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dubox.drive&hl=en_AU&gl=US
removing the &gl=US like so:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dubox.drive&hl=en_AU
This solved the problem for me.
Hope this helps.

I used an incognito window to sign in and it worked. So maybe something to do with browser cache.

I solved the greyed install application on Android emulator :

Choose an emulator configured with Google Apis AND Google Play Store.
Launch the Play Store application to install your desired application.
With these settings I can install my chosen apps.
Hope this will aid someone!

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange, a Q&A site focusing on issues faced by end-users and power users. Just want to note that the question is specifically talking about the web Play Store, not the app version.


text:
How to switch between personal page and Brand Page in the G+ Android app?
In Google Plus, I am able switch between my personal page and Brand Pages. (As described here.)
How do I do the same using the Android app version of G+?


text:
Galaxy Nexus: Disable screen lock during call
My GN Device locks the screen when I start a call.  Most of my calls are made using BT headset, and I don't need the lock in that scenario.
Is there a way to disable the automatic screen lock when a headset is used?

Is this still an issue on JB?

No, it isn't - I will answer it.

This issue was solved under Jelly Beans.


text:
Getting toast message with text sending
I'm using Asus 551 with lollipop. I have numerous apps installed. Recently, I started getting toast notification with the text Sending....
This usually occurs when I'm using Facebook, whatsapp and such apps. It seems fishy.
I recently uninstalled es file explorer after a similar issue was reported by users. It was showing similar toast with some Chinese text.
Is there a way I could find out what app is causing this?
Here is a screen shot:

I tried the dumpsys command, as suggested by @Firelord. Then used some of the apps, got the Sending... toast a couple of times, then again ran the dumpsys command, but there was no difference in the log. Here is how it looked before and after:

Any app actively showing a toast would be shown under the output of the command dumpsys window windows? Furthermore, if it is Android 5 or above, you can use dumpsys appops command to filter things out.

@Firelord I couldn't spot a difference in the outputs after using dumpsys appops, please see the update question.

Also, I am going to try this Notifications, Toasts logging app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coconuts.pastnotifications&hl=en

Turns out that it was the Sim ToolKit that was showing the toast notification. I have recently switched to a Reliance Jio Sim (India), which has free unlimited calls and 4G data until December! Now that is too good to believe and fishy.
I used this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coconuts.pastnotifications&hl=en
And allowed it to monitor the Toasts via Accessibility settings.
For now I have Force Stopped the process. The toasts are gone, should they come back, I will disable the Jio Sim itself.


text:
Black screen during outgoing call on Galaxy S3
I made software update for my Galaxy S3 to 4.1.1 and now after outgoing call the screen remains black and doesn't cancel the call or does anything till call stop. I did factory reset but it doesn't resolve my problem. Can anyone help me with that thxon advice

I resolve it by this:  Call settings ~> Auto screen off/on during calls.


text:
Where are UID for each application stored?
When installing an application, Android gives it an unique UID, which file(s) is used to keep track of used UIDs and to whom they belong? I want to forcibly change application UID to ensure they are the same on different device.
I've already checked with /data/system/packages.xml. But while that contains application permissions by package name, didn't see any UID there.
If it depends on Android version, for each versions superior or equal to 4.4.4 and source to documentation to figure it out myself for future versions.

You have already missed the correct answer.
The UIDs are stored right in /data/system/packages.xml, although an easier-to-interpret version with less information is available at packages.list.
Here's an example line of what's inside (scroll to the right)
<package name="jackpal.androidterm" codePath="/data/app/jackpal.androidterm-1" nativeLibraryPath="/data/app/jackpal.androidterm-1/lib" primaryCpuAbi="armeabi" flags="572996" ft="1592b6fa088" it="153d4948841" ut="158ed133c1f" version="71" userId="10001">
You see, there's a userId XML Attribute. This is exactly the UID you are asking for.
Furthermore, userId may be replaced by sharedUserId if an app shares its UID with another. Like (also scroll to right)
<package name="com.android.providers.telephony" codePath="/system/app/TelephonyProvider" nativeLibraryPath="/system/app/TelephonyProvider/lib" primaryCpuAbi="arm64-v8a" flags="540165" ft="159d34468e8" it="4ba52c60" ut="159d34468e8" version="1" sharedUserId="1001">
Of course you don't want to go through that terribly long packages.xml, so you might want to take a look at packages.list, like
jackpal.androidterm 10001 0 /data/data/jackpal.androidterm default 3003,1028,1015
Very straight, isn't it? The 2nd field delimited with space is exactly the UID and it's the same as the one in packages.xml.
Do not modify packages.list. All unmatching records in packages.list will be corrected from packages.xml.
Also, it's possible to change UID of an installed app if it does not have a shared UID. Simply edit packages.xml and reboot, then the new UID will have effect immediately. Old data will be erased for the changed app. If you want to keep data, apply chown recursively on the app's data directory in /data/data. If an app's old data gets erased by mismatching UID, related information will show up at /data/system/uiderrors.txt. Like this:
1970/01/01 00:00: Package jackpal.androidterm uid has changed from 0 to 10001, old data erased.
Tested on Android from 4 through 5. I guess this is applicable from Gingerbread to Nougat.

thanks i had not scanned through all data, surely the first part is permissions then UIDs.

Does this still work on Android 10? Can you pleas explain more how to avoid lossing the data? Thank You.

@Sruly 'chown -Rhv 10001.10001 /data/user*/0/jackpal.androidterm'

@alecxs It doesn't seem to change the apps UID it only changes the files owner and group. I'm looking for a way to change the apps UID to make it the same as the UID for this app on a different device.

@Sruly chown recursively is "how to avoid losing the data" (after editing packages.xml from this answer)


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Can I recharge my Android smartphone at any USB port?
My girlfirend has just installed a new CD Player on her car that comes with a USB port to connect external devices(Flash card, external hard drive, etc). My question is based due the fact that I told her that if she want to recharge her Android smartophone on her car, she must buy a 12V car adapter to USB(which is very expensive on Brazil). Now, with the new CD Player, I'm wondering if she can use it's USB port to recharge her cellphone with the USB cable. It is feasible? There is any limitations on recharging an Android smartophone on another types USB ports(I mean from another host not only the CD player)?

Would be interesting to know if it works.  Please do let us know if/when she tries this.

There're two flavors of USB ports - powered and unpowered. Unpowered ports can't supply power to the devices and are rather rare. You identify them easily - connect the smartphone to them and see if it starts charging. If it starts charging the port is powered and you're okay.

If the USB port supports USB sticks then it has power to recharge a smartphone. The only question is how much power it has. The USB protocol includes what I would call a "power handshake". Host (radio) and client (smartphone) communicate with each other and the host specifies how many milliampere the client is allowed to use.
If the radio has USB high-power support you will get up to 500mA, without only up to 100mA.
BTW: A plain USB power adapter usually supports up to 1000mA. I assume a simple car 12V-to-USB-adapter would also support that much power.
Therefore even if charging via radio works, charging will take significantly longer.
How many milliamperes are used for loading can be seen on a large number of phones by the Battery Monitor Widget or similar apps.

I usually charge mine from the USB port of my TV decoder (that's always powered on) so I think there will be no problems.

There might be a problem, my car mp3 player smoked up when I once tried to charge my phone through its usb port, the usb cable was damaged too. I suggest she doesn't do that.


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Is there an easy way to un-root Android 2.2 on Droid X rooted via z4root?
Is there an easy way to un-root Android 2.2 on Droid X rooted via z4root?
The reason is that I would like to apply a Gingerbread 2.3 update from Verizon, and that update ALWAYS fails to install.
Since I never had a custom ROM on the phone, my first guess is that the problem may be due to being rooted, but I don't see an "Unroot" option in z4root.
Please note that factory reset is NOT an answer I'm looking for.

How exactly is the update failing? Any error messages? The more information you provide - the easier it would be to diagnose and offer ideas.

@Chahk - see http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/15797/ota-gingerbread-2-3-update-fails-to-install-on-droidx-rooted-stock-froyo-2-2-1 for details of the failed update (this question is specific to "how do I unroot", since it's quite possible that the update fails for a different reason, AND I'd like to learn how to unroot independently of update failure)

Out of curiosity: what version of z4root do you have?

@eldarerathis - 1.1.0 z4root

Aha, the unroot button was added in v1.2.0. See my answer, maybe that will help.

z4root added an "Unroot" button in version 1.2. Version 1.3 added "force unroot" (not entirely sure what that means). You can grab the most recent version from the XDA thread, then you should be able to simply hit "Unroot" and be on your way.

Yep, that worked. Didn't solve my OTA problem though :(


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Incredible2 and Gmail notifications
My wife has an HTC Droid Incredible 2, unrooted, running Android 2.3.4, HTC Sense 2.1.  If she  gets a Gmail email, the notification appears in the notification bar AND it plays a notification sound.
What I'd like to do is to get the notification in the bar, but not hear the sound.  Gmail now only displays an option to display a notification or not.  There are no settings for notification sound in Gmail.  But the phone's notification sound can be changed, but there is no "Silent" ringtone.  You can add ringtones for the phone ringer, but those added ringtones don't appear in the notification sound list.
Is there any way around this?

The gmail app now does notifications based on “labels” instead of having global notification settings. That way you can have different settings per label.  So, if you go to the inbox label (I think), you can set the sound there…


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Duplicate Text Messages, Verizon: DroidX2
I have a DroidX2 on Verizon and I always get duplicate text messages and it's super annoying. Is there a simple way to fix this? Or is this a carrier issue?

are you only using the stock sms application?

Yes I'm only using the stock SMS app.

This does sound like a network (carrier) issue, however, do you have any applications that intercept text messages? If so, uninstall it, and see if that helps.
Edit: i just got this issue on an ICS rom. What i think it could be - your network holds the text, and tries to send it if your phone is turned off, or has no signal. It then tries to send them. After it has sent, the network doesn't actually realise it, and sends it again.

Yes this is clearly a carrier issue.
If you are using the stock sms application, I've never come across this apart from carrier forwarding.

Sounds like a carrier issue, as said. However, this could be due to an issue with your connection?
You could possibly do a Factory Default Reset, and see if that alleviates the problem. Could be a faulty installation causing the connection to send twice or something? Not too sure how that works, but it might be worth a shot.
If not, then possibly contact your Carrier, regarding the issue, and they may have an appropriate answer for your query.

My wife had the same problem on her phone and as the resident tech, it fell to mo to resolve it. She has a Blu VIVO XL V0030UU 16GB 4G LTE Unlocked GSM Phone. I tried disabling any apps on the phone that may have been receiving SMS texts and forwarding them on to no avail. Our carrier is Tmobile. What finally worked was going into the settings and disabling "Enhanced 4G LTE mode".
My working theory at this point is that the SMS is transmitted and times out waiting for an ACK and then resends.


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What build of ICS do I need for Nexus S baseband I9020XXKF1
Baseband version: I9020XXKF1
Current software build number is GRK39F on Android 2.3.6
I seem to have a pretty much unrecognised baseband version of the Nexus S. I brought mine carrier-free in the UK.
There are a bunch of updates listed in this thread on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1063664
But there are 2 versions beginning with I9020, but they have extra letters on the end (no X like I do) : I9020A and I9020.
None of them match up perfectly, what update do I need/any dangers of using the wrong one?

The correct build was here. It's listed in incremental updates 2.3.6 - 4.0.3.

My baseband is ever so slightly different from yours: it is I9020XXKI1 (I think; it's hard to read).  I upgraded by following the steps at http://www.androidcentral.com/how-manually-update-your-gsm-nexus-s-ice-cream-sandwich; I am pretty sure that you can't go wrong doing the same.  At worst, your phone will refuse to install the thing.

Thanks, will give it a try tonight. Mine definitely ends with KF1.


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Screen colour when sliding
I just got a Samsung Galaxy 2 and when I slide the screen and when there is nothing more to scroll, I get blue screen at the edge. Is this normal? The phone is working fine.

Yes, totally normal. This is the UI's way of telling you that you've reached the edge.


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If I do factory reset, set a different primary account, will I lose all the apps I already downloaded?
Assuming I purchased and downloaded a few apps, via the existing primary account from the Android Market:
If I do factory reset, then set a different primary gmail account, will I lose all the apps I already downloaded?
If not, what is really being erased when a factory reset is done?

Yes, you will "lose" those apps, since they are tied to the Google account rather than to the device. As far as I know, there is no way to transfer a purchased app from one account to another.
A factory reset basically clears the /data partition.

Thanks. And if I set back the original primary gmail account after I do (one or more) factory resets, will be able to gain back the apps I purchased? BTW, I looked at the data folder in File Manager and it is empty, despite the fact that I didn't do factory reset yet (and all my apps are in the phone).

@BillTheApe (As long as your device has Android 2 or newer) then you can add more than one Google account to your device. Once you have more than one the Market app has an "Accounts" menu option that lets you switch between your accounts, so you can temporarily switch the Market to your old account and download all the apps purchased on that account again.

@GAThrawn This is a very helpful tip. Thank you! I wish I could have given you +10 (not enough points in my android.stackexchange account).


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How to check Android phone’s processor (ARM, ARM64, or x86)?
Knowing which processor you have is very important to make sure you are downloading the right files. One app, nowadays, has multiple versions for multiple processors so that it runs smoothly on each and every phone available. If you only install apps from the Google Play Store, then knowing which CPU architecture your phone has is not necessary, but if you sideload apps, then this information is required as CPU architecture is becoming a factor in more and more scenarios these days, including certain sideloaded app updates and, of course, custom ROMs and Gapps.
As of now, there are three main CPU architectures used in Android smartphones

ARM: ARMv7 or armeabi
ARM64: AArch64 or arm64
x86: x86 or x86abi

There are a couple of 3rd-party apps to find CPU architecture found from this article:

Inware
Droid Hardware Info
My Device – Device info

My question is, can we find the CPU architecture of the Android phone without installing any apps?
Just in case it's relevant, the device I'm using is a Poco X2 with Android 9+.

try answer here Get chip name of the android device using adb?

Simply do uname -m or cat /proc/cpuinfo on adb shell or any Terminal emulator app. It's same for any Linux OS, not specific to Android.

Related, if not a dupe: How can I tell if my installed Android version, not CPU, is a 64 bit or 32 bit one?, Android apps for "armeabi-v7a" and "x86" architecture: SoC vs. Processor vs. ABI

Does this answer your question? Android apps for "armeabi-v7a" and "x86" architecture: SoC vs. Processor vs. ABI

It is indeed a pity that this isn't listed anywhere in Settings, not even in Developer Options. The minimum-change way to get the information is as follows:
Turn on Developer Options and USB debugging
This answer isn't the place to reiterate that. Google have a page on how to turn them on with your device's Settings app.
Install ADB on your computer
ADB is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, but the process of installing it is different for each operating system (and varies between Linux distributions).
If you are comfortable working with the command line and the filesystem of your computer, Google have a page about ADB. That has links to further pages for downloading and troubleshooting it.
If you aren't comfortable with command lines and filesystems, you'll need to learn that to do much with ADB. Assembling scripts from fragments found on Stack Overflow won't get you very far. ADB gives you lots of access to information and controls on an Android device, but it is not intended for carefree tinkering. Like most powerful tools, it can do harm if used wrongly.
It used to be the case that Windows sometimes needed special USB drivers for ADB. That doesn't seem to be the case for Windows 10 and 11, but all my experience with Windows ADB has been with Samsung devices, so it is possible other manufacturers' devices still need them.
Ask Android's Linux kernel
adb shell uname -m

The reply will tell you what architecture the Linux kernel in your Android OS is running. It tells you this in Linux terminology, rather than Android ABI names:

"aarch64" is 64-bit ARMv8-A, which is Android's "arm64-v8a" ABI.
"armv7l" is 32-bit ARMv7-A, which is Android's "armeabi-v7a" ABI.
"x86_64" is 64-bit x86, which is Android's "x86_64" ABI.
"i386" or "i686" are the basic 32-bit x86 or the Pentium Pro variant respectively, which is Android's "x86" ABI.

On Terminal apps inside of android (Like "Qute") just type uname -m and you will see architecture of running android (no root needed)

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

One way that I was able to find the cpu architecture for my google Pixel was by going to "settings/Apps/See all apps/Clock/App details".  That will get you to "Google Play".  On that screen below "Installed on all devices" I see "Google SDK_gphone64_x86_64" and it says its "Installed".  So you can  then infer that my phone architecture is x86_64. I also assume that you can infer that this is a 64 bit architecture (gphone64).  So that's one way you can get the architecture without any special application installed or using an "adb shell".
Please note that I'm not sure this exact method will work for all vendor Androids on the market.  You may need to look at the "App details" for some app other than clock. So substitute another app's name for clock in the settings path I described above.
It's too bad that the phones cpu architecture is not listed in "settings/system" or in " settings/About phone".
Update:
Based on the comments from John and Andrew, I'm going to say that my answer is wrong. This doesn't work as a method for inferring the processor type without the aid of some other tool as mentioned in the other answers. Apparently, the App Store keeps information about all the apps installed on all your devices just by the fact that you visited the App Store. I must have visited the App Store from an Android emulator I was running, and the "app detail" from the App Store confused me. I was hoping that I might find the name of a native library code installed with some app by looking at the "app detail".  Apparently that's not the case.

What model Pixel is this? If it's a phone, I'm suspicious that SDK is wrongly labelled, because there aren't any x86-64 based Pixel phones.

I have a feeling this is an Android SDK emulator running on an x86 image, while using the Google Pixel template, not a real Pixel phone. That aside, I believe what is displayed on Play Store is actually the device name, which on real Android devices, won't include CPU architecture.

It's an Google Pixel 8.  I'm not sure what processor it has, I assumed from the information I see that it is an x86_64 since I got that information using my phone and not an emulator.  I will say the I don't truly understand why the screen I mentioned says "Installed on all devices".  I certainly could be wrong but that's what I see when I expand "app details" using my pixel.  It could be that the App Store details are miss leading. My assumption was that if I found app details about native code that an apps was using, I could infer the type of processor architecture.

My "About phone" settings says the device name is "Pixel 8".  Maybe, the App Store only keeps track of the last device that the app was installed on. I did recently update an emulator from Android Studio.  So maybe that explains it!  I won't think that an emulator update would access the Play Store, but maybe it does!


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What can class 0 message (flash SMS) do to Android devices?
I'm using a Samsung phone and I recently got an anonymous message via Class 0 Message

Class 0 Message
URGENT MATTER ,CONTACT
  ME MY EMAIL NOW
  (email redacted)
From: (phone no. redacted)

I saw a concerning article regarding the issue, it said that it can apparently reboot your phone? Is that true?
What I did was I responded to the email not knowing it might be a scam.

Do you have any antivirus installed on the smartphone? Protect Yourself from “SMiShing”

I don't have one but I'm downloading mcafee

Don't what it means I'm pretty new regarding any phone issues, didn't even know you can get attacked by a simple SMShing

@NeoAragones, please, add on your question full device description.

Try to install a good antivirus, on Google there are free good antivirus like AVG, Avast and the like. Then, try to full scan on your device looking for some malware and don't forget to full scan the sdcard too.
If after made the step 1 succesfully you still are getting that SMS message, so I highly recommend you to factory reset your device, which one means that your device go back to the factory settings and all the data stored on the device will be deleted except the sdcard data (of course, if you didn't encrypt the sdcard).

Important: if you factory reseted your device, pay much attention when installing apps again, check out apps are really trusted.
References:

The best antivirus software for
Android
Don't Answer Text Messages of This Type. It May Be a
Scam
Malware
How to factory reset Android
devices


text:
Use or access large NTFS cluster sizes (e.g. 2048 kb / 2049 kb / 2M or 2MB) in an Android (or Linux) OS?
I have an external media storage drive where I (believe that I) have formatted the partitions as 2048 kb (or 2,048 kb for any Googlers searching) cluster sizes and there are a couple of smaller clustered partitions on the same USB drive. This might be termed as 2049 kb or 2,049 kb ( or 2M / 2 M / 2MB / 2 MB ) in some places, but 2048 is the number that Windows provides when you format.
I'm pretty sure that is the number that I chose when I formatted them. However, the actual number in the cluster report is 2097152 or 2,097,152 from this command:
fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo [drive]

However, whenever the physical device is correctly recognised by Android operating systems, it will not recognise the large cluster partitions. Is this an Android-specific fault, or is it working as designed, and wasn't ever supposed to read clusters / file allocations of that size?
I have (I believe exhaustively) searched for answers on this (at 2048 and 2049), but as you can appreciate, I get a lot of unrelated stuff. I'm aware of how to Google well (quotes, brackets, intitles, etc), and have searched this network, too, and have not found a solution. This is a bit of a pain, is all, as it means that my drive can essentially only be used on my Windows computers, and then (I think) only a couple of them.
On Android, I've tried ES File Explorer on a Shield, and CX on a Galaxy Tab S4. I can't afford the NTFS plugin for Total Commander, but I would guess it's an OS restriction, not an App one. KODI doesn't see the partitions, and I'm not sure where to go next, to be honest.
I mention Linux in the title because my router (stock TP-Link Archer C1200 v2) also won't recognise the large clustered drives. I'll be testing on a Pi, later, to see if that gives me any joy, and a Mint box at my parents, when I can.
Windows 10 devices have no issues with the drive, I have a VISTA box that I can test, but I have a feeling that it won't recognise the drive as I may have tested it months ago. (This post has been in draft for a long time. ;-)
With the greatest respect (and I think Stack avoids this well, but still) let's not delve into why I chose NTFS or these cluster / file allocation sizes.

2 LARGE File size drives at this configuration NOT seen by Android devices:
Bytes Per Sector  :                512
Bytes Per Physical Sector :        4096
Bytes Per Cluster :                2097152
Bytes Per FileRecord Segment    :  1024

1 SMALLER File size drives at this configuration ARE seen by Android devices:
Bytes Per Sector  :                512
Bytes Per Physical Sector :        4096
Bytes Per Cluster :                32768
Bytes Per FileRecord Segment    :  1024

2 EVEN SMALLER File size drives at this configuration ARE seen by Android devices:
Bytes Per Sector  :                512
Bytes Per Physical Sector :        4096
Bytes Per Cluster :                4096
Bytes Per FileRecord Segment    :  1024

NTFS is Microsoft's proprietary filesystem. It means that unauthorized entities don't have the right to include an open source implementation of the driver in their products. That's why NTFS has never been fully supported in Linux/Android kernel. So if it works on your device, it's a bonus. If it doesn't, you cannot blame. The current in-kernel driver implementation (not being developed for years) is buggy and supports read-only mounting. There are FUSE implementations of NTFS drivers (which I've been using in Linux distros for years) and many OEMs/developers include that in their ROMs.

Same was the case with exFAT, but now MS open-sourced it a few months back. Some details here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/223592/218526

Cheers, @IrfanLatif, I didn't think it'd be as simple as bloody closed source horribleness. So the irony that routers, TVs, etc, won't recognise any other formats than FAT32 or NTFS (ie not exFAT), coupled with no decent cluster/file allocation methods in other file systems means that I'm basically banjaxed for large file storage ... would that be about right?

I believe you should stick with a max size of 64 kilobytes for the best interoperability. Windows 10 expanded the maximum cluster size from 64 to 2048 kilobytes (2097152 bytes per cluster) in the Spring of 2018.
The open-source world patched util-linux almost immediately to be able to read the partition structures off of such disk, but it will take a while for that to propagate through all Linux-based products (routers, backup software, Android, etc).


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What is Hevar Android and why is it written on my phone?
My S6 Edge phone's lock screen shows me the date, and below that two light bulb emojis surrounding "Hevar Android"
What is this? A Google search showed me that hevar is a Texas IT company, but nothing about Hevar Android.

That looks like an appointment reminder. Can you check your calendar whether there's some entry? Not that I mean you've added it, but some app might have.

Can't seem to find any entries for that...

OK, was worth a try. As it's on the lock screen, another place to look for are the corresponding settings. Also worth checking: Any apps you've installed that have access to the lockscreen.

Found it! It was the owner information. Must be the name of the store owner or something.

Cool! May I suggest you answer your own question then, and mark the answer "accepted"? Makes it easier for other people coming with a similar issue. Thanks!

Enter the settings app and click lock screen and security, then info and app shortcuts, and it's the owner information section.


text:
Open source flashlight app?
On my new phone, for security reasons I decided to stick to Open Source apps as much as possible.
Is there an Open Source flashlight app?
The most popular flashlight apps (1,2) are asking for crazy permissions: GPS, camera, Internet, GPS, SD card...
If no Open Source is available, at least one I would be happy with a very simple one, such as this one (white screen, brightness 100%, lock screen) which for some reason is not available for my new phone.

Are you running the stock ROM on your handset?  The flashlight app that's built into CyanogenMod 7.x is most definitely open source, but it will only work with CM7 installed.  http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1001132

Search Light is open source, has no unnecessary permissions, and has a nice set of operating modes.

Very nice! Too bad my phone does not have a camera flash, I really should have mentioned this. Accepting though, because your answer is correct.

I just submitted it to the F-Droid repository: http://f-droid.org/forums/topic/search-light/

OI Flashlight is Open Source, it can use both camera flash and bright screen.

Kevin's answer is great, but just some new info:
The Flashlight app, which was popular since very early on, has been released as Open Source:
https://github.com/devesh/Flashlight


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Maps Update Degraded Off-Route Traffic Display
I've been using Google Maps Navigation to help with my commute for about 2 years now.  One common action that I take is to start Naviation to my destination, and then look at the traffic display on other interstates to see if there's a quicker route.
The last update to navigation changed the display so that the red/yellow/green traffic overlays over the orangish/brownish roads are thinner, making it much harder to see the off-route traffic.  Also, the off-route map stays "light" even when I move the map around with my finger, exacerbating the problem -- it used to not do that as well.
I'm currently working around the issue by uninstalling the last update, but

Is there a way to fix the issue without unintalling the latest update?
Is there a way to give google feedback so that they fix the issue in future versions?

Thanks.

No one has answered my question, so I will share what I've learned with my own investigation.

No, you have to uninstall updates from the manage apps menu selection from the home screen.  I'm currently doing this as a workaround.
I didn't find a way to email google and get an answer, but I did find their forums.  The related question on their forums is at

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=0d337324bcc86a55&hl=en&fid=0d337324bcc86a550004b349bee9f864
There has been particiption in the discussion from a google employee, which is a good sign.  Also, version 6.0.0 is an improvement of 5.12.0, but still not as good as 5.8.0.


text:
How can I backup contacts on a SIM card to my computer?
My brother wants me to backup the data in his SIM card. How can I copy this to my computer without messing up my own contacts?

Create a separate Google account for your brother's account. Import your brother's SIM's contacts to that Google account.
OK- here's the idea I have:

Back up all your existing contacts to SD card. Open your Contacts App and press MENU > IMPORT/EXPORT > EXPORT TO SD CARD. A .vcf file will be created with all your existing contacts. Using My Files or Astro or a file manager of choice, save / copy this backup file to another location as well.
Optional Step - You can create a separate Google account for your brother so his imported contacts are pushed/synced there.
Turn on Airplane Mode - this way there's no chance of any changes being made to your Google Account Contacts (added safety).
Wipe all your contacts - from within the Contacts app, press MENU > DELETE and choose ALL CONTACTS. (This is also rather optional, depending on whether you wish to sync to a Google account or not).
Turn your phone off and insert your brother's SIM. Turn your phone on.
You currently have no contacts. From within your CONTACTS app, press MENU > IMPORT / EXPORT and choose IMPORT FROM SIM - it'll ask where the contacts should be imported to - PHONE / list of Google Accounts. Depending on your process, either choose the PHONE or the new Google account and you ought to be done.

You can either sync the new contacts to the new Google account or export them to a .vcf on your SD card.
This is just a rough idea of how you can do things. The end process is yours to tweak to your liking and needs.

I've got a Nexus S with Gingerbread

As mentionned in the other answer,
Contacts App > Menu > Import/Export > Export to SD card
will save all the contacts in a .VCF file on SD card, that you can copy to your computer.
Then, it can be useful to use a VCF to CSV or VCF to Excel converter, like this one (Python needed), to be able to read the .VCF with a software like Excel.


text:
Accidentally cancelled update to 2.3 this morning; how do I get it back?
I woke up 2 hours ago and there was the message on my phone (HTC DROID Incredible) that a new update was available and that my phone would restart to download and install the update and of course I click the "Install" button, but the way I was holding my phone was odd and my palm accidentally hit the "Cancel" button as it was counting down to restart the phone and it only got down to 5. Now the update seems to have disappeared. When I go into Settings > About phone > System updates my phone says that my system is already up to date. I also tried doing that *#*#CHECKIN#*#* thing which did not do anything (it said I was checked in but the update didn't come back). I thought the update would have automatically popped back up after 30 minutes but it's been two hours and my phone seems to have no trace that the update was even sent to my phone.

Have you tried rebooting the phone?

@eldarerathis: Yes, that is the first thing I tried, but I'll try it again just to be sure.

Others are reporting similar issues.  Is your build number 4.06, 4.08 or other?  I would suspect that if you missed the initial rollout you'll have to wait a bit, since they would want to do it gradually and not overload the network.  You might get prompted again later or they might enable manual upgrades at some point.
Verizon says you can update over Wi-Fi, though again it looks to be an automatic thing rather than manual, but maybe you'll get a second notification if you connect to Wi-Fi.

My build number says 3.26.605.1 CL264707 release-keys. I don't have anything that says 4.06 or 4.08.

@animuson So you definitely didn't get updated.  I added some info about a possible Wi-Fi upgrade, but I think you'll probably just have to wait unfortunately.

I always have my Wi-Fi connected while I'm at home. I actually turned it off initially to see if it would re-find the update over 3G with no luck, then turned it back on. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how long it takes to get it again. :(

Took a long time to make it back to my phone, but it finally popped back up just a few minutes ago. :D I made sure not to hit cancel this time.

@animuson Glad to hear it :)

You might try doing a manual update.

After a week check system upgrade option in settings when u will open the option they will automatically find new system ....their will be writen deceting a new upgrade and if u will get a new upgrade I will get it...it takes 7-14 days or mabe sometimes less....it also happened with me just wait and u will get new one ......be carefull ..


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Ringtones directory won't update in settings
I removed some of the stock ringtones (from my ROM) that I didn't want from /system/media/audio/ringtones and added some new ones that I got from the xda forums via my SD card and RootExplorer.
When I open the Sound/Default Ringtone menus in settings, some of the old ringtones are listed and new ones are listed as well, none of them play. The only ones that do are the few that I left in /system/media/audio/ringtones and a few stored on my SD card.
How can I fix this issue so that my phone recognises that all files are in their proper directories?

Have you restarted your phone since you replaced them?

Yes. Twice already. There's no change.

To update the ring tone directory, the media scanner has to run. Usually restarting the phone will do this, but if media scanner is not checking that directory when the device starts you can try to create a file in the sdcard ringtone directory with an app that triggers media scanner. I think Astro File Manager will trigger it.
If that doesn't work, you could try clearing the cache (I assume root since you are using root explorer and deleting system ringtones), the system may be caching that information and thinks they are still there.

The media scanner running fixed it! Although the media scanner ran when I restarted my phone previously, but for some reason the directory didn't update. Would that be because of the cache?

it could be because of caching, I am not 100% sure it caches the data in /cache, but it makes sense to me that it would because it scans the directory and doesn't update it unless it rescans.

Installing Astro and browsing to the file fixed it for me.


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WiFi high packet loss at home network
I have a mind boggling problem which I have been trying to solve for the last few weeks. I am new to Android and recently bought Huawei Ideos X5 (Android 2.2.1). I haven't found anyone else having this problem.
Problem:
My Android phone will be able to connect to my wireless network, get an IP address from my DHCP server, but when trying to reach anything over the network it won't work. Although it will work sometimes (i.e. some data will get through).
Debugging:
My Android phone is able to connect and use other wireless networks, although I have only tried two (at my university and at a friend). This would indicate that my phone is not broken.
With closer inspection with the Terminal Emulator App when I ping my server I will get a 80% packet loss ratio. This of course makes it impossible to use the wireless network, but it means some packets do get through (even to the Internet) so it is not a DNS problem.
My laptop can connect and use my wireless network flawlessly (in fact, it can download from Internet at 18 Mbps and upload at 10 Mbps with 802.11g, which I presume is good). My USB wireless adapter works well with it as well. One of my friend's Android phone (LG Optimus One) and iPod works with my wireless network as well, and most strangely, another friend's Android phone who have the very same model (Huawei Ideos X5) works with my wireless network. This would indicate that my access point is not faulty.
There are tons of wireless networks in my area. My phone can see 21 including my own. I have no idea whether this can affect anything. I cannot try any of these because they are protected.
It is worth mentioning that I do not have your average wireless network setup. I have a server (stationary computer) that runs DHCP server, and so on. Only recently I added wireless network to my apartment by buying D-Link DIR-300 and flashing it with DD-WRT. I have no idea if it worked or not with the original firmware. The router acts as an access point.
I have tried to change channel, protocol (B, G, N) , security settings from open to encrypted (WPA2 AES), etc. on the AP to no avail.
Even if the phone is just a few centimeters away from the AP it will still have a 80% packet loss. DD-WRT reports 92-98% signal strength. I think there is a software/setting problem and not a hardware one.
And of course, I have tried to both reset my AP and my phone. Neither helped. Android phone's WiFi does not work when the router is using the factory default or AP settings. I am however concerned that some faulty settings for my wireless network are stored on the phone and it seems they might be synchronized to my Google account, and possibly they might still be there even after I "forget" my wireless network or reset the phone (is there a way to be sure everything is wiped?).
At this point, I am out of ideas. I hope I explained my situation sufficiently. Do you have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Edit:
I have done some further testing. I reset the DD-WRT router once again to see if it would work and per Ryan's suggestion try to strip it down to the most basic setup. It did not work even if I tried only b/g mode. Interestingly enough the first two seconds of pinging after changing mode works without any packet loss but after that, it will go back to bad again.
I also tried something I wouldn't believe would work -- flashing the original firmware back. To my surprise it did work and my phone doesn't have any packet loss when pinging. (I actually missed that the original firmware does support AP mode). However, I still cannot understand why it didn't work in DD-WRT and would be very interested in any possible explanation.
As stubborn as I am, I might try to flash back to DD-WRT again tomorrow to see if it works (if it does, I cannot explain why! Blaming it on bad flash seems naïve in my opinion).

it might be a good idea to strip down everything to the simplest possible setup, i.e. use open (unencrypted) IEEE 802.11b/g; then add up encryption from there. Also, make sure to temporarily disable mobile network (2G/3G) so that your test ping does not went through there. What happens when you ping your router/access point through its IP address, do you still have packet losses?

@Lie Ryan Thanks for your comment! When pinging I am using internal IP addresses (192.168.1.1) so it is not possible for the traffic to take any other route. I have tried your suggestion and updated my post.

I might be having similar trouble as you describe. I just posted a question about it.

Unfortunately I still have no clue to why I had the issue. As I updated, flashing back to original firmware fixed my issue which would indicate a software problem. Question is from what end (or both)? I want to say my android phone since the router worked for all other devices. On the other hand, my android phone worked with all other wireless networks as well...

Have you scanned the WLAN frequencies to see how strong is your own AP in relation to the other ones? I used Android program called Wifi Analyzer that does that; it shows you visible APs and their channels, and how badly their signal leaks into other channels. You can also see signal strength of you AP from that.
The mobile phone often has a lot crappier Wifi antenna than laptop, just because it needs to be smaller and lighter. Also, the orientation of the device varies more.
If you problem is signal strength, or other networks overlapping yours, changing channels or installing better antenna can help a lot. In this case I direct you to look at a sister site.
And, to me your setup sounds pretty geek-normal! I, too, use a Linux home server as AP, with PCI-E and USB Wifi adapters and hostapd.

I've been having problems similar to Nommik's with my Samsung Gio S5665. It would connect perfectly to the Wi-Fi at the office, but at home: connects with excellent to good signal strength, but pinging the router produces no response usually; occasional random bursts of return packets for 4 to 10 seconds; disabling and reenabling wifi on my phone results in 100% packet return for about 60-180 seconds, then back to occasional bursts.
All other devices including other phones connect to the home Wi-Fi correctly.
What I tried:
Changing protection on router from WPA/WPA2 to WPA only, WPA2 only, WEP only, none. No difference. Encryption from TKIP to AES: No difference
Changing channels, sideband, power, beacon rate, in short, everything changeable: No difference or worse.
On the phone: Changing ip address to static. No difference.
Solution:
Flashing the router worked. I'm so happy now! This has taken weeks to sort out.

Had this just now with a 'fake' AP set up on a monitor mode interface with airbase-ng, couldn't figure out why with either DHCP or static IP there was 90% packet loss (with tiny bursts of connectivity loosely connected to screen wake up)...rebooting phone and reseting wifi of little help.
--then, after hours of fiddling, i swapped the RT2870/RT3070 USB wireless dongle against a RTL8187 one that was also lying around. Bo0m problem fixed, no more packet loss, with or without screen turned on, what the heck. Reporting with SK17i Xperia Mini Pro on Android 4.0.4 (Build 4.1.B.0.431).


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My phone hates 2G + Sd Card
my HTC Wildfire with CM7 - RC4, doesn't like a combination of two things:

Data enabled on a 2G Network
SD Card inserted.

When these two conditions are met, either the phone will slow down to a halt or it will reboot. If it reboots, if I don't remove the SD card it will not detect it, unless I reboot without it in. Or, the SD card will just be undetected and sometimes a notifications pops up telling me "SD Card Removed Unexpectedly"
At my school, my phone network's signal isn't very good due to the building being rubbish and 2G signals are the only thing we get inside the building.
On my old SD card it was 4GB and I think it worked, however my SD card is now 16GB and it doesn't like this. It shouldn't be a problem as it's a ScanDisk (a very reputable make) and I've tried another 16GB card which I sent back due to the issue, so I don't think it's that.
Many thanks to people who can figure out what's up with my phone,
Joe

what apps are installed in the phone? Probably there is a bug in an installed app or networking/filesystem drivers. Are you using app2sd? Does this happen on stock ROM?

I'm not using apps2sd. I never had a 16gb SD card before I rooted and the problem is still there on sense based wildpuzzle rom.

I would indeed verify first that this is not related to some 3rd party app or any other than stock ROM. For this do a complete reset and try again. Also try with a smaller SD card since 16GB might not be supported by your phone (need to check specs for that, I don't know).
You can make a backup to get it back to your personalized settings quick.
If you can confirm the stock ROM and default settings do have this bug too you can report this to HTC. Otherwise you'll have to solve it on your own, looking what app/setting is getting this result.

Hmm.... Well HTC do say on their website, "Supports up to 32 GB" which is confusing

Scandisk? you sure? Did you mean SanDisk?
Can you absolutely vouch for the authenticity of the SD card? There are plenty of 'fakes' - usually low grade/slow branded as faster cards.
Theres a good guide to spotting fakes here eBay guide

I bought it from Amazon themselves, so I doubt they would be selling fakes :/

I had exactly the same issue here, on my Asus fonepad tablet.
It happened from the beginning, with few 3rd party apps installed and different SD cards.
My workaround was to set "WCDMA only" in the settings ;)

@Izzy He provided a workaround. So, I suppose that counts as something helpful. :)


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fastboot flashing error: "Partition should be flashed in fastbootd"
I am new to Android development and trying to flash a custom ROM to my Pixel 3a. It was built through the Android Open Source Project. But I am facing the following error.
user@user-Predator-PH315-52:~/aosp$ fastboot flashall -w
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: b4s4-0.2-5736883
Baseband Version.....: g670-00030-191028-B-5972069
Serial Number........: 9A9AY1CEC7
--------------------------------------------
Checking product
OKAY [  0.060s]
target reported max download size of 268435456 bytes
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
Sending 'boot_b' (65536 KB)...
OKAY [  2.340s]
Writing 'boot_b'...
OKAY [  0.346s]
Sending 'dtbo_b' (8192 KB)...
OKAY [  0.384s]
Writing 'dtbo_b'...
OKAY [  0.095s]
Sending sparse 'system_b' 1/5 (262140 KB)...
OKAY [  9.245s]
Writing 'system_b' 1/5...
FAILED (remote: Partition should be flashed in fastbootd)
Finished. Total time: 14.348s

How to fix this error?
Phone: Pixel 3a
Build: 9.0.0(PD2A.190115.032, Mar 2019)

I had the exact same issue on my Pixel 3a XL. You need the most up-to-date version of ADB and fastboot. Grab it from Google to be sure you have the most recent, you only need the SDK Platform-Tools. Don't have to download the whole SDK Platform.

I think you need to go into fastbootd mode.
Hold power key + volume down, you will boot into recovery. Choose to enter fastboot, then run:
fastboot flashall -w


text:
Can I remove the default clock without rooting my phone?
I have a modern Pixel Android phone on the most up-to-date version of Android. I'd like to not show the time on the home screen and the top bar.
I've seen many solutions that include rooting the phone.
Is it possible to get rid of these two clocks without rooting the device?

You can use adb to do this without root (But you need a PC). First download Android platform tools from https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools now unzip them in a folder in your PC.
Go to that folder and open Command Prompt. Now in your phone, find the build number and tap it 7-8 times to enable Developer Options. Now open Developer Options and enable USB debugging. Then plug your phone with your PC. Confirm the box.
Now first type adb devices. Then enter the command adb shell to start adb shell. Now type the command pm list packages | grep "clock" or if you have problem with grep then use pm list packages | find "clock". Find the package name of default clock. Now use pm uninstall -k --user 0 package-name. If you see Success message, then clock app will be removed.

Are you sure that the time shown in the top/status bar is shown by the clock app?

Yes, that is shown by clock


text:
Blue line following my touch on the screen of Huawei devices
Sometimes strange 'worm' and 'dust cloud' starts to follow my finger when browsing with my Huawei Honor 7.

When the finger is not touching the screen anymore, the line disappears.
I can also draw over the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen.
What is going on here?

It is Huawei's Knuckle Gestures.
From Use Your Phone with Your Knuckles,

Knock the screen with a knuckle and hold it until a blue dot appears. You can then drag your knuckle [...]. As you move your knuckle, a blue line will appear on the screen [...].

Also, here is Phandroid's YouTube video demonstrating the feature and a screenshot of it.


text:
Vodafone VFD 100 Android 5.0 phone shows "no command" on recovery mode
I have a problem with my Android 5.0 Vodafone VFD 100 phone.
It restarted on its own, and then showed the message “Android is starting, optimizing app x of y” (not the first time). There were 19 apps in total and it got stuck on app number 11. I got impatient, and since restarting it brought me to the same place, I removed the battery while it was optimizing apps. Now it won’t boot thereafter.
I have tried several suggestions to no avail. When I switch to recovery mode, it displays “no command” on a blank screen after “input language=> English” after choosing the language.
How to fix it?

Have you performed a factory reset?

@Robert It doesn't show any other options after the "select language=> English" apart from "no command"

Does this answer your question? What does the "no command" screen mean? (Trying to execute hard reset Recovery)

the "optimizing" process is to generate dalvik-cache and must not disturbed

You should flash a custom recovery, then reboot your phone in recovery. And then in the recovery, wipe the Dalvik-cache.

How should one flash something when android does not boot and there is no way to OEM unlock in developer options? (btw OP don't know how to enter recovery mode at all)

Android does boot but there is no recovery installed. This is why it says no command. To access the bootloader on most android phones, you have to hold Power and Volume - and + until the bootloader screen appears.

Android does not boot thats why OP want to factory reset in first place. have you read what the No command screen means, and how you can enter recovery from No command screen?

https://www.androiddata-recovery.com/blog/solved-no-command-error-in-recovery-mode-on-android


text:
Can't unlock apps on the recent apps screen to close them
I cannot unlock apps to close them in the recent apps screen on my new phone. Pressing the lock icon only open the app.

Neither of the two answers worked for me on a TCL A3 device running Android 11. The locked app is Google Play Store.

I solved it by swiping down the lock icon on my android 10 device. Hope this helps

I had to tap and hold the lock icon for a second and then swipe down, to unlock it. Just swiping wasn't working for me. Android v11.

There was a rejected edit suggestion that tries to add a new solution.

Thanks. That‘s what I was searching for.

This may help someone.
On the BLU G61S android phone, to unlock recently opened tabs with a lock to the right corner:

Long-press lock icon
Then swipe down,

This puts the lock in an unlocked position and then it can be cleared.

Not sure if you're still having this issue, but recently suffered the same (different app) and managed to resolve it completely by accident:
Go to the recent apps menu (as shown in image) and simple do a (quick) swipe to the right on the app you want to lock/unlock, starting point doesn't seem to matter much but make sure to swipe all the way to (or over) the edge. If you do it too slow or not far enough it doesn't work.
I haven't been able to find this in any official documentation or if/where it can be configured/disabled, it's not listed in the System->Gestures menu. It also seems to be fairly tenacious since 'locking' an app persists after a reboot or force stop via developer menu's 'running services'.
It seems to be something similar to Windows' 'Pin to Taskbar' or Apple's 'Keep in Dock'.
Phone: Alcatel 1S (2019) running Android 9 (build 01001)

I also found tapping and swiping under or on the lock icon and swiping down unlocks the app.


text:
How many different types of YouTube Vanced are there?
I have many YouTube accounts, and signing in and out is inconvenient. That's why I use different YouTube Vanced for different YouTube accounts. At present, I have three YouTube Vanced: version pink, blue, and this one of which I don't know the name.

I need another version of YouTube Vanced other than these 3 for my other YouTube account.
I can't use apps like Dual Apps to make a copy of YouTube Vanced because then signing in won't work. I have also downloaded many versions from the internet but in the end, I found them all similar to my previously installed versions of YouTube Vanced.
How many different types of YouTube Vanced are there?

There are 4 YouTube Vanced versions: Blue, Pink, Dark, and Black.
You already have YouTube Vanced Blue and Pink. I'm not sure if you have Black or Dark, but one of them should work for you.
This XDA thread contains download links as well.
Some Alternative Apps

NewPipe Link
YouTube Go Link
OgYouTube Link

Each time I try to install any dark or black version from the site you given, it gives the message that the app is already installed, are you sure YouTube vanced black and dark different apps?

I think both have same package name for sure if shows this message

You can give a try to app Called NewPipe which also works great as YouTube with download option and pip mode

Unable to login in newpipe and Ogyoutube, in Ogyoutube I tried to install micromg but it can't install, is that because I already have vanced micromg?

The microg provided in OgYouTube should be installed for the sign-in btw u already installed microg of yt vacant if both installed at same time both will work


text:
abi reported for Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
When I run:
$adb shell getprop | grep abi

I get:
[ro.product.cpu.abi2]: [armeabi]
[ro.product.cpu.abi]: [armeabi-v7a]
[ro.product.cpu.abilist32]: [armeabi-v7a,armeabi]
[ro.product.cpu.abilist64]: []
[ro.product.cpu.abilist]: [armeabi-v7a,armeabi]

However according to http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-S2-9.7-inch_id9385 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exynos I was expecting a ARMV8a architecture to be reported. For instance a Sony Z4 tablet reports as expected. What does for instance Nexus 6P report (I don't have that device).
Any idea why the Samsung device reports as it does?
The background to my question is that I'm planning to write an application with some C/Assembler code (using the NDK) and I would like to understand how many devices I can target if I go for the ARMv8 instruction set instead of ARMv7a.


text:
Is it possible to enable vendor-disabled user accounts in rooted device with Android 6.0?
I recently purchased a Doogee X5 max pro device, which comes with a version of Android 6.0. I understand that this version of Android supports multiple user accounts, but it seems that the vendor disabled this possibility, at least it is not accessible in the standard way.
Since it is a relatively new device there are not many custom ROM's available.
Is there a way that I can enable user accounts? My phone is rooted and it has TWRP installed. If I have to do it from a computer, then preferably Linux, though I do have access to a Windows machine as well.

If you cannot access the multi user menu in the settings app it is possible that the manufacturer completely removed that feature from its android version. Luckily you can install a similar feature manually but you need the Xposed Framework.


text:
making picture frame widget take up entire screen?
On my Galaxy S II, I've added the Picture Frame widget to the second page. It's the only object on that page, but it only takes up 1/4th of the available space.
I tried adding 3 more frames on a lark, but that was more annoying than anything. Ideally, my one picture frame would take up the entire page. But I don't know how to resize it? Surely this is possible...?

If you want a picture to take up the whole screen, why not just use it as a wallpaper?

In Galaxy S2 (Gingerbread 2.3.3) you can resize the picture frame widget this way:

First drag the picture frame to the left top
The picure selection pops up, select pictures that you want and klick OK (save)
Press the picture frame until the phone vibrates and release fast. The display will now show a grid on the screen.
Hold the right bottom "slider" and resize the frame as you like it
Finished!! :D

I have standard launcher as delivered so this should do the trick for most of you :)

You can't re size widget in Android Gingerbread. I don't have SII and can't say but many widget comes in different sizes like 1x1, 1x4 etc. Try scrolling to see if there is other sized picture frame.

This is true, Honeycomb (version 3.2 and above in particular) are the first versions where the stock Android launcher has options to resize widgets. These will presumably be coming to phones in with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4).

As Roxan says the built-in picture widget in Android 2.3 isn't resizable. As an alternative, you should be able to find  many alternative picture and photo widgets from a quick search in the Play Store, from a quick look many of those offer a range of sizes.
Alternatively you could use an alternate Android launcher that allows you to resize widgets, but this will also change a lot of other things about how your home screen works. If you want to go down that route, I believe that Launcher Pro and ADW Launcher (amongst others) allow you to resize widgets.


text:
Opening sms thread goes into incorrect thread
When using my mobile (HTC Desire), I would say I use sms more often than actually using it as a phone.
Because of this, I have a fairly huge history of sms threads (I really like how HTC Desire displays the sms conversation). However, I've realised that every so often when I hit on say sms thread with "person A" I actually get sms thread with "person B". At first I thought it was just me accidentally hitting the one below. However, today this happened three times (tried to open personA, but got personB instead) and the thing is there is a gap of ~8 between person A and personB... so impossible for me to accidentally hit the wrong one...(plus the repeated occurrence is quite annoying!)
Was wondering if anyone has a similar experience or know why this is happening... also preferably how to fix it :)

This is a known bug, and it's not entirely clear if it's the SMS application or Android's SMS implementation itself. You can see the ticket here, which was closed on Jan 29, 2011. The fix has been slow getting out to phones other than the Nexus line because carriers haven't released updates that include it.
One option in the meantime would be to try an alternative SMS app, such as Handcent or ChompSMS. However, though many people say that it does help, others have reported that the bug still persists on 3rd party apps.
There is also a reportedly related bug that causes outgoing messages to be sent to the wrong recipient. The "opening the wrong thread" bug was closed as a duplicate of the "wrong recipient" bug, as the fix for the latter apparently applied to the former (according to Google).

Great answer, thanks for pulling together all this information.

Reading about the "wrong recipient" bug makes me more worried... wouldn't like messages being 'randomly' sent to an unintended recipient :O Guess i'll just have to wait for the update/fix. Thanks for the info :)


text:
Dvorak on android?
How to change the default on screen keyboard on Optimus V to Dvorak?

I'm not sure is Dvorak is available on stock firmware for Optimus V, but there are many 3rd-party keyboard apps on the Market that have it (some require a separate download via a plugin.)
Once installed, activate it by going to Menu -> Settings -> Language & keyboard, and marking the checkbox next to the newly installed keyboard app.  Then bring up any text field (e.g. Google Search) and long-press it.  Tap on the "Input method" menu item, and you will be presented with the list of all currently installed and enabled keyboard apps.  Select the one which has Dvorak layout and you will immediately be able to use it.

Have you looked on the Market?  There seem to be a few Dvorak keyboards available.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.reyn.truedvorak&feature=search_result
https://market.android.com/details?id=net.xenionsh.android.dvorak&feature=search_result
You should probably shop around and try as many as you can find.
If you don't know how to switch to an alternate keyboard you've installed, look here: http://www.simplemobilereview.com/change-your-android-soft-keyboard-system/
If you're looking to change whatever keyboard you use now to the Dvorak layout, that may be harder.  It would depend on which keyboard you're using.


text:
When should I use the SD card to store data?
In what situations should I store data on my SD card? When it is best to put data on the internal flash? Is this simply used to expand the storage or are there some situations when using it for separate needs is important?

In general, apps these days are built to put as much as possible on the SD card in order to save internal space.  Some apps require being on the internal card for programming reasons, however.  Generally speaking you can let them manage themselves.
Otherwise you should keep all your own media, etc on your SD card so as to keep the internal one free for things like system caches, etc.


text:
Is there music player that supports both AAC and MIDI files on Android 2.3?
Update from 2.1 to 2.3 broken playing from aac files in most players.
The only music player that is more or less usable is PowerAMP (and also video players like MoboPlayer and MX Player). But it won't play midi files.
The only player that can play both aac and mid files I tried is MoboPlayer. But it is video player (so no useful widget/play queue).
Player:   Support AAC on 2.3   Support mid    have widget
PowerAMP          +                  -            +
Most players      -                  +            -
MoboPlayer        +                  +            -

I want            +                  +            +

How to fix aac in android 2.3 in SE Xperia X10? Alternatively, is there a player that can play both aac and mid files and have widget?

Workaround found: wrap all aac files into matroska containers and usual music players start recognising them.
mkvmerge some_music.aac -o some_music.mka

Looks like Android 4.4 doesn't like Matroska files (especially ones that doesn't contain video track). Need m4a instead of mkv for it.


text:
With the Google Voice app, is it possible to send an SMS to multiple people?
I know from the web interface, you can send messages to up to 10 people. However, I haven't figured out how to send an SMS message to multiple people using the Google Voice Android app. Is it possible? If it is, how?

In the current version you can do this easily — just type in another name/number after the first as you would in the web interface.  A comma appears automatically when you click on a suggestion, and all that good stuff.

This is indeed the case. I was very glad when this feature was finally added.

Like the people who responded said, yes you can, but you will not receive group responses - you get each response as if it was a 1-1 SMS from whoever responds to your original group SMS.
Somewhat defeats the purpose of being able to do this when it can't handle things the other way around.
Also incoming group messages are split the same way, as if it was a 1-1..

It's not possible with the stock Google Voice App.  You will have to download an alternative Google Voice SMS app like the aptly named "Google Voice SMS" to send a message to multiple people.  That app costs $2 but there are free apps available.

This is no longer true. The latest version of GV allows for this.

Yes, you can at this time. After each number, type a comma, then the next number, etc. Google Voice gets improved more often than some of the native apps on the phones.

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