Friday, June 12, 2015

The American Giant Google has recently launched a new tool to help you buy/decide a phone for yourself or any one based on your preferneces. Its a Great intiative for people who are always confused to decide which phone to buy and which phone to not.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Hello friends,
We all know that in this era of smartphones there are highly powerful machines coming up with many capabilities. But still what they lack is power backup.
Every Smartphone (Android/IPhone/Windows) Phone lacks Battery back up.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

In the following post I will explain how to use cpu tuner, a completely free and open source app for android. All you need is root and some time. It's a follow up on and summary of my various related posts you can mostly see below ("related posts") on working with governors to increase power efficiency in Linux. This is of course something that a) Linux and b) Android and c) your phone manufacturer should already have done. But as they didn't...

0. Notice
CPU Tuner (CT) also includes setting "Min" and "Max" Frequencies. This is meant for devices with special firmware, which allows for overclocking and is not part of this post. All of these steps (tune governors, disable inactive interfaces) apply to any Linux device.
The following goes out especially to our dear US users (but also to every country with punitive damages):
CAREFUL, this tool may cause your phone to explode and other annoying things. You should especially never put your phone into a washing machine, or dryer or microwave or into a fire or do other completely and utterly stupid things with it! Use of this tool does not protect against lack of brain or thought!

1. What is...?
Now let me begin by explaining all the terms used in the program.

1.1. up_threshold: The CPU usage % at which the CPU frequency is scaled up. In the case of conservative this is X % higher than the current frequency. X is determined by the freq_step setting and defaults to 5 % in Linux and 20 % in my android and is not supported by CT atm. In the case of ondemand, (AFAIK!) it skips directly to the maximum frequency. That's why there's no freq_step in the case of ondemand.

1.2. down_threshold: As you may have thought already now, this is the CPU usage percentage where the frequency is reduced. This does not exist for the ondemand governor.

1.3. Triggers: Here you can tell CT that you want to use certian profiles in certain conditions. The most simple condition is battery usage. If battery usage is set to 100, then CT will set a certain profile whenever the battery is below 100%. Another important profile is Screen Off. This allows you to activate a certain profile once your screen is off.1.4. Profiles: A profile is a combination of settings, e.g. Disable Wifi, Use Conservative Governor, etc. (see 2.1).

1.5. governor: This picks your CPU frequency according to an algorithm (a set of rules). There are different algorithms available:

1.5.1. performance: This stays at the maximum frequency all the time. Not power efficient at all. But great for testing if the problems you are experiencing are really caused by frequency scaling.

1.5.2. powersave: stays at the minimum frequency no matter what. I think this never makes sense. It will take a lot of time to get back out of this as any phone becomes very unresponsive once you set to this, so be careful and just avoid it! Oh, and then some devices just hang without return when you set this. It might possibly make sense when the screen is off. But most probably it'll just cause problems and annoy you. ;-)

1.5.3. userspace: This is if you want to set the frequency manually. Unless you have your brain directly connected with wires to the phone or your are trying something out you should avoid this one as well.

1.5.4. conservative and ondemand: You are probably just skipping through this, huh? ;-) See 1.1. above for the description of conservative and ondemand.

2. How to increase your energy efficiency
Note that I write increase the energy efficiency and not decrease the power usage. You could decrease the power usage easily: Just set up_threashold to 99 and down_threshold to 98. But that would most likely cause your phone to act very weird. And this is not what we're aiming for. We want a phone that works perfectly and just uses less energy. Of course this kind of general tuning is something your phone vendor should have done already. But trust me, I haven't seen a single phone where they actually did. And android mostly comes with Linux defaults, which are tweaked for 100 % performance and don't care much about high energy efficiency.

2.1. Quick&Easy: Interface Tuning
The easiest and first thing you can do is to set the general device settings. Easy power savers are to adjust active interfaces when the display is off:

2.1.1. Mobiledata: 2G only. This could cause problems if you use VoIP software via 3G with the display off. This saves power twice: Firstly 2G takes less power than 3G in standby. Secondly, switching between 2G and 3G can take a lot of power. (The device will constantly try to find and "upgrade" to 3G networks.) Side-effects: It mostly means that incoming phone calls will be more likely to be in slightly lower quality, as 2G uses more lossy audio compression codecs. This could decrease your battery time if you're constantly downloading big files via 3G while the display is off. (Honestly, how would that work?). (recommendation: 2G only).

2.1.2. Background Sync: disable. This can have various consequences, e.g. Gmail claims to rely on this. But I still get new email and Gtalk noticiations with this off somehow. It's a general setting that other programs might rely on as well. So just see if this works for you. (recommendation: disable)

2.1.3. Wifi: Disable. I don't use this. Because if you use Voip software with your phone it usually detects if your ear is close to the headset and then turns off the display, which makes sense to save energy. Also sooner or later your display may turn off during a call anyway. Then a Voip connection or even streaming radio and other services via Wifi would be disconnected. That's why I prefer to use this setting with other programs. It would be cool if Wifi was disabled automatically after x minutes without usage or when out of range. But that's really something for other tools than CPU tuner. (At least then, the tool should be renamed to something like power tuner). (recommendation: leave unchanged)

2.1.4. Bluetooth: Disable. Side effects: If you use bluetooth headsets etc. they will be disconnected. Hence it only makes sense if you don't really use bluetooth. But then you will probably never have it switched on anyway, so there would be little point in switching it from off to off automatically... Useful if you sometimes use it or play with it and then forget to turn it off again. (recommendation: leave unchanged)

2.1.5. GPS: Disable. This usually saves quite a lot of power. Side effects: When switching back on, it will often take some time to find your location again. (Samsung Galaxy 3, you're annoying me here even with gpsopt...). Also, if you use a navigation software and switch off when the display turns off, this means you will at least lose your precise GPS location and your navigation software will either stop working entirely or start giving very imprecise (and thus often useless) advice: "Go sort of left, but also a bit right, one of the next or previous streets...". Sounds like me giving directions. This only works when the app is installed as a system app (no method does not work universally, also try root explorer and copy the apk to /system/apps).

2.2. Governor Tuning -- Step by Step
This is the most tricky part, but it's worth it: These settings can save you power even if your phone is not in use. If can also increase your phones responsiveness and interactivity while you use it. And it can do both. And it could even decrease power use in both situations. Always start with your vendors default settings. (Assumption: The current/default settings don't cause any mp3 playback gaps, etc. for you; otherwise: Start with 70 up, 40 down; otherwise: start with 40 up; 20 down.)

2.2.1. Make one change at a time: e.g. increase the up threshold by 10 or 20 %. Then listen to music for about 10 minutes with that setting. Check if you run into any problems (see "Signs of Trouble" below). If you notice problems, go back to the setting before, then add a smaller percentage, e.g. 5 %.

2.2.2. Rinse and repeat until you get a fluffy paste. (Once one change works, try another, e.g. first try increasing the up threshold, then try increasing the down threshold.)

2.2.3. Signs of Trouble
The most notable and annoying problem for me is that music playback stutters. (Attention, if you like , noise is probably part of the audio track and not an issue.) This also means that you the other person will hear glitches in skype and other voip softwares. The second, less annoying, likely effect is that the user interfaces will become less responsive, animations will stutter and won't look as pretty etc. These are all things you should watch out for during the governor tuning explained below.

2.3. Putting it all together
Once you find your preferred settings, I recommend creating two profiles for the start: one for screen off and one of screen on. While screen off is a trigger, to use a profile whenever the screen is on just select battery below 100 %. I'd prefer the ondemand scheduler when the screen is on as it's the most responsive in my experience. But as it stands I use only the conservative governor.

3. Causes
In my experience so far, the down threshold is much more likely to cause problems than the up threshold. It seems Linux makes its calculations of when to send new data to the sound card based on the current frequency and doesn't adjust them (soon enough) when the frequency is reduced. (Note to self: File a bug about this to the overflowing android bugzilla, which mostly seems disregarded by developers.) This causes problems especially for the ondemand governor, which is much more prone to create noise during playback in my experience than the conservative one, as it switches back down to the lowest frequency almost immediately.

3.1. Don't rely on Skype as a measure, as skype can often cause problems even if you use the governor to "performance", which effectively disables frequency scaling. I hope they will improve skype, which reportedly works quite well on iPhone, but not on MyPhone. Generally you should check if problems disappear with the performance governor. Because if they don't they're not related to the CPU frequency scaling at all. Hence they are highly unlikely to be related to CPU tuner. In my experience CSipSimple works pretty well, try calling an echo service or answering machine to check how flaky the connection is -- of course you need a stable network (wifi with all stripes!) connection to ensure that it doesn't cause the glitches. You would also notice that they don't disappear with the performance governor then, of course.

4. If all fails
If everything starts to be buggy all out of a sudden, just disable CT and check if it disappears. If you've got no idea what you changed, reset CPU tuner to defaults and repeat more carefully.

5. Feedback
If you've managed to find the perfect settings for your device, please report them in the comments here. Make sure to include your phone device and which firmware you use (as exact as possible please). This may save other people from listening to hours of music to find the perfect settings for their phone. I officially invite to flamewars about what exactly the perfect and absolutely ideal settings for all and any situations, people and devices are. ;-) Once we've found them we can adjust CT to come with them preinstalled and then get them into android as default.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

1.Reduce your Screen Brightness
Display uses about 5-80% of battery usually. Reducing the brightness helps to increase the battery life a lot. To do so goto Settings->Display->Brightness
- Automatic brightness is good but lead to higher consumption of battery. Close brightness automatic and set brightness low.

2.Disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC
Even though Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth are designed for low-power consumption, they drain the battery. Most of the 2012 android devices have a unique feature known as NFC (Near Field Communion) such as i9070p. This feature enables a sensor field around the handset and is used for sharing. This also drains the battery unnecessarily. So it’s better to turn off the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFCs when it’s not in use.
- Deactivate Wi-Fi when not needed
- If you do not use the Bluetooth function, disable it.
- If you do not use the NFC function, disable it.
- If you do not surf the internet stop any data connection
- As long as you do not use GPS and/or location services, close them.

3. Prefer Wi-Fi rather than GPRS
It may be weird that the GPRS consumes more power when compared to Wi-Fi. For example, Wi-Fi consumes 5% charge; the GPRS connection consumes 15% charge. This may not be seen while viewing websites but in case of watching a video in YouTube or making a call in a VoIP service, it drains the battery at a rapid rate. So it’s better to use Wi-Fi to watch videos or making calls.
.- Wi-Fi network consumes less than 3G connection, it is recommended to use Wi-Fi

4. Avoid Live Wallpaper
The live wallpaper drains the battery to a considerable rate. So it’s better to use static wallpapers rather than the live wallpaper.Also use images which contain black color because the LED screens use less power to display black than displaying white. Doing this helps to increase the battery life up to 10%.
-Use a dark background, save battery. Light backgrounds need more battery.

5.Disable Data traffic
Many applications use data traffic in the background letting this phone to sleep. Some of the apps which use the background data traffic are GMail, Whatsapp, Facebook, Viber, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Play, etc. These apps checks for the updates and for incoming messages all time. So it’s better to disable the background data traffic.
- Network 2G network consumes less than , it is recommended to use 2G connection
- If you do not surf the internet stop any data connection.

6. Disable Auto-Sync
This option comes under the background data traffic. This feature checks for the mail all the time. Which means you will be able to get the mail in your handset as soon as the mail arrives. But this service uses a considerable amount of battery
- Upload and sync only on Wi-Fi. Or stop sync on all accounts.

7.Do not use more widgets
- The more the widgets, more the RAM, more the battery will be drained.
- Dump the widgets

8.Disable Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash enables to watch videos in websites but it drains the battery a lot. The main reason why adobe discontinued its service from android 4.1 is this battery problem.

9.Turn OFF vibrations
The smartphones makes use of some energy to make a vibration, but when “Vibration on Key press” is enabled, while typing a word the phone produces more number of vibrations. It consumes more battery. So it’s better to disable this feature in the keyboard settings.
- Vibration consume energy. A low intensity vibration or even disable as reduce battery consumption.
- Disable Haptic feedback.

10. Power saving mode
If you use your device constantly throughout the day, you may want to consider using your device’s power saving mode. In fact, many of the tips suggested in this post are implemented in most devices’ power saving mode. For instance, power saving mode usually limits CPU use, reduces screen brightness, deactivates haptic feedback, disables data network when the screen is asleep, and lowers the brightness level of the browser’s background color.

The generally recommended advice is to disable power saving mode when you intend to use your phone’s smartphone features; otherwise, turning power saving off can help you stretch your battery life further. So, for instance, you might want to disable power saving mode if you plan to play games on your phone, or else you could experience lag or jitter.

11. Do not try to overcharge
Normally the smartphone charges up in 1-2 hours. But if you charge it throughout the day, it lowers the life-time of the battery. Check the condition of the battery often to have a good battery life.

12.Reduce screen timeout
- Screen timeout should be as low as when not using this device to enter sleep mode. (15s)
- Sensitive buttons should be as little heated. (1,5s)

13. Uninstall unnecessary apps
You can never be too sure what's running itself in the background, what with all the multi-tasking, self-uploading, auto-replicating features in today's modern Android apps, so at least minimise the chances of something randomly hoovering up all your battery by constantly trying to connect to some non-existent server, by deleting any unused or old apps. Some apps are resource-intensive — either by nature (as in the case of games) or by developer incompetence or negligence (as in the case of poorly written apps).

14.Never leave applications open
- Never leave applications open in the background for long time. Set the limit to 1 or 2

15.To root or not
Rooting may have drawbacks but the benefits far outweigh them. One attractive advantage of rooting is that of possibly improving your device’s battery life.

17.CPU underclocking
With root access on your device, you can also install apps that can improve your system’s performance. A CPU controller app, for instance. Three names instantly spring to mind: SetCPU for Root Users, No-frills CPU Control, and CPU Tuner.

Apps like these essentially allow you to tweak the CPU settings on your device. You can set the CPU frequency to stay at the lowest (and, as a result, use up the least power but sacrifice device performance) or to stretch the CPU to its maximum limits (resulting in better and faster performance, but at the price of heat, quick battery drain, and potential system instability).

Be careful when using such apps. There are risks involved; for example, your device could behave erratically when its CPU clock is set higher than usual.

18. Custom kernels and ROMS
As we have an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery in the process of rooting. Many custom kernels and custom ROMs. Feel free to look around XDA for guides on how to flash custom kernels or custom ROMs to your particular device.

Battery life is one of the biggest issues in the Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9070 Advance. Take your SIM card out, turn off Wi-Fi and never touch it and it'll sit there happily, lasting for a whole week on one charge. But try to use it for anything "smart" and, well, that's where the problems start.

...and keep it cool
Batteries work best in cooler temperatures, with prolonged warm periods gradually lowering their efficiency over time. Putting your phone in a looser pocket might help, or perhaps just gently fanning it while it charges. That might not be the best use of your working day, but at least you'll still be able to get on Twitter on the train home.

Updated :[Use following to get rid of battery issues]1) Don't use any Memory cleaning apps/Task Killers or battery saving apps.2) Go to Settings -> Location Services -> Uncheck All (Specially Permission to Google to collect data)3) Facebook Synch settings to Never (Go Manually and check)

Bingo You are All set !!! Enjoy your Extended Battery Life

*** If the article helps you. Please like/Share it or leave a comment !

MX Player - Video Player

For best video experience, Powerful media player with background playback and new HW decoder.

Payback Calculator-Finance

Have you ever been in a situation when you go out with friends and when different people pay for different things at different occasions and later you struggle hard to find out who gave how much? There is a simple solution for that download Payback calculator.

Google Play Download URL

My Pregnancy Today- Health / Pregnancy / Maternity

This is a great award winning app for all expecting mothers and fathers to determine hows the baby developing inside her mom day by day and what instructions one should follow when she is pregnant.With Weekly Notifications about baby's health and development its one of the most downloaded apps in Google Play Store

Google Play Download URL

My Baby Today - Health / Pregnancy / Maternity / Baby Development

This is a great award winning app for all Parents who have the new born with them. Diffrent questions answered and a great information storeWith Weekly Notifications about baby's health and development its one of the most downloaded apps in Google Play Store

Google Play Download URL

FuelLog - Car Management -Personal

Track fuel consumption, maintenances and costs!

Track and log your mileage, fuel consumption, maintenances, services and costs of your car or motorbike and know exactly how much your car costs. FuelLog calculates a lot of useful statistics like fuel consumption and economy (e.g. mpg or l/100km) of your car or other vehicle, total cost and mileage, average cost per distance or gas amount, average cost per month, year and driven distances, expenses and a lot more. Everything is managed in a nice-looking and very easy to use interface.

Truecaller also shows you who the caller is instantly, blocks unwanted calls and so much more.

+25 million users can´t be wrong, jump on the bandwagon!

Google Play Download URL

Battery Bot- Battery Usage Information -Personal

BatteryBot monitors and shows your battery charge level (percent) as an icon in your status bar, with temperature, health, voltage, and time since plugged / unplugged in the notification area. It now also has a 1x1 app widget. The Pro version also has user-configurable alarms, logs, and a large (4x1) widget.

Google Play Download URL

Lists all contacts with birthdays so you do not have to search anymore.

Easily import friends from Facebook, choose the most important ones and post messages to their wall using templates. There is no automatic posting of messages, but the app makes sending birthday messages much much easier.

You get several widgets in various sizes to always be up to date whose birthday is next.

Be notified in the status bar to never forget about birthdays again. In case you do not have time right now, easily add a reminder to to contact your friends later in the day.

-Rail Ticket fare

-Rail Map of all routes and proposed Nerul-Uran route

2.Bus Routes

-BEST, NMMT, TMT,VVMT

-Get route by bus number

-Get buses arriving at particular bus stop

-Search buses between source and destination

-AC bus timetable updated on March April 2013

3.Auto and taxi fare

-Day and Night fare

-Complaint numbers of RTO

-Luggage charges information

4.Classifieds section

-Get advertisements of jobs ,real estate, education..

5. Jobs

- Now directly apply to the employer through JOBS INDICATOR. Specialized for jobs in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai & Thane. Also find Government jobs in Mumbai and rest of the Maharashtra along with last date of application.

10. Sodexo Outlet Locator

- Search Sodexo outlet nearby your area

Google Play Download URL

Software Data Cable- File Transfer App -Personal

Connect and share everything among phones, tablets, PC, MAC, Laptop, Google TV, Cloud storage, Xbox etc. A must-have app that will save you time and eliminate the need of USB data cable for file transfer. Once you've tried it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it!

Google Play Download URL

Google Keep- Google's Note Taking App - Personal

Quickly capture what’s on your mind and recall it easily wherever you are. Create a checklist, enter a voice note or take a photo and annotate it. Everything you add is available instantly on all your devices – desktop and mobile.

With Google Keep, you can:

• Keep track of your thoughts via notes, lists and photos

• Have voice notes transcribed automatically

• Use homescreen widgets to capture thoughts quickly

• Colour-code your notes to help find them later

• Swipe to archive things you no longer need

• Turn a note into a checklist by adding checkboxes

• Use your notes from anywhere - they are safely stored in the cloud and available on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep

Friday, August 16, 2013

Android Device Manager
The feature, announced earlier this month, lets you easily find, ring, and even remotely reset your Android device from any phone, tablet, or computer.

Up till now, you'd have had to go out of your way to install (and sometimes pay for) a third-party utility in order to get such functionality. Now it's built right into Android, whether you realize it or not -- and it's always ready and available, with no added apps or running services required.

It took a little while for Android Device Manager to roll out to everyone, but so long as you're running the now-ancient Android 2.2 or higher, it's patiently waiting for you this very minute. In order to unlock its full potential, though, there's something you need to do.

It's easy: Just grab your phone or tablet, open up the app called Google Settings (look in your app drawer -- it's there), and select the option called Android Device Manager. Then make sure the boxes for both "Remotely locate this device" and "Allow factory reset" are checked. The first one should be activated by default, but the second -- the one that could really save your hide in a bind -- has to be enabled by hand.

Once you've got both those settings confirmed, you're all set. Just go to google.com/android/devicemanager from any mobile device or computer, and you'll see your phone pinpointed on a Google Map. You can ring it -- at full volume for a full five minutes -- or, in a worst-case scenario, perform a factory reset and wipe all your info right then and there.

If you have multiple Android devices connected to your account, clicking the small down arrow next to the first device's name will show you a list of every phone and tablet you've got. Just be sure to follow the steps we just discussed on each device -- right now -- so they're all fully activated and operational.

*** If the article helps you. Please like/Share it or leave a comment !

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Root - Acquiring ”root” is the process of gaining total control over your device. When you purchase your device, there are certain files and systems that you cannot access because they are blocked by the manufacturer. By aquiring root you gain access to these files, allowing you to modify, replace and even delete them. This allows you to take total control over how the software of your device looks and works.

Bootloader - Before you can root your device, you must unlock your bootloader. The bootloader is a line of code that is executed even before your Android operating system boots up. The bootloader’s code is specific for each make and model of the many Android devices. Bootloaders come “locked” because the device manufacturer doesn’t want you tinkering with the software that they worked so hard to optimize for that particular piece of hardware. Unlocking the bootloader allows you to tinker with the phone’s firmware, or even replace it with a custom firmware (aka: ROM). It is important to note that unlocking your bootloader will erase all data stored on your phone, essentially putting it back to a “factory reset” state, so you’ll want to save any pictures, music, or any other important files that are on your device.

Recovery - Once your bootloader is unlocked and you have rooted your device, you will need a custom recovery. A recovery is a piece of software that is called up separate from the actual Android operating system. Its purpose is to make changes to the Android OS at a core level, such as delete user data, apply updates and more. The stock recovery is limited in function, so if you are planning on modifying/hacking/rooting your phone, you will need to install a “Custom Recovery” such as Clockwork Mod Recovery. A custom recovery will allow you to make backups, restore them, wipe partitions, install custom software and more.

Backup / Nandroid - Once your custom recovery is installed, you will want to make a backup (also known as a Nandroid). A Nandroid is simply a complete and total backup of your phone. It will store all of your data, apps, settings, SMS messages, and more, basically allowing you to restore your phone to the exact state that it was in when you made the backup.

Wipe - Now that your backup is made, you don’t have to be afraid of making changes to your phone or losing data, since you can always restore it (just be sure to not delete the backup!). Now you can “wipe” your phone without worry. Wiping is deleting all the user data from your phone, essentially reseting it to its factory state. You can also wipe (ie: delete) other partitions of your phone like the cache partition. It is always recommended to wipe your phone before installing a custom ROM (we’ll get to that in a second). You can wipe your phone via the custom recovery you installed.

Flashing - Flashing is the process of installing some sort of software or code via your custom recovery.

Flashable ZIP - A flashable ZIP is the actual file that you install or “flash” via the custom recovery to make changes to your phone’s software. It is a normal .zip file that contains the lines of code to modify your software. These Flashable ZIPs can be used to flash a ROM, Kernel, Radio, mod, and more, which we will define below.

ROM - A ROM is the main firmware or operating system that your phone runs. Just like Windows 7 runs on your PC, or Mac OSX runs on your Macbook, a ROM is the main software you interact with to use your phone. It includes all the system apps (messaging, email, phone), the launcher, the notification bar…everything really. Google’s Nexus line runs a “stock” Android ROM (meaning it’s unmodified) while manufacturers make significant changes to the look and feel of their ROMS before they ship them with your phone (for example: note the difference between the Samsung Galaxy S III’s software and the software on LG’s Nexus 4) . Code-savvy developers have taken the manufacturers’ code and created their own “Custom ROMs”. These ROMs can dramitically enhance the look and feel of your phone, and often add tons of useful features. Two very popular custom ROMs are CyanogenMod and MIUI. A ROM is made for a specific model phone and comes in a Flashable ZIP file that is installed (“flashed”) via your custom recovery.

Kernel - Unlike a ROM the Kernel does not alter the look and feel of your phone, but is a “deeper” line of code that rests beneath the surface, so to speak. It tells the software how to interact with the hardware. A custom kernel is a kernel that developers have added code to, in order to create all sorts of new options and abilities. They might add code to make the phone’s processor run at a higher speed, or make the battery draw less power when the phone is in “idle” mode. Kernels are like the soul of the software. They can be flashed in the custom recovery and the files are usually called Tar Images or Zimages.

Radio / Basebands / Modems - The radio / baseband / modem is a firmware that allows your phone to connect to the wireless network. This firmware controls basic low-level functions of your phone like cell-network connectivity, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Oftentimes an updated radio / modem will help with signal strength issues, battery drain and more. The radio / modem firmware is specific to each device and carrier and is flashed via custom recovery.

Mod - A “mod” is simply a modification made to the phone’s software. This can include adding functionality or changing the visual layout of your phone, like moving the location of the clock to the center of the notification bar, or inverting the colors in the SMS app. Mods are usually Flashable Zip files that are flashed in the custom recovery.

Brick – A brick is when your phone won’t recover from a bad rooting/flashing process. Your device becomes unresponsive and unable to be restored…essentially making it a “brick” or a very expensive paperweight. Bricking your phone usually happens when you do not follow instructions carefully or if a device does not allow for root. Bricking your phone is a real possibility and risk in rooting and modding your phone, but it is very rare to occur, and most unlikely to occur if you simply follow the instructions.

Superuser (SU) – If you follow the instructions and root correctly, you will become a Superuser (SU), which means you become a complete and total admin of your device, allowing for most, if not all root permissions to be accessible.

Kang - A Kang is a ROM or mod that uses a significant portion of code created by another developer.

Overclock / Underclock - This means that you have installed a custom Kernel that has allowed you to speed up or slow down your phone’s processor speed. Most phones are clocked at a certain processor speed (ie: 2.4 MHz), but if you overclock it, you are allowing your process to push the limits by working at a higher speed. Overclocking will make your phone perform faster, but often comes at the expense of battery life. Underclocking does the exact opposite of overclocking. It makes your processor perform at a lower speed, slowing down perceived performance, but helps increase battery life.

Under Volt (UV) - Undervolting is a feature that is enabled in certain custom kernels. Undervolting lowers the amount of power your processor needs to perform at its normal level which, in theory, saves you battery life. The feature is known to cause issues in many phones.

APK - An APK is the file name for an Android application that can be installed on your phone. All apps downloaded from the Google Play store come as APK files. APKs can also be “sideloaded” by downloading them from outside of the Google Play store and placing on the phones internal or external memory. To install a sideloaded APK you need to enable that option in settings, then find the APK file on your phone and tap it to begin the installation process.

Odex / DeOdex - DeOdexing APKs is a way that developers optimize APKs (apps) to be compatible with different themes that themers have created. Please see this very good explanation on Odex / DeOdex that we wrote about previously.

Android SDK - Android SDK is a software development kit written by Google that enables developers to create applications for the Android platform. The Android SDK includes sample projects with source code, development tools, an emulator, and required libraries to build Android applications. In many cases, if you want to hack your phone, you will need to have the Android SDK installed on your computer.

ADB - ADB stands for Advance Debug Bridge which is a tool that comes in the Android SDK. ADB lets you modify your device (or device’s software) via a PC command line. ADB is mainly for developers to create and test their apps, but it can also be used by curious hackers (like you!) to access your phone from your computer and run some commands via your computer’s command prompt.

*** If the article helps you. Please like/Share it or leave a comment !

***Note: This guide assumes that you have already downloaded the proper theme or kernel files that correspond to your phone and/or ROM***

INSTALLING A THEME:

Step 1: Boot into clockwork recovery, the easiest way is to hold the power button down for the reboot menu and select boot into recovery (most ROM's have this option built into it) otherwise you'll need to google how to boot into recovery manually for your phone.

Step 2: Perform a backup of your current rom. To do this navigate to backup and restore and then select where you want it to backup to whether it be internal card or external card.

Step 3: After the backup is complete return to the main recovery screen and wipe cache then navigate to advanced and hit wipe dalvik cache.

Step 4: Its time to install the theme for this go to install from zip then pick where its located be it on the internal or external sd card and locate the theme zip file. Click on it, then select yes and let it install.

Step 5: Reboot your phone.

***Disclaimer: The use of this guide is of your own free will, any damage to your phone resulting from it is nobody's fault but your own***

INSTALLING A KERNEL:

Step 1: Boot into clockwork recovery, the easiest way is to hold the power button down for the reboot menu and select boot into recovery (most ROM's have this option built into it) otherwise you'll need to google how to boot into recovery manually for your phone.

Step 2: Perform a backup of your current rom. To do this navigate to backup and restore and then select where you want it to backup to whether it be internal card or external card.

Step 3: After the backup is complete return to the main recovery screen and wipe cache then navigate to advanced and hit wipe dalvik cache.

Step 4: Its time to install the kernel for this go to install from zip then pick where its located be it on the internal or external sd card and locate the kernel zip file. Click on it, then select yes and let it install.

Disclaimer: If you install a kernel that is not mean't for your phone or rom, bad things can and probably will happen. Always make sure that the kernel is for your phone, carrier, and rom.

Step 5: Repeat step number 3 *VERY IMPORTANT*

Step 6: Reboot your phone.

***Disclaimer: The use of this guide is of your own free will, any damage to your phone resulting from it is nobody's fault but your own***

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Details:Official Update for India Galaxy S2 GT19100 BUILD NUMBER - I9100XWLSTAndroid Jelly Bean 4.1.2 Release Date 22.04.2013***The Auther of the Post does not take any responsibility if your phone gets bricked, damaged or any kind of data loss. Please take proper backup of your phone before following the process.

Extract the tar.md5 from the above zip file if you download from the mirror.

Turn off your phone.

Make sure Samsung Kies program is not running on your computer at that time.

If it is, just close Kies.

Put your phone in download mode(Now press volume down key+ home key + power button together simultaneously for few seconds until you get haptic feedback from your phone i.e. until your phone vibrates to enter downloadmode. Now press volume up key to confirm that you want to proceed ahead when asked to do so on the screen.)

In ODIN program, you’ll see a box colored with com number indicated. In the log section of ODIN program, it’ll display Added message. This indicates that your phone is successfully detected by ODIN program.

Click on PDA button and browse to the firmware extracted folder and select thefirmware file.

Choose the tar.md5 in the pda section. Leave rest untouched.

Flash.

Once it completes,

After completing everything, you’ll find that all your previous apps, messages, contacts are intact. Well, don’t be hopeful because you might face several problems like no network connectivity after flashing jelly bean firmware on Galaxy S Advance, or the UI screen very laggy, or excessive RAM usage, etc. To solve such issues and to experience speed Jellybean butter effect, you have to factory reset your phone.

So, Switch Off your phone.

Press Volume up key + Home button + power key together simultaneously to enter recovery mode.Use volume up/down key to navigate through the options and power key to select/execute a particular option.Select Wipe Cache here.Now select Factory Reset.Now Select Reboot.

Yippie you should be all set to go.

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Sunday, June 30, 2013

A new official update, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with build version XXLQG, recently rolled out for the international version of Samsung Galaxy S Advance bearing model number GT-I9070.

The latest official build is a completely unbranded version of firmware and originally for the users from Italy. Users can grab the update through the Samsung KIES server. Those belonging to supported regions can also install the update manually using Odin flashing tool.

Before installing the firmware, users are advised to ensure that their devices meet the following requirements.

Pre-requisites

1) Install USB Driver for Samsung Galaxy S Advance to transfer files between the Android device and the computer.

2) Enable USB Debugging Mode on the phone to connect the Android device with the computer and use the Android SDK with it. [Press Menu>> Settings>> Applications. From there navigate and click on Development option and then check the USB Debugging Mode.]

3) As the tutorial is likely to wipe out all data of the phone, create a backup. If the device is having any custom recoveries such as CWM/TWRP already installed, then back up data using the recovery only.

4) The Galaxy S Advance should have above 80% battery charge.

5) The device should be factory unlocked and not locked to a particular carrier.

6) The phone will lose custom firmware with the installation of official firmware. Additionally, it will lose custom recovery which will be replaced by the stock recovery.

7) The phone will no longer belong to a rooted version once official firmware is installed.

8) The Android 4.1.2 XXLQG Jelly Bean official build is compatible only with Samsung Galaxy S Advance GT-I9070. As applying this to any incorrect variant might brick the device, verify the model number of the Galaxy device by navigating to Settings>> About Phone>> Model number. Steps to install Android 4.1.2 XXLQG Jelly Bean on Samsung Galaxy S Advance GT-I9070 Step-1: Download Android 4.1.2 XXLQG Jelly Bean official firmware for Samsung Galaxy S Advance to the computer

Step-2: Extract the downloaded zip file using Winzip, Winrzr, 7zip or any other extracting tool to get a file with .tar.md5 extension with some other files

Step-3: Download Odin3 v3.07 which will help to install the Jelly Bean firmware. Extract the Odin zip to get Odin3 v3.07.exe and some other files

Step-4: Switch off the Galaxy S Advance and wait for five to six seconds for the vibration to confirm the power off

Step-5: Boot the phone into Download Mode by pressing and holding Volume Down, Home and Power buttons together. A warning screen will appear, now press the Volume Up button to continue to enter into Download Mode

Step-6: Run Odin3 v3.07.exe as an Administrator

Step-7: Connect the Galaxy S Advance to the computer using USB cable while the device is in Download Mode. Wait for some time until Odin detects the device. When the device is connected successfully, an Added message will appear under Odin. Also, the ID: COM box in Odin will turn blue indicating all the drivers are installed successfully

Note: If the Added message does not appear, then try the USB port at the back of the computer. In case Odin still fails to recognsie the device, then re-install USB driver.

Step-8: Select these files extracted from I9070PXXLQG folder to install on the phone

a) Click the PDA button and select the .tar.md5 file

b) Click the Phone button and select file with Modem in its name

c) Click the CSC button and select the file with CSC in its name

d) Click the PIT button and select the .pit file

Note: Ignore the last three steps (b, c and d) if such files are not found.

Step-9: Verify that Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checkboxes are selected in Odin window. Also, ensure that the Re-Partition option is unchecked; select it only when a .pit file is being used

Step-10: When everything is set, hit the Start button in Odin. The installation process should begin now and would take few minutes to complete

Step-11: Once the installation process is completed, the phone will reboot automatically. And soon a PASS message with green background will appear in the extreme left box at the very top of Odin indicating successful installation. Now safely unplug the USB cable from the phone to disconnect it from the computer

Samsung Galaxy S Advance should now be updated with Android 4.1.2 XXLQG Jelly Bean official build. Head over to Settings>> About Phone>> Firmware info to verify the new software version running on the device. Additionally, re-configure the APN Settings to avoid data networks connection issues. Also change the default language to your desired language by selecting Setting>> Language and Text input.

How to Fix Bootloop Issues

1) While installing the firmware if the PASS message does not display (step-11) or the device gets stuck for a long time, then disconnect the phone from the computer. Remove the battery and re-insert it, check the USB connection, re-install the USB driver and disable KIES. Enter Download Mode and repeat the whole procedure.

2) If bootloop occurs or the device is stuck in welcome screen logo, then boot the phone into recovery mode. To do so, press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons together. In recovery mode, perform data wiping task by selecting Wipe data/factory reset then select Wipe Cache Partition. Reboot the phone in normal mode by selecting reboot system now. When the phone boots up, it should be running on the official build. In recovery mode, use Volume keys to scroll between the options and use the Power button to select the particular option. Performing wiping task will erase the internal memory of the device.

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Don't use Sense UI. That's HTC's home app. Again, it's pretty, but not friendly to battery.

Prefer the back button over the home button. The back button lets apps decide if they want to run in the background. The home screen often leaves apps running when they don't need to.

Don't use app killers! There's no need for them if you use the back button, and you'll end up crippling other apps because of non-obvious dependencies between apps.

Use WiFi whenever you have access to a network because it uses less battery than 3G. (Shorter distance, lower power.) Turn WiFi off when you don't have access to a network, otherwise it will keep looking for a WiFi network it can use (which drains battery).

Reduce the frequency at which apps refresh their content. Common offenders are social media clients (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and news or weather apps.

Finally, watch your battery usage under Settings -> About Phone -> Battery -> Battery Use. This will show you what has been using the battery since it was last charged. (So it shows nothing while charging!) If anything unexpected is using the battery, consider replacing it with another app or service.

Some other tips:

Lower the screen brightness

Turn off 3G (if you have a phone that you can switch between 3G and 2G).

Disable automatic Data Sync or:

Set your apps to sync at longer intervals or don't use apps/widgets that do synchronize often

Turn off any unnecessary vibrations or haptic feedbacks

Disable the keyboards backlight

Avoid using the speakers, opt in for using headphones

Underclock the CPU (rooted users)

Turn off data completely (using an app like APNDroid)

Don't use task killers to automatically kill off processes. They simply will respawn. Uninstall undesired apps.

Use applications like Locale or Tasker to control your phone's Wifi/GPS/Bluetooth/Sreen brightness/etc. settings automatically with profiles that activate under certain conditions

Set your screen timeout to a short time interval. Then use Screebl to keep your phone screen on when the phone is only held at certain angles.

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Like it is with the iPhone, sometimes a simple restarting of your Android handset can take care of the operating glitch in your device.

In case restarting the phone doesn't solve your problem, or if the device has become unresponsive, simply remove the back cover and take out the battery. Wait for a few minutes before putting it back and restarting the phone.

If this still doesn't solve the problem, you can reset your phone to default settings. To do this, go to Settings > Backup & reset > Factory data reset > Reset phone.

Unfortunately, given the fact that different companies use different user interfaces on their phones, on some Android devices you may find this option under Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset.

Doing a factory reset will delete your data and apps from the phone, so it's always a good idea to have it all backed up before erasing everything.

If your phone has become unresponsive and restarting it or a software reset doesn't help, you can try a hard reset by simultaneously pressing a combination of buttons on your handset Volume Up + Power + Home button,
or Hold the Volume Down + Power button for several seconds.

If you are not sure about the key combination for your device, look it up on the web, or call your service centre.

Once your phone is in recovery mode, use Volume Up and Volume Down to navigate on the screen.

Select Factory Reset and click ok through the home button (Samsung phones) or the power button (stock Android). All your personal data will be deleted.

GOOGLE ACCOUNT: Go to Settings > Accounts > Google. There, click on the account name. Select what you want to sync, and you're done. In fact, once you have saved your contacts to your Google account, you can access them on Android, Windows Phone, BB10 and iOS devices. If you've installed the Google+ app, you can turn on auto upload in it to backup any picture you click with the phone in real time.

G CLOUD BACKUP: This is a third-party utility that backs up the data from your Android phone to web servers. After installing the app, you will have to create an account with G Cloud before you can start backing up your contacts, messages, photos and music. Every user gets 8GB of free cloud storage.

Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. genie9. gcloudbackup&hl=en Samsung and HTC have programs like Kies and Sync Manager respectively—downloadable from their web sites—that will let you back up your phone data to your PC.

HOW TO RESTORE YOUR PHONE

Restoring an Android phone depends on where you have backed up your data. If you had saved your contacts to your Google account, all you have to do is add your account while setting up the device, and select Auto sync. If you had used some app to back up the data, you can use the same app to restore it back onto your existing or new phone.

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Problem: Wi-Fi dropping or not connecting

We’ve seen this problem reported widely on a number of Android devices. The common thread for some people seems to be the update to Jelly Bean, but different version updates have impacted on different devices. There are a lot of potential reasons that Wi-Fi issues can occur and it might be due to your specific router or the settings on it. If you find that your device is unable to connect to a Wi-Fi network, or keeps dropping the Wi-Fi connection, there are things you can try.

Possible solutions

Try turning the router and the Wi-Fi on your device off. Tell your device to forget the details of your Wi-Fi network. Hold down the power button and restart it, or shut it down completely and then turn it back on again. Turn the router back on again. Turn Wi-Fi on your device on again and enter the details afresh.
Try going to Settings > Wi-Fi > Menu > Advanced on your device and make sure that “Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep” says Always. You can also try unchecking the box next to Avoid poor connections.

Problem: Random rebooting or freezing

If you find your phone keeps freezing or crashing and rebooting itself after a Jelly Bean update then it could be caused by an incompatible app. The problem is that your software has been updated, but the app hasn’t. It could also have been caused by a bug in Jelly Bean – Google released 4.2.2 and it was supposed to fix a number of bugs including the random reboot issue. If you’re still having problems there are a few things worth trying.

Possible solutions

Your first port of call is always just to hold down the power button and turn your device off completely and then wait a moment and turn it on again.
Check which apps are running in Settings > Application manager on the Running tab. Remove them one at a time and wait to see if the rebooting or freezing problem occurs until you find the app responsible. This solution can be annoyingly time-consuming.
Do a factory reset by going to Settings > Backup & reset > Factory reset. Enter your pattern, password, or PIN when prompted, then choose Erase everything. Keep in mind, this will actually erase all content on your phone and re-install a fresh version of Android. Backup anything important.

Problem: Poor battery life

Complaints about poor battery life are common for smartphones generally, but some people have complained that their device’s battery life has been noticeably worse after upgrading to Jelly Bean. This could be down to specific apps or services. If you find that your battery is draining faster than it was before, then try and reboot first. If that doesn’t help, try the steps below.

Possible solutions

Go into Settings > Battery and take a look at what is draining the power most. Some people reported an increase in battery life after switching off Google Now, or Google Wallet and NFC functionality. Perhaps you have another app running in the background that’s eating more power than it should. If so, you’ll find it here, and you can deal with it.
It could be because your device is connecting to LTE or trying to. You can change this in Settings > More settings > Mobile networks and select your Network mode.
It could be a reading fault with your microSD card. Try removing it and see if the problem persists. If it works then backup the contents to your computer and reformat the card.

Problem: Bluetooth not working

Google confirmed that version 4.2 of Android contained a Bluetooth bug that can disrupt audio streaming. If you’ve experienced issues with your Bluetooth functionality after upgrading to 4.2, then that’s the reason.

Solution: Google released a fix in version 4.2.1. You need to upgrade to get your Bluetooth working again. This is, assuming it’s possible

Problem: Missing December

A high profile gaffe saw December missed out of the People app calendar on Nexus devices in the 4.2 update.Solution: It was restored in version 4.2.1.

If you find alternative fixes for any Jelly Bean issues then please do share them. Check back again, as we’ll update this roundup over time.

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