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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

How to install the Lollipop factory image on your Nexus device [and keep your data]

The Lollipop update is rolling to Nexus devices as we speak, but it could take up to a week till your device receives it. If you’re the impatient type, we have all the instructions to get Lollipop up and running in no time. You can download and flash the appropriate factory image for your device.

Now there are a couple of caveats. The first is that your bootloader must be unlocked. It’s not a big deal to unlock it, but the only issue with that is that your device will be wiped clean as in you will lose all your data.

The first thing you want to do is install the android SDK if you haven’t already. You only really need ADB and Fastboot (if you’re unlocking) so you can skip the entire Android SDK and Download and install Minimal ADB and Fastboot instead, which will give you just the necessary files.

Note: If you go the route of installing the full SDK, ADB and Fastboot will be in the C:\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools folder. If you use Minimal ADB and Fastboot, you can choose the directory you want.

The next thing you want to do is download the appropriate system image for your device from Google. Make sure to grab version 5.0, which is the last download for each device. The downloaded file has tgzas its extension and inside it is a tar file. The best thing do is install 7 Zip since it can handle both extensions. Once it’s installed on your Windows machine, follow these steps:

1) Open the 7 Zip File Manager and navigate to the folder that you saved the tgz file in.

2) Double click on the tgz file.

3) Double click on it again and after a bit, the tar file will appear.

4) Double click on it to show the contents. Now you want to click on extract to extract all the contents to C:\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools (if you installed the full SDK) or whatever directory ADB and Fastboot are installed in.

Now you need to make sure USB debugging is enabled. If the Developer Options aren’t showing in theSettings on your device, follow these steps…..

1) Tap on About Phone and find the Build Number.

2) Tap on the Build Number 7 times and the Developer Options will appear on the main page of the Settings.

3) Tap on the Back key to see the Developer Options.

4) Tap on Developer Options.

5) Check to enable USB Debugging

Before you connect your device to the USB port on your desktop / laptop, you want to make sure you have the appropriate drivers installed. You can grab them here Since you’re working with a Nexus device, you specifically want the Google USB Drivers.

Now connect your device and you are ready to flash the Zip file that you extracted earlier. Note: You might get a pop up box on your device stating what the computer’s RSA Key is. Just check Always allow from this computer and tap on OK

If you’re device isn’t unlocked, follow these instructions below.

1) Open the Command Prompt in Windows and navigate to the folder that ADB and Fastboot are installed in. Again, if you installed the full SDK, it’s in the C:\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools folder. Just type cd\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools. If it’s somewhere else, just navigate to it. Note: To make things easier so you don’t have to type out long directories, you can also paste it by pressing ALT and the Space Bar, then choose Edit, followed by Paste.

2) Assuming you device is already connected to your computer via USB and USB Debugging is enabled, you need to start it in fastboot mode. Follow one of the two methods below.

A) Type adb reboot bootloader

B) Turn your device off, then turn it back on while holding down the relevant key combinations for your device. For many devices it’s Volume Up + Volume Down + Power. You can see what your device's key combinations are here.

3) Type fastboot oem unlock to unlock you device. As a final warning, this step will erase everything on your device. If your device isn’t recognized, see the bottom of this post for further instructions.

4) Type flash-all to install the bootloader, baseband firmware(s), and operating system. If you instead get a missing system.img error, then go to the bottom of this post for further directions.

5) This process could take several minutes so it’s important not to power off or disconnect the device. Once it’s finished, your device will reboot and Lollipop will be installed. If you instead get a missingsystem.img error, then go to the bottom of this post for further directions.

6) You can opt to re-lock the bootloader if you wish, but assuming you will do this again, you might want to leave it unlocked so you don’t have to perform a factory reset again. If you do want to re-lock, just follow Step 2 above and change Step 3 to fastboot oem lock. That’s it.

If you’re device is already unlocked and you don’t want to do a factory reset, follow these instructions below.

2) Assuming you device is already connected to your computer via USB and USB Debugging is enabled, you need to start it in fastboot mode. Follow one of the two methods below.

A) Type adb reboot bootloader

3) You will need to edit the flash-all.bat file that you extracted from the factory image. You extracted it to the directory that both ADB and fastboot reside in. Just open it with any simple text editor such as WordPad. You will see a line that starts with “fastboot -w update……..” Just remove the -w from this line. The -w flag wipes your data, so removing it will obviously stop that from happening.

4) Type flash-all to install the bootloader, baseband firmware(s), and operating system. If you instead get a missing system.img error, then go to the bottom of this post for further directions.

5) This process could take several minutes so it’s important not to power off or disconnect the device. Once it’s finished, your device will reboot and Lollipop will be installed.

If you get a missing system.img error in Step 4, then follow these instructions in place of Step 4….

You will need to extract all the files in the .zip file (extracted from the tgz/tar file). The file name probably begins with “image.” There should be a bunch of .img files. On top of this, you already have bootloader and radio .img files in the same directory. Just make sure all the .img files (from the update.zip) and the ones that were already extracted are in the same directory as ADB and fastboot. Now you are going to flash each .img file separately…..

Note: If you don’t have either one of the bootloader or radio .img files, don’t worry, not all devices need them

**You must go in this exact order

1) type fastboot flash bootloader [name of your file].img

2) type fastboot flash radio [name of your file].img

3) type fastboot reboot-bootloader

4) type fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

5) type fastboot flash boot boot.img

6) type fastboot flash system system.img

If your device is a Nexus 9, then also issue this command - fastboot flash vendor vendor.img

Lastly, if you want, you can wipe the cache with this command - fastboot flash cache cache.img

I know this may seem daunting, but it’s not that hard at all. If I can do it, you can!!

I hope this guide helped you, and please let me know if I missed anything.

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If your computer doesn’t recognize your device, than you do not have the appropriate drivers installed. Make sure that you installed the Google USB Driver that I mentioned earlier. If you still have an issue, follow these steps….

1) On your Windows desktop, Go to your Control Panel then Device Manager.

2) You should see Android Phone under Other Devices with a Yellow ! mark on it.

3) Right click on it and choose update driver

4) Choose browse my computer, then Let me pick from a list.

5) Select Android ADB Interface.

6) You should hopefully now be good to go.

Best Android apps for analyzing and improving battery life

Battery Drain Analyzer is a sophisticated app that tracks your battery and power usage behind-the-scenes to give you an idea of what’s using the most juice. Think of it as Android’s built-in battery usage app on steroids; it offers tons of statistics and numbers that should satisfy even the most demanding power user.

As the name implies, the app will analyze app and power usage and let you know which apps are draining the most power, or if it’s even an app that’s causing battery drain. The Analyzer screen shows what percentage of app drain is caused by what system activity, whether that’s your screen, applications, phone idling, WiFi or Bluetooth radios, etc. Below that, it shows which applications are consuming the most battery, including the infamous Android OS battery drain, rated by percentages. If Facebook is using 65% of the battery drain caused by apps, for example, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s causing your power usage.

Aside from the basic analyzing, the app also offers a handful of numbers and graphs that can be extremely helpful. There are several graphs that show a history of your battery life, like how long your battery lasted every day for the past two weeks. For example, you can see that you managed to go 30 hours on a single charge on Wednesday but only 20 on Thursday, so whatever you were doing on Wednesday was easy on your battery. Information like that is extremely handy for adjusting your usage habits to maximize battery life.

Another really great feature is the battery life estimation the app will display. It takes into account your usage habits and the current running apps and active radios and gives you a rough estimate of how long your battery will last and how quickly it’s discharging. This can be handy to see if your battery is going to last you until the end of the day or if you’re going to need to find a wall outlet in the next few hours. It also offers profile switching which will control certain radios, like Bluetooth or WiFi or cell radios, and application syncing depending on which profile is selected. A day profile may sync less often but keep Bluetooth on for connecting to a headset, for example, to conserve battery.

Overall, it’s an excellent, fully-featured app that’s great for any power-user’s toolbox.

Play Store Download Link

Google didn’t eliminate lock screen widgets in Android 4.4 KitKat, here’s how to enable them

So you just got your shiny new Nexus 5, but there doesn’t appear to be a way to add lock screen widgets. Thankfully Google didn’t eliminate them, but they did add a setting to turn them on or off, and the default happens to be off. You will find the option in Settings > Security. Just make sure “Enable Widgets” is checked. That’s all there is too it.

Now if you later disable it (by unchecking the box), you don’t have to worry about losing your widgets. When you re-enable them, the widgets that you already had setup will magically appear. This means Google could disable them by default when upgrading from Jelly Bean to KitKat, but we won’t know that for sure until Google releases KitKat to other devices. Hit the break for a quick video showing you how it’s done.

It makes perfect sense to include this setting under Security if you think about it. By allowing widgets on your lock screen, you are allowing strangers to see information that could be personal, so it’s definitely a security issue. Also, by adding a setting, third party apps such as Tasker might be able to turn them off automatically when you’re away from home (or some other criteria), in the event that you lose your phone or tablet.

How to enable battery percentage in the status bar on Android 4.4 KitKat

Google has finally implemented a battery percentage indicator in the status bar with Android 4.4 KitKat, but you won’t find an option to enable it any of the settings menus. However, it’s really not all that hard to enable it, and you don’t need to be rooted. There are two methods, one involves an ADB command and the other involves installing a simple app. Now I know you can just download one of probably 10,000 battery widgets in the Play Store, but you might be looking to clean up your homescreens. Head on past the break to find out how to enable it.

The first method is by far the easiest. Just download the Battery Percent app (download link below) that was created by kroegerama over at XDA. All you have to do is open it and check “Enable Battery Percent” and reboot.

The second method is for those that don’t want to trust a third party app.

You will need to make sure you have the latest Android SDK installed on your PC.
Enable USB debugging in the developer options on your Moto X. If this is the first time going into developer options, just go into “About Phone” from your settings and tap the build number seven times. From now on you will see the developer options.
Connect your phone (only a Nexus 5 at the time of this post) to your computer via USB
Launch Terminal / Command Prompt
Navigate to the fastboot/adb folder which will be inside the location where the Android SDK is installed (On Windows, it should be in C:\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools)
Enter this command to enable battery percentage: adb shell content insert –uri content://settings/system –bind name:s:status_bar_show_battery_percent –bind value:i:1
Enter this command to reboot: adb reboot

If you want to revert back to the traditional way, just send this command for Step 6 instead ….

adb shell content insert –uri content://settings/system –bind name:s:status_bar_show_battery_percent –bind value:i:0

Then follow to Step 7 by rebooting: adb reboot

The setup isn’t the most ideal since the percentage is shown in white, the same color as the battery drain indicator. This means you won’t be able to read it until the bar reaches about 50%.

Download - Battery Percent APK (ver 1.0.1) – Click on the source link to check if there is a newer version

source : XDA

The Best Android apps for yoga and running [November 2014]

We all know we need to exercise more often, more strenuously, and smarter, but how? The answer is in your pocket, hip, or purse. That’s right: it’s time for best Android apps for exercising. To make this list convenient, I will be dividing the apps up into categories based on the type of exercise (yoga, running, and weightlifting).

Yoga:

Yoga is a fantastic way to work your flexibility, balance, and control over your body, and the Google Play store has plenty of apps to satisfy even the most advanced of Yogis.

1. Yoga.com Studio:

Yoga.com Studio is a perfect application for those just starting out with Yoga, while still offering a challenge for those who have years of experience under their belts. The app is free to download and is supported by in-app purchases to gain access to the app’s extended features. All poses are free to view and learn about, but if you want to follow a pre-installed program, you’re going to have to pay $1.99. All the poses have HD video demonstrations and 3D muscle images to help you learn what exactly you need to be working on during your workout. If you want to get a premium app, but aren’t sure that Yoga is for you, check out Yoga.com Studio.

Play Store Download Link

2. Daily Yoga:

Daily Yoga is by far the most popular yoga app on the market, with downloads in the 1-5 million range. As far as options go, Daily Yoga is one of the most feature-filled yoga applications available. You can choose from between 50 classes and 400 yoga poses to practice for your workout and 3 workout intensities for beginners, intermediates, and advanced yogis. There’s also a forum to communicate with other practitioners of yoga and a way to follow and chat with other yogis. The app is updated monthly with new content.

Play Store Download Link

3. Pocket Yoga:

If you’re certain that you’re into yoga and willing to make an investment, Pocket Yoga is available for $3 on the market. It’s worth the premium as well. With Pocket Yoga, you get 200 poses with posture and alignment, detailed voice instructions with guides for every pose with inhalation and exhalation timing, and a dictionary with the benefits of each pose. The app also tracks your progress with a log to see how far you’ve gone into your yoga journey. Lastly, you can play your own music from your music library during your yoga sessions so you can control your relaxation with a special playlist.

Play Store Download Link

Running:

It’s common knowledge that running is one of the simplest, most reliable ways to get in shape. But how far? How intense? Just let these next few apps clear up the confusion for you. Plus, they are all Android Wear and Google Fit compatible

1. Runkeeper:

This is my personal favorite and the app I use for my jogging journeys. Using your device’s GPS, the app can track running, cycling, or hiking and keeps your pace, distance, time, and burned Calories. You can follow a popular running route for your area, or you can run wherever your heart desires. The app tracks your progress and workouts, and also lets you snap pics of your route for when you pass the most beautiful landmark.

Play Store Download Link

2. Nike+ Running:

Nike+ Running is the popular running app that specializes in pushing you to the brink of your athletic endurance, whatever it takes. If competition is your thing (I know it sure is for me), you can compete with your friends to try to get to the top of the leaderboard, or you can have a head-to-head challenge against your archrival. If you’re new to running, you can get a training program to follow. Lastly, when you hit the wall, and you just can get your runners’ high, you can get a Power Song at the press of a button to keep you going!

Play Store Download Link

How to download Android APK files from the Google Play Store

There might be various reasons that you would want to download an APK directly from the Play Store. One might be that an app (especially Google apps) is showing that it has been updated, but you can’t push it to your device. By downloading the APK directly, you can simply sideload it on your device and get the updated version that much quicker. You also might be a tinkerer in that you want to sideload an APK to your Android TV device (or some other device) to see how it works.

Now you can find various sites that host APK files, but they might not have the latest versions, not to mention they could be altered with malware. Grabbing it directly from the Play Store is the safest way, but how do you go about doing that? It’s actually pretty simple, so hit the break to get started.

1) Assuming you are using the Chrome Browser on your desktop, download and install APK Downloader from the Chrome Web Store.

2) Once added to Chrome, just open any app page in Google Play and you will now see a Download APK option right next to install.

3) Click on it, and a popup will appear asking you for additional information. You will need your email address and the device ID of your phone.

4) For the Device ID, you can download the Device ID App from the Play Store or you can enter *#*#8255#*#* on your device’s Phone App (no need to press send) and look for a bunch of numbers and letters after either JID, Device ID, or aid. Mine was after aid and was at the top. Honestly, just download the Device ID app, it’s the easiest way.

5) You now need to enter your Gmail address that you use for your Play Store account. You will also have to enter your password. I know this might seem scary to some of you, but the information isn’t stored. Even though you won’t always be downloading paid apps, it’s the only way to ensure that no one is able to download something they didn’t pay for. Another reason is that Google tracks downloads for each app by Gmail address.

From the developer….

“The extension only stores email, device id and Google Play cookie in browser’s local storage, on your computer. To be able to get Google Play cookie, it needs your email and password to login athttps://www.google.com/accounts/ClientLogin . After it’s done, password is not stored, email is stored to display on Options page, Device ID and Cookie are stored for later requests. I do not send those information to another sites.”

6) After you have entered all your information, click on Login, and close the window. You are now good to go, and you won’t have to enter your information again. Now when you click on Download APK, it will immediately be downloaded to your desktop. This will work for every app in Google Play, but if it’s a paid app, you won’t be able to unless you have previously purchased it using the Gmail account you logged in with.

I should also note that you can simply use APK mirror for high profile apps. You won’t have to login or use your credentials. However APKMirror doesn’t include all the apps that are available in the Play Store. I find the method I outlined above more useful since all I need to do is find the app in the Play Store, and Boom….I can click Download APK, and I am done.

The Best Two Black Friday and Cyber Monday Smartphone Deals

This Friday is fast approaching, and you might be waiting not-so-patiently to get your hands on a brand new smartphone. The bad news is most smartphone “deals” come with a pricey two year contract, data caps, and “valuable upgrade plans” like AT&T's Next or Verizon's Edge. The worse news is the Nexus 6 is $300 more than last year’s Nexus 5, so you won’t be finding a deal there. The good news is that both the Motorola Moto X and the OnePlus One will be either on sale or for sale, respectively, this weekend.

Motorola’s Moto X is a popular 2014 device, and deserves all of it’s notoriety. $500 is really a good deal for what you’re getting: a 5.2″ 1080p screen, Snapdragon 801 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and a customizable look all combine to make the Moto flagship quite the deal. However, to improve the value even more, Cyber Monday will drop the price even more to $360 for the 16 GB version and $410 for the 32 GB version, bothe unlocked. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for this deal. I was too slow last year for Motorola’s similar deal with the 1st Gen Moto X.

The Oneplus One is the myth and the legend when it comes to 2014 smartphones. The device has been invitation only for most of the year, and when there were ways to get invitations, it usually went south. But OnePlus is a small, young company with big ideas and a great product, and this weekend is its chance to show it. The device will be for sale to anyone for three days. The 16 GB version will be $300 and the 64 GB will be $350. The device features much of the same specs as the Moto X, but with a larger screen, more RAM, and a better front camera.

If you want certain quality, your best bet is probably the Moto X. If you’re more of a risk taker that likes to experiment with tech, go with the OnePlus One. Either way, comment here and let us know what you decide to do!

source: wall street jurnal