Google Android

[Edmachine]

Could anyone be so kind as to tell me how to root my S3 Mini? I've found several guides, but they're either for the wrong model (mine's I-8190N) or the baseband versions don't match (mine ends in AMA1). So, I don't want to flash a rooted stock firmware that might not fit, so to speak. Any help?

This guide might be for you (though it's written in pidgin English). It will have you install CWM and subsequently flash a kernel (probably intl. version) using CWM. As far as I know the N model is identical to the intl. version, only that it has NFC capabilities. If you want to root your phone using this method you will lose those capabilities. You'll also keep your data and the stock ROM, but you should be able to flash different ROMs with CWM if you see fit to do so, just remember to create a nandroid backup using CWM.

 

Thanks, I saw that guide a while ago, but didn't go for it for whatever reason. Seemed too... I dunno. But I got it working and all, NFC is still in the settings menu, all is well. Thanks!

[NCONiall]

Clarification: While in recovery mode, do you need to install package from sdcard-->update.zip?

Much thanks.

EDIT: Also you need CF Root to install the update zip right?

Yes; install from sdcard, or internal sdcard.

 

Thanks, I saw that guide a while ago, but didn't go for it for whatever reason. Seemed too... I dunno. But I got it working and all, NFC is still in the settings menu, all is well. Thanks!

Glad to know you got it working. As to why NFC might still be working, I'm don't think that "root file" was a kernel (you can check to see if it changed after root) but just that - a root file. So nothing else really affected your phone other than gaining super user access and the replacement of recovery.

[Finn 7 five 11]

Good news everyone I got Galaxy s4 yesterday,it's pretty great, everything is so Smooth, however I feel like it's partially a waste based on whati use my phone for, which mostly includes just browsing.

 

I dunno ifi should root it.

[Whiskey]

So i got android kitkat 4.4 on my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a more serious note, what's even expected in Kitkat apart from the minor GUI changes?

[bread]

Need some help here fellas.

 

I have a Galaxy S3 (12 GB + an 8GB micro SD card). The internal drive is already full, according to my phone. So now whenever I try to install an app my phone prevents me from doing so because it claims there's an insufficient amount of storage. Now, the 8GB micro SD card within my phone is completely empty, so how exactly would I would set my phone to automatically install apps within the card itself rather than trying to install it to the internal hard drive? If there isn't a way to set it automatically, then please list other methods. I don't care how hard it is, I need help with this asap.

[Mitsuha]

What internal drive exactly? Is it the USB storage, or the Internal SD Card? I also have problems with both, after I flashed a custom rom on my Galaxy S i9000. Also I don't think you can install apps on your SD Card, since it's only for media, your files like documents, etc. Try uninstalling unimportant apps, check your sdcard/Android/obb. If there's a game data that you won't need, delete it.

 

Did you try reformatting your phone? Factory reset? If not then try it. If what I said didn't help, try sd card partitioning. I saw a video on how to, but it's in Filipino language. It requires CWM Recovery to do that.

Edited October 29, 2013 by RyujinXKaizer

[NCONiall]

If you go into Settings -> Apps you should see a, "Move to SD card," option under each individual app. You can move some of the more memory consuming apps to the SD card that way.

Edited October 30, 2013 by NCONiall

[bread]

If you go into Settings -> Apps you should see a, "Move to SD card," option under each individual app. You can move some of the more memory consuming apps to the SD card that way.

There is no option to do that.

 

Also, no, I haven't tried factory reset. Why would I factory reset my phone anyways? It's too much of a hassle, isn't it?

[NCONiall]

 

If you go into Settings -> Apps you should see a, "Move to SD card," option under each individual app. You can move some of the more memory consuming apps to the SD card that way.

There is no option to do that.

There is an app called Link2SD which will allow you to do this but it requires root and you'll need to partition your SD card. I'm not sure whether there are any non-root methods out there.

 

It seems they removed the "Move to SD card" option due to SD cards being slow and prone to failure, so I would keep some of the more important apps on the internal memory (e.g. keyboard) if you do decide to do this.

 

I've read that Samsung might re-enable the "Move to SD card" option so you could check to see if there are any new updates available on Kies.

Edited October 31, 2013 by NCONiall

[Sup3rman]

Got my first android phone, actually first new phone since 5 and a half years. The old nokia 3500 was so beat up i decided to make myself an early gift. So i got the Sony Xperia M in white and i love it. Its the perfect size and its very fast actually, no lags at all, altough it has a dual core 1ghz cpu only.

[Mitsuha]

Anyone tried KitKat 4.4? Since there's an unofficial rom for my Galaxy S i9000, Cyanogenmod 11. Is it worth the update? I currently have 4.2.2.

[Girish]

Still waiting for the update on my Nexus 4. Heard someone got an OTA update in India so shouldn't take too long now.

 

Anyone got a Nexus 5? Impressions? How's it?

[Mitsuha]

Managed to flash Mackay ROM which is running 4.4.

What I can say about 4.4 is that it's really smooth, awesome UI and easy to use.

[Girish]

Got the 4.4 update. Disappointed that some of the features are Nexus 5 exclusive and not available for my Nexus 4. Haven't noticed any major difference in performance but the new dialer is pretty sweet. Noticed reduced loading times with ART but WhatsApp doesn't work with it so sticking with Dalvik for now.

[sivispacem]

Chopped my Nexus 4 in for a 5. Need to rebuild by custom home page and loader setup but enjoying 4.4 so far.

 

-EDIT

 

All prettied up:

 

 

It's taken a bit of graft and head-scratching to get some applications and widgets working properly on 4.4, along with a few intermittent crashes, but it all seems to be running perfectly stably and happily now.

Edited November 30, 2013 by sivispacem

[Girish]

What ROM is that, sivis?

 

In other news, the dialer crashed on me for the first time since the update. Quite a few Nexus 4 owners have reported issues with the OTA update. Not pressing the panic button yet though because apart from that one hiccup, the phone works flawlessly. Although the delay in making calls still exists from the 4.3 update; I thought that would have been fixed.

[sivispacem]

Stock ROM, heavily customised Nova Launcher Pro as the launcher with TeslaUnread plugin with one of the stamped white icon packs, DashClock with various third party plugins + Minimalistic Text. I'm not going to bother with a custom ROM until it's out of warranty.

[Andreas]

I got the LG G2 about three weeks ago. I'm really surprised about how fast the phone is and all the opportunities it offers, especially compared to my previous phone, which was a Samsung Galaxy S i9003. I am thinking about rooting the phone in the near future so I can use Android KitKat on it, but I'm not quite sure about it yet. I had a bad experience with LG cell phones in the past. They got slower over time, there were some smaller issues with certain apps, et cetera. And I'm not the only one who got problems with them.

 

A lot of friends used to complain about their LG phones, too. The last one I got was an Optimus 7, which got broken within a couple of weeks for no reason whatsoever. I got my money back though, thankfully, and I purchased the Galaxy S in the middle of 2011. I went with the G2 now, because it's one of the fastest and best phones available on the market, and it has plenty of amazing ratings and reviews. I thought I'd give LG another try after a few years, and it seems to work out thus far.

Edited December 1, 2013 by Andreas.

[sivispacem]

The G2 should get 4.4 in the next couple of weeks to months. Think it's "by March 1st" worldwide and sooner in most places.

 

Out of interest, why not the Nexus 5? I tried the G2 and couldn't see the justification for the extra £200, though to be honest I'd be ecstatic with either!

 

Strange to say it given many of the reviews but I really, really liked the back buttons on the G2.

Edited December 1, 2013 by sivispacem

[Banana]

My Nexus 5 should be coming to me later this week. I can't wait to play San Andreas on that bad boy.

[Mitsuha]

Just checked the Philippines' local online store and I see that Galaxy S4 is getting cheap. Will definitely get it next year. Can't afford much now, haha.

[Andreas]

The G2 should get 4.4 in the next couple of weeks to months. Think it's "by March 1st" worldwide and sooner in most places.

Out of interest, why not the Nexus 5? I tried the G2 and couldn't see the justification for the extra £200, though to be honest I'd be ecstatic with either!

Strange to say it given many of the reviews but I really, really liked the back buttons on the G2.

That is good to know, so I will wait for the update.

 

I wanted to go with the Nexus 5 at first as well, but with the contract I have, both phones cost about the same, though it turned out the G2 costs 50 more Euros. It's worth it though, in my opinion, due the noticeably better camera and the far better battery.

 

However, if the LG G2 costs another £200 like in your case, then the extra money is certainly not worth it.

Edited December 6, 2013 by Andreas.

[Flachbau]

So I got the LG G2 instead of the iPhone 5s.

 

Right now, after having it for about 5 days, it seems like it was worth it. I love every single thing about it.

[ayushisrocking]

^Does the horrendously ugly UI not bother you?

[Flachbau]

It's a great UI.. there's nothing wrong with it.

[bread]

LG phones (and just their products in general) are always beautiful.

 

Anyways, are any of you having trouble with the new jellybean update for the Galaxy S3 (or any model for that matter)? I'be had it for a while now and noticeably, apps take QUITE a while to load up for some reason, and power usage has become so much higher especially when using data. I used 4G for FIVE MINUTES and my battery drained 8%! With this said, I could use a new battery. Any suggestions?

[sivispacem]

Wait for the 4.4.2 firmware, that's much better on the battery for my Nexus 5.

 

Just bought the missus a Moto G to replace her ancient BlackBerry.

[Mitsuha]

I need help, I can't flash my old rom back(which performs better than the one I use now) which runs 4.2.2. It always says failed to flash zip. I'm using an ancient Galaxy S running Mackay ROM Android 4.4.0. Thanks.

[Flachbau]

If you have an LG G2, and you run on the T-Mobile carrier, Android 4.4 is coming soon via OTA! You may download it now from the LG PC Utility.

 

Here's the article! http://www.droid-life.com/2014/02/28/kit-kat-update-lg-g2-tmobile/

 

Also, Samsung has confirmed what devices will get the 4.4 update.

 

Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
Samsung Galaxy Grand
Samsung Galaxy Express 2

 

(http://www.gsmarena.com/international_samsung_galaxy_s_iii_not_getting_android_44_kitkat-news-7879.php)

 

Be on the look out if you have a device that's on the list

[Crokey]

 

Anybody had any experience with rooting their phones and if they have do you have any pro tips for doing so, like things to avoid and things that have to be done. Also I've done a quick check around about unrooting phones just in case I cock it up, and it seems quite straight forward, but what I'm after is some pros and cons and reasons for and against doing so.

 

My reason for asking is that my phone is running a little sluggish and there are a lot of answers on various forums about it and they mainly say root the phone so you can get rid of the Samsung Bloatware, which is the stuff the phone came with and I never use at all and just sit there hogging resources. So this would be a good solution but as I say I'm not sure on the whole rooting thing, so any ideas welcome.