Backing up contacts in Android phones using Google account

Missing contacts from our phones is very irritating and getting back those lost contacts is even more tiring.

The easiest way to back up your contacts is by using your Google play store's account. i.e., by your gmail account itself.

Go to Settings --> under ACCOUNTS select Google --> Select the Google account 

Touch 'Contacts' to Sync the contacts. If Sync is enabled by default then you don't need to sync manually.

Touching 'Contacts' syncs your contacts

The next time when you change to a new phone or have done a hard reset, just sign-in with the same Google account and it restores all your contacts.

It also gives you the option to backup and restore Apps, Browser data, Google Keep data, etc.

Read More

How to disable Cell Broadcast messages in Custom ROMs

Cell broadcast messages are the messages that your mobile service provider sends you based on your current geographic location as determined by the cell towers of the service provider. The mobile service provider sends you messages related to weather, location, local news, emergency alerts, advertisements, offers and so on. In the beginning the cell broadcast service was mostly useful, but these days the service providers are using it to advertise various things to the customers. If you have been receiving such messages on your Android smartphone, then you can disable the cell broadcast messages and get rid of these annoyances in just few clicks.There are few ways to disable the Cell Broadcast Messages. Let's see them now. 

1. Method 1 (Need Root access)
The easiest way to disable Cell Broadcast messages in Custom ROMs like ParanoidAndroid, SlimKAT, etc. is to delete an apk file related to Cell Broadcast.

To do this we need root access. Be cautious while deleting this file and you may brick your phone if you deleted some other system file so carry out this task on your own risk but deleting the correct file would help to stop Cell Broadcast messages in future.

Go to System/data and find for CellBroadcastReceiver.apk file and delete it. To be on safer side cut this file and paste in your external SD card. You can permanently delete this file if you were not encountering any other issues with Messages.

2. Method 2 (No Root required)

Go to Messages --> Settings
Select the settings for 'Text Messages'
Go to Cell Broadcast and turn it off

Read More

All In One File Explorer - FX File Explorer

FX File Explorer

Looking for a file manager which manages everything? 

FX File Explorer is a very versatile and easy to use app to manage your files with optional media, networking, cloud and root capabilities. 

FX Explorer

The 'FX Plus' add-on adds media management, cloud(Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, SugarSync) and network(FTP, SFTP, SMB, WebDAV) capabilities . This 'Plus' add-on is a paid app but you can try it for 7 days as a free trial.

With FX Plus Add-On

The "FX Root" add-on needs to be installed to get access as a root user. 

With FX Root Add-On

There are a ton of options available in this app to manage your files effectively. There is even an option available to Archive your files without the need of a separate Archiver. 

The Multi-Window is an excellent option which allows us to do multiple operations at a time. The Split View option enables us to view two screens at the same time and so on...

Options

Multi Window

Split View

Give it a try. You won't uninstall it later ;)
Get 'FX File Explorer' app from here

Read More

TURN OFF screen by just a touch

Turn Off / Lock your screen by just a touch using Lock Screen Widget. 

This is a widget which can be added to your home screen and the screen turns off by just tapping on it. This app is useful for the folks who don't wish to use the hard keys of the phone to turn off/lock their phones' screen.

The widget has to be activated in the Device Administrators to use it. The same has to be deactivated before uninstalling the app.

Select Admin Lock Screen Widget

There are two colors to choose from. Black and White.

Read More

How to solve "Insufficient Storage Available" issue while installing android apps

"Insufficient Storage Available" Error

This is sometimes a common problem in android phones while updating an existing app.
There is an easy way to resolve this problem and it works on most android phones. 
Please note that this works only on ROOTED android phones. This method won't work in phones without root access.

Below is an example with which the procedure is demonstrated.

The app which gives problem in this example is Clean Master. Whenever I update this app, it downloads the update but while installing it gives the error message "Insufficient storage available" or shows an error code as shown below.

Step 1: Download and install a File Browser which can access root files.
Step 2:  Go to /data/app-lib/ directory. There could be a lot of folders.
Step 3: Select the folder(s) related to the app which gives you problem. In this case, I have to search for the folder(s) containing the name Clean Master.
Step 4: There could be more than one folder displayed with the app name. In this case, there are two folders com.cleanmaster.mguard-1 and com.cleanmaster.mguard-2 as shown in the below picture. Delete these folders. (Take a backup of these folders for safer side. Later you can delete if not required).
Step 5: After deleting successfully, restart the phone. Now you can update your app.

Note: Be careful while accessing files in root. You may damage your phone if you don't know what you are doing.

Read More