[Q] Samsung Galaxy S3 (Sprint) Home Button -> Google Now (while PIN Locked) - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III

Ok, so here's one particular issue that I just haven't been able to solve. I have the Samsung Galaxy S3 (for Sprint) and I hate S-Voice. I want to be able to use Google Now, and with the Home2 app I can do so with the double-tap on the home button. However, I also keep my phone PIN locked (this way if someone steals it, they can't get to my data and I have time to remotely wipe the phone or locate it), and apparently while S-Voice can work whent the phone is PIN locked, I'm not sure if there is any way to get Google Now to work while it's PIN locked by double-tapping the home button.
Basically, the reason I want this is that I just got a Honda CR-V and the bluetooth implementation in the car is absolutely awful. The only way to make calls while driving is 20 pre-programmed speed dials, or else I have to fumble with my phone which is completely unsafe. Shame on Honda for such an absurdly limiting Bluetooth system that basically makes it much more likely one will fumble with their phone while driving. Anyway, I'd love to be able to just double tap the home button on my phone and get Google Now going (while PIN locked) and then just tell it to call someone or do something else.
Anyone know how I can accomplish this?? By the way, my Galaxy S3 isn't rooted, and I'd prefer not to root it since that would mean I'd have to reinstall everything and re-configure everything.
Thanks!!

Rooting your phone doesn't wipe your data or cause you to have to re-install apps or reconfigure. Have you taken the 4.3 OTA?

jhill110 said:
Rooting your phone doesn't wipe your data or cause you to have to re-install apps or reconfigure. Have you taken the 4.3 OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My mistake - I think I must have been thinking about custom ROMs. And my phone hasn't been offered the 4.3 OTA yet - I keep reading that there were roll-out issues with it so the timeframe was pushed back, although the last thing I heard was that they started rolling it out again. Will the 4.3 OTA help me with this issue at all?

So I updated to 4.3 via Kies - haven't had a chance to see if I can "fix" my issue in 4.3 yet, but will hopefully get a chance to today or tomorrow and will post back here. Also, someone mentioned trying an app called widgetlocker to control the lock screen, and I'm wondering if I can use this to help get what I want accomplished...we shall see!

Related

random reboots

Hello everybody,
I purchased my galaxy note 2 in late December, I kept the stock samsung ROM (android 4.1.1)and almost rooted it immediately after I had opened its box. Rapidly, I noticed it rebooted from time to time, it seems it happened randomly, i.e. not whilst performing a specific task on my phone. For instance, sometimes when I wanted to check my emails or texts, I picked it up from my pocket, and android was asking me to enter my SIM PIN. So basically my phone rebooted while sitting in my pocket. More rarely, it also suddenly rebooted while I was using it. (but to be honest, it spends more time in my pocket than it does in my hands, that's definitely why it did the latter far less frequently).
I saw that there was an update available, so I flashed the 4.1.2 stock ROM using kies, and rooted it again shortly after. But the reboots issue was still there, so in February I decided to give a try to a cyanogen mod 10.1 nightly build. For like a week or 10 days, it appeared to work properly, no more random reboots. However, after that delay, unfortunately it started to randomly reboot again.
I don't think that rooting the phone can cause such an abnormal behaviour, can it? I use several apps that require root privileges, that's why I did root it every time I flashed a new ROM.
Well the bottom line is that it's really pissing me off, so I'm considering to return it to samsung using a RMA procedure. But anyway, if you have any idea that could help me solve this problem, please feel to let me know, I'll gladly appreciate it. Also I'm wondering if anyone has an alike problem?
If need be, I'll return it for a repair or an exchange, if so, what do I need to do to reset it to factory defaults? I can re-flash the stock ROM, that should unroot it, but resetting the flash counter is also required, for that purpose I'll probably try the 'Triangle Away' app, hopefully it's gonna work. But AFAIK, when doing so on my former phone - a samsung galaxy S 2 - there was another counter, that counted how many times the first counter has been resetted, so one has to actually reset both of them in order for the mobile not to look having been tinkered with. Is anyone aware of a similar second counter on the galaxy note II? If you think of anything else I forgot to mention, please give me a shout.
Thanks for reading my post and helping me out.
Sadly it sounds like you might have a defective Note II. I have a stock (not rooted) Note II and, while I've only owned it for a month, it hasn't exhibited any problems with rebooting. Nor did I have anything like that with my S3 previously.
Probably not what you were hoping to read, sorry.
Thanks for your input muppetmania, well fortunately all galaxy note II don't have this problem
I just hope that if I return it, they'll be able to reproduce the annoying issue as they probably won't install as many apps as I did, or use it the same way, etc ...
My note 2 is the first android phone I've had that I have not rooted (yet). I've had it about a month now and it has randomly rebooted 3 times so far.
Every time it has happened it's been while I had 10+ tabs open in Chrome and was reloading several at once while also using other apps. For example one time I was composing an email and pulling excerpts from several sources on different web pages.. midway through composition and BAM, random reboot
In my opinion you did not cause this by rooting the phone
nebenezer said:
My note 2 is the first android phone I've had that I have not rooted (yet). I've had it about a month now and it has randomly rebooted 3 times so far.
Every time it has happened it's been while I had 10+ tabs open in Chrome and was reloading several at once while also using other apps. For example one time I was composing an email and pulling excerpts from several sources on different web pages.. midway through composition and BAM, random reboot
In my opinion you did not cause this by rooting the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If mine had only rebooted 3 times in a month then I'd be "happy" But for me it's more like 3 times a day. Well any random reboot is never a good thing, especially if you're are typing a text or writing an email. I'm scared it happens when I'm using my phone as a GPS on my motorbike, could be really pesky if I have to stop, wait for the mobile to reboot, get another GPS fix, and set my destination again ...
Just out of curiosity, you're also running the stock samsung ROM? Switching from it to cyanogen made virtually not difference for that matter.
I still have not rooted this device so yes... I'm running the stock Samsung rom
In case it may be relevant though, I do also use nova launcher and LOVE it. This new generation of TouchWiz is not bad at all not Nova is better, imo
I use the default launcher, both for the stock ROM and cyanogen Mod. I did not really like touchwizz, but I think the dual screen function and the stylus management were quite good though.
I gave a call to the after sales service, and they advised me to go to a Samsung store in order to get my phone repaired. Just to make sure it's going to be be alright (I mean that I don't want them to find out that I have rooted / installed a custom ROM on the mobile and use that as a pretext for refusing to fix it), can someone tell me exactly what do I need to do in order to revert the phone back precisely to its factory configuration?
So far, here is what I plan on doing:
- install the last official samsung ROM (which is currently the 4.1.2 version of android if i'm not wrong), that should unroot the phone altogether
- Use an app called "triangle away" to reset the flash counter
But I still wonder is there is anything else that would allow them to know that I flashed / rooted the phone. Is there anything like a second counter, that counts how many time the counter mentioned above has been resetted itself? Also I do remember that when I flashed my galaxy S II with an insecure kernel, a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark appeared during boot up (I know that "Triangle Away" should remove it), I don't currently have that on my GN 2, but I don't know whether Samsung still uses this method or if they have implemented something else?
Thank you.

[Q] How can I revert to v. 4.1.1 please?

Hello
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note II phone running on the EE mobile network in the U.K. It came pre-loaded with 4.1.1 and upgraded to 4.1.2 over the air. My phone is not rooted and I do not want to go down that route. So far so good.
A few days ago, there was an over the air update to 4.3. It seems fine in all respects apart from one: flight mode cannot be automatically pre-set to turn on/off through apps such as Phone Weaver. I like to use Phone Weaver to automatically put my phone into/out of flight mode at pre-determined times and days. They told me that the problem relates to Google stopping this function in 4.3. I looked at similar profile switching apps and they all agree that flight mode cannot be enabled automatically in 4.3 unless the phone is rooted, which I do not want mine to be.
It seems the only options for me are to either 1.) buy a new Note II that comes with 4.1.1 pre-loaded and stop the automatic updates, or 2.) find a way to revert my current phone from 4.3 to 4.1.2 or 4.1.1 My guess is that a factory reset would leave it running on 4.3 and therefore would not work.
If the second option is possible, I would be grateful if someone could be patient enough to kindly let me know the exact steps involved. Please note that I am not too technically competent so the steps would have to be as precise and easy to understand as possible.
Any assistance and advice would be much appreciated!!
Regards
Charlie
First of all you can't downgrade
Second 4.1.1 is dodgy and has security holes.
Thirdly can you not just use blocking mode? Or hold the power button to put it in airplane mode or use a toggle.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk
Thank you for your response.
I am used to leaving the phone's functions to Phone Weaver to turn on/off automatically at pre-set times and days. Blocking mode, etc., do not achieve this as they can only be activated manually.
Looks like I will have to buy a new Note 2 as it comes with 4.1.1 pre-installed and make sure there are no automatic updates.

Greyed out WiFi button, WiFi won't start.

Stock/no root Tmo Note 3, with latest nk3 firmware update (ota) , WiFi won't turn on. In notification panel you tap WiFi button and it hangs partially green but not fully bright green, doesn't connect. In settings slide button is grayish but no connection, won't slide to off just sits there not connecting. A restart will put switch back to off, mobile network works fine just can't get WiFi to start.
Sometimes it works after phone sits for a while. Basic apps installed no facebook app or weird games.
This condition started recently out of nowhere, no problems after ota back in November, phone has same case since new back in Oct/2013 , phone has not been dropped or dunked in toilet.
No flashing or root attempts, download mode and stock recovery can be accessed. Not looking to flash custom ROM, rooting is a possible option if needed to solve issue.
Pp.
same here bro
PanchoPlanet said:
Stock/no root Tmo Note 3, with latest nk3 firmware update (ota) , WiFi won't turn on. In notification panel you tap WiFi button and it hangs partially green but not fully bright green, doesn't connect. In settings slide button is grayish but no connection, won't slide to off just sits there not connecting. A restart will put switch back to off, mobile network works fine just can't get WiFi to start.
Sometimes it works after phone sits for a while. Basic apps installed no facebook app or weird games.
This condition started recently out of nowhere, no problems after ota back in November, phone has same case since new back in Oct/2013 , phone has not been dropped or dunked in toilet.
No flashing or root attempts, download mode and stock recovery can be accessed. Not looking to flash custom ROM, rooting is a possible option if needed to solve issue.
Pp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey bro i have exactly the same problem , but my case is slightly different i am having this problem since i have rooted my phone now i just cant find any way to solve it , i just think its a hardware problem. if u come to find any solution plz dont forget to post it here. i am waiting for ur reply.
Will do that, been looking around but nothing yet, have read a bunch of stuff in Google, similar but not the same issue.
I'm suspecting the modem but have not attempted to flash or look for modem file yet.
Not sure if I'm going to find it here anyway, this Note 3 thread is the lamest thread here, I see a lot of questions asked here that go unanswered, I have asked questions in the past that got no response, and simply ones too.
I also follow the T-Mobile S4 thread and there you get a ton of activity but here, it's like pulling teeth.
Anyway I will post back for your sake if I figure out something.
Pp.
Tried reseting modem with this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52735067
but still acting up now and then .
But toggling "airplane mode" on/off un-greys wifi button and it works smoothly.
Pp.
So, the device has always been stock, never been rooted or anything, never had any custom firmware on it? I am understanding this correctly? And that being the case, this means the device has also never had the data partition scrubbed?
Honestly, I would strongly recommend wiping the device and installing the NK3 firmware via odin. I'm not sure you are going to find a solution.
One thing you can do first, is root the device, and download the app "LogcatX".. open the app, run a logcat, then hit that wifi toggle. Save the logcat and post it here.
I highly doubt this is fixable without a re-install of the OS, however.
Good luck
I had considered root just for debloating purposes and re-flashin the firmware but with an update around the corner I can toggle airplane mode for a bit longer.
I like stock touchwiz and also need reliability from the phone so won't be considering a custom rom.
Pp.
Use Tweaked ROM. It's more reliable than stock.
Kind of funny, you mention you need reliability and because of that you won't root and install custom firmware. Yet, your device is bone stock and your WiFi is broken. Lol.
Think about it.
Wifi is just an extra, I rely more on my unlimited data plan and living in the metropolitan area LTE is always strong and plentiful. Wifi comes in handy when downloading huge files, pdf's and some large images (work related )
and using download boost. Wifi calling is handy also to have but haven't really needed it.
So it's nice to have working. But not the end of the world.
Pp.

[Q] Phone freezes and is slow after all kinds of troubleshooting

Hello,
I've done lots of searching for answers to my questions here and elsewhere and come up empty-handed, so I apologize if I've missed something and this has been covered already.
My phone occasionally runs smoothly and fast, like it's supposed to. More often -- pretty much every time I need to interact with the phone and across all apps I use -- it freezes when I tap on something, whether it's to open an app or interact with an app that's already running. It will completely freeze up for anywhere from five to 15 seconds before reacting, and it's extremely frustrating at times. Sometimes, the screen will time out before I can enter my PIN to unlock it; sometimes when somebody calls and I tap "answer," the phone doesn't react fast enough to actually answer and I miss the call. As I said, very frustrating. It did this both before the update to Lollipop last week, and after.
Here's what I've tried: Hard reset; restarting; deleting or disabling all the apps (including Blinkfeed) I thought I safely could, usually just one or two at a time. I've run it in safe mode, and the phone works normally that way -- I just can't figure out what's making it freeze up. I've run a CPU monitor program, and haven't seen any huge spikes from any apps; and according to the app manager in settings, I typically have about 1G of RAM free.
I'm very hesitant to root the phone, mostly because this is a warranty replacement for a Verizon M7 I had rooted (and returned to stock), and none of the ROMs I tried with the previous phone worked well -- if at all -- with the security policies I am required to use to log in to my employer's Exchange server. Those policies include data encryption.
I'm running stock Lollipop 5.0.2 and Sense 6.0 on Build number 6.22.605.3, Baseband 1.13.41.1209.
If anybody has ideas for me to try, I'd greatly appreciate it. My upgrade date is late August of this year, but it's getting harder and harder to live with this phone, which I absolutely need for my work.
Thank you very much in advance.
It's been a month now since the Lollipop update. I have read through a few threads about performance issues in general after the update. I am going to assume that your phone too has become a victim of the update. I have NOT updated to Lollipop. Mainly because of my recent root and install of TWRP custom recovery, EX Kernel and ViperROM 7.0.2. If these issues aren't resolved, I will not update. Besides, KitKat is doing great for me. I would suspect certain services not running in safe mode that allow the phone to react normally as opposed to all services running in normal mode. Have you contacted VZN and/or HTC for possible t/sing solutions? I see that you have done what I would've done. After failing I would assume it is because of the Lollipop update

Phone automatically goes to home screen,

I've been having an issue with my Z2 Force that I've never had with any of my other phones. For some reason, it acts like I'm hitting the home button, even when I'm not touching it. I could be using a web browser, the XBox app, or any other app and it will go back to whatever launcher I have set as default. It doesn't close the app, it just minimizes it. I've tried disabling the home button for navigating & use the touch buttons instead, and when that didn't work I tried doing a factory reset. Well, it's still doing it, and I'm to the point where I'm very tempted to try to use one of the rooting methods I was able to find online, one of which does mention the specific model of my Verizon variant (XT1789-01). I can live without root if needed, but this 'phantom home button pressing' thing is driving me nuts. Any help is appreciated, and thanks.
I have 4 Moto Z2 Force in my house, 2 of them (Android 9, Verizon version) have this same issue.
Eco0901 said:
I have 4 Moto Z2 Force in my house, 2 of them (Android 9, Verizon version) have this same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still working on getting myself to go through with trying the root method I found. I think it'd work, but my main issue would be with making sure I can find a rooted ROM for the phone. Assuming the method works and I don't bork my phone, I'd still need a different ROM to install in order to determine if it's a hardware issue or software based. By the way, on the chance you're thinking of trying to remove the screen protector, be aware it is realllllllly stuck on there. I almost pulled my screen off, but I was able to remove it & was rewarded with a bunch of left over residue.
At any rate, if I do actually get myself to do the root thing, I'll be sure to post my results here.
will4958 said:
I'm still working on getting myself to go through with trying the root method I found. I think it'd work, but my main issue would be with making sure I can find a rooted ROM for the phone. Assuming the method works and I don't bork my phone, I'd still need a different ROM to install in order to determine if it's a hardware issue or software based. By the way, on the chance you're thinking of trying to remove the screen protector, be aware it is realllllllly stuck on there. I almost pulled my screen off, but I was able to remove it & was rewarded with a bunch of left over residue.
At any rate, if I do actually get myself to do the root thing, I'll be sure to post my results here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the ROM stock so isn't the root that cause the problem, but I hope you find the way, my only hope is on you, actually ):
Eco0901 said:
I use the ROM stock so isn't the root that cause the problem, but I hope you find the way, my only hope is on you, actually ):
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My concern is whether the root method I found is legit or not. The only reason why I want to attempt it is because the description mentions the specific model of my phone. All variants of the Z2 Force start with XT789-, but it's the number after the '-' you have to look for, and for Verizon users is '01'. Rooting the phone will let me install a different version of Android that should help me narrow down the cause of the glitch. Since your phone is doing the same thing mine is, it's more-than-likely not due to an app, so it has to be either the OS or a hardware thing.
Maybe a downgrade to 8.0 will make it, this bug is so annoying
Eco0901 said:
Maybe a downgrade to 8.0 will make it, this bug is so annoying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible that might work, but either way I still need to be able to root the thing and find a ROM made for the Verizon model. My phone has only been doing this for a couple weeks or so, but before that it would actually fully close certain apps (gsam Battery Monitor, RadioU, Taskbar, and some others). However, I more than less fixed that by setting the timers for those apps to 23 hrs.
How did you set the timers? That fixed the problem of minimizing the apps?
Eco0901 said:
How did you set the timers? That fixed the problem of minimizing the apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason why I tried setting timers on certain apps was because they were being killed automatically, this was before the 'phantom' home button thing. The following steps may/may not resolve your current issue, but you can try them if you'd like:
1. Go to Settings
2. Apps & notifications
3. Screen time
4. At the bottom, you'll see a few apps listed, and a an option to show all of your apps. Select 'Show all apps', then the app you want to set the timer for.
5. Next to each app you'll see a little hour glass. If it's empty, then there is currently not timer set. If you'd like to set a timer, tap the hour glass, then set your desired time.
Again, I did all this well before my phone started acting like I was hitting the home button in an effort to get it to stop closing my favorite apps. For the most part, it worked, but the automatic closing thing only started after the upgrade to Android 9. I did find a site where I could download a previous stock ROM, but without root it may/will re-update again. There's an app that let's you prevent updates, but the phone has to be rooted in order for the app to work. I can't really remember the name app right now, but I used to use it on my Note 4. I think there was also a way to do it through the command line in Windows (might've worked in Linux, too), or it might've been a combination of an app and the command line.
In any case, the root method I thought I'd found wasn't really all that instructive, and I need to make sure I can actually fully unlock the boot loader before attempting root. If I can't unlock it, then whatever root method I try won't stick. The auto home button thing, at least on my phone, seems to be random, though. Sometimes it'll be fairly soon after opening an app, other times the app will stay open for a good while before going back to the home screen.
Well, like I said, I have other 2 Moto Z2 Force but they are Sprint or whatever the carrier are. They don't have the phantom home button problem. But they are in Android 8. I actually don't have a problem on click the multitasking button to go back to the app but the problem is on the games and that stuff. So if I go back to Android 8 the system will update automatically to 9? I didn't know that, I thought that it was volunteer hahaha. Btw I don't even know how to downgrade since I'm not a moto user of all life. This is my first experience with a moto phone and it sucks. . Hahaha actually the home button problem happen.
Eco0901 said:
Well, like I said, I have other 2 Moto Z2 Force but they are Sprint or whatever the carrier are. They don't have the phantom home button problem. But they are in Android 8. I actually don't have a problem on click the multitasking button to go back to the app but the problem is on the games and that stuff. So if I go back to Android 8 the system will update automatically to 9? I didn't know that, I thought that it was volunteer hahaha. Btw I don't even know how to downgrade since I'm not a moto user of all life. This is my first experience with a moto phone and it sucks. . Hahaha actually the home button problem happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may not immediately update the OS after a downgrade, but you would get a notice there's an update available, even on a rooted phone. Since root only removes the barriers that're usually there to keep the less knowledgeable from hurting their phones, you'd still get any update notices a non-rooted phone would usually get. There is an app called NoBloat Free, and with it there are two files you'd be able to block that'd keep your phone from updating when you don't want it to. I'm not sure if the app is still in the Play Store or not, but I did use it on my Note 4, and it worked pretty well.
On a side note, I've had Opera open on my phone for a while now, and so far it hasn't gone back to the home screen yet. As for the phone itself, Moto phones are pretty good phones, my Z2 Force is my fourth phone from Moto (the other three being the RAZOR smartphone, Bionic, and the original RAZOR, which I sometimes miss). For all we know, our issue could be caused by a software glitch, hence my desire to root and test a different ROM.
Do you know how to downgrade to 8.0? I'll try it, it's a good phone and I didn't pay so much por this, that's why I'm not that angry. I won't root the phone since the games I play would kick me from the game. So just for make me sure I understand, do you reestablished the phone with a computer or from the same phone?
will4958 said:
My concern is whether the root method I found is legit or not. The only reason why I want to attempt it is because the description mentions the specific model of my phone. All variants of the Z2 Force start with XT789-, but it's the number after the '-' you have to look for, and for Verizon users is '01'. Rooting the phone will let me install a different version of Android that should help me narrow down the cause of the glitch. Since your phone is doing the same thing mine is, it's more-than-likely not due to an app, so it has to be either the OS or a hardware thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My man, I found something, I think it's a Verizon app's problem, there is a post in Reddit with more people having this problem, one of them leading to the conclusion that two apps of Verizon update recently. I don't know if that work. Btw I leave the link to that post. https://www.reddit.com/r/Moto_Z/com..._source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body
Eco0901 said:
My man, I found something, I think it's a Verizon app's problem, there is a post in Reddit with more people having this problem, one of them leading to the conclusion that two apps of Verizon update recently. I don't know if that work. Btw I leave the link to that post. https://www.reddit.com/r/Moto_Z/com..._source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I may have finally given my phone the smack in the pants it needed to start behaving itself again. I followed the link you provided, and one of the comments suggested installing any updates for a couple Verizon apps and disabling them. Not sure if this would work on a non-Verizon phone or not, but I've had the XBox app open on my phone for over 20 minutes now, and so far it hasn't minimized yet. To be accurate, I even closed & reopened the app. The apps mentioned were Verizon App Manager & My Verizon Services. I was able to disable the first app, but not the second, and rebooted my phone after doing so.
If your phone isn't from Verizon, there may be a similar pair of apps you could try disabling, though I'd probably look it up first to be on the safe side.
Update: It's been almost two hours now and the app still hasn't closed. Now, to get the screen protector residue off my phone.

Categories

Resources