Things to do before selling your android phone

If you want to sell your android phone, there are some task that you must do before selling. Here is the list of things you should do before selling

Backup Your Data

You can backup your data in to your computer or you can backup data to your Google account. The simplest and the more secure way to backup your data is by using Google drive account.
The back up option will be available under settings> Accounts > Google Account and select the data which you want to sync. This way you can back up all important things in your phone like photos, videos, files, bookmarks, apps, passwords, settings.

If you have a slow internet connection or you can back up your important data to your PC. Just connect the phone and PC via USB cable and transfer the data which you need to your computer.

Reset 

Next step is to encrypt your data, that is to completely wipe your data from the phone. For this go to your Settings >Backup and Reset > Factory Reset. Once you had tapped on factory reset, it will erase all data on your phone and the device will be like when you have bought it.

Remove the SIM Card and Memory Card

You may have many contacts saved on your SIM card and also data stored on your Memory card. So it is important to remove both of this and keep it with you to ensure full security.

Before removing the memory card, go to Settings> Sorage and tap on Unmount SD card Option and your memory card is now safe to reove.

Pack It Up

You might have got a box and accessories like charger adaptor, USB cable, headset, bill, guide along with your phone when you had bought it. Re assemble everything in the box, if you have it. having all the accessories including box will add to the value of  your phone and it is most likely to be selled at a higher price. 

Clean It

Once you had completely cleaned the inside of your phone, next step is to clean the outside. If there are many scratches at your screen guard, it is better to replace it a new one so that the phone will look much better.Also clean any dirt or build up in the outer portion your phone so that the buyer will be satisfies and feels that your phone is money -worth.

Rooting your Android Phone - things you should know

What is Rooting?

Rooting is the process of unlocking the Operating system for specific purposes. Rooting is performed to overcome the limitations put the hardware manufacturers on the device. With rooting , you will get the root access to your device . By this you can modify your Phone's software to the deepest level.The process of rooting is not recommended by the manufacturers and  can ruin the Phone's warranty.

Need of Rooting

By rooting, you gain the ability to load Custom ROM of your device. There are many Custom ROM's available which has completely different look and performance. Some of  the popular one's are CyanogenMod, AOKP, Paranoid Android.  You can select from the wide range of ROM's available based on your need. Here are the advantages of Rooting

* Install Incompatible apps

Sometimes, Android will block installation of certain apps which may hack into the android system or which might be a threat to your device. By rooting, you can install incompatible apps to your device and unlock new features.

* Update your OS

If your device is working on an older version of  OS and the manufacturer does not provide a way to get updated to the latest version, you can get latest version of OS in your device even before they are officially announced.

* Change Theme

By rooting, you can get the full themeing capabilities of your device and every graphic on your device can be customized. Even the colour of the battery indicator and the font of the device can be altered.

*Full Control of the CPU and the Kernel

*Improve Battery life and Speed

  There are many Custom ROM's available which would increase the speed and performance of your device and also improve battery life

*  Better Backup

By rooting you can backup or recover all the data ( pictures, apps, files, audio clips and so on ). You can even recover the information stored in your apps.

*  System processes can be automated

Disadvantages of Rooting

 In spite of all the benefits you gain via rooting, there are some disadvantages too which are discussed below.

* Security 

  There is an increased risk of getting malware into your device by rooting. Root access the permissions to the apps which might be harmful to your phone. on rooting, these permissions are removed and the harmfull apps gain the right to control the device. Because of security reasons, even Google refuses to support the Google Wallet service for rooted devices.

*  Warranty

 Once you have rooted your device, you had void your warranty of your phone but you can always un root your device by simply re introducing the original Backup ROM onto your device.

* Bricking

 ' Bricking' means screwing up your phone's software so badly so that your phone can never function properly. Loading of Unsupported Custom Rom into your device can also ruin the software and cause bricking.  

What is a Custom ROM?

If you own an Android device, You will get to hear about terms like Custom ROM , Custom Recovery Rooting and so on. Most people don't know what exactly these terms are meant for. Today I will let you know about Custom ROMs and their influence on your device.

Custom ROMs

In Android sense, ROM is typically a file that contain the executable instructions to run the OS. A Stock ROM is the one which is developed by the manufacturer and comes with the phone when you buy it. Custom ROMs are also filled with features and customization options which control the behaviour of the device. There are many custom ROMs available. Some of the popular Custom ROMs are

CyanogenMod

This is the best custom ROM available and as reports suggest, till now, there are more than 4.2 million active installation of CyanogenMod releases. Some of the features of CyanogenMod are Open VPN integration, DSP equalizer, Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, USB tethering, CPU over and under clocking.

AOKP (Android Open Kang Project)

AOKP allows more customisations than what is available with stock ROM. This is rising in popularity now . It allows customizations which are normally not permitted by the factory firmware. Some of the features are use of Custom Toggles,  CPU overclocking, Navigation ring, Wi-Fi , Bluetooth, USB tethering, LED control.

Paranoid Android

Paranoid Android is a Custom ROM aiming at enhancing the beauty of the android system and allow more customizations in the system. It is completely different from CyanogenMod and also packs some cool features like Hover, Pie and Peak. Hover allows you to to interact with the notifications as soon as they arrive at your screen . Pie helps to enhance the simplicity of the navigation bar and the navigation buttons can be used with just a simple swipe at the screen. Peek feature allows you to take a glance at your notifications as soon as you take your phone out of your pocket. Other Features of Paranoid Android are Multi-tasking and Floating notifications, UI customization, Gesture control and so on.

How to update Google Play Store on your Android Phone

Google Play Store is the No.1 trusted app market available for android devices. You could download apps from Google Play Store and install it in to your device. So, from where you will download Google Play Store.Here is how you can update your Google Play Store for your Android Phone.

You could get APK of latest version of Google Play Store from various websites, we don't prefer to use them, as they may contain malware which would be harmful to your device. You don't need to download APK file for Google Play Store from external sources. You can update your phone's Google Play Store from your device by following the below mentioned steps.

You would have any version of Google Play Store on your device inbuilt . Firstly open the Google Play Store and you will get a screen like this and you will see a hamburger (three line) icon on the top left corner. 

Tap on that icon and you will get a list of options.

Select the settings  option from the side menu and it will open another screen. Scroll down and find " build version " option. Tap on it and now you will get a pop-up window. 

If your Google Play Store is up to date the popup window will show a message " Google Play Store is up to date " and if you have a new version of Google Play Store available, then the message will be "A New version of Google Play Store will be downloaded and installed " tap OK and the Google Play Store will automatically be downloaded.

How to get pass the lock screen on Android phone

Almost all the android phone users tend to secure their phone's lock screen with pattern / pin lock and we are more likely to forget the pattern or pin.  Here's what you should do if you cant get pass the lock screen.

By Signing in to Google account/ using Backup Pin


If your phone runs on Android 4.4 or any previous version, it is relatively simple to get pass the lock screen . Enter anything where it is asked to enter the pin  and on 5 incorrect attempts, you will receive  a message " too many attempts " on your screen and then you will be asked to enter back up pin or your email id and password of your Google account . You can either enter the backup pin or sign in with your email id to get pass the lock screen.


Using Android Device Manager

Any version of the Android Phone can be unlocked or recovered by using this method. For this you need another phone or computer. From this go to google.com/android/devicemanager ,sign in to your Google account . Now , at the screen select the device which you want to unlock . Tap 'Lock' . Then a a new window will pop up and enter a temporary password at the provided space in the new window and tap Lock again. you will receive a conformation message at the beneath the box . Now, you will see the password field in the locked phone and now enter the temporary password which you had earlier provided and this will unlock your phone. 

By Factory Reset method 

This is the most simple method adopted but this method will erase all your data and your device will be back to its factory condition. For this, first turn OFF your phone. Now press and hold Volume down button and Power button (volume button + Power button + home key for some devices ) while the phone is booting and you will be directed to the Bootloader . Use volume keys to browse through the options untill you find  " Recovery Mode " , tap the power button to select the Recovery mode. Now , using the volume control buttons browse for " Wipe data/ factory reset " option. Tap power button after you had found it. Conform the prompt option and your device will be restarted and all the data will be erased.

Why do you need an antivirus app installed on your Android phone ?

It is often argued that android devices doesn't need antivirus software. Have you ever thought about this.. 

We have got many antivirus apps available at the Google Play Store like  Antivirus Free, 360 Security,CM Security etc. but we need to know whether antivirus apps are must requirement for Android phones. 

Android Security chief  Adrian Ludwig had once said , " Do I think the average user on Android need to install anti-virus apps? Absolutely not. I don't think 99 percent plus of users get a benefit from anti-virus apps. "

If the chief of a huge company like Android is quite confident in its security and had not find any useful thing in installing antivirus apps, then why should one download these apps from Google Play Store??

First we need to know what  is malware or virus? .  

Malware or virus are the unwanted intruders to your device which negatively effects your device OS. 

Where do they come from? 

There are various ways by which viruses can enter your Android phone. Some of the main ways are from  downloaded apps, Spam mails,or MMS that get automatically downloaded. 

Every Android phone comes with a facility of downloading apps from third party other than Google Play Store. Downloading apps from trusted market place like Google Play Store would cause nearly no harm to your device. For additional security from malware, Google has introduced its new Tool named " Bouncer " which will scan all the apps submitted to the Google Play Store for  malware.

Use of apps from third party market places are the main cause of getting malware onto your phone. For avoiding this, try to avoid links which you think is spam. For avoiding installation of apps from source other than Google Play Store, go to your phone's Settings > Security Settings  and then un mark Allow installation of apps from unknown sources

Some of the Android users, tend to change or alter their OS by a process called rooting which would certainly break all the barriers of protection from malware and most of the rooted devices are prone to malware as reports suggests.

There are plenty of Android devices which doesn't use Google Play Services. For these devices, a third party anti-virus app would be helpful.

WhatsApp Updated their App With New Emojis

Recently WhatsApp has  released a updated version of the app with the facility of Starred Message.Followed by this update they also added new emojis.Now we can keep some messages starred so that they can be read easily when needed going through the starred message tab.Whatsapp is also providing the facility of back-uping the messages including the media to the google drive.

           

If you didn't get the new features of WhatsApp through Google Play Store updates, then visit WhatsApp website and download the latest version.

Whatsapp is quite improving with its features and we can hence fing more updates in the future.

Call Anywhere to india at 19 paise per minute using Ringo app

Here comes a happy news for Indians.  An Android application namely "Ringo" which was launched earlier this year , recently announced that it is introducing new tariff charges for voice calls in India. The company claims that its users will be able to call anywhere in India at the rate of  Rs0.19 per minute which about 90% less than the standard rate offered by many of the existing telecom operators.

Besides this , Ringo is also claiming that this rate atleast cheaper than 25% than rate offered the top internet based calling apps.

Another important aspect of Ringo app is that it doesn't use data services for connecting a call. The app which uses network of mobile carriers instead of internet or data services, will allow users to make local and STD  calls to anywhere in the country to even persons not having the Ringo app installed.

"Our vision is to make calling across the globe simple, seam-less and low cost for the masses. Our local calling service is not only the cheapest in India right now, but it is also free of typical telecom related hassles such as STD charges and differential pricing" , Bhavin Turakhia, CEO and founder of Ringo said.  He also added that they use bulk minutes bought from the telecom players and pass on the bulk accumulated discount to the their users.

Ringo app is available for Android Phones at Google Play Store , at Windows Store for Windows devices and at App Store for iPhone. The App have already reached 5 Lakh unique downloads. Using this new plan, Ringo is aiming to get 1 million downloads in 3-6 months.