MAKE YOUR UNEXPANDABLE PHONES EXPANDABLE

MAKE YOUR UNEXPANDABLE PHONES EXPANDABLE

Andriod Unknown   2/07/2016 04:11:00 pm

The HTC One? Nice phone, no question. But it's lacking a key feature: a microSD expansion slot.

That's a bummer, as expandability has long been one of the big advantages of an Android phone over an iPhone. (The other is a removable battery, which the One also lacks, but that's a topic for another day.) Does that mean owners of slotless Android phones like this one are stuck with a fixed amount of storage?

Not necessarily. Thanks to a USB specification called USB On-the-Go (OTG for short), you can add more storage just by plugging in a flash drive. Well, OK, there's a little more to it than that. Here's how to expand an "unexpandable" Android phone.

To connect a flash drive to your Android device, you'll need an inexpensive USB OTG cable.

Step one: Because you can't plug a full-size USB flash drive into a microUSB port, you'll need an adapter cable -- specifically a USB OTG cable. You can find these for as little as $5, sometimes less, on Amazon and eBay. Here's one that, is selling for $4.76. (Impossibly, it ships from Hong Kong, meaning it could take a couple weeks to arrive. But how does that price even cover shipping costs?!)

Step two: Fill a flash drive with music, videos, photos, documents, and/or other media you'll want to access on your device. The USB OTG solution is particularly great for bringing extra music and movies on a trip, especially if you're already low on on-device storage.

If your device supports USB OTG right out of the box, it should be a plug-and-play exercise.

Step three: Plug the flash drive into the USB OTG cable, then plug the cable into your phone's Micro-USB port. With luck, the phone will immediately jump into USB host mode, which is exactly what happens with my Verizon HTC One. From there I was able to fire up Gallery, Music, and other apps that support external storage, and use them to play videos, listen to songs, open files, and so on. If, however, nothing happens, read on.

Freeware utility Kingo Root can handle the chore if your device needs rooting for USB OTG.

Step four (if necessary): Not all Android devices come with the necessary USB OTG drivers. Does that mean you're out of luck? Not if you're willing to root your phone or tablet. Visit Kingo Android Root is a free app that can make short work of the rooting process on most devices.

Step five (if necessary): Now install an Android app that allows external drives to be "mounted" (i.e. visible to the operating system). One popular choice: USB OTG Helper. Run the app, then plug in your USB OTG cable with the already-connected flash drive. Now you should be able to access the drive in the same ways described above.

Unfortunately, there's no guarantee any of this will work on your device; your best bet is trial and error, though you could also do some googling to see if others have had USB OTG success with a particular model. For what it's worth, I wasn't able to get a rooted Virgin Mobile Supreme to recognize my flash drive -- though it wasn't really necessary given that that phone has a Micro-USB slot.

On the flipside, if you do get everything working, or have a model like the HTC One, you can also connect a variety of other USB devices, including keyboards and even game controllers.

Have you tried this option with your device? If so, hit the comments and tell us what worked and what didn't.

Also hit the Share Button Below

How to easily root an Android device

How to easily root an Android device

sonandsamuel   2/06/2016 09:11:00 pm

Rooting is the Android equivalent of jailbreaking, a means of unlocking the operating system so you can install unapproved (by Google) apps, update the OS, replace the firmware, overclock (or underclock) the processor, customize just about anything, and so on.

Of course, for the average user, rooting sounds like -- and can be -- a scary process. After all, "rooting" around in your smartphone's core software might seem like a recipe for disaster. One wrong move and you could end up with bricked handset.

Thankfully, there's a new Windows utility that makes rooting a one-click affair:Kingo Android Root. It's free, and based on my initial tests with a Virgin Mobile Supreme and later ones with an Asus Nexus 7, it works like a charm. (Be sure tocheck the compatibility list before you proceed, keeping in mind that even if your device isn't on it, the utility may work with it.) Here's how to get started.

Step 1: Download and install Kingo Android Root.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step 2: Enable USB debugging mode on your phone. If it's running Android 4.0 or 4.1, tap Settings, Developer Options, then tick the box for "USB debugging." (You may need to switch "Developer options" to On before you can do so.) On Android 4.2, tap Settings, About Phone, Developer Options, and then tick USB debugging." Then tap OK to approve the setting change.

On Android 4.3 and later (including 5.0, though this also applies to some versions of 4.2), tap Settings, About Phone, then scroll down to Build Number. Tap it seven times, at which point you should see the message, "You are now a developer!"

With that done, tap Settings, About Phone, Developer Options, and then tick USB debugging." Then tap OK to approve the setting change.

Step 3: Run Android Root on your PC, then connect your phone via its USB sync cable. After a moment, the former should show a connection to the latter. Your device screen may show an "Allow USB debugging?" pop-up. Tick "Always allow from this computer," then tap OK.

Screenshot by Kingo

Step 4: Click Root, then sit back and wait while the utility does its thing. The aforementioned Nexus 7 took all of about two minutes, including the automated reboot at the end.

And that's all there is to it. If you decide you want to reverse the process, just run Android Root again, connect your phone, then click Remove Root.

With that done, now you can take advantage of options like USB On-the-Go to make your unexpandable phone expandable. Hit the comments to share your favorite tricks for a rooted Android phone.