20
My opinion, which I've expressed in the past:
Although the Galaxy Nexus is an Android phone off-the-shelf, I don't think that installing or using Ubuntu for phones is within the scope of our site. Questions related to running Ubuntu along side Android (in a chroot environment with VNC, for example) seem okay to me since Android is involved in the process, ...
20
Newbies, as in people that are new to using Android, are welcome here.
Newbie questions about using Android are welcome here (as long as they haven't been asked and answered already here).
Programming questions of any kind, even newbie programming questions, are not welcome here.
18
My opinion is that questions which are purely about gameplay ("How do I beat level 5 in Inexplicably Popular Social Game-of-the-Month?") should go to Arqade. They simply aren't about Android the OS, even if the title is platform exclusive.
Configuring hardware or something to work with a game could be OS dependent - something like "How can I set up a ...
14
As a preface, I've generally been a proponent of interpreting the scope of our site relatively strictly, and keeping it fairly narrow so that it doesn't lose focus from the intended goal (Android). Gadgets, I feel, ended up shutting down for a reason, and I don't want us to turn into Gadgets 2.0.
With that in mind, I think we should accept questions about ...
12
While newbie users are of course welcome (but encouraged to search before re-asking an already existing question), and programmers per se are also welcome, programming questions are not – as you can easily find out in our Help Center:
Please note the following topics are expressly off-topic here:
Developing/programming for Android (please ask these ...
12
I think it's important to look past the words the questioner happened to use, to see what the intent of the questioner is, and I wish close-voters would put a little more thought into that. This isn't 3-2-1, and you shouldn't lose everything just because you happened to use the magic word "app" in your question.
Recommendation questions are opinion-based. ...
10
Why wouldn't we? We already accept questions about samsung-galaxy-gear, which is the same class of thing. In general, we have a lot of questions about using Android with certain peripherals, such as Bluetooth keyboards. Since Android Wear is essentially a Bluetooth peripheral that's only for Android devices, it seems even more on-topic.
9
When in doubt, every Stack Exchange site has a help center page listed as What topics can I ask about here? It lays out the site's scope and acceptable topics.
Our site's help page (linked above) describes the purpose of this site:
If your question generally covers...
Using your Android device
Using a particular app on your Android device
...
9
This site is for Android users. As a rule of thumb, do not ask any question where the question does not come from the perspective of an end user doing end user things.
Marketing and charging money are obviously related, but are distinct concepts; you can do one without the other. So whether your app is free is not relevant, and asking for feedback ...
9
I believe Chrome OS is not Android OS (the meta post you linked is about Android-based OS and it's on-topic here). Meanwhile, Super User has a tag for google-chrome-os. My personal take is:
If the question is about using Android app only, then it's on-topic on here. Based on my research, the UI is the same as apps on Android devices, so Android user here ...
8
I've said a few thoughts about this in chat, so I'll repeat them here. I really want Glass to be on-topic here, because it's a cool device, but we've got to think about what's best for the site and its users. As I see it, here are the pros and cons:-
It should be on-topic because:-
Its OS is really Android under the hood, so in a sense, it is an Android ...
8
The answer to your first question is found in the help: it's for questions faced by Android users, not for questions about developing and publishing apps or ROMs. Programming questions should go on Stack Overflow instead. Problems with development tools (such as adb), and questions about Android internals are fine on this site provided the answer is useful ...
8
Sure. This is one of the topics we actually define specifically as on-topic on our Help Center:
If your question generally covers...
Using your Android device
Using a particular app on your Android device
Trying to solve an error or other issue in using your Android
device
then this is the right place to ask.
8
The Help Center page What topics can I as about here? has the following sections:
Recommendations, like "Which phone is better?" or "Can you suggest an app that does X?"
Shopping advice and suggestions, including what device to buy or where to buy it
This is because shopping questions have no one definite answer, and as such are a bad fit for a ...
8
This seems fine to me. There's a clear software component to the question, meaning that Android is (I can only assume) a relevant factor to the process. The fact that there is an app needed would lend more credence to this idea.
Where I would generally try to draw the line is: does something about Android as software have a meaningful impact? In cases where ...
8
The description of Android Enthusiasts on the tour page is that Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for users of the Android operating system.
Furthermore, on the related help page it is said that:
If your question generally covers...
Using your Android device
Using a particular app on your Android device
Trying to solve an ...
8
Leave open.
As long as it does not violate any existing law (tricking with date/time , AFAIK, does not violate any) in applicable countries, we should be welcome to discuss. As per my answer, such tools does exist.
That trick does not involve any cracking or reverse engineering. It makes no difference (to that specific app) from changing the global time of ...
8
Unethical for whom?
(Scroll to the end to find my stance.)
That would be my first question. For a die-hard follower of libre software ideology, personal use of a proprietary software could be unethical for them. But they may also extend their definition of ethics on others, arguing that if a user willingly chooses to use a proprietary software than they ...
7
These questions are not considered to be within our scope:
Please note the following topics are expressly off-topic here:
...
Questions asking the community to find or recommend something for you (a device, app, ROM, website, etc), including what to buy and where to buy it
They were determined to be too problematic because they generally ...
7
Afraid this would be considered off-topic by most users, as you already guessed. I'd suggest checking with our charging tag-wiki first (especially the "Chargers/Cables" section), and cross-check with questions using that tag.
If you weren't able to solve your issue that way, an acceptable approach would be asking for criteria (not chargers directly) – along ...
7
We only support questions about non-Android devices inasmuch as they relate to using them with Android. So your point #2 disqualifies you from asking here.
I do not believe there is a current SE site where you could ask your question; we no longer have a generalized Gadgets site for devices/OSes that don't have the critical mass for their own site.
7
Asking for software or hardware recommendations is off-topic here. For the former, we have a sister-site specialist on Software Recommendations – see Where to ask for app recommendations? For the latter, there's another sister site called Hardware Recommendations you should look at – as it falls into the category of Shopping recommendations, which are (as ...
7
Yes, if an app is the answer to a question, it's perfectly OK to post that answer.
There are really two reasons why app recommendation questions are off-topic.
The answer might not be an app
If you're trying to make your phone do something in particular, it might not be possible to do it with an app. Maybe the answer is a custom ROM. Maybe you need to ...
6
It depends a little. IMHO it is clearly on-topic as long as it is user-oriented (and not development-oriented), even it might be a "power-user's terrain". And even more on-topic if it's clearly something Android specific (as you've already indicated, many commands are "a little different", e.g. not all options are available to them).
But as you've asked for ...
6
"Is there a App for X?" type questions are off-topic. Therefore asking for app alternatives is also off-topic. See the section off-topic on this help site:
Please note the following topics are expressly off-topic here:
Recommendations, like "Which phone is better?" or "Can you suggest an app that does X?"
But if you phrase your question like "...
6
I believe that these should remain off-topic. As I see it, our site is designed for and primarily used by users of the Android OS. Our audience uses apps, it doesn't develop or publish them.
When we support a niche area, such as modding system assets for example, it's supporting users in their role as users (advanced users, but users nonetheless). Users ...
6
We wont, for multiple good reasons.
First, software recommendations are off-topic on many SE sites – with the definitive exception of one being dedicated to this, namely Software Recommendations (see: Where to ask for app recommendations?).
Second, take a look at What should our new off-topic close reasons be?:
Questions seeking application ...
6
From my point of view, that very much depends on the intention. As you already pointed out in your question, there are many occasions where those tools are of benefit to the end user and thus should be on-topic. Examples include, but are not limited to:
fastboot to install a ROM
adb for backups, restore, data recovery/retrieval, settings adjustments etc.
...
6
This site is about solving issues users have with their Android devices – not about seeking staff for develpoment, testing etc. So: No, you can't use this site to invite testers.
As for where to do that: I'm not aware of any SE site permitting that. Some forum might be a good place; see Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions?
6
Game development (and other development-related things) are off-topic on Android Enthusiasts. This community is mainly for solving problems as Android end-users.
Instead, there is a sister site for this specific topic, Game Development Stack Exchange. Otherwise, since this might also affect user-experience, User Experience Stack Exchange is also a possible ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
