Author: FlexiSPY

This article will show you how to install the Android L preview on to a Nexus 5.

Bear in mind that the latest version of Android, Android L, is still under development.

The version we are installing in this article is subject to change and you perform the steps in this guide at your own risk.

While everything has been done to make sure the steps are accurate, FlexiSPY is not responsible for the contents of this guide or any damage that may be incurred from following this guide.

What is Android L?

Android L is the newest version of the popular Android OS. It will be Android OS version 5.0.

As is the tradition with Android OS versions being named after desserts (Android OS 4.x (K) was named Kitkat for example with Jelly Bean and Ice Cream preceding them) many people believe that the ‘L’ will stand for lollipop but this is not confirmed (nor denied) by Google at this time so we just have to wait and see what Google decide to do.

With the new Android OS not being scheduled for release until at least the end of 2014 it comes as no surprise that only a few select phones are eligible to be running this version currently.

Luckily, here at FlexiSPY, we like to keep on top of all things tech which is why we have just installed the Android L developer preview on our Nexus 5 and we are going to show you how you can do the same in just a few quick and simple steps.

What you need to install Android L

In order to install the Android L developer preview on to a Nexus 5 you will need the following:

• A Nexus 5 phone
• The Android L developer preview image
  
• A PC

Step 1 – Backup the Nexus 5

Because this is still development software we highly recommend that you back up the phone first completely before proceeding.

To do that you, first of all, install the Nexus root toolkit which you can find here.

Once you have downloaded the Nexus toolkit connect the Nexus 5 to your PC using the USB cable it came with. After that, you need to put the Nexus 5 in USB debugging mode before it will be seen while connected to the PC using the Nexus root toolkit program.

To enable USB debugging on the Nexus 5 simply do the following:

• Tap Apps
• Tap Settings
  
• Tap About Phone
• Scroll down to Build Number and keep tapping that until you read you are now a developer. The Developer options menu has now been unlocked.
• Tap the new Developer Options Menu.
• Make sure Stay Awake is checked
• Make sure USB debugging is checked.

You also need to make sure you have installed the Nexus 5 USB driver otherwise even with USB debugging enabled the PC will still not recognize the phone. To learn how to do that click here.

If, after enabling USB debugging and installing the USB driver and the Nexus 5 is still not recognized then try a different USB port on your computer because sometimes that can make the difference.

Also make sure that, with the Nexus 5 connected to your PC, no on-screen notification on the Nexus 5 is visible asking you to accept USB debugging on the PC (you have to accept otherwise the PC will not find the phone).

With all this done the Nexus 5 should now be recognized when you run the Nexus toolkit and it will look similar to this.

As you can see the Nexus root toolkit has identified the Nexus 5 and Android OS version so the next thing that we need to do is start the backup.

The root toolkit takes care of the entire backup process, so click the Backup button to start.

We want to create a complete backup of the Nexus 5 before we install anything on to it so simply click Create Android Backup File.

There is quite a lot of text to read but essentially you just need to tap OK and then you can proceed to the next step.

The next step will ask you where you wish to save the backup file to on your computer. Simply pick a convenient location and then the next window will explain more about the backup process and what will happen.

While the backup is in progress make sure the Nexus 5 is not interrupted.

Once the backup is complete the Nexus root toolkit will inform you.

Downloading the Android L developer preview

Google makes downloading the developer preview as simple as possible however there are some prerequisites first. You must make sure you have installed the Android SDK on your PC first.

You must also make sure that, within Windows, you have set the path variable for Fastboot to match the location where you save the downloaded Android developer preview too.

For more information how to install the Android SDK please see the details here.

When you have successfully installed the Android SDK to a folder of your choice on your PC, it should look like this (we have installed the Android SDK to C:\Android for easy reference).

Here you can see the SDK (the SDK folder) has been installed and we have put all of this in a folder located at C:\Android for easy access as mentioned.

You can download the Google L developer preview from the link here.

Make sure you download the correct one for the Nexus 5 and then save the downloaded folder in the same folder as the SDK as shown below. We named our folder android for easy reference also.

Inside the android folder, you must extract the contents of the developer preview so it looks like this:

Next, connect the Nexus 5 to the PC using the USB cable.

Make sure it is powered off and the hold down the volume down button and the power button to turn it on and it will boot up in Fastboot mode which looks like this.

The final thing that needs to be done is within Windows which is to set the Path of Fastboot so that it points to the Android SDK Fastboot files which we have located in C:\Android\SDK\Platform-Tools on our PC (for you it will be different).

To set this do the following:

On the Windows desktop (in this case Windows 8) open up file explorer. Right click your computer and then click Properties.

With the system properties menu open click Advanced System Settings and the System Properties window will appear.

With the System Properties window, open click Environment Variables and the menu that appears will look similar to what is shown below.
In the Environment Variables window select Path and then click Edit.

Add a semicolon, as shown in the example, and then type the full path to the Android SDK (in this example we use C:\Android as mentioned).

Now that we have everything set we need to make sure the Nexus 5 is ready.

• The Nexus 5 should be connected to your PC.
• The Nexus 5 should be running in Fastboot mode.
  
• You should have installed the Android SDK on to your PC in an easy to access location.
• You should download the Android L developer preview image and saved it in a folder where you saved the Android SDK for easy reference.

Now that you have done all these four things you simply run the flash-all.bat file inside the Android L developer preview folder.

If all you see inside your Android L developer preview folder is a zip file you must extract it first to view all the files.

The Android L preview image will be flashed to the Nexus 5. This may take some time.

DO NOT DISCONNECT THE NEXUS 5 FROM YOUR PC OR TURN IT OFF OR DO ANYTHING THAT WILL INTERRUPT THE FLASHING PROCESS IN Anyway.

Once you have flashed the Android L developer preview the Nexus 5 will boot up for the first time. This may take some time also so please be patient. Once it boots up Android L will be fully ready for use.

All spy software products promise to be “completely hidden,” “undetectable,” “totally invisible” or similar. But are they really? If your spy software isn’t truly hidden, not only will it ultimately fail in the end, but you may also end up seriously busted.

In this series of Visibility articles we discuss the importance of stealth operation and investigate how well each application truly remains hidden.

We’ll be looking at StealthGenie, MSpy, Mobile Spy and MobiStealth, and comparing each of these with FlexiSPY. We’ll also give you screenshot examples of what we found. This series compares the major spy software and monitoring apps for the Android platform.

Stealth operation comes down to a handful of important questions such as:

• Is the application itself well hidden or can it be easily found and disabled by the user? Is it found by anti-virus and security apps?
• Does the monitoring app interfere with normal use of the phone?
• Does it eat too much battery or consume noticeable amounts of data?
• Does it bring attention to itself in other ways?

Stealth operation is more than just hiding an icon. All of FlexiSPY’s competitors are only partially hidden at best. Whether advertised as discreet, hidden or even fully invisible, the software can still be found in numerous ways. Sometimes it’s even easier than you’d expect.

• Sometimes an app may be found directly from the Application Manager itself. From there an experienced user can track its resource and data usage, kill its running processes or even uninstall it.
• Another monitoring app may be spotted by an antivirus utility, notifying the user with a warning to the screen and an offer to automatically uninstall it.
• Other apps may leave behind the icon to a rooting utility that was installed as a dependency.
• If not hidden properly, a wealth of system utilities can also report on the app’s percentage of battery, CPU time, memory and total data usage.

FlexiSPY’s Visibility series deals with the actual visibility level of the main spyphone competitors in five basic areas. You can find these articles on SpyPhoneReview here, or directly at the links given above.

For even more information, we’ve also conducted in depth reviews covering visibility and more which can be found here.

 

Explore All Our Great Features

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snuck up on ya. Stealthy huh?

 

Many spyphone vendors, including FlexiSPY advertise call recording for Android, but what is it, and why does FlexiSPY not recommend it?

To recap, Android local call recording is where you set a recording schedule from inside a dashboard, and a TARGET Android device will then start recording calls or surroundings and save them locally to the device.

At some point later, the recording is sent to the server where it can be listened to.

So why does FlexiSPY not recommend this? The answer has many parts.

Firstly, setting a schedule for environmental recording is essentially a blind exercise. Unless you know that something interesting is going to happen, the results will not likely be useful. Who wants to hear a toilet flush, or the sound of the TARGET’s legs rubbing against the device?

A much more useful scenario is to be able to listen in at will, and if something interesting is happening, then invoke the recording.  Only FlexiSPY can offer this, because we recommend spycall to first listen, and then record, using the FlexiRECORD option if things sound juicy.

Unfortunately this is not possible with Android local call recording.

Secondly, and what most vendors WON’T tell you, is that the Android Local Call Recording technique is inherently unstable and is extremely platform dependent. You will find that mostly it does not work, or if it does, you only hear one side of the conversation. This limitation also applies to FlexiSPY, however, we have a unique call interception system that works on Blackberry, iPhone, Android, and Nokia Belle.

With the addition of the FlexiRECORD product, all call recordings are automated and saved to PC.

We suggest to our customers to try the Android local call recording first, and if that does not meet their needs, we can provide a full or partial refund, or a discount on FlexiRECORD.

Try getting a refund from Mspy for this reason!

FlexiSPY currently offers Android local call recording as part of its EXTREME product, but as its viability has decreased, we will be offering this feature as part of PREMIUM in the very near future.

Summary of Android local call recording Issues

1. Local call recording is for Android only

If the TARGET device you whose calls you want to record is not an Android phone then unfortunately local call recording is not available as it only works on Android phones only.

2. Local call recording works better on some Android phones than others

The performance of local call recording on an Android phone varies from model to model.  There is no uniform standard.  This means that it may work well on one Android phone but not so well on another.

3. The quality of the local call recording will vary depending on Android handset.

Android devices are exceedingly customizable and this means it is problematic to have local call recording work correctly on every single version of every Android handset.  We already mentioned that call recording performance is dependent on Android model but what does this mean and why?

When you perform local call recording you essentially want to record both sides of the conversation.  This would be the TARGET device and the person that they are currently talking to when the local call recording takes place.

Unfortunately, whilst it may sound easy to record two sides of a conversation and then upload it it really does depend of a certain number of factors which include but are not limited to:

• Android OS version running on the phone
• Android phone make and model

Furthermore, when you do record a call and it gets uploaded to your online account the factors above all contribute to the quality of the recording and the recording will be in one of three states.

• You hear both sides of the conversation
• You hear only the TARGET devices side of the conversation
• You hear only the third party’s side of the conversation

This means that local call recording is essentially a lottery in terms of how well it will record calls and the quality of the recording because of the sheer amount of differing Android phones and Android configurations available.

So what can you do to ensure that you hear both sides of the conversation at all times and that you can record the conversations of any kind of TARGET phone, not just an Android phone?

FlexiRECORD.

FlexiRECORD is a companion product to FlexiSPY Extreme.  In order to operate it you need the following:

• A TARGET device running FlexiSPY Extreme
• A PC
• Your own Android phone

You install FlexiRECORD on to your PC and your own Android phone.  You then access FlexiRECORD on the PC and enter the details of FlexiRECORD on your Android phone.  With those details in place you simply leave your PC and your own Android phone connected to FlexiRECORD at all times and whenever the TARGET device makes or receives a call using FlexiSPY Extreme FlexiRECORD will automatically record it and save it to your PC so you can listen to it later.

Recording calls with FlexiRECORD has numerous benefits.

1. You can record calls from any TARGET device – not just Android phones
2. You always record both sides of the conversation
3. Recorded calls are saved as MP3 not AMR which means better quality

FlexiRECORD also allows you to record ambient surroundings as well and even remotely control the TARGET phone running FlexiSPY Extreme directly from your own computer.

So if call recording is something you really want out of spy phone software don’t be content with local call recording now that you know its limitations get FlexiSPY Extreme and FlexiRECORD today to see the true power of call recording.