[Q] [Solved] App List Alphabetical howto turn off - Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Heyho XDA Community,
i have a question to the applist. I have have my applist sorted alphabetical with all the letters present to quickly jump to them.
But the thing is i dont want that. I want the list jsut be simple with all apss listed. nothing else.
And the strange thing is, that it suddenly happened,, without installing new things or sth.
Is there maybe a setting or a shortcut which i enabled unfortently so that this happened?
I have about 20 apps installed not the magic 45 or the amount needed to display the applist alphabetical.
Hopefully someone can help me.
Synergi

The 45 counts the pre-installed apps and tools (things like the Pictures hub, the Games hub, each email account, the built-in Calculator app, and so forth).
There's a registry value you can change to modify the threshold for the Jump List to show up. Search on this sub-forum, or the Registry Tweaks thread under Dev&Hacking.

Thx for ur advice With the Keyword Jump List x) and the hint with the registry easy =)
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Start\GroupingThreshold

Related

where do i begin? trying to find the right plugin for TP2

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Deafcyclist said:
I've just gotten the AT&T Tilt2 this Dec 31 and I have been trying to figure out how to really customize the today themes. however, because nearly everyone here uses cooked roms, i just can't seem to figure out how to find plugins that can work with stock winMO 6.5 on my Tilt2. I have a few particular things I would like to set for my today themes but I need to learn even the very basic of the themes on my Tilt2 first, such as TouchFLO 3D. but what do I call the window default? so far I think it's titanium? and what about the even older looking theme that I see when I don't have either the "titanium" and TouchFLO 3D?
Basically I want easy view (or access) of the weather forecast, time, agenda, task, and messages (combined SMS, MMS, and e-mails). I would also love to be able to launch select few apps from there.
How do I go about setting this up when I do not even know how to find out all of the relevant info I needs? (believe me, I've tried to use the search functions but i can't seem to find any newbie-friendly explanations).
Sorry if I seem to be cluttering up this subforum, but I really really want to figure out how to set this up so I can truly use my tilt2 efficiently in this way in preparation for my next semester at college.
Thanks for any and all info.
P.S. I know that I will be suggested to go ahead and try to flash some roms into this tilt2 but i would rather find out of these plugin first so I can be sure that I would have all of the functionality without having to do that if I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the forums!
TouchFlo and Titanium are today plugins.
This means that when you siable them both, you get the standard WinMo today screen.
You can disable them by going into start/settings/today. There you can disable the items you don't want.
To have more plugins for titanium, you can go here. There you can find various extra plugins, like weather.
For TouchFlo, there aren't any plugins.
I hope this helps, if you have got more questions you may always PM me.
And next time, ask questions in the Q&A section. I know that forum gets less attention but we need to keep this section clean for themes only. Thanks.
Cheers,
EC
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Okay no problem, just next time.
As I said you can revert to the old standard windows mobile home by going to start/settings/personal/today/items and uncheck Titanium and Touchflo.
I don't know any standard home plugins, because I never used it.
If you deleted plug-ins you will need to hard-reset your Tilt2, or find a download somewhere.
EC
Moved to Q&A as not release.
You can use standard plugins. As was already said, just uncheck windows default and TF3D from today settings, and select whatever you want. I use Tonaya weather-2-go, Skyfire, Pocket Digital Clock, PDA Status, and SK T oday Commander (paid for). A lot of the freeware sites have many choices. I recommend PDA Status, it's really nice.
Anyway, I kind of agree with you on the UI's. I like having things in one place, and don't like having to scroll all over the place. If you're bored, you can check my sig and see how I have mine set up (don't flash it, though).
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Frustrated
OK, I'm frustrated as hell trying to get some decent plug ins for my new phone. Just got a new Tilt 2, and really, really like the titanium weather plug in look, but cannot get it to operate on the phone. Am I missing something? The options for the today screen do not change after I install titanium weather (showaco, tried both of his v4.1 and 4.2 cabs), but a weather line shows up in the Windows default today screen. However, every time I try to get it set up, it gives me an error, essentially
(OK, I can't post a link (not trying to), but in the following, the xxxx was actually http)
'xxxx://hadle.accu-weather.com/widget/hadle/weather-data.asp?location=62002&metric=0' couldn't be opened.
also
Line 1 (\Program Files\TitaniumWeather\TitaniumWeather.mscr):link=ReadFile("xxxx://hadle.accu-weather.com/widget/hadle/weather-data.asp?location=&location&"&metric="&metric)
So, what am I missing, or am I installing an incorrect program? I'm brand new to any of this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Dale

Vibrant Tips & Tricks (perhaps helpful for you guys too?)

Below is a post I made for the Vibrant. Being that our phones are so similar, I thought you guys may be able to benefit too.
Please note though, this is for the Vibrant and there may be very big differences that I am NOT aware of. Hope this helps some of you!
ROOT TOPICS
HOW TO ROOT
justadude had a great post on how to root. Please read his post. Rooting takes maybe 2 minutes. This does void your warranty - but so much is gained from having Root! I currently do not feel the need to explain all the benefits. If you found XDA, you must be fairly smart person. Enjoy!
* Alternate Method *
XDA user TGA_Gunnman has again made another great thread. This time he has created a program to make root even simpler than downloading a file, renaming it and going to the stock recovery... yeap, the one click Root (and now an unroot too). Please see his thread here, and thank him for his work.
Got Root? YOU NEED A RECOVERY!
Big props to XDA user Koush for his amazing Rom Manager App, and the work he put into getting us such an easy & safe recovery. Everyone who has rooted their Vibrant should get his app (STRONGLY encourage the Premium Version). In short, this lets you create system backups for those "oops" moments. It also gives you a directory of ROMs for easy downloading and flashing. Yeah, it is that cool. Please see his post for instructions. After successfully installing, be sure a make a Nandroid Backup of your system before flashing any rom's. Please note that the Premium is a key that unlocks functionality in the free version, so you will need both if you are willing to help Koush out.
Free:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Premium ($3.99):
HOW TO MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP *ALWAYS BACKUP BEFORE YOU FLASH A NEW ROM
1 - Open Rom Manager
2 - Click on Flash Clockwork Recovery (you can skip this if you have already flashed the recovery before)
3 - Click on "Reboot Into Recovery"
4 - At the prompt, click "ok" to reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery
5 - If this is your first time, you may be at the stock recovery on the Vibrant. Thats normal. Click on "reinstall packages" (ALSO: Volume up and down navigate, and power is used to select an item).
6 - Now, you are at ClockworkMod's Recovery. Scroll down (volume down), to "Nandroid" and select it (power button).
7 - Click on Backup. It will run it's course.
8 - Voi'la, you now have something you can always fall back on in case you F up. Thank Koush and all the testers.
HOW TO RESTORE A BACKUP
Follow the steps from above, but select "Restore" instead. They will be sorted by date YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
DID YOU F'UP AND NEED TO GET BACK TO STOCK?
Well, thanks to XDA User justanothercrowd we have a Nandroid Backup to get you back to how the Vibrant shipped (and rooted of course). Hopefully you don't need it, but thank him after reading his post just in case you do!
HOW TO UN-ROOT *ie, sending your phone in for warranty work
The following code can be keyed in Terminal Emulator (could also be done in ADB or deleting the files using Root Explorer). If you do use Terminal, change the keyboard to the stock Android KB prior to opening Terminal. Apparently the backspace on swype does not work in Terminal. Each line should be entered separately. bahnburner gave the instructions in this thread, which you should review first.
su
rm -r /system/app/Superuser.apk
rm -r /system/xbin/busybox
rm -r /system/bin/su
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
* Alternate Method *
TGA_Gunnman in this thread created a one click root/unroot program. Thank him for his effort.
THINGS TO DO WITH ROOT
CONTROL YOUR STARTUP (PLUS MORE)
There are many apps in the Market for this function, I only know and use Autostarts (found here). The developer has been very receptive to feedback and informative. This app does a lot, but this is what I suggest.
Download it. Install it. GO TO MENU > SETTINGS > APPLICATIONS > (can't recall the next menu name at the moment) AND ENABLE USB DEBUGGING (it will not work otherwise). Open Autostarts.
It will scan the system and put all the apps that are used for MANY different tasks the phone does. I then go to the options and hide all of the system apps (no point in messing with those). After that, simply control what market/3rd party apps should be running given the task identified by Startup. You will be surprised what apps appear, for no good reason. Of course Android will eventually kill these when needed, but why have them open in the first place (this is better than a task killer if you ask me). Obviously if you are sending a text message you do not want to disable an app like handcent, so use common sense here. Any questions or issues, I would suggest emailing the developer or posting a question in the App section (perhaps there is already a designated Startup thread to ask this question, hint hint).
Autostarts (Approx $1):
RESTORE SETTINGS AFTER WIPING YOUR PHONE *If changing from one ROM to another, be courteous, and wipe.
XDA user SykesAT reminded me that Titanium Backup is a great app for restoring after wiping your system. I do not use it, so I asked him to do a small write up. He obliged, and here it is:
Backup Your Apps and System setting with Titanium Backup
It can backup/restore:
* All the applications you have installed, including protected ones,
* All the data and settings of these applications,
* Most (or all) of your phone's settings and data. (incl. SMS, bookmarks, call log, calendar, launcher, WiFi, etc)
* Market links when restoring apps.
* NOTE: It will not backup the system applications from your ROM. Only their settings will be backed up.
Titanium Backup is available from the market (free version only) or you can DL from the dev's site. There is a premium (donate) version with more features. Please see the Dev's site for more details, instructions and FAQs. Here is a link to his site!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium Backup:
DELETE THE BLOAT!
Download Root Explorer (i'm not associated with) and go to System/App to remove a lot of the bloatware that came on the phone. I strongly encourage researching what can & can NOT be removed. ALWAYS make a backup. Here is a good thread about removing the bloat. Remember, I am not responsible. It will be some time before we have a custom ROM that removes this crap for us.
TAKE SCREEN SHOTS!
If you have root, the easiest way is to download shootme or drocap2 from the market. You can also use the Android SDK, but I'm going to keep is basic here. Once you have your pic, upload it for all of the community to see!
Shootme:
DISABLE ADS WITHIN APPS!
Download AdFree from the market... check for updates and voi'la, most, if not all apps should be ad-free.
AdFree:
HOW TO TETHER
Download Barnacle from the Market (consider the donate version). Then visit Lovellkid's thread for more instructions.
Donate Version ($1.99):
Free Version:
CAMERA / VIDEO SECTION
HOW DO YOU ZOOM IN?
XDA user antonio91282 pointed out that you can zoom in by pressing the volume rocker while using the camera. It goes from 1-4x.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RECODING VIDEO TO SD VS. INTERNAL MEMORY
XDA user wphend00 asked (By creating two separate threads!, tiss tiss) if there were differences between recording video to the SD vs. Internal memory. I thought it was a great question, so I did a very quick test. Disclaimer, I'm certain others can do a better job. Here is my post with links to the videos so you can see for yourself. Here is a link to the entire thread so you can see discussion about it, if any.
APP TOPICS
USE GOOGLE GESTURE FOR QUICKNESS
XDA user os2baba pointed out using Google Gesture to search the phone (everything, apps, contacts, music, etc.). It's a great app where you make gestures with your finger and it isolates your search results based off the letter/number you enter. Highly recommend trying it.
Google Gesture:
WHERE ARE APPS LOCATED?
System Apps:
system/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Market Apps:
data/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Market Apps (Private):
data/app-private
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Downloaded Apps (using browser):
sdcard/download
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
* If you download an app using the browser, you can use Root Explorer to move the app to data/app so the apps are stored on the 1.9GB partition the system uses. Once moved you can click on it to install it. My personal preference.
TRY A HOME REPLACEMENT (ADW or LauncherPro)
Go to the market and download either - both are free. ADW has more customization, but I like the look and feel of LP more. If you don't like it, uninstall and go back to TW. Gravis86 started a good thread debating which is better, located here.
ADW:
LP:
This my LP setup on my Vibrant. Notice the docks (these are also scrollable & there are 5 per each desktop screen you have). The Live Wallpaper is Aquarium.
XDA user afive720 had a nice post on how to revert back to TouchWiz (without uninstalling). You can read the thread here for more information.
WHAT WEATHER APP IS THAT?
It is Beautiful Widgets, found here.
WANT TO USE ALLSHARE: PC > PHONE AND VICE/VERSA?
I found this thread to be extremely helpful. I ended up using Windows Media Player and it was too easy. Great app.
XDA User BritCrit has also given some really good information in this thread you may also want to review.
USE AWESOME DROP TO MOVE FILES IF NO CABLES
If you are ever in a bind, or just being lazy you can use this app to move files from a PC to your phone. No hastle, no account setup and it is free. Just go to this site: http://labs.dashwire.com/drop and then enter the 4 digit code when you open the app on your phone. Drag whatever files to the browser on your PC, and voilĂ , it will instantly start showing up on your phone.
REDUCE A PICTURES SIZE BEFORE SHARING IT?
PaulO'Brien tweeted about an app, Image Shrink Lite, that lets you adjust the size and then select the method you want to share (twitter, messenger, gmail, etc). I mention this only because a lot of people get frustrated when they take a pic and try and send it out, but gmail hangs on it (and it eventually ends up a draft email) because it is too large. Resize the pics before you email them and you will not have this Fail.
Image Shrink Lite:
NEED HELP WITH METAMORPH?
Stericson is a master, and his thread is the tell-all on MetaMorph. Basically, this app allows you to customize the color/look of almost everything on your phone. It seems above my level, but those who use it, love it. You can view it here. I would caution using it unless comfortable.
MetaMorph Donate ($1):
Free:
VIBRANT TOPICS
STOP THE BOOTUP / SHUTDOWN AUDIO NOTIFICATIONS!
This thread has it covered: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731059
I deleted these two files using Root Explorer (referenced below) and can attest it works perfectly.
Thanks to XDA Member PhilSlater I know that the File locations are:
Bootup: system/etc/PowerOn.wav
Shutdown: system/media/audio/ui/Shutdown_128.ogg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BUTTONS - Tap vs. Long Press (LP) Taken from www.androidcentral.com:
Home: Returns to the main home screen. If at the home screen, another tap gives a preview of all home screens.
(LP) = See your most recently used apps (GREAT for multitasking).
Back: Takes you back a level in an app, or back a page in a browser, etc.
(LP) = In your browser, quickly access bookmarks, history and most-visited sites. Thanks, Snapdragon0503!
Menu: Tap this for additional options in an application, or from the home screens.
(LP) = Make the keyboard appear.
Search: Brings up the search function. Could be search within an app, Google search, or universal search of contacts, bookmarks, apps, etc. that are in the phone.
(LP) = Launches voice search.
WANT A NEW LOOK? CHANGE YOUR FONT!
In settings, go to sound and display. Change the "Font Style" is like 8th from the bottom. There are a few freebies, and about 50 for a dollar in the market. I changed my system to helvetica, and I was amazed at the level it changed the phone. If you already have some free fonts you downloaded from the market, I believe you can move these .apk files to this directory to make them appear under Sound and Display:
data/apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(It is where Helvetica appeared once I downloaded and installed it).
XDA user RandyN added some input with this post, and I tend to agree. Though I love helvetica
XDA User nick_karstedt also pointed out there is an app that also does this called Type Fresh. I'm going to stick with the OS settings, but this looks like a good option for a lot of people. Thanks for the suggestion.
CHANGE THE DOCK BUTTONS ON TOUCHWIZ!
Open the app drawer, menu, edit, change to customizable. With the app drawer open now, press menu and edit again. You can now replace the two app docks in the middle (dialer and app drawer can't be replaced).
DELETE APPS FROM THE LAUNCHER OF TOUCHWIZ
Open the launcher, menu > view type, change to customizable. Now press Menu again and select Edit. All of the non-system apps will have a red subtraction logo. Thanks to XDA user erikrios and his post for this gem!
QUICKLY ADJUST YOUR BRIGHTNESS
Move your finger left to right across the notification bar. You probably need to cut off auto-brightness though. thanks to soklean (neat!)
NEED TO COPY AND PASTE?
If at a site, and you need to copy some text... click Menu > Select Text > Drag your finger over the text you need to copy. When you release your finger, the selected text is copied to your clipboard. Long press and paste when ready. I agree this is not perfect, but some of us may not even know you could do it. Froyo is coming soon, and with it the ability to easily copy/paste within gmail.
HOW TO CONTROL + F USING THE ANDROID BROWSER
I Very often use Control + F when browsing sites on a PC. Android makes this very easy when using their browser as well. Simply press Menu when in the browser, go to More, then select "Find on Page." You can then enter the keyword you are looking for and use the directional arrows (to the left of the word) to move from one entry to the next. Awesome.
CHANGE THE HAPTIC VIBRATION INTENSITY
Love this feature. I often find haptic feedback is too much. To adjust the intensity, from the home screen: Menu > Settings > Sound and Display > Vibration Intensity. As you slide the bar it gives you an idea of the intensity. Great addition.
TAP CONTACT IMAGE FOR MORE OPTIONS
XDA user jkang29 reminded me of another thing I took for granted. When you are in Contacts, click on the image of the contact for MANY options on how to contact/share with that particular contact. Thanks jkang29!
WANT TO DISABLE SD CARD NOTIFICATIONS?
I do not see the point in hearing this chime. To cut off the sound, from the home screen: Menu > Settings > Sound and Display > SD Card Notifications. You can uncheck this and never hear that sound again.
CONTACTS / DIALER TOPICS
EDIT YOUR CONTACTS (ON YOUR PC FIRST)
If you are new to Android, the first time you logged in it was probably amazing (and frustrating) when you saw ALL of your google contacts sync with your phone. Here are my thoughts, I hope it helps. First things you need to know, google does not allow you to stop the auto-adding of the random people you email to be added to your contacts. Of course, those randoms are now likely showing up in your contact list (hence the frustrating part). Here is how I fixed it:
*please note, if you hide all contacts who do not have a phone number (see below) you can likely skip this, but I included for those who REALLY want to clean up their contacts*
1 - Login to gmail on your PC. Click on "Contacts" on the left border.
2 - Notice you have "My Contacts" (the good) and you have "All Contacts" below that (the bad).
3 - go to the "search contacts" search bar and just enter one SPACE and then press enter.
4 - The middle column will now have your contacts sorted by THE GOOD (My contacts) on top and then THE BAD (All Contacts) below that. You may have more tiers, but I am keeping it simple for illustration.
5 - Scroll all the way down to the bad list. Review the names. Some may be legit people you just have not added to your My Contacts list yet.
6 - If you have a hard time recalling who someone is, google has included a "show conversation" link. This shows any previous email exchanges so you can decide to either delete or add them.
7 - Work through this list. I would suggest deleting them as you go, but not adding them to your My Contacts list until the very end (to prevent from having to do step 3 over and over).
8 - Okay, great. Lets assume you got rid of all the clutter. NOW, go to your My Contacts.... the far right panel should have a box that says "Find Duplicates". If you have any, fix them... no reason to have several entries for the same person.
9 - Now just review the My Contacts list and make any edits or format changes. I am Type A, so you could only imagine how clean your Android Contact list is about to appear.
Great, enough with the PC. Go to your Vibrant. Chances are it is already synching up with the changes you made.
The phone came with a bunch of #s stored on the Phone and SIM stock, I could care less about these. If you agree:
1 - Open Contacts. Press menu, go to "Display Options"
2 - Uncheck Phone and SIM (others may not agree, I just dont see the point), leaving Google as the only one checked.
Alright, almost there now. As it is, you have removed a LOT of clutter, but you may still have a ton of contacts. That is because, by default the Contacts app shows All contacts, even if they do not have a phone number. Now again, this is a personal choice.... but if I need to call someone, I would rather not have to deal with people listed who I do not have a phone number for. Also, if I am emailing them, I am using gmail, not Contacts (so again, not needed). IF you agree:
1 - Open Contacts, Press Menu and go to "Display Options"
2 - The top will say something to the affect of, check here if you only want to show contacts with phones.... Click it. Then click Done.
3 - Bam, your Contacts may not be perfect (like mine), but I bet they look a ton better. I tried to point out there is a lot of personal preferences, so please take this with a grain of salt. I like things clean.
FIND YOUR CONTACTS FASTER!
TouchWiz has a lot of cool tricks. One of my favorites is in the Contacts app. When you load the app, you will notice the far right has the alphabet running top to bottom. Good news, by simply pressing on the letter you will automatically jump down, instantly. I much prefer this to the old Android where you had to grab a silver bar and scroll down. Good job Samsung.
SMART DIALER!
Samsung even included a smart dialer. Pull up your dialer and just start typing the number out. It filters down your contacts as you type each new digit. Likely, after the area code and first 1 or 2 digits after should be enough. There will be a drop down on the right and a number above it (the # of possible contacts based off what you input). Just press the contact, and the press CALL, genius. Seriously should be on all android phones.
KEYBOARD TOPICS
TRY A NEW KEYBOARD!
Our phones came with Swype, Samsung's KB and the default Android KB. All are very good in their own right. You will find you prefer one over the other (or maybe many of the alternatives in the market). To switch... simply long press anywhere that you would normally input text (a text message or the search widget). "input method" will pop up, click on this. Now choose the KB you want to try out. If one is not showing up, go to Menu > Settings > Locale and Text and make sure its there/checked.
NEED A TRACKBALL?
In swype, move from the "swype tips" button to the "sym" key. Voila, directional buttons appear + other goodies (see pic).
MISC. GUIDES
HOW TO MOUNT PHONE TO PC
One of the most basic things I have overlooked. XDA user DaMaDo reminded me Android does not auto-mount like some other phones on the market. I am so accustomed to this, I neglected it. Precisely the things I want you to help remind me of. When most of us connect the phone, the USB drivers are automatic. If not there is a guide below to assist. For now, let's assume all is well on the first connection of the Vibrant to the PC. When you connect you will likely get a popup on the PC about installing drivers, great. Please use the cable that came with the phone! I had an error with another cable (nexus one's I believe).
Pause a bit. Alright, seems like nothing is happening right? Okay, go to the phone's notification bar and pull it down. You will see USB Connected. Click on this. You have a pretty little pop up window. Click on "Mount."
Shortly after, your computer should pop up automatically TWO devices, the "/SDCARD" (Internal Memory) and "SDCARD/SD" (SD Card). If not, go to My Computer and find the drives you just mounted to the PC.
NEPHRON'S GUIDE FOR ADB, etc (taken from the G1 forums)
This guide helped me a ton. I realize some things may be diffrent, but I could not think of a better starting point. Please read this thread.
CONVERT VIDEO FILES ON YOUR PC FOR YOUR PHONE
XDA user TGA_Gunnman did an excellent job putting a thread together for how to convert videos using HandBrake (get it here) and then moving them to your phone. I have a 2 year old. One thing I do a lot of is take video of my girl and share them with people. Perhaps you just want to share a prank video... regardless, this is the thread to get you on point. Be sure and thank him if his how to helped you!
HOW TO PROPERLY INSTALL A NEW SD CARD
XDA user techspy posted this question and I had recently done it so I responded with how I did it. Again, like always, I'm certain there are people on here who know how to do this better/easier, but this works and is nothing difficult. Here is my post with instructions, and here is the thread for discussion.
MISC. QUESTIONS
WHAT ARE THOSE FUNKY BARCODES?
These are QR Codes. Download Barcode Scanner from the market. Scan any of these codes I linked. You will be sent to the app in the market. Download, enjoy.
NOTICE LAG?
I do not encourage this, but some will want to play with it. There is a great thread on tweaks that can be done to speed up the Galaxy. I personally will wait for either an update or a custom ROM. Others users have reported a Factory Reset has helped. Again, updates are coming soon as well as custom ROMs.
DOUBLE NOTIFICATIONS?
If you are using a 3rd party app, you may be getting double notifications. For example, I use Handcent for texting (you should try it). First thing you need to do is open the stock Messanger app, go menu > Settings and disable notifications. This is basic, but sometimes it's easy to overlook.
SHOULD I USE A TASK KILLER?
Absolutely not. You have the best OS and one of the best spec'd phones ever. You would be doing more harm than good. If you do have one, uninstall, reboot and let me know what you think!
In addition, even Google at Google I/O 2010 addressed app developers and asked them to no longer include "quit" or "close" as options within their apps. I think Andronica (another great android site) summed it up well with their article, found here.
XDA user iunlock created a thread with some good debate based off this sticky. You can read all the thoughts by clicking here. In short, the overwhelming majority agreed and some have commented on seeing an increase in performance after deleting their task killers. Awesome job guys.
HOW TO DO A FACTORY RESET!
Rarely should you need to do this (I've never done one), but if you want to, simply press menu and go to settings. Scroll down to Privacy. In there is the option to perform a Factory Reset.
NEED HELP INSTALLING THE DRIVERS ON YOUR PC?
TGAGunnMan started a great thread with links for the drivers. You can view it here.
THREE (3) LIGHTS/SENSORS - SURE THERE IS NO LCD?
Yeap. I asked myself when I noticed there were 3 items. Two are used for the proximity sensor, the other is the light sensor.
Big props to XDA user gravis86 for answering my query so fast, see his post here.
Wow! Nice compilation! The only thing I know that doesn't work properly with the Captivate is method 2 of the lag fix in the link given under the lag section.
Other than that, this is great! Thanks man!
^ yeah, I'm not a fan of those lag fixes... tried to convey that in my post. I just switched to LauncherPro and use Autostarts.... my phone flies.
Hope this helps you guys. Never really thought that some of you guys were not checking the Vibrant threads (like I was not reading the Captivate ones).
Someone please feel free to take ownership of this and make it more suitable to the Captivate. Just want to help... if someone does use it, would appreciate at least a name drop
nice work on that and thanks for the qr codes for those programs, a lot of useful stuff that I didn't know about
Awesome post
Thanks s15274n!!
Thank you ever so much for the the Swype arrow keys tip. That was the biggest problem I've had with the Captivate. The brightness control through the notification bar was also a big help. Sometimes its the simple things that make your day.
This needs to be stickied immediately. Phenomenal thread. Nice work.
Nice compliation! I second the sticky vote.
To me, TouchWiz is the single biggest lag producer on the phone. I've gone LauncherPro and never looked back.
Yep, I used this thread before, great stuff indeed ..thanks!
Awesome, awesome post. Thanks TC!
thanks a ton for this thread, and *facepalms* for me not thinking to check out the Vibrant forums also....
Doesn't look like this thread really got much attention like it did on the Vibrant. I am not going to maintain this one like i do the Vibrant.... feel free to check there periodically (OR, have someone maintain this one as a sticky).

[Q] Making the switch (from Android G2.3.4), have some questions

Hi all,
Thanks in advance for answering some questions I have.
I've watched a ton of vids, done a pretty good amount of research so far, but still have a few unanswered questions about WP7.5. I will be looking at getting a Lumia 800 as that's what my carrier is offering in Canada. I'm sick of Android being flaky due to the fragmented ecosystem and am looking forward to the 'closed' nature of WP7.5 - I just want it to work. Period.
So, on to the Qs:
Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
Thanks, I'll add more if I think of them.
O
>> Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
There is a Key which shows up all the numbers and other characters but its not like a popup and no long press.
>>Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Nope but there are apps which are purely number pads you can use.
>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
>>Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
No Idea on then but what do you use Feedly for ?
>> Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No
wpxbox said:
>
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WRONG!
It remember the last view you were in. if you leave in agenda view, when you go back, that is the view you will see 1st.
@ROCOAFZ Never Knew that so thanks a ton for that.
>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.
Been using WP from sometime but not sure how this works if at all possible.
Like when I type HAV it shows me Have but when I hit spacebar, it does not auto complete but adds a space.
nilsk123 said:
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some words that it will auto fill in but they have to be the only possible thing you would be typing in context with the sentence. Most words have to be chosen from bar right above the text. (i like it this way)
No problem on the agenda view. Mine is always in that view so that's what i always see
1: To add to what others have said, you can tap-and-slide to add just a single number or punctuation in one motion. From the standard keyboard, put your finger down on the number/punctuation mode key, slide it to the number or punctuation you want (the keyboard will temporarily switch modes when you touch the key initially), and release. The key your finger was on (in the alternate mode) will be typed, but the keyboard will be in the original mode. Very handy.
Alternatively, you can add some registry values that will create press-and-hold options for the top keys to have numbers. I added a press-and-hold list to my comma key; sometimes it's a lot nicer than switching modes even briefly! (I use a lot of semicolons.)
3: For some reason, nobody has mentioned this yet. If the phone will auto-correct (including auto-complete), then the suggested word/completion will be bold. Pressing the Spacebar when there's a bolded suggestion will use that suggestion automatically.
If none of the suggestions are bold (because what you typed is already a valid word, or because it isn't sure what you meant to type), then you can tap on a suggestion to use it. The phone does have a setting to automatically add a space after you do this.
4: There's an app that comes up when you search for StumbleUpon, based on keyword match (it's not actually a stumbleupon app, but it targets the same kind of user). I haven't tried it (but then, I don't use SU either).
5: Vision and Music Search should both work just fine (they're not locale based at all, so far as I know). Scout... I think it works in Canada? I've never tried (I live close to the border, but not *that* close, and international data costs money so I always have it disabled). I assume Zune Pass and Directions both work as well, and those are the other two locale-sensitive features I can think of that might care.
6: Not really, but how often do you need to mess with settings? There are some apps that let you quickly reach the ones you use most often, or let you quickly reach ones that are normally a few levels deep, but no one-tap toggles yet that I'm aware of.
However, I really don't find it required to enter settings much at all. See a new WiFi network? The phone will prompt you. You'll only save a very small amount of power by leaving WiFi off when not in use; the phone is very good at putting it in a power-saving mode. I almost never need to touch any of the other settings.
Didn't notice the bold... good post ... i'm always learning something new in Windows phone

[Q] Google Now Widget/Homescreen

Ok so I did a lot of searching and have not been able to find anything for this... I found a couple of threads started by people asking if it is possible or if there is one that exists but those did not receive any real responses so I'm hoping that one of the amazing devs here can help please.
So what I'd like is a homescreen widget, or possibly a Live wallpaper, which shows the live cards from Google Now.
There are countless Google Now themed UCCW skins that people have put out. I don't want that.
I also found a way to create homescreen icons that LOOK like Google Now cards. But all those do is launch apps, they do not update with live information from Google Now.
I'm not sure why Google Now wasn't created with a widget. It just seems to make sense. It's kind of annoying that you have to open the app to get all this information, instead of having it right in front of your face on your homescreen where you can access other apps quickly as well. I mean the point of google now is to present you with information before you need it right? How is that possible if I can't get the info without opening the app.
So I'm hoping there is, if anything, some sort of work around here.
Maybe someone knows of a way to create a widget with desktop visualizer that will show the live Google now cards and update them.
I'm hoping for a scrollable widget that will be almost exactly like Google Now (i.e new cards will pop up as they do in the app, you can scroll up and down to view all of the cards you currently have, you can swipe to remove cards - (come to think of it you probably won't be able to swipe to remove cards, but maybe a double tap or something?))
It would probably be best if this widget did not include the google search bar and simply showed the google now cards.
I remember hearing about an app in the past that could overlay live wallpapers on each other. Is there a way to overlay an app into a live wall paper? so that you could see Google Now as your live wall paper, even if maybe you can't actually interact with it this way?
For now I'm going to try setting up something with tasker, so that google now will automatically open every morning when I turn off my alarm, and possibly at other points (maybe when a new card pops up or something). Something similar to this could probably be done with the smart actions app if people are interested in trying that out. But honestly I feel like this is not the best solution because I'd rather not have tasker running constantly, eating my RAM and therefore my battery.
So I don't know if the reason there is no widget already is because it simply is not possible. And if it's not possible could someone please explain why?
Also, so that I can try to work on this myself - can someone please help me by telling me which files Google now uses for getting and updating cards? (i.e. the file names I would see in Titanium or under Settings>Apps or in a file explorer where they would be located - I'm guessing somewhere in the /system/ folder) If I can access these I can play around with them and try some things out
TIA to all who reply...

Question about .apk modding - possible to have it erase a database value on launch?

Hey guys,
I'm not sure if this is the best subforum to ask in, but I figured if anybody knew it would be you guys on XDA-devs.
I have a slightly modified Facebook .apk - what I did was take the last version before they bastardized the newsfeed and got rid of "most recent" (it's version 8.something), then open it up and remove a bunch of permissions that I didn't want it having. I left in obvious ones like GPS for checking in, but removed the stuff like "prevent phone from sleeping", drawing over other apps and other really obnoxious things that you normally couldn't opt out of.
I use it on a daily basis. I also hate Messenger - not only because it's two apps instead of one, but because of that same aforementioned issue... the drawing over other apps and there was no way to TURN NOTIFICATIONS OFF ENTIRELY, only for up to an hour.
Anyway, Facebook v8 already has a messenger built in. It's absolutely pointless to use the standalone one. However, there's a value that keeps being generated by their end that I can't control - at least not yet!
What happens is the first time you open messenger after signing in, it says "Upgrade to Messenger? Your friends are using it!" and you can choose "Not now" or upgrade. It does this for a day or two and then eventually the "not now" option goes away and it refuses to let you see your messages without "upgrading" despite the fact the app obviously has the ability to do it just fine.
After some experimentation, I discovered the fix. There are two values that get written in prefs.db (it's /data/data/com.facebook.katana/databases/prefs.db - not sure why prefs.db since it's not really a preferences but I digress)
If you open that up in SQLite Browser, there are three tables... open up "preferences" and there are two values:
/config/force_messenger/first_shown_1
/config/force_messenger/last_shown_1
Then there's a binary timestamp stored in another column in that row.
If I simply delete both of those and restart the app, it works!
But this is a bit annoying to have to do every couple days. I already have my development options set to force-close an app when I long-press the back button, so I was hoping it were possible to put a line of code in the .apk somewhere that just wipes those values, if present, when the app starts. There's nothing I can do about their server sticking those in there, as obviously they want to force people to use Messenger. I CAN just delete the values, though.
At the very least, some script I could set to auto-run (like kill the app and edit the .db) would work too, but I'm going to be getting a new phone soon and want to use it unrooted if possible... so I figured having this done from within the app itself would be a better idea.
Thanks in advance!

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