[Q] google now - General Questions and Answers

Does anyone actually use google now? I have mine turned off on my nexus because it's a pretty big battery drain.

I never noticed any major battery drain, but it comes handy sometimes
Sent from my Desire HD using xda app-developers app

It was a huge drain at first because I hardly ever turn GPS on.
I turned off "use GPS" or whatever in the settings and only use WIFI and cell tower data for location - battery use is back to normal.

One of the things that bugged me was that mediaserver became a big wakelock. It was in the foreground for as long as I kept the screen on. And can the people who actually use it tell me what you use it for?

I think the mediaserver thing is a separate issue. I never had that, myself - but people have gotten it after upgrading to JB. If backing up and re-formatting the SD card doesn't work, there's a thread or two on here that details what else to do.
I just use Google Now for the lulz. It does some cool things when I'm in the city, like displaying local business deals / information / et cetera.

Pennycake said:
I think the mediaserver thing is a separate issue. I never had that, myself - but people have gotten it after upgrading to JB. If backing up and re-formatting the SD card doesn't work, there's a thread or two on here that details what else to do.
I just use Google Now for the lulz. It does some cool things when I'm in the city, like displaying local business deals / information / et cetera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like it's mainly for people who travel. That's definitely not me :laugh:

That is interesting. I will have to try that out

Never found it useful.

I've deleted it.
As for me - useless application

Pretty useless app in my opinion as well. Google has a bunch of app and I think they can do away with it.

Never found it useful

Used it all the time on my nexus. I didn't actually search for anything though, just checked the cards for scores, and traffic info, which was great.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is very useful service for me , I need it since I moved in to new town that I do not know much about.

Related

WaveSecure..

Anyone getting an account? They are giving away lifetime membership for those who download and register.
It is basically like mobile defense (which is also great and free) but it give the option to wipe the phone & the SD card. a few months ago I lost a G1 and I would have love to be able to wipe everything.
I figured it is a must for my Nexus.
Just wanted to put it out there for those who didn't know.
Were you able to log in into their website?
I'm using it, and I'm very impressed. This is a must download app. However, the site is very slow and you often have trouble connecting to it.
Haven't tried logging into their website yet, just downloaded it today. Still at work and no access to that site. I know mobile defense was fairly simple and I figure it shouldn't be much different.
Dled , installed , and tried it out the other day. GPS was off by alot but the other stuff seemed to work.
I've tried it a few times over the past 2 days and am very impressed. The website worked great... no problems connecting for me. Also, the GPS was right on!
I've been using it for about a week and a half now its pretty awesome i think, i had some problems backing up my contacts but got that fixed, other than that it works flawlessly for me.
Ok I see what I did wrong, you have to put +15556667777 (+1 for state side) to log in.
As for tracking, it worked really good for me.. only off by like 7 feet. Had no problems backing up contacts, sms, etc. Works good for me. hopefully i'll never really have to use it but if I do I have trust i'll find my phone in no time.
wow that's pretty nice. free even.
Tortri said:
Ok I see what I did wrong, you have to put +15556667777 (+1 for state side) to log in.
As for tracking, it worked really good for me.. only off by like 7 feet. Had no problems backing up contacts, sms, etc. Works good for me. hopefully i'll never really have to use it but if I do I have trust i'll find my phone in no time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. And When you get the country code or number wrong, they charge it as an international text, which you have to pay for. So be careful when inputting those numbers!
I also found that the app works extremely well, downloaded it the first night I had the phone.
has anyone compared wave secure, mobile defense, or lookout mobile? Do they all do the same thing?
Seems like a pretty good app from using it for a bit. Only problem I have is that the GPS can only be updated 4 times a day. Would seem pretty hard to track someone down if you cant update the position that often.
cronin4392 said:
Seems like a pretty good app from using it for a bit. Only problem I have is that the GPS can only be updated 4 times a day. Would seem pretty hard to track someone down if you cant update the position that often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is where mobile defense comes in. You can pretty much stream an active location through mobile defense. getting better the longer it stays on.
Un-Installing?
Would the remote wipe and location features work if the "thief" removed the application from their phone?
Doubt it, unless you password your screen so they can't get access to do that. But then they might try a different sim card at which point they will see the screen about returning it. But if this person knows anything about the android system, couldn't they just unlock it, replace the bootloader and format the phone, regardless if its locked or not??
Guess you better hope that last couple GPS locations is his house or work..
How would this work?
Say someone straight up steals my phone, i put it down, turn to grab something, turn back and its gone. ok, GPS... i know where the SOB lives. Then what, call the cops? Wouldn't I need a IMEI and serial to prove its mine? Wouldn't the cops need a search warrant to look in his house to find your phone?? Or should I just bust down his door and beat the crap out of him?
How would it go down to get it back?
Beware of the hidden cost
BTW unless they have changed it but every time you receive a txt from wavesure you will get charged.
I know they have stop it for the US, can't confirm for the rest of the world.
jeux_1 said:
BTW unless they have changed it but every time you receive a txt from wavesure you will get charged.
I know they have stop it for the US, can't confirm for the rest of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
charged by wavesecure or standard sms rates from the carrier?
I believe it is a foreign received txt. you were getting charged like 20 cents.
It was on a forum where wavesecure was participating.
They changed it in the US but I am unsure for the rest of the world.
I will find the forum once I am back home.
jeux_1 said:
I believe it is a foreign received txt. you were getting charged like 20 cents.
It was on a forum where wavesecure was participating.
They changed it in the US but I am unsure for the rest of the world.
I will find the forum once I am back home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah it is free

No Reason not to root and remove ATT bloatware and enable sideloading

Well I'm writing this because of the complaints of lagginess and/or crap from AT&T.
While I'm not a dev genius, I do know my way around iPhone OS and WM and Android is coming pretty naturally to me. IF YOU JUST READ THREE THREADS YOU CAN HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PHONE. There. I said it.
Seriously, if you are complaining about it being laggy, its because the ATT crapware likes to turn on for no reason in the background. REMOVE it!
Install Titanium Backup, allow it to update and then go to manage and uninstall ONLY ATT APPS. don't get rid of google apps or **** goes crazy
If you're complaining about not being able to install LauncherPro or easytheter, learn how to sideload! Seriously, you can use adb and droid explorer if you'd like (really simple) or you can edit ONE LINE in your database and get it directly on your phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728121
If you're wondering how to do all this, just ROOT. It takes 30 seconds, it's longer to reboot the phone than to root it. Just get the update, it does absolutely nothing to your phone, just installs superuser.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=725555
I'm just getting pissed because this is supposed to be a poweruser site and lots people here are just bickering about things when they could simply fix them.
I know my account doesn't have many posts, but I've been around (Didn't feel like keeping TyTNic_Dev was fitting considering I haven't had the TyTN for about 4 years now) And while I'll try and contribute what I can, IMO this subforum would be alot cleaner if everyone stopped complaining and kept everything relevent.
Talking about how you "hate the phone, its so laggy need to go back to iPhone" or just "don't understand what all the fuss about Android is" just GTFO, or leach off everyones contributions. It really drags the thread down when people have all that hate and negativity. Especially when a few tweaks and the phone runs like a dream.
I've rooted, enabled sideload, and removed bloatware, as soon as I get all the kinks in my flash plugin, I'll have a phone that is as powerful (or even better) than anything else currently on the market. I suggest you do the same, then you'll probably be singing its praises as well.
ok..phew..
/rant
so yeah, root and fix the phone. you'll be glad you did
Good post. Just to help people maybe throw some links where u say to do each mod.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
V DidDy 210 said:
Seriously, if you are complaining about it being laggy, its because the ATT crapware likes to turn on for no reason in the background. REMOVE it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think this is true. I've never once seen it just start itself up.
But yes, rooting is easy, but there's not a whole bunch of reason to do it quite yet.
Edit- there's also not much reason to NOT do it either.
I agree with you 100%. Like yoursef, im not one to have tons of replies, but ive been following XDA since my Tilt (not tilt 2). I think the issue is that we have a lot of new followers (welcome!) coming over from the Iphone and they are not use to what this board is all about.These arent apps you just install, this is software development/enhancements all in one place. Hopefully when the WIKI is back up (or created rather), there can be a nice "how to" section for everyone to reference.
TexUs said:
I dont think this is true. I've never once seen it just start itself up.
But yes, rooting is easy, but there's not a whole bunch of reason to do it quite yet.
Edit- there's also not much reason to NOT do it either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just restarted my phone, and there was a huge list of apps that were running right off of startup. A lot were at&t (naviagtor, ect.) and some were not.
EDIT- I know a lot of people are talking abut the lag due to the samsung UI, but I really dont care about the live wallpapers and I have a regular background so I dont get any lag at all. I am excited about the 2.2 update to gain the speed and access to the other 256mb or RAM. That alone will make this device a great phone. I am really enjoying android verses my WiMo devices (tilt 2 was the latest).
iceman4357 said:
I just restarted my phone, and there was a huge list of apps that were running right off of startup. A lot were at&t (naviagtor, ect.) and some were not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's true then this is a good reason to do so but I haven't seen that happen I guess.
After I instaled task manager I noticed most att apps would start on there own. I was always looking at what was running to try and save my batt.
Ive never hit the att apps at all since I had phone. After rooting and removing att crap nothing tuns in background execpt what I open.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
When you root do you have to manually update to froyo or does it give you the option?
JoshIV34 said:
When you root do you have to manually update to froyo or does it give you the option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wondering the same thing...
TexUs said:
I dont think this is true. I've never once seen it just start itself up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
happens to me all the time. random AT&T crap will start on its own
Thanks guys, yeah whenever you start ANY navigator app, att navi will start (its triggered by the gps starting) when you start any music player att music starts (it is triggered by com.google.music(sic))
these little things can be avoided and lets be honest, the stock touchwiz music player is really good. I have copilot so no reason to pay att. Navigation is a top notch free gps too.
the only one I could see is maybe you like mobitv, that is actually pretty decent of an app, but things like allsport, where, ypmobile, all of these can be accomplished using the browser.
I'll edit the post to include the links, but I just feel like when I'd be working on code or something, if someone was whining it wouldn't motivate me.. Why would I wanna program the Captivate (apart form sheer love) for people who'd just complain you know?
I'm messing around with the sdk and what not and I just got me a second Captivate so i'll be doing all sorts of tests to see what it'll take to get stock froyo on it, but i'm still a novice so i'll keep updating everyone and hopefully we can get 2.2 as a community
@V DidDy 210 I like your attitude. I hope more devs like you come around to the captivate scene as I would and the community as well would greatly appreciate it. I know I will. I will try my best to contribute and help with any interesting development on this device.
I have rooted and removed the AT&T and many of the Samsung apps, but that didn't really change anything. If it were just those then owners of the International versions of the Galaxy S wouldn't be having the same issues. I think the problem is much more than AT&T bloatware.
Lucke said:
happens to me all the time. random AT&T crap will start on its own
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a running process and actually consuming resources are two different things and I'm not seeing anything worth making a big deal about since they are just sitting in memory.
dsjr2006 said:
I have rooted and removed the AT&T and many of the Samsung apps, but that didn't really change anything. If it were just those then owners of the International versions of the Galaxy S wouldn't be having the same issues. I think the problem is much more than AT&T bloatware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your problem? Is it laggy? I haven't noticed any lag on mine, I've removed the bloat (all of it) rooted (obviously) added sideloading, installed flash 10 and check all the dbs for any scripts that might still be activating unnecessary scripts.
I haven't found any, and unless I actively run something (widgets or apps) nothing is running on its own. Only the most rudimentary of services run in the background (unless I tell something to) and my phone is 99% lag free. It is laggy at startup while it is parsing through my media files and it is laggy when I have a bunch of apps open (I'm talking around 16-17) otherwise in day to day operation (browsing, phone calls, music listening, watching movies while on the treadmill, etc.) I have no problems.
I'll try and help you, just need more info on whats going on
dsjr2006 said:
Being a running process and actually consuming resources are two different things and I'm not seeing anything worth making a big deal about since they are just sitting in memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is true, but while they are running there they still consume even the smallest amounts of usable memory...unless you like the ATT apps there isn't any real reason to keep them. Even if it uses 1kb of ram...its still 1kb of ram wasted
Excellent post but more importantly.... it seems to be a very necessary post. I loved the site when I had my Hermes, Kaiser, Touch, and other HTC devices ~2006 - 2008 but now that I came back with my Android device, it definitely seems like the tone has changed.
My question its are we all having the same problem? I experience lag, unresponsive touch due to lag also a black screen that hangs when you open a app. If so, I'm rooting right now. Please some one confirm. BTW this its a universal problem with all Samsung galaxy s phone. So I'm inclined to think its the firmware not the att bloatware.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
V DidDy 210 said:
What is your problem? Is it laggy? I haven't noticed any lag on mine, I've removed the bloat (all of it) rooted (obviously) added sideloading, installed flash 10 and check all the dbs for any scripts that might still be activating unnecessary scripts.
I haven't found any, and unless I actively run something (widgets or apps) nothing is running on its own. Only the most rudimentary of services run in the background (unless I tell something to) and my phone is 99% lag free. It is laggy at startup while it is parsing through my media files and it is laggy when I have a bunch of apps open (I'm talking around 16-17) otherwise in day to day operation (browsing, phone calls, music listening, watching movies while on the treadmill, etc.) I have no problems.
I'll try and help you, just need more info on whats going on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Is flash 10 working? Does video play in the browser? Can you point me ibm the right direction?
djunio said:
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Is flash 10 working? Does video play in the browser? Can you point me ibm the right direction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. I thought you were serious for a moment.

Warning about tweetdeck beta!

Firstly sorry if this is in the wrong place. Just wanted to ensure its in a place obvious to folk so they get the warning.
Secondly after installing tweetdeck on my phone I let it run for about a day and a half. However after that short time I noticed my battery was suffering quite badly. So I took a look around my stats and also noticed that in that short time the program had used no less than 74mb of data!!! I rang my colleague who also installed it and he found it had used 100mb. And a fair bit of battery.
He has a nexus one I have a milestone. We went sniffing around their forums and found a few other users complaining of the same issue. So we've uninstalled for now. We've posted something up on their forum but as of yet no reply. Needless to say that sort of data usage is unacceptable. Especially when alot of carriers are getting rid of unlimited plans.
Its running constantly. Updating as new feeds arrive. Yes its going to eat up data and battery.
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
crackedvenom2 said:
Its running constantly. Updating as new feeds arrive. Yes its going to eat up data and battery.
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take it you didnt bother to read my whole post? no? didnt think so. Regardless of the fact its constantly updating it shouldnt eat nearly 75-100mb in two days. My bbc news, facebook, and gmail are all running constantly but they use a few mb every few days. get a clue.
sounds bad ... is there an answer of the devs now?
well they've responded to our thread and have gone away to test it. We'll see I guess.
this is the thread on the official forums.
http://support.tweetdeck.com/entries/239273-over-use-of-data?page=1#post_347227
How do you see how much data a particular program uses?
there are apps on the market place that will monitor and tell you.
or you call *#*#4636#*#* - there you can have a look on monitored apps

"Your Phone Is Too Slow!" in notification

Had a weird thing happen the past couple of days. This is on a bone stock HTC Inspire. I get a star in the notification area. When I expand the notification it says 'Your phone is running too slow' or something similar. When I click on it, it takes me to speeddroid.com or somewhere similar. I closed the browser before it could go any further. I looked at the apps and nothing seems out of place. Any thoughts?
NotSoSimple said:
Had a weird thing happen the past couple of days. This is on a bone stock HTC Inspire. I get a star in the notification area. When I expand the notification it says 'Your phone is running too slow' or something similar. When I click on it, it takes me to speeddroid.com or somewhere similar. I closed the browser before it could go any further. I looked at the apps and nothing seems out of place. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you've got an app that's sending ads to your notification bar if you google it you should find some ways to get rid of it
Sent through the power of Cthulhu!
Lovely. The spyware cleaners have migrated from pc's to android phones.
Check your running services also, if you haven't already. If nothing looks out of place in apps, it's probably hiding in services, which probably still could be traced back to some app you've installed.
There's nothing built-in to a bone-stock phone that would do that.
NotSoSimple said:
Had a weird thing happen the past couple of days. This is on a bone stock HTC Inspire. I get a star in the notification area. When I expand the notification it says 'Your phone is running too slow' or something similar. When I click on it, it takes me to speeddroid.com or somewhere similar. I closed the browser before it could go any further. I looked at the apps and nothing seems out of place. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got malware son
I know that this is malware. Also it is my wifes phone She has had it a week and she has already managed to jack it up. Ive had my Atrix since launch and have had no problems.
I will check the processes and see if I notice anything. She thinks the only adverse thing was accidentally clicking adds in Words with Friends. Tried a couple Anitvirus/Spyware apps from the market but everything said the phone was clean.
Also in her pictures, it downloaded some ads for vodka, and has some buttons for a UI... Very odd.
Edit: AirPush was able to tell me what was sending crap out. Pentris (Not Quite Tetris) was the app. I took a look and sure enough in the market it states it pushes out an ad a day. I showed my wife, told her she needs to read about the apps a bit more. So word to the wise, read about the app before you install!
NotSoSimple said:
I know that this is malware. Also it is my wifes phone She has had it a week and she has already managed to jack it up. Ive had my Atrix since launch and have had no problems.
I will check the processes and see if I notice anything. She thinks the only adverse thing was accidentally clicking adds in Words with Friends. Tried a couple Anitvirus/Spyware apps from the market but everything said the phone was clean.
Also in her pictures, it downloaded some ads for vodka, and has some buttons for a UI... Very odd.
Edit: AirPush was able to tell me what was sending crap out. Pentris (Not Quite Tetris) was the app. I took a look and sure enough in the market it states it pushes out an ad a day. I showed my wife, told her she needs to read about the apps a bit more. So word to the wise, read about the app before you install!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AirPush worked fine I have no more problems with Your phone is running slow. Thanks man
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
NotSoSimple said:
I know that this is malware. Also it is my wifes phone She has had it a week and she has already managed to jack it up. Ive had my Atrix since launch and have had no problems.
Edit: AirPush was able to tell me what was sending crap out. Pentris (Not Quite Tetris) was the app. I took a look and sure enough in the market it states it pushes out an ad a day. I showed my wife, told her she needs to read about the apps a bit more. So word to the wise, read about the app before you install!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found with computers and phones alike, that sites/apps/services that are targeted toward women and people in demographics less likely to be tech savvy are riddled with malware. My wife spends 15 minutes on the computer looking for recipes or knitting patterns and the thing is on fire, gasping it's last breath, while I spend huge amounts of time doing things of a highly technical, sometimes questionably legal nature with nary a problem. I guess it's because people who know what they're doing are unlikely to install something "because the internet told me to," so the jerks who make that stuff don't waste their time on our sites. So, all that to say, I try to pay attention to what she's doing. It saves me a ton of time down the road.
stonewallmike said:
I have found with computers and phones alike, that sites/apps/services that are targeted toward women and people in demographics less likely to be tech savvy are riddled with malware. My wife spends 15 minutes on the computer looking for recipes or knitting patterns and the thing is on fire, gasping it's last breath, while I spend huge amounts of time doing things of a highly technical, sometimes questionably legal nature with nary a problem. I guess it's because people who know what they're doing are unlikely to install something "because the internet told me to," so the jerks who make that stuff don't waste their time on our sites. So, all that to say, I try to pay attention to what she's doing. It saves me a ton of time down the road.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1*100! ten characters...
NotSoSimple said:
Had a weird thing happen the past couple of days. This is on a bone stock HTC Inspire. I get a star in the notification area. When I expand the notification it says 'Your phone is running too slow' or something similar. When I click on it, it takes me to speeddroid.com or somewhere similar. I closed the browser before it could go any further. I looked at the apps and nothing seems out of place. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same prob with my phone...
Figured that an app named QR Reader by DrHu was the culprit for my issue
How i figured?
I guess i was just lucky... i clicked the notification, as soon as i clicked it i saw the app name on the taskbar... and i unstalled it! fixed!

Data load 10x higher when using ATT mvno SIM - why?

Hi geeks and geekettes,
I've been running for a few months on a ST TMO SIM and getting an average of very roughly 200kb a day (3GWatchdog).
I got a test AirVoice account (great CS!!!) and get speeds max at 350kbps (speedtest.net) (which is more than fine for me) but notice that I am unable to get through a day with less than 1mb - often 2mb, even after I shut off sync (contacts and gmail). Usage is a lot in "OS and other services" and a lot in the particular browser (Maxthon or "browser")(3GWatchdog).
So I got curious as to what in the SGS4G was doing that as I don't think that ATT is subversively doing a double or triple thing. I know it's a TMO phone, but I am guessing that in its use of the ATT towers it's doing extra work. Yes, I am thinking there's an Infuse in my future but that won't happen for 2 or 3 months. Meantime I have gone back to ST and won't port to AV until I get an ATT phone.
Thoughts on that extra work? Running erikmm's SlimICS V2
Thanks!
Better Battery Stats may give more information.
I'm mixed on My Data Manager as a day-to-day tool for a variety of reasons, but it might be another view to help diagnose.
Posted from my SGS4G, thanks to Team Acid development
Hi Jeff, I used to use My Data Manager, but it didn't work when I first put up SlimICS. I had to reflash for an MMS prob, so I'll try it again.
I get 3 days out of a battery, so I never thought to try BBS. I'll grab it.
BBS is useless. MDM is better than 3GWD (and does work on SlimICS). No real clue as to why AV(ATT) burns more data, but google services seems to jump.
The short answer might be "CM9" but SlimICS did it lots, CM7 did it a lot less, 2.3.6 seems to not do it at all.
It's all google services/framework's fault. An easy out is to shut off background syncing, and freeze market/play when you're not using it (it's always out and about checking to be sure everything updated ... LOL
KrisM22 said:
It's all google services/framework's fault. An easy out is to shut off background syncing, and freeze market/play when you're not using it (it's always out and about checking to be sure everything updated ... LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I freeze everything Google I can -- backup services, transport, ya-de-ya,...
jeffsf said:
Yep, I freeze everything Google I can -- backup services, transport, ya-de-ya,...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

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