Related
Would you guys want a simple pack that would replace your default g1 apps automatically with better versions?
There are enough now where it would be a good idea.
Apps to be replaced:
Messaging replaced by ChompSMS.
Browser replaced by Steel.
Contacts replaced by Phonebook.
Alarmclock replaced by Klaxon.
Camera replaced by SnapPhoto.
I've talked to the developers and made sure that these apps are all standalone. Phonebook syncs on its own with your google contacts. Chomp receives texts independent of messaging.
It would be relatively noob friendly. If you were able to push your caches to the sd card, this would work fine.
If ChompSMS could handle MMS messages it might be a good idea, but as it stands I just removed it because it kept crashing on me anytime I even so much as looked at it wrong.
Hm. Good point with chomp. But I don't actually do mms messages. That's what email is for.
I was just thinking about this a few minutes ago. Mainly to replace the camera app with snapPhoto, and messaging with Chomp (never had any probs with chomp).
That's what I was forgetting. Snapphoto. That's now on the list as well.
You see, that would be nice if any of those apps worked decently...
The only halfway decent one you mentioned was chomp. The only stable thing you mentioned was SnapPhoto.
Phonebook is very slow and way too unresponsive to replace the contacts app, not to mention it has no option to set individual ringtones yet.
Steel is nice and all, but lacking BASIC functionality. For example on the stock browser when you go to a youtube page it gives you an option of playing through the youtube app. Steel does not, so it just leaves you not being able to watch shows.
Klaxon is extremely buggy. For example when in keyboard mode half of the klaxon screen is chopped off. Also when hitting snooze it usually takes a couple tries to put it to sleep.
Its a good try, but not quite ready yet.
I would definitely appreciate this. I'd never heard of steel before you mentioned it.
TuXeyM11 said:
You see, that would be nice if any of those apps worked decently...
The only halfway decent one you mentioned was chomp. The only stable thing you mentioned was SnapPhoto.
Phonebook is very slow and way too unresponsive to replace the contacts app, not to mention it has no option to set individual ringtones yet.
Steel is nice and all, but lacking BASIC functionality. For example on the stock browser when you go to a youtube page it gives you an option of playing through the youtube app. Steel does not, so it just leaves you not being able to watch shows.
Klaxon is extremely buggy. For example when in keyboard mode half of the klaxon screen is chopped off. Also when hitting snooze it usually takes a couple tries to put it to sleep.
Its a good try, but not quite ready yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everything is entirely functional. steel gives you the option of opening it up in the viewer. phonebook is extremely quick and klaxon rapes the basic alarmclock.
As you can see from the responses, the problem is going to be that most people like and regularly use some but not all of those programs(for me it's steel and snap-photo, cause I like the normal contact manager and messaging, etc), so 1 package that replaces all of them won't be worth it for 90% of people. Would separate packages replacing 1 system app each be possible? Then people could pick and choose which ones they want.
This is a great idea once these apps mature a little more.
Like other have said, MMS support is needed in ChompSMS before it's a viable replacement for the built in messaging app.
I have problems every morning with Klaxon hitting the Off button. It rarely responds on the first hit.
I'm still having trouble seeing where Phonebook fits in as a replacement for the default phone app. It doesn't feel like a complete app yet. Exact Call Log is far better in my opinion, and faster. I know it doesn't have an integrated dialer, but for the logging portion, it's superior.
SnapPhoto is a decently solid app. I would have no qualms about replacing Camera.apk with SnapPhoto.
[email protected] said:
As you can see from the responses, the problem is going to be that most people like and regularly use some but not all of those programs(for me it's steel and snap-photo, cause I like the normal contact manager and messaging, etc), so 1 package that replaces all of them won't be worth it for 90% of people. Would separate packages replacing 1 system app each be possible? Then people could pick and choose which ones they want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it might take me a couple days, but i could throw together a program that shows u a checklist and you select what replacements you want and what you dont.
thanks for the decent criticism.
Steel is a great browser. It also lets me download whatever file type I want, unlike the default chrome lite.
so it's decided.
I'll put up a little prog that allows you to choose which apps youd want defaulted from that list and it'l be installed automatically.
expect it within the next couple days.
I'm pretty sure snapphoto isn't standalone. When I replaced the stock app with it. I got force close errors in the area where you'd normally share/save. Also you lose the stock picture viewer, which not essential since you can use a file viewer, though it is a lot easier to use thumbnails then reading file names. But I know bratag updates it frequently so perhaps something has changed since I tried it. In fact I hope you can do it, I'll be following closely to see if its possible.
constellanation said:
I'm pretty sure snapphoto isn't standalone. When I replaced the stock app with it. I got force close errors in the area where you'd normally share/save. Also you lose the stock picture viewer, which not essential since you can use a file viewer, though it is a lot easier to use thumbnails then reading file names. But I know bratag updates it frequently so perhaps something has changed since I tried it. In fact I hope you can do it, I'll be following closely to see if its possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. If you delete Camera.apk then SnapPhoto starts acting up. If you delete Email.apk then Gmail no longer appears in the "Recent Apps" list when you hold the Home button.
Deleting Alarm.apk and the Amazon MP3 app doesn't seem to have any negetive effects, though.
For the snapphoto issue, I removed camera.apk. named snapphoto.apk camera.apk and pushed it into the system apps folder. That's what I am going to be doing with all the other apps itself. The core is designed to run with the default apps in mind, but it doesn't care what the app is. It just cares that its where its supposed to be.
You won't be seeing your apps named steel and everything.
Steel will be called browser, chomp = messaging and so on and so forth.
Removing the defaults entirely and not replacing them causes instability.
a little update. just threw together all the vb coding to set up the exe that would create and run the batch file specifically for what apps you want replaced.
the OP has all the options that are listed. expect it tomorrow.
btw. chomp just got autorotate.
a little update. just threw together all the vb coding to set up the exe that would create and run the batch file specifically for what apps you want replaced.
the OP has all the options that are listed. expect it tomorrow.
btw. chomp just got autorotate.
Question...how would we get the updates for these apps? Like, say, if chomp decided to support MMS in the future.
Either one of two ways. You can replace the .apk in the folder I give you with the new version and simply run the .bat file again, or you can just wait till I reupload it with the updated versions.
Hi everybody !
After a year of lurking, i've published my first app !
It's called Tick! and it's a simple timer but i've worked hard on making it easy to launch.
Since there is no wheel selector on the sdk, I've developed one to set the number of minutes wanted. With three clicks, you can launch a timer to remaind you that your pastas or your eggs are ready !
Your comments are welcome !
Since I'm new on the forum, I'm currently not allowed to post external links, so if you want to try it, search for Tick! on the market or SlideMe. I will put images, links and QR-Code as soon as i will be allowed !
RabugenTom
Nice app. Any plans on releasing the source
Any chance for an APK for those of us without data?
Nice
Good Work Buddy works perfectly on Xperia X10i
Thanks for the replies ! I've added the apk posted on the market.
I'm working on an improved version !
Agreed, Great work RabugenTom. Love the custom wheel selection.
Have to admit, though, I'm dying to have multiple timers. I'm not sure off the top of my head how they would fit in with your snazzy countdown timeline, but I'm sure it could be done.
+1 for release of the source
Love the app... Mightve been nice if it worked with 30sec increments as well but that might just be me, and there are other more robust timer apps for when you need that i guess.
One thing I noticed though... If the app is open and showing on the screen (IE - not in the background while working on something else or on one of the home screens), Tapping the app notification (in the notifications pane) will "reopen" the apps interface, and this can be done multiple times.
Basically you end up with multiple instances of the same timer... So if youre looking to go back to whatever was open before - home screen or other - by pressing the back button, youll just close the last instance you "opened" via the notification, taking you back to the previous instance of that same timer, and so on until you reach the first one that was opened when you started the app.
It doesnt seem to affect the functionality of the app in any way that ive seen, but it is rather odd.
Sort of like tapping the notification calls on the wrong "show" function, opening a new window rather than un-hiding the original.
Thanks for the feedbacks !
I'm working on an improved version with pause mode, multiple timers and 30s increments. I will maybe release the source later, after a lot of cleaning !
For the notifications, it's the behavior of android which works by intents. Theses are sort of messages send to applications. Intents depends on something they call Context. This is very powerful since you can launch (or do whatever you want to) an application in different ways, and the behavior of the application can depend on the intent. For example, when you launch an application from the launcher on the home screen, you actually send an intent to the application.
In the Tick! case, when you click on the notification, you send an intent to bring back to foreground (if hidden) or relaunch (if closed) the application GUI (which is different from the counting "engine" which is a background process called Service). The intent sent from the notification is different from the one you used to launch it, thats why it relaunch the GUI because the system thinks it is a different context (which is the case).
You can try it : launch from the launcher, launch a timer, go back to the home screen. Now, the GUI is no more in foreground. If you open the notification bar an click on the notification it will relaunch the GUI as expected, and if you continue to click on it again, it will do nothing (as expected). That's because the second time you launched the app, you did it by sending an intent from the notificiation bar, which is different from the one from the launcher.
Now, i don't find this behavior very annoying, and I don't want to write 100 lines of code to handle differents cases! A trivial solution may exist, but I'm too novice with Android to look at it. If someone knows this easy solution, it will be a pleasure to implement it !
Very nice timer. However I have found two problems:
1. When selecting the notification tone, "Default" plays my ringtone when previewing, but when used for real it plays the default notification sound instead.
2. I used Tick for a five minute countdown several hours ago, and afterwards I exited the program and cleared the notification, but it still prevented my phone from sleeping all these hours, draining the battery severely. I had to use a process killer to get my phone to sleep.
Do you really need to keep the phone from sleeping, even during the countdown? A timer is just an alarm with a countdown, and alarms work even when the phone is sleeping. You just have to update the progress every time the phone wakes up. Right?
Hi,
1-I will look on the notification problem. It is quite strange since it always worked for me. Note that the parameter are set for the notification at the launch of the counter. Every change you make will affect only new countdowns. When you exit the app, it always save the last parameters, even made during a countdown, and restore them at a relaunch. So it is strange, and since i've improved again the counting engine, I hope this will be solved in the coming release.
2-You're right, I've found conditions when the wake-lock is not released at the end of the countdown. It's set now. However, the wake-lock requested is partial and does only concern the CPU, not the screen. I've tested again your version on my unplugged G2 and it behave just well.
The CPU is required to fire an alarm even in sleep mode. Thats because i don't use the alarm service of the device which only check every new minute if there is something to do.
And when it's in sleep mode, only a tiny service is counting. The GUI is stopped and it's memory given back.
May I ask what model of phone you use?
RabugenTom said:
May I ask what model of phone you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using an HTC Desire.
I've just added here (and on the market) the version 1.3 which resolves a lot of issues (for exemple, the service exits as soon as it's no more used, thanks to bugmenever) and adds a pause mode (long click on the button)
RabugenTom said:
Now, i don't find this behavior very annoying, and I don't want to write 100 lines of code to handle differents cases! A trivial solution may exist, but I'm too novice with Android to look at it. If someone knows this easy solution, it will be a pleasure to implement it !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im fairly certain there is something simple out there to handle this, but as opposed to you being novice with android, i have 0 experience programming for it. and youre right, its not THAT annoying, and certainly not worth most your work time at this point.
Happy to hear about all those plans though! look forward to seeing them in action
keep up the good work!
Hi guys!
I know there is a way to create a Chrome extension which, when clicked, launches an app on the phone that vibrates the phone and plays a sound file at the loudest volume, so I can find it. Like Chrome to phone but with a different purpose.
This would be a great app for those times when you need to go but just can't find your phone even though you know it is somewhere in the home. With just the press of a button you could hear (or feel, if it's very close to you) where it is! No need to use another phone to call yours or run around the apartment getting all tired and angry!
Personally I would have used it like eight times since I came up with the idea, but I don't know Android programming or HTML (for the extension) so I can't create it myself.
where's my droid
and a couple of other apps already do this. They take a sms message and crank up the volume.
arw01 said:
and a couple of other apps already do this. They take a sms message and crank up the volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great for some people (with unlimited SMS), but unfortunately I haven't got unlimited SMS (nor do I always have access to a second phone. If I did though I would probably call my phone instead as this request is for finding the phone when you know it is somewhere near but don't have the patience to run around and search for it)
The app I want doesn't use SMS messages for launching the app but the Cloud-to-device service introduced with Android 2.2 and at the moment only available to a small but growing number of devices.
I use the Chrome to phone app & ext (code dot google dot com/p/chrometophone) on my Nexus and although it doesn't work every time when it does work it feels like magic!
I thought it would feel as much if not even more like magic if you could use this new service to find your phone with ease. I don't need it to have all the (for some) great features like showing where the phone is on a Google map or wiping important data if it's lost, I've got other apps for that.
I want this app to be as simple as it possibly can be, again like Chrome to phone:
Setting up: Download, Register phone, Be logged into Google account, done!
Use: Be logged into Google account, click extension button, wait a sec, phone rings, done!
Now does anyone here know how to create this app or where to request it to increase the chances of it getting past the idea stage and into something usable? It would surely make my day!
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 voilà, 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).
i installed mango RTM over the weekend and its been great. as i've been playing with it i've noticed 2 things
1. if you're texting with someone and you place the messaging app into "standby" (press windows button) and you get a text msg notification toast, if you click the toast it opens up a new copy of the messaging app. you can verify this by going into the multitasking switcher, you'll see 2 panels of "messaging". is this a bug or is this how its supposed to be?
2. i'm not really a big user of facebook chat but i am on gmail all the time so i was wondering if there's any way we can hack gchat on? gchat and fb chat both use the jabber protocol and since fb chat is enabled natively, we know there's a possibility of it being supported. any ideas?
thanks!
1: The "Multitasking" fast App switcher isn't showing instances of open apps. It's just showing recently use apps. Every app is in stand by mode if you don't "Back" out of them with the Back Button. The Task Switcher also has a 5 page limit. Apps outside that limit are still open/standby, just not in the list. At least this is how I believe it works. No way to tell till we have enough resume enabled apps that are Mango compatible to test this more. It's not the greatest implementation of Multitasking IMO. My 2 complains is this multiple pages of the same app issue that you mentioned & the 5 page limitation. When I'm really active on my phone, I can see this being an issue. Not a deal breaker, more of an annoyance.
1. The task switcher just show what you've done last. Also, native apps are always running and are not confine to the same restrictions as 3rd party apps.
2. Now that Microsoft open up Marketplace for Mango apps submissions, it won't be long before unofficial Google Talk apps show up.
Something that I noticed with wonder reader. Dont know if it's how the app is made, but..
When you open it, you hit windows (home) button, and hit back, it just come back instantly. But if you open it using the tile, it dont resume. It re-open it and it's not instantly.
Anyone else noticed?
mikeeam said:
Something that I noticed with wonder reader. Dont know if it's how the app is made, but..
When you open it, you hit windows (home) button, and hit back, it just come back instantly. But if you open it using the tile, it dont resume. It re-open it and it's not instantly.
Anyone else noticed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Microsoft made a conscious design decision that apps started from the tile (on the Start screen or app list) are started as a new instance. The only way to fast app switch is by going through the backstack (either navigating sequentially via the back key or directly via the app switcher). I believe "a consistent user experience" was cited as the reason for this behavior.
This is quite different than in iOS, where the app switcher AND the home screen icon will fast resume an app (if still in memory). And that is why iOS has a way to delete apps from the app switcher, because that's the only way to start a new instance (it's also why Windows Phone doesn't need a way to clear apps from the app switcher). I happen to think Apple's design is better because more often than not, a user is looking to resume an experience, no matter how they end up starting app; therefore it should be the default behavior.
With Windows Phone deep linking, clicking on a secondary tile, toast notification, or a search extension can launch directly into a "page" inside the app, but it still takes time to fire up new instances of the app and the page.
You might also be interested to know that an app can only appear in the backstack once. So if you open an app using the main tile, then to go to the Start screen and start it again with a secondary tile, it'll knock the first instance off the backstack.
Anyway, probably more than you ever wanted to know but hope this clears it up.
Anthony
Wonder Reader