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Upgrading Unrevoked Desire from Eclair to Froyo
I'm currently running my HTC Desire on 2.1 (O2 branded from the UK, if it makes a difference) which has been rooted via Unrevoked. I've just now been prompted to upgrade it to what I assume is 2.2 via an OTA update. I'd quite like to do this but I'm assuming this will cause me to lose my root. Unrevoked seems to now say it supports 2.2 as well as 2.1 so would it just be a matter of doing the OTA update and re-rooting with Unrevoked?
Also, I've never performed an upgrade before, do I lose all my apps/data/configs? How long does it normally take?
Thanks.

If this is a standard OTA update then you shouldn't lose anything at all, and the update should take less than half an hour, just make sure that your battery is fully charged before you start. All your apps, data and configuration should stay. The only exception to this is where things have changed between Eclair and Froyo, so some of your apps may not be compatible with Froyo (though it's been out long enough now that's very unlikely).
Yes, you will lose your root status, but should be able to root again afterwards, provided your chosen root method works on Froyo, or you can find a different rooter that will work if not.

I'm pretty confident unrevoked will let me root again on 2.2. So OTA seems pretty appealing. I'll be fully charged and doing it over WIFI but thanks for the reminder.

I would highly recommend leaving the OTA update. Instead, download and install a custom pre-rooted 2.2 ROM.
This one from MoDaCo would be a good choice. Alternatively, check out some of the options on the XDA Forums or consider Cyanogenmod if you aren't so attached to HTC's Sense overlay and would like something closer to 'stock' Android.
You shouldn't lose anything with the MoDaCo ROM, though I found I needed to wipe if switching between Sense and non-Sense ROMs. Check out Titanium Backup if you would like to make restoring your apps easy and always do a Nandroid backup before flashing a new ROM.
If you haven't already, download the ROM Manager app from the market to make flashing ROMs and managing back ups a breeze!

I suppose my concern about flashing another ROM is that I will have to set up all my apps/configuration again. Or am I incorrect on this?

@michael You really shouldn't lose anything unless you want to switch to a non-Sense ROM. I'd really recommend going with the MoDaCo ROM if you want to stick with something close to the official HTC Sense ROM (just has a few performance improvements and customisation options). But back everything up first and you should be fine in any case. Go for it! ;)

It does look rather tempting. And having reread the thread carefully I see it does indeed say no wipe is required. Guess i'll be giving this a go tonight!

Well that's not gone so well. Followed the instructions at modaco and now i'm stuck on the carrier logo and can't get past it. Any thoughts?

@michael Bummer! Were you able to get back to recovery (hold volume down when you power on the phone, use volume to highlight 'recovery', power button to select)? You could try wiping your Dalvik-cache from recovery, that helped me before. Otherwise you might need to backup with Titanium, wipe, reflash then restore. I don't think it's too much hassle so as not to be worth it.

@michael.jefferys use Titanium backup to backup all of your apps and their data when switching to a new rom.


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What are the differences between: LauncherPro "Keep in memory" and "Lock home in memory."

LauncherPro has an option for "Keep in memory".
CyanogenMod settings has an option for "Lock home in memory".

How do these work? Do they conflict with each other? What problems might they cause? The CM version seems to work better, but causes other apps to shut down.

I keep them both enabled, but I have tried them each individually and the CM option works much better.  The fact that it "causes other apps to shut down" is the whole point.  Android keeps the memory filled at all times and ends tasks on demand when more memory is needed.  It is supposed to be pretty smart and know, based on your usage, which apps to give priority to but if you are multi-tasking and the phone needs more memory it may kill LauncherPro causing it to to reload from scratch when you hit the home button.  The option to keep it in memory gives it a higher priority so when Android tries to free up some memory it kills something else.

Yes, but it seems to kill the app I'm currently using.  I'm guessing the slow startup of LauncherPro could be made faster if it stored more information before being shut down?

The CM option is going to have more sway with the OS than the LauncherPro option (since it is the CM option is from the OS itself vs an app telling the OS to not kill itself).
I've also had even better success with screen redraws using this method.  I think it's what the CM toggle is supposed to do, but this actually does it.

1) MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP
In your terminal application on your
  phone (if you have to ask what this
  is, Google it, download it from the
  market)

su (enter)
echo ro.HOME_APP_ADJ=1 >> /data/local.prop (enter)
reboot (enter)

If you want to undo what this command
  does, simply remove that toggle from:
  /data/local.prop, or if you did not
  have this file (like I did not) prior
  to the mod...remove it entirely

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

sort: votes


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screen lock and not displaying lock pattern in android 2.2 (Eclair)
I have HTC Wildfire and one feature I don't like is that it displays the lock composition when I enter incorrect one people knows see the correct one even when displaying password is turned off.
Is it possible to turn it off and/or change to different method of locking screen?
Edit: As people didn't notice I HAVE "USE VISIBLE PATTERNS" TURNED OFF. It is just when I made mistake it is shown.
Edit 2 In Froyo I have option to enter just PIN or even password.

Simply, no you can't.
You can install an app that will give you another way to lock phone, like lockbot.
Of course, rooting will solve the problem...

At least free version displays with numeric code. But at least I'm on right track.

plz explain why the down vote?

Hmm. With custom apps on non-rooted phone HOME button moves to home screen so it is easy to workaround.

Are you entering an actual password, or an unlock-pattern?
Lock-patterns have the option to display/not-display the path entered, so it's a lot more difficult to "shoulder-surf"

Use visible pattern   This is selected by default. Clear this if you
  do not want the screen unlock pattern
  to display as you enter it.

As I said I turned it off. However when I enter bad pattern it is still displayed (the wrong I entered).

I think providing feedback as to bad pattern is the fixed behavior and can't be turned off.  I think you are right, it ought not to show you a pattern on error, if you asked to not show a pattern while you were entering it.  Sounds like a good UI change to me, I suggest trying to dig up someplace to post such a criticism.
OTOH, do you really worry about so much shoulder surfing that someone will deduce your pattern from various errors they've seen you make?  Given that it seems unlikely, you might not get much priority on such fix even your request would be consistent behavior.

"OTOH, do you really worry about so much shoulder surfing that someone will deduce your pattern from various errors they've seen you make?" - given people did do that - yes I do worry (I'm currently studing and some of my colegues have... specific sense  of humor).

Settings > Security, under "Screen unlock pattern" uncheck "Use visible pattern"

Sorry. But please READ questions. I said it was turned off AND this answer was already posted.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


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Podcast Player and Bluetooth?
I've been using Google Listen for podcast catching and playing. Seems to work just fine. I'd like to be able to play my podcasts over my Bluetooth headset. Alas, it seems that is only an option for A2DP bluetooth headsets(?) so I'm on a quest.
Can anyone offer suggestions? Seems like I have two options (but maybe there are others).

Find a podcast catcher/player that will play over a non-A2DP headset
Find a way to "fake" the Android into using a bluetooth headset even when not A2DP

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
[edit]
I should mention that I'm running stock 2.1 and have no real desire to root/mod the phone.

Try Super BT Mono.  It doesn't explicity say that it works for non-AD2P headsets but I believe that's the whole point of the app.  There'd be no need for this app with a headset that has AD2P.
Edit: Whoops, that's for Froyo only and you are on Eclair.
Basically you need to find an app that will stream audio over the HSP profile instead of AD2P but I couldn't find one for you.  You have 3 options as I see them:

Get Android 2.2 on your phone and Try Super BT Mono Froyo Pro
Root your phone, load CyanogenMod and try Super BT Mono Pro
Buy a headset that supports AD2P (they can be as cheap as $30)

Sorry I couldn't help more.

Looks intriguing. The description starts with "***Only work with cyanogenmod customed ROM or Nexus one." This leads me to believe it won't work for me(?)

You're looking at a different app than I linked to.  There's 4 different versions of Super BT Mono.  The one I linked to is "Super BT Mono Froyo Pro" and that one looks like its a more updated, better supported version.

This version just doesn't show up in "my version" of the market. Would the carrier block it?!? I've tried searching market and also tried via the QR code at appbrain.com. Not Found.

Sorry, that was a silly mistake on my part.  The title of the app is "Super BT Mono Froyo Pro" which I should probably have guessed is only compatible with Froyo and you are on Eclair.  That's why the market is blocking it.

Oh bummer. Sad day.

Thanks for the Edit. I'm hoping for Froyo someday, but haven't heard anything about Sprint's plan to update the Intercept.

Got Froyo update today from Sprint! Hope to revisit this soon...


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How do I downgrade Android 2.1 to 1.6 on a Garminfone?
I need to send in my Garminfone to T-Mobile. I've rooted it and installed the 2.1 upgrade. The master reset doesn't restore it to 1.6. I know Super One Click will unroot it. Does anyone know how to revert back to 1.6? Thanks.

From what you're asking it sounds unlikely, but did you do any kind of system backup before/after rooting, and definitely before loading a custom ROM? I think you're going to have problems finding a download of the original ROM anywhere as Garmin are extremely protective of their map app and data which will be embedded in any original ROM.

not sure about the root process for Garminfone, but if you have access to your bootloader (usually termal like with a list of options) just put a 1.6 stock rom on your sd card and flash it.
I tried googleing "stock 1.6 garminfone rom" with no success, probably because of what GAThrawn said, but someone over at xda-developers might have something if want to go check out there forums.

This is supposed to be an update for 1.6, but I'm not sure how you'd load it.  http://www.garminasus.com/en_US/support/software/006-B1130-00.update


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Why won't FWDN see my cheap Chinese tablet?
I have a tablet here that appears to be a NuPad / HAIPAD M701.

I have downloaded a .RAR with FWDN. When I run FWDN the "Area Map" always shows "Unknown".
I have tried this on both a Windows 7 x64 and a Windows XP x32 machine.
I have run the VTC driver installer on XP (it doesn't work on x64).
What does it mean when Area Map says Unknown, and how do I fix it?

Nice iPad-like exterior :) .

I found the answer I was needing in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eQ7Z6_v_Fc
I was holding down the wrong side of the rocker switch when booting, ending up in "recovery" mode.


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Why does my phone keep getting stuck when performing a backup?
I have rooted my phone and currently have an older version of Cyanogen mod on my Sprint HTC Hero.  When I try to perform a backup using Rom Manager, the phone tries to reboot, but it never finishes booting.  Any ideas what is causing that and how I can back up my phone in order to upgrade to the latest version of Cyanogen?

Go to Rom Manager and flash an older version of clockwork recovery.  Then flash the latest version of it.  Does that help?
Otherwise: do you get any sort of error messages?


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What does it mean if my HTC Incredible's notification light flashes between green and amber?
I was driving today and my phone was in its holder. At the time, I was using it for GPS and Pandora, and it was plugged in using my car charger. At one point, the notification LED began to flash in what looked like a regular pattern (but since I was driving, I can't be 100% sure), alternating between green and amber. I've never seen this before, and I had no notifications. What does it mean?

Was it flashing at an irregular rate? Its status could have been alternating between Full Battery and Charging.

I'll edit the question, but it was flashing in what appeared to be a regular pattern. I was driving, so I couldn't stare at it for a long period of time to confirm.

I believe it means the battery is overheating.

Is there some way to check/confirm this?

I haven’t been able to find any official documentation on this but there are various reports that describe the same symptoms and causes. For example: http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero/6742-led-alternates-green-then-orange-what-does-mean.html and http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-4g/41858-led-blinks-orange-green-means-your-batter-has-overheated.html

Although there's no official documentation, the discussion forums seem to back this up. Unfortunately, I have no desire to test this out myself...until someone can find concrete reasons why this might not be the reason, I'm going to accept this answer.

I think is because it is advising that the Micro USB is connected to charge the battery, but the battery is not charging, temperature or other reason


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Reconnecting Emulator to Eclipse
My main problem with developing in Android is that the emulator seems to continually get disconnected from eclipse. This always happens the 2-3 time I try to upload my .apk from eclipse without rebooting the emulator. Eclipse indicates this with an empty DDMS ->Device section and logcat stays blank - sometimes I'm not sure if the new code made it on the device.
The only fix I have for this is to shut down eclipse, and restart it. With the restarting of Eclipse, on top of the emulator boot time, I can't get any momentum going in my development.
Is there a way to reconnect the emulator to eclipse without having to restart Eclipse or even the Emulator?

you can use "emulator" from console. That way it will stay on regardless of eclipse state.
starting emulator
also, try using adb devices to find out is your emulator really running

You can reconnect your emulator using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
There are 2 primary methods to do this:

In Eclipse, open the "Devices" view.  The last button on the right (upside down triangle) will open a menu of additional options.  The very bottom selection is "Reset adb"
From a command prompt you can type the following 2 commands to stop and restart ADB.
adb kill-server
adb start-server


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Restricted bluetooth functionality when device is paired
I have a bluetooth enabled car stereo, with my iphone I'm able to connect to it, and then use the device to browse through the music on my ipod/make calls etc. The bluetooth pairing basically enables me to operate the phone via my car dashboard.
I've tried doing this on my Orange San-Francisco / XTE (android 2.1) but I can't get the same outcome.
The device is correctly paired (or so the phone says). If a call comes in/or I make a call from the handset, it gets detected and then sounded over the handsfree system.
BUT,
Using my stereo I'm unable to browse through my phones contact book, or to play any audio from my phone.
I'm thinking, is there an option in the bluetooth settings that determine what paired devices have access to? i.e, tapping into the phones contact book / music could be disabled?

Which car stereo do you have?  I'm not that familiar with this type of syncing but it could be 2 things: the stereo not fully supporting Android or Android not supporting the necessary BT profile.  Seeing the model of stereo may help the community diagnose the problem.

Sorry probably should have added that, its a JVC KD-R711. http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_770531_langId_-1_categoryId_165474

Just reading the description on the stereo page you linked to, it sounds like it has built-in software to extend the normal bt profiles to allow 2-way control of ipods and iphones. This extended functionality won't translate to your android device unless JVC comes out with a firmware update for your stereo that supports android.

Pairing is not enough, is it connected?
In the Bluetooth settings you can do a long touch on the device to get into device-specific options.


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Search Contacts with all Voice Search Commands?
Is there any way to integrate voice search's navigate to/directions to/map of commands with your contact list? If I want to go to Bob Jones's house, I don't want to go to Bob Jones Co.

I have this same problem as well.  I am unable to call any of my contacts.  I say "Call Dad" and it dials someone in Daytona.  I presume that if someone answers @drhorrible's question, they will also answer mine.

Have you tried navigate to bob jones home?
You can use the label on the address when using the voice command. The above command is different than navigate to bob jones work.
Update: One thing to remember: Your contacts need to be accessible to the Google Servers. In other words, you need to be syncing to your Google account. The actual voice-to-text work is done on Google's servers, not on your phone. (Try using voice search while in Airline mode.) See this Google Support thread.
And, of course, your Contacts need to be in your "Searchable items". (I get there by hitting the search button, then the blue 'g' to the left, then the settings icon.)

I haven't tried navigate but I have tried call wifes_name mobile to no avail.

@Chance: It works for me on my Droid. Does your wife have a common name and it's picking up a different contact?

@Al Everett, in the case of my wife, it is an unusual spelling, but it seems to still understand it.  Let's say my wife's name is Taresuh.  I say Call Taresuh and it does a Google search for Call Taresuh, so it obviously picks up the name correctly, it just doesn't have the actual call as an option.

Furthermore confusing matters, it worked last week.  I was able to say Call Dan Mobile last week.  Today, I say Call Tim Mobile and it has various options, Call Tim Wells Mobile Tire Services, Call Telecom Italia Mobile S.P.A. - Il Telefonino.  Here's where it gets strange.  It gives Call Dan - Mobile which I think it is picking up from my Voice Search history.

Voice Search is obviously still a work-in-progress.

@Al Everett, if you don't mind, could you share what your Search Settings are (i.e search Contacts, Web), at least just the common ones?  Do you have your contacts synced with your google account? Thanks.

I have everything synced to my Google account. SafeSearch off. Personalized recognition on. Search is on for Web, Apps, Contacts, Voice Search.

@Al Everett, Thanks.  I think, based on this link, that the contacts have to exist in my Google account in order for me to call them.  So, here's the question, is there a way to move my Phone contacts to my Gmail account.  Syncing to my Google Account is only working one way (google to phone).

Don't know off the top of my head, but that would be a good question for this site (like this one).

@Chance: That makes sense, too. When you use the voice search, you're going to Google Servers; it's not happening on the phone.

@Al Everett, (by the way, can I just say @Al?), that looks to be the case.  I added my wife's name to my Google account online (I haven't tried the exporting via the phone yet), and Voice Search worked.  As much work as you have done in helping me, if you wanted to right a complete answer based on our discussion (I think it should include the links each one of us provided), I would give you the bounty.

I'll update my answer.

I haven't investigated all the ways to export people to my Google Account.  However, whenever I view a contact and hit my Settings button, it gives me the option to Join Contact.  So, if I have their email address from my Google Account, I can join it to that.

Do you speak with a US accent? I'm in Aus and find the voice commands work far better if I try a US accent than my regular Australian drawl.

Voice Search for contacts only works with contact from the primary account setup on the Android phone. Also the primary account contact sync must be enable. I confirmed it by testing with my Galaxy S 4G. Since primary account on an Android phone must be a gmail account, this also means the voice search for contacts only works if the contact is stored in the gmail account.
Since my main email account is with live.com, which I had setup on my Android phone using MS Exchange Sync, I came up with this is work around to allow Voice Search. I go to my Gmail account and add contacts that I like to be able to do voice search with. I made sure the contact only have names entered with no other information. This way, I can enable contact sync with the gmail account to perform voice search without allowing the gmail contact pollute the combined contact list on my Android phone. If you really don't want Gmail account to show up in your phone at all, you can always separate & then delete the gmail account from your other account. As long as the contact sync is enabled, the voice search will still work.
The is kind of a pain, but too bad for me since I only care to add contacts to Gmail for relatively few people that I actually call/text often. It also helps that Gmail web interface was done in a way that is really easy to add contacts with just names.


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How can I sync Facebook contacts on a Droid X?
I used to have an original Droid and now I have a Droid X. My original Droid had an option on Facebook to sync with contacts, but with my Droid X and the new Facebook app I do not see that option. I just want the contact pictures to sync. Is there anyway to do this on the Droid X?

This should be available. Check to see if you have Facebook selected by choosing Accounts from the menu in your Address Book.


text:
What's a good app for managing media files?
I prefer to manually organize my media (music, podcasts, video) on my SD card using a file manager (as opposed to letting the media player organize it all by tags, because it mixes music with podcasts and doesn't organize untagged files).
I've been using the "File Manager" app which works fine, but the problem is when I select and play a file with it, it will play in the player of my choice but when I 'minimize' the player the audio stops.   It seems that when I manually select a file to play it's not opening the file and letting it run in the background while I multitask.
Any tips or app recommendations appreciated !

This isn't an answer to your question but it might help: I use BeyondPod to download,manage and play podcasts and there's an option to hide podcasts from Android's Media Server (which scans folders looking for media files) so my podcasts never show up in my Music Player.  So when I want to listen to music I open the "Music" app and when I want to play a podcast I open BeyondPod.

Cool, good tip Matt - thanks I'll try it out.

Just saw this: Music Folder Player

Wow, good timing - I'll check it out!

How do you"minimize" ? Pressing the BACK key is almost akin to quitting. However, pressing the HOME key usually allows you to multi-task and allows the currently running app to carry on in the background.
Try pressing the HOME key to see if the audio continues so you can then switch to whichever app you like.
You can try the Meridian Player - it allows navigation via specified folders and the freeware version should work fine for you. Multi-tasking / background playback is definitely part of the feature-set.

Yeah, I am using the HOME key.  Seems that when you open a file with FIle Manager, it will open it in an external app but any navigation away from it and it will quit back to FIle manager.  As if File Manager is the parent.  And hence, you can't get audio files to play in the background when multitasking.


text:
Is There A Browser Which Makes It Easy/Possible To Search From The Address Bar?
For those familiar with the Google Chrome browser, I'm looking for the feature which basically treats the address bar as a search bar when not navigating to a site. I would find this handy since it's annoying to have to navigate to Google.com first (which is the only option on the stock browser) or using the search widget. Is there a browser for that?

Dolphin Browser HD allows you to search google from the address bar, and it shows suggestions as you type.  It doesn't explicitly say that it has this feature but I use it all the time.  If you type something in the address bar that's not a web address and hit go it will automatically search, just like Chrome does.

I should also add that I've used the stock browser, Skyfire, the standar Dolphin Browser, Dolphin Browser HD, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile and Dolphin Browser HD is my favorite by far.

Yup, works just like Chrome. Another reason to switch to Dolphin Browser.

What android version are you on? I've got eclair (on a motorola phone) and I can just type in the address bar to search. I thought it might be motoblur, but I tried an eclair emulator image and had the same functionality.
What happens when you hit the search button while the Browser is running?

+1 Now I realize that I wasn't searching but my search term was getting added to http! When I click the address and start typing my search term, I don't see the http until I scroll the address bar. I just have to manually delete the http text first. So searching this way, with the stock browser does "work." It turns out Dolphin HD deletes the http for you.

Opera Mini places a Google search bar near the URL bar. This is not exactly what I was looking for but it's a potential alternative.


text:
What's the differences between the different processors available in the current lineup of devices?
From what I understand there's the Snapdragon, Hummingbird, OMAP, ARM and now(or soon) Tegra2?  Did I miss any?  (I apologize if I'm mixing terms here, confusing a technology name with a model name)
What are the comparative strengths/weaknesses of these processors?  Which one is the best or which one does what best? Also, if one is only available in phones or only available in tablets, please specify.

You cannot assume they are all 1GHz. Some processors run at 1GHz and have a 5 stage pipeline with wait states. Another might run at 800MHz and have a 5 stage pipeline with operand forwarding, removing wait states, giving it an advantage in certain cases, not in others. If they both had 1GHz then the comparison would be that the one without wait states is always better.

Ok, well that goes to show what I don't know.  I removed that part of the question so let the answers flow...

The Tegra2 is dual core: http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-2.html

From my answer on the When will dual core android phones start to become available? question, there's a good comparison of the HummingBird vs SnapDragon processor systems here. Hummingbird is a system made by Qualcomm and used in phones like the Nexus One and HTC Desire, the Snapdragon is made by Samsung and used in devices like the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab. OMAP is another system chip brand, this one by Texas Instruments and used in phones like the Motorola Droid and the Palm Pre.
All of three of those are "System on a Chip" systems, where the CPU, some memory, and some other processors like the Graphics Procesing Unit, digital signal processors or wireless signal processing unit are all built into the same chip. Building all of this into a single chip instead of having all the individual capabilities spread out across separate chips gives a lot of savings in power usage, size and space used inside a phone.
The CPU inside all of them uses the ARM processor architecture, which is a standard set of instructions and abilities that the CPU follows. As do the iPhone's processors, the iPhone 4's processor is also made by Samsung and is very similar to the SnapDragon processors used in Galaxy S's. Other processor architectures that you may have heard of are the Intel x86 processor architecture, or the AMD64, one of which is probably powering the machine you're reading this at.


text:
Does Froyo include full Hebrew support for all devices?
I was under the impression that Froyo includes full built-in Hebrew support for all models.
I'm looking into buying a Samsung Galaxy S, and I called up a store about it. At the store they said that if I wanted it with Hebrew support, I would have to add about $75, since Froyo includes Hebrew only for some HTC devices.
Is this true or are they trying to fleece me?

Possible duplicate: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/989/is-hebrew-support-built-into-android

Sounds fishy to me. What are they going to give you for that $75?

They are trying to fleece you. Do not agree to that, nor to the other tricks they employ trying to fork more money from you (the basic color is not in stock etc.)

I agree with this.

Can't answer for Galaxy S, but it works on my LG Optimus T. One approach might be to go to the store and try the built-in browser on a web page with Hebrew. As long as that works, I suspect you'll be OK.
Perhaps they will say that for $75 you also get a Hebrew onscreen keyboard... but if so, you could probably skip that and try "Any Soft Keyboard" with the "Hebrew Language Pack", both free in the Market. Again I have not tried anything on a Galaxy S but it works on my Froyo-bearing LG.

Just had a look on my UK Froyo Galaxy S, if I go into the Locale and Text menu, I can't see any options for Hebrew in there, and looking at keyboard settings I can't see any Hebrew options for input language on the Swype or Samsung keyboards either.
Looking at first party Google apps on the Market I see IMEs for Pinyin (Chinese) and Korean, nothing for Hebrew.
However I'm using a device with a European build on it, which would explain why I see mainly European languages in the list, I don't know if other builds will have Hebrew in by default.


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Protector for camera lens window on HTC Desire Z? (protect from scratches)
Given that this phone provides no protection against scratches on the window for the camera lens, unlike for example, the Nokia N82 (great cameraphone which I also own), are there any adhesive transparent protectors that can be placed over this window but which would not affect image quality?
I've bought the screen and body protector from zagg.com by recommendation and am pleased with that but this offers no protector for the camera itself. (see: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2935/best-screen-protector-htc-desire-z )
I would think that protecting the camera lens window on this phone (and many others) would be more of a priority as this is actually functionality of the phone that needs to be protected - i.e. clear photos and video, rather than cosmetic - which most screen protectors do a good job of but fall short on the camera protection, it seems.

Surprised no-one is interested in protecting their mobile phone cameras. Really surprised. Anyone?...

@Rob: given that most people does not use their phone camera to take high quality images, I'm not that surprised.

I replace my phone every year, surely it will last me that long?

@Ivo Flipse you're fortunate. Do you buy sim-free or does your operator contract offer you good deals in this?

They discount me for about half the price of the phone, so I still pay a considerable amount, but in exchange I get to have new phones each year :-)

@Lie Ryan: Disgree: This 'phone is many megapixels and takes 720p video. Sure, it's not an SLR but it is capable of taking good pictures, not pixelated dull pictures when phone cameras first came out. Nokia managed a protector with the  N82 and N95, why couldn't HTC?

I can understand your concern, but I've also never seen a film that specifically covers the camera lens window. I haven't used a Zagg, but other screen films I've purchased in the past included the excess film on the card - if the Zagg included this you could possibly cut your own square or circle to cover the lens window. Otherwise I'd suggest checking your retailer of choice for another inexpensive film that you can use to cut your own window from.
In the past I've purchased screen protectors on clearance from places like Staples, Walmart, etc for obsolete devices so I could cut them to protect camera screens, etc.

+1 and accepted: Cutting out a trimmed cornered rectangle from excess film is exactly what I did, in the end. It took me a few tries to get it just about right to fit though :) The final version was OK and by then I was tired of trying so am happy with that. Video and film looks OK through it though I'm reluctant to peel it off to compare without this protector, as the cutout I made may reduce its adhesiveness effectiveness doing so when I re-apply it to the lens window. :)


text:
Does assisted GPS fix Samsung Galaxy S's GPS problems?

Possible Duplicate:
Does Froyo fix Samsung Galaxy S I9000's GPS problem?

the GPS on Samsung Galaxy S is said to be somewhat broken.  Is this true even when using assisted GPS?

This is going to be a difficult question for people to answer for you. There are a lot of Galaxy S users (including me) who've never had any GPS problems. There are some who seem to have more problems on some software versions than others. You really need to try it out on your phone and see.

More or less the same as: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2462/does-froyo-fix-samsung-galaxy-s-i9000s-gps-problem

See also: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6981/how-can-i-fix-the-gps-on-my-samsung-galaxy-s

Disclaimer: I don't have any problems with GPS on my Galaxy, but I do get a lock a few seconds quicker if I have the aGPS functions switched on. It also means that I get a "rough" lock while I'm waiting (this rough lock is the one with the big blue circle, which is about half a mile wide when I'm in my home town, or about 30m wide in London.
(On Froyo at least) the settings to turn this on and off are in Settings, Location and Security, then you can use both "Use wireless networks Location determined by Wi-Fi and/or mobile networks" and "Use sensor aiding Enhance positioning and save power using sensors" to switch the aGPS on or off

Guides to fix the GPS issues with Captivate and Vibrant have just been posted.
http://androidcommunity.com/samsung-posts-gps-fix-guide-for-captivate-and-vibrant-20101130/

Do you have a Galaxy S with a broken GPS? what do you mean by broken? My Galaxy S (2.1) GPS took forever to find my location without "Use wireless networks" as described by GAThrawn, but once I enable it I almost have no problems finding my location quickly

I am in the market for one, and I want to make sure that if the GPS doesn't work, I have some way to fix it.

maybe "broken GPS" that they say is similar to what I used to have. but when I activate assisted GPS the problem goes away.


text:
HTC mains-to-USB charger: use to charge other non-HTC but USB-chargeable devices?
My HTC Desire Z came with a charger that consists of a mains electric plug with a USB socket for attaching the phone to to charge via USB.
Other devices such as the iPod touch can be charged via USB.
Assuming that there is a standard for USB powered charging, i.e. a amp/watts/voltage rating, then could these devices be charged from the same adapter, safely and effectively.
This would save money buying additional mains adapters, when, for example, the iPod touch does not come with a USB mains charger, though it does come with a USB sync cable for iTunes and also for USB powered charging from a PC.

I've successfully charged my Samsung Galaxy Tab through my HTC Desire Z USB mains charger.

I treat chargers with the same specs as interchangeable... many USB chargers are rated as 5v 500mA (or .5A); in most cases, you should be able to interchange them (it may take excellent eyesight to actually read the specs; on my Motoroloa chargers, they are very faintly engraved).   Some Apple chargers produce more current than the standard 500mA, so I would not use them to charge products other than the intended.   Since most computer USB ports are rated for 500mA, chargers with the same rating should charge any USB-chargeable device without problems.

You can probably get even more info at electronics.stackexchange.com

+1 for your comment pointing more information, and for making me aware of a site I didn't know.

Additional amperage (700ma) isn't going to hurt the device.


text:
Should I re-install certain programs after upgrading from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2?
I upgrade my Samsung Galaxy S phone from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2 over the weekend.
Today, for the first time since buying the phone ( two months now ) I had to reboot the phone when starting one of the applications I installed.
This started me wondering if I should re-install certain programs after an upgrade ?
Did you had to re-install certain programs after an upgrade ? If so, what programs ?

You shouldn't have to re-install anything. I don't recall any app having an issue from an OS upgrade, except those that needed changes to work with 2.2. Since you're getting 2.2 so long after its initial launch I'd expect all of those issues to already have been worked out.

I installed all the updates that the Market offered me after upgrading to ensure that I had the latest (and presumably most Froyo compatible) versions of my apps, then made sure I had the mostup to date version of my side-loaded apps. Nothing else, and I've had no problems since the upgrade.


text:
I can't receive SMS when I have low storage
From the time the "low storage" warning appears no synchronization is done at all, including receiving SMS.
Can I do anything about it? Can I "force" my Motorola Milestone Froyo to receive SMS somehow?
This is really annoying. Especially because the user doesn't informed in detail. I missed a lot of SMS... I hope that gets fixed in Froyo.

Did not get fixed in froyo. ;(

Same question asked 1 year later http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/12275/how-to-stop-rejecting-messages-at-low-memory

Google says, they fixed it in Android 2.3. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4991#c257

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4991
This is bug. You must always make sure you have free space in Android, otherwise the bug might happened.

Thank you! While looking over the 400+ user comments at your link (and the linked issues there) I see I am not alone ;)

SMS, etc. are stored on internal storage.  If it's getting full, then you'll have to uninstall some apps to free up space to receive more messages.  Not much else you can do about this.
My suggestion, however, is that you use an app like SMS Backup+ to backup your old SMS messages to a label in gmail.  Then you can delete old threads which will free up space AND you'll still have a copy of all of your messages.

Well, first of all I am not willing to seek the fault at the user. I know that this could have been developed way better. Motorola bound the SMS receiving process to the sync manager which is blocked when memory is low. That's the(ir) fault. SMS don't take much space and won't harm the system! Backing up SMS doesn't help, because the freed space is too tiny for the sync manager to recognize. That reminds me of times where only 10 SMS could be saved on a SIM.

I agree that more complete notification would be nice, but ultimately this seems 100% reasonable behavior to me. Your phone has some idea of how much space it needs to handle phone calls and otherwise function properly. If your phone doesn't think it has sufficient space to keep downloading data and still function properly, it should stop downloading new data.

If you don't mind losing older messages, most default messaging apps have an option somewhere in their settings (you'll have to look around depending on your device - I don't have a Milestone) and somewhere the should be a tickbox "Delete old messages" - tick that and set the limits and the phone will delete older messages, freeing up space (on the internal memory, as Bryan said) meaning you can receive more messages.
If you do need all your old messages, see Bryan's way

See my comment to Bryans answer. Deleting old SMS frees only very little space. The sync manager won't recognize it. It doesn't follow the basic logic of old fashioned phones, where you have a fixed and reserved storage for SMS. Thats why your suggested option doesn't have much impact ;(

Plz also see that date/time settings. Correct date and time of the instrument is very important for all correspondence related to messages

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Which music players support search by "Album Artist"?
All the music players I've tried have search by artist/album/genre but I really want search by "Album Artist".
Do any of the market players do this?

Music PlayerPro has that feature.

But it's a Paid app. I tried many free ones, (powerAmp, winamp, cube, double twist, mixzing...) none have that feature!
Note 1: Meridian (free) can search using composers (it calls it writers).
Note 2: There is an issue-ticket related to this open in the android issue tracker. So this may be fixed in stock players in future.

I'm not sure if this has changed in the last few years, but you can no longer browse nor search by album artist in PlayerPro.

I know this is an old thread, but GoneMad works.
PowerAmp and PlayerPro do not.

Their Google Play page says you cannot browse by album artist, but you can search by album artist. Having said that, I can't work out how to even do that!

powerAmp isn't free, I guess you should give shazam a try, it's paid but it's one of the best, it even listens to music if there is any around you and try to recognize giving you the track name, artist,.... etc, also it searches by album artist.

PowerAmp won't let you browse or search by album artist. You can browse by "Albums by Artist", but this is lists all albums, which are then further split by artists (i.e. even worse!). Also, Shazam is not a music player, but (as you say) an application to identify music through your device's microphone.

I recommend Rocket Music Player The free version's feature set is fairly comprehensive and to top that off, it respects its users by showing no advertisement.
When you install it, click the three dots icon at the bottom-right corner (or possibly bottom-left if you have a right-to-left language), and select Settings. From there, you can go to the "Tabs" menu and enable the "Album Artists" tab. You can also go to the "My Library" menu and select the conditions for album grouping (applied globally, but most notably you'll want this for the "Albums" tab). Obviously, you'll want to tick "Same album artist".


text:
Does SAMSUNG I5500 GALAXY 5 can be upgraded into Android 2.2

Possible Duplicate:
When will my phone get the Android 2.2 update (FroYo)?

I'm planning to buy an android phone and I've heard that SAMSUNG I5500 GALAXY 5 is the cheapest one. My question is, does SAMSUNG I5500 GALAXY 5 can be upgraded into Android 2.2?

Upgrading it involves connecting your phone to your PC via Kies, if you have problems with doing that you can see the solutions in this question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3246/fails-to-install-mtp-usb-device

It looks like Samsung have already released an official Android 2.2 update for the i5500 in the UK. So there is an official version, and it should be going to other countries and service providers, but unfortunately you may have to wait for it.
Source http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9431054&postcount=224 and http://www.samsungfirmwareworld.com/froyo-t1602.html
Also be aware that there is a specific post here for tracking when various phones are getting Froyo here: When will my phone get Android 2.2 (FroYo)? I've updated it with info on the i5500 and thta's a good place to keep an eye on for further info.


text:
Looking for a Lightweight gallery to replace the stock gallery
I am looking for a lightweight gallery with following characteristics:

No annoying 2D/3D animations
Possibility to set wallpaper
Classification by folders
Fast or at least faster then standard Cooliris gallery
No background services like Just Pictures!

Umm.. what's wrong with the stock gallery? It does not have fancy animations, you can set wallpapers, have folders, it's fast I think, and I'm not aware of any background services it uses.

Stock gallery is so slow

I agree stock gallery (the one you can find under the name "Gallery 3D" on the market) is really slow, unless you don't have a lot of pictures. The UI is great though, it's too bad that performances are poor.

I'm a big fan of QuickPic: it's simple and truly fast :)

I like it, really fast and not much CPU occupation.

You may want to look into Picturen Lite.  On first run it can be a bit slow to load but after that everything is fast.  I think the app meets all the points on your list.  It looks like the app is still in development with a full version coming soon with more features.
Link to developer's site


text:
How to type SMS in a full sized keyboard?
The only way I have to send SMS is through my Android Phone, since I don't have a GSM/3G modem.
I would like to use my Desktop's keyboard to type those SMSes.
Is there any application that would allow me to type in the keyboard and the keystrokes echo in the Android device, through bluetooth or an USB cable?

Check out WiFi Keyboard -- allows you to use your desktop's keyboard to control the Android.
NB: I have not personally tried this, but it looks pretty cool. aimed particularly at apps that require keyboard input, but still don't pop-up a virtual keyboard......
Again, WiFi, not BlueTooth. aaargh. Unless, you know, you get your PC to broadcast on BlueTooth.

bear in mind; solution preseted next is very geek centric....
Root the phone; install vnc server on phone and vnc client on computer.
Connect either by usb or wifi ; and use remote desktop to send sms.
:D
p.s. yes, i know you probably wanted some sort of bluetooth usb

If you have a Google Voice account, you could also head to http://voice.google.com/ and type your SMS messages there. Of course, have the Google Voice app on your phone so that you can sync your messages with your desktop. It works really well.

I lurve Google Voice.

If only it was available outside the US :(

@GAThrawn - Yeah. They're apparently working on it now. Hopefully you guys get it soon!

SMS2PC will let you see, reply and compose SMS messages on your desktop.  All the message are synced back to the phone too.  I tried it yesterday and it works great.  Wifi only, though.

"BlueKeyboard JP" in the Android Market is an adequate free Bluetooth keyboard driver. Here's my review and notes on special keys.

I've tried the WiFi Keyboard, and it's magic, all you have to do is,

Connect you handset to a wifi network.
Install WiFi Keyboard on your handset.
On any text field, long press the field and choose Input Method; Wifi keyboard.
Instructions will pop, one screen of instruction.
Write the IP from your instructions screen on your handset on your PC's browser.
That's it, and it gets better, if you are a gamer, like me, you have a gaming mode option on the screen of your PC, choose it, and arrows will work for gaming, try it with Doom for example.

Performance is biblical by the way.

I would assume that if you had a full-sized keyboard and is using WiFi keyboard, that means you had a full-sized computer in front of you as well; why not play the desktop Doom?

Android Manager will let you do this as well.  It connects over WiFi to your phone to send and receive SMS messages and it also allows other stuff to sync over WiFi with your computer, for free.  I've found this to be a great program.

MyPhoneExplorer
I've been using it for my SE phone, and now for my android phone. Getting it to work via bluetooth was a little tricky until I read the faq at the developer's site.


text:
How can I manually add memory to the Android emulator?
I'm planning to buy an Android phone, but I want to try the applications in the Android Market using Android Emulator. I have downloaded many applications and reached the maximum apps I can download because of low memory. My questions is how can I manually add memory to the emulator?

+1 on Al Everett; and also i'm not sure that Kyle knows that default android emulator can not access market

When you create a new AVD (Android Virtual Device).
Under Hardware, click New:
From the drop down list of Property, select Device ram size.  Click OK.
You can now put a value beside of Device ram size of how big you want it to be.
Note: You have to create a new AVD.  You can't edit them as far as I know.


text:
"MTP USB Device" driver error (screenshot) when connecting my Galaxy S to my PC in Kies mode -- How can I resolve this problem?

I always got this error when trying to connect my Galaxy S to my PC in Kies mode. I can connect it as "Mass storage" with no problem. But I need to connect with Kies mode to get 2.2 (froyo), but I always get this error. What is this error and how can I correct it?
I have Windows 7, Galaxy S 2.1, and kies already uploaded to the latest version.
If this is of help, the PC tries to install "MTP USB Device" for a while (around 3-5 minutes) and during this time the phone shows a display that says "Initialising blah blah, press home to exit".
How to fix this?
Or if this is possible, is there another way to upgrade to 2.2?

Go to Samsung Kies software, on top left of the window, click the menu > Driver recovery.
Let it reinstall drivers
After driver installation finished, go to your phone, Settings> Application > Development, tick USB debugging mode.
Under USB debugging mode connect your phone to the PC with USB.
It installs correctly!
Disconnect from PC
Untick USB debugging mode
Connect again

and it works!

Thank you very much for sharing, but this SGS MTP thing is getting annoying, and there is several ways to fix it, yet there isn't a specific way to do it, what worked for me may not with for you, your way worked with my friend's handset and my way didn't :)

yup. Thank you once again for your answer, unfortunately it didn't work for me :( I still upvoted it though

How do follow this process with the latest Kies software? btw and OT: this is my first android experience -- not fun

What worked for me was uninstalling the Windows 7 driver in device manager then reconnecting the device and letting the device driver reinstall. then kies sees the device - yay

Uninstall Kies and all drivers, then reboot.
Download and install the appropriate drivers from this XDA post.
Download and install Kies Mini from Samsung.com (Support at the top, then just select your phone model and go to software).
Connect your phone!

Back up your data, all of it, internal and external SD memory.
Connect your phone to your PC choosing the Mass Storage option (first make it ask you before connect how to connect), then walk through all of your applications checking for any folder named cache or anything similar, then delete whatever is in it.

If you came across any other kind of file that is cache or related to cache, delete it.
This issue happens because some, most of them actually, cache files have a very long extension , and that prevents the MTP connection establishment.
For me, I tried this in two ways, the first one, I formatted my SD memory, both internal and external, and that didn't pay off, then I tried the method I mentioned above and it worked, if it didn't please reply telling so.

how can I back it up if I can't connect to PC? How do you know which file is related to cache and should be deleted?

back up all your contacts on your SD card, you can do so from settings or so. and there are lots of application in the market for backing up your contacts, texts and so.

Connect in Mass Storage mode, copy all of your data on your PC, keep in mind that this won't back up your application or contacts it's merely for saving your files, then browse through your handset folders, cache files are located in folders called "cache", e.g. you have an application called XYZ, open its folder, most probably you'll find a folder called cache, delete the files from the cache folder.

ok copied all folder called cache, and it didn't work. I even created a program that moves all files with filename length > 16 to outside of the SD card, and it still doesn't work. Do I need to remove long named folders too?

I tried removing all folders with length >= 16 too. but Android\data\com.cooliris.media keeps coming back

yes, if the is any, delete them, and make sure that you deleted every bit of cache you have, because that 16 character thing didn't work for me, if what you tried din't pay off, tell me and I will downgrade my handset or get another 2.1 one then walk this through step by step

I used this tool and it says there is no file with long extension in my SDcard. As for the long name folder I can't remove Android\data\com.cooliris.media. It keeps coming back

okay, will get my friends SGS by tomorrow or something and get back to you with a step by step walk-through :)

thanks so much for your help. Do you perhaps have an instant messaging address?

sorry I tried removing all suspicous files but it doesn't work. However I found another way that work. Will post that as an answer

Found the problem to be like one of the guys said in another thread. It was the external SD having most likely unrecognized characters (at least to Samsung Kies) or characters that are too long.
I removed the external SD and ran Kies and it's working. It might not be very useful to do it this way but I only needed it to update SW and manage contacts so its find.

The hint from Omar proved to be the best for me. I found out that a wallpaper app installed long extension files in my SD card and I happened to find a sub-folder named "cache" inside the folder carrying the app´s name. Once I deleted it and reinserted the usb cable onto the phone, "voilá", the PC recognized it again on MTP mode!!

I resolved my Galaxy S connection problem on Win XP 32-bit by installing the Microsoft_User-Mode_Driver_Framework_Install-v1.0-WinXP.exe.
Edit: I think this has been replaced by the Windows Driver Kit.

I have done a lot, including uninstalling Nokia-related phone apps, switching to debug mode and usb mass storage mode for getting different drivers. The 18 mb exe located in Samsung\Kies\USB Driver extracts many folders including .inf, but none is for MTP driver. The driver reinstalling option from Kies also doesn't help.
UNTIL
I switch back to the default home screen, not launcherpro, not HeLauncher, but TwLauncher, I get the 'MTP Application' screen on phone showing 'Connected' immediately. If this screen doesn't come up, it's impossible.
So my final piece of advice is to restore your phone to factory setting and see if it's a problem related to what you have in internal sd. (external sd removed of course)

No need for any backup or any formatting your SD cards.
All you need to do is,

Connect your phone. When it says failed go to Device manager and uninstall it from there.
Unplug your phone, go to Kies, open tools → install drivers.
After installation plug your phone.

Tested on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate only.

I had the same problem with my device. A problem lied in the running apps that avoided the phone going to the standby mode (for me it was e.g. my K-9 email client).
Therefore, I shut these apps down, connected my phone again to my laptop and it was ok.


text:
Restore a ROM Back-up
I am going to try out CyanogenMod tonight on my phone. Before I do that, however, I am curious about one thing. I performed a NANDROID backup, per instructions that I received on this site (thank you to Bryan), as well as a Titanium Backup of all my applications and data. What I am confused about is - say I really screw something up during the CyanogenMod process? How would I recover from that? From my own research, it appears it works something like this:

Made NANDROID backup. (Should be on the SD card.)
If something goes completely screwy, boot into Recovery mode (hold X on boot, Volume Up + Camera key).
Flash using the NANDROID backup off the SD card to return to a safe state.
Get Titanium and restore all apps.

Is it really that simple, or am I missing some aspect? (I should just do it, but I'm a bit worried about royally screwing up my phone.)

It's really that simple. :)
And you wouldn't even have to do step 4 (because your NANDROID backup is like taking an image of your phone, that includes all installed apps and data too).
If you wanted to do a quick test, you could try installing one app, then restoring to your NANDROID backup.  When it's done, it should no longer have that one app  you installed.  And it'll also show that your backup is good.

Excellent! Thanks for quelling my fears. I use my phone a lot (my primary means of internet access right now) and I would hate to really screw it up. Glad to know that there are solutions like this. Excited to check out Cyanogen tonight! :-)

+1 - I have been toying with the idea for some time and I was worried about getting my Droid X back to a working state if something went wrong.  Does ROM Manager do the same type of ROM backup?

@shambleh With ROM manager you install Clockwork Recovery.  Then inside of Rom Manager you can initiate or restore backups.  You can also do this inside of Clockwork Recovery on boot (you should always be able to get into it even if your phone gets stuck in a boot-loop or similar).


text:
Least harmful way to disable APN temporarily?
I installed Quick Settings and turn off my mobile internet with this app. I have a motorola milestone with 2.1
However, that causes some trouble sometimes. When disabling it I lose more often my wifi connection. Android seems to try switching to APN when going to sleep. Turning on APN also does take a lot of time occasionally. Worst thing happened to me a few months ago: I had my APN turned off through Quick Settings. This app got an update and all of a sudden I couldn't connect to the internet over APN anymore. I had to do a full reset of my Android because of that.
Can you suggest a way to turn off APN in a less harmful way? (I still wonder why Android doesn't include that.)

I really like APNdroid and haven't had problems with it at all. However, I've got an HTC Dream that's unlocked and running on AT&T so it is pretty much guaranteed that I'm not getting OTA updates.
You can always access your APN settings directly, so even if an update broke your APN settings, you should have been able to go in through Settings >  Wireless controls > Mobile networks > Access point names -- I have the option of manually adding one or more APNs and a "reset to defaults" button that will restore the T-Mobile APNs my phone shipped with.

I'll second APNDroid plus the widget. However, this week the author enabled the free version to allow Airpush notifications. This landed him in hot water with his users and Google. He's removed the library and apologized and will have a new version up soon. Otherwise, a highly useful app that I've employed a lot for testing and personal use.

EDIT: Rereading your question suggested I'm pointing to the wrong direction altogether.
Try OneClick widget.

It opens the settings where you have to un-check Data Traffic (so, it's two click actually). This is the safe way to do it.
Quick Settings, like APNdroid, simply renames the APN thereby disabling/enabling it in one click. So, when you uninstall/update the app when the APN is renamed to something illegal, you will need to re configure your settings renaming the APN to the network provider's default.
Turning on the Data Traffic takes time because of the handshaking required as a 2G/3G standard, so this cannot be avoided.
Note: My phone(xperia x10 mini) comes with several widgets: Data Traffic, Power Control, Status switch (same thing!). So you might as well play with your phone's stock apps before venturing outside.

alright, i'll give that widget a try. I later noticed that APNdroid just adds a minus prior the internet server name. Don't know what happened at the time I had to reset my phone. Cant rrecover... Unfortunatly motorola doesnt provide a stock widget ;(

Tried the OneClick widget. It's the safest way to change setting. Unfortunatly there is no APN disable setting in my Milestone. So, there's no OneClick Widget to do that also ;(


text:
Samsung Galaxy 3 (GT i5801) - Waiting for FROYO Update

Possible Duplicate:
When will my phone get Android 2.2 (FroYo)?

I have purchased "Samsung Galaxy 3" Model number is GT-5801 - an android enabled phone, currently it is having Android 2.1 firmware, i would like to know whether it is upgradable to the upcoming version or not? I am not finding  "System Updates" options anywhere in the phone so please let me know.
I dont want to have updated firmware with the JailBreak or such kind of way !!

Please see the When will my phone get Android 2.2 post http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2696/when-will-my-phone-get-android-2-2-froyo

and also it maybe a good idea to change the question title


text:
How water resistant is the HTC Desire?
I read on another question that the Motorola Defy is a good choice if you want a water resistant phone. I assumed I wouldn't get the phone wet so water resistance was not a factor I considered when I was deciding which phone to buy. As it happened I ended up buying an HTC Desire.
However I do occasionally find it convenient to operate the phone in light rain, or with wet hands. So far no problems apart from a slightly unresponsive touchscreen sometimes, but I'm wondering how much of a risk am I taking here?

Could operating the buttons while they are slightly wet cause permanent damage to the phone? If so, how likely is it to happen in practice?

Mostly I'm interested in the HTC Desire, but if you have had a similar phone that was damaged by a small amount water then that would be interesting too.

If the water finds its way into the circuitry and causes a short, that could be bad, but I don't think there is any good way to quantify how likely that is to happen to any phone.  I have a Moto Droid and get it a little wet all the time and have never had a problem, although I have heard of people bricking their phone under the same circumstances.
If you do actually get it wet and it dies, it may not be bricked.  After it dries out it will probably work again.  You can aid the process by putting the phone in some rice or just blowing dry warm air on it.
It's also worth noting that many phone manufacturers install moisture detecting stickers inside the phone.  On the Droid it can been seen through a little hole under the battery cover that shows red plus signs on a white background.  If that gets wet, it'll bleed and that way if you try to return a broken phone and say it just died the tech can see if you got the phone wet, and even if that's not why it died, it'll void your warranty.

what does rice have to do with it?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tips/4269047

Didn't know about the moisture detecting sticker, interesting.

@Bryan, On your Droid it's under the battery cover, directly below the camera lens.  Its a little circle cutout about a 1mm across.  You should see white with little red + signs.

I have a HTC Nexus One and carelessly ended up with it being immersed in three inches of river water in the bottom of a plastic bag for over an hour. I assumed that it would be  write-off but dried it out anyway in the sunshine on the dashboard or the car and held it in the warm summer breeze for an hour on the journey home. I put the battery and cards back in and after a short period of irregular displays it worked perfectly. I was astonished!

Most phones work pretty fine with a little amount of water, but it also depends on your luck. My first Android volume buttons stopped working after I played Basketball with it in my pocket and sweat screwed it up. Under warranty got it replaced.


text:
Do I have to charge my phone before I use it the first time?
When I got my last phone, a Sony Ericsson k850i, I was recommended to charge it fully once before I even turned it on. Does this apply today as well, for my coming HTC Desire HD?
Why was I recommended to do so in the first place?

All newer phones use Lithium polymer batteries.
Why is it Partially Charged?
To decrease their aging they are intended to be stored at 40% charge. This means when you receive your phone it should be at 40% charge, otherwise they will have aged your battery for you. (you are probably used to the effects of aging, like a 2 year old phone seeming to have very short battery life). When you get your phone you can use it until it is discharged, but they normally say 'charge it' because people will not notice the partial charge.
Do Not Fully Discharge
You should not fully worry about fully discharging, this is superstition to earlier battery technologies. Fully discharging a lithium battery is one of the best ways to make it fail. below a certain charge they will have their overcharge protection circuitry fail and you cannot charge it at all. I have seen studies that show that this makes up more than 75% of "failed" lithium batteries.
Lithium Battery Aging
Lithium batteries have a set number of charge discharge cycles before they fail. This might be a number like 500 cycles. You actually get more like 1000 cycles if you only discharge to 50% before recharge. Lithiums really do not like a deep discharge, I cannot stress this enough.
If you would like more information about lithium battery technology let me know, I can get you many links, just drop me a comment. I have a few answers on the electronics and robotics stack exchange about it.
 Can I leave it plugged in all the time?
Yes, and no. This is very dependent on whom makes your device.
For example, my Lenovo laptop will not apply a charge to the battery unless it is under 97%. When it does charge the battery it charges directly to 100%, then stops until the battery sags below 97%. Many laptops did not do this, on most just applying charge if it is not 100%. This would put the battery through thousands of charge cycles in a week when you are not using the battery. This ages a battery quickly.
If your phone maker took the time and paid the extra cash then your phone will stop charging once it reaches full charge and just power the system from the wall outlet. It is significantly more likely that your phone is charging your battery on a short cycle and aging it thoroughly.
Myths
Some people have some confusion from some of the myths that go about. The primary one is memory. As Battery University will say, this is mostly extinct, and actually applies to nickel-cadmium batteries. As was stated in a comment about crystals Battery university has in reference to nickel-cadmium:

With memory, the crystals grow and conceal the active material from the electrolyte. In advanced stages, the sharp edges of the crystals penetrate the separator, causing high self-discharge or electrical short.

Now, talking about Lithium batteries, which your phone uses, there is even more difference. To quote them battery university directly from their simple guidelines:

Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

I understand how this may go against what you have been taught, but I am someone who not only has researched this, but uses lithium batteries in my day to day work as an engineer.

-1: If I can't fully discharge my battery, how am I to counter-act the crystal forming in it? If you keep discharging it to 50% and then charging it again it will gradually lose capacity until it's completely unusable.

@Arda Xi, you can discharge it until it says it is dead, but if you give it any time to continue that way you will have the self discharge take it below the safe charge.

@Arda Xi, You are also incorrect, this does not happen with Lithium batteries. I will add links to answer. I work at a job where I use lithium batteries in the thousands every day.

@faken, I think Arda Xi mixxed up battery technologies, nothing major, I kind of expected it.

@Kortuk: I have my phone on my desk every day while at work. Would it help to charge it every day at the start of the day ? Meaning, charge it even though its still 90% charged , just to make sure it's always full whenever I leave the office ? Now I am just waiting until my phone tells me to recharge after which I , mostly , charge it overnight.

@Edelcom, It probably only makes a minor difference to you. Yes, it is better to charge the phone in small increments. If your phone is well engineered then when you power connected and the battery charged it will not pull power from the battery. This is a feature a user cannot recognize, so they normally do not do it. The rule here is to charge your phone often and avoid deep discharge. If you are never letting it power off from lack of power you are not at risk of causing battery failure, which is the major thing people cause when they think they need to full discharge.

No. You do not need to fully charge ANY battery to the max until usage. It does not matter if it's new, old, a phone, or even a remote. It does not affect the battery unless that battery has been over-used. So, what I am saying is, no. You do not need to fully charge something new before usage.

Most of the time, yes you have to charge the phone fully and then sometimes fully discharge it the first time you use it.  Most of the time you'll be fine with the phone turned on while you charge it the first time, as long as it gets fully charged before unplugging it.
There are a few reasons for this, some historical, some practical.  The historical reason is that with older battery tech, the battery had to go through a full charge/discharge cycle in order to keep the battery life high.  Phones would be shipped with batteries that only had enough power in them for initial set-up, forcing the owner to do a full charge when they got home.  The practical reason is that batteries don't maintain their charge indefinitely when they're unplugged, so although your phone may have been shipped with a battery that started off with a full charge, by the time it gets to you, it may already be very low.

Lithium batteries are never shipped full charge, and you should never take the battery through a full charge discharge cycle for "lifetime". This is quite bad for a lithium if you take your discharge to too low a charge.

You're absolutely right.  However, as I said, older generations of batteries are not like Li-Ion and Li-poly batteries in that they could degrade severely without a full charge/discharge cycle.

This question is about an HTC Desire HD. This uses a lithium battery http://www.htc.com/www/product/desirehd/specification.html The original phone he mentions also uses a lithium battery, that took some looking. It is speced here: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/phones/Sony-Ericsson-K850i.htm

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Where in the file system are applications installed?
I have installed a few Android applications both with the adb install MyApplication.apk command and via a webserver (like an alternative to Android Market).
But where in the Android file system on my phone is the MyApplication.apk file placed? Are applications installed with adb install not placed in the same directory as applications downloaded from the Market?
I found some applications on /system/app but I can't recognize them as some downloaded from Android Market or the one I have installed with adb install.
Where on the system is applications that I have installed located?
My phone is not rooted, and I am running Nexus One with Android 2.2.1.

Related: Where Android apps store data?

Where an app is stored very much depends on several criteria:

System apps / pre-installed-bloatware-apps are stored in /system/app with privileged apps in /system/priv-app
(which are mounted read-only to prevent any changes). You may also find system apps in /custpack/app's subdirectories.
normal apps in internal memory go to /data/app
some apps (encrypted on internal storage?) go to /data/app-private
Apps stored on external memory go to an encrypted container in /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure. As at runtime Android needs them to be decrypted, it will decrypt them and store a decrypted copy on tmpfs (so it's gone on a reboot) in /mnt/asec
(you cannot simply look into /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure directly from the device; but if you use a card reader and attach the card to your PC, you will see the files there have the extension .asec instead of .apk -- from which you will get the connection to the name /mnt/asec).
the apps data are stored below /data/data/<package_name> (internal storage) or on external storage, if the developer sticks to the rules, below /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/<package_name>.

Is this answer equally valid for KitKat, Lollipop, and Marshmallow?

@jdmc I cannot tell for Nougat yet, and have no Marshmallows to check – but to my knowledge, yes.

@Izzy gotta wonder what early-web archaeologists will think about that comment in 100 years time..

@geotheory they might think we get paid in sweets :)

Yup, this seems to remain valid on Marshmallow.

Android older than K (exclusive) does not have /system/priv-app. Instead everything goes to /system/app.

@Izzy Thansk a lot for this precise info. can I kindly ask you to provide link to sources / references you used? I'd like to check if all this still applies to latest version of Android, especially 10+.

After 9 years anyone is unlikely to remember the precise sources used for an answer, @Pascal – so I'm afraid you'll have to do with the source mentioned in my answer. It still holds true, roughly (not sure if /custpack/ is still used), though a few "levels" have been added. Most things you can compare on-device even without root.

They are stored in /data/app/ but unless your phone is rooted all you will see is an empty folder.

My Droid Bionic is rooted, but the data folder is still displaying empty in DDMS!

@IgorG. I've never used DDMS and I have barely any experience with eclipse so I don't think I can help.  I'd ask this as a new question.

If you're using DDMS, it is not querying the device as a 'root' user would so the /data folder is empty.  You can either use adb shell and then su to root, or chmod 777 /data and chmod 777 /data/app to allow DDMS to list the contents.  Just make sure you set the permissions of these folders back to 771 when you're done.

On my Android 4.0.4 (ICS) Xperia ray, they are stored in /mnt/asec/XXX-1/pkg.apk.
XXX is the Google Play ID of the application.
For example, Firefox is found at /mnt/asec/org.mozilla.firefox-1/pkg.apk and Skype is found at /mnt/asec/com.skype.raider-1/pkg.apk.
Following zuul's comment I took these screenshots from my phone to confirm my answer.

Firefox

Stopwatch & Countdown Timer

And these are my phone's details:

Do you have any official link to substantiate this, as to provide more information about this change?

no, I don't have any link and I cannot take screenshots on my unrooted Xperia Ray. If you're using an app like X-plore or Solid Explorer, you can navigate to that directory to verify it.

@Zuul: I still haven't got any link but I've managed to take screenshots from my phone to substantiate the claim. And... if you've got any link to prove otherwise, post it here so I also get informed.

No links mentioning otherwise, I asked if you had any link for me to read about the "why" that lead to their decision on changing the directory structure. Later on, I'll look into Google's Documentation and get back to you with the link for you to place on your answer. Thank you for the trouble with the screenshots, +1 from me.

Though it just applies to the de-crypted copy of apps installed on external storage (check with the mount command and wonder: /mnt/asec uses tmpfs, a temporary filesystem created in RAM -- and thus gone on reboot, together with all the apps =:-0)

Nexus one has the same directory ( Android 2.3.6 ), but only for some apps, some aren't there

On my Kindle Fire many of the apks I haven't installed from my app store (apks from outside sources, e.g.:Aptoide,etc.) are in my downloads folder. The others I find in my /system/app folder.

authors: НИКИ ВАСИЛЕВ


text:
Why do my Android text messages (SMS) take minutes to send?
I recently bought my first Android phone, HTC Desire Z with Android 2.2 (Froyo).
I imported all my old Nokia E71 SMSs using the Athg2Sms Android app (after converting my Nokia CSV text file to unix-ending format). All 2,000 incoming messages and 200 outgoing messages were imported.
When I try to send a message my phone practically pauses with a modal dialog box saying "Please wait...". This message can appear for 30 seconds to several minutes.
Naturally waiting this long is ridiculous. If I press the Home or Back button the message sending is cancelled and the message goes into "Drafts".
My Nokia phone would accept a message and transmit it in the background.
Have other people encountered this unacceptable sending freeze and have they found a method to fix it? (Note, no answer recommending me to clear out my inbox is acceptable - a tiny inbox is not required for a Nokia phone, neither should it be for an Android phone).

Update
(I'll edit this section as more evidence comes to light).
As per @Michael Paulukonis 's recommendation below I deleted my e-mail accounts and switched to K-9 for e-mail. Since then I've noticed that some of my SMS sends are extremely quick, like 3 seconds. However some are not - some still take over a minute. I still have 2,000+ SMS messages on the phone but perhaps the time-to-send is related to thread length - if I know any more I'll update here!
Update 2
After a month of having the phone was getting ready to throw it at a brick wall with the frustration of being forced to stand like an idiot waiting for the f*@#ing phone to unfreeze when sending messages. I'd even tried backing up all my messages using "SMS Backup & Restore", deleting all messages, and restoring again. Finally gave up and switched to Handcent. Shame on HTC for developing a truly horridly buggy application.
Update 3
I've been using Handcent for a while. This program masks the problem in that it accepts a message as soon as you press "Send" - however the message still takes a long time before it is ready to be sent over the radio - so it appears that the underlying problem must be with the Operating System (is my guess). The good news is that messages are not turned into drafts but it can still take a long time before a message is actually sent.
Update 4
On Christmas Day 2010 I downloaded a system software update v1.72.405.2 onto my HTC Desire Z in the UK. Sent ~30 messages so far, maximum delay has been 6 seconds. Seems like this system update fixed this major bug! I will update over the next week or two to confirm/deny.

Is the lag related to the length of the particular thread?  Say for example how does sending a text message to a brand new number compare to sending one to Friend A (with whom you have 10 message history) and compare to sending one to Friend B (with whom you have 200 message long history)?  Do you notice a correlation?

There appears to be no correlation. I've tried sending messages to contacts that are a day old, and still get minutes-long delay. And I've tried sending messages to threads that have hundreds of messages and, on occasion, happens in a few seconds.

i am using the HTC Desire Z, same problem. it take minutes to send sms.
Kernel Version 2.6.32.21-gd2764ed
Build Number 1.34.707.5
Software number 1.34.707.5
phone bought in asia pacific, no system software updates after checking.
SOS!!!!

Yes same here. Im in Singapore. Im using blackberry bold 9000 to transfer the sms. And the worse is that the HTC desire Z will auto send all the sms which I received from my peers and clients. And yes it will hand and hand.
Every thing is ok except the sms
And the HTC sense dont work at all

To make the HTC Sense work you have to go "All apps" -> "HTC Likes", then "Sign in" to the HTC Sense account you created online at www.htcsense.com - however I don't recommend it; I tried, and discovered it uploaded my contact list to their website then started telling me which numbers I had that had also registered with this site: total invasion of privacy, so I deregistered and will never use HTC Sense again. Question: what do you mean by "auto send all the sms"?

This is update to my earlier post.
Everything went as PP01 updated in his/her original post. I changed to Handcend SMS, but problem was still there, sending messages could take several minutes. Also when testing this with friends I noticed that also receiving messages could took 1-3 minutes when there was couple messages coming at the same time. Handcend SMS freezed several times and I think that was related to the sms system bug.
Then I updated to 1.72.405.2, and seems that the problem is fixed. Sending messages with the original HTC sms application takes max 5-7 seconds and the program is less buggy now. Thanks for HTC programmers for fixing this issue.
Scandinavian letter bug I mentioned earlier is still there, but that is minor problem. There exist unofficial fixes for this but I think I wait for the official fix.
I notify if the problem with sending messages occurs again.

The HTC Mail and Messaging apps may have memory leak issues -- if this is the case, having a large DB of messages could cause a slowdown.
I had some system slowdowns and freezes. After I started using the K9Mail/Gmail and Handcent SMS apps -- I had no more slowdowns or freezes.
Since HTC apps cannot be uninstalled or turned off (unless you root), you can only set them to never poll for messages and never alert upon receipt of message. Which it shouldn't get. But you never know.

Excellent link; immediately after reading that I deleted all my e-mail accounts from the phone and installed K-9 - quite happy with that so far. And yesterday I had a SMS send in a mere second. I thought my problems were over. But then the next SMS I tried to send took 2 minutes. So e-mail good, SMS still bad.

dang! maybe try @FoleyIsGood's suggestion: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3013/android-text-messages-sms-takes-minutes-to-send/3147#3147

I wish it were so simple. It's not. It's incredibly frustrating. I suspect a serious algorithmic bug that is not related to threads.

I have the same problem, with Desire Z, 2.2 and HTC's sms application. Sending messages seems to take minutes. I had HTC TyTN and I imported my messages (~4000 of em) using Sprite Migrate. I backed up my SMS to my gmail account using SMS backup, and some point I'm going to nuke all my sms messages from my phone and see if that helps.
HTC sms application is buggy and it lags all the time, it reloads my facebook picture many times when I'm scrolling through messages and when I try to write message, the screen is scrolling up and down so I cannot see what I write unless I keep scrolling the page back all the time.
HTC has also minor bug related to forced foreign capital letters when using fysical qwerty keyboard (for instace, my keyboard is giving onlu capital letters when writing scandinavian letters Ä, Ö or Å) but it usually passes when I use touch screen keyboard.
I haven't used email application so much, but if this is related to some kind of memory leak problem as suspected, I will brick my HTC phone before summer I swear. Or calm down and start to use different programs for sms and email.

Update your answer with any progress you make in identifying any correlation in behaviour. I find it bizarre, some messages are sent almost instantaneously, others take minutes to be accepted. It doesn't matter if the message is long or short, and times can vary to the same contact. I can't identify what is causing the issue...

If it is thread-length related, i.e. because you have so many SMS's saved, you could try backing them up to your email (search the Market for SMS Backup - there are several good apps that do this really well) then deleting the SMS messages.
Good luck!

Unfortunately it is not thread-length related. To be honest, I suspect there's an algorithm mistake made by HTC (it is HTC's message app)..


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If I root the device can I upgrade to Froyo without waiting for the operator's release?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S and am currently waiting indefinitely for the operator to pull its finger out and release its bloated edition of Froyo.
If I root the device using the instructions here, will that enable me to ugrade to Froyo over Kies or will I have to upgrade through some other method?

Not adding this as an answer, as I don't have the facts in front of me, but you don't need to root for this. Kies remembers what region and operator images you're phone is supposed to have in a registry key in Windows. As long as you have a Galaxy S I9000 that is compatible with that from another country, all you need to do is change the region code that Kies has saved on your PC.

The OPs question was 'could I upgrade [to Froyo] on a rooted phone'.
Not do I need to have a rooted phone to upgrade.

Looking at your profile it looks like you're based in the UK? If so you should have no problem running the Samsung's European JPO release of the Galaxy S Froyo software that went out to unbranded UK Galaxy S's a few weeks ago. As this is an Official Samsung release there's no need to root to apply it, you just need to trick Samsung's software into installing it for you.
To start with I'll make the assumption that you have no problems running the Kies software, that it recognizes your phone when you plug it in, and that you get a "You are already running the latest release" message when you click the Firmware Upgrade link. (this is a big set of assumptions given the quality of Kies, if any of these aren't true, then you need to get Kies working properly before going further).
This post on Vodafone UK's Galaxy S forums lays out the steps Samsung Galaxy S - Froyo Update (Android 2.2) (reply 113). I'll summarise them below as Vodafone are about to upgrade their forums to new software, so I have no idea if the post will survive, or the link will still work in a week or two's time, credit to "ado28" for these instructions.

First of all you need to go into
  regedit and do some minor alterations
  to the registry.
Do not update Kies! If you do then I
  think this tweak won’t work! The Kies
  version I used was 1.5.0.10024_74 but
  I fooled it into thinking it was the
  latest version
Step by step guide

Back up everything you wish to keep, including Apps, phone numbers,
  Text messages etc because we're going
  to wipe your phone clean before we
  start!
Go to Settings – Privacy – FACTORY DATA RESET and click. Follow the
  prompts and then let it wipe your
  phone.
Now you have a bare naked phone again and can proceed onto the next
  step.
Open up Kies and leave running
Connect phone
Open Regedit by clicking on Start – Run – then type in regedit and press
  enter
Scroll down to Kies and look for “Localver” see pic
Change your Localver code to 1.5.3.10103.100
Now go to your Device DB folder and change your settings to these:

"SoftwareRevision"="I9000XXJF3/I9000OXAJF3/I9000XXJF3/I9000XXJF3"
  "ProductCode"="GT-I9000HKDXEU"
  "HIDSWVER"="I9000XXJF3/I9000OXAJF3/I9000XXJF3/I9000XXJF3"
  "DEVCONINFO"="" Delete the writing
  in this box and leave blank.

Now go back into Kies and click "Update firmware"

This will now allow everyone who has
  JPA on their handset with the product
  code XEE to be replaced with JPO and
  the product code XEU which is for the
  UK. Once you have successfully updated
  then allow the phone to boot up. Once
  booted up you will now need to go back
  into your settings and change your
  product code to XEU. To do this open
  your keypad and type in *#272*YOUR
  IMEI# and now you will be back to
  having a lovely wee choice of product
  codes to enter. Choose XEU and
  install. The phone will reboot and you
  will now officially be on JPO with the
  correct product code XEU!
Please note that by doing any update
  on your phone could cause it to brick
  itself. The guide I have written
  worked perfect for me however I can’t
  be held responsible if your phone
  bricks itself. To be safe always try
  the 3 button recovery method first
  before you update and also doing a
  factory reset first usually ensures a
  smooth installation of new firmware.

Extra note on Kies: as stated above, this doesn't work with the latest version of Kies. If you need an older version of Kies then this version should allow you to do this (according to XDA): Kies version 1.5.3.10093_82.
If you do end up uninstalling and reinstalling Kies and find that it doesn't detect your phone any more, then first thing to try is clicking the menu icon in the top-left corner of Kies and selecting the "install drivers" option.

Very thorough answer!

Thanks for your answer, GAThrawn. Now that I've rooted and run Titanium Backup I'm going to give this a go. holds breath

Kies didn't play nicely but I did find this tutorial from Goots at Samsung Galaxy S forums.
I'm now running Froyo.

To answer your original question: yes, almost all popular Android phones have community mods (CyanogenMod, Samdroid, etc) and many of them are writing drivers for Froyo for many popular phones.
Community mods are often able to release drivers and updates much faster than operators can since they are unbriddled by the red tapes and the internal politics of official releases.
Most community mods are rooted, although some may release unrooted version as well.


text:
Play notification alert sound when a message is still open
I recently switched to an Evo from an old flip phone.  My only problem so far has been this:
When I finish sending a message, I'm used to just sending a message and putting my phone down.  I don't lock the phone or exit the messaging application.  As a result, if I receive a reply from that person before the phone automatically locks itself, it will not play the text received notification.  This has caused me to miss a few texts completely and is rather irritating.  Is there any way that I can set the messaging app to play the notification sound even when it's for a conversation that's currently on the screen?

Have you tried using an alternative SMS app?  Handcent is very popular.  It has always notified me of a new SMS even with the message still open.
Edit: If you don't want to switch SMS apps, you can also use SMS Popup.

@Dave I've been using it for the past year or so, I love it :)


text:
How to add Google Search Widget on Samsung Verizon GalaxyS?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S phone from Verizon. I don't see the option to add the Google search widget like I have with other Android phones. Is there a simple way to add this without doing something as extensive as installing Cyanogen? I can't find the widget in the Market.

Long press on your home screen (any one from the home screens will do)
a screen; called "Add to Home screen"; will popup, choose the option "Widgets".
Another screen; "Choose widget"; will popup, start scrolling down till you find "Google Search", tap it and you will get the search options screen, pick what you want to go with, and it's all done.
I'm running Froyo on a non rooted Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000
Update: in case of that didn't work for you, you can get an application called z4root from the android market (the official market) and this will root your phone with one click (further more, it gives you the option of un-rooting your phone also by one click) then you will be free to do whatever you want without doing any extensive things.
it works for both Eclair and Froyo, the only limitation is it doesn't work with NAND locked devices.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=833953
and as you've said, you can use the enhanced search apk; here is a much descriptive link, still you will need a third party launcher

It isn't an option ... looks like I have to install an  enhanced search apk until 2.2 is out for this phone.

http://phandroid.com/2010/09/13/google-search-coming-to-samsung-fascinate-with-android-2-2-but-why-wait-when-you-can-install-it-now/


text:
Why doesn't my SIM card does allow a connection to this network?
In Android 2.2 from a HTC Desire Z I am frequently finding my phone disconnected from my mobile provider.
When I select my provider from the Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks -> Network operators -> Search networks -> <My Provider> I get the message "Your SIM card does not allow a connection to this network".
The only fix I can find is to restart my phone. Problem appears to widely affect Android phones.

It appears several sites suggest preventing the phone from using 3G. I have gone into Settings -> Wireless & network -> Mobile networks -> Network Mode -> GSM only.
This appears to have fixed the issue for me. Of course this wouldn't be a solution for anybody who relies on mobile data (but my provider charges so much for data that I'm wi-fi only).

Another cause of this error message is that the country in which you are may require your IMEI to be registered with the government - if you have already registered it check whether it has been removed from the relevent list (Turkey in my case so I checked http://imei.tk.gov.tr/tr/imeisorgu.php and found it had been removed) and contact the relevent government official to get it put back on.
I don't understand why the error message refers to the SIM card - it misled me and wasted hours of my time as the problem in my case was nothing to do with the SIM card. I assume this is an Android error message - I think the message should be improved and presumably mention "IMEI" but I am not sure exactly what it should say. Perhaps others in this forum can suggest a better error message.


text:
Google Translate text-to-speech not working
In Google Translate application, when I try to install text-to-speach, It gives me a box saying:

Text-to-speach requires:
  SVOX voice data: {disabled button}Installed{/disabled button}
  Text-to-speach extended: {button}Click to install{/button}

On clicking, it goes to the market, where the search fails:

There are no matches in the android market for the search:pname:com.google.tts

I use x10 mini, which had 1.6 earlier, so I thought like many other apps, this one requires higher versions. But now it's upgraded to 2.1 and still the same issue.
Has anyone else had this issue? Is this a bug in Translate? Is there a work-around?

The app you are looking for is TTS Extended, search the market for it. I think the app stopped being available with version 2.2 because I can no longer find it on my phone, it is probably integrated now. Since you have 2.1 it should be there for you: Here is a link to the app. I know it works because I used it on my previous droid in conjunction with Google translate, it worked very well with Italian by the way.

It didn't work for me unfortunately. Something wrong with google and the Indian market.