text:
When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)?
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) SDK was released on December 6, 2010. (High-level user highlights)
Of course, not all devices will get this update right away and others won't get it at all. Each manufacturer and carrier often choose to add their custom modifications which tend to delay the official release.
When will each device get Android 2.3, either officially or unofficially, if ever?
See also:

When will my phone get the Android 2.2 update (FroYo)?
When will my tablet get the Android 3.x update (Honeycomb)?
When will my device get the Android 4.0 update (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

Related: Why aren't the manufacturers updating the phone to the latest Android version when it's available?

This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates for devices. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines:

Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source
If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded
If a new update comes out (e.g. 2.3.5 over 2.3.4), link to the new and don't keep the old information

Note that devices that do not meet Google's Compatibility Definition will not receive a Google-sanctioned update.  In the case of the major manufacturers and many others, that means they won't release an update at all since Google's certification is important to their business.
Phones
Commtiva z71

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Geeksphone One

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Geeksphone Zero

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Google Nexus One

Official: 23rd February 2011. (According to a tweet)

Unofficial:

Without Market support: 17th December 2010.  (Via Chris Soyars)
2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Aria

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Desire

Official, manual update: 1st August 2011.  (HTC UK Announcement on Facebook and HTC Dev download center)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Desire HD

OTA: 4th May 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Desire Z / G2

Official: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Droid Incredible

OTA: November 14, 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Droid Incredible 2

Official: 12th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Droid Incredible S

Official:

OTA: 4th May 2011.  (Confirmed)
Canada: 29th July, 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC EVO 4G

Official: 6th June 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC EVO Shift 4G

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Hero

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Inspire 4G

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Legend

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC myTouch 3G Slide

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC myTouch 4G

Official: 5th August 2011. (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Tattoo / Click

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Thunderbolt

Official: September 2011.  (Confirmed)

HTC Wildfire / Buzz

Official: Never. (Official mail from HTC support; cause: doesn't meet the minimum requirements, e.g., 1 GHz processor)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Huawei U8220

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

LG Optimus 2X / G2X:

Official: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

LG Optimus 3D

Official: 22 November 2011 (confirmed)

LG Optimus One P500

Europe Official: 6th July 2011. (Confirmed)

LG Revolution

Official: 28 October 2011 (confirmed)

Motorola Atrix 4G MB860

Official: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Motorola Backflip / Motus MB300

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Cliq MB200

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Cliq XT MB501

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Defy MB525

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Droid A855

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Droid 2 A955

OTA: 24 October 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Droid X MB810

Official: 24 October 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial:

12th December 2010. (Information)
Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Milestone X

Official: 26 October 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Droid Charge

Official: December 2011  (confirmed)

Samsung Galaxy Ace / Gio / Fit / Mini

Official: 4th August 2011.  (Confirmed)

Samsung Galaxy S
1. Canada Bell Vibrant GT-i9000M

Official 2.3.3: 15th September 2011.  (Instructions)

2. Canada Telus Fascinate 3G+ SGH-T959D

Official 2.3.3: 15th September 2011.  (Instructions)

3. International GT-i9000

Official:

OTA: 16th April 2011.  (Rollout started and then pulled in Europe) (Leaked download)
Kies: Summer 2011.  (Instructions) (List of upgrades for each operator available via Kies)
2.3.4 XXJVR via Odin: 27th July 2011. (XDA update guide)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

4. US AT&T Captivate SGH-i897

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

5. US Sprint Epic 4G

Official: 9 November 2011 (confirmed)

6. US T-Mobile Vibrant SGH-T959

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

7. US Verizon Fascinate / US Cellular Mezmerize / C Spire Wireless Showcase SCH-i500

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Samsung Infuse 4G

OTA: Leaked 2.3.5.  (Information)

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

Official (2.3.4): 18 October 2011 (Confirmed)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Official: 3Q 2011.  (Confirmed)

ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco / Dell XCD35

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

ZTE V9

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Tablets
Barnes & Noble Nook Color

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Official:

Sprint: 5th July 2011.  (Confirmed)
UK: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)
Verizon: 31 October 2011 (confirmed)

This is not specific to Gingerbread, but this forum posts lists the rough dates for all Android versions for all Motorola models: https://supportforums.motorola.com/community/manager/softwareupgrades

I don't think it's necessary to include devices that ship with Gingerbread. The main reason for this question is to short-circuit all of the "when will {phone} get 2.3" questions. No one will ask that about the Nexus S.

Please only add information if you have a link to back it up.

Also see Computerworld's JR Raphael's Android 2.3 upgrade list

http://www.icsforums.com/news/your-android-device-phone-not-get-update-why.html
discusses why some phones do not receive updates


text:
When will my phone get the Android 2.2 update (FroYo)?
Android 2.2 (FroYo, short for "Frozen Yogurt") was released over the Summer 2010, however not all of the devices that will get this update have received it yet. Each manufacturer and carrier needs to add their custom modifications before it can be officially released.
See also:

When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)?

I think the dates are better in the answer. not the question. Firstly it would make more sense in Q&A format. Secondly you can accept it and remove this question from "unanswered" list

@LouisRhys: So, what are you thinking? One answer per model? Seems too granular. How about one answer per manufacturer?

maybe just one answer for evertything is a good idea too?

In our discussion we settled on having the information in the question. Feel free to continue this discussion there.

How should we handle phones which offered by two or more vendors and have different update schedules? The Samsung Intercept (which was just added to the list below) is offered by Sprint and Virgin Mobile (A Sprint subsidiary), and each vendor has different update schedules. Sprint updated their Samsung Intercepts a few days ago, Virgin Mobile customers are still waiting.

If we have that information, include it. See the Samsung Galaxy S (International) entry for example.

Related: Why aren't the manufacturers updating the phone to the latest Android version when it's available?

This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates of upgrades for devices that shipped with a prior version of Android. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines:

Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source
If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded

If you don't have a high enough reputation score to edit the wiki (currently 100), leave your suggestion in a comment or answer and someone will update the list.
Phones
Acer Liquid E

Official: Nov. 19, 2010 (confirmed)

HTC Aria

Official:

Southeast Asia: Dec. 17,2010 (confirmed)

HTC Desire

Official:

(Cellular South) Mar. 18, 2011 (confirmed)
(U.S. Cellular) Feb. 8, 2011 (confirmed)
(Virgin Media) Nov. 11, 2010 (confirmed)
UK: (via HTC) Sep. 18, 2010 (confirmed)
Canada: (Telus) Oct. 25, 2010 (confirmed)

HTC G1

OTA: Never
Unofficial: (myTouch 3G port)

HTC Legend

Official: Europe Dec. 9, 2010 (confirmed)

HTC Magic

OTA: (Vodafone UK) 14 Dec 2010 (confirmed)

HTC myTouch 3G

Official: Jan. 12, 2011 (confirmed)

HTC myTouch Fender LE & myTouch 3G 3.5mm jack aka myTouch 3G 1.2

Official: Jan 25 2011 (confirmed)

HTC myTouch 3G Slide

OTA: planned, no date (confirmed)

HTC Wildfire

Official:

United Kingdom: Dec. 20, 2010 (confirmed)
Germany (T-Mobile): Dec. 21, 2010
rest of Europe: Week of Dec. 23, 2010 (confirmed)

LG Ally

Official:

Jan. 19, 2011 (source)

LG Apex

Official: Q1, 2011 (confirmed)

Motorola CHARM

Official: never (will remain at Android 2.1) (confirmed)

Motorola CLIQ XT

Official: never (will remain at Android 1.5) (confirmed)

Motorola Defy

Europe, Asia, Middle East: 2Q 2011 (source)

Motorola FLIPOUT

Official: never (will remain at Android 2.1) (confirmed)

Motorola i1 (PTT)

Official: never (will remain at Android 1.5) (confirmed)

Motorola Milestone

Europe: Mar. 15, 2011 (confirmed)
Asia, Middle East: 4Q 2010 - initial rollout (source)
Asia-Pacific, Canada, Latin America: 1Q 2011 (source)

Motorola Milestone XT720

Official:

Cincinnati Bell: Jul. 4, 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Acclaim

Official: Jan. 19, 2011, via download (confirmed)

Samsung Captivate

Official (via Kies):

(Canada - Rogers) Jan. 10, 2011 (confirmed)
(U.S. - AT&T) Feb. 24, 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Continuum

Official: Jan. 18, 2011 (rumored)

Samsung Epic 4G

Official: Feb. 22, 2011 (confirmed)
Unofficial: Nov. 7, 2010 (confirmed)

Samsung Fascinate

Official:

Canada: early 2011 (confirmed)
United States: Apr. 21, 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Galaxy 3 (I5800 / I5801)

Official some time in November/December 2010 (source)
Unofficial: Dec. 12, 2010 (instructions)
India: 14th April 2011

Samsung Galaxy 5 (I5500)

Official some time in November/December 2010 (source)

Belgium/Luxembourg: Apr. 2011 (hearsay)

Unofficial: Dec. 4, 2010 (instructions and download)

Samsung Galaxy A (Korea)

OTA: Nov. 15, 2010 (confirmed)

Samsung Galaxy S (International)

Official:

T-Mobile: 2nd week of Dec. 2010 (tentative) (source)
Europe: (O2) Nov. 15, 2010 (confirmed), (Vodafone) Nov. 15, 2010 (confirmed)
Korea: Nov. 15, 2010 (confirmed)
Middle East: Nov. 15, 2010
UK: (via Samsung Kies) Nov. 4, 2010 (confirmed)

Samsung Intercept

Official:

Sprint: Dec. 17, 2010 (confirmed)
Virgin Mobile: Mar. 25, 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Mesmerize

Official: Mar. 24, 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Moment

Official: never (confirmed by Sprint)
Unofficial:

Samsung Vibrant

Official:

(Canada) Dec.9, 2010 (confirmed) (rollout suspended 20 Dec 2010)
(U.S. T-Mobile) Jan. 21, 2011 (confirmed)

Unofficial: Nov. 9, 2010 (confirmed)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Official: never (confirmed)

Tablets
Archos 28/32/43/70/101

Official: Nov. 30, 2010 (confirmed)

Dell Streak

Official:

unbranded/unlocked: Nov. 15, 2010  (confirmed)
AT&T: Jan. 12, 2011 (confirmed)
O2: Dec. 15, 2010 (confirmed)

ViewSonic ViewPad 10

Unofficial: Nov. 12, 2010 (source)

Other devices
Barnes & Noble Nook Color

Official: Apr. 20, 2011 (confirmed)
Unofficial: Dec. 6, 2010 (video)

This is not specific to Froyo, but this forum posts lists the rough dates for all Android versions for all Motorola models https://supportforums.motorola.com/community/manager/softwareupgrades

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Does Android 2.3 support ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks?
Does Android 2.3 have support for adhoc networking without rooting or at least support it better with rooting? The list of stuff added for 2.3 just said bug fixes, I was wondering if anyone knew what bugs they were fixing or had a link to a list.

Pretty sure that the full list of 2.2 features wasn't released until the day that 2.2 was released (not counting unofficial leaks). On that basis, don't think Google will release a full feature list for 2.3 until release day.

Thanks for the information, i was unaware of that. I will keep a look out for the release notes.

The 2.3 Gingerbread user's guide has been released,  Chapter 2: Connecting to Networks and Devices doesn't mention ad-hoc wireless networks at all.

all_licenses: 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/


text:
Difference between "T-Mobile G1" and "HTC Dream"?
Are there any differences between "T-Mobile G1" and "HTC Dream" besides the name?
If Yes, what are the differences?

Well there is also the developer version of the phone too.  If you get the T-Mobile version, you are locked in to T-Mobile as a carrier.

Note that phones often have a different name between the US and Europe, if only for carrier branding reasons

@Bryan: I got the T-Mobile version in Germany and had absolutely no problems using it with another carrier.

In the US, at least, you have to get the Unlock SIM code for the phone to be used on a different carrier. http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm51885.xml

Not that I have found. It's just different names for the same phone. (A pretty standard marketing practice.)
Some more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Dream

Yep, same phone. 'Dream' is what HTC called the handset, 'T-mobile G1' is how T-mobile sold it.

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


text:
How do I turn off the HTC Desire boot jingle?
Even with a set of headphones plugged in, when I reboot my HTC Desire it (ironically) still plays the 'quietly brilliant' boot screen jingle loudly on the built-in speaker.
This can be utterly annoying when lying in bed and the handset needs a reboot as it invariably wakes up the wife.
Can this be turned off or replaced?

There's an app for, well, turning off the sound on shutdown and then back on at startup.  As I've got Tasker I no longer use it, but you're looking for Silent Boot by Anton Weber.

With Silent Boot I still can hear a very short part of the shutdown jingle (maybe a couple of micro seconds before Silent Boot can deactivate the sound). Tasker has a little longer and the first three notes of the sound are played before it is muted. I'm a Tasker newbie and used "Silent Mode On" for the "Device Shutdown" event. Is there a more optimal way do do this?

The only way I found to silence it was to have the phone on vibrate when it reboots.  Doesn't seem to play any sounds when it comes back up then.

Setting to "Silent mode" will also have this effect.


text:
Synchronization does not work

HTC magic
Android 1.6

A couple of weeks ago the built in sync of mail, contacts and calendar stopped working. Sync is activated for all three and it seems to sync sometimes, but not all the time as it is supposed to do (it did). E.g. mail and contacts synced at 2:34am and calendar synced at 7:30am (but it's 10:11pm now).
Any ideas?
Solution:
I went with mlevits advice. I removed my account from the phone via the trick I described now in How can I remove the default Google Account on my phone? (the "clear-all-data" trick did not work and I did not want to factory reset the phone). After I reentered my account data the syncing works again. Thanks a lot mlevit!

From my knowledge of the Sync functionality on the Android it only syncs when it has something new on one of those services. It uses Push technology to send you the latest updates as soon as they become available.
If however new items are appearing in your mail, contacts and/or calendar and it's still not syncing then I would recommend you remove your Google account and re-add it again.
NB. I did have an issue with Sync once where it just wasn't pushing any emails to my phone... it fixed itself after a couple of days.

Remove my google account? Are you serious?

BTW: The is new stuff all the time which is not synced.

Remove the account then re-add it? I don't see what the problem is? You're not going to lose any data.

Now I get it. I thought you meant deleting my google account. I unlinked my account from the phone and relinked it and now the syncing works like a charme. Thanks a lot! (will update question)


text:
Is JPA/JPP/JP3 an android 2.2 ROM?
Sumsung Kies is offering a firmware upgrade to
PDA:JPA /  PHONE:JPP / CSC:JP3
Is this Android 2.2 or 2.1?

someone must know what these random letters mean. And shame on you Samsung for using letters which mean nothing to the user and not displaying the version of android which it relates to.

Have some patience. Not everyone is on the same schedule.

It is a Froyo ROM, according to comments I've read around XDA.

A custom Froyo ROM based on JPA
Blog entry detailing the European Froyo update rollout, references JPA

Can you link to any of them?

Edited answer to include some links.

As Saiboogu says JPx is a 2.2 Froyo ROM, I'm pretty sure the last released 2.1 update was JMx.
For anyone who's struggling to understand Samsung's build numbers, they seem to use a 3 letter code where the first two letters are the software version (going up in alphabetical order) and the third digit refers to a specific customization of that software version, generally network/country specific customizations change the last digit when your operator pre-saves their APN settings, boot logo, and any operator bundled apps directly into the ROM.


text:
Why am I unable to view pictures sent to me by MMS from an iPhone?
If I receive a picture message from a friend with an iPhone, the MMS message appears with a "Slideshow" attachment.  When I try to open the Slideshow, I get a message saying, "Unsupported media type".
Can anyone help?  Why can't I view these messages?
Edit: I'm running the T-mod ROM with Froyo (2.2b)

I get exactly the same thing happen to me from my gf's phone. Iphone 4....but when i get my parents to send me pics from their ipone4's it works ok so im thinking it's her phone...don't spose anyone would have any idea what i could do to her phone to fix this?
Cheers

@Trent: You probably want to ask that on the Apple Stack Exchange.

A few things you could try... (good luck!)

Reset the Messaging App
Settings>Menu>Applications>Manage applications>Soft menu key>Filter>All.  Scroll to the Messaging App and tap that. Tap Clear Data, Clear Defaults, then Force Stop. Powercycle the phone. Test MMS. If it fails to resolve the issue go the messaging application and tap the Menu soft key>Settings>Menu soft key again> Restore Default Settings.

Alternative Messaging Apps
Try ChompSMS or Handcent from the Market.

Download the message first
I forget how you do this exactly :o/ Maybe long press or menu button? Then try viewing the image from the Gallery app.

When my friend's send me photos through a text message through their iPhone's i am unable to retrive the message. It says that it is downloadimg... but it never downloads. Why is this the case?

Sounds like a different error, but incidentally I haven't figured mine out either...


text:
How do I prep my rooted and moded phone for resale?
I have a rooted MyTouch 3G (HTC Magic) that I want to sell to help defray the cost of my new phone.  I have been running CyanogenMod on the phone. My problem lies in the fact that I don't really want to stick somebody with the slightly buggy way the phone runs now.  I could just slap the stock rom back on it but I don't hear very good things about it and I'm pretty sure the fact the phone is rooted will still prevent new updates to the phone from HTC.
So, what I'm asking is: What should I do to make this phone easily usable by whomever might end up with it? Is there a mod that is going to be super user friendly that won't require constant tweaking on the part of the user? Or is there a way for me to return the phone to vanilla stock?

Are you sure you want to put it back to the stock OS? When I was looking to buy a spare Android phone on eBay a few months ago, I noticed that pre-rooted phones tended to sell better and for more money than ones running the stock OS. I guess there's buyers out there that want a rooted phone but don't want to take the risk (or go through the hassle) of rooting themselves.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/4623/i-have-sold-my-phone-on-ebay-what-should-i-do-before-i-send-it-off

I would keep the phone rooted, with the sale option of restoring to stock rom (if that's what the customer wants).  Or you can give the phone back with a stock rom with root.  Clockwork should let you do that.
Make sure you factory reset the phone before you give it to them (rooted or not) and format the SD card too.

Oh, yes. Formatting the SD card is important.

Bryan, I know you use CyanogenMod, do you have any input on his question about whether there's another mod that will be a little more novice friendly?

@Matt Personally, I haven't used any other mods than CM. Plus the htc-magic might have different mods that I cannot load on my Droid or G1.  I can't provide much input on that area

If there's anything particularly private on the SD card, don't assume that formatting it will stop anyone seeing those private files. I've recovered files from formatted disks and cards a lot of times (and earned quite a bit of gratitude and beer for saving them) http://superuser.com/questions/6810/best-undelete-tool-for-ntfs-fat When in doubt keep the card or destroy it, don't pass it onto anyone else.

you can overwrite the whole card with other files.

Bryan - there's little to difference between a DeathSPL'd G1 and a Magic, as "DeathSPL" is really a Magic bootloader.

If I was buying a used device, I would expect that a factory reset would have been done to it. Either way, I'd probably do a factory reset myself anyway, just because.
Unless, of course, I rather wanted a rooted phone.
I think a factory reset is the better option. You wouldn't want someone to stumble upon some of your personal data.
In any event, it's best to make sure the buyer knows exactly what they're getting.

I was planning on wiping all my data and replacing my sd card anyway.  I was more wondering if I should keep it on cyanogen or if there was a better rom to offer.

Factory reset won't wipe custom recovery / engineering bootloader.


text:
Start services at boot
How to make applications start at boot? I have at least 2 which I'd like to start automatically but they don't (I need to manually start them to have services run in background):

Skype
Lookout

(I'm flagging it as a duplicate since while this answer is correct, the answer on there is more complete)

The best thing for this is going to be tasker. Best three bucks you will ever spend on an Android phone.

Ok. I was going to buy that anyway. One more reason to use it.

@Maciej It's highly customizable

@Bryan: I know. I will have my phone replaced this week to different colour so I will refrain from buying it till then. For sure it is app on top of my TODO list.


text:
Is it possible to install the Nexus One Calendar app on the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate?
I've been using the Galaxy S for a little while now, first on the stock 2.1, and then on stock 2.2. I'm mostly happy with this phone, but one of the things that I don't like is the Calendar app that comes with it (most of all - the fact that the it doesn't display the appointment titles on weekly displays).
So I've been looking for various calendars in the market, but the version that I remember being most happy with is the Calendar that comes installed in the Nexus One.
Is there some way to install it on another phone?

Did you manage this ? I too am looking for a better calendar application than the default one on my Galaxy S.

@Edelcom I'm guessing he did not, after a long search I could only find a N1-style calendar for the SGS on 2.1, not 2.2.  I might try to port one myself.

No, sadly, I did not manage this.

You'd have to find someone who's extracted it to an APK file, and side-load it onto your Galaxy. This link gives a nice tutorial on how to side-load an app.
Probably the best place to start to find it extracted would be in the forums on XDA.

Do you have a link to an APK file we can use? I don't believe you have to side-load the app if it's an APK. I've installed plenty of apps extracted from the Nexus One (e.g. Car Home, Gmail 2.2.1) onto a HTC Desire without having to side-load them.

I don't... extracting apps is not in my skillset.  :)  . Some of us do have to side-load even APKs though, thanks to AT&T who locked our phones out of installing anything that isn't through the market. I get why they did it, but they should've at least given us an option to re-enable it if were are more advanced users. Grrr.

Try using Jorte. It offers several different views (daily, weekly, monthly, agenda, tasks, etc., and several different widgets for the different views. The widgets come in several different sizes too.

This thread, while for the facinate, has the calendar files needed. You will have to delete (backup them first) the TouchWizCalendar.apk & "original" CalendarProvider.apk. Then put the "stock" Calendar.apk and CalendarProvider.apk on the device.
You will have to have root to do this since these files are in /system/app.

I have done exactly this - but the calendar fails to work correctly. I've tried using the pre-existing CalendarProvider.apk with the current calendar, but the sync now only works one way (it takes events from my google calendar, but does not post them back), and trying to access the "Calendar" menu option results in the app crashing...


text:
Can I change which app launches when I put my phone in the media dock?
Samsung Desk Home can auto-launch when the phone is placed in the media dock, but it kinda stinks. I have alternatives, like Custom Car Home, but can't see any way to get them to launch.
The standard way of clearing the defaults in "Manage Applications" is greyed out.
My device is rooted, and I run Tasker, if that helps.

Sorry I can't give you any help with the root part since I've never done it but I could let you know what to look out for if you want this action to occur with another app.
Pretty much when you plug the phone into the car dock... an Intentis created. If an app like Custom Car Home or another other associates itself with that Intent then the user will receive a selection dialog asking them which app they would like to launch for that intent/action.
If at the moment the only thing that happens is the Samsung Desk Home is automatically launched, then this is probably because Custom Car Home has not associated itself with that particular Intent.
From the sounds of what Tasker can do (and I hear it can do a heck of a lot) this should be manageable through it. Try to set up an app launch on a specific condition. That condition is when the phone is docked into the car dock.
Tasker will then associate itself with that Intent and fire off your desired app.
Hope some of that was a little useful. Sorry I couldn't be much help.

I have some experience with this on the developer side of things (I'm the developer of Car Dashboard).
Basically, the application has to support the CAR_DOCK intent. Then, when you dock your phone in a car dock, the phone will go into car mode and it will automatically launch the application.  The very first time it launches, you will be presented with a list of multiple "Car Home" like apps to choose from and you can optionally choose one of them to be the default.  This works exactly the same way as switching to a new Home Launcher.
Note: however, that your dock must have a magnet (or similar) to activate the car mode.
However, it could be possible there is something in the Samsung's version of the OS that could be preventing you from launching other kinds of Car Home replacement apps.


text:
Is there an app which supports both PDF and epub ebook formats?
Are there any apps which support both PDF and EPUB files?
I've tried Alkido, Laputa, and StarBooks, they only seem to support either PDF OR epub, not both.
Any suggestions?

Txtr purports to support both, but hasn't gotten very good reviews.
Speak Text Easy and MultiReader are primarily for text-to-speech, but they both appear to support both file formats.

Aldiko is a good free application for reading PDF and ePub documents.

OP mentions that they have already tried Aldiko.

Aldiko supports pdf and epub according to the app description- "Advanced library management system: import your own EPUB and PDF files into the app to read them on the go"
Probably in 2010 it didnt

@AlEverett yes but OP is from 2010. Pdf support is from 2011.

Okay, makes sense.

Both Aldiko and FBreader support PDF reading without conversion. As the app should update, you can check them again.
I found these later: Aldiko only supports non-DRM'd EPUB.
NOOK for Android by B&N and Kobo eBooks seem support both PDF and EPUB.
Get the information from: http://www.pdfmate.com/read-pdf-with-ebook-reader-app-for-android.html

I am using BlueFire Reader. It is free of charge and can display PDF and ePub files with Adobe DRM.

Moon+ Reader in the Pro version supports almost all formats available, including ePub and PDF. You can even highlight and annotate text; with PDF files, these highlights/annotations will be directly embedded into the file (so you then can simply transfer the PDF to another reader and have your notes included), while for the other formats they are stored separately. Support is pretty good, fixes and new features are constantly released (developer is quite active and responding).


text:
What is the difference between Opera Mini and Opera mobile?
What features does Opera Mobile have the Opera Mini doesn't? Are there any other differences such as speed?

Also, Opera's take at explaining the difference: http://www.opera.com/mobile/specs/

Opera Mobile is a "full" browser performing all rendering activities on your Android device.
Opera Mini passes your requests through Opera's servers to render/scale/"tweak" for your device.
Opera Mini tends to be faster.
Opera Mobile tends to hit your device's resources harder.
Security folk cringe about Opera Mini and your traffic going through 3rd party (yet Opera) servers. Think about that before doing your online banking with Mini...
Read more in the comparison chart here: http://www.opera.com/mobile/features/

If my bank is stupid enough to use plain HTTP (otherwise it won't matter either way), I'd feel safer using Opera Mini when connecting through an unsecured WiFi hotspot (assuming the Opera guys encrypt the traffic to their own servers, of course).

Size: Opera Mobile is ~20MB, Opera Mini is barely 900KB.
Rendering: Opera Mobile downloads HTML from web server and renders the website on your phone, Opera Mini downloads an optimized version (in Opera's Binary Markup Language/OBML) of the website from Opera's proxy.
Opera Mobile is more resource hungry, on Opera Mini many of the rendering task is done on the proxy server, which cuts the amount of processing, bandwidth, and memory requirement
Data Usage: Opera Mini downloads a OBML (Opera Binary Markup Language) from Opera's server, which compresses pages by up to 90% (according to Opera). Opera Mobile downloads the whole webpage from the original site, which can amount to quite a bit of bandwidth (note that Opera Mobile can also use Opera Turbo, which can also reduce bandwidth usage).
Last I checked, zooming in and out and rotating the screen in Opera Mini wouldn't reflow the text.
Opera Mobile has full Javascript support, Opera Mini only supports a very limited subset of Javascript

In short, Opera Mini is much faster and much leaner, which is especially noticeable on less powerful devices and on slow networks; however Opera Mini is not a full-featured browser (and is never meant to be). Opera Mini is much faster on slower network and slower phones.
Opera Mobile is a full-featured browser. It has full Javascript, it connects to websites directly instead of going through Opera's server, and it is usable to access intranet websites that Opera's proxy server cannot access.

From my experience:

Opera Mini is faster, opera mobile is slow.
However if you are too conscious about security use mobile instead.

If you are running net on 2g SIM then I recommend you Opera mini. But if you are running net on 3g or WiFi, then Opera mobile would be the best option.

Could you give a little more information? Why do you recommend one or the other? The question does specifically ask what feature differences they have. That would make your answer a lot more useful.

Also, please spell words completely. Avoid leet-speak and other "funny stuff". Not everybody here is a native speaker.

i use nokia 5320 and i used opera mobile and mini  opera mini is faster than opera mobile and low power consuption and less data usage opera mobile use more than battery and more than data usage opera mini is better than uc and other browsers   so i suggest every one use opera mini when you have a limite data plan when you have unlimited data plan  you used opra mobile .


text:
Where can I find a comparsion of non-offical cooked rom/firmware of Galaxy S i9000?
I've been searching around for the topic these few days. However, I am getting into a problem of information overflow - there are too many different version and custom kernal around. Most of them are still in active development with a chain of discussion on forum that is difficult to check what they actually are.
Do you know are there any feature matrix of these kernel?
If it is yet exists, I am going to build one from here. Please share the kernel/rom you found that

you may want to have a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=886000

CyanogenMod is a famous community-build Android ROM for multiple Android devices. Give you a very different user experience.

CyanogenMod is a free, community built
  distribution of Android 2.2 which
  greatly extends the capabilities of
  your phone.

Require flash : Yes
Custom ROM: Yes (that's mean no Samsung stuffs, changed app launcher, etc)
Custom Kernel: Yes
Lagfix: hot development
Latest development: Work in progress

And there are stable releases of CyanogenMod based on the much newer Android 4.x sources than the official Samsung ROMs for Galaxy S.

Project Voodoo is a community-build kernel based on Samsung official sources with minimized patches. It provide few fixes focusing on file system, visual and audio improvement, without a lot of changes feature add-on or changing of user experience.

In a nutshell, voodoo replaces RFS
  with EXT4 in order to greatly boost
  your phone’s speed and user
  experience.

Require Rooted : No
Custom ROM: No
Custom Kernel: Yes
Lagfix: Native ext4
User option: multiple builds provied
Latest stable: beta4 for 2.1
Latest development: pre6 for 2.2;

One Click Lag Fix a one click application to fix the IO performance lag issue by using a ext2 on top on the original RFS. In addition, it provide few utility to optimize IO scheduler and also WiFi timeout.

OCLF uses a loopback EXT2 mount on top
  of RFS to store the RFS data inside

Require Rooted : Yes
Android App : Market (TODO: add link)
Custom ROM: No
Custom Kernel: ??
Lagfix: ext2 on RFS
User option: In app selection
Latest stable: 2.2.8

Doc's Froyo is pretty, great, and i think it's like the go to rom for the moment

Could you kindly provide a link and major focus of it? e.g. performance, power saving, special patches..etc


text:
Android email setup of Mail app results in a "Force Close"
On the Motorola Droid I was successfully getting my corporate email for a year with no problems. On 11/09/2010 I started getting a security error when trying to retrieve email in the native Android Mail app. I tried tweaking a couple settings but ended up deleting my account credentials in order to re-enter them in an effort to bypass the security error. I know get an error every time I enter my account credentials and attempt to connect to our corporate exchange server.
I go through the following steps:
Open the mail app
Enter email address and password
Press Manual setup
Press Exchange
Modify Domain\Username and Server to contain correct corporate information
Insure "User secure connection (SSL)" and "Accept all SSL certificates" are checked
Press Next
App says "Checking incoming server settings"
Message pops up "Sorry! The application Email (process com.android.email) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."
No combination of rebooting, clearing Mail app data and changing of SSL selections allows me to bypass this error.
UPDATE
According to Motorola Level 2 technical phone support the only solution to this issue is to restore the phone to it's factory settings.

Worse case scenario you could try a factory restore.  Make sure you backup everything first (if you are rooted, see TitaniumBackup)

That's odd I had the same thing happen to me on my Droid 1, after a few try's it worked. I wish I knew what was different on that last attempt, sorry it was a couple months ago...

Hi Andy, probably too late, but problems like these make excellent bug reports. If you can reproduce it and it force closes, then you should have downloaded something like Logcat from the Market and copied the bit of the log that has the error at the time when it force-closes, and report/paste it at b.android.com. Developers like me need this kind of info to improve the system, otherwise people keep running into this and everybody has to factory reset. Another way is a little persistance at Motorola's helpdesk. If it reproduces they should have taken a look at it if you ask me. Easy debugging!

This question should probably be closed as it is already solved and it is not clear what the question was.

Just a workaround suggestion but maybe you should give k9mail a test run. It is better for integration with corporate type mail servers than the stock client.

@Andy Brown: never, ever (well almost never :)  ) believe technical support when their only solution is a restore to factory settings ( or re-install the pc or phone ). It's there deus ex machina for not taking a problem seriously.

Andy appears to be gone, so I'm going to post the answer since the problem is solved.

According to Motorola Level 2 technical phone support the only solution to this issue is to restore the phone to it's factory settings.


text:
How Can I Access My Desktop's File System Over 3G?
I'm looking for a good solution to be able to browse my home computer and download files remotely. I've tried Gmote, and it works pretty well, but for some reason the desktop client seems to randomly shut down and I'm unable to access it until I go home and restart the client. I'd rather have a way to connect just by my IP address (I'm aware that my IP can change; I can always set up a dyndns account) and a port number, with a username and password.
I'm on a Motorola Droid running CyanogenMod 6.1 (Froyo).
EDIT: My desktop is running Windows 7 64-bit.
Any suggestions on ways to do this? Thanks!

You could setup a FTP server on your computer and use AndFTP to connect to it.

An FTP server could work, I'll look into AndFTP when I get home. I tried SwiFTP before, and I never could get it connected.

It might be an idea to setup a VPN on your local machine so it is more secure.

Comment:
You probably were unable to get it to work because you may not have had the ftp server set up first. You will need to set up an ftp server on your machine and open the appropriate ports for it to function correctly. Are you running windows, linux or mac?

I did try setting up an FTP server first; I think FileZilla and SmartFTP were the two I tried. Preferably I'd rather not have a client running if possible, but it may be the easier option. I added the desktop details, it's running Windows 7 64-bit.

Google 'set up ftp server windows 7' and stuff like that, you will come by some great tutorials on how to set up a ftp server on your machine. If you run into snags go by the server exchange and see if they can help you any. I am sure they will be a great help!

Thanks to both of you! I'll be sure to give these a try later.

You could sign up for DropBox and install their Android app.
http://www.dropbox.com/android

Thanks, I've got Dropbox actually, but I don't upload everything there. Basically, I had an annoyance yesterday trying to get a file printed, my flash drive just stopped working completely, I didn't have it in Dropbox. I had to drive home, burn it to a CD and come back. I just realized it'd be much easier if I could just access my documents from my phone and email it wherever I needed.


text:
Is is possible to send MyTrack map uploads to Gogle.ca rather than Google.com?
I do most of my googling in Google.ca.  Is there a way to send MyTrack map uploads to Google.ca mymaps rather than Google.com mymaps?

My Maps should be bound to your account only. Even if you upload them to Google.com, they will still go to the same servers as Google.ca, and should show up in your account either way. Is there any particular reason you want this?


text:
Why am I getting multiple Gmail Notifications?
Ever since the 2.2 update, I'm receiving multiple Gmail notifications without accessing the Gmail app and with the setting "Notify only once" active.
I've tried a factory reset, but it still does this.
Any thoughts? I do have my Gmail auto-popping another account, could this be it?

Are you being notified multiple times for only a single email or notified for additional emails?

Notified for additional e-mails.  In Gmail under Notification Settings there is an option called "Notify once" and I have it checked.

Are you sure one of the emails isn't from another email client?

I have one account setup (my primary). I also only use the Gmail app. Perhaps I don't follow.

Have you ever solved this? Did you tried to lose the other account you've mentioned, to see if the issue was caused by it?

It sounds like maybe you added your GMail account to the regular Mail app.  So you are probably receiving notifications from both apps.
If you are only using the "GMail" app then find the "Mail" (not "GMail") app in your app drawer and run it and see if your mail is in there too.  If it is just delete the account from there and then you should only get notifications from GMail not Mail.

I admit that I initially fell into this confusion.  I didn't realize that the gmail app is pre-installed and separate from the mail client.  The two envelope icons befuddled me for some time...

I only have my Gmail configured under the Gmail app. It has never been setup under the Mail app.

I got a new phone and this issue seemed to resolve itself. Not sure why it was doing it before, but it's not doing it now.


text:
How do I change my Google Account in Beyondpod?
How do I change my Google Account in Beyondpod, the podcatcher? The one used to synchronize with Google Reader I mean.

From the feeds screen click menu > more > import and export feeds.  Once you are in there you should see the option to change the email.


text:
Android 2.2 update for samsung Galaxy 3 (I5801 and I5800)

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

when android 2.2 update will available for Samsung Galaxy 3(i.e Samsung I5801 and I5800)... ? do you have any idea when it is going to available... Is there any otherway around for installing non official 2.2 on it...?
Thanks
Please note that samsung galaxy 3 !=(is not equal to) Samsung Galaxy S... so please don't post answer that update is available for Galaxy S.. that update can not be installed in Galaxy 3

See: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2696/when-will-my-phone-get-android-2-2-froyo

The original target was September 23rd of this year, but as of October 28, 2010, Samsung advised that there are some errors they're still working on for the Froyo release for this phone:
http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-apollo-3/160300-root-froyo-samsung-i5800-galaxy-3-a.html#post1808621
There is no updated target date at this time.


text:
How can I disable the notification sounds while playing music?
I don't like the notification sounds overlaying my music playback, but I can't find any setting to disable notification sounds while playing music.
I also don't like the way the sound overlay works. The IPhone handles this much better.
Is there any way to set this up to behave more like the Iphone or turn off the notifications while playing music at all?

what about for specific apps? suppressing the apps which are just annoying?

First install Quick Settings: http://www.appbrain.com/app/quick-settings/com.bwx.bequick
With that under volume control you can control the following volumes seperately:

ringer
notification
media (this would control the music)
alarm
voice
system

On top of that you can install Quick Profiles
...which will let you create a sound profile with the settings you want and easily activate it with one click.

You don't need to download anything. Go into Settings and Volume, then turn off ring tone and notifications. Now, huzzah! Play music, still receive emails and messages but no irritating butt in of sounds!


text:
Make Google Search app use Google.com.au
I purchased my HTC Desire (2.2 FroYo) from the UK and by default I guess the Google Search app uses Google.co.uk whenever I run a search through the app.
This is quite annoying as you could imagine since none of the local services/locations are show since it's searching on the UK domain.
Is there a way without rooting that this could be modified?

Added tag google-search

So I figured out a while back that it's my phones locale that is affecting this but never really thought I could change it.
This morning however as I was doing a Goolge search for "how to change Android locale" I though about trying to search for an app on the Market.
Sure enough there are a few that can. The one that I've gone with is made by inKa.
Custom Locale

I'm not sure that it fit exactly your question, but it may be help:

Open the web browser, and go to http://www.google.com
Go to the footer an follow the link Settings
Consider to check yes at the question Allow use of device location?
Then follow the link at the top right More setting >>
Finally, set your languages preferences

I already have these settings on and it still doesn't help. The Google Search app must obtain some sort of information from my phone which lets it know it is from the UK and therefore the results are UK based.

Ok... The last think I see, try to give it the citizenship, maybe it'll help! (http://www.citizenship.gov.au/should_become/) --- (sorry, just kidding, I'll try again to look at your problem)

Does this do the trick? Menu > More > Settings > Set home page

Unfortunately this will only set my homepage on my browser but the search will still prefer UK results.


text:
Android 2.1, HTC Hero EU and WIFI configuration issues
After many search and try, it seem to be impossible to connect to a WIFI network with hidden SSID. But perhaps I did my research wrong...
So, is there any way to connect to a WIFI network with hidden SSID?
An other problem: when I set an IP for a WIFI network without DHCP, that IP applies to all other configured networks, and when I move to an other network, I must change manually IP configuration each time!
So, is there some kind of profile for each network like on the iPhone to bypass this problem?
it is important for me to do that with the official HTC ROM: I do not want to use a hacked rom.
Thank you in advance for your help ^
Some infos on the phone below:

HTC Hero EU
Firmware
2.1-update 1
Baseband-Version
63.18.55.06PU_6.35.15.11
Kernel-Version
2.6.29-063c4d24
htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
Buil-Nummer
3.32.405.1 CL191507 release-keys
Software-Nummer
3.32.405.1
Browser version
WebKit 3.1

From what I've read this is more than just an issue with the HTC Hero and seemingly still hasn't been fixed completely(scroll to bottom of the page).  However I did find several suggestions:

One of the comments claimed he "choose 'up to 54mbps' for hidden SSID on my netgear router" and it worked - maybe this will work for you.
I also read (and confirmed) that if you are using a router with b/g/n - you need to switch it to just b/g mode for it work with a HTC Hero.  I have not confirmed this with a hidden SSID (confirmed with a broadcasted SSID) but its a suggestion to try if you don't mind using only b/g mode. (I'm pretty sure this is the same as suggestion 1 but just in case he meant something else I provided this)
You could also try HiddenSSID Enabler.  I have not tried this so I can't confirm but the comments on the app seem to indicate it works fine.

Hope one of these suggestions works for you.

Thanks for you response. What about IP profiles with Android?

@G. Qyy Sorry I'm not sure what you mean? Are you talking about setting specific IP configurations based on whatever network you are on?

Exactly. This is possible on the iPhone, but Android seems to apply IP configuration to all networks...


text:
Is There an Official Google Reader App With Widget?
Does anyone know if there is an official app from Google for Google Reader?
I would like an official app with a widget that displays the number of unread feed items.
Good News! Google just added widgets to the official Google Reader App.

Google added widgets to the official Google Reader App: http://goo.gl/yZwXD

Please do not use URL shorteners here.

Here's the announcement on the Google Reader blog.

This question appears to be off-topic because the Google Reader app and service are no longer available.

@AlE. That's not what "off-topic" means. It was agreed on meta that being out of date isn't enough reason to close a question - especially when it already has an accepted answer!

@Dan: Meh. I wasn't suggesting deletion. Only closing. Since the app is no longer available and never coming back, this question and answers are of no use to anyone. The best argument against deleting, losing reputation, won't apply here because the question and answers have been around for longer than 60 days.

@AlE. If you think there's a reason to reopen the discussion on meta, please do so. But as the community's consensus is currently clear, I won't be voting to close any of these questions.

@Dan: I've added my views to the meta question.

I just downloaded the Official Google Reader app from the market.  No widget yet.

There is a dearth of official apps for google's own services on google's own mobile OS.
No official Google Reader App, no official widget.
That may be because they work on optimizing the mobile versions of those web-services, to obviate the need for an additional app. You've already got the browser -- why install an app for a web-service?
This 2008 article on how gReader renders in mobile webkit might explain some of the concept.

"Why install an app for a web-service?"
I like the idea of having a widget which displays the number of unread items instead of just clicking a link to open the web site.

I use Passpack to track my online accounts? I have 60 of them in there.. imagine using a custom app/widget for each of those services.... I'm not saying that widgets have no place. It would be nice to have a  customizable widget that could scrape a page or use an arbitrary API

So based on your logic then I pose this to you: Why does Google have an Android app for Gmail & Calendar? You could just use the Android browser connecting to the web for that too? The answer is because apps provide widgets and other client side functionality that a web app does not facilitate.

According to my market, market differs according to your country, there is no "official google reader" app.
May I suggest downloading NewsRob, it's in the market and there are two versions; paid and free, and even the free version features a widget to launch the application, which is simple and light, and it even has a very good feature, you can make the app download all of the new articles or so, with its images, for browsing offline.

You don't have a lot of luck - an official app was added about 3 hours before you answered. ;)

yeah tough luck, but it wasn't there when I answered, and it's not showing in my market now either.

I assume you have tried the web-based version. Interestingly enough, if you add a shortcut to it it has a special icon. I've tried some of the other ones and seem to always go back to the web-based version.

Yes I currently use the web based version but would like a widget. I also prefer official apps when they are available.


text:
How can I stop Hootsuite from trying to send this failing message?
So I try to send a tweet from hootsuite about this really nice beer I had. It was a nice beer, and a nice tweet, and nothing weird about it at the time.
The message send failed -- see screenshot, below.
The message cannot be found in hootsuite --  the message doesn't appear in my twitter feed, nor in "sent messages" (of course) -- the "Pending" tab is empty.
The message send KEEPS failing -- even though I've posted other messages from Hootsuite to Twitter since then. The message keeps trying to resend (and fail) every few minutes [no idea of actual frequency, but if I dismiss the message, it reappears sooner or later].

Have you tried clearing the data for the app?  Or uninstalling then reinstalling?  Or does Hootsuite cache unsent/failed tweets to the cloud?

I'm reluctant to uninstall, because I don't want to have to reconnect the three accounts. But if that's the only option.... [and "clearing data" clears all account data too, right?]

Yeah, clearing data will be like starting the app anew.

"clearing data" made me think some more... what could be done to reset?, without being destructive? REBOOT! Once restarted, the offending message was FINALLY visible in the pending messages. I deleted it. Thanks!


text:
Does the Automatic away-status in Google Talk not function as it's supposed to?
Using Google Talk on Android 2.2 on a Motorola Droid. Under settings I have the box for Automatic away-status checked. My assumption is that this would set my status to away when the screen is off as it states: Set status to away when the screen is turned off
However, this isn't the case. I've confirmed by walking over to a co-workers desk and it still shows me as available. I have Gmail closed on my desktop and it stays as available for ever, it doesn't just take some time to update.
Any ideas if this is a bug or is there a workaround? At the moment I'm just signing myself out when I remember to.

Would love to add a google-talk tag, but can't with my rep.

Added the tag for you

I also just realized I have this setting enabled too....  But I'm always logged in gmail, so I haven't a clue if I ever go "away" or idle.

Although some have reported it as a bug, apparently the away status only appears after 10 minutes of idle time (defined as no use and the screen shutting off).

I guess it would help if I put my phone down for more than 10 minutes! Thanks.

probably good advice for all of us! Those  WinMo7 ads hit too close to home... [although, seriously, I'm not using my phone for a long time because the interface is crap, but because the interface is good. ]

Unfortunately without actually testing these scenarios I cannot provide a definite answer but I can confirm that the feature works.

It may take time before Gmail or Google Talk are updated with your "away" status.
The feature may not work on lock screen activation... but on idle time. Personally this would be a smarter way of doing it. Just because I've locked my phone doesn't mean I'm away. On the other hand if I haven't used the phone for more than 5 minutes then mark me as away/inactive.

Best thing I can recommend is you play around with these two scenarios above. Lock the phone and monitor your status on someone else's computer. If you find something interesting post the results back :)


text:
How can I decline the latest update?
The latest update for the HTC Incredible looks to be mostly bloatware and a few small fixes. I'd rather not update, but the constant reminders are super annoying. Is there anything I can do, or is my only recourse to go ahead and install the update?

I had the same problem when I originally rooted on my Droid with Stock ROM.  Eventually a newer version of Froyo came out and I had to upgrade (and lose root) or switch to a custom ROM.  I ended up switching to CyanogenMod.  No more nagging update messages and I kept root.  You might want to consider rooting your phone and switching to a custom rom for the Incredible.


text:
Benefits of skins as opposed to vanilla Android
Has anyone seen any benefits to using skins such as MotoBlur and HTC Sense as opposed to "vanilla" Android like on the Nexus One?
I'm considering getting the Nexus S and this is part of my pre-purchase evaluation.

I wouldn't want to call MotoBlur or HTC Sense just "skins" -- they aren't a suite of visual enhancements, but an entire app suite that sits on top of the OS. They're full-fledged graphical user interfaces with additional custom apps, virtual keyboards, widgets, etc.
So, as to the benefits? I like Sense - its my major UI on the Incredible, but I've also used my wife's Aria. The Sense UI is cleaner and smoother (hardware speeds aside). The custom widgets are smoothly integrated and have more features. Other than the HTC mail and messaging apps having a possible memory leak issue [I replaced their use with K9 and Gmail, and Handcent], I've been pleased with Sense. A smooth, consistent user experience with the interface can make using it better. It's not the be-all end-all -- despite the recent MS WinMo7 commercials -- but it's nice.

"Vanilla" Android devices (like the N1) usually mean that you wait less time to get updates for the phone (as it'll come straight from Google).  This is because it takes additional time for manufacturers to add in their tweaks and UIs on top of the newer version of Android.
The second fastest to Vanilla stock would be a custom rom like CyanogenMod which takes the changes that Google pushes out into the Android source and incorporates them into the mod to get the latest version of Android on as many phones as possible.


text:
Wi-fi is auto-enabling
I don't know why but the Wi-fi on my Droid (Froyo) keeps auto-enabling. I can't figure out what is causing it and want to make it stop. I only like being connected to wi-fi at times of actual use so I don't waste battery.
Anybody think of applications/settings that can be configured to auto-enable wi-fi?

I have found the culprit but I still don't know where to look to change the settings, these things get enabled when I used my desk dock.

Look for an application titled 'Power Manager', this application has controls to enable/disable: WIFI, Bluetooth, GPS based off multiple triggers. One of which being powered by A/C which was what my 'issue' was. Just had to change this so it didn't change the WiFi status.

What about rebooting your device ?
I had the same problem solved like this...
[EDIT] Do you use a widget for the wifi: it can help you to disable it?

rebooting fixes sooooo many problems.

I wish I knew how to recreate this issue rather than just a generic 'it happens sometimes', would make troubleshooting this issue a lot easier.

does rebooting fixes your problem ?

no, rebooting has not solved the issue

There could be any number of apps that re-enable wifi: can you share your appbrain app-list? It would be easier for us to tell.

http://www.appbrain.com/user/cynicaljoy/apps-on-the-phone

Juice-defender, Ultimate Juice, Power Manager Full -- one of these is likely to be the culprit. I can't speak from direct experience, because I've intentionally avoided these apps, but the general sentiment is that they are a bad idea, because they lead to odd phenomena such as you are experiencing. I'm not saying that they are always a bad idea, or that they can't be used without ill-effect, but they do tend to monkey with processes that are better controlled by other means. You might want to try without them for a bit, see if it solves the issue.

I've disabled (uninstalled) those applications and will attempt to run without for a few days. Will update with results.

What do you mean by auto enabling? Does it get enabled every time you unlock your phone? Otherwise did you try changing this option: Settings->Wireless and Networks-> Wi-Fi settings (press menu key) Advanced -> Wi-Fi sleep policy
(I have Android 2.1, so your menu path may differ slightly)

Auto enable meaning that I manually disable the wi-fi and the device turns it back on without my specific direction. This wouldn't be the sleep policy as that would be what turns it off. Thanks for the suggestion.

If you have Sprint, go to Settings → Wireless and Network/More... → Mobile Networks and uncheck the box Connections optimizer.


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3D model viewers
I would like to be able to view 3D models on my phone. Are there any 3D viewers out there, free or paid, that will allow me to open up a 3D geometry file  and rotate around, zoom, and pan about a 3D model? It doesn't matter what file type, you can always convert them from a computer.

What abaout http://www.appbrain.com/app/andar-model-viewer/edu.dhbw.andarmodelviewer
also
http://www.appbrain.com/app/model-loader-3d-lite/com.okean.modelloader3dlite
This Was Let Me appBrain search for you
http://www.appbrain.com/search?q=3d+model

I found the first app on my searches previously, though it was not what i was looking for. My searches did not yield the second app. The second one is almost perfect, thank you.


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How can I connect my Galaxy 3 to my Mac?
How can I connect my Galaxy 3 (running Android 2.1) to my Mac?

What do you want to do with your Galaxy 3 once it's connected to your Mac? Do you just want to charge it? Or use it like a USB memory stick to load on/transfer files/music/pictures? Or do you want to sync in some way, either syncing a music collection, calendars, contacts etc? Or something else? These will all have very different answers, so would probably be easiest if you let us know what you want to do.

Want to sync it with mac... and also transfer the file... Thanks.. :)

I would expect Mac to have no trouble mounting the USB storage when you connect the device over USB, but if it does you coukd try PdaNet.  You can also transfer files over Bluetooth, WiFi, etc; please search for those solutions.  As for syncing, we jeed to know what exactly you're trying to sync.


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Is it possible to prevent the screen from locking while connected to the USB
Generally when there is a USB cable attached to the phone it's not in my pocket, so the screen lock isn't doing anything usefull for me and I'd like to disable it.

it's actually a desire z, but there is no tag for that and I don't have enough rep to make tags

Tag updated for you!

The question can be phone agnostic. The answer works on any android device.

If you go into Settings > Applications > Development there is a setting for Stay Wake which is described as "Screen will never sleep while charging".
Give that a try :)


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Good clock and weather widget for someone dealing with multiple timezones / cities
I work for a big corporate with development centers around the world. There are 4 in particular that I interact with frequently and travel to regularly.
What I'd like is a clock and weather widget with the following features:

Can have multiple instances set to different cities.
Shows the city it is set to.
Can fit 4 on a page, so 2x2 or 4x1.
Shows time (for dealing with meetings)
Graphical indicator of day night (for a quick are they likely to be awake check)
Shows local weather (for small talk on phone calls)
Including highs and lows (in case I have to go there tomorrow)
In Celsius (because I'm not American)

The Beautiful Widgets "Beautiful Smaller Home Weather" is visually spot on what I'm after, but you can't have multiple instances.
Is there another widget out there that meets my requirements?

I like questions like this because they are specific. And they give budding developers some great ideas about apps that are in real demand!

Hey tolomea. I couldn't find a widget that could do all that but I did find this app that can.

World Watch is an advanced world clock for an editable list of locations around the world. Includes sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for the current or a given calendar date. Also includes weather conditions and a 4-day forecast.

I haven't used it since it's a paid app but looking at the description and the screenshots it looks like it can do everything you've asked for. I don't believe it's a widget but having a single icon on your home screen to launch it would be just as easy as having widgets.
World Watch

I'm favoriting this question.  I just installed diviClock widget this morning--http://www.appbrain.com/app/diviclock/divi.clock.  it doesn't tick all of your boxes, but it has a 1x1 widget option (which I wanted and saves a great deal of space) plus the date (also something I wanted), and you can have multiple instances for your different time zones.


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How do I send Bluetooth audio from the Stereo (A2DP) to Headset (HSP) profile?
I have a stereo Bluetooth headset. When paired and connected, both the Phone and Media profiles are supported.
I can hear Google Maps Navigation voice directions in the headset.
However, if I uncheck the Media profile (I am using the the media profile to connect to an iPod touch), then the voice directions come out of the speaker. I want them to come over the headset.
From this, I assume that the phone wants to send the voice directions to the A2DP if the headset supports it, and to the speaker if the headset does not support A2DP.
Is there any way to configure the Phone (Bell's Samsung Galaxy S) so the voice turn-by-turn directions are sent to the HSP (headset) profile (where to audio for cell phones voice calls is directed)?
Although I haven't tried it, I assume this problem exists for simple non-media headsets that only support HSP.

For people stuck with HSP-only headsets: a ticket has been open since 2009 (or "Day 1", as someone put it) regarding the issue.

A2DP (media profile) is a protocol for high-quality unidirectional audio over Bluetooth. HSP (phone profile) is a protocol for bidirectional lagless communication (audio) over Bluetooth.
A modern headset typically supports both. A2DP is meant to play (stereo) music. In Android, whatever the system considers as 'media' (you can find this terminology in the volume settings), will be using A2DP. Whatever is voice ('ringtone'), will be played over HSP. I suppose all that likely will be is a phone call.
The reason for this choice is that voice in a phone call is bidirectional and you don't want any delays on the line. Hence the lower (and mono) quality of HSP. In voice, quality is of less importance. However, the voice directions (which is not the same as 'voice') of your GPS are not a call, they are not bidirectional and delay does not matter, and they are played as 'media' in the system. Therefore they will be played using A2DP, or when you disable the 'media' profile in your Bluetooth settings, over the speaker. In summary, check your volume controls, they work similarly and will hint you what is what.
It is currently not possible to choose where audio is being sent, neither is that intended in both the design of Bluetooth or of any OS for the above reasons.

Hi pjv, I think it would be cool if  wen the A2DP profile was not available (either because the headset doesn't support it, or as in my case I am using it for another purpose - the iPod Touch), then all audio would be directed HSP. I was simply asking if this could be done already on an Android phone.

I've modified my answer as such.

There is a Bluetooth app that allows you to listen to music over the HSP profile called BTmono. It may accomplish what you're looking to do.


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Can I configure more than one gmail account in the gmail app without syncing everything?
I have two gmail accounts, think of them as "work" and "play". The phone is registered on the "work" one, but most of the mail I get on the "play" one. Is it possible to add both of them to the gmail app but have the phone pull contacts and everything else only from the "work" one, that is only use the "play" one for reading mail?

When you add the account through the gmail app, you will enter your account info, it will verify the info, and then ask you what you'd like to sync, if anything at all. If you don't want anything to sync from the account, then nothing will be. If you change your mind, you can go into the settings -> accounts and sync, and the change it up.

Yes (if I understand you correctly). Just go into Settings - Accounts and Sync, then modify what things are synced per account. In other words, work@gmail.com can be set to sync gmail, contacts, calendar, etc. But you can set play@gmail.com to just sync gmail (not contacts, etc). There are checkboxes once you add the account.


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How to get root access on Android 2.2 with HTC Magic?
I'm using an HTC Magic and upgraded the OS to 2.2. Build number of the phone is FRF91. How can I get root access to the phone?

Have you tried the SuperOneClick root method?


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Swype "The Swype package you installed is configured for another device." error on install
Running CM6 on my Motorola Drid.
Another Swype upgrade, another headache.
I keep getting this error message when I uninstall --> reboot --> reinstall Swype: "The Swype package you installed is configured for another device."

Apparently I was closing out of the install app too early.  When you install Swype (the actual app, not the installer), and press done, you must WAIT about 2 to 4 seconds for a dialog box to appear to "Enable Swype".  DO NOT PRESS BACK (and then try to enable Swype via the keyboards in Settings) because it will not work!  Swype has to show this dialog box in order to create a license file.  More info here.


text:
Is there a way to get to the numeric keyboard when entering text fields
When you are entering text field entries on Android, you get the soft keyboard on my Samsung Galaxy S.
In the lower left corner there is the key that switches between the alphabetic characters and the keyboard with punctuations and digits (and smileys and so on).
Now if you have to enter a large number, this is a bit tricky - because the numeric keypad's keys are much bigger, it's much easier to enter numbers and digits.
Therefore, I was wondering if there is a way I haven't discovered , yet , to somehow switch to the numeric keypad, even when entering text entries.

Click the gear button next to the ?123 button in the lower left, then click 3x4 keypad, then click the 123 button on the right. this way you will have a full 3x4 numeric keypad

That's it - all in all (look at my own answer) as was very close - I had noticed the 3x4 button , but found the old mobile keys on screen - I hadn't noticed the 123 button there.

what is the "gear" button? All I see is to the left of the ?123, is the Swype/OPT button.

betwen ?123 and space button. do you own galaxy S?

@pfctd You're using the Swype keyboard rather than the Samsung keyboard. See Joe Casadonte's answer for how to  switch to the numeric keypad quickly in Swype.

If you're using Swype simply drag from the Swype key to where the 5 is; Swype will change to the numeric keypad.

I was so happy when I figured this out.  Swyping from the Swype key to the SYM key also brings up a special keyboard for moving cursor and basic editing.

All in all I found that pressing the 'keyboard selection' box and choosing handwriting box 1 or 2 is the easiest way. Not for entering 2 or 3 digits, but if you have to enter a lot of digits, this works quicker than having to type the numbers at the top row of the soft keyboard.
A shame, you can't switch to the numeric keyboard though.
Hope this helps some one.

Go to your keyboard
Click on the gear icon for settings
Click on preferences
Then turn on 'number rows'

This worked for me

Based on personal experience, this option is at least available on Gboard, but I'm not sure if it's also available on other Keyboard apps.

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


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My alarm didn't go off this morning!
I set an alarm up and I can see the alarm symbol at the top in the notification bar. However, the alarm didn't go off this morning! Thankfully I'm still in the crossover where my old phone is still in use.
Does the phone have to remain switched on at all times in order for alarms to function?
It's a Galaxy S running 2.1 still, because apparently we're still waiting for Orange to decide how much bloat they want to pack 2.2 with before release.

The alarm clock is the reason I still use an old skool Nokia phone. It even works when the phone is switched off. Try doing that with Android.

Did you accidentally have the volume turned down?

This question on the old ForceClose site has some of the background on the issue of alarms working while a phone's switched off http://www.forceclose.com/questions/776/can-alarms-go-off-when-the-device-is-off and unfortunately every Android device I've owned, the alarm only works when the device is switched on.

Do you use any task killer? Make sure you don't kill the "Clock" apps.
In fact, don't use a task killer at all, they're harmful to Android.

That was probably it - I had killed some apps with the task killer and the clock must've gone as a result. Out of interest, why is the task killer harmful?

@bcmcfc - Here's an article that will explain task killers for you: http://lifehacker.com/5650894/android-task-killers-explained-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them

Yes, the phone has to remain switched on for the Alarm to work.

True, on every Android phone I've had so far (from both HTC and Samsung) the alarm doesn't work if the phone's not switched on.

That's really handy to know - I've been using Nokias for a number of years and will have to make sure I don't forget, turn the phone off and oversleep as a result of the switch to Android.

Yeah, I learned about this too, the hard way. :( Ericsson rings the bell even when it's off. Well eff you samsung...


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How can I tell at what rate my battery is charging?
I've been told that different charging sources charge my phone at different rates, and have been told that some car chargers act at a normal USB rate instead of a rate closer to an AC outlet.
When I plug into my car charger, is there a way for me to see at what rate my battery is recharging?  My phone is an HTC Evo.

Related: How can profile (log the charging and discharging current for some time period) my battery? (Disclaimer: includes my answer there.)

Battery Indicator Pro will tell you or you can go into Settings -> About -> Battery and look there.

The System Panel app has a nice historical chart of battery usage so you can see how quickly it charges as well as how long it takes to drain.

If you're looking for the actual current draw of electricity coming in to your device, the app Ampere will display this.  Note that it may require some tweaking for certain devices.

CurrentWidget does the trick for me.

Which one? There's lots of battery widgets.

the one called "currentwidget" did the trick for me.

Haha, you should probably edit to clarify as "The app "Current Widget" in the market..."

You can check the amount of current(in mA) passing to your device via some applications like:

Galaxy Charging Current Free
Charging Report

These apps are available for free on Google play store. They will tell you with what rate is your phone charging.
For example:-
If they show less than 500 mA then the device is charging slowly and may take a lot of time to be charged. But if it shows more than 1200 mA then that's good. For my device I get 1600mA.


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How can I enable Google's voice recognition?
I want to enable Android's Voice Input on my Archos 70 Internet Tablet.  Voice Input/Output isn't even visible in the settings menu.  Is there an apk file to add this or some other way?  I'm happy to take 3rd party Voice Recognition suggestions like vlingo if they don't need access to the Google Voice Recognition Engine, but I'm most interested in getting the standard Android voice input working.
Device: Archos 70 Internet Tablet running Android 2.1

What about installing "TTS Service Extended"? Does that do anything for you?

Have you got the Android Market on the Archos 70? I know a lot of current tablets don't. I'm pretty sure that voice recognition and TTS need an extra download from the Market to work (Navigation definitely prompts to do this the first time you use it, and I thought voice recognition was linked).

@Bryan, I haven't tried that but I'm looking for STT not TTS so I'm not sure that's the right thing.  Google Voice Search seems to add that functionality but it isn't compatible with pre-2.2 devices.  I recall having Google Voice Search natively on my Droid when I had 2.1 and not downloading the app until 2.2 to get the enhancements.  @GAThrawn, yes I have the Market.

Android 2.2 is now available for your device, which includes voice search:
http://archosfans.com/2010/11/30/froyo-firmware-2-0-54-for-gen8-released-2/

I forgot I asked this question.  Thanks for the answer.  I've actually upgraded already (did it the day it came out) but haven't worked out all the kinks yet to get the voice input working yet.

I haven't figured out all the kinks, either (on an Archos 43), but I figured this would get you going in the right direction if you hadn't heard of the update.

Thanks.  I really wish the forum.archosfans.com had a format like StackExchange.  I hate sifting through pages and pages of nonsense to get to the tiny bit of useful information buried deep inside a thread.

Me too.  If it's not on the main archosfans blog page, I'm probably not going to take the time to look for it.

Do you mean the Google Voice Search?
If so, I think it is only available on selected countries.
Here on Brazil, it was unavailable until some weeks ago, when it was released on Android Market.
This page shows where it is available: http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=170820

Nope.  Google Voice Search is an app that uses the Voice Recognition/Input service.


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Why does the home screen stay empty (no application icons/no widgets) sometimes?
I have a Motorola Milestone, and sometimes when I press Home to go back to the Home Screen, the screen shows no application icons, no widgets.
It simply stays blank, with the wallpaper on background. I can navigate to the other Home Screens by dragging to left or right, but every screen it empty.
The phone seems normal, no slowness, the app drawer opens up normally.
The only solution I thought was to restart the phone. I don't use any task killer.
I also noticed this started to happen recently, after installing many applications. And it normally happens after running some heavy app, like Angry Birds.
Did anyone notice this too?

Just FYI: the program that shows your homescreen (dashboard) and all the icons and widgets is also your launcher. Getting an alternate launcher might help.

Does it eventually load the icons and widgets?

I think your mixing some words here and some clarification may invite more responses.  Correct me if I'm wrong but by "Dashboard" do you mean "Home Screen"?  And by "Launcher" do you mean the "app drawer"?

@Matt: right, those are better terms, I edited the question.

@Bryan: no, I left my phone idle for several hours, and the icons didn't come back.

Are you using a the native home screen or a home screen/launcher replacement?  On the blank screen can you add new icons and widgets?

@William that's weird....  it's usually an issue of memory.  You can try uninstalling any unnecessary services you have running on your phone (See what's running under Settings --> Applications --> Running Services) and see if that helps

@Matt: it is the original 2.1 from Motorola, no changes. @Bryan: I suspect too it should be something related with memory.

I don't see how it could be a memory issue and be so persistent.  Bryan, do you know how those settings stored in Android 2.1?  I randomly had my wallpaper disappear once and it never came back.  Seems to me to be a similar problem with saved settings getting deleted.

The Milestone (original Motorola Droid to all you Americans) doesn't use the default home screen app because of the slide out keyboard, since the default home screen app doesn't support landscape.  Switching to one of the other alternate home screen apps might solve your problem.

Still the same problem with LauncherPro for me.

Didn't the Milestone ship with LauncherPro?  Try something else.

Not that I know of, at least for the U.S. version (Droid), which is what I have. Thanks

Took me a while to figure out but it happened to me only at work.  For some odd reason, when plugged into USB on Windows 7 Ultimate (to charge), this would occur.  At home, I use 7 home premium and everything works - driver and software.  The PC at work simply would not install the driver for the phone, and would leave my phone hanging.  Being I am at work, I don't have the 'time' to troubleshoot, but do notice this occurs often.  Hope this helps - from Toronto, Canada.

Not sure if this should be a comment or a new question, not really sure that it's an answer. On another note, it sounds like your company's admins have blocked the central Windows Update site (presumably because they're using something like ther own WSUS server) this will stop your work PC from being able to download random drivers from the Windows Hardware catalog, and often will leave a PC sitting there waiting for a time-out when it tries to find the drivers, and will (depending on the phone make/model) often prevent USB charging.

Milestone here and I get the same problem but almost never use the USB, so I don't think this is the answer. Might be a catalyst for some other problem.


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Rooting a regularly used Droid Incredible
I remember when I jailbroke an iPhone one time I had to use iTunes to restore the default system because there were a lot of applications installed on the phone already (which apparently increases the chances of a brick).
Is this the case with Android phones, specifically the Droid Incredible? I have been using it regularly for a period of two or more weeks and I would like to root it but I want to make sure it is safe to do so with a lot of applications already installed.

Rooting won't affect any applications that are already installed.  All you're doing is giving yourself administrator rights to your phone.  You won't have to wipe/reload, etc. unless you plan on installing a custom rom.  If you do want to install a custom rom, I highly recommend using Titanium Backup to backup all of your apps and their data.  Also do a Nandroid backup (it's like making an image of your phone that you can restore to) right after you root and before you do anything major to your phone (such as installing a rom).


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Security / Privacy concerns regarding custom android ROM
What are the security and privacy concerns surrounding using a custom android ROM like that of cyanogen?

One big thing to learn from the recent Ikee worm that spread across jailbroken iPhones, is to make sure that once you're rooted and running a custom ROM, you use a complex root password that no one else knows, and make sure that nothing else in there is left using a default password.

I would say the biggest issue with a lot of custom ROMs including Cyanogen's is that the OS and system apps are signed with test keys. These keys are publicly available, meaning that it is possible for someone to write an app that uses "signatureOrSystem" or "signature" level permissions. There are known cases of malware that targets these custom ROMs [1,2].
On a more positive note, if you run a rooted devices, you can do things like set up a host file to block ads, enable a firewall per application, selectively disable permissions, etc. Custom ROMs often ship with newer kernels, so a lot of security vulnerabilities that are kernel-based are dealt with faster than what Google can do.
[1] http://www.cs.ncsu.edu/faculty/jiang/Fjcon/
[2] http://blog.mylookout.com/blog/2011/06/15/security-alert-malware-found-targeting-custom-roms-jsmshider/

Well, it is open source so you can look at the code and build it yourself if for any reason you don't trust the binaries that are shared.
I believe the only data they collect is from crash logs, and maybe the number of installs (I can't find a source for this if anyone can help me out here).
Other than that, a lot of people use it as it is probably the most popular rom out there.  If there were privacy issues, people would be all over it.


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Why does my HTC desire mount the SD card in read only mode?
I have a new HTC desire. After 3 days of use it started mounting the SD card in read only mode. I couldn't mount it in read-write mode until I formated the card in another phone.
I read somewhere on the HTC forums that this may be caused by plugging the phone in a Mac. But this doesn't make any sense to me. I did plug the phone in a Mac the first time, but this didn't start happening after that. It started happening after I've plugged the phone in a Windows 7 pc. I've never used the phone plugged in a computer in sync mode, it was either used as a mass storage device or in charge only mode (which was the case before this problem ocured). Of all the portable devices I've used that could be used as a mass storage there's never been a problem if I've used them with OS X, Linux or Windows. So I don't find the OS X explanation satisfactory. From what I know all operating systems will handle mass storage devices in the same way more or less especially if it's a FAT filesystem.
Has anyone else experienced this problem?

What software version do you have? When I first had my Desire I occasionally found my SD Card was read-only, though this was fixed with a reboot and did not require reformatting. At some point, one update or another must have fixed the issue as I haven't seen it for some time - certainly not since updating to Froyo/2.2.

I had a lot of SD card issues with my Desire. Sometimes read only but more often failed to mount it completely, and I've heard a few similar tales. I ended up having it replaced on warranty (because it was overheating and restarting) and have had no SD card problems at all with the replacement.

@FoleyIsGood It's Froyo. I haven't had that problem in the past few weeks but I haven't connected it to a computer via USB in that time either.

I had the same problem with stock 2.1 ROM.
After the OTA update to 2.2, the problem vanished.

I have HTC Desire too. I don't know what causes this problem, but I fixed it by mounting it on a Windows computer and checking the filesystem on the card. I tried it on a Mac first, but OSX Disk Utility couldn't fix the problems it found.


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Disabling the nexus-one proximity/position sensor?
I think my nexus one is trying to be too smart. For each incoming call the phone stops ringing as soon as I pick it up. That's perfectly fine as long as the phone is sitting on my desk, but when I'm out there the phone is most likely in my jeans front pocket and I end up missing every single call. My guess is that the phone stops ringing/vibrating immediately. Is there a way to dumb it down?

Have you installed any custom calling app? I am sure that this is not the case on my default stock calling app.

I'm sure I've been missing lots of calls, just guessing at explanations. The obvious one (I can't hear the phone) sounds dubious...

After a couple of informal tests it seems the correct explanation is the most obvious: I just can't hear the thing ringing. Time to fiddle with volume/ringtone.

In HTC Wildfire there is option in Settings -> Sound & display Quiet ring on pickup (Reduce ring volume when I move phone). It might be the same option or similar in nearby.

My nexus-one came with the stock Eclair UI, that option seems specific to htc phones with Sense (or maybe it was added in Froyo?)


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How to sync contacts and calendar with Linux system, without using Gmail?
How can I sync my contacts and calendar with a Linux system?
I'd prefer to sync with my desktop, but setting up a server on the internet would also be possible.
I want to avoid Google mail for privacy reasons.

It depends on how you are managing your contacts and calendar on your Linux system.
If you are using Evolution, Sunbird, Thunderbird, Lightening, Kontact or Yahoo then MemoToo will get the job done.

Take a look at Funambol (which I think MemoToo is built on). See also:

How do I sync calendars using Funambol? (There's a fix)
How to sync calendar with android without google?
Suggestions for syncing data to someone besides Google? Funambol?


text:
Wearing down battery as fast as possible
I am trying an experiment and I need to wear down my Droid Incredible's battery as fast as possible. What apps are known battery hogs? I've already beaten Angry Birds so that one is off the list for the time being.


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How do I share an app across two phones?
I have two phones that are set up with the same google account.
I have a paid app I bought and use on phone 1.
Is it possible for me to use the app on phone 2?
If so, how do I do this?  In the market it asks me to buy it again.

Your application purchases are tied to
  your Google Account and can be
  installed an unlimited amount of times
  on any device

http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113410

How about when I have 2 phones, each with one unique account and one shared account.  The shared account was used to purchase the app, but it does not show up in My Downloads on the other phone.

You need to be using the shared account as the main account for Google Play Store (Market) in order for the app to be shared. As far as I know, you can't install purchased apps from two different accounts simultaneously.

@StephenSchrauger You've been able to swap to secondary accounts within the Play Store app for quite a while.  Though if you mean to say you can't actively use both accounts at the literal same time then I agree.

@MatthewRead If you purchase App A with Account X and App B with Account Y, can you log in to X to install A, then logout and login to Y to install B, while still keeping App A?

@StephenSchrauger Yes indeed.  You don't actually "log out", just swap the active account in use by the Play Store app.

So to clarify, you want to use the app simultaneously on two phones? In that case the link pointed to by Dennis might not apply, since that one seems to be for the case when you buy a new phone and stop using the old one.
Edit:
Actually it looks like having multiple active devices simultaneously should not be an issue, from this other question:
Can I use multiple Android devices with a single Google account?

Ok but on the other phone I am not seeing the apps I have purchased on the downloads tab.

Since you are using the same google account, this contradicts what other people said in the above links. If you don't have too much data to lose, you can try doing a factory reset. Otherwise the last option would be to go to Google support forums: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile?hl=en


text:
How can I prevent my Desire HDs battery from draining overnight?
I've recently got the new HTC Desire HD, which has a poor battery to start with (1230 mAh), but in the last two weeks I've had several nights waking up with a dead battery.
The first few nights, I suspect that wifi was still running and by default the radio didn't go to sleep when it's idle (changed that). I reduced syncing frequencies for most services to once a day, so that can hardly be the problem. When looking at the battery usage reports, it's mostly the huge screen draining the battery, but that's turned off at night. Last night I turned off any data connection and went to bed with 90% battery and woke up with a dead one.
So what on earth is crashing my battery so quickly? Does anyone have any suggestions other than the no-brainers mentioned here.

Here's a very relevant discussion on XDA

Did you fix the /init CPU hog bug? :)

I guess I could post the things I tried from the XDA forum, which indeed seemed to help.

I ended up trying several things mentioned in the XDA-developer thread:

Changing the Networkmode from GSM / WCDMA Automatic to either GSM or WCDMA, XDA-users claimed that switching between these two modes is a huge battery drainer. In my experience this was the most important one.
Installing a widget, so I could check whether Bluetooth and GPS were really turned off. Especially GPS could run in the background, after using Google Navigation, without displaying the icon.
Turn off syncing for apps you don't really use or rate limit updates to a larger interval. You can always update manually and getting new contact info once a day is more than enough!
Remove widgets that need regular updates, even though the sync setting should have control this.
As I'm using a HTC Sense phone, I turned off all their proprietary apps, I simply don't trust the power usage of things like Footprints.

If you apply all these settings, you should manage to get a full days worth out of your battery, unless you play too much Angry Birds.

I'm suggesting an app called PowerTutor (free on the Market). When you turn on the profiler, the app monitors the power usage of each applications and android subsystem, and give a detailed report of what application has been consuming the most battery.
The idea is, you turn the profiler on, then use the phone as usual. Be aware though, the power profiler itself is very power-hungry and it does not save the profiling result if the profiler is restarted, that means if your phone's battery runs out before you can look at the report, you'll just be wasting battery (IOW, you might need to wake up in the middle of the night to look at the report before your phone runs out of battery; or you might need to put the phone on charger, which might affect the result of the profiling since some applications might behave differently when charged and when on battery).

After trying out nearly every battery monitoring app I could find at the time, I ended up installing the free JuiceDefender and it's accompanying commercial licence JuiceDefender Ultimate. I found this was a good tool as it learned my usage habits, and would automatically turn the radios on or off depending on where I was or what I was doing with the phone. Combined with wiping the battery stats and a few recharging tricks, I managed to easily get a day of standby charge.
If you're game to load a custom ROM, you might be able to push the standby out to 2 days at the risk of bricking your phone if the flashing operation fails.
The only other thing that I didn't try is to see if there is a utility that can identify the many service apps running on the phone, and see if there is anything that might be turned off.  It's not unusual to have an OS running more services than are strictly necessary, even on a phone.


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Any answering machine app (or widget) out there?
Is there any app which can function as an answering machine, with multiple recorded messages, like "gone to take a shower", or "in a meeting" and easily switch between those?

Google Voice allows you to record different greetings and switch between them or assign them to different callers, unfortunately the app doesn't handle these things so you have to manage those settings on the web (voice.google.com).
There's an app called Visual VoiceMail (not to be confused with your carriers visual voicemail app), that works with Phone Fusion's Fusion Voicemail Plus service which replaces your carrier's voicemail like Google Voice does and claims to allow you to change and schedule different voicemail greetings from their app.


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How can I restore my mobile internet connection?
I was tinkering with some settings to try and improve my battery life. I used several settings widgets to turn off some settings, but when I tried to use an app that required a mobile internet connection, it wasn't working anymore.
I looked through all my regular settings (2g vs 3g, roaming etc) and couldn't find what I turned off that's blocking my mobile internet connection.
So what could it be that I turned off?

You may have turned off your APN.  Quick Settings provides the most complete access to settings that I have seen. After you install it you have to customize the view to see all the different options but after you do you'll be able to toggle the APN, Mobile Data, and Airplane mode all separately to isolate which setting isn't allowing you to connect.

You know the stupid thing is, this isn't that obvious when your browsing through the settings. It's not like a toggle or something. That's also the risk with changing too much at the same time: it's hard to triage what the cause is

Very true. I like to make a ton of change before taking a breath and seeing what I screwed up.  I don't know why Android doesn't make settings more intuitive.

Did you turn off your APN access with something like APN widget?