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Dialer app becoming too slow and less responsive
It takes almost more than 5-10 seconds to open the dialer application in my phone.
This has been happening for a while now and is especially critical since during incoming calls, when my phone snaps back from standby to show me who is calling, I actually have to wait sometimes more than 10 seconds to see the caller id and its like the phone is stuck during that time.
It has been the case before (stock) and after I've put a custom ROM in my phone. Though I noticed this became more severe after I installed a lot of apps etc.
Since I suspect that this is because of low free RAM (I have a low-end Android phone), I recently installed optimization apps, kept my homescreen free from widgets and running apps etc. and it did help to an extent. However, I feel like it still needs to be lightning fast and always accessible feature like in conventional handsets. How can I achieve this? How do I lock the dialer in my RAM or is there some super light dialer apps that can replace this stock dialer?
Also, could it be because I have around 150 Facebook and Google contacts synced in? (I don't think that is a big number)
How about finding a way to turn off the picture data in contacts? Will that reasonably reduce memory footprint?
Very same situation : Can I set it so the "Phone" on my phone takes priority over all other apps? (tried all the answers)
UPDATE:
I found something called "FUSIONboost" on the FUSIONideos custom rom that seems to set the priority of apps or something. This seems to be exactly the solution, but I don't want to switch roms now and would really like if someone can tell me how I can get this..

Will be glad if someone can give insight into what and how to get the FUSIONboost thing as I have a feeling that would be a more effective answer to this problem ; though I appreciate all your answers

It might be easier to suggest something if you say exactly which phone you have, and what Android version. Though I suspect it's too late now anyway.

This is likely a combination of two things: a) stuff that the dialer has to load on startup and b) possibly shortage of memory (RAM) created by loading those things. The biggest gains are to be had by resolving (a) however, this will also have the side effect of resolving (b)
You might like to try clearing the following:

Call log - this is loaded each time the dialer is loaded.
SMS messages - Some users have reported that a large number of SMS messages can cause the dialer to slow down, though I'm sceptical that this makes a difference.
Contacts - finally, the number of contacts does have a bearing. Not only the ones you can see ("My Contacts"), but anyone you've ever emailed (i.e. Other contacts in GMail contacts).

The last point can be quite important. I have about 130 'real' contacts but nearly 1000 people I've emailed at some point while using GMail. There were all being synced to my phone, just not always shown.
It is important to make the distinction between RAM and persistent storage. For example, clearing out your trash, deleting emails, uninstalling unused apps, or moving them to SD storage is unlikely to help, because these are using up persistent storage, not transient RAM.
Having lots of persistence storage free means just that apps can't use it to run any faster. RAM, however, can make them fly.
You might also like to take a look at Superdial and Dialer One, two dialers that I've found most agreeable. They also have T9 contact lookup, which can be a dream to use.

Just tried DialerOne and its fast and smooth (though I disliked the UI ; but performance is the key). Let's see how well this works in the long run. Thanks a lot!

I'd also recommend having a look at exDialer.

I had a similar issue on my Samsung Galaxy Chat where I had a few thousand SMS messages in one conversation. The dialer reacted slowly for me (but not in the order of magnitude what the OP experiences). After deleting the SMS's the dialer worked normally.

I experienced a similar situation with my Samsung Galaxy GT-i5700 (SPICA), and I got up to a very weird solution to this:
It seems that the huge number of SMS was causing the mobile to further slow down (apart from the large number of apps in the device). I then deleted many of the messages, and there was a significant improvement in the dialer operating speeds.
 I don't know whether the same thing would work for you, it's only a loophole I discovered on my mobile (Fact: Samsung SPICA can only accomodate up to 2000 SMS). I can only say you can give it a try (of course, this stands true only if you have many SMS stored on your device).
I don't have answers for the other factors.

Clearing call history had helped me once. Not sure if it will help you also.

I don't know if this validates what @SamSPICA says or not, but I use Google Voice exclusively for my SMS, so I don't have any messages stored in the default SMS app, and I've not seen any issues with my dialer app.

That's weird because Messaging and Dialer are different "apps".. but I'll try (I dont think I have more than 500 sms though so it shouldn't make much difference?)

If they're not more than 500, I don't think it might make much difference, because I had around 2000, now I never let the number go beyond approx. 1500.

@Power: and u might wanna know that they're both a part of the same package (com.android...)

Slowdowns like this on phones older than 1 year old are most likely a side affect of memory shortages. To check to see if this is the issue, go to the Android settings and look at SD card & Phone Storage. The last item, "Available Space" should be 17 Mb or more.
If you are using the Email app (NOT Gmail) then you should check your trash folder. In mail, hit Menu, then choose Folders and scroll down to Trash. Email NEVER empties the trash folder, even if you have deleted hundreds of messages. You will either have to delete them manually or delete and re-create the account.
Sometimes the browser builds up a large set of data. You can go into browser settings and hit Clear Cache. But there seems to be even more data associated with the browser. It is easiest to go to the overall Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, then choose the All tab and find Browser and tap on it. Then click on the action to Clear Data. This will delete your bookmarks as well so you should make note of them first.
Finally, you may have background tasks that are hogging the phone's CPU time. You can get an app like Advanced Task Killer (free version avail.) that will periodically kill off any apps that you don't want. For instance, the Skype and Backup apps on Verizon phones run in background all the time but are generally not needed.

As I've just clarified in my post above, be careful not to lump together "memory" into one heap. It's very important to distinguish between persistent storage and transient RAM. Clearing space on persistent storage by deleting emails or moving apps to the SD card will rarely have any effect on performance. To perform well apps need RAM.

Also, Android has a very advanced task manager, which uses a complex algorithm to determine when to kill a task. If there is memory that is not being used or needed by another app, it doesn't kill it. Task killers do not have the same metrics, and cannot make the same informed decisions. Task killers will often reduce performance by unnecessarily unloading Services or Activities from memory, only for them to be loaded again when they are needed (sometimes immediately).

Just a small note, I've noticed that stopping tasks by using the froyo's "force stop" option works much better than any task managers..

I had similar problem, though we cannot completely rectify this we can reduce the startup time by these approaches,

Contacts -> More -> Check 'Only contacts with phones', select only required groups in the bottom groups, better u can create a starred group and select it.
Use 3rd party Contacts app like Go Contacts - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.jbapps.contact to view the complete list of contacts
Never press back button to exit the dialer, use home button to exit dialer, pressing back will kill the dialer activity

you can also try Go Dialer or https://market.android.com/details?id=kz.mek.DialerOne&hl=en

Go Dialer actually slows down more than the stock dialer. +1 for giving me idea to not use the back button. I now have a half baked solution of simply opening the dialer and exiting it using the end key and I do this periodically so I can hope most of the time the dialer is going to be there in the RAM

I agree that this is a memory issue.  I've had times with my previous phone in which my phone froze as soon as it turned on because of memory issues.  If you have Froyo or above, move as many of your big apps as you can to the sd card.  If you have already done this, uninstall apps to free up memory.  Morris suggested 17MB.  This sounds small to me, and I think the actual number depends on which version of Android you have and what types of apps you use.

Im using link2sd on all apps and I do have around 30 MB free internal space.. still the same.

@Power-Inside See my edit and comments above. Available storage freed up by link2sd or freed manually is unlikely to make any difference.

@Martin I agree.. But I thought maybe the minimum storage also played a part maybe since it might be used as a virtual memory or a page cache or equivalent..

You could attempt a factory reset, but like you said you do not want to wipe data. Do not use task killers either they will bog your phone down a great amount. Also check to see what apps are using a lot of RAM. Go to manage applications and view running applications.

try this low-end dialer app, http://www.appstorehq.com/dialerone-android-155708/app
gingerbread update has been officially available for Huawei IDEOS now, try that !

yes, someone has already suggested the Dialer One app before you. Perhaps I'd give a +1 if you can provide links to official gingerbread for my ideos because Im not seeing it anywhere.

If you have installed any call blocking apps, uninstall and see if you get an improvement. (It worked for me.)

What makes you think the OP installed call-blocking apps? No mention in the OP's question... just saying


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Can I unroot my phone
My GPS is broken, and I want to replace it or have it repaired. Is there a way to unroot a samsung galaxy s 4G t-mobile back to the factory conditions?

Flash an official ROM from www.sammobile.com . Depending on how you rooted, there might be a way to unroot as well. Certain rooting programs like Super One-Click also offer an option to revert and un-root.

As sparx said, depending on how you rooted, you can "unroot" with an app if you only rooted your device and did nothing else.
If you modified android, by say, removing some bloatware, or flashed another rom on your device, then you will need to use something like Kies, ODIN or Heimdall to flash back the stock ROM.
Flashing back the stock ROM can replace all traces of any software modification that you have done to the device. This can include the OS, boot, and kernel.
I have never used Kies so I can't speak about how good that works. Kies is the "official" update tool for the devices.
I have used ODIN in the past. It is a samsung product, but it is basically a leaked software that is used internally.
Heimdall is an open source alternative to ODIN that works on other platforms besides windows. It uses the same protocols that ODIN uses.
If you do go any of the "flashing stock" routes, try to search for someone giving instructions exactly how to do it. The community is very large, and someone has already done it. If you look, you can find their step by step instructions that you can follow.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Phone using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi
I installed Cyanogenmod on my HTC Desire about a month ago and have just received my first mobile bill. Before installing Cyanogenmod, I'd use maybe 200-300MB per month, because most places (home/work) I spend time have Wi-Fi that I can use. I have scheduled downloads of podcasts over Wi-Fi, configured to only use Wi-Fi (BeyondPod)... although I found that this setting had been unset when I changed from having 2 accounts on the phone (one Google Apps and one not) to just having 1 (Google Apps)... so I guess the preferences had been saved under the account I removed.
Have had just received my first bill since I changed to Cyanogenmod and I've apparently used 4GB of data! That's going to cost me over $100 extra, so I'm not best pleased.
Some points/thoughts/questions...

I have Wi-Fi and mobile data enabled all the time.
Podcast downloads were scheduled for 4am so, even with the "only use Wi-Fi" option disabled, it should have downloaded over Wi-Fi at that time as I spend nearly every night at home and therefore on Wi-Fi
Sometimes when I unlock the phone, I see the mobile data symbol on screen briefly as well as the Wi-Fi one.
Is there a setting somewhere that is turning off Wi-Fi when the phone is locked?
Is there a way I can prevent the phone from using mobile data when it's connected to Wi-Fi... and how do I make sure it's connected to Wi-Fi as much as possible?
Anyone got any tips/tricks to share for this scenario?

Go into the Wi-Fi settings, press Menu, choose Advanced. You should get options including Wi-Fi Sleep Policy. Sounds like its set to turn off Wi-Fi when the screen is off.

Yes, it was set to sleep when the screen was off - I've now set this to never sleep. Hopefully that doesn't mess up my battery life too much, it was already pretty crappy. I turned mobile data off altogether yesterday and my podcasts updated overnight, so they must have gone over wifi... so not 100% sure this is the cause, but thanks for the pointer, will see how it works out.

That seems to have fixed it, thanks for the pointer. Also battery life has improved a lot with turning this setting on... I guess 3G uses more than wifi...

Thank you so much! I was wondering why I was consuming data around the house (where there is a WiFi connection available). Sure enough... WiFi was set to turn off when the screen shut down unless the 'phone was plugged in.

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


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What is the easiest way to add a new contact to an existing Google contacts group?
Let's say I'm adding a new contact and it's a long lost family members so I want to add them to my custom "Aussie Family" group within my Google account. There appears to be no easy way to do this. I have to log in on a PC to actually achieve the grouping.
I recall reading a similar question somewhere (which I now can't locate) which indicated it's not possible using the built-in contacts manager, so, if that's the case, I'm looking for the best way to do it via an app.
I'm using Gingerbread (2.3.3) on a Samsung Galaxy phone (kernel v2.6.35.7).

Thus far, there appears to be no answer. The best alternative appears to be that you can log into Gmail on a PC and add your new contact to an existing group. Will change the answer to this question if a valid answer pops up.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 running the default 2.3.3 Gingerbread and from within the phone/contacts app, selecting a contact and then scrolling to the groups section allows me to check and uncheck whichever groups I wish this particular contact to be a part of.
Naturally, make sure you're saving your contacts as "Google Contacts" and not simply "Phone Contacts".

I cannot follow these instructions on my phone. Can you provide a diagram or screenshots? Specifically, there is no "groups section" when I scroll through the details of my Goolge contact. Also, I don't have Galaxy S2, just Galaxy S.

Unfortunately, this may be particular to the S2 TouchWiz interface, then Lisa - sorry. I'll try posting screenshots later.

Supposely my phone already has the TouchWiz interface because that also comes with regular Galaxy S (per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_i9000_Galaxy_S infobox) but perhaps I'm mistaken

Different version of TouchWiz


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How to create shortcuts to a certain subset of files
I have a large collection of books on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, organized by topic in many nested folders. I have a certain subset of them (coming from multiple folders) that I expect to refer to frequently, let's call them the "popular" books for convenience.
I'd like to have a single icon I can press on my home screen that will, one way or another, bring up the list of popular books, from where I can select a book to open.

I want to preserve the organization of the folders, so creating a separate folder containing the popular books is not an option.
I want to save space, so I don't want to make copies of every popular book and put all the copies in a separate folder.

Given these constraints, there are two approaches I can think of to do what I want.
First way:

Get an app "A" that can create shortcuts to individual files, and puts the shortcuts on the home screen.
Get an app "B" that can take arbitrary items on the home screen, and bundle them together into a single folder on the home screen.
Use A to create shortcuts to all the popular books on the home screen, then use B to bundle them together. Clicking the icon created by B should bring up a list of the popular books that I can then select from.

Second way:

Get an app "C" that can create shortcuts to individual files and put them in the file system, like (for example) Windows can - in Windows Explorer, I can right click on any file and choose "Create Shortcut", and the shortcut appears right there next to the file, not on the desktop.
Get an app "D" that can create shortcuts to folders in the file system, and puts the shortcuts on the homescreen.
Use C to create shortcuts to all the popular books in the file system, move them all to a single folder in the file system, then use D to create a shortcut to that folder on the home screen. Clicking the shortcut created by D should open the folder, which contains links to the popular books (this, presumably, does not have the same space issues as having two copies of every popular book).

So, here are my questions:

Are there any other approaches you can think of to doing this?
Do you have any recommendations for apps that would fill the role of B or C? I currently have Linda Manager, and it is only able to do A and D, as far as I can tell. For B, I have looked at Folder Manager, whose purpose is to create folders of apps on the home screen, but (as far as I can tell) it can't see the home screen shortcuts that Linda Manager creates to individual files.
Are there any issues with either approach I proposed above that might prevent them from working? For example, are shortcuts "in the file system" even possible in Android?

Many thanks for your help.

Did you get any answers to this problem. I would like to be able to shortcut to single [ASCII] documents

Were you able to solve this problem, @Zev ? Or maybe, you, @Burrowsnz?

Install Astro File Manager.
Long tap homescreen & choose Shortcuts. Then, choose Astro from list. Using it, you can create shortcut of any file on homescreen.
Bundle these shortcuts in a homescreen folder using your default launcher. I use in-built folder feature of ADW Launcher EX (my default home launcher).

If your default launcher doesn't have folder feature, you can install Folder Organizer. Using it, you can create folder widget on homescreen. You can put shortcuts in this widget & Astro will help here again as in Step 2.

Both approaches are possible. In fact, you don't need an app "B" as most Android launchers has folders. Most Android launchers doesn't allow you to create a home screen shortcut to a file or folder; however many popular file manager do allows you to do so.
With regards to creating shortcuts in the filesystem, Android is based on Linux, and Linux have symbolic links, which is like Windows' .lnk shortcut, only much better implemented.
Another, much better option is a single app that is specifically designed for your particular use case. Try "EStrongs File Manager" with its plugin "EStrongs Bookmark Manager". Both are free and can be found on the market.


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Google Calendar on Android opens to old date by default
When I open Google Calendar on my Android phone, it starts up showing October 1 2011. The phone knows the current date; pressing menu and then the today button goes to the correct day. I'd just like it to default to today like it did before 10/1. Any ideas?
This is Calendar 2.3.6, Android 2.3.6 GKR39F, on a Nexus s.
This forum thread seems to describe the same problem, but it's unresolved.

Similar: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6821/calendar-agenda-view-wont-stay-on-today

It's worse than that -- when I go to create a new appointment, the default date of the appointment is typically sometime last week.  As if I needed to remind myself to do something in the past.  Grr

looks like this is a bug caused by agenda view and multi-day calendar entries. if you have one that includes the current day, calendar opens to the first day of that entry. fortunately, i think the bug is fixed upstream: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=21605
simplest workaround is to delete the multi-day entry. :/


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Updates for Google Search, and Street View for Google Maps, listed but not able to be downloaded/installed
I have an LG ally that's just about a year old now, running 2.2.2. When I go to Market -> My Apps, there are two apps listed as "Not Installed" I'm having trouble with:

Google Search
Street View on Google Maps

(I have no interest in updating Facebook for Android, I luckily have an old, working version and I'm sticking with it.)
When I click on Google Search to download / install the update, the only button available  is "Open"; there is no "Install" button.

With Street View on Google Maps, there simply aren't any buttons at all!

If I didn't already install whatever these updates are, I'd like to install them. If I did already install them, I want them out of the "Not Installed" queue. How do I figure out which is the case? Is this a problem with my phone, or with the apps?

I've seen the same thing with different apps. Are you syncing to multiple accounts, per chance?

I've had the same problem with the new Market app a couple times now, the only solution I've found is to clear the Market data in Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> Market -> Clear data (and Clear cache if it isn't already 0.00B). Now after you reopen Market, it should show the correct updates.

+1, this did help somewhat; Google Search and Street View are now listed as installed, but Google Maps has now become listed as uninstalled. It has the "Open" button, but no "Install" button. I've tried doing the same trick again, and it doesn't seem to take effect anymore. Maybe I should try uninstalling all the updates to Google Maps from the "Manage Applications" part of the settings, then (hopefully) be able to reinstall them?

@ZevChonoles: I do the same thing as onik suggested plus force close Market. When I start Market again, I have to accept the EULA again, but everything has returned to normal.

@Dennis: I followed your suggestion, but it didn't work for me. I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling Google Maps, and now it's listed correctly, which puts an end to my problem. onik and Dennis, I appreciate your help.

I just created an account on here so I could upvote this answer.  That's been getting on my nerves for weeks.  Thanks!

They are the apps that comes with most of the phones. They must be installed in /system/app partition. You can't uninstall them without root. That's why no "uninstall" button.
The street view works with Google Maps, you can't open it directly. That's why no "open" button.
I don't have answer for why your system apps are not being able to update.


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How can I turn off the 3G connection?
I'd like to be able to turn the 3G connection on and off without navigating the "Settings -> Wireless and networks -> Mobile Networks" menus each time.
Is there a widget (or some other way) of turning 3G on and off from the home screen or the "Dashboard"?

Dashboard: I don't know what it is called but it is accessible by tapping the clock (bottom right).

Instead of widget use apps like data switch. Unlike widget this app doesn't consume resource when idle. There are tons of other apps/widget if you don't like this one or this one doesn't work for you. For eg:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aispl.mdsswitch
https://market.android.com/details?id=ru.chernish2
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.m039.tools
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.myreallife.mobiledata
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.datalinkswitch

I use the Power Control Widget. Allows you to toggle Data, wifi and various other settings from your home screen.


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How can I wake up my Nexus One using trackball?
I have Nexus One and the power button stopped working. It's a known issue but I'm not in USA and I can't get it fixed since I got it from there. Is there any way that I could wake it up without using the power button and without rooting the phone?

I don't know what ROM you have, but if you're using a Cyanogen based you can tweak that in the Cyanogen specific settings.

I have the original Gingerbread by Google

You can try using AnyUnlock from the android market. it is free and lets you set any button be the button to turn the device on. It has been tested exclusively for the Nexus One.
Actually, I read further in the description, the trackball can no longer be used as of gingerbread.


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How can I display an image from a URL on a home screen?
I want to load an image from a URL and have it get updated regularly from a web page.
Something like a widget that would show my current Stack Overflow flair.
Another badge/flair example is to show the weight loss banners at myfitnesspal.com like this:

I've tried searching the market for photo widgets, webcam widgets, and URL widgets.   I'm not sure how to get the above image that updates onto my home screen.
Any ideas?

This thread goes way back but I still were unable to find one in the market that seems to fit the description, so I made one myself. Get it here:

The widget updates hourly, and currently there is no way to configure that.

This works great!

@Lie Ryan I would love to have this on my ASUS transformer... anything special I need to do to get it to work?

@DeaconDesperado: not as far as I know, you just need to allow non-market apps installation. I haven't tested it in a tablet-sized screen or anything other than Android 2.2, but I don't expect there to be any problems as the program itself is very simple. Put in a reply in the comment if you need a different aspect ratio or a different widget size.

@LieRyan Worked as you described.  League of Legends stats banner FTW.

I've implemented that app because I wanted it for myself:
URL Image Widget
Have fun!

Pls fix link. Dead

I wanted an app to do this, and I wanted it to be professional, reliable, and easy to use, and I wanted to know it would be maintained in future and work with new Android versions. As I run a software business, I decided to make it our next product.
Showr supports Android 3.1+, and you can use it as a lock screen widget on Android versions that support that feature. It supports images from RSS or Atom feeds, and from other apps (such as the Gallery) as well as from a fixed URL. It also integrates with some websites, such as Tumblr and Stack Exchange. Unlike the accepted answer to the question, you can set how often it updates, and it has a Smart Updating feature to save battery life and network use.
Download Showr free from Google Play, or see Showr on StackApps.

You might need a very specific widget that is coded to retrieve some data from the said web page in a specific format (XML, JSON, API calls, etc.,) then parse and display it.
For example, a quick Google search for "android flair widget" brings back this app.  You need only to provide the user's ID (e.g. http://api.android.stackexchange.com/1.1/users/3646 for my profile,) and it polls the stackoverflow.com servers once every hour and retrieves the "flair".

I'm looking for something that works for non-stack overflow sites as well.

There probably isn't a "magic bullet" app that would work on every site.  You will need a custom solution.  First, the site itself needs to be specifically coded to provide information you are looking for via some sort of an interface (RSS, XML, JSON, API, etc.) Then the app/widget would have to be coded to retrieve this info (simple polling or more advanced push), make sense of it and display it.

I'm looking to use the published interface for stack overflow flair and for myfitnesspal sites which is a url to an image file.


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How can I embed youtube videos so they play on my HTC Wildfire?
I have created a youtube video and embedded in on this page:
http://tanguay.info/test169.htm
I tried to play it on my HTC Wildfire in the default browser, but it says there is no flash player installed.
However, I know I have played youtube videos before on this device, so it must be possible.
What do I have to change so that my HTC Wildfire can play embedded youtube vidoes that I produce?

The Wildfire only supports Flash Lite, so I don't know that you can do this.

If you click a link to that video, does the YouTube app launch?

You can produce videos in the vp8 format.  This is Google's answer to HTML5 video and is supported by most of their phones.
You have the option of embedding the video using HTML5 and <video> tags, or uploading the mobile friendly version to YouTube and embedding the link in an iFrame like previously suggested.
vp8 is much like H.264 in that they both boast high-quality/low-overhead and both have hardware decoders. WebM is the container format for vp8 and will remain Royalty Free as long as the technology exists, whereas H.264 will require encoders (and possibly decoders) to pay fees for its use.

This question/answer is probably a little "off topic" for this site as it is more of a web development question.
When you embed the youtube video on the page, you have to use the iframe version, as it supports both the "flash" version and the html5 version of the embeded video. The "default" style only supports flash enabled devices, where the iframe style will support both html5 and flash (if needed).
To embed the iframe style you would do this:

yes, that is the tag that I used:  but the HTC wildfire default browser still requires the flash player


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How do I add a new language?
The aftermarket ROM I use seems to have the language list parred down to just a couple selections, probably to save space.
I would like to add a language back into the system. I can already set the locale using programs such as MoreLocale 2 so that applications with my language support start with the right locale code, however that doesn't add missing system languages. Having the system in another language would be nice, but the main thing is getting the dictionary files for the keyboard auto-complete. How does one go about adding the language support files for an input language to a system or ROM?
I can access other ROM's or the AOSP project to rip things out, but I don't know where to start. What files do I need and what modifications need to be made? Is there an easy way to do this with say a language-pack or is it hackery all the way?
My ROM is fully rooted and I have adb access if necessary. It's Android 2.3.7 (Unofficial CM 7.1 port for Dream/Sapphire) and I'm using the stock Android keyboard. The language I want is Turkish, although unless somebody has a download to point me to it's mostly the process I'm looking for here.

As far as I know, 3rd party keyboards should provide their own language sets.  If you can find a 3rd party keyboard you like that supports Turkish, then that might be the easiest way to go. Additionally, it does not seem CM supports Turkish: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_vendor_cyanogen/blob/gingerbread/CHANGELOG.mkdn (Look under "Translators") But you could always help translate for them.

@BryanDenny: Full CyanogenROM's (which I have on another phone) do have native support for Turkish, it's only some stripped versions for the Dream (and others) that are short-changed. I know lots about alternate keyboards with Turkish support, but really want it for the stock Android keyboard (some Market keyboards work great but use too much RAM for the Dream and the lighter ones don't work very well at all). I know it's harder to get setup for the stock keyboard, but that's my question (and why I'm asking).

@BryanDenny: The github thing you linked to shows the translators for the Cyanogen specific interface stuff. CyanogenMod ROMs usually have the full language set offered from the AOSP, which includes Turkish. Only a few ROM specific addons don't have translated strings ... but when the ROM isn't compiled with the full locale list, there must be a way to add support for a specific language. What can I pull out of another ROM to add a language?

I have no idea, I've done Android dev (even supporting multiple languages in an app), but I haven't done any dev with ROMs. Sorry, wish I could help more. I'd also look on the CM forums or XDA too.

Adding full language support for a device is done at rom level, the languages that the default keyboard will support are added before compilation and the android keyboard will only give you the option to download dictionaries for the languages it supports.
A good workaround is to download a keyboard app (such as GOKeyboard) that supports adding languages unto it.
Locale changing apps are nice but they may not be as thorough in their translation as a rom that was made or specially translated to a specific/your desired language. If your language is Bi-Di (Bidirectional, such as hebrew or arab) and the rom doesn't support it, it may introduce bugs as well!
The best solution will be to flash a new rom that holds your desired language, either a stock rom made for your area by your device manufacturer or a custom rom, Cyanogen is good because it probably supports every language that complies to the unicode standard (including turkish).

Thanks. Cyanogen is certainly my first choice anyway, but there are actually ROMs that run better on one of my units, the major downside being lack of language support.

but how come the official ROM doesn't have hebrew for instance, and an older samsung s4 with official ROM i have which i have bought half a year ago has it? could it just be a hidden option?

See this video
https://www.google.com/search?ei=MLpoXaXLLYHykwXjwqHADQ&q=android+setting+language+missing&oq=android+setting+language+mis&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.33i22i29i30l2.271266.274795..276526...0.2..0.208.2395.0j13j2......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j35i39j0i67j0j0i20i263j0i203j0i22i30.5sRaXAommog#kpvalbx=_R7toXaWQEdHxkwWXnIv4CA22
TL;DW

install morelocale app
use abd to change the app permission pm grant dogfooderz.com.morelocales android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION
use the app to change the locale

NOTE: if you get
Security exception: grantRuntimePermission: Neither user 2000 nor current process has android.permission.GRANT_RUNTIME_PERMISSIONS
see this answer https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52079343/how-can-i-use-adb-to-grant-permission-without-root

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


text:
why can't I scroll Wikipedia pages horizontally?
I have found that Wikipedia pages with image content larger than my Droid X's screen size cannot be resized or scrolled horizontally, this means that these pictures are only partially visible.
obviously this is very frustrating.
I have already tried different browsers (Dolphin, Boat) and have also tried different User Agents (iPhone, iPad, and even Desktop) with no effect.
I should also note that I have the exact same problem when viewing Facebook photos in the Browser.
The only thing that sometimes works is rotating the aspect ratio to landscape, and then only if the horizontal size of the photo is less than ~850px. horizontal scrolling and zooming is still disabled.
Strangely - googling this problem returns no results! so maybe I'm the only one with this problem???
somehow, I doubt it tho.
does anyone have a solution? or even an explanation?

Did you use the mobile version of wikipedia or the standard version?

I've seen this too, so it's not specific to your device.

This is probably because you are viewing Wikipedia's mobile site.
On the bottom of every page there should be a link to "View this page on regular Wikipedia."  Tap it, and after the page refreshes you should be able to resize/scroll it normally.  If you like, you can also tap the "Permanently disable mobile site" link to prevent being redirected to the limited mobile version of Wikipedia.

Yep.  I hate that the browser doesn't let you zoom on mobile sites.


text:
Odin. Unplugged target while flashing
I assumed something was wrong because I waited about 20 minutes and the process hadn't completed, nor did it look like anything was active. Apparently, something was and now my Samsung Epic Touch 4G will not boot into either odin mode or cwm. The only thing I get is the blue power indicator, which will blink once after a couple seconds and then go steady again.
Have I bricked my phone or is there something I can do?  Thanks!

Most often the phone simply recognizes that the flash needs to be completed, and refuses to enter most modes until it is.  So, first check and see if Odin will see the phone regardless of what's on the screen.  Otherwise:
Remove the battery, then re-insert and try to get into Download Mode again.  If that fails, then remove the battery and, while holding the key combo for Download Mode, re-insert the battery.
If that fails, plug into USB and try both of the above.
If that fails, try all 4 of the above with different key combinations.  The most common that might trigger something:

Home + VolDown + Power
Home + VolUp + Power
VolDown + VolUp + Power
VolDown + Power
VolUp + Power

Thanks... all of those options failed though.

@Rick In that case, you should probably try a jig.

Most importantly, don't panic before you've tried all of these options.  I panicked yesterday when this happened (I mean, I really panicked!), but after I removed the battery and waited a short while, it returned to download mode and I was able to proceed.


text:
What can cause the Oct 2011 OTA update of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to fail?
I'm using a Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G (GT-P7500), Android 3.1, Baseband version P7500XXKG7, Build HMJ37 P7500XWKG9, rooted. (I got it with 3.1 and TouchWiz preinstalled.)
A few weeks ago, I got a notification about an OTA update. The only information I get about this update is:
Update details (9.61MB)
Improved stability.

Trying to install this update reproducibly fails. It downloads, then asks me whether to install. I confirm, and it tells me that it will reboot the device. The device reboots. During the reboot animation, I see a low-resolution progress bar that runs until about 25%. Then it reboots again, I enter my PIN and it tells me: "Failed to update firmware. Try again using PC software (Kies) or visit a Samsung service centre". It does not give me any details as to why it has failed.
I connected DDMS to the device during the update, but (as expected) it doesn't show anything during that phase. I don't know how to get any additional reporting as to why the update failed.
I can't connect the device to Kies either. Again, it doesn't report the problem. Kies notices when I connect the device, then says: "Reconnect the device in Samsung Kies (PC Studio) mode.Current connection mode not supported by Kies." (sic!)
What can cause an OTA update to fail?

Updating via Kies eventually worked. The trick to getting Kies to connect to the device is to turn off USB debugging on the device.

I read that missing system apps can cause this problem. I unfroze the following stock apps:

Ap Mobile
eBook
Music Hub
My Files
Pulse
Social Hub

This had no effect on the update. Still fails exactly the same way.


text:
How to upgrade Samsung I5800 Galaxy 3 to Android 2.2?
I have a Samsung I5800 Galaxy 3 with original Android firmware and an official Windows 7 Pro/64-bit machine and a Samsung USB cable that I got with the phone.
I read that Android 2.2 was already out for this phone from Jan-Apr this year, so I thought it would be a very wise thing to upgrade it! OK. Because it looks like Kies can't upgrade the phone, this is "funny".
Here is what I have on the phone:

Android 2.1-update1

Here is the Kies version on the machine:

2.0.3.11082_152 (up-to-date)

Here is the message from Kies that it cannot update the phone:

I tried to reboot the Windows 7 machine, Kies has a troubleshooting part, and I tried it.
How can I update it officially to a fresher version of Android? What else is there?

You could uninstall Kies and the drivers completely, and then install the UK version of Kies from here.  (Make sure to select the UK as your location during install).  This should allow you to perform the update, although it might not give you the language you want.  This worked for me to get Froyo on my Vibrant before it was released in the US.  Alternatively you could try another European country that has had an official update released.
You could also try flashing the latest European firmware via Odin.  XDA has a guide on this (see the UPGRADING section).  This is risky if you don't follow the instructions closely and will void your warranty just like rooting, but I've used Odin dozens of times on my Vibrant with no issues.

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


text:
Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card (Xperia Arc version)
I have almost this question:
Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card

I have a Motorla Droid running CM6 (essentially Android 2.2). I'm
  connecting to Windows 7 machines via USB. Every time I plug in my
  phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card as external storage.

Except I have a Xperia Arc with version 2.3.4, and have neither Winamp or DoubleTwist installed (given as culprits in the other question).
This behaviour started when I updated to 2.3.4 (I don't know exactly what version I had before).
How can I stop it?
Edit:
I've no "Connect to PC" section in the settings, nor can I find this setting in other sections such as "Storage"

Go to Settings->Sony Ericsson->Connectivity and un-check Auto connect in MSC.

Thanks. A bit of strange location to put that setting though.

@Bart Happy to help... :) I too had to work around the android to find out this option when I had faced this problem...

Is this possible with Samsung / Android 2.3.6 (I don't find Auto connect!)


text:
Will android tablets from US work in the UK?
I'm thinking of getting an adroid tablet from the US and ship it over here to the UK. Will it work completly and as a UK based tablet? I don't need 3G.

What exactly are you concerned about?  If you're not using 3G then what could possibly go wrong?

This may depend somewhat on the device, so I would try to narrow down which one in particular you want then try to figure out what other people are saying about it. Having said that, I know lots of people on XDA are using US Verizon Xooms in Europe without any problems (minus 3G, of course, which you said isn't a problem). There's a thread about this here. Some have also noted that you can flash European firmware onto the VZW Xoom without any problems, but I'm not sure what the caveats are and I don't know if that would work on other devices.

My wifi-only Xoom tablet, bought in the UK has the same model number as a US Xoom, and I'm currently running the US ROM on it with no issues at all.

Tablets that use CDMA network technologies will be restricted to wifi internet only (there's no CDMA cell coverage at all in the UK). If you can get a tablet that uses T-Mobile's 3G frequencies, you can SIM-unlock it and use 3G with an operator in the UK. AT&T frequencies are not common in Europe, you'll get EDGE only.
Wifi will work, but Europe/UK uses a different channel/frequency standard and you won't be able to use channels 12 or 13 (at a minimum; it could be only a few channels work if the spaces between the channels are different; I haven't stared at the standards recently).
If you can tell the device to use the EU ranges, you'll be fine - but I'm not sure how to do it - If Android uses the Linux kernel's regulatory compliance daemon, that's fairly easy to change because the commands should be similar to a Linux desktop and there's quite a few tutorials out there.
That assumes Android uses that part of the Linux wifi stack, and it also assumes that the wifi driver in the tablet actually uses the Linux stack to drive compliance. This is not very likely. :(

It depends on your tablet. If your tablet has included CDMA technology that is not available in UK then it can't possible to use that tablet. Tablet with Wi-Fi technologies will definitely helps to work in another country but it's also depends on tablet network connection features. As per my view, you should include little information about your tablet.

If your tablet has included CDMA technology that is not available in UK then it can't possible to use that tablet -> non sequitur.


text:
How does the GPS work on Android phones?
Today I used the GPS on my Android for the first time, and I was wondering how it actually works.
I know that Android phones have a GPS chip in them, but does the phone establish a direct connection to the GPS server or is there something else going on? If there is a direct server connection, does that mean that every Android user can make a direct server connection?

GPS itself does not need a network connection to any server to work. It just needs a signal from a least 4 GPS satellites to calculate a good position fix.
There is also the GPS Almanac, which basically provides future data on where the satellites are expected to be in a given time in the future, usually up to 7 days. This can be used to speed up the position calculation. The Almanac is broadcasted by the GPS satellites and it takes up to 15 minutes to download the full Almanac via the GPS system. That's why there are also Servers on the Internet that provide the Almanac data in an more convenient, faster way. Maybe that's what you meant by "GPS Server". Android makes use of that too.

So, anyone free to use these GPS satellites? That's what I wanted to know...

Did you really expect your mobile phone to send signals to a satellite? ^^

@c0da Well, that depends. You are "free" to use GPS system if you have a GPS receiver. The manufacturer of this device is the one that pays to use the GPS system and includes this cost on the cost of the GPS device. This way you don’t have to pay a monthly or annual fee in order to use you GPS.

@neurino I wasn't aware of all this... I am new to this GPS thing...

@Doliveras Thanks for adding such a clear explanation...

@c0da: I was just kidding, we are all noobs sooner or later. Cheers

@Doliveras, I may be mistaken, but you do not need to pay a subscription on the design side either to use the GPS satellites. I have worked with GPS before and even worked on our own receivers and there was not such cost.

@Doliveras is incorrect. GPS is provided by the US taxpayers for anyone to use, free of charge. Manufacturers don't pay anything either.

GPS - all GPS systems get signals from the satellites. They never send data to the GPS satellites. Your phone would need a much larger antenna to send a signal to them.
Systems like OnStar do send your position back to their servers. Google servers do get your position information so they can calculate directions and pull in the tiles for the map.
The US government does not charge for the use of GPS. It is global.

GPS is a passive system.  There is a constellation of satellites in orbit, with atomic clocks on board, that essentially just shout out their identifications and the time, for anybody who will listen.  A GPS receiver listens for the signals and uses the differences in times that it's hearing from the different satellites -- due to speed-of-light delays and relativistic effects (!) -- and knowledge of the orbits of the satellites (also broadcast by the satellites), to triangulate its position on the earth.
The signals from the satellites are just radio.  There is no "network", phone connection, or any two-way communication necessary.


text:
A calendar with powerful alerts
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy 2, coming from a Nokia 3600.
My old cell phone had a quite simple calendar app but when it was supposed to alert me it kept ringing and vibrating until I dismiss it.
I could quietly use an alert as a morning alarm if I knew, for example, I'll have to wake up at 6:00 on next 12/25.
In new one calendar just beeps once and I already missed a ton of appointments this way.
Moreover I started using alarms but there's no vibration available and it's limited in time setting.
I'm looking for an app to suit my needs, possibly syncing with Google Calendar, not too much bells and whistles but not mandatory.
Any advice?
Thank you
Edit:
As a note to who, gently is answering how to set calendar notification:
Please let me know also how to set it the way I need i.e. to make it ring until dismissed (or after, say, max 1 minute in case I'm far from the phone).
Otherwise changing from blip to din don won't help that much because I already tested it losing some appointments. :)

My standard Clock app plays the alarm and vibrates. Rather obnoxiously I might add. You can change the notification sound that gets used; have you tried that?

@AlEverett: I'm using Clock alarm but it does not vibrates nor I can see any setting anout it. However it comes hard to put a note far in time, for example birthdays alerts and so on. I can't fill it with tens of alarms just 'cause the calendar alerts suck...

Ok, sorry, I found vibration setting for alarm but I'm still unable to set a proper alert for an appointment, say, coming in 10 days.

Calendar Snooze can repeat reminders until you acknowledge them, forever. It works with the default Calendar app, and will let it keep syncing with google.
You can customize how often the notification repeats, how many times (including "Keep Repeating"), and you can customize two sets of reminders, for example repeating every minute for 5 minutes, and then ever 5 minutes for an hour. It can also use notifications, the LED, text-to-speech, and alert popups.
It also (as the name suggests) allows a very powerful snooze mechanism, with completely customizable snoozes.

Thanks, I will try it! Anyway: 700Kb for adding just a simple snooze seem to me overkill but if it works I'll be happy of installing

A Galaxy S 2 has 2 GB of storage for apps (/data). That's four times what I have, with about 200 apps installed. I wouldn't worry about it. ;)

I accept your answer even if I went with another app CalendarAlarmHelper (primarily because it's cheaper and lighter) but I found it thanks to your link so... thank you ^^

Open the Calendar App. Press MENU > SETTINGS > scroll down to NOTIFICATION SETTINGS.
You can then choose your desired ringtone and whether an alert should pop up or merely a notification bar update shows along with Vibrate options.
As a calendar alternative, check out Jorte.
The Galaxy S2's alarm interface has options for recurring alarms as well as preset Snooze modes.
UPDATE: Nudnik and Calendar Event Reminder are calendar nag apps that seem to offer the functionality you're looking for.

About Notification Settings please see my comment to KalEl answer. Again about alarm, I already use it with multiple alarms and snooze but, again, see my answer to  Al Everett in question comments... I wonder why my 100€ Nokia was able to alert me in a way I was sure to get it and a 600€ android is not. Maybe android engineers was thinkin' I'd passed my whole day looking at the phone screen holding it in my right hand... I'll check your suggested alternative.

I saw your update and try apps you suggest

Im trying now CalendarAlarmHelper that's way cheaper than TREE suggestion.
Free version expires after 7 days but has full functionalities.

Now that Astrid has stopped,trying out TicTac. Working quite well and seems reliable

A link to the app would make this more useful for the OP

And some information on how, specifically, it fixes the OP's problem would be good, too.

You could try Astrid, I find it very useful as a task manager

Who asked for a task manager?

Calendar -> Settings -> Notification Settings -> Select Ringtone.
Also set "alerts and notifications" in the same menu to Alerts.

I already saw it, all sounds last no more than a second and I don't find any option to tell it to ring until dismissed, that's what I asked. I see there's an option for always vibrating and it's on but if it just vibrates once for a second, as the alarm, then I know why I never felt it...

Here's an idea - if you use an alternate SMS app like Handcent or GoSMS pro or RingDroid - they have an alternative music picker which can be used to select songs from your media/audio folder. That'll give you a loooong ringtone.

Yes it would be a long ringtone, but once again, it does not answer the question that is asked.


text:
How can I make a 3G-324M video call?
I tried to place a 3G-324M video call to my Incredible, but the other phone says that mine doesn't support it.
On the web I found someone mentioned that Incredibles do not support video calls in 3G at all. Others mention that this is possible with Skype.
The question is - can I make my phone use 3G video calls without using a mobile Internet (as I think Skype is using Internet rather than native 3G video calls, thus I am paying for mobile Internet with Skype calls and not per rate specified per minute for 3G itself).
Or is Skype the only available option?

Android doesn't currently support this, as far as I know. It was previously discussed here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/11559/video-calling-options and here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/10092/questions-regarding-receiving-3g-calls-on-my-ideos

As of now I don't know of any Android phone capable of establishing 3G-324M Video calls. Android have some parts of 3G-324M implemented in the communications stack, but is far from being complete.
All the android phones that can make “video calls” use Internet.
Given the fact that carriers charge an “extra” for a video call using 3G-324M and that any internet traffic is probably included in your data plan, Android will probably continue to go the way of internet video calls, not 3G-324M.

Thanks for the reply. My mobile operator charges the same amount for 1 MB of Internet traffic as for 1 minute of voice (3G video) call, thus I suppose native 3G video call would be cheaper than using the mobile Internet.

Vanilla Android does not support Video calls via 3G-324M. But the Galaxy S, Galaxy S2 and maybe other seem to support it (via TouchWiz). At least I have a video call button in the default Galaxy S dialer, that does 3G Video calls.


text:
How can I backup all of my data to a PC without rooting?
I am an ex-Nokia user and used to backup the data with their PC Suite which is great and can backup everything easily and is a free application.
How do I do the same with HTC Incredible S?
[ I do not plan to get rooted. ]

Possible duplicates: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/5667/how-do-i-perform-a-full-pre-rooting-backup-of-an-android-phone and http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/390/how-to-backup-an-android-device

You can back up your sd card to a PC by mounting it from the PC or over the network with a number of different syncing tools. This will not backup each application's state unless they specifically have exported configuration to the sd card. This will include all your pictures.
You cannot back up application state (to a PC) without root. See the other "possible duplicates" and "related" questions for how and why this is.
There is supposedly a backup API built into android (developer guide) but I have yet to see that actually be used, or see any reports by others of it working.


text:
Enabling WiFi HotSpot in Google Nexus S
I have a Google Nexus S with Android 2.3 in it. I want to tether/or enable Wifi HotSpot in it.
Do I have to root my phone?
How should I proceed?
Thanks!

Do you have Settings->Wireless and Networks->Tethering & portable hotspot?

Yes, I have this option. But when I did that the wireless connected gadgets to my phone didnt have the access to the internet.

No, you don't need to have your phone rooted to enable a portable hotspot.
Not quite sure why it isn't working for you, but here are the reasons it hasn't worked for me at various times.

No cell data connection. I've tried using the hotspot as a relay to another wi-fi network without any success. The original wi-fi connection is shut down.
Misconfigured wi-fi security on the attaching devices.

Do I need to enable HotSpot through Sprint? Because that is another $20/month :(

My first thought is no, but I bought my phone from Best Buy without a plan. I can activate the Hot Spot if I bought the old day pass from T-Mobile or switch for the day to T-Mobile's $2/day data plan. I've been able to turn on the Hot Spot on demo phones at various cellular providers when I've fiddled with their phones. But, if Sprint has modified the Android OS, you may have to buy the Sprint package. I'm just not sure. You'll need that answer from someone who has the Google Nexus S from Sprint. Did either of my suggestions help?

Hey Richard, I downloaded EasyTehter App from the market place and connected to my PC via USB cable through my phone, it worked like a charm. But when I am enabling HotSpot through my phone settings then it does not work. Any clues whats going on?


text:
Is there  a way to fix the call answer delay?
This is a known Android issue which has been widely reported (example).
I saw a suggestion to use Call Delay Patch from the Android Market, but some report that this helps while others report that it doesn't work.
I have the same issue on my HTC Incredible S (Android 2.3.3) and want to know if this issue has been addressed already or if there is a patch for it or a way to avoid it. Searching the web brings only complaints.

I just got in the habbit of saying "hello" twice... but I have not seen a patch for it. my only real suggestion is to "star" the issue so google will fix it. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=16230

Yes I did star that already, but the issue is up for a rather long time so I hoped that a workaround was already found maybe.

From what I can tell, this issue has been resolved with Gingerbread 2.3.5. I no longer have the issue with my device running Gingerbread 2.3.5 (actually i think CM7 is based on 2.3.7 now). From what I am seeing in the reported issue is other people are saying the same thing about it being fixed. I am not sure if your device has an update available or not though.


text:
Is it possible to connect a USB microphone to an Android phone or tablet?
Blue makes a prosumer mic that you can connect directly to an iPod or iPhone via the dock port. I would love to have the same capability to do something similar for an Android phone or tablet. This would be really useful for field recording. I know that some tablets have support for various USB accessories to be plugged in, but I don't know if the OS can handle a microphone. Is this possible using existing or near future (Ice Cream Sandwich) hardware/OS combinations?

Note that I don't plan on using the aforementioned Mikey. I would be using a Zoom H2 (http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/) which is a field recorder that doubles as a USB mic.

The range of USB device types supported "as is" by Android is limited and does not include microphones.
On the other hand, Android has the capability to work with an unlimited range of USB devices via their 'open accessories' sdk/kit/framework.  This was added in Android 3.0.
I believe they had to do it this way: existing USB devices require driver support and they can't go adding all those drivers to Android (which is a static image).  The open accessory framework will allow for devices that can be supported without loading a Linux driver.
So, you can't just go and buy a USB microphone and plug it into your Android device, but I expect we will soon start seeing USB accessories that are specifically designed to work with Android.

+1 upvote because this is something I'm interested in having worked as a radio producer and an interest in music.

"they can't go adding all those drivers to Android"  Isn't it just a single driver for all USB audio devices?

Apparently it is now possible, but only in specific apps with custom drivers, as the OS doesn't support it:

USB Audio Recorder PRO (Android Market)

The Android app USB Audio Recorder PRO allows you to record and playback audio using class-compliant USB audio devices on your Android phone or tablet! eXtream Software Development has written a custom USB audio driver from scratch because Android does not support USB audio (even Android 4.1 contrary to popular believe!).
USB Audio driver for android
  Today, there are many USB audio devices offering a rich feature set and high-end audio quality. In addition, there are many Audio apps. But none of them can access external devices, because there exist no API.
We developed a low level API, which allows app developer to support USB devices.

No, it's not supported on any Android version up to and including 4.0.3. (I've just tested this with my Zoom H4n and Asus TF101 upgraded to 4.0.3.)
There's no reason it can't be added in a future version, or maybe a third-party port. The driver exists in Linux, so it would just need to be included in Android's Linux kernel build and then given some interface for applications to get at the device.
It's still possible to use the H2 as a field recorder and then turn on its mass storage interface to access the recordings from a tablet or phone. It's not quite the same, and not useful for (say) Skype, but you could still use it for a record-edit-upload workflow.


text:
Sudden crashes and drops in battery charge
Recently I've experienced random and sudden crashes on my Galaxy S2. There is no warning or shutdown message. Suddenly it's just powered off. What could cause this? Is there any way to see what was going on just before the crash?
I've also noticed odd drops in battery charge in the screenshot below.
I'm running the official Android 2.3.5 ROM from Samsung.
.

Did you com back to stock from a custom ROM recently?  If so I wonder if the battery stats need to be reset.

@shambleh I've never installed another ROM on this phone.

The reboot itself could be causing the drop. If it needs to do something like recreate the dalvik-cache of the applications for example. You wont be able to see what caused the crash, from the logcat, because that is cleared at boot (AFAIK)

You might need to reset the battery stats anyways.  Drain the phone entirely -- when it shuts off, turn it on again until it shuts off again and repeat until it won't turn on.  Then wipe the stats and charge to 100% with the phone off (leave it plugged in for an hour or so after it appears to be fully charged).  Turn it on, drain it again, and charge to 100% while off again without wiping the stats this time.
Of course, if you're not rooted you can't wipe the stats, but the drain/recharge cycles should help regardless by providing fresh stats.

is that possible to fix without root?  or simple replace a new battery to fix this issue?


text:
Only first part of long text messages received
When someone sends me a long text message, I'm only receiving the first part of the message instead of receiving multiple messages.  I am able to consistently reproduce the issue.  When I first brought this up with Verizon support, they had me clear the data for the Messaging application, and then I started receiving all parts of a message.  However, the problem has now come back.  Obviously, I cannot constantly clear the data for the Messaging app, and even doing so does not help the fact that I'm permanently losing the full payload of messages.
Has anyone else encountered this problem and found a permanent fix?  Is there a replacement SMS app that works properly?  I've encountered this problem in the past with Android 2.3.3 and now with 2.3.4, both on my LG VS910 4G phone.

Same issue, still looking for a fix, so far for me only seems and issue when receiving from iphones.

The problem is occurring for me with non-iPhone senders as well.

I've found this problem when receiving both vcard (contacts) and vcal (calendar) messages sent from other phones as SMS. Only the subject line ("here's my contact details" for example) is given to the user, the other information is discarded.
samsung galaxy ace, android gingerbread 2.3.6

In Messaging, hit Menu key > Settings, is the Auto-retrieve checked?

Seems to be for cross-network SMS only, not a phone issue. Specifically, it seems to be messages from T-Mobile.


text:
How do I find out why my phone is locking up?
My Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S series) locks up about once per day, where the screen is frozen and it doesn't respond to any type of input. There's no pattern concerning what app I'm running at the time.  How do I find out what is causing it?
I'm running a 2.3.4-based custom ROM (Apex specifically).

I believe this issue has to do with installing a ROM over another one without wiping.  My particular ROM is Apex 9.3.  According to the associated XDA forum thread, freezing problems with this ROM have been solved by "a complete wipe including formatting sdcard, system, cache and data when flashing 9.0".
I have done so, wiping the data and cache in recovery mode, reinstalled the ROM, and I have gone a week without a severe lockup (severe meaning I have to restart the phone to get out of it).  I've had an occasional 5 second freeze or so, but that's it.
Update:  Still had issues with freeze-ups.  Turned out it was the ROM.  Went to a new ROM and have not experienced freezes.

Try removing (uninstalling) custom apps you installed in batches, and using the phone for a day or two.
Also try removing SD card if you have one. Sometimes SD card causes this, either because of faulty connection with the card or because it makes the connection to battery lose.
It is a slow method and requires patience, but is bound to work.

I've had the same problem with my Samsung Galaxy S and the Australian Samsung HO say there's nothing wrong with the phone.  I've been trying to get it fixed since July, but they won't do anything to fix it.  I think there's a fault in the phone that makes the screen freeze over - only thing you can do is turn it off, take the battery pack and SIM card out, then completely reboot it.  I reckon the screen is going to die.

How do you reboot it when it gets locked up?  Is there a button combo you can press?


text:
Can I view the sales reports/information from Android Market for my apps somewhere?
Is there a way to download the sales information for my Android apps?
For the iTunes store, Apple provides a tool for the same on iTunes Connect Sales and Trends Guide.
Are there similar tools for the Android apps' sales data? OR are there any external tools? I noticed that Appmonger is an app that provides the same. Are there any other external tools/sites?

This is only marginally on-topic as questions about the Market from a developers perspective are off-topic. (Check out the proposal for App Stores, where this would be on-topic.) However, since you're asking about, and there may be, an app for your device that would do what you need, I think it's good enough to stay.

Earnings Reports: Generated near the beginning of the month.
Estimated Sales Reports: Generated daily by adding all transactions that were CHARGED or REFUNDED recently to the current month's file. It can take several days for all new transactions to appear.

Note: Financial data is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

From Play Console Help - Download sales and payout reports


text:
How do I restore a contact I deleted on my Android phone, but not in GMail contacts?
The contact in question had the wrong phone number in Viber, so I deleted it from Viber. I later found out that Viber had deleted it from my contacts, so I had lost all of the other correct information.
Logging in to GMail contacts on the desktop showed that the contact still existed. I proceeded to correct the faulty phone number and tried to sync my contacts from my phone, but this particular contact never shows up.
Is there any way around this?

Are you sure it removed it from the phone and you're not just using the "only show contacts with phone numbers" setting? Is the Gmail contact record in the "My Contacts" group?

Method 1
Stop syncing with Google account, check that all Google contacts are gone, set up sync again.
Method 2
Remove the Google account, add it again.
(You can do both in Accounts & Sync from phone Settings.)

Try deleting and clearing your Contacts Storage (SETTINGS > APPLICATIONS > MANAGE APPLICATIONS - SHOW ALL) and re-syncing. One good thing about Google's Gmail Contacts - it retains backup sets, so you can restore previously modified / deleted contacts from within the Gmail web interface.
Or you can try creating a fresh contact with the same info and slightly changed details, like adding a comma within the postal address or adding a prefix like Mr. / Ms. etc.

Try recreating it on the phone instead, maybe just enough to make a valid entry, say name and phone # (bogus # if need be), then sync. If it takes, then fix it on Gmail from your computer.


text:
HTC Sensation sent screenshot to Google+ Instant Upload?
I got a notification on Google+ this morning showing a screenshot of my HTC Sensation's home screen.
I checked my phone, and in the 'Camera Shots' album, there is the same picture.
I never actioned a screenshot to be taken, and didn't know my phone even took screenshots!
Why and how has this happened?

A lot of the recent HTC phones can take screenshots if you press Lock and Home at the same time, that may be what you're doing by accident.
As previously stated, the Google+ app by default backs up your pictures to a (private) online album for easier sharing. This can be turned off entirely, or configured to only sync on wifi (to save your data allowance) and give you a chance to delete unwanted pictures before they're uploaded.

cheers @GAThrawn! I asked someone before if my phone can take screenshots and I got told its not possible, brilliant!

You obviously took a screenshot by accident. Since you also have Google+ installed, all pictures that are saved on a special place (in this case the 'Camera Shots' album) are automatically uploaded to your Google+ album, but not published.
You can turn off auto upload of pictures in the settings from the Google+ App.

or he could kill the ScreenCaptureService

I didn't even know the phone took screen shots. How did I accidentally take it?


text:
Reapplying market updates after using "uninstall updates"
I had an issue with an application that couldn't be updated, and solved it by uninstalling the market updates (maybe there was another method, but in my case it worked). Problem is, now I can't find a way to reapply the market updates. Before uninstalling them, the updates were applied automatically, but now half a day has passed and I still have the version that came with the phone.
Edit: In case it matters, the phone is a rooted Samsung Galaxy Ace, running the latest official firmware (2.3.4)

I went through something similar recently. In the end I just decided to wait. Give it another day or so and see if the Market app updates itself. (Mine did.)

Finally the market updated itself after force-stopping it, clearing its data and cache, starting the app again, and then exiting it and leaving the phone alone for an hour or two.

If you find the app in the Market and install it, it should update your phone's copy, and update automatically frrom then on.

There's also a checkbox in each app's description that is installed for automatic update?.

That's the problem, the market doesn't show up neither in "my apps" nor when searching for it in the market.


text:
What info does Google backup?
Does anyone know what exactly does Google backup (and restore) when you enable that option?
Also, are we able to see this list somewhere? (Maybe hidden n-levels deep in Google Account information?)
Reason I ask is I've had the unfortunate experience of my SD Card dying on me, put in a temporary SD Card and allowed Google to do the auto-restore.
Some things that were restored:

Saved wireless networks
Background
Some apps - strangely enough only a subset of my apps were restored (some with data, some without). All previous apps were installed via Android Market.

Then finally got my new SD Card, put that in and the following were restored

Saved wireless networks
Some apps - again, same problem... only a subset (different subset, even fewer apps). This time no data seemed to have been restored either.

I think it would be very helpful to be able to view/manage a list of what is backed up, and thus would be restored (but I have yet to find this list... if it even exists).

I don't think Google backs up anything on your SD card, but even if it did, I'm pretty sure your wireless networks aren't saved there, and your background also isn't unless you use a picture from your SD card, so they wouldn't be affected at all by swapping cards. Do you have a lot of apps moved to your SD card?

When I used the app restoring feature the last time I observed that some of the App downloads failed as they sometimes do in the Market. The problem is that the Market does not retry to download those Apps. Therefore after a restore you have to carefully check the notifications for failed downloads and retry them manually.

For Honeycomb (Android 3.0+) devices, the official Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb) user's guide says:
Page 13

Backing up and restoring your data
...
Many kinds of data are backed up, including:

Your Android settings, such as your Wi-Fi networks and passwords, user dictionary, and so on
Many Google application settings, such as your Browser bookmarks
The apps you download from Android Market

Some third-party apps also make use of the backup service, so if you reinstall one,
its settings and data are restored.

Page 132

Back up my data Check
to back up some of your personal data to Google servers, with your
Google Account. If you replace your tablet, you can restore the data
you’ve backed up, the first time you sign in with your Google Account.
If you check this option, a wide variety of your personal data is
backed up, including your Wi-Fi passwords, Browser bookmarks, a list
of the applications you’ve installed from Market, the words you’ve
added to the user dictionary used by the onscreen keyboard, and most
of the settings that you configure with the Settings application. Some
third-party applications may also take advantage of this feature, so
you can restore your data if you reinstall an application.

As for your list of apps, you can easily see which ones are linked to your Market account by going to https://market.android.com/mylibrary

Ah yes, that seems about right (flashed my phone with custom ROM so do expect some discrepancies). Though I do really wish they had a list somewhere! Re the market mylibrary... that list doesn't correctly reflect what I have installed on my phone :(

Nothing on your sdcard is backed up, unless you have app that syncs data between your sdcard and a "cloud service", like picasa for example which saves images on the sdcard and does "back up" to the picasa service.
Your apps are backed up, I don't know if the data is, but it could be as that would make sense to be something that is backed up. The reason you could see only a subset of apps restored could be issues with not being able to download them all at the point of restore. I have had that happen when I would flash a new ROM after a clean wipe and some apps did not automatically come back.
It also does back up settings like wireless network settings, again, you opt in to back up the data so if it has to be restored, it can be, and this would be something that, i would think, should be backed up.
There is no official (or unofficial) list, that I know of, of what is backed up. If turning on a feature to "back up your device" so it can be restored if needed, you should assume that it is going to back up all settings and app data. But it will not restore any information that is saved on the sdcard.
As eldarerathis mentioned, swapping sdcards should not cause a "device restore" from the "backup service", nor should your network settings or backgrounds or anything like that change. I can see it wanting to restore apps that you previously had installed on the old sdcard to the new sdcard but it shouldn't be restoring anything else on the device or sdcard.

In my experience, the answer is "almost nothing". See http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=17354


text:
How do I troubleshoot the updgrade process of  my ASUS Transformer to 3.2.1?
I just got a new ASUS Eee Transformer TF101.  (Ironically on the day the Prime is officially released/announced.  Oh well).
It came with Android 3.1 per the Settings page.  I tried Settings: About tablet: System Update and am told there are no updates available.
I read that 3.2 is available on these devices.  (I know 4.0/ICS is still a future thing).
How do I get to 3.2 on this device?  No obvious downloads on Asustek web page.
I am on my WiFi at home, checking mail, downloading apps, etc.
So how do I troubleshoot why the Over The Air upgrade did not show an available update, when there has been one available since early 2011 (many moons ago).
I am logged in to my Google Account. (I have my Gmail, Google Voice, and Youtube accounts all connecting ok).
What else can I check or look at, to understand why the OTA upgrade is not being made available.

possible duplicate of When will my device get the Android 3.x update (Honeycomb)?

@RyanConrad I already know from lots of web links that 3.2.1 is available on my device.  The issue is it is NOT getting the update.   So how do I troubleshoot this?

For a manual approach, I found a download link for the Firmware off the Asus site.
I think my mistake earlier was in the download pages OS selector I looked at WinXP, Win7, never considered (or noticed) that Android was an OS option.
Then you download and unzip the 250 meg file.
Then you copy it to an SD card, with ASUS as the folder at the root.
Pop it into the Tranformer, and you get a notification that it is preparing the SD card, and then that there is a Software Update available.
At that point, you are at the same basic functionality as the Over The Air upgrade path.  Make sure you are plugged in (or do not run out of power).
However, this is a workaround, as opposed to fixing the core issue, of why the OTA upgrade was not available.


text:
Using Odin to flash a custom rom
Nearly bricked my Samsung Epic Touch 4G. Managed to boot into Odin Mode with a USB jig. I'm back where I started now and need to re-evaluate what to do next.
The phone is rooted, won't see the SD Card or Internal anything. My only option is using Odin to get a custom ROM back on there. Can someone point me to a step by step? My last attempt at this led me to having to work with the USB jig to get another crack at it.
Thanks!

I merged this account with the account that asked the other question.  You should register if you want to keep control of your questions :).  Glad to hear the jig helped though.

Actually, now it wont boot at all, even with the jig. But if I can't fire it up, even with the jig, I'm assuming Sprint can't either... thanks for your advice though. A good one to bookmark.

And I merged the account that left a comment as an answer. @Rick, I suggest you actually register instead of leaving a trail of low-reputation, unregistered accounts.

You'll want to Odin a stock (or nearly stock) ROM after a softbrick.  This guide on XDA looks pretty good and includes a pre-rooted but largely stock ROM that should work for you.  If step 4 fails, disconnect and reconnect your phone to the PC; if it still fails, reboot the phone and try again.


text:
Is there a way to view the file size of an image without downloading any apps?
Got a new phone (Nexus S) and having some issues with picture messaging.  I want to check the size of the picture I took with the camera, but I can't seem to do this.  As I don't have a data plan yet, I can't download any apps to help me with this.  Is there a way to find the file size on the device without apps or connecting to a computer (no USB cable)

Does your Gallery app have a "Details" item in the menu when viewing a picture? On CyanogenMod I can view a picture then press Menu->More->Details and file size is listed there, but I don't know if it's a CM thing or a vanilla Gingerbread thing.

No file size in details unfortunately

I assume there are no free WiFi locations that you can presently connect to the Net through nearby? Perhaps like some stores / coffee shops / IT retailers etc? You can get a file manager from the market using that WiFi connection.

Is there a file manager called "My Files"? Most Samsung phones have that by default now, although I'm unsure if Vanilla Google Android on the Nexus S will have that. Check file size through that.

No My files on Vanilla that I can see anyways

Like other Nexus phones, the Nexus S has only Google apps, with no manufacturer customizations.


text:
Why is the connection between the Android emulator and a PC so slow?
Host OS: Windows 7 x86
Android emulator target: 2.3.3
When I execute 'adb pull' or 'adb push' with emulator - transfer speed is about 70KB/s.
When I do this with real device it's normal USB speed. Why is this?

Because the emulator is buggy and slow and should be avoided if possible when developing. I'm assuming its because of the general problem with emulators, it is trying to mimic hardware functions on a software level which is extremely inefficient.

I agree with you that it's slow because it emulates arm architecture on x86, but it's not so buggy.

Now I use emulator for testing custom images. Yesteday I rooted standart Android 2.3.3 image and installed Android Market on it. To do so I needed to build system.img from /system fs with mkfs.yaffs2 and then pulling system.img from emulator and this was very long, because image is ~90MB size. Also I do not understand where is bottleneck in transfer, I think it's more an implementation detail or restriction.


text:
Wi-Fi connects but can't browse
I'm opening a virtual router through my laptop, and my Galaxy S2 can see and connect to it fine. However, when I try to do anything that requires the network, it doesn't work (for example, I can't browse). The top bar shows the wireless icon and the connection appears perfect. What is causing this?

What operating system is your laptop running and how are you setting up the connection on the laptop?

windows7, i'm creating hot spot trough mhotspot, and it's working how i sad but why can't do any stuff in the phone when it seys that i'm connected

What do you mean "do anything that is connected to a network"? Like access //mycomputername?
Connecting to a share on a computer connected to the same network is not part of wifi, it is another protocol called SMB or CIFS. Android does not support connecting to cifs out of the box. There are apps that allow you to browse for files on network shares, like Astro File Manager (with the SMB plugin).
There are Custom ROMs that do have built in support for CIFS, like CyanogenMod for example.

But i don't need to share files, i need to share network connection.

so you want to share your internet connection from your phone with your computer?

No.. from the computer to the phone

the computer doesn't share its network connection when you have a router. but I don't really think I understand your question then. If you are connected to the wireless router then you should have internet access on your device.

Man, I have virtual router, it's not a device, just a router. Doesn't mater i'll try something about the DNS and IP becouse, i think this is the problem, and will produce results, soon.


text:
How can I charge an ASUS Transformer while connected to USB?
Currently I'm developing with my Nexus S but would like to use Asus Transformer for that.
So far I figured that device won't charge from USB. And for me - I need to have it on USB for debugging while charged and ON all the time.
Is that even possible? How long device lives on battery when 100% on?
EDIT
I look at keyboard accessory and it looks good. It seems that I can charge and it will serve as a stand. But I'm not sure if USB in keyboard will work for debugging?

Dev questions are off-topic here so I modified the title, I think the core question is OK.

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer uses a USB 3.0 cable. I've seen noises elsewhere on the 'net that it will only charge on a USB 3.0 socket. This is likely associated with the extra power only available on USB 3.0.


text:
Nook Color - Honeycomb ROM

Possible Duplicate:
Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

Is there a stable Honeycomb ROM for the Nook Color that can be installed on the phone's memory  and not exclusively run off an SD card?
I am currently running CM 7.1 and like the stability I get but might be willing to sacrifice it to try out HC.

Do note that any HC "rom" you find will be an emulator based rom since HC source was never released.


text:
OpenVPN browser tunneling
I hope I do not say silly things, or discounted, but I'm a newbie, at least for vpn.
I want use my browser to connect on my corporate intranet via VPN connection, but I'm not able to do it.
Someone can help me?
Some information:
I tried 2 way to confgure OpenVPN:

I've configured OpenVPN via openvpn-settings apps (using pre-created cert files located on /openvpn ). The .ovpn config files sound like
 port yyyy
dev tun
\#dev-node ovpn
proto tcp-client
remote xxx1.xxxx.it yyyy
remote xxx2.xxxx.it yyyy
remote xxx3.xxxx.it jjj
remote xxx4.xxxx.it jjj
ping 30

persist-tun persist-key

tls-client
ca xxx.ca.crt
cert xxx.aaaa.bbbb.crt
key xxx.aaaa.bbbb.key

ns-cert-type server
comp-lzo
pull
verb 5

I connect to VPN with no problems, and I can use for example ssh to connect on my corporate Linux server.

I've created a VPN from Menu->Settings-> Wireless & network-> VPN settings -> add VPN-> add VPN OpenVPN and set parameters according with the previous .ovpn config file
I connect also to VPN with no problems, and I can use for example ssh to connect on my corporate linux server.

On both cases I'm not able to browse intranet. So I checked the IP address I go out with, pointing to http://m.showip.net/, and it displayed my provider IP, not the assigned VPN IP!
Is it possible that VPN don't tunnel all traffic? Maybe I need to change the default gateway somehow?
My O.S. is

Android 2.3.7
kernel 2.6.35.14-nFinity
ROM Cyanogenmod 7.1.0.1 stable
Phone HTC Wildfire (Buzz)

Make sure you have this --redirect-gateway in your configuration file.
That option is documented on the OpenVPN man page

 --redirect-gateway

Automatically execute routing commands to cause all outgoing IP traffic to be redirected over the VPN.

This option performs three steps:

    Create a static route for the --remote address which forwards to the pre-existing default gateway. This is done so that (3) will not create a routing loop.

    Delete the default gateway route.

    Set the new default gateway to be the VPN endpoint address (derived either from --route-gateway or the second parameter to --ifconfig when --dev tun is specified).

When the tunnel is torn down, all of the above steps are reversed so that the original default route is restored.


text:
Is the Eee Pad Transformer able to determine latitude and longitude?
Does the Eee Pad Transformer have a way to determine it's current latitude and longitude (e.g. a GPS chip)? I am writing an application where I need those values to identify, for example, if I am upstairs or downstairs or in the car.

And how do you think you can determinate upstair/downstair location?
Transformer has GPS receiver, but its precision in indoor use is way too low to have a reliable altitude reading.

Aircraft have a barometric altimeter (and military ones have also a radar altimeter) for this purpose. I'm afraid but AFAIK you can't do what you're asking for with the GPS data. And keep in mind that on the first floor GPS reception will be really bad.

I don't know any "standard computing platform" (already built) suitable for this kind of tracking. And I thing you'll have to deploy your own network of "beacons" to do what you want from a mobile device. Something like a bluetooth/wifi xmitter in each room, with specific antenna irradiation patterns (to avoid overlapping areas). From the device, you can then read SSID and signal strenght and triangulate the position of the device.


text:
How can I edit Office documents on an Android tablet and keep compatibility?
In our office, there's a new Eee Pad Transformer. It was supposed to replace a netbook for giving presentations and editing Microsoft Office documents on the go (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
There have been some issues:

The office solutions they currently tried can only read Microsoft Office files (like Documents To Go)
Polaris Office with write support produce Microsoft Office files that fail to open in Office 2007 Claim by the owner of the device, I can't try it.

The questions are:

Is there any way to produce PDF files from such documents? This would at least make it possible to just export presentations to PDF in order to share them.
Is there a (preferably free) office solution that guarantees compatibility with Office 2007/2010?
Any other workarounds?

Don't ask how to accomplish your self made-up workaround, ask how to solve the problem instead. This will most likely result in better answers.

@Flow I know what you mean, and generally I also advise others to do so, but I can't currently tackle the writing/compatibility thing, and there is a need for PDF writing anyway.

I have MobiSystems OfficeSuite 5 for my Android (phone, not tablet though).  But I have never had any problems editing files, saving them and then opening them in Office 2007 & 2010.  It does not have a save as PDF, but it does let you save in either .doc or .docx formats for word, xls & xlsx for Excel, and .ppt & pptx for Powerpoint

Have you considered uploading the documents to Google Docs and using the Android Google docs app in the tablet?
We use this system to allow mobile devices to access shared documents and work pretty well. I you combine this with Google Cloud connect you can edit the documents directly from Office when you are at the office or from Google Docs when you are away.

If there's nothing better, Adobe has a free-to-use (except your doc't goes to their site: slight privacy risk) conversion web app; see their main site..


text:
Voice Activation: Send Email: Recipient Name not working
I have disabled Contacts sync with all my Google Accounts and deleted all my contacts. Then I added a simple email contact Type: Phone (as opposed to SIM or Google Account). Name Bob, and a valid address for Bob's company email.
I say "Send Email To Bob (pause) Test" And I get an email form with a blank To and a body that says "To Bob Test".
How can I fix this?
It is a bit odd, because it is obviously expecting a pause in the middle of the whole thing, but it still manages to not realize that "Send Email To Bob,,,, Test" means "Send Email To Bob,, and put Test in the body".

It needs to be a Google contact. Your voice request is sent to Google's servers to be parsed and it looks for the information in your Google Contacts. The server can't query your phone.
See this Google Help thread.


text:
Simple To-Do widget that syncs between phones
I have tried many widgets for a shopping/task list, but can't find one that fits my criteria. I would like it to:

Be SIMPLE - add and delete items right from the widget
Sync automatically between my wife's phone and mine
Not be date-based - I want to see ALL items until I complete them
Each item goes away when marked as complete

Any suggestions? Wunderlist is very close, but only shows "todays tasks".

I love Wunderlist but, like you said, the widget is seriously lacking. Do-It Tomorrow has a really nice looking widget but though the app is free, the widgets cost so I won't recommend that as an answer.

Remember the milk. (RTM)
At least adding a todo from the widget is possible. You can use the widget to open the list of todos the widget is configured to display and then delete / mark as complete tasks.
You can share tasks with other RTM users (i.e. your wife). Tasks don't automatically go away from the widget (unless you configure it explicitly via a smart list).

That looks like a decent option. However, widgets are only available with PRO, which is $25/year (x2 for my wife!). I'd prefer free, but might settle on this one if nothing else comes along. Thank you!

Have you considered Todo.txt Touch? (While it's $2 in the Market, if you don't care about getting automated updates, you can download it for free from the author's site.)
It expands on the simple philosophy of Todo.txt where your to-do list should just be a simple text file.
While you'll need to use Dropbox and share the file, once it's set up you don't really need to touch it except on your phones.
Here's how you'd set it up (assuming you and your wife share a computer):

Set up your todo.txt in a todo directory in Dropbox (basic Dropbox is free and is a great tool)
Install Todo.txt Touch on your phone and give it your Dropbox credentials
Repeat step 2 for your wife's phone
Now you have a shared, as-powerful-or-as-simple-as-you-need To-Do resource

Here's how you'd set it up (if you and your wife don't share a computer):

Set up your todo.txt in a todo directory in Dropbox
Share your todo directory with your wife's Dropbox account
Install Todo.txt Touch on your respective phones, using your own Dropbox credentials
Now you have a shared, as-powerful-or-as-simple-as-you-need To-Do resource

It seems like it might be a lot of work, but it's not. Further, you only need a simple text editor to work with your todo.txt file while at home.

Nice suggestion! I found your post here and this great article on Lifehacker. http://lifehacker.com/5859642/why-you-should-set-up-your-to+do-list-in-a-plain-text-file-and-how-to-do-it


text:
ERD and flowchart editors
I'm looking for a ERD (entity relationship diagram) editor for tablets and also a flowchart diagram... Haven't found any till now...
Does anybody knows some good app for that?

Don't know about ERD -- but there some (flowchart) diagram editors around:

AndyUML can create and share simple UML diagrams. It's not "drawing", you rather "write the code", like with Graphviz
Dianoid can Create diagrams, uml-like flowcharts, mind-maps and sketches quickly and easily.
DroidDia describes itself as similar as Microsoft Visio, but for Android tablets and phones.
Smart Diagram says: Usage: Flow Chart, Tree Diagram, Mind Map, etc

There might be some more -- but this should get you started.
Some screenshots: Dianoid (left), AndyUML (right).


text:
What is the difference between swiftkey and swiftkey x?
Using the Amazon Appstore I have "Swiftkey" and "Swiftkey X". When I install one there is an update for the other. It's getting confusing. What is the difference and which one should I install?

The SwiftKey website no longer lists anything called "SwiftKey" only "SwiftKey X". I have to assume this means "SwiftKey" was an earlier product, possibly a beta?

Swiftkey wasn't a beta. Just that 'Swiftkey' was renamed to 'SwiftKey X' to indicate a brand new version.


text:
How can I make the phone automatically disable mobile connection when calling?
I recently moved from 2G network to 3G.
On 2G when I call somebody - the phone automatically suspends the mobile Internet (since it cannot send data and voice at the same time) and activates back when the call ends.
Now on 3G I just cannot call when the mobile Internet is active (no matter whether it downloads something or not) - the call is reset immediately. At the same time I can receive calls, i.e. if somebody calls me - the phone rings and I can talk.
If I disable the mobile Internet and use WiFi (or do not use any connection) - it works fine.
Changing the network type (auto, 3G, etc...) doesn't help.
Android 2.3.3. Go Launcher + Go Contacts Ex.
Two questions:

Is this an issue with the phone?
Is there something I can tune inside the phone to make it auto-switch the mobile Internet like it was on 2G (maybe 3rd party application or patch/fix)?

You may want to talk to your carrier about your phone or service because data is separate from  voice (if you are not on a CDMA network). Voice is using GSM/UMTS and data is HSPA. Your data network usage should never interrupt your voice call, even if you use CDMA. The voice should take priority and stop the data usage to make the call. There is either an issue with the network you are on, or the phone.


text:
HTML Rich Text Emails From Phone
I'm a teleworker and can work from anywhere in the world. I want to be able to send email messages from my phone without having them switch to plain text. My clients think I'm not working hard if I'm not glued to my computer and the plain text lets them know that I'm using a mobile device.
Thanks!

Enhanced Email claims to support outgoing HTML emails.

Thanks!  I'll check that app out. Hope it works with my secure exchange.