text:
Can I sync my Kindle books with my Android phone?
I have just bought a Kindle and the cool thing about it is you have an email address @kindle.com where you can send your books and it automatically converts it to a .azw and syncs it with your Kindle. I was under the impression it would also sync the books with all your devices, including the Kindle app on my Android phone (Isn't this the whispersync thing?). However, it doesn't seem to do this. Is there way to also sync all my books to my phone as well as my Kindle automatically?

Have you tried manually syncing?

@Matthew: With a large number of books, this is effort.

I meant through the app itself (Menu -> Sync) but I guess that won't help according to Matt's answer.

That might work according to the other Matt's comment. I never tried adding a .mobi file directly to the sd card, I only tried a pdf and txt.

It currently doesn't sync outside content with your phone, no pdfs, txts, emails... only kindle books you get from amazon.  I have tried to manually load pdfs with no luck. I believe the functionality is planned but not yet implemented.

I've managed to get downloaded (free) .mobi files into Kindle by simply copying them to the 'kindle' folder on my sd card. I haven't tried PDFs. I got my .mobi files from the Project Gutenberg website.

@Matt H didn't know that you could do that! Sounds like I need to start copying some of my outside content across from my Kindle to my phone.

@Matt H: It worked on my WildFire running Froyo (Android 2.2) but only after I force closed the Kindle app and started it up again. It didn't happen immediately. Just so people trying that know. Thanks and +1 for confirming what I suspected though.

There is a folder on your sd card called Kindle.
Just move the book there.
If you are having trouble downloading it, try dropbox.
Worked for me.

If you look at your Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon (the same page where you set the email address up) you can see that the Kindle email address is specifically assigned to one Kindle device. If you had more than one Kindle device, then you can assign different email addresses to each. The upside of this for Kindle owners is that you and other family members can both have Kindle's on the same account (and thus share books) but you can avoid bombarding anyone else with your documents (if you did want to send to both at the same time, you just list both addresses in the "To" box when you send the email).
The fact that Amazon don't allow you to set up an email address for any non-Kindle device (and I have the Kindle app installed on my laptop as well as my phone) suggests to me that they're keeping the conversion service as a "value-add" incentive for people who've bought a Kindle device. It's also worth bearing in mind that the conversion process will use some of their computing resources and cost them (albeit a tiny amount compared to the rest of their business) this could be the reason that it's only open to paying customers.

Or you could use Calibre from calibre-ebook.com tho convert your .mobi files to .epub files (it does .epub to .mobi as well) either singly or en mass, so you can read your books on all devices. Hope this helps.


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Are all Android phones good for accessibility?
Can you recommend Android phones that are better for a visually impaired person?

All phones ever since 1.6 have been accessible. However 2.0 and later (and especially 2.2) are much better at it. I think you'll be safe with any phone 2.0 or later (which is almost all of them now-a-days).

source: Stack Exchange

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

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sort: votes


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Sharing contacts on HTC Desire HD
I have a stock Desire HD using HTC Sense and am having trouble sharing contacts. When I choose mail as a method to send contacts it doesn't offer me the choice to use my Gmail account?
Anyone have any idea why?
Really wish there was an option to turn off sense without rooting :(

What options does it offer?

2 suggestions which are more workarounds than answers:

set up the Mail app to access (and send from) your GMail account via IMAP, or
send the contact to your GMail account using the 'Mail' option (i.e. from whatever account you do have set up) and then forward it on from there.

In the end, having tried a few things, I installed a free app called qr code (barcode for the app: http://db.tt/sNcfBdS) and used that to create and send a mail with it attached.
Again, a work around rather than a direct solution but thought I would share what I did. This has the limitation that you can't share contacts which you have lots of data stored for unless you only choose to share a couple if bits of info (which qr code lets you do).
The answer seems to be that you can't use your gmail unless you do so via imap, so i have marked matt h's as an answer.

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text:
open messages to a contact at bottom of list
When I open my messages list with a contact (I presume this is the same across all androids, and not my htc legend) it has the message history with that contact...if you have just received a message from them, the new message is at the bottom and you always have to scroll to it...is there a way to make it so that the new message is focused? or that newer messages are in view by default or by sorting?
Edit
Seems to be a HTC Sense messages app bug...Anyone with HTC Sense not have this problem?

Default messaging app? I don't see this with default or handcent app on htc incredible.

I have an HTC Incredible and I don't have this problem. I do, however, occasionally have to scroll all the way through the messages, and have not figured out why.

HTC Desire stock Froyo rom. I don't see this behaviour. Default message app shows the last messages by default. If I use the contact app (tab with message conversations) I see the more recent messages at the top.
I can confirm that like Kevin M on rare occasions the messaging app will show the earliest messages instead and I have to scroll to the bottom. That's a bug for sure, I've seen it only a couple of times though...

I'm on 2.1 so maybe it will be resolved once the 2.2 update is provided by my carrier.

HTC provided the Froyo (2.2) update for my phone for my carrier which I've now installed and it is no longer a problem. Furthermore, the messaging app in 2.2 is a lot better than 2.1, so happy user all round here.

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AVG by DroidSecurity - legit? Useful?
Re-post from StackOverflow, when suggested this was a more appropriate forum. I originally posted this on Whirlpool as well - I am very interested to see what new input I can get from this community.
I was looking at AVG by DroidSecurity in the marketplace today and am a bit confused. On the free version there is recent feedback saying that AVG isn't affiliated with the app and other comments saying it is malware that slows the machine, deletes data and sends spam. But my Googling skills reveal articles saying AVG acquired DroidSecurity.
So, has anyone on this forum had experience with this app?
And... do I really need an anti-virus on my Android device? Is it so bad? Are we talking about bad things coming from .. what, apps, email or web pages? I am coloured by my experience with iPhone, nothing evil to worry about so far.
Also, if there's nothing to worry about, what are these AV apps doing? Scanning with an empty database?

This article about a new trojan should give you an idea of the current level of threats: http://www.androidcentral.com/security-firm-lookout-warns-against-geimini-trojan-hitting-android-china

I have no experience with this specific app, however here's my two cents on the second half of your question.
The Android security model is very well thought out. Android runs on the Linux kernel (a modified version) and sandboxes every app through a variety of measures, including running each under a different user account. The biggest legitimate threat you have is installing malicious apps. Most likely these will be trojans that ask for reasonable permissions (reading your SD card, communicating with the network) and use them for nefarious purposes.
If I remember correctly, the malware prevention portion of AVG works by scanning apps before you install them, much like desktop virus scans work. This is a reasonable way of protecting you, malicious apps can be added to a database and you are warned if anything you download (from either the internet or the Market) is known to be Bad. The only catch is that Google usually removes illegal and malicious app from the Play Store within a few days of it becoming available. (I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to back that claim up though)
So if you're installing a lot of apps from sources other than the Play Store, or you don't trust Google to quickly catch malicious apps, installing an anti-virus is probably a good bet.

Nicely answer @num1; a good description of the issue in general and I thank you sincerely. Based upon your input, I am inclined to keep the app. I cannot say with any real degree of confidence that all apps I see on the marketplace are legit: there are enough spam and outright conflicting comments against some apps that I am not wholly convinced that reputation alone is a good guide (on my first trip to market I marked multiple comments as spam). Certainly I did NOT see this level of divisiveness on iTunes. Flame me if you like; it is simply how I see it.

So, now I wonder if anyone has experience with AVG by DroidSecurity...

I found this article a few minutes ago, You might find it interesting. http://blog.mylookout.com/2010/12/geinimi_trojan/

Truth is, scanning consumes CPU cycles, which in turn consumes battery juice...

Also, if there's nothing to worry about, what are these AV apps doing? Scanning with an empty database?

That's why it should be avoided at all costs and ignore the so-called anti-virus products as that's fear-mongering into scaring you psychologically and likely,  end up "paying for their product" so that you'd feel 'safer' and lulling you into a false sense of security!
Ultimately it boils down to a bit of common-sense and double-check on the reviews and weigh it up carefully, users are not likely to bother reading what sort of permissions there are, the reviews, and so on, especially, from countries where buying an app is impossible due to legalities and restrictions within that country's jurisdiction and laws!
In relation to permissions, that is why developers post explicitly on the Overview page on the Play Store, what sort of permissions there are and explain it, around the top of the page, due to the fact end-users themselves are not bothering to click on the 'Permissions' tab page!
Henceforth, for some users, who do not want to buy, they ultimately end up being the victim and also for users from these countries, which end up resorting to downloading from unknown and dodgy websites, so don't be downloading from dodgy warez websites either!
Pro-tip If you happen to be in one of those countries or that you don't want to buy, email the developer of the app personally and ask them if some sort of agreement can be made, it can be done, perhaps by using paypal or similar... developers are not "out to get you", in fact, they are friendly! :)

YES to be blunt, Android apps can easily, be modified by someone who has knowledge of the code, due to their nature, and quite likely, to have some malicious code (read not virus.. but a trojan!) that fools the user, into thinking the app is "all-good" when in fact behind the scenes, it is sending out some logs/emails etc... that is often the reason why there should be a firewall in place to block unknown apps for a few days and monitor it. The sad truth, is, no-one gives a damn or care about that and end up posting "why is my phone bill so high?" or "Why is my battery getting sucked down very quickly?"
It is those clues that are the dead-giveaway of something quirky going on and should set off alarm bells in the head as in "Oh, that's funny, ever since I installed X app, this started appearing" but are the end-users going to care.. and carry on in denial...?

That is where the so called Anti-virus software vendors kick in... hence a vicious circle ensues...
Not to be an alarmist, remember this much: Android is not equal to Windows where viruses and malware are more commonly seen and prevalent!


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Is it possible to start an FTP session via bash?
Is it possible to start a session with an Android Samsung Galaxy smartphone through a bash shell to access files remotely?

Are you asking about starting an ftp client or server? on the phone or on a remote system?

You can also consider using SSH for opening a remote shell session and for file transfer.

Search for SwiFTP or FTPServer in the market. They turn your phone into an FTP server and will let you connect using the client of your choice, which would include the bash ftp client.

I use Wifi File Explorer and I've found it works great.

Nice for you -- but how does that relate to the question?


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How to delete the history and cache in Opera Mobile (10.1) via shell?
I run Opera Mobile 10.1 on Android. My device is rooted. How can I clear the history and cache of the browser via shell?
As su, removing

/data/data/com.opera.browser/opera/profiles/smartphone/cookies4.dat
/data/data/com.opera.browser/opera/profiles/smartphone/cache
/data/data/com.opera.browser/opera/profiles/smartphone/cacheO

and a

/system/xbin/busybox killall -9
com.opera.browser

afterwards doesn't seem to do the job. Afterwards, bookmarks etc. are still there.
In Opera Mini I found it easy to just delete

/data/data/com.opera.mini.android/cache/webviewCache
/data/data/com.opera.mini.android/databases

but unfortunately, Opera Mini in it's current version has a bug and doesn't work on most devices.
Edit:
Another approach I tried is to kill the Opera process, then set an entry in the opera.ini, referring to http://www.opera.com/support/usingopera/operaini/#private:
[Clear Private Data Dialog]
CheckFlags=1023

but it doesn't cause Opera to clear the history and cache after a restart.

How about if you do a dump of the filesystem before and after clearing the cache and compare what has changed? For example, browse something to generate some cache, copy the filesystem to directory before-clear, clear the cache and copy again to directory after-clear. After this run a diff on the directories, eg. diff -q before-clear after-clear > differing_files.txt . After this you can check relevant files for changes and see if you can clear the cache just by removing/editing these files. Although, this only works if the cache is file-based, not in a db.
NOTE: this is just an idea, don't have a rooted phone to test it.

With Opera Mobile open,

Click on the Wrench Icon
Click on Settings
Scroll down and click on Privacy
From there you should see Options to Clear History, Password, Cookies, Cache, and Shared Locations.

Thanks for the reply, but as mentioned, I need to do it via shell, not manually in the browser.

@Mathias Lin: You're telling us your solution, not your problem. Why do you need to use the shell if you can use Opera to delete Opera's stuffs?

@Lie Ryan: It's not a solution I'm describing, it's a requirement - the problem is that I don't see where the history etc. is stored, even though I delete the entire cache directory. I need to find a way to clear the history and cache automatically from my own app, therefore from my app I want to call a shell script to clear the history. In my use case I cannot have the user to manually interact. So basically my question is, where does the data reside and which files to delete. For Opera Mini it's clear, but for Opera Mobile it's not very obvious which files to delete or where to find it.

Of course if there's any other way than a shell script/command to clear, it's also fine, but I guess there's no intent for that to call, so command line is the only way if I don't want manual user interaction.


text:
Apps that start on their own

Possible Duplicate:
apps automatically starting?

Hello!
I am using Android 2.2. I've downloaded and installed an application called Advanced Task Manager from ReChild. It always shows lots of applications open, none that appear in the pre-installed Task Manager that came with the phone. Besides a few that I do actually use, there's some, like the Press Reader, that I have never opened, yet today I saw this particular app in the list of applications I could select to stop.
Any idea why this happens? I normally wouldn't care too much if the device wasn't on battery and was plugged in.
Thank you.

See also: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/4089/android-2-2-how-to-see-applications-that-run-at-start-up

ReChild's app is called Advanced Task Killer and there is very little reason for you to use it.  In most cases, using a task killer will hurt the performance of your device.
Android is not like Microsoft Windows.  It is designed to keep the devices memory filled and to manage that memory on demand, killing apps only when more memory is demanded.  If you kill an app, Android will start another one to run in the background and take up that extra memory.  So killing an app which forces Android to start another one and write that to memory is going to use more system resources and drain the battery faster than letting Android go about its business.  It is unnerving to look at what running and see some stupid bloatware app that you never use but don't despair, it is not hurting your performance.
That being said there are exceptions to the rule.  Android in general is designed to manage the memory so you don't have to but, Froyo is much more effective at this that than earlier versions.  I found that even though it wasn't theoretically needed, the task killer was effective in Android 2.1.  Also, poorly coded apps may go rouge and begin to unnecessarily hog resources.  It's appropriate to kill these apps, but you should be uninstalling once you identify a bad app.  As far as a list, I don't know of any.  It would change very frequently as apps are updated and bugs are fixed.
There are a couple programs that ARE going to be more effective in helping you manage you apps and resources...
Watchdog Task Manager: This app watches your apps and will notify you if one starts to behave badly and hog too many resources.  This is a good way to identify problems so you can efficiently address them.
AutoKiller Memory Optimizer (root only) or Auto Memory Manager:  Android watches how you use your device and tries to intelligently prioritize which apps get killed when more memory is needed.  If you want a little more control of this decision making process, these apps let you set the out-of-memory priorities that Android will follow when deciding which apps get to stay running and which apps get killed.
So, to sum it up and answer your question...

Any idea why this happens?

Because Android was designed to do this, so go with the flow.

Matt, could you suggest a good reference about the Android operating system so that I can get a better grasp of what it is, rather than looking at it as being a PC OS (like Windows) only for mobiles?

@Francisc look at the Android developer's guide: http://developer.android.com/intl/de/guide/index.html specifically the lifecycle of an app: http://developer.android.com/intl/de/guide/topics/fundamentals.html#actlife Basically all apps are made out of activities that exist on a stack.  Every time you press the back button, you pop off the top activity and see what was under it.  Pressing home essentially clears your stack, but you can still switch back to the most recent activities.  As the phone needs more memory, it kills off old activities.

Here's another good source for more info: http://lifehacker.com/5650894/android-task-killers-explained-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them


text:
Disable SMS (Messaging) icon in for a Contact
When you tap the contact icon for someone, it always offers to let you SMS a phone number. What if you do not want to ever SMS that number, is there a checkbox somewhere that lets you turn off that method of communication for a specific number in the Contacts database?

No, there isn't, AFAIK.
You can however specify a default number if there are more than 1 number. That way the phone will dial the default no. instead of popping up a list when the phone icon is tapped.

I use Handcent SMS in place of standard android one.
This has allows you to show only Mobile numbers. This cuts out quite a lot of unwanted numbers.
If there are still numbers you don't want to see then you could change the type from from "mobile" to a custom type of say "mobileprivate"


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How to import Contacts from old Sony Ericsson C702 to Xperia X10?
How can I import contacts from non-android phone?
Are there dedicated applications?
What I want to avoid is doubling contacts when moving them from old phone to SIM card and then to new phone.
Any suggestions?

Can you get your contacts from your old phone into GMail? Android syncs very nicely with GMail, so if you can do that you won't need to worry about copying to and from the SIM card.

Unfortunately this phone is too old to be capable of such sophisticated feature :)

Your phone doesn't need to be in any way sophisticated to do this. The Sony Ericsson PC Suite software mentioned below should allow you to download your contacts from your old phone to a PC. You should then have the option to export/save these as a CSV file. The Contacts section of GMail has an Import option where you can upload this CSV file, this should get all your Contacts into GMail and then they'll sync down to your new phone. See some other contact import questions like http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/467/how-do-i-transfer-my-phone-numbers-to-an-android-phone

I have no prior experience with Sony Erricsson software, but I think their PC Suite solution (found here) deals with the syncing of Contacts etc.

I just succeeded in transferring all  my C702 contacts to Gmail via the Sony Ericsson C702 PC suite.  My new Samsung Galaxy S2 was updated with my contacts within a few minutes with no further measures, though I had logged into my Gmail account via the Samsung phone earlier.  I tried Bluetooth transfer from the C702 which didn't work, although I didn't try the X10 transfer route.

You can use powerful and free software MyPhoneExplorer (from www.fjsoft.at). It works with all SonyEricsson Old phones and most Android phones (including X10). You can easily backup contacts from C702 to your PC and then import the contacts to your X10.

To all: don't use this software. It is free, yes, but it installs a ton of malware that is not so easy to delete (you'll need to remove several system tasks, stop/remove two or three system services, kill some processes and then physically delete malware executables/dlls). I spent about an hour removing all this stuff, yet I'm not sure that my system is completely clean now.

@sam.kozin: Thanks for the warning. I've used it years ago. It is a versatile software and probably the best software for handling  sony erricsson phones. I am going to install it in a sandbox (Sandboxie ) and use it.

The X10 Phone Book application can import vCard-files.
I imported my Palm Centro contact list successfully using 1.6, but it failed in 2.1. I think the import facility in 2.1 is a lot pickier. I'm sure it'll import fine if I clean up the vCard file a bit. I've written to Sony Ericsson and complained as well.

As a last resort you can use Bluetooth to send the contacts to the new phone. Just select all contacts and send them to the X10 (pair first) and then set the X10 to accept all incoming files from the C702. After all contacts have been sent (they're separate vCard files) go to the phone book and press Menu -> More -> Import contacts -> Memory card and select the contacts from your bluetooth folder. Haven't tested with SE phones but worked with Nokia->Samsung and Samsung->Samsung.

I would recommend doing it via bluetooth. In first place the PC-Companion for C702 is not the same version as for the Xperia, so you will have two installations. And when I've tried syncing through the sonyerricson online sync service (SynML) I've faced the problem that some number types ("mobile (privat)" and "mobile (work)") could be exported to the online service, but not imported back to the Xperia. They were missing on my Xperia. So make sure if "mobile (privat)" and "mobile (work)" numbers of your C702 are missing on your XPERIA. Seems that number types "mobile (privat)" and "mobile (work)" have problems being accepted on other phones. But when I did it via bluetooth, Android switched the number types correctly on the fly.


text:
Does Android resolution matter for other than clarity?
In Android OS, does screen resolution matter in applications?
Obviously a phone with 800x480 resolution is going to look much sharper than a 320x480 one, but is that the only difference? Do the icons and such scale at different resolutions or just look sharper?
Can I actually fit a lot more on the screen on the higher res phones (such as when you increase the resolution on a desktop PC?) I am looking for an inexpensive Android phone that doesn't require Sprint's bogus $10 "4G fee". Unfortunately, it looks like the only phone that is decent and doesn't require this fee is the LG Optimus S (free right now). However, the resolution is 320x480. I'm going to check it out in a store soon but wanted to see what you experts think.
Thank you!

If it's helpful at all - I have an EVO and I recently got my fiancee an Optimus for Christmas. The difference in the screens is very obvious, but I don't think the Optimus is half bad. It definitely looks pixelated and fuzzy compared to my EVO, but it wasn't hard on the eyes or anything. From what I can tell, everything is scaled down (so I can't "fit more" on my screen), and she's quite happy with her Optimus. Actually, she's playing solitaire on it as I'm writing this...

No, what matters for clarity is acuity, or the "number of pixels versus screen size versus viewing distance". A 800x480 image shown on a 100" monitor seen 30 cm viewing distance would look awfully pixelated, while 480x320 screen on a 2" monitor seen at the same viewing distance would look very sharp.
LG Optimus S has a 480x320 pixels on a 3.2 inch screen (i.e. 2.66x1.78 inch screen). The pixel density of LG Optimus S is (480/2.66 = 320/1.78) = 180 pixel per inch, IOW the size of a single pixel is 1/180 inch.
On a viewing distance of 20 cm (the typical viewing distance for a phone), 180 pixel per inch translates to 0.04233 arcminute per pixels. For comparison, human eyes can resolve 0.3 arcminute in a good lighting condition.
The extra resolution gives programs two options; it can either use it to fit more stuff in the same area, or it could use higher resolution images and produce sharper display. Home screens often do not do the first since it will make the icons smaller and more difficult to press, instead they calculate the amount of stuff to fit from the actual physical size of the screen instead of the resolution.

To answer your question, yes screen resolution matters in the use of third-party application. Although by design a application should not care what the resolution is but over all the applications I have installed on my phone it is clear that the larger the resolution the more the application becomes visible.
Take one of the default application, as an example, if you were to use a smaller resolution parts of the application will become hidden. Sometimes the options are not accessible because of a designer forgetting to acknowledgment the possibility of smaller resolution.
I suggest to get a phone capable of larger resolutions, or find an Android Build that can mimic the larger resolutions.


text:
How can I run Flash on a Pandigital novel hacked to run Android 2.1 (Eclair)?
I have a white Pandigital novel that I hacked to run 2.1.
I followed these instructions to the letter(except I don't have the market so I got Apps Installer elsewhere), but when I finished, nothing was different. (yes, I remembered to reboot.)  www.whatismyflash.com says my current flash version is "None or Disabled".  Anyone know what's happening?  There was also nothing related to flash in the launcher.  Should there be?  However, Apps Installer insists that my flash apk is installed.
Note: I am aware of this similar question but that question asks for a flash app and my question asks "Why isn't my flash app working?"
Other Note: I tried some games in Skyfire and they didn't work so please no "just try Skyfire" answers.

Those instructions are BS.  Flash does not work on 2.1.  However, there are several devices that run Flash Lite (it came on my Galaxy S Vibrant, for example).  Someone with Flash Lite tried that and thought they had real Flash when really they just had Lite, and it spread for a while before being debunked.  Just read the comments on that post.
Edit: According to Lie Ryan's comment below, full flash is compiled for ARMv7 chips, and so won't work on other processors even with 2.2.
Edit 2: Adobe now has a list of devices that run Flash: http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/certified_devices/

more correctly, Flash only works in devices shipping with ARMv7 CPU architecture. No devices that does not originally ships with Froyo (or later) ships with ARMv7. Even if you upgrade your device to Froyo, you won't magically be able to run Flash if it does not come with the correct CPU architecture.

@Lie @Matt: I guess that answers that.  My CPU is ARMv6.  Thanks!

@Lie Ryan Good to know, thanks for the info! :)


text:
How can I get Kies to detect my Galaxy S GT-i9000 on Windows 7?
When I connect my phone to my Windows 7 PC the Kies application opens and displays "Connecting", but it does not connect. Why? How can I fix it?

Just check if your debugging mode is on by default or if the phone is data storage mode, just A suggestion

This answer doesn't seem to apply if you have a Galaxy S running the official Froyo, and the latest Kies as they seem to have fixed many of these issues now, this is mainly for if you're running an older phone OS or Kies version.
For prior versions of Kies and the Galaxy S (I don't know which upgrade is the one that fixes it) there were quite a few problems Kies had seeing phones.
Some of these problems were driver problems, you can generally fix these by using the reinstall drivers option in the Kies menu at the top-left of the Kies screen.
Kies had problems connecting properly to phones that had files on them with long file extensions (I think the problem was  if they were 16 characters or longer, but I couldn't be sure).
To get round this problem, firstly if you have an SD card in your phone, unmount, eject and remove it for the moment, this saves a lot of messing around with the contents of that card, you can plug it back in after you've done everything you need to in Kies.
Next attach your phone to your PC in Mass Storage mode, and have a hunt round on the internal SD card and internal memory for groups of files with long names and long file extensions (one particular culprit is often the pictures' thumbnails cache which sits under Android\Data\com.cooliris.media on the internal memory; you can safely delete everything in that folder, it'll get automatically regenerated next time its needed). Once you've done this, disconnect from the PC, run the My Files app, and go in and re-delete that folder if it has regenerated (if you haven't got My Files you should be able to find it in the Samsung Apps listing, if not you can use something like Astro File Manager).
Finally make sure you are actually connecting to the PC in Kies mode. depending how your phone's set you may get a list appear on the phone's screen when you plug it into your PC asking what mode to connect in, make sure you select Kies mode. If you're not seeing that menu and its automatically connecting in one mode or another, then you can go into your settings and re-enable that menu. On a Froyo Galaxy S (it was somewhere slightly different on Eclair but I can't remember where) go into Settings -> Wireless and Network -> USB Settings, and select "Ask on connection".
Of course this all depends what you want to use Kies for, if you want to backup files from the phone, look up contacts, send/manage text messages, etc then it might be worth trying out the Kies Air app that Samsung released into the Samsung store recently, this runs a website on your phone that you can connect to from a PC using your web browser over the wifi connection, this smooths out almost all of the connection problems and is actually quite a nice, handy piece of software.

Samsung galaxy s GT I9000 is comes with 2.1. for upgrade there must be connectivity with PC/Laptop, other wise how to do upgrade ?

@Jeevan True, I had to go through the updating drivers, ejecting the SD card, deleting images cache, that I describe above when I upgraded my I9000 to Froyo.

Regarding connecting to PC in Kies mode, Make sure USB debugging is off otherwise it won't work. You can do that in Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging.

I had a similar problem and found that the phone was complaining that the connection with Kies is only possible in standby mode. It seems that some badly programmed apps can prevent the phone from entering standy mode, so I deinstalled any apps I suspected and suddenly Kies did find my phone.

Did you work out which app(s) was the one causing the problem?

@GAThrawn Unfortunately no, I was too impatient to try deinstalling them one after one, I just deinstalled most of my applications in one go.

:) thats why i asked this question because a lot of people just try random think with galasy and finally they see connectivity. But this should not happen, why samsung don't have right reason ??

You could try Kies Mini, it may work better although it may not have the features you want.  Or make sure Kies is updated, you can check for updates right from the program.

i have update it. still not detecting.

I had the same problem until I noticed that previously installed PALM synchronization software used the same communication port. Uninstalling the PALM software solved my problem.
EDIT - This question was asked again in which I answered (again) but this time a bit more thorough. I have copy/pasted my from that question here because my answer to the other (closed) question is unlikely to be read. Maybe it helps someone.
I had the same exact problem that my KIES program did not recognize my Samsung Galaxy S. An exact PC, also running Windows 7 Pro didn't had that problem. E.g. the exact version of KIES on this exact PC would recognize my phone without any problems.
I spend a fairly amount of time investigating this.
In my case the problem was that on my PC I had previously installed the PALM synchronization software to sync my Palm with my PC.
This synchronization software of PALM use a communication port (Comm 4) in a software way. I am no communication expert so I don't know why, but it does.
Somehow this blocked the KIES software on my PC from detecting my phone. As soon as I had uninstalled the PALM synchronization software, KIES detected my phone all right .
Please look at other communcation / synchro programs on your pc.
This may or may not be the problem in your case, every PC is different, who knows what is blocking your phone on you case.
We can only strive to answer question in our own experience in the hope that one of the suggested solutions also applies to your case.

KIES is known to cause problems, especially if you're on 64-bit Win 7. If you are, your best bet is to load up a Virtual Machine and run 32-bit Win XP on it and then running KIES on it.
If you're trying to update your phone, try using ODIN instead to install the requisite ROMs.
Just to digress a bit... KIES is to Samsung phones, what iTunes is to Apple devices. 'Nuff said.

i have tried all thing in both Windows 7 and Xp, both have same behavior.

update to latest version of kies
check if it works
plug in phone in data/media mode
search on phone for "."  This will bring up a list of all the files on the drive.  Look for anything that has an extension of more than 16 charactors.  these will need to be deleted. WARNING - check that they are not needed by doing a google search.  If not found then they are not needed.
unplug and plug back in in keis mode.
goto device manager in windows.  This will show where there are any driver problems.  If there are any ones with issues(they have a yellow triangle beside them) right click and update drivers.  Unplug and repeat until there are no issues
In my case I had problems with USB controller -Samsung android USB composite device, and then Modems - Samsung android USB modem.
unplug, restart keis and plug back in
keis should now work

Had a problem of the phone not being able to sync with outlook through Kies. My PC detected the phone but I was not able to sync. Outlook would start flash a brief message and close.
Here's how I solved it step wise.

I first unmounted the internal storage
Shut down the phone
Removed the external SD card
Started the phone.
Downloaded an update from MS (Windows Search 4.0 for Windows XP (KB940157))
Plugged my phone into a USB port on the back of the PC.
Started Kies and was able to sync.
Unplugged, shut down, inserted the external SD, restarted and reconnected successfully.

Thoughts

I tried connecting through the front USB ports but Kies hung
I tried through the back port and it was successful.
I read in some forums that the phone was sensitive to voltage and that may be true.
Outlook needs to be upgraded for Kies to work.
I'm not so sure about the unmounting of SD trick but who knows. Anyway Kies works and that's all I ask.

It is a fairly common problem with Galaxy S.
Try one of the solutions offered in this thread.

I have tried all the thing mention on thread but still not working. There is no error related to driver but when i connect it to pc it charge mobile and screen continuously start blinking.

I have discovered after a lot of experimenting that not all supposedly compatible USB to micro-usb cables will work with the Galaxy S.
Even though your PC may make the connecting sounds and KIES will say connecting, the connection is never completed.
The Samsung original lead (Marked U2 APCBU10BBE KD1ZC08TS E) works every time for me. However of two unbranded leads one (the longer one) works perfectly whilst the shorter one seems only to work to supply power.
As USB is a four wire system +ve, -D, +D and ground I suspect that some of these cheap cables are possibly only wired to supply power or have the +D and -D lines transposed.
So I'd say it's worth ensuring you're using the genuine Samsung cable as a first check.


text:
My Samsung Galaxy 3 (GT-i5801) is not being detected by my PC -- What should I do?
I have a Samsung Galaxy 3 (GT-i5801) Android phone. Currently, my phone is not being detected by my PC. Initially, when I purchased this phone, I was developing applications and I was able to run the applications on my phone. I have purchased a new cable as I thought the data cable may have been damaged, but that did not solve the issue.
What can be the possible solutions or what do I need to check for in order to connect my Samsung Galaxy 3 to my PC by using a data/USB cable?
I have Windows XP installed on my Dell Inspiron laptop.

there is no need for the exclamation marks, imo.

Can you tell us what was the message or any other information?

@Louis Rhys usb device not recognized message is being coming up when i try to connect !! I think i am trying to connect with USB cable so no need to install driver

I have similar problem with Samsung Galaxy 3, i5801. Initially mount dialog was appearing but now it is not. it just charge mobile.
Do that dialog requires any specific service or program, which might have be uninstalled accidently?
In settings-about phone-usb settings- mass storage option is enabled, also tried with ask on connection but no luck.
What could be the problem?
Thanks in advance.

After searching for a long time and trying a lot, I found a solution:
Resolution

Unplug the USB cable
On the cell phone, dial the number *#7284#.
Once the last # is hit, the PhoneUtil application is launched. Choose USB -> Modem and then USB -> PDA mode. The good mode should be PDA. Even if the mode is PDA, switch to Modem and then back to PDA.

Also choose UART -> PDA and then UART -> MODEM mode. The good mode should be MODEM for UART. Even if the mode is MODEM, switch to PDA and then back to MODEM(UART).

Plug in the USB cable.

Note:
This is not only for Samsung Galaxy 3 - Android phone, but it is also used to repair the USB connection for any Samsung Android phone.

A thousand Thanks to Paresh Mayani for the *#7284# tip. USB connection stopped working on my new Galaxy 3 and all Samsung Customer Support suggested was to do a factory reset. I expect that would have solved the problem, but at the expense of losing all my personal settings.
So thumbs up for Paresh and thumbs down for Samsung Customer Support!

@Michael Thanx for the kind words, i was in same situation as you are, later on i found this solution so i shared it here. Samsung Customer Support had told me for the Factory Reset, what a majak they had done!! They should have atleast know about this *#7284#

I am having same problem again but this time this solution doesnt work ... any other idea ???

@PareshMayani I have a galaxy s3 and installed paranoid android 4.5 ( kitkat 4.4.4 ), but *#7284# does not show anything!

Make sure your device is not connected to your PC.
Uninstall any drivers you currently have installed for it.
Reboot your computer.
Install the appropriate drivers from this XDA post (supports more than Galaxy S) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7238660&postcount=1
Install Kies from Samsung.com's Galaxy 3 page http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_ia_cd=23020100&prd_mdl_cd=GT-I5800DKAXEU&prd_mdl_name=GT-I5800
Connect your device to your PC.

thanx for the support, but as i am connecting Mobile with PC by using USB Cable, i haven't install any driver for the same. And ya, i have installed kies from the CD came with the samsung-galaxy-3 purchased box

As you have mentioned link for installing driver, it is for Samsung Galaxy S , not for Galaxy 3, check it: http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/MOBILES/Samsung/Samsung-Galaxy-S-USB-Driver-for-Windows-x86.shtml , what should i do ??

I recommend uninstalling the version of Kies that came on your CD, since it is likely outdated, and using the version on Samsung's download page.  And as I mentioned in my post, the drivers actually support many Samsung devices and not just the Galaxy S, so don't worry about that.

If you were previously developing on your PC, do you have USB Debugging enabled on your phone? That uses a whole different set of drivers than the normal USB drivers, these drivers are available as part of the Android SDK download.
To check if you have USB Debugging enabled, go into Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging and take the tick out of the USB Debugging box.
If you turn off USB Debugging, then it should be able to connect to your PC using the standard USB mass storage device drivers.

Per userguide after you connected the USB cable on Mass Storage mode, you need to go to the shortcut/notification/USB cable connected then mount.

Ya it is, but before it was raising when i purchased the phone, but now no such notification comes , just battery is recharging

I had a similar problem when I still had my PALM synchronization software installed. For some reason or another, it used COMM port 4 for it's communication ( don't know why but it did ), and that conflicted ( probably behind the scenes ) with the communication with my Galaxy S.
Once I uninstalled the PALM synchronization software, the connection went fine.
So please check if on your pc some sort of other communication device is installed.


text:
How can I change LauncherPro shortcut intents without using the Shortcut option on my NookColor?
I have a rooted NookColor and am using launcherpro as my home app. I would like to change the dock's shortcuts to different applications but the problem is a rooted nookcolor does not support the shortcut intent. If you try to use it, it will crash launcherpro. Is there another way I can change the shortcuts?

Where is that information stored?  In a DB?  I'm not that familiar with how .apk files work but it seems to me that user specific data like this wouldn't be stored inside the apk and would be in some place you could edit manually.

@Matt I'm not sure.  Actually, I think LP has a backup feature.  I might be able to hand edit the backup file and restore it?  Going to see what damage I can do... :)

Let me know how it goes. If that doesn't work try editing and restoring a titanium backup backup.


text:
How do I unroot my Evo (using unrevoked 3.21)
O.k so I have an H.T.C Evo with Froyo 2.2, and I recently rooted it using unRevoked 3.21 but now i'm having some issues with my phone and would like to return it back to sprint. How do I remove the root and change the evo back to stock version so I can take my phone into sprint for a checkup. Can someone pleaaaaaaasssssssse help me? My phone is moving like a turtle.

You could start with this method. It's basically just two steps:

If you used Unrevoked Forever on
your phone, then flash their S-ON
tool.
Flash a stock PC36IMG.zip
from HBoot.

There's also the RUU method, though I think you'd still need to run the S-ON tool if you used Unrevoked Forever (I don't believe the RUU will re-enable S-ON). Either one of these should get you back to a stock unrooted system.

The RUU is basically a nice, executable version of step 2.  The OP will need to flash S-ON first, then either flash the RUU or the ROM extracted from it.


text:
What does the IcsService process do?
Under running services, I see the IcsService or long name com.android.samsung.IcsService . What does that process do? I'm debating about removing it.
Note I have a AT&T Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S)

ICS = Internet Connection Sharing.  I believe it's the service that lets a computer connect to the internet through your device over USB.  You can safely remove it if you don't use it.

How does this compare to wifi tethering provided by one of android's apps?

I think the apps might rely on this service, but I'm not sure.  You could use Titanium Backup to "freeze" this service, and see whether your app stops working.


text:
What linux distribution is Android based on?
Did Google use some existing distribution (Debian, Red Hat, etc.) to create Android, or did they use the bare essentials (kernel, file system and some mandatory files)?

Related: What is the difference between the Linux Kernel and the Android Kernel?

Android shares very little with a typical Linux distribution. In fact, this is where Richard Stallman's "GNU/Linux" distinction comes in handy — Android isn't really a Unix-like general purpose operating system with a Linux kernel. It's a new system which happens to use the Linux kernel. This goes all the way down to its own custom libc implementation (called "Bionic"), which does not necessarily attempt POSIX compliance.
This article from ZDNet covers a talk which gives a pretty good overview of the system, and although it's a couple of years old it's still basically correct and helpful.

It's a modified Linux kernel plus modified libraries designed to run on a closed source architecture. The GUI is its own thing with no source-able materials, also partially why Google spent billions fighting Oracle for the rights of Java.

None. Just like Debian, Arch Linux and Gentoo are not based on any other distributions, Android is too not based on any existing distribution.
In fact it is not typical GNU\Linux distributions. It is a Linux Distribution but Not GNU\Linux Distribution

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


text:
Weather app that displays "feels like" temperature?
I have a HTC Evo and while I like the stock weather app, it doesn't show the "feels like" temperature. I know the Weather Channel app has this but it was completely unusable with null errors for me (refer to the marketplace reviews for more on this), and the free Weatherbug app I also tried didn't have "feels like" temps. Does anybody know of any other apps that have this feature?

Do you mean "Wind chill"?

@Arda Probably includes that and humidity effects.

"Feels like" is Accuweather's proprietary wind-chill +/- secret sauce value.

Accuweather has two apps that give you "RealFeel" - Accuweather and Accuweather Quick.

Accuweather Quick did it for me. Accuweather doesn't work at all with GPS turned off.


text:
Is PNC Bank's Virtual Wallet accessible from Android?
I am a college student in need of a new bank account. PNC Bank's Virtual Wallet service really appeals to me, except I have one unanswered question: Will I be able to keep an eye on it from my Android phone?
Virtually every major bank appears to offer some sort of free downloadable app for Android, but I read comments that the standard PNC Bank app does not work well with, specifically, a Virtual Wallet account, due to it's three-fold Checking-Reserve-Savings system. Nowhere on PNC's website do they clarify this issue.
Seemingly in response to this issue, PNC Bank has published an app specifically for Virtual Wallet customers, but this app appears to be available only on the iPhone, not for Android.
Since a real app does not seem to exist, one might wonder whether the Virtual Wallet website is well-behaved in the standard Android mobile browser, and how much functionality I might be able to expect. There appears to be no way to find out except to open the account first and try it for myself, which is unacceptable, hence my question here.
Can anyone with a PNC Virtual Wallet attempt to log into the administration website from their Android phone (I have a Droid2) and tell me if it's even slightly usable?

It is actually very usable! I use it all the time and am quite pleased with it. The interface is slightly different then the desktop site but you can tell that it was redesigned to run on mobile phones. Just go to PNC.com and log in, it will auto-detect that you are on a mobile browser and load the mobile version of the site. I was a little upset at first that there was no PNC app for Android but after using their mobile site I honestly don't care anymore, it is just as good as a dedicated banking app. Definitely do not make your decision because there is no app the mobile site provides all the info you need, and it doesn't take up space on your phone.
EDIT: I'm on a Droid 1 BTW. Just in case it doesn't auto detect your browser Here is a link to the mobile site.

I have a HTC incredible and there is currently no v wallet.app for Android. There is a mobile version of the admin site and It works for some basic functionality but does not have all the options v wallet carries. U can get to the regular or full site via the internet but runs slow and is very difficult to manage the v wallet functions. Hope his helps

I use it all the time and never have problems with speed. other than the nice graphical features what is missing? I noticed the calendar isn't there but you can still see detailed transactions by date. The graphical savings engine isn't there but you can still transfer funds. Also the bill paying part is still there...


text:
Nexus One User's Guide Printed Book?
Does the Nexus One come with a printed (i.e. real paper, not PDF) User's Guide?
Note: I know that the N1's User's Guide PDF can be downloaded from here, but I would hate to use my poor printer to print 334 pages...

No.  It comes with a couple small booklets (see this AndroidSpin post for example images) but not the full user guide.  (Also see this HowardForums post answering your question).

Thanks, +1 and... ouch! (my eyes hurt staring at the screen all they long)

Might be time to invest in a decent e-reader ;) though I also prefer paper books myself.

you probably mean an e-ink e-reader (monochrome). Because the color nook, kobo, iPad use the same "photon bombarding technology" as my LCD screen...

Yes, exactly :)


text:
nexus s rooting wifi error problem
So, I have unlocked my Samsung Nexus S that runs on Android 2.3.1 and i have rooted it. The problem now is that I cant open wifi anymore, it keeps telling me "error" whenever I click on wifi ..
Why is this happening? How to fix it?

All it says is "Error"?

Yes, when I click on the wifi tab it says error beneath it.... A friend told me to install a new "Kernel" but I dont want to overwhelm my android with custom made Kernels

Um, I don't think a kernel will "overwhelm" it.  You'd most likely need to replace the modem as well.  I recommend an entire custom ROM.

I fixed this by restoring only the android "boot" module from the original rom backup:
I used the clockworkmod recovery which can also be installed from the rooted phone using the "rom manager" app. But instead of making a whole recovery, i simply went into advanced recovery options, selected the above mentioned backup folder, and selected to restore only the "boot" module:

start clickworkmod recovery,
select "backup and recovery"
select "advanced recovery"
select the image of the original backup (see below)
select restore boot

This post describes how to restore your nexus s to original stock android and provides a backup of the original rom: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=884093

see also: http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/16/complete-guide-how-to-fully-back-up-and-restore-your-android-phone-using-nandroid-backup-and-clockworkmod-rom-manager/

The same happens for me. When I use the 'fastboot boot *.img' command from my pc, the Nexus S boots into some (e.g. Netarchy) kernel, and everything except WiFi works.
I assume the problems lies with some kernel-modules (which can actually be on the device memory, outside of the kernel) which do not match the new kernel. Since some of the modules (e.g. for the gsm/gprs radio) are closed source, they are not updated to match newer kernels.
So you could try older kernel versions, or wait for updates from Samsung


text:
Is it possible to move the keyboard to the top of the screen?
One of the biggest advantages to the Swype keyboard is the ability to effectively type with only one hand. However this dosent work very well since the keyboard is at the bottom of the screen. Is there any way to move the keyboard to the top of the screen only when on portrait mode so that I can grip the phone with one hand and type with my thumb on the top of the screen where my thumb has more range of motion?

On other note, wouldn't your hand obstructs the screen if the keyboard is on top?

Lie Ryan has a good point, and I don't see how holding it towards the top instead of towards the bottom would improve your thumb's range of motion.

I'm not sure how you hold your phone when I hold it my thumb clears the entire bottom screen perfectly. Try it yourself, bring up the keyboard and then flip the phone upside down and grip it in one hand and you'll see that you can still see the bottom screen just fine, well, depends on the size of your phone and hands I suppose.

There is no setting to do this.  It would appear there is also no supported method for a keyboard developer to set where their keyboard is drawn (see KeyboardView on android.com).


text:
Does Nexus One WiFi traffic go through Google?
When I use the default browser (what is it? Is it Chrome? Firefox? other?) to view a site (not necessarily via Google search), does any of that visit information reach Google servers?
How about DNS?

The default browser is custom for Android, separate from Chrome.

Why would it? Are you using google for DNS?

@Uninspired: many people probably do, they type "android stackexchange" instead of "android.stackexchange.com"

@Lie: That's just a search result. Once you click through the domain lookups and traffic aren't involved with Google anymore (unless it's a Google site on the other end). The traffic is going to be on your Carrier (if you're using 3G) or your ISP (if you're using wifi).

As an aside Firefox Mobile is now available in Android Market if you'd rather use that http://www.appbrain.com/app/mozilla-firefox-web-browser/org.mozilla.firefox

@Al Everett: Precisely, many people (e.g. me) are just too lazy to remember the URLs of websites, and just use Google search result as a "domain name server" (loosely speaking).

@Al If you've ever seen search engine stats you'd see that very few people know the difference between the URL bar and the search box on the default home page. I cringe and try to explain when I see my non-technical friends type something like www.facebook.com into the Google Search box and then select the first result instead of just typing it into the URL bar.

Actually the predictive search from the address bar sends the text you enter to Google to provide the search predictions. For example, if you start to type "search" and get to "sea" it suggests "sears", "seattle times", "sean parker" etc...

You can configure that "Settings > Search > Google Search settings > Show web suggestions"

No, the data shouldn't pass through Google servers unless you are viewing a site hosted by Goolge.


text:
Why does my YouTube app have performance problems and outright failures?
I have a stock Captivate on AT&T.  I've tried to watch videos at least a dozen times, and maybe twice it's worked as I would like it to.
Problems include:

"This video cannot be played".  I saw the question about "allow mobile playback" flag, but I get it on user-created stuff too (not just commercial stuff).  Is there a way to check if the flag is set, say from the desktop web interface?
20+ second load time before playback starts, even for short videos, if it works at all
Sometimes I wait over a minute and the "spinner" ("Loading video") never goes away
Once it starts playback, if the buffer runs out, I can't get it to start again.  The buffer indicator might start growing again (pale red line appears again and gets bigger) but nothing I do can make it start actually playing.  I hit play/pause, scan forward/backward, tap the time bar, etc; nothing happens.

Some notes:

I have tried HQ and not-HQ; both have issues though HQ is worse (not surprising)
I have tried it on WiFi and 3G; 3G actually seems a little better
I can watch YouTube just fine on my laptop, etc, over the same wifi connection
I have used the wifi analyzer app (forgot the name) to inspect spectrum; there are no conflicting / overlapping networks in my area
I can download podcasts on Listen at ~10+ MB/min (estimated by my watch) so it's not something wonky with my wifi connection
I've rooted the phone but only so I could fix a corrupt wifi settings file  (known issue, but I'm having trouble finding a ref link right now).  I'm pretty sure the issue is not related, and I'm not running any other superuser stuff.

I'm at a loss.  I have no idea how to track this down -- there's no particular error to look up, just general crappiness.  Is it just me?  Does everybody have this terrible of an experience?  Would the "lag fix" do anything for me?  Is there a better 3rd-party player? (someone mentioned sideloading VLC)
I don't view a lot of YouTube videos generally, but when I do get a chance to look at them it'd be nice to be able to do so on my "super" phone...

What version of the YouTube app are you running?  Is your OS 2.1 or 2.2?  And no, a lag fix should not affect this.  I have most of these problems, though very infrequently, and it's been the same whether I've had various lagfixes or not.

Could you rephrase "Why does my YouTube app suck" to me more like a question that would contain answers that could solve your problem? The body of the question has some good points.

Voted to close, with no further info it sounds like a "why doesn't this work as well as i want it to".

Maybe it's not the whole answer but two things seem to have made a big difference:
One, my Captivate was recently upgraded to  Froyo officially. The new Youtube app seems to perform remarkably better.
Two, and this is the really interesting bit, I switched from WPA on 802.11g to WPA2 on 802.11n, and my wifi speeds went from ~200-300k to 4-5M. Not sure exactly why but it's definitely something to consider if you see performance problems in an app that relies on the network...

Some videos just can't be played on your phone because the bitrate (or needed processing power) is too high for your device. This might even happen in the middle of a perfectly working video, because it's using a variable bitrate (which just rose above what's possible). That's why Youtube can get slow as well for a short time. It only gives up when the processor is at near 100% and it starts missing a lot of frames. That's actually good design. Apart from that, I think there might be some bugs in YouTube yet (but alas it is not an open sourced app).


text:
How can I access Google Docs spreadsheets in Android?
I have spreadsheets in Google Docs and I want to access them without using the browser.  How can I do this?
There is an application on the Android Market called "MS GDocs" which is good but it's only for documents, not for spreadsheets.

Why don't you want to use the browser?  Is there a specific feature missing from the mobile version, or do you want offline access?

because i don't want to open browser and do authentication again an again. I want "MS GDocs" kind application. One think is that in most of browse i can see only one spread sheet per work book, i have some work book and if i want to create work sheet on it then some browser does not allow to do it.

There is now an actual Google Docs application in the Market made by Google. You can take a look at it in the Market online here: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs&feature=search_result - I've used it and it's pretty similar to the online look, but with a more native feel. Hopefully, this is what you're looking for!

QuickOffice supports downloading Google spreadsheets, editing them, and then uploading the edited file.  I'm not sure if it will create a new document on upload or replace the other one.


text:
Why do Samsung Apps not support the Galaxy S?
Why is the Samsung Galaxy S i9000 not supported by Kies or Google, I have tried to download apps from the Samsung apps list but I get a warning that the Galaxy is not supported by Kies or Google.

The Galaxy S is fully supported by Kies, and it runs Google's Android OS so I'm not sure what that's all about.
Samsung does not support Samsung Apps on the Galaxy S, however.  They made that choice for some business reason I am sure.  They list supported phones on this page.
The best way to get apps is through the Android Market, which is already on the Galaxy S.  Samsung Apps has very few apps and they look sub-par to me.

U r right about Kies, it does see the fone but will not download apps and when I try to use the calendar app on the Galaxy S the Google account says "can't establish reliaable data connection"

Could this be regional? I have an application called Samsung Apps on my phone, and it works just fine. If you have this software on your phone try using it instead of Kies.

The fone has a function which offers very limited access to Samsung apps. Can you instruct me on getting a broader range of apps within the fone and not Kies?

There's a lot of content for Samsung's own OS's (Bada) on Kies, not Android. This is why the selection is limited on Galaxy S.

My "Samsung apps" app didn't want to work without a SIM-card (only through WiFi), although why not? Perhaps, it  from the mobile operator.

Pulling this out of comments and into an answer, so it's easier to see...
The Samsung Kies software isn't only used for Samsung's Android based phones (like the Galaxy S) it is also used to manage phones running Samsung's own Bada operating system.
The Samsung Apps store in the Kies software (currently) only holds apps for phones running the Bada software, not Android. You can see the list of supported phones here at the bottom of the page.
Samsung phones, like the Galaxy S series, that are running Android should have a Samsung Apps icon in their application list on the phone itself, you can find the selection of Android compatible Samsung Apps in here. Currently there aren't many apps in there, though they are slowly expanding, one good thing is that (currently) they're all free, and many of them are full versions of apps that you'd have to pay for if you got them through the Android Market.


text:
Stop audio player from restarting music after a phone call
Whenever I receive a phone while listening music (with earplugs), I disconnect the earplugs and take the phone through the normal speakers.
The music is paused during the phone call, no problem there, but when I hang up, the music starts again, even without the earplugs. Which is kind of annoying at work, in an open space.
Is there a way to force the music to stay paused after the phone call?
I'm using the Music Mod app on an Froyo-powered HTC Legend, but I believe it has happened to me with every music player I've tried.

do your earplugs not have microphone?

@Lie they do, but I don't like using them to make a phone call.

What you need is the headset blocker widget - install it and then put it up on your home screen as a widget and then toggle it ON.
Now, whenever you unplug your headphones, the music player will stop playing. try it and see if it works.
BTW, Meridian Player has an in-built option to disallow resuming playback after a phone call.

You could use the Autostarts app to edit the end-phone-call event and remove your music app from the list of apps that get alerted on that event.  I believe it requires root.

AFAIK this could be done with Tasker even without root.


text:
How to see Public Holidays via Google calendar on Samsung Galaxy S?
I have Galaxy S with Froyo. Use Google calendar a lot to share appointments with colleagues, and via PC can see a calendar called UK Holidays along with colleagues' calendars.
However the calendar on Galaxy S only allows me to add my colleagues' calendars, it does not display UK Holidays. Why is this, and it there a way of changing it?

Another calendar app with this feature: Business Calendar 2. Works great and ha holdidays even for regions.

Can you see the calendar if you go to your Calendar app and open Menu -> More -> Settings -> Calendars? Check that it's enabled there. You could also try to remove/readd the calendar from the PC and then sync your phone again.

I had a similar problem to yours on my Galaxy S. I have about 5 calendars set on Google, but the calendar app of the phone only shows 3 of them to be displayed. On the vanilla Android calendar there's a way to add more, but Samsung removed this option from the menu.
Fortunately, I have found a not-too-sophisticated workaround for this. From Play Store I have installed a calendar app called Jorte. In Jorte, you can choose to use the Google calendars, and it has a similar setup screen where you can pick which calendars to display. That screen is very similar to the stock calendar's setup screen, but has one extra option: Add calendar, which helps you to add your other Google calendars.
After this, if you  even uninstall Jorte, the calendars you've added will appear in the stock calendar app as well.

On my Nexus 7 (Jellybean 4.2), I went to settings then clicked on my google account (eg somebody@gmail.com). Under that option it showed the optional calenders I have on my pc version which I could then select.
Hope this helps.

If you're using the Android 5 app: Try pressing refresh and waiting for the calendar to sync if you've just opened calendar for the first time. I had that problem.
However, because I was impatient, I added "Christian Holidays" to the "Holidays" calendar in "more" (Settings -> Holidays -> Add religious holidays). Not sure if that was needed though for the calendar to sync. However, next time I opened the app all the holidays had been added.


text:
How can you tell if you've been a victim of the recent sms bug?
How would one know if their phone was or is afflicted by the recent bug (sending sms to the wrong people)?

Title is unclear: HTC's implementation of Android SMS handling in the past has been buggy in the extreme - so maybe pick a better title?

It's a well known and specific bug that affects all phones running the android os. Anyone that regularly follows android news should be familiar.  If you search google for "android sms bug" pretty much every result is about it. When I'm at a computer and not posting from my phone I'll add more info.

Apparently Google now believe that there were two separate SMS bugs that they've managed to reproduce, and now have fixes for. More here http://www.androidguys.com/2011/01/06/google-working-fixes-sms-bugs/ no word yet on when or how the fixes will be distributed.

From this post, it seems that only very specific conditions seem to trigger this bug. Also, AFAIK, this only seems to affect the default Messaging app, using a replacement like Handcent seems to be the way to go. More info on the bug here.

Specifically, there is something about
  certain email-to-SMS messages that
  corrupts Android's SQLite database,
  causing unpredictable results
  thereafter. The most commonly cited
  offender is alerts sent by Bank of
  America, though SMS alerts sent by
  LinkedIn and T-Mobile are also cited.
  It's possible that any SMS where the
  sender is an email address will do the
  trick, or it's possible there's
  something else these specific senders'
  messages have in common.
To be clear: if you've never received
  one of these corrupting messages, you
  will never be able to reproduce the
  bug. That's why it's only affecting a
  small group of Android users.
If you have fallen prey to the issue,
  you should be able to fix it by
  performing a hard reset (wiping all
  data) and then blocking the offending
  sender(s) from sending you texts in
  the future.

The bug report you linked to mentions that the mis-directed SMSs are sent to the first contact in your contact list, so is it worth adding a new contact to the beginning of your list ('Mr Aaaa Aaaa') with your own number?

I've had a contact like that for years, ever since my friend 'Adam' kept complaining that my phone kept ringing him from my pocket when I forgot to lock it.

Might be a good idea.


text:
Headset to HTC Desire?
I'm looking for a wired headset to my Desire (no pun intended ;)). My clients complain about sound quality when I use the one that comes with the phone.
All suggestions are welcome.
(I would have made this question a community wiki @ StackOverflow, please do so instead of closing it)

I've used both quality Bluetooth and wired headsets adapters with my HTC Desire without anybody complaining about sound quality. In general I don't think you can go wrong with Plantronics headsets, I've been using their landline ones for years.


text:
How can I set a custom ringtone for a contact when using Google Voice?
I use Google Voice for all incoming calls. When someone calls me, their contact information (picture, phone number, name) shows up on the screen. However, the ringtone that is used is not the custom ringtone assigned to that contact, but the default ringtone. What can I do?
My phone numbers are currently stores as ########## with no leading 1. I'm not sure if this matters.

I would first test by adding a 1 to a number and having them call you.  Android should be smart enough to treat them identically but Google Voice might not play nicely.
I'm not sure of the specifics of how GVoice works, but keep in mind that your contacts are calling Google and Google is calling you.  Somehow they pass on your contact's number, but it's spoofed, and your phone is probably relying on the "real" number (i.e. Google's number) for choosing the ringtone.

This appears to be working. I just added a 1 and things look good.

Great, glad it was something simple.

Do you have Google Voice itself set to pass through the phone number of the caller or do you have it set to show the Google Voice number?  If you currently have it set to show your Google Voice number instead of the callers number then change that setting.
Let me know if that is the case.  If you already have that set then we can delve deeper.
The setting in question is in the web version of Google Voice under Settings - Calls - Caller ID (incoming).

It's set to show the caller's number.


text:
Wifi turns off on NookColor when put to sleep. How can I prevent this?
I have a rooted NookColor.  Everytime I put the device to sleep and then unlock the device on the next use, I have to disable the wifi and re-enable it in order to get wifi working again.  I've tried downloading the SpareParts app from the Android Market and setting the wifi sleep policy to "never" but it still loses the wifi during sleep.  Any suggestions?

Issue only happens when ad-hoc is enabled.  See here for more info: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=872521


text:
How can I override the Device Administrator security policy so that I can disable the lock screen?
On Android 2.2 Froyo, I added my Corporate Exchange Email account to the phone, however, the security policy set by the "Device Administrator" requires that I enter a 4-digit PIN at the lock screen and a maximum 10 seconds idle.
How can I hack my Android, through root access or otherwise, such that I do not need to follow this security policy. I am very annoyed at having to enter the PIN every time I want to use the phone, because I open/close it so often through out the day?

The proper way to do this is to ask your administrator to change the policy, and if you don't agree with their policy then don't attach your phone to their server. Also 10 seconds idle time is incredibly harsh, you must be able to make a legitimate case with them to change this. You might aslo find this previous question helpful http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1568/remove-corporate-settings

If you buy the TouchDown app (30 day free trial available), the lock code will not be on the phone, but on the app. That's ever so much better.

Yeah except touchdown sucks and it doesn't actually sync with your other email or calendar.  You have to USE touchdown.

There is an altered version of the 2.2 email app here that disables the security features.  You need root to replace the app with this.
Originally posted as a comment by hagope

If you are on a Galaxy S, just dial *#*#7594#*#* and check the box. Your phone won't ask you for the password each time you turn the screen on (although you lose the lockscreen).


text:
How can I access a Mantis Bug Tracker from Android?
We track our bugs on Mantis, and I was hoping to find an Android App for it, since it exposes a PHP-SOAP API (see this question) which Eclipse uses.
Does anyone know of existing apps (or projects) for accessing a Mantis Bug Tracker from Android devices? I would be happy to contribute patches too, if needed.

DISCLAIMER: This is my product, but since this answers the exact question, I am posting the link. The Android app for mantis is available and can be downloaded from - https://market.android.com/details?id=greatdevelopers.mantis

I have a Android app for Mantis Bug Tracker ready. I'll be releasing it soon. In case you want to have a preview, do send me a message. Soon I'll be posting an URL for android market.
UPDATE: The android app for mantis has been released and can be downloaded from - https://market.android.com/details?id=greatdevelopers.mantis
DISCLAIMER: I am not advertising my app. I am just informing you that something like that is available. For more details contact me. In case the community feels this is not correct, I'll

Please see this post on meta about getting beta testers from the Android Enthusiasts community.

Probably you can use mantisconnect. It has got a java client as well. More info can be had on here:
http://www.futureware.biz/mantisconnect/downloads.php
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mantisconnect/files/Java%20Client%20API/1.1.1.1/

Although Android apps are normally written in Java, the OS itself won't run Java apps or applets, they need to be recompiled into "Dalvik" using an Android development environment. So the Mantis Connect Java Client won't work on Android as it is, but as it appears to be open source it could be modified to use the Android API and recompiled by someone and released as an Android app. See also http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/987/java-applet-inside-browser-on-android

You should checkout MantisTouch which provides an interface that is designed from the ground up for mobile devices including Android, iOS and Windows Phone.  You can use MantisTouch via the proxy at http://mantisbt.mobi or you can install on your owner server.  The advantage of MantisTouch is the it works across a wide variety of devices and its license covers all users associated with your MantisBT instance including your team and your customers.  Rather than having to buy an app per user.
For more details checkout http://www.mantisbt.org/mantistouch.php


text:
Firefox mobile install problem on HTC wildfire
I tried to install firefox mobile edition on HTC wildfire (Indian edition) but it fails
anyone faced the same problem or any workaround available to install

Which way did you install Firefox? There are currently two ways to get and install it, either from the Android Market at http://www.appbrain.com/app/mozilla-firefox-web-browser/org.mozilla.firefox or as a download from Mozilla themselves that you can then "side-load" onto your device from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/download/ Also can you let us know how the install failed. Did you get any error messages?

I'm afraid you may simply be out of luck for the time being.  The Wildfire is not on the list of supported devices

Credit to Matt H's comment for pointing me the right way.
If you follow through to the System Requirements page on their wiki, the HTC Wildfire is specifically called out as an unsupported device as it has an ARMv6 based processor; Firefox Mobile currently requires an ARMv7 compatible processor.
They do have an experimental build for ARMv6 based devices, which you can download here but according to the warning on the page, that is broken at the moment. If you keep an eye on there they may announce when it starts working.


text:
Looking for a parts list application
I am looking for an application like a shopping list, that will let me put in items with the prices and give me a final total...so that if I have a project, I can put in all the prices(scanning barcodes would be a plus) of items in the project while i am out and about.
I have tried a couple different searches, but havent gotten any really good hits on it.

Wow that is a great idea for an app. Any Android devs out there? Either way I'll see what I can find.

ShoppingCalc does this pretty simply if you're willing to live without the barcode scanning (I like the zero-clutter interface).

It works for me for now, i guess ill have to write something for this myself... thanks

A quick Google search returned ToMarket . It looks like its original purpose and design is for Groceries but you can use it for any type of item. The description says it supports bar codes and lets you put items with prices and quantity in the cart and gives you a final total. Sounds like exactly what your looking for based on the question. It looks like a nice app, I'm downloading it now for myself.
EDIT: This app is actually pretty cool, it has some default items when you first open it but if you go over to the "need" tab it is blank. When you add an item it gives quite a few details you can add to it, including whether or not it is taxable. I also noticed there is a feature to export your lists or to share it with others via SMS or email.

I've suggested Springpad (their website and on appbrain) as a good note-taking app but it would serve this purpose well too. Especially since it has a scanning feature and web-sync.


text:
Android phone<->Google contacts - usage model and best practices?
I am finally forced to admit that I'm completely flummoxed by the communication between my android phone and my google account's contact list.  I have tried various usage models and experienced lost/deleted contacts, edits made on my phone overwritten with unedited version from google account, random entries appearing on my phone(i now have 5 different entries for MYSELF)....everything BUT what I'm trying to do.
What I'd like for it to do is for my google account to be the system of record for my contacts, and sync with my phone...simple as that.  If I edit/add on my phone, I'd like for that change to be sync'd to my google account automatically.  If edit/add using my google account via the web interface, I'd like that for that change to be sync'd to my phone.  Obviously this is NOT the way that it works, and it is obvious that, after weeks of trial, error, and fruitless searching,  I do not understand how it SHOULD be used.
Does anyone know how Google wants us to use this?  How is it SUPPOSED to work?  Has Google published a guide for this?  FWIW, I have no problem going back and reorganizing everything  and adapting to a different usage model as long as I understand how it is supposed to behave and as long as it behaves as published.

I thought that's what it did?  I've never had any problems that you've mention...  The first thing I did when I received my Android phone was merge all duplicated contacts inside of gmail.  Other than that, I haven't really done anything, but I don't often add/edit/remove contacts a lot.

I bought the original Droid on the day it was released (Nov 2009?) and have never had any problems with this. Editing is perfect both ways. Any changes made to a contact on my phone are instantly reflected in my google account, and vice-versa. What phone do you have?

Yes, the behaviour you desire is exactly what Android normally does. However, different phones running non "stock" Android may have different contact apps that interact differently (though I've had no problems with either stock Android or HTC Sense devices). It would definitely help to know the device model & Android version.

Thank you all for the comments.  I'm glad to know that it should be working like I expect.  FYI my phone is an evo from Sprint, which came preloaded with facebook, which I had originally chosen to sync with as well.  Although I had felt certain that my contacts were intact while using that, I have since turned it off.  Perhaps somewhere between that time it overwrote some things that I did not immediately notice.  I'll get my google account contacts in order again, wipe the phone contacts, and begin sync'ing from scratch and see what happens.  Thanks!

I'm having the same problem on my HTC Desire : Contacts sync from Google to Android but not the other way. Even correcting existing contacts on the phone does not  transfer the correction to Google

I am using Samsung Galaxy S.. it has the same problem.. it works only one way...from Google Contacts --> Android not the other way around. Lost so many contact that were update on the phone... any bug fix?

This depends on where you save your contacts. When you add a new contact it asks where to save it (Google, phone, SIM). If it doesn't, you have specified it in the settings to remember the destination. Check Contacts -> Menu key -> Settings -> Save new contacts to... or similar and change it to Google or Always ask. Then contacts saved to Google will be synced to Google contacts on the next sync.

Mine's working the way you expect it should.
I had a problem with duplicates when using services to help keep my contacts "clean" and to import from other services. In particular Soocial kept giving me dupes. So, the first thing I'd do is make sure you're not using something like that.
I suspect that something is "out of whack" (to use a technical term) with the synchronization data. I'd try the following:

Make sure the data in Google Contacts is in tip-top shape. Merge duplicates, get everybody in the right group, etc.
Export all contacts (just in case)
Then, delete the contact data on the phone. You'll probably want to turn off synchronization before you do this.
Then turn synchronization back on. Everything should be copacetic.

The comments so far have somewhat restored my faith that it should work like I expect.  As such, I will do exactly as you suggest and start from scratch(on the phone) and see if everything starts behaving.  Thanks!

What is the best way to delete contacts on the handset?  I did it one by one, but is there a bulk delete?

@shambleh: There's no way that I know of to bulk delete contacts on the device. There may be a third-party method. You should ask that as its own question.


text:
How you can know if a Particular Screen has a "Menu" options available?
I have 2 questions which are making my life difficult in using the Android phone a hell, may be I am/was an IPhone user.

I was wondering if there is anyway to know if current screen has "Menu" options available?
How I can know how many activities/screens are on the stack?

uhm same goes for the iPhone, how do you know you can 'tap'/'long tap' the screen to do something

Is that a rhetorical question? If not, try asking at the Apple Stack Exchange

Press the Menu button and see if anything happens.
Count.

If you're looking for a programmatic answer, you should be asking on StackOverflow.


text:
Why can't my device see an ad-hoc WiFi network?
I am trying to connect my Galaxy Tab to the Internet through an ad-hoc network made via my PC.
The PC ad-hoc settings are fine because I can use it from my iPhone and other devices.

Android has issues connecting to adhoc networks. Here is a link to a fix someone else here used to get his tablet to connect to a adhoc network. Also this is the link to the thread he got his information from.

If you are not using any virtual router app on your PC, try running
   these two commands - it might work:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=SSIDNAME key=YOURPASSWORD

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Make sure you run these commands in elevated (administrator) command
prompt.
If you get any error after running the second command; something like - "The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.", go to Device Manager > Network Adaptors select your network adaptor, right click and select Disable. Again select the same and enable.
Try running both the above commands again.

Thanks, it worked without problems. I can't see why the visual interface only allows ad hoc networks and not this...

Actually it only worked in enabling the network, but I later realized it isn't sharing the internet connection, how to do it?


text:
Is there any way to move apps to my sd card in android 2.1 on my phone?
Is there any way for me to move apps to my sd card in android 2.1 on my phone?  Everything I've read so far just talks about how easy it is to do it in 2.2.  I have a Milestone, but apparently my carrier is not yet able to support 2.2.   Am I just pretty much screwed until it does?

Possible duplicate: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3436/how-to-install-apk-files-on-sdcard

@AlEverett This is not a duplicate. This question discusses ways to move apps to SD on Android 2.1 or lower. App2sd was introduced with Android 2.2

Then how about this nearly-identically-titled question? http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3961/is-there-any-way-to-move-apps-to-my-sd-with-android-2-1

You would have to root your phone and partition your SD card.  Note that the app itself must also support running from the SD card.  See this XDA thread for an example of how to do it for the Milestone.

If you're using Android 2.1 you can use Link2SD app.
To use this application your phone must be rooted and your SDCard should have ext2 [OR] ext3 partitions.
After successful installation of this application, it creates a Auto mount script and asks for reboot the phone.
How to move already installed applications to SDCard ?
Open the Link2SD application and Open the Menu. Select the Filter and Select Not Linked User filter. The menu gets closed and shows the list of applications that are installed by the User. Now select any application and Select Create Link option on the screen. It asks for confirmation. Once you say Ok then moves the application and related files into the SD Card.
How to automatically move the Applications that are about to Install ?
Open the Link2SD application and Open the Menu. Now select Settings and there is an option in Settings called Auto Link. Check that option. Thats it it moves the applications to SDCard as soon as they installed on Phone Memory.
Tools to Partition the SDCard
There are tools available to partition your SDCARD. On Windows Machine you can use Minitool Partition software and on linux you can use gparted.


text:
Is it possible to use an Android device as X11 server for a remote machine over SSH?
When my desktop computer is up, I can connect to it with my notebook, even over the internet (I've set up my router to forward SSH to my desktop computer). My desktop computer runs GNU/Linux (Ubuntu distro), so I can use it with X terminal. My notebook also runs Ubuntu. I just need ssh -X desktop.ip.addr, then I can launch any program on my desktop machine.
So, the question is: what's the way of using Android as X-terminal over SSH?
I don't want to use VNC or other stuff. I think there must be some good SSH apps for Android (I've read about ConnectBot), but I haven't find anything about X11 (maybe it's my fault).

Why aren't you interested in VNC?  There are good Android clients for VNC.

You don't find much about X11 on Android because Android does not use X11 display stack; the only advantage of using remote X11 over VNC is if the connecting machine also have X11 so it can use its own display stack instead of the server's.

Yep, I know that there's no "native support" for X11 on Android, and therefore there will be no such joyful experience like on GNU/Linux, where I can use the same display for programs running on different machines seamlessly. Even on a big tablet, X11 will be a separate App, I assume, as just if it were VNC.

I'm still not clued in: what's the argument against VNC? Is the OP being reasonable or am I missing something?

Technically, I think you're looking for an X server that runs on your phone, not a client.  Phrasing it that way suggests why it's unlikely: X servers are big and complex, and (I assume) need direct access to hardware.  That suggests you're unlikely to find one.

Yep, I'm looking for X server, that's the piece of software implements X terminal. It does not need to access the hardware directly, it just have to send/receive X11 protocol over IP. There're X server programs for Windows, where X server is implemented using Windows API, not the hardware. Also, there are computers, which are dedicated X terminals, so there is no (access to) underlying operating systems, you have to connect a host running software able to use X11 (Xlib, sess/win/desktop manager, X apps etc.).

Tizen ftw which aims to be a complete GNU/Linux from the ground up targetting smartphones - Maemo/Meego. But the alternative is to have a ARM variant of distro - such as Debian, Arch, Slack - yes there's work involved but that's an exercise for you :)

Apparently X11 can be run on the G1 via some sort of Debian image and shell app; see this XDA thread for example.  I can't find any other ports of it.
I use ConnectBot for "regular" SSH, I find it to be quite good.  Even edited and compiled code with it!

I've stumbled upon an X server for Android project (now available as an APK to intall from F-Droid too):

This project implements an X11 server for use with Android devices,
written in Java. The X11 server runs within an Android View subclass,
allowing it to be embedded in other applications.

But perhaps it's a bit tricky to connect to it through X forwarding via SSH... you must figure it out.


text:
Make notifications/messages fill the screen
Is there a way to have it so notifications/messages fill the screen, so I can't help but notice them when I pick my phone up?
Using an LG-Ally

If you're not in the habit of looking at the notification bar, are notifications really that important to you? :P

well I'm not used to looking at that from other phones

Android's notification bar are specifically designed to be non-obstrusive since it assumes that the current task is most important.

SMS Popup will create a modal dialog box on your screen when you receive a text message.  You can make it turn the screen on too if the phone's screen is off.
Handcent (full SMS replacement app) also has a similar feature built into it.

Is there any way to get a similar feature for all notifications?

@babonk so you want anything that shows up in the notification bar to be fully visible?  hmm...  I don't know of any off the top of my head

I see lots of apps that let you add things to the existing notification bar, but nothing that changes the notification bar to take up some/all of the screen.

+1 for SMS Popup, first app I recommend to new Android users. Something similar really should have been built into the OS by now.

If you click on the text message icon and go to your text message inbox, hit the settings button on youur phone and go to "settings."  Scroll down and you can select the box enabling the phone to provide a preview of the message text.


text:
GPS calibration?
I am using the sportstracklive app on my EVO to track my fitness activities. One issues is that elevation profiles are incorrect. For example, a riverfront section of a recent bike ride was recorded on the elevation profile as 101 feet below sea level.
Is there a way to calibrate the gps so that I get more accurate results?
Also, I'm pretty sure that the app itself is not at fault. I've experimented with a couple of other fitness tracking apps that are producing similar results; so that's why I'm thinking that the issue is with the gps.
Here're a couple of screen grabs of the route. The one with the red shading is correct and was generated by ridewithgps. The one with blue shading is generated by sportstracklive on the EVO gps (blue shaded area is elevation profile). A profile from my Garmin looks like the correct (red) one.

ng

How do you know it was wrong?  Many low-lying areas (like valleys with rivers in them) are below sea level.

Well, 101 feet is pretty far down there. Death Valley is less than 300 feet below sea level.

I know the elevation of my location by other means. According to USGS topographic maps and Google Earth, the area recorded as -101 feet is actually 35 feet. The river surface is 10 feet and the channel is 45 feet deep. So, even if the gps thought I was on the river bottom it was still incorrect.

@wdypdx22: Does it matter that much? Isn't the difference in elevation the key datum?

...And my hope is that when I am in unknown areas on hikes and bike rides, I can get relatively accurate profiles. I also have a Garmin GPS device which correlates closely with topo maps.

@Al - Actually the difference is wrong. The first 2 miles of the ride in question are flat. The gps profile has me undulating below sea level for that entire section.

That is odd. I hope you can find a solution.

Your GPS is nothing more than a precise clock, passively receiving signals. There is, unfortunately, nothing to calibrate. Source
If you'd like, consider going to the problem locations with an app such as "GPS Test" to view the internals of your phone's GPS to try and understand the problem, although there isn't much you can do about it.

Bummer. The EVO must have a crappy gps implementation. My Garmin generated profiles overlay very tightly with the routes I create on ridewithgps. Was hoping to not have to carry it along...it's an older model and a bit heavy, but accurate...

Guess I was confused. The Garmin has a barometric altimeter, so long as I calibrate, I get accurate elevation profiles. I had forgotten that I wasn't making a gps calibration.

You can use the GPS Status app to tell you exactly what your device's GPS is doing. It will tell you things like your current GPS calculated position and the accuracy of that position (in the Error field).
It may be that at times your device's GPS is not getting a good lock, maybe one that's only accurate to 30m (which is what mine's reporting curretly in a built up area, and would explain a 100ft altitude error) and the apps you're using aren't taking into account the accuracy of the current fix. Also if you're out exercising in the countryside, your phone won't be able to take advantage of the closely packed cell towers and nearby wifi points that it uses to assist the GPS in urban areas.
You should also be aware that the altitude accuracy of a GPS unit is normally much less accurate than the horizontal accuracy, this is a problem inherent in GPS, particularly with the cheaper GPS chips used in phones as opposed to those used in dedicated GPS units like your Garmin, see GPS Altitude Readout > How Accurate?.

Thanks for the GPS Altitude Readout link. Explains a lot. After re-checking today, I find that the EVO gps is quite accurate horizontally. And in a comparison with known altitudes, it's off roughly by 80' to 110'.


text:
Is there a way to customize SMS quick text?
I have an LG Ally.  I have a market SMS popup app that lets me customize the quick text, but that only works if someone texts you first and it pops up.  Sometimes I need to sent a quick text to someone that hasn't texted me first, such as "driving" or "call you in a minute".  The stock quick texts on the Ally messaging app are pretty lame, and I haven't been able to figure out a way to customize them.

The Handcent SMS app allows for custom template messages.

Is it a popup app or does it take the place of the app that came on the phone?

You can have it popup and it works in conjunction with the app on the phone.  You can disable notifications from one of the apps so that you don't get 2 per message.

I guess you can't have it all!  I liked the other popup app because you could customize notifications for contacts.  Handcent SMS doesn't allow that.  Oh, well....

You could probably suggest that feature to Handcent though.  Worth a shot anyways

FYI...I discovered Go SMS app.  It allows you to customize contact notifications, customize quick text, and download Thumbplay ringtones...YAHTZEE!

Can I install Handcent SMS, modify existing SMS Templates, uninstall Handcent SMS, and then continue using the modified SMS Templates?