text:
Will I get automatically lifetime FREE updates if I pay for an app?
If I buy a paid app, will I be able to get free updates for the rest of the lifetime of that app or should I pay later for the updates?
What's the norm? Can you perhaps give 1-2 examples?
Thanks!

If the developer keeps releasing updates to the app as the same packagename and you already purchased the application previously, then should receive updates for the application for free.
E.g. if you went and purchased my app then you should get updates so long as I keep updating this specific packagename of the app: net.mandaria.cardashboardpro
However, I could at some point in the future decide that I want more money for the application and release a newer version of the application under a new packagename: net.mandaria.cardashboarddeluxe You would not get a free update to this app, even if it is technically the same application, I have chosen to release it as a separate app in the eyes of the Android Market (which determines two applications to be different solely by their package name).
However, I could still charge you for more money by including (optional?) in-app purchases or subscriptions that did not previously exist without changing the package name.  Carrying the same example, I could still use net.mandaria.cardashboardpro but have an in-app purchase for the "deluxe" features.
Most developers will not do these things to users who have already purchased their application, but it isn't impossible. Once such example of a developer trying to charge for a newer version of his application was psx4droid. The backlash was so vicious from his users that he went back and updated the older (version 1) of his app to the newer version (version 2).  He now has to maintain three versions because of this (version 1 and 2, plus a free version) instead of two.  Talk about a developer headache.
So ultimately it depends on what the developer decides to do.  In the majority of cases, the developer will keep supporting the same app and you receive the latest updates for free after your purchase.

So marketing-wise, is it silly to promise 1 year of free upgrades?

@curiousguy I wouldn't think so. Users, for the most part, are going to expect updates to their applications. Developers that do not tend to their applications (bugs, errors, feature requests) will watch their applications slowly die. There are very few types of apps that you could declare "feature complete" and not update any more.

The norm definitely seems to be for developers to update their app and those who have already paid for it will also receive the update.
However, this is definitely not enforced in any way, shape, or form.  Unless you have a contract stating otherwise (and you ensure it's enforced), you only get what you pay for (the current version of the app) and that's it.  The developer can easily choose to upload the new version as a "different" app and expect old users who want to upgrade to pay for it.

Yes but this is not enforced. I have not seen any android app developer do otherwise


text:
How to migrate accounts and data from one Android phone to another?
I have a HTC Magic phone with Android 2.2.1 and I want to migrate all accounts (9), apps, sms, settings, etc... to a new phone with Nexus One.
Do you known some Android service/option or free app on Market to do it?
Thanks a lot!
UPDATE
I have migrated successfully :)
Old phone: HTC Magic rooted with Android 2.2.1
New phone: Nexus One rooted with Android 2.3.3

At first, backup google accounts with Titanium Backup Rooted
Then, backup SMS and Call logs with Life Saver 2
At end, restore in the new phone

Some problems with settings restore (Wifi, Bluetooth, apps, etc...).
Thanks!

If you are rooted, use Titanium Backup.  You won't be able to restore some things, since the Nexus One and HTC Magic have some very different system apps, but most should carry over.  After backing up with TB, copy /mnt/sdcard/titaniumbackup/ to your PC.  Then on the N1: install TB, copy the folder from your PC to the same location on the phone, then run TB and restore.
If you're not rooted, it's difficult to back up most things, especially all at once.  I'd rely on Google's backup for your list of apps and that sort of thing, as the other answer suggests.

Ah, beat me to it!  :)

If you're syncing with Google already, most of that will automatically be synced to the new phone when you enable Google sync on it.

no : sms, app, settings, media files,...,  aren't synchronized at all

Yes, but I need to create all accounts at first on new phone. I want some like copy all > paste, or backup all > restore.

@tbruyelle: Apps synced to my phone when I switched.  It may depend on Android version; I moved from 2.2 to 2.3 (and was caught by surprise when it synced everything over).

@Lito: The problem with a copy/paste activity is that system (and system app, such as SMS) databases change between versions and there's no "upgrade settings" mechanism, so while there are ways to copy/paste settings and such over, you may have to do a full wipe to recover if something is too incompatible.

By the way, http://forum.xda-developer.com is a good place to find out about this, because it's probably the number one thing people worry about when flashing new ROMs.

If you aren't squeamish about rooting your phones you could use an app like Titanium Backup.

Just root both devices
Install Titanium Backup on both
Choose the apps you want from your Magic and back them up
Copy /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup/ from your Magic to your Nexus One (this is the path used on my Droid, it may be different on your devices)
Load Titanium Backup on the Nexus One and load the backups

For the SMS messages, see this previous question: How do I backup and restore SMS Messages? out of the suggestions there, I've used Life Saver 2 successfully to transfer all of my SMS and call history between phones  very easily.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Make fonts larger in Galaxy Tab
How can I enlarge all texts in galaxy tab for an old man, specially in contacts and more specially numbers of contacts?
Thank you.
edit galaxy tab version 2.2

Can you please post what version of Android your Galaxy Tab is running?  I don't know when the new 10.1 inch devices ship but they are supposed to run 3.0, while the older Galaxy Tab was running 2.2.

Individual apps might have settings for font size, but I don't think Android 2.2 included any system-wide settings for changing the default font size.  Check the Market for a third-party contact list app that allows you to change that setting.

I'd suggest one but I'm a little swamped at work atm :)

anyone can suggest a tested contact management software for old men?

Use IDEAL Text Enlarger. Works without need for root. But not all apps work with it and overly large fonts make the interface more difficult.
I'm looking for a similar solution, but in terms of accessibility, the iPad's triple finger gesture to zoom and magnify any part of the screen in any app is unmatchable in Android as yet.

iPad doesn't make calls :)

Nope and neither does the iPad2

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


text:
How do I change the function of the earphone button?
I have a Nexus S running Gingerbread and I use the stock app to listen to music. The bundled earphone has a button that plays/pauses music, but I find this redundant since I can either reduce the volume or pull out the earphone jack when I want to interact with the rest of the world.
It would be really awesome if I could change the function to "Next Track" instead since it'd be easy to skip a track while I'm on my bike. Is there an easy way to achieve this?

I'm guessing you've tried double clicking it? On my phone (Dell Streak), a double-click skips to the next track. Might just be DoubleTwist that, though, I'm not sure.

Oh wow. That works perfectly on the Winamp App! THANK YOU! (Not sure how to make the stock app respond to the button instead of Winamp, though)

It works for the stock app too. But the double-click time threshold is really low. It's really hard to double-click fast enough. Is there a way to change the time?

There's an app available in the market called ButtonRemapper, and the developer has a thread open on XDA that you can find here.  There is a version specifically designed for the Samasung Galaxy S (which I think is what the Nexus S was based off? See my edit below.) so you might want to try that version first, but I think your best bet is going to be trying this app and seeing if it lets you do what you want.
Oh, this app requires root access.  All the standard disclaimers apply.
Edit: Based on this link they seem close but have important internal differences.  I'm not sure how that will affect whether or not that app made for the Galaxy S will work for you.

I believe this app allows you to edit what the phones buttons do, not the headphones buttons.

@Matt - Some of the information on the XDA thread led me to believe it might have expanded support for other buttons.  It's a free app so there isn't much harm in giving it a shot if he's already rooted, and I think finding a non-root solution for this is pretty unlikely anyway.

True, no harm in trying.  I'm not sure it would require root to do what he wants to do though.  I believe that any given app can decide how it handles the multimedia buttons on headphones.  The reason you need root access for buttonremapper is because it's changing the intended functionality to the phones hardware itself which is locked out for security reasons.

@Matt - I figured the security issue would extend beyond the physical phone itself.  Imagine if you built a Bluetooth device with some kind of malicious app embedded on it and you could remap some physical button on the Bluetooth device to reboot the phone into recovery mode or something.

That's a good point. hopefully this works. I'd really like this functionality myself.


text:
How come some apps won't download from Market?
I have a rather odd thing happening to three apps in the Market, all free. I tried to install Google Maps and Angry Birds Seasons from the market, but the downloads or installations failed and now I can't download them at all. They both show up under My Apps but rather than the Update or Installed statuses that all other apps in My Apps show, these two show FREE. When I try to install them all goes normally until the message displays saying the download is happening, but it doesn't. The downloading icon appears in the status bar for the briefest moment before disappearing again.
I have Aldiko Book Reader installed and indicating that there is an update available. I believe that the download or install failed when I first tried to update and now the behaviour is the same as described above. I try to update but the download doesn't happen.
I have successfully updated and installed other apps in the meantime. For now it's only those three that are stuck. The initial cause of download/install failure may have been lack of memory but there should be enough memory available now.
I am using an HTC Desire running CyanogenMod-7.0.0-RC2 (Gingerbread 2.3.3). Anyone have any ideas on how to resolve this problem? I've looked at the Market in application management but the clear cache and clear data options are not available.

Do you have space for the downloads?

"I've looked at the Market in application management but the clear cache and clear data options are not available." That's a big problem; you should always be able to clear the Market data (unless you haven't run it since you last cleared data).  CM7 has tons of Market issues (google "cm7 market problem" and you'll see); hopefully the next version is better.

simple2ext (as described here: http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/20328-solution-to-unable-to-download-big-apps-from-the-market/ ) did the job for me. I am also running CM 7.0.3 and had problems with downloading big apps from market. Sometimes it helped clearing the dalvik cache but not always.

Indeed. I too found this a few weeks back but forgot to add some comment here.

I had something similar happen to me months ago, and the only solution I found was to make sure my apps and accounts were synced with Google and doing a factory reset.  The thing was I was stock at the time, and I don't know how a factory reset will affect CyanogenMod.  I'd jump on their forums and see if anyone else is having a similar issue, and if not you should submit a bug report to them so they can see if it's a bug in their release candidate.
Edit: Since this is a pretty old question and CyanogenMod has been updated I think it would be worth it for you to upgrade to 7.0.3.  I haven't had any issues at all with the market now that I've moved to a stable version of CM7 so hopefully your issue has been resolved in the newest stable release.

@Steve Crane - Any luck?

Cleared the cache partition and Dalvik cache in recovery and was then able to download updates of some apps that wouldn't download before. Am still unable to download some apps like Google Maps though.

Well at least that's something, I suppose.

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


text:
what are the disadvantages of rooting your device

Possible Duplicate:
Are there any risks to rooting a device?

What are disadvantages of rooting device . why should it be avoided  ?

I realize this question just got migrated from StackOverflow, but this is a duplicate of http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/164/are-there-any-risks-to-rooting-a-device

Edited to retag. Agree with @Amanda below, duplicate.


text:
Notification of new label e-mails

Possible Duplicate:
Can gmail notifications be customized by label?

I have a filter in gmail that sets some of the mail to skip the inbox and be archived (unread) under a specific label. On the desktop Gmail, this label is shown alongside my regular inbox, which makes everything nice and organized.
Unfortunately, on my Gmail android app, I don't get notified of any of these e-mails that skip the inbox and go to this label. I have already set this label to be synced by the app, but I'm still not getting notifications. How can I get notified of e-mails that skip the inbox and go straight to a specific label?
So far I've only found Gmail Label Notifier, but I don't need all this customization and I was hoping to find something free.

Workaround: Create a second GMail account, and have those messages additionally forwarded to it.  Then you'll get notifications for both accounts if you add it on Android, effectively giving you notifications for that label.

I asked a similar question in http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6567/can-gmail-notifications-be-customized-by-label and ended up installing the Gmail Label Notifier; it's worked well for me.

@Matthew That's a good idea, I might go with that.

@TomG I saw that question, I believed it wasn't a duplicated because I specifically said I didn't need any customization, and I was looking for something free. But that's alright.

Don't know quite how you've got it configured to show your non-inbox mail alongside your main mail in the web interface, but if you're using the Priority Inbox features of GMail then you can set up separate alert settings on Android for mails detected as priority messages, see this Google Mobile blog entry: Gmail for Android: better Priority Inbox support and improved compose

Ever wanted to know that you got an
  important message without taking your
  phone out of your pocket? Now you can
  set up your phone to notify, vibrate,
  or ring on just your new important
  mail (check out Menu > Settings >
  Priority Inbox).

Unfortunately, my gmail app doesn't support Priority inbox, as I'm running 2.1. But it looks like it would have worked otherwise.


text:
Is it possible to change how Froyo hyphenates phone numbers?

Possible Duplicate:
Is it somehow possible to change the format of a telephone number being displayed ?

In Brazil, phone numbers have two digits for the area code and eight for the phone number. Moreover, the carrier sends the caller ID with a leading zero, so that's how I store phone numbers. Example: 02155557777 for the Rio (21) number 5555-7777.
Before I updated from 2.1 to Froyo, numbers were presented with no hyphens. Now, the phone hyphenates them all. But it assumes a US standard, so it comes like 021-555-57777.
Moreover, when I'm dialing local (i.e. 8 digits), say, 5555-2222, it shows as 555-222-22.
Is there any way I can change that? Either positioning the hyphens correctly, or getting rid of the hyphens altogether?

Did you do an official OTA update?

Is your locale set to Brazil?

@Matthew: the update was not OTA but it was official. I downloaded it from: http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Support/GB-EN/froyo/milestonenotification.htm

@Al: No, it's to US English, as it was before. The one Portuguese locale available is not Brazil, but Portugal. Besides, I'd rather keep the UI in English.

Well, sadly, that's probably why it's formatting the numbers as it is. What happens if you use your own hyphens? How about some other character, like a dot?

It turns out the hyphening was a consequence of changing the locale from UK English (which is what the phone came configured with) to US English. Changed it back to UK English and the hyphens went away.

Be sure you mark this as the correct answer!


text:
How can I tell the Android Market that I'm running an updated version of Android?

Possible Duplicate:
Why are some apps on the market incompatible with my device?

My phone (Orange San Francisco) came with Android 2.1 and has not been officially updated in the UK so I'm now running a nightly beta of Cyanogen 7 (Android 2.3.3) which works pretty well.
I'm trying to install an app from the Android Market that requires 2.2 (Froyo) and up but the Market insists that the app is incompatible with my phone and greys it out in the install dialog box.
Is it possible to either update the Market with my details (couldn't find this option in 'My Market Account' settings) or to spoof another phone/android version so that I can download apps?

Don't some apps have hardware requirements, e.g. high res screen, that your device might not meet, regardless of the OS version?

What app are you trying to install? My Samsung Spica are officially only upgradable to 2.1, but the folks at Samdroid made it possible to upgrade to 2.2, I can download 2.2 apps just fine. However, I still cannot download 2.2 apps that have hardware requirements, e.g. Flash is not available since the phone has ARM6 CPU while the Flash binary required ARM7, etc. But apps that only required 2.2 API, e.g. chrome2phone, all are shown in Market perfectly fine.

I don't think this question is a duplicate. It's related, sure, but the use a custom ROM with an officially unsupported OS version is key to this question.

There are several reasons why apps could be listed as incompatible with certain devices.  It could be Android version, screen size, OpenGL version, camera configuration, touch screen type.  The list goes on and on.  You could try going to Menu -> Settings -> Applicataions -> Manage Applications and force close the Market and Clear the Data.  This would cause the market to download the lastest version of the Market and rescan your phones capabilities.  If that doesn't do it then you may have to wait until 2.2 is officially supported for your device.

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


text:
How to fix a damaged sd card?

Possible Duplicate:
“SD card is damaged - You may have to reformat.” How do I fix this problem?

I made my SD card available as mass storage, copied one file from the SD card, unmounted the card from OSX (inside OSX) and then .. I am not 100% if I unmounted the card in mobile or it was already damaged at this point.
I tried to reboot the phone but it doesn't help. Removed the card, put back and turned on again. Didn't help either.
Do I have to reformat the card and lose all data on it?

HTC Desire + CM 7 RC2 + Kingston 16GB Type 4

one more question, any idea how come the card was demaged? How can I prevent it so it will not happen again?

You can try to recover files before you format it, but yes you will have to format it.  See this question for various methods of SD card recovery: Data Recovery - How to Restore Deleted / Formatted Files on HD Micro SD Card

If you have a card reader, try fsck-ing it. I'm not sure if it is possible do an fsck through Android, though if you don't have a card reader, you might want to try that.


text:
Default launcher app hangs at boot up. Unable to do anything with phone (NexusOne)
My NexusOne's builtin launcher is suddenly hanging at bootup. Since the main lock screen is hanging the screen touch is not working, soft buttons are not working -- I am just completely unable to do anything with the phone. When I tried calling the phone the call comes through, and I see the "Activity Launcher is not responding. Force Close?" popup, but when I force close it and the call ends, it goes back to the hanging lock screen and once again I am able to do nothing.
Since it is stuck at lock screen there is literally nothing I can do to kill it or try other apps or settings or anything else. Even connecting USB cable didn't work since I need to enable USB storage from the notification bar and the hanging lock screen wont allow any touch response anywhere...
What can I do or try? I guess hard reset is an option to try, but I want to keep it as a worst case option.

Have you tried booting in safe mode?
Nexus One Safe Mode
1) Turn off your Nexus.
2) Remove the battery if it cannot be done the normal way.
3) Press the power button to start your phone, and right when the logo appears, press and hold the trackball.
You should also be able to hold down the touch sensitive Menu button at this point, if you prefer that.
4) Keep pressing until you see the lock screen, and you should now be in safe mode.
While in safe mode, see if the problem persists. Uninstall recently installed / updated apps that you feel may be causing a problem and clear app caches / data caches.
To exit Safe Mode, just reboot your device.

I know this IS an old question but I had the same issues and came to nicer solution:
Go to the android market using your windows-(or mac)PC. Install ANY other launcher.
In my case the installation in background still worked. After that you can select a launcher when pressing the home button. Select the other one. Uninstall the "wrong" launcher.
If after restart both launchers crash at startup another application is the reason. In my case it was "permissions" causing all that trouble

If you can access the phone with ADB, you push and install another launcher onto the phone.  Otherwise I think a factory reset is the least destructive of your options.


text:
How can I update my Nexus S manually?
I just bought a Nexus S from the USA and it works fine here (Spain). Just realised its version of Gingerbread is 2.3.1 though. While it's no surprise it finds no OTA updates with the local carriers, I wonder how could I get the phone up-to-date, offline style.
Suppose I don't have to root and tinker with it right?

possible duplicate of When is the Nexus S Android 2.3.3 update coming to the UK

not quite. I checked that question though my NS is from US, I reckon the official update should work for me. The question is just on how to apply it "non-OTA".

@flp As the answer on that question says, once you've downloaded the update from Google, rename it to update.zip, copy onto your phone's internal memory, power off, then hold volume up and power to reboot to the bootloader, using the volume key to navigate, select recovery, then use the power button to confirm, when you see the warning triangle and arrow, hold the power button and tap volume up, from the menu, select "apply update from /sdcard".

Just in case I've misunderstood what you're askin gand you want to know where to get the official non-OTA update.zip from, there are two of them depending which version of Nexus S you have: 2.3.1 GRH78 -> 2.3.3 GRI40 update is http://android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/google_crespo/e0b546c442bf.signed-soju-GRI40-from-GRH78.e0b546c4.zip and 2.3.2 GRH78C -> 2.3.3 GRI40 update is http://android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/google_crespo/98f3836cef9e.signed-soju-GRI40-from-GRH78C.98f3836c.zip

Well, what I want is to get my phone up-to-date :P An ideal answer would come with the downloads and procedures to get it done. When I started writing it, I had no idea what I'd have to download or install...

From the home screen hit the menu button, select Settings, scroll to the bottom and select About phone, then find Build number and please let us know what build number your phone is running right now.  As an example, my Droid is running FRG83D atm.

With most OTA updates someone inevitably pulls the raw .zip file off some server and posts it online for others to use before they get the official OTA notice on their phones.

If your phone is currently on build number GRH78 then download this .zip file.  If your phone is currently on GRH78C then download this .zip file.
Rename it update.zip and place it in the root folder of your SDCard.
Shut your phone off.
Hold down the volume up and power buttons at the same time to access the bootloader.
Use the volume keys to navigate to recovery.  Press the power button to select it.
You should see a triangle with an exclamation point in it.  Hold down the power button and tap the volume up button to access the recovery menu.
Use the volume keys to navigate to apply update from /sdcard, select it with the power button, choose update.zip and press the power button to start the update.
When the update is complete, reboot your phone.

(These instructions were taken mostly from http://www.intomobile.com/2011/02/24/how-to-manually-update-your-nexus-s-to-android-2-3-3/ except for the download links.  I do not own a Nexus S and have not tested this personally.  If these instructions look incorrect to you [or anyone else!] don't use them.  If at any step during the update process the instructions do not line up with what you see, you should stop proceeding and use menu options to back as far out as you can from the menus.  I'm not responsible for anything that happens to your phone, good or bad.)

Now, this is an answer :) Did. And just for the record; yes you can update from 2.3.1 straight to 2.3.3. Cheers!

Glad it worked!


text:
How to enable ext2 or ext3 partitions?
Does anyone know how I can enable ext2 or ext3 partitions on my LG Optimus V? I have already partitioned my 16GB SD card to 14.5 GB FAT32 and 500MB ext2. When using Link2SD it gives me a mount error. I am rooted but have not flashed any ROMs yet.

what's the mount error message?

Have you tried ext3 instead of ext2? It may be better supported.

I think your ext partition must be a primary one NOT logical - check to make sure that's the case.

I created my partitions using parted and specifically chose "primary" as the answer, so that shouldn't be the problem.

I am not completely certain what you mean when you say enable, so this might not answer your question.
Filesystem support is determined by the kernel, so if the kernel was not compiled with support added for a specific filesystem, you cannot use it. That being said, all android devices I have fiddled with have had support for ext2/ext3 compiled in (I think all Gingerbread devices must have support for ext2/ext3 since they are starting to use it on the eMMC flash instead of YAFFS2).
In order to check that ext2/ext3 is working correctly, I suggest you connect your device to a PC and log on via 'adb shell'. From there, create a mount-point (for example by doing 'mkdir /mnt/tmp') and try mounting manually. SDcards usually end up as /dev/mmcblkXpY, where X is the device number and Y the partition number. Try mounting by doing 'mount -t ext3 /dev/mmcblkXpY /mnt/tmp'. If that works, and you can read and write to /mnt/tmp, ext3 is working as it should.

I have the same issue as OP and tried to follow your instructions. There is mmcblk0p2 device in /dev/block and I tried to mount, but I got an error "mount: No such device". Is there another way to check if ext2 is supported?

Same problem here. I have an mmcblk1p2 in /dev/block giving the same error, both in the adb shell and in the onboard terminal.

Some cards do not support creating ext2 partition larger than 6.5 GB (I faced the same in 64GB SD card). Try Mini Tool Partition utility. Once it completes the ext2 partition format, you should not see other in the partition type space holder. It should be ext2. If it shows other, it will never work in the phone. Try reducing the size of the fat32 gradually and create ext2 after that.

I want to mention that user must use CWM recovery for partitioning SD Card and then swap, after that mount as ext2 or ext4 but not ext3 with Link2SD.
Check if this works for you.

The SD card can be partitioned on a PC using GParted as well, or on-device using AParted. In fact, the 1st is what I did when I used Link2SD. Please note that your answer, as it stands, is probably incorrect.

In Google Play exists EzyMount, a tool with which you can mount and make accessible devices formatted with NTFS, Ext2-4, etc. for Android 2.3 and greater.

EzyMount requires a rooted phone with busybox installed, so please don't try installing it unless you have root.


text:
Is my Samsung Galaxy Tab using wireless or 3G?
I recently got a Galaxy Tab #G from Verizon, but I'm cheap so I only got the 1GB data-plan.
How do I know if the Tab is using the wireless connection I'm connected to, or if it's still trying to use 3G to load data?
Is there a setting, or maybe a free app that I can get to tell me what apps are using what connection?
I haven't explored much on the device itself, so there may be something built-in that I just haven't found yet...

If you are connected to a wifi network you can be sure 3G will not be used. Only one data connection can be active at a time.

Thanks everybody for the answers! I'll get back to mark the most helpful once I try some of these apps...

I also agree with Nanne but will two suggest two other ways of monitoring your data connection...

You can add the Power Control widget to the home screen.  It comes stock with Android and it will lets you easily toggle the Wifi among other things.  When Wifi is on, 3G will be off and you'll have a visual representation right there.  There are 3rd party version of this widget that actually let you toggle the 3G connection specifically.
If you have a limited data plan as you do, beside just being diligent about monitoring your data connection, you can automate the monitoring process with something like PhoneUsage Pro.  This app allows you to set daily, weekly or monthly limits for Data usage and it will notify you when you hit those limits.  Since theres sometimes a lag in registering data you could set up a notification to let you know when you've used 750 mb of 3G data in a month and then you'll know it's time to start using Wifi more frequently.

You could just check the logo on the top bar? On the right you have time, battery, signal and either g/3g/h or the wifi logo.
this image (random googled) shows the tab with the wifi logo
while this rather bad (also random google) image shows it with 3g

In addition to Nanne's answer, I believe Android also defaults to using WiFi when both connections are enabled.  So if you have a WiFi network saved, your phone will use it when you return so you don't need to keep checking.  (This assumes WiFi is enabled and there are no network problems, of course).
You can also shut off data use by going to Settings -> Wireless and network -> Mobile networks and un-checking Use packet data or similar.

Nanne is correct: your status bar should show you any network connections. If you really want to ensure that you're conserving your 3G bits, install APNdroid and keep data disabled except when you really need it. APNdroid gives you a nice screen widget.
You might also find this question on tracking data usage helpful.


text:
How can I manage/track the data use on a HTC Inspire?
I thought this would be a popular question but couldn't find it here so if you do please let me know.
My mother just got a new HTC Inspire and is brand new to using a data plan.  Since she is worried that she might go over her cap I want to know how can she track how much data she has used in a certain time (preferably within a billing period). I am on Sprint so I've never had to worry about how much data I use. My question is: Can you recommend a method to manage/track data?
Also, I figure that apps like weather and news should be changed to check less frequently... any other default apps that should be changed to check less frequently?
Thanks for the help

Also related: this and this.

@Al Everett Thanks I just found that myself :) voting to close

NetCounter will keep track of data usage. It may not be 100% accurate, but it would be a decent estimate.

looks perfect by the screen shot - have you used the app before?

@Daniel Yes, I used it when I first had my Droid phone (a year and a half ago?) but stopped using it since Verizon shows their data usage on their website which is updated about daily.

AT&T has a number u can text to track how much is used. Goto your phone and type *3282# and call like making a phone call and it will send a text message to you showing how much has been used and how much left. Hope this helps.

Looks like I have to eat my comments on the question.  ZDBox is yet another app that you can use to track your data usage, and it appears to have some pretty powerful/fantastic additional features.

Install MyAT&T app & log into her online wireless account that should be see up on AT&T website. Then check usage from there.
It tells me my phone minutes, text messages & data. I use very little data as I am usually connected to Wi-Fi, but because I am on a limited data plan, this app comes in handy.

Another app which can be used to do this (though it is a paid app) is SPB Wireless Monitor.


text:
How can I flash back to the stock rom for HTC EVO 4G/Supersonic using just the phone and clockwork mod recovery and/or rom manager?
I need to flash back to my stock rom for just a few minutes to get my GPS working again (http://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=2090&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Version%20Model%20Network%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars%20Priority). Everything I read says I need windows to do this, is there a rom I can download and just restore it with clockwork mod?

Did you make a nandroid backup with ClockworkMod before you flashed whatever you're currently running?

If I understand correctly you can find a stock rooted rom in an update.zip format. Although I don't know what baseband/kernel/version you would need.

http://goo-inside.me/evo/stock/ruu/ provides a straightforward guide, reproduced below, of how to revert to a stock ROM, and it looks like all you need is ClockworkMod.  You probably want the newest Dec. 15th software linked on that page.  Heed the warning!

WARNING! RUU'ing your phone will wipe all data on your phone, and if done incorrectly, can BRICK your device permanently!
  Performing an RUU entails completely wiping your user data, removing root, removing your custom recovery, and switching to the specified radio, hboot, and stock Sense ROM version that's in the file name.

  Instructions:

Download the UnrEVOked Forever S-ON tool and flash from ClockworkMod or Amon_RA recovery.
Download ZIP file for whatever software version you want to restore to. Note that you may not be able to downgrade, depending on your current software version.
Check MD5 (Windows: HashCheck, Linux/Mac: Use md5sum comand from Terminal).
Rename file to "PC36IMG.zip" (ensure that you do not have file extensions hidden, aka, that the file is not now "PC36IMG.zip.zip")
Place file on the root of your SD card.
Boot into hboot by powering off phone, then holding down Volume Down and Power until you are taken to the white screen with the skating Androids at the bottom.
When asked if you want to flash the file, press Volume Up to confirm. The remainder of the prompts should be self-explanatory after that.

This is a good explanation on how to completely revert to stock, but I just want to point out that it's really overkill for the GPS fix.

Definitely.  A clear case where "How can I solve this problem?" is better to ask than "How can I implement the solution I've already decided on?"

Agreed! :)

Just to note: You can actually do this from any Sense-based ROM - it doesn't need to be "stock" and it doesn't need to be unrooted. The important thing is the dialer app, because Sense's dialer has the special ##GPSCLRX# code in it and the AOSP dialer does not.
Probably the easiest thing to do is simply to get a Sense ROM and flash it like you normally would either via ROM Manager or manually via your recovery. There's a stock (rooted) 3.70 here, but you could also use something like Fresh 3.5 or MikFroyo if you prefer.
If you want to actually go back to a stock and fully unrooted ROM, then Matthew Read's answer is a good explanation which doesn't require Windows (or a PC at all, really).

I ended up using the ##GPSCLRX# code and the MSL reader app in the market since the GPS did not work in the stock ROM either. In hindsight, I would much rather have flashed to the ROMs you linked to but didn't know any better, if anyone is reading this they should do one of these ROMs since they are rooted already and you will need root to get the MSL code to do the ##GPSCLRX# (unless you want to call Sprint :/).


text:
Bugs on Nexus One running Android Gingerbread
I love Android and have been a proud Nexus One owner for over a year now. I was also really excited when Gingerbread dropped and flashed my phone before the OTA update (who can wait for these things anyway).
However, since upgrading, Gingerbread has not been the bliss that I had hoped for.
The first thing I've noticed is that the new keyboard seems to freeze every other day rendering any app that uses text input unusable. This causes me to have to reboot my phone (or at the very least end the keyboard process).
I also started to notice that since my upgrade my phone will sometimes stop syncing with my work's Exchange server, causing me to miss emails that I used to get while not at my desk (again a reboot seems to fix this). I tried removing this account and re-adding it only for it to continue happening.
After these initial complaints some of my friends, also Nexus One owners, have started to report similar issues. One such friend says that his home screen icons will stop displaying leaving him with only his background to look at after pressing the home key. Another friend says that he must reboot his phone every day, at least once a day, due to his keyboard not working.
In general, though, the internet does not seem to have any reports of these kinds of issues outside of my few friends.
Have any other Android users out there noticed these or similar issues with Gingerbread? Does anyone know of any possible causes?

I'm really interested in a fix for the keyboard issues too, the same thing happens to me far too frequently. Any updates? 2.3.4 hasn't solved this issue at all.

@wsanville unfortunately I still have not found a solution to these things.

First, make sure you're updated to Android 2.3.3.  .3 has some stability improvements over 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.
The other thing I would try is a factory reset.  Upgrading can be a pretty messy process and you want to make sure you don't have any bad data left over.

yes 2.3.3. Also the other day I was playing around with my phone and ended up doing a wipe from the bootloader which I would think is comparable to a factory reset. The issues persisted after that.

Did you clear the Dalvik cache? That might help as well.

Thanks for the advice, I will try it and see if it helps.


text:
Is unroot still possible in this case?
I have an LG Optimus One ( LGP500 ) running 2.2 and I rooted it using the z4root tool, version 1.0. From what I saw, back then it didn't have an unroot option. In the meantime, I did an update using the LG Mobile Tool, and I think it updated my system to 2.2.2 .
I noticed that the newer versions of z4root have an unroot option, so I upgraded my z4root from 1.0 to 1.3, to try to unroot the phone ... but I only see the Temporary root and Permanent root options. I tried pressing the Permanent root and it seemed to do something, after which it returned me to my Home. From this, I'm drawing the conclusion that rerooting did not work. I am assuming z4root needs to root, so that the unroot option is available.
Is there anyway I could unroot my phone now?

I'm a little confused by what you're trying to accomplish here. Running the update with LG's tool more than likely unrooted the phone in the process (most carrier/manufacturer updates will do this). Running z4root would then attempt to reroot it, but now you want to unroot again? Also, if rerooting didn't work, then I'd assume you're already unrooted.

I agree with eldarerathis.

You know what? I think you may be right. I tried to do a su in the terminal emulator and I couldn't. It gave me a su:permission denied. So, everytime I will update, the same process will apply? Unroot is guaranteed?

Yes, OTA (or in this case, manual) update will most likely always remove root.

And how can I remove traces of the phone being rooted? In case I will ever need to bring it in for warranty reasons? Also, guys, please post answers so I can mark them.

As you have come to realize, official updates (OTA or manual) will most likely patch previous exploits to obtain root and you will most likely lose root during the process of updating.  It is recommend to NOT allow updates if you wish to keep root.  Certain mods, such as CyanogenMod, will automatically block OTA updates to keep this from being a problem.


text:
How can I categorize the apps on my phone?
I'm downloading many apps but then forget about them. I'd like to be able to see all my "note taking" apps, "todo" apps etc. So I can quickly compare and discard those I don't want. Of course I'd also like all "game" apps so I can choose which game to play.
How can I do that so it is automatic (maybe use the information in market?). Is there a way to tag apps so they can belong to several categories?

There is an app called Apps Organizer that will let you "tag" applications into groups.  You can then put folder widgets on your homescreen of each of these "tags" to stay organized.  I've used it before, it works well if you keep your tags up to date.

I don't think there would be a reliable way to do it automatically, but App Manager claims to do this.
I group the apps I use on my home screens, so that games are on one screen and apps on another, with related apps in the same row (e.g. instant messengers).  You could do something similar.
You could also create folders and put your apps in them.  I believe App Manager can help you do that as well.

ADW Launcher lets you group apps in the app drawer.   I have a group setup for Games and an icon on my home screen that shows that group.

In case if your phone is from HTC (and has HTC Sense launcher) you may add a folder on any page, like "Todo", "Games", "Internet", "New apps", etc.
I use this approach in my case, and I add every new application to the "New apps" folder just after install.

I don't think there's a way to "tag" apps but Apparently you can (see Bryan's answer).
The rest of my original answer: You can create folders on the home screen, label it "Games" or "Notes" and put shortcuts to apps in there.  To do this long press on the home screen select "Folders", then "Add Folders", then "New Folder" (steps may be slightly different on your phone).  Once the folder is on your home screen you can then drag an app on top of it to add it to the folder.  To rename the folder: open the folder and then long press on the title bar of the folder at the top - after a few seconds a dialog will pop up to allow you to rename your folder.
Hope this helps
Edit - I was in the process of editing my answer to include what Matthew said about grouping apps on different home screens - but he beat me to it :).  I use this method for games where I have all my games on one home screen.

Try Folder Organizer Lite. It's an extended version of Apps Organizer. It lets you not only tag apps, but also bookmarks and contacts. It's free.

I would suggest TagHome Launcher (freeware)
It's quite easy to use: you can create as many tags as you want and assign (zero or more of) these tags to applications; all new apps are falling into "no tags" category and are easy to spot and assign tags to.
The launcher isn't flashy, but it's quite fast; I've tried several top rated ones before choosing TagHome


text:
How can I remove traces of my phone ever being rooted?
I rooted my phone and then an update unrooted it. I described my story here . I am glad that the update unrooted it, I was also planning on doing it myself.
What can I do to make sure that all traces of me having root access on the phone are erased? I'd like to do this, so that if I have to go in for warranty purposes, I don't have any problems.
I'm guessing uninstalling z4root would be the first step. What else?

As far as I know, doing a factory restore on the device should eliminate anything left over the device.
Usually the process goes:

Revert back to  your earliest NANDROID backup (that you should have taken right after you rooted).  If you don't have it, then flash a stock ROM.
Run the unroot reversal process (in this case you ran an official update)
Remove any left over root applications (SuperUser app, etc.).
If necessary, wipe the device by restoring to factory settings.

If I'm missing anything, leave a comment and I'll update this.


text:
Can I get Swype on my Thunderbolt
I am trying to install swype (by going to their page and entering my e-mail) on my thunderbolt.  But the e-mail I get from them won't show the install link.  Is there another way?

You must be a part of the beta program:

Go to http://beta.swype.com/
Login
Resend the beta email: https://beta.swype.com/android/welcome/?resend=yes
On your Android phone, go to the link in the email: https://beta.swype.com/android/get/ It should start downloading the installer to setup Swype.

If you still have problems, you'll need to contact their technical support.

I am apart of their beta program.  I did go to that link. I then did contact their technical support and they said that they do not support their beta program and to go to the forums :-(  Terrible loop of frustration.

I get "Sorry this is not an android phone?" when I go to the install page too. . .

@Zak Are you using the built-in browser and do you have it set to mobile view?  From Google I see that others with Thunderbolts have installed Swype without issue.

@Zak Hmmm, my coworker has a thunderbolt, I'll see if I can get him to install swype. I have the same problem on my NookColor (says it isn't an android device even tho I am passing android in the user agent).

The "Sorry this is not an android phone" message means that your user agent for your browser is not set to Android.  I encountered this before, and resetting the user agent back to default solved the problem.


text:
Google navigation stuck on "Checking navigation availability"
I own a LG Optimus One with Android 2.2.2. Everytime I try to use the navigation provided by google, my phone remains stuck on Checking navigation availability. Is there a fix for this?

Is your GPS turned on?

Wifi probably needs to be on, too.

You might try clearing the app data and/or cache and see if that helps.

Both GPS and Wifi were on.

It seems I was running the 5.0 version of google maps. I tried to search for an update on the market, but I couldn't even find the app. The most surprising thing was that using the exact search strings, I was able to find it very easy in the browser.
I downloaded the 5.2 apk, and I installed it from the SDCard. Afterwards, everything worked.


text:
Why does AIM need my phone number? And why can't it find it?
The stock IM application has been complaining that it "can't access my phone number" when I try to connect to AIM. I've been able to connect when I'm using a wireless connection a few times, but never using the data connection. I don't have any trouble getting gchat messages or mail or making phone calls. The error says:

Unable to sign into the AIM service.
  Please try again later.  (Detail:
  Sorry, the phone number cannot be read
  from your SIM card. Please contact
  your operator for help.)

This has bugged me since I got my phone, definitely not new, but it would be nice to be able to use the IM on my phone. Any ideas about what might be afoot?
Phone: T-mobile G1, unlocked and running on AT&T
OS: 1.6/donut (I know, I know, I can do better)

Have you tried logging on to AIM from a different client? There are a couple of multi-protocol ones in the Market, though I'm not sure which ones support Donut. (I also realize this doesn't address the core question of "Why is AIM being stupid?", so I'll go with a comment rather than an answer)

I have no trouble accessing AIM via Pidgin on my laptop. I haven't tried other AIM apps for Android though.

Apparently this is by design (did not know that until today). You can only use the AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! messengers on the G1 if you're using a T-Mobile SIM card. I suppose this may apply to other unlocked phones since the comment on the bug tracker implies that it's actually got something to do with the way Android or its APIs are doing things under the hood.
I'd just recommend trying a different client, I guess. I personally recommend Trillian or Meebo, but there's a bunch of others. Trillian is $5 (or you can go get an old beta version - they were free), but I like the UI and features a bit more. Meebo is free but also very good. One big difference is that Trillian supports C2DM, but that doesn't really apply here since it wasn't introduced until Android 2.2
As for the "why": I'm not sure, really. Matt may be correct, but AIM can send SMS messages from desktop clients, so your number seems like it might not really be necessary. I'm inclined to agree with that guess, though, since I can't think of any other reasons.

It needs your phone number because the app claims to send text messages which it probably does through an sms gateway.  No idea why it can't find your SIM, but it's probably related to the fact that you are running a T-mo phone on AT&T.  That shouldn't matter but I'm sure the AIM devs didn't account for that.  I'd try a different service that supports AIM like eBuddy.

It is because the stock app sends SMS for chatting instead using the internet connection.
I discovered with shock 2 years ago, I did not have an SMS plan and I had to pay $40 in text messages....


text:
How can I manage my store cards on the Android?
I have a bunch of store cards with barcodes on them hanging on my keychain. Every now and then I won't have my keys when I'm in the store. I once saw someone with an iPhone who had an app that managed those bar codes. Is there anything similar for the droid?

I've never used it but I remember reading about Key Ring Rewards Cards.  Try that and see what you think.
Edit: I also tried searching the market for "loyalty cards" and came up with this list of apps. I was going to specifically name some but as I haven't tried them I thought it best that I just give you the list. Seems there are quite a few that will help you manage your cards

My wife uses Key Ring with mixed success. Not all of the barcode readers can manage the screen, and sometimes the Droid is just to big to fit where they want you to put the little keyring card.


text:
If I try a new email client like K9-mail, can I go back to my original email just by uninstalling it?
Before I try something I cannot easily reverse ( and to confirm something I think I already know the answer for ): if I install another email client ( like K9-mail ) on my Samsung phone of even more on my Archos 101 tablet, can I revert back to the email client I already have just be uninstalling the new email client ?
Will I get a choice of email clients ( like you have now when you install Opera or Firefox ) ?

When you first install an application that can handle the same intent as another application install (for the sake of this example, let's say a home launcher, but this works for any similar apps), then the first time you'd press the home button (which calls an intent to go to the home screen, which you now have 2 apps that could handle it), you'll get a selection screen of applications that can fulfill that intent and you'll have the option to set one of them as default.
If set an application as default and you no longer wish to use that application as default you can either uninstall the application OR you can go to Settings --> applications --> manage apps --> go to the app in particular --> and click on "clear defaults".  This will reset the default application for that intent, so the next time you'd press the home button you would again get a selection of home launchers to choose from.

To clarify somewhat here: you do not even need to remove K9 mail to go back to the stock mail application and ... yes, you will see a choice of email clients.

Second clarification: Whenever installing/uninstalling/updating an app which handles an intent also handled by another installed app, the "default" is reset (i.e. the popup to chose which app to use will re-appear then). So no worries :)

Short answer Yes.
It should act exactly like having a second browser... until you set it as your default Android should prompt you to pick what client you want to use.  If you choose K9 as your default and then delete it Android will be smart enough to revert back to the default client.

Can you please explain the down-vote?


text:
Call Encryption
Is it possible to encrypt calls on Android OS?
How do I do that?

Curently there is no such official support and the SDK does not allow third party apps to encrypt calls, but if you use a SIP client, the call can be encrypted depending on the SIP client`s features.

Yes with an app called redphone: http://www.appbrain.com/app/redphone-beta/org.thoughtcrime.redphone

Options are limited unfortunately.

If you want to make calls using your existing phone service with your existing number, then your best option is Red Phone from Whisper Systems. Of course, your calling partner will need to have the app to for the call to be encrypted.
If you don't mind using another service, take a look at OStel, a secure VOIP provider.


text:
Is there a way to edit my personal maps within Google Maps or any other application?
I remember that there was an application from Google to edit my personal maps. But it stopped working from Android 2.2 on and now it's even removed from the Market.
Are there any plans of integration that functionality directly into Google Maps or is there any other application out there where I can edit my maps?
Via the layers in Goole Maps I can view my personal maps, but I didn't figure out how to edit them.

Unfortunately I couldn't find My Google Maps Editor either.  I can't read Google's future and couldn't find any indication of such a feature but Google's My Tracks does allow you to upload a map to your maps but I'm pretty sure you'll actually have to run/walk/bike/move-in-some-way over the course you want to map.
I also did a Google search for "my maps editor apk" and looks like you can still find the apk somewhere (I'll leave that to the you) but I can't say if it will work or not and you should always be careful downloading apps from unofficial sources.

It does not work. I've had it on my device and once I upgraded to froyo, it now just closes right after opening.

@Ryan What doesn't work? the apk or My Tracks?

Sorry, My Maps Editor doesn't work.


text:
Can I customise (limit, reorder) Swype language choices?
I regularly use three languages in swype. I can switch between them by long-pressing on Q, but they happen to be inconveniently spread across the list (one near the top, one in the middle, and one near the bottom).
Anyone know if I can (a) limit the list (e.g. by uninstalling specific swype language packs) or (b) reorder it? Or have another solution I haven't thought of?

In case it matters: the phone is a Samsung Galaxy S, Swype version is 2.6.47.11856.

As far as I know, Swype only comes in two sets: full (all languages) and a English/Spanish set.
However, there is a hidden feature: you can swype from the Swype key to the Q key to switch between your current language and the last language you used.

Nice, thanks! ... If only it cycled through three...

@Tikitu I'm glad you asked because I had no idea about this shortcut until I looked it up for you :)  I was previously holding Q to switch between English <-> Spanish

If the Swype developers don't put the options you want in the app then the only way to accomplish what you want is to get your hands on the source code and make the changes manually.
This would be quite a trick, as Swype is closed source.  I also wouldn't recommend modifying the .apk that they've released (is there even a way to decompile .apk's?) as your results could vary widely between "Swype stopped working" and "I've somehow bricked my phone".
Bryan's suggestion will definitely help you if you happen to switch between two of those three languages most of the time, but unfortunately if you cycle through all three pretty regularly you're going to have to stick with using the menu selections.

There are a few ways to decompile APKs, though none of them are entirely reliable.  Also from what I understand, Swype takes their beta feedback fairly seriously; Tikitu could always request this as a feature.

Definitely not up for hacking swype... Thanks Matthew for the suggestion, I will do that.


text:
Why is the HTC Legend Froyo ROM labelled as being for Vodafone?
I am currently using Optus and would like to upgrade to this ROM, but it is labelled as being a Vodafone ROM. Is this important? Is the ROM locked to the network or are there other issues it may cause if I installed it. Would this be any different from buying a phone from Vodafone then switching networks?

Where do you live and what carrier handles your cell service?

@JonnyP: Australia and using Optus

I've done sort of the reverse -- installed a US T-Mobile ROM to my T-Mobile phone while I had it on the Canadian Rogers network.  Since the Legend is also a GSM phone like my Vibrant, I would expect yours to work just as well as mine did.  Just make sure you have your SIM card in for the whole process.

"and if you back up your apps/settings (e.g. with Titanium Backup) don't restore any data for the system apps, which might overwrite your current network's data with Vodafone data." If I backup, then install a Vodafone ROM, then restore, wouldn't my Optus settings be saved?

Good point, I was thinking too much about my case, where I switched carriers and ROMs at the same time.


text:
Is there an official dialer code resource?
There are a ton of XDA forums and a decent number of answers here that refer to specific dialer codes. For instance *#*#4636#*#* will cause unicorns to spring forth from your phone or tell you what OS you're running and how much RAM you have (I forget which). I found one list of Secret Star Codes but I'm wondering if there's a more complete list? Someone warned that some codes can really screw up your phone and it'd be nice to have a good place to point people for good information on what the codes actually mean.
Though in fact *#*#4636#*#*, which was recently recommended, is fairly safe, I think it is a good practice, especially since we all start talking about fire breathing dragons when the subject of rooting a device comes up, to make sure we're encouraging folks to make sure they know what a dialer code is going to do.

Normally these are for carrier use (and manufacturer I suppose), so I think the only way to get an complete list is if the official list is leaked -- and leaks are not generally considered reliable resources.

An easy way to remember this particular one is that it spells info on a normal T9 phone dialpad.
##INFO## = ##4636## :-)

Possibly related: What are the known Android keypad commands (dialer codes)?

This thread over at XDA seems to be a pretty good start on this kind of resource.
Edit: I just noticed that the OP in that thread admitted that most of the codes listed wouldn't work in 2.2.  Bummer.
Edit 2: Found another one.  No indication of whether these codes have been tested and if so what device/ROM was used.


text:
How do you move an app shortcut between launcher screens?
So I have a few icons and folders on the leftmost launcher screen.  I want to move them to the middle one.  You'd think that you'd do it by dragging the icons to the dots on the lower left/ lower right corner, but that doesn't work.
I know it's possible to do because I've actually done it few times, somehow, but I can't figure out how to do it in any kind of reliable way.

Drag the icon to the edge, not the corners.  It can be a little finicky depending on the particular touchscreen hardware your phone has.

Finicky is an understatement. I've given over trying to do it that way and just long-press from the app drawer.

Yeah depending on how many screens I want to move it (more than one) I'll just delete it and long press from the app drawer :)

I'm lazy, I'll drag an icon from the far left to the far right just because I don't have to pick up my thumb more than once that way ;)


text:
How do I get Key Ring Reward Cards to store other kinds of barcode?
I've started using Key Ring Reward Cards to store my barcodes on my DroidX. I managed to scan in a couple of cards (Safeways and REI) but it refuses to scan any of my library cards and some other cards like Toys R Us.
Does anybody have any tips or tricks to getting all barcodes on these types of cards recognized?

Um, aren't you kind of asking "How can I get this app to do something it doesn't do?"

It looks like they explicitly support a few hundred (650, as of this reading) rewards programs. So they don't support just every last bar code you might want to store, unfortunately.
That said, they do show a Toys R Us reward card in their banner graphic so you'd think it ought to upload that one. My guess is that you should nudge them about the reward cards you haven't been able to scan: http://www.keyringapp.com/

I played with that app for a few days and if I recall correctly there's an option to manually enter the numbers printed below every barcode or some other unique identifier for the cards you want to use but won't scan.

I tried entering the barcode manually but it rejected it with an error message something like: "barcodes must be 9 or 10 digits"

Were you able to specify that it wasn't a barcode?  Like was there an option to tell it you were entering a user ID or something?  I seem to remember something like that.


text:
GPS Accuracy Data for Android phones
I'm try to gather data on the feasibility of my next Android project in which I would like to use GPS indoors.  Knowing that GPS wasn't built to be accurate indoors, I'm trying to decide if the project is worthwhile.
I have a rough estimate of my required accuracy (10 meters).  The location is the middle of a major city.
So I'm wondering if there is any data out there that relates to the GPS systems on Android phones that would help me with this research.
Thanks.
Edit:
Thanks for the answers so far folks.  Good reads.  I realized that there are a lot of factors affecting GPS data.  Even though I may be "shooting for the moon" with my accuracy requirements, I'm hoping that my unique situation might help achieve my goal indoors.
I intended to use GPS + wireless network data (Assisted GPS) and try to get the best accuracy possible.  My user will also be in the middle of a major city, which I would imagine would have many cell towers.  Whether or not I can achieve this with current/up-and-coming Android technology is really what I would like to determine, so my search for actual data representing valid tests of Android devices continues.
If you have any links to data of this sort, please do share.
Thanks again all!

I think it is better if you widen the scope of your technologies. GPS is not necessarily the best tool to satisfy your requirements. And of course, you need to explain your requirement a bit better. Do you really need absolute positioning? or is relative positioning sufficient? is it possible to assume the ability to scout the area for wifi AP/cell tower positions? Is the device intended to be used together with another hardware that have fixed positions?

10 m?  You'd be lucky to get that kind of accuracy outdoors.
I'm the developer of Car Dashboard, which is a car home replacement that includes GPS features like speedometer, etc. I have the default minimum GPS accuracy set to 200 m which seems to work pretty good for most users (I also have it adjustable in the settings in case they have issues).  On average, I'd say indoors near a window will get you about 50-100 m accuracy. Outside with nice conditions should get you below 50 m. Indoors without any visual sight to the sky is going to be a dead zone.  The signal is just simply not going to reach you and if it does, it is going to be highly inaccurate.
This is the resource I use to describe GPS accuracy in my application:

GPS accuracy is affected by a number
  of factors, including satellite
  positions, noise in the radio signal,
  atmospheric conditions, and natural
  barriers to the signal. Noise can
  create an error between 1 to 10 meters
  and results from static or
  interference from something near the
  receiver or something on the same
  frequency. Objects such a mountains or
  buildings between the satellite and
  the receiver can also produce error,
  sometimes up to 30 meters. The most
  accurate determination of position
  occurs when the satellite and receiver
  have a clear view of each other and no
  other objects interfere.

I found this from GPS Tracklog.  It's from 2005 but my guess is that the technology is roughly (if not exactly) the same.

They come through my roof (plywood and
  spanish tiles on top) just fine too,
  and they also make it through typical
  fiberglass boat construction. Most
  materials are not good absorbers of
  microwaves, but anything with a high
  water content (incl. people) or metal
  will block the signals. As a general
  rule, anything that will heat up
  readily in a microwave oven will also
  absorb the GPS signals although the
  frequencies are a little different
  (1.5 GHz for GPS and a little over 2
  GHz for ovens). So as long as the wood
  and shingles on your roof are dry
  they’ll pass the signals ok, but of
  course insulation with a metal foil
  layer would block them. The physical
  reason why things with water absorb
  the signals is that water molecules
  are highly polarized with the oxygen
  end having a negative charge and the
  end with the two hydrogens having a
  positive charge. When the GPS signals
  go through water the oscillating
  electrical field of the microwaves
  cause the water molecules to rotate
  back and forth and this absorbs energy
  from the signals.

Under limited circumstances, it is possible to use the accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope (and of course, Wifi, GPS, and cell tower) to increase the accuracy of GPS, by using dead reckoning/path integration.

Thanks for the link.  My user will be walking so I imagine it might be pretty tough (if at all possible) to implement something like this.

@user1827: Even if the user is walking, it is still possible. David Saachs of InvenSense gave a Google TechTalks on Sensor Fusion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7JQ7Rpwn2k) back in August, skip to 23:17 to the section about calculating position through acc/comp/gyro, he talks about how to get position, its limitation, the difficulties, and how to circumvent their limitations. In particular, if your user is mostly walking, you can use pedometer algorithm to filter out the drift from the double integration. The technology is said to be on Gingerbread, but I don't have a reliable source for it.


text:
What is 720p video recording
I heard about the complaint of the Nexus S' lack of 720p video recording? What does 720p mean? How does it compare to the standard Samsung Galaxy S phones?

From Wikipedia:

720p is the shorthand name for a
  category of HDTV video modes having a
  resolution of 1280×720 (for a total of
  0.92 megapixels or 921,600 pixels) and a progressive scan. The number 720
  stands for the 720 horizontal scan
  lines of display resolution (also
  known as 720 pixels of vertical
  resolution), while the letter p stands
  for progressive scan or
  non-interlaced. When broadcast at
  60 frames per second, 720p
  features the highest temporal (motion)
  resolution possible under the ATSC and
  DVB standards.

The Samsung Galaxy S is capable of recording 720p video from it's rear-facing camera.  The Nexus S is not (max resolution of 720x480).

Beat me to the Wikipedia entry :)

@Daniel - Questions like this really are a quick-draw competition. lol

true :)

Its referring to the resolution that the video camera can record video in. 720p (1280×720 ) is a High Definition resolution.  Apparently the maximum video resolution of the Nexus S is only 720x480 which is Standard Definition.  Many new Android handsets have the ability to record HD video which is why it would be something to complain about with the Nexus S.


text:
Can I use the HTC Desire HD Wifi Hotspot feature to share a wireless network instead of mobile internet?

Possible Duplicate:
Can we use an Android phone as a Wi-Fi repeater?

I have my home router which for a variety of reasons I can not switch to WEP. However, I occasionally need to use my Nintendo DS to connect to Nintendo WFC, and it can only use a WEP connection. My current method is to use the Wi-Fi Hotspot feature of my HTC Desire HD to create a temporary WEP network and connect to that using my DS. This is fine, except it forces my phone to use my carrier's data connection instead of my home wireless network, bringing with it associated charges if I hadn't used the internet on my phone that day already.
Is there anyway to share a wireless network instead of the mobile network via the Wi-Fi Hotspot feature?

I'm hesitant to say "no" in an answer since it's hard to prove a negative, but generally speaking this would require your wifi chip to be in two modes at the same time. This is usually not possible, and would require some other connection between the DS and the phone (if nobody yells at me then I might just re-post this as an answer - I'll Google around in the meantime...).

Just to be clear - you want to connect your DS to your phone via wifi and then use the wifi connection between your phone and the router for data?

@Daniel: Correct.

Color me impressed: It's actually possible to rebroadcast a wifi signal with only a single card on Win7 using Connectify. Evidently aircrack might have similar capability on Linux, but that's not completely clear from what I'm reading so far. I'm not finding anything similar for Android, though...

@Macha Interesting - I'm going to give this a shot tonight when I get home.  I'm guessing you are not using a custom ROM

@Daniel: Yeah. Latest HTC firmware version. Using a non-stock ROM would involve a downgrade process I don't really understand too well.

This is more of an idea of an alternate route to try, rather than an answer. Part of Froyo's tethering support is that it also supports USB tethering, presumably you have a PC/laptop on your home network, it might be possible to attach your phone to that PC via USB, using the PC's internet connection (reverse tethering essentially), this then leaves your phone's wifi connection free to be shared to your DS. Had a quick Google round, can't see that anyone's tried this but it seems like it would be more possible than using the same wifi antenna for two different network connections.

The Desire HD can not be a gateway that supports rebroadcasting wifi with a different encryption, at best you could add an encryption from an open point or broadcast it as open from a secure point.
You would also need two antennas, and the chip does not.

I don't know if the MobileAP setting on my Galaxy S is the "Official" Mobile Access Point component for 2.2-Froyo, but if I try to enable MobileAP when I am already connected to wifi, it tells me that I must first disconnect from wifi before I can share any type of data connection.


text:
is there a place where new phones release dates are posted?
I recently got a new Inspire 4G and its awesome but how can I know if something new is coming out in a few days and I should have waited? Is there a site that keeps track of this stuff? Sorry if this is not the correct place to ask this. thanks!

I actually didn't know this until just a few minutes ago but you can use pdadb.net's pda-chooser to search by release year (so not exact date but at least its something).  Obviously if its not in the database it won't appear and I'm guessing that only confirmed devices/dates are entered.  That along with Gus's answer should help.  You may also want to check out Engadget

I typically find out about new android devices coming out on gizmodo. The only official place I know of is Google's phone store. It doesn't list new phones that are coming out, only what is currently out.

thanks - i tried voting up your answer but it wouldn't let me. I'll check gizmodo out.

Daniels suggestion (pdadb.net) definitely has the most comprehensive list but I'm not thrilled with the UI. It's not the most user friendly.
I prefer PhoneScoops search which seems to cover all the major US devices.  Here is a link to a search for results of all the "Coming Soon" Android phones.
Also, if you are looking for Blogs, BGR.com is always seems to be one of the first to report on new devices.

GSMArena.com is another popular site for cellphone news and device information.  As with PDAnet mentioned by Daniel, you can search by "coming soon" devices that meet whatever specifications you're interested in.

http://www.androidauthority.com and http://www.gsmarena.com are the best sites for new stuff and mobiles !


text:
How to use diffrent modes at same time on a phone for different callers
For two different callers call on a phone, Is it possible that phone is on vibrate mode for one caller and on ring mode for different user?
My question is in terms of making an application. Is it possible for two different caller when they call at same time on an phone for one the phone is on vibrate mode and for other it will be on ringing mode. Like what i am thinking is to start a service that run in background, So when a call is coming from a particular number it will switch it to vibrate and for different no it will switch to vibrate.
But again the thing is service can listen only one number at the time. So the phone can either work on Vibrate or its in ring. Can it be possible that two mode run simultaneously for two different number?
IF so then hows it possible?

By default you can set different ringtones for each contact by hitting the menu button form the contact window and choosing options.  To add vibration into that mix you can use an app called WhoIsIt, that among other things lets you set different vibration patterns for each contact.
Another way is suggested in this answer.
A more powerful but complicated way to get this done would be to set up different profiles for each caller in an app called Tasker.

No, you cannot set a contact with vibrate for their ringtone. The vibrate mode is "system wide" when enabling the mode. You can, however, set a different audio ringtone for different contacts.


text:
How do I get rid of the draft message that shows up when I try to respond to an SMS?
When I read a text and go to respond, for some reason there is 1/2 of a text that I sent a long time ago still in the reply text box and I have to erase it every time.  How can I fix this?

ok... i punched my phone and now it went away... but im trying to figure out how to use other ways than violence to solve my problems so i still need help for the future. Thank you

What the hell are you talking about? What "text" are you referring to? What "box"?

@Lie Ryan "a text" is a common synonym for an SMS message.  The "box" would be the entry field.

Since you mentioned text-messages my guess is that maybe you have a draft that the messaging app wants you to finish, although with my HTC Evo it doesn't do what yours is doing.  Try opening the message app and on the screen where you can see "All Messages" open the menu and you might see an option to select "Drafts" (looks like a old 3.5" floppy).  If you have any drafts delete them and see if this fixes your issue.

Had this problem for the past couple days, and finally was sick of it. This morning, I tried deleting all my SMS messages. After that didn't work, I did this: Menu - Settings - Applications - Manage Applications - All - Messages, then hit "Clear Data". That resolved the issue. You can try doing this before deleting your SMS messages, but it may delete them when you clear the data -- not 100% sure (it does warn it will wipe them). problem solved!

Menu - Settings - Applications - Manage Applications - All - Messages -> Clear Data worked for my HTC Thunderbolt.

I have the same problem sometimes with my Thunderbolt too.  I deleted all the drafts and it does nothing, but you are on track because mine have been text that I typed in before either by mistake or never finished. Here is the problem.
The way I cleared it out before was to create an entirely new conversation since it is limited for a particular person, in my case.

On the main messages screen open the menu, then select drafts->menu->delete drafts.
Select the messages you want deleted, then press delete.


text:
Is there a way to change the on-screen position of the 'Return' button on my Archos 101?
I have bought an Archos 101 tablet.
It doesn't have hard buttons, but in stead, on screen buttons for 'Return', 'Home', 'Menu' and 'Help'.
If I hold the tablet in an horizontal position (landscape mode), the 4 four buttons are displayed at the right edge of the screen, with the 'Return' button at the bottom ( and the 3 other buttons on top of 'Return' in the order given above.
So I have to use my right hand to press the 'Return' button. Being right handed, this is a natural place for the 'Return' button to be situated (lower right corner of the screen)T - after all, it's the button you use the most.
However, when I hold the tablet in a vertical position (portrait mode), the 4 buttons are displayed at the bottom of the screen, in exact the same order : from left to right 'Return', 'Home', 'Menu' and 'Help'.
This now means that I have to use my LEFT hand to press the 'Return' button.

I would like to still use my right hand to press the 'Return' key.

Therefore my question: is it possible to change the order of the 4 on screen buttons on an Archos 101 tablet ?

in the google market there is an app to change the archos buttons and even add some. its named archos buttons afaik. but your device has to be rooted. havent tested it though.

This answer had a down vote, which I don't understand (no explanation was given by the down voter - which I find rude - especially for down votes on answers of new forum members). The program actually exists in the market and it does what I am asking for. Problem is: I don't want to root my device. I upvoted this anwswer since I did not explicitly stated that I did not want to root my device.

Don't think its possible without root. Which one of the 101 tablet do you have? There are one with android 2.2 and one with Honeycomb...

As the link is missing: you probably mean Buttons for RW Rooted Archos?


text:
Is there an application which let me crop a picture on my device into the correct size to use as wallpaper
Do you know of software which can crop a photo or an image into the correct size to act as wallpaper ?
Now, if I download an image from the net  and try to use it as a wallpaper ( long pressing an image in a web browser, let's you use it as a wallpaper ), it always uses the top of the image. Depending on the picture, this makes a lot of pictures useless.
I could imagine a graphic application which let's met select a portion of an image ( the correct size for the device I'm running it on ), and than saves the cropped version and sets it as a wallpaper.
I am not so much interested into a graphic editing program on Android as such ( I will do graphic editing on the PC ), unless it gives me the option I am asking.
I am using an Archos 101 tablet running Froy 2.2.1 , if that should make a difference.

You can save the image to  SD Card and use the Gallery app to set the wallpaper. Gallery app has the feature to crop selected portion of an image and then save it as a wallpaper.

Indeed. Never knew this program had that feature. I'm learning something new every day !

Also QuickPic application can cut a picture to correct size before set it as wallpaper. It's free on Market.


text:
Is there a media player that sorts WMA in track order?
I'm using an HTC Desire with 2.2 and the stock media player annoyingly sorts the tracks in alphabetical order.  According to MediaMonkey the files have the correct track order tag in them.
Is there a media player that sorts the tracks correctly? (I've also tried Winamp and btunes at this point).

There is a known bug that disallows sorting of WMA files by track number.
You could try using MediaMonkey or something like MP3Tag on your PC to rename the file as
%track_number% - %Artist% - %Title%.wma or something similar, so it sorts by name.
Also try Meridian Player - you can create a PlayQ (kinda like a playlist and then sort that by Track, I believe.
And be sure to take a look @ Mort Player too.

Thanks Sparx, a shame but good to know it's a bug.

Thanks again - Mort Player will play the tracks in the right order, so that works around it until the bug gets fixed...


text:
Floating controls for audio player
Is there any way, or any audio player software that has the feature, to play/pause an audio file without opening the player app, e.g. via a floating button (like softkey) or a hard button? I am learning to speak a language. The text is in a PDF file, the audio is in MP3 files. I need to read the PDF (in Adobe reader, ezPDF, etc) while playing the audio, and need to play/pause the audio without having to close the PDF viewer, open the player, then go back.
I'm using a tablet. Its headset doesn't have any button (play/pause, volume control). The tablet only has 2 volume buttons, 1 home button, and 1 power/sleep button.
Thanks!

What is the name of your device and what version of Android is it currently running?

It's a rooted Nook Color, with Android 2.1 (auto-nooter).

I was going to suggest the same thing that Matt did below.

The (Samsung modified) default Music Player app on the Galaxy S puts the player controls in the Notification Shade (the pull-down part of the Notification bar) while the Music Player is playing in the background. This lets you Play, Pause, Next Track, Previous Track while you're in another app. Doesn't the default Android player do this?
Screenshot of the player controls with the notification bar pulled down:

It seems that the stock music player on Nook color doesn't do that. Anyone knows of any other player that has this feature?

Root only solution: You can use an app called ButtonRemapper to remap any of your buttons to a number of functions.  I used this to remap my camera button to be a Play/Pause button (but when I was in the camera app it still took pictures). Unfortunately you have to have a rooted device to use this.

ButtonRemapper does not work on my device. It causes the device to reboot.

I used the remapper app to play and pause my kindle books. We can also customise the volume buttons to only do this when using a specofoc app. My volume button now only pauses the kindle books, but works normally when using other apps. So happy..!!
Here is the link to the google playstore app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sumyapplications.button.remapper

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


text:
Can I change the menus on the default browser?
I have an Evo running Froyo and love it.
But...
In the default browser (which I am happy with)  the menu options are Back, Forward, Add Bookmarks, Bookmarks, Windows and More. Thing is, I share links with the cloud (Twitter, Facebook, Reader, Dropbox, etc.) much more than adding bookmarks. I use Chrome so that all my bookmarks are shared between all my computers, so on, phone bookmarks are where ideas go to die. How can I move Add Bookmarks to More and bring Share forward?

No - as far as I can tell you can't change the menu in an application (unless that application specifically has that feature).  You could try downloading another browser like Opera, Firefox 4, or Dolphin (just to name a few).
That being said, if you still want to use the default browser, you can "long-press" on the address bar and a context menu will pop up with the option to "Share page". You can use that instead.
Hope this helps.


text:
Are there any apps that can shut down the phone?
The power button is stuck on my friend's phone, so he wanted to know if there were any apps available that could shut off the phone, or any other way to turn it off without pressing the power button. He has a Droid with Android 2.2.2

Check out the answer to this question: http://android.stackexchange.com/q/367/137

@Matt: isn't power button different than sleep/lock button?

@Lie: No one button on the OG Droid does both (Normally: Press to sleep and long press to power down)  but it's a good point that those two functions are different.

@MatrixFrog:  I reopened the question.  Are you trying to just turn the screen off (sleep) or power down the phone so it's completely off?

Matt: I'm not sure what he wants exactly, but I'll make sure he sees this question and hopefully some part of your answer will help him out. Thanks!

Just a curiosity...
How are you supposed to turn it on again without a power button? O_O

If you are simply trying to turn the screen off, like the normal single press of the power button on the Droid does refer to this question: Is there an App or Widget that can replace my Screen On and Off Button on my Moto Droid?
If you are trying to power down the phone you'll need to have a rooted Droid then you can install an app that give you a boot menu like Quick Boot or Reboot Manager, both of wich give you an option to turn the phone off.

As I pointed out in the answer you do need a rooted device for option 2. Option 1 does not require root access.


text:
Is it possible to improve the following GUI in Samsung Galaxy S
I was wondering, is it possible for me to perform modification for the following GUI in Samsung Galaxy S? What software I should use to do so? (I use a white rectangle to highlight them)
1) Possible for me to remove button 1,2,3 numbering.
2) I do not want a square icon. Is it possible to have icon background same as wallpaper background?

Use an alternative homescreen launcher like LauncherPro or dxTop or ADW.Launcher or GoLauncher.
Lots of customizations and options. You'll need to explore each one's features and see which is best for you.

+1 for LauncherPro, there are even custom skins/builds of LauncherPro to further customize the homescreen.

Here's a link to LauncherPro for the search-engine-inept.

or Zeam.

If you want those home screen indicators but just don't want the numbers in them then download ADW.Launcher.  It comes pre-installed on CyanogenMod 6.2.1 and I've really enjoyed using it.
As far as that icon, it is what it is.  In order to change it you're going to need to alter the app directly, or install an app that allows you to change the icons for your apps with image files you have installed on your SDCard.


text:
what does "auto-fit pages" do in the browser
In the stock Android browser, what exactly does "auto-fit pages" do?
From my experimenting with it, the answer appears to be "Diddly-squat".
Perhaps a better question would be "What is is supposed to do?"

I believe some phones (HTC?) made the distinction that when they have auto-fit (or some similarly named options) is disabled, then the browser will only reflow the text when double tapped (i.e. not when pinch-zooming); and while autofit (or that similarly named option) is enabled, then a pinch-zooming will reflow the text.

For people looking for a code fix for this issue, I've worked through it here: http://www.matt-helps.com/android-browser-auto-fit-fix

Chrome doesn't have this feature anymore: Why doesn’t every browser do word wrapping?

Auto-fit is supposed to force the text to wrap based on the size of your screen when you zoom in on a web page.  I think.
As long as I'm connecting the right term with the right action, it has limits.  For instance, the page width doesn't actually change, and images and side bars won't change position, shape, or size.  Basically it's designed to keep you from scrolling sideways to read the text of an article.

OK.  Yeah, I can see that it does that... on some websites, anyway.

@mhenry1384 - Again, totally dependent on the idea that I'm not associating the term and action improperly.  :)


text:
How can I download and install custom roms for the droid x?
I have a droid x. I'm told that my phone will be much faster if it has a custom rom. After some googling I read that rubix is a good option. I'd appreciate any instructions on how to go about obtaining and installing this custom rom on my phone, or any pointers to this effect.

Just do note that a Droid X has a locked bootloader therefore you will never be able to change the kernel of the device so you don't get 100% out of custom roms like other devices without the locked bootloader.

What sort of features will I be missing out on because of this? Thanks.

the primary thing the kernel controls is the clockspeed.  You won't be able to replace the stock kernel with any other kernel so you are stuck with whatever speeds the stock kernel allows you to overclock/underclock to

As I have come to understand it, things are getting more interesting for the locked bootloader with the advent of 2nd init.

I think the instructions you find in this thread are fairly clear, aside from the process of rooting your phone and installing ROM Manager.
All the standard disclaimers apply, of course.  What you do with your phone is your business and nothing any of us say makes us responsible if you brick your device.


text:
How to see my Picasa albums offline?
In other words how to download a picture from my Picasa album to my sdcard? I can see in the gallery but not have it in my phone :( so I cannot see when I don't have wifi. I don't want full sync but I want to save a pic which I see in gallery easily.
Update:
I have a good picture in my picasa web album.
When I am at my home with wifi, I can see the picture, show it to others. When I go out of wifi connection, If I try to see the picture I wont be able to because the image which was cached will be deleted and no longer available. I will just be able to see the thumbnail. Alternatively If there is an option to save the image to sd card in the gallery image viewer, I will save that particular picture to my sd card when I have wifi and view it anytime anywhere. So now, If I want to download a particular image of mine from picasa, I need to go to internet->picasawebalbums, browse for the same photo I can see in gallery and then download it. Is there a simple way of doing this? May be with anyother app?
Else, If I can access the cache folder where gallery caches picasa photos, I can copy from there. But I'm not able to find that too.
My phone model: Samsung Galaxy S LCD I9003
Update:
I found this app useful and allow me to save my photos but I cant browse friend's albums yet.

You can sync Picasa albums to the web via a setting in the software on your computer. Google gives you a little storage for free.
Then on your phone you under Settings->Accounts and Sync, select the Google account and tick Sync Picasa Web Albumns.
Next time you open the Gallery app, it will show all the photos that have been uploaded to the web.

but only when I'm online.

Any albums you have viewed are still available when you go offline.

Not always. It depends on cache which is removed after some time.

This option doesn't exist for all users. I don't have it on my Samsung Intercept.

Picasa Web Albums don't seem to be a sync option any more under ICS/JB.

Do I understand that your goal here is to save a single picture for offline viewing? If you access your photo via the stock browser rather than the Picasa app, you can long press on any image to bring up a menu of options including "save image" -- that will download the image to your SD Card.
I'm surprised that Picasa doesn't offer a similar option inside the app -- I'd at least try a long press there, too.

Long press in the gallery simply allows you to do multiple selections of albums: http://imgur.com/yTO5e

JustPictures! might be the app for you. It has excellent support for Picasa Web Albums and lets you download (sync) full albums to your phone. You can also save individual photos to your SD Card (open a photo, press menu, select save photo).
Highly recommended.
One limitation is that you may struggle to open other people's albums. Related link.

The Picfolio App from Google Play downloads Picasa photos and thumbnails to my external SDCard. In settings, you specifiy which Picasa Web albums you want to cache on your phone and where to put them, external SDCard or internal.
Display still works when both WiFi and 4G data services are turned off on my Samsung Galaxy II (Gingerbread 2.3). (You have to turn both of these off if you want to really test app caching, at least on my phone.)
JustPictures! and PicasaTool produced good read-only cached album results only when there was a data service of some kind.
I just turned standard Android Picasa sync totally off, so that it doesn't mess up the sort order of photos taken only on my phone. The images are already there on PicFolio.
There is also an upload to Picasa option, but I have not used it yet. I use the Pro version, currently $2.99, to avoid advertisements.
I hope this helps others, as this thread certainly helped me. Thank you.

Connect the USB cable to your computer and copy the image files from your computer to your device.
Alternatively, use Picasa on your computer to publish to Picasa Web Albums, but keep the album private.

That doesn't seem to answer the question.  If he copies it form his computer, it's not in Picasa, and if it's in picasa web albums, private or not, he can't view it in the gallery offline.

How else to do it, then? The image will still be in Picasa (unless he removes it) and he's not asking for it to be syncable. @balki: Please clarify what you're trying to do.

Try installing Gallery3D from XDA and sync it with your google account. It has a offline feature.
You can get it from here,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=653503

I can't find Gallery3D from XDA. Did you mean this one?
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.cooliris.media&feature=search_result

@balki I think TuxGeek means the one you can find if you go to http://forum.xda-developers.com and search for "Gallery3D Apk" I'm not going to link directly to the thread here because I'm not sure of the legality of the app having been ripped out of the Nexus One image.

It sounds like he already has the gallery 3d on his device, which has been available in stock android 2.1+ (or 2.2).

I have tested this on my G2, thumbnails are stored and in some cases the full picture, but it is not consistent and there is no way to know which has been fully downloaded. The best way to view photos offline, is to manually download them from Picasa on your computer to your phone over USB.
It would be great if Google offered some way to know which albums were actually "synced" or if there was an option to download full resolution of all Picasa Albums for offline viewing.

You can use an app called PhotoSuitcase where its primary use is to make your own Facebook, Picasa and Flickr available offline.


text:
Always see last-viewed group in Contacts
Whenever I view Contacts it always defaults to the full list.
Is there a way to make it show the last-viewed Group of contacts? Or at the very least a specific group?
Thanks for any help!

I don't know of this is possible but it will likely depend on the phone model you have because most manufacturers put their own spin on how contacts are handled.

@Matt: Yeah, I was afraid of that.

I was implying that you should list the details of your device  so you can get a more relevant answer.

it's not a solution for contacts, so i'll post it here instead of answering, but TouchPal Dialer displays favorites easily, and automatically shows the people you contact most frequently.

If you are using google contacts as your address book, you could star those people you always want to come up, and then use the star folder on your desktop making it a quick easy way to always have access to them.
The Folder Organizer app will also allow you do this and isn't limited to using just the google address boo, and it also has more features enabling you to pick specific details from a contact i.e. choose only mobile instead of all their details etc.
I know it doesn't answer your question specifically in terms of the contact app, but it does provide a decent work around. Note that depending on your phone it might have built in widgets that can aid i.e. Sense has a pretty good one for this purpose.

In order to do that on Gingerbread select 'Display options' from the menu of the Contacts app. Then under 'Choose contacts to display' select your account and check only the groups you are interested in.

That's not really answering his question, is it? I don't think he's looking to restrict the number of contacts on his phone, but rather preserve his last view.

It doesn't restrict the number of contacts on the phone, it just defines which contacts to display. Moreover, this answers the following part of the question: "Or at the very least a specific group?" Finally, if you have a better answer, feel free to post it.

I don't, but I am interested in the solution.

Thanks Adam :) Sorry I wasn't more clear. While your solution does display a specific group I think doing this might prevent the Caller ID from displaying the contacts in the non-selected groups? Also, I forgot to specify that I'm still stuck on Froyo.