text:
Is there a flash lite installation package for smartphones of android 2.1?
I don't know whether installation package for different smartphones of the same OS/version is the same.
But if that's not the case,mine is HTC g3.
Note: I've already tried to install flash player 10.1 but failed,so I'm targeting flash lite now.

Related question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/343/flash-support-for-android-2-1

What Android version?

It's android 2.1

Flash is only available for Android 2.2+.   You won't be able to install it on any older version of Android.

Yeah,I'm aware of this,that's why I'm asking about Flash Lite.

Skyfire will play some flash videos.  Other than that, there isn't much else you can do.

Flash and Flash Lite are totally different story,Flash is not supported until recently,but Flash Lite is there for mobile phones the first day it comes out.

Pretty sure that Flash Lite has never been publically available, it's been available for manufacturers to pre-install (this is how HTC had it on their 2.1 Desire) but I don't think it's been available for download?

Is this the case with Flash Lite on other smartphones like those of symbian OS?

@android Who knows, I've been on Android for over 18 months now. Do people still buy other phones? Why?


text:
Which VPN do I use for a Cisco VPN concentrator?
I want to setup corporate sync on my DroidX and it appears to work until I try to get email.
My office uses Microsoft Exchange.
I think I need to set up VPN to do this? (not sure, I know I have to use vpn to make outlook work if I'm not on the network)
Which VPN selection should I use? We are using a really old Cisco VPN concentrator that I don't know much about, with a Microsoft shop for pretty much everything.

Android doesn't natively support pure IPSec client to connect to Cisco like VPN concentrators. For that first you need to root your device and install any custom rom with tun kernel module support and install this app http://code.google.com/p/get-a-robot-vpnc/
Configuration to be used is,

Connection Name : Cisco  (Can be
  Anything)
IP Sec Gateway  : Get it from VPN
  profile config file [*.pcf]
IP Sec ID       : This is the
  GroupName, can found in pcf file
IP Sec Secret   : Decrypted Group
  password ( Encrypted password can be
  found in pcf file)
Decryption Tool
UserName        : VPN User id
Password        : Soft token generated
  password.
Leave all other configuration as empty
  or default.

With a "really old" Cisco VPN concentrator, there are pretty good odds that you can get by with a PPTP tunnel. Especially if you're relying on the native Windows client from desktop/laptops (XP?).
However, with Exchange in the mix you may not need to establish a VPN. My new employer runs exchange and I'm using the "Mail" app to connect to it with no fuss or muss. It "just worked" after I plugged in the external mail server address (mail.mycompany.com) and my domain creds.

OK so maybe really old wasn't a good descriptor :). The Client we use is a cisco vpn client where the copyright ran out in 2006 (version 5.0.00.0340) :). It runs on Windows 7 32 bit no problem but 64 bit causes issues and you need a new client. So all that said, the corporate sync seemed to work with everything but the mail... I'll try using the mail app and see what happens.

I don't know what concentrator we use I just know cisco has stopped supporting it...

OK. So, the mail app worked. I can get messages this way, but I kind of wanted to use corporate sync... I guess I need to talk to my network guy?

I should clarify that I'm using the "Email" app (as opposed to "Mail app" that I said in my original response).

Hmm. Yeah the Email app won't sync even with the mail.mycompany.com as the server... The weird thing is it synced some of my outlook contacts...

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
Can you Modify or Increase the Size of the Recent Apps List?
I tend to rely on Recent Apps list to bounce between apps I use most often, as a sort of day-long history, for example. Is there a trick to increasing how many apps are listed in the default Recent Apps list (long-press home > Recent Apps)? I believe it's limited to 8, is there a trick/app which would increase it? Picture the PC Alt-Tab menu when you have 10+ programs open. Perhaps it makes more sense on a phone (from a resources perspective) to limit the number of apps on the Recent Apps list.
I'm not looking for a task-killing app, but a task-switching app. Would this be solved if I looked into a tasker app?
EDIT1: Using Advanced Task Killer as a switching app is a workaround. Still looking for an answer that literally increases the number of apps shown after long-pressing home.
EDIT2: Another very similar question had this answer, which is more convenient than Advanced Task Killer, IMO. Still, I would prefer a solution that would incorporate long-pressing Home, like the original Recent Apps list.

I've tried AppSwipe! v2, Task Switcher & Switcher Widget, and none of them show all of my running apps (as shown by a long press on the Home button), so I'd discount them all right off the bat.

Almost a duplicate of my question :
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2018/can-you-get-of-the-running-applicaiton-on-adroid-for-the-purpose-of-activating-th

I'm just going to learn to live with a recent apps list with just 8 apps in it. :)

Advanced Task Killer can be configured so that it always stays on the Notification Bar. And it can also be configured such that the "Default Click Action" will "Switch To" the application. I found it works good enough as a task switcher.

Interesting... I stopped using that app but I may try re-purposing it for that.

interesting

If you have rooted your device and use a 'Villain' rom, you can find an option to change this setting in Villain Settings > Input settings > Long-press home settings.
Realise you might not have this rom but it's worth a mention!

The closest things I've seen so far are More Recent and Visual Task Switcher
It doesn't appear that either of these uses long-press-home, but an alternate key-sequence.
I've seem more mentions for More Recent.
The Good and Evo review of Visual Task Switcher sounded like it's lacking somewhat.
(I have not personally used either)

I don't see More Recent in the market and Visual Task Switcher does not seem to play nicely with HTC Sense UI.

As far as I know, More Recent is NOT in the market.  Bummer that Sense and VTS don't get along.

I realize this still doesn't address the original objective, but just came across Itching Thumb.  Comments say it works with EVO and and so, presumably, HTC Sense.

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


text:
How can I force the Sense UI home screen on my Evo to landscape?
I have an Evo running with very default settings. How can I force the home screen (Which I believe to be running Sense UI if I'm not confused) to be in landscape format.  I use my kickstand all the time, and it's a pain to tilt my head to look at the home screen.

The factory implementation doesn't support landscape.  (When you configure the background, you get a hint about this from the dimensions of the image).
Lanscape mode would require a custom ROM.

I know you mentioned Sense UI but you could use LauncherPro which has the ability to auto-rotate the homescreen. Personally I believe LauncherPro is a far better implemented launcher than Sense.
If you purchase LauncherPro Plus you'll get 90% of the Sense UI widgets anyway but also you'll get an increase in speed and stability.
LauncherPro:

This is exactly what I've been using the last few weeks. I don't like it near as well as Sense, but it does rotate, which is the biggest deal to me of all.  I just don't understand why Sense on the Evo doesn't rotate automatically - like the Epic.


text:
What is the effect of changing the maximum application VM heap size?
The settings menu in CM6 lets you change the maximum per-process heap size (internally, that’s the dalvik.vm.heapsize property). What are the practical effects of raising or lowering that setting? On my G1, I changed it to 12m from the default of 16m, and I noticed that switching applications feels faster, but I wonder if it will cause some applications to run out of memory sooner.

Here's a great article someone wrote on the effect of changing it, very detailed: http://ryanolson.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/test-how-changing-the-max-amount-of-memory-per-vm-heap-can-effect-your-rom-cyanogen/
In short, with the G1, it can cause bigger applications to crash. I would just recommend you keep it default or find a value that you do not see any crashes in applications with.
As far as anything else goes, in the short period of time searching else where and reading over different posts. Could not personally find any other effects, other than possibly battery life.

That sounds good. I think I’ll keep it since nothing is crashing (although the greediest thing I tried was Maps), and the launcher seems to be staying in memory much more often.

If you have a phone with low memory (like the G1) and spend your day switching between a couple little applications, then lowering this number will speed up your system and allow more programs to stay loaded up, making switching faster.
If you have heavy weight applications (such as the FB app!) that can't get their jobs done inside the limit you set, they will crash and die for no apparent reason until you increase the number enough that they can survive. I usually find this preferable. Switching apps on my phone is slower, but the big jobs don't randomly crash.

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


text:
Google Map alternatives with offline navigation support

Possible Duplicate:
alternatives to Google Maps

Hi All,
Does google map application provides voice guided navigation ? Does it supports offline navigation ? Any app which supports offline/hybrid (like nokia ovi maps) mode of map navigation ? Any google map alternatives in android market ?
Thanks,
Ankur Shah

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1389/alternatives-to-google-maps

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/227/what-replacements-are-available-for-google-maps

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/591/gps-offline-application-for-android-download-maps-by-city-or-area

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1624/offline-map-for-android

Yes, Google Maps (more accurately Navigation) provides voice-guided navigation. It's one of the strongest selling points of the OS, after all.

Google Maps Voice-guided navigation is only available in a handful of countries, It is not available where I live in New Zealand. Google has had plenty of time to fix this and it has not. The same is true for google voice.

Google Maps is available in practically all countries. Google Maps Navigation is only available in some. And AFAIK, Google Voice Navigation is only on US so far.

I've never used it, but here's one: OsmAnd

Open-source OSM-based GPS app with
  online/offline capabilities and
  audible navigation.

Online: maps, routing, search, edit OSM POI/bugs.
Offline: search POI, address, transport, map cache.


text:
Is it possible to change the name underneath the icons on the home pages?
Just wondering: is it possible to change the name which is displayed underneath the icons on the home pages ?
I added some short cuts to internet pages on these pages, and they use way too long names . It would be nice if I could change them.

No, this won't work for shortcuts to apps. EDIT2: Turns out this part of the answer was wrong. Thanks Bryan and Drake for your answers.
Yes, it works for internet bookmarks. From your browser, select Menu > Bookmarks. Long-press the given bookmark and select Edit Bookmark; this will allow you to change its name. You may need to delete/re-add the shortcut to your home page for the change to take affect.
EDIT1:  Alternatively, if you use a bookmark manager app (like any of the ones mentioned here), you should be able to edit the bookmark directly from there.

LauncherPro is a great Home Switcher app, personally is the best.
Between the different dozens of useful features it provides also the possibility to change the text of all home icons that are shortcuts to applications, to bookmarks, etc.

BetterCut will let you create shortcuts with custom icons/text.

Is BetterCut still maintained (as far as you know). Went to their website, but it has no obvious reference to the product any more ( I couldn't find an email address either ). Do you need OpenHome to use BetterCut ?

@Edelcom I'm not sure, I haven't used BetterCut. But there is a free alternative called AnyCut.  It is a little less feature complete.  Neither should require OpenHome


text:
Anyone know of a custom GPS ROM for Samsung Galaxy 5?

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

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy 5 (model number GT-I5500) and I'm new to the android world.
I'm not satisfied with the performance of the GPS on my cell phone so I thought it would be interesting to use a custom ROM to see if it improves a bit.
Anyone knows of a ROM that was tested in this model?

Not necessarily what you are looking for, but on my Captivate, the GPS is kinda slow. I just came across this and thought I'd try it later tonight.


text:
Best lost / stolen device tracking app

Possible Duplicate:
Helping a lost phone get found

What is the best tracking app for a stolen or lost device? I've tried iTag but I'm thinking about switching to Prey http://preyproject.com/blog/2010/01/prey-arrives-on-mobiles-android-version-available . Looking for experiences...


text:
Clear Android Market Search History?
Any thoughts on how one might clear the Android Marketplace search history?
For instance, if I recently searched for an android app in the marketplace, the marketplace search maintains a history list of which apps/keywords that I have recently looked for.
Thanks in advance!

From the home screen go to Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All > Market then choose  "Clear data."
This will erase your market search history.  When you go back into the market it'll be like your first time.  They will ask you to agree to the terms and condition again and then it'll be just like it was before without your search history.  Your app Downloads and Purchases list will still be there because that list is stored online in your Google account.

note that clearing market search history has been added to Market 3.1

HistoryEraser claims to be able to clear this for you.  It can also clear YouTube, Maps, and Earth dearch histories as well.  I haven't used it in a while, though.  (Ever since I upgraded from 1.6 to CyanogenMod 6).

According to a Google Support forum post, clearing search history feature is added on Market 3.1: open the Market app, press Menu > Settings, and then touch "Clear search history."


text:
Who runs the Android market?
Does Google run the Android Market?

Yes, Google is in charge of the Android Market.

Okay and with that I have a second question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2141/what-is-googles-stance-on-keeping-the-android-market-open-to-the-general-public


text:
What is Google's Stance on Keeping the Android Market Open to the General Public
(And by "General Public" I mean, people who aren't paying $30 a month for data transfers, and just using wifi instead.)

Not sure what you mean here. Who pays Google $30 a month? Android is completely unconnected to carriers.

@Arda Xi The key word in the question is "Keeping", The questioner is concerned that carriers will put presure on Google to only allow the market to be used of 3g and not wifi.

@trampster Actually I was just trying out the Android SDK to see what Android was like, and the default system image doesn't come with anything...not even a calendar.
Then I found out that you needed the Android Market to get some of the applications and it appears that you can only get Market outside of a phone carrier by taking the risk of bricking your device.

You do not need the Android Market to get applications at all. You can install them manually.

You can download applications over a wifi connection without any phone plan.  For example, I recently removed an HTC Hero from my phone plan and was able to download applications to the phone over Wifi with no problem.... even though I could not make calls.
Since Android is not limited to phones or devices with wireless data plans, requiring a phone plan would not be possible for all Android devices.
Additionally, with competion in the works like Amazon's upcoming Android applications market, there will be too much disincentive for Google to require a monthly fee for market access.

So when is that Amazon Android Applications market due out?

According to the WSJ article link I just added above, they haven't announced a date yet.

FWIW, this has been out for a while now: http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b/ref=sa_menu_adr_app4?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011


text:
Are there any Jabber (XMPP) apps out there that support jabber conferencing?
I've tried several, and so far I can't get one that will just work with my work jabber + conferencing (jabber 'rooms').  They all seem mostly clunky.  Does anyone have a rec that has worked well for them for me to try?

Can you list the apps you've already tried?

Good Idea.. my battery is dead but I'll add this info as soon as I recharge.

"List of X" questions are generally off-topic for this site.

I'm using Trillian for Android. As far as I know it's still in beta, but worked well for me so far. Though I did't use it in any extreme situations yet. Oh, and it doesn't handle calls yet.
Edit: It's out of beta... and now you have to pay for it. If you don't like that, or don't have the money (or you can't buy apps from the Market like me) you should use something else.

Trillian seems to work pretty well. It's a bummer that you have to create an account on their website, but, for the moment, it will do.

All multiprotocol clients I know force you to register an account. It would be nice to have a client like... Pidgin for Android. But I guess it just not going to happen. Or at least not in our lifetime :)

@ytg I dunno... I wouldn't be too sure of that... http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~dtbartle/pidroid/

@Aeo "This is mostly just a proof-of-concept." But I would be happy to see something like that actually working on my phone.

@ytg and @Aeo have you checked out Gibberbot? Free software, multi-protocol. Active developer community. https://market.android.com/details?id=info.guardianproject.otr.app.im

@Amanda I think you should add it as an answer. (Even if it won't work for me because I use other protocols too.)

Trillian for Android is currently free. http://www.trillian.im/android/

I'm using Gibberbot. It is worth taking a look at. Free software, multi-protocol. Active developer community.  Definitely still in beta but that doesn't mean it won't do what you need.

Very cool... this could be what I'm looking for!  Thanks!

I'm using IM Plus, which was the only thing I could get to work with our Jabber server.  It's been very solid for me and they have a decent forum community, too.  FWIW, I liked it enough to pay the $5 for it.

Xabber supports MUC/conferencing

Jabiru is another one.


text:
How to restrict Android Market search results to a particular publisher?
Is there any way that I can restrict searches in the Android Market to just show apps from one particular publisher?  For example, if I wanted to just see apps from Google, searching for "Google Inc." will also show apps that mention "Google Inc." in their descriptions.

If there is an app you like by that publisher, open the entry for the app in the market and select "View more applications".
OR
You can search by name:
pub:"Google Inc."


text:
Where can I find documentation for shell commands?
For using a shell commands through a terminal program, where can I find documentation or help or man pages for the commands as implemented in Android?
While it would be nice to have them on the device via man, PDF or web-based would be fine, too.
When I run "man" from terminal, I get an error and I haven't found a good source online.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13619993/available-linux-commands-across-android-versions

@CiroSantilli华涌低端人口六四事件法轮功 - The link provided is a question more on the list of available commands than on man pages for them. And the answers are rather poor.

An old related question... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3647014/how-can-i-get-information-from-the-shell-about-commands-available-in-android-she

You may have a look at http://www.busybox.net/downloads/BusyBox.html for a description of busybox and the commands provided by it.
And trust me, if you are going to do work in the console, you probably want to use busybox.

it is to be noted that stock Android does not come with busybox, and instead uses toolbox.

Most of the terminal commands in android are the limited version of standard Linux/Unix/POSIX terminal commands, provided by the toolbox program. Notably absent from toolbox is the cp (file copy) command, you must use cat file1 > file2 instead. If you spend a lot of time in the shell, you may want to install busybox, which provides a richer set of standard POSIX commands.
There some bit about android shell here: http://benno.id.au/blog/2007/11/13/android-under-the-hood

Since I stumbled over the same problem as you did I started to compile a list of useful commands in the Android Shell including examples. A German version is on my blog.

The majority of "standard" Android shell commands are found in /system/bin/ and the majority of those are symlinked to Toolbox, a bsd licensed set of applets, similar to busybox, but without the GPL-2 licensing ""issues"". Toolbox helps Google's need to remove dependence on GPL code, and is targeted to small size and specific Android tasks. It was not meant for end-user use.
There is no builtin manuals in stock android, and toolbox applets lack any documentation, from the commands, from toolbox itself, and online. They are very limited copies of what most users would consider the standard POSIX type tools. More similar to the BSD-Utils, so BSD Util flags are more likely to work and behavior is more similar to BSD-Utils than it is Posix. Even then, Toolbox applets lack many of those flags.
The closest thing to documentation is the source code. Which, like most of Android, available online. Here is the Froyo version of the Toolbox source:
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/froyo/toolbox Just find the version you need.
Keep in mind, different manufacturers might change the code. Samsung's Toolbox is different from Motorola's. Heck, Samsung Galaxy S Toolbox differs from Samsung Sidekick 4g (Galaxy S based). Manufacturers might add applets for their own use, or change the default for specific purposes. the restart applet in toolbox will work on the phone it came on, but the busybox restart applet will not, unless specifically patched. Time and Date are also different. There are others as well. So Toolbox isn't something you can completely replace with Busybox or the full GNU-Utils or whatever.

On older Android versions
On older Android versions, shell commands tend to be either:

Rewritten specifically for Android, and shipped as part of Toolbox. I'm not sure whether or not Toolbox is really documented anywhere.
Or copied from NetBSD. If so, then the command was recompiled for Android, and the command (but not its manual page) is shipped with Android.

Use type to tell you where a command is stored, and ls -l on the command to tell you whether it's a real binary or a symbolic link. If it's a symbolic link to Toolbox, then you'll know that the command is part of Toolbox.
A few commands, such as kill, are available both as a shell builtin (this is the version which will normally run) and in /system/bin (this version will normally never be run). type will tell you which version will run.
On Marshmallow and up
Android 6.0 "Marshmallow" and up ship with Toybox, and most of the most commonly used shell commands (cp, mv, ls, et cetera) tend to be Toybox toys.  Toybox toys normally include built-in help; official manual pages are not included.
Still, Toybox doesn't include everything, and so not everything is provided by Toybox.  For example, even on Android 6.0 "Marshmallow", fsck_msdos (which should only be used to check SD cards of 32 GB or less) appears to be taken from either FreeBSD or NetBSD.  fsck_exfat (which can check most SD cards 64 GB or larger) is taken from elsewhere.  I'm not sure where.
Your shell
On modern versions of Android, the shell is mksh, the MirBSD Korn shell.  If mksh is running, then to find out your mksh version, enter:
echo $KSH_VERSION

I would suggest starting an Android Virtual Device (AVD), connecting to it with adb, and running the Android shell command in question:
pdurbin@macbook ~$ cd /Applications/eclipse/android-sdk-mac_x86/platform-tools
pdurbin@macbook platform-tools$ ./adb -s emulator-5554 shell
# /system/bin/pm
usage: pm [list|path|install|uninstall]
       pm list packages [-f]
       pm list permission-groups
       pm list permissions [-g] [-f] [-d] [-u] [GROUP]
       pm list instrumentation [-f] [TARGET-PACKAGE]
       pm list features
       pm path PACKAGE
       pm install [-l] [-r] [-t] [-i INSTALLER_PACKAGE_NAME] [-s] [-f] PATH
       pm uninstall [-k] PACKAGE
       pm enable PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT
       pm disable PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT
       pm setInstallLocation [0/auto] [1/internal] [2/external]
[snip]

If anyone knows the flag to give Android shell commands to just print the usage screen, please let me know.  I tried --help, -help, -h, --usage, etc.
Try to run ls /system/bin and see also http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html#shellcommands

The set of shell commands used by Android seems to be toolbox.
Information on it seems to be not centralized (which seems obscure to me), but one could search and find pieces of information around, e.g.
http://www.all-things-android.com/content/android-toolbox-command-reference
For "intensive" use of the command line, BusyBox is generally recommended as a replacement for toolbox.
Credits / Related:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3647014/how-can-i-get-information-from-the-shell-about-commands-available-in-android-she
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41498651/how-to-execute-the-help-linux-command-on-android
https://github.com/jackpal/Android-Terminal-Emulator/wiki/Android-Shell-Command-Reference


text:
How come some apps don't show-up on my phone's Android app market?
Fxcamera is a popular app, but it's not showing in my xperia x10 mini's app market search. I tried:

fx
camera
ymst
fxcamera

None gives the result. In fact, after that I've tried many apps which are listed on the internet market site http://www.android.com/market/ but not on the market app.
I live in India, is that why the apps don't show up? Is there a way to install the apps download them directly or something? Is it related to my carrier or mobile network provider?

Do you see it if you search on http://www.appbrain.com/ ?

yes I see it on appbrain.com, but the link there redirects me to the app market, which says "There are no matches in Android Market for the search: pname:ymst.android.fxcamera"

It could be because of a few reasons:

The app is a paid app and your country does not support purchasing paid apps (I don't know if India can or not yet?)
Your phone does not meet the min SDK requirements of the app.  For instance, the app may require 2.1+ features, but your phone is running Android 1.5 or 1.6
Your phone is missing a feature that the app requires in order to use it (things like SD cards, trackballs, etc.)
The app is carrier limited (Skype was an example of this)
Market bug.  Occasionally there are listing problems in the market, especially if an app was recently updated

There've also been cases when some apps have been missing after installing a newly released OS update. Some apps seem to require that the OS version for that device is registered with Google somehow, and that seems to take a while sometimes (Angry Birds was one of these).

It could also be that the app is no longer available in the app store. I've had that happen to a couple apps I liked and used. (Darn copyrights!) They at least stayed on my device (until I did a factory reset).

It happens the same to me... And for such popular apps as WeatherBug, which is supposed to work with "all android versions", according to them. I'm running ecclair (2.1 update 1) of the same device (xperia x10 mini). I couldn't find the WordReference app either, which I don't think requires too many features.
So, according to Bryan's answer, and for these specific cases, I would point to...

Your phone is missing a feature that
  the app requires in order to use it
  (things like SD cards, trackballs,
  etc.)
Market bug. Occasionally there
  are listing problems in the market,
  especially if an app was recently
  updated

But, what can of special feaure can require a dictionary? Could it be becuase of the littlescreen size?

Pl check your Gmail account with which you logged into Market site is the same Primary Gamil account on your phone.
The second reason that your phone doesn't support the listed apps.

But I am using Xperia mini Pro. I have those apps installed on my phone.


text:
Live folders for Contact groups?
Does anyone know of an app which will allow you to place live folders on your home screen which are tied to a specific contact group? That is, when setting it up you would choose a group from your address book, and it would then show you all the contacts in that group, when opened.
I tried this app: Groupie, but it has a number of problems. The groups it lists are NOT the groups that are in my contacts (it seems to only list some common groups, but not the ones actually in my contacts). Even for a group with the same name as one in my contacts, it does not actually show any contacts when I clicked on the folder.
Plus, while admittedly minor, the icon for the folders is dorky.  ;)  Ideally would like one that uses a variation on the standard live folder icons (like All Contacts, Contacts with Phone Numbers, Received from Bluetooth and Starred Contacts)
Running on a Galaxy S Captivate, unrooted.

Okay, ... there was no app that I could find that would do this. So, I wrote one. It actually uses home screen shortcuts, not live folders, due to the way they are implemented and the complexity of coding them.
If anyone should be interested, I've since rewritten it... you can find the new one here: Live Groups.

Dunno if this has gotten answered, but had to deal with this today and the app Groupy is great.  you can even hide groups so it lists only the ones you want, it handles multiple accounts setup on the phone just fine, and I know for sure if you drop a shortcut to the app itself it will open right up once you tap the 1x1 shortcut on the desktop right to the listing of the groups.
It also has some nice shortcut buttons to send an Email, SMS [or MMS] right from that listing screen [the icons are right across the bottom of the screen when the app is open.
I didn't see any widgets listed under widgets for it, but I haven't gone extremely in-depth with it yet.  I don't see a major need for them as when you tap the app shortcut the app opens right to a list of all the groups you have on the device [be they system, or created by you the user (if done via google contacts website be sure to either wait for the sync or go in to settings accounts and tap the account you modified contacts on and tap to clear then tap to add the checkmark back as that will cause it to sync right away [or of course hit sync now button if you have that available instead if you prefer]).
Of course if you go through and choose to hide any groups when you open the app it will only list that groups that have not been hidden.
You can even choose multiple groups to send messages to by tapping the checkboxes found on the right hand side of the screen for all the groups you want to send your message to.
PLEASE BE AWARE FOR BOTH EMAIL AND SMS OR MMS: Some carriers/providers do put limits on how many contacts you may send any one message to in attempts to curtail people from spamming too many people at once.  You will need to review the limits with your carrier in the case of SMS/MMS messages OR you provider for your email account for emails.
So if your groups [or groups] contain too many people your message may either fail to send at all or only send to soo many people [depending on how your carrier/service provider choose to handle the limit]

I don't know of any way to do this automatically, aside from some app I don't know of, but you can do it yourself by adding a new blank folder and then adding shortcuts to your contacts in it however you like.

I had the same problem as You. I don't remember how I resolved it on my Wildfire S.
I only know, that I installed something like "Group manager", but couldn't find it anymore, and missing it after factory reset of the phone. But I'm not sure, if advantage of making "group shortcut" was made by this APP, because I've tried some other APPs.
There was one file manger and so....
And about Your App. Not bad, usefull. But on my Wildfire S is slow. I think it's because of pic thumbnails. App I've used before showed only names and numbers.
If You will rewrite Your App, I can write You some hints.
Or if You want, please write me how did You make it. I'm older, but have young son, which can continue or make it with You.
Regards

How does this answer the question? Please note that this is not a discussion forum.

As Al said, this doesn't really answer the question, and would've been better as a comment. Interesting point about the thumbnails... I will add to my to-do list to make an option for viewing as a list without thumbnails.


text:
How do I root my Chinavasion TechPad 7" Tablet android tablet?
I have a TechPad 7" Tablet from Chinavasion, S3C6410 Android 1.6;
None of the generic rooting methods work.
Any ideas?

So Chinavasion is a legitimate site then...I thought it was too good to be true and a scam

@Simon -- legitimate, yes. But their customer service involves your paying $35+ to send back items to china for repair/exchange;  Worse than none!

I came across that website about a year ago, didnt really believe it, I came across this recently http://android-sale.com/, so must be legitimate then :)

Droid2Bootstrap.apk was able to root it

Take a look at the post entitled Rooting an unbranded tablet by AdemC on September 7, for further information that maybe helpful to you


text:
What can I do to increase battery life on my Android tablet?
Tablets have different usage profiles than phones. So many of the "Phone" suggestions don't apply.
So, what can I do to get better battery life on my Android Tablet.
(TechPad 7" Tablet from Chinavasion, S3C6410 Android 1.6;)
Works well, except something unexpected is consuming power; Just having the tabled turned on will drain the battery in 2-3 hours. Also, the power status shows 40% of my battery is always being used by "cell standby";
While this tablet has Wifi, it is disabled. It also has no built-in cell phone, so what could be draining the battery?

The key was to delete the Telephony application.  This tables has no phone.  After deleting the following built-in applications, TelephonyProvider & Phone, A new icon appeared in the top box, it was a signal bar strength icon with an X in it.
Now the "Cell standby" no longer appears, and the battery lasts 3-5 hours depending on what I am doing.

Try installing the app PowerTutor, it's a power profiling application that can measure the amount of power that applications and other phone's subsystem takes. Install PowerTutor, let the profiler run, and use the phone/tablet normally for a few days. PowerTutor gives a much more detailed power profile than the built-in Battery Use.
Using PowerTutor, I found that the biggest battery sucker in my Spica is the stock home app, Pantheon; I found a noticeable battery life improvement after replacing Pantheon with Launcher Pro.
The biggest drawback of PowerTutor is that, it is itself a power sucker, it is frequently showing itself as a top power hungry applications.


text:
How can I get the Windows 7 USB driver working for my Android Tablet?
I have a Tech_7 from Chinavasion, S3C6410 Android 1.6;
When I plug it into the usb port, it shows up in the Device manager as HiDROID, but the driver is not installed.
How can I get the USB driver working?

Install the avd & sdk manager - I'm assuming you use c:\Android_SDK
Edit c:\Android_SDK\usb_driver\android_winusb.inf
Find the section [Google.NTx86] and add the following:

;Techpad
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0002
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0002&MI_01

Find the section [Google.NTamd64] and add the following:
;Techpad
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0002
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0002&MI_01

Edit .android\adb_usb.ini and add the following:

0x18D1

Note:  This corresponds to the device id up top

Plug device in - you should have an unknown device in the device manager.
Update the driver on it and manual select the location of c:\Android_SDK\usb_driver.
It should install the driver and show up as an ADB Device.
Run adb kill-server then adb devices

Remember to turn on USB debugging from the application settings as well


text:
How can I update my droid x to the 2.2 operating system?
I'm trying to find a (hopefully official) place to update my droid x to 2.2 I'd appreciate any help/pointers

about phone -> system updates.

OTA update went out already. You should have gotten it automatically.
What does Settings |About phone | Version number say? What about Build number?


text:
Quick Dial Shortcut with Skype
Is it possible to make a desktop shortcut to dial a number with Skype?

Not that I have found. It doesn't appear possible at this point. Sounds like a good enhancement for a future release.

Anyone found a solution for this since the last posting? Would be great to have this option like exists for normal contacts - that is you could link to IM a Contact on Skype or Call.

I dont think the Skype app has an api to do this I agree it would be great. This may be possible in the future with ICS I was testing my voip sip account to make internet calls, now whenever I make a call I am able to use the option to call with either wifi internet sip or regular mobile.

No you can't make quick dial shortcut in skype, But you can send this idea as a request to skype for apply in future versions.

There's a new widget available from Google Play Store that solves this issue:
Direct dial with Skype by sbice

One Click Skype!
Calling friends through Skype is no longer time consuming and complicated!
  With "Direct dial with Skype", it's simply just ONE CLICK AWAY!!!
It's a widget installed on your desktop & help you speed dialing your friends with ONE CLICK!

It's not working in one click.
I have a problem with the NFC toggle. If this is off (default it's off) it isn't working.


text:
What's the most effortless way for "cloud" back up of photos taken with an Android phone?
After I take a picture with my phone, I want it to be synced (and/or shared) to the "cloud" shortly thereafter. (Say after a few seconds when I have wifi connection but not necessarily right away when on 3G). Does such an effortless synchronization system exist? Can a Picasa or DropBox account already do this but I haven't taken full advantage of it? Am I missing something?
I can't seem to find an official Picasa app by google. This Picasa/Android question I found seems to tell me it doesn't exist, although it's an old question.
The option to auto-share photos backed up this way would be worth mentioning. Non-picasa solutions are also well worth mentioning.

Check out my updated answer about Pixelpipe.

Nothing new and constructive to add to my PicPush answer, except that recent updates seem to have addressed the occasional duplicate upload I was receiving.

PicPush does seem like a perfect solution, I just haven't bothered with it because of the cost.  Is there any reason you weren't happy with it Gary?

Good question but no, PicPush was great, however the free trial ended. The DropBox answer by Al caught my attention, spurred me to offer a bounty. I'm glad there are already more options to try (or try again).

haha, it spurred me to look into it again and now I'm going with SugarSync as the best option.  I love dropbox and am comfortable with the way it works and I was resistant to change but now that I look at it I may switch completely over to Sugar.  My 2 major gripes with DB is that theres not folder autosync in android and the fact that the only option above the fee 2 GB is $10 a month.  For $5 a month and if you get 2 people to sign up as a referral you get the same thing with Sugar.

Hey Gary, Did you ever end up trying SugarSync?  I forgot I was using it until the other day when I went to download all my pictures to my computer and I saw that they were already there.

Matt, I signed up for it, but didn't really give it a try. You mentioned it doesn't respect deletes on your phone, and that seemed annoying. I suppose you just perform deletes from SugarSync, and it works?

If you sign up to Google+ you can do this with the Google+ app now.
There is an Instant Upload option in the app. This syncs any photos (and videos if you set the option) to an Instant Upload album in Picasa.

I have been loving this feature. Everything including videos are uploaded. Great painless uploading.

I saw this question get bumped up, and I just new someone added this answer. I used PicPush up until I installed the Google+ app on my phone, now it's uninstalled.

I've used PicPush for this purpose - it worked well. Only issue I had was it occasionally pushing an already backed up picture a second time and some random future date. Not that critical of an issue, just wound up with a few duplicate photos in my Picasa account. It supports many common photo services too.
$5, but if you download just the free portion of the app you get a 20-30 day trial (I forget exactly) to see if it works out for you.
http://www.appbrain.com/search?q=picpush

It seems like this app is just a tad more effortless than PixelPipe. I pointed PicPush to my camera's image folder, told it to upload on the shortest delay (30s after a picture is taken) and pointed it to a Picasa album. Works just like you'd expect. I will probably buy the app when the trial runs out.

Update: I've gotten Pixelpipe to work with the Stock Camera App.  Now every single picture I take with my Droid's camera is automatically uploaded to Picasa & Dropbox through Pixelpip.  You can set it up to upload to any number of services.  Here's how to get it set up:

Go into Pixelpipe
Go to Settings
Turn on "Enable auto upload for camera", and "Start uploads at once" (I have also chosen to turn off prompts and warnings)
Go into Add or Edit Pipes and set up which ever service you want to auto upload to.
Go into the settings for that pipe and make sure that the default for new uploads is "Send".  (I don't know if this actually has to be chosen, I don't think so, but I haven't tested it.  I just checked it off to be safe.)
Take a picture and it will upload to the "Pipes" you set up.

I tried it with Camera360 and it worked once but another time it didn't.  Buggy.  Don't know why.

Pixelpipe will do that for you plus a whole lot more. Basically you can set it to automatically upload any pic taken with the camera to almost any cloud service there is (including picasa and dropbox). You can also tell it to only use wifi.

Sounds exactly like what I want. I will try it out.

This seems like the best answer so far. I'm still not seeing the auto-updating but I will tinker.

I went back and tried it and there's an "auto upload on camera" option but I couldn't get it to do anything. What do you think that option is for?  I assumed it did what u wanted but now I'm wondering if its a bug or I'm just misunderestanding the options intent.  On another note, I wonder if, used with tasker, if pixelpipe would do what you need.

Did you ever get it working?  What about Saiboogu's suggestion, that one seems promising.  On a side note if you don't find anything, Lookout Mobile Security will back up your pics daily to their servers.

Just seeing these comments now, not sure how I missed them... But no, I haven't tried it aside from manual sync. I will report back. (thanks for caring!)

Nope, still just seeing photos reaching picasa after manual sync. I think the "auto" part is that once you manually upload to pixelpipe, it automatically pipes your photos to pre-existing pipes (such as flickr, picasa, etc.). I may have to give PicPush a try.

I tried this again (carefully) and I'm still not seeing automatic upload to my picasa pipe. (I wonder if I need to log in to picasa on my phone first?) Did you get it to work using a phone with a camera button? (Like the automatic dropbox solution requires).

No, you shouldn't have to login to Picasa.  I did get it to work with the camera button but I also got it to work entering from the app icon because when I was originally testing it Camera360 was my default app and I tested it against the stock camera which turned out to work much better.  Are you using the stock camera?  Also, take a look at my other answer about SugarSync.  The more I use the service the more I like it, I'm probably going to sign up for the $5 a month plan.

Here's a possible alternative solution.
If you open the Dropbox app, then press your camera button and take a photo, the photo file is automatically added to your Dropbox folder and immediately synced to the cloud.
I read about it here: http://lifehacker.com/5713518/send-android-photos-straight-to-dropbox

Great find! I will try it and report back. I would be interested to know whether photos can be sent to a specific folder, preferably a shared one. Have you tried that?

If you navigate to a specific folder before snapping the pic, the file is dropped in that folder.

I couldn't get this to work.  Is there some sort of trick to it?  Does it have to be the default camera?  When I tried it I had Camera 360 set as my default and its the camera that opened from Dropbox.

It may require the default camera. That's what I was using when I tested it.

It does not work on an HTC Droid Incredible. The lifehacker article states that you open the DropBox folder, then press the camera button so it sounds like it's limited to those phones with a camera button.

Tsk. That's too bad.

Try SugarSync.
It's a cloud backup service similar to Dropbox.  They have a free 5 GB account as well as cheaper monthly plans than DB.
Their Android app can be sycned to auto-upload all photos or sync folders on your SD.  I've tried it an it works.  I haven't fully tested it but one complaint that I have read is that it doesn't respect deletes on your Android phone so if you have a folder setup to sync and you delete a file from that folder on your SD card, when it syncs, it will download the backed up file back to your SD folder.
Edit: I added my referral link to SugarSync so if you sign up for a free 5 GB account we both get an extra 500 mb of storage, and if you sign up for the $5 a month 30 GB service we both get a free 10 GB! :)

nice move, giving a referral link :P

:D You in need of some extra storage?

I don't know about "auto-share", but Picasa is definitely one of my options on the "Share" menu from the Gallery. Additionally, my Picasa albums have been downloaded to my phone. Picasa Web Albums is one of the options to sync under Settings | Accounts & sync | <current Google account>.

Good info. I'll try Picasa web albums. Ultimately I would like to automate the process of pushing images from phone to Picasa (i.e. snap picture, it goes to a generic, un-sorted Picasa web album.)

You can do this via DropBox without having a physical camera button.
First open the DropBox app.
Press Menu
Press New
Press Picture (this should open camera app)
Take picture then press Done.

Not very automated but it works. It also works if you open a DropBox folder (rather than the app) and then follow the rest of your instructions. It would be great if there was a shortcut to New > Picture...

Relatively new app I've just heard about: Dropin

Uploads photos & videos automatically
  to your Dropbox whenever you're
  online. Wanna download photos and
  videos from your phone? Forget the USB
  cable! Use Dropin! Dropin uploads
  photos and videos automatically to
  your Dropbox whenever you're online.

Sign-in with your Dropbox credentials or create a Dropbox
  account first.
Dropin automatically starts uploading your photos and videos into
  your Dropbox.
Set Dropbox folders and other preferences in Dropin Settings.

Dropin
  helps you access photos and videos on
  your phone without connecting to your
  desktop computer. On your desktop, you
  will find everything right in your
  Dropbox folder.

Will install and try out. Unfortunately it's another excuse/reason to increase the DropBox size. ;P

There is a picasa android.
Its called 3D Gallery.
Yea I know it made me rip some hair out. 3D Gallery after running will ask for permission to access your google account then integrates with picasa. There are some other picasa tools available as well.

On June 2, 2012, PicPlz announced that they would be closing permanently as of July 3, 2012

Try PicPlz. I've been using it lately and it's quite good.
Not only does it give you a number of effects you can apply to your images (like Hipstamatic) and effortlessly posting to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Posterous and Foursquare, but you can also sync to a Dropbox folder. If you use an effect, it'll save the original too.

Finally got around to trying it. Great suggestion!

Checkout the Android app Auto Uploader in the Market.  It'll auto upload to facebook flickr or picasa.

This appears to do it by scanning folders.  How often does it scan?  Does it cause the device to slow down?

I have DLNA and a server for streaming movies, pictures and videos. I use it mostly so the TV (downstairs and in my room) can play some series I want. I'm using Twonky for this. I didn't realize it but when connected to WiFi, it automatically backs up my files (videos, pictures and music) from my Android device to my home server.
I originally installed it to play content on the TV, but I thought that back-up was a really handy feature!
From Twonky.com:

Twonky offers computer and mobile applications, as well as an enhanced
  media website, to help you easily enjoy personal and online music,
  photos and videos. Use Twonky to share your favorite media with PCs,
  TVs, stereos and other devices connected to your network. Twonky
  products are available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Mobile and the Web.


text:
HTC People Widget: Changing Pictures
Is there any way to change or set the source for the pictures on the People Widget when you have linked contacts?
Example: I have my wife as one of my contacts.  I have her Facebook/Twitter accounts linked to my entries for my GMail and Exchange contacts. I've added a picture taken by the on phone camera to the Exchange contact entry but the widget uses her Facebook profile picture as the display picture.
Any way to override this behavior?

Yes. From the widget, select the contact name (not image). This brings you to the contact info. Select the chain link in the upper right hand corner (it should say Linked in your specific example). Finally, select the image in the upper left corner. You can select the image source from there. I tested it on the HTC incredible.
EDIT: I was originally referring to the Favorites Widget but basically, the Favorites Widget is just an example of the People widget which can be the any-group-at-all widget.
(I apologize if this is obvious, caffeine has not fully sunk in yet.)


text:
Do I need root to use NewzDroid?
I would like to use NewzDroid for usenet, but I'm not sure if I need root for it to work.

Why are you using it? What's the problem with Google Groups? I'm just curious..

Their website doesn't say that you need to be rooted to use it.  Just need a NZB file and a Usenet account.

How can I import an nzb into newzdroid?

@James http://www.newzdroid.com/tipsAndTricks.html


text:
Best way to read programming/technical/math PDFs on Android device
I have a ton of programming/technical/math PDFs that I would like to read on my Samsung Epic 4G. I have tried Adobe's PDF reader and ThinkFree office and the reading views destroy the code snippets and images. Zooming in and out is difficult and cumbersome. I have tried converting to ePub and reading using Aldiko but I have the same problem. (Aldiko being the best application I have found for reading on Android).
What solution would you suggest for reading these books on my phone?
I have no problem with converting or buying an application.

There's also Documents to Go which is a suite - allows for viewing / editing of MS Office docs. PDF support as well. No conversion needed.
An additional plus point is that the paid version integrates with Google Docs online allowing a user to view and edit your files from your Google Docs account directly in Docs To Go. Any changes you make can be saved and synchronized back to Google Docs so that you'll always have the most up-to-date version. You can even create new files in Docs To Go and upload them immediately to your account.

You could try Picsel Smart Office. It handles PDFs natively, and zooming is quite easy.
Disclosure: I work for Picsel.

I will certainly give this a try.

Is Smart Office available on the Amazon Appstore for the Kindle Fire?


text:
How can I disable the button on the earphones?
I keep accidentally pressing the button on the earbuds when it's in my pocket.
Any of these would be great for me:

Disable the button only when the device is locked
Disable the button always

Low-tech solution, but I just wrapped a bit of black tape round the button on the headphone cable on my last phone, worked a treat!

Headset blocker will disable those buttons.  It's a widget, not an app.

Thanks. Will accept if I can't find anything that will automatically do it when device is locked.

This one is free.

Try Galaxy Music [Button Disabler]. It is the best solution for locking the music button.
It costs .99 cent though.


text:
Easiest way to reduce power consumption to phone only
Sometimes I'm in a situation where I can't charge and want to have phone service as long as possible.  I won't care if nothing else is enabled.
What's the easiest way eliminate as much other power consumption as possible?  Minimal apps, no sync, no data, GPS, Bluetooth.
I'm configured to easily turn off all the radios (BT, Wifi, GPS), but I'd like to strip down as much else that burns power as possible without spending a lot of time reconfiguring.
...AND I'd like to be able to return to normal use just as easily (rebooting would be fine for this, too).
In my case, needs to work on CDMA network, too.

I don't think conserving power is the right 'attitude'...why have a smart phone you cant use? I made a cable/battery box that I can plug the USB data/charge cable into, and charge my phone on the go - it has four rechargable batteries in it, so if I get short of juice, I plug it in, takes about as much time as the wall wart to charge the phone to full. You can buy commercial ones as well.

Yes, purchasing or rigging a mobile charger would be a possibility.  However, there are situations in which I don't have access to all my gear and need to be able to keep voice communiation alive even if I have to sacrifice lower-priority features.

See my related answer about battery conservation.
In your case, you want your phone to become a "dumb" phone.  Use APNDroid to cut off your data.  There's even a widget to make it a one button press.  Other than that, keep your screen dim and you should be good to go.

APNDroid says it doesn't work on CDMA.  I'll have to look for a CDMA equivalent.

Really?  I've used it before?

Yeah, vendor comments say "not designed for CDMA...".  I guess that leaves room for it to actually work.  But if you've had it working with CDMA, that's encouraging.

Yeah, I know I've gotten it to work on my Droid before.  I haven't used it recently though

Terriffic!  I was able to boost my battery life over 400% this weekend when I had no charging available.  Thanks!

Gingerbread (2.3) has the setting:

Settings->Wireless & network settings->Mobile Networks->Data Enabled

for turning off mobile data without needing an app.  Dunno if this is specific to Gingerbread - it's my first android and I've had it for less than a week,...

It's in CyanogenMod 6 (Froyo) and CyanogenMod 4 (Donut) as well.


text:
How can I set up a VPN connection on my Nexus One?
I often check my mail at my office using the VPN connection which bridged my PC with the Microsoft Exchange Server and so that I can check mail using Outlook.
I want to do the same thing when I'm out of my office and on my Nexus One mobile phone. But I don't know how to set up a VPN connection like the way I do it on my PC.
Below is the screenshot of how I set up my VPN on my PC. Please share if you know a solution for me. All helps are welcome and very much appriciated!

I don't know about older versions of Android, but from my 2.1 version it is pretty straight-forward. From the Home screen go to Settings and tap "Wireless and Networks." Then "VPN Settings" and Add VPN and follow the prompts from there.

I asked because the N1 show up 4 options (PPTP, L2TP, L2TP/IPSec PSK, L2TP/IPSec CRT) and I have no idea what they are. The information I give to Windows 7 for a VPN connection is just the server IP and my user/password.

Though, I tried the 1st one (PPTP) fill in my user/pass/server and it is connected now. Thanks

My next question is about setting up the email. I asked here http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2206/how-can-i-set-up-an-microsoft-exchange-email-on-my-nexus-one. Please visit if you know how-to.


text:
How can I block incoming SMS from certain senders?
What is a good app for blocking incoming SMS? I want it to be easy and able to add numbers from contacts and not require to many privileges (probably only some storage and intercepting SMS).

'Call & SMS Filter'. I've not used it but description matches what you are after & very good comments.
I believe Handcent SMS also has block options.
Required privileges on both are greater than your preference though.

I found SMS Filter, that only intercepts messages and requires no privileges. It doesn't allow to add number from contacts though.


text:
Is there a user accessible font size preference?
I would like to change the font size throughout the entire operating system, not just in one app or on one screen. Is there a way to do this?
Searching the internet brought up someone saying the Spare Parts app on the Market can do this, but that was incorrect. Its font size preference only affects the app itself.
The developer documentation does seem to imply there is a user font size preference. From http://developer.android.com/intl/fr/guide/topics/resources/more-resources.html :

sp
  Scale-independent Pixels - this is like the dp unit, but it
  is also scaled by the user's font size preference.

But it does not say anything about how a user is supposed to set this. I don't see it in the settings on the phones I have.

There is now a setting for this, though I'm not sure if it is in stock Android and since which version it is available. It was definitely there in Sony's Gingerbread and ICS ROMs (Xperia Neo V) and Cyanogenmod 9/10.
In Cyanogenmod 9+, it's in the "System" submenu below the "Interface" caption.

I know HTC's ICS has an option for Font Size as well, in Settings then Display. Yay for progress.

Take a look at "Font Size (for root users)" in the market.  It costs $1.36 and only works with rooted phones but it claims to:

"globally enlarges/decreases text size in all apps (Email, SMS, Maps, Home, Weather, Calendar, Widgets, ...)"

The reviews aren't so good but it's worth a try.

Another option ( very restricted, because involves changes in the platform ) is to change the
./frameworks/base/core/java/android/content/res/Configuration.java

file.
There you must:
-Create a setter/getter pair to obtain the font value
-Change the point where the file obtain the value. I changed the method
public void setToDefaults(){
  //I set the class member to the desired value trough my getter ( getFontScale )
  fontScale= this.getFontScale();
  ...
  ...
}

-Initialize the class member to the stored value:
   //This is the class member ( previouslly not initialized. Now i set it´s value trough my getter )
   public float fontScale= this.getFontScale();

This way every app will initially have it´s font setted to the stored value.
ps: You should create an interface in the Android Settings apk too, otherwise your font would only start with a fixed value.
I can give more details if needed.

The Spare Parts Plus app (free) does work on my Honeycomb tablet (Asus Transformer) across all apps.
However, as is noted in your question, it only works if the developer has used a specific technique of specifying font-sizes in their application. The sizes need to be specified in "sp" units for this technique to be effective.


text:
How can I turn off the shutter sound for the camera on droid x running 2.2 froyo?

Possible Duplicate:
How do I disable the 'click' sound on the camera app?

I'd appreciate any help

You should check this question for a solution.


text:
Can't find Angry Birds
Same websites are reporting that angry birds is available in the android market. However I can't find it on my phone (Samsung Galaxy S in New Zealand). I have tried the bar code, the download links and searching the android market from my phone the app just isn't there.
Whats going on?
Is my phone not supported?
Is my country not supported?
Is my OS version (2.1) not supported?

The game is so horribly addicting and fun, why would you even want it? ;)

Sorry. What I meant to say was I would contact Rovio.

GetJar is where they first posted it and it got hammered. They got it on the Android Market pretty quickly, but Rovio's complaint (and why they went with an alternate market in the first place) is that a lot of people complained they couldn't find the beta in the Android Market.
A few people who were able to get it set up mirrors, including a Torrent. A quick web search should find an alternative download location for you, if you haven't already got it.

enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?j81foozdu2q5ph3

This is what I have: http://www.appbrain.com/app/angry-birds/com.rovio.angrybirds

Using the barcode from that site gives "Not found The requested item could not be found." in the android market.

Back when I was having issues getting Angry Birds beta installed, AppBrain's FastWeb Installer managed to install it on my phone even when searching the market produced no results. May be worth a try.

Your OS is supported. Your phone should be as well. Don't know about your country. I hate to speculate without know exactly what is going on, but honestly I've never seen anyone have all the trouble that Rovio is having getting their app visible to anyone in the market. Since the beta its been randomly blocked from rather unusual groups (Like Samsung Vibrant owners in the US) -- and all Rovio does is blame geographic restrictions in the market.
Anyway, all that explanation aside -- here's an alternative download for an ad-supported version:
http://www.getjar.com/adp/angry-birds
Mobile version: http://m.getjar.com/adp/angry-birds

Even that link was way more painful then it needed to be!  Try: http://m.getjar.com/adp/angry-birds instead.

I will not be using getjar on principle. The place to get apps is the android market, anyone trying to bypass it will not be getting either my money or my ad impressions. I also will not support any service which requires me to give out my phone number.

On a UK Galaxy S, I know that I couldn't find the beta version in the Market for ages, then Samsung released "2.1 update 1" and straight after I upgraded I could see angry birds in the Market, now the full versions there I can see that too.
Have your network released 2.1-update1 (aka build JM x ) for you yet, try checking with the Samsung Kies software.

Its available but I have not upgraded yet I was waiting for 2.2 which should be out by the end of the month.


text:
How can I set up an Microsoft Exchange email on my Nexus One?
I often check my mail at my office using the VPN connection which bridged my PC with the Microsoft Exchange Server and so that I can check mail using Outlook.
I want to do the same thing when I'm out of my office and on my Nexus One mobile phone. I have succeeded in setting up the VPN connection (see details here). But I cannot succeed in setting up my email on the phone.
Steps I have made:

Open my phoen (Nexus One)
Connect to VPN
Open Email application
Enter the email & password
Select Miscrosoft Exchange ActiveSync
Enter domain\username, password, and server
Any other options are left as-is ('User SSL' checked, 'Accept all cert' unchecked)
Failed :)

The information I entered are exactly all the same as what I use in Outlook, i.e. the email/password, then the domain\user, pass and server for Ms Exchange. But the connection to the server failed on my N1 - it says "Setup not finish. Unable to open connection to server due to security error".
Have you ever succeeded? If so, please share. Your help are very much helpful & appreciated to me!

After a while trying, I try to check the 'Accept all certification in step 7, and it works.


text:
Some application require 'root access', what is it, what is the risks, and how can we make it available?

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

I download the screenshot to use on my Nexus One (N1) but it can not run and said it requires root access. What is it, how can I allow that and what risks/notes to take when letting them the "admin" access like that?

Please see my related questions/answers here and here.
In short:

Root gives you full administrator access to your phone to do things that it normally cannot do (take screenshots, [free] wifi tethering, overclocking, etc).
You will void your warranty (but you can typically unroot your phone to a previous state that makes this point moot).


text:
Why do apps get smaller when they are moved to the SD card?
For example, the Barcode Scanner app takes up:
Total: 0.96MB
Application: 0.92MB
Data: 40KB
on the phone. When I move it to the SD Card, it changes to:
Total: 524KB
Application: 484KB
Data: 40KB
How come it changes?

Like Bryan says (I can't comment so had to add another answer...), it doesn't move the whole app. The size given after the move is the bit still on the internal storage - it doesn't give any size for the elements that have beend moved to SD.
So in answer to your question, the app doesn't get smaller, just amount of internal storage used gets smaller.

What parts of the app are moved to SD Card and what remain on phone?

As far as I know, it moves as much of the app as it can from the internal storage to the SD card.  So for instance, databases, images, or other resources would be moved over.  I do not know the exact details of how it works.

See Where can I find my Android applications? on app space distribution and locations.
See also What are the drawbacks of moving an app to SD card?

There is no effect on the application performance so long as the
  external storage is mounted on the device.
  The .apk file is saved on
  the external storage, but all private user data, databases, optimized
  .dex files, and extracted native code are saved on the internal device
  memory.

So odex file of any app still remains and takes space in the internal storage at /data/dalvik-cache.


text:
Installing ROM from Fastboot -- Can someone help?
I have a new HTC MyTouch (32A) that I tried to install a new ROM on using ROM Manager. I have done this many times (maybe 100 times), once in a while it goes wrong.
Now, with this one, it can't get to the recovery, that is, it can't get past Fastboot. So, I am trying to install a ROM from Fastboot.
I know Fastboot is working:
mojotexas@Starjammer ~ $ fastboot devices
SH06EPB01384 fastboot

I have a good ROM that I cooked up in Android Kitchen. It is called: signed_101110_220528.zip
WHen I try to install this ROM using Fastboot, I get an error:
mojotexas@Starjammer ~ $ fastboot update
/home/mojotexas/workspace/kitchen/OUTPUT_ZIP/signed_101110_220528.zip
archive does not contain 'android-info.txt'
archive does not contain 'android-product.txt'
error: update package has no android-info.txt or android-product.txt

So, what are these txt files, where do I get them, and where to I put them in the ROM?
Alternatively, how can I use fastboot to install a clockworkmod recovery and go from there?
Thanks,
m0j0

You may also want to solicit help from the xda-forums http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=480

For readers: What does "Archive does not contain 'android-something.txt'" mean?

Can you not download the image of the clockwork recovery here: http://www.koushikdutta.com/2010/02/clockwork-recovery-image.html
And do something like:
fastboot flash recovery /path/to/<recovery>.img
fastboot reboot

Note: I've never done this via fastboot before, I've always done it via ROM manager so take my advice at your own risk.

I rooted my LG GT5450 device and installed ROM mananger but when I am click on flash ClockworkMod recovery it doesn't display my device model. now what I do?

i did "sudo fastboot flash recovery /path/.img" and i got OKAY.. but then got.. FAILED (remote: (InvalidState)). what does this mean?

ROMs installed from fastboot on HTC devices are different from the ROMs one installs through recovery.  Their contents are images that need flashed along with a couple .txt files that the phone uses to verify that they're built for your phone.  If the phone isn't NAND-unlocked/S-OFF, they also have to be signed.  Take a peek at the RUU for your particular phone from this XDA thread to see how they're structured.

i have a method that i created.
install a recovery that utilizes sideload as the boot img with mfastboot flash boot.img literally name the recovery as boot.img and flash it.
then  once in the recovery using adb type adb devices
it will start a com port
start sideload on the device
using the cmd type adb sideload customrom.zip
done!
obviously the custom rom filename will be whatever rom you use.
i just unbricked a bootlooped moto g textnow wireless phone with this all by accident because nothing else worked.

I had the same problem here: archive does not contain android-info.txt. Tried google but can't find anything.
Finally I copied the update.zip to my devices sdcard and "applied update from sdcard" – that worked.

Don't do update. Do a command in the following syntax:
fastboot flash [system/recovery/boot] /path/to/recovery/image.img

Example: fastboot flash recovery /mnt/sdcard/Download/twrp.img
I HIGHLY recommend not flashing images to system or boot partitions without a custom recovery first. You should only flash recoveries via fastboot.

Do you have any basis for your "recommendations"?


text:
Modify search in Google Maps
Is it possible to edit a search that I have made previously when using Google Maps on Android?
The situation I have sometimes is that I make a search in Google Maps but it doesn't quite give me the results I want - perhaps because I didn't use the correct term or because there was a typo in my search. Or perhaps the search works but I want to refine it. As an example, I might first try to search for a street name just to get an idea of where the street is. Then later I might want to repeat that same search but also including the house number on that street because I want to get directions to a specific building on that street.
When I open Google Maps and press the search button I can see my previous searches in the history but I don't see any way to edit, select or copy/paste them. If I touch the search in the history it just repeats the exact same search as before without giving me any opportunity to edit or refine it.
My workaround is to manually type the entire search phrase again with the modification I need, but is there a better way?

If your device has a directional pad (or a trackball), then when you press down, the previous search key would show up in the search box and is editable.

Yes, I have an HTC Desire and this method works. Thank you!


text:
How do I sync only "My Contacts" from Google on Samsung Galaxy S?
Is there any way that I can limit my Galaxy S to only download & sync contacts from the google account that are in "My Contacts"? Right now, it downloads everything, in particular, contacts in the "Other Contacts" group which has people that I've only emailed one time (or responded to). This takes my contact list from <200 up to 500+. On the other side, any way to use the groups that I've included in my google account?
I'm not opposed to using a separate application to manage these. It seems to me that Samsung's contact implementation is just poorly thought out, and I really hope that they make drastic changes to it for the 2.2 update.

Contacts | Menu | Display Options | Choose contacts to display (account)
Make sure only "System Group: My Contacts" is checked. Or whichever groups you actually want to see. (More specifically, make sure "All other contacts" is not checked.)

Unfortunatly, that option isn't there. This is all that I see:
http://imgur.com/Miq13.jpg

Oh well. Such is the downside of allowing carriers to make their own modifications to the OS. Checking the "only contacts with phones" option might help, because if they're really people you've only e-mailed once or twice, it's unlikely that you have a phone number for them.

This does now appear in the Galaxy S Froyo release, I see Contacts | Menu (More) | Display Options | Choose contacts to display (account) | System Group: My Contacts

 I have a hundreds of contacts in both my personal and work accounts (GMail and Google Apps). It's nearly 30 years of contacts from college, grad school, work, etc. Lots of people that I exchange Christmas cards with or send email to, but never call.  Now, I have a group for each contact list called "Sync to Phone" and only display those. From 800+ items to about 150 that I actually talk to on my phone.

al-e is right, but keep in mind that the menu changes depending on which tab/icon you have selected. Be sure that the "contacts" icon is selected from within the contacts app.  Here are the steps I used for the Galaxy S4, including the step if you have multiple gmail accounts.

Open contacts app
Be sure contacts tab is selected at the top
Hit the menu button and select "contacts to display"
Press the "customized list" gear button
Select the dropdown for the email acct that you are synchronizing
Uncheck everything but "My contacts"

Filtering Contacts : You can filter contacts from particular group.
Contacts | Click - Menu Button | Filter | Click - Google (account) | Select - System Group: My Contacts

Try Groupy

@Matt Link only answer... you can do better than that ;)


text:
Non-root tethering app with Ubuntu client for Moto Droid on Verizon
I love PDAnet for android, works great on my Windows machine. Unfortunately, I just found out (after installing Ubuntuon my HP mini) that there's no Linux client. Can anyone recommend a tethering app,  non-root, with a Linux/Ubuntu client?

What Android version are you running? Froyo 2.2 already has wireless tethering so that should do it for you otherwise can you upgrade to 2.2?

2.2: Verizon doesn't allow wifi tethering on Droid 1 to my knowledge (without paying more ) @mlev

So they modify the actual OS to disable that feature do they? Go to Settings > Wireless & networks > Portable Wi-Fi hotspot Can you enable it? Does it even exist on your phone?

@mlev it's sad,they ripped it right out.

Try AziLink (http://code.google.com/p/azilink/).  You will need to do a little setup on your Ubuntu machine in addition to loading the app on your DROID, but it will work without requiring you to root your DROID.  This is a USB tethering solution that I have used in the past with my Ubuntu netbook to great success.

I used this modified version of Proxoid for quite a while.
You need to set up the android developer kit first, and follow the instructions on the Proxoid website on how to enable it.

Recycling an answer from a recent duplicate.

Easy Tether from Mobile Stream should work. It's a way to share your internet connection with another device via USB. Get the Lite version (does not support https, or tethering to gaming consoles) or the Full version.

Supports Windows 7/Vista/XP (32-bit and 64-bit), Mac OS X
  10.7/10.6/10.5/10.4, Ubuntu 10.4+ and Fedora 13+

Full version supports the following:

Tether PS3, Wii, XBox via PC Internet Connection Sharing, you need a
  computer for game console tethering.

Just a mention I have AziLink working to tether both Puppy Linux (dpupbuster64) and Lubuntu 19.04 to an older Sonim XP5 phone.  I use a reseller MVNO on ATT network.  They have no problem with customers on GSMA network (ATT) tethering, but the phone I am using is network locked to ATT and ATT had hotspot and tethering locked to try and charge more. Try to use the built in hotspot/tethering and get popup to call ATT.  I tried rooting with no success, but the free crippled EasyTether and open source free AziLink worked.  AziLink took little more work to set up and it seems abandoned, least no mention of it since like 2011 (Its 2020 now).  So saved myself $10 over uncrippled EasyTether and learned something in setting AziLink up.
I am just posting that AziLink still works in 2020.  It will occasionally go into a connect-disconnect loop, rare but happens.  You just reboot your computer, make sure service is on in AziLink app on phone, then run the commands (I use a script with shortcut on desktop to make it one click).  I think openvpn is the cause of this, so killall openvpn might work too. Havent tried that though. Remember AziLink was made for version openvpn from ten years ago and AziLink hasnt been updated.  I am using current version openvpn so...

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


text:
Listening to NBA.com audio on HTC Evo
I have a stock evo with froyo.  I'd like to listen to the audio streams from nba.com.  Even using wifi, the stream is slowed down and unintelligible when using the default browser.  I can listen to the same stream, same network, on an ancient Pentium 2 with better quality, so I don't believe it's a hardware problem.
I'm really not sure where to start investigating - would Dolphin handle this better?  Is there an app I can use to buffer the stream?  Is the site detecting the android browser and degrading the stream? (I changed the user agent string - no effect)
I'm aware there are NBA apps on Android Market but they are getting slammed on the reviews.  I bought the GameTime app last year on my Blackberry Curve and was fine with it, but I don't want to pay and find out it doesn't work.

Without further investigation I can't help you much right now but just on your comment "I don't want to pay and find out it doesn't work" the good thing about Android is you have 24 hours to refund the app if you're not happy with it. Give it a go... try as many as you can until you find one that works for you.

Just wanted to update this in case anyone else cares.
This and many other streaming audio issues seem fixed in the latest OTA:  3.70.651.1


text:
Are there any thin/precise styluses that are compatible with the Droid X?
I'd like to write formulas and notes on my Droid X. All the styluses that I found have a thick end and don't simulate a pen, it's more like a finger. Does anyone know of any styluses with thinner or more accurate tips? Do pens from tablets like Lenovo work?

You may want to separate the wacom pad question into its own question. Users don't know you have that question just by reading the title to this question.

Thin styluses are usually for resistive screens, they don't work with Droid X's capacitive screen.
The difference between capacitive and resistive touchscreens

I have a Pogo Stylus which was originally meant for the iphone although I see they have an Android version now.  It works ok, but I feel like I have to push down harder than I want to to get it to work.  It is accurate, more so than my finger, however if I don't maintain enough pressure when drawing a line for example, there will be gaps in the line.  I have a screen protector on and I've never tried it on the naked screen so this might be a factor.  When all is said and done I don't use it very much so I can't provide a detailed review.
If you don't want to spend the money there are a number DIY capacitive tutorials that look pretty good.  Some mimic the pogo design and others don't.  Here are a few:

Pogo like 1
Pogo like 2
With a sock
With a piece of anti-static bag
With an energy bar wrapper and a drunk puppet

I remember seeing someone do tests on the accuracy of capacitive screens and in reality, they're terribly inaccurate. Unlike resistive screens, a stylus won't make much difference for you. I believe it was said that a fine stylus would provide just as much accuracy as using a hot dog.


text:
How can I find a lost phone or help people return it?
I'm looking for an app like Where's My Droid to help locate a lost device.
Ideally I'm hoping there is one that might have two specific features:

The ability to display a message to the screen to help people return it, like Windows Phone 7 will have, as illustrated here.
The ability to turn the GPS on remotely to aid in the physical location of the phone. I do not want to have to keep GPS on all the time, to avoid the battery drain.

Running on a non-rooted Galaxy S Captivate.

Another option: I like Lookout.
In addition to tracking/finding your phone, also does virus scanning and backs up data.  It doesn't display a message though.

Very nice looking app

Best get it now, too, because they just announced a premium version. Current users get their features grandfathered in.

Try Prey for Android.
Some features:

To trigger it, you send an SMS with specific text (default: GO PREY)
Once triggered, starts recording its location to display on your Prey dashboard
If "missing" you can put text messages on the screen or cause a loud alarm to be played

Here's a recent review: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/10/28/prey-for-android-is-an-open-source-anti-theft-service/

Looks perfect! The only thing I'd say better would be if it would actually LOCK the phone so it could not be logged in and would just show the configured message and not let the user do anything else. Otherwise, excellent.

Note that having the GPS enabled doesn't (unlike with Bluetooth) drain the battery.  The GPS only uses battery when it's active, which only happens when something is trying to use it.
I don't know of any app that can enable GPS if it's disabled.  For the message however your best solution currently is probably WaveSecure.

Very cool to know! I've left it on for a while now and yeah, it doesn't seem to generally affect the battery life. All those articles about extending batter life always mention turning off GPS and WiFi, (although I know WiFi doesn't really affect it either  :)  )

@eidylon: WiFi may affect battery life if it's actively scanning for open network; if you turn off network notification and set a reasonable sleep policy, then WiFi might have less effect on battery.

I'm admittedly ignorant, but it seems that a lot of apps now want GPS access and they happen to auto-start; so, if GPS is enabled, it can lead to battery consumption, whether or not the user is making use of the GPS.

http://www.androidlost.com/ can turn on gps from an sms messega, it's very difficult to understand how it's work's, but very poweful

At least for #2 check out Samsung Dive, if it's supported in your country (it isn't in mine). It should do the trick. Also has remote lock and remote wipe functionality.
EDIT: Just realized that Captivate is a US device, so this is not supported yet (UK and Germany only). Sorry, my brain hasn't completely woken up yet :)

Samsung Dive requires your phone to be logged into your Samsung account. what if it's logged out for whatever reason, then Dive won't work

I suggest you get Theft Aware instead. Unlike all the others mentioned this one once installed is totally invisible. You get back to the UI through the call out keypad with a code of your choice. Will send you details on command of whoever has their chip in your phone plus loads of other things. Give it a look, its free.
Used in combination with some other security app this is absolutely priceless.
http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/tests/test/391607/Theft-Aware-Trial

Mobile Defense is great, though in closed beta at the time of posting. It lets you see the current status of your phone, its location (with greater accuracy if within GPS range) and lets you sound an alarm with a message. I am not sure when they will re-open the beta, but I love the product.


text:
Remote Wipe Feature in Android 2.2
Android 2.2 has come up with a new feature called "Remote Wipe" which wipes out the data in the Android phone remotely in case the device is lost. For this we were using Microsoft Exchange Server to wipe data in phone remotely. But for this to possible tha phone should in the network coverage area? If the phone is not there in Network Coverage area , how can the data can be wiped from remote Microsoft Exchange Server?

Your server has to be able to communicate with the phone somehow to send the wipe message, either by a phone network connection, or if it's connected to one of its saved Wifi connections. Not 100% sure about the Android implementation, but normally the message will queue up and be received when the phone comes into coverage. The phone also has to be switched on at some point, or it'll never be received.
This is a limitation of all phones that have remote wipe capability (eg Windows Phone, Blackberry, etc). It can't send the signal by magic!


text:
Android phone can't access anything through VPN on my Windows PC
I have a Galaxy S (Android 2.1 Update 1), and a Windows 7 Pro machine configured to allow incoming connections (i.e the built-in PPTP VPN functionality).
I can establish a VPN connection to the laptop from the phone however I can't ping it or access a simple HTTP service running on 8081. Windows Firewall doesn't seem to be the issue as it doesn't work with it turned off either. It makes no difference if I use my house Wifi or disable that on the phone and connect via the phone's broadband connection.
I notice via IPCONFIG on the laptop that the subnet for the phone's RAS connection is 255.255.255.255 whereas the network is 255.255.255.0 - could this be a problem?

Do other devices connecting through this VPN work as expected?  The problem sounds to be with your VPN configuration on the laptop, which would put this question out of scope.

It was a configuration issue on the program listening on port 80 on the laptop end.

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


text:
How to read Exchange e-mails on Android?
Is there any Outlook for Android? If not, should I use an IMAP or POP3 client for Android instead? Which one do you recommend?

IMAP is almost always better than POP3, as you have two-way synchronization. Android's built-in email applications (called Email) supports both IMAP and POP, it just depends on your email server.

You don't mention which phone or Android version you're using. On my Motorola Droid (Android 2.2) the built-in E-mail application allows me to connect to my employers Exchange server. When I created the account, I had three options for connecting: POP3, IMAP, and Exchange.
There are other e-mail clients out there that may also connect to Exchange.

I thought the built-in app was only for GMail accounts

Gmail is a separate application.

You could try K9 Mail.  I use it for non-Exchange accounts and it works great, so I know it's a great email app in general.  I believe it has the ability to connect to Exchange servers, too, so...there you go!


text:
What is material is the HTC Nexus One Screen made out of?
Some say it is plastic, others insist it's glass. Wikipedia provides shady information.

The screen is glass. Since the release people were having issues with the screen due to the glass sometimes cracking when in tight pockets... this would usually not occur with plastic since plastic is a little bit more flexible.

HTC says broken glass means Nexus One not for pocket
Design: Solid, but Not Groundbreaking


text:
Force volume buttons to always change Media Volume
I want my phone to be on "Vibrate" mode about 99% of the time.  I've found that every time I hit the volume buttons on the side of my Evo, it's either accidental (and I don't want the phone to either go silent mode or ringer mode), or I was trying to control the media volume.
Is there a way to force the phone into interpreting every volume button press as a media volume change, and not a ringer volume change?

I suspect this is a root-only thing.

@gary if that's true, I'd like to know how :)

@bryan I was just shooting from the hip. It just sounded like something that wouldn't be available but perhaps more likely on a rooted phone.

This behaviour of Android is really upsetting me. Why the hell do we need to control 3, 4 types of volumes with the buttons? On Windows or Mac, the volume keys control the "master volume" as they should. I am using tablets, and like the OP, 99.999% time I need to control multimedia volume but if no a/v is playing, pressing the volume keys  controls the damn notification volume, with that annoying beep sound.

There is no setting for this as I'm sure you know. The only way l see this working is if you potentially write an app to capture all volume button changes and then act on the changes from within the app.
You could potentially use registerMediaButtonEventReceiver to register your app as a BroadcastReceiver for all media button calls. I say potentially because I'm not 100% sure if this BroadcastReceiver will handle these Intents since I'm purely looking at documentation and haven't actually tried this myself.

4 years have passed. Is there any app for that?


text:
How do I change the default SMS application on my HTC Hero?
I recently got completely fed up with the built in Messages (SMS) application and switched it out for Chomp (also looking at Handcent, haven't decided on one yet). I want to use the "Messages" icon though, as well as treat the new app as the default SMS program. I know about "Manage Applications" and clicking the "Clear Defaults" button for the app. But the "Clear Defaults" is disabled for the Messages app and it says that no defaults are set. I read on someone else's post that their AT&T provider had somehow hardcoded this as the default app and they couldn't change it. So...
Can they really do that? Is that why my HTC Hero doesn't let me clear the default? Is there a way around that?

One word. Root. I would suggest rooting as a solution to your problem. Here is documentation for how to root your CDMA Hero:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581577

For information on what "root is and why you should do it, refer here:
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/top-10-reasons-to-root-your-android-phone-2/

How did I know that would be the "only answer". I would love to root my phone. However, I bought the protection plan from Sprint and if I root the phone and something breaks i'm basically screwed. Thanks for the link though. I do plan to root after I get a new phone next year and keep this one as a Dev phone.  Also, the article says the Android 2.1 update from Sprint might close the security bug exploited, any idea if it actually did?

Don't forget, you can always unroot your phone if you need to return it. Rooting does not void the warranty on most phones, although it is probably frowned upon by tech reps at the carrier store.

At least one partial solution for those who can't root and want to use another messaging app.
Go to the Settings of the stock messaging app and turn off notifications, now only the messaging app will notify you when a new text message arrives.
Without rooting (and most likely removing the messaging app) there's no way to replace the stock one if it's protected, but at least with this solution, it will stop bugging you!

Thanks Ivo. Fortunately I've done that already, or it would have been so annoying I might have given up on it all.

I came across an application that eases this pain and does the required superbly. The app is called Default App Manager. You can clear you previous defaults as well as set new ones. Probably this could be useful.

The default applications that you can clear in the "Manage Applications" view are for URIs (URLs, file extensions, ...) only. You can not set the default SMS Application by this. There is no way to set something like the default SMS application on Android explicitly.
There are three approaches to switch away from the stock SMS app to another one:

Install the alternative SMS app and disable notifications in the stock app. Little Drawback: The SMS messages will still appear in the stock app.
At least Handcent and GoSMS provide a feature that blocks "duplicate messages", which prevents the SMS from show up as "duplicate" in the stock app inbox. Drawback: Other Apps, that are also listing for incoming SMS messages, e.g. because they trigger some action when magic word appears in the SMS, won't work either.
Root your phone, uninstall the stock SMS app and install another one.

I suggest you go with the first option.
Technical Background: As I sad before, you can not set the default SMS application on Android. That is because incoming SMS are propagated by the system with an so called intent broadcast. Every app can register for this SMS intent. So if you install a second SMS app, both apps, including the stock app, will receive the SMS (via the intent) and put it in their inbox. Apps can also abort the intent broadcast, which is exactly what the "block duplicate messages" option in GoSMS and Handcent does. But then no other app that wants these intents is able to receive them.

I just went into settings in Handcent app and found a setting in thier that made it the default app.

Please explain your answer a little bit.

You can simply set it in Handcent and it disables the other one all together. In handcent just click: menu -> settings -> application settings -> default messaging application, and set it for both sms and mms. There you go. I think android does not let you unset it because then nothing would be set. It is up to a new application like handcent to set itself as that.

Just simply go settings, applications, manage applications. You then need to scroll down to viber and press clear defaults.
I'm not sure about others phone sets but for htc, its works .

You're sending him to the same screen he says he's already visited, and referring to an application that he doesn't mention in his question at all. Care to edit?


text:
How to Set 'Play' Button Behavior on Bluetooth Remote
I have a RocketFish Bluetooth headset paired with my MotoDROID v1 (Froyo).  The BT headphones have multimedia controls (volume up/down, next track, previous track, play/pause) and a button to trigger voice dialing.  I have it paired both on the handsfree headset profile and the advanced audio profile.
When I click the play button on my headphones, the behavior is unpredictable.  I might have the Music app up, but clicking play will cause Listen to launch and begin playing a podcast.  I might have Listen in the foreground, but clicking play will cause the Music player to start playing from a playlist.  Other times, the play button will behave as expected and cause the app in the foreground to play.
Is there any way (outside of rooting my device) that I can indicate which app should be acting on these button presses?

I've played with a couple of other apps.  I notice that DoubleTwist has a setting to set the app as the default recipient for headset controls, but it doesn't seem to work.  Same for Cubed (3).  Is this just a busted feature, or is there some hidden setting I haven't found?

I had a similar experience with a Sony MW600 headset on my Droid; I think this may have been an issue with how FroYo handles the bluetooth buttons.   It seems much better (although occasionally no app responds to play) on my Droid Bionic running Gingerbread.

Normaly the developer can set which button do which action. So it is different from app to app.  The only way is, sorry, rooting and remap your headset buttons.


text:
How do I run an AIR app on the device?
I've installed Adobe Air, and I have a few AIR apps that I have built over time and am curious to see how they will look running on the device, but am not clear on how to install them.
I uploaded the app to the phone but clicking on the .air file doesn't provoke an installation process, instead, it just opens the browser and attempts to display it (and fails, obviously).
What to to do?

Were the apps developed using Above Air for Android? There seems to be a distinction between the two SDKs. Look at this tutorial for all the info on getting started. Even if some of the info is redundant, it does have a section on deployment to the phone.

Here's an answer for regular end users who happen upon this question because they are confused about the whole "Air" thing, wondering "how to install and adobe air based app?"
If you phone doesn't already have it installed, get the Adobe Air app.  Now you can download and install any of the apps that are based on Adobe Air.  There's really not a lot to it for end users.  Even if you don't install the Adobe Air app and you try to install an Air based app, it will automatically direct you to install Adobe Air.

Here's a video that shows how to turn an air app into into an apk file.  I'm not a dev so I have no idea what he's talking about but it sounds like what you want to do so it may help.