text:
Hide Alarm icon in the status bar
I have at least one alarm set to go off daily so the "alarm clock" icon on my notification bar is really pointless.
Is there a way to make this icon hidden in Android Froyo or Android Gingerbread?

No, for the same reasons detailed in this answer.
Can I hide a program from ongoing activities in the notification bar?

That is not entirely true though, some apps allow to hide the notification. It is an app by app basis.

True enough, although I was speaking to the stock alarm clock.

Ah, yup I would agree with what you have then.

Is there any way to do it at a lower level with rooted access? Maybe replace the current stock clock/alarm app with a modified "stock" clock/alarm app?

This is not accurate, removing the icon is possible with the System UI Tuner that comes bundled with recent versions of Android. @SAGExSDX, I think you should consider changing the accepted answer, so that people aren't misled with by this incorrect answer.

On Android Marshmallow, you can use the hidden System UI Tuner.
Open the quick-setting panel, then press and hold the Settings' cog wheel until it starts spinning. You then get an additional settings entry in System > System UI Tuner > Status bar, where you can hide the alarm.

I see this menu but nothing related to showing the alarm clock icon. Only the ability to set the brightness slider or change the quick menu settings.

I must add I'm actually on CM13, so it may be different than stock MM.

After this go to System > System UI Tuner > Status bar, and then find alarm, it was at the bottom on my phone.

This works in Android 7 (Nougat) too.

Easiest way if rooted:
You can use GravityBox, to hide the Alarm-Clock-Symbol.

Open the app.
Go to "Adapt Status Bar" (I don't know the exact English translation)
Choose "Adapt Clock"
Tick the box next to "Hide Alarm Symbol"

Thanks. This is a great answer if I had stuck with the stock alarm clock. Been using Gentle Alarm for years since this question :)

There is if you use the alarm app, Gentle Alarm. Besides the plethora of amazing features that app has, you can also turn off the notification bar icon and the app still runs in the background just fine. I've been running it that way for a long time.
On a semi-related note, my favorite feature of Gentle Alarm is the ability to keep alarms scheduled, but skip as many of them in order as you want. That way if you are on vacation for one day you can turn off scheduled alarm(s) for just that day and not be annoyingly woken up. I was on vacation for a week and was able to turn them all off and the following week I didn't have to remember to turn my alarms back on, already taken care of.

Those sounds like some great features. I was hoping that there was a way to still use the stock alarm app AND hide the icon. but based on Al E's answer, it doesn't sound like you can. Getting an alternate alarm app was going to be a "if it annoys me enough" last-effort solution.

Well I would recommend getting the app for not only the annoyance factor, but also all the other features too.

In Gentle Alarm, you must go to the Settings and turn on Advanced Features. Then Other Preferences > Notifications, and then you are presented with many options for the type of notification or turning it off.

You can download Wanam Xposed from Xposed repository here.
When you open the app you'll be instructed to install the framework (I've done it personally and haven't had any problems).
Once this is done go back to the original app and there will be many customizable features available including one for hiding the alarm clock icon.
This is not my app. I just use it personally on a  stock JB 4.3 (rooted) and find it great.

I achieve this with the app; Smart Alarm Free. It simply has a setting for it. Also it's a way better alarm app.

Yes there is, but you need an app for it.
I was surprised to read that this was something people wanted, and so I ended up writing such an app (disclaimer: I wrote the app, but it is free).
It is small and lightweight, and removes the icon, but will also flash the icon every time another app updates the alarm.
If this is something that you would find useful, you can get it for free on the Google Play store:

X89 Status Ninja

Just found this in Marshmallow for anyone coming across this question. Go to Settings > Status Bar > Status Bar Icons and from there you can uncheck the alarm icon.

Stock Marshmallow, or a custom ROM? I've only seen CyanogenMod having this option.

Actually it is CM13, but I guess I just assumed it was a stock Marshmallow option.

Provided your Android is rooted and a compatible Xposed Framework1 is installed, you can use GravityBox xposed module to hide the alarm icon.
I tested with GravityBox [N] and in it, go to Statusbar tweaks → Clock Settings → tick Hide Alarm icon.
Note that I cannot assure whether earlier Android version specific versions of GravityBox offered this tweak.
(Click image to enlarge)

1 Xposed Framework for stock Android [based] ROMs: Android 4.x, Android 5.x, 6.x and 7.x

For Oreo, I used SystemUI Tuner. Need to enable the developer options temporarily and grant it necessary rights though a computer. It exposes the necessary system settings and has few other useful settings too.
Bit more detail:
In earlier versions it was possible to invoke the "System UI Tuner" on android system by long pressing settings cog wheel after swiping down on the notification bar to expand it. Sadly it has been decided not to expose this to users on Oreo. So we need a 3rd party app (e.g. first link above). And give that app necessary permissions using developer mode. The two links give all the details and steps.

if you are running Jelly Bean (or newer), there is the option of disabling all notifications from an app. The setting is per-app and can be found in Settings > Apps > (select the app) > uncheck the "Show notifications" box. The one caveat to this method is that the app will no longer show any notifications in the notification bar, but if that's acceptable to you than I've found this method to be an easy way to stop my notification drawer from filling up with unnecessary notifications.

The questioner isn't talking about a notification. He's talking about the alarm clock icon that shows up on the right-hand end of the notification bar, with the Wi-Fi and battery indicators. Notifications are at the left-hand end of the notification bar.

Also, if you disable notifications entirely for an alarm clock, nothing will pop up when the alarm goes off. To turn off a ringing alarm, you will have to start your alarm clock app from the home screen, find the alarm schedule that is currently ringing, and turn off the scheduled alarm.  You will have no option to snooze the alarm, or silence it but leave it on repeat.  You'd have to turn it off and then on again.

Sorry but I don't understand what you are saying. Could you please try to rephrase your answer. Especially your first sentence is hard to understand.


text:
If I buy an unlocked sim-free HTC Desire HD can I still get Android updates OTA?
I currently have a HTC Desire with T-Mobile.
If I buy an unlocked HTC Desire HD (Sim-free) and pop in my current T-Mobile SIM will I get OTA updates for the Desire HD or the standard Desire that I have with T-Mobile?
If I won't be able to get OTA updates, will I have a manual update option from HTC direct when they release updates?
I've never bought a Sim-Free phone before so not sure how this works.

saying which country are you on would probably help

AFAIK, Android updates are released by the Google then the phone's manufacturer (e.g. HTC) writes updates for the drivers, and providers (e.g. T-Mobile) only help with the distributions. So you will at least be able to do manual updates as long as your phone manufacturers released the update.
However, this means getting update depends on your phone manufacturers support (I heard HTC is quite good on this). If, for example, your manufacturer decided not to support updating of your phone (e.g. Samsung has no plans for updating Spica to Froyo), then you probably won't be able to update using official ROM (although there is almost always a community update to non-official ROMs).

I have a non-branded HTC Desire and I get OTA updates just fine. You will actually get the updates sooner because these updates are provided by HTC directly, which operators have to brand for their devices first before making them available.
I can't imagine this being any different for the Desire HD.
You'll also have more options for installing updates by hand, as described here for example (again, this is for Desire, not Desire HD)

I received OTA update to 2.2 in the summer. I have a SIM-free HTC Desire for Russian market. I bought in April.
I see no obstacles why a SIM-free phone would not get an OTA update. Generally it should be released faster, because it comes from HTC. In case of branded phones, update comes from carriers. That may need additional time as carriers include their software into the update.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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text:
How does Android get the coarse location?
I read that Android (and similar operation systems, e.g. iOS) get the current coarse location by using either WiFi or GSM tower triangulation. I get the basic idea but have questions about the details.

Does Android normally use both methods, or does it prefer one and fall back to the other?
Does it communicate with a server to get the position via WiFi? (e.g. sending the SIDs of the WiFis to a web service)
Does it communicate with the carrier to get the position via the GSM towers or is this done on the device?

It is really up to the developer as to how to implement the location service.  The full description is available on the Android Developers official site (as captured on 24 Sep 2010)
The graph about 1/3rd down the page is pretty useful to see what a typical app might do, but again, it is completely up to the app developer.  The location service types are:

Cached Fix
Cell-ID
WiFi
GPS
Mock Location

If the app requests permission for coarse location only, it will not use the GPS to determine location.
To answer your questions:

It is up to the individual app developer, but in most cases, the sequence will be Cached Fix, Cell-ID, WiFi, GPS, in that order.
Yes, after acquiring the tower IDs or SSIDs of the WiFi signals, that data is transmitted to Google to determine a rough location.
No, Google has done something really clever here.  Google has their own database of cell tower locations and does not require an interaction with the carrier to determine the location of the tower.

An article by Francisco Kattan on "Dynamic Cell-ID" has some of the detail. The short version is that, when you use an app like Google Maps, the app will send the current Cell-ID information back along with your current GPS fix.  In this way, Google gets a very good sampling of the signal strengths in various locations and is able to build a very rich database.

I like your answer pretty much, but I'm not sure if your right on the "it's totally up to the developer"-part. As far as I can tell, the developer can only decide to get the fine or the coarse location. In other words he can use the LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER and/or LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER to obtain the location. I think he can not decide or even see, if Wifi or GSM is used, right?

In the most common case, the developer will not care if the data is coming from WiFi or Cell-ID, but the dev could put in restrictions to only allow the app to work when WiFi is disabled or GPRS/GSM is disabled.  I took your question to mean: "Is there a standard sequence that all apps follow" and the answer to that is no.  However, with specific regard to the difference between WiFi and Cell-ID, the app developer has limited capability to specifically request one type of location service.

A lot of this is carrier-specific and I'm not a dev but here's what I could piece together from the interwebs and the trainings I've had in electronic crime investigation:

Yes, but it depends on the specific apps LBS priorities which are set by the dev and can be based on current course accuracy, power levels, predefined priorities, etc.
Yes. The carriers have proprietary WiFi base station location DBs.
I can't speak to Android specifically, but generally, this is going to be the carrier and network type (CDMA or GSM). Phones are capable of both, but at least a few years ago they did this work on the handset because of the bandwidth constraints of doing it OTA.

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/LocationManager.html

Your phone knows what the closest towers are.
There is a provider database for each country in which the location of tower IDs on the map is stored. This database might be small enough to be preinstalled by your provider or supplied over the air. How an Android phone gets this data, I don't know.

Does it communicate with the carrier to get the position via the GSM towers or is this done on the device?

The device could be used if you want to use triangulation, but you need to use the carrier if you want to match the Cell-ID and the localization of the GSM (or CDMA) tower.

but is this an option that can be determined by an app developer or even an end user or is it something that is determined by the carrier?

It is mandatory, if you want to use this way for localizing a device. Using triangulation or another method allows you to know where you are versus antenna position. But if you don't know the lat/long of the antenna, you won't be able to get your position on a map.
I home I'm clear :)

@Rob But you don't need the carrier to find the location of the tower. Each tower broadcasts a unique ID, anyone can independently pick that up and map it, with no carrier interaction. Google have been doing this for a while for cell towers and WiFi access points. The Google Streetview car picks the info up as it travels, and users of Google Maps on various platforms also send back anonymous data matching GPS fixes with antenna and wifi IDs and strength. This is similar to how Google pick up a lot of their traffic data in cities, they aggregate speed and positions from lots of Maps users.

Are you sure ? Looks surprising. For instance, in Germany (and other countries in Europe), Google has been sued for collecting wifi information, so looks like they did not use this resource.
For the GSM database, if Google owns one, it should be accessible, and I never heard about it.

@Rob http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/06/google-enables-location-aware.html "The phone knows the ID of the cell tower that it's currently using. If the phone has GPS, the Maps application on the phone sends the GPS coordinates along with the cell ID to the Google location server." can't find the link right now but they announced a while ago that the Blackberry Google Maps app was sending back nearby WiFi SSID and strength for the same reason. This isn't the same as the programming "error" in the Streetview software they're being sued over that captured more WiFi data than it was meant to.

+1 Thanks for the link ! So, Google has a database w/ localisation of the GSM towers... How interesting. Do if we can access this webservice ?

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text:
Can I set it so the "Phone" on my phone takes priority over all other apps?
Every once in a while my phone gets very sluggish when I'm multitasking, which is annoying but fine.  Is there any way for me to set it so that the Dialer app takes priority over everything else, quickly stealing whatever resources it needs to run as fast as possible?
Also, I am aware of the plethora of task killers available but I'm not interested unless it specifically allows me to set the dialer as a VIP or in some way make sure that the dialer gets first dibs on resources.
Unrooted Moto Droid on 2.2

Never use a task killer on anything newer then 2.1. It interferes with the Kernel and usually causes more harm then good.

I don't think there is any way to prioritize threads/apps in Android. Programatically you'd set thread priority here, but it would be your threads in your app.  You shouldn't be able to do this against someone else's app unless you had their developer signature as all applications are sandboxed from each other (unless permission is given).
Instead, I would focus on trying to improve overall performance on your phone:

Conserve memory:

Reduce the number of running services
Delete apps that you do not use (especially those that are spawning services)

Overclocking (requires root and will drain more battery, but could be allieviated some by running an under voltage kernel) or installing a custom mod with performance tweaks

As a side note, overclocking the Motorola Droid makes it hell of a lot more responsive than the default 550-600mhz clock speed, but I find the battery drain to be too much unless I have my phone plugged in to a power source. If you carry a spare battery around like me, it may not be that big of a deal

You are right to not use a task killer.  The Android OS was built to handle tasks appropriately and you would otherwise waste resources running an auto-kill service every X minutes (because those killed tasks are just going to re-spawn) and potentially cause other problems (killing a task that is writing to the SD card, for instance, could cause file corruption). The only thing task killers are good for are for what you would normally use one for: to kill hung up processes.

Yeah, my overall performance isn't but every once in a while (usually at the most in opportune time) it gets hung up and I can't make a phone call.  It's usually when I'm driving at work and listening to a podcast.  The phone is plugged in and the temp usually rises (which I believe impacts the performance) then it gets slow and sometimes hard to make calls quickly.  I may just add a line to my account and get an old school flip phone to make calls with at work.

Agree with Bryan here. One small note, I still wouldn't recommend a task killer for killing hung processes. I would use a process monitor app like OS Monitor to view processes and kill something that is hung. Just my personal preference to steer people away from task killers.

@Matt, I would follow Bryan's advice and remove unused apps and try to clean up your phone and SD card. You would be surprised how big of a difference that can make. And would save you some money.

The Linux command nice and renice (use terminal) might be what you're looking for. The renice program is used to set the CPU and IO scheduling priority of a running process; the higher the nice value (the nicer the program) the lower the scheduling priority, and programs with low nice value (IOW, "mean") have higher scheduling priority.
However, I'm not quite sure how nice values are used by Android framework. In here: http://code.google.com/p/openeclair/issues/detail?id=97 it is hinted that Home apps prevents itself from being killed by setting itself with a very low nice value; and unless Android kernel deviates from upstream linux kernel by way too much, the CPU and IO scheduler should use nice value to prioritize CPU and IO scheduling.
You might need to be rooted and have busybox.

Just a remark: Nice values are only used for CPU scheduling, not I/O.

@Flow: The nice value is used to determine initial I/O priority.

Could you backup your claim by an reference/quote? The nice value only determines the amount of timeslice a process gets in CPU scheduling when the CFS scheduler is active. The Linux kernel has an extra I/O scheduler which does AFAIK not include the nice value for its calculations. Normally an I/O scheduler will optimize for throughput, regardless of the nice value. There is also a binary for the linux kernel, which is called ionice. But this is not the same as the process's nice value.

@Flow: from the man page of ionice http://linux.die.net/man/1/ionice: The [default] priority within the best effort class will be dynamically derived from the cpu nice level of the process: io_priority = (cpu_nice + 20) / 5.

@Flow: once the program is up and running, ionice can be used to set the I/O priority so it's no longer related to the CPU nice value. However, initial I/O priority is, by default, derived from the initial CPU nice value.

Thank you. I also found that man ionice documents this for the best effort scheduler. I wasn't aware of that, nice finding. :-)

AutoKiller Memory Optimizer (root only)
It's not specific to the dialer but you can give the dialer a higher priority.

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

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text:
Is there a TTS app that will read me my email or a webpage?
All I can seem to find is apps that read SMS and manually entered text.

For Email there is the DriveSafe.ly® Free SMS Reader available from Google Play Store.
It can read emails, but has mixed reviews. I have never tried it so can't recommend it one way or the other.

Listen to SMS text (TXT) messages, Emails and Caller-ID while driving. Read SMS!
Listen to SMS, listen to email, listen to TXT messages. DriveSafely® reads text messages, SMS and emails aloud and lets you respond by voice (with Pro). iSpeech Text to Speech (TTS) will speak your SMS while driving. Hands-free.

Thanks, I actually saw that app but didn't want to pay a yearly subscription fee.

You don't have to pay a subscription.  Where does it say you have to pay a subscription?  I haven't used it enough to tell if really works well, though.

Try Speaking Email for email, it is a voice email reader purpose built for reading out email content. Skips disclaimers and footers and stuff.

According to this resource: http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/documentation/android_access/apps.html#em "K-9 Mail" is an accessible e-mail program. I have not used it so I can't vouch for its quality or suitability.

Talking Clipboard available from Google Play Store, can read everything from your clipboard, and additionally it directly reads EPUB, TXT and HTML. It even can look-up your links collected with Pocket (formerly known as "Read it Later").

Make your android device read text from any application using clipboard.
Talking Clipboard for Android is a text to speech application for Android 2.2 and higher, that can read ePub Books or any text or html files. It can also read text copied from any application, using Talking Clipboard: Read Clipboard feature available through the notification/status bar. You can also open Read It Later saved bookmarks and can read it in Talking Clipboard. Talking Clipboard can also convert any webpage article to text and can read it for you.

The Read My Email Lite application should help:

Read My Email application will read out new emails from user’s inbox.
This state of the art application will help users to track their emails while on the go. With simple instructions the mail account can be configured and tracked from then on. New mails will be polled every 10 minutes and will prompt the user of any new mails in their inbox.
Upon selecting the option to read the emails, the application will read aloud 10 new emails.

And there's the Read My Email Pro version with greater features:

Read My Email application will allow the users to safely keep track of their important emails while on the go.
Once configured and started, the application will read out aloud the new mails details from the inbox. The mail details includes "From", "Received on" and the "body of the email". There are various options to configure the service available with the application, like Locale for reading the email, Frequency of polling the email server, stopping the email, skip the current email, go back to previous email, configure number of new emails to read and managing various email services.
This application comes with standard email services and allows the user to add their own email services. Currently this application supports IMAP protocol.

Both applications are available from appbrain.com and Google Play Store:

I have just loaded Web Page Reader. It works great on web pages, even though Android's standard voice output is very tinny (up to Android 4.0). I loaded the Ivona voice (Amy) which is the most natural I have found, and it is brilliant. Works exceptional on the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

There's a new app out for android called AudioMail. Maybe you could give that a try.

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


text:
List of special Android SD card folders?
I've seen mention of special folders on the SD card such as "ringtones" and "notifications" .
What is the full list of special folders recognized by Android's (Froyo preferred) configuration and its standard apps?

The information below is from a developer website, it is the closest I could find to a definitive answer.
From website:
If you're using API Level 7 or lower, use getExternalStorageDirectory() to open a File that represents the root of the external storage, then save your shared files in one of the following directories:
* Music/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as user music.
* Podcasts/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a podcast.
* Ringtones/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a ringtone.
* Alarms/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as an alarm sound.
* Notifications/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a notification sound.
* Pictures/ - All photos (excluding those taken with the camera).
* Movies/ - All movies (excluding those taken with the camcorder).
* Download/ - Miscellaneous downloads.

i don't think you need to put the music in a specific folder, and that's the same thing for the wallpaper. When your phone starts (and sometimes), you can see something like "Indexing media" on the status bar.
That is when Android crawl the SD card to find out this kind of file.

I didn't help develop the Android OS, so I can't talk one way or the other on this, but I that link I provided is from the people that did write Android. My guess is that certain apps will look in multiple places for file types if told to do so, but by default that is the list.

good job

This answer is very useful if you want to copy files from your pc onto the card and have them show up in the Videos gallery, for example: Creating a Movies directory and copying .mp4s into it worked like a charm.

I wonder if this is the same for distributions of Android in different languages?


text:
Can I get DLNA on my Droid?
Can I get DLNA on my Droid 1 through some sort of hack, patch or accessory or do I just have to upgrade to a newer phone?
I'm sure this question must seem absurd to some people but I looked around and it's still not clear to me if DLNA is a software or hardware solution.

Can you explain what you mean by "get DLNA"? That's not an acronym I'm familiar with.

DLNA stands for "Digital Living Network Alliance" which is the working group that is making the way these devices talk to each other for sharing media but I think it's also used to refer to the actual capability (which I haven't figured out if it's hardware based or software based). I was complaining to someone at the Verizon store about the lack of hdmi out on the Galaxy S and he replied, "you don't need it, it has DLNA." I think it is basically some kind of protocol to use wifi to connect media devices, Phone to TV, computer to TV... There site is vague enough to confuse the hell out of me.

DLNA isn't only for wifi. Basically it's about sending media between different devices in a network. It's a software thing, if you can get your devices on the same ethernet. :)

Are you after a DLNA client or server for your phone? In other words do you have content on your phone that you want to play on a TV (or PC) or do you have content on a PC that you want to play on your phone?

Both if possible.

Twonky media, who make the very good Twonky DLNA server for PCs, have released a Twonky Server app for Android, this should allow you to share content (videos, music, pictures) that are stored on your phone to network attached DLNA compatible devices on your network (eg Windows Media Player on Windows 7, XBox 360, PS3, specialised set-top boxes, some new TVs).
Also, I don't know if it's carrier specific but my Samsung Galaxy S came with the AllShare app (which I haven't used yet) that claims to be a DLNA server and client. Can't find it in the Market, so I assume its Samsung only.

What about non samsung phones? I'm really happy using Twonky but I'd like to see movies stored on my pc on my android device...

@Pitto if you're looking to play the files on your phone, the you probably want one of these two linked questions: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1051/dlna-enabled-media-player or http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2429/can-android-phones-play-dvd-format-movies-over-wifi

It seems that the Twonky Server app  is no longer in the Android market as a free app.  But the functionality seems to be included in Twonky Mobile, which requires a license after a free trial period: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.pv.twonkyremote  A "Screen Share" function from Twonky is part of the "Media Room" that comes with e.g. the HTC MyTouch 4G Slide and it also requires a license.

Just noticed you were complaining about the lack of HDMI out on your Galaxy S? Samsung make a micro-USB to HDMI-out cable specifically for the Galaxy S. The linked page is a UK reseller, but I can't believe that it's not available from Samsung in the US, or Us based resellers?

I might be mistaken about the model of phone we were talking about. Either way I was just trying to give some background.

Try Skifta. It will play files from DLNA server in any player installed on your device. Also it can be a media server and controller. The description says the app is DLNA Certified.

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text:
LauncherPro Shortcut Creator Guide & Repository?
Anyone know of a good guide on how to use the LauncherPro Shortcut Creator and/or a good source for already made shortcuts?

Check out his blog post on it.

LauncherPro Shortcuts are a new way of
  creating, adding, and sharing custom
  shortcuts for LauncherPro. Shortcuts
  are created and shared as LPS files.
LPS files are self-contained shortcut
  files that have all the info needed to
  make a shortcut, including the label,
  icon, and Android intent (more on
  intents in a bit). They are written in
  a new format that I created for this
  purpose, which is based in XML. Don’t
  worry, I created a web-based tool for
  creating these files so it’s as easy
  as filling out a form and downloading
  the resulting .lps file.
A shortcut
  always needs an Android intent to be
  “executed” when the shortcut is
  clicked. Intents are the standard way
  of launching activities/apps and
  sending information and commands to
  apps in Android. If you want to create
  your own LauncherPro Shortcuts, please
  read this page for a detailed
  explanation of how intents work and
  how to make your own.
LPS files need
  to be stored in your SD card, either
  in the root of the card, or inside the
  folders “download”, “downloads” or
  “lpshortcuts”. To add an LP Shortcut
  to a homescreen, long-press on a blank
  spot, choose “Shortcuts” and then
  “LauncherPro Shortcuts”. If you have
  any LPS files in the previously
  mentioned folders in your SD card,
  they should show up on the list. You
  can click on “Create New” to go to the
  web-based LauncherPro Shortcut Creator
  tool. You can also access the
  LauncherPro Shortcut Creator tool from
  your computer, and then put the
  generated LPS file in your SD card.

He also links to a lengthy forum thread where people are posting some of their shortcuts.  I can't seem to find any other resources of shortcuts.

Ooops, I don't know how I missed the blog post.  Thanks for pointing this out.  I did see that forum post which is title "Share your custom LauncherPro Shortcut files!" but is 16 pages of people asking how to make shortcuts.

Or you could: Long press the shortcut icon you want to change. It brings up the "Edit dock shortcuts" list. Then choose "Change shortcut". After that select "Applications" (the icon with the android in the lower right corner) from the list. A menu with all your installed apps comes up, and you just have to click on the shortcut you want. In the end you will be asked if you would like to chamge the shortcut icon, between the default, launcher pro or custom icon.


text:
Can I boost/improve reception on my Droid?
With a rooted phone and an app you can overclock or underclock your processor.  Also, off Android, with some hacks you can boost power of a wifi router and wifi antenna.  It seems to me that if you can do those things you could boost the reception of your cell antenna some how.  Am I right?  If so, how?

Put your droid in a can? ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantenna

As a telecom engineer student, I know that one of the main limitation for power is the EIRP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalent_isotropically_radiated_power).
Overpassing the EIRP is one of the must known way to increase wifi router power (by adding a better antenna, which leads to an increase in gain, and in power RX/TX). This power is perhaps fixed by the software in Android handsets, and you could use this parameter to leverage the emission power.
But, as far as I know it's illegal (at least in France).

Not really to do with actually altering your reception per-se, but you can update your PRL (preferred roaming list) of your phone for newer cell towers which might give you better reception.  On Verizon, dial *228 and follow the prompts.

updating your radio may help (if there is update for your phone).
after some search its seems there is.

BE VERY CAREFUL: you can brick your phone flashing your radio if do not know what you are doing

...and I don't know what I'm doing, but luckily I knew that before bricking anything.


text:
How do you get Market to work when Android is Unable to Access Android Market?
Right now I am using HTC Hero, having firmware Android 2.1 and I have attached VODAFONE, India SIM-CARD in this phone, and also having Wi-fi connectivity.
Whenever I try to "sign-in" to Android-Market using Google Account, it is always showing "Can't Establish a reliable data connection to the server" titled error with the message "This could be a temporary problem or your phone may not be provisioned for data services. If it continues, call Customer Care."
Now what do I have to do to access "Android Market" from my HTC Hero phone?

I got the same issue, regardless of the SIM inserted or connection used (in South Africa).  The browser worked etc, but Market just couldn't establish a connection to register or login.  The device was a Sony Ericsson X10 Mini.

I don't know if this helps, but with SFR, in France, I have nearly the same issue ; i can't use the market OTA (unless I use WiFi).
It is due to limitation from the carrier ; perhaps rooting the phone could help to get rid of that limitation.

no need to root the phone, i just tried "Factory reset" and its working now

The Problem is Vodafone Live can only acess wap sites
you can .... To get access to all sites e.g. Android Market, Maps etc you need to activate Vodafone mobile connect... it is little too expensive but it is the only solution....
Thanks

thanx for the answer, but i just tried "Factory reset" and its working now

Hey Thanks... I will try that also...as i also can't access android market from my Samsung galaxy GT I5801...

Can you verify you have a data connection? Try opening Internet from the apps screen. Can you navigate to various websites such as Google? If yes then you have a data connection and the likely answer is as eephyne points to in that link.
If you do not have a data connection and cannot browse the Internet then you need to call your carrier's customer support, in this case vodafone, and tell them you do not have a data connection. They will walk you through steps to get a data connection. After that then try the marketplace again.

ya having data connection and i can access and view any website

I'm betting what Rob is saying is likely the case, your carrier is probably trying to block the marketplace over the air (OTA). I would call the carrier and play dumb, explain to them your situation and see what they say. If the carrier is in fact blocking access then there isn't much you can do but change carriers.

My solution to this problem (SonyEricsson X10 Mini), after trying all sorts of resets of cache's on applications etc, and the only thing that worked was to do a Factory Reset on the phone.
Just remember to use the Backup And Restore feature first to backup your phone then restore it after resetting it.


text:
Sync setup question: will Android, Outlook 2010, Gmail, calendar and contacts sync?
my previous phone was a windows mobile 6.5 from HTC. so I had it linked to my computer (windows 7 x64 pro) and it used windows mobility center to sync with outlook 2010. everything was fine. I also added Gmail by IMAP in outlook.
but now I have this awesome brand new HTC Desire with Android 2.2 (Froyo) so it asked for my Google account. Now I ended up with contacts in outlook, phone and Gmail. calendar in outlook and Google Calendar and I have HTC sync and Google Cal sync and I don't know what the best setup is. anybody an idea?
I'd like to have the same in my outlook contacts as in my Gmail, Google Cal, phone etc. so I'd like to sync everything with everything and could use some help. because I have contacts in outlook that are not in Gmail and people on my phone which are not in Gmail etc. and since I am an android n00b it's kinda hard to get myself an ultimate sync setup with outlook 2010 and my phone and Gmail stuff
Edit: as pointed out in the answers, I should NOT sync my phone with outlook, but should sync outlook to Gmail. Google has a calendar sync tool, which is great, but does not sync the contacts. No I've found KiGoo but I don't trust them yet. Does anybody recommend a good preferably free and/or open source application for syncing outlook 2010 with Gmail?

Android syncs to Gmail, Contacts, and Calendar nearly effortlessly. It seems like in your case it's Outlook that is the problem child. Do you need to sync contacts with Outlook too? If not, a one-time export/import from Outlook to Gmail should meet your needs.
I would say have Outlook sync with Google and have the phone sync with Google. Syncing the phone to Outlook too will probably duplicate data and/or leave gaps in your data.

I agree.  Your phone will always sync with Google.  Setup Outlook to sync with Google too and leave the phone <-> outlook sync out all together.  Outlook to Google sync has been something people have been working on for years so it seems to me that those solutions are going to be more refined than the newer android/outlook solutions.

Agreed as well. In fact just take Outlook out of the picture all together. It is not providing any necessary functionality here, unless JP has other email accounts in Outlook. In which case just add those email accounts to the Mail app on the phone and stop syncing between Outlook and phone.

@Webs: I have about 10 email-accounts setup in outlook, so i still need outlook for my profession. i need to sync outlook to gmail. contacts and calendar. but google only has a calendar sync. what is the best app to use?

just read about KiGoo but I don't trust them yet. http://www.kayxo.com/ anyone good experience with a good (free/open source) app for syncing the google cal + contacts with outlook 2010?

Syncing Outlook and Gmail isn't a question for the Android Enthusiasts. I suggest either http://webapps.stackexchange.com or http://superuser.com.

@Al E. i thought it was android related since i'd like to have everything in sync. but i have posted the question back to it's origin at http://superuser.com/questions/189287/sync-setup-question-outlook-2010-gmail-calendar-and-contacts

@JP what we are trying to tell you is don't sync Outlook to your phone. Just have Outlook connected to your gmail account, and your phone connected to your gmail account. Then all should be well right? Then for when you need contacts and such you can do the occasion HTC sync and manually push items over.

i was looking for a way to sync my x10 with outlook and found this link, it's called my phone explorer
http://www.hackitz.ca/droid/android_contact_sync_outlook
works good, and it's free


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How can I edit or remove people from the favourite contacts widget on my HTC Legend?
How can I edit or remove people from the favourite contacts widget on my HTC Legend?

You can access them through the group "Starred in Android" in GMail

The group name is actually "Favorites" on my phone

@Casebash: The phone calls them "Favorites" but if you pull up contacts in Gmail, the group will be called "Starred in Android" there.

For editing, this question should help, although it's specific to the HTC incredible. For removing, it's the same idea (select contact name, not icon) then remove them from the Favorites Group. Hope it helps.

To change whether a contact is a favorite or not, go to your contact list, click on the contact name, then toggle the "star" in the top right corner of the contact screen.

That's what I was going to answer, but does this custom widget on the Legend use that flag or its own algorithm to determine favorites?

I have the same issue on my HTC Desire - I think adding a person via the widget adds them to a Favourites contact list but I don't see any way of editing this list (I don't seem to have the same contact list ui that you refer to - my People list doesn't have stars in it).

The People page does list the favourited people as belonging to the group "Favourite", but if you edit the contact then "Favourite" isn't one of the listed groups.

@therefromhere Ah, must be one of those HTC Sense-only kind of thing

I think this might be a bug to be honest - I'm on 2.1 still, I'll investigate further and report it if it's not fixed in 2.2.

I don't have a star on the contacts screen

@Casebash it must be because you are using HTC Sense.  On a stock phone there is a big star in the top right to favorite contacts.

@therefromhere: It must be a bug in 2.1.  I'm running 2.2 on my Incredible, and "Favorites" is listed in the groups, so to remove them I just un-check the box when editing the contact.

Removing it from "favourites" or "starred in android" didn't work for me. I don't have any star either on my HTC Wildfire.
You have to find your contact in the "Phone" list (this one where you go when you want to call someone, middle bottom of the desktop). Then you touch it, wait until menu arrives and... tap "remove from favourites". Interesting that you won't find this option in "People" app, or in contact details either.

You can also go to Contacts > Details and add or remove the star to make them favorite or not. It worked for me.


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How to transfer apps, contacts and settings between two identical phones?
I'm having trouble with my new Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant running 2.1.  It constantly reboots and I'm going to return it for a replacement unit.  How can I transfer all of my phone settings, contacts, apps, app settings and pictures/movies from the old phone to the new one?

Lookout should do all, or at least most, of this for you.
(Warning: Market-speak follows)

Your mobile device is your most personal computer. It contains your personal data including contacts, photos, video, e-mail, and text messages. Backup your data and keep it safe and secure.
Whether you accidently delete data, your phone is lost, or even destroyed--your data is safe. You can restore any data with the click of a mouse. Changing devices is just as easy and your data can be transferred in seconds.

Forgot about that.  I actually use Lookout, but haven't used it for backup yet.  A quick look in their backend shows that it only backs up pictures, contacts and calls despite their market description saying they do video, email and text messages too.  That being said off all these things the only two things that aren't synced by cloud or sd card and would need to be backed up are the call log and text messages.

Thanks for all of the responses.  I have Lookout, but didn't realize it backed up contacts also.

Lookout does not seem to backup apps

This Answer is valid for the Android 4.x.x. We will proceed with the use of ADB tool available for Android and it is not required for the Device to be Rooted at all.
The answer is meant to be generalized rather than Android Device Specific.
Method using Linux System :

Install ADB related tools from the repositories of your installed Linux Distro.
Enable USB Debugging in Developer Options and Choose USB Storage or MTP as USB connection.
Open Terminal in Linux and type adb start-server.
Type adb devices. It should list the output as Serial No. and Device where Serial No. is the Device's Serial No. In case, you're getting any issue with ADB detecting the device, there are many questions at Android Stackexchange, so you may search them if you need assistance.

Backup UserData:

There are two options to backup the UserData (Storage where Multimedia Files, Camera Images, other stuff you store). Either by ADB collectively with Apps OR by just copy-paste.
If your device Supports USB Storage Mount, then its easy as Linux will detect it as Removable Device and you can copy-paste the data into system.
If only MTP is supported, download MTP specific package from your Linux repos. It will detect the device. If none works, Airdroid for Android from Playstore can help. But that would be too much to discuss here.
Windows detects both MTP and USB Storage easily, so no need for any specific software installation.

To backup User Apps Apk's, the App Data, Custom Settings of Android, Messages, etc.

Open Terminal and type adb backup -f backup_file.ab -all -apk -system. This will backup only the User, System Apps and App Data with no UserData.
If you want to backup UserData too then type adb backup -f backup_file.ab -all -apk -system -shared. backup_file.ab is the name of the backup file in your Linux system.
It is to be mentioned that parameters like -noapk -noshared -nosystem are also available. You can check the Manual page of ADB for more commands if you want.

Note: When you enter any of the adb backup command, a window will show up in Android asking your permission to Backup or Cancel. Choose Backup; you can also select a password their but that's optional. Also make sure that the Device remains awake by changing Display settings, and don't do anything  on the Android device while it makes the backup.

To Restore the Backup:

Connect the other device and check whether its getting detected or not on Linux,
Type in Terminal adb restore backup_file.ab. It will show a window in Android asking to Restore or Cancel. Choose Restore and let it do the job. Restore can take a lot of time depending upon the size of backup. Besides, it might get interrupted because System Settings when restored can disrupt the Backup Window and cancel the backup. So keep trying. Reboot the device and you're good to go.

Backup Contacts exclusively:
It is strongly advised to backup contacts through methods other than ADB.

One option is to Sync the contacts with the Google Account in Settings and then use the same account on another device to restore.
Other method is to open Contacts or People app (native) in Android and export the contacts to Internal/External SD card. I prefer the latter one. It creates a file with VCF format. You can open the file in another device and it will restore the contacts in it.

I don't use Windows but there are plenty of Questions/Answers regarding how to use ADB in Windows here at Android Stackexchange, so you need not to worry at all.

Method involving no ADB backup Commands:

Download Helium app from Playstore and open it in Android Device.
If you're on Linux system and ADB is able to detect your device, then you can download Chrome App Helium Backup for Linux.
Open Helium app first on Android, connect your device to Linux, Open Helium App in Chrome now.
If all goes fine as it should, the Android Helium app will allow you to backup directly into External/Internal SD card. Copy the Storage files into other device. Follow the same detection procedure for other device, and then you can restore the Apps easily without any commands. The backup made by helium is stored in the folder named Carbon in the Storage you selected during backup.

Keep the SD card when you return the phone and put it in the new phone you get.
Contacts: You contacts are constantly synced with the Google account associated with the phone so there's no need to back those up.
Media: Pictures and Movies should be stored on the SD card which you will keep.
Apps:  You can back them up to the SD card with a 3rd party app or sign up for appbrain which syncs with your phone and keeps a list of all the installed apps.  You can then reinstall them right from Appbrain.
Settings: Theres no way out of the box to back up phone and app settings.
Other:  There are a number of free apps in the market that backup particular data like you SMS messages, your call log, your apps...
Total Solution: There are a couple apps out there that claim to backup and restore the entire phone.  I actaully had the same exact problem you are having back in January with my Droid.  I used a free version of MyBackup Pro back them but I'm sorry to say I can't even remember if it worked.  Its worth a shot but use caution, it seems to have some mixed reviews.

If you're rooted, you can do a nandroid backup of the entire phone (it's like taking a snapshot of the phone's data) and you should be able to push it on the new phone so long as it is the same model.
Additionally, if you're rooted, you can use Titanium backup on the apps on your phone: it'll do both the app and the data associatied with the app.

There seems to be an app for this now called Helium, which does not require root and takes care off of apps and their settings only (you'll have to do contacts and photos and such in other ways, e.g. through Google or your SD card). It does require the Pro version for the full functionality, which is currently $5 USD.

Since it is Android 4.4.2, you can export all contacts in .vcf file directly from Native Contacts or People app of Android. Is this what you implied by mentioning through SD card? Also, all of this can be done through ADB backup command and Helium actually does the similar thing. You don't even need to buy it. But both the devices has to be same otherwise, as obvious, Settings and other important files will crash the apps recursively. I use this command to backup adb backup -all -system -shared -f backup_file.ab and adb restore backup_file.ab to restore.

@Firelord Oh cool I didn't know adb could do that (I don't know much about it). I am going to try that way and save myself $5. "Through SD card" I just meant copying data to SD card, if it wasn't there already, and copying it back to new phone (like your photo or music or video files, I don't know much about contacts though I just use Google contacts and never worry about it).

About the Userdata i.e. the photo,music, etc., I advise using Xender from Playstore because you will notice that Helium and ADB takes a lot of time in backup and restore if UserData is involved. Xender creates hotspot to send data between devices. Since its wifi, so speed should be relatively 2-5MB/s or more. At 'least that's what I get, and its no pain, only gain. :)

@Firelord adb worked perfectly; if you want to post that as an answer I'll give you the bounty (it expires in 24 hours).


text:
How can I change the default currency key on Swype keyboard?
In Swype Settings I have the language set to "UK English" yet for some reason when I'm typing the currency symbol (long-press on s) is a dollar sign ($) not a pound sign (£), if I press SYM the dollar actually has its own button $ on the left-hand side, and I have Euro (€) and Yen on the top row for long presses on # and 3, and the pound is relegated to the right hand side for a long-press on ".
Is there any way that I can set it to replace the $ on the main screen with a £ sign, and replace the dollar on its own button on the symbol screen with a pound sign?
Am using the built-in Swype keyboard (v1.64.40.9754) on a Vodafone UK Samsung Galaxy S (Eclair 2.1 update 1, build JM4).

You may need to file a bug report or feature request on their forums: http://forum.swype.com/

Thanks for the suggestion, have done http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?1343-Default-currency-key-doesn-t-change will keep an eye out there, assuming no one here knows how to change this behaviour?

I use Swype, but I'm from the US.  It sounds like a locale problem that the devs need to look into.

Looks like a problem with the version of Swype pre-installed by Samsung. I have logged a bug on Swype's forums here. Don't think there's anything much any of us can do now except wait for Swype to fix the bug and for Samsung to push out the updated version.
(just adding this as an answer and accepting to get this off the unanswered questions list, if anyone has a better solution please post and I'll transfer the acceptance over)

Try changing the Swype theme after you have selected your default language.

This is suitable as a comment. Consider raising your reputation points to 50+ to comment anywhere.


text:
When will Android 2.2 be ready for HTC Wildfire with Sense (from Germany)

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

I am using an HTC Wildfire on the Rogers Canada network, and I purchased the phone on eBay from Germany. HTC tech support informed me that when Germany releases the 2.2 update it will be available over the air for my phone.
Does anyone have an idea when we can expect this update to be available? Will there be any issues with Sense and my installed applications and data when I apply the update?
Thanks!


text:
How do I sync all mail folders on my HTC Desire?
The mail application only synchronizes the inbox, both for IMAP and Exchange accounts.
I auto-sort my mail into folders at the server and need to see all folders in the phone to not miss any e-mails.
Do I need a different mail-application to poll subfolders or what?

I have the same issue with Desire, but i Also have a X10i, and this is moxier, and this works just fine.... In moxier I can choose witch folder to sync, but on desires solution, I'm not able to do so....... Any suggestions?

I'm afraid this is not possible with HTC Email application. This email app sync the "Inbox" folder automatically, but every other folder you have is not synced, the app gets all mail in the folder when you enter that folder to see what's inside.
You have the option to use K9Mail, a free e-mail client for Android which supposedly has support for push mail and sync of multiple folders.

I'm not familiar with the native mail application (I used it just long enough to know I needed more), but I can confirm that K9 Mail supports syncing of either all your folders or some set of folders that you've designated. Their mail "class" system is spelled out here: https://code.google.com/p/k9mail/wiki/WorkingWithClasses

I actually tried K9Mail, but it wouldn't connect to our exchange server (and/or my account), for some reason.

I use moxier mail, works much better and worth the money, it syncs all the exchange stuff and even provides access to the GAL for contact lookups, plus the widget can display the configured synced folders only. Good stuff. Plus you can continue to use the pattern unlock.

If I open the Mail app, when connected to Exchange, I can then go to Menu > Folders and select a folder to view. It will the grab content from the folder allowing you to view it. If you have your settings configured for all mail then you should see emails in those other folders.
My settings for Mail are as follows under Settings > Send & Receive:

Entire Mail
HTML
As items arrive (I have time set to an hour before and after my work schedule)
All
Smaller than 1 MB

In order for each individual setting, that is what I have.

The thing is that I want to be notified of new mail in a folder without having view it manually with Menu > Folders. It gets boring pretty quick.

How would this be feasible? Your phone is checking the inbox where all email goes unless you have rules setup in Outlook to move emails, which I'm assuming is the case for you otherwise your new emails would only show up in the inbox. You phone doesn't know about these rules so it doesn't know there is a new email in a different folder. I guess it might be possible to write an app or for the Mail app to have extended functionality. But right now this isn't possible without either.

Go to the email app select MENU then select MORE then SEND N RECEIVE select download options under download options SELECT (ALL)
Then go back n check the folders they should sync n you should see your emails.


text:
Is there any way to crop widgets in HTC Sense?
I've seen people crop off part of a widget to make it take up less space.  Is there any readily-available way to do this on an HTC phone with Sense (Droid Incredible, to be specific)?

If you purchase the paid version of launcher pro you can crop widgets. Just long press on a widget with Launcher Pro installed and running, and then let go. It should be highlighted in an off orange/yellow color. In the lower right corner is a little arrow type icon, click this and drag to crop the widget.
Not sure how to do this otherwise.

The downside is you can't do use Sense widgets in Launcher Pro (AFAIK)

True but for most HTC widgets there are alternatives that give almost the same functionality. I just wish HTC would buy out the Launcher Pro team so we had a choice of launcher and both would work with widgets. That would be sweet!

If I decide I don't like Launcher Pro, will I be able to uninstall it and get my Sense UI and widgets back?

Yes, as long as you don't clear defaults or cache for Sense you should lose anything. think of launchers as another desktop that will run on top of Sense. In fact I also recommend downloading Home Switcher as well. That way you can easily go back and forth till you decide which one you like better.

FYI: In the unpaid version of Launcher Pro you can resize widgets when you add them.

I don't get that option. I just added a widget and nothing happened except the widget it's now on my homescreen.

@Webs: Long-click on the widget.  It should turn yellow and show a little drag tab in the bottom right.  (Then, if you have the free version, you get a nice annoying message about how that feature is only available in the paid version)

Yea I know how to resize them, read my answer you were commenting on. But Joe said this could be done with the unpaid version.


text:
Is there a way to easily record a phone conversation in-progress?
I do not own an Android device. I was thinking about getting one, and an important feature for me is the ability to record a phone conversation which is in progress - meaning, while I am in the middle of a conversation, I could touch a button which will save a two-sided audio recording of that conversation from the moment onward.
I am aware that recording a conversation I am participating in without notifying the other members is illegal in some places - I have already checked this and have verified that it is completely legal in my country.
Is there is such a functionality in Android, through core features or available applications?
EDIT:

I prefer a solution which does not notify the other side of the recording, though it's not a must.
I need a solution which works in any country.

FYI, you need to check with states here in the US for legality of recording conversations.

Just to add...Not all recordings of conversations are evil by the way. I use it to conduct telephone interviews with some of my clients, with their permission, and then write up notes from the recording afterwards.

There are a couple of apps to try.  I use Ultimate Voice Recorder which costs $4.99 but works beautifully.  You can start recording in the middle of a call.
A quick search on AppBrain brought up Record My Call which is free.  I haven't used Record My Call so I can't comment on whether or not it can start in the middle of a call.
Update: Ultimate Voice Recorder does record both sides of the conversation.

Lots of the comments say that the Ultimate Voice recorder doesn't work? Quote: "Android system doesnt allow for recording the caller"

Most call-recorders that work on the phone itself - do not work on many devices. This is because of how the hardware is designed.
The only solutions that work across all devices are the ones using an intermediately recording service. There are some such apps on iPhone, and currently only one for Android: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.scoompa.callrecorder.open. Disclosure: I am the developer of this app.

@Guy Is there a solution nowadays (2019) that work on standard Samsung phones (such as A3)? and that can record both sides, even if I'm the caller?

Tasker can do this for you no problems. In fact, it's listed on the home page as a particular use case:

make automatic recordings of what you say during phone calls to SD card

Only your side of the conversation, though, from that sentence.

I agree that sentence isn't clear - but Tasker definitely allows you to record both sides of the conversation. See the following for precise details:
http://tech.shantanugoel.com/2010/09/24/setup-call-recording-android-app-tasker-nexus-one.html

very cool! Though like other solutions here, this does use the speaker phone (it just turns it on automatically).

@Oak is this still true, does it require the speaker phone to be on? Can't we record both sides with Tasker and headphones?

Yes, it is possible to record phone calls using Google Voice (but only calls that you receive).

Note that it does alert the other party that it is recording.

That does sound interesting, though limited; however it seems like an external service only available in the US at the moment, and I'm not in the US.

I don't believe that works when you turn off call announce though.

Ditto Bryan on Google voice.
Another thing to try, download Voice Recorder from market. Turn on speakerphone during call with voice recorder running and recording in the background. That will at least record you, not sure if it will work for the other party, but might while on speakerphone.

This is really an answer to How can I record phone calls on Motorola Atrix 4G? marked as a duplicate even though it's not but it also applies to here.
If you need a call recording feature you better watch out and try before you buy. Some device manufacturers will cripple the base software on their phones most likely due to reasons imposed by the BS hypocritical legislation in countries they operate. You can then install any call recording app you like and it may just not work because of that not because it's buggy (people don't know that and leave bad reviews).
The way they do it varies. Nokia used to inject bleeps in my Symbian phone, it was a pain to find software that would circumvent that. Motorola in their Android Atrix phone went step further and apparently modified the core libraries so that recording is not possible at all.
Sometimes there are ways around it if you are stuck with the current phone. For example, there is Now Blast 2.3.5 ROM available for the aforementioned Motorola Atrix on the XDA developers webisite that originates from China. But still replacing the software is not an easy task if you are new to it. It costed me a night to learn the ropes, the lingo and fix this BS, and only this much long thanks to the support from other people who wrote the tools, guides etc. It also carriers the risk of making the phone unusable.
Here are my results:

UPDATE: Nevermind.  Found it and it has terrible reviews.
Total Recall.  It's pricey ($10) and it doesn't appear to be in the app market but I like how it integrates with Evernote and you can always sideload.

Outdated => "This app is currently not active on Google Play"

I think this app has plenty of configurations to try in case it doesn't work:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.boldbeast.recorder&hl=en
It also has options for rooted devices, in case all failed.


text:
HTC HERO Android 2.2

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

Will my HTC HERO get Android 2.2?
I guess i can upgrade to Anrdoid 2.2 but can i get Sense UI on Android 2.2 for hero?

Who is your carrier?

I live in Norway, the question is just will it ever by supported by my phone?

The answer is no. But if you root your Hero, the answer is definitively yes. Check out XDA Forums and lookup your device. I know for the CDMA hero there are already 2.2 ROMs ripe for the picking.

Since it has been officially discontinued, I doubt it. Although Sprint is rolling out an update in October, it doesn't appear to be Froyo. In fact they've said as much: http://androidspin.com/2010/09/26/sprint-hero-getting-some-love/

If you are using a GSM Hero (Europe) you should look up Villain Rom. It's the most mature rom with auto updating and such. There are both Sense UI ROMs and Stock Android 2.2 ROMs.
http://www.villainrom.co.uk/forum/

My Sprint Hero is running Froyo, a Cyanogen build.  Runs great.


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Using SMB server without root access
I'm looking for a way for my HTC Hero (Android 2.1) so I can share the contents of my SD card and phone memory over the WiFi network like a regular Windows file share. I'd like one that does not require me to root my phone, and am willing to pay for the right app so it doesn't have to be free.
I'm thinking of using SMB server and all I've found so far are:

SambaAndroid which requires root access.
androidsmb which is a "Java implementation of the SMB/CIFS network file and printer share server for Android devices" hosted on Google Code that has no documentation and has not released any files.

Is it even technically possible to develop an SMB Server on Android that can be installed without root access?

I've used Wifi Explorer (http://www.appbrain.com/app/wifi-file-explorer/com.dooblou.WiFiFileExplorer) a few times and it works great, no root required.  It's not SMB, though (and is probably not FTP, either).

As your original question still isn't answered and I wondered the same, here's the answer.
Short answer: No, without root it's not possible to run an SMB server using the default ports so that it's found by Windows PCs.
Long answer: SMB either runs on ports 137-139 (UDP and TCP) using NetBIOS or on newer systems (from Windows Vista onwards) directly on TCP port 445 where in the latter case computer names are resolved by the LLMNR (Link-local Multicast Name Resolution) protocol which runs on UDP port 5355. Why is this important? Apps not running as root can't bind to unprivileged ports (<1024). It's possible to use alternative ports for SMB but Windows is hard-wired to just listen to the default ones. So I guess if you use Linux or a separate SMB client for Windows which allows to connect to a server with a custom port number it's probably possible. But it's not really a straight-forward way.

I wonder if Windows can cope with \\your.ip:port...

While it may not be possible to run an SMB server without root or using port forwarding, it is possible to run a WebDAV server without root for a similar effect.
Setting up an Android WebDAV server
On my stock Nexus 7, I installed WebDAV Server, opened it, clicked on the start button and was immediately able to see my /storage/sdcard folder in my web browser at the URL displayed by the application, i.e. http://192.168.x.y:8080
Note that with WebDAV, you also have the option of selecting Root (/) or DCIM as well as SdCard as the WebDAV root.
Using the WebDAV server through Windows Explorer
I then mapped http://192.168.x.y:8080 as a network drive in Windows Explorer and could the access the contents of my storage drive, just as if I was connected via MTP, but through a drive letter.
Sadly, this solution is incredibly slow.
Every directory change takes between 6 and 20 seconds, as does accessing most files. Once a file is accessed though, it transfers at a reasonable speed (copying a single 42MB file in Windows Explorer took around 60 seconds, so 700KB/s).
Thus WebDAV via Windows Explorer is Ok for downloading a few large files whose location you know, but browsing or syncing a whole device this way isn't quick. I synced 1.75GB of data in around 6000 files and 400 directories and it took 10 hours, i.e. around 50KB/s or 10 files/dirs per minute on average.
Using the WebDAV server through Windows command line
Even from the command line, each directory listing takes 5-6 seconds, as does any file access. Copying the same 42MB file from the command line took around 20 seconds, so around 2.1MB/s.
Using the WebDAV server through a web browser
The fastest option for WebDAV is to use your web browser though, directly through the URL given. Changing directory rarely takes more than a second and downloading the same 42MB file from the web browser took around 12 seconds, so around 3.6MB/s.
The downside of using the web browser is that it only shows the date (no size or type) and makes no distinction between files and directories so if a file doesn't have an extension (or a directory does) then it may not be obvious if clicking on a link will take you to another web page (for a directory) or start a download (for a file).
Caveats

By default, Windows limits the size of WebDAV downloads to 50000000 bytes (47.6MB), though this can be changed through a registry hack (FileSizeLimitInBytes in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters) if you know what you are doing.
WebDAV access is not secure. Even if you set a password on the WebDAV share, the connection is still http not https, so it is not encrypted. Only use WebDAV on a secure wifi network and certainly don't enable the WebDAV server while you are in an internet cafe or other unsecured wifi.

Tested on Samsung S10 + Windows 8.0. Works fine.

The issue is not the samba server, but the fact that Windows can access a samba share only on port 445, and on a non-rooted android a normal App can't listen on port 445.
But you can overcome this with some TCP port-mapping:

Install a samba server on your android, and make it listen on a port like 7777
Install a TCP port-forwarding software somewhere (I installed it on a virtualPC)
Setup the portmapping software to listen for connections on port 445, and forward the connections to your android on port 7777
Now you can access the shared folder on this virtualPC, and you'll get the data from the samba server installed on android (trough the portmapping)

I've described all the steps in detail here on my blog
http://techforpassion.blogspot.it/2013/12/android-how-to-share-folder-over-wifi.html
I've tried different samba server, and the only free app that works in this configuration is called Samba Server

Interesting proposal, but can't you enter something like \\androids.ip:7777 in the explorer address bar?

@tobias kienzler To my knowledge, this won't work

I currently finished an app (for non-rooted devices) for sharing files in local network. My lessons learned:

It is possible to run an SMB Server on Android without root access (on non-privileged port). Mac OS X connects to it without any problems (if you broadcast your ip and port via Bonjour). But Windows dont. As already said by another users, Windows uses "hardcoded" privileged ports for SMB access. The only way I found for connecting with Windows is creating an loopback network adapter as explained here (not the same purpose, but the idea). Finally I think, that the user-friendliest way is using WebDAV on Windows. Even if the Windows do it not user-friendly, because you have to enter your ip by hand and I did not find a way how it could be discovered (please drop me a line, if you know one).
In the Mac OS X world the SMB protocol is a clear winner. Your share will be auto-discovered by Bonjour and magically appears in Finder. It is weird, that  WebDAV and FTP shares are ignored (not auto-mounted by Finder), though they are supported by Bonjour. Third-party clients (e.g. Cyberduck) have no problems with auto-discovery of these shares.

Alternatively, you could run a ftp server on your phone to get access to your SD card's content. Check out SwiFTP.

I second SwiFTP. You won't be able to take any files off the phone using it without being root, but it should work fine for the SD card.

I may be misunderstanding but it sounds like you need an SMB client, not a server.  Also, you do not need root access. To use SMB to tranfer files to you computer you can use ASTRO File Manager with the SMB addon, or there's File Expert which is also free.
You could also use WebDAV instead of SMB with an app like WebSharing.
In the past I used an app that with client software on my computer allowed me to transfer files through the file explorer from anywhere through the web.  It wasn't a full VNC app.  I got a new phone and now for the life of me I can't find the app.


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Facebook calendar not displaying properly
I have a Facebook calendar on my Google Calendar. While my other calendars display by name this one displays by its Calendar ID (a string of numbers and characters). Furthermore, the events do not appear. I know that my phone (HTC Legend) already had a Facebook calendar set up, but this calendar displayed birthdays as well and so I didn't want to use it. I have tried adding and removing the calendar on my phone, but nothing has changed. Does anyone have any suggestions on making the calendar display properly?

I'm not sure about facebook events here because I have very few events ever listed in my facebook calendar. But if you sync your phone with Facebook (Settings > Accounts & sync) and have it sync live feeds, it should display calendar items in your calendar. I know I have birthdays in my calendar that show up and that is how I have facebook sync setup.
If you are setup the same way, try removing facebook sync, clear cache and data from the app (Settings > Applications > Manage application > All, then find facebook and click on it. There should be an option to clear cache and data. Reboot. Then recreate the account and sync.
Not sure if this will help but usually solves most issues...

I am trying to get my phone with a calendar in Google calendar that is already synced with my Facebook, not use the HTC calendar

So I still have no idea what you are trying to do. Are you trying to sync your google calendar your facebook calendar?

My Google Calendar is synced with my Facebook calendar. All my calendars except for my Facebook (on Google Calendar) calendar work. The HTC Facebook calendar works

This worked eventually. I guess I just needed more patience (Google Calendar tends to sync slowly)


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What do the buttons on the Android power control do?
The first two buttons on the Android power control widget are Wifi and Bluetooth. What do the other 3 buttons do?

The last three are GPS Receiver, Data Sync and Screen Brightness. As seen here.
And it looks like the Extended Controls app gives you even more control (android police article) and here it is on appbrain.

What is the point of the brightness toggle? When I turn it off, the screen is barely readable

If it's pretty dark in the room it's plenty bright enough.

I work third shift (I'm working right now) so I always have the brightness all the way down. I use the toggle in the rare instances when I'm out in the sun and bump it up to half brightness.

@casebash depends on your phone's screen type, with the Super AMOLED on my Samsung Galaxy, I've only needed to turn the screen brightness on once in the last month in very bright sunlight, and as we're getting into the gloomy English winter I can't see me needing it again until next year!

@Casebash The phone should auto-adjust the brightness based on ambient light if you allow it via the brightness toggle. It's not always perfect right away, but I find the few times it is too dim and takes a few seconds to correct is worth the extra battery life it gives.


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Playing a music playlist as an alarm?
How to have an alarm that will start playing selections from a playlist at the scheduled time?

Gentle Alarm. Seems a little complex at first with profiles and alarms, but it rocks. The best feature is the one that allows you to skip alarms set to go off without actually turning off a configured alarm. I use that feature all the time. You have to pay for it, but its worth it.
There was a comment about the concern of Gentle Alarm's Internet usage, below is what I found on the dev's forum:

I need internet access to allow users
  to send me information if they choose
  so. Unfortunately, there are no
  conditional permissions. So even if
  you always decide not to send me any
  information when a crash happens, I
  still need the permission.
There are two more reasons for
  Internet permission:

If you paid via Paypal, you have to enter a key to unlock the app. This
  key is checked at some point when you
  are online every 3 months.
And for market users such as system is coming. Google recently added a
  licensing scheme as a minor step
  against piracy and you will start
  seeing this used in more and more
  apps. The app needs to call Google
  servers to check if the license is
  valid. Results are cached so that the
  app also works if online for extended
  periods of time.

The latter two reasons are
  unfortunate. But for every legal copy
  I sell, there are more than 3 illegal
  ones out there. There are even some
  people who bundle apps and sell them
  at a discount. Piracy has gone out of
  hand and if developers don't earn
  money with their apps, there will be
  fewer quality apps in the future.
I will gladly discuss any concerns you
  may have.

Alarm Clock Plus V2. Its free in the app market. Let's you set a song or a playlist, plus it has a ton of other options. Its really a killer app.
Update: I still have the free ad supported version Alarm Clock Plus installed on my phone but it looks like it's gone from the market.  The only one left is the paid, ad-free version.

Any chance you could add a link to the app.  Searching for Alarm Clock Plus V2 didn't return an app with that name.

It looks like the free version is gone from the market.

Good Morning will let you "shuffle from a directory" of your choice. The app is free. It will also announce the day's date and forecast for the day, as well as assign the alarm to specific days of the week.

Tone Picker (AppBrain link) will allow you to use sound files for ringtones, notifications, or alarm sounds.
I use the standard Alarm clock on my HTC Incredible (not sure if it's stock Android, or Sense), but I've got MP3s for some of the alrams. Same too for some of the rings.
UPDATE: re-read the OP. Not from a playlist.

Alarmdroid is also great!
It supports custom playlists and even internet radio.

Android «flip'n'snooze» Alarm Clock Application. Makes you wake up in your way!
AlarmDroid is a feature-rich alarm clock application. It is created to give every Android-User the opportunity to wake up his(her) own way, not caring about whether he(she) is an early bird or a morning grouch.
  AlarmDroid's special feature is the flip'n'snooze feature, which allows the user to turn the alarm clock back into snooze mode by turning over the phone. Further, it provides a speaking clock, which does not only announce the time but even the local weather conditions.
  These and more features are waiting to be discovered by you! Even internet radio stations are supported as alarm tone.

This one still works and is free (+1)


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Sharing Browser Links between PC and Phone
I'm starting a wiki to compile a short list of browsers, apps, extensions, etc. that allow users to easily link or bookmark webpages between their PC and phone. This is ultimately just a "best apps" question, so answers should be made CW. I placed an answer below. Any other suggestions are appreciated!

If you're running Android 4.0+, just use Google Chrome both on PC and Android, and associate it with the same Google account. This allows you to sync your browsers so that you can see open tabs from both locations on all devices. You can even have multiple PCs/OSs synced, just use the same Google account.

"Sign in to Chrome to sync your open tabs, bookmarks, passwords, and omnibox data from your computer to your phone or tablet.  Pick up right where you left off."

I enjoy this feature. If it wasn't limited to Android 4.0+, it would be perfect.

Does this feature still exist? I have Android 7 and use Chrome signed into same account on my phone and my Macbook. I can't find any option to share a link or tab from phone to desktop browser though.

Ah... I can open 'History' in Chrome desktop then go to "Tabs from other devices" and find links from Chrome on the phone there

No-one seems to have said Pushbullet yet; it's trivially easy to share a webpage to Pushbullet from a phone and push it to the Windows/Mac app or Chrome extension, and the Chrome extension only needs 2 clicks to share any link, whether it's the page you're on or a link you can right-click.

AirDroid works more consistently for me. PushBullet (at least with Android) seems to not connect. Also AirDroid does mirroring too, and i think the notification actions are richer.

I was looking for bookmark sync for my Android phone too and initially considered Delicious but for some reason none of two available mobile clients worked properly (2.3.6).
I ended up registering and using service diigo.com

If you have Google Keep, nothing beats it. Pretty instant. The above fly-by-night apps (except for some, like Pocket and browser addons) are un-dependable.

Look like there's 2 Google keep extension: "Google Keep" and "Google Keep Chrome Extension". I guess you choose the one with the latest update.

These are all the ones I've used.
Both ways:

Chrome sync (current open tabs and bookmarks, chrome with chrome for android)
Firefox sync (current open tabs and bookmarks, firefox with firefox beta)
Opera link (bookmarks only, opera with opera mini)
Pocket (bookmarklet/share with)

One way (desktop to phone only):

Chrome to phone
Fox to phone

MAXS (Modular Android XMPP Suite) is able to exchange the contents of the clipboard over XMPP.
Note: According to the FAQ I have to disclose that I am involved into MAXS. MAXS is an open source GPLv3 licensed Android app. Everyone can contribute.

You can always use social bookmarking and sync with your existing bookmarks. Look into Papaly for easy to use user interface. Just as long as you have the internet on your Android devices, you'll be able to look at all your bookmarks anywhere.

I create a QR code from Edge, transport to Android, read it with Lens.


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Any way to listen again to BBC radio?
I would love to listen again to BBC radio in the UK. There was an app called beebplayer for watching BBC TV as catch up, and for live radio, but not for radio listen again, although it has now been withdrawn.
So are there any other apps (that don't require flash)? Are there statements from the BBC about Android support anyone could point me to? Is it flash only for ever?
My phone has Android 1.5, so I cannot use the flash player that comes with Android 2.2
Edit: Just to be clear, the "listen again" service is for catching up with radio programs you've missed, rather than just streaming what is on at the moment. Some are available as podcasts, but not all.

Out of curiosity, is there any thing preventing you from upgrading to 1.6? I thought all carriers were at that point now. Even the first Google phone can be upgraded to 1.6.

I think there is a (not official) 2.1 update, but from what I've read the RAM and flash memory in the phone are a bit marginal. I have a T-Mobile Pulse, aka Huawei U8220

The BBC released statements about their support for Android with iPlayer back in June: BBC iPlayer on mobile: a new version and Adobe Flash 10.1 streaming on all Android 2.2 phones and BBC iPlayer on Android update. This all boils down to saying that their current strategy for mobiles is to offer a mobile optimised version of their Flash site, and not to create individual apps for every smartphone out there.
I'm also a Flash-less fan of BBC Radio and TV (though in a better position than you as my manufacturer and carrier have announced that 2.2 is coming very soon), I had Beebplayer on my previous Android phone and it is sorely missed now.
For the moment I just subscribe to the podcasts of the shows I'm interested in (and luckily most of mine are available as podcasts) using the Google Listen podcast app, this does have the benefit that they work without cutting out while I'm on the tube!
EDIT: Going through the comments on some more recent articles on the BBC Internet blog I've discovered an app called Myplayer it seems to offer access to (as far as I can tell) the full iPlayer TV and radio library with both streaming and downloads for later viewing/listening. Picture quality doesn't seem quite as good as I remember from Beebplayer, so presumably its using a different stream. Anyway it's there and seems to work, grab it before "Aunty" spots it!
Newer EDIT: The BBC have released an official iPlayer app, called BBC iPlayer though this is really just a Flash wrapper around the mobile version of the website and does require a wifi connection before it will play most content.

Note that unfortunately as of V1.100 myPlayer (mid November 2010) has removed all BBC content. See http://www.skynetsoftware.com/myPlayer/historic.aspx and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=700150

I haven't tried it, but perhaps TuneIn Radio will do what you want?  It appears to be internet streams of actual radio stations, I'm sure you can find one that streams BBC.  They have a listing of stations here by location: http://radiotime.com/region/c_0/Browse_Locations.aspx

The station listing for national stations in the UK does not include any BBC channel. Also I am looking for catching up with specific programs rather than just streaming. But thank you anyway.

@Hamish There were some BBC stations in the London region: http://radiotime.com/region/c_100780/London.aspx The only app I could find that does what you want is beeb, and as you know, that was removed

Ah, interesting, the national stations are listed as London stations. So that provides streaming anyway. Thank you.

It sounds like you need a podcatcher. I use BeyondPod which costs $7 but there are many free ones in the market (try searching the market for Podcast or Podcatcher). It will allow you to subscribe to a specific BBC show's podcast feeds then download or stream each episode. This works with audio and video (although I don't think BBC supports video podcasts anymore).
I subscribe to several BBC radio podcasts including "The Interview" and "One Planet" and there's one annoying quirk I've noticed:  Unlike many other podcast providers, the BBC only offers the most recent show for download.  You can't download old shows, but once you get set up you can have you podcatcher automatically download each episode and then you can get several weeks behind but have ll the episodes downloaded to your phone.

I know about the podcasts, and mentioned them in the question. However there are a number of shows I enjoy which aren't available by podcast.

Sorry, didn't see that edit I guess. Beyond that I'm drawing a blank.


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Can I make the browser stop autmatically refreshing pages that haven't been displayed for a while?
If I surf to a page and then leave the browser for a while, when I open up the browser again it still shows the content of the page - but after a second or so it initiates a refresh. Is there a way to stop this behavior?
I have experienced the same behavior in Dolphin Browser, fwiw.

YES, WHY?!?!  PLEASE STOP RELOADING! Thanks for asking this.

Found a solution, see my update in my answer.

I've noticed this with Dolphin as well, but in my findings it is not actually refreshing the page, rather I think it is reloading the cached content of the page. I'm pretty sure this is whats going on because at work we have a guest wireless system that requires authentication. When I connect my phone to it and browse I have to login with credentials at a landing page. This page doesn't come up right away after opening Dolphin browser, even though I sit and wait for Dolphin to load up the page. I have to hit refresh and then I am redirected to the landing page to login.
I hunted for a cache setting that may improve this annoyance, but didn't find one. We might have to wait for an update to the app.
Update:
This should HELP solve the problem for root users, I say help because there still may be some refreshing that occurs.
The problem:
Android is set to offload the browser cache from memory to the local partition (where apps are stored) when you leave the browser. This is because most android phones still don't have much space in the partition where apps and such are installed. My Evo only has 400mb of space.
My best guess is that Android was set to work this way because originally phones didn't have much space to work with. No that is becoming less of an issue.
Possible Solutions:

For rooted users only: Download Swapper2. From what I have read in other forums, this makes a huge difference in how often the browser offloads cache to the local partition. And users have reported it makes a big difference.
Set Dolphin browser to store cache on the SD card. Maybe if the browser doesn't have to wait for cache to be shuffled around it wont refresh as much, or if it does still refresh, maybe it will take less time.

What did I do? I installed Swapper2 and wow. It really works. Now I can open Dolphin and not have to wait for refresh. Finally!!

Quite possibly Android unloaded the browser app, but saved a screenshot of the last view, then when it reloads the app back to its full in-memory state, it re-renders from the cache? That's just a guess, but it would fit with the developer guidelines on how to handle the application lifecycle.

I just tried to replicate the behavior while in airplane mode and it didn't refresh. That doesn't really mean anything, though - it could just have been that the browser hadn't unloaded.

Airplane mode kills any network connection the phone has. Why test with that? Just try browsing as normal the issue isn't hard to replicate at all as it is basic functionality of the Dolphin browser.

@webs: Because while in airplane mode if the page is actually reloading it will fail but if its just reloading the cached page as u suspect then the page should load fine.

Duh! I can't believe I missed the obvious there. Still not a definitive test for sure though. Also I think I found a solution and I will update my answer with new info...

@Webs I'll check out swapper2, thanks for suggesting it.

Yea, you have to play around with the settings. I went into advanced and created a local partition, that way the sd card wouldn't have a bunch of read writes.


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What are some use-cases for FireFox|Chrome-to-Phone?
According to FoxToPhone (presumable, ChrometoPhone is similar)
you can

Send current page with address bar button
Right click on any link/image to send to your Android phone
Highlight any text and right click to send to the clipboard in your phone (Max. 1024 chars)
Click on market:, smsto: and tel: links to open them in your phone
Best of all it’s free and open source

mmmmm. nice. Okay. It's installed in FireFox and on my phone. I highlight text, right-click, send to phone. Blammo! It's on my phone's clipboard!
But..... what are the uses for this? WHEN does anybody need to send a block of text TO THE PHONE'S CLIPBOARD?
If anything, I'd want this the other way around -- when browsing a page in Dolphin, I'd rather read in on my desktop later, or something.
What do y'all use this for?

See also: Sharing Browser Links between PC and Phone

This is subjective/asking for a list of things.  Can you make this a CW?

I can think of one nasty block of text off the top of my head: your bit.ly key that you have to provide to 3rd party applications (i.e. Twitter clients).  It's like a 20+ random character string.  So any other long "key" like string would be a good reason to blast it from your desktop.
Images: maybe you found a cool image for a desktop background?

Maps. Setting up directions and alternate routes in Google Maps is much easier with a full-fledged web client. Then, when I have what I need, I can send it to my phone.

Yep. It's a lot easier (and faster) to search and set up waypoints for directions on Google Maps when you have a keyboard and mouse.

Installing new apps. I have a Firefox keyword bookmark to androlib.com, so if I want to install an app, I just type e.g. "al newsrob", which starts a search query on AndroLib, then select one of the hits, and click on the market:// link there. Chrome2Phone on the device then launches this URL in the browser, which immediately causes the market installer for that app to appear.

You can also type "tel:12345" into your browser's address bar (FoxToPhone, not sure about Chrome2Phone) to make the device present the dial screen with that number already entered, so you just have to pick it up.
(No, I don't actually use that, but it's a nice demonstration. ;) )

Interesting trick... doesn't work with Chrome, unless there's a hack for it.

Chrome to Phone also allows you to send phone numbers to your device.  Highlight the phone number, click the Chrome to Phone extension button, and wham, it's open in the dialer on your device.  Really handy when you've been researching businesses online and now want to call one of them.
I'm not sure if FoxToPhone supports this too.

In my case gmail is filtered at work.
So to send an email I only have my mobile as an option. I type up the email on the desktop and use foxtophone to put it on the clipboard. Beats scraping it out on the touchscreen!


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How can I share directions/route from Google Maps App?
In the web based version of Google Maps it is possible to create a link to a set of directions between two places and send it to a friend in an email or instant message. For example I can send someone a link to show them some walking directions.
Is it possible to create a link similar to this in the Google Maps App for Android?
I know how to create the route with the directions in the Maps app. I just don't see any way to share it - for example by E-Mail or SMS. I'd also like that the resulting link will work on a non-Android phone, if possible.

I have not been able to find out how to do that either. However, I have found you can share places by clicking on them and then selecting "Share this place."

Thanks. Shame it can't be done. Your suggestion of "Share this place" will have to do.

It is basically all you need. The user that receives the shared place can then compute his own directions (e.g. based on his current location). IMHO adding a feature that shares directions would be feature creep.

Google Maps App version 9.4.0 already allows sharing of directions. Select the "..." icon on top right while in directions window, and choose "Share directions". It will share the full directions information to your selected apps (email, hangout, etc). You may have problem doing that with twitter (due to the 140 chars limitation). You might want to add this to your answer.

Unfortunately, there is no way to create these links in the Google Maps app.

As of the date of this posting you can not do this in the android app.  HOWEVER you can access it through Google maps website.  So instead of using your app navigate to Google maps through your browser.  It will take a bit longer to load so only do this if you have to share the map or directions.  Seems like a natural to be able to share this function via sms to non smart phones.  It equals free advertising for Google.  I hope they add this soon to the mobile app!

It doesn't seem to be possible to do it via a browser either: what is shared is not the chosen route, but just starting and end points of the journey, but the particular chosen route is not, so the recipient then has to choose a route themselves, which totally defeats the point.


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Is there an Android open source alarm clock? I want to log whether or not I press snooze
I want to add custom features to an alarm clock in a way that it logs whether or not I press snooze every day.
Is there a good open source alarm clock that I could use as a basis?

I am interested, where is the modified code? Have you released the modified app on the Android Market? Thanks!

I highly recommend the standard android clock as a basis for this: http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/packages/apps/DeskClock.git;a=summary

I know this is old, but there's another called Alarm Klock that is open source as well.. Apache2 license.
https://code.google.com/p/kraigsandroid/