text:
Can I use a modern Android phone with no phone plan?
I'm new to the Android platform, but am looking into doing some development for Android 2.x, with the hope of publishing an app to the Android App Market eventually.  I'd like to be able to test my app on "real" hardware, but I already have an iPhone, which is plenty expensive itself, and I don't want to pay for an entire second cell phone plan just to test my code.  So my question is, is it possible to buy an unlocked Android phone and operate it entirely over wi-fi?  If so, what features (besides the obvious, like making calls), will I be missing out on?

Yes, it is possible, but it might be tricky depending on the phone.
For instance, I bought a T-Mobile G1 (not the Android Dev Phone version) and had to have a SIM card in it.  You can either borrow a friend's or you can do what I did, which was buy a prepaid-SIM card.  It cost less than $40.  If you have a friend's SIM card that has a data plan, then you can activate the phone.  But if you don't want to have to have a SIM card in the phone anymore, you'll have to root the phone and install CyanogenMod on it.
Now if you bought a pre-paid SIM card, then you can activate the phone over wifi by following these steps (this is specific to the G1).
A G1 is probably the cheapest phone you can get if you're only wanting to use it as a hardware testing device. On ebay it is around the $100-150 range.

Great idea about the prepaid SIM card. I never thought of that. Thanks!

Actually as far as I know, you don't need a SIM at all. I mean I activated my Nexus One via wifi, and just booted it without a SIM as a test, and everything (except calling, obviously) works fine!

@kkaploon I had a T-Mobile branded G1.  It had to have a SIM card to get beyond the "SIM card required" screen.  If it was the ADP version of the G1, then this wouldn't have been a problem.

I would -1 the idea of getting a G1 itself. That device is ancient now and doesn't run the latest versions of Android due to lack of hardware capability. You can shoehorn some later versions on it, but it's slow. I would suggest if you still want to try and save money, go for a Samsung Galaxy S phone. They are easily rooted and make great wifi "iPod Touch with Android" type of device. Less than $200 on Ebay as of December 2011.

Why don't you download and install the Android SDK?
The SDK contains an emulator that can simulate pretty much every aspect of the device.

Thanks for the link.  That's how I plan to do most of my development--I just want to test my app on real hardware before releasing it.

My Android Hero needed a SIM card to start up.
However a 10$ prepaid SIM card will do.

As others have said, a pay-as-you-go SIM is a good solution for any phone. In the UK at least, you can pick up a free SIM card easily.  Vodafone or O2 will send you one if you ask them or you can probably get one at any number of local shops.  Just be aware that some handsets are locked to particular networks, so you will either need to get a SIM from that network or pay to have your phone unlocked.
However, some phones will work fine without a SIM.  I use an HTC Legend for development without a SIM and there is no problem.  I just use Wi-Fi and, since it can't make calls, it is effectively just a pocket computer.

I bought a new unlocked Nexus One when they were available to the general public and it was perfectly willing to start up and use wifi without having a SIM. That's probably an expensive option, though.

Prepaid is the way to go. You can purchase a T-Mobile prepaid phone for $20-$30, sometimes they even throw in a free $25 refill card. The phone comes with a free SIM card with $3 worth of air time (10 minutes). You need to refill your prepaid phone every 90 days for at least $10 each time, or if you want to avoid the hassle, you can refill $100 which is good for a year and achieve the gold status, thereafter any amount you refill will be good for up to a year. If you already own a T-Mobile phone, you might be able to just spend $7 on the prepaid site to purchase a T-Mobile Prepaid SIM Card Activation Kit.
The CallingMart thread and ePhoneCard thread on Fatwallet tells you how to buy cheap refill cards with coupon codes.
Good luck!

There do exist phones that aren't even capable of accepting a SIM card.  Phones meant to be used on Sprint and Verizon networks typically don't even have GSM capabilities.  They'll start up just fine without one (obviously).  For example, my HTC Evo doesn't have a SIM card slot -- this would be an expensive option though, I'm sure you could find cheaper phones.

The HTC Magic "Vodafone edition" at least requires a SIM card, even if it has been unlocked to use any operator. If there is no SIM present then a modal dialog (that cannot be closed) is shown that requests you to insert a SIM card.
Update: The SIM is only required to fill in the Google Account details (even if you do this over Wifi, as I did). Once the phone is "activated" in this way, you can run it SIM-free.

I was able to do quite a bit on my phone before the activation was completed using wifi. There are some things you might not be able to test, such as app behavior after/during a call interruption, however, for the most part, the functionality available using wifi mode is sufficient. You can test call interruption type of behaviors using the android emulator.
You may also want to note that many cell phone companies, including but not limited to att, have significantly cheaper rarely-advertised "data only" plans, should you discover you really do need to do testing using a real cell-phone network (eg: if you made a multi-media app, testing over wifi might perform differently than over the air). Pre-paid plans sometimes also include data-plan airtime as another option to consider, if needed.

Jessica Brown - Any advice on how one would find info/carriers that offer these "data only" plans?

Call the carriers customer service numbers and ask whether they have such a plan. Or search google for related terms. Here's one I found for T-mobile: http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/cell-phone-plans.aspx?catgroup=mobilebroadband it appears verizon has something similar aimed as a plan for tablet users: http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/consumer/shop/prepaid.html


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How do I turn off the shutter sound for the Android camera?

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

If the phone isn't in silent mode, taking a picture using the stock camera application always plays a "shutter" sound. Is there a way to turn the sound off?
I'm using stock Android 2.2 on a Nexus One.

Surreptitious photography? Nothing bad could ever come of that...

I remember reading at one point how some places have laws (or proposed laws) that are designed to ensure that all personal devices that can capture imagery (still or audio) have to be apparent when they are capturing...

I remember reading about that, too, but putting the phone into silent mode also silences the camera shutter noise, so I don't think such a law is the issue.

The ultimate responsibility to ensure that the device you're using (and the manner in which you're using it) compiles with the law is yours, not the OS developer's.

I'm on android 2.1 and am on a Samsung so this may not be exactly the same for you. To disable the shutter sound I launch the camera then (with the camera in landscape mode):

Tap the triangle on the left of the camera frame to show the options round the camera.
Tap the Settings icon (cog) on the bottom right.
Tap the spanner tab on the top.
Tap the down arrow on the right to page down.
Tap the button next to Shutter Sound.
Select Off.

This option does not appear to be available using stock android 2.1 or 2.2.

Shame, I'll leave this answer up though as it works on some phones

I located the audio file for the camera shutter: /system/media/audio/ui/camera_click.ogg. Removing or renaming the file (requires root access?) should stop the sound from being played.

If the stock camera doesn't provide you the option how about simply downloading another camera software that allows you to remove the shutter sound.
(I'm on HTC Hero with sense and it has the option)

The camera preference or system preference should have this setting, may be you can try to find?

Download the Ring Toggle App. This is a useful app to have anyway. It lets you switch between these modes: "Ring & Vibrate", "Ring Only", "Vibrate Only", "Silent"
Set up the "Ring Toggle" Widget on your home screen
Click on the "Ring Toggle" Widget and set it to either "Vibrate Only" or "Silent"

Now when you use the Camera app, the shutter will be silent.
Note that Ring Toggle affects everything else as well (i.e. incoming call, email, SMS, etc)

Thanks for the response, but this question is about how to silence just the camera shutter noise, not the entire phone.

@CodeSavvyGeek: If the UI doesn't present this option, this may be your only choice.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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How can I transfer SMS messages from my old iPhone to my new Android phone?
I think my previous SMS are stored somewhere in iTunes, can I get them back and store them in my new Android?

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


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Is there a soft keyboard for the HTC Droid Incredible that learns word combinations?
A friend of mine was talking about a soft keyboard replacement for the HTC Droid Incredible and I believe that he mentioned one of the features was that it not only suggested words, but it would "learn" word combinations and suggest not only the current word, but the next word in the sentence. However, I've forgotten the name of the keyboard. Does anyone know of such a thing?

Is it Swiftkey?

SwiftKey brings the future of text entry to smartphones. It uses TouchType’s breakthrough Fluency™ technology to predict the next word you want to type, before you even press a key.
  [...]
  SwiftKey doesn’t just predict regular words – it learns as you type and remembers how you write. As words and sentences are chosen over time, its Fluency™ engine creates a dynamic understanding of your writing style to boost the accuracy, fluency and speed of prediction.

Checking out the site now...at first glance, that might be it.

Yep. That's it. And it appears it's available, too. When I was first told about it, it was in a private beta.

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


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Nexus One: 3G/WIFI Not Switching
As of last couple of weeks, my phone has been having problems automatically switching between wifi and 3G. When i leave home, I have to completely turn off the radio and turn it back on for it to pick up the 3G connection. When i come home in the evening, I have to turn off the wifi, and then turn it back on in order for it to kick in.
Has anyone else experienced this problem or know how to fix it?
EDIT:
The problem is that the phone doesnt automatically switch from WIFI to 3G and vice versa. If I go out of range of a known wifi hotspot, my 3G data connection should be established (indicated by the 3G icon in the top row), but it never shows up. If i work-around this by going in and out of airplane mode, the 3G connection is re-established.
My carrier is Optus in Australia, but i dont think that matters, given that it USED to work and only in the last couple of week has this problem occured.

I have a Nexus One myself (on Tmobile USA) have never seen anything like what you are describing. Could you please explain your problem a bit more clearly? Perhaps you can list step-by-step EXACTLY what you are doing? Also, who is your carrier

after going through (some) of the link from RevBingo, I suspect my problem is to do with a  having installed (and subsequently removed) Advanced Task Killer.

Did you end up solving this issue? I am experiencing similar issues on my S4.

This bug report seems to describe a similar issue.  The thread is a mixed bag of reports of various versions/apps/phones/networks either fixing or causing the issue, so you may need to dig through it and try some things to diagnose.
FYI, I don't have the problem on my Nexus One (O2 UK).

I too have the problem with wifi sometimes. wifi fixer seems to do the job of fixing it in most cases.
Except from that, as said before, this is a bug, so you may use that temporary fix until they hopefully fix that bug.


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How do I set up my wifi router for my Android device?
I have a wireless network set up with a Sweex LC000070 router, WEP encryption and while my HTC Hero can connect to the network, internet doesn't seem to work.
Is there any setting on the router I have to change in order for Android devices to connect?

OK that's strange I updated the firmware of my router and changed from WEP to WPA and now it works...

Apparently WEP support is thoroughly broked in Android 2.0.1 and above.
http://answerguy.com/2009/12/11/android-2-0-1-update-breaks-droid-wi-fi-wep-encryption/
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/1253-wifi-problem.html (also includes a possible fix for WEP by disabling/enabling the router firewall, though I haven't tried it and ain't gonna...)
http://www.draconos.com/blog/2009/11/19/wifi-on-the-droid
http://www.611connect.com/howto/merben_how-to-enable-wi-fi-on-the-motorola-droid (comments) (also suggests that, if you initially upgrade to WPA to get it working, you can later drop back to WEP and it will continue to work...)
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=130d8d289ec5c8f2&hl=en
That said, WPA is a better choice all around anyway.

Well it's good to know it's due to WEP being crap

This kind of thing is real problem with non-computer devices. Upgrading to WPA (especially WPA2) will fix the phone but could break other devices (old laptops, TiVo's etc). Another solution is to give up on encryption, especially since WEP isn't really encryption. Almost all routers support MAC filtering, and most support "internet-only" connections, This way you can let any device on your wireless that you know about, and let polite people know they shouldn't connect. Hackers and jerks (not always the same people) can still spoof MAC addresses but that is what "internet-only" is for: you are not exposing your local network over wireless.
Obviously this setup won't work for everyone but it has worked for me in the past, and I might do it again if I get even one more device that can't talk WPA2

Have had the same issue on my droid 2.3.6. It used to connect to wifi but could not browse the internet until I disabled:
Parental Control
from my wifi router.
Hope this will help someone.

When I first bought my tablet, I, too, faced the same issue. I tweaked the wifi settings a lit bit and it worked. Here is what I did:
Click on advanced checkbox under your wifi network name and click "static ip". Your problem will be solved.
Alternatively, you can try either WPA2-personal encryption or no encryption at all.


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Choose contact name manually?
In my contact list, I entered a number of "household" contacts combined together.  For example, "Bob & Sally Smith", with the corresponding e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc.  The problem is that, if the e-mail address is also associated with a Facebook contact, it overrides my preferred naming system and shows the name of the Facebook contact.  For example, if the e-mail address were Bob's in my example, it would show "Bob Smith" instead of the combined name.
Is there a way to force it to use the name I prefer it to use?
Note that this may be specific to my phone - Motorola Droid.  A friend of mine has the Droid X and I might see if his does the same thing...

Were you ever able to resolve this issue? Just recently purchased a Droid 2 Global from Verizon and would love to find a solution to this as well.

As always, it's a different Android device (but same Android version, however) so YMMV...
The Samsung Vibrant (aka Galaxy S) has a Mark as default menu option when you open a contact.  If you have more than one linked contact (with different names), it allows you to select which name appears in the contact list.

Yeah, mine doesn't have this...  :(  Oh, well.  That would definitely be my preferred way to do it, so I'll accept your answer.  Google contacts vs. phone contacts are really a mess...

@Galactic: Something else that I've noticed is that my phone's Contacts application will display the most recently added of any linked contacts by default.  Might be worth checking if your phone behaves the same.

Yeah, that's what it appears to do but it links the Facebook contact automatically based on the e-mail address so I can't control it very easily...

Sorry, didn't explain myself well... I meant to backup the "Bob & Sally" contact to a .vcf, delete "Bob & Sally" and "Facebook Bob", then re-import "Facebook Bob" and "Bob & Sally" in that order.  Assuming the contact-linking is symmetric, you should see "Bob & Sally" in the Contact list.

As someone replied here, if you edit the account info (in this case the name) you want to be displayed on the actual phone and save it, it will change the displayed name to the updated one. It worked on my xperia x10 mini.

i use galaxy 5, my phone can choose which contact to appear, i just switch off other contact other than the phone number...problem solved. I used swype before to key in words but it will affect the contact in the messaging, if you encounter this problem, just choose standard qwerty keyboard or number pad.

On HTC Desire (Android 2.2) you can just click on the Link/contact source icon in the top right when you are viewing a contact and in appeared screen there will be a name drop-down where you can choose the display name from all linked contacts (like phone and Facebook contacts in your situation).


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Is there a way to download applications from the Android market for offline installation?

Possible Duplicate:
How to download apk file on PC from market?

Is there a way to download an Android installation package from the market so that it can be installed offline at a later time (e.g. from an SD card)? This might be useful for backing up applications so you don't have to search for and download them all again. It could also be useful setting up multiple devices or just sharing an application with a friend in an area without network access.

Using backup applications such as Titanium Backup do this exactly. They basically extract the .apk (installer) and back it up to the SD card. Then, when you 'restore' using Titanium Backup, you can select which apps you want to restore and it will reinstall them using the backed up .apk.


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Is there a way to make my HTC-Incredible phone use the optical joystick button to wake up?
I'm still adjusting from going from my iPod to an HTC Incredible phone.
One thing that is very non-intuitive for me is to press the power button when I want to "wake up the phone" after it has dimmed out. I'm just so used to using the big button on the bottom of my iPhone for this that I instinctively hit the "optical joystick" button all the time by accident.
Is there any way to configure the button so the optical joystick button can pull the phone out of sleep mode?

This should actually be pretty easy and does not require rooting or custom ROMs, but you'll need a 'lockscreen replacement' app to do it.
The app 'WidgetLocker Lockscreen' allows 'Easy Wake' that allows you to customize which button (Home, menu, trackball, volume, etc) wakes the phone. Check it out on the market, it's $1.99.
There may also be other lockscreen replacement apps out there, but that is exactly what you need: a customizable lockscreen replacement app that supports the feature you requested. WidgetLocker is an example of this.

CyanogenMod supports this on your phone, though you'll have to root and install it.
One thing I've noticed (and have seen others mention): It's not very reliable on the Droid Incredible.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes you have to press the button multiple times to wake the phone, other times holding the button works, other times I've just have to give up and use the power button to wake the phone.  Other phones may be more or less reliable.
What does work well with CyanogenMod (and maybe other "lockscreen replacements") is using the button to unlock the phone.  Of course, if you're using a pin code, swipe pattern, or some other security measure to unlock, then that won't work so well.

Your reported unreliability may be phone-specific. My wife has had no issues using the "Menu" button on her Dream to wake the phone. (CM6)

@Broam: No doubt that different phones will have different behavior.  This question is specific to the HTC Incredible, but I'll update my answer to make that part clear.

Not come across any app that lets you reassign the functions of the keys, it may be possible with a custom ROM image but I've not seen it mentioned.

CM supports this, see afraizer's answer.


text:
What are good Android headphones with Play/Pause and volume controls?
I've had an iPod Touch for a while and am used  to controlling the music player without having to take the device from my pocket. I've had a look around for headphones that will work with the Samsung Galaxy S's TRRS connector and for players that would work with those headphones but haven't seen any combination that looks like it would work. Is this achievable? I'm also happy to consider alternatives like Bluetooth if that would work.

Also looking for similar answer for Google Nexus One. The stock headphone does not have volume controls. Only has play/pause/FF/REW.

I've found a few Bluetooth headsets that would do this. for example the MOTOROKR S9:

Works with any brand of Bluetooth®-enabled compatible phone or music device that supports Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP).

However this is a bit offputting:

For optimal outdoor performance, position music device in close proximity to and in line of sight with the S9's internal antenna, which is located in the base behind the user's head. Placement of the music device in a front pocket is not recommended.

So they'd be fine as long as I strap my phone to my back or hold the phone like the model in the photo on the linked page is. Hmm.
A few other Bluetooth headsets I've looked at include:

Motorola HT820 (a bit bulky, but does have a wired option)
Nokia BH-503 (my current favourite).

I would still prefer a wired solution if possible so will keep looking. I have found that the Samsung Galaxy's TRRS connector is Left-Right-Mic-Ground, so it definitely won't work with iPhone headphones (which are Left-Right-Ground-Mic). However this does mean it may work with headphones from other vendors that have the same connection order, like Nokia, perhaps.

I think Bluetooth is going to be your most flexible option.  I have a pair of Rocketfish Bluetooth headphones. They are fairly low cost, sound great, and include player controls on the left ear unit.  They support both the A2DP profile (for stereo playback) as well as the hands-free headset profile for voice calls.  The mic is acceptable, but not great.

Hmm. The link you provided makes no mention of hands-free, nor do I see a microphone?

I'm wearing them now, and use them for phone calls quite often :-)  If you don't take my word for it, at the bottom of that page there are links to the Manuals & Support.  Open the link for the user manual and you will find a diagram of the headphones on page 4 which points out the microphone.

I not only took your word, I ended up buying a pair.  I just thought it must have been a link to the wrong product, since surely they wouldn't keep features to their own product secret!  Anyway, great pair of headphones.  +1

I prefer to stick with wired headset, since they are betetr supported by the software. I just bought the Motorola EH25. It has a mic and button, kind of like the iPod Touch. Generally they are around $20-$30, but I found them here for $7.

I have a  Moto Droid and these two Audio enabled headsets:
Sony DRBT50 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Good audio quality, especially bluetooth. Use with Pandora. Comfortable for serious listening. Works as both a Phone headset (Meh) and Stereo Audio (Yay!)
Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset (Black) Good Conversation quality and microphone. Use this for Phone conversations and "talkie" podcasts. Supports both Phone (Yay!) and Stereo Audio (Meh)
Both of these headsets support audio controls in DoggCatcher and Music. Not sure about Pandora since I rarely use media controls now that my preferences are tuned.
Bluetooth is way more fragile than wired. You have pairing issues and interference issues, and battery draining/charging issues. Oh and it is way more expensive. Might be worth it, but don't start unless you think farting around with gadgets is a fun way to blow a weekend (and a couple hundred dollars).


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Is there an Android app that can use the GPS to track my location, distance, and time traveled on a map?
I have a few use cases for this - running or walking to track distance and time, hiking to know if I'm backtracking on myself, and driving aimlessly (well, when gas prices are cheaper than they are now) around an area to explore it so I know places that I've already been.
I did a quick look around the market and nothing stood out. Does something like this exist?

I've used My Tracks while walking, and a cyclist friend of mine is fond of Sports Track Live

Looks pretty much like what I'm looking for.

I've been using it for about 2 weeks now and haven't looked back. Thanks Brett.

My Tracks is ok, but not great.  It doesn't have offline maps and often doesn't record when you tell it to record, or records when you didn't want it to, and loses the track. :(

I am using Runkeeper for recording my sport activities.

It looks like a solid application, but I think MyTracks might be closer to what I'm looking for, so I'm checking that out first.

I am using free version of Endomondo

Try GPS Logger for this purpose.
EDIT: GPS Logger is a free app for recording GPS Data. You can log in KML/GPX, upload directly to Dropbox or Google Drive.

A summary would be nice including the price (if any), just a linky on its own is not sufficient enough to warrant an answer or this could rather be a comment?

Summary added, but i think everything can be red under the link.

@Kevin: Answer should be self-contained. Answers that require the reader to go elsewhere in order to glean any useful information are incomplete.


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Is there a way to have Adobe Flash displayed in Android 2.0?
Are there any custom players or plug-ins or something like that?

Might be possible using Javascript as well with Smokescreen but I have no idea if that has been realised in an app for Android.

I have seen a few "Flash Lite" binaries floating around the net for Android 2.0.
It's not Flash, it's only a partial version with fewer features.
Unfortunately the only binary link I have is an update for the Pandigital Novel; the update is probably specifically for that model, but the binary inside may work on other devices. (If you want it, comment & I'll update my answer. It's hosted on mediafire, not adobe's website which means I'm not sure how much I trust it.)


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Can a Motorola Droid be in Landscape mode on the Home Screen w/out sliding out the keyboard?
It's all in the title, but again for clarity: Is there any way to make my Motorola Droid  use Landscape mode on the Home Screen without sliding out the keyboard?

Yes, this is accomplished through the use of 'Home Replacement' or 'Launcher Replacement' apps.
Check out either 'ADW.Launcher' or 'LauncherPro'. Both are fantastic (and free) launcher apps that will not only make your launcher/home screens smoother, but also allow full customization, such as enabling screen rotation without sliding open the keyboard.

So its not possible with the stock launcher?

No, it isn't possible with the stock launcher.


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Turn off cellphone (SIM) radio
How do I turn the cellphone (SIM) radio on an Android phone?
The radio consumes a lot of power (30-70%), especially when the phone is idle. Sometimes I only need to use other functions (e.g., clock, web browser), and make the battery last as long as possible.
"Airplane mode" does this but also turns off the WiFi (close to, but not exactly what I need).

On many recent Androids Airplane Mode also allow you to use WIFI.

Once you've put the phone in Airplane/Flight mode, you can manually re-enable WiFi. (On my phone at least) this leaves WiFi on and the phone radio disabled. It does involve a couple more clicks but I think it achieves what you're after.
A quick look round the market showed a few apps that manage this setting for you, for example the "Airplane Mode Wi-Fi Tool" and "Airplane Autoswitch". Either of these may streamline the process slightly.
Airplane Mode Wi-Fi Tool QRCode:

Airplane Autoswitch QRCode:

Thank you. Just turning on WiFi does not work on HTC Tattoo (Android 1.6). Will try looking for an app.

@dbkk added some links to those apps.

I have been using Juice Defender to good effect for a while. It turns off battery-sucking functions and turns them on occasionally to allow for syncing and is highly customizable.


text:
Can you connect USB devices to an Android phone?
I have an HTC Desire and would like to connect USB devices to it, for example an external USB thumb drive to transfer files or a USB keyboard.
Is this at all possible?

You want USB host mode, which requires Android 3.1 (and up) and hardware support.
Android before 3.1 does not support USB host mode. i.e. you can't connect things like USB Thumb drives, keyboards etc.
However, for the Nexus One, someone has managed to modify the Android kernel to hack USB host support to the Nexus One running Android 2.2 (although apparently this hack will also work on 2.1):

Nexus One USB Host driver

And similar instructions for the HTC Desire:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=702742

The Samsung Galaxy S2 officially supports USB On the Go (OTG). The official adaptor for the Samsung Galaxy S2 converts your handset's microUSB connection to a standard USB connection so you can connect a USB flash drive. Look for part number ET-R205UBEGSTD.


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How to upgrade an HTC Magic (32B DEV) from Android 1.5 to latest Android?
Last year I got a free Android phone at a Google event, and I would like to upgrade it to the latest Android version (probably with Cyanogen).
What is the quickest/safest way to do the upgrade?
It is a developer phone, so:

The Cyanogen instructions do not mention my phone.
I have no data plan, but the above instructions say "data plan required" (workaround)

HTC Magic, Model Number GDDJ-09, Build CDB56, Android 1.5, details:
SAPPHIRE EVT1 32B DEV S-ON G
HBOOT-1.33.3005 (SAPP20000)
CPLD-10
RADIO-2.22.19.26I
May 29 2009,14:38:09

I believe this isn't possible because that phone doesn't have enough memory or something like that.  Android has gotten a lot bigger since 1.5 . I'm not putting this as an answer because I'm not 100% sure

@Walter Cyanogen managed it, he's basically magic ;)

The workaround for "data plan required" is only for the G1 - you can't enable USB Debugging on the Magic without activating the handset.

This section of the Cyanogen instructions seems to cover the developer Sapphire handsets

Unfortunately Cyanogen have not build 2.3-Gingerbread yet but you can get Gingerbread on the MAGIC through Ginger Yoshi. Details on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932118

Nice. I will try it on my veteran Google Ion, currently stuck on Android 1.6, and recently banned from the Android market / Google play store.


text:
How to get contacts from an Android phone to an iPhone?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I transfer my contacts from an iPhone to an HTC Inspire?

I use Google to maintain my contacts, which syncs to my Android device. However, I'm switching to an iPhone 4. Will it be easy to transfer contact information?

The Mail, Contacts, and Calendars settings allow you to sync all 3 from multiple different web services to the built in Mail, Contacts, and Calendars apps. These should automatically sync when you open the different apps.
The contacts will be merged by default, but you can filter based on source i.e. Gmail, My PC, etc.

Perfect. This is exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you.

It is very easy if you set up Google Sync on the iPhone.  Sync can also work with multiple devices with the same account at the same time - I have an iPhone and an iPad set up this way.  If I add a contact or appointment to one of them, it shows up on the other as well as in GMail.  I'm fairly you could actually keep an Android phone and an iPhone synchronized this way.

I don't think the iPhone automatically syncs, but you can download an app that will sync your Google contacts with your iPhone from the app store.

Happen to know which apps?


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How can I prevent unwanted pre-installed apps from automatically running on Android?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I stop applications and services from running?

As I can't uninstall certain programs that come with a phone (My case HTC Desire (not rooted)) how can I prevent certain apps from launching or trying to sync? And hide them? Or "Auto-Kill" kill them
For example

youtube app
faceboook app
stocks (including the sync feature)
twitter (including the sync feature)

For apps that sync, any app with an ounce of politeness will have any entry on the Accounts & Sync page in Settings where you can disable syncing. This is certainly true of the official Facebook and Twitter apps.

Cool, however "stocks" seems to be a rude app ;)

I was able to deactvate the syncing on the Stocks app through Accounts & Sync, but notice that it still 'magically' appears every now and then, but definitely not as often as it used to. (HTC Desire running v2.1)

1) Consider rooting your device, it's really easy now with the Unrevoked package
2) Settings -> accounts & sync. Here you can set options around what does it doesn't auto sync

Autostarts allows you to view which apps receive which events and edit them so that you can prevent certain apps from receiving problematic events (the ones that keep restarting the app).  As far as I know it won't help with some low-level apps that run all the time and restart themselves with no events occurring at all, but it should help with others.

Wow, that's interesting! Thanks for that. I'll take a look at it.

Aha.. I see it is for rooted phones. In that case, I might as well just uninstall the apps I don't want. Some apps that I don't use AT ALL, like Qik, MediaHub, and ATT Navigator, are pointlessly wasting resources and there's no way to uninstall them without rooting. :(

There is also an app called startup cleaner. I found it useful in preventing some apps from starting.

With no link and no package name it's impossible to tell what this answer is referring to.

To remove bloat ware, rooting the phone and install titanium backup.

With the Samsung Galaxy SIII running Android 4 (and generally starting with Ice Cream Sandwich), it is possible to disable (some) pre-installed system apps without rooting the phone. I'm still going to root it, I think; factory apps imposed upon me which cannot be disabled or uninstalled basically creep me out, quite frankly. If nothing else, it's just...rude.

One of the features of Ice Cream Sandwich is the ability to disable system apps, not just the SGS3.

@Al-Everett Not all of them, though. And the ones you cannot disable are...concerning(?). Disconcerting might be the word I'm looking for. Some of the ones you cannot disable are seemingly too innocuous to not be cause for concern, if that makes sense...

Which ones can't you disable? I've been able to disable all of the VZW bloatware on my Galaxy Nexus.

Well I'm not sure which apps are necessary or even what some of them are used for, but the ones I cannot disable are: AllShare Cast, AllShare Service, Android System, Application Installer, AvrcpServiceSamsung, Bluetooth share, Bluetooth Test, Calculator, Camera, Certificate Installer, Clock, com.android.backupconfirm, com.android.sharedstoragebackup, com.samsung.app.playreadyui, com.sec.android,app.wfdbroker, com.sec.android.killbackground, CSC, DataCreate, Dialer Storage, DSMForwarding, DSMLawmo, DttSupport, Email, Enterprise SysScope Service (more coming...)

Enterprise VPN Services, Error, Factory Mode, Factory Test, FM Radio, FWUpgrade, Google Backup Transport, HTML Viewer, INDIServiceManager, Internet, Key Chain, Kies via Wi-Fi, Lcdtest, License Settings, Live wallpaper picker, MAPServiceSamsung, Mobile Print, Mobile Tracker, More services, MTP application, Music Player, Nearby Devices, Nfc Service, NFC Test, OMACP, OmaDrmPopup, Package Access Helper, Package installer, Perso, Phone, PhoneUtil, PickupTutorial, PopupuiReceiver, Preconfig, Samsung keyboard, SamsungAppsUNA2 (more coming...)

SASlideShow, SecPhone, SecSetupWizard, Security Storage, Self Test Mode, Service mode, Settings, Settings storage, ShareShotService, SIM Toolkit, SmartCardService, Software update (x2, v2.2.7 can disable, v3_1207_2_1 cannot), SysScope, System UI, Task Manager, TestService, TMServerApp, TouchWiz home, TwDVFSApp, USB settings, Video Player, Voice Recorder, VpnDialogs, WlanTest, wssyncmlnps.
The other half I can disable. The services I tried to bold alarm me, but I simply don't have the time to figure out which ones are expressly needed.

Don't you just hate that? grrrrr. By the way, how do you "freeze" apps in ICS (Galaxy S3)?

@trusktr I hope you've already gotten the answer but for ICS you'd need to root your phone as per the above - all those apps could not be frozen without root access. With JB, there are still some you can't disable that don't appear to be vital system apps; but the vast majority you can simply deactivate from Settings > Apps.

Starting with ICS (Android 4.0), you can simply "freeze" bloatware you don't need. This means, you make them "unavailable" (or rather "un-executable") on your device -- which makes them invisible in the launcher, and stops them from being started in any way -- while being able to "unfreeze" them any time you feel the need. No root required anymore.
If you're not yet running ICS -- no way to really stop that without rooting your device. Then you have the choice to freeze or even completely remove the crap, e.g. with the excellent Titanium Backup -- which, as a "side-effect" (lol) gives you the possibility to make complete backups of all apps and their settings, and that even scheduled. And for cloud-lovers, TB has support for Dropbox built in as well...
Other non-root solutions are only half-hearted: Without root, you cannot uninstall the pre-loaded bloat, and you cannot stop it from being autmatically launched (yeah, some apps promise they can -- but they are just shooting them as soon as they start, so im some cases they start again and get shot again and... you don't want that. The only decent solution in this group I know of might be Autorun Manager which, in non-root mode, detects such "restarters" and then ignores them. In root-mode it also allows to disable listeners to really prevent apps from auto-starting -- which might be nice if you want to keep the app for rare uses, but do not want it to run automatically).
EDIT: Beware that rooting the device might void your warranty -- and removing system apps (wometimes already generally modifying the /system partition, which is also done by "rooting" as it must place the su and superuser.apk there) might prevent future "official OTA updates", as those often check the CRC sum of the system partition -- which no longer matches after altering its content. This all does not apply to the "Freeze" of apps, of course -- at least not to the official ICS variant of it.

Good answer, though you should also be aware that uninstalling stock apps will prevent you from being able to install future OS updates from your carrier.

Which on my HTC Buzz already broke right after rooting -- as the background of that is the changed CRC of the /system partition (which the update process checks). But you're right, I will add this.

You can also consider an App Manager such as Advanced Task Manager that allows you to kill running apps. Also handy when you have opened a number of apps and they stay open in the background. Simply select and push 'kill'.

Most apps that runs in background should have a setting to disable background updates or something similar. If they don't, then just uninstall them and find an alternative app that are more acceptable. Alternatively, you usually can ask the developer; if the apps are any good then they would have a good development team that listens to their  users.
Otherwise, I don't think there is any way to prevent apps from starting. There are several task killer apps that allow you to kill apps if they start; but without rooting or installing custom ROMs, I don't know if it's possible to prevent them from starting in the first place and still able to use the app when you need to.

Unfortunately I can't uninstall the pre-loaded apps! :( Thanks though. :)

You have to uninstall them.
Android apps are able to register with the underlying Android system to receive certain events and service requests, and the system knows to start the app up if those events or service requests come in.
Unlike on a standard desktop apps "running" on Android are often not actually running at all (they are blocked until an event or update occurs ... or to refresh state from the network).  In general, Android apps are much simpler to suspend and resume than desktop apps, so the system can swap them out if the CPU or memory are necessary for another app without much complication.  So, other than having a clean list of running apps, there isn't much to be gained by killing apps.
That said, if a specific app is behaving badly and using too much CPU for the value you get from it, then uninstall it and/or ask the developer to fix their badly behaving app.  But really, if the app doesn't show up on the 'battery usage' meter, then you don't really have anything to worry about.
See this question for some answers for more specific apps.

Unfortunately, I can't uninstall some of the pre-loaded apps. I don't use Qik, MediaHub, or ATT Navigator at all, but they still appear in the running apps list. That seems like a complete waste of resources if I don't use those apps at all.

You should also be aware that uninstalling stock apps will prevent you from being able to install future OS updates from your carrier.  It's much better to 'freeze' them, a la TiBU.


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Can I create a contact in a particular contact group on Android 2.2?
Is there a way to add a new contact into a particular contact group which I have in my Google contacts? Similarly, is there any way to move contacts from one group to another?
It seems as of now, I can only create contacts on Android but cannot put them in any specific group. To do that, I've to use the web interface of Google contacts.

FWIW, the version of android you are running is important here. This is something that I believe was added later. Go to Settings / About Phone to find that out.

This may also depend on the specific distribution of Android; different distributions might include different contact applications. The contact application on my stock android 2.2 doesn't have this option.

You can always install third party contact apps..

Open the contact, click menu-->edit and scroll down.
You should see a drop down box titled groups just below the email addresses.  Click that and you can then select the groups the contact should be a member of.

I dont see this option. What version of the software is running on your phone?

Android 2.2 on the HTC EVO.  It might be an HTC specific feature.  Which phone do you have?
I'll try to upload some screenshots later today

Confirming not on Moto Droid 2.2.   Btw, you can open the contact menu by long-pressing it in the contact list.

I have Android 2.3.3 on Samsung Galaxy Ace and it doesn't have any option to edit the groups. I'm managing the contact groups from GMail and then sync. It's a standart feature on Android 3. You can use a third party application to manage your contacts. Some applications have the ability to edit contacts' groups. (DW Contacts & Phone & Dialer)


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Upgrading my HTC G1 to SDK 2.2
I am trying to upgrade my HTC G1 to OS 2.2 (I have a developer device bought way back when it was released)
I have been trying the steps provided here - http://code.google.com/p/android-roms/wiki/SPL but for some reason the phone won't boot up after following all the steps. I have tried twice and restored my device to 1.5. But would really like to upgrade to 2.2
Any ideas please?
Thanks.

Have you tried rooting your G1 and putting something like Cyanogenmod on your phone?  CM6 is currently in Release Candidate status and supports 2.2.  However, you won't get all the features of 2.1+ because the G1 simply cannot do some of them (i.e. LiveWallpapers).

The rest of us would love to know what worked for you, lostInTransit


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How do I use voice input in Google Maps on a HTC Desire?
I have an HTC Desire phone running Android and I use the Google Maps application. I can search for locations using text entry but I would like to be able to use the voice entry feature which was added last year.

You can now search Google Maps for Android simply by speaking your query and Google Maps will search it for you.

I have the latest version of Google Maps from the Android Market but I don't see how to activate this voice search feature. I have tried opening Google maps, pressing the search key at the bottom-right of the phone, and then saying for example 'London' into the phone's microphone, but nothing happens.
How do I use the voice search in Google Maps for Android?

Updates
There is no microphone icon next to the search bar.
Version Information

Android Version: 2.1-update1
Google Maps version: 4.4.0 (#4414) gmm-android-htc

I have a Samsung Galaxy S on T-Mobile, so YMMV.
To use voice entry, I start the Navigation application, not Maps; one of the menu options it displays is "Speak destination".  Navigation wasn't available on the phone when I first got it; I first noticed it about a week ago (I noticed Latitude and Places arrived at the same time, so might all have been part of the same push).
EDIT: To get voice entry in Maps, press and hold the Search key, which gives you a general search.  To search for a location, I use Menu > Search, then there's a microphone icon on the search bar.  In Menu > Directions, you can focus on either the From or To input boxes, and again you'll get the search bar with a microphone icon.  If I use Menu > Directions to speak a location, it works as if I'm doing a map search, so I have to go back and select the location again in the Directions input box.

I don't use the Navigation program. As far as I know it only supports driving directions which isn't useful to me since I can't drive. I want to have easy access to train/bus timetables and walking directions plus other features that are available in Google Maps. Thanks for your answer anyway, but I don't think it's what I'm looking for.

@Mark: I believe you're right about Navigation only giving driving directions.  You can use voice search in Maps, but it's not perfect; see my update.

@Niall C.: This looks much more like what I am looking for thanks. However I cannot see the microphone icon on the search bar. Do I need to download some special version of Google Maps or an add-on package to add the voice search functionality? Sorry for asking such basic questions... I have tried to Google for information about this but I cannot find anything about how to do it - only a lot of pages saying that it is possible.

By the way, if I select "Google Maps -> Menu -> About" it tells me "Version 4.4.0 (#4414) gmm-android-htc".

I also have an application called Voice Search.  I believe I was prompted to install it the first time I used the "Speak destination" option in Navigation.  IIRC, the prompt said it's an optional plug-in.

Ah, great thanks. Now I found an article (http://nimbu.amorvi.com/2010/04/add-voice-search-to-htc-phones/) saying that the Voice Search has been removed from the market for HTC phones but can be downloaded and installed. I wonder why... thanks for your help!

After adding Voice Search using the package from the above link it works. Thanks so much for the hint!

Press the search key, this brings up a search bar you can type into, with a magnifying glass icon on the right. To the right of this icon is a microphone which activates voice search.
If you don't have that icon, check which version of Maps, and which version of the Android OS is installed. In the maps application, press menu, then choose "more", then "about". To find the phone version, go to settings, about phone, and see "firmware version".

I have added version information to my question. What version do I need? I bought the phone in Denmark... could that cause a problem?

If you use the Google translate app, it will only speech recognise a small subset of the languages it can translate from and to, and Danish isn't one of them, so I'd assume that the voice recognition won't work in Danish in other apps.

@rjmunro: You are right that it doesn't understand spoken Danish, but interestingly if I say 'Botanical Gardens' in English it correctly finds 'Botanisk Have' and if I say 'Railway Station' it correctly finds 'Banegård'. However it will not find Danish road names.


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HTC Tilt 2 -- possible to get Android on it?

Possible Duplicate:
Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

One of my friends recently got an HTC Touch Pro 2(US Cellular) and I really like it. It has Windows Mobile on it, but somehow he downloaded a special program to his SD card so that he runs some Windows program and it will boot Android. To get back to factory settings, he just has to turn the phone off and on.
I looked for a similar phone for my carrier(AT&T) and the closest thing to it is the HTC Tilt 2. I'm aware of some of the changes including different keyboard and no 3.5mm jack. Is it crippled in anyway which would prevent me from doing the same thing my friend did though? Also would it void the warranty or anything like that? Also, one last question. When running Android like that do you have "root" capabilities? Like can I install unofficial applications and/or get to a root terminal?

It is possible, however as you mentioned it is not completely compatible yet. Some hardware pieces like the camera (and I think speakerphone) will not work for the ATT T2.
Check out the XDA-Developers forum, specifically rhodium (what our phones are) for more info on the Android developement & cooked winmo ROMs.I don't recall of the top of my head if you need to run Hard-SPL or not to boot into Android off the card of or not, but if you do need to, that'll void the warranty.
Although, in my opinion it's worth it to at least go with a cooked Winmo ROM or Android... even if it voids the warranty.

You don't need HardSPL, as you cannot flash Android yet. It just boots from WinMo via Haret, and after a reboot WinMo returns. You might want to backup your SD card contents just in case.
There is work underway in the flashing area, so we can replace WinMo completely and get a nice performance boost to boot. I already have it on the Kaiser and love it, but with the newer MSM based phones it is not there yet (actually AFAICT the problem isn't the flashing itself but initializing the hardware without the help of WinMo).


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How can I find the comparison of specs and features of Android devices?
I recently got fed up with my previous smartphone (name omitted) and I'm considering switching to an Android-based phone.  However, I have been stumped by the sheer number of handsets.  I'm more than willing to change carriers and I have no preferences in keyboard style.
What I am looking for (and cannot find on Google) is a comparison of features between different Android phones so that I can make an educated decision (or at least whittle that decision down).

This is a community wiki. Feel free to edit and update the info.

Wikipedia - List of Android smartphones: This link to Wikipedia shows a list of Android devices. It is recommended to click on Version twice, to sort with the latest Android version at the top.
GSM Arena has a great tool to compare devices one to another.
PhoneScoop has an excellent search engine and compares an extensive list of features side-by-side with differences highlighted automatically.
PhoneDB: It's a bit overwhelming with all the options you have available to filter by, but it always seems up-to-date. It can also find phones other than Android.
PC Pro has a well-sorted reviews section - click on Android (under OS) and you'll have a list. You can tick the boxes next to the phones and then a compare button will appear giving you a line-by-line comparison. Note this is a UK site and some phones have different names to the US versions.
ConsumerReports.org: If you're willing to pay a little, this site really does well at apples-to-apples comparisons on a wide variety of products, including cell phones.
Versus.

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


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Useful or cool Tasker recipes
In a similar vein to this question, I'm interested in finding any useful recipes for Tasker.
I've found several profiles and "Step Throughs" on their wiki, but would be interested in any others that people have found helpful.

Here's a good one I found on Lifehacker a while back.
http://lifehacker.com/5611003/build-a-find-my-iphone-clone-for-android
I changed a few things when I did it, like allow the text to come from any phone and send the reply to that phone, and making the SOS text a passphrase so that nobody accidentally sent it to me.
I also made one that turned my ringer up and played a song for when I lose my phone around the house. I can just text my phone 123findme and it will play a song even if I left it on vibrate mode.

Launching ConnectBot remote commands in answer to another question.

Awesome! This solves a problem I have with the Wake on LAN plugins I have tried in the past. Now when I connect to my home WiFi, I can automatically send a WoL packet to my PC from my home content server.


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Why does my phone peg the CPU every time I wake it up?
This is driving me nuts. I have SeePU installed so that I can see a CPU graph on my Moto Droid. When I unlock the phone after being idle for a while, the CPU is pegged by android.process.acore and the phone is unusable for 15-45 seconds, which is an eternity when you are trying to answer the phone!
Tech details:

Moto Droid
OS 2.2 CyanogenMod v6 (also happens with 2.1 stock)
Launcher: LauncherPro (also happens with DXTop, and ADW Launcher)
No task killer

Apps:
http://www.appbrain.com/user/mark_porter/apps-on-the-phone
UPDATE: I un-installed most of my apps, and I seem to have licked the problem for now. I'm gonna try adding one app back a day until it gets stupid again. If I can find a particular app that causes this problem, I'll post it here

Does it still do it with Android 2.2?

It's ADW. I have the same problem with both ADW and LauncherPro. Can't find a fix other than uninstalling.

Did you ever find the offending app?

Are you over/underclocking your CPU at all and/or using profiles?
A lot of users will underclock their CPU when the phone is sleeping, which may save battery. However, if you underclock too much (125 MHz), the phone will lag like crazy when it wakes. It is recommended to never underclock further than 250 MHz.
Aside from that, I'm not really sure anything would cause this to happen and would need more information to help you diagnose.

I don't underclock below 250, and my buddy with bone stock Moto droid has the same problem. What elese would help trouble-shooting?

A few more things: does it happen with SetCPU uninstalled? Also, how many home replacement apps/launchers do you have installed? If you have multiple and each of those has widgets, etc, that could also strain your system (and hinder battery life). Always only keep one home replacement/launcher loaded with your widgets.

I have had a lot of pegged-CPU, laggy-phone problems with my MT3G stock Android phone. At different times, I have thought it was due to specific apps, but it usually comes back. Certain apps make it worse, Better Keyboard seemed epecially bad, but I'm not sure any one app is the root cause. I have Master Re-Set a few times, it eventually comes back. Very, very frustrating. (I use Wing Tseng's Task Manager to see CPU usage.)

I have the same issue with the MT3G except that it's rooted & running CM6.

If it reoccurs again and you have trouble pinning down which app it is, I would recommend Watchdog (free version is more than sufficient). You can use it to to track down what is eating up CPU so you can eliminate the program directly instead of having to remove it all and swap them all in individually.

He's already said that "android.process.acore" is what's using his available CPU cycles. Watchdog and SeePU are similar in function.

Missed that, apologies. What I get for answering questions pre-coffee.

Instead of doing that, just try the WatchDog app which finds which apps uses a lot of memory or slow down your Android phone.


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Do I have a branded smartphone (HTC Desire)?
When my HTC Desire boots, I can first see a purple Android (?) icon, then a white background and the 'HTC' text, then a short animation with text 'T-Mobile'. Does that mean that I got a branded phone? The rest of the system doesn't show any signs of T-Mobile and I'm on a Vodafone prepaid 'contract'.
I'm worried that I got a branded phone (which means I'll get Froyo later than other HTC Desire owners) even though I'm not with T-Mobile.

Being that you get a T-Mobile graphic then I would say yes you have a branded Desire. Having said that my father has a branded O2 Desire and he has already received the Froyo update (today - Monday). I too have an O2 branded Desire, but I have not received Froyo yet which I suspect is because I am on a Business plan with O2, whereas my father has a personal plan.

I guess I'll just have to wait a little bit longer here down-under.

Yeah. I was under the impression that only European Desires were getting the update this early and have not seen anything saying that others around the world are getting it this week. Still don't have mine yet :(

I think all that matters is which phone you have and which carrier you are on. Updates are always pushed out by the carriers to their subscribers. So, Vodaphone will send out the update to all Desire's on their network, including yours, and you will be good to go.
If there is an issue when the time comes, then a quick call to your carrier should sort it out.


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How to make Froyo's portable hotspot more stable?
I have updated to Froyo on my HTC Desire yesterday and am testing out the portable hotspot option. The problem is that it is very unstable, at random times (1 to 10 minutes) I lose the WiFi connection.
I have a laptop on my lap and the Desire in my pocket, so it's not like they are out of reach. Does anybody have any ideas on this? Similar experiences?

What Froyo build did you install? I installed 4 as they came out and recently went with a Cyanogen Beta.

I use the stock build from HTC the came in during the OTA update. Never tried any other build.

Rather than putting it in your pocket, place it next to your laptop with the screen on. Then you can see if your hotspot is cutting out, or maybe your 3G is cutting out. I imagine there is a threshold of where you need a certain strength of 3G signal to operate a hotspot.

Good suggestion! I have tried that, the 3G connection is stable all the time...


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Is there an Android media payer that allows you to speed up an mp3?
Is there a media player for android that can play an mp3 10% faster or slower if the user wants to?

Rockbox has a very early port to Android that allows speeding up an MP3 once the Timestrech option is enabled.  The port is very functional, but the UI and integration with Android still leave much to be desired.  Jon Corbet of LWN did a good summary article a few weeks ago.  The most important piece of advice before using it:

Imagine that your screen is a 3x3 grid, where the middle is used as the selector,
  left-right-up-down are used as cursor keys. The other directions have special
  functions in some screens, e.g. in Now Playing screen with the upper left you can
  access some playback mode settings.

Having previously enjoyed Rockbox on a several previous Sansa players, I personally excuse the UI shortcomings and use it when playing long stretches of podcasts.  I like that set the playback speed (independant of the pitch) from 50% of the original speed to (at least) 200%.  In increments of a tenth of a percent.  Depending on the subject and the speed with which people speak, I will listen to a podcasts at 175%, 166%, 150%, 133%, or 125%.

I wrote Osplay, which does this as its main feature.  I consider it a stable product and am now only issuing bugfixes.

VLC For Android has a feature to play faster or slower
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc&hl=en


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What is the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking an Android?

Possible Duplicate:
What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc

Is either possible, legal, contractually legit and does either damage the phone?

I'm also interested in this.  Ie. the difference between unlocking an iPhone and an Android phone.  iPhones void warranty and you can't use the app store (from what i understand) does the same hold true for Android phones?

My prelim googling implies that unlocking is just getting it to work with other carriers, but jailbreaking is something like having the administrator password on a computer.  Apple is famous for trying to cripple jailbroken phones, as for Android google isn't giving me a clear answer.

legality varies by country and region. You might want to clarify what jurisdiction you're in

Duplicate of http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2885/what-is-the-difference-between-rooting-jailbreak-rom-mod-etc

If you were to unlock your Android phone, this would be to allow a SIM from any provider to be used in the handset.  Phones are usually locked to a provider when they are purchased (the idea being to stop you using other SIM cards after buying your phone).  You can however get a sim unlock code from the network when you contract runs out.  You can also buy the handsets with no contract unlocked.
Jailbreaking (or rooting as its known on Android) allows you to do a few different things, the main use seems to be either tethering (however it seems that more phones are offering this as standard), or installing a custom firmware.
One thing to mention, is rooting your phone will invalidate your warranty, so if you get stuck, you will be on your own (however there are many sites out there full of people who will help you if things go wrong).  There is a small risk of bricking the phone (however there are ways to recover from this too on some handsets).
Personally I've rooted my Android device and have enjoyed playing with custom firmware and it's generally been smooth sailing (although as it takes a long time to boot after flashing a new firmware, the first time I was a bit worried :P).  However, I would suggest doing a fair bit of reading around first, and only approaching this once you're sure you know what you're doing.
Hope this helps!

to my knowledge (and Wikipedia agrees) the PUK is the Personal Unblocking Code or PIN Unlock Code, for that rare cases when you mistype your pin 4 times. And nothing todo with Unlocking the phone for other networks.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Unblocking_Code

Yea your right :)  I've edited the original post to reflect that!

@Kingamajick: I think this answer should be merged into "What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc".

As I understand it, unlocking (with any phone) is allowing it to work with other carriers, as you've surmised.
In the Android world, the "correct" term for the equivalent of "jailbreaking" (which seems to be an iPhone-centric term) appears to be "rooting" (which is much more technically descriptive, anyway).  Rooting, as I understand it, is gaining root access to the device, which allows you to basically do anything you can figure out how to (install custom ROMs, access previously locked-down functions such as wifi tethering, etc.).
Rooting/jailbreaking is now apparently explicitly legal, although doing some of the things that many people root to be able to do is not, if it violates your carrier's terms of service (i.e. wifi tethering).

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


text:
Can I connect to WEP-secured MyWi network from iPhoDroid?
Yesterday, I installed Froyo on my iPhone 3G with iPhoDroid. I'm trying to connect to the WiFi using MyWi on my jailbroken iPhone 4 but the network isn't visible at all. The network is WEP secured. That's not a problem with Android is it? I see lots of unsecured networks around, but I'm at work and they're all through proxies anyway, so that wouldn't work. Anyone have any insight on this? I'm completely new to Android so this is exciting to me!

Hi Thomas, I removed the salutations because the first line of the question appears in the summary pages.

Have you checked whether the network is broadcasting its SSID? If it isn't then your phone won't find it and the network won't appear in the list. You can enter the network details manually by going into the Wi-Fi settings (under Wireless and network on my 2.1 phone), then clicking Add Wi-Fi network (at the bottom of the Wi-Fi networks section), then entering the network's SSID.
If you're already doing this and the network isn't being added, it may be that the router has restricted the client devices that can connect to it. In this case you'll have to use a client with an established connection and modify the settings to allow your phone. You can typically add the MAC address to a whitelist. You can typically find your phone's MAC address under Settings->About phone->Status->Wi-Fi MAC address

Thanks for the help Rich. I did try manually entering the SSID. That didn't work. And as far as editing the router's white list, the MyWi doesn't have that option (as far as I can tell). I tried disabling security on my network, and it still wouldn't recognize it.


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How do I undelete or recover deleted files on Android?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I recover a deleted file on Android?

Is there a way to recover deleted files on Android phones without using standard USB storage recovery tools?

First off, from a practicality standpoint I do not think there is a way to do this. Especially if the data was on internal storage. If the data was on an SD Card you could try googling for data recovery software or something along those lines and then mount the sd card and try searching it. But most software out there isn't made for sd cards.
Is your phone rooted? If so you should be creating backups with NAND at least every other week, I usually do them more often than that. Also you can use Titanium Backup to backup apps and system data. Neither of these will backup your SD card though. For that I just copy all contents from my sd card to a computer before a major change.
Check out the link below for more info, keep in mind I wrote that guide based on the Evo, but still it applies to almost any Android phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7672616

I tried recuva and many tools. None of them don't even show paired external devices. Anyone found some tools to do it?


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Can I change the time interval between flashes of the notification led on the HTC incredible?
I want to be able to change the time interval between flashes of the LED when I have a new notification. Is this possible on the HTC Incredible running 2.1 (eclair) or even on 2.2 (froyo)?
I don't really want to flash my device or install a custom build of android, etc.

My answer here for a similar question points to the Missed Reminder app which appears to have an adjustable LED interval setting. Hope it helps.

I'm pretty sure I've only seen this feature on rooted Android phones running custom ROMs.
I've seen it on some custom ROMs in the 'Messaging' app, but never as a general system-wide setting. I'm going to say that no, this isn't possible right now, at least on stock Android.


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Is it possible to exclude some folders on the sd card from being added to my playlist in the standard android player?
I use the android media player to listen to music. Last week I installed an app that brings a lot of sounds with it in mp3 format and saves them on the SD Card to prevent the app from cluttering my internal memory. Now the media player picked up this folder and added it to my playlist. Every time I listen in shuffle mode I hear a sound from this Application mixed in at least every tenth song I listen to.
Is it possible to exclude a folder from being indexed by the media player?

As I understand it it's possible to add a .nomedia file into a folder that you want to exclude from media scans. I've not had occasion to test this myself but the comments on this issue seems to confirm that it works.

seems to work :)

works, after rescanning media

You can use File Expert to create the file - long-pressing on a folder gives a menu with option for hiding media. I'm sure there are also other apps that can do this.

Meridian Media Player (free in the Market) specifically facilitates this, allows digging deep into a folder structure and other goodies too.


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Why won't my android video player display media in the correct aspect ratio
I'm using a Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S) and when I play M4V video files, ostensibly formatted for IPhone, the device stretches the image to fit the screen rather than letterboxing.  I can't find any option to change this.  Is there a better media player or a hidden setting?

I use RockPlayer and it has a button right on the display to toggle aspect ratios and zoom levels--very convenient.


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How can I change the voice used for the Navigation app on Android?
I love the Navigation app on Android. The voice it uses is fine, but I'd like a little variety. I'd settle for it using the British voice that's available on the phone. However, I've changed the Text-to-speech setting on the phone for language to British, but it hasn't changed the voice used by Navigation. There is not a setting in Navigation for the voice. Assuming it uses the "locale" setting, my only options on the Droid are "English" or "Español".
Am I stuck? Does this require root?
In case it matters, I'm still currently on Android 2.2.

I'm shocked that there isn't a thriving market of user-contributed voice packs...it must be harder to manipulate than I'd thought...

please let there more that want this!

It's worth noting that the Navigation voice is (if I understand correctly) not actually generated on the phone; it's downloaded from Google's servers along with the route.

This is apparently not possible with Android 2.2 on Motorola Droid.

You should suggest it at if it doesn't already exist: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list

The SVOX Classic TTS system replaces the (robotic) native Android Pico_TTS
(and Pico_TTS is generating the speech onboard the phone)
free main application
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.svox.classic
$3 voices like the British Victoria voice
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.svox.classic.langpack.eng_gbr_fem


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Can I automatically log in to open WiFi that requires web login/password?
There are lots of wifi hotspots that are open, but require a web-based login to use. Hotels, coffeeshops, workplaces. For password-protected wifi, it's easy to set up Android phones to remember the login and password. But I'd like to be able to use my workplace's open wifi with web-based password on a regular basis, without having to manually type stuff in. It should just automatically connect to the Wifi router, go to http://1.1.1.1 or whatever, type in my password, and then everything else should just work. Is this possible?
(HTC Evo running Android 2.2, fwiw...)

You might be able to do that with tasker, but it's paid.

How do you set up on android to remember the user/pass?

The best you can do is set it up to auto-connect to the network and then manually open a browser when you're in range.  Save the username and password in the browser.  That gets it down to 2 clicks (er... touches).  Make sure Remember Passwords is on the the browser's settings.
There are some apps that claim to do what you want but I've never used them.  Here is a list.

WIFI Web Login works great for those that require a username/password or an email, or even just a checkbox to agree the EULA.

This is a $2.99 app in the store now.

I noticed a couple of things in its configuration: a) don't put hotspot login UR, b) to run this app on background, disable it from battery optimization.


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What is /system/bin/mediaserver on Android, and why is it pegging the CPU?
I noticed that my Motorola Droid, running rooted 2.2 Froyo, has been acting sluggish sometimes.  I fired up the terminal emulator, and ran top, and noticed that /system/bin/mediaserver is using around 90% of my CPU.
What does this program do? Is it safe to kill it?  How can I prevent it from slowing down my phone in the future?
Some quick Googling has turned up other people with the same problem, but not really any answers.

The media server is responsible for indexing the images, videos and music files on the device. It then is queried by programs like the media gallery or the music player for filtered lists of certain media types.
I think that it would be restarted pretty fast after killing. I would assume that somehow there are many write options on the sd card and the media server will constantly reindex your mass storage. But I don't know a solution for that.

Okay, thanks.  I noticed this behavior after I moved a bunch of my apps out of internal memory, and onto the SD card, so I suppose all of those writes explains why mediaserver went a little crazy.

What is meant by "indexing images, videos and music"? Does it try to do image recognition or what?

As Janusz explained, this program scans and indexes media files on the internal and removable storage. Sometimes the media scanner using a lot of CPU can be a result of it trying to scan one or more corrupted files. This is usually a symptom of your SD card starting to fail. Try scanning your SD card's filesystem for errors on a proper computer (e.g. using fsck on a GNU/Linux system, or Scandisk on Windows). If any errors are detected and fixed, put the SD card back in your phone and see if the problem goes away.

Simplest solution is, if you can identify where in memory card you have junk image files, then just place a .nomedia file. Which avoids scanning that perticular folder for indexing media files (Note: It will also not appear in gallery).
In my case I did that to Whatsapp images folder, which had hell lot of images but I dont want it to be appearing in my gallery. So I thought it would work for me.
Same way you find out such content and then try to clean up unwanted stuff, also look for any corrupted media files also and remove them.
This is a dirty hack, not permanent fix.

The title is still unanswered: "What is /system/bin/mediaserver on Android, and why is it pegging the CPU?"

In my particular case the mediaserver process was spinning with scanning the temporary/junk files cached by the browser and other programs. As long as I started running a junk file cleanup program at least daily I no longer have this problem.

What is /system/bin/mediaserver on Android ?

as you may already know it's a binary file it is used by android to scan the phone's storage for media files (images , sounds and videos ) android usually run it on boot and on media storage changes (like sending new files from pc via mtp ,removing and inserting SD card or usb OTG storage devices ,downloading new media files ect .. )

why is it pegging the CPU?

Now that can be for multiple reasons I will list some of them

SD card ,media Storage ,USB devices corrupted file system : in some cases the storage gets corrupted which make the mediaserver use more resources to scan and in some cases the process gets stuck with an i/o error that it can't handle.
some third party applications may abuse the use of mediaserver in so many ways ,like forcing the android system to rescan explicitly or passively ,explicitly is when the application developer made it so in this case only removing that app or contacting the developer may solve the problem but when the app passively make the media server run like when an app writes junk or cache media files (images ,sounds ,video ) in directories that are not exclude by the media scanner which forces the android system to rescan more often to prevent this you need to find the folder where this app puts junk files and exclude it from the media scanner by creating an empty file named .nomedia inside that folder in fact you can use this methode to exclude any folder from being scanned my the media scanner.

the point is ,the problem is not in the mediaserver binary it self because this binary can be used by any third party app which makes it difficult to determine who is abusing it's use.
I hope this answers your question


text:
German lessons in an Android device

Possible Duplicate:
How can I study or prepare myself for an exam with the help of my Android device?

Is there any German course that I could do on my Android device? Whether it's an app or an optimized web site it's fine by me.

I'm using Anki flashcards. There is also version for Android.

Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it is a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn.

You can download German dictionary and start learning :-)

That's a very good resource, thanks! I still would need to learn more than vocabulary though.


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Best software to enable speech-to-text on HTC Desire
One of the notable features missing from the HTC desire that is found on the Nexus one is the speech to text.
I am using google voice search and am impressed therefore what is the best software (free or paid) to enable the dictation of emails and text messages.

Have a look at Vlingo: http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.vlingo.client
It learns over time and many people find it more accurate than google's voice recognition.

I have an HTC Desire and speech to text works fine. Are you holding down the microphone keyboard button to the left of the space bar?

Full text to speech is only hidden and can be re-enabled in older HTC versions of android through a keyboard hack. Alternatively you can install goggle voice search just to enable search via voice.
Text to search is fully supported by HTC in the Froyo software update and can be accessed via the keyboard or holding down the search key.


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I’m new to SetCPU on Moto Droid and need help
I'm running rooted stock Android 2.2 on a Motorola Droid. I was hoping other users of the app could give me some advice.
First question: whats the best underclock setting for a good balance between performance and longer battery life? How much longer battery life is it giving you on average?
Second question: I told it to autodetect the phone and I can seem to only overclock to 800mhz. How do I overclock to 1ghz. How high can I/should I overclock? I'm only overclocking when I play psx4droid.
Third question: any recommended profiles to setup?
Thanks!

You should ask this as 3 separate questions.

@Rich I tried to break it down for clarity vs. one jumbo question, but I'll keep that in mind next time, thanks

That's going to depend on how much you're using it during the day, I would say start at 700 and move it around until it feels smooth for you.

I wouldn't push the phone that high, first it's going to overheat pretty quickly, which can permanently brick your phone.  Even 800 is going to be rough on it so I wouldn't leave it up that high for very long.

I've got an eris (Did a little looking around, and the Droid CPU is set at 550Mhz whereas the Eris is set at 528Mhz as reference points) so this is going to be a little different than what you've got, but here's my profiles so you can tweak as needed.

Temp > 36.9 C 528Mhz/160Mhz Priority: 100 (This is the failsafe setting, if the phone get's too hot it'll cut the CPU speed so the phone can cool down and prevent any damage)
Charging/Full 729Mhz/528Mhz Priority: 80 (If the phone is plugged in, it can run a little harder, but I also don't use my phone much when it's plugged in)
Battery < 100% 710Mhz/528Mhz Priority: 50 (This is the normal use setting, which keeps the phone moving smoothly, but doesn't get too hot)

The most important thing is that you have scaling set to ondemand.  This will turn the processor down if it's not being used.  Hence, on the last setting, it is very rarely at 710Mhz and is most often below 550Mhz.
Second to remember is not to set the minimum too low, or the phone will have trouble waking up from sleep. You'll need to do a little digging around to find out what the ideal min is for the droid, but I would suspect above 160 Mhz would be safe for you.
Those should cover most bases, at bare minimum add the failsafe profile so that you don't lose your phone.


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is it possible to upgrade the android OS on all phones?
Do Android phones as a rule allow you to upgrade the OS version at will, or does this require special support from the manufacturer or carrier?

You receive updates from the carrier.
You can circumvent this by rooting your phone and installing a custom rom (or stock rom, if available) to get the latest version of Android.

Each carrier needs to add their customizations to the source code. That's why not everyone gets the new OS updates at the same time and why some early Android phones will never get an update.


text:
How do I remove HTC Desire pre-installed Android applications?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

My HTC Desire from Orange came with a number of pre-installed demo applications and games, these cannot be removed normally from the application settings or from the market place.
What is the best way I can remove them and free up the space for applications I actually want?

Generally the only way to remove these manufacturer-added apps is to root the phone.

Yes, Al is correct.

What does rooting mean?

@Dan: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/236/what-does-to-root-a-phone-mean

I've rooted my Desire HD but still can't uninstall stuff :-(

Root your phone first, then use Root Uninstaller to remove all the bloatware. This is similar to another question Acer Liquid, but there Root uninstaller was not successful, but on my lg p500 it wokred perfectly. SO try it.

Other way could be to get a generic image for your phone and flash it. The Problem with that is that such a image is mostly not available in the net.


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How can I clear the cache of the Android Facebook app?
My phone (T-Mobile Pulse/Huawei U8220 with Android 1.5) doesn't have much on board space, so I quite often run into the low disk space warning. Looking through the list of apps, I see the facebook app has about 2.5 MB of user data. I suspect most of this is a photo album I looked at recently. But I can't seem to find any option to clear that cache ...
Does anyone know how to? I'm happy to use a file manager and go into the filesystem to delete stuff if I can find it and someone can reassure me that I'm not going to stuff up the facebook app at the same time.
And I don't want to uninstall and reinstall because nothing will install any more.

I've an Android 2.2 FroYo and my facebook app also uses a lot of space. Clearing the cache is disabled for facebook app (and it seems not to be using it). Clearing the data makes me login again and has to sync all my contacts again, its annoying.

To VC'ers: 12k views is likely not 'too localized'

Here are the instructions for Android 2.2, not sure if it will work for 1.6, but you may want to give this a try.

Home Screen
Menu --> Settings
Applications
"All"
Select "Facebook"
"Clear Cache". If you want to delete ALL data, choose "Clear Data"

These instructions work for all apps, not just facebook.

I'd tried that, but despite it reporting over 2MB of data, the button to clear data is not present for the facebook app, though I have seen the button available for other apps. It does have a clear cache button, but there is no data in the cache. Thanks for trying to help anyway.

The "clear data" option is available on Froyo (2.2) without rooting your phone. It doesn't show what data is there, however.

The only way you can clear that cache would probably be to delete system files which would only be possible if you were rooted. There might be a market app to help with that, not sure. Try googling something like "android app clear cache". Also keep in mind few apps were written for 1.5.
I would try upgrading to Android 1.6 at least and then see if you have more options. 1.6 is more stable and gives more options too. Plus the upgrade will likely clear out cache and give you a fresh start.
Also if you root your device there would be more opportunities for storing apps and such on sd card which would help with your internal storage issues. Check out XDA Forums to see if rooting your device is possible.

So far I believe the only way to clear your cache is a hard reboot.


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(how) can I install android on an iphone 4?

Possible Duplicate:
Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

I know it is possible to install Android on an iPhone 3G.
How about the iPhone 4? Is it possible to run Android on it? If yes, how, and what are the risks?
If no, is that a "not yet" or a "can't happen, because of X"?

I'd say "not yet", at this moment.
My suggestion is to keep your eye on this page: http://www.idroidproject.org/wiki/Status
As you can see from the Wiki table on the iPhone4, the iDroid project participants aren't even sure exactly what hardware is in it yet. So writing code for it without that knowledge is a bit of a challenge.
Seeing as iDroid doesn't even run on iPhone 3GS, I would guess that it's gonna be a while before it runs on the iPhone4. Although, they do have it listed on the Wiki, so the iDroid devs are probably considering it at some point "down the road".

I have it installed on my 3G, and it's just for scientific purposes. I just want to learn more about the filesystem and innerworkings of both OSes. To that end, I think it's very interesting. Not at all useful though. It crashes frequently, I have not yet been able to connect to a WiFi network, and when it does run, it's kinda sluggish. But if you've got an * EXTRA * iPhone, I would say go for it.


text:
How to fix setting Android display brightness to 0%
I have a Windows Mobile phone(HTC Tilt 2) and put Android on it(on the SD card only). When I was messing around with some stuff I accidentally set the display brightness of Android to 0%. So now nothing will ever show up on my screen.How can I fix this without doing a clean install of Android?

Is it the case that you can't see anything at all, or is it just really, really dark at the moment? Most LCD screens will show something faintly, even without a backlight, if you can get them in the right light.
If you can see something then the easiest way to turn the lights up (if you're using Android 1.6+) is to add the Power Control widget to the home screen and then tap the far-right button on the Power Control Bar, this should turn the brightness to half and then full, and you should be able to get to the rest of your settings then.

Marking this as the answer.. I couldn't actually see anything on the screen though but I already had a brightness widget thing on my home screen and the touch screen works with the screen off so I just had to push around until I found it.

@Earlz: Try shining a really bright flashlight to the screen (the brightest you can get). If the problem is with too low brightness, but the LCD is still filtering the lights, then you should be able to get faint images by shining a strong light.

Use Apk 1.3 (PC) to access tablet and screen shot shows what is in the screen. Keep refreshing screen shot as you press tablet options.
Mike M.

A link to the program mentioned would be good.


text:
Why do I have duplicate contact birthdays on Android calendar?
I deleted all of my contacts from Google and from my HTC incredible so that I could reload them all in just Google. As a result, the calendar on my phone has 2 entries on the "contacts birthdays and events" calendar on my phone. The calendar in my Google account only has 1 entry. The android calendar even has a birthday for a contact I deleted.
Has anyone else seen this and have a fix?

Are the duplicate entries in different calendars (IE different colored labels?)

no, they are in the same calendar. i already tried turning off that calendar and turning it back on to force it to re-sync completely with the online google calendar, but that didn't work.

"
TomSawyer_2112
Hey Guys,
I had to clear the Calendar Data for the Bday to show on my calendar. This is what I did,
Go to Settings-Applications-Manage applications, then select Calendar Storage then "delete data". After doing this the screen (HTC EVO) will reboot (white screen with the HTC Logo).
After clearing the data, go to the calendar setting and add the Bbay.
Hope this work for you.
"
Source:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=58d284f1a1f36866&hl=en

Remove the google-account from your android system (sync settings), than add it again. After that, go into your contacts and refresh / resync your contacts. Now take a look at your calendar, it should be fixed now

You have to go into your address book, select the contact to edit, and then delete the event (in your case, birthday). Then click save. Now, on the calendar, it should only show one entry for the birthday.


text:
Improve Android battery life by lowering CPU freq
I would like to know if it could be possible to use adb (Android Debug Bridge) to tell the phone to lower its CPU max freq.
I'd like to use less battery if possible, and in my use case I don't mind if some tasks are a little slower.

You might want to check out this article from How-To Geek on methods to reduce battery usage before you do something as extreme as underclocking your CPU. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/25319/complete-guide-to-maximizing-your-android-phones-battery-life/

I've read this barely impacts your phone but produces extremely impressive results. As long as he's already rooted, this isn't that extreme.

There is a program called SetCPU which will allow you to over/under clock the processor.  The advantage here is the ability to set profiles to have the phone determine when to adjust the processor, such as when the phone is at a certain temprature, or if it's plugged in or not.
I've been using it on my Droid Eris for a while now, and the results have been great.

Thank you.  That is what I was looking for, but I need to do it manually or to implement it in my own application.  Any idea in that sense is welcome.

Unfortunatly I can't help you there, however these guys can, http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=524

This requires root to use.

@colithium Yes, you've got to root, but considering that he was planning to use ADB to try to adjust the cpu, rooted was a given.

Just for community reference ;)


text:
Why does Android prompt me with "Enter the credential storage password" when I attempt to connect to a secured WiFi network?
When I connect my iPhone to a secured WiFi network (at work), I'm prompted for my Username and Password. (And then I'm prompted to accept what I presume is an SSL certificate.)
But when I select the same network on my Motorola Droid or HTC EVO 4G, I'm prompted with "Enter the credential storage password".  What is this password?

I went into Settings -> Location & Security (on Droid, Security on the EVO) -> Use secure credentials, and entered the credential storage password.  Then I was no longer prompted for this password when selecting the WiFi network.

With SSL you are using the RSA public/private key pairs to securely exchange the encrypt/decrypt key for a much simpler encryption algorithm.
The RSA keys are used so you can start with the bare minimum of knowledge of each other.
The public key of the SSL cert of the server needs to be signed by someone you already trust.  Those are stored in the Trusted Root store.  Most browsers ship with all the well known ones.
If they are not trusted, you will get asked to trust them, which is probably what you are getting asked, and then to store it, so it is now 'trusted' and they do not have to ask again.

Go to your Settings
Select Security
And Set a 4 digit pin.

It worked for me.


text:
Separate volume level for speaker-phone mode?
My phone (a Samsung Vibrant, aka T-Mobile's variant of the Galaxy S) has a single volume level for both the speaker-phone and normal modes.  I like to have it up high if I'm using speaker-phone mode and less deafening when I'm holding the handset to my ear.  This causes some problems when I use a different mode from the previous call.
Is there any way that I can have a separate volume level for the two modes of operation?

Boy, separate volume controls for the speaker and earpiece would be useful, wouldn't they?
You can probably do what you want with Tasker. It lets you control all kinds of settings on the phone based on events. (Some ideas from Lifehacker.)

+1 for Tasker.  I brief look at the options avaliable make it seem like it can be done.

I've looked at Tasker and I'm not sure I can do it: ppeakerphone control is available as a Task, but I think I would need a speakerphone State to trigger a change in the volume.  It's a cool app, though. +1