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Keyboard shortcuts
0
If your Android smartphone has a physical keyboard, it also has keyboard shortcuts. And these shortcuts are customizable. The picture on the left is what you see what you press the menu button once, and then press and hold it again. You briefly get a look at the keyboard shortcuts for the top-level menu items. Want to quickly open the notifications area? Hold the menu button and press “n.” Menu+p gets you to the settings.
Even better is that you can set new keyboard shortcuts, based off the search button. Go to settings>applications>quick launch, and you can set new shortcuts, or reassign the ones that are already there. (And in the case of the Motorola Droid Pro, remap the quick-launch hardware button on the right-hand side of the device.)
Keep your apps up to date
0So you’ve got apps. You love your apps. And you want to keep them updated. Maybe there were bugs that needed to be fixed. Maybe there were features added. Regardless of the reason, you want to keep your apps up to date. And there are a couple of ways to go about doing so.
Your apps may update automatically. That’s something you have set for each app. After that, they’ll update in the background, and you’re good to go. But if an app’s permissions have changed, you’ll need to approve the update. It’s a security thing.
You can also choose whether you want your phone to notify you that updates are available. Open the Android Market app, tap the menu button, choose settings, and the flip the switch.
What do screen resolutions mean?
0Now that smartphones have evolved largely into touchscreen-centric multimedia devices, screen resolution and size have become some of the most important features. If the screen is too small or the resolution is too low, it can make the phone itself a hassle to use. Having a big screen is great, but it will look terrible if the resolution isn’t high enough.
Various resolutions have been created to help distinguish between each other, and here is a list of the most common ones you will find on Android powered devices:
- QVGA (320×240) Used in small phones like the Motorola Charm
- HVGA (480×320) Common in older devices like the HTC Hero
- WVGA (800×480) The most common these days for phones like the Evo 4G
- qHD (960×540) Used on high-end phones like the Atrix 4G
- WSVGA (1024×600) Common for tablets like the OG Samsung Galaxy Tab
- WXGA (1280×800) Used for the high-end tablets of today like the Motorola Xoom
Find and share an Android app
0Find a cool app in the Android Market and want to share it with your friends? You can do it right from the Android Market app. Just scroll down a bit until you find the “Sharing” section and tap on “Share this application.” You’ll then get an option to share it over Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, gmail, text message, Bluetooth, carrier pigeon, Pony Express … you get the idea. You’re not actually sharing the app itself, but the Market address for it. Give it a shot.
Clearing application defaults
0A great feature of Android is the ability to override many of the default applications for core features of the phones. You are free to pick Skyfire for browsing, DoubleTwist for music playing, and Handcent for text message sending. You can even use completely new launchers like LauncherPro or ADWLauncher. Doing this can leave you puzzled if you want to go back to using the “stock” services and we are here to help.
A built-in feature of Android is there for you in situations just like this. Go into Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage Applications and find the application whose defaults you want to remove. For instance: If you want to go back to your stock launcher after using LancherPro, find the LauncherPro app on the list and click on it. Scroll down a bit and click the “clear defaults” button and you will be set. Next time you do an action that you had set that app as the default for, Android will pop up a notification offering a list of apps that can be set as the default for that action. Select the “Use by default” check box, make your choice, and you are done.
What version of Android do I have?
0Android 2.3 Gingerbread is out of the bag and eventually will make its way to phones. But many of you are still waiting on Froyo. And in the meantime, there can be a bit of confusion over which version of Android you’re actually running. The easy way to check is to press the menu button, then go to settings. The scroll down (it’s usually at the bottom) and choose “About phone.” You should see a screen like the ones above. (Note that HTC phones may make you go deeper, into “Software Information.”
What you’re looking for is “Android version.” You should have Android 2.1-update 1, or Android 2.2, or Android 2.2.1. What you’re not looking for is “Software version.” On the Droid X (which you see above on the left), it may be a bit confusing, because the software version is 2.3.xxx. But that doesn’t mean you’re running Android 2.3. (Sorry.) No, just look for the Android Version line and you’ll be all set.
How to tell if your phone is rooted
0It’s a question get all the time: ”Is my phone rooted? How can I tell?” Maybe you picked up your new Android phone second-hand (it’s a great way to save some cash, and there are a lot of great used Android phones out there!), or the cryptic directions for rooting your particular phone seemed to forget an easy way to check if it was successful, or maybe your crazy brother was messing with it while you were in the shower.
No matter the reason, checking if your rooted is easy as pie, and is a quick introduction to a tool you might very well be using now that you’ve switched to the dark side and rooted your phone.
Open the Android Market and search for a terminal client. There’s several free ones, and they all work great. If I was forced to recommend one, I would choose Connectbot, but any of them will work.
Open the terminal app, read through the instructions (if any) you see, and you’ll be faced with a text entry prompt. If your prompt is the pound sign ( # ) — you’re rooted. If you see a dollar sign ( $ ), try entering the command “su” (without the quote marks). You might see a dialog asking for permission from the SuperUser app, which you can safely grant. If the prompt changes to the pound sign, you’re rooted.
Remember, root is the boss. You can do anything while you’re root, including many things that can “break” the OS and cause all sorts of trouble. Read all the guides and warnings before you try anything
Free, simple screen sharing
0Join.me removes the pain from screen sharing. Even your grandma should be able to share her screen with you. (Not that you would want her to.)
Here’s what you do:
- After downloading the app, direct your colleagues to https://join.me to start a meeting.
- Once they “Share” their screen, it generates a secure nine-digit meeting code.
- You type that into your join.me app and you see their screen. It offers a dial-in number too.
- Phone too small? If you have a pc nearby, just click on the link from your friend. Voila, you see their screen! Nothing to install.
Speed up (+secure) your internet and save battery life
0Y5 is a battery saver app that automatically connects to known WIFI locations. If there are no known spots, it turns off your WIFI and saves battery.
With congested mobile internet connections, most providers are throttling your speed when you go over. Connecting over WIFI is the only way to speed-up your browsing.
Y5 also makes sure you don’t connect to unauthorized WIFI connections. Thats how Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook account was was hacked (also Ashton Kutcher’s twitter).
D-evil
Please original rom!
13 hours ago
Hans
das ist gut!
1 week ago
Thepcdoctorreno
there is a update to android 3.2 but the links that are given don't work, has anyone found the update anywhere else?
2 weeks ago
flor
Me regalaron uno hace un año,empezó a fallar la pantalla,estuvo un mes en el taller,y volvió con la misma averia o peor,lo he vuelto a […]
3 weeks ago
Walney_sousa
Where is download rom original bmorn v7 pro?
1 month ago
