Hi!
I am looking for an easy way to customize the today screen to my wishes (add app/folder links, change number of calendar entries displayed maybe add rss feeds and so on), the same with the start menu (add folders instead of programs, ignore the limit of entries that can be added etc.), and finally I would like to arrange the PROGRAMM, SETTINGS, and GAMES folders as I like it.
I know that there are several ROMs out there and I tried some, but there was nothing I found suitable for my needs and in most cases I encountered problems that have not taken care of. So I don't want a ROM, I don't want SPB or sthg. like that (it slows down the system considerable), I just want a tool that allows me to do the modification I described above.
Any suggestions or ideas besides "do it yourself"?
thanx and regards loc
Click on the "Panels" Button .... :-D
Actually I've found the Sony Ericsson Panel quite useful...
It has RSS feeds, various calendar and clock settings, shows you the weather information, shows your appointments and tasks, has some really good shortcuts for airplane mode, wifi, bluetooth and ring settings. Besides you can add shorcuts to the programs, contacts and files that you want.
For the today screen there are a lot of plug-ins, but honestly I haven't tried any since I alwas use the SE Panel. I'm sorry for not being of any help there.
You want to organize your progams list, right?
I think I can help you there.
Just go to the File explorer and search the "Windows" folder, in there go to "Start Menu" and then "Programs", there you'll have all the shortcuts that are in your program list, and you can arrange em as you wish (move them, add new folders, etc).
Is there a way to setup multiple contacts lists? I would like to have 1 list for friends and a separate list for business rather than having a single list of all of my contacts.
Thanks in advance.
Edit your contacts and give them a category. Edit them by scrolling to the bottom and press "Others" (translated from my Chinese version, so look for something similar). By default there's Personal, Work, Holiday, etc., and you can define more yourself.
Once you have contacts with categories, you can open the menu (right button) in contacts, and choose "Filter".
Thanks. That works. Is there a way to set a default filter? The filter always goes away when I leave my contacts page and return.
I have no idea about how to make the filter stick... I doubt it's recorded in the registry at all.
It might work if you keep the Contacts running... i.e. by switching tasks, or by adding it to the registry so that it is not closed when you press "X".
1: Turn off the animated weather on the home screen. I don't want any wallpaper
2: Rename the favorites tab to Contacts, and remove the whole favorites screen. when I go to that tab, I want to see the screen you get if you hit the "all contacts" button in the lower left corner.
3: remove the "Add push internet page" links on the internet tab
4: remove the mail preview on the mail tab. when i go to that tab, I want to see my inbox as if I clicked the inbox link in the lower left corner
5: get the tasks on the home screen
It looks like you would need to modify the tabs to make this happen, is that possible? All the searching I have done only show ways to change the pictres or colors, not to actually get at the coding that drives the functionality of the tab. Some guy coded a calendar tab for an older verison of TouchFlo but never says how he actually did it or what langauge/IDE he used, so it looks like it is possible.
Also, is there a definitive list of all the "hidden" tabs that you can turn on (like Sound Settings, CommManager, etc)
Can any one suggest where to clear the defaults for the home button (Middle one),
Not exactly sure what you mean by default, as you can moving/create widgets/links for your home page (using long click action). Also there is a more flexible free app called ADW.Launcher for organizing both home and and your complete catalog of apps.
Settings - applications - manage apps - whatever launcher you use - clear defaults.
Avoid task killers
It is best to avoid task killers such as Advanced Task Killer. Android is designed to automatically pre-load certain applications, even if you don't load them yourself. If it starts to run low on memory, it will smartly unload the oldest running apps automatically.
Manually killing tasks will only mean they get loaded in memory again. Task killers can make the phone slow, laggy, or drain battery life more quickly.
Bookmark a contact on your homescreen
To bookmark a contact on your homescreen, long press on the home screen background and select Shortcuts. Then select Direct dial.
If you call someone regularly this can be useful as you will have a shortcut to them handily placed on your homescreen
Bookmark a web page on your homescreen
To bookmark a website on your homescreen, go into your browser and find the bookmark of the page you want to create a shortcut for.
Then long press on the bookmark and select Add Shortcut to Home.
If you regularly visit certain websites, this can be handy as you will have a shortcut to the site on your homescreen.
Create folders to tidy your Apps
If you find yourself with too many Apps on the homescreen, then you can create folders to organise them.
To start, simply press and hold on an App and drag it over the top of another App. The App should change colour/shape. Then release your finger and the two Apps will be combined into a folder.
You can then drag more Apps into this folder using the same process.
To give your folder a label, simply long press on the folder and you will be able to enter a name.
Double tap for a full stop (period)
While typing emails or notes, you can simply tap the space key twice and the phone will insert a full stop / period
Install new keyboard to improve accuracy
The standard Android keyboard is good, but not great. There are many third party keyboards available which will improve your typing speed and accuracy.
Go to the Android Market and search for 'Keyboard' to see some great alternatives, many of which are more accurate and make typing much easier.
A good one is GoKeyboard.
If you see a warning saying the keyboard will collect all information (including credit cards) just ignore this. This is just a security feature that Android shows for every third-party keyboard that you install.
Accents and special characters
If you want to type non-English letters (eg those with an accent), long-press on the relevant letter. A list of options will appear for you to select.
Access the scientific calculator
To access the scientific calculator, rotate the phone to landscape mode.
The calculator will change to a scientific one
Add email or phone number from text
To add an email or phone number to your contacts from a text message, you can long-press on the email / phone number. Then select Add to contacts
Add widget to the homescreen
To add a widget, go to the homescreen and press the Apps icon (the circle with 6 dots). Then you will see a list of your Apps with the word Apps and Widgets at the top. Press Widgets, then you will be presented with a list of available widgets.
To add a widget, press and hold on it and then position it where you want
Android Easter egg
There is an Easter egg hidden in the Android operating system. To see it, go to your Homescreen, then press Menu - Settings - About phone.
Then tap on the Android version option 5 times and you will get a surprise.
Sometimes it doesn't work, so try a couple of times. By the way don't expect to see an actual Easter Egg. That is just the name given to things hidden inside software or operating systems.
Auto focus the camera
When taking photos or videos, tap the screen where you want to focus on. The phone will automatically adjust the settings to improve the image or video
Bring up more predicted words
If you have word prediction enabled while you are typing, you can long press the middle word that is suggested. This will bring up a menu allowing you to select various other suggested words.
Browse websites in full-screen mode
If you want to browse in full screen mode, without the URL bar at the top of the browser, then you can enable this..
Open the standard browser and press Menu - Settings - Labs. Then put a check mark under Full Screen .
To get access to the browser options (that are now invisible), there is now a neat hidden menu. Slide your finger in from the left or right of the screen. A circular menu will appear with various options.
Capture a still shot while recording video
To capture a still shot while recording a video, simply tap the screen while you are recording.
This will save a still image.
Change keyboards
To change keyboards (if you have additional keyboards installed), you can switch between them by pressing the small keyboard symbol in the top left of your screen. You will need to be in keyboard input mode (i.e. typing something) for this to work.
Note: you need to have more than one keyboard installed for this to work
Change quick response texts
The phone has the ability to send quick response text messages if your phone is ringing but you can't answer it.
To change these, go to your Dialer App - Settings - Quick responses. You can only have 4 of them and you may need to edit existing ones.
Change the backlight screen timeout
To change the backlight screen timeout, go to Settings - Display - Screen. Then choose the screen time out duration.
You can also tell the phone screen to always stay lit when it is plugged in via USB. Go to Settings - Developer Options. Then check Stay Awake.
Change the screen brightness
To change the screen brightness, start from the Homescreen and press Menu - Settings - Display - Brightness.
Then choose the desired brightness setting. You can also select Automatic brightness to let the phone decide for you.
If you have auto-brightness enabled, you can also press, hold and slide the top notification bar left and right. The brightness will increase and decrease accordingly.
Check phone status and battery usage
To find out information about Signal Strength, Network Information, Remaining Battery Time and Battery Usage (by Application), go to your Homescreen - Menu - Settings - About Phone.
Check the firmware version
To check your firmware version, start from the Homescreen and press Menu - Settings - About Phone- software version
This should list your Android version, Build number and Model Number.
Copy files between your phone and PC using WiFi
To copy files between your phone and PC, go to the Android Play Market and download an app called AirDroid.
This is an extremely useful App that connects your phone to your PC wirelessly, allowing you to move files and many, many other things.
Copying iTunes songs to Android
If you have decided to ditch your iPhone in favour of Android, then there is a simple way to take your iTunes music, playlists and album art with you.
Simply go the Android Marketplace and download a Free App called Easy Phone Tunes. You will also need the computer version of the software, so go to http://easyphonetunes.com and download it from there.
Then, when that is done, turn your phone into a USB storage device (this will vary from device to device, but instructions are on the website).
Once your phone is connected to your computer, open the computer version of the software and select your device from the Easy Phone Tunes list. Then follow the instructions to Sync your media
Create folders in your Quick Launch bar
If you have used up all of your Quick Launch spaces, then there is a trick.
Once it is full, press and drag an App from the homescreen and move it over the top of an App in the Quick Launch area. Then release your finger. This will create a folder containing the original App plus the new one. This is a great way to have access to regularly used App
Create shortcut to websites on your home screen
To create a shortcut to a website on your homescreen, go to your browser bookmarks.
Then long press on a site and select Add shortcut to Home
Customise your favourites tray
At the bottom of each homescreen is your favourites tray, which consists of 5 icons. You can customise it by adding icons to the tray. If it's full however, you will first need to remove some.
To remove an icon, simply press and hold an icon. Then drag it to your desktop.
Then to add a new one, simply drag an icon from your homescreen to the favourites tray.
Enable / disable vibrate / haptic feedback when you type
To disable / enable vibrate (also called haptic feedback) when you type or press the screen, go to Settings - Language & input - Settings.
Then uncheck Vibrate on keypress.
Enable sideload of Apps
If you want to install Apps outside of the Android Market (called sideloading), then go to Settings - Security - Unknown sources.
Note: use at your own risk.
Help, I have forgotten my unlock pattern
If you have forgotten your custom unlock pattern, then don't panic.
After 5 unsuccessful tries a button should appear saying 'Forgot pattern'. Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password.
The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern. If you don't have a Gmail account, then you might have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.
Hide folders or files
If you want to hide folders or files from being index or displayed, simple put a . (full stop / period) before the file or folder name.
Make volume / music louder
WARNING: Making your volume or music louder can damage your hearing.
Most phones have their volumes limited by local laws to protect our hearing. There is a way to boost your volume however. Go to the Android Market and download an App called Volume+ (Sound Boost). There is also a free version called Volume+ Free.
You will need to root your phone for this App to work.
Make your phone run faster
Here are the top 5 tips to make your phone run faster:
1) Use only essential widgets on your homescreen - each widget consumes memory and processing power which can slow your down your phone.
2) Uninstall apps that you don't use - after awhile your phone can get cluttered as some Apps are designed to always run in the background. If you rarely use an App, then uninstall it to free up memory and CPU resource.
3) Install Apps to your phone memory - if you have an SDCard, always install Apps to the phone memory, which can be accessed faster. If you have Apps on the SDCard, then move them back to the phone memory with an App called Move2SD available from the Play Market.
4) Use Static rather than Live wallpapers - Live wallpapers consume processing power and memory. Unless you really must have them, uninstall them.
5) Kill tasks occasionally - Some Apps will run in the background indefinitely unless you kill them. Most of them won't cause a problem, but it pays to check your running tasks from time to time. Hold down your Home key and check the Task Manager.
One last thing: Don't use Task Killers. Android manages tasks very well and Task Killers just make your phone unstable and can slow it down further
note this guide is mainy to help the people who didnt recieved a manual instructions booklet along with their phone like my country(INDIA)
CREDITS-paarthdesai
help
please help....my wildfire s restarts itself when i get calls,but its ok to when i charge it...it fell in the water. Is there a way to sort this out.
thnx bhai.. can u suggest me some essential apps for android??
I should add something about using task managers. Using task manager is a good thing to free up some ram quickly if required. Some good task managers like ''advanced task manager'' has a feature of ''ignore list'' in which such apps which automatically start or always run in background can be put to exception from getting killed. Indeed, restarting apps consume battery and CPU resources but I am mentioning some tricks for those who want to use task manager and also want better performing phone.
1-Use good task manager which has ''ignore apps'' type feature in it.
2- Utilizing this feature, add ''People'', ''Contacts'', ''Messaging'', ''Settings'', ''Music'' and all other apps which are set to ''auto start'' or always running in background (antivirus, facebook, Whatsapp, Google+, Google maps etc) to exception. In this way, these will not get killed and won't slow down phone while getting restarted.
is this really tips and tricks for wildfire s ?
'coz i cant rename a folder, either deleting an app from recent history