Develop Bugs

Various questions

Hey guys, new to Android. First time ever last night when I got the mytouch slide. So I have a few questions that may make veterans laugh...
1. Why does it seem like there are a bunch of things running on my phone that I don't want running or ever use? Is there a way to kill them like with Task Manager on WinMo?
2. Is there's a setting that stops things from always being connected and draining battery? Amazon mp3 store I didn't even ever open and I see it in Running Services. How is that possible? Maybe I'm not understanding something?
3. When you back out of an app, is it closed? Or still running?
4. Any way to COMPLETELY delete certain apps from the phone?
THANK YOU GUYS!

Yes there's a task killer check market,in addition you can go to settings,applications,manage applications and end services yourself.that answers your 1st 3 questions,on to question 4.you cannot currently uninstall preloaded apps but if and when the phone gets rooted you will be able to remove them through adb or terminal.in addition eventually after this phone gets rooted people will create custom roms that won't come preloaded with all that bloatware.

Jerzeeloon is right, but I'm going to add some detail since you said you were new to Android.
1. Why does it seem like there are a bunch of things running on my phone that I don't want running or ever use?
THERE ARE.
Is there a way to kill them like with Task Manager on WinMo?
SORT OF. ASSUMING YOU HAVEN'T ADDED ANY OTHER TYPE OF MANAGEMENT APP, YOU CAN USE ASTRO WHICH IS PRE-INSTALLED. OPEN UP YOUR APP DRAWER AND SELECT ASTRO. ONCE OPEN, HIT THE PHYSICAL MENU BUTTON AND SELECT TOOLS, THEN PROCESS MANAGER. FOR NOW, I WOULD ONLY USE THE APPS TAB AND YOU CAN CLOSE OUT RUNNING SERVICES THIS WAY. YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD ADVANCED TASK MANAGER OR ADVANCED TASK KILLER WHICH WILL ASSIST IN THIS PROCESS. BOTH ARE GOOD, TRY THEM AND CHOOSE WHICH YOU LIKE BEST. MANY SERVICES MAY BE RUNNING THAT SEEMS TO BE NON-USED, BUT ARE ACTUALLY WORKING WITH SOMETHING ELSE OR ARE RUNNING IDLE OR IN BACKGROUND.
2. Is there's a setting that stops things from always being connected and draining battery?
WHILE A FANTASTIC PHONE, THE SENSE USER INTERFACE AND TMOBILE BOTH RUN MANY APPS THAT WE INDIVIDUALLY MAY NOT WANT OR USE. FOR INSTANCE, I USE HANDCENT FOR TEXT AND K9 IN PLACE OF THE STOCK MAIL (NOT GMAIL). SO I GO TO SETTINGS-APPLICATIONS-MANAGE APPLICATIONS AND ENTER INTO THESE APPS WHICH I DON'T USE AND IF THEY ARE RUNNING, HAVE A 'FORCE STOP' OPTION. AS LONG AS ANOTHER APP ISN'T SOMEHOW USING IT OR YOU'VE SET DEFAULTS TO A DIFFERENT APP, THEN IT SHOULD STAY CLOSED/NON-RUNNING. I ALSO DID THIS WITH FRIENDSTREAM, PEEP, FACEBOOK, ETC WHICH I DON'T USE ON THIS PHONE. YOU SHOULDN'T REALLY NEED TO USE A TASK MANAGER VERY OFTEN. YOU'LL GET DIFFERING REPORTS FROM USERS; SOME SAY THEY 'END ALL' SEVERAL TIMES DAILY, SOME SAY THEY NEVER USE IT. I PREFER SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE THOUGH I NEVER 'END ALL'. THIS JUST FORCES ALL THE APPS THAT NEED TO BE RUNNING TO RESTART WHICH IS NOT USUALLY NECESSARY. MORE LATER...
Amazon mp3 store I didn't even ever open and I see it in Running Services. How is that possible? Maybe I'm not understanding something?
I'M PERPLEXED BY THIS, TOO. BUT I'M NOT A DEVELOPER OR CODER, SO WHAT DO I KNOW?
3. When you back out of an app, is it closed? Or still running?
FROM WHAT I'VE READ, SOME APPS WILL CLOSE WHEN YOU BACK ALL THE WAY OUT. SOME WILL CLOSE WHEN YOU LEAVE THE APP (BY HITTING HOME). SOME WON'T CLOSE AT ALL; WHICH IS THE "MORE LATER". THIS IS THE SCENARIO THAT I USE TASK MANAGERS (TM). IF I'M IN AND OUT OF MULTIPLE APPS IN A PORTION OF DAY, I MAY OPEN UP A TM AND CLOSE SOME OF THOSE APPS, I.E. MAPS, ASTRO, TASK MGR, HANDCENT, ALOQA, ETC. BE CAREFUL TO NOT CLOSE OUT APPS THAT ARE SET UP TO SYNC, LIKE YOUR MAIL APPS.
4. Any way to COMPLETELY delete certain apps from the phone?
NOT THE PRE-INSTALLED ONES. STOCK-ANDROID IS THE SAME AS LINUX ON YOUR PC. HAVING A CUSTOM UI IS AKIN TO WHAT COMPANIES LIKE REDHAT TRIED TO DO WITH AN OPEN-SOURCE OS. SO WHILE THERE ARE MANY NICE FEATURES, APPS, WIDGETS, ETC PRE-INSTALLED, UNFORTUNATELY YOU DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO UNINSTALL THEM...YET. THIS PHONE WILL BECOME ROOTED. THIS WILL GIVE YOU THE OPTION OF ADDING CUSTOM ROM'S WHICH WILL ALLOW YOU DIRECT CONTROL OVER WHAT IS ON THE PHONE. THE NEXT THING WE ARE WAITING FOR IS THE NEXT OTA UPDATE, FROYO (2.2). THIS WILL BRING THE ABILITY TO RUN APPS FROM THE SD CARD (APPS2SD) WHICH WILL KEEP THE INTERNAL ROM MEMORY SPACE MOSTLY FREE. FOR ME AT LEAST, THIS WILL HELP ALLEVIATE THE CONSTERNATION I HAVE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO REMOVE THE BLOATWARE. FOR NOW, CHECK OUT WHAT IS ALREADY ON THERE AND IF THERE IS SOMETHING YOU LIKE, SEARCH THE MARKET TO SEE WHAT OTHER SIMILAR APPS ARE AVAILABLE. I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE ONLY ADD-ON APP I HAVEN'T "REPLACED" WITH SOMETHING ELSE IS THE SENSE WEATHER. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, I USE HANDCENT FOR SMS, K9 FOR OTHER MAIL, SEISMIC FOR TWITTER, ADVANCED TASK MANAGER, SHOP SAVVY FOR BAR CODE, DOLPHIN FOR BROWSER, AND NEWSROB FOR RSS.

Man, you guys are awesome. Informative and friendly.
I HAD two questions but figured on e of them out so here's the one I'm still stuck on...
- Is there an app that will allow me to assign a specific ringtone to specific notifications? SMS, email, voicemail, etc?
Thanks guys!

You can do that by going into the setting in the app.. Example, go into the sms app, hit menu button (3 lines button), settings, notifications

Well that would certainly add a song to notifications for you but it wouldn't allow yo to pick a different song for SMS, MMS, emails, etc.

Are you looking to add different notifications for different people within SMS, email, etc or just to the different apps?
Within each separate app, you will have a 'settings' app, usually navigated by the Menu button. Within this you can set the notification settings. You can easily create your own sounds using Ringdroid and use them also. For example, I used the embedded voice recorder for one of my email accounts linked to my Amazon Seller account. So now when I receive email (via K9) to that account, I hear, "Cha-Ching!...Money!" (this makes me happy 10-15 times a day when that account syncs.)
tinpanalley said:
Man, you guys are awesome. Informative and friendly.
I HAD two questions but figured on e of them out so here's the one I'm still stuck on...
- Is there an app that will allow me to assign a specific ringtone to specific notifications? SMS, email, voicemail, etc?
Thanks guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

fl_jeep said:
Is there a way to kill them like with Task Manager on WinMo?
SORT OF. ASSUMING YOU HAVEN'T ADDED ANY OTHER TYPE OF MANAGEMENT APP, YOU CAN USE ASTRO WHICH IS PRE-INSTALLED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since when is Astro pre-installed? It certainly isn't on my phone...

fermunky said:
Since when is Astro pre-installed? It certainly isn't on my phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it is possible I installed it from my SD. I was in a tizzy with my new phone.

fl_jeep said:
Are you looking to add different notifications for different people within SMS, email, etc or just to the different apps?
Within each separate app, you will have a 'settings' app, usually navigated by the Menu button. Within this you can set the notification settings. You can easily create your own sounds using Ringdroid and use them also. For example, I used the embedded voice recorder for one of my email accounts linked to my Amazon Seller account. So now when I receive email (via K9) to that account, I hear, "Cha-Ching!...Money!" (this makes me happy 10-15 times a day when that account syncs.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, what I'm trying to do is have one ringtone for emails, another for notifications (appointments), another for text messages, and so on. If I can actually assign a ringtone to different email accounts, that would be even better!
The problem is, when I go into settings for my email account, in the notifications settings all I get is, email notifications on or off, notification sound on or off, and notification vibrate on or off. No choice to select an actual ringtone.

tinpanalley said:
Yes, what I'm trying to do is have one ringtone for emails, another for notifications (appointments), another for text messages, and so on. If I can actually assign a ringtone to different email accounts, that would be even better!
The problem is, when I go into settings for my email account, in the notifications settings all I get is, email notifications on or off, notification sound on or off, and notification vibrate on or off. No choice to select an actual ringtone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock Mail app might not have the option, but Gmail and SMS do. If you want a different notification sound in general for email and voicemail just hit menu, settings, sounds and display. There you will see the option to change notification sound.

So can you guys tell me which are the best email clients that exist for Android then? The most feature rich maybe? Well, best functioning is more important.
And secondly, if I use another email program, then does the email page all the way on the left become completely useless? Does it get populated with the emails from your new client? Can you delete the page?
Thanks!

I'm assuming you mean a widget?? If so you just touch and hold it down.. it'll turn red then drag it down to the trash. Gone! Then I would go into the mail app and sign off so its not constantly checking in the background and stuff. As for another feature rich mail app, the only experience I have with one is K9 and it worked quite well and has great reviews. Look it up in the market.
If you want to get the widget back for what ever reason you long click once again in the empty area, select widgets then mail.

Ok, cool, I thought it was a whole page, I didn't think it was just a big massive widget. This is more customizable than I thought!! Loving this phone more and more each day.

turboyo said:
Then I would go into the mail app and sign off so its not constantly checking in the background and stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do I have to do to make sure the HTC Mail app doesn't keep working in the background? Just kill my email account?
Is there a better SMS app?

first off, take off all widgets that are not necessary.. only widget i keep on is power control and clock. secondly, disable all sync that is unneccessary for you, under your accounts and sync menu in settings. that should save you a good deal of cpu usage and battery

I love K9 for my non-primary Gmail account. They also just updated it giving it some great new features such as viewing your mail from all accounts in one stream. They also have some nice batch options that I like and it's easy to dump trash along with compacting and expunging the messages from cache.
That indeed gives you the ability to assign different notifications for each account.

Hey,
I tried K-9 but right away, I got a picture in an email as an attachment that opened up all corrupted. Doesn't happen on the stock email program and I tested the same email there and it worked fine. I cant rely unfortunately on an email program that shows my picture attachments like this so I had to uninstall K-9. Anyone know why this happened? I got a few bars of the image across the top and the rest of the frame was black, almost dark grey.

Just got the new desire today, a few questions

Ok got the phone through Orange and I am currently personalising the device.
Couple of questions
1. When I try to download some Apps it is saying they can get access to my Location, Text Messages, Memory Card etc etc is this anything to worry about, wouldn't like people having access to that information.
2. Do you reccomend the Anti-Virus apps, by that I mean is there a HIGH risk of my details being cloned using the phone online purchase items?
3. Why does it make you create a GMail account?
4. Can you put a screensaver on rather than it locking after 10 seconds?
5. How do I set the weather homescreen to my current location as it always reverts back to UK when I go back to homescreen after changing it unless I am doing it wrong?
6. Can you get MSN Messenger on it?
7. Also everytime I try and go online like Youtube etc it states there is no internet connection, I then have to go into settings and turn on Mobile Network everytime I want to go online, is there not a way where it will automatically connect to the internet everytime I want to open an App etc or do you just leave the mobile network constantly on?
Thanks

1. nothing really to worry about, most of these apps genuinely have a reason to access these things, a messaging client would for example need access to a LOT of your phone.
2. this is a very recent thing, never heard of or heard of anyone who has had viruses on android.
3. gmail is required so that you can back up all your data to it, and it is also linked to the market, so if you pay for an app, and then factory reset your phone, you won't have to repay for the app because it's registered in your gmail name (plus it's a google phone
4. no, and this would really drain the battery if you don't let the phone sleep when not in use.
5. drag the clock widget over the bin, re-add the clock widget to your homescreen, it will give you a list of locations to select from, choose 'my location'.
6. the official msn messenger is only available on 3 but there are many in the market which work perfectly such as 'msn talk'.
7. you can leave it on but this will drain the battery, add a widget to your homescreen, click on settings, and add mobile internet and wifi, this will out on/off toggles on your homescreens.
your welcome

1. Depends on what the app is supposed to do. If it requests information that has nothing to do with it's function, then think twice about installing it.
2. I am personally used to the security that Linux has to offer and as long as you use trusted apps and don't give root access to shady apps, you should be o OK without security software.
3. Because it is a Google OS that uses Google services which, in turn, require a Google account.
4. I don't know about this, but I do know it would kill your battery, even if possible.
6. Try eBuddy from the Market, it's a good service.
Hope this helped!

cgrec92 said:
1. nothing really to worry about, most of these apps genuinely have a reason to access these things, a messaging client would for example need access to a LOT of your phone.
2. this is a very recent thing, never heard of or heard of anyone who has had viruses on android.
3. gmail is required so that you can back up all your data to it, and it is also linked to the market, so if you pay for an app, and then factory reset your phone, you won't have to repay for the app because it's registered in your gmail name (plus it's a google phone
4. no, and this would really drain the battery if you don't let the phone sleep when not in use.
5. drag the clock widget over the bin, re-add the clock widget to your homescreen, it will give you a list of locations to select from, choose 'my location'.
6. the official msn messenger is only available on 3 but there are many in the market which work perfectly such as 'msn talk'.
7. you can leave it on but this will drain the battery, add a widget to your homescreen, click on settings, and add mobile internet and wifi, this will out on/off toggles on your homescreens.
your welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the very helpful respose, in reference to question 1 I am trying to download novelty soundboards, shazam etc which are asking for my location, call identity and SD Card info, surely they wouldn't need that type of information. Can I presume that because these apps are on the official market that the developers are reputable and regulated not to misuse the information?
One Again Thanks

duffbear249 said:
Thanks for the very helpful respose, in reference to question 1 I am trying to download novelty soundboards, shazam etc which are asking for my location, call identity and SD Card info, surely they wouldn't need that type of information. Can I presume that because these apps are on the official market that the developers are reputable and regulated not to misuse the information?
One Again Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most of the time yes, just don't install anything suspicious, shazam might need your location to find a store where you can buy the music and sdcard so that it can download the songs to your sdcard, there really is more to an app than you think

cgrec92 said:
most of the time yes, just don't install anything suspicious, shazam might need your location to find a store where you can buy the music and sdcard so that it can download the songs to your sdcard, there really is more to an app than you think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent Point, Thanks for clearing that up.

Does turning off background data save lots of battery?

I really don't need or use it i dont need weather facebook or twitter updates does turning it off help battery a lot does anyone know?
And is there a way to still access the market is don't like enabling it to use it bc i forget to turn it back off and there's no toggle widgets for it.. thanks
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Idk about a lot of bg data but it will save some at least. What do you mean about the market? Could you explain more?
Swyped from my sexy EVO.

The market requires background data to varify services etc... for the apps you mentioned just disable auto-sync. Also keep display brightness low, wifi and Bluetooth off when not in use, check all app settings to ensure they aren't running automatically or frequently updating and also turn vibrate/haptic feedback off if possible.

Yahoo mail doesn't like me when I disable background data -_- how do I take care of that?
Swyped from my sexy EVO.

jacoballen22 said:
Yahoo mail doesn't like me when I disable background data -_- how do I take care of that?
Swyped from my sexy EVO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Find a different app to access yahoo

Any suggestions? Lol
Swyped from my sexy EVO.

jacoballen22 said:
Any suggestions? Lol
Swyped from my sexy EVO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yahoo! Mail and the Market do require background data. Market I understand. Yahoo! Mail, not so much.
In any case, you can use the built-in E-mail app to get to Yahoo! (not Gmail, sometimes labeled "Corporate Email", it's the little envelope with the gold stamp coming out)
Check this thread from earlier today for the settings:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=962674

Background does save a lot battery but I use the market and some other apps a lot , so I just leave it on, one thing that can save you a battery is using WiFi , like if you at home and you have WiFi use WiFi instead it will help , and the mail app (blue envelope for HTC sense ) let you set up yahoo, is not push but you can set up how often you want it check and it does appear read when you check online
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

This didn't work when I first got my phone but it works now? How did you do this magic trick!?
Swyped from my sexy EVO.

Try k9 from market. It is a heck of a email program and free. I removed gmail and yahoo email along with mail.apk. If handles all my general email in a tight package. And to disable background update will save battery life since 3G does not Ned to ba abler.

Yes it does save lots of your battery! Just turn off ALL internet access. Your phone will go for days and days without needing a charge.
(Home menu with free space for an additional icon) Menu Button -> + Add to Home -> Widget -> Settings -> Mobile Network.
When you are not using the phone anything other than phone calls, turn off the Mobile network. All background updates like weather, e-mail, etc will stop until you turn them back on.
(Home menu with free space for an additional icon) Menu Button -> + Add to Home -> Widget -> Settings -> Sync All
This is great to manually turn on the Internet and have the phone sync up all the services then turn off the mobile network.

[Q] Child Proof

I bought a phone with a bad ESN so I will not be able to add it to my second line, Damm you ebay..
I decided to give the phone to my 7 year old and i want to put the phone on lock down, im removing everything i can including mms, phone apk, and everything not relating to playing games and using gtalk with wifi.
i want her to have games, gtalk, camera/camcorder and maybe just maybe a browser.
any safe ways to do this? any apps to password protect accessing the phone seetings?

Kids place is a pretty good app to keep the young ones from messing things up.

You can root and delete the apps you dontt want them to have access to. I believe there is a disable option for most system apps in the application manager.

thank you,, ill try that app and will be deleting most apps and see if the phone doesnt freeze up

there Is also a kid friendly (content filtered) browser in the market. can't remember the name at the moment but it might help u out.
Sent from my BMF-D710

[Q] Transfer from Nexus S -> Galaxy Nexus help!

So my Galaxy Nexus is coming in the mail either today (May 9) or tomorrow (May 10).
I have a Nexus S and A LOT of stuff on it; apps, pictures, music, saved data, email crap, etc.
Is there anyway to transfer all of it to my new Galaxy Nexus??? Like is there some sort of Google service that can do that?

C'mon guys! Someone HAS to know an answer......

I transferred the data (pics, music, etc) from my old phone to a folder on my comp and then transferred it back to the Nexus. Is that an option for you?

WiredPirate said:
I transferred the data (pics, music, etc) from my old phone to a folder on my comp and then transferred it back to the Nexus. Is that an option for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I was going to do that, but on google.com/nexus it says that you can use some sort of Google thing to transfer all of your stuff.... I was just wondering if that would work and how to do it, but if not; Ill just do it the way you said.

Chubby_Skunk said:
Yeah I was going to do that, but on google.com/nexus it says that you can use some sort of Google thing to transfer all of your stuff.... I was just wondering if that would work and how to do it, but if not; Ill just do it the way you said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
? .. what google stuff?
just copy paste it over.

Chubby_Skunk said:
Yeah I was going to do that, but on google.com/nexus it says that you can use some sort of Google thing to transfer all of your stuff.... I was just wondering if that would work and how to do it, but if not; Ill just do it the way you said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you talking about beam?
that works on apps not stuff

Chubby_Skunk said:
Yeah I was going to do that, but on google.com/nexus it says that you can use some sort of Google thing to transfer all of your stuff.... I was just wondering if that would work and how to do it, but if not; Ill just do it the way you said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The half a paragraph that google means, if you have all your pictures synced with google plus, and have all your music on the google music server, then you would be able to get that back with just signing in, hopefully you sync your contacts with google that also will come back. The apps part well I always found their app restore alittle problematic, it does keep a record of your apps installed, and they will reinstall if you opt into that, but you may get a ton of apps tthat you deleted that may get thrown in there too.
I have not used app brain in a long while but they did have a feature that scans your installed apps and lets save that to your profile, that will be your best choice if that is still a feature. But app data does not get restored, for that you will have too copy over some folders, they should mostly be in android/data but YMMV with that and may be hit or miss if the data gets restored. On a side note if/when you try that install the apps first then copy the android/data folders back over and then restart your phone.
These are your options if your not rooted I may be wrong, but I have restored some games data for a friend by copying that android/data to their new phone
I really hope with google giving out personnel cloud storage that they include a opt in to have your app data stored in their. For normal consumers they do not know xda they do not know root. Having a means to include seemless app backup would be great as for normal people digging through folders to backup app data in case their phone breaks is not something they think about

Ok..
Go to google.com/nexus
Click on the "Beyond Smart" link/shortcut thingy
then read what it says....
Am i missing something?

Chubby_Skunk said:
Ok..
Go to google.com/nexus
Click on the "Beyond Smart" link/shortcut thingy
then read what it says....
Am i missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u need to use google's cloud service to do that.
it's like google version of dropbox.

Chubby_Skunk said:
Ok..
Go to google.com/nexus
Click on the "Beyond Smart" link/shortcut thingy
then read what it says....
Am i missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's referring to Google Backup; if you have an option on your Nexus S to b/u your apps/settings to Google servers, then it will automatically restore your apps, and some settings (wifi passwords, etc...) to your phone. It won't restore any data associated with these apps however, i.e. you made to to the 99th level on some game, etc... It's not a special cloud service you have to sign up for, but you do have to check a box or two. It's handy, but not as potentially awesome as they make it sound. Look in the settings menu on your current phone, option will be under Backup and Restore or alike, and you'll be prompted for these options the first time you fire up your new phone.
IF you're backed up currently, it will auto download your apps (including the free ones) to your phone when you sign into your Google acct.
No idea if it works in going from Nexus S to Galaxy Nexus however.
Edit: pic in this post
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23420998&postcount=2141

oooh I understand now. Thanks for the help guys!