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XDA Mini S Phone operation problem

Hi, I have recently bought the 02 XDA Mini S (UK edition) off o2.
I am havin the following problem:
If I turn on my phone and let it load at the today screen:
1. use normal programs such as file explorer, IE
2. Then open up phone (so it shows the keyboard, start> Phone)
3. When I go into task manager to close programs that I have previously opened the tasks have no text but have a picture next to them. if i select say a program that has the file explorer sign next to it and then select switch to it will open a different program, for example IE or the phone keypad to dial numbers
4. If i close all normal programs in ther i can then move down and select programs that appear not to be there, for example the screen is white but something is selected because there is a blue selection box around that item.
5. I can close all programs fine, but then if i go into Start > phone, nothing seems to happen. i can get into the phone option through the contacts menu but if i press the "keypad" left soft key nothing seems to happen.
I have identified that when i go into task manager and then click Menu > View > change mode a task named " cprog.exe" has a title phone when the phone keypad is open. When i end the phone task this title of phone disappears.
I have tried running a new task to get it to open but nothing happens. I took the phone to several mobile shops and showed the blokes in there. generally they have all said that it appears to be a glitch in the software and that I should ask for a replacement.
One of my mates has one and he has the same problem so i think it could be a problem across all the XDA Mini S's does anyone else have this same problem. Can you let me know how to over come it (So far my only way of overcoming this problem is to turn the phone off, and then on again to acess the phone keypad again but this is very frustrating)
Cheers all

was having the same problem myself i think its something to do with task manager closing down key pad.
do a google for magic button and use that to close down running programs instead of task manager should sort it out.

cheers mate, is there any that you can recomed (ie the one that you have installed yourself) I don't want to muck up the phone.
cheers

here you go.since i started using this i have not had the keypad problem.
http://www.trancreative.com/mb.aspx
hope this is what you are looking for.[/code]

sorry link does not work i`ll try again;
http://www.trancreative.com/mb.aspx

ahh cool mate, your a life saver! can i easily uninstall this if i wish to, how would i go about it!
cheers for all you help

once its installed, how do i open this to close selected programs? cheers

use memory manager)
you're shutting down the phone app. don't shut it down or better still use settings/system/memory/running programs and stop what you want or stop all. you don't need to download stuff. it's been covered here before.

[Q] App to show all the running apps in tray?

Does something like that exist? I would like to see all the running programs as icons in the tray on today screen. So I don't forget something running and eating up my battery.
I know I can press the upper right corner to see these apps and open or close them from there, but I would prefer seeing them in the tray and being able to tap the icon to open the program. Tap and hold to close would be excellent. iGO 8 and palringo, for example, will show up in tray.

So it doesn't exist?

I think not. I was also searching quite a while for something like this and it doesn't seem to exist. I would also think of this as a very practical application for the tray since there is no real task bar in Windows Mobile.
I chose a somewhat compromise - HTC_TRAY allows you to put shortcuts into the tray which are launching apps, but when they are already running, it is also simply bringing them to foreground. Since you need the stylus anyway to tap the tray icons, I just put apps there which I usually control with the stylus. With HTC_TRAY app I also have a battery meter and a rotate icon. In the tray I can also see the currently selected phone profile with PhoneWeaver - that was basically the reason why I didn't want to hide the tray.

sort of Windows (desktop) tray ??
guess not... but would be great

sounds like WKTask to me.

fards said:
sounds like WKTask to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://soft.photoracer.net/docs/wktask_en.html
definitely wktask, it also has a battery bar on top.. and a lot more functions.
its my favorite program for ppc.

Yeah, but wktask uses the upper task bar instead of the tray, right? Since the tray is already there when programs show tray icons and the taskbar already shows information like network, time, sound, start etc., there's not much space for icons left. WkTask using the tray instead of the task bar would be perfect.

why not use the one that is built-in to the unit? go to Windows\TaskManagerApp.exe. you can run the application or stop the selected or stop all running applications.
and if you're going to rely on this app, just assign it to one of the left or right hard keys..

azian_advanced said:
why not use the one that is built-in to the unit? go to Windows\TaskManagerApp.exe. you can run the application or stop the selected or stop all running applications.
and if you're going to rely on this app, just assign it to one of the left or right hard keys..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but it's better to have it in one glance on the today screen which apps are currently running. Especially with the stylus, you could then quickly switch between applications or terminate them from there. Since you have the tray anyway and can't really get rid of it, I think this would be the best application for it - a small icon based task bar. I really like that idea too.

Well, I guess there's no such thing yet. Maybe some smart guy will read this thread and make a small app for this, I'm sure it's not that hard to do.

try truetoolbar
http://www.valksoft.com/TrueToolbar.html

@mgfung - It's more like a launcher and has a ton of unwanted features. All I want is something simple, only to show the running apps in the tray - tap an app to maximize, tap and hold to close or to have some sort of menu in which I can choose "close".
I don't want to use the upper space (taskbar) because it's already cluttered by the system icons (that I want to have there). I also don't like that these taskbar apps will also change the functionality of the X/ok button in the right corner.

All messages> Back switches apps instead

I noticed a bug that allows you to switch to running apps that were left behind with the home button.
Prerequisites: HTC Messages widget on one of the main screens.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Open an application (like 'people') and exit out with the home button, not the back button.
2. Repeat step one if you want to add other apps.
3. Go to the HTC messages widget and tap it to open a message.
4. Select menu option "All messages".
5. Press the 'back' button. This will switch to another app instead of close the messages.
6. Repeat step 5 to close the app and move to the next one.
Further notes:
Some apps will continue to show up even if you press 'back' on them to exit out.
For example, "People", "System settings" and browser never closes. Camera app does close, but you have to leave it by pressing 'home'.
Works on generic 1.5.

android dosent close apps untill needed lol just hold the home button to open any program you have run recently lol

mancsoulja said:
android dosent close apps untill needed lol just hold the home button to open any program you have run recently lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know that - it is not mentioned in the manual. Thanks for that useful tip. Looks like a useful shortcut back to where you were before.
But how do you close a programme rather than let it waste memory and battery in the background?

peterc10 said:
I didn't know that - it is not mentioned in the manual. Thanks for that useful tip. Looks like a useful shortcut back to where you were before.
But how do you close a programme rather than let it waste memory and battery in the background?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If android needs ram it will close apps as needed but you can always download a task manager from the marketplace, there are some good free ones, i suggest advanced task manager its what i use

It would be good to be able to actually get them to exit properly.
Especially so when you have 4 or 5 "All messages" apps that won't go.
The only use this bug has is to take you to apps that are actually running as opposed to your history.

It also takes you to screens that a task switcher can't do for you, like the last screen you see from your last phone call and the call history.

frankv100 said:
The only use this bug has is to take you to apps that are actually running as opposed to your history.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see this as being a bug. The ability to be able to short cut to the 6 (I notice it is limited to 6) previously used apps by a long press on the home button is obviously something the designers have deliberately included. And to me it is a useful additional feature (now I have found it!).
It seems to be history rather than running apps you are looking at - I closed several of my running apps using Astro and yet they still subsequently appeared in the list.

[Q] Put device in standby from Terminal Emulator or Gscript

Hello,
I am using CyanogenMod nightlies and would like to setup my long-press home option to shut of the screen and lock the device. There is an option to have it run a script from gscript, but I can't find the right commands. I have search the internet and haven't found anything(maybe not looking for the right thing).
I have also tried some programs from the market(didn't try them all), but they have funny side effects. The programs make the arrows that allow you to hide the status bar appear but not function, and won't go away without a reboot. They even show when I'm on the home screen.
Any help, advice, or some direction to where I could find the answer would be great.
Thanks,
Rsotbiemrptson

WP 8 and Multitasking

Hello there!
I would like to try it by myself, but unfortunately I cant. So, someone who tried the SDK, have you noticed changes in multitasking system?
Right now the only way to resume an app is using fast app switch. But I really dont like it. I rather just use the homescreen icon instead. Right now it relaunch the app.
Any changes on that? (oh please)
Thank you so much!

mikeeam said:
Hello there!
I would like to try it by myself, but unfortunately I cant. So, someone who tried the SDK, have you noticed changes in multitasking system?
Right now the only way to resume an app is using fast app switch. But I really dont like it. I rather just use the homescreen icon instead. Right now it relaunch the app.
Any changes on that? (oh please)
Thank you so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows Phone apps can never resume via the homescreen like iOS, due to the addition of the hardware OS back button.
To illustrate why; imagine you have an app that has start page and a settings menu. When a user goes to the settings menu, they can only go back to the start page by pressing the hardware back button (this is standard Metro design).
Now imagine a user opens the app, goes to the settings menu, then exists the app by pressing the Home button. They then do a few other tasks and then resume the app. They are now stuck in the settings menu and can't get back to the app start page; the back key will take them back to the WP8 Home screen (this is how the WP OS backstack works).
To get around this issue, Microsoft specify that starting the app from the front page always has to start a fresh instance, so the user can never get "stuck".
iOS has software back buttons on every page, so all apps can resume however you launch them. Android had the same problem with their back button (actually worse, as their backstack can be altered by the OS choosing to kill memory-intensive apps); to get around this, from ICS onwards Android apps are meant to have a software back button in the top-left, to go back within the application (hardware back key is still OS backstack).

Aphasaic2002 said:
Windows Phone apps can never resume via the homescreen like iOS, due to the addition of the hardware OS back button.
To illustrate why; imagine you have an app that has start page and a settings menu. When a user goes to the settings menu, they can only go back to the start page by pressing the hardware back button (this is standard Metro design).
Now imagine a user opens the app, goes to the settings menu, then exists the app by pressing the Home button. They then do a few other tasks and then resume the app. They are now stuck in the settings menu and can't get back to the app start page; the back key will take them back to the WP8 Home screen (this is how the WP OS backstack works).
To get around this issue, Microsoft specify that starting the app from the front page always has to start a fresh instance, so the user can never get "stuck".
iOS has software back buttons on every page, so all apps can resume however you launch them. Android had the same problem with their back button (actually worse, as their backstack can be altered by the OS choosing to kill memory-intensive apps); to get around this, from ICS onwards Android apps are meant to have a software back button in the top-left, to go back within the application (hardware back key is still OS backstack).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it sucks so bad! They should review this. I hate to use the back button, and I hate to not resume the app. Using a common app, for example, WhatsApp. I was in a chat with someone. Then I hit Windows button and Im at start screen. Then I receive a message from the same person I just left the chat. What I do? I can open from the toast, can open from fast app switch (back button), or open from start screen icon.
If I open from toast, that will depend on what the app was meant to be. In WhatsApp it would take me to the chat, because of deep toast notification. But, right now, it needs to reload the whole app to open just the chat.
If I open from fast switch, it will resume the app right away. Nice. But in any other platform the message would be there waiting for you. Right now, in WP, it takes a lot to refresh the chat. You keep like 10 seconds staring at the screen waiting it. Its even faster to just reopen the whole app.
And if I open from start screen, its almost the same effect of toast, but it dont take me to the chat, but to the start screen of the app.
The point is, the fast switch is not helping that much. In fact, it would makes sense to change the fast switch to open when holding the Windows button instead of back button, and whenever an app is open, opening it from start screen icon just resume it. Actually, a lot of people doesnt even know, or even knowing, doesnt even use fast switch. Im not a common smartphone user, and even so I dont use fast switch.
For me, its the worse problem of platform. And I dont care about CE or NT if it works, but I care about it working at all. Doesnt make sense to put a whole computer in my pocket if it cant resume a single app.

i don't like the idea either to relaunch the app when you just have put it in background. then again, i also hope we will be able to close apps from the fast-appswitch-screen. and add an option to the gesture lovers out there: pinch out on homescreen to launch multitasking. or swipe from edge like w8. or anything like that. it would add to UI experience and would eliminate that 2-seconds-pause when pressing and holding down the backbutton.

Was the question not about Windows Phone 8?
Windows Phone 8 is supposed to behave differently, since true background processing is supposed to be enabled. I haven't played with the SDK yet, but I suspect that for non recompiled apps, things will behave as they do on Mango. But, I think that things changed to target WinRT and set to be able to run in the background will be able to resume right where you left off.
It wouldn't make sense for an app that is running and processing things in the background to restart when the tile is pressed.
It's been a while since I used Mango or wrote any apps for it. But, when an app is suspended, the dev has a specified amount of time to save the state.
That way when it is relaunched, the app can resume where it left off, by processing the saved state on launch. I thought with fast resume the app stayed in memory, but that was done through a registry hack and not directly made available by any carrier.
After doing some reading, the multi tasking enhancements might only add gps and voip to the currently supported background processing.

JVH3 said:
But it sucks so bad! They should review this. I hate to use the back button, and I hate to not resume the app. Using a common app, for example, WhatsApp. I was in a chat with someone. Then I hit Windows button and Im at start screen. Then I receive a message from the same person I just left the chat. What I do? I can open from the toast, can open from fast app switch (back button), or open from start screen icon.
If I open from toast, that will depend on what the app was meant to be. In WhatsApp it would take me to the chat, because of deep toast notification. But, right now, it needs to reload the whole app to open just the chat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tapping the toast to re-open the chat is the correct behavior here. I guess it's just bad coding that makes it take so long to resume; it should just be able to go straight to the conversation and skip all the "loading contacts...connecting" stuff.
JVH3 said:
Was the question not about Windows Phone 8?
Windows Phone 8 is supposed to behave differently, since true background processing is supposed to be enabled. I haven't played with the SDK yet, but I suspect that for non recompiled apps, things will behave as they do on Mango.
But, I think that things changed to target WinRT and set to be able to run in the background will be able to resume right where you left off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you're not thinking of Windows 8? For Windows Phone 8, no changes have been announced regarding multitasking or background tasks, *except* that a few select APIs (VOIP, location) will be able to run in the background, similar to iOS (not true backgrounding like Android)
Also we are talking about resuming, not background processing. In the WP8 SDK emulator, apps built into the OS don't resume; Therefore it's safe to assume 3rd party apps are not going to either.
JVH3 said:
It wouldn't make sense for an app that is running and processing things in the background to restart when the tile is pressed.
It's been a while since I used Mango or wrote any apps for it. But, when an app is suspended, the dev has a specified amount of time to save the state.
That way when it is relaunched, the app can resume where it left off, by processing the saved state on launch. I thought with fast resume the app stayed in memory, but that was done through a registry hack and not directly made available by any carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When an app is closed the developer is meant to save the state, so that it can be reloaded if it is quick-resumed. However, once the app leaves the backstack (the 5 apps that appear in when you hold the back-button), this state is supposed to be discarded.
This is not a technical issue; it would be trivial for app developers to save the state and make their apps resume. The issue is that Microsoft's publishing guidelines (to get your app published on the WP app store) specifically says that an app launched from the home screen must launch showing it's introduction page, i.e. it can't resume. It could save some state, so a web-browser could still have all the recent tabs open, but it couldn't show the last one seen (ironically IE9 does resume it's state - guess Microsoft are allowed to break their own guidelines).
I agree it doesn't make sense to restart an app that is performing some background task; but then how to you avoid users getting stuck within a certain page, as in my example above? If WP8 includes a hardware back button, they can't change this policy.

Well, thats a shame. I hate reloading the app everytime I need it. Its so meaningless. I dont need VOIP, I dont need Skype running all the time. But I do need apps to be fast.

It really depends on how exactly the developers save their app state when the app is sent to background/tombstoned.
I, for one, use a text file to save data ( a lot of data) and proceed to loading the app as usual, and the moment the user presses a button, a pop up asks him weather he wants to restore or start anew.
I'm guessing that not every app will do this, as it is up to the developer to implement this.