Database Users

G1: Tips and Tricks

How about a thread for little tips and tricks for working this new toy? Has anyone found a way to increase the text size in the calendar? Cant read it without glasses...
Scott

I don't take credit for all these.
How to Increase Battery Life
Turn off GPS
Lower screen brightness
Turn off Wi-fi when you are not around any wifi networks
If you are not in a 3g area do the following to save battery life!
Settings--->Wireless Controls--->Mobile Networks and check the box that says "Use Only 2G Networks"
General
Holding down the home key will bring up your programs running in the background.
Adjusting the volume will adjust volume all the way to muting sound.
Clicking down the End key will place your phone in sleep mode.
Holding down the End key while bring up the "reset" feature.
Turning off the GPS saves battery life to do so go to Menu, Settings, Security and Location.
To rename a folder on the homescreen click and hold the dock at the top of the folders name. *AnyCut is needed*
Long press the phone key for voice dial.
Press the menu button once to bring up the menu, then press and hold the menu button down to view the shortcut.
To make ringtones, alerts, and notifications make a folder inside your memory card each one containing there own name such as "ringtones" "alarms" "notifications"
To forward picture and text messages: Press and hold the message.
When Typing, If you want to delete a word at the time press menu and delete and will erase a word at the time instead of one character at the time...
Pressing alt+del it deletes everything
Reboot
Press the Green Call Button + Menu + Off (Red) Key
Hard Reset
(THIS WILL REMOVE ALL APPS BUT NOT YOUR PICS AND MUSIC!!)
Turn the G1 off. If it’s frozen on, take the battery out and put it back in the unit.
Hold the Home and Power keys down at same time for about 25 seconds. You will see a yellow triangle screen with exclamation point in the middle.
Now to wipe the device clean:
Press Alt+L.
Press Alt+W for a factory reset.
Press the Home and Back keys again for about 25 seconds. Let go of the keys.
The device should then reset again and the hard reset is complete.
This will wipe your device to factory reset. You will need to log in to your gmail account like you initially did.
Browser
To Copy All, press Menu and A or Highlight text, press and hold TRACKBALL, select Select all
To Cut, press Menu and X.
To Copy, press Menu and C.
To Paste, press Menu and V or Press and hold TRACKBALL, select Paste
Saving pictures from the web:
Press and hold the image for 3 seconds, a selection will pop-up either to save image or view image. It may contain more selections if the image contains a link.
Faster scrolling in the browser:
Hold down ALT key and roll trackball for fast scrolling.
Press space bar for a fast scroll down.
Shift+Space goes up
Browser General
Long press trackball on image to bring up "save image/view image"
Long press trackball over url to bring up "open/open in new window/bookmark link/save link/share link/copy link url"
Press menu to bring up browser menu (go to url/search/bookmarks/...etc); long-press menu to temporarily flash the shortcuts.
To activate the magnify glass on the browser click the trackball twice.
Clear your Cache!
If you’ve been using streetview or the browser alot, the cache can quickly get big. I’ve only had the phone for two days and got 20MB back by clearing the cache on these two.
Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Browser > Clear Data
Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Streetview > Clear Data

Hold down Menu when powering on goes into safe mode
THIS WAS POSTED ELSEWHERE AND IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOUR PHONE CRASHES.

Awesome list

getting rid of icons on your home screen
Here's a cool one I just learned. Hold and press the icon you want to get rid of. you'll feel a short vibrate. after the vibration you can move the icon around or delete it by dragging it to the little gray trashcan that appears at the bottom of the page. This won't delete the program, just the icon.

Great tips! Where do you get this information? I would like to
access even more information.
Also, how do you shut down particular programs running in the
background? Thanks.

Bradley1865 said:
Great tips! Where do you get this information? I would like to
access even more information.
Also, how do you shut down particular programs running in the
background? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Option isn't available at this time. Hopefully someone comes up with a solution soon

folders on home and menu????
I see mention of renaming folders but I can't even figure out how to make a folder. Anyone know how?

jimtc said:
I see mention of renaming folders but I can't even figure out how to make a folder. Anyone know how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way is to:
1. On home screen press and hold
2. when the menu pops up select "shortcur"
3. select the first option "folder"
4. done.
To rename the folder (only cause I didn't understand the first post):
1. open the folder
2. press and hold the top bar of the open folder, otherwise known as the 'dock'
3. type in name and change it.
4. Done.

the ringtone tip doesnt work
or what format do they have to be in?
ive only tried MP3

Mikey1022 said:
To rename a folder on the homescreen click and hold the dock at the top of the folders name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone tried this? I cant get it to let me rename- a short click opens it and a long click moves it....

gospeed.racer said:
Has anyone tried this? I cant get it to let me rename- a short click opens it and a long click moves it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click on the folder, once is you are in the little window then tap and hold the top bar of the window

Z51 said:
the ringtone tip doesnt work
or what format do they have to be in?
ive only tried MP3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Create a folder on your memory card names 'ringtones' and place your .mp3's in there.
First, unplug your phone from the USB port, then edit a contact. You should see your new ringtones in the list.

Save pictures from messages?
This possible? I can't figure it out?

Yos025 said:
Click on the folder, once is you are in the little window then tap and hold the top bar of the window
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I should say that I am trying to change the name of the shortcut icon, not a folder- wasnt really thinking it mattered but it must

Only folders can be renamed

gospeed.racer said:
I guess I should say that I am trying to change the name of the shortcut icon, not a folder- wasnt really thinking it mattered but it must
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there is a way to change the name of a shortcut once it's made. Also I think only Any Cut gives you a choice about the name at all.

gospeed.racer said:
I guess I should say that I am trying to change the name of the shortcut icon, not a folder- wasnt really thinking it mattered but it must
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download anycut and you can rename any app shortcut as well.

While using the web browser, double tap the trackball rapidly to zoom out with a magnified area. Press again to zoom into that area

music?
When doing the ringtones memory card trick, will the ringtones stay out of the music list? For example
, in the music player app... I am hoping that ringtones will stay out of the music app. Can anyone confirm or deny?

[REF] Hidden features of the Galaxy S

Just thought I'd share this one I found.
If you hold down the "home" button for about a second you get an easy task switcher to any app that was running in the background. It's faster than hitting back till you get to the menu or getting to the menu and then finding the app you are after .
Sliding your finger across the notification window just as it drops down changes the brightness of the screen.
Any others that people have found?

You can add shortcuts to phone numbers and messages on the home screen by holding your finger down and selecting shortcuts on the home screen somewhere. This also appears to work with a lot of apps, like kindle shortcuts to a specific book.

All android phones do this, Holding the Home button is a standard android way to "Switch fast" between apps

A few things I found out reading the SGS forum here:
1. You can control the brightness by sliding your finger left to right when pulling down the notification bar. Just keep your finger on the edge of the pull down window.
2. You can have the SGS announce the title/artist of a song from the Music player by pressing and holding the Up Volume button while a song is playing.
3. You can "lock screen" while watching video by pressing Power Button while a video is playing. This is great at preventing unintended clicks while holding the phone watching a video.

tenshi888 said:
A few things I found out reading the SGS forum here:
1. You can control the brightness by sliding your finger left to right when pulling down the notification bar. Just keep your finger on the edge of the pull down window.
2. You can have the SGS announce the title/artist of a song from the Music player by pressing and holding the Up Volume button while a song is playing.
3. You can "lock screen" while watching video by pressing Power Button while a video is playing. This is great at preventing unintended clicks while holding the phone watching a video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the third one, but didn't know the first two. Thank you tenshi, for sharing.
However, I don't quite understand how exactly you can change the brightness in the day you described, cos I can't seem to do it.
Also, I got the feeling that to effect number 2, there is a monthly subscription that I need to pay to Optus. They gave me a 7 day free trial before continuing, and I did not continue.

eaglesteve, for #1, make sure auto-brightness is off in your display settings, now when you slide the notification bar panel down try sliding your finger left to right and you'll notice the display brightness change.
for #2, I don't think its connected to your provider as it doesn't even need a data connection to work, it's just using text to speech. You might have to enable or download it the first time.
eaglesteve said:
I know the third one, but didn't know the first two. Thank you tenshi, for sharing.
However, I don't quite understand how exactly you can change the brightness in the day you described, cos I can't seem to do it.
Also, I got the feeling that to effect number 2, there is a monthly subscription that I need to pay to Optus. They gave me a 7 day free trial before continuing, and I did not continue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

tenshi888 said:
eaglesteve, for #1, make sure auto-brightness is off in your display settings, now when you slide the notification bar panel down try sliding your finger left to right and you'll notice the display brightness change.
for #2, I don't think its connected to your provider as it doesn't even need a data connection to work, it's just using text to speech. You might have to enable or download it the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My auto-brightness is already off, but I still can't seem to change the brightness when sliding from left to right or right to left while pulling down the notification curtain. Any other clue?
For 2, you're right, once I downloaded the voice synthesising software from the market place, it works. I need to make sure the music player is in the foreground for this to work, right?

spenceee said:
If you hold down the "home" button for about a second you get an easy task switcher to any app that was running in the background. It's faster than hitting back till you get to the menu or getting to the menu and then finding the app you are after .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically it's a "most recently used" list rather than a list of apps running in the background. For example if you have just exited a navigation app, or killed an app from a process manager, it will still appear in this list.

Interesting thread.
I just want to add some "shortcuts" I discovered myself using the Galaxy (maybe they aren't so hidden. I am a lousy user, don't like to read manuals. So maybe they are very obvious )
Close pull down window/curtain, close desktop layer folders and close keyboard by tapping back key
Access to the bookmark button and address bar in the brower by tapping the menu button (no need to scroll all the way up)
Open soft D-Pad by tap-and-hold the "?123" key on the standard Samsung Keyboard
Quick and reliable GPS reception by editing the ntp server in the gps.conf file

Someone I only just learnt...
Pressing and holding the power button performs a reset. (Keep pressing it after you get the shut down/mute/airplane options and the phone will suddenly restart. Have to keep the button pressed for 5 secs atleast).

dagrim1 said:
Someone I only just learnt...
Pressing and holding the power button performs a reset. (Keep pressing it after you get the shut down/mute/airplane options and the phone will suddenly restart. Have to keep the button pressed for 5 secs atleast).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool
holding menu key for about a second brings up google search.Im sure its probably a feature of all android phones and probably in the manual but im new to android and dont read manuals much.

If you´re in "contacts"
slide to the right for an instant call or slide to the left for messaging the contact

mazurson said:
If you´re in "contacts"
slide to the right for an instant call or slide to the left for messaging the contact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool, this is handy when you're driving
i usually double tap the contact, but if your car goes over a bump or pot hole, then the 2nd tap is missed, and wont work.

mazurson said:
If you´re in "contacts"
slide to the right for an instant call or slide to the left for messaging the contact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SWEET, this is a great way to dial and text people from contacts
Thx for the info

1. Browsing in the Gallery
When browsing your large list of photo's in the 'Gallery', click the icon on the right to group them into date taken ~ makes browsing much more manageable.
2. Locking the Camera
If you wish to leave the camera on but worried you may accidentally touch the scrren/controls you can lock the camera.
Once you have the camera set up how you want it, simply briefly press the Power button. You will then see a white padlock appear on screen. Now you can hold the camera and phone how you like until you are ready to shoot.... When ready again briefly press the Power button, the padlock disappears and you can take your shoot/video.

sammy555 said:
holding menu key for about a second brings up google search.Im sure its probably a feature of all android phones and probably in the manual but im new to android and dont read manuals much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, it's samsung's replacement for the search button that's a Google requirement. They don't have a button for it, so they assigned long-press menu for search, whereas on the Nexus One, it'll make force the soft-'board to come up.

yes it works...
eaglesteve said:
My auto-brightness is already off, but I still can't seem to change the brightness when sliding from left to right or right to left while pulling down the notification curtain. Any other clue?
For 2, you're right, once I downloaded the voice synthesising software from the market place, it works. I need to make sure the music player is in the foreground for this to work, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first it didn't worked for me also, because I understand bad.
Not pulling down. Go to the upper of the screen, press till the botton of the dropdown curtain appears, but don't slide it down. Once that appears the BAR move left or right your finger, and it will adjust.

pafh99 said:
At first it didn't worked for me also, because I understand bad.
Not pulling down. Go to the upper of the screen, press till the botton of the dropdown curtain appears, but don't slide it down. Once that appears the BAR move left or right your finger, and it will adjust.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes, I got it to work too. The trick is not to pull it down but just to make the curtain barely appear before you slide.
Thanks for your excellent explanation.

sammy555 said:
cool
holding menu key for about a second brings up google search.Im sure its probably a feature of all android phones and probably in the manual but im new to android and dont read manuals much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, didn't know this one. Very useful and now I can get rid of the google search bar on the desktop too

when receiving a call press the volume down button to mute th ringer
old but cool

Multi-tasking interface improvement

I was just reading about webOS and how good its interface is when dealing with multi-tasking and I realised how poor androids multi-tasking interface is. The only way I know to switch between running apps is to hold home button for a few seconds...
I personally think this can be improved by having thumbnails of open apps popup when the home button is single pressed on a home screen. Just as at the moment previews of all the home screens popup I think this should be switched with open app previews. I rarely ever use the home screen preview thing so i think its wasted, but I definitely would use app selector if little thumbnails showed.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? Im not a developer so I have no idea if this is possible but I think it would be a good feature to add and improve android. Do any devs think they can implement this??

Moved to general as not ROM development.
This would be a feature for a launcher app, so might be worth suggesting to someone like Fede who develops Launcher Pro, or cyanogenmod people that make ADW?

yes you are right. thanks. I was too lazy to find the relevant section to post under. will try contacting anderweb. or fede.

There are a couple of apps which overlays a screen on top of the current app you are in by tapping home twice, you can then open apps/access widgets without having to go back to homescreen first.
Currently im using 'smart taskbar', you can set the activation mode to be (1) tapping on a half-circle spot on either side of your screen or (2) swiping from one side to another. You can then open from a list of 5 'pinned' apps or choose from the mini apps drawer below, or click a tab called 'running' which seems the same as the current holding on home button behavior.

check out power strip. allows you to get a popup window where ever you are by doubble tapping home button (ore long press search button). there you can have quick access to widgets, shortcuts etc. really cool.

smiskkissen said:
check out power strip. allows you to get a popup window where ever you are by doubble tapping home button (ore long press search button). there you can have quick access to widgets, shortcuts etc. really cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just downloaded both power strip and the one mentioned above. Will try them both out and report back on whether its what i was suggesting. Thanks for your suggestions.

My Tab can take screenshots...but I don't know how

Ok, something really weird.
Yesterday, I was showing off my Tab to a friend, and we kind of got stuck on comparing how fast the portrait/landscape switch works on ADW launcher vs. stock touchwiz. So we were tipping the device back and forth for a while when it froze for a few seconds.
Trying to get it to react, I hit back, home, power, probably in that order, but I'm not sure.
The reaction, a message pops up about the image capture being saved. Then again. And indeed, in my Gallery I now have a folder call Screen Captures and inside it there are two screenshots. One of my standard homescreen and one of a force close error message (for the calculator app I use - Kreac).
I've been trying to reproduce this since, but without any success. Is there a hidden screenshot app in there somewhere?

Hi , just keep pressing the back button and double press the power button to take screenshots.

adolfotregosa said:
Hi , just keep pressing the back button and double press the power button to take screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed.
Is this common knowledge that I had missed? I ask because I've seen several threads on various forums claiming that there is no app and no way to take a screenshot?

Interesting. Is there a service running that handles this feature or is it a core process?

Don't know. But I just noticed there's an entry 'com.sec.android.app.screencapture' in the application manager list.

Rapax said:
Don't know. But I just noticed there's an entry 'com.sec.android.app.screencapture' in the application manager list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i remember it... but ive removed it now and theres no apk, so theres no way to restore without flashing
i was trying screens with one of the root apps on the market and they all came out in funky colors so i got rid of it (must have taken sammys built in app out as well by mistake)

IMHO, best way to take screenshot on any device, galaxy tab included, is via ddms.bat ( Dalvik Debug Monitor) under dir tools of SDK. You can find "screen capture" under Device menu.

Can't for the life of me see how using DDMS can be "better" than this on-device method in general use!
This is a good find - we need a sticky for these tidbits!
Regards,
Dave

adolfotregosa said:
Hi , just keep pressing the back button and double press the power button to take screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a good tip, but I much prefer using DropCap 2 from the Market, at least for when I'm not using a full-screen application. Talking of which, are in-game screenshots possible with the hardware button method ?

I was able to capture a screen shot by pressing back and then pressing the power button twice. But that does not capture the screen that I wanted. Instead, it captured the screen of "back" when I press the back button.
This button combination does not make much sense in my opinion. Any say?

It works fine for me in most apps (including Angry Birds), but not in the stock Video player or in the Gameloft games like N.O.V.A.
Regards,
Dave

Is there any other way to do it ? Ad soon as I hit back it goes back to the previous screen and take screenshot of that screen. Isnt that kinda pointless?
Sent from my SGH-T849 using XDA App

dliao said:
Is there any other way to do it ? Ad soon as I hit back it goes back to the previous screen and take screenshot of that screen. Isnt that kinda pointless?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For this cases I suggest ddms in the previous post. ddms don't need any user interface and grab everything, also video played in stock video player. And grabbed screenshot can be saved directly on HD, rotated, discarded...

I find that "holding" the back button down until vibrates (rather than merely just pressing it) and then pressing the power button just once works consistently well for me. Haven't needed DDMS yet.

For me it works fine; keep pressing back and tap power button.

dliao said:
Is there any other way to do it ? Ad soon as I hit back it goes back to the previous screen and take screenshot of that screen. Isnt that kinda pointless?
Sent from my SGH-T849 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hit back and power at the same time... and then hit power again... and you hear a sound like a camera shutter... and says it's saved.

Dear all
Very simple
. Press and hold back key
. Short press power key
screen will automatic save in folder Screen picture
regards
-------------------------------------
Sent via Galaxy Tab

Ok, I got it now. The theory is to hold the back button and do not let go until you hit the power button twice. It works!! But it takes quite a while for the picture to show up in the Gallery. I thought the screen capture did not work.

SOLVED: How to screen capture if Back key exits from the current screen
I just solved how to capture the screen if holding down the Back key exits from the application so you end up capturing the previous screen, or the Home screen in most cases.
For example, in Maps, I couldn't capture the Map as it goes back to the Home screen once I hold down the back key. The technique is to go one screen deeper; example in Maps, press Menu key then select Layers. When you hold down the Back key, the Maps image screen is displayed. Keep holding the Back key then press the Power key. Screen capture now completed on the desired screen.
I think you can do the same technique for other apps.
Hope you enjoy using your Galaxy tab as much as I do, like me having sleepless nights on the porch using Google sky map, or playing Guitar solo (paid version is much better).

balmazan said:
I just solved how to capture the screen if holding down the Back key exits from the application so you end up capturing the previous screen, or the Home screen in most cases.
For example, in Maps, I couldn't capture the Map as it goes back to the Home screen once I hold down the back key. The technique is to go one screen deeper; example in Maps, press Menu key then select Layers. When you hold down the Back key, the Maps image screen is displayed. Keep holding the Back key then press the Power key. Screen capture now completed on the desired screen.
I think you can do the same technique for other apps.
Hope you enjoy using your Galaxy tab as much as I do, like me having sleepless nights on the porch using Google sky map, or playing Guitar solo (paid version is much better).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's strange... it should not go back until you have taken your finger off the back button and if you hit the power button whilst holding the back button it should cancel out any back button command.

[Q] Shortcut for lock screen?

On my NST Glowlight, I have a case that is beautiful but unfortunately covers the back power button (Verso Prologue Antique Tan, currently a steal on Amazon at $10). When I close the cover, it bumps things on the screen and either opens random books (in ReLaunch) or loses my place (in Coolreader). Does anyone know of a simple app that triggers the screen lock so I can map it to a hardware button? I set a "Lock Screen" shortcut in ReLaunch but at least half the time it doesn't work (instead, it asks if I want to power off). Thoughts?

Install Button Savior and tap its on-screen power button.

cowbutt said:
Install Button Savior and tap its on-screen power button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO Button Savior is an eyesore and I can already duplicate all of its functions with hardware button mappings. I want to be able to map power to a hardware button, which I know I can do if I have an app shortcut of some sort.

OK, I found my own solution and it works well enough that I thought I'd share.
I found a whole bunch of screen lock apps but they all require Android 2.2 or later.
Thinking outside the box, I instead downloaded a simple app called "White Screen Flashlight" and mapped it to my n button. Now if I push n the screen goes completely blank and doesn't register touch input, so it's safe. I have the added benefit that if anyone swipes my Nook and wants to see what I am reading, they get a boring empty screen when they turn it on. Sleep mode kicks in as normal.

Alternatively, use http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1848962 to set a Lock PIN. I combine this with a Tasker rule that disables the PIN if I'm connected to a 'friendly' WiFi network (i.e. my home WLAN) and re-enables it when I disconnect.

cowbutt said:
Alternatively, use http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1848962 to set a Lock PIN. I combine this with a Tasker rule that disables the PIN if I'm connected to a 'friendly' WiFi network (i.e. my home WLAN) and re-enables it when I disconnect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a great idea! I previously set a lock on my Nook ST (pre-Glowlight), but this time I'm simply keeping it disconnected from Google and any sensitive information. There's a bar on the screensaver that gives "please return to..." information. I figure if someone steals it, they won't get access to anything but some books, and if it's lost, a kindly soul may return it.