Database Users

cool (less known) functions, hints and tricks?

Im playing around with my newly rooted hero all day long but i feel im missing a bit of the techie geeky part of the equation..
I learned that by holding down home and power button during start takes the phone to the recovery screen (if you have a rooted phone) and the back + powerbutton returns fastboot screen.
I dont want to f##k anything up by messing about with it without any prior knowledge, so i ask you guys.. are there any cool functions, easter eggs or similar that arent well known (like in the first 10 pages on this forum)?
for instance, a verbose boot would be awesome, especially if it was a button combo to activate..
are there any more boot combos other than the above mentioned ones?

Holding down home will show a pop up of running programs; useful to switch between programs.

When the screen is off, double press the menu button and this will bypass the lock screen.

JBNAquatics said:
Holding down home will show a pop up of running programs; useful to switch between programs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's not quite right. the programs shown are the most recent started programs, not necessary running programs (and of course mor programs are running in the background...). but it's really a handy feature.

i once managed to get to the android home screen that you get on phones like the Magic but i cant remember how i did it

kccl said:
i once managed to get to the android home screen that you get on phones like the Magic but i cant remember how i did it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get that by manually deleting Rosie.apk from the system/app folder.

Or by deleting its cache.
Then when you hit Home it will ask for you to choose the HTC or Android Home. As long as you don't select the use as default option, it will continue to do this.

TheBrit said:
When the screen is off, double press the menu button and this will bypass the lock screen.
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You're awesome.

G8D said:
You're awesome.
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Click to collapse
Thanks.

G8D said:
You're awesome.
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Click to collapse
You can just press menu from the lockscreen, no matter what button you pressed to wake the phone.

In the new ROM there's no camera zoom function on the screen by default. It can be accessed by the menu...
But who wants to do that?
Just swipe your finger up the screen the zoom slider appears, then swipe where you like to adjust the zoom level.
(from the Modaco forums)

Eh ? What zoom function ?
Explain please

joemax said:
Eh ? What zoom function ?
Explain please
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Click to collapse
I believe he's talking about the camera's zoom...

Ah, now the word 'camera' has been added to the post it all makes sense

Switchbitch said:
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Wasn't intending to steal your thunder

One additional thing I found: Holding down the power button for 1-2 seconds will get you a menu where you can choose between powering off the phone, silent mode, vibration mode, airplane mode and internet connection.

Holding down the 'back' button in the browser will get you to your recently visited pages aka history.

Fleahole said:
One additional thing I found: Holding down the power button for 1-2 seconds will get you a menu where you can choose between powering off the phone, silent mode, vibration mode, airplane mode and internet connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How else do you turn off the phone? I assumed everybody has to do this anyway.

With the new rom, you can touch the screen to focus that specific area. Okay everyone knows this. But do you know you don't have to click the trackball to take picture? Just tap and hold at the screen, it will focus on that area and then take picture.

busterz said:
How else do you turn off the phone? I assumed everybody has to do this anyway.
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Click to collapse
LOL like that one, useless point he made there!

N1 Major complaint

Power button to wake up then slide to unlock, this is horrible, not intuitive and actually very difficult for me to do in my good hand (left, m righty) and near impossible to do in right hand. Man i miss MT3G duoble click menu, anyone know if I can set A double trackball click? (putting it to sleep sucks too, hope the "proximity sensor" works)
Second complaint (existed with MT3g before cyan) home screen no landscape
Third (lol) I miss the app drawer
Fourth (man I know) can we get a full screen (home screen) widget that is phone dialer a la iphone so I can quick swipe to it since there is no phone button.
I look the phone and performance but honestly at this point I will probably get drawed until so of these can get fixed, I am going to stick it out and see if I can get used to it, but its been 9 hours now and not fond the "ergo"
Let me know if you have ideas, solutions or are willing to make an app hehehhe

Hahaha, I think I like every function you mentioned. To each his own I suppose...

My only problem (if it can really be called a problem) is with the push the top power button to wake the phone. It feels awkward to me. I wonder if the unlock function can be remapped to the trackball?

Yeah to each his own, the Iphone button to wake (which would be similar to trackball) can easily be done with the index/thumb hold the power button requires a cradling and sadly its difficult to contort my hand that way.
The app drawer, i dont know, i was much faster to scroll in before and the new 3d thing has a bounce back (ie it locks to 4x4 icons never halfway at top) throws off the quick flick and click for me at least.
I would love the left most home screen to just be the dialer screen flicking with thumb across screen is easier then finding icon and clicking for me at least
MMMV lol but i think others may like these things too

david, me too, actually that's my only "major" issue the rest were nits i had to pick.

lol also, the new app thing is jolting to the user experience, the rest of the home is swipe, swipe down for notifications, swipe sideways for home screens then click for apps. its weird, maybe i was only one that dragged the old draw up and down instead of clicking the tab....

The real problem with the top button is its lack of feedback. It doesn't "click". Still works though

1. I gotta admit... I don't like where the power button is. I usually hold the phone with my left hand while I use my right to swipe or press. The power button is right where I would normally hold on to the top of the phone. Its taking a conscience effort to change the way I hold it, so eventually it won't be a big deal.
2. I also agree about the homescreen. I use handcent, and if I am on the home screen when I recieve a popup, I can't turn the phone to landscape to use the bigger keyboard to post a quick reply. That is frustrating to me.
3. The button works fine for me. I kinda like it.
4. I don't care either way for a widget that lets you dial. I mean, hitting the phone button seems to work pretty well for me ( I haven't used an Iphone to know what you mean by this).
Overall, the speed is more then enough to make up for any shortcomings. The power button issue is one that has actually really bothered me. The oversaturation of colors, especially on apps like The Weather Channel has slightly bothered me. Other then that, I really like the dialer on the phone. As much as I liked wysie's contacts, the new dialer is freakin great. But I can't really complain. Its been a nice phone to have so far. Really nice. I just wish the Polar live wallpaper actually worked.

You will always be able to nitpick, but right now I'm sort of reveling in the fact that I now own the best phone the world. I didn't like the iPhone this much when I got it around launch.

maybe a 1x2 icon for dialer like the same icon from the dial pad the big green phone as a widget? lol

zendick said:
Power button to wake up then slide to unlock, this is horrible, not intuitive and actually very difficult for me to do in my good hand (left, m righty) and near impossible to do in right hand. Man i miss MT3G duoble click menu, anyone know if I can set A double trackball click? (putting it to sleep sucks too, hope the "proximity sensor" works)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lock screen is a requirement for me, so the only difference here is that I find the position of the "wake up" button on top a little awkward for 1-handed use.
zendick said:
Second complaint (existed with MT3g before cyan) home screen no landscape
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more - never did get why the home app disobeys this setting when most others do it. I'm sure Cyan will rescue us!
zendick said:
Third (lol) I miss the app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, this is a BIG beef for me. I find the new app menu klunky as all get out. The label text on several rows of my menu are overlapping/corrupt, and I find it realyl tricky to scroll to the end of the menu quickly due to the way it "snaps" onto rows. Again, I hope Cyan'd firmware will revert this to sanity.
zendick said:
Fourth (man I know) can we get a full screen (home screen) widget that is phone dialer a la iphone so I can quick swipe to it since there is no phone button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use widgets, but I for one don't miss the phone buttons. Why should the phone app get preferential treatment with it's own hardkeys. *
][
* Yes, yes, I know the smarta$$ answer is "because it's a phone".

well i did a little messing around with remapping keys and wasn't able to cut my phone off, but i did make my power button into a trackball pressed button lmao.
right now, from the way it is looking, there is not an incredibly easy to make the trackball pressed (DPAD_CENTER) wake the phone up without sacrificing a fair amount of usability I will try and play with it some more later.
The files I was changing were both in /system/usr/keylayout/
mahimahi-keypad.kl and
qwerty.kl
I had to make changes to each of the 2 for it to stick. Maybe someone can take this info and run with it. I also had to reboot after pushing the files for it to take place.

The only thing that really bothers me is that one has to remove the battery to remove the SD card.
That is unlike all the other Android phones I know of. (T-mobile anyway.)

dont flame me but the top button to wake up and the slide to unlock puts me back to feeling like an iphone, and i had one for so long this feels comfortable to me

alextripp said:
dont flame me but the top button to wake up and the slide to unlock puts me back to feeling like an iphone, and i had one for so long this feels comfortable to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had an iphone, but I rather like the setup. Assures me that I'm not wasting battery life with it on in my pocket. If the touchscreen woke up on press, sure it might not unlock but it'll still be lighting up all the time.

On earlier hardware, other than the END button (which I suppose became the sleep/wake button), you could press menu (which would take you to the lock-combination screen, or the home screen if you didn't have a lock-combo) and the back button would also serve to wake the phone, you still had to use the END button to sleep.
Has any of you tested if menu or back will wake the phone?

they are touch sensitive on the nexus, so they are definitely a no-go

zendick said:
Power button to wake up then slide to unlock, this is horrible, not intuitive and actually very difficult for me to do in my good hand (left, m righty) and near impossible to do in right hand. Man i miss MT3G duoble click menu, anyone know if I can set A double trackball click? (putting it to sleep sucks too, hope the "proximity sensor" works)
Second complaint (existed with MT3g before cyan) home screen no landscape
Third (lol) I miss the app drawer
Fourth (man I know) can we get a full screen (home screen) widget that is phone dialer a la iphone so I can quick swipe to it since there is no phone button.
I look the phone and performance but honestly at this point I will probably get drawed until so of these can get fixed, I am going to stick it out and see if I can get used to it, but its been 9 hours now and not fond the "ergo"
Let me know if you have ideas, solutions or are willing to make an app hehehhe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't like the phone then why did you buy it?

jubeh said:
On earlier hardware, other than the END button (which I suppose became the sleep/wake button), you could press menu (which would take you to the lock-combination screen, or the home screen if you didn't have a lock-combo) and the back button would also serve to wake the phone, you still had to use the END button to sleep.
Has any of you tested if menu or back will wake the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eabinsan said:
they are touch sensitive on the nexus, so they are definitely a no-go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm this does not work as well.

zendick said:
Power button to wake up then slide to unlock, this is horrible, not intuitive and actually very difficult for me to do in my good hand (left, m righty) and near impossible to do in right hand. Man i miss MT3G duoble click menu, anyone know if I can set A double trackball click? (putting it to sleep sucks too, hope the "proximity sensor" works)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sort of agree that the power button placement is awkward but I like the slide to unlock screen to help avoid pocket dials. It would be nice if there was an option to turn it off for those who are bothered by it.
zendick said:
Second complaint (existed with MT3g before cyan) home screen no landscape
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Click to collapse
shrug
zendick said:
Third (lol) I miss the app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really prefer the new app drawer. Different tastes I guess.
zendick said:
Fourth (man I know) can we get a full screen (home screen) widget that is phone dialer a la iphone so I can quick swipe to it since there is no phone button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is actually a good idea.

Volume/Search button on X10

Anyone actually know how to use it as a search button? I thought it would be long press or press the whole button down, or something like that, but can't figure it out.

Long press menu button (left button) is search on the X10.
Edit: I think the magnifying glass image means zoom
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

WickedStyx said:
Long press menu button (left button) is search on the X10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my phone long press of menu button triggers the on screen keyboard.

lornova said:
On my phone long press of menu button triggers the on screen keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and when you type it will start searching.

Ehm, didnt know that.... -_-'
Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

o'wow thanks!! I didn't know that it's been bugging me for months, and I always knew the keyboard was there, I just thought it was stupid having a popup keyboard, when the keyboard would always pop up when you could type lol
(now I know why...)

ronniecross said:
o'wow thanks!! I didn't know that it's been bugging me for months, and I always knew the keyboard was there, I just thought it was stupid having a popup keyboard, when the keyboard would always pop up when you could type lol
(now I know why...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, i didn't know that either. But i guess it's not fully functioning
I tried it in ASTRO and i can get only the results from the 1st letter i type. ( i mean i can't continue and type the hole word like "bluetooth" or "music" it just register the 1st letter like "b" or "m" )

Oh wow! I thought that was a glitch! Thanks for the info

lol i love how se tries to improves the ui so that every1 thinks their features are bugs^^
btw thanks a lot for the info - i always used the button to hide the keyboard (but it didnt work very well )

KingCifer said:
lol i love how se tries to improves the ui so that every1 thinks their features are bugs^^
btw thanks a lot for the info - i always used the button to hide the keyboard (but it didnt work very well )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a feature on every Android phone without a search button.

Nimche said:
Yes and when you type it will start searching.
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Click to collapse
WOW, I had no idea... Thanks a lot!

Ohhhhh! I'm so stupid for not thinking of that!

Guess nobody here used the user guide application on the phone... Neither did I.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

We all rooted then installed titanium backup, then removed it :s

Using vol buttons for taking photos?

Hi,
Ever since I got my Desire HD I've not been much of a fan of the camera (really bad quality when it's dark) and standard camera app. It's quite hard to press the button when taking photos and not looking directly on the screen. Do you know how o use one of the physical buttons like the volume ones to take a picture? Or do you have any other advice, e.g. a free phone app where you could at least press anywhere on the screen to focus and shoot?
Thanks a lot!
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

RE
Hi there. When I take the photos to myself I mostly use the option of face recognition. It works pretty fine and takes foto just after catch your face in a frame and, by the way, you will hear it so that way to have a time to smile so you don't need to press anything! Cheers.

If you buy the pro version of Vignette, there's an option in its' settings to take a picture with the volume keys.
Cheers!

RE
In 2.3 version there is the same option... you can assign shooter to volume keys or to "find" button.

xumuk37 said:
In 2.3 version there is the same option... you can assign shooter to volume keys or to "find" button.
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Click to collapse
2.3 version of what? And where is the setting?

After reading this thread I downloaded the free vesion of Vignette.
That allows me to use either the volume button or touch anywhere on the screen to take a photo. I have a "flip" case on my DHD and that makes it a little awkward, but touching the screen is simples.
As the free version is classed as a demo I don't know if it will keep let me use these methods or not.

xumuk37 said:
Hi there. When I take the photos to myself I mostly use the option of face recognition. It works pretty fine and takes foto just after catch your face in a frame and, by the way, you will hear it so that way to have a time to smile so you don't need to press anything! Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone's smoking something fun

xumuk37 said:
In 2.3 version there is the same option... you can assign shooter to volume keys or to "find" button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean in the Gingerbread update? Seriously?? That would be awesome!

SupremeBeaver said:
You mean in the Gingerbread update? Seriously?? That would be awesome!
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Click to collapse
I'm using GB, but I havn't found that setting. Could you tell us where it is?

In the camera app press menu -> advanced options. Create shortcut there.

Create shortcut? After going to Camera -> menu-> Advanced just tick which buttons you want to use.

Mr_JMM said:
Create shortcut? After going to Camera -> menu-> Advanced just tick which buttons you want to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are using CM7, right?

istinet said:
You are using CM7, right?
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Click to collapse
The signature doesn't lie

I've seen it, thats why i asked. I always forget to spdate mine (thats why i have no sign ATM). Anyway thanks for the reply, but i'm on RCMix, so there's no such setting on my DHD

Alt + Tab works on TF

I only just realised today having had a TF for over 6 months that alt + tab works on it
Hold the 'Alt Gr / Alt' button and tap the 'tab' button to bring up a recently opened apps list just like in Froyo 2.2 when you hold the home button.
Tap the 'Tab' button to scroll through the apps, then release the Alt button once you have selected the app and it will open it for you.
Its faster for me than using the recently opened apps button on the screen and is awesome!
Screenshot attached
EDIT: PS. To cancel out of it, say for example the app you wanted is not in the list anymore, then whilst still holding Alt, press the back button and it will cancel the shortcut screen and return you to your current app.

lol I didnt know that either

Haha nice !!
Only works on the desktop screens for me though... but very useful

Hmm, has anyone else noticed that you seem to get more apps in the Alt-Tab list than you do by using the Recent Apps button (on the status bar)? I would think that you should be see the same apps in both lists, right? This my explain my orher issue where I can't seem to multitask certain apps (don't show in the recent apps list)...
Thanks!

Awesome, this definitely was not the case in the past, so Asus (or Google?) must have included it in one of the firmware upgrades. I remember trying when I first got my hands on it, and then not bothering after that because it didn't work.

Check out this list; alt+tab functionality was 'discovered' months ago:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1071739&highlight=alt,+shortcut
Not all the shortcuts are on the main page; alt+tab is mentioned on page four.
Lani Kai said:
Awesome, this definitely was not the case in the past, so Asus (or Google?) must have included it in one of the firmware upgrades. I remember trying when I first got my hands on it, and then not bothering after that because it didn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Am I the only ahole who played with the dockfor like ten mi utes andthen Googled for the thread here explaining the shortcuts and crap? Oh wait, think I did that before buying the TF101....
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Wish it worked with alt+magnifying lens, because I alt-tab with one hand on a normal laptop..

Danny-B- said:
Haha nice !!
Only works on the desktop screens for me though... but very useful
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Click to collapse
For me it works regardless of what app I'm in.

goodintentions said:
For me it works regardless of what app I'm in.
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Click to collapse
Same here - works everywhere...

Ctrl, alt, delete works for a soft reboot as well. I made a list of the "common" keys. I will post them up for you guys soon.
sent from my ASUS Transformer Running Prime 2.1.0 using Tapatalk

No way?! I always thought it was kind of stupid that there wasn't a "recent apps" key, good find!

i feel like shooting myself in the head..... how could i NOT REALIZE THIS! >_>

reaperzero said:
i feel like shooting myself in the head..... how could i NOT REALIZE THIS! >_>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude, don't get too drastic. I'd hate to see someone end their life over something so silly. lol.
sent from my ASUS Transformer Running Prime 2.1.1 using Tapatalk

kelldawg87 said:
The white circles on the up/ down and 1/6 keys are for scrolling. For example, to scroll down you would hold down the up key and tap or hold down the down key
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not following.... "Hold down the up key and tap or hold down the down key"...
I can't seem to do anything with the white circle buttons....
Also - someone mentioned a soft-reboot for CTRL-ALT-DEL? I don't even have a DEL key on my keyboard dock! I tried CTRL-ALT-Backspace to no avail... How did you soft-reboot with a key-combination again?
Thanks!

Sharpe351 said:
dude, don't get too drastic. I'd hate to see someone end their life over something so silly. lol.
sent from my ASUS Transformer Running Prime 2.1.1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
=_= brain pasta on the walls

jtrosky said:
I'm not following.... "Hold down the up key and tap or hold down the down key"...
I can't seem to do anything with the white circle buttons....
Also - someone mentioned a soft-reboot for CTRL-ALT-DEL? I don't even have a DEL key on my keyboard dock! I tried CTRL-ALT-Backspace to no avail... How did you soft-reboot with a key-combination again?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally my mistake... I have a USB keyboard also that has those keys... I just looked and don't have them on my dock either. I have used the ctrl C, ctrl V to copy and paste. It does work, you just have to select text first which is a pain.
sent from my ASUS Transformer Running Prime 2.1.1 using Tapatalk

Sharpe351 said:
Totally my mistake... I have a USB keyboard also that has those keys... I just looked and don't have them on my dock either. I have used the ctrl C, ctrl V to copy and paste. It does work, you just have to select text first which is a pain.
sent from my ASUS Transformer Running Prime 2.1.1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thank you for the clarification!