Database Users

Rooting the phone..

I have never "rooted" my phone. I was wondering what the Pros & Cons were, of doing it..

Menace II Society said:
I have never "rooted" my phone. I was wondering what the Pros & Cons were, of doing it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Benefits are minimal if you are not a power user, or developer... The only real benefit I can think of is the WiFi teather.
Cons are things like voided warranty.
From the sounds of it, you need to do alot more research before you make the decision to root. Please use the search functionality on the forum.
Also, currently no root for the G2 that lasts past reboot.

I agree with above, I feel that the greatest thing gained from root access is the ability to enable Wifi (and Wired) tethering to other devices.
You can also:
Flash Custom Roms
Flash kernels to Overclock your CPU for better performance
Flash kernels to Undervolt your CPU for better battery life
There are also plenty of applications in the market that you can only use with Root Access. Just go to the Market and in the search bar type "Root" and you will see the different goodies that pop up.

Akulamenuri said:
I agree with above, I feel that the greatest thing gained from root access is the ability to enable Wifi (and Wired) tethering to other devices.
You can also:
Flash Custom Roms
Flash kernels to Overclock your CPU for better performance
Flash kernels to Undervolt your CPU for better battery life
There are also plenty of applications in the market that you can only use with Root Access. Just go to the Market and in the search bar type "Root" and you will see the different goodies that pop up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunatly, it looks like none of these advanced options will be available to G2 uses fro some time as the phone rejects the root on reboot...
Rejects the root on reboot, Rejects the root on reboot, Rejects the root on reboot... Mmmmm, Geeky tounge twister!

The key word being 'some time'... could be an hour, could be until the next OTA, so we can watch exactly how it 'vets' the new update.
I'd say that being able to install/uninstall the default apps the phone comes with would be something anyone would find useful. Same with being able to access the system filestructure, to tuck away new ringtones in the default directory, so the music app won't pick them up. Or with wallpapers into the default Wallpaper section, instead of cluttering up your Gallery. Overclocking the CPU would mostly be for tweakers, going for high marks on Linpack.
Personally, I'd love an app that remapped a few of the keyboard keys (like those useless 'quick launch' buttons, and the hat-go-on-foot STUPID www/com button) to something actually *useful*.
Though yes, wifi/wired tethering would be the icing on the cake, for those who actually need/use it.

1. Flashing custom roms (CM6 is the real deal)
2. Adding tethering back (rarely use it but its a part of froyo)
3. Ability to change notification settings (needs better trackpad lighting)
Those are the 3 reasons I would love getting root, but as Google continues to update the app, getting root becomes less and less important. As far as the ringtones someone mentioned above, just download ringdroid. It makes ringtones, alarms, notifications, etc. without making it into the music.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Forgot about the notification light color options.. that'd be nice too.
And no, Ringdroid seems to leave them visible to the Music app, annoyingly enough.

Talesin_BatBat said:
Forgot about the notification light color options.. that'd be nice too.
And no, Ringdroid seems to leave them visible to the Music app, annoyingly enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For ringtones and notification sounds I just put them in /sdcard/ringtones and /sdcard/notifications and they do not seem to appear in the Music app, and are available to the respective spinners to configure without third party apps...

How exactly do I root the phone? I've only jailbroken my iPhone. I don't know how to go about it with Android now.

Menace II Society said:
How exactly do I root the phone? I've only jailbroken my iPhone. I don't know how to go about it with Android now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No permanent root as of yet with the G2. Only temporary that reverts back on reboot.
Hang tight.

[Q] Multiple Home Screen "profiles"

Is it possible to create, save and switch between different sets of home screens and setting.
HTC Sense has "Scenes" that allows this, even my old Nokia E71 had two profiles that allowed for a completely different home screen and settings.
Is there anyway of doing this with the Nexus 4?
I would like to have a set of home screens and settings with the stuff I use at work, then be able to switch to another profile that has different home screens and settings for the road trips, and another for home.
I have seen apps that allow for all the settings to be switched, but have not had any luck with changing the home screen.

-BEGIN RANT-:crying:
Am I the only one that desires to customize my phone for completely different segments of my life and be able to switch between them with ease?
OK really, I need to learn to develop this stuff, because there are many basic tasks I thought would be standard issue by now on these little computers we carry with us, but not.
:angel:-END OD RANT-
So my Nexus 4 should be arriving today, so i guess I will start to play with it. I read about installing separate launchers and switching between them with Tasker.
Can more then one instance of a single app, like a launcher, be installed by changing something in some setting once I am rooted?
Any thought, ideas to give me another direction to search?
any good "learn everything there is to know about android development in one day" classes or books?

cjunk said:
-BEGIN RANT-:crying:
Am I the only one that desires to customize my phone for completely different segments of my life and be able to switch between them with ease?
OK really, I need to learn to develop this stuff, because there are many basic tasks I thought would be standard issue by now on these little computers we carry with us, but not.
:angel:-END OD RANT-
So my Nexus 4 should be arriving today, so i guess I will start to play with it. I read about installing separate launchers and switching between them with Tasker.
Can more then one instance of a single app, like a launcher, be installed by changing something in some setting once I am rooted?
Any thought, ideas to give me another direction to search?
any good "learn everything there is to know about android development in one day" classes or books?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most custom ROMs have profiles for just this. You can easily switch between them by pulling down the notification bar and clicking on a quick tile. I know for sure that carbon does this and assume most of the major releases will as well.
Carbonized and francofied N4

Chameleon Launcher allows this.

Thanks for the suggestions.
ingenious247 said:
Chameleon Launcher allows this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to, but it seems to be not very reliable at the moment from what I read. It is also a big change from the standard android feel I like.
I still might give it a try though, I like that they are trying something different. Looks almost like a windows/android warp
Cuzz1369 said:
Most custom ROMs have profiles for just this. You can easily switch between them by pulling down the notification bar and clicking on a quick tile. I know for sure that carbon does this and assume most of the major releases will as well.
Carbonized and francofied N4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen roms and launchers that promote their "profiles" feature, but all them do not seem to go as far as allowing me to save a whole set of home screen configurations, then change from one set to the other with ease. They seem to be just a collection of settings like volumes, sounds, radios on/off and such.
I will look into carbon to see if it can indeed do this.
I find it hard to actually find a detailed listing of what different roms can do. most of the info is just how to install, bugs and more technical development stuff.
My new baby was sitting all bundled up on the table when I got home today. I haven't even had a chance to turn her on yet. still admiring the curves

cjunk said:
Thanks for the suggestions.
It seems to, but it seems to be not very reliable at the moment from what I read. It is also a big change from the standard android feel I like.
I still might give it a try though, I like that they are trying something different. Looks almost like a windows/android warp
I have seen roms and launchers that promote their "profiles" feature, but all them do not seem to go as far as allowing me to save a whole set of home screen configurations, then change from one set to the other with ease. They seem to be just a collection of settings like volumes, sounds, radios on/off and such.
I will look into carbon to see if it can indeed do this.
I find it hard to actually find a detailed listing of what different roms can do. most of the info is just how to install, bugs and more technical development stuff.
My new baby was sitting all bundled up on the table when I got home today. I haven't even had a chance to turn her on yet. still admiring the curves
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure you'll be happ. Best phone I've ever had. And you are right about the profiles being mostly setting. Carbon is like that too. The only work around I can think of is a launcher. I use nova it is rock solid. You can back up the configuration and restore in less than a minute.
Carbonized and francofied N4

[Q] Phone Setup Suggestions

Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?

1) NEXT Launcher 3D
2) NEXT Launcher 3D
3) NEXT Launcher 3D's "Swing with Scroll" feature

Impuls3101 said:
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome aboard! Here's the first thing you'll have to deal with: Size. The Note 3 (I have a Note 2) will seem huge and you may get buyer's remorse. Most of us do. It wears off in a couple of days, though and then you'll wonder how you dealt with such a small phone.
1. I use Apex launcher. Why do I use a launcher? Because I like to change the number of rows/columns from the standard setting. I also like to eliminate the Google search bar. And, I like using gestures to go to apps. I use swipe-up for Google Now and swipe-down for notification shade. Why do I use Apex instead of others? No particular reason but it seemed to have the most available features for a free version at the time. I have since paid for it.
2, There are a bazillion apps. But, coming from the iPhone I would first experiment with keyboard replacements. Why? Because you can and the iphone users can't. Try Swype or Swiftkey. Swiftkey is amazing at guessing what your next word will be. Most of all, get used to swiping instead of typing. Once you get good at it it's MUCH faster than typing. Then show that off to your iPhone buddies and say, "Take that!"
3. If you really want to dazzle people with your new phone find a high def YouTube video (the Vevo ones are good). Playing a beautiful video on a large screen has some really powerful WOW! factor.
4. Some apps I use a lot:
Color Note - A great note and checklist app that syncs via the cloud.
Chrome Beta
Flixter for getting movie times and watching trailers
Gas Buddy to find cheap gasoline
Amazon App store. A free app every day. You have to side load it, it's not in the Play Store.
Droid of the Day - A new app suggestion every day
Timely - One of the most beautiful alarm clock apps. It also syncs with all your devices
The usual apps: Netflix, Pandora, Watch ESPN, HBO Go, Dropbox, et al.
5. I turn off Auto display brightness. I leave my Note 2 at full brightness all the time. The battery can handle this just fine.
I leave GPS, Wifi, and NFC on all the time.
Make sure you setup Google+ to automatically upload your photos
6. Don't go too crazy downloading apps. You may find your battery suddenly draining too fast. If you don't like or use an app delete it immediately so it won't eat battery.
Good luck and have fun.

Impuls3101 said:
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova Prime because it is better than TW in every way.

Ok I will answer some of my own questions from using the device the last 10 or so hours I hope this helps someone else. Please add suggestions because I am still getting used to everything.
1. Nova launcher seems to be easier to use because it takes all ur tw settings and imports them. It makes it easy to switch between the two. I like the tw weather widget better though
2. -I still need to find a good email client that syncs the few accounts that I have together. I haven't looked into this yet.
-Equalizer is a really good app to put more bass or customize the sound of your music.
-Adblock plus is really nice to have while browsing the internet .. I always hated that I couldn't use it on the iphone.
-The adapt sound settings helped make my headphones sound a little better. I use an aux in on my car so it kind of sucks that they don't have profiles for different sources.
3. -Next Launcher is really nice to show people but I don't know if I could use it everyday and its 3x the price of other launchers.
-Real Racing 3 is a nice demo game but good old angry birds star wars 2 probably looks the best and it has a note 3 achievement
-slow mo camera is really nice but anything less than 1/2 speed and the image starts to look very grainy .. 4k really has a wow factor even on the 1080p screen.
4. Sketchbook for Galaxy is a lot of fun to draw in with the s-pen.
5. -I followed this guide for disabling some of the bloatware: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2478448
-I also disabled most of the air hover features because they are nice for demoing the device to someone but I probably won't use them. Plus I wear glasses and it doesn't seem to detect my eyes very well.
-People are reporting poor wifi and one of the settings suggested is to turn off network auto connect.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2472779 .. I experienced the problem but reset my router and it seems fine now.. not sure if its a software glitch or what.
6. -Here is a useful guide on how to transfer your contacts : http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/transfer-iphone-contact-to-android/
-The only thing I am missing from iOS are the nice lock screen notifications. If anyone has a suggestion please let me know

Impuls3101 said:
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I have been using Nova for a while on my Galaxy Nexus, and use it on my N3 now too. It's not too bloated, allows custom number of icons per row/column, gestures, and resize all widgets. I used to use Apex, and that was really good too, but I switched a while ago to Nova because there was some feature Apex didn't have, though honestly I don't remember what now, and they may very well have added it.
2. SketchBook Mobile by Autodesk (makers of AutoCAD and Inventor, among many other engineering-oriented programs) is kind of cool, it's a sketch program that you can do a lot with, and works well with the stylus. Not the most useful app, per se, but a fun "proof of concept" if you will, and it's free. I believe there's more options than the built in equivalent, though I haven't used either a ton yet.
3. Any high def media will look awesome. Show them Netflix streaming, or as someone else said, HD Youtube, or any other HD video. Even pictures taken with the camera look great, simply because of the huge high res screen. Pictures taken with the phone probably would look even better on the screen than ones taken with another phone with a better camera but worse screen, because it's still small enough to cover up minor imperfections, but big and crisp enough to really look amazing.
4. For a music player, I like PowerAmp. It's got a really good equalizer, and a ton of settings to play with. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the interface, but it's not awful. You can also customize the widget as much as you want, in terms of colors, fonts, transparency, buttons, size, what's displayed, etc.
I also use UberSync for Facebook, which lets you use sync HD pictures from facebook as contact photos. You can also import birthdays into your calendar, if you want, and some other info from people's profiles. You can choose what resolution to use, how often to sync, and only use wi-fi if you want.
5. I turned off all of the Smart features and that kind of thing. I don't want to control my phone with my eyes or hand gestures, I want to use it with my hands or S Pen. Of course that's fully a matter of preference. Also I noticed that the setting to alert you if you walk away without putting the S Pen back in is disabled by default, so I enabled that. I still worry I'm going to lose it sometime, but that's just because I'm forgetful.

Impuls3101 said:
-Adblock plus is really nice to have while browsing the internet .. I always hated that I couldn't use it on the iphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you using Adblock without root??

jmorton10 said:
How are you using Adblock without root??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Firefox with the adblock plugin and its working great. Firefox now flies on this phone.:good:

On the fence, can you help me decide

I don't know about ideal but I have my own personal requirements.
1. Notifications for Text messages, Phone Calls and Emails. I don't use Facebook or Twitter anymore but I do understand lots of people still do so those would be important as well.
2. Ability to dismiss incoming calls or answer. I hate those bluetooth headsets so talking directly into the watch would be better for ME. Don't know how well that would work but if the call is important enough or private than have the ability to swap over to just the phone.
3. The screen is so small games really won't matter to me but the ability to go to Playstore and download various Apps would be ideal. Don't really know what I would really need on my watch as any Apps I use regularly I would rather see on my 5" screen.
4. Calendar with Notifications would be great as I could set dates and times on my phone and be alerted thru the watch.
5. Not much else is really required besides changing watch faces to different designs and the occasional trip to the internet on the fly with readable screens. Sometimes I need to google something and it would be great to be able to do this at random.
Currently I am looking at the SmartQ Z Watch and the ZGPAX S5 Smartwatch

I have had this watch for 2 days, comments as below:-
1. This works perfectly.
2. I haven't figured out how you can talk directly into the watch. I do not think this is possible yet although you can plug in a headset and has a built in microphone. With the updates coming in weekly I assume this might be possible through an update.
3. Playstore is not pre-installed. Anyways I do not think most of the apps would work in Playstore since they are not tailored for the screen size.
4. No problem with this either.
5. No inbuilt web browser but I assume you can install one, some of the custom roms has this I have read.

coolface said:
I have had this watch for 2 days, comments as below:-
1. This works perfectly.
2. I haven't figured out how you can talk directly into the watch. I do not think this is possible yet although you can plug in a headset and has a built in microphone. With the updates coming in weekly I assume this might be possible through an update.
3. Playstore is not pre-installed. Anyways I do not think most of the apps would work in Playstore since they are not tailored for the screen size.
4. No problem with this either.
5. No inbuilt web browser but I assume you can install one, some of the custom roms has this I have read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What watch do you have???

All-Or-Nothing said:
I don't know about ideal but I have my own personal requirements.
1. Notifications for Text messages, Phone Calls and Emails. I don't use Facebook or Twitter anymore but I do understand lots of people still do so those would be important as well.
2. Ability to dismiss incoming calls or answer. I hate those bluetooth headsets so talking directly into the watch would be better for ME. Don't know how well that would work but if the call is important enough or private than have the ability to swap over to just the phone.
3. The screen is so small games really won't matter to me but the ability to go to Playstore and download various Apps would be ideal. Don't really know what I would really need on my watch as any Apps I use regularly I would rather see on my 5" screen.
4. Calendar with Notifications would be great as I could set dates and times on my phone and be alerted thru the watch.
5. Not much else is really required besides changing watch faces to different designs and the occasional trip to the internet on the fly with readable screens. Sometimes I need to google something and it would be great to be able to do this at random.
Currently I am looking at the SmartQ Z Watch and the ZGPAX S5 Smartwatch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have ZGPAX - they haven't released software for the notifications and call handling options, like the Galaxy Gear has... but it's a great device for sure!

All-Or-Nothing said:
I don't know about ideal but I have my own personal requirements.
1. Notifications for Text messages, Phone Calls and Emails. I don't use Facebook or Twitter anymore but I do understand lots of people still do so those would be important as well.
2. Ability to dismiss incoming calls or answer. I hate those bluetooth headsets so talking directly into the watch would be better for ME. Don't know how well that would work but if the call is important enough or private than have the ability to swap over to just the phone.
3. The screen is so small games really won't matter to me but the ability to go to Playstore and download various Apps would be ideal. Don't really know what I would really need on my watch as any Apps I use regularly I would rather see on my 5" screen.
4. Calendar with Notifications would be great as I could set dates and times on my phone and be alerted thru the watch.
5. Not much else is really required besides changing watch faces to different designs and the occasional trip to the internet on the fly with readable screens. Sometimes I need to google something and it would be great to be able to do this at random.
Currently I am looking at the SmartQ Z Watch and the ZGPAX S5 Smartwatch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have zgpax.
Mine came with playstore preinstalled. Can run most ICS compatible applications, oddly though launchers ie Nova Launcher do not work. There is no home button anyway. Switching between programs involves using the back button a lot and switching from the home screen/watch launcher. ADW launcher works but every time the phone is turned on the clock launcher starts instead. Don't know how to switch default.
Google calendar is preinstalled.
I use MySMS to mirror text messages from my main phone, and use a prepaid sim with cheap data just for notifications, ie gmail, ebay.
Do not get SmartQ Z watch if running apps is important to you. It runs a MIPS cpu instead of an ARM cpu, and most apps will not run on MIPS by default.
ZGPAX is not rooted by default but can be very easily.
No volume buttons, volume is best controlled by quick volume profiles from notification tray. Four profiles are set by default, general, silent, meeting (vibrate mode), and outdoor (loud mode).
Only buttons are power and back. Menu button is soft button in notification tray next to clock.
Wifi reception has been excellent for something of this size, though understandably a little slowish.

alcuin said:
Do not get SmartQ Z watch if running apps is important to you. It runs a MIPS cpu instead of an ARM cpu, and most apps will not run on MIPS by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually on the smartq z watch most apps excluding a lot of games work just fine without MIP compatibility or MIPS conversion . some have screen issues but that problem lies with any smartwatch .
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

how do Dual Screen Browser Apps work?

Hello there,
I am an iPhone Jailbreak user, who has always been curious about the capabilities of an Android phone to see if it matches upto anything the Jailbroken iPhones can do in my own perspective. I've posted on other communities before to ask these questions but since I got no real good answer, I decided to buy an old Nexus 4 phone (running v5.1.1 i believe) to see what the Android can do myself.
Now, I've noticed that with these "Dual Screen Browsers", specifically the "Dual Screen Browser" and the "DualScreen" app has this capability of when you have a Flash Video playing, and if you go back to the Home screen, it continues to play the video in the background. My understanding was for Android, because it uses an OOM memory management system, playing videos as if it remained in the foreground should not be possible, but some how these two apps are able to do this.
I also realized the app "Floating Apps" also achieves a similar effect of playing any Flash videos in the background. although for this it seems like it leaves a tiny icon floating around the phone. which seems totally fine. i would assume this behavior can be made available to all apps with an option to disable this feature (including games)
Could anyone shed light to how these three apps works, and what allows them to do this? Can this behavior be mimic'd for things like a Game app?
Or could anyone point to a better forum to ask these questions?
Since I now have an Android phone I can actually try out whatever suggestions may pop up so this is exciting.
Thank you all in advance.