Tips - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

[Update: Now With ICS Source] Gold For Android Developers: Add AOSP Source Code To Eclipse With The "Android Sources" Plugin

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Cupcake 1.5, Dev, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 2.3, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Tips

As an Android developer, the first thing I do when I set up Eclipse with ADT on a new machine is hunt down the Android source for the API level I'm working on.

Earlier this month, I added a request for Android 4.0 source to be added to the plugin, and I'm pleased to report that the plugin maintainer just added it to the latest version.

Honeycomb sources are being worked on.

Note: If you already have the plugin installed, you'll need to re-install for this addition to show up.

Developers should understand what I'm talking about, but for ...

Nov

PSA: No, This Is Not MSN 2012, Angry Birds 2, Or Modern Warfare 3 For Android - What You Can Do If You See Malware In The Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Apps/Games, Tips

In my continuous hunt for new apps, I sometimes run into such obvious malware/crapware that it causes an immediate virtual gag reflex. Sometimes, however, this malware is cleverly disguised and to an unsuspecting user it may seem legitimate.

Here, have a look at what I found today:

If you briefly scanned this page, you may have missed the fact that the publisher's name is MicrosDft Corporation (in all caps), or that it's requesting a permission to directly dial phone numbers without your intervention, or that the website in the listing is msM.com.

Thankfully, the amount of 1-star user reviews is ...

Nov

Tip: Is Your Android Market App Loading Slowly, Especially On Wi-Fi? Give This Fix A Try

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Applications, Tips

The intrepid folks over at XDA are always tinkering away to try and make using your Android device a better experience. And a few weeks ago, one of them (namely, temasek) found that the Android Market has some issues trying to resolve DNS servers when your device is connected over Wi-Fi. This can cause the Market to load slowly, and it's definitely something I've experienced on my own phone.

The solution? A popular app called Set DNS (note: root is required), which forces your phone or tablet to use a particular name server when connecting to the ...

Oct

Device Frame Generator Allows You To Drop Screenshots Into Actual Android Device Frames, Giving Beautiful, Polished Results

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Tips

Roman Nurik, an Android engineer, recently gave the Android Asset Studio an awesome new tool that allows users to create gorgeous, high-res PNG images of any screenshot framed by actual press asset photos of Android devices.

The resulting images are, well, pretty. Gone are the days when developers or designers have to spend time in Photoshop layering up images and fabricating gloss, just to get an appealing graphic to show an app in action. Heck, even if you aren't a developer, this tool is still fun to play around with.

At the moment the selection of device frames is ...

Sep

Tip: App Icon Pinching In GO Launcher EX - Can Your Launcher Do This?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Tips, Videos

As a fan of first Launcher Pro Plus, then ADW EX, and now GO Launcher EX (which is absolutely free, by the way), I wanted to show you guys a recent addition to the latter that made it stand out from the rest of the pack even more than it already does. Lately, LPP hasn't given me any reasons to continue using it whatsoever - the app seems to have been abandoned by Fede, and ADW EX, while a very worthy opponent, also fell victim to GO team's fine offering.

Imagine that you want to organize your busy homescreen ...

Sep

Updated: Experiencing Issues After Updating Your Sprint LG Optimus S To Gingerbread? Here Are Some Potential Workarounds

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in LG, News, Optimus S, Sprint, Tips

Last Updated: September 28th, 2011

On September 14, Sprint revealed that an update to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) was rolling out for the LG Optimus S. Seems like a good thing, right? Not so fast, actually - it turns out there are some fairly substantial bugs that weren't worked out before rolling out the update. Sprint is aware of the keyboard issue but has yet to acknowledge the other problems users seem to be experiencing, such as issues charging and using USB storage.

Update: Sprint pulled the Gingerbread update for the time being.

We've already had over 150 comments relating to the update, issues, and ...

Sep

Download: Android 2.3.7 (GWK74) With Google Wallet For The Nexus S 4G

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News, Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Samsung, Sprint, Tips

WARNING: This file is only for the Sprint Nexus S 4G. To flash the update, the phone must be stock - that means no custom ROMs. Rooted handsets are OK, though this might reset root permissions (you just need to re-root). We've included a link to a full, flashable ROM which will probably require a wipe, as well.

If you find yourself still without the Android 2.3.7 (GWK74) update for your Sprint Nexus S 4G, have no fear - we're here to help. Thanks to Omar over on Google+, we've got a direct link to the update.zip from ...

Sep

[Tip] Add Events To Google Calendar With SMS And Voice Commands

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Tips

You could continue to add events to your Google Calendar the old fashioned way, or you could use this super cool (and fun!) method of SMSing things to your GCal.

The process is so easy a caveman could do it, so follow along and you'll be one step closer to speaking (almost) directly to your calendar:

Add GEvent (48368) to your contacts, name it “Magic Calendar”
Click and hold the Search button to bring up Google Voice Search and say, “Text to Magic Calendar, Pick up kids 2pm at the Cliffs in Valhalla, New York” (or, you know, whatever

...

Sep

[Complete Guide] Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC

Posted by David Ruddock in Droid Bionic, Tips

WARNING: We are not responsible for any destruction of data, phones, or small animals resulting from your use of these instructions. Utilize them at your own risk. If you brick your BIONIC, head to this link.

OK, DROID BIONIC owners - I think it's finally safe-ish (well, as safe as it can be for the moment) to start tinkering with your phone a little. There's enough information out there now to reliably root, backup, and de-bloat your phone - with the ability to unbrick if you screw something up. So, let's get this party started. Also, these instructions ...

Sep

Captain Unobvious Tip: New Facebook For Android Has Swipe-To-Delete For Wall Posts And Comments, Swipe-To-Archive For Messages

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Tips

If you belong to the dying breed of people still using Facebook (at least that's what everyone on Google+ seems to think), I think you will find today's tip quite handy, to say the least.

As it turns out, you can actually delete wall posts and comments (on your own wall or ones you created) as well as archive messages all by swiping away the item in question. Both left-to-right and right-to-left gestures seem to work, though left-to-right is a bit more reliable and natural.

Note: The gesture doesn't work everywhere - for example, it didn't work when I ...

Sep

[Tip] The DROID Bionic Has FM Radio - Tune In Using The DROID 3 Radio APK

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Droid Bionic, Tips

Last Updated: September 14th, 2011

If you're one of a handful of people who have been wondering whether or not the new Droid Bionic has FM Radio capabilities, the folks at Android Central forums have confirmed that it does, and that the radio APK from the Droid 3 will let you listen whenever you want. It definitely works on our review unit:

The only thing required for the APK to work is a set of headphone plugged into the phone to act as an antenna. The app does have the option to play via the rear speaker however, so you aren't constrained to a set ...

Aug

[Tip] Is Your Sensation Having Touchscreen Issues? Here's A Potential Fix.

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), Tips

Shortly after the HTC Sensation was released, we covered a seemingly random issue with the touchscreen. Not all Sensation owners experienced this issue, and it's still relatively unknown what the exact cause of the problem is.

However, one of the theories formed on XDA is that it's a grounding issue on some devices. On others, though, the issue seems to be completely software related. If you can easily solve the problem by rebooting or a factory reset, then the fix outlined below will not work for you. If, however, this doesn't remedy the problem - even temporarily - then ...

Aug

Tip: ASUS Transformer's Dock Supports Scrolling, Swiping, And Pinch-To-Zoom - Just Use Two Fingers

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer, Tips

Last week, I traded my Google I/O Chromebook for an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer/keyboard dock combo and started exploring the fascinating laptop/tablet hybrid. Overall, my impressions so far are more positive than I thought they would be, and I'll most likely end up selling the 3G XOOM that has none of the features the Transformer with the dock have to offer. The only problem with the Transformer that I've experienced is a relatively poor battery life compared to both the XOOM and the Tab 10.1, which I can't explain yet... but I'm getting carried away.

After my exploration of the ...

Aug

[Update: EVO 3D Too] Tip: Android 2.3.4 Update For HTC Sensations In Europe Enables Screenshot Shortcut

Posted by Brian O'Toole in News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), Tips, Tutorials

Earlier this week, the OTA update to Android 2.3.4 finally began rolling out to HTC Sensations around Europe. Our unit received the update yesterday, and quite by accident we discovered that - besides being able to make voice/video calls in GTalk - we also had a new ability to take screenshots untethered from a computer.

Those of you familiar with the standard method of taking screenshots through the Android SDK know how convoluted the process can be: hunting for drivers, enabling debugging, living down those notification-bar icons ... all a fairly time consuming process. Not to mention you have to ...

Aug

[Tip] Want The App Switcher Button On ASUS Transformer's Keyboard Dock? Just Alt+Tab Instead

Posted by Ian G. Clifton in Eee Pad Transformer, Tips

If you are anything like me and you own the keyboard dock for the Asus Transformer, then you probably keep it attached the majority of the time. The dock gives you quick access to the home, search, and menu shortcut keys, but what about the recent apps button? Unfortunately, a hardware button was not included. Although it is not much work to just tap the on-screen button since it is just a few inches away, it can still be annoying.

Instead, the Android 3.2 update brought us something a lot of us are already very familiar with - Alt+Tab. Keep ...