Hey guys, new to Android and G2, my G2 just arrived today and I'm in the swing of things. Been doing some app picking up on the Market and it's really just awesome.
A few questions though.
What's with Browser? It lets me select a homepage but when it opens, the Homepage doesn't load. Instead it's the last page I visited. Not a fan of that.
What's the best Video Player out there? I'm using RockPlayer, it's great, but I'd like to lose the ads. If there's no alternative, I wouldn't mind paying the ten bucks, but... if I can avoid this, I'd rather do that.
Also, the Music Player is okay, but I can't seem to get the music to stop. I can pause it, but it doesn't just close out completely.
Thanks for your help, sorry about the noobish questions, but please go easy on me, I'm new -.-
The browser goes to the last page visited because you haven't closed out of the browser completely. You might have just pressed home to get out of the browser, unless you pressed back several times to go to the original page from all the pages that you have viewed, then it will finally go back to the home screens. It will go to the new home page if you press menu, windows, and new window.
I don't have a problem with the stock video player, so I have been using that.
Also, I'm not sure since I don't have a stock rom, but on CM6, if you hold the back button, it forces the apps to close out. You could give that a shot.
The question 1 & 3 are the same actually. The browser and the player still runs in the background, like u just minimize them. They are not closed yet.
To close them the simplest way is to install a thread killer software like ES series or some others.
Q2, I found no better video player [email protected]@
I'm sorry, stock video player? Where's that at? :/
And thanks for the answers on 1 and 3, I'll give both a shot now.
MnemonicSyntax said:
I'm sorry, stock video player? Where's that at? :/
And thanks for the answers on 1 and 3, I'll give both a shot now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, if you have a video file in your memory card and you click on it using a file browser or if its in a directory where the gallery app picks it up (folder named 'videos' etc), it plays automatically.
MnemonicSyntax said:
Hey guys, new to Android and G2, my G2 just arrived today and I'm in the swing of things. Been doing some app picking up on the Market and it's really just awesome.
A few questions though.
What's with Browser? It lets me select a homepage but when it opens, the Homepage doesn't load. Instead it's the last page I visited. Not a fan of that.
What's the best Video Player out there? I'm using RockPlayer, it's great, but I'd like to lose the ads. If there's no alternative, I wouldn't mind paying the ten bucks, but... if I can avoid this, I'd rather do that.
Also, the Music Player is okay, but I can't seem to get the music to stop. I can pause it, but it doesn't just close out completely.
Thanks for your help, sorry about the noobish questions, but please go easy on me, I'm new -.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Dolphin HD as web browser, powerAMP as music player..
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
G2 cm6.1.1
I'd recommend u root the phone and install "Ad Free", it solves the annoying ads on your phone
There are a ton of video players in the market. I've tried the ones that seem to be most commonly used by XDA folks: ArcMedia, Rockplayer and vplayer. Rockplayer is my favorite so far. It is able to play every video I've tried (might have to toggle hardware decoding to play a few) and has the most usable interface of those I've tried.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
tazz9690 said:
The browser goes to the last page visited because you haven't closed out of the browser completely. You might have just pressed home to get out of the browser, unless you pressed back several times to go to the original page from all the pages that you have viewed, then it will finally go back to the home screens. It will go to the new home page if you press menu, windows, and new window.
I don't have a problem with the stock video player, so I have been using that.
Also, I'm not sure since I don't have a stock rom, but on CM6, if you hold the back button, it forces the apps to close out. You could give that a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that a function somewhere? Or is that just on the Home Screen and applies to all Apps?
I'm not really trying to stop anything from running, as opposed to having a certain webpage open everytime I open the Browser and no music playing when I open up Music. For those two Apps, I don't want to be where I "left off."
Also, I did root it and put on CM 6.1.1. For the first time doing something like this, I think it went rather well.
Thanks guys, for any help provided.
Dolphin browser is the one I use and I have no complaints.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2
Android decides for itself whether to leave an app running when you move away from it, or whether to close it. It usually does a pretty good job.
Most people want the browser to stay at the page they were using so they can go straight back to it. There are task killer apps for Android but it's normally recommended that you stay away from these, since they can cause their own problems.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z
Right, I'm not looking to close any apps really. I guess it'd be nice to be able to close an app out, say a game, Browser or Music, but only if you wanted to. If you instead just pressed Home, those apps would stay open so you can go back to them later. But if you were finished with say, surfing the web, you could exit out, it would take you Home like normal.
I don't know, I understand totally about Android and it's ability to multi-task. I'm not really even looking to close things out completely, but if that's the distinction between opening an App from where you last had it to opening an App to it's "home screen" then so be it.
Yeah, it's kind of a different mentality. Pressing the phone's home button is really more of a "show desktop" than an exit. This means a better user experience for the average user though (since as was said before, everything is back to the way they last had it and the programs will load faster since they weren't removed from memory to begin with). Whenever I want to leave the browser on its home screen, I simply close all of its windows before leaving the app (just like opening a new window, closing the last open one will make it go to the home page).
With a custom rom, you can do more of what you are saying. I know with CM, you can assign a long press of the back button to exit out of the foreground program (so now pressing home will leave the app running and long-pressing back will completely exit out of it). I believe the MIUI rom allows that as well. Alternatively, you can use a task manager to do the same thing (though maybe not as conveniently---not sure if any of the task managers have a similar shortcut key feature).
Thanks. This is what I was looking for. I have Cyrogen 6.1.1 on my phone now. Could I ask for some assistance in setting up the long press of the back key? Thanks much!
Sure. It's under Settings->Applications->Development. The last option in the list.
Thanks again so much Quinn. I am very happy now! Just a few more questions and I think I'll be good.
1) I'd like to be able to set my Quickkeys to Back, Foward, and Home. Is there a way to do this, preferably without an App? If not, at least a way to clear out the Quickkeys area.
2) What does the Google App package come with exactly?
3) How do I uninstall some of the Apps like Twitter and Facebook? I don't see a way to uninstall those the normal way.
Thanks for all the help!
MnemonicSyntax said:
1) I'd like to be able to set my Quickkeys to Back, Foward, and Home. Is there a way to do this, preferably without an App? If not, at least a way to clear out the Quickkeys area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do this by editing your keymap files. An example of an edited one can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837002. The QuickKeys are mapped to user1, user2, and user3. I know you said you didn't want to use an app, but there is a simple one to use called ButtonRemapper (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=850464). You may be able to install it, use it to quickly edit your keymap file, and then uninstall, but I'm not positive on that. That app page also has a link to a great guide about how keymap files are structured.
MnemonicSyntax said:
2) What does the Google App package come with exactly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming you are talking about Google Addons for CM6? You can unzip the file and look in the apps directory, but here's a listing for convenience: CarHomeGoogle, CarHomeLauncher, Facebook, GenieWidget, Gmail, GoogleBackupTransport, GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter, GoogleContactsSyncAdapter, GoogleFeedback, GooglePartnerSetup, GoogleQuickSearchBox, GoogleServicesFramework, googlevoice, HtcCopyright, HtcEmailPolicy, HtcSettings, kickback, LatinImeTutorial, list.txt, Maps, MarketUpdater, MediaUploader, NetworkLocation, OneTimeInitializer, PassionQuickOffice, SetupWizard, soundback, Street, Talk, talkback, Twitter, Vending, VoiceSearch, YouTube.
MnemonicSyntax said:
3) How do I uninstall some of the Apps like Twitter and Facebook? I don't see a way to uninstall those the normal way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can delete the appropriate APK from your /system/app directory. Alternatively, you can simply disable the app with a "pm disable" command in the terminal (see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=809231). This is usually the safer route---disable the app, make sure your phone is still running properly, then uninstall it if you still want to. If you want a nicer interface for doing all this, you can download TitaniumBackup from the Market (I believe the free version allows both uninstalling and freezing/disabling apps).
Enjoy your new phone!
Dude... open market, click the search button, enter "firefox". Install that. Yes, genuine firefox. Its in beta and still has a few glitches, but ITS FIREFOX!! DO IT!
Related
Chrome To Phone is a feature of Froyo that works with the Chrome browser (and possibly FireFox) that allows you to send links from your desktop to your Android phone.
Currently, it only seems to work on 2.2 but I was wondering if anyone has figured out a way to get it working on 2.1?
I've got the "LinkPush" app, but it doesn't work as well (seems to only work via google talk for me.)
If not, I guess I'll have to wait for a Froyo release that supports the cameras.
Sirchuk said:
Chrome To Phone is a feature of Froyo that works with the Chrome browser (and possibly FireFox) that allows you to send links from your desktop to your Android phone.
Currently, it only seems to work on 2.2 but I was wondering if anyone has figured out a way to get it working on 2.1?
I've got the "LinkPush" app, but it doesn't work as well (seems to only work via google talk for me.)
If not, I guess I'll have to wait for a Froyo release that supports the cameras.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most every website has a "share" or "send" button as well as google maps just "share" or "send" it to yourself via email, it takes like almost no time whatsoever...then you can just open the email and follow the link on your phone...
Freelancerx said:
most every website has a "share" or "send" button as well as google maps just "share" or "send" it to yourself via email, it takes like almost no time whatsoever...then you can just open the email and follow the link on your phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the risk of being yelled at, I think you are missing the point of the question.
Yes, it's possible now to just email a link to myself or something, but it's a rather cool feature to just _push_ it to the phone, and not have to worry about manually navigating through several other steps in the process.
Having said that, I've heard nothing about 2.1 getting that function, and I think it's probably more of a priority to most people to just get 2.2 versus 2.1 with a few hacked functions of 2.2. However, that's my opinion. Yours may vary.
blakejohnson86 said:
At the risk of being yelled at, I think you are missing the point of the question.
Yes, it's possible now to just email a link to myself or something, but it's a rather cool feature to just _push_ it to the phone, and not have to worry about manually navigating through several other steps in the process.
Having said that, I've heard nothing about 2.1 getting that function, and I think it's probably more of a priority to most people to just get 2.2 versus 2.1 with a few hacked functions of 2.2. However, that's my opinion. Yours may vary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i understood the question the fact is that we probably are not going to be seeing that in 2.1 well at least not right now, i mean you never know, and frankly if clicking on a link and adding your email address and then clicking send, then just dragging the notification panel and opening the email link on your phone is too much work for you....then... lol i mean its 5 steps haha
Usually with developers, we look for the way to do it how we want (ex. How he was asking). But I am sure he appreciates the HowTo on sending an email.
On a real note, I actually haven't played around with the feature to much but Ill atleast look into it for you. It's a good idea to suggest things while we wait for the 2.1 official or atleast dealing with the half and halfs of cook-ups
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Freelancerx said:
no i understood the question the fact is that we probably are not going to be seeing that in 2.1 well at least not right now, i mean you never know, and frankly if clicking on a link and adding your email address and then clicking send, then just dragging the notification panel and opening the email link on your phone is too much work for you....then... lol i mean its 5 steps haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my problem is that not every site has the link, and with google maps it sends you a link to the maps.google.com page. Chrome to phone sends a command to your phone that opens up the map in the google maps application, not the browser, so from there you can navigate and such.
Thanks for looking into it rathfon..
Yeah, I know you can email links back and forth, but that's not really what I'm looking for. Any phone can do that, I'm looking more for Google's Continuous Client idea. Pushing a map link opens in maps, pushing a link to an android app opens it in the market, a browser link in the browser, etc. It's just a better way of doing things that I've wanted for a very long time. I thought of it almost 3 years ago with the first iPhone, but I didn't/don't have the know-how to do it.
LinkPush is working fairly well for me at the moment. It's a small android icon located next to the address bar, just a click of the icon sends a Google Talk message to my phone with the link, or I can open the LinkPush app and it lists the link on the top.
It's not as seamless as Google's method, but it works in 2.1 and below, and it's instant with almost no "work". I guess it's a good compromise for now until we get a working Froyo release.
mrono said:
my problem is that not every site has the link, and with google maps it sends you a link to the maps.google.com page. Chrome to phone sends a command to your phone that opens up the map in the google maps application, not the browser, so from there you can navigate and such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually for google maps link when you click on it, it gives you the option to either open it in your browser or the actual map app....if you tried it out you would see. if it doesn't give you the option then go to your internet browser in the applications manager and clear your default, thats probably why it wont ask you to choose a program.
Sounds like a good idea
I like the idea. I guess everyone has moved on to getting Froyo working.
First post.
Just ordered the SGS2, migrating over to T-mobile from (godawful) AT&T on the (godawful) E71x.
I've done a bunch of skimming here, tons of good info.
Question: is there a definitive, "go to" guide to get up and running with the SGS2? I want to hit the ground running when it shows up next week. I see some noob guides to Android, but most are quite dated.
Thanks in advance.
get titanium backup and ROM manager apps so u will be prepared when it's rooted. Get a proper home launcher like zeam launcher,etc.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
I'd skip the other home launchers, I like the TouchWiz 4 launcher a lot more than those other launchers.
MOG is an excellent music subscription service with high quality lossy downloadable streaming music.
I like Opera Mobile for fast connections. It works well with most websites. I use Opera Mini when I'm on EDGE or GPRS. I use Firefox Beta 8 in the market if Opera Mobile doesn't want to work with a certain site or if I want to access Firefox Sync. Set your User Agent to Desktop with both browsers. Firefox isn't my main browser because it doesn't support flash and it's intensive in CPU usage but Opera Mobile does support flash and it tends to be easier on the processor.
Tunein radio is awesome
What are you looking for though?
I agree that tunein radio is awesome, it's my go to app for internet radio.
The first thing I did was a factory reset, I did it before I ever left the store. I waited until I got home and connected to wifi before I began my setup. It did not have the new market so after adding my google account I opened the market and closed it. I then turned my screen off and left it alone for 20 or so minutes so it could sync from Google. After 20 minutes I had the new market and all my contacts were there.
So I would recommend those steps to begin and whatever you do after is up to you. That is the great thing about Android, everyone is allowed the experience of their choosing!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
I would do the same thing as far as syncing goes. I also once owned an E71, I loved the hardware on those phones but not the OS... I'd get acquainted in general with Android for a bit, check out the market, and go from there. Few helpful tips:
-holding down the home button brings up task manager
-the option key (far left) is useful in a lot of situations. If you're stuck in an app but want to change it's settings or don't see the button you need, try hitting option!
-set up gmail and Facebook if you'd like to have sync'd contacts including contact photos
-if you use dropbox, go grab the app from the market!
-if you tap the home button and the lock button at the same time, it will take a screenshot. The screenshot can be found in the gallery under that name (screenshots), if you open it in there and tap on the image, more options will appear below so you can share the image with us for example if you need help with something.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
With previous versions of Android, you could long press on a link in the browser and pick Share Link. This also worked when you long pressed on an image. But it doesn't seem to work in the ICS browser.
You can however, go to a page and pick the menu option then Share Page. But that is not a good solution for everything. For example, if you have a list MP3s on a page, there would be no way to share those links with another app since you can't open that link as a page - it would just start playing.
Is this a bug, or was there some decision to remove that ability?
There's a copy url option, which means you have to open gmail or whatever yourself...
Yes, but that is a step backwards I think and isn't really what I'm looking for. One of the best things about Android is that different apps can work together by sharing functionality - like using the Share function.
I'll give you an example. I'm the developer of Juice for Roku, which lets you send music, photos, and video (in certain formats) from your phone to your Roku player. I also added Share functionality so if you were in the gallery app, for example, you can long press a photo, pick Share and pick my app - which would send it to the Roku.
I'm just now adding the ability to accept URLs from whatever app wants to share them. So for previous versions of the browser, you would be able to long press a link to a music, video or photo and pick share, then pick my app. Now you cant do that in ICS. It's just disappointing.
I agree, this is a step backward, and it's not the only one, either...
Interesting to hear about the Juice though - never heard of it, but I will be taking a look. Have you ever looked into dlna implementation? A serious drawback to the Roku...
Hey what's up guys. Not sure if this has already been discussed but I was wondering if there was a way to activate the pop up browser without actually clicking on link. As many of you know we are somewhat limited on the applications we can use in split screen mode. But I noticed if I already have pop up browser open I am able to navigate to almost any application on the phone. It would be great to quickly look something up while already in a game or in an app that does not support multi window.
Any ideas?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Yes, I downloaded this and I'm positive it is exactly what you are looking for. It DOES work on my t-mo GN2 without a problem
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1972869
here is a news post about it as well. http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...er-without-clicking-links-on-the-galaxy-note/
it is in pure apk form(simple dl and install) and will create an app. You could launch it without clicking any links, just like you would launch the stock browser.
I am 99% that is the one i downloaded and it works perfect for me
If I understood you correctly and this is what you're looking for, hit the thanks button if i I helped you out. Gl
I just got my Pixel XL yesterday since I've set it up I've had this problem. When I open links, regardless of the app I open them from, they do not open in Chrome or whatever I have set for my default browser. Instead they open a sort of overlay WebView window. To clarify, these are not opening in the apps internal browsers (Like what is available in Twitter or Facebook). I have cleared all the default handlers, changed default browsers, tried from multiple apps, but this continues. I even did a chat with Google support and they claim this is supposed to happen. I have a video below of what I'm talking about. In the video I am clicking a link and instead of Chrome coming up, a window appears on top of Twitter and the link is rendered there.
Does anyone have any idea what would be causing this?
https://youtu.be/NHeNalBXG7s
Do you have any 3rd party browsers installed or any "multi-window" apps installed?
Scott said:
Do you have any 3rd party browsers installed or any "multi-window" apps installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not. Chrome is the only installed browser. Every app I have was also on my S7 before I switched and it did not have anything like this going on, even on the Nougat beta. I have never seen anything like this before.
Gotcha, and what app are you using to show the links to begin with? Sorry if I missed it in the OP.
EDIT: It has to be the originating app?
Scott said:
Gotcha, and what app are you using to show the links to begin with? Sorry if I missed it in the OP.
EDIT: It has to be the originating app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happens regardless of the originating app. It happens in Gmail, Inbox, Facebook, Twitter, my Reddit client, everywhere that has links that would normally be handled by the default browser.
This is part of nougat.. kind of.
Previously in android apps could use something called web view. Basically it was a built in generic mini browser that the app developer could customize to their liking and make it look however they wanted.
Now with Nougat they are trying to keep everything looking similar so apps can now use the mini browser thing which is part of Google chrome. Sounds like those apps your using might be using the old web view still
aholeinthewor1d said:
This is part of nougat.. kind of.
Previously in android apps could use something called web view. Basically it was a built in generic mini browser that the app developer could customize to their liking and make it look however they wanted.
Now with Nougat they are trying to keep everything looking similar so apps can now use the mini browser thing which is part of Google chrome. Sounds like those apps your using might be using the old web view still
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a WebView window like I've ever seen. Nor is it a Chrome Custom Tab. I have never seen anything like what my video shows.
I guess I'm just going to have to do a screen share support call with Google and hope they have a solution, even if it is a factory reset.
Have you tried opening your Google app from the app drawer, going into settings > accounts and privacy, and disabling "open web pages in app"?
Ya, this is a confusing one.
moot4prez said:
I just got my Pixel XL yesterday since I've set it up I've had this problem. When I open links, regardless of the app I open them from, they do not open in Chrome or whatever I have set for my default browser. Instead they open a sort of overlay WebView window. To clarify, these are not opening in the apps internal browsers (Like what is available in Twitter or Facebook). I have cleared all the default handlers, changed default browsers, tried from multiple apps, but this continues. I even did a chat with Google support and they claim this is supposed to happen. I have a video below of what I'm talking about. In the video I am clicking a link and instead of Chrome coming up, a window appears on top of Twitter and the link is rendered there.
Does anyone have any idea what would be causing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I watched your video. Yes that's different from what I get. Looks kinda cool. Looking forward to hearing what Google tells you.
A factory reset did the job. The only explanation I can think of is that for some reason my phone couldn't set a default browser. Anything that had an open to go from internal to external browsers (such as Twitter or Facebook) showed "Open in" instead of "Open in Chrome" even though my system settings showed Chrome as my default. Also, one of my default browsers listed was the Setup Wizard. I am thinking this is shenanigans from doing a USB transfer setup from an S7 on the Nougat beta.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!
moot4prez said:
A factory reset did the job. The only explanation I can think of is that for some reason my phone couldn't set a default browser. Anything that had an open to go from internal to external browsers (such as Twitter or Facebook) showed "Open in" instead of "Open in Chrome" even though my system settings showed Chrome as my default. Also, one of my default browsers listed was the Setup Wizard. I am thinking this is shenanigans from doing a USB transfer setup from an S7 on the Nougat beta.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The good news is you got it straight! :good:
Sorry to necro, but I have this problem now and I'm really not trying to factory reset after all the work I've done making this phone mine. Are there any developments on this? The WebView thing doesn't support YouTube which is killing me the most. A Google product that doesn't support YouTube...madness....
If anyone else finds this, disabling the Setup Wizard app resolves the issue. That app just tries to open all links rather than letting the default browser do the job.
I went through this exact situation, and couldn't figure it out. Here is a link to the thread i had started going through the entire process, its about 3 pages. It started with gmail, then got widespread. My end result was a reset also.
Here Is The Thread