Develop Bugs

Push Chrome / Firefox links to your Android

Engadet just posted how you can push links to android 2.2 running Froyo.
ONLY FOR ANDROID 2.2 FROYO
Full story:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/31/how-to-push-chrome-firefox-links-to-your-android-2-2-froyo-de/
1. download the Google Chrome to Phone Extension application here. Make sure Settings > Applications > Unknown Sources is checked if you're installing over USB
2. Download the latest version of the Chrome to Phone extension from the same page, or get the Firefox version here.
3. In your web browser of choice, log into your Google Account.
4. On your phone, start the Chrome to Phone application
5. In the app, add the Google Account you'd like to share with.
Click on "Register Device" to link your account to the Google Chrome to Phone service.
Finally, open up that web browser, find something you'd like to share, then click the new icon in the toolbar to beam it to your phone. Now you're cooking with fi--we mean, now you can continue your browsing sessions, share YouTube videos and get those Google Maps.

dose anyone think WOW i nead this feature?
i didt.. am i missing somthing?

using push means apps don't longer have to make a connection to the server in order to check for updates. Making updates doesn't come immediately (depends on the update interval) and draining the battery more. Pushing means that the server 'pushes' the changes to the apps when there's an update. So people will receive their updates immediately.

copex said:
dose anyone think WOW i nead this feature?
i didt.. am i missing somthing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are.
Froyo brings the "cloud to device" functionality to 3rd party apps, essentially allowing application developers to use a lightweight "push" notification service rather than having to do their own thing.
Whilst this particular use of the service may not be of interest to you, I can assure you that this is going to be tremendously useful in the future once developers start getting to grips with it.
Regards,
Dave

copex said:
dose anyone think WOW i nead this feature?
i didt.. am i missing somthing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one simple example, you are in hurry to go to a company that you don't know where it is, so you just browse their website in your pc, find the location in google maps, and push it to your phone.
I know that we can do that also from the phone, but no matter how good a phone is, for now it is still easier to do that in a pc rather than in a phone.

boge said:
one simple example, you are in hurry to go to a company that you don't know where it is, so you just browse their website in your pc, find the location in google maps, and push it to your phone.
I know that we can do that also from the phone, but no matter how good a phone is, for now it is still easier to do that in a pc rather than in a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe its just the way i use my phone, i would just pop the post code in google maps on the phone, or use the voice navigate to feature.
i understand cloud/push tech, and when we finally get Firefox on android with Firefox sync i can see me making use of tab syncing.
but the whole push a webpage to my phone - but i am sure there will be other great cloud/push apps.

the firefox extension link is broken - this is working from chrome though. Any idea what happened to the firefox extension?

I'm guessing the Firefox plugin is this one:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/161941/

copex said:
dose anyone think WOW i nead this feature?
i didt.. am i missing somthing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Features
- Send current page with address bar button
- Right click on any link/image to send to your Android phone
- Highlight any text then click address bar button to send to clipboard your phone (Max. 265chars)
Very bloody useful if you ask me!

does anybody know if it also works the otherway around, so from phone to pc?

[Q] New to Android and G2, have some questions...

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!

[Q] Search in a web browser like in desktop Chrome?

Anyone who uses Chrome on their PC will know what I mean when I say is there any Android browser that allows you to search different websites from the navigation bar? For instance in desktop Chrome if you want to search youtube for Lady Gaga you just type in "youtube.com Lady Gaga". Is there any Android web browser with that kind of functionality? Android Chrome doesn't seem to do it.
Thanks for any help.

liquidmetalrob said:
Anyone who uses Chrome on their PC will know what I mean when I say is there any Android browser that allows you to search different websites from the navigation bar? For instance in desktop Chrome if you want to search youtube for Lady Gaga you just type in "youtube.com Lady Gaga". Is there any Android web browser with that kind of functionality? Android Chrome doesn't seem to do it.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the stock browser and Chrome in that way with no problems. I think, there is something wrong with your settings.

I just reinstalled Chrome on my phone and typed in "youtube.com Lady Gaga" and it didn't work, it just searched on Google. Is there a setting you have to turn on?

As far as I know, the mobile version is fairly new and didn't see any options to enable it. Desktop chrome came with it already functional. The only mobile variation I found was using Firefox w/ the youtube add-on. Which sucks because I hate Firefox.

I love the dolphin browser you should try that one not sure what you are trying to do.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app

liquidmetalrob said:
I just reinstalled Chrome on my phone and typed in "youtube.com Lady Gaga" and it didn't work, it just searched on Google. Is there a setting you have to turn on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Chrome on desktop, you can / have to go to options / search settings and set up these shortcuts (if not already present). I've only just started with new Android device - I assume there is a similar place to set such on handheld. e.g. On my desktop, type 'w' 'p' '<space>' auto-changes the address line to 'search wikipedia' (or like wording). I assume you see the same on your desktop when you type 'youtube.com', as per your message.
If nothing else, you can do '"lady gaga" site:youtube.com", in the mean time.

Gmail app getting irritating

So Gmail started this thing (not sure when), where it uses a built in browser to handle all links and URL. I assume this is based off chrome, and that's fine if it worked.... BUT IT DONT!
Half the time I get this (see pics) when trying to open a link, and when it does manage to load a page, objects/links all over the page refuse to work. This sucks as I use my Gmail for ALOT of things.
I've tried long holding the links and selecting "open in browser" but I get this stupid built in thing again. Sometimes I can copy the link and open and paste in chrome, but sometime it will just copy the image instead of the link so I end up downloading a picture of the link I want to visit.
I've tried disabling the browser option in Google settings for Google search, but it seems to not affect gmail.
For example today I got an email saying a bill was due, it had a "click here to pay" link. I click on the link, but only get this continuous loading screen. I tried to "open in browser" same thing. So I tried coping URL and pasting in chrome, but only managed to download "xxxx/xx/x/payment.jpg" I wasn't able to actually visit the link hours later when I was near a PC.
So In short my question is.....
How can I disable Gmail's useless built in browser.
Sorry for repeating a bunch of things.

settings, general settings, uncheck open links in Gmail
Sent from my LGE LG-H815 using XDA Labs

IIIIkoolaidIIII said:
settings, general settings, uncheck open links in Gmail
Sent from my LGE LG-H815 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly I don't have this option. Attached is a screenshot of my available options.
** Running the latest image, and all apps are updated. It is not a modifed Gmail app, it's just themed with substratum

noidea24 said:
Sadly I don't have this option. Attached is a screenshot of my available options.
** Running the latest image, and all apps are updated. It is not a modifed Gmail app, it's just themed with substratum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looks like it's a change they're in process of rolling out
have you tried eating cache from Gmail and chrome ?
Sent from my LGE LG-H815 using XDA Labs

This is strange. I don't have the option to uncheck, but none of my links open with a built in browser. They all open with full fledged Chrome.

JAYNO20 said:
This is strange. I don't have the option to uncheck, but none of my links open with a built in browser. They all open with full fledged Chrome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if this has to do with the default handling of links? As in, under Android Settings, Apps, App Settings, "Browser App".

So I have found out it's a chrome thing, not Gmail. Noticed this when I went to open a link in an app and I got the same window.
I cleared all data from chrome, went to Gmail and tried to open a link, and it presented me with full screen chrome, but after logging back in to chrome and reopening the link in gmail again it gave me that bull crap floating windows thing. It reminds me of paranoid androids halo feature.
Anyways, I can't find anything in chrome regarding this.

noidea24 said:
So I have found out it's a chrome thing, not Gmail. Noticed this when I went to open a link in an app and I got the same window.
I cleared all data from chrome, went to Gmail and tried to open a link, and it presented me with full screen chrome, but after logging back in to chrome and reopening the link in gmail again it gave me that bull crap floating windows thing. It reminds me of paranoid androids halo feature.
Anyways, I can't find anything in chrome regarding this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you use Chrome as your browser, or are you using something else for browsing the web?

OK I think I found what might be causing this issue. Make sure your settings under Developer Settings are the same as mine here:

JAYNO20 said:
Do you use Chrome as your browser, or are you using something else for browsing the web?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JAYNO20 said:
OK I think I found what might be causing this issue. Make sure your settings under Developer Settings are the same as mine here:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chrome is the only browser type application I have installed, and my settings are the exact same as pictured. Sadly I'm still having the problem. I guess I'm going to swap out chrome for another application. Possibly yubrowser or some "Qualcomm optimized browser" to see if it persist.

noidea24 said:
Chrome is the only browser type application I have installed, and my settings are the exact same as pictured. Sadly I'm still having the problem. I guess I'm going to swap out chrome for another application. Possibly yubrowser or some "Qualcomm optimized browser" to see if it persist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is "Android System WebView" frozen in titanium backup for you?

Something interesting. I was browsing this thread and noticed this...
If I scroll down and select the link to download the latest version, I get the windowed thing (see attached pic), but if I select the changelog link or the link to the stable releases, it opens normally.

JAYNO20 said:
Is "Android System WebView" frozen in titanium backup for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it is not. I only use titanium to freeze and defrost my smart watch apps (pebble, martian notifier) so I don't have persistent notifications. Thanks for the help but this is getting irritating.
***************************************
Correction, it is!
However it's weird because I personally didn't freeze it, and it's not allowing me to defrost it. I can see the option "enable web view" in the play store, but when I select it nothing happens and it remains frozen/disabled.

noidea24 said:
No it is not. I only use titanium to freeze and defrost my smart watch apps (pebble, martian notifier) so I don't have persistent notifications. Thanks for the help but this is getting irritating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I didn't freeze it either, the system does. That's why I'm asking... if it is NOT frozen, then try freezing it and see what happens.

JAYNO20 said:
OK I didn't freeze it either, the system does. That's why I'm asking... if it is NOT frozen, then try freezing it and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check my edit above. Titanium is reporting as frozen, and when I attempt to defrost it, it throws a toast notification saying "app was defrosted" but it remains frozen

noidea24 said:
Check my edit above. Titanium is reporting as frozen, and when I attempt to defrost it, it throws a toast notification saying "app was defrosted" but it remains frozen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. You want that to remain frozen. I'm pretty sure you need to change the Developer Options I posted earlier in order to actually defrost it, but it wouldn't help you in this situation anyway. I can find a few other threads of people having a similar issue, but with no fix listed.
---------- Post added at 06:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ----------
is your Chrome app up to date? Are you using the Chrome Dev/Beta app?

Looks like I'm just going to flash a factory image.
Check this out.
And yes, chrome is up to date, and no i tend to stay away from beta/dev versions.

noidea24 said:
Looks like I'm just going to flash a factory image.
Check this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that was one of the websites I came across which is why I was asking if your Chrome app was up to date. It's odd that people are experiencing this and not getting it fixed. The thread just dies... I wonder if anyone has figured this out yet.

JAYNO20 said:
Yeah that was one of the websites I came across which is why I was asking if your Chrome app was up to date. It's odd that people are experiencing this and not getting it fixed. The thread just dies... I wonder if anyone has figured this out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't look like it. Well I'm going to keep this updated with any info i find. I may try rolling back chrome a few versions.

It seems I'm also no longer able to open play store links through the play store either, This stupid browser implementation takes it over without asking a thing. No defualts are set, this is taking away some real functionality from my device.
************
Just received an update in the play store for chrome, taking it and I'll report back.

Google Inbox opens links in Custom Tabs

Hey everyone,
I had to factory reset my Nexus 5X and before that Google Inbox used to open external links directly in Chrome, but now only in Custom Tabs (I know I can then open it in Chrome but I find that tedious). I just can't find a switch to change that, can somebody help me with that?

Daaavid84 said:
Hey everyone,
I had to factory reset my Nexus 5X and before that Google Inbox used to open external links directly in Chrome, but now only in Custom Tabs (I know I can then open it in Chrome but I find that tedious). I just can't find a switch to change that, can somebody help me with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I don't see that happening for me nor do I see a setting for that. You're definitely opening Inbox and now Gmail right? I don't even know if Gmail has that option as I've disabled the app.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Yes, I'm definitely talking about Inbox. I just now realized that this problem also applies to other Apps like Gmail or Facebook, all apps opening external links in Custom Tabs, so apparently it's a system-wide problem. I've never had this problem before.

Daaavid84 said:
Yes, I'm definitely talking about Inbox. I just now realized that this problem also applies to other Apps like Gmail or Facebook, all apps opening external links in Custom Tabs, so apparently it's a system-wide problem. I've never had this problem before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know apps like Google, Facebook, and Feedly all have an option in the settings to open externally or within the app.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

I know, I've explicitly changed the switch for that in Facebook for instance, but still the same.

Daaavid84 said:
Yes, I'm definitely talking about Inbox. I just now realized that this problem also applies to other Apps like Gmail or Facebook, all apps opening external links in Custom Tabs, so apparently it's a system-wide problem. I've never had this problem before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't technically a "problem". It's how Google is making things flow smoother in apps. As mentioned, most apps let you choose how to open it but Inbox doesn't appear to have that option. Not yet anyway. If you need the full Chrome browser, you can tap the three dot menu at the top and select "open in chrome" as you mentioned. But the custom tab is basically the same thing as Chrome.

jsgraphicart said:
This isn't technically a "problem". It's how Google is making things flow smoother in apps. As mentioned, most apps let you choose how to open it but Inbox doesn't appear to have that option. Not yet anyway. If you need the full Chrome browser, you can tap the three dot menu at the top and select "open in chrome" as you mentioned. But the custom tab is basically the same thing as Chrome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that's not correct.
First I flashed the last March Factory Image with the wipe command removed from the flash-all.bat file. Then I ran into a problem and did the aforementioned factory reset which I thought is supposedly the same as flashing the image including wiping. Now I finally gave up and flashed the image again including the wipe-command. Now it's back to normal again and links are being opnened again in the browser directly. I know the Custom Tab is basically the same as a normal tab, but I don't like them just alone for the fact that I can't open a link in a separate tab within the Custom Tab. Of course I know that I can open Custom Tabs in Chrome afterwards but like I said I find that tedious, for me that's just another unnecessary step that I'd like to avoid.