Guest simonta Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) Some of these probably exist elsewhere in the forum but with so much activity here, it's difficult to keep up with every topic. Sincere apologies to OPs if I duplicate stuff. (EDIT: I've started copying in some new tips from others into here. Full credit to the OPs). The intention here is to provide tips, not to start another apps thread, there are a few of those going already. I hope that others will chip in. Everyone needs to go home now and then (thks to marind) In the "Spare Parts" app, you can change what happens when you press the Power key. Select "End Button Behaviour" and choose what you want to happen. I prefer Home, then sleep. This means a short press takes me back to my home screen. A short press on the home screen puts the Vega to sleep. This is a great way of getting round the lack of a physical home button. Fooling websites Some websites rely on something called the "User Agent" to identify what kind of device or browser is viewing the site. In Dolphin, goto Toolbox in the the Dolphin menu and select User Agent. See the difference when you visit iPlayer with User Agent set to "Android" vs User Agent set to "Desktop". Moving files to and from your Vega Turn on USB Debugging on your Vega (Settings->Applications->Development). Install "Android Commander" or "Droid Explorer" on your PC. Both of these give you an Explorer like interface to the Vega file system including drag and drop. There is a lot more you can do with these tools and because the Vega is rooted you can mess up so if you're truly a noob, stick to files on your sdcard. If your needs are simple, a quicker, easier way to just sync files is to use the Vega sync utility (you knew about this because you read the manual right :(). If you don't know, then take a look in /sdcard/VegaMedia. Copy the files in here (just the files, not the folders) to your PC and run setup.exe. My preference is to do as much as I can via WiFi. Android Manager in the market does this nicely. You install it on your Vega and your PC and can then transfer files wirelessly. Cool! Vega won't see WiFi on channels above 11 If you'd like to use a Wifi channel above 11, because it's the cleanest channel for you, but the Vega won't connect, install Wifi Buddy from the market. Run it and bring up the menu. Then Preferences->Advanced settings->Regulatory domain and ensure that you have "14 channels" selected. By the way, Wifi Analyser works great on the Vega. Using that, I know that Channel 13 is best for me so this fix helps a lot with my speed and reliability of connection. Apps that you really want to use but don't understand the high res display on a Vega? This one is a bit of a pain because it needs a reboot before and after using the app but let me give you an example of why it's useful. I have a Windows Media Center PC and I often setup long playlists for background "muzak" for family gatherings, parties etc. It's really cool to give people easy control of the PC from the Vega and the app I like best is myRemote. Turns my Vega into a remote control for music. Nice! But, myRemote does that Android thing of running in it's own little box. To get around this, I use LCDDensity from the market. Set the DPI to 300. LCDDensity will reboot for you. Now your Vega really does look like a big phone! Run the offending app and when finished, go back to LCDDensity and set your Vega back to 160 DPI (the default). I'm working on an app that will take some of the pain out of this (if I can ever find the time). The idea will be to set the DPI, do a "hot restart" which takes a few seconds, run the app and then put it all back to the previous settings when you exit the app. PS. On my Vega, this does something funky with the screen brightness. Just goto Settings->Display->Brightness and touch the adjuster to make it right again. What time is it? On a phone, Android keeps it's time in sync by getting it from the mobile network but our Vegas aren't phones! On my Vega, the clock is not brilliant and drifts a few seconds a day. So what time is it? Simples! (jeez, I hate those ads). Download ClockSync from the market and set your NTP server of choice. I've found that ntp1.uu.uk.net works well. Whilst you're in settings, I recommend enabling automatic synchronisation, 24 hour interval, only when awake (to save battery) and sync on boot. Your clock will now be driven by atomic stuff - magic or what? Want to know when your battery is getting low? This one is useful if like me, your Vega lives mainly at home and is lying around ready for anyone to pick up and use. I don't leave the charger plugged in so it really is portable anywhere around the house and garden. Just install Droid Essentials and setup notifications for low battery levels. Now your Vega will let you know when it needs a feed! Having trouble with USB drivers, flashing ROMs are installing Paul's stuff? Drink beer - and read the threads already in this forum. The answers to 99% of everything are already here...good luck. Hope this help some of you to squeeze even more gooeyness out of your Vegas. Cheers! Edited January 18, 2011 by simonta
Guest jellywobbles Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) Brilliant post - I am sure many will appreciate your tips! Cheers & Happy New Year :( As another tip - I had been using WiFi to transfer files to my Vega & its a doddle - however now I am using SwiFTP - suits me as I use Directory Opus that has FTP built in, and I can use it across my LAN on wired PC's / laptops! Really neat! Edited December 31, 2010 by jellywobbles
Guest stevesilk51 Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 Really useful tips Simonta, thanks for the effort, using most of them now! Steve
Guest swarrans Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 Great stuff thanks. I have a fairly limited download limit with my ISP - this may be a bit dumb but if I use android manager between my PC and Vega will transferred files come off my allowance?
Guest arad85 Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 Nice. You'll also find that turning compatibility mode to off in the Spare Parts app that Paul provides, will fix most apps booting to a smaller window (it has done with the ones I've tried...)
Guest boffboff Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 Great stuff thanks. I have a fairly limited download limit with my ISP - this may be a bit dumb but if I use android manager between my PC and Vega will transferred files come off my allowance? No you'll be alright. The files will all be copied across your WLAN/LAN and won't 'go outside' to the internet. Dropbox would be an example of using your ISP's download allowance to transfer files. (Although that does have an option to transfer across your LAN if possible.) HTH And Happy New Year too!
Guest swarrans Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 No you'll be alright. The files will all be copied across your WLAN/LAN and won't 'go outside' to the internet. Dropbox would be an example of using your ISP's download allowance to transfer files. (Although that does have an option to transfer across your LAN if possible.) HTH And Happy New Year too! Great many thanks
Guest ptbw Posted December 31, 2010 Report Posted December 31, 2010 An excellent post, the extra wifi channels is very handy advice. A happy new year to everyone.
Guest terminaljunkie Posted January 1, 2011 Report Posted January 1, 2011 NICE POST! Tip for users of xScope, in the Settings for User Agent choose 'Computer'
Guest s.morris Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Hi Guys, Just came across this site got plent of tips Like place your finger at the top of the keyboard and slide up to expose more keys Steve
Guest jellywobbles Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Ref Time Sync - your suggestion didnt work for me so I am using the system @ Falmouth, Cornwall (ntp.my-inbox.co.uk) which syncs up fine for me. Cheers jw
Guest marind Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Heres a tip, I use I spare parts to change end button behaviour to home then sleep. This means short tap on the power button takes me home, tap again to sleep.
Guest Touch Graphite Posted January 4, 2011 Report Posted January 4, 2011 My preference is to do as much as I can via WiFi. Android Manager in the market does this nicely. You install it on your Vega and your PC and can then transfer files wirelessly. Cool! This App Rules. As a test, I've even used my HTC Desire as a router successfully to connect my vega to my laptop using the HTC Froyo wifi Router app. Also like the fact that you add sync rules so you ask to sync certain folders with certain folders, good when I want to sync certain mp3's I've bought but not ones I've editted etc. Nice find!
Guest Touch Graphite Posted January 4, 2011 Report Posted January 4, 2011 My preference is to do as much as I can via WiFi. Android Manager in the market does this nicely. You install it on your Vega and your PC and can then transfer files wirelessly. Cool! This App Rules. As a test, I've even used my HTC Desire as a router successfully to connect my vega to my laptop using the HTC Froyo wifi Router app. Also like the fact that you add sync rules so you ask to sync certain folders with certain folders, good when I want to sync certain mp3's I've bought but not ones I've editted etc. Nice find!
Guest debs626 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Posted January 5, 2011 (edited) Tip for USB or wireless keyboard users. You can turn off the popup onscreen keyboard by unticking any keyboard that's selected in your language and keyboard settings. You need to untick the default keyboard each time you reboot your Vega as its selected by default. Edited January 5, 2011 by debs626
Guest JetSerge Posted January 17, 2011 Report Posted January 17, 2011 Download ClockSync from the market and set your NTP server of choice. I've found that ntp1.uu.uk.net works well. Whilst you're in settings, I recommend enabling automatic synchronisation, 24 hour interval, only when awake (to save battery) and sync on boot. Don't select "Detect your location" as this will attempt to use GPS and will cause tears. 24 hours interval is inexact (means it can be up to 48 hours) and combined with only when awake option can make synchronization unpredicted. Saving battery would make sense if you set interval to 30 minutes - 1 hour and enable this option. Syncing once a day would not affect your battery. Any weather app on your phone eats 10 times more battery if not more. Your comment about "Detect time zone" is not correct since ClockSync never enables the GPS device. It takes already available coordinates, either from the cell network (AGPS) or from the GPS device in case it's already enabled (just like Google Latitude). If it can't get any coordinates, this option does nothing at all. BTW, I'm ClockSync developer.
Guest simonta Posted January 17, 2011 Report Posted January 17, 2011 24 hours interval is inexact (means it can be up to 48 hours) and combined with only when awake option can make synchronization unpredicted. Saving battery would make sense if you set interval to 30 minutes - 1 hour and enable this option. Syncing once a day would not affect your battery. Any weather app on your phone eats 10 times more battery if not more. Your comment about "Detect time zone" is not correct since ClockSync never enables the GPS device. It takes already available coordinates, either from the cell network (AGPS) or from the GPS device in case it's already enabled (just like Google Latitude). If it can't get any coordinates, this option does nothing at all. BTW, I'm ClockSync developer. Hi Serge Thanks for the clarifications. When I first tried this, I got FC when I enabled detection. I've just tried again (many, many flashes later ;)) and it works as you say. Thanks for the great tool. Just left a 5* for you. Cheers
Guest JetSerge Posted January 17, 2011 Report Posted January 17, 2011 Thanks, next ClockSync update will have some nice new features, stay tuned.
Guest BiggerH Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 thanks for the Android Manager recommendation. I've been looking at ways to automatically transfer TV shows over from PC to the Vega for a while (dropbox/ftp/etc) with not much luck. I set the Android Manager to sync my TV shows at 6am and it works great.
Guest sperk389 Posted April 8, 2011 Report Posted April 8, 2011 Thanks .... nice post , it helped especially with time and date Cheers :)
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