Tips and Tricks for Android Users
ADW.Launcher Preview
One of the great sets of enhancements using a CyanogenMod rom instead of a stock rom is the launcher. Cyanogen includes an altered launcher called ADW.Launcher that includes lots of extra settings and interface tweeks. One of my favorite is the “preview” option, which gives you an expose (as in OS X Expose) style view of everything across the different homescreens on your device. By default you can bring it up by long pressing on the dots on the left or right bottom of the screen that show you which area you’re currently on. However, in the ADW.Launcher settings you can change the keybinding for the home key if ADW is already the active app. By default it just snaps you back to the main screen, but you can swap it to preview instead. Great usability change for me, lets me scan through my apps and widgets very quickly.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Lead Hacker on July 15, 2010 at 1:20 pm, and is filed under Tips. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
ADWLauncher Settings
about 5 months ago - No comments
I’ve mentioned the preview setting in ADW Launcher previously. Recently I installed the Cyanogenmod 7.1 release on my Nexus S and started using that as my daily phone for a bit. There are a few additional settings in there I’m really liking. I like the dockbar a lot more than the main dock. What I…
Using Your Android Phone as a Remote Control
about 1 year ago - 2 comments
What I initially set out to do was find a program for my G2 that would allow me to use it as a Bluetooth trackpad and keyboard with the Mac mini I have hooked up to my television. I use it as a media PC, but it’s also a general purpose system. Every now and…
Installing Firefox Mobile on a Samsung Captivate
about 1 year ago - 2 comments
Mozilla just released a mobile version of Firefox for Android devices. Unfortunately they haven’t directly published the link to the apk. If you follow the download link from a desktop system it takes you to the desktop installer. From a device it takes you to the apk, but I’m on a Samsung Captivate I haven’t…
Essential Android Apps for Geeks
about 1 year ago - 2 comments
A few essential apps for those more technically minded Android users out there. If you know of others that should be in here let me know in the comments. Terminal This one is almost a no-brainer. Everyone who knows Android is Linux underneath (and who knows Linux) normally heads for a command line to check…
Samsung Captivate Tethering for OS X
about 1 year ago - 5 comments
When I plugged my Samsung Captivate into my OS X machine I was surprised to see a network connection dialog pop up on my laptop and what looked like a tethering app pop up on the device. Given that AT&T tries to kill off tethering in every way possible with the iPhone, I figured it…
Text to Speech Using Scripting
about 1 year ago - No comments
I’ve been fooling around with Scripting Layer for Android to generate some speech notifications. Two issues I ran into, figured I would share if anyone else does. The first was that the examples still use the droid.speak() call, and it should be droid.ttsSpeak() instead. Quick fix. The second however I only saw on my CM6…
Pirate Boot Logo
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
Every proper hacked device needs to boot up with a pirate theme. Fortunately the boot animation is trivial to replace on a Nexus one. I’m currently running CyanogenMod6, but I believe this will work other places. I replaced the boot animation with just a single image of a skull and crossed swords: There’s plenty of…
Android Scripting Environment is now SL4A
about 1 year ago - No comments
I downloaded and installed the latest Android scripting package, now called Scripting Layer for Android, or SL4A. I had some issues with it under CyanogenMod5 (probably my own, but I never debugged). Today I updated to a CM6 release and it seems to be working a whole lot better. There are links to a whole…
Screenshot on a Rooted Device
about 1 year ago - No comments
In addition to capturing a screenshot with a computer using the Android SDK there’s also a screenshot application (available on the market, called simple ‘screenshot’, I’m not sure how to find out the package name to create a market link for it. It only works on rooted devices, but all of mine are. One nice…
Getting the Most Out of Froyo
about 1 year ago - No comments
If you’ve got Froyo on your phone now and you’re looking to make sure you know about all the changes, check out this Android 2.2 review from AnandTech. It walks through all the differences compared to the 2.1 release, and there are a few good points in there. Everyone knows about the hotspot functionality for…
about 1 year ago
I really wish that Cyanogen had incorporated LauncherPro. I have used both, along with several others, and LauncherPro is the fastest, most stable launcher, and has the most customizations.
If you haven’t tried it, it is a MUST download!
about 1 year ago
Thanks for the tip Shanton, I’ll check it out!