Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Switching off the GPRS/3G data usage on your Android devise.


Have you ever felt that you are being automatically charged for the data that you haven’t used? Is you devise downloading the data automatically from the mobile network?

If the answer is yes then there is a way to switch off mobile data downloading, follow the steps below.


Android Ice Cream Sandwich

  1. Activate System Settings by using buttons on home screen (generally bottom left) or locating it in Apps menu.
  2. Select Data usage option located in WIRELESS & NETWORKS section.
  3. Locate and select your SIM card provider from tabs above.
  4. Locate Mobile data on the tab located just below the tab name.
  5. Select Mobile data option and switch if Off.



Android Gingerbread

  1. Activate Settings by using buttons on home screen (generally bottom left) or locating it in Apps menu.
  2. Select the Wireless & networks option.
  3. Scroll down, locate and select Mobile networks option.
  4. Locate Data enabled option and uncheck it.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Slowness of the device/moving app to Internal Storage (SD card) on Android


Have you ever faced slowness on your device? Have the applications off late started crashing? Do you feel your device is no more as fluid as it was new?

If the answer is yes then most likely you have bloated your device’s primary storage! The phone storage is generally partitioned in to two logical storages. One where vital system files are present (called primary storage) and the other where you can copy your data like music, video etc.  

Generally, downloading and installing apps occupies space in primary storage which is kept relatively low due to performance factors. Over the time this storage gets fully occupied hindering system in performing its vital operations.
Since introduction of Android Gingerbread, Android supports installing/moving application to internal memory/SD card (the secondary partition explained above) thus freeing the primary storage.

Note: Not all applications can be moved to internal memory/SD card. The decision of allowing the application to be stored on internal memory is kept with its developers.
To move an app to internal storage, do following.



Android Ice Cream Sandwich

  1. Activate Application by selecting Manage apps on home screen or going to Settings->Apps.
  2. It will activate Apps application which will give details of all the applications installed on your machine. Observe at the bottom of the application, it will give you information of the consumption of primary storage.
  3. Select any app to get onto App info page.
  4. Scroll down and find Move to Internal storage option and click it.
  5. In a while it will move your application to internal storage thus releasing primary storage.



Android Gingerbread

  1. Activate Manage applications by selecting Settings->Applications->Manage applications.
  2. It will activate Apps application which will give details of all the applications installed on your machine. Observe at the bottom of the application, it will give you information of the consumption of primary storage.
  3. Select any app to get onto App info page.
  4. Scroll down and find Move to SD card option and click it.
  5. In a while it will move your application to internal storage thus releasing primary storage.


I discovered a great application that informs me about whether an application can be moved to storage thus releaving me from checking same. You can find it here App 2 SD.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

How to uninstall Application on Android?

We may at times need to uninstall applications for various reasons. It’s pretty easy to uninstall an app in Android. Here is how it can be done.



Android Ice Cream Sandwich
  1. Goto to the applications list by pressing on app icon at lower centre (above home button) of screen.
  2. Find the application you want to uninstall and long press on it.
  3. It will bring home screen images for placing the icon and you will see Uninstall on top right corner of the screen.
  4. Just drag the icon over there and it will be uninstalled.

Alternatively, you can also use Manage apps (also accessible from Systems settings-> Apps) to uninstall apps. All you have to do is select an app you want to uninstall from the list and click on Uninstall button.


Android Gingerbread
  1. Select the application from the home screen or Goto to the applications list by pressing on app icon at lower centre (above home button) of screen and find one.
  2. Long press the application icon to get a screen trash icon at bottom.
  3. Drag the icon over the trash and confirm you want to uninstall.

Alternatively, you can also use Manage applications (also accessible from Systems settings-> Applications->Manage applications) to uninstall apps. All you have to do is select an app you want to uninstall from the list and click on Uninstall button.

How to Switch between open apps on Android?


We all know that Android allows us multitasking. Multitasking is feature with which multiple apps/services can be kept running at same time. You can keep the email app open while you surf on browser and at same time can receive notification from online chat application.

So how do we exactly switch between applications? Here is how.



Android Ice Cream Sandwich
  1. Long press the Home (present either on screen or as dedicated button below screen panel)
  2. You will see a list of snapshots of various applications running with their names. Selecting any will bring that application on foreground.



Android Gingerbread
  1. Long press the Home (present either on screen or as dedicated button below screen panel)
  2. You will see a list of snapshots of various applications running with their names. Selecting any will bring that application on foreground.

Friday, November 23, 2012

How to turn off camera shutter sound on Android?

It’s great always to hear a nice and firm camera shutter sound while snapping pics from your device’s camera. It certainly reinforces our photographer within however there are times when we want to be quite and so does our camera!

Android Ice Cream Sandwich

The camera’s shutter sound is driver by device’s profile. You can do following to suppress the sound.
  1. Turn your device to Silent profile
  2. Turn your device to Meeting (Vibration) profile.


To change the profile you can navigate to Systems Settings->User profile and select appropriate.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

How to set Wallpaper on your Android devise?


Wallpapers are images those can be set as background of your devices home screen which makes it more appealing and attractive to look.

Android supports following kind of wallpapers.
  1. Static wallpapers – Can be images, photos etc.
  2. Live wallpapers – Can still be images, photos but have some animation to it which keeps on playing or activates on some action. For example, water ripples on your screen when touched.
Note: Animated/live wallpapers tend to drain more battery as they use more system resources like CPU, GPU, Memory, etc. than ordinary wallpapers.

Follow these steps to set the wallpapers.
  1. On home screen of your device use the lower left button to activate menu listing Wallpaper option (see image on right). Alternatively, you can go to Settings->Display->Wallpapers. Select the Wallpapers option.


  2. You will be presented with multiple options. 
    • If you want to set a static image do following.
      • Select Gallery if you want to set the images shot from your camera as wallpaper or anything else in gallery.
      • Select Wallpapers if you want to set the predefined Wallpapers installed on your device.


    • If you want to set an animated/live wallpaper do following.
      • Select Live Wallpapers option.
      • You will be presented with a list of live wallpaper
      • Select one to load a preview.
      • Select Set wallpaper option at bottom to set it as wallpaper


Monday, November 19, 2012

How to enable pattern locking on Android?


Pattern locking is mechanism to unlock your device using a pattern that has been set while enabling this lock mechanism.

See below steps to enable pattern locking.


Android Ice Cream Sandwich
  1. Activate System Settings by using buttons on home screen (generally bottom left) or locating it in Apps menu.
  2. Scroll down and locate Security option (generally located in Personal section)
  3. Select Security option to see various security options listed.
  4. Select Screen lock option to get lists of various options those can be set to unlock your phone.
  5. Select Pattern in the given options and you will be presented to draw a lock pattern.
  6. Draw the Pattern, set it and you are done!
Hint: To get more secured, you can uncheck the option Make Pattern Visible. This will not show the connecting lines while you will be drawing the pattern to unlock.



Android Gingerbread
  1. Activate Settings by using buttons on home screen (generally bottom left) or locating it in Apps menu.
  2. Scroll down and locate Location & security option.
  3. Select Set up screen lock option
  4. Select Security option to see various security options listed.
  5. Select Pattern in the given options
  6. Follow on-screen procedure to complete the setup.

How to set default App on Android?


Alright, so now we have installed multiple Internet browsers of our choice. How will we set the preference of which browser to launch to open links from, let’s say your mail box?


The answer is by setting a default application. Default apps settings in Android happen by default! Meaning, in case of web browsers, when you try to open a link from some application and if you have multiple browsers installed and if the default is not already set, you will be presented with the options screen as shown.

Observe the Use by default for this action checkbox. If you check this checkbox and then make a selection then that app will be set as default app for your current action! Isn’t that neat?

Alright, now that we have set the default app, how can we clear it so as we can set a new default by above way?

Okay so here we have a direct Option. Do this.
  1. Goto Manage apps screen
    • ICS - You can go directly from home page or from System settings
    • Gingerbread – Goto System settings->Applications->Mange applications.
  2. Select the app that was set as default and you will be presented with App Info screen.
  3. Scroll down and go to the Launch By Default section to see a button called as Clear defaults. Just hit that and you are done!


How to install Apps on Andoid?


The essence of an Android phone apart from others is its ability to let us install apps from nearly half million (4 lakh+) applications.

So how do we go about installing apps?


Well there are multiple ways. If your devices come preloaded with Google Play then see instructions below. If they come with manufacturer specific app store then most likely it will function similar to Google Play and below instructions may still help.


Note: Using Google Play Store will require the Google account to set-up. Please see this article to assist you with it.
  1. Launch Google Play Store (most likely it is located in the apps menu)
  2. You will see an interface similar to shown.
  3. You have options to Search apps and browse through various tabs which range from Featured to Top Paid to Top Free etc.
  4. Once you have made a choice, click on the Install button located on top left which will install that app. You can then locate the app from app menu similar to how you located Google Play store.

There is another option to install apps. If you can obtain the installable somehow you can directly run it by executing the appropriate file however to do so appropriately you may need to tweak your security settings.

You may need to allow non-market app installation by checking Systems Setting->Security->Unknown sources check box. However there is huge piece of advice here. Enabling this setting will open you to all kind of threats anyone can think off so please do it only if it’s absolutely necessary and disable as soon as possible.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

How to link your Google (Gmail) account with your Android phone?


The moment we start our new Android phone, it guides us through various steps to set-up itself. This also includes linking our Google account with our phone though we have an option to skip that and move on with it. However doing so we may be missing host of different services those operates on our Google account such as

  • Google Play (Your Android app store!)
  • Gmail (The Google mail client)
  • Gmail Contacts (Sync up of your phone contacts with Gmail contacts)
  • Youtube (You can still use YouTube without Google account however your preferences are fine-tuned and remembered having one.)
  • Blogger (The Google blog client)
  • Google+ (The Google social networking site)
  • Orkut (The Google social networking site)


and many others…

So if you have missed to set up Google account initially no worries. Follow below steps.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich

  1. Activate System Settings by long pressing on Home Screen or using appropriate button on your phone (generally located on lower left hand side)
  2. Select Accounts & Sync in the Personal section.
  3. Select Add Account and then select Google.
  4. Follow on screen instructions to complete the configuration.





Android Gingerbread

  1. Activate System Settings by long pressing on Home Screen or using appropriate button on your phone (generally located on lower left hand side)
  2. Scroll down and select Accounts & Sync.
  3. Select Add Account and then select Google.
  4. Follow on screen instructions to complete the configuration.

How to install SIM cards on Micromax Ninja 3 A57?

Here is a video demonstrating how to install SIM on Micromax Ninja 3 A57. Basically, its a dual SIM phone and the SIM casing is stacked one over another. This video will brief that.




How to transfer phonebook contacts from old phone to Android?

There is a time when we buy an Android phone and suddenly find ourselves searching ways to copy old phonebook contacts to new phone. Some manufacturers provide with PC suits which can assist in doing it however several others don’t. So for all those who don’t have PC suits and are using Android in its original form here are some ways to transfer contacts.

I am illustrating with example of Nokia to Android. These procedures may also work in similar way for other platforms as well.

Additionally, if you are opting to Sync using CSV/Outlook, you need to have your phone connected to Internet using either Wifi or 3G or EDGE. It will be needed on the last step of syncing contacts from Gmail to Phone. I would advise you to use WiFi for it. Other options like 3G/EDGE will involve operator costs that will be charged to your SIM based on your plan.


Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) & Gingerbread

Copy old contacts on SIM card and transfer on new Android.

Copy contacts on sim card from old phone by using appropriate options mentioned in its manual. For example, on Nokia Symbian v5.0 (Nokia 5800) it can be done as show below.

1)     Goto Contacts and select Options.
2)     Select Mark/Unmark option and then select Mark All.
3)     Again select Options and then select Copy.
4)     A dialog will appear asking if you want to copy the contacts to SIM, Select OK and wait for them to be copied over to SIM.

Nokia 5800 contacts screen

After successful copy, switch off the old phone and take out the SIM from old phone and insert it in new Android.

Switch on the Android phone and:

On ICS
  1. Open contacts from home page.
  2. Goto Settings by pressing settings button on bottom left corner either on device or on screen as shown.
  3. Goto Import/Export->Scroll down and select appropriate SIM.
  4. Follow on-screen instructions to complete the process
  5. See below images for visual hints.

On GingerBread
  1. Open contacts from home page.
  2. Goto Settings by pressing settings button on bottom left corner either on device or on screen as shown.
  3. Goto Import/Export->Import from SIM card to Phone.
  4. Follow on screen instructions.
  5. See below images for hints.




Sync contacts with Outlook and upload to Gmail account.

By reading the title it’s obvious that you would need Outlook/Windows Contacts, Gmail accounts and old phone PC suite set up.

If you haven't yet linked your Google (Gmail) account with your Android phone click here to do so.

I will be illustrating it using Nokia PC suite (v3.2.100) and Outlook 2010 but it will hold true for other platforms as well.

The process involves three steps.

  • Using PC suite to transfer contacts to Outlook/Windows 
  • Using Outlook/Windows Contacts to export to .CSV
  •  Exporting .CSV to your Gmail contacts.

Using PC suite to transfer contacts to Outlook/Windows Contacts
1)     Connect the old phone to PC using USB/Bluetooth.
2)     Find the option to sync the phone contacts to PC. Nokia PC suit automatically does that.
3)     Find the option to export the contacts to .CSV. If that is supported out of box you won’t need Outlook and directly skip to Exporting CSV to Gmail. Nokia PC suit doesn’t allow exporting contacts to .CSV.
4)     Find an option to sync your contacts from PC suit to Outlook/Windows contact. Nokia PC Suit helps doing it using Sync->Sync Option and then Sync Now options. See screen shots below.





Using Outlook/Windows Contacts to export to .CSV
1)     After above steps the contacts will automatically appear in Outlook. See Contacts tab of Outlook.
2)     Export the contacts from Outlook to CSV format. Outlook 2010 allows doing that as follows.
·        Goto File->Options to bring up options screen.
·        Click on Advanced tabs on left hand side tab strip.
·        Click on Export button to bring up the Export dialog box.
·        Click on Export to File option.
·        Select Comma Separated Values (CSV)
·        Follow on screen instructions to save the file which will later be uploaded to Gmail contacts.

Exporting .CSV to your Gmail contacts
1.      Sign in to Gmail.
2.      Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
3.      From the More actions dropdown menu, select Import....
4.      Click the Choose File button.
5.      Select the file you'd like to upload and click the Import button.

Click here to see the Google support page for more information 

After this wait for Gmail to sync your contacts to your phone. It may be faster on WiFi and 3G networks and slowest on EDGE.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

How to take Screenshot on Android phone?

A screen shot or screen capture is a way to capture and store the current display of screen in form of image on your device memory storage. Such images can then be shared with friends or set as wallpapers etc.


Taking screenshot on Android phoneAndroid Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)

Beginning from ICS, Android has a built-in feature to take snaps of the on-going activity on the screen. This is how it can be done.

  1. Press and hold the volume low (-) and power button at the same time on your device.
  2. See the screen shot below for illustration, it may vary for your device.


Power button of Android phone
Volume down button of Android phone 



Android Gingerbread

Gingerbread has no inbuilt feature for taking screen snap shots however there are free third party applications available which can help. These applications require Root Access to your Android ICS (what is Root Access?). You can download those from Google Play.

Presently I couldn’t find any reliable Screen Capture applications for plain GingerBread. However I have several which you can try off the shelf.

  • Dolphin Screen Cut
    It’s basically an Add-on to Dolphin web browser. So you need to also install Dolphin web browser. Once this add-in and browser are gelled you can have screen capture functionality up.

Friday, November 16, 2012

What is Rooted phone or Root access?

Rooting is process that gives you full access (administrative access) on the phone which otherwise runs in limited access mode. Rooting lets you change some very fundamental settings of the phone including overclocking the processor etc. But there is piece of advice here. Many manufacturers voids warranty if the phone is rooted hence please do it with extreme care.