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Eris Tips and Tricks

Anyone know of another way to zoom out while in the stock browser other than the pinch method. Im not a big fan of pinch to zoom/zoom out and i know you douple tap the page to zoom in but cant seem to find an easier way to zoom out. Any ideas?
 
Love all the info. Thanks for the help.

Question: I want my contacts to be listed last name first. You can do this if it is a phone contact but not if it is a google contact. Well, all of my contacts were loaded into the phone in the form of google contacts. So how can I convert thes to phone contacts so that I can list them last name first? thanks,

john
 
arock said:
Anyone know of another way to zoom out while in the stock browser other than the pinch method. Im not a big fan of pinch to zoom/zoom out and i know you douple tap the page to zoom in but cant seem to find an easier way to zoom out. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

When I double-tap while zoomed in, the stock browser zooms all of the way out for me.
 
DDustiNN said:
Hmm, weird... I just noticed that it only works for me when I use the voice command "Call Voice Mail" and then choose the first option. I also have a contact set up for Voicemail (*86) but it doesn't work when I choose that one. I'm not sure how to make a shortcut to the "actual" voice mail command I guess... :confused:

EDIT: It also works when you bring up the Phone app and longpress the "1" key. This is the speed dial for voice mail. Also works when calling your voice mail from the Notification Bar I believe.
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I am a new Eris owner (and brand new to smartphones period) and would like to thank everyone for all the tips and tricks. In regard to calling voicemail complete w/ password. I have tried this trick (*86pxxx#) and it has worked via 'call voice mail' voice command, and long press '1'. I didn't realize there were any other ways to access vm, so was wondering in what instances it wasn't working for you? After reading the reply by DDustiNN, I tried adding 'voicemail' in my contacts... but I set it up with the full (*86pxxx#) instead of (*86) and it worked from there too. I was able to add this 'person' as a shortcut on my home screen by long press empty spot on home, selecting 'shortcut' then 'person', then 'voicemail'. When I tried the shortcut it worked great. I know this thread is kind of old, so you have probably already come up with all the solutions... if not, hope this helps!
 
thcbytes said:
Sorry to disagree. :)

Mine does not prompt you to enter the pound sign or any numbers aside from your password. There is not a pause either.

"Please enter your password"

"You have 3 new voice messages"

Then it immediate proceeds to...

"First new voice message...."

.....and so on

Interesting huh?

Must vary by locale.
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Yep. This is exactly the way mine works too!
 
Mortgage_It said:
agreed. sometimes, if you wake your phone up and unlock it, quickly look at time widget - for a half second it will show the time that the phone was last "awake" then it updates and "flips" to current time. if you do not wait the half second - it will really mess with your mind! has gotten me several times now!
Click to expand...

Until y'all mentioned this, I had not noticed!!! BUT, I noticed the time on the lockbar was correct... swiped it down, BRIEFLY saw a time on the clock from 25 min ago and it changed before my eyes to the current. Huh. Thanks for mentioning it, now it won't take me by surprise in the future and mess with my head!:p
 
Droidcula said:
So in theory this should work for other things correct? Like my bank account or credit card account?

For example....

18002223333pp1ppxxxx Where 18002223333 is the phone number, then pause pause then 1 is to check account, then pause pause, then xxxx is my password or checking account.

Basically, it would probably take some playing with but this can be done for other things correct? Not just VM.

Setting up that VM contact was way cool and I started wondering if I can do it for other things.
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I would say your assumption is correct... BUT IMO, I wouldn't want to set up any passwords in this fashion for things like bank accounts... just in case someone got hold of your phone... I don't care if someone accesses my voice mail, but I don't want them in my bank account! :eek:
 
First off, most of these suggestions won't require you to download anything silly. It's all Google-related stuff that I don't hear or see people mentioning on here or anywhere else, so I thought I would share how I use the phone and love it.

First off, this is my first smartphone. Not two years ago was I back in high school when I thought smartphones (which to me, meant Blackberries) were for adults...businessmen that needed to stay in touch all the time and whose salaries depended on it. I guess that's changed with kids these days and I got sucked into as well. So, while I'm no business man that needs it for calls and email (generalizing, I am), but I'm not expert either that needs it at optimum performance either.

So. Assuming you guys have a gmail account, you've got most of the work done. All you need to do is cut and paste a few things which will vary.

Also, note these are the Google Tools I use. So it's not all of them, although I try to give all of them a go and gradually, I learn to use and love a lot of them.

First off, Google Reader:

For those of you that love to stay up to date with your news stuff, this is the best thing to happen to you. Most of us have heard of RSS News Feeds and this is basically a tool that gathers them up and presents them to you.

You can use this both on a phone and on your PC. It's awesome either way.

Basically, take all the news sites you visit (make sure you're logged into a Google account, either Gmail, or whatever) and visit them. Look for the RSS orange signal symbol on the top that ask if you want to subscribe to them. Click yes, and choose Google Reader as your reader. Some sites that I use are:

Autoblog
BMWBlog
Android and Me
Android Fans
Endadget
Gizmodo
Lamebook

I have tons, but those are just a few. Especially for Android news, subscribe to these sites and find some more.

Place a bookmark to your Google Reader on your home screen, and you've got one-click access to it. It just so happens that this bookmark takes you to the reader using your browser. At the top of the screen of your Reader, you'll see links to your Gmail, Calendar, and more. So it doesn't function solely as a link to the Reader. Of course, you may also have a Gmail widget on your home screen which is also convenient, but it's nice to know you don't have to back out of your Reader to do anything else. It's already in the browser and it's got your popular Google stuff right at the top.

Next is iGoogle:

This thing is simply incredible. It's nothing special at first, but very useful later on. It's hard to explain, so just try it first.

If you use different computers, say some at home and then the one at work, you constantly have to search for sites you originally book marked. iGoogle has you covered. Just add a bookmark and log into Google on any computer. All your bookmarks are in the Bookmark tab, so you're never left in the dark. The Reader should end bookmarking of news sites, but say there are forums, such as this one, that you visit but searching for them is tiring AND you visit multiple ones. The bookmarks follow you every where you go and are kept neatly in order so you just open a new tab with every click, while keeping the list of bookmarks open so you can go back when you want more.

In addition to this, it has the weather for your area, access to Gmail, gtalk, etc. It's your gmail page, plus quite a bit more. And you can add widgets to this page as well if you need to.


Keep in mind, this is on your phone, not your PC, although it can be useful there as well. iGoogle, especially, helps keep you from bouncing around your bookmarks and just looking them up on there. You can keep tabs on your Google Waves, email, chat, etc. all from one screen, and that also, on your phone. It really adds meaning to your phone, even some of these things are redundant, such as checking Gmail when you have a shortcut, it brings everything into one place, saving room, memory, time, etc.

Google Books is another thing I use on the go. Reading Paradise Lost on there...for free. No big deal there, but thought I'd throw that in there.

One thing as a sidenote, if you are in the mood for downloading, is SMS Backup. Save your texts into your Gmail account folder. They are separated by contact, so no rummaging through garbage lumped together with all your contacts. Some people have uses for backing up texts, I know I do, and some others don't. But just in case, this one works perfectly.
 
Hi Caddyman, could you please help me.

My 3G connections after the phone goes to sleep is no longer there. I have to manually disconnect from the mobile network and re-connect to have 3G back. I think I downloaded app that is causing this. I have heard someone needing to do a full HARD RESET to get it back. My question is
1. How do I do a HARD RESET and
2. Will I loose my phonebook contacts. If so is there a way to save them and import them back in after the reset.
3. or do you have any other ideas I can try to get 3G back consistently ? I would have to remember how to setup the emails again. Its been a few weeks :-(

Thank you Caddyman. I would really appreciate it.
 
what app do you think might have caused it? any idea?

for a hard reset you just go to settings>security>factory data reset

for the backups, you should be able to sync your contacts to googles servers with your gmail account. there are many backup apps in the market for free. i used mybackup and it worked ok.
 
Sorry, I dont remember, I was bored on a business trip in Indiana, my Eris was my only form of entertainment. I downloaded all sorts of apps, without reading this thread first about downloading them one at a time and waiting to see if there was any bad effects, my fault. The 3G connection is not consistent, once it goes to sleep, I can run and check on it after a few minutes and it still have 3G signal, but maybe in the morning it will be gone. I ask my wife which have an Eris too, and she doesn't notice it as much as I do. I am kinda chicken to pull the trigger and do a Hard Reset and having to config everything again. One thing I have to track down is to config my yahoo mail again, will have to do a search for that. I will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks Caddyman !
 
yes, to turn off mobile network, settings>wireless controls>mobile network

there is a nifty toggle you can use to

long press home screen

htc widget>settings>mobile network
 
Caddyman said:
yes, to turn off mobile network, settings>wireless controls>mobile network
Click to expand...
That turns off 3G and keeps the phone in 1x? Doesn't it turn off all cellular data, leaving only voice access?

Caddyman said:
there is a nifty toggle you can use to

long press home screen

htc widget>settings>mobile network
Click to expand...
The long press of the home button only brings up the last six apps you loaded, so unless Settings was one of them, that doesn't work.
 
long press on your home screen, not button :)

and yes it turns off data so you only have voice and text access.
 
Caddyman said:
long press on your home screen, not button :)

and yes it turns off data so you only have voice and text access.
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Thanks! I saw "home screen" and read "home button". Oops.

To address the original question, though, is there a way to force the phone data service to use a 1x or an EVDO signal? We spend the summers on the coast of Oregon where there is a strong 1x signal and a weak but reliable EVDO signal. With my Verizon data card I can get in to hidden menus and force it to EVDO. That speeds up my service enormously--from a max of 144 kbps to an average of around 1 Mbps. I would like to be able to do the same with the Eris.
 
Fulltime Traveler said:
Thanks! I saw "home screen" and read "home button". Oops.

To address the original question, though, is there a way to force the phone data service to use a 1x or an EVDO signal? We spend the summers on the coast of Oregon where there is a strong 1x signal and a weak but reliable EVDO signal. With my Verizon data card I can get in to hidden menus and force it to EVDO. That speeds up my service enormously--from a max of 144 kbps to an average of around 1 Mbps. I would like to be able to do the same with the Eris.
Click to expand...

Yes that's what I meant too, just have 1x speed for data.


By the way, I have noticed that the signal bars on the Eris move up and down a lot in my house and the Droid doesn't. I keep going from 2-4 bars I'd say 3 times within a minute while the phone is in one place not moving even. Is the Eris antenna not that good or is this a software issue? Thanks.
 
There has been alot of question on this. And this is the best and most wide spread answer i have found. THERE IS NOT A 5GB CAP WHEN YOU ARE USING YOUR DATA PLAN ON YOUR PHONE. That is only for there portable hotspots and computer 3g plans. Or if you are using your phone for tethering. i know ppl who are heavy web users on their droids and have no problems. and Verizon has stated this. If anyone else has other answers I am willing to listen but please bring more proof. Almost all the droid forums have moderators giving the answer i provided.
 
I do have a question though. none of my mail apps will auto push. i have it set to five minutes but it wont update unless i open my mail application. i have gmail and it worked great on my itouch..and ideas?
 
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