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Ask NerdGirl: Nicknames, Groups, New QWERTY in UK? Vanilla Android, and Simple Screenshots!

Posted Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 6:35 pm by n3rdg1rl 3 Comments

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I love all of the questions, but I do have one request. If you are asking a question specific to your phone, please include what phone you have and in what country, and maybe even the provider, so I can find the most accurate answer for you! A lot of times, especially with updates and releases, a phone will do one thing in one country and something completely different not far away.

Does the nickname option for contacts do anything? I would like to be able to use a person’s nickname as the option to bring up their name when sending a message. Currently I have to have their names correct so they sync up with Facebook, but I hardly ever think of my friends in terms of their real names. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Shawn

There isn’t a convenient way to do this right now, but there is a work-around. After you have linked your contacts you can go back in and change the contact name to whatever you want.  Once they’re linked they will stay that way. You can put the full name in the notes section so if you want to search for the name it will still show up.

This seems to be a common request so hopefully developers are working on a more acceptable solution.

Hi Nerd Girl:

I really enjoy your posts — although I run a rooted MotoDroid, my wife has a stock Eris, so I appreciate your perspective.

Quick Question for ya:  How can we set up contact groups on Android 2.1?  I have them in Gmail on the web, but can’t figure out how to move them to the phone or create them on the phone from scratch.

Thanks,

Geekabilly

Red Sox Nation

Not a bad season to be a Red Sox fan, huh? First in the league in hits and RBIs!  I’m in Cleveland…enough said.

If you’ve created Groups in your Google account on your computer, when you sync your phone the groups should transfer over. When you bring up your contact list, on the bottom bar there’s a picture of 3 people. When you click on that it should show you your groups.

Alternatively, you can create them from your phone. Go into that same spot with the 3 people and at the top click “Add group.” There you can create a group name, add contacts, and even add a picture for that group.

My G1 contract ends soon and, after having a hardware keyboard, now cannot do without one. I know there is a Motorola Milestone available in the UK but heard mixed reviews and it seems most phone manufacturers are trying to make phones smaller and do away with full keyboards. Nerdgirl, can you tell me if there are any good android phones coming out in the UK this year with a full qwerty keyboard?

Andy

Most of the phones that have been announced haven’t set their regions yet, but I’ll help the best I can.

After looking at O2, Vodaphone, T-Mobile, and 3 the only phone I am seeing that runs Android and has a full QWERTY keyboard is on O2 and is the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. I am in shock!  There are a ton of Android phones and none that are using a QWERTY!?  Well, my suggestion is wait. There have been so many recent announcements about phones that something is bound to come up in your market soon. Maybe even the Motorola Droid X or Droid 2!

Hey Nerdgirl, gotta say I am loving your posts.  I have a question regarding phones with Sense or Motoblur. I don’t like either of them, but occasionally a phone comes along (such as the Droid X) with them installed.  Is it possible to bring them back to plain vanilla Android OS goodness?

Thanks,
Seth Levy

Right out of the gate, when a phone is first released, it’s unlikely. However, if you give our beloved rooters some time, most likely, especially for major phones, they will put out a ROM that will fit your needs.

Hello NerdGirl,

I’ve been wondering if you knew any good app for taking screenshots. I’ve been using remote debugger, but it needs the phone to be plugged in, so I’d love a native solution. I need it to work on a rooted 2.1 (Hero). Bonus points if hardware key can be mapped (for example, long press volume up) to take the screenshot. Thanks!

Pagarbiai / Sincerely
Rytis Slatkevičius

I think I have a solution for you. ShootMe is an app for rooted (or, randomly, the EVO) Android devices. It has been validated for Hero, so that shouldn’t be an issue. It allows you take a screen shot just by shaking the phone when the program is running. Just promise me you’ll have a good grip on it, or at least use a wrist strap!

~n3rdg1rl

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