Ask NerdGirl: Only Real Contacts on MotoBlur, Remapping Buttons, ADW.Launcher Bugs, Don’t Wanna Roam, and I Want the Droid X Too!
by n3rdg1rl
Jul 19, 2010 2:19 AM –
I’d like to congratulate those 21 people that found those 21 Droid Xs that Verizon so nicely hid around the United States. I was going to go for one when I figured out there was one in Cleveland, but I rather someone who didn’t have an Android device grab it, so I sat quietly with my iced coffee answering questions as the coordinates for the Cleveland phone came in. Go to http://twitter.com/droidlanding to find out what I’m rambling about.
Hey,
I have a Motorola Backflip running Android 1.5. Is there a way for me to only show contacts with Phone Numbers? I couldn’t find it the way you did it on the HTC Hero.
Unfortunately, the option to show only contacts with phone numbers is part of HTC’s Sense UI. Since your phone is a Motorola running Motoblur that option isn’t available. I have not heard of or seen an app that can replicate this feature. There is a work around.
I hate that it requires two separate actions to call people, but it’s better than having 500 people in your contacts list that you can’t call. Install the official Facebook app and configure it for your Facebook account. Long press on any open area of the Home Screen. Then Add Shortcut >> Folder >> Live Folder >> Facebook Phonebook. You can now remove, or hide, your Facebook contacts from your main Contact list and just use the Facebook Phonebook shortcut to call people that have their numbers in their profile.
Hi nerdgirl,
Great blog! I have a question for you that I hope you can help out with:
This one might be a little strange, but on my Nexus One, do you know if there’s a way to remap the capacitive buttons? I prefer the Home button on the left instead of being the 3rd one over. Basically, I’d like to swap the Home and Back buttons (to match the Incredible, for example).
Unfortunately, without rooting, there is no way to change that. That type of thing is hardwired into the firmware and how the phone itself recognizes the actions. Quite honestly, I’m not even sure that rooting would help as I haven’t heard of that being a customizable feature in any ROM. I could be wrong though. It does happen.
I’m trying out ADW.Launcher and like it so far. I tried Googling for this answer, but can’t seem to figure it out. There’s a preference to set the default screen (I chose 3), but say I launch an app from screen 4, then when I press the home button, I would expect it to default to 3, but instead it goes back to 4 (the screen where I launched the app). Do you know how to set this so it always goes to 3?
Thanks!
Steve
It sounds like there’s a problem with the default setting not sticking. There are 7 Home Screens with ADW.Launcher so when you hit home it would normally default to 4, as the center screen. Make sure you’ve done the most recent update. It was on the 14th. Hopefully some of the bug fixes the developer did fixed this problem. You can contact the developer right on his blog at http://jbthemes.com/anderweb/ if the issue hasn’t been fixed. Make sure you let him know what version or root software you are using.
Hi, I travel a lot and am wondering if I buy a Nexus One can I use it like an iPod touch using Wi-Fi without a SIM card installed or if I have a SIM installed can I disconnect it from roaming?
Thanks
Sent from my iPod
Yesterday, someone asked about traveling with their Android and it kind of touched on this topic as well. The phone will function with just Wi-Fi without a SIM card installed. All of your GPS and Wi-Fi functionality will stay as you would expect them to. If you do want to leave your SIM card in, you can turn off data while roaming by going to Menu >> Settings >> Wireless & Network Settings >> Mobile Networks and then uncheck Data Roaming.
I’ve been with Sprint for 8 years or so and cannot picture myself ever switching to another carrier, but I love the Motorola DROID so much that I have one. I mainly use it as a “test” system for programs I’m not too sure about and almost like a really tiny netbook. It does amazing things. Unless I get the chance to move away from my HTC hero, and get an HTC EVO 4G (there is no 4g coverage in my area), is it somehow possible to get the DROID to work on my Sprint service?
Unfortunately, the hardware in the Motorola Droid will not work on the Sprint network. Although both Sprint and Verizon use CDMA, Sprint has as pretty strict list of registered Sprint devices it allows access to. CDMA generally does not use SIM cards so changing the network provider for a phone is not as easy as unlocking it.
Before getting too upset about this, take a close look at what Sprint is offering now and in the near future:
~n3rdg1rl