Ask NerdGirl: Stop This and That From Connecting, @googlemail to @gmail Issues, Moving Across the Pond, Don’t Wanna Buy Apps Again, and Define Rooting!
by n3rdg1rl
Jul 21, 2010 2:07 AM –
So I got 3 phones to play with today; the Samsung Captivate (AT&T’s Samsung Galaxy S), the HTC EVO 4G (with no 4G in Ohio, let alone Cleveland), and the Samsung Intercept. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for my personal hands on reviews of these phones!
Hi n3rdg1rl,
I would like to know if there is an app that could choose/limit which application can connect to internet and which can’t. Something like I can choose that YM application and Market can connect to internet and the others, like email, twitter, and facebook, can’t. Hopefully freeware apps.
I use HTC Hero running Android 1.5.
Regards,
Edwin
I’m not aware of any app that allows you to choose which app can connect and which can’t. There is APNDroid which allows you to turn off data completely. Your other option is to manually turn the updating on these programs off or at least bump them down to once a day.
Hello Nerdgirl,
I too recently switched my email address from @googlemail to @gmail.com. This has, however, thrown up a few issues for me regarding my Android phone. I discovered that this is not just an enabling of @gmail.com as your receive address, but is treated as a quasi second Google account. I recently reformatted my G1 again, which required a wipe/factory reset. I have found that after adding my @gmail.com address as my primary email address, the phone fails to synchronize my old contacts. In fact I have now had to add my old @googlemail.com address to synchronize the contacts. My current workaround is to have both accounts registered on the phone. Is there a way to synchronize all my old data (i.e. contacts, calendar, etc.) to my @gmail.com account so I can forget about the @googlemail.com one?
Many thanks,
Ben
The easiest thing to do is to use the computer. Log in to your @googlemail.com account and export your data via the contacts and calendar in Google. Then log into your @gmail.com account and import. Make sure you then check the contacts for duplicates and fix that so you don’t end up with 2 of everyone.
Hi NerdGirl,
I have an HTC Desire running 2.1 update 1, locked to Orange UK.
As I’m sure you’re aware, Orange like to mess about with every phone OS, putting links to their paid services all over the place. As such I’d like to flash my phone with the standard OS.
My main query is; once this is done, will I get automatic Over The Air OS updates, as obviously when 2.2 comes out, I would like it to automatically upgrade? Or will I have to apply every subsequent update manually?
My other reason for flashing is that I am moving from the UK to Canada soon (I’ve paid Orange to remove the SIMlock already) and once I’m there and I’ve changed my SIM, the Orange Internet access point will no longer work; so I’m assuming as with other orange services, I won’t even be able to upgrade to the Orangified 2.2 when that becomes available.
To flash your phone you would actually have to root it. When you root it you will no longer get updates of any kind through your provider, in this case Orange. When you go to Canada and sign up with a provider they may then be able to flash your phone with their firmware and software. I would check out this route before rooting your phone.
After I flash my phone, will I have to buy all my apps again? I’m assuming that the phone has a unique ID it sends to the market; or does it just use your Google account?
James
Lucky enough it is tied into your Google account so all you have to worry about is having the time to download all of your apps!
Thanks for your column. I have only been visiting the Android websites for a little while. I own a Blackberry, and have my eye on the Droid X in a couple of weeks. I am trying to soak up as much information as I can before my new phone arrives, but one thing is referred to in almost every piece, which is rooting. I have no idea what this means, but it is so commonly referred to, that I feel that I should know.
Thanks, and next time I hope to have a better question.
Riob N.
Taken directly from one of the top Android modder’s around right now, Cyanogen:
“Obtaining root (“administrator”, or “full”) access to your phone. This means you can mount its internal memory partition as read/write, which lets you do various things: have USB or Wi-Fi tethering, uninstall applications you otherwise can’t uninstall (e.g. the Amazon MP3 store), install applications that need root access (such as AdFree), disable the camera shutter sound (simply by deleting the shutter sound file), overclock or underclock the CPU, install and boot Debian, and so on. Installing CyanogenMod roots the phone in the process.”
Basically, it allows you to do whatever you want, software wise, with the phone without restrictions from the provider.
~n3rdg1rl