Droid Incredible Tips & Tricks Thread

[Revolutionary]

I swear I also saw a question on here (even though questions are non grata) about how to limit the number of past calendar entries that the phone keeps. I'm assuming this person is talking about an Exchange calendar, since he mentioned the ability to limit this on Blackberry.

The setting is in Settings > Accounts & Sync > Exchange > Account Settings > "Sync Events for Past" (all the way at the bottom). Chose from 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or All.

 

[immobile]

Videos to sd

.

I cannot figure out how to save music, video etc to my 16gb sd card... it just goes to the phone. I use double twist.

*If its helpful, in the card/Media folder/Videos, you can save a number of more videos w/out them going to phone Mem. Not sure why.
Also on my Moto. Droid, which I'm sure is the same as the Incredible (Assuming), I have TubeDroid were you do a search for a video from Youtube, or on the web, when you find the one you want, click on it & it will give you the options to open it in web/youtube, download it as video or audio file. When its done, it will be in that program & your Video folder on your card. What I do, in the programs settings, by default it saves the video to the video folder; sdcard\videostube, but I changed it to sdcard\videostube\videos creating a new folder that won't show on phone Mem. If you want, you can copy or move it to the sub folder I mention in the media sub folder, video. Or leave it where it is.

 

[blastncast]

I have the Astro File manager app and placing items on the SD card is simple. If I open an attachment it asks me if I would like to open with Astro or normal, when placing movies, music, etc I just drag and drop it in the folder I have created in Astro. When you connect your phone to your PC it opens two folders, the internal memory and your SD card, just rename the SD card as external mem to keep them straight.

 

[Feldhege]

Here is my trick though I am sure everyone else probably already knows it. I use touchdown to access my work exchange server. I love it. Does almost everything I want. Only downside was there agenda widget. It is useless. I really like the one that comes from HTC but I could not get it to use the exchange calendar from Touchdown. Then I got another idea. I setup the stock message app to pull ONLY the calendar. On the widget you can select the "Exchange" calendar but it only works with the HTC messaging app. Anyway, added that to my widget and BAM, personal and Professional appointments on the agenda view but still kept separately at Google and work.

Robb

 

[njperry]

Playing phone's movies on my HDTV-through USB!

Still no news on the TV Out cable we want but I just bought a Samsung BlueRay player that has a USB port and I was able to plug my Incredible into it and play videos, music, and pictures off my phone on my HDTV! Of course, I still want the TV Out cable, since most places I go won't have a USB port, but this is pretty cool, all the same.

 

[pcbtmr]

Extending Battery charge

I noticed the last couple of days, I turned off Haptic feedback for typing messages, battery life almost doubled.

 

[SparksGuy]

marking cables

My best Droid Incredible tip is:

I marked my USB / Power cables so I could FEEL the top from the bottom, without looking at them. I used a finger nail file to crease a line on the back side. No, I am not blind, just lazy.

This is also on my web site with a few other hints.

 

[Cory Streater]

Once again ---- per post #1 all questions have been deleted. This thread is for tips & tricks only. Please ask questions in the forum not in the sticky.

 

[AngryAhhlex]

Voice Commands

As stated before, when you hold down the search key (in most apps and home screen) a google voice search will come up and you can say, "Call <>," "Navigate to <>," "Find <>," "Map of <>," (i.e. "Call John Smith" or "Find nearest gas station"). Or you can just say anything and it will look it up in a google search.

However if you want to do things such as say "Dial 123-456-7890" you need to use Voice Dialer instead. Voice dialer can also do things such as "Open <app name>," "Call <contact name>," and "Redial." Such commands as "open battery info" etc.

Admittedly holding the search key recognizes and works much more effectively than Voice Dialer, IMO. Hope this is helpful

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

When using google voice search and a bluetooth ear piece do you talk into the ear piece mic or the phone mic?

 

[artincali]

There's this tiny white line just above the phone bar at the bottom of the screen. It changes position in relation to which screen you're on as you swipe left or right . Try it and you'll see what I mean.

I never even noticed the white line. Thanks.

 

[RK73]

Haven't seen this tip here yet, so here is how to improve the in-call sound quality:

How to change the audio codec to EVRC-B:

Go to Phone and Dial ##778
Choose Edit Mode
Password is 000000
Go to CDMA Settings
Scroll all the way to bottom
Change Home Page, Home Orig, and Roam Orig from EVRC to EVRC-B
Hit Menu and Commit Changes
Phone reboots and no more muffled voice calls!

I definitely can tell there is a difference!

NOTE: Don't mess with other settings while you are in ##PROGRAM mode, this can make your phone unusable!

 

[iJason#WN]

Will this increase signal strength as well?

 

[BTSee]

Haven't seen this tip here yet, so here is how to improve the in-call sound quality:

How to change the audio codec to EVRC-B:

Go to Phone and Dial ##778
Choose Edit Mode
Password is 000000
Go to CDMA Settings
Scroll all the way to bottom
Change Home Page, Home Orig, and Roam Orig from EVRC to EVRC-B
Hit Menu and Commit Changes
Phone reboots and no more muffed voice calls!


I definitely can tell there is a difference!

What exactly does this do? Are there any negative consequences to this?

 

[milominderbinde]

Many of my other favorite tips involve apps that provide the features I wish were built in.
• MyBackup Pro : Backup apps, messages, contacts, calendar, etc. automatically to the cloud and your SD card - If you only buy one app, buy this one. $5
• Missed Call : Set repeating reminder alerts for calendar, messages, emails, etc.
• AppBrain plus Fast Web Installer : Search for and install Android Marketplace apps directly from your computer. Great app recommendations for you based on your interests.

 

[RK73]

Will this increase signal strength as well?

I don't think so.

What exactly does this do? Are there any negative consequences to this?

This would switch your CDMA audio codec to a newer version. More information about codec versions is here: Enhanced Variable Rate Codec B

Quote: 'This provides lower average data rates (ADRs) compared to EVRC, for a given voice quality.'

I tested this on my Incredible - I used to get not so clear 'muffled' sound on some calls, it is better now. No negative consequences so far. And you can always switch it back if you don't like it.

 

[Groucho]

Haven't seen this tip here yet, so here is how to improve the in-call sound quality:

How to change the audio codec to EVRC-B:

Go to Phone and Dial ##778
Choose Edit Mode
Password is 000000
Go to CDMA Settings
Scroll all the way to bottom
Change Home Page, Home Orig, and Roam Orig from EVRC to EVRC-B
Hit Menu and Commit Changes
Phone reboots and no more muffled voice calls!

I definitely can tell there is a difference!

NOTE: Don't mess with other settings while you are in ##PROGRAM mode, this can make your phone unusable!

I thought I had detected a reduction in volume on my Dinc in the last week or two (have had since launch 4/29). The reduction seemed to be both on speaker and regular. It might be my imagination but after trying this switch to EVRC-B the reception seemed noticeably louder and clearer, especially on the speaker phone. Will be interested to see if it effects the BT as well.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Dperks17]

Haven't seen this tip here yet, so here is how to improve the in-call sound quality:

How to change the audio codec to EVRC-B:

Go to Phone and Dial ##778
Choose Edit Mode
Password is 000000
Go to CDMA Settings
Scroll all the way to bottom
Change Home Page, Home Orig, and Roam Orig from EVRC to EVRC-B
Hit Menu and Commit Changes
Phone reboots and no more muffled voice calls!

I definitely can tell there is a difference!

NOTE: Don't mess with other settings while you are in ##PROGRAM mode, this can make your phone unusable!

Wow! this worked awesome the call quality is so much better thanks!!

 

[beef5stew]

Did this, it sounded better, but I dropped 5 calls in the past 2 days when I usually drop 0.

 

[RK73]

I have EVRC-B running for 12 days already - did not notice any changes in reception. No dropped calls so far, even in the low signal areas. Did switching back to EVRC help?