Droid Incredible Tips & Tricks Thread

[BadPeekSell]

Found this trick on another forum, so I give props to the original poster

Taking crystal clear pictures using long hold on the screen (tap to auto focus, long press for taking the shot)

Accidental discovery re: camera - Android Forums

 

[Cory Streater]

All questions posted to this thread will be deleted per the first post.

 

[testcellchris]

Phone Book Backups

Their is a way to acknowledge separate phone books. First many of my VZW Backup Assistant numbers were old so I went into VZW's website and found my contacts. I deleted the old and unwanted numbers. Then I ran Backup assistant on my phone. Then I synced my Google contacts.

This is the best part.. Select: Phone, menu, people, menu, view. That will show your available phone books and how to select the one or more that you want to use.

If you find a lot of double contacts I suggest going int VZW's website and deleting the old double contacts there. Remember to compare contacts before deleting anything. You may delete the wrong one.

You can also import/export contacts with your SD card. Phone, menu, people, menu, Import/Export. That's the ultimate backup IMO.

 

[climber20]

Reducing camera flash intensity

Here's a simple, cheap solution to reducing the intensity of the LED flash when taking pictures with the camera. After I did this, taking photos of people from 2 feet away with the flash no longer result in the subject looking like a washed out ghost.

First, get a roll of paper medical tape:
View attachment 853

Then, cut a rectangular piece of this tape that is the same width but twice as long as the 2 LED lights on the back of the phone. Fold it in half long-ways so that just a tiny bit of sticky side is exposed.
View attachment 854

Next, remove the back of the phone. Take this rectangle of tape and place it over the 2 LED lights. The small sticky area will hold the tape in place.
View attachment 855

Finally, put the back cover back on the phone. You're good to go! You can obviously apply more or fewer layers of tape to suit your needs.
View attachment 856

 

[ynotbike]

A wonderful feature of the phone is the music controls on the lock screen (why don't other android devices have this basic feature!!)

Anyway... after a few seconds they disappear but if you drag up from the lock button, they slide back up.

 

[jmos1277]

pressing and holding the home button will make it buzz twice and a menu will popup with 6 most recently used apps

Great tip!!! It's pretty similar to the Alt-Tab interface on Windows. Great way to bounce between multiple apps.

 

[anthonym83]

If you hold the search button down for a few seconds, you can talk and search for something. or even do commands like "navigate to [contact name]", "call [contact name]", "map [then whatever you wanna look for in google maps]

This doesn't seem to work on my phone. Press and hold just searches what I say, but doesn't follow commands like Call ____. It just finds the name from my phonebook (sometimes with the word Add Number under it)

(Interestingly when I click on some names after using this search option, it leads me to a different person's contact info...no pattern or connection).

 

[bark8015]

Autolock disable

In other threads I've seen a few people ask about an app that would prevent the screen from timing out while in a dock (as the Moto Droid apparently does natively).

If you go to Settings > Applications > Development, there is an option to "Stay Awake" while the phone is charging.

It may or may not be a setting you want to have enabled all the time, but it will allow the screen to stay unlocked while docked (assuming the dock is charging the device).

Note: the screen does dim slightly after a short time of no user input, but just tapping it brings it back to full brightness without needing to swipe-unlock.

 

[rpfarrah]

I didn't see this posted before, but if I missed it the Mods can delete: no stress.

If you want to easily add an email address to your contacts from an email that you have received, you can simply touch the address (while in the actual mail) and you'll get a pop-up with several options.

And FWIW, I don't see this option in gmail addresses.

 

[bogeyx5]

didn't scroll for me. just vol up and down as usual. did i miss something?

This trick does not work in the stock browser but it does work in the Dolphin browser as long as it is enabled.

 

[buckunit101]

I dont know if on all sense ui phones or it might be the sms app but u can type over 160 and it will split it into seprate meesages and send them

 

[wowpaw]

I dont know if on all sense ui phones or it might be the sms app but u can type over 160 and it will split it into seprate meesages and send them

Its pretty common now with all phones. Back in the day, I had to do this manually (for non-verizon recipients) but almost every phone that has been released within the past year automatically will do this (dumb phones included)

 

[bobstudent3]

another tip, when you hit the SEARCH button on the bottom right, it will give you the option to search for something throughout your whole phone and internet. you can change what objects to search within.
SETTINGS, SEARCH, SEARCHABLE ITEMS.

If you hold the search button down for a few seconds, you can talk and search for something. or even do commands like "navigate to [contact name]", "call [contact name]", "map [then whatever you wanna look for in google maps]"

if you are within an app, like the PEOPLE app or google talk, and then hit Search, it will give you a search box to find stuff only within the app you are in. this is easier to find a contact in the People app rather than scrolling all the way down. and if you hit search twice while inside an app, it will change the search back to your universal search like from the home screen.

One common place that hitting Search within an app will not work is under Settings --> Applications --> Manage applications. This can make it hard to uninstall an app from there if you've got a lot of apps, so use the Market or a 3rd party app instead.

 

[anthonym83]

Its pretty common now with all phones. Back in the day, I had to do this manually (for non-verizon recipients) but almost every phone that has been released within the past year automatically will do this (dumb phones included)

Be aware that a lot of people are using phones older than a year. Many older than two (depending on how often the company gives you a discount on a new phone...and then have to assume they didn't get the most brand new phone two years ago when they chose it).

 

[jimracing657]

Be aware that a lot of people are using phones older than a year. Many older than two (depending on how often the company gives you a discount on a new phone...and then have to assume they didn't get the most brand new phone two years ago when they chose it).

those coming from verizon blackberrys will love this feature. Its a pain having to manually split texts.

 

[kneeb89]

It's pressing the home button from the main home screen that does this. If you press the home button once from another screen it will take you to the main home screen (that's why pressing it a 2nd time will bring up this view).

You can also bring up the thumbnail by pinching two fingers in, from any of the home screens. And by the way there are 7 homescreens not 6 haha.

if you are on any of the home screens and take two fingers at opposite corners and pull them towards the center of the screen it will take you to the option to pick from any 7 home screens.

 

[bigslam123]

if you are on any of the home screens and take two fingers at opposite corners and pull them towards the center of the screen it will take you to the option to pick from any 7 home screens.

Interesting feature but easier to just hit the home button twice to get the same result.

 

[anthonym83]

Bigslam, that would only get you to the main home screen, rather than give you immediate access to all 7. In some cases might be faster than scrolling from very right to very left. Just different options

 

[TBolt]

##778 > View Mode > Display

I think this is worth sharing. I originally read this in a post by drjrdemelo.

Anyone who may be concerned that their "new" replacement is actually a refurb can do this. To check within the OS to see if there are any records of refurbishment:

Call ##778 > View Mode > Display

---

I presume that seeing the following means your phone is in fact new, not refurbished:

Refurbishment Status
<Not Available>

Refurbishment Date
<Not Available>

This put my mind at ease when I received my replacement Inc.

 

[bobstudent3]

If you receive a phone number within an email, press and holding the number will pop-up options to call or SMS or add to contacts.