Hello kiddies, hope you had a good holiday!  Since it tis the season to be giving, what better way than to hit you with a new app to help those of you with multiple Android devices. As I was browsing XDA, I came across this handy little app that lets you adjust the function associated with each button on your phone.  Being that I have multiple phones and the hardware keys are different on almost all of them, sometimes you catch yourself hitting the wrong buttons. Well not anymore with an app called Button Re-mapper.  The nice thing about this app is that instead of needing coding experience, it packages it for you in a nice clean interface for you to use, and in case you need to go back to your original layout it will do that also.

Here is a link to the apk:   Button remapper apk

Also, if you enjoy this app please think about grabbing the donate version.

-Dr. Root (mrpicolas)

Ask Dr. Root: Is it possible to Remap Buttons? is a post from: Droid Life

Many of you know the name Schlage and chances are that you see the name everyday as they are an industry leader in home security products. During my time as contractor I had the opportunity  to install many of their products which have always been of the highest quality.  Today, they released their first Android app called Schlage LiNK and have asked that we give it a proper run-through on one of their systems which they were also kind enough to send us.  

I have had about a week  to test this app and it does not disappoint.   The setup is simple and only asks for an activation code and pin when first launching.  After that is done you will be presented with an interface which will show you all of the options you have installed on your home security system and you can start testing it.

Now there are a few security systems on the market, but what sets this one apart from the others is quality, price, and ease of use. I would highly recommend Schlage’s systems to anyone looking to get a home security system especially with the addition of this app.

Features:

• Remotely lock and unlock doors
• Remotely toggle lights
• Monitor security cameras

Another nice feature with these systems is the ability to have notifications sent to your email or have a text message sent to you whenever your system is accessed. This is a nice feature  especially if you have kids coming home before you get there or have contractors in and out of your house. All of these features can also be accessed through Schlages web app which works just as well as their android app.

It’s also very kid friendly.  Meet my helper Addison who helped me install and test the system. Since she is only three years old, I wanted to see how easy it was for her to use the system in case of an emergency. Once installed, she was able with a little direction to lock and unlock the deadbolt (which she proceeded to do about 30 times.  Apparently she thinks it’s funny to see me stuck outside.).

I also had the chance to sit down with Schlage and offer some feedback on a couple of things, which to my surprise were already on their list and being worked on and implemented in their next generation of home security products.  Schlage is definitely on top of their game and it shows in their products as well as their app. Now I may sound like I’m rambling on about Schlage and how wonderful it is, but my day is quite busy and the product flat out does what it is suppose to and does it well.

Please hit up the links and check out their full line of available products. The app is free and scheduled to hit the Android market any minute now.  It also includes a demo mode to give you a look at the interface and an idea of how it works.

Download Link

Schlage Link Products | Schlage Support

Until next time, Happy Androiding!

-Mrpicolas

Review: Schlage Home Security Android App is a post from: Droid Life

Dr. Root, My phone deleted all my pictures. What can I do?

I ran into this problem myself recently and thought that I was out of luck, but thanks to a wonderful themer WEBST3R, I was able to recover over 4,000 images that had been deleted off my SD card. Webst3r is the author of Sense X theme for the DX as well as a number of other very cool things related to Android which you can check out in our forums.  Him saving the day is an understatement.

Instructions after the break.   

First, we need to get some tools, so head over to Piriform and download the Recuva software.

(Don’t freak out about the price! The software is free and the support has the pricetag.)

1. Download and install the Recuva software.
2. Plug in your phone and set it to “USB Mass Storage” mode.
3. Open Recuva and cancel out of the wizard.
4. Pull down the first drop box and select your SD card.
5. Pull down the second drop box and choose “pictures”.
6. Go into the options menu and select “Tree mode.”

(This will give you the option to select the entire card.)

7. Hit “Scan” and allow Recuva to discover your files.
8. If you do not need the entire card use the thumbnail view or list view.
9. Click “Recover.”
10. It will ask where you want to recover to.

(My suggestion is create a folder on your computer and select that.)

11. Let it work its magic and start breathing again.

The software is not just for pictures either and will give you a list of different file types you can check depending on your needs.

Also before I go, please remember that flashing and theming your phone can be risky.Wiping data and cache when switching ROMs or when theming multiple items is a great way to ensure minimal conflicts on your device. Yes, I know it can be a pain to enter all of your information again, but between Google and the applications available to rooted users it has become pretty painless and a rather quick process.

STAY TUNED and be on the lookout for a very cool review coming soon to a device near you.

-Dr. Root (mrpicolas)

Ask Dr. Root: Recovering Deleted or Missing Pictures is a post from: Droid Life

Dr. Root, I am running a custom ROM and can’t upgrade my apps in the market. What gives?

Here’s the deal, all custom ROMs are different and when they are put together some of the apps you want to upgrade are not able to be upgraded because they are pre-installed with the ROM as a system app. This is done for a couple reasons. One reason is for theming purposes, and by doing this it prevents the themed app from being overwritten. This is a good and a bad thing; good because it keeps your app themed and bad because if you want to update to a newer version you have to wait for the themer or ROM developer to update. The second reason is  performance. By tweaking the app and leaving it in the system/app folder it can be .zip aligned leaving it optimized for the ROM.  Now fear not, if you want to update anyway you are not out of luck, but it will take you a few minutes depending on what you need to update.  

(Important) Please read the following: 3rd party themed apps that are not in system/app folder will update as usual and you will lose the themeing of that app. I know that sounds like a pain, but there is a quick fix in case this happens to you.  A simple uninstall of the update through the market should revert you to your themed app. To keep this from happening again make sure to uncheck the auto update box for your app.

Here are the steps to update  pre-installed apps that will not update:

*For rooted phones only

*Droid life  is not responsible for damages,acts of god and loss of spouses due to messing with your phone.

1. You need a file manager that gives you read write access to the system/app folder. Root Explorer is a great choice for this.

2. You need to locate the app you want to update in system/app. Once you find it you need to enable  R/W (read-write) in Root Explorer. It is set at R/O (read-only) by default and by doing this, it will let you delete or move the app from your system folder.  I suggest moving it out from system/app and onto somewhere safe like your SD card.  You can also just rename the app to end with .bak if you don’t want to move it.

3.  Now head out to the market and find the app you wanted to update, install like normal and enjoy your newly updated app.

Dr. Root. I am having home screen re-draws (refreshes) on my  rooted orignal Droid  and am not sure what to do. Please help!

*The following  is for a rooted original Droid only.

It seems that some phones experience this more than others and for no particular rhyme or reason. This has been attributed to the smaller amount of RAM in the original Droid, however there is a fix for it which virtually eliminates the re-draw issue. From time to time when I am not running after my 1 1/2 year old daughter I check out the Google  for little tips and tricks and ran across this…

Hint for developer phones:

“One limitation has been noticed on Android developer phones (ADP1). Due to limited memory home screen often takes several seconds to load. Luckily these phones allow root access. Issue the command “echo ro.HOME_APP_ADJ=1 >/data/local.prop” and reboot, to lock home screen in memory.”

Now yes I know we don’t have developer phones, but take this into consideration.  We have a phone with an unlocked boot-loader running stock Android, so really it can be considered a developer phone. The following command can be entered into Terminal Emulator which can be found on the market.

*MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP FIRST

In your terminal application on your phone (if you have to ask what this is, Google it, download it from the market):

su (enter)
echo ro.HOME_APP_ADJ=1 >> /data/local.prop (enter)
reboot (enter)

If you want to undo what this command does, simply remove that toggle from: /data/local.prop, or if you did not have this file (like I did not) prior to the mod…remove it entirely.

If you entered this correctly you should see through the day that the redraw issues have disappeared and the homescreen is actually there when you come out of a memory intensive app.

Dr. Root  (MrPicolas)

Ask Dr. Root: Themed App Upgrade Problems, Home Screen Re-Draws is a post from: Droid Life

Well thanks to a very nice themer (Signals23) over at XDA, we now have our very own Droid Life version of LauncherPro. We have shown his work here on DL before, but this one deserves some special recognition. Signals23 is responsible for many of the themed versions that you’ve seen of our favorite home replacement app and this will be a great addition to his lineup.

Donate to signals23 here. Please help support him if you can. Without talented people like this, our homescreens would be well, bland.  I also would like to thank ardchoille over at LauncherPro forums for the source image I used to produce this dock.

Download: Droid Life LauncherPro

*You may need to uninstall your current LauncherPro first.  Backup those settings though!

*You will also need the Plus version in order to use the widgets.

And of course the docks to go with it:

Have fun and enjoy!

-Dr. Root  (MrPicolas)

Download: Droid Life Themed LauncherPro is a post from: Droid Life

Dr. Root, I love my theme but if I could change just a couple of notification items it would be perfect. Please help!

*FOR ROOTED USERS ONLY (instructions)

*Please make a backup before proceeding. (As always this comes with risk. Droid Life is not responsible for dead phones, ruined marriages, etc.)

*This should work for most rooted android devices, but be sure to read comments and warnings wherever you get your meta-morph zips from.

Today, I wanted to change a couple of notification items on my Droid X while running  Bgill’s Incognito, which for the most part I love. Seeing as I can’t theme to save my life, I needed a quick and easy way to make changes. Yes, I know I could just flash an update.zip but the changes I wanted were one or 2 things and didnt feel like changing the whole theme just for that.

I decided to dig out MetaMorph which is a program that has been around for quite some time and is probably overlooked.  

The picture below contains a circular battery and WiFi antenna which were themed using MetaMorph. The first picture is the before and the second picture is the after:

Hit The Links below for these files.

INTERGRATION WIFI

GEM WIFI

DROID BATTERY

TRANSSPIN BATTERY

Download:  MetaMorph |  BusyBox

To use MetaMorph you need to install busybox as well. (Links above)  Using MetaMorph is pretty straight forward, but first you’ll need to find a MetaMorph zip that pertains to what you want to theme and download it to your SD card. (I found a bunch using Google search.) Once you find something to them and the file, move the zip to the AndroidThemes folder on your SD card.  If you do not have  a folder named “AndroidThemes” then creating one is just fine. Open up MetaMorph and it will ask to run some checks which you’ll have to let finish before moving on to the “extract zip button.”  The next screen should contain the MetaMorph file. When you tap on the file, it will ask you if you want to proceed and warns you that the phone may reboot during the process(which it will.) When the phone reboots you should now have your newly themed notification item.

Yes, there are different ways to theme, but I wanted to put this out there for those wanting to try their hand at it. I found this to be a very simple and effective way to make small theme changes. You are not limited to just notification items, There are lock screen mods and more, you are only limited by the amount of time your willing to spend with it.

-MrPicolas (Dr.Root)

File Source: Droid Pirate

Ask Dr. Root: How to Theme Notification Items Using MetaMorph is a post from: Droid Life

I was gonna dive deep into the world of modding this week, but thought with the growing population of readers rooting  and wondering where to go from there I’d go back to basics. With that being said, let’s cover some essential root apps that will make your life a lot easier.

ROM Manager

This is your one stop shop for the majority of your rooting needs. You can create backups, flash new ROMs and apply new themes all in one place. We highly recommend grabbing the paid version to unlock some bonus features.

ShootMe

Want to show off all those cool themes and ROMs you are using?  Shootme is where it’s at.  Simple to use and handy to have, you’ll be filling up your SD card with all sorts of pics.

DropCap2

You could say this is the sister to ShootMe and is just as easy to use.  Only problem with drocap2 is the little camera icon it puts in the notification bar when snapping shots.

Either one of these should do just fine, but my personal favorite is ShootMe.

Root Explorer

The swiss army knife of file managers. This is a powerful app and gives you unfettered access to all of the files residing on your phone. A word of caution:  If you delete something you shouldn’t have with this it is gone for good. Please make a backup of your current ROM before messing with a program of this caliber.

SetCPU

Not for every rooted phone. That being said if you have an orignal Droid or an Android phone that allows kernel replacement, then this is a must have. Battery life and performance improvment is what this app is all about.

Terminal Emulator

A command line interface for your mobile phone or better yet, “ADB mobile.”  The only caveat to this is you cannot use it with system files because they are running while this app is in action. Any other files are free game though.

Wireless Tether

Last but not least this is a great utility for your mobile phone. With Wireless Tether you can have an internet connection for your laptop or other wireless device wherever you go.

Any others we missed that you would recommend?

-Dr. Root aka MrPicolas.

Ask Dr. Root: The Top Apps for Rooted Devices is a post from: Droid Life

Recently, my good friends at T-mobile let me have about an hour and a half to play with the new G2 from HTC, so I wanted to give you the lowdown from a Droid user perspective.

The phone itself has a nice size to it, and the keyboard layout is also very easy to use. The device itself runs pretty well and I did not notice any lag or slowdowns as I put it thru its paces. The screen is nice and crisp and the touchscreen input is on par with some of the best devices out there. It is pretty much standard Android vanilla fare as far as the UI is concerned and as I was out getting 4 kids glasses I was able to text, browse, and email with little trouble while keeping track of my small army.

Sounds good right? Well not all of it was good in my experience. The keyboard while nice has a big caveat as it is hinged and not in a good way. The hinge is made of a non ferrous metal which will keep it from rusting, but for being brand new it had way too much play for my liking. It seemed sturdy but I foresee people snapping this thing in two. Also as others have confirmed, the memory issue bothers me. The 4 gigabyte internal memory is shared between the system and apps with around 2 gigabytes left being pretty much unusable.  The phone itself is expandable to 32 gigabytes thru the sd card so yes there is storage to be had, but in my opinion and having owned another phone with shared internal memory, I am not a huge fan. I also have found that the power button being located on the side is more of a pain, and restricts quick access to turning the screen on. (I am left handed by the way, so you right handers may have better results.)

So to wrap it up, if you are not already on Big Red or have a significant other on T-mobile it may be worth a look. I say this apprehensively because unless you are very careful I see a trip back to your local carrier for a replacement. Please anyone who may decide this an option, I implore you to PURCHASE THE INSURANCE. That being said Once fully rooted (yes I know of the temporary root that has been achieved.) This may be the next cult following for the non-VZW crowd and I enjoyed my time with the phone, but will not be giving this another look. In todays smartphone market ease of use and durability should be much higher than the G2′s current offer.

UPDATE:  Just after MrPicolas posted this, news broke that this phone has a rootkit included which can wipe your phone back to its original state should you tamper with it and put say, a custom ROM or something on it.  Basically any custom or user change made to the source code can be overwritten each time the phone is booted.  I think we all know that the majority of the excitement behind this device was the fact that it ran a pretty vanilla Android, but after hearing this news, I’d say our “locked” bootloader is nothing. (Via:  News America)

Thoughts everyone?

The T-Mobile G2, this is not the (An)Droid you are looking for (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Dr. Root, I have adb set up now how do I use it?

First of all, if don’t have adb and the Android SDK installed follow these instructions.   Now, I know we all don’t share a love of adb, but seeing as it is being used more and more I thought that you should get a basic grasp of what can be done with it. I am going to provide you with a list of commands that you should have on hand to help you out.  I’ll also show you how to make sure your device is connected properly to adb.  These commands can be found here.  

adb shell mount – lets you mount your system
adb push <packagename.apk> /system/app/ -put in system folder
adb devices – lists which devices are currently attached to your computer
adb install <packagename.apk> – lets you install an Android application on your phone
adb remount – remounts your system in write mode – lets you alter system files on your phone
adb push <localfile> <location on your phone> – lets you upload files to your phones filesystem
adb pull <location on your phone> <localfile> – lets you download files off your phone’s filesystem
adb logcat – starts dumping debugging information from your handset to the console
adb shell <command> – drops you into a basic linux command shell on your phone with no parameters
adb devices – lists which devices are currently attached to your computer
adb install <packagename.apk> – lets you install an Android application on your phone
adb remount – remounts your system in write mode and lets you alter system files on your phone
adb push <localfile> <location on your phone> – lets you upload files to your phones filesystem
adb pull <location on your phone> <localfile> – lets you download files off your phones filesystem
adb logcat – useful for debugging your apps
adb shell <command> – lets you run commands directly

Fastboot Commands

fastboot devices – lists which devices in fastboot mode are currently attached to your computer
fastboot boot <filename> – boots a ROM stored on your pc specified by the filename
fastboot flash <partition> <filename> – flashes a ROM stored on your pc, partition can be one of {boot, recovery, system, userdata}

Ok now that you have a command list lets get your phone up and running.

Connect you’re phone to a PC but don’t mount SD card (also tick the usb debugging option from settings>application>development).

Open cmd (start>type “cmd” in search bar) and enter these commands:

cd\
cd AndroidSDK\tools\ – connect to adb
adb devices – lists which devices are currently attached to your computer

If you get a list of “devices attached” followed by a long number and “device” you are up and running.  Have fun with adb and the list of commands from above.

Frame me photo widget

I have been looking for a decent photo widget that will resize without the frame distorting on me and much to my dismay there were not many till now. Enter Frame Me. It allows you to pick your photo and also include the entire directory for which that photo resides. Now the cool part is that the widget only takes up a 1×1 space on your screen, but if you press on the photo it will expand to full screen and you can flick/scroll through the directory you chose earlier. Oh and don’t forget to pick a frame! The app is $0.99 in the market or for those who like freebies, it can be found over at XDA.

Frame Me

That’s it for this week. See you guys next week

-MrPicolas (Dr. Root)

Ask Dr. Root: Adb Commands and Frame Me Widget is a post from: Droid Life

Spark you say? What’s that? Spark is a new player in the home replacement game. This is currently in beta and definitely needs some work, but for the social user it may be right up your alley. Spark has a simple premise, your info in one place and easy to access.

Spark uses a simple scrollable environment that is controlled by modules with each module representing information on your screen. Currently there are limited modules and no way to add more at the present time, but with the ability to pick and choose your modules you could tailor your screen to better suit your needs. A nice feature that I have not seen anywhere else yet is a looping app drawer. The headlines module is also something I liked that features scrollable headlines within the module. Once these are pressed it opens up to show you the rest of the post in a full screen format that is also scrollable.

There is only one screen at present for you to use meaning they are aiming at form and function. The one screen features 3 selectable shortcuts that you can customize to your liking. The weather based on your area is automatically pulled in for you. And last but not least it has an app drawer with shortcuts for the phone and web.

Well here comes the answer to the real question. Should I ditch LauncherPro or ADW for Spark? I would say not just yet. Yes it’s simple and gives you your info right in front of you, but it almost feels like an alpha release rather than a beta. With some refinement and a smoothing over of the UI as well as a library of modules that you could pick and choose from, it may be the perfect home replacement for the busy on the go person who needs to access their info quickly. If you can’t resist trying out new stuff I have provided a market link and qr code for you all. Also if you decide to try this out stop back by and let us know what you think.

Download:

Download Link

App Review: *Spark (Beta) is a post from: Droid Life

Dr, Root, How do I get all these cool looking home screens I see floating around?

1.  First if you don’t already have it, grab LauncherPro from the market and you’ll need to pony up for the plus version.

(Fede is awesome anyway so please help support him if you can.)

2.  Next grab Desktop Visualizer from the market also.
3.  Download this ZIP FILE that I have provided for you to get you started.

This .zip includes some icons as well as 2 .psd files for the icons in case you wanted to create your own, but there are plenty provided which should give you a good start. If  you choose to create your own, the .psd files work perfectly in Photoshop.  For those of you without Photoshop the following measurements can be used to create the icons with your favorite image editor. For the 3×1 icon use 355×132 and for the 1×2 icon use 115×266.

4.  Now that you have some icons lets start by selecting the 4×1 widget from Desktop Visualizer. You will want to resize this to 3×1 with LauncherPro’s resizing ability. Using the 1×2 widget is straightforward and will require no resizing.  

Ok there you have it, please feel free to show of your new homescreen creations over at our DROID-LIFE FORUMS.

Dr. Root, Why does your LauncherPro have a custom skin?

Well, glad you asked here’s the answer. Benny879 has been kind enough to theme Fedes awesome launcher for us to enjoy. Go get the theme pack this post. There are a couple different flavors to choose from as well. Benny also themes more than just LP. Check him out and if possible donate.

Now for some fun..

The 500th comment in this thread will receive a $20.00 dollar donation to their PayPal account. Courtesy of me. If you don’t have Paypal I’ll contact the winner and work out a way to send you your funds. This is my way of giving back to you guys. So have at it and have fun!

_______________________________________________

Our resident expert when it comes to anything Droid or Android related, but what he really loves is dissecting rooting questions.  There is nothing our Dr. doesn’t know, so ask away!  Ask Dr. Root.

mrpicolas.. aka doctorpicolas@gmail.com

Ask Dr. Root: Fully Customizing your Homescreens, and a Goodies File to get you Started is a post from: Droid Life

Our resident expert when it comes to anything Droid or Android related, but what he really loves is dissecting rooting questions.  There is nothing our Dr. doesn’t know, so ask away!  Ask Dr. Root.

____________________________________________

Dr. Root, How can i use multiple static wallpapers?

Well. before last week I would have told you that it’s not possible. I’ll explain why. The Android operating system handles wallpapers by screen size and as you scroll or swipe from one screen to another it shows only a portion of the wallpaper. There is a technical explanation that involves a lot of math and layout jargon which I will not go into.  Your solution?  

MultiPicture Live Wallpaper. Whats that you say, lwp? Yes I know what your thinking, I don’t want to use a live wallpaper. Trust me you do. MultiPicture live wallpaper allows you to select up to 7 different images to use on your screens. It also has transition effects from one screen to another, as well as double tap to change picture and a few more goodies for you to play with.

MultiPicture LWP

Dr. Root  I need more icons on my screen but have no more room. What do I do?

Well personally, I prefer a more minimalistic screen, but since I know you all don’t  share my views, enter…MULTICON. This app acts as a widget and if used with LauncherPro Plus’ resizing and you can have up to 144 icons per screen.

Multicon Widget

Dr. Root, I can’t boot into recovery from Rom Manager on my Droid X. What do I do?

This is an easy one folks. Simply uninstall Rom Manager and re-run Koush’s Bootstrap app. Reinstall Rom Manager and re-flash clockworkmod recovery. This should fix the issue.

____________________________________________

Any other burning questions?  Feel free to submit them to the Dr.!

mrpicolas.. aka doctorpicolas@gmail.com

Ask Doctor Root: Wallpapers, Icons and Rom Manager Recovery Fix for the X is a post from: Droid Life

Our resident expert when it comes to anything Droid or Android related, but what he really loves is dissecting rooting questions.  There is nothing our Dr. doesn’t know, so ask away!  Ask Dr. Root.

____________________________________________

Dear Dr. Root,

What are the best settings to encode video for use on my Droid  X?

To answer your question I did a bit of digging and came across this.  This should give you a great starting point. There is a good wealth of information here and it comes strait from Motorola.

Dr. Root, What is the best android tablet out right now?

In my opinion the tablet game is still very new. I would wait until the Christmas shopping season swings into full gear. Not only will you have more choices, you will most likely find that Black Friday deal of a lifetime. I’ll leave you with a teaser that Google is supposedly building one with HTC.

Dr. Root, why does my weather widget not update correctly?

Well there are a number of of reasons this could be happening, first check and make sure that you do not have it set to be killed by your task killer if you are using one. Next, see if your widgets support more than one option to pull your weather information in. Google offers weather information for a lot of widgets, but this doesn’t mean you have to use them. Weather forecast widget (paid app) and Snowstorm weather widget (free app) are both some options to check out. Both come with options to skin the widgets.These are both available in the market.

The top widget is Snowstorm and the bottom widget is Weather forecast

Dr. Root,  RSD Lite 4.7 wont  recognize my Droid X. What do I do?

If you downloaded RSD Lite 4.7 it should have come with a patch file named pst flash. First, make a copy of the orignal pst flash file and save it somewhere on your computer. Replace that file with the updated patch file. If you need this file it can be found here. Once this is put in RSD Lite restart the program and it should find the phone. Good luck and remember, flashing sbf files can be risky.  Now for the disclaimer. (This information has been provided as is and Droid-Life assumes no responsibility for any problems that may arise.) Happy flashing and be careful.

Thats it for this week. Please keep sending those questions my way!

mrpicolas.. aka doctorpicolas@gmail.com

Ask Dr. Root: Video Encoding, Tablets, Weather Widgets is a post from: Droid Life

Droid ! First Android in space

Hit the link for the Youtube video

Also feel free to let us know what have you done with your Droid?

Motorola Droid does… Outerspace is a post from: Droid Life

We’ll be on the lookout as well and keep you updated if there any breaking news.

LET THE FROYO WATCH BEGIN!!

Update..

Sorry, looks like we’ll have to wait just a bit longer.

D – Day for Droid Incredible Froyo Update? is a post from: Droid Life