Hidden Features Thread - Touch Diamond, MDA Compact IV General

Hi,
I just thought I’d start a thread for hidden tips. As I’m sure there are many things people are not yet aware of that the phone can do.
Here’s mine for the HTC Album. When zooming in using an clockwise circle, the size of the circle drawn dictates the amount you zoom in. A large circle covering half the screen will only zoom a small amount to the area encompassed within the circle.
However, a small circle covering a tiny section of the screen will give you a far greater zoom into the section just circled.
Give it a go...

imranbashir_uk said:
Hi,
I just thought I’d start a thread for hidden tips. As I’m sure there are many things people are not yet aware of that the phone can do.
Here’s mine for the HTC Album. When zooming in using an clockwise circle, the size of the circle drawn dictates the amount you zoom in. A large circle covering half the screen will only zoom a small amount to the area encompassed within the circle.
However, a small circle covering a tiny section of the screen will give you a far greater zoom into the section just circled.
Give it a go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you seen this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=398265
No need for a new thread, sorry to say that.

Probably not a hidden featuere, but was new for me:
When the phone rings and you turn it around onto the display, it mutes the ring. Very useful in meetings to quickly turn off the phone.

SamLowrie111 said:
Probably not a hidden featuere, but was new for me:
When the phone rings and you turn it around onto the display, it mutes the ring. Very useful in meetings to quickly turn off the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL

In the weather tab, tap on the left and right side of the 'weather' text to cycle true all the weather pictures...
Not a big secret

Related

[APP] [updated] 4x4 Gyrometer/Inclinometer/Landmeter

Hello friends.
I am looking for an application for measuring car x and y tilt for offroad uses with 4x4 vehicle. Only one suitable app I found is the Kai's water level with its gyrometer feature,but this is very small and in my case I don't need bubbles,so I want to get a software to do my job,but with much larger indicator,angles and warnings as this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QegwIr4dle8
Is there anybody here,who can mix both functionalities of these softwares for me(cause I am not skilled with C)to one application? Super graphic effects aren't necessary.
Thanks in advance.
Very cool idea. I found this http://sites.google.com/site/srlappsproject/home/on-the-level-app its for android but looks cool.
This is very ideal,but for iPhone
http://appshopper.com/utilities/clinovintage
TomasNM said:
Hello friends.
I am looking for an application for measuring car x and y tilt for offroad uses with 4x4 vehicle. Only one suitable app I found is the Kai's water level with its gyrometer feature,but this is very small and in my case I don't need bubbles,so I want to get a software to do my job,but with much larger indicator,angles and warnings as this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QegwIr4dle8
Is there anybody here,who can mix both functionalities of these softwares for me(cause I am not skilled with C)to one application? Super graphic effects aren't necessary.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In truth that's not a difficult app to write, however, I think you'll have issues if you are planning on using it on the move, as the sensor only measures the gravity that it perceives, so if you move the phone around, it gets terribly confused as to where "down" is.
I'm guessing you want to know that an incline of over x degrees is likely to cause the vehicle to tip, etc, but if you are bumping over rough ground, then you'll never get an accurate reading anyway IMHO.
Cheers,
Steve.
Well,I know,that the sensor reacts also for acceleration,because normally it measures inertial forces and the result is not depended only on the gravity. Anyway,it should be okay,because I need it for very slow motion of the car in difficult terrain and I want to see,if my tilt angle(especially to side) is in tolerance,because I don't want to flip the car on the roof. Are you skilled with this "easy" programming?
I would be happy to do the graphics for it just tell me what you need.
TomasNM said:
Well,I know,that the sensor reacts also for a acceleration,because normally it changes inertial forces and the result is not depended only on the gravity. Anyway,it should be okay,because I need it for very slow motion of the car in difficult terrain and I want to see,if my tilt angle(especially to side) is in tolerance,because I don't want to flip the car on the roof. Are you skilled with this "easy" programming?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't necessarily say "skilled", but I wrote the Touch Incall Screen Tweak which turns on/off the screen during a call based on the orientation of the phone, so I'm familiar with working with the accelerometer.
Cheers,
Steve.
Okay,I will prepare demo application tomorrow for PC. I want to have the functionality of the software in video,but with comparable graphics as Kai's bubble level gyrometer(visible horizont). It will be lonely one application of its type on the world,so you can be rich.
Maybe a little something like this. The buttons at the bottom would change color depending on the alarm setting for each angle. You could change that setting by pressing the corresponding button. The numbers in the buttons would give you the actual ° reading.
Just a thought.
Ok, I pulled a stupid moment, there would only be 2 axis, Yaw and Tilt. I was thinking 3D
Also the Waterlevel app found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=411550 has the open source files posted with it, may save some time.
For me is enough to have just 2 axis. The front-end angle and side angle. The image posted before is quiet perfect,but we should have 4 buttons for X-warning,X-max,Y-warning-Y-max,when I hit one of them,I will be able to adjust it. Of course some notifications for these warnings are welcomed as well as angle value visible on the screen all the time.
Next thing what is also welcomed is the power-on ability to prevent auto-dim/off the display. All the things should be visible from the driver's place,when the phone is fixed on the dashboard,so the fonts should be big enough and of course the calibration function to be present.
With this picture you have saved me lot of time spended with programming the PC demo-now isn't needed,because all features are explained.
Anyway,thank you for your help and willingness.
Something more like this? Then pressing the X or Y button would take you to a setup page that you could set warning sounds for yellow or red and you could also set degrees for the setpoints of yellow warning and red warning for each axis.
Quiet perfect!
Can you enlarge the degree fonts and locate them to the bottom corners nearby the circle? Also the labels "Actual" are not necessary. Into the top corners maybe you can locate Calibration button and options/exit(if it will be fullscreened). The warning sounds is also not bad idea...
Like this?
Absolutely perfect!!!
Well done mate.
Now just make it working and it will be super. Are you able to make it alive?
Sorry I do not have that talent, wish I did.
Oh,what a shame. I'll try to take some developers here...
I think this needs moved to the developers thread.
Please, make this dream come true! I'm looking for this kind of software too!

[Q] Distortion of words / writing while scrolling???

Hi,
I have just purchased an HD7 and I really like it so far but I have a question regarding some screen distortion I am seeing when I scroll through menu's, apps, etc...
For example (and where it is most noticable although it does happen in other areas as well) when I go to the applications menu (where all apps are located to the right of the Windows screen) and I scroll through the apps from top to bottom, all the writing beside each app icon becomes so distorted while scrolling (almost static like) that you cannot even make out what the words are saying until the scrolling stops and then everything is ledgable again. Is this normal?
On my Galaxy S the scrolling does not affect the font / writing this way at all and even on my old Omnia i910 I dont remember seeing this type of distortion when scrolling.
If someone can please advise me on this I would really appreciate it. Is this normal for this device? Does yours do it? Anyway to fix it?
Thanks
yiannisthegreek
It's normal behaviour but I'm not sure of the cause. From what I've seen, this only happens when using the black theme. If you use the white theme it doesn't happen.
Shadowise said:
It's normal behaviour but I'm not sure of the cause. From what I've seen, this only happens when using the black theme. If you use the white theme it doesn't happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You for the reply. Really? Hmmm... That is odd. I wonder if this will be something that will be fixed in updates perhaps?
I use a black theme and this doesn't happen to me at all. Certainly not to the point it's unreadable.
jimbonics said:
I use a black theme and this doesn't happen to me at all. Certainly not to the point it's unreadable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... Now Im confused... One person says it happens to him and one says it does not.
Do you experience any distortion of the writing in apps, etc while scrolling? It is minimal when I scroll slowly but when I scroll fast it is quite noticable.
PS... I did also try the white theme and it does not do it in the white theme as was mentioned by the other poster... Only in the Black theme.
I guess I'm not sure what the deal is. When I'm scrolling fast, it could be a million dollar screen with perfect clarity and I STILL wouldn't be able to "read" what was there. I mean, I have 20-20 vision and am a pretty quick reader and I can barely read my chat log scrolling slowly. When scrolling fast enough to "distort" you would have to be able to read about 120 words per second (I scroll through three screens worth of text in less than a second, about 40 words per screen). That's 7200 words per minute which is darn near World Record Speed Reading (not counting those who skim most of it and lose a great deal of comprehension).
I'd just like to say that it's not a major issue for me, but it does happen. When scrolling the app list, the text does fade out, but I don't really see it as much of an issue as the items are moving so fast that you wouldn't be able to read the text at any rate. As the list is alphabetical, I know where I need to stop, I'm not reading the apps one by one as I go along.
I'm not sure now if the OP is experiencing a different issue but he did confirm, as I have, that it doesn't happen in the white theme.
Shadowise said:
I'd just like to say that it's not a major issue for me, but it does happen. When scrolling the app list, the text does fade out, but I don't really see it as much of an issue as the items are moving so fast that you wouldn't be able to read the text at any rate. As the list is alphabetical, I know where I need to stop, I'm not reading the apps one by one as I go along.
I'm not sure now if the OP is experiencing a different issue but he did confirm, as I have, that it doesn't happen in the white theme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Shadowise,
Yes... This is what I am talking about and again Thank You for your answers. I also really notice this when using the People Live Tile and especially in the synced Facebook listing. The text DOES fade out and the smaller the text the more faded it seems to become. Again... This is in the Black theme.
Also, I have noticed while in the People "hub" when scrolling from side to side that the screen itself darkens / dims out while scrolling and it also DOES this in the White theme as well. Is this also normal behavior?
If your not sure what I am talking about then please go into the People tile and just hold your finger on the top of the screen (where it says people in big letters) and slowly slide your finger and you will see the screen darken / dim out as it scrolls - unless there is something wrong with MY device in which case you may not notice what I am talking about.
Please let me know if this happens to you and if this is normal as well. Again... my Android does NOT do these things and so I am not sure if this is normal behavior.
Thanks in advance...
yiannisthegreek
My screen absolutely does not do this. The people tile actualy looks sharper than the apps screen, regardless of how fast I scroll. The screen does not dim out _at all_.
Black background.
It happens over here as well this is due to Motion Blur, the quality of screen used by HTC is poor and this is a known issue with the HTC HD7 and HTC Surround. HTC should have used a better screen specially for its flagship device on the Windows phone 7 platform. But i guess thats the main reason they didn't; the platform is new theres no need to increase costs for a niche emerging market.
Ok... I am confused again... One answer says that this absolutely DOES NOT happen to him and another answer says that it DOES... LOL!!!
This happens because of the 4.3" screen. It's not the best screen in the world. The 4.1" dell venue pro screen never exhibited this behavior and when I switched to the hd7 I noticed it immediately.
It's called response time, it's not fast enough as some other screen, basically it's more prominent while using black theme because it takes full response time (i.e. 8ms) for a pixel to change it colour from black to white and then to black again while you scrolling.
microhaxo said:
This happens because of the 4.3" screen. It's not the best screen in the world. The 4.1" dell venue pro screen never exhibited this behavior and when I switched to the hd7 I noticed it immediately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The funny thing is that the more I play with it the more I notice that this only really happens within the stock Microsoft OS apps like People, Zune, etc. When I scroll through other 3rd party apps such as Facebook (actual app and not the synced version in the People tab), FIM (Facebook Instant Messenger), among other 3rd party apps that this fade out / distortion does not take place.
Anyone else find the same?
EDIT... I have confirmed the fade out / screen distortion to again seemingly only to be affecting the Microsoft stock OS apps again after going into Marketplace, Office, (along with the others mentioned above). It does not seem to affect 3rd party apps... Facebook, FIM, Yellowpages, YouTube, etc.
Again... Anyone else find the same or can check?
jimbonics said:
My screen absolutely does not do this. The people tile actualy looks sharper than the apps screen, regardless of how fast I scroll. The screen does not dim out _at all_.
Black background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We're not talking about the whole screen, just the text.
Shadowise said:
We're not talking about the whole screen, just the text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually... I am talking about like 3/4 of the entire screen when scrolling from side to side in any Microsoft stock OS App.
Like I said in my previous post... if you go into say the People live tile and place your finger on the top portion of the screen where in big writing it says "people" and just slowly start to move your finger to scroll you will see the bottom half of the entire page / app dim out until you remove your finger or it completes its scroll.
As I said... it does this on my device in EVERY Microsoft STOCK OS app like People, Zune, Marketplace, XBOX Live, etc but in 3rd party apps it does NOT do this. This happens in WHITE theme as well.
To try and reproduce this please go to any Microsoft OS App like "people", press your finger at the top of the page and move your finger side to side in short movements and watch your screen. You should see the dimming effect unless my phone is defective or something.
Please tell me what you find.
i'm pretty sure this is not a bug or an issue, it's just intentional, and it's 100% a software thing, you can see that in many wp7 reviews...
but a different thing is the effect you see scrolling the applist, that one is related to the hd7 screen and you won't see it using, for example, an omnia7
elmerendeiro said:
i'm pretty sure this is not a bug or an issue, it's just intentional, and it's 100% a software thing, you can see that in many wp7 reviews...
but a different thing is the effect you see scrolling the applist, that one is related to the hd7 screen and you won't see it using, for example, an omnia7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have an HD7? Can you confirm if your screen does the same "dim / fade out" thing in the Microsoft apps as I have described? Also... Why does it not do this in 3rd party apps then like youtube for example? I have even checked the HTC Hub app and in the HTC app store it does not fade / dim out but it sure does in the Microsoft Marketplace app. Weird.
As for the thing you mention about the app list and the screen - well that is my first big dissapointment with this phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy S and of course the SAMOLED is AWESOME but this phone is said to have the S-LCD (Super LCD) display which is supposed to be a pretty good screen too.
Well... I found a youtube link regarding the BLACK theme scrolling words distortion. Here it is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RperdOR8y5g
But I have not found anything about the screen fade/dimming in Microsoft apps so I hope one of you out here can reproduce it and tell me my phone is ok (even though it will still kinda suck)... LOL!!!
djpianz said:
It's called response time, it's not fast enough as some other screen, basically it's more prominent while using black theme because it takes full response time (i.e. 8ms) for a pixel to change it colour from black to white and then to black again while you scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is the full reason why ^

[APP] JotPad -[U]- 7/Dec/2011

JotPad v1.1
Hi guys, I'm posting my app here, and I'd like you guys to let me know what you think about it, and what should be improved. Just post in this thread and I'll be notified and get back to you.
Here's a short description (so you don't get bored), for the full description just visit the app page.
Have you ever need a pen and paper to help illustrate your ideas during a conversation but couldn't find any? Someone is asking you for directions and you really want to do a sketch to help the explanation? Look no further, the JotPad app is what you need, use it to jot down anything you need!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the features are Live Tile and multitouch support, as well as various colors and image backgrounds and shake to clear.
Download Link: http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=dd496842-8119-4420-9bc6-1d39a58a6b87
I like it
How about allowing multiple drawings and saving items: inside the app, or as a JPEG, or share by e-mail.
Rated 5 stars
Oh thank god! I have been searching for a draw/note app that support zoom, and here we have it; have a thanks mate!
z_rudy said:
I like it
How about allowing multiple drawings and saving items: inside the app, or as a JPEG, or share by e-mail.
Rated 5 stars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate! Yeah, I have the same ideas as well, but hadn't considered the share by e-mail option before, thanks for the suggestion!
fiinix said:
Oh thank god! I have been searching for a draw/note app that support zoom, and here we have it; have a thanks mate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your support, I'll have more stuff added when I have the time (doing this on my free time). If you feel like the app is missing something just let me know and I'll try to implement it.
I love it too! so cool, clever and clear= best handwriting app by faaaaaaaaar!
shake to clear screen I rate your thread and your app on market place with
ps. can you set the pen active as default by start?
mirolg said:
I love it too! so cool, clever and clear= best handwriting app by faaaaaaaaar!
shake to clear screen I rate your thread and your app on market place with
ps. can you set the pen active as default by start?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!!
About setting the pen active as default on start, I will look into that. But I'll explain my rationale of why I did it that way. When you swap between apps the guidelines for app developers say that the app should preserve all of it's environment, so if you were erasing lines on my app, and then you went for some facebook browsing and then came back to my app you should still be in erasing mode since that is what you were doing when you left.
I suppose I could set the pen as active when you start the app and retain the drawing/erasing mode when just multi tasking?
EDIT: I just noticed you have a tablet with Windows 8. :-O Cool stuff, how does Windows 8 work on that? I've only used it on a regular laptop. What about the battery life, does it last long?
Good. I will have a try. It sounds nice.
glowwormccc said:
Good. I will have a try. It sounds nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, let me know what you think after you gave it a good try.
A simple but useful app~
very gd!
Hi works great in app, the live tile is a little wonky though, text gets cut off and moved up a lot of the time, ie if you write one word on a angle it puts it top left and cut off, or if you write 4 words underneath each other, can only see the bottom 2 the others have moved up (there is space below so room on the tile to display) other than that love it.
frakius said:
Hi works great in app, the live tile is a little wonky though, text gets cut off and moved up a lot of the time, ie if you write one word on a angle it puts it top left and cut off, or if you write 4 words underneath each other, can only see the bottom 2 the others have moved up (there is space below so room on the tile to display) other than that love it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean, I've made it like that because of the following problem. The drawing page is rectangular but the live tile is perfectly square. How do you fit something that's rectangular (to fit the 15:9 screen of the phone) into something that's square (the live tile is obviously 1:1)? I had 2 options, either distort the rectangular drawing to fit, or to crop a square from the centre of the drawing. I used the latter, I cropped a square from the centre. That's why the live tile is missing the top and bottom of the drawing.
One last option would be making the pages square so all of the drawing can fit on the tile, but I thought it would look weird and wouldn't fit the phone's screen. But if you do have an idea on how this should work by all means let me know ok? Thank you very much for your comment!

Thoughts on keyboard position on all-screen phones

After a week of using the 6T, I noticed that my typing wasn't as accurate as it was on my Moto Z Play. My thumbs also were a little uncomfortable when typing for a while. I realized that because of the screen extending further down the screen on the 6T vs the MZP, I had to move my thumbs much more down the phone than before. After playing around with the floating function of the Google Keyboard, I found a position that is more comfortable (image attached), and my accuracy has improved as well. The keys are now in a more natural position, lining up right next to where my thumbs fall when holding the phone.
The other option is also holding the phone lower, thereby placing thumbs where the keyboard lies on this phone. The downside of that for me is that I have to shift my hands up and down the phone to get my thumbs to the top of the screen. Time will tell which solution I prefer.
Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if anyone else who is coming from a phone that had a much larger chin than the 6T has had the same challenges. It may be also that I'm just getting old, and my hands are less flexible.
how do you make the gboard float like that? I can't seem to find it in settings.
raing said:
how do you make the gboard float like that? I can't seem to find it in settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tap the g in the upper left, then the triple dots top right, look in the lower right?
This will be a necessity for me if I ever talk myself into upgrading my MZP to a 6T as well. My stubby, clumsy thumbs will have nothing to do with a keyboard all the way at the bottom of the device.
Actually recently got rid of nav bar for gesture nav on the MZP, and this helps in that scenario too.
I just got my OP6T today and I'm pleasantly surprised by the phone. Maybe the screen is not as sharp as my previous U11 but the difference is quite small so I think I can live with that for now. The secondary thing is like the OP mentioned typing on the keyboard. I tried using the phone with gestures and even though its really easy to navigate around the UI, writing is just horrible. Space bar is so low that I have to hold the phone really low in order to right properly. With standard navigation bar everything is ok. Tried floating keyboard but its so weird to type and look down to see what you are writing.
Also it's so funny that everyone is chasing the 99% front display ratio but at the same time interaction with the phone suffers a lot and we have to find ways to go around obstacles created but those almost full front display phones.
I use Minuum keyboard with adjustable spacebar height independent of the adjustable keyboard height.

Do Front Cameras Reduce Notification Icon Space?

I'm considering picking one of these up (refurb) and I've never had a phone with notch or with cameras in the screen area. Front camera has been in the bezel area right above the screen. It looks like the two front cameras on this device are essentially embedded into the screen. Does that mean there is less display areas for notification icons or does the device allow for two rows of notification icons + time/battery display up top?
jazee said:
I'm considering picking one of these up (refurb) and I've never had a phone with notch or with cameras in the screen area. Front camera has been in the bezel area right above the screen. It looks like the two front cameras on this device are essentially embedded into the screen. Does that mean there is less display areas for notification icons or does the device allow for two rows of notification icons + time/battery display up top?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may seen that it would be e problem, i've owned mine for about 4 months bow and its not an issue. The notification bar is thin but still very readable. If you want to customize the notification panel further for space, you'll be able to download (GoodLock and NiceLock depending on your region) to help with that.
S105G said:
It may seen that it would be e problem, i've owned mine for about 4 months bow and its not an issue. The notification bar is thin but still very readable. If you want to customize the notification panel further for space, you'll be able to download (GoodLock and NiceLock depending on your region) to help with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a peak at the descriptions of those apps and screen shots and can GoodLock actually modify the top notification status bar on top? I didn't think any app could control the look of that? Those apps seems to have quite a bit of overlap with built-in functions of latest Android 10 + One UI 2.x ? Still might give them a whirl.
SO I've had my S10 5G for about a week now. Right away, I tried the virtual bezel setting that basically black out the top of the screen next to the cameras. I didn't like the look. On my LG V30 the camera was in the bezel and the bezel was very thin so the screen display still appeared to take up most of the glass. With this setting on the Samsung, it's too heavy handed, blacks out a little too much height off the top of the screen so it looks odd with a very tall black bezel on top.
So far, I don't think the reduced space has caused my notification icon bar up top to get overloaded. What I ended up doing though was selecting a wallpaper that the top right corner is dark or almost black. It effectively "hides the cameras" while utilizing the full screen. Of course with apps open that aren't black on top, you see the large camera cutout but it's not really that distracting/terrible looking.
I like that Samsung got a little smarter on the S20 and has a very small single camera cutout in the middle of the screen now. Looks MUCH better. But still, it's only looks. Some may prefer having the dual front cameras, which I think is a nice trade off to having the larger camera cutout on the side instead of the a small single camera in the middle.

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