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Nexus 4 Owners Thread - apps, tips & tricks!

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    #302
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    Hi all,

    Just want to throw in my two cents about phone protection. I'm not talking about bumper cases or screen protectors (of course, those are definitely recommended!). I'm talking about security. On my previous phone (Galaxy S I9000) I didn't bother as I felt the phone was slow enough without making it any worse. But now with the Nexus 4 being the powerhouse that it is, why not take into consideration the possibility of something going wrong and using preventative measures to put a stop to it.

    I did some research and I was all but ready to purchase ESET Mobile Security, as I use ESET NOD32 Antivirus on my desktop and have been for about 6 years now, it's just the best consumer antivirus out there. Lightweight, excellent detection rate, and all at a reasonable price (though until last year I used to download cracks for it). But there was one app that I found that seemed to be top of the list and it was a freebie called TrustGo Antivirus & Mobile Security. I first read about it here. I've been using it since the weekend and it seems to be doing aright but I haven't triggered any red flags, yet. It also comes with some okay anti-theft measures but...more on that in the next paragraph.

    After checking out the anti-theft potential of TrustGo, I was pleased with the features and the web panel they have on their website to lock the phone down and/or trigger an alarm until it dawned on me that two things could go wrong. If you enter TrustGo and exit, then swipe the app snapshot away in Recent Apps, you'll no longer be able to connect to your phone from their web panel. I wrote to them about this as it could happen even by accident and if your phone is lost or stolen before you get a chance to either reboot or enter the app again to create a new snapshot, it won't be of any use to you. Note though that if you reboot your phone and don't go into the app, there will be no snapshot, but the web panel on TrustGo.com will still connect. The problem only occurs after you enter the app and then swipe the snapshot away. The second problem is that all the features require the phone to be connected to the Internet and there isn't any way to interact with the phone to make that happen, should the thief happen to switch off your data and WiFi.

    I then went on the hunt for the most feature-rich and trustworthy dedicated anti-theft app. The one that kept topping the charts was Cerberus. Cerberus is a one-stop anti-theft solution that allows you to take control of your phone by sending coded SMS messages to it to trigger a mobile data or Wifi switch on, etc. The SMS' will not show up as a notification or in your messaging app. You get a week to try it and a license thereafter costs €2.99 and that allows protection for up to 5 devices. The app also comes with a feature to hide itself from the app drawer, though it won't be hidden from the list of apps in the task manager (that's going to be the same with any app). But you can still gain access to the app when it's hidden from the dialer. You set a number in the app's settings and once you dial that number into the dialer, the app launches. Each time you launch the app, you'll have to log in with your username and password, which is annoying but it's a useful security measure that I for one am glad of. If you allow it device administrator privileges, it will also protect itself from being uninstalled using conventional means and it will give the app permissions to do a full wipe of your phone, in case you have sensitive data that cannot fall into anyone's hands.

    Cerberus too comes with a nifty web panel that you can trigger all sorts of awesome things to happen. Tracking your phone is the most obvious and it does it well. If you're rooted, you can convert the app to a system app (by copying the app into the /system/app folder instead of the /data/app folder) or by flashing a ZIP that they provide you with inside your custom recovery. This gives the app the ability to turn your GPS on once you do a tracking request, if the GPS is off. Since Gingerbread, Android does not allow GPS toggling from non-system apps. Another benefit of being rooted and having Cerberus as a system app is that it is tougher to wipe, short of flashing a new ROM or deleting the apk using a rooted file manager with the /system partition mounted as read/write or a terminal emulator to mount the /system partition as read/write and delete the apk with command lines. It will still be present after a complete data wipe, so that's a good thing. It's the best that can be done.

    There's another app that tops the list called Anti Theft Droid, which is free. I'd have to advise that it's not worth it. For one, they split the features of controling the phone by SMS and by the web into two apps. The second problem is that the app is written by someone who speaks Spanish or Portuguese and it's a bit shady at times in terms of decent English translations. The third is that when I went to install the web-based one, the server and website were down and it stayed down for at least an hour (I didn't try accessing it beyond that until the next day). I haven't tested the app beyond the SMS controls which I found tougher to get a grasp on compared to Cerberus (those bad English translations with a lack of instructions and a website at the time to find them on are to blame...or maybe it's just me?). In all honesty, I can't fault Cerberus so I'm happy to stay with that. I believe it's worth the €2.99 and I intend on buying a license once my trial has ended. You really need to check out the features of these anti-theft apps so you can appreciate what it can potentially offer you if your phone becomes lost or stolen.

    Just though I'd throw in my small amount of research and experience for you all. But it's always a good idea to try things out for yourself to gain that extra perspective.


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    #303
    Slevster
    Registered Users Posts: 591 ✭✭✭Slevster


    I use "Android Lost" . Find it very good in a comforting way.has all the hide app, send location, send call list, take photo. etc features. A bit scary really. haven't needed it thus far, bar using it to find my phone around the house (remotely turning on the volume when its on silent). It does similar to above , but is free, Developer seems genuine.
    Have followed your trials getting your hands on the N4 over in the order thread Deceifer. Glad you got sorted.

    On another note, I have found an issue with wifi with the N4
    When using a public wifi, where you need to connect, and then sign in through a web page, some times , but it seems that if I already have an active browsing session open using 3g , and then enter a wifi zone, I don't get the option to open the gateway page. I need to go into airplane mode and out again(haven't pinned down the exact circumstances).
    And , may be related, I also find that the phone doesn't switch between wifi and 3g smoothly. i.e if i have wifi turned on, and it detects a signal, but I don't connect, but instead want to use the 3g connection, the phone seems to want to ue the wifi. I end up turning of the wifi in order to use the 3g ( Again, I have not pin pointed the exact circumstances)

    Nothing serious, just a little annoying


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    #304
    Slevster
    Registered Users Posts: 591 ✭✭✭Slevster


    A little tip, (may have been mentioned before)

    In Google Now, if you change the language to English (US), when you open up google now, you can just say "google" to start the voice search without having to press the little microphone symbol. i.e its voice search is activated by a voice command!


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    #305
    Kylo Ren
    Registered Users Posts: 10,364 ✭✭✭✭Kylo Ren


    I've been using Avast as my security for the past few days.


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    #306
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    Slevster wrote: »
    I use "Android Lost" . Find it very good in a comforting way.has all the hide app, send location, send call list, take photo. etc features. A bit scary really. haven't needed it thus far, bar using it to find my phone around the house (remotely turning on the volume when its on silent). It does similar to above , but is free, Developer seems genuine.
    Have followed your trials getting your hands on the N4 over in the order thread Deceifer. Glad you got sorted.

    On another note, I have found an issue with wifi with the N4
    When using a public wifi, where you need to connect, and then sign in through a web page, some times , but it seems that if I already have an active browsing session open using 3g , and then enter a wifi zone, I don't get the option to open the gateway page. I need to go into airplane mode and out again(haven't pinned down the exact circumstances).
    And , may be related, I also find that the phone doesn't switch between wifi and 3g smoothly. i.e if i have wifi turned on, and it detects a signal, but I don't connect, but instead want to use the 3g connection, the phone seems to want to ue the wifi. I end up turning of the wifi in order to use the 3g ( Again, I have not pin pointed the exact circumstances)

    Nothing serious, just a little annoying
    Awesome, in addition to Cerberus, I've set up Android Lost. Been playing around with it, it's all good. Both are fairly even. Having two is just a good idea as I was considering researching to finding something else to pick up any slack from Cerberus, and vice-versa.

    Haven't noticed anything about public paid WiFi networks but I never use them to be honest, so I can't comment on that.

    Thanks for chiming in with your favorite security app.
    Keno 92 wrote: »
    I've been using Avast as my security for the past few days.
    I was about to head down that route when I heard that TrustGo had a better detection rate. I'm still using TrustGo for regular security but not for its anti-theft features. You really should in addition to Avast install Cerberus and/or Android Lost. The features are ridiculous, you probably won't have them in Avast and TrustGo doesn't have them.


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    #307
    Kylo Ren
    Registered Users Posts: 10,364 ✭✭✭✭Kylo Ren


    I just saw the video Cerberus have on their app. It looks very impressive.

    On a side note. Is there a way you can scroll to the top of a web page instantly? On IOS you just tap the top bar and it brings you up. On chrome BTW.


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    #308
    coolhull
    Registered Users Posts: 49,731 ✭✭✭✭coolhull


    on Samsung galaxy, why can I not get boards.ie to fit better on my screen? Someone told me to download m.boards.ie to get the mobile phone version, but it makes no difference. Other stuff, like Facebook, RTE News etc works fine, but with boards I only get the widescreen (presumably the PC version) and its always harder to post or reply to a message. I sometimes have to click on ''reply'' half a dozen times before it works.
    If this post makes sense, does anyone know where I'm going wrong?


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    #309
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    coolhull wrote: »
    on Samsung galaxy, why can I not get boards.ie to fit better on my screen? Someone told me to download m.boards.ie to get the mobile phone version, but it makes no difference. Other stuff, like Facebook, RTE News etc works fine, but with boards I only get the widescreen (presumably the PC version) and its always harder to post or reply to a message. I sometimes have to click on ''reply'' half a dozen times before it works.
    If this post makes sense, does anyone know where I'm going wrong?
    Go to http://touch.boards.ie. Worked for me. I think http://m.boards.ie is the old school mobile version.
    Keno 92 wrote: »
    On a side note. Is there a way you can scroll to the top of a web page instantly? On IOS you just tap the top bar and it brings you up. On chrome BTW.
    I don't think there's a way, at least not in Chrome.

    http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/39230/how-do-i-scroll-to-the-top-of-a-list

    Some people are saying Dolphin has the feature if you set up a gesture.

    http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-4g/15632-instant-scroll-top-page-like-iphone.html


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    #310
    jgbyr
    Registered Users Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭jgbyr


    Is there any way to snooze an event reminder in the stock calendar app? I can't seem to find it. Thanks


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    #311
    Raoul
    Registered Users Posts: 7,706 ✭✭✭Raoul


    Deceifer, what about the prey project? I have it on my laptop and its quite good. Haven't got it on my phone as of yet.


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    #312
    youcancallmeal
    Registered Users Posts: 7,998 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    I then went on the hunt for the most feature-rich and trustworthy dedicated anti-theft app. The one that kept topping the charts was Cerberus. Cerberus is a one-stop anti-theft solution that allows you to take control of your phone by sending coded SMS messages to it to trigger a mobile data or Wifi switch on, etc. The SMS' will not show up as a notification or in your messaging app. You get a week to try it and a license thereafter costs €2.99 and that allows protection for up to 5 devices. The app also comes with a feature to hide itself from the app drawer, though it won't be hidden from the list of apps in the task manager (that's going to be the same with any app). But you can still gain access to the app when it's hidden from the dialer. You set a number in the app's settings and once you dial that number into the dialer, the app launches. Each time you launch the app, you'll have to log in with your username and password, which is annoying but it's a useful security measure that I for one am glad of. If you allow it device administrator privileges, it will also protect itself from being uninstalled using conventional means and it will give the app permissions to do a full wipe of your phone, in case you have sensitive data that cannot fall into anyone's hands.

    What's the use of sending an sms to your phone if the first thing a phone thief would do is most likely remove the sim card?


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    #313
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    Raoul wrote: »
    Deceifer, what about the prey project? I have it on my laptop and its quite good. Haven't got it on my phone as of yet.
    I haven't looked into that one but I assure you that it will be done, thanks for the heads-up! It'll be good to see what it has to offer in comparison to the others.
    youcancallmeal wrote: »
    What's the use of sending an sms to your phone if the first thing a phone thief would do is most likely remove the sim card?
    They thought of that. You designate a number to receive text notifications about your phone, and your email, both of which should receive a notification when the SIM is changed for another. Whatever information it can grab about the SIM (that's encoded on it) will be sent on. You just have to hope that the phone number is encoded on it, which isn't always the case. It's the best that can be done. This applies to both Cerberus and Android Lost.


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    #314
    setanta1984
    Registered Users Posts: 818 ✭✭✭setanta1984


    Prey is a brilliant app, using it on my laptop, phone and Nexus 7. Really detailed.


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    #315
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    jgbyr wrote: »
    Is there any way to snooze an event reminder in the stock calendar app? I can't seem to find it. Thanks
    Sorry I missed this before. Did a bit of a Google and came up with this:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitfire.development.calendarsnooze&hl=en

    Might use it myself!

    Although, it was last updated in June 2012. I don't use the Calendar app enough to know if the feature has been introduced officially since then.


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    #316
    jgbyr
    Registered Users Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭jgbyr


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    Sorry I missed this before. Did a bit of a Google and came up with this:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitfire.development.calendarsnooze&hl=en

    Might use it myself!

    Although, it was last updated in June 2012. I don't use the Calendar app enough to know if the feature has been introduced officially since then.

    Thanks for that. It's just that I thought the snooze function was available in the calendar on my last phone. Will have to check tonight.


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    #317
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    jgbyr wrote: »
    Thanks for that. It's just that I thought the snooze function was available in the calendar on my last phone. Will have to check tonight.
    What was your last phone and was it the stock Calendar app?


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    #318
    jgbyr
    Registered Users Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭jgbyr


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    What was your last phone and was it the stock Calendar app?

    It was a Huawei g300. Had a custom rom put on it so I'm not sure about the calendar app - it was a Google calendar though.


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    #319
    coolhull
    Registered Users Posts: 49,731 ✭✭✭✭coolhull


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    Go to http://touch.boards.ie. Worked for me. I think http://m.boards.ie is the old school mobile version.l

    That worked just fine, thanks for that.
    Respect!


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    #320
    jgbyr
    Registered Users Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭jgbyr


    Would someone mind checking if the snooze function works on the stock calendar reminder. It's supposed to, but doesn't on mine.
    I know there's an app to add snooze but it's supposed to be already integrated.
    Thanks


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    #321
    rhonin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,248 ✭✭✭rhonin


    jgbyr wrote: »
    Would someone mind checking if the snooze function works on the stock calendar reminder. It's supposed to, but doesn't on mine.
    I know there's an app to add snooze but it's supposed to be already integrated.
    Thanks

    Works fine on mine.


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    #322
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    coolhull wrote: »
    That worked just fine, thanks for that.
    Respect!
    No problem! I only noticed myself when I logged on recently. It went to the touch site straight away but once I went to the full site to check out how it would run, it didn't go back to the default so I had to type the "touch" into the URL manually for it to work again.
    jgbyr wrote: »
    Would someone mind checking if the snooze function works on the stock calendar reminder. It's supposed to, but doesn't on mine.
    I know there's an app to add snooze but it's supposed to be already integrated.
    Thanks
    What exactly happens to you? I'll put in some dummy reminders when I get a chance later to test it out.

    In the meantime, perhaps clear the cache and data and start fresh with it?


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    #323
    MiCr0
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 6,265 CMod ✭✭✭✭MiCr0


    i just did a test there and created a new event.
    in the notification area i've got a snooze option


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    #324
    Stench Blossoms
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,390 ✭✭✭Stench Blossoms


    Has anyone good any recommendations for an sms backup app that backups to gmail?

    I was using SMS Backup + and it worked fine on my old phone but it's only doing a back up once every few days on the nexus 4 (Even though i've the settings changed to do a back up every 30mins and not requiring wifi)


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    #325
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    Stench Blossoms wrote: »
    Has anyone good any recommendations for an sms backup app that backups to gmail?

    I was using SMS Backup + and it worked fine on my old phone but it's only doing a back up once every few days on the nexus 4 (Even though i've the settings changed to do a back up every 30mins and not requiring wifi)
    I've been using SMS Backup & Restore since 2011 and it backs up daily to my SD card, not Google. It's uses XML and it's really reliable. Does it need to go to Google?


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    #326
    Stench Blossoms
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,390 ✭✭✭Stench Blossoms


    Yeh, i really like having it backed up to google. It's handy for the times when I leave my phone at home (Which happens a lot).


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    #327
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    Stench Blossoms wrote: »
    Yeh, i really like having it backed up to google. It's handy for the times when I leave my phone at home (Which happens a lot).
    Sorry, I don't know of anything reliable but hopefully someone else does.


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    #328
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    Sorry, I don't know of anything reliable but hopefully someone else does.
    Scratch that, there appears to be an official addon for the above app I suggested:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestoreNetworkAddon

    You can upload to Dropbox or Google Drive and it integrates with the main app which can have scheduled backups occur every x minutes, hours, or days.


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    #329
    jgbyr
    Registered Users Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭jgbyr


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    No problem! I only noticed myself when I logged on recently. It went to the touch site straight away but once I went to the full site to check out how it would run, it didn't go back to the default so I had to type the "touch" into the URL manually for it to work again.


    What exactly happens to you? I'll put in some dummy reminders when I get a chance later to test it out.

    In the meantime, perhaps clear the cache and data and start fresh with it?
    Basically when I set a reminder it pops up on screen but the only option I get is to dismiss it. No snooze option. I did clear cache but it made no difference. Thinking I was being smart I removed the app from the system folder(it's rooted) & reinstalled from play. Now it won't sync at all & tells me I have no calendar. Gmail is syncing fine though.
    I might have to reload the 4.2.2 image file from Google & start afresh. That's what I get for messing.


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    #330
    DECEiFER
    Registered Users Posts: 3,212 ✭✭✭DECEiFER


    jgbyr wrote: »
    Basically when I set a reminder it pops up on screen but the only option I get is to dismiss it. No snooze option. I did clear cache but it made no difference. Thinking I was being smart I removed the app from the system folder(it's rooted) & reinstalled from play. Now it won't sync at all & tells me I have no calendar. Gmail is syncing fine though.
    I might have to reload the 4.2.2 image file from Google & start afresh. That's what I get for messing.
    Just copy the APK from /data/apps to /system/apps and set the permissions to rw- r-- r--. Then tap the APK to install it again. Perhaps a reboot might also be a good idea.

    You can easily accomplish this without using terminal commands. Get ES File Explorer and in the settings (swipe left on the bottom menu and go to Tools > Root Explorer > Mount R/W) make sure the system partition is mounted as RW. This will allow you to cut and paste into the /system/apps folder.


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    #331
    jgbyr
    Registered Users Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭jgbyr


    DECEiFER wrote: »
    Just copy the APK from /data/apps to /system/apps and set the permissions to rw- r-- r--. Then tap the APK to install it again. Perhaps a reboot might also be a good idea.

    You can easily accomplish this without using terminal commands. Get ES File Explorer and in the settings (swipe left on the bottom menu and go to Tools > Root Explorer > Mount R/W) make sure the system partition is mounted as RW. This will allow you to cut and paste into the /system/apps folder.

    Hi Deceifer, I did everything as you said but no joy. When I open the calendar its blank,then when I click on 'calendar to be displayed' there's nothing.
    Thanks for the help. Appreciate it. Will have a look at a reinstall.


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