Bittorrent and uTorrent on Android

Did you know you can download torrent files on the go straight to your phone? This is a really handy tool to have installed on your Android device.

You can search for a torrent with your phones web browser like you would normally on your computer, download it to the phone then load it in to your torrent client that you installed. It will start to download in the background while you do more important things. Your going to need a bigger SD card as with all downloading memory is key so make sure you check file sizes before you start. Your not going to fit 15gb on your HTC Wildfire internal memory!

All you need to get going is one of these great clients available in the Play Store. uTorrent or Bittorrent. Install either of these then search your normal sources for legal torrent files and start downloading.

All files will be stored in a preset directory in your phone and once you connect your phone to your PC you can search for your downloaded files and you can copy them to your desktop, simple as that.

The clients are very straight forward to use and installing them is a breeze, just keep and eye on your memory, battery and if your trying this on mobile data keep a close eye on your data usage as this will eat through any data cap quickly if you start downloading a lot of information.

Hard Reset I9190 Galaxy S4 Mini

To Reset the Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 Mini, Start with the phone off hit and hold  Volume Up key, Home key and the Power on key. When the Phone powers on keep holding the buttons and you should be presented with the Factory Reset Menu. You can now let go!

In the Reset menu use the Volume keys to highlight Wipe Data/Factory reset and then the power button to select it, Confirm again by selecting Yes Delete all data. Now sit back and wait a few seconds.

When it has completed you will be presented with the Reset menu again and your done, Select reboot to restart the phone.

Hard Reset I9500 Galaxy S4

To Hard Reset the Galaxy S4 do the following.

With the Phone off Hit and Hold the Home key, Volume Up Key and then hold down the Power Key, the Phone should then Vibrate to say its powering on. At that point you can release the Power Key but remain holding the Home and Volume keys. You should then be presented with the Android reset menu. Black screen with blue writing.

Use the Volume keys to move up and down the menu and use the Power button to select your option.

If you want to do a reset with the phone on the same can be achieved with the settings menu. Go to the following option:
Settings-Accounts Tab - Backup and Reset - Factory data reset.  

Setup Call Divert and Call Waiting

Call Diverting lets you redirect incoming calls to another mobile or land line number. Operator costs will most likely apply.

To activate these you need to dial and call them on the phones keypad.

To Divert Unanswered calls ie. When your mobile rings out.  **61*The number you want to divert to #


This will allow you time to answer the call but if you are unavailable will let it go to another phone.
To Deactivate it is ##61#

When the Phone is turned off : **62*The number you want to divert to#
To Deactivate it is ##62#

When you are on another Call: **67*The number you want to divert to#
To Deactivate it is ##67#

To Divert all Call Types it is: **21* The number you want to divert to#
To Deactivate it is ##21#

To Setup Call Waiting again dial the following in to the phones keypad and dial it.
Call Waiting on: *43#
Call Waiting off: #43#
Check Call Waiting Status: *#43#

Phone flashes white when trying to make a Call

If your Android Phone is flashing white then returning to the keypad when you are trying to make a call? This is most likely due to the Application Default Setting on the phone having been set to another application such as Viber.

To stop this and revert the phone back to its original state you need to do the following.

Go to Settings>Applications (Manage Applications is another step in some versions of android) and select the Viber application from the list (It can be another Dialer Application that you have downloaded)

When you are in the Chosen Applications settings you should see Clear Defaults, about half way down. Select this and proceed with the on screen prompts.

Once this is done try to make the call again, before it will let you complete the call it will ask you which application you would like to use. Select your phones default Dialer this will be the one with Dialer Icon you are used to tapping. Make sure you check the "Make Default" Box before continuing.

Turn Mobile Data off on your Smartphone

Are you getting charged daily for something on your phone and your not sure why? Chances are your running a smart phone without a data plan. Bad idea! Carriers love this as it really is money for nothing.

If you see a set of of arrow symbols beside your phones coverage bars with a g or h beside them or anything that looks like its flicking every few seconds this is your indication that the phone is chewing up data and you can get charged for it, even if you think your not using it the device will wander off and check for updates, check mails etc.

So if your one of the few people still running a smart phone and can't be bothered paying for all that "internet stuff" case you only use it on wifi and why would you want the internet when your on the go... turn off your mobile data. you'd really be surprised how often this comes up.

NB: Multimedia Messages will no longer work correctly with this off, You will get a message from your carrier telling you you have a MMS to view and to go to their MMS Portal to view.

iPhone:
To Turn off Mobile Data on the iPhone go to the following and toggle the switch to off.
Settings - General - Cellular and set Cellular Data to Off. You might as well turn off 3G as well, it will improve your battery. (Could improve your coverage also.) iOS7 will make this more accessible.

Android:
The newer versions of Android usually have a On/Off switch in their "Notification Center" (That thing you get when you flick the top of your screen down, you know the one that shows your latest text,mail downloads...)

There is also a chance that if you hold the Power button to bring up the Power Menu that you have the option to turn Mobile data off there. If however this still is not an option then you will have to dig in to the Setting menu.

Generally if you go to the following menu you will find it.

Settings - Wireless & Networks - Mobile Networks and Uncheck Use Packet Data.

Some of the newer handsets have this stored else where but usually its very obvious to seem being marked as Mobile Data on/off, if however you have another location please leave it in the comments.

You can also check out the Play Store for Mobile data widgets that will let you switch it on and off quickly by putting the setting on your Android home screen so check Play for that.

As a side note if you want to be extra sure your mobile data is off you can delete what is called the APNs from your handset. I'm not going to go in to that method with this post as it dose mean you will have to reset those settings if you ever want to turn it back on and may mean going back to your carrier! but if you really want to go down that road head to your favorite search engine and search "Delete APN from *Your Phone Here*"

Pair Smartphone or iPhone with Bluetooth

Driving on your phone is a big problem, in most countries it's Illegal and to be honest it really is a very stupid idea. Penalty points and fines so if you've got a car Kit your Phone should be Paired up and working with it. If not, Why not?

Now I'm not going to go through every pairing process just give a general over view.

Every Bluetooth kit be it Built-in Car, Car Radio, Removable Standalone or Earpiece will have the correct method to pair off your phone to the Kit included in the Pairing section but here's and overview.

In General all Kits pair off by holding the Power button down on the device until you get a beep, a sequence of flashing lights or constant light. Once it is in Pairing mode you then go to the Bluetooth connection options of your Phone, search for your new Device, select and let the phone Pair off to it.

If it asks for a Pass-code or Password it is usually "0000" or "1234", unless you've got an especially complex kit like BMW,Mercedes, Audi etc. these will either generate their own code and display it to you or have it preset in the car manual. If this isn't available you may have to return to your dealer to retrieve the code. This is however a rare occurrence.

Once the kit is paired off make sure you have the phone set to automatically connect to it or you will have to manually select the kit every time you turn on the Car.

I have seen a lot off issues, mainly with Android phones that even though they have automatic connection on it still will not pair off. The best way to get automatic connection to work is to have your phone's Bluetooth switched on before you start up the car or turn on the kit, This means the signal sent by the kit will be picked up straight away by your phone and it will connect. If you don't do it this way you will find having to hit and hold the call button on the kit to get it to resend the signal then having to go into the Bluetooth menu on the phone to select your device. This is a real Pain!

Finally if you are still having issues connecting make sure you have the latest software for your phone installed older versions of software have been known to cause issues with built in kits, disconnecting, dropping calls and no audio to mention a few.

Power saving options can cause issues with some kits also so if you are still having issues turn your power saving off.

Also if your Bluetooth Device has a "No Sniff Mode" set this to off this may resolve your issues.

Comments and ideas welcome.