Forgotten your Pattern Lock for Android?

If you've forgotten the pattern to unlock your Android phone, it happens! Can't remember the login information to your Google account or the Kids have screwed you again by trying to make your phone more secure because you know it needs to be so secure no one can get in to it ever again!

The easiest way to get back in is to factory reset your phone! I know you didn't want to hear it but there it is. The good news I guess is that the vast majority of your information should be stored on your Sim and external storage ie. Your memory Card.

To Factory Reset the phone without access to the menu its a simple case of using the phones hardware buttons, that is say the volume, selection keys or power key.

For most phones this is to hold Volume Up the Home key and Power Key with the phone off and when it starts up you will be greeted with the factory reset menu, then use the volume keys to Navigate to wipe/factory reset and use the Home key to select. give it a second it should say complete on the screen then navigate to reboot/restart and when its back on you should have the phone setup wizard waiting for you to add your settings like it was a brand new phone.

We have a collection here but drop a comment and we'll come back to you with the correct key combination. Alternately you can search for "*your phone make* hard reset" on Google and it will bring up the most likely options!

I know We've covered this before but I just wanted to make a more direct approach to a single problem 

Free Galaxy S3/S3 Mini and Note 2 Unlock

So with the reveal of the New Samsung Galaxy S4 not far off now I thought it time to be all nostalgic and go back to the Galaxy S3 and re-publish the free unlock method.

This is well versed around the net now and we take no credit for it (Source) but as the site dose focus on unlocking from time to time I'm going to add it to our archive!

Before you start Make sure your phone is running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and that it is already carrier locked (duh) also please note this method only works on certain variants for the Galaxy S3/Note2 and Mini3 not all and finally please note we take no responsibility for bricking your galaxy so don't cry to us if you mess up, this is at your own risk people! 

1. Open the Dialer and type in *#197328640#

2. Main Menu -> [1] UMTS -> [1] Debug Screen -> [8] Phone Control -> [6] Network Lock -> Options  [3]Perso SHA256 OFF Now wait 30 seconds

3. Hit the Menu button and select Back and you should now be in the Network Lock

4. Choose NW Lock NV Data INITIALLIZ and again wait but for a Minute this time

5. Reboot the phone

Bare in mind there is no acknowledgement that the phone is now unlocked so the only way to know is to try another carrier sim. And that the Time waiting is key so don't rush it.

All Credit to Owl47 over at XDA Developers and you can read the original Here with loads of follow up information.

Requesting Phone Unlock Vodafone Ireland and O2 Ireland

If you've been trying to get your Phone unlocked by your provider and that provider is Vodafone Ireland or O2 Ireland I've got some handy links for you! These are direct links to Unlock request forms on their respective sites

Vodafone Ireland - O2 Ireland

Meteor and Three don't seem to have any similar service but here is their Unlock Information.

Meteor Three

Enjoy

Connect Mobile Broadband and Windows 8

If your Dongle is not working with Windows 8 but it installs correctly and looks like it connects but just dose not do anything else when you try to open Internet explorer for example then try this work around first.

I must apologize as I currently do not have a Windows 8 Machine at hand to put a graphical representation of this up for you so this is put up for those that know there way around a computer.

Simply put go in to the Control Panel and then select the Network icon and setup a new Dial up Network connection, When doing this select your Mobile Broadband Modem and leave Username and Password fields blank when it asks for a Phone number use *99# save it up and it should automatically connect first time to test your connection.

This can now be used to connect your MBB device using the right pop-out menu you should see the Network Connect options popup when you click the Computer Monitor icon on the bottom of that side bar.

For a more detailed look at MBB in Windows 8 try Microsoft's own site. Here

Your providers I'm sure are working on new software to be 100% compatible with Windows 8 and they may already have it on their sites so check your providers technical support download sections.

Irish Text Message Centre Settings (SMSC Ireland)

When you send a text message in any country it is first sent to a Message Centre before being forwarded on to your destination number ie. your Friends and Family.

If you change your Phones network provider, purchase a sim free phone or mistakenly delete the message centre number you will get errors when you try to send your SMS, This is usually due to an incorrect message centre number. There can be other causes but it better to check this first then to be on Hold waiting for Customer Care or in a Shop!

So below I have a list of the Irish Network Centre Numbers for you. In most cases you will find this setting in Text Message Settings under Message Centre Number you just need to edit this to your chosen network.

The + is important so hold the Zero key on your handset until the + Symbol comes up, on some handsets you might have the quickly push 0 twice.

Vodafone Message Centre: +35387699989

Meteor Message Centre: +353857000000

O2 Message Centre: +353868002000

3 Message Centre: +353830000800

eMobile Message Centre: +353857000000 

Tesco Message Centre: +353894300000

Postfone Message Centre: +353876999940

48 Message Centre: +353894300000

5 Easy Ways to Customize your Android Phone

There are tons of ways to customize the look, feel and sound of your Android phone and I can see this will be an on going topic for us but for the moment We're going to talk about 5 simple ways you can customize your phone to get you started so your not stuck with the boring usual wallpapers ringtones and icons. 

• Zedge: Zedge is a really handy App you can grab from the Play store and it has loads of free Wallpapers,Ringtones and Notification Sounds that you can download free it even makes it a breeze to set these as your default. ZEDGE 

• Change your Lock Screen: After changing your home screen wallpaper you should hit your lock screen with a fresh coat of wallpaper,On most phones you can enter the Settings menu and in Screen settings select change lock screen to select a new image from your Gallery it may look for you to crop or centre the image, set it as you like and confirm, job done!

• Add a Face to that Name: Grab some Photos of Friends and Family and add them to their contact information on your phone, Usually all you have to do is open your contacts and select the contact you want to add the photo to edit the contact then hit the default picture to select your own.
  
• Widgets: Widgets are a great way to quickly get to information and settings, Try the widget category in the Play store and check out what's on the top list, everything from Calender widgets to WiFi is there and it is something in there that will make your life easier and your phone look cooler. In general when your on your home screen hit the Phones Menu Key and then tap Add to select from your installed and pre installed widgets.
  
• Live Wallpapers: Another great way to freshen up your phone is with Live wallpapers these are animated back drops to your home screen and will make it feel alive, Again load into the Play store and hit the Live Wallpaper Category to search through them. Bare in mind this can be an extra drain on your battery life and also on the phones resources so if you notice poor battery or slower performance after install this maybe the cause.

As with all Applications coming from the Play store check the reviews and ratings to make sure its worth while installing, there is some great content in there so don't let some badly made applications ruin your phones experience.

Reset an Android Phone

If you find your Android Handset is running slow, maybe you've forgotten the pattern to Unlock your handset or it could be a dodgy launcher install, there are loads of things that could go wrong and mean you just can't get into the Settings menu to hit Restore Factory Settings! this might just work for you.

When you power on your Android handset you can hold down a combination of the buttons on your phone that will bring you into a restore menu so you can restore the phones factory settings in a matter of seconds. Bare in mind you will lose data on the phones memory and just pull the memory and sim card just in case.

In most cases this is either the Volume up or down key the home button and power on, and then using the volume keys to select your choice and the home button to confirm it.

We have a separate page dedicated to the Combinations that you need to hold down so check what you need to hold down when booting up the phone. This page will be updated frequently to include new handsets but if there is one were missing drop it in the comments and we will add it to the list. We will also add more in-depth guides on some of the more popular handsets so this is really just our starting point.