Good and EVO

Use your Android to sign into Google on a public computer without entering your user ID or password

Leave it to the folks at Google to come up with yet another ingenious solution to life's everyday problems - this time, it's a way to log in to your Google account from a public computer without having to enter your user ID or password. To do this, you'll need to have your phone with you, along with a barcode scanning app like Google Goggles installed on your HTC EVO or other Android device.

Then, while you're in front of the computer, just go to accounts.google.com/sesame and scan the qrc code that appears on your computer screen; it will be similar to the one shown above. Next, follow the instructions that appear on your phone (you may have to log in to your Google account again on your phone), and before you know it, you'll be signed into your Gmail or iGoogle page on the computer in front of you.

The first time you do this, it really will feel like magic. And, of course, it's a great security tool in case you are worried about keyloggers on the computer in front of you. Once again, I'm amazed at the brilliant minds that work for Google.

[Lifehacker]

How to quickly remove apps from HTC EVO View 4G running Honeycomb

One handy feature that Honeycomb brings to the HTC EVO View 4G is the ability to quickly uninstall downloaded apps that you no longer want on your tablet.

With Gingerbread on the View, you had to take either the Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Select app > Uninstall or App Drawer > Menu > Remove App > Select App > Uninstall route.

Honeycomb simplifies this process with a simple drag-and-drop method:

1. In App Drawer, long press and hold app to be removed
2. Wait for Home Screens to appear and drag-and-drop app to"Uninstall" icon in upper right corner
3. Select OK at prompt to remove

Now when you come across an app that you no longer need or want, you can quickly remove it from your EVO View without having to dig through device settings or even leave the app drawer.

How to stop Honeycomb from automatically adding newly installed apps to home screen

Now that the Honeycomb update for the HTC EVO View 4G has been around for a few weeks, I can honestly say that I would never go back to Gingerbread again. The new OS seems refined, crisp, and responsive. Core Google apps now looks great on the View's large screen, and I've long since forgotten about the original capacitive buttons. Honeycomb on my tablet rocks!

However, there is one thing that bugs me. Honeycomb automatically creates app shortcuts on the home screen after anything is installed from the Market. While removal of these shortcuts is easily done by holding the icon and dragging it to the upper right corner, I don't want to do this every time I install an app.

Fortunately, disabling this "feature" is quick and easy.

1. Open up the Android Market.
2. Click the Menu button at upper right corner and select "Settings."
3. Uncheck the "Auto-add widgets" option. You can re-enable it at any time.
4. Press the Back button to exit.
5. Enjoy a clutter-free home screen.

Now you can take charge of organizing your home screens without having app shortcuts automatically created for you.

How to get rid of that annoying Voicemail-to-Text trial button

I recently switched back to the stock voicemail app that comes with the HTC EVO 4G, and it didn't take long for me to be bothered by the Voicemail-to-Text trial button that is always there. It doesn't really get in the way of doing anything and maybe it doesn't bug you, but I personally think it's a little annoying to see it all the time.

Thanks to my cheek, however, I found out that you can easily remove this button and make your voicemail screen look a little less cluttered.

All you have to do is long press right below the "Try Voicemail-to-Text FREE" trial button on the voicemail screen. A pop-up will appear that will let you select "Hide Free trial button." Tap it, and it's gone!

How to accept the Honeycomb OTA on HTC EVO View 4G after rooting with Revolutionary

It's been a good holiday for HTC EVO View 4G owners. Not only did HTC finally release their promised Honeycomb update, but developer globatron also figured out a way to apply the update to devices that had previously been rooted using the Revolutionary S-OFF tool.

Globatron's method keeps S-OFF and includes a Honeycomb-compatible custom recovery, which should be music to the ears of those who previously soft-bricked their devices when attempting to apply the update on their already-rooted tablets.

It should be noted that this method is for advanced users only; you should be comfortable using ADB and flashing files through fastboot. Globatron is currently working on a simpler way for the rooted masses to get Honeycomb, but you'll have to sit tight.

If this warning doesn't phase you, though, read on.

How to gain S-OFF on GSM HTC EVO 3D with newer HBOOTs

If you have yourself a rooted GSM HTC EVO 3D with a newer HBOOT and are sick and tired of being left with S-ON, I have a solution for you. That's right, pack away your Flash Image GUI because this tutorial will show you how to get full S-OFF on your SIM card-lovin' EVO 3D. 

First and foremost: what is S-OFF? Well, with S-ON and the HTC Unlock method, you have limitations for the files you can flash. Sure, you can flash ROMs and you are indeed rooted, but you can't flash kernels or custom recoveries. S-OFF gives you full flashing access, which is really good!

Note that this method may not work on all GSM HTC EVO 3Ds and I haven't tested it personally. For more support and to see if your EVO is supported, head to the original thread at the bottom of the post. If you have a CDMA (i.e., Sprint) EVO 3D, please stop reading and do not attempt this method.

How to unbrick your rooted HTC EVO View 4G after accepting the Honeycomb update [Updated]

So you rooted your HTC EVO View 4G tablet with Revolutionary. You patiently waited for what seemed like an eternity for the fabled Honeycomb update. It finally arrived, you just couldn't contain yourself, and you installed the update in spite of warnings that told you to wait.

And now your tablet won't start up and is stuck on the white HTC screen.

If you are one of the many unfortunate individuals in this situation, fear not, as there is a simple solution that will get you up and running in no time.

How to join the EVO 4G root world if you're on a Mac

With the update to Gingerbread, Unrevoked.com became mostly useless for rooting the HTC EVO 4G line of phones. Revolutionary.io rose to the forefront for its HTC EVO 4G S-OFF exploit, and HTCdev.com joined them with its official HTC EVO 3D unlocker (needed if your HBOOT version is 1.50).

Since Revolutionary.io does not have Mac support and HTCdev does not unlock EVO 4Gs, this left our Mac-using brothers and sisters with no simple way to unlock their OG EVOs. It also leaves Macs in general pretty much high and dry as far as direct root support is concerned.

Now, the absolute easiest way for a Mac user to root a Gingerbread EVO 4G is to find a PC to use. Once it's rooted, you never need to touch the PC again to flash ROMss, unroot, turn S-ON, and so. All the post-root tools are free and work on Mac.

But if you absolutely must have the ability to root on a Mac, then this is for you.

1. Install Parallels or VMWare fusion. You can get the VMWare fusion demo for 30 days for free, so if you have a copy of Windows XP or higher laying around or want to go the Linux route, this is probably your best best as you'll only need the image once.
2. After your emulation software is installed, proceed to root. The instructions at that link are for the Windows platform, but you can get the Linux instructions from Revolutionary.io if you're feeling like taking the scenic route.

Once you're rooted and have  S-OFF, you should not need to use the software again. Almost everything except rooting can be done on a Mac using Finder and the Android SDK for Mac.

If you're on a Mac and know of an easier way to root, let me know and I'll update this post.

How to change your rooted HTC EVO's build and software version numbers

It may not be the coolest thing you could mod on your rooted HTC EVO, but the build and software version numbers can be changed very easily. Whether you want to see your name, feel cool and have it say "Ice Cream Sandwich," or just want to screw with your friends and have it say "iOS 5," changing version numbers is fast and fun.

Normally on the stock ROM, when you go to Settings > About phone > Software information, things looks pretty boring. You might see the word "Shooter" or "Supersonic" with some numbers and periods after it. If you're rooted, your ROM dev has most likely changed this to the name of the ROM.

And now you can change it too.

To get started, you will need several items:

• Rooted HTC EVO (I'll be doing this with a 4G, but a 3D should work just fine)
• Root Explorer ($3.99) or other root file manager app
• What you want your new version numbers to be

This is really easy and only takes a few steps. So, let's get going!

How to find CPU usage on your HTC EVO 3D or 4G

If you're experiencing short battery life on your HTC EVO, chances are you've tried downloading apps to kill processes, shut things off, and see what's using the phone's juice. There are applications out there that can show you all sorts of info about other programs as long as they're running, but that means they're using battery to show you what's using battery.

One of the best indicators we have of how much power is being drained by apps is by how much they use the CPU. There are other factors to figuring out drain too, such as how much data they transmit over the air, how much screen time they have, whether they use the camera or not, and so on but we're just looking at CPU times today.

If you're on an EVO 3D with a stock dialer, you can dial #*#*INFO#*#* to pull up a usage statistics system menu that includes phone and battery information, as well as WiFi and CPU usage. It will show you what's been eating your CPU time since you booted. The higher the usage, you can assume the higher the battery use.

It's useful, built into the OS, and doesn't require any additional apps that may be pulling ads off the internet and draining your battery to display commercials for company X. It also will show statistics for programs that are not shown in Menu->Settings->About->Battery->Battery use.

The same menu exists on the EVO 4G; however, the only way I have found to enter it is via an app called Battery Monitor Widget. There's a "tests" button there that drops you into this menu. If anyone has the dialer code to get in, please let me know.

This isn't going to solve all aspects of a quickly draining battery, of course, but it might help you locate an errant application that's tapping your battery like a Capri Sun. Oh, and it's free.