Google Play cannot download error 495

When downloading an application from Google Play while using mobile / cellular network, the download may fail and Google Play reports "error 495". In my case, the fix was to enable background data for the "Media" application (I restrict almost all applications from downloading background data on my phone).

1. Navigate to Settings, Data Usage.
2. Select the mobile operator tab.
3. Scroll down until you find "Media" application. If has "restricted" next to it, it is prevented from downloading background data, so enable it and try to install your application again.

Easily turn off and on your Android phone data connection

Easily turn off and on your Android phone data connection using a shortcut to the Data Usage page:

1. Navigate to Widgets, Settings shortcut.
2. Press and hold Settings shortcut until Android prompts you to drop the shortcut into a Home Screen.
3. After you drop the shortcut, Android prompts you to select a category. In this case, select Data usage. If you want to cancel the action, press the Back button.
4. Android creates a Data usage shortcut in the Home Screen.

Google Play Music "Couldn't play the track you requested"

I made some MP3 files and uploaded to my Samsung Nexus. Google Play Music (GPMu) would find the files but when I tried to play any of them, it displayed "Couldn't play the track you requested". If I select the files individually using a file browser, I could play them with GPMu, so the file format was recognised. Clearing GPMu's cache and data did not fix the problem.

My workaround was to attach an image to each file using a media library manager then reload the files. Now GPMu can play the files.

(Slightly) Faster Typing with Standard Android Onscreen Keyboard

Found that you can enter digits and punctuation by using the touch-and-hold gesture on the standard Android onscreen keyboard. For example, hold down the q to get '1' or hold down the DOT to choose from a menu of common punctuation marks. This gesture makes it possible to type slightly faster since you do not need to change modes so frequently.

The touch-and-hold gesture also provides extra characters for keys in the number and symbol modes. For instance, 1 provides a choice of fractions with 1 as the numerator, $ provides common currency symbols and ( provides different left brackets.

2012-07-17: When three dots appear below the suggested words, touch-and-hold any of the suggested words to get a table of additional words.

If you read the Google's Use the keyboard guide, it mentions the touch-and-hold gesture but you might miss the usefulness of the feature since the guide does not go into detail or provide any examples.

PS. When I tried the touch-and-hold gesture on a physical BlackBerry Bold keyboard, I get capital letters, so that gesture is available on other mobile phone keyboards.

Add Album Art to Google Play Music

The standard Google Play Music app doesn't display album art for MP3 files ripped by Microsoft Music Player (I thought the images are embedded in the files). This seems to be annoying enough to warrant the creation of album art grabbers apps on Google Play. The aptly named Album Art Grabber by Tim Clark seems to do the job. After running the app to get the images, I found I have to delete all the data stored by the Google Play Music before it displays the downloaded album images.

1. On your Android device, open the Apps manager.
2. Select Device, Apps.
3. Select the All tab.
4. Select Google Play Music.
5. Select Storage, Clear Data.

See this video How To Add Album Art On Google Play Music (for Android).

Graffiti for Android

Check out "Graffiti for Android"

My first handheld computer was the Palm Pilot. It was a remarkable device for many reasons but the feature I remember best is the Graffiti writing input system. To enter text, the user has to learn to write a simple shorthand that is similar to block lettering. It takes about a day to become used to the writing style.
For an Android phone, you can install the Graffiti application from Google Play. To use it, go to the Settings panel, Language & Input, Default and choose Graffiti as the default. The next time you enter text, the Graffiti input pad will appear instead of the Android keyboard.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.access_company.graffiti