N900 Tips & Tricks

[Venomrush]

Collection of N900 Tips & Tricks.
Feel free to contribute.

CTRL+SHIFT+P takes a screenshot.

CTRL+BACKSPACE brings up the Task Switcher

Long press on Task Switch icon brings you back to desktop

CTRL+SHIF+X brings up an X Terminal

[Venomrush]

CTRL+SHIF+X brings up an X Terminal

[whc]

Nice thanks, cant wait to get my hands on the N900 :).

[anidel]

The terminal one is pretty.

Follow the tag #n900tipstricks for more...

[RevdKathy]

Lots of keyboard and other goodies listed here! (http://nokiaexperts.com/tips-shortcuts-handy-tidbits-nokia-n900-user-guide/) :)

[WilliePre]

:DHi, check out the Nokia Exports blog for more Tips & Tricks.

http://nokiaexperts.com/tips-shortcuts-handy-tidbits-nokia-n900-user-guide/

[jerryfreak]

id love to check out the 'exports' blog! wheres my phone dammit?!?

[mullf]

CTRL+SHIFT+S activates the self-destruct.

[Nitchers]

Is there anything that activates self shipping?

[anapospastos]

Is there anything that activates self shipping?

ctrl a+u+t+o, open a window and in there u re yelling: SHIP!!!!

[edgar2]

browser shortcut
BACKSPACE takes you back to the previously visited web page.

[aironeous]

hit ctrl and at the same time r (receive) and p (phone) and this will magically give the phablet to the next person waiting for their N900 to arrive.
Yes i said it.....it's a phablet! and a phabulous one at that.
a phabulous phablet.

[ArmandHammer]

I try to look at this thread to see some tricks this phone can do and all I see is B****ing about the phone not shipping.
Quit hijacking threads there are enough threads of people complaining.

[stemfour]

way to complain dude.

[sadfist]

From the phone app drop down menu "turning control" allows you to set orientation, but also set it to launch the phone app when you turn the device to portrait. Seems to only work from the desktop.

[ArnimS]

in gnome terminal, CTRL + I is "tab" for filename autocompletion

CTRL + FN brings up special symbols missing on keyboard

If your N900 is bricked and battery is dead, you cant reflash OR CHARGE BATTERY: You must get another charged battery or external charger (mine was 27euro)

Keep an eye on your free space on the root filesystem with the "df" command. Do not allow this to fill up. User data should be somewhere under MyDocs

If you find something broken or not to your liking, contact the author or maintainer or file a bug report. if you are used to other commercial products, your inclination might be to first whine about a problem in a forum such as this one. In the case of Maemo and open-source apps, you have an opportunity to directly improve applications and help shape the future in a positive way.

That is an amazingly empowering feeling, and it is the most important N900 "tip" that i can pass-on.

cheers :)

[toratoko]

If you lack a sense of humor I think the internet is the wrong place for you to surf...

I try to look at this thread to see some tricks this phone can do and all I see is B****ing about the phone not shipping.
Quit hijacking threads there are enough threads of people complaining.

[hypnotik]

in gnome terminal, CTRL + I is "tab" for filename autocompletion

CTRL + FN brings up special symbols missing on keyboard

If your N900 is bricked and battery is dead, you cant reflash OR CHARGE BATTERY: You must get another charged battery or external charger (mine was 27euro)

Keep an eye on your free space on the root filesystem with the "df" command. Do not allow this to fill up. User data should be somewhere under MyDocs

If you find something broken or not to your liking, contact the author or maintainer or file a bug report. if you are used to other commercial products, your inclination might be to first whine about a problem in a forum such as this one. In the case of Maemo and open-source apps, you have an opportunity to directly improve applications and help shape the future in a positive way.

That is an amazingly empowering feeling, and it is the most important N900 "tip" that i can pass-on.

cheers :)

Hey there, what external charger did you get? you can just charge the battery directly? Is it an official Nokia OEM product? (vs. some cheap charger from ebay/china).

I ask because I really go through the juice on the phone, would be nice to keep a standby battery around, but charge it externally and not through the phone.

Thanks,

-chris

[mullf]

How about just turn up the power of the cell tower and use that to charge your phone whenever it is powered on?

[Bundyo]

in gnome terminal, CTRL + I is "tab" for filename autocompletion

CTRL + FN brings up special symbols missing on keyboard

If your N900 is bricked and battery is dead, you cant reflash OR CHARGE BATTERY: You must get another charged battery or external charger (mine was 27euro)

Keep an eye on your free space on the root filesystem with the "df" command. Do not allow this to fill up. User data should be somewhere under MyDocs

If you find something broken or not to your liking, contact the author or maintainer or file a bug report. if you are used to other commercial products, your inclination might be to first whine about a problem in a forum such as this one. In the case of Maemo and open-source apps, you have an opportunity to directly improve applications and help shape the future in a positive way.

That is an amazingly empowering feeling, and it is the most important N900 "tip" that i can pass-on.

cheers :)

The USB charging is "smart", but what about the dumb charger?

[spinnukur]

I just read the extra's feature isn't enabled and this could be one of the problems of why widgets and such aren't working properly.

Can someone post on how to enable it?

I've looked through the downloaded manual and for some ******ed reason Nokia failed to list it, just like they have with all the shortcuts for the phone.

[bitcrusher]

I've just tried to wikify the shortcuts and gestures at http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures based both on this thread and from various links.
Could someone please correct/merge the E-mail client and Conversations section, if they are the same?
Please feel free to add to it/correct it, in the spirit of wiki :)

[kopte3]

bitcrusher,i will have to print that when i get my N900 as a quick reminder. :) Btw thanks!

[Venomrush]

If your N900 is bricked and battery is dead, you cant reflash OR CHARGE BATTERY: You must get another charged battery or external charger

That's horrendous!
So basically, that's like having a jailbroken iPhone with the new baseband, NEVER LET THE PHONE DRAINED
I don't want that..

[PhilE]

If your N900 is bricked and battery is dead, you cant reflash OR CHARGE BATTERY: You must get another charged battery or external charger

So if a firmware update has failed and your battery is flat, you can't switch the phone on to reflash it? How is this news exactly? Do you expect the N900 to suddenly acquire some sort of energy transfer capability all by itself?

Both of the N-series handsets that I've owned (N93 and N95 8GB) plus the N97 (which I spent 10 minutes playing with) will not allow you to carry out a firmware update on battery power alone.

Besides which, the box that your N900 comes in includes an external charger, yes?

Apologies if I've misunderstood what you're trying to say, but isn't this just a one to file in the "No s**t, Sherlock" drawer?

[les_garten]

Apologies if I've misunderstood what you're trying to say, but isn't this just a one to file in the "No s**t, Sherlock" drawer?
I think you did misunderstand him.

If the root fs is filled and the phone basically won't boot because root is full and the battery has run down so you can't charge the battery.

So you have two problems, the root is full, you need to clear out so me of root so the OS will run, but you can't boot because maybe you had just bad luck and have a run down batt at the same time.

This is a problem, because having a process go rogue on you and fill up /var with a zillion messages happens. This fills up root and locks the file system. If this happens while you're snoozing and your batt runs down, ohh well...

If this can happen, I would put this in the "Real Bad" category.

That's how I interpreted "Bricked". It's been mentioned that if you fill root, your phone gets bricked.

[hypnotik]

is it safe to delete the debs in /var/cache/apt/archives? I could free up 20MB doing so.

[spinnukur]

Reflow = Ctrl + Shift + i

[bitcrusher]

kopte3, my pleasure :) Recently, in relations to my work, where I created a wiki for all our internal info/knowledge, I found out I really like Wikis :) I also made an N900 accessories wiki entry not long ago http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Accessories

[archebyte]

is it safe to delete the debs in /var/cache/apt/archives? I could free up 20MB doing so.

Yes. The following command (from the root prompt) will also clean the archives:

apt-get clean

[TA-t3]

Unless things have changed in Maemo 5, the application manager will automatically do apt-get clean for you. It's only when you're doing manual operations that you could end up with files in /var/cache/apt/archives/
that can be removed with apt-get clean. It is, in any case, a safe operation though. The only reason to leave files there would be if you wanted to re-install something without having a network connection (it could read the .deb from the cache).

[Cherrypie]

CTRL+SHIFT+S activates the self-destruct.

CTRL+SHIFT+B automatically bricks your device :p

[archebyte]

Ctrl + Right Arrow = Move cursor to next text-input box. Cursor must be in an input box to begin with.

Ctrl + Left Arrow = Move cursor to previous text-input box. Cursor must be in an input box to begin with.

wiki (http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures) updated

[iJanne]

CTRL+SHIFT+B automatically bricks your device :p

Also, setting your username to "nuknuk" will kill your microphone.

[spinnukur]

Someone mentioned you can set up the phone so when you change from panoramic to portrait the phone automatically goes into the phone application. Anyone have the steps to do this?

[Venomrush]

A full list can now be found here - http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures

Please update this list as you find them.

[nirave]

Slightly off topic... People say type this in root command (i'm a noob...) Where's the root command?

[Venomrush]

Slightly off topic... People say type this in root command (i'm a noob...) Where's the root command?

It's the Terminal

Also they mentioned root, I believe they meant running as the command as root

[archebyte]

Someone mentioned you can set up the phone so when you change from panoramic to portrait the phone automatically goes into the phone application. Anyone have the steps to do this?

1. open the Phone app.
2. click the drop down menu. select Turning Control.
3. check 'Launch by Turning'

[sljonson]

Something I just discovered. If your N900 is unlocked, double clicking the power button will lock the screen and keyboard no matter where you're at.

[krk969]

Ive seen posts with a lack of a "back" button in the browser.

Shift + backpace takes you to the previous page you were browsing in case you havent noticed.

will post more as I find out, its just my first day with this phone :-)

[jaysire]

A full list can now be found here - http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures

Please update this list as you find them.

I don't know if this belongs on the list or not, but the space bar in the browser works almost like page down. It does however jump too far down, so I don't know if it's really that usable.

Edit: Another one I discovered today is when you use the arrow keys to scroll up and down in a document: When you want arrow down, you need to press Fn (blue button) and arrow down.

If you let go of the blue button before you let go of arrow up or down, it will continue scrolling until you press for instance arrow left. An easy way to scroll all the way to the top or bottom "hands free". Same thing can be done, of course, by just keeping arrow pressed until you are where you want in the document.

[Bundyo]

Ive seen posts with a lack of a "back" button in the browser.

Shift + backpace takes you to the previous page you were browsing in case you havent noticed.

will post more as I find out, its just my first day with this phone :-)

Well, backspace only does the same :p

[archebyte]

Ive seen posts with a lack of a "back" button in the browser.

Shift + backpace takes you to the previous page you were browsing in case you havent noticed.

will post more as I find out, its just my first day with this phone :-)

Actually, Shift+ backspace takes you Forward. so if you went Back twice you could return by going Forward.

[RevdKathy]

Actually, Shift+ backspace takes you Forward. so if you went Back twice you could return by going Forward.

Ahh that would be why it doesn't work for me! Thanks.

Actually, that little diagonal arrow beside the url bar will bring you up the entire history and you can choose which page to go back to. It even reloads, so if you're somewhere like here, you can see what's new since your last view of that page.

[krk969]

Well, backspace only does the same :p

hehe, you are right, noticed it just afterwards but was too lazy to post it in the eve yest :p

thanks anyways for letting us all know. wonder what was wrong in having a back and forward button in the browser gui !

[sljonson]

Short answer is screen realestate. If you cram too much onto a status bar, either you need a bigger bar. Or the icons have to shrink.

[fnordianslip]

I don't know if this belongs on the list or not, but the space bar in the browser works almost like page down. It does however jump too far down, so I don't know if it's really that usable.


I've just raised a bug against this:
https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6419

[sorodoros]

shift+spacebar goes up a page. Didn't see it in the wiki. Haven't found top/bottom of page shortcut

[fnordianslip]

shift+spacebar kinda goes up a page. Didn't see it in the wiki. Haven't found top/bottom of page shortcut

Fixed it for ya

[n1110000100]

When on desktop, slide out keyboard and start typing brings up contacts and will search whatever you type in.

[ArnimS]

When on desktop, slide out keyboard and start typing brings up contacts and will search whatever you type in.

I thought that was some kind of bug. :)

[nirave]

I thought that was some kind of bug. :)
Actually it seems like thats a feature similar to the smart dialling on Blackberrys!

[ArnimS]

So if a firmware update has failed and your battery is flat, you can't switch the phone on to reflash it?

Yes

Besides which, the box that your N900 comes in includes an external charger, yes?

The charger delivered with device charges the battery internally in the device, if the device is not bricked.


Apologies if I've misunderstood what you're trying to say, but isn't this just a one to file in the "No s**t, Sherlock" drawer?

No apologies needed. This is an interesting miscommunication.

The N900 uses the cpu to manage charging. If you have trashed your filesystem or otherwise bricked your device so that it can not boot, it will not charge from usb or wall-charger. This is behavior i haven't seen before in devices, so i thought it was worth mentioning.

[andy_x_net]

As u all know i recieved my N900 too few days ago too.
Well my phone is all fine, congrats to nokia thay did a great job but i have a biger problems ish:

-PC suite my phone is not yet supported
-Ovi suite my phone is not yet suported
-And my software updater is saying that my win 7 is not yet supported so cant innstal it....
-Maps loader my phone not yet supported

What im supose to do now or till they make it work all????

[GwizG]

Thanks for the info

[les_garten]

As u all know i recieved my N900 too few days ago too.
Well my phone is all fine, congrats to nokia thay did a great job but i have a biger problems ish:

-PC suite my phone is not yet supported
-Ovi suite my phone is not yet suported
-And my software updater is saying that my win 7 is not yet supported so cant innstal it....
-Maps loader my phone not yet supported

What im supose to do now or till they make it work all????

I'm on WIN7 as well, but don't have my phone yet. A "solution" may be XP Mode in Win 7. What ver. of PC Suite? Maybe you have the wrong ver. since others have been using it?


PC Suite 7.1.40.1 just installed without a hitch on 7 32bit. Others are using it as well. I would install as administrator. Not sure what your Boggle is?

[Nitchers]

As u all know i recieved my N900 too few days ago too.
Well my phone is all fine, congrats to nokia thay did a great job but i have a biger problems ish:

-PC suite my phone is not yet supported
-Ovi suite my phone is not yet suported
-And my software updater is saying that my win 7 is not yet supported so cant innstal it....
-Maps loader my phone not yet supported

What im supose to do now or till they make it work all????

Great tip...i shall put it to good use.

[archebyte]

-Maps loader my phone not yet supported

you can download the official maps for your country here (http://diabo.freehostia.com/symbian/indexmaps.htm) and copy over the cities folder onto the N900.

[andy_x_net]

you can download the official maps for your country here (http://diabo.freehostia.com/symbian/indexmaps.htm) and copy over the cities folder onto the N900.

This is v1.0 and to be honest is bit thick or just me cos i have not figure out how to use it...

example how do i save favourite locations
how do i start navigations and etc.
settings is bit blank no options like in my old phn e71
and so on and on

[les_garten]

you can download the official maps for your country here (http://diabo.freehostia.com/symbian/indexmaps.htm) and copy over the cities folder onto the N900.

Thanx! Will the 3.0 Maps work with the OVI Maps on the N900?

[andy_x_net]

Thanx! Will the 3.0 Maps work with the OVI Maps on the N900?

Good question but i dont think so.

[archebyte]

Thanx! Will the 3.0 Maps work with the OVI Maps on the N900?

Yes. 1.0 does not support the features of Symbian 3.0 but the maps will be displayed correctly on the N900.

[andy_x_net]

Yes. 1.0 does not support the features of Symbian 3.0 but the maps will be displayed correctly on the N900.

Can u show me the magic of v1.0 cos i cant figure it out how the hell to use it plz

[les_garten]

This is v1.0 and to be honest is bit thick or just me cos i have not figure out how to use it...

example how do i save favourite locations
how do i start navigations and etc.
settings is bit blank no options like in my old phn e71
and so on and on

So you just keep cross posting? Whats up with you!

[msa]

whats the difference between those country-maps and those regional country-maps per country?
are the regional-maps more detailed or are they just excerpts of the general maps of the country?

[les_garten]

whats the difference between those country-maps and those regional country-maps per country?
are the regional-maps more detailed or are they just excerpts of the general maps of the country?

The size suggests one is a subset of the other.

[Nexus7]

Under the category "I'm stupid but, how do you...?"

This things locks screen after about 4 microseconds of inactivity. OK, more like 5 seconds. But where do I change this?

[archebyte]

Under the category "I'm stupid but, how do you...?"

This things locks screen after about 4 microseconds of inactivity. OK, more like 5 seconds. But where do I change this?

Check if 'Lock Screen Automatically' is set. Settings -> Display

[Nexus7]

Check if 'Lock Screen Automatically' is set. Settings -> Display

Sure enough, it is. Thanks! But can't I set a variable time to lock?

[goodfellabk718]

where do i copy the 3.0 maps? do i copy them(folders0-f) to the "//cities/diskcache folder"?

[anpk]

I've just tried to wikify the shortcuts and gestures at http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures based both on this thread and from various links.
Could someone please correct/merge the E-mail client and Conversations section, if they are the same?
Please feel free to add to it/correct it, in the spirit of wiki :)

Awesome thanks, will definitely try it when I get my phone

[RevdKathy]

Sure enough, it is. Thanks! But can't I set a variable time to lock?

Settings > display > blacklight time out... set to 30 second, 1 minute etc. You probably currently have 10 seconds.

[Mattside]

kopte3, my pleasure :) Recently, in relations to my work, where I created a wiki for all our internal info/knowledge, I found out I really like Wikis :) I also made an N900 accessories wiki entry not long ago http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Accessories

I think this wiki could be slightly enhanced by also showing which retailer (Amazon, eBay, etc.) the seller is located. Maybe make the retailer a category and the sellers items can be subcategories under the retailers.

[Rushmore]

Ive seen posts with a lack of a "back" button in the browser.

Shift + backpace takes you to the previous page you were browsing in case you havent noticed.

will post more as I find out, its just my first day with this phone :-)

Anyway of going back a page with the KB closed? Tried gestures, but it brings up the history, which is an obtuse process from simply going back to the previous page.

[etuoyo]

Is there a way to create a short cut to a specific folder on the desktop? The short cuts listed are to items like amazon, AP news. There is one for file manager but none to specific folders. That would be very useful to have and make the device much more computer like.

[goodfellabk718]

Anyway of going back a page with the KB closed? Tried gestures, but it brings up the history, which is an obtuse process from simply going back to the previous page.

yeah, use the arrow to the right of the address bar, when you click it, it will display your previous pages.

[sorodoros]

I think he means a simple "go back" button, not the left arrow (history).

[goodfellabk718]

I think he means a simple "go back" button, not the left arrow (history).

o, in that case, im afraid not, thats the only way i've been able to do it :confused:

[krk969]

have a question about the security lock of the device,

if we set a numeric lock and in case its tried wrong several times, does the device lock out completely ? or any automatic reset ?

is there a way to unlock after max attemps ?
didnt want to try it without knowing ;)

[stobbsc]

I can't seem to find it anymore but is there a short cut for making the phone video capture what you doing?

[archebyte]

Is there a way to create a short cut to a specific folder on the desktop? The short cuts listed are to items like amazon, AP news. There is one for file manager but none to specific folders. That would be very useful to have and make the device much more computer like.

There is a roundabout way of achieving this.
http://www.themaemo.com/how-to-put-a-shortcut-to-a-file-on-the-n900s-desktop/

[archebyte]

where do i copy the 3.0 maps? do i copy them(folders0-f) to the "//cities/diskcache folder"?
yes. unzip and copy over the 0-f folders to 0-f folders in the diskcache directory.

[archebyte]

have a question about the security lock of the device,
if we set a numeric lock and in case its tried wrong several times, does the device lock out completely ? or any automatic reset ?

No. I tried 10 times and it continued to prompt for a code the 11th time.

is there a way to unlock after max attemps ?

No. If you choose to Exit the code-entry, you get a prompt to switch off the device. If the device is turned on, the code is prompted for.

[RevdKathy]

A good basic introduction can be found here. (http://maemocentral.com/2009/12/01/the-comprehensive-beginners-guide-to-the-n900/)

[mirrorofsorrow]

I've just tried to wikify the shortcuts and gestures at http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures based both on this thread and from various links.
Very nice. There are a few tips I didn't know. Thanks. :)

[etuoyo]

Is there a way to create defaults for contacts? Or at least move one contact field up in a contacts field. I transferred all my contacts from N95 and find it quite annoying that when I want to call my wife her main mobile number is like number 3 down the list.

[msa]

A good basic introduction can be found here. (http://maemocentral.com/2009/12/01/the-comprehensive-beginners-guide-to-the-n900/)

this is really really good! thank you very much!

[buurmas]

I've just tried to wikify the shortcuts and gestures at http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures ..
Please feel free to add to it/correct it, in the spirit of wiki :)

Just want to again plug the wiki concept for newbs. A wiki doc is perfectly suited to this topic. Yes, it's easier to pop off a forum post. But if everyone does only that, then you get long forum threads and people complaining about wading through them. But a wiki doc that reflects the consensus of the community is a one-stop shop! So please do feel free to edit wiki docs!

[Bratag]

People may have already known this one. When in a conversation (sms etc) window - swipe in from the left to get the cursor and use to highlight etc.

[proberts]

Can anyone post how to enable portrait mode (for all the menus) with the keyboard slide hack thing?

[KiRiK]

One more video with portrait mode on Nokia N900:

http://maemoworld.ru/2009/12/09/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BB%D 1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%BC-%D0%B2-nokia-n900/

[go1dfish]

Some tips I've discovered:

If the device is not responding to input, try the camera lens cover. I've had some situations before where I could see my apps doing stuff in the dashboard, but couldn't press anything. The lens cover trick got my inputs working again. It seems to send a low level interrupt that can jolt the kernel back to life.

Constant network transfer (no matter how low bandwidth) over 3G feels like the real battery killer to me. If you are like me and keep an SSH connection open to a screen session, you'd be wise to disable any clocks or other constantly changing elements, and possibly also adjust keep-alive times, etc... I haven't delved deep into this so far, but I think it will effect a big improvement in my battery life, particularly on 3G/GSM.

Some feel us linux user's may have gotten the shaft on simple synchronization, but we are afforded many other advantages from the nature of the platform:

Per app screen sharing through X11 forwarding: ssh -X me@mydesktop
Rsync/SSH file synchronization over wifi/3g (this could apply to mac power users as well)
The knowledge that nearly every desktop app you use on a daily basis has a high potential for being ported, or otherwise usable (chroot) on the n900 in some way

[spinnukur]

Yes

The charger delivered with device charges the battery internally in the device, if the device is not bricked.



No apologies needed. This is an interesting miscommunication.

The N900 uses the cpu to manage charging. If you have trashed your filesystem or otherwise bricked your device so that it can not boot, it will not charge from usb or wall-charger. This is behavior i haven't seen before in devices, so i thought it was worth mentioning.

If nothing supports the N900, then what program should we download to update the firmware? The box didn't come with a software CD.

[spinnukur]

Just ran Speedtest.net from the phone....and OMG, 6.7MB down and 5.2MB up... Sweeeeetttt

[archebyte]

what program should we download to update the firmware? The box didn't come with a software CD.

Detailed instructions are on the Wiki (http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_tablet_firmware)

Most important thing. start with a fully charged battery :rolleyes:

[ksh]

As well as using the tapping or swirling with you finger to zoom in when using the browser you can also use the volume keys

[les_garten]

As well as using the tapping or swirling with you finger to zoom in when using the browser you can also use the volume keys

Volume keys also zoom the fonts in a XTerm window.

[Bratag]

Typing while in media player list of artist,songs etc will skip to the artist/song starting with those letters.

Probably everyone knew that already - I didnt.

[imation_nz]

As well as using the tapping or swirling with you finger to zoom in when using the browser you can also use the volume keys

Also volume keys in email will zoom your emails :)

[dreadnought]

A neat - though not super useful - trick my wife discovered the other day is that if you are looking at pictures in the gallery in landscape mode and you turn the phone over as if you are trying to show the picture to someone opposite you, it will automatically flip the picture so it's the right way round.

Not sure if that makes any sense, but try it for yourself and see! ;)

[Keir]

...in the gallery in landscape mode and you turn the phone over as if you are trying to show the picture to someone opposite you, it will automatically flip the picture so it's the right way round.


Very cool, props to the wife. :)

[ksh]

A tip when your in the terminal -
If your typing a command that you have used before just press the up arrow key and it will go through all the commands you have typed in there, most recent 1st

[aniMAL_]

Just ran Speedtest.net from the phone....and OMG, 6.7MB down and 5.2MB up... Sweeeeetttt



Quick question - I was led to believe that the N900 had an N Wireless unit onboard - However when i broadcast N only ( I'm on 50mbit so I only want devices that won't choke my connection to connect) it doesn't pick it up. If I set to to b/g/n it does, so I take it it's a G card?

[nashith]

I wasn't aware that the N900 has a chipset that supports IEEE 802.11 N, never saw it mentioned anywhere either. So yes its only B/G.

[m1cke]

Small tip in Music Player (that I just discovered)
In "Now Playing" tap the albumart to show list of songs on album, tap again to go back to "Now Playing"

[biggzy]

Very nice tips guys, keep them coming. its nice how the N900 keeps poping these secrets etc up.

[janszoon]

For in car phone use....if in a landscape phone holder.....

When in phone, click top middle (menu) for phone and select 'turning control' select 'automatic' instead of 'portrait' this will allow for landscape phone operation while driving (i.e flck over from maps) otherwise the phone will turn to portrait when it rings...

if you pick up the phone, it will still turn to portrait based on accelerometer

hope it helps someone.

[toto29820]

plz ignore me if you already know this.

When you are in an application that is running and press the power button, there will be a option 'end current task' in the menu.

I think it is useful since sometime I got a newly installed app running without menu bar but do not know how to exit it, i can just kill it this way and back to desktop.

:):cool:

plz ignore me if you already know this.

[slender]

And ctrl-backspace sends program to background.

[jerden69]

tot and slender I didn't know about either of those thanks!!

[Catacylsm]

Hmm, believe it or not, the title has a rather large usage.
People should contribute to this thread if they know stuff.

Control - Shift and P will take a screenshot, this appears in the images-screenshots folder.

[lorelei]

Or a rather complete list of shortcuts and gestures:

http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures

[sjgadsby]

The thread "A Useful Tip" with five posts has been merged into this thread.

[pisthpeeps]

Not sure if its already mentioned. In calendar you can just start typing something in keyboard which will take you to new event creation.

[pisthpeeps]

Long press on desktop icons triggers desktop edit mode. Only found it today. Sorry if its mentioned already.

[jaeezzy]

Long press on desktop icons triggers desktop edit mode. Only found it today. Sorry if its mentioned already.

actually its desktop. it doesn't necessarily have to be on icon it can be anywhere on the desktop.

[jerden69]

In emails, videos, text messages, images etc if you click and hold down for a couple of seconds a small menu will pop up and it has options. I use it to delete single things instead of clicking the drop down menu the whole time. It can also be used to rename files.

[Blaizzen]

not sure if it was already mentioned, but...

in desktop edit mode, you can change screens by swiping, but you have to start on the black edge. kinda like the mouse cursor or the history swipe in the browser.

oh and moving items to the light area on the sides of the screen during deskop edit mode will move them to the screen on either side.

:)

[AMLJ]

You can run applications in portrait mode!

http://www.adelamlj.com/index.php/n900appsportrait.html

[tungram]

Shift+Backspace deletes the next character in some apps: notes, conboy, calender

Didn't work in abiword, though