FAQ

June 25th, 2011

This pages lists answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about our Android Applications.
We try to add questions, as we answer them in comments or when our support has been contacted.

Please look through these questions, before asking our support. Thanks!

If you have a question that might fit here (and maybe the answer to it), please email us: support[at]ct-designs.de.

To view the answer to a question, just click on it.

General

Is there a changelog?

Yep, it can be found here

RemoteSMS/RemoteFile does not show up on my browser

Please make sure that your android is connected to the local WiFi and is reachable from your computer!
Also make sure that you are typing the whole ip address with the port number (default 8080):
e.g. http://192.168.1.130 (wrong),
http://192.168.1.130:8080 (right).

It also might be necessary to adjust your router settings in order to reach your telephone (please refer to your router manual then).
To check, if your telephone is reachable from your desktop-computer do the following:

  1. Connect your phone to WiFi
  2. On your desktop-computer, go to start-menu
  3. Click 'Execute Command'
  4. type 'cmd' (without quotation marks)
  5. type 'ping [phone's ip-address]' (e.g. ping 192.168.11.1)

See if you get a response. If not, you need to modify your router/firewall settings.

The application occasionally stops after a few minutes and is not reachable any more.

You are probably using a Taskkiller which accidentally kills the service of one of our applications.
Try to add an exception for it.
Maybe you are running your phone in 'Disk Mount' mode. Changing this to normal 'Charge Only' mode might also fix this problem.

Also, if you have installed RemoteSMS using Apps2SD this could be the cause. Try to install (move) RemoteSMS to your internal phone-memory in order to avoid this issue.

This is also recommended if you are using the widget of RemoteSMS Pro, because Android doesn't completely support widgets which are installed using Apps2SD.

How do I connect via USB?

First, you need to install the Android SDK (available here). After you have successfully
installed it, download our USB-Connector and run the containing jar file. The program will help you setting up the USB connection then. The default ports for USB-Forwarding are 8080 (RemoteSMS) and 8081 (RemoteFile).

USB-Debugging must be activated in your phone's settings in order to use the USB-Connection!
Please make sure that you have installed Java on your computer (Java Homepage). The USB-Connector runs on all operating systems, like Windows, Linux and Mac.

There is also a complete step by step tutorial here:
http://www.ct-designs.de/android/2010/12/ct-designs-usb-connector/

Bluetooth support

In order to use RemoteSMS via bluetooth, you need to install the RemoteSMS Bluetooth Connector [Windows, Linux, Mac].
Download it, unzip it and run the .jar file on your pc. It will automatically discover your paired devices and tries to connect to your phone. Make sure that RemoteSMS in running with bluetooth support on your phone. Once connected, open your browser an go to:
http://localhost:8888

Please make sure that you have installed Java on your computer (Java Homepage).
RemoteSMS Bluetooth Connector runs on all operating systems, like Windows, Linux and Mac.

My language is not supported

You are welcome to translate our applications into your native language. Please just drop us a line (support[at]ct-designs.de).
We will then email you the latest strings.xml file.

Since the latest update RemoteSMS/RemoteFile do not work anymore

Try re-installing the application: First completely remove it from your phone by un-installing it. Then re-install it.

RemoteSMS/RemoteFile are really slow

That's not generally the fault of these applicatios. Restart your phone and things will speed up remarkably. The reason for this is easy: Applications on android phones cannot be closed. Even when you
close an application, it keeps on running in the background. If you are working with a lot of apps, you need a lot of system resources. And this slows down all apps!
Also, when using the Pro Version of RemoteSMS, keep in mind, that a large SMS-History might slow RemoteSMS down. So keep sure that you are not downloading your complete history.
Make sure that "Wake Lock" in enabled, too. Both can be done in the settings-menu.

RemoteSMS

When using SSL, my browser says the certificate is invalid

Japp, that's right. Firstly, the domain name doesn't match: Since everyone has a different ip on it's phone, this cannot be fixed.
Also, the certificate isn't signed by a trusted CA-Store.
You can just ignore the warning and add a permanent exception for the certificate. Don't worry, your connection will still be secured and encrypted properly.
Be aware that you might have to restart RemoteSMS/RemoteFile after accepting the certificate for the first time!

My times are messed up

If you are using RemoteSMS Full, you can easily fix this issue. Just open the settings of RemoteSMS and browse to the bottom of the settings. There shout be a setting called "Time Offset". Just put in the the time offset (in hours) your messages are messed up with. E.g. -6 or 6 (to shift message times 6 hours before or after).

I don’t see my contacts

Due to the new caching algorithm of RemoteSMS Full, this can happen sometimes.
In order to fix this issue, you have to clear the cache of RemoteSMS:
On the main screen of RemoteSMS, press the menu button and select "Clear Cache".

I don’t see any contact photos

You are probably using Android 2.0 and up and your contact photos are synced from facebook.
Sadly, google does not expose those contact photos to the developers, meaning:
You can see the contact photos in all stock google apps, but nowhere else (RemoteSMS included).

As a workaround, you could save the contact picture of facebook on your phone and assign it to the appropriate google contact.

Ultra-long Message?

Normally, a long SMS can reach a max. char-count of 628 characters (4 messages, 160 characters each, minus control characters).
This would then be displayed as one message on the receiver's side (as long as the cell-phone supports long messages).

But sometimes you want to type even more. That's why RemoteSMS Full also supports ultra-long messages. Those messages have no limit whatsoever.
However, the message is divided into several single messages consisting out of 153 characters each, plus an info text at the beginning of each message:
(xx/yy) -> (message xx of yy total)
You can activate the support of ultra-long messages in the settings. Once activated, all your long messages will be cut into single messages with a preceding counter.

I can’t send any SMS

First, please enable JavaScript! Without it, RemoteSMS will not work.
Are you using a correct phone-number? Contacts with multipe phone-numbers will show up multiple times in the contact-list. Make sure you are using the right one.

Do I have to manually refresh my window to see new messages?

No, you don't have to. RemoteSMS Full will perform background checks to ensure that you will always see all recently received messages (in standard and conversation view).
Just sit back and relax ;)

Long SMS are cut

Sending of long SMS is only supported by the Full Version of RemoteSMS. If you are using the Free Version, your message will be cut after the first 160 characters.
If you are using the Full version of RemoteSMS, please also have a look over here at the FAQ Entry about Ultra-Long-Message.

Template System

RemoteSMS Full now supports a fully customizable html/css template system.
RemoteSMS will create a folder called "/sdcard/remotesms". All needed files will be put
there when RemoteSMS needs them for the first time. From now on, it will use these files
for the webpage. You are welcome to customize, add or change anything you find there to fit
your own needs!

Alternatively, you can find all files here including
a short explanation!
We would be happy to publish your own themes on our webpage! Just drop as a line:
support [at] ct-designs.de
Happy modding!

RemoteFile

When using SSL, my browser says the certificate is invalid

Japp, that's right. Firstly, the domain name doesn't match: Since everyone has a different ip on it's phone, this cannot be fixed.
Also, the certificate isn't signed by a trusted CA-Store.
You can just ignore the warning and add a permanent exception for the certificate. Don't worry, your connection will still be secured and encrypted properly.
Be aware that you might have to restart RemoteSMS/RemoteFile after accepting the certificate for the first time!

Well, how fast is RemoteFile?

We have tested RemoteFile on a Motorola Droid in a WPA2 encrypted WiFi-network. Speeds are the following:

  • Download ~ 2MB / sec
  • Zipping ~ 1MB / sec
  • Upload ~ 2MB / sec

With SSL enabled, rates drop by ~300-400kb