Android phones

[Herouth Maoz]

Quoting David Suna <david at davidsconsultants.com>:


> 3. If I were to purchase one of these (unlocked) phones online and have
> it brought to Israel how easy is it to add Hebrew support?

One thing I learned yesterday as I was searching for a way to install  
Japanese fonts on my Motorola Milestone is that it's notoriously  
difficult to change/add fonts to Android phones. Basically you need to  
root them first, as the fonts directory permissions factory settings  
are read-only.

So if you buy a phone abroad, I'd strongly suggest you test it right  
there, using WiFi, just surfing to google.co.il or some such and  
seeing whether you get Hebrew fonts at all. If not, then you need to  
consider whether you want to root the phone and lose your warranty.

Once you have rooted the phone, it's just your normal Linux operation.  
Download the font file to the phone by mounting it or whatever, use a  
terminal and su to change the permissions of the fonts directory, and  
replace the fallback font with your font by renaming it properly. Full  
instructions can be found on various Android forums around the globe.

Soft keyboards are much easier to install.

I don't have any information regarding support of BiDi and whether it  
comes built in or requires root.

If anybody is aware of a better way to install fonts on Android, I'd  
be thrilled to hear about it, as my phone is company property and  
under warranty, so rooting is not an option for me.

Herouth