All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Is it ok to leave the phone charging overnight or will it be damaged (the battery) due to being plugged in while fully charged.

 

^ Its perfectly fine lol

 

It's not the same.
The CM7 version has more options and a monumentally superior categories management system.

I should be able to do that myself from my Defy.

Now I'm home and not browsing on my phone, I'll look into it properly.

 

Weird, I never noticed.

 

Well, having used my Defy for a week when I was at the Isle of Wight, I actually got to liking the launcher that's bundled in CM7.
So I tried downloading ADW from the market but it's nowhere near as slick - in the CM7 one, if you have your main menu set to scroll vertically, you can swipe sideways between categories, which is really neat IMO.

Anyway, I can't help wondering if it's some special CM7 version of ADW ( I know it's open-source and there are other launchers based on it's code) or if the extra features are part of the EX version.
And the last thing I want to do is waste money on the EX version if it's not what I'm looking for.

 

Well, CM7 is too slow on the first gen Droid anyway. I think I'll have to wait out until more updates come and fix some issues.

 

Monday Poll: DROID Bionic with LTE or Galaxy S II without? - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

Those poll results are... ugh. People will buy the Bionic because it has LTE and has the Droid branding, not knowing that the GS2 is twice the phone that the Droid is... just without the LTE. Plus the GS2 is capable of so much more...

I kinda hope the Bionic is as big a fail as the Atrix. People need to know that LTE is a MAJOR battery hog. The Thunderbolt gets around 6 hours of battery life with it's LTE radio on, while on 3G it gets around 12-15 hours. And on top of LTE being a battery hog, the phone will be under-performing, locked down, and likely unrootable (at least for a while). Because they haven't even found a way to root the DroidX's OTA Gingerbread update yet. People on the DX have to SBF back to Froyo and flash a pre-rooted leaked Gingerbread build or CM7.

Blind consumerism. Gotta love it. It's what drives Motorola's bottom line.

 

Thats how 90% of things are, same for computers and any electronic device.

"Users" dont know anything, they just buy on what theyve heard and what is popular. Since most people dont even know what ANdroid is... and only know what "a Droid" is, itll probably be a success.

 

If I had that choice just now, which sadly I don't, I'd be sorely tempted to choose LTE over dual-core.
Obviously I'd rather have both but LTE data speeds would be so tempting...

 

I don't really care if my next phone doesn't come with LTE. Having LTE will just likely result in shorter battery life.

 

Faster data speeds means its just that much easier to hit your data cap. Though if you're in a pinch and need it, its there. I would hate to imagine what the battery life would be like when using the phone as an LTE hotspot... it'd be like 30 minutes..lol.

Sidenote though, both devices are dual core... dual core + LTE = a damn huge battery or Moto fails hard.

 

LTE doesn't even exist in my area. I would mostly use Wireless anyways, so That would just be pointless. GS2 all the way!

 

I'm not sure I agree with that.

Faster data speeds just mean that when I want to use my phone, it's faster.
I'm not going to magically use more, all the individual tasks I use on my phone wouldn't suddenly use more data, it'd just be faster.

 

Sony Ericsson Xperia Duo Leaked?

Something still looks off with the design to me. Just haven't liked the aesthetics of sony phones recently

 

Plus it was announced recently that they'll be adding NFC to their new handsets.

I was told on Monday that there'll be a series of events being held round the country in September only open to those of us currently have Arcs - that'll be 6 months after we were given them, which is how long we were told it would be before the Arcs were swapped for something newer.

This is pretty presumptuous but I think maybe it's all tying together...

 

Amazon.com: Black/Black Fishbone Design Hybrid Hard/Gel Phone Cover Protector Case for HTC T-Mobile Mytouch 4G: Cell Phones & Accessories

I just received this case and it's awesome.

 

"Hybrid Hard/Gel" sounds interesting

I wonder if they make one for my phone, whats it like?

 

just sounds like most of it is hard with a bit of gel for grip.

 

Got my Nexus today! Now to app it up... being stock android there isn't much beyond the google suite on it. Only things I've got on it that aren't made by google inc are the Barcode Scanner, Winamp, Skype, Adobe flash/reader and Angry Birds.

Suggestions? Yes I know apps are all about what you want, but what is an app you use all the time that you'd rather have than not?

 

I got the CM7 version of ADW ported over to my Arc.
Glad I did

Being able to swipe sideways to scroll between categories is really nice.
The only thing I miss on it are LauncherPro's ability to hide certain apps from the drawer.



On a related note, anyone know of any good widgets that allow you to view recent text and G-Mail messages? Preferably separate widgets.
I'm aware of Pure Messenger but I'd rather not have to pay 'cos I'm cheap...

Also, anyone know of a widget where you slide across to put your phone on silent?
A bit like a lock-screen slider except accessible from the homescreen itself?

 

Ah no big deal

I think Handcent SMS has a widget that i would assume does that, ive never tried it though.

 

It's basically a silicone rubber typical case + a rubberized plastic backbone which covers part of the back, corners and sides for additional protection.

 

Well, there's a clear trend with AT&T customers that every time we light up a 3G network as an upgrade from EDGE, customers use much more data on a consistent basis. Also, in areas where we enhance backhaul to raise 3G speeds, patterns of usage are the same as lighting up a new 3G area... much more data is consumed per month.

If you can get at the information faster, you can do 5-6 things in the same time it used to take to do 2-3. And in most users cases, 2-3 things are all they had time to do previous to the upgraded speeds.

It's an interesting pattern, and an interesting thing to think about. You might not be doing much more with _your_ phone if you had faster data speeds, but on the whole, most people do more things at once with faster data speeds.

 

Ah ok, pretty cool!

Yeah that sounds about right, i know i do less with my 0.10Mbps throttling

 

You might want to try a new launcher. I use LauncherPro, which is free with a premium version available. If you don't absolutely hate the stock Android launcher, then you'll probably be comfortable with it; it can actually look absolutely identical if you want it to. It does have more advanced features than the regular launcher though.

As for messaging, I use Go SMS Pro. It has several different modes depending on how you value performance vs. features. I personally use the Lite mode because my phone is a piece of crap Unlike the stock messaging app, Go SMS Pro syncs contact photos from Facebook, which is nice. It's very customizable, with themes and skins available, and different message window styles. You can pretty much choose custom colors, fonts and styles for every aspect of the app.

It also has a neat "popup" feature that shows new incoming messages in a popup window that appears on top of whatever app you currently have open, so you don't have to close whatever you're doing, or open the message from the notification bar. You can reply directly from this popup window, which disappears as soon as you close it or you send a reply. Very handy.

Handcent SMS has pretty similar functionality, but I don't like it because it has ads in the menus, and it performs much slower on my phone. Go SMS Pro is ad-free and still a free app, and generally much more efficient, especially in Lite mode.

You might also want to check out some widget apps to customize your homescreen to your taste. I'm personally a fan of Minimalistic Text, which displays the time, date, weather, battery and other stuff in the form of texts rather than numbers or graphics (e.g. "TwoFiftyFive" instead of "2:55"). It makes for a nice clean look, especially with a nice simple background.

Fancy Widget is another good one if you like more traditional graphical clocks and weather. Plenty of skins available for it.

 

@HAL: I see what you're saying and the reasoning is fairly sound, but I can't help but feel there's a difference between moving from EDGE to HSPA and moving from HSPA to LTE.
At some point, the speeds are such that you reach the limit of what you want or can do on a phone and any further increases just make it faster.

To use your own analogy, if you can do 2-3 things simultaneously on EDGE and 5-6 things on HSPA, you could do say 9-10 on LTE. But that assumes you have more than 5-6 things you want to do simultaneously.
Eventually, and obviously this will be different for everyone, it reaches the point where there's nothing more you want to do.

The limiting factor in my data usage is that it's a phone I'm using and therefore I don't want to do all the stuff I'd so on my PC because it's simply not well suited to such needs, so the jump to LTE would just mean less waiting around for me, not that I'd use more.

 

How ironic, I have the money to buy the phone I want now, but I can't find it. Story of my life!

Wha? I thought it was ok...for me a bit buggy, but ok.

I'm on Peter Alfonso's GB build like you are. I'm pleased even with the processor not overclocked like it usually is on my phone.

 

Sounds like a recovery solution for the Arc has just been perfected.

Roll on CM7.

 

My 2-year contract is expiring next month and I have money to buy a new phone, but yeah, I'm holding the temptation until Galaxy S II comes out and the price drops to a "reasonable" range. Is it true that Galaxy S II isn't released in the US yet because of the lawsuit with Apple?

Pete's GB is awesome. I found that the low-voltage kernel 1.0GHz consumes slightly less battery than the standard-voltage kernel 0.80GHz. Running on low voltage can cause some instabilities, but it is not happening on mine so I think it should be okay.

 

No, i dont think so. It was planned to be that way. Things are often available in Europe before USA.

 

Many say that the Samsung event that was pushed back was going to be for the US release of Galaxy S.

I'm in the same boat as you upgrade wise....dunno whether to just wait and get a Galaxy S II, (and "complain" and moan about the lack of keyboard) get the Droid 3 (and "complain" and moan over the fact that the keyboard continues to suck...3 generations later), or get the HTC Merge when it hits Best Buy.

I'll have to try Pete's 1.0 Ghz LV kernal...any additional battery life is always nice

 

Get anything but a Motorola product. If you like to tinker with your phone... you would seriously curse the day you did.

Main thing that gets under my skin about the Droid 3 is that they haven't changed ANYTHING major about it. The design of the OG was _ok_ for when it came out, IMO, because I've never been that crazy of the Droid's design. But for a phone that's already 3 generations old! Gimme a break! They're going to do the same thing for the Droid X. Do they not have enough money to hire a product design team?!

On the note about why the Galaxy S II isn't here yet, it's because of demand. It's crazy high in S.Korea and Europe right now. They are ramping the heck out of that handset, but demand is a LONG way from being met.

 

The wait is killing me. I want my gs2 now

 

Yeah, the Droid 3 looks nice but it's dissapointing due to the locked down nature of it. (i forgot about that)

I do agree that they haven't changed much about it. I hope they've addressed fundamental flaws of the first one (wonky headphone jacks and power buttons) but they haven't addressed the biggest gripe many have about the first two. The keyboard. Although they quickly rev'd the OG Droid's keyboard to have slightly domed keys (I have that kind on mine) and slightly increased the size on the Droid 2/2 Global, the keys are still pretty cramped and small. Droid 3's doesn't deviate from that too much...maybe the keys are a tiny bit larger but it still doesn't seem spacious.

The Pentile screen is a downer...once I saw photos of it close up and how it affected page rendering in some cases....I was pretty much turned off.

At this point the only way I'd get a Droid 3 was if I absolutely couldn't stand not having a keyboard on the Galaxy S II and couldn't find the Merge. Honestly...based on my time using the Gingerbread virtual keyboard on my Droid 1...I could tolerate it...I'd just have to correct for mistakes a lot more often and type slower..

EDIT: Rumor has it that VZW plans to implement tiered data on the 7th of July....making the decision about when to pull the trigger (and on what device...should I possibly consider an LTE phone??) even more perilous (sp)..

 

Apple hasn't changed the design of the Macbooks for like 4 years.

 

There's a difference though. There's not that many flaws in it. The sharp edge is the only thing I can think of. Some would say the glossy screen, but that is highly subjective.

The Droid could stand to be redesigned on several merits... one of them being the keyboard, like booboo12 said. Another is the damn lip. Gah, IDK... On the OG they don't have a lip on the top part, on the second they have a dark chrome lip, and on the third they don't have the lip. Just get rid of it already and have a slightly larger screen!

Sorry for the rant... Motorola gets me heated really quick.

 

I just want my GS2...


on a side note, are there any decent androids on AT&T with a slide-out keyboard?

 

Short answer: No.

Sorry. There is the massive 4.5" Infuse, so touch typing would be spacious.

 

Dang. My GF wants a smartphone and wants a keyboard like the phone she has now. Stupid carrier and their mediocre phone selection. Maybe she'll have to go for WP7 and the quantum or something...

 

N o o o o o.....

Anything but the Quantum. It may have a decent shell, but it's horrible internals. We've had pitiful sales of that phone for a reason, and also a very high return rate.

 

Ah. Good to know. Maybe she'll have to settle for full touch. haha.

She's using the Sharp FX and it's a terrible device. Anyway she could return it and get a smartphone instead? or will she have to pay full price?

 

You, me, and a million other people...

 

Finally!
I've created and ironed out the glitches from my very own WidgetLocker theme.

That took far longer than it should've...

 

LauncherPro's "Backup and Restore" options are useless. they do nothing.


Also, just installed a different bootloader on my phone... scary stuff worked fine though

 

Really? That sucks, as I liked the way the keyboard was on that...:/

 

Hey folks, looking to get some advice.

I'm a complete Android newb, don't know anything about them as I currently have a Blackberry Bold 9650 on Verizon. Besides the awesome physical keyboard and battery life, I hate pretty much everything else about this phone and I'm looking to upgrade before Verizon's ridiculous tiered data pricing sets in.

I had my eyes on the iPhone 5 but that won't be out till September/October. Never been a fan of Android despite the overwhelming positive reviews. I just find the iPhone so much more appealing - slick looking device, very clean and simple to use OS. Android phones seem cheap to me, one looks exactly the same as the next, and the OS seems cluttered to me. Of course these are only my first impressions and I haven't had the chance to truly experiment with an Android phone other than playing around on my friend's phones. The customizability/rooting seems awesome though, I just hope I don't have to spend too much time hacking the hell out of my phone.

Either way, it looks like my only options at an upgrade before July 7 are Android phones as I don't want the iPhone 4. What phones are coming out before then and what's worth having? I wanna bypass LTE altogether if I could due to the battery life issues. I keep hearing whispers of the Droid Bionic and Galaxy S2 as potential new releases but both are highly unlikely before July 7. Anything else coming out soon? If not, what phone would you guys settle on right now? I absolutely hate Motorola's Droid lines, their keyboards are awful. I need something with decent battery life as well. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

I don't know a whole lot about Android phones on verizon, but as an apple fan, you really shouldn't make the comment "One looks exactly the same from the next." There is only so much you can change about a phone that is mostly screen anyways. Most top of the line phones are 4g these days So you may want to rethink that.

 

Closest match for you would be Droid 3 but the keyboard is only marginally better than the predicessors plus you wont be able to do as heavy tinkering with it as you would a competitor. Finally, it's not expected to be out before July 7th.

The beauty of Android is that you can make the UI look wildly different with very little work on your part. So if you think something's clunky, look for something better.

Verizon's Android handset selection is good if you want a slate style (no sliding physical qwerty) handset, but horrible if you want a physical qwerty.

Best phone on VZW right now for 3G i'd say is a toss between the HTC Droid Incredible 2 and the Motorola Droid X2. Out of those two phones, I'd pick the HTC for it being more easily hacked and played with.

If Verizon's Galaxy S II came out before the 7th (doubt it) it would be the one to get for a 3G phone.

Overall though, Android doesn't "have" to be tweaked and modded to function. It's a very solid operating system, people just like to mod and tweak things. I bet that if you used a Incredible 2 or Galaxy S II or even a Nexus device straight out of the box you'd find it to be just fine in terms of usability.

 

Definitely getting the gs2... but I may pick up the nokia n9 as a fun toy. Looks like an interesting device.

 

4g phones are battery drainers, I can't have my phone dying on me in 5-6 hours. Not necessarily true about changes in a phone, you can change screen, build quality, aesthetics, battery life. Droid phones in general feel cheap to me (at least compared to the iPhone 4) but again, maybe I just haven't played with enough of them.

I was looking at the Incredible 2 as a potential next phone for me. I realize I won't find anything better than a BB physical keyboard so I'll have to settle for the touch screen slate style. How's the battery life with the Incredible 2?