[GUIDE] Update 20/02/14: HTC Desire S Guide (V1.04) For Newcomers to Android - HTC Desire S

As the title says, this is something I’ve done for newcomers to Android. It covers only the basics. Experienced Android users will already know this stuff.
I did it as I was always forwarding the same help/advice e-mails to my friends when they bought their HTC Android phones, so I made this to save me fishing out the same e-mails. It was originally for the Desire but I have brought it up to date for the Desire S.
I’ve seen a lot of the same questions being asked here on this Desire S forum. This should help some of you. As this phone currently has a locked up bootloader, the experienced ROM-flashing hardcore Android crowd will probably not pick up this phone. It’s more likely that it will be Android newcomers that buy the Desire S.
If this helps you out, great.
Updated 1st June 2011. Changelog;
Miscellaneous spelling errors and syntax adjusted and tweaked.
Incorporated your comments (e.g. adjusting Timeriffic capabilities)
Added a tutorial for getting started with Tasker!
Added a quick fix for the creaking battery cover issue.
Added clarification on some permissions on free ad-supported apps.
Added advice on dealing with App problems and using the marketplace feedback feature.
Added warning about Fastboot mode issues.
Updated 28th June 2011. Changelog;
Added Index
Added Ultimate Charging Tip - Get 24 hours instead of 12!
Updated 21st February 2014. Changelog;
Made some tweaks to allow for maturation of Android since 2011
Adjusted recommended Apps list to allow for changes since 2011
Disclaimer: I no longer have the Desire S or have any knowledge of the current ROMS available for it. For those reasons some of the info in this guide migt be outdated. Follow with caution, and perhaps feed back where it is wrong?
Download from my Dropbox (in .pdf format) here;
Edit: This dropbox link below will occasionally expire and stop working. Please let me know when it does and I'll refresh it ASAP. I'm subscribed to this thread with e-mail notification so (unless I'm mid ROM-flashing) I'll get your posts replied to quickly.
Link updated 23rd Jul 2014: https://www.dropbox.com/s/601j4ayswkzk9o0/HTC Desire S Owners Guide V1.04.pdf

Many Thanks, found that really useful...Tasker now on my must buy list.
Moderator....possibly make this a sticky, as it will be useful for new comers.

Thank you very much for the manual. Just three comments:
1) Many apps require web access to download adds. Thus, it's unavoidable for them to have the redundant permissions.
2) "Timeriffic" has not the option to tougle the sync, unfortunately.
3) Free "AutomateIt" (https://market.android.com/details?id=AutomateIt.mainPackage&feature=search_result ) has all the options you described for the paid "Tasker".

Great guide! I'm sure alot of new android users will benefit from this. I agree with those methods to maximise battery life.
Thanks for your time and effort +1 for sticky

This is indeed very very very useful... I agreed, need to make this one sticky and updated! Thanks for your hard work man!

igoivo said:
3) Free "AutomateIt" (https://market.android.com/details?id=AutomateIt.mainPackage&feature=search_result ) has all the options you described for the paid "Tasker".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AutomateIT starts GPS ervery time you set an location based trigger. Contraprodactive for battery saving - and not necessary (weather and other location based apps do it by a-gps)
Don't know if Tasker do start gps, but for me Automateit isn't a good choice..

Glad it is of some help to people and thank you for the positive feedback everyone. I will get the guide updated when I get a few minutes. I'm away this weekend. I think I may add a Tasker guide!
Tasker can use GPS as a way of determining location, but you can use other ways. You can even control how often Tasker turns GPS on to get a location fix if you use it in a profile. For the most part, GPS is unnecessary as it is too accurate for most profile requirements. The best way Tasker does approximate location is using a state called, "Cell Near".
What this does is look at your nearest cell tower ID number and signal strength. When it see the right cell tower with the right signal strength, Tasker knows I'm at home. This is economical because it is only using 2G radio info which is on all the time anyway. Obviously it would also think I was home if I was on the same radius around the cell tower, but it's as accurate as I need for my "Home Mode" profile. Typically I see it activate as I am driving onto my estate where I live.
Tasker also knows which parameters in a profile use the least power, and will monitor those first and wait until they are satisfied before moving onto monitor the next parameter in a profile. For example, if you needed to use GPS for a very accurate location-based profile, you can keep power usage down by adding a "Time" context. Say you need your phone to send your wife a text message when you reach a certain point on your journey home after work each day. ("Get my dinner ready!" ) If you add a time context of "Between 5pm and 7pm" and "Monday to Friday" Tasker will wait until those are met before turning GPS on every X seconds to check where you are.
This way it doesn't hog battery power and my wife has time to get dressed and kick the postman out before I get back.

Nice guide!

Thanks for the guide ! I find it very useful: I've discovered some interesting applications ( I love TuneIt radio) and the tips to save battery are already really working for me
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App

dont know said:
AutomateIT starts GPS ervery time you set an location based trigger. Contraprodactive for battery saving - and not necessary (weather and other location based apps do it by a-gps)
Don't know if Tasker do start gps, but for me Automateit isn't a good choice..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry, but it's not right. In particular, "AutomateIt" has "Enable/Disable GPS" action, which you can use with either the location (home/office) or any location based application events.
An example: "Entering proximity region ... - disable GPS"
When GPS is disabled, "AutomateIt" can use the available networks only to detect the location. To this end, use the flag "Allow Coarse Accurasy", see the manual at http://muzikant-android.blogspot.com/2011/02/automateit-automate-your-android.html

Thanks a lot

wnp_79 said:
Obviously it would also think I was home if I was on the same radius around the cell tower, but it's as accurate as I need for my "Home Mode" profile. Typically I see it activate as I am driving onto my estate where I live.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use another app called Llama. It's also a profile manager, doing basically the same thing as AutomateIT and Tasker, except that it can use not just gps and cell towers, but also wifi networks to recognise my location, so i don't have to keep gps turned on (which is a drain). But it tends to be quite a bit more accurate since wifi networks have a smaller radius. I set the app to recognise my "home" location not just by the cell towers in my area, but also my home wifi. So if i step outside to buy something, my phone would probably still connect to the same cell tower but as long as my phone loses the wifi connection (which happens about 10m away) it knows i'm not "home" anymore. It's pretty useful 'cause sometimes even when i'm a kilometer away, i'm already connected to the cell tower near my home.
But it works for me because i live in an apartment and my wifi network covers the whole house. For those of you who have lawns or backyards, i'm guessing your wifi might not cover those areas so it might not work for you.
But the best part of the app, which is mainly why i use it, is that its FREE. Oh, and the dev has a certain sense of humour.. it's less an app and more of a pet or assistant. You've gotta "train" your Llama to recognise the location. Cute, in a way.

slightowl said:
I use another app called Llama. It's also a profile manager, doing basically the same thing as AutomateIT and Tasker, except that it can use not just gps and cell towers, but also wifi networks to recognise my location, so i don't have to keep gps turned on (which is a drain). But it tends to be quite a bit more accurate since wifi networks have a smaller radius.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
AutomateIt does exactly the same thing with wifi networks. Checking the "Allow coarse location" checkbox uses both cell location and wifi networks.
Also, if GPS is disabled, AutomateIt will not use it (but than you'll get less accurate location...). AutomateIt tries to minimize usage of GPS by allowing the user to define a sampling rate and timeout for getting a location fix so it will not continuously use the GPS. It also stops using the GPS as soon as it gets a location fix.
for more details see the post on location trigger tips & tricks on the developer's website.

Thank you for the guide, it's a very good guide
Also, about battery drain, I checked the usage info, it seems Zenonia is at the top of my list, I was playing it earlier, but I can't even see the settings anywhere near HTC Sense, what should I do?

I seem not to be able to open the file. Could you possibly upload it on an other client?

Seriously, don't know which of the tips did it, but somehow my battery lasts 50% longer. Thinking it might be the fact that I turned of the "call louder when in pocket"-thingy as you suggested.
Awesome noob guide.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App

stevennekens said:
I seem not to be able to open the file. Could you possibly upload it on an other client?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had also problem opening it directly (in Firefox), so I right-clicked on link and saved the file directly to my computer.
Will go through guide today, when I receive my Desire S.

Should have clarified in my first post (sorry); The link is to download the file from my dropbox in .pdf format. If your browser doesn't have the appropriate plugin to directly view pdf files, use adobe 8+ reader.
It opens and reads well with the pdf reader included with the Desire S (sim free, unlocked).
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App

Updated to V1.02! See original post for new download link and change-log.

thanks for the awesome noob guide, worked wonders for me, with this being my first android smart phone. thanks again

Related

[Q] What do you use NFC for?

Hey guys,
I just bought my NS and I'm curious about the NFC technology, but there really isn't anything to try it with here in Spain. So far I've only been able to tag my subway card, and even that gives me just an "unidentified tag" message. So I'm having a hard time figuring what use you can give it.
Do you guys give it any actual use in your daily lives? If so, can you share your experiences?
So I guess there aren't a lot of uses yet... :-(
Google will partner with MasterCard and Citigroup to allow its consumers to use their phones to make payments.
I didn't use it with anything until I decided to try to make it useful. Now I use it daily (as well as quite a few others) and don't think I'd want a phone without it given the convenience.
Take a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=980741 (development thread) or here https://sites.google.com/site/nfctasklauncher/
krohnjw said:
I didn't use it with anything until I decided to try to make it useful. Now I use it daily (as well as quite a few others) and don't think I'd want a phone without it given the convenience.
Take a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=980741 (development thread) or here https://sites.google.com/site/nfctasklauncher/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that instead of using gps location variables to set your phone settings like Locale, it would be easy to have an RFID/NFC tag on your desk, car, home that you would place your phone near to configure settings for that location. Ringtones, screen brightness, wifi, etc could all be set.
krohnjw,
That seems like the kind of thing that could be really, really useful for the GTD app we're working on. Would you be interested in giving us a hand?
ScotchtapeLoser said:
It seems that instead of using gps location variables to set your phone settings like Locale, it would be easy to have an RFID/NFC tag on your desk, car, home that you would place your phone near to configure settings for that location. Ringtones, screen brightness, wifi, etc could all be set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Essentially this is exactly how it's being used by most, myself included. Rcently I've added support for "profiles" so that a single tag can toggle between 2 defined profiles. So one car tag could be hit when entering to go into car mode, and the same tag hit when leaving to return to Home mode or something else.
frandavid100 said:
krohnjw,
That seems like the kind of thing that could be really, really useful for the GTD app we're working on. Would you be interested in giving us a hand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure - what are you looking to do with it? Feel free to PM me.
I use NFC to trigger different profiles on my phone. Such as my car profile where I enable bluetooth and start up my navigation app.

[Q] Triumph, Google Voice, and mac basic questions

I've put off getting a smartphone as long as possible, but did enough research that I think the Triumph on Virgin's $35 plan with Google voice is a smart way to go. I still have some questions about this new OS, programs, and environment, and really like the smart people on this forum, and hope you won't mind a few questions.
-What’s the best VOIP app for working with Google Voice? I've come across GrooVe IP, but would like reassurance whether it's the best option. I'd like to make calls over wifi, but I'd also like to know whether Virgin Mobile's 3g coverage is fast enough for voip (generally...). I wouldn't want to do this routinely as I'd be afraid they'd throttle me. But I would like someone who knows to share their opinion.
-How do I find out my wifi signal strength? 3G strength? GPS strength? Or even just where I can learn what the icons on the top bar stand for, and what their range is? There must be a good app for this, and I'd love a recommendation.
-If I wanted the option, how (specifically) would I switch from making a voip/data plan outgoing call to the regular phone cell plan? Would Android be smart enough to do this automatically without a wifi signal? Or would I need to change a setting in Google Voice? Any thoughts most appreciated.
-How do I find what apps are running (in background?)? Percentage of system resources, and how to kill them? I’m guessing there are apps for that. Does Android kill a process when you return to home screen? What are some of the general rules?
-I have a mac. I’m guessing most of the programs that let you manage files, root the phone, install Cyanogen mods, etc, are PC based. I found Android File Transfer, but am not clear on it's limits. Are there better options? What will the AFT program be good for? [Emulating PC’s is a pain I would rather avoid, but I have been thinking of running virtual box to donate some processing time to the Large Hadron Collider, so I might be able to run some of these PC programs]. Any advice most welcome.
-Any skins or options to turn the google apps into light text on dark background? (I'm aware of and have used the option in Gmail). I hate black text on white background. I'm kooky that way.
This Android phone is good looking, the plan costs much less than a thousand a year (which I refuse to pay), and I LOVE the Google voice options to turn your text and calls into computer files which you can archive as you wish. The Google voice activation / text / search is far superior to iAnything, voip/wifi is the balls, and I think a lot people who've been holding off from getting a smartphone will jump on this combo, and this thread may help them. Many thanks...
dcnblues said:
-How do I find out my wifi signal strength? 3G strength? GPS strength? Or even just where I can learn what the icons on the top bar stand for, and what their range is? There must be a good app for this, and I'd love a recommendation.
-How do I find what apps are running (in background?)? Percentage of system resources, and how to kill them? I’m guessing there are apps for that. Does Android kill a process when you return to home screen? What are some of the general rules?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With respect to these questions, I'm not an expert, but I'll provide a list of programs I use.
For WiFi signal strength, I'd recommend Wifi Analyzer from the Market. For 3G strength, I'd recommend Cellumap. For GPS Strength, GPS Status + Toolbox or GPS Test.
The manual for the phone can be found on either the VMUSA or Motorola web site. It will explain some of the icons. Although when using the phone, I often see stuff not explained in the manual.
For examining the phone's processes, I recommend SystemPanel from the Market (paid for version has history), and/or Android Status.
There are people that tell you NOT to kill anything on the Android OS manually. I use 1Tap Cleaner and Advanced Task Killer from the market if I see the phone behaving a bit sluggish. Android OS loads stuff in memory readying it for future use. How it does so (intelligently) I don't know. I see stuff being partially loaded I never use. I have never had a problem using either program.
YMMV
GrooveIP works great over 3g...I dunno how much we will be able to use it once they start capping data..bastards
dcnblues said:
-What’s the best VOIP app for working with Google Voice? I've come across GrooVe IP, but would like reassurance whether it's the best option. I'd like to make calls over wifi, but I'd also like to know whether Virgin Mobile's 3g coverage is fast enough for voip (generally...). I wouldn't want to do this routinely as I'd be afraid they'd throttle me. But I would like someone who knows to share their opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GrooVe IP is actually the only thing i've bothered to use because it worked well enough, I havn't put it to test over 3g... In the future, you can root the phone and update it to sprint PRL (Their towers instead of VMU) - People have reported up to like 6-900kbps doing this... I would suggest to not factor this last suggestion in yet as you won't be extremely comfortable with your first smart phone being messed with (But a possibility nonetheless)
dcnblues said:
-How do I find out my wifi signal strength? 3G strength? GPS strength? Or even just where I can learn what the icons on the top bar stand for, and what their range is? There must be a good app for this, and I'd love a recommendation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i will back the suggestion of wifi analyzer, it will map out locations of wifi/cellular tower, it gave me beef on another phone that ran @ 600mhz but this one is 1000mhz.
dcnblues said:
-If I wanted the option, how (specifically) would I switch from making a voip/data plan outgoing call to the regular phone cell plan? Would Android be smart enough to do this automatically without a wifi signal? Or would I need to change a setting in Google Voice? Any thoughts most appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With grooveip and google voice it will ask you on all outbound calls after you press dial: Would you like to make this call with.... A) non-Google Voice B) Google Voice (same story w/ sending an sms except it will ask when you create the sms because google voice has it's own sms application, keep in mind w/ gvoice you can forward calls to your google chat account (and that's what makes grooveip ring instead of forwarding the call to your cellular number[i think])
dcnblues said:
-How do I find what apps are running (in background?)? Percentage of system resources, and how to kill them? I’m guessing there are apps for that. Does Android kill a process when you return to home screen? What are some of the general rules?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are tons of application managers and task killers, I recommend to ignore all of them.... Someone brought a Samsung Prevail(Boost mobile Galaxy) into work the other day(Radioshack) - Anytime they killed tasks their touchscreen went out till reboot.... Android is supposed to self manage tasks and processes... realistically you just have to make sure not to leave your bluetooth wifi and gps on all the time... Also taking the screen brightness down a fuzz from max will help batt life tremendously... Android will suspend a process and kill an activity when you return to homescreen.... What I mean by that is that if you're in the browser and you hit home then you go back to the browser, you're on the same page still... but likely not to have any of your text still there if you were in an input field.... (This is probably an inaccurate example due to programmers being able to add a save activity state [this is something that when you for example hit back or hold the home button down to switch applications will store your current information, so when you're editing the text field it will save that data, THEN kill the activity/suspend it so that when you return it is still there, but the process is not draining the battery down at the moment.])
One of androids key attributes is the quick application switching via holding down the home button but some applications like pandora will run 'ongoing' so that you can multitask, while others will suspend so that you can save battery.... Kind of as a rule of thumb, unless it is monitoring or actively outputting it will be suspended.... so apps like pandora and wifi tethering continue to function when you switch applications because tehy'er ongoing whereas a note editor application would suspend itself untill it's brought back to focus because how are you going to type without it forefront?
dcnblues said:
-I have a mac. I’m guessing most of the programs that let you manage files, root the phone, install Cyanogen mods, etc, are PC based. I found Android File Transfer, but am not clear on it's limits. Are there better options? What will the AFT program be good for? [Emulating PC’s is a pain I would rather avoid, but I have been thinking of running virtual box to donate some processing time to the Large Hadron Collider, so I might be able to run some of these PC programs].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off nice LHC Mac joke I take it we're running the server edition cause hey, more is never enough.
I honestly can't tell you much from the mac POV other than that it would hopefully work the same as the linux instructions but i kind of expect version/dependency differences... to be fair this triumph is rootable by application ran on the phone (Which you can GMail to yourself and download as attatchment, bluetooth, wifi shared folder, usb mounting, or download directly to the phone..) The custom recovery is installed via drag and drop on USB Removable Disc so it's not nearly as bad as some of the other phones would be,
dcnblues said:
-Any skins or options to turn the google apps into light text on dark background? (I'm aware of and have used the option in Gmail). I hate black text on white background. I'm kooky that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feel free to, they exist, I would however suggest against them... I walk to work a lot and it's a pain in the ass to read those emails when you have the sun on the screen; granted everything is harder this was damn near impossible... Nonetheless check for the black apps listed in xda/android/themes and apps... I'll link soon. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1206774
dcnblues said:
This Android phone is good looking, the plan costs much less than a thousand a year (which I refuse to pay), and I LOVE the Google voice options to turn your text and calls into computer files which you can archive as you wish. The Google voice activation / text / search is far superior to iAnything, voip/wifi is the balls, and I think a lot people who've been holding off from getting a smartphone will jump on this combo, and this thread may help them. Many thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to point out that with the GVoice extension/app for google chrome
you can continue your SMS conversations that way... I recieved one of the CR48s and this has been AWESOME for me.
As far as voip services, I have found using 3g too slow. That said I do recommend sipdroid. It will setup a pbx account for you using your google voice number. Upon connecting to wifi, sipdroid will start running allowing you to make and receive calls.
Sent from my MOTWX435KT using XDA App
Thanks guys for the very useful help. I'm kind of burned out on all the research, and kind of bummed that this red-hot, billion dollar business seems to be run by such morons. SO many unnecessary complications to offering consumers simple, workable products and services.
This has been a great help.
bigvandal said:
GrooveIP works great over 3g...I dunno how much we will be able to use it once they start capping data..bastards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually kind of grateful to Virgin Mobile for the $35 dollar plan. I can communicate via voice to text, for a fair price, so until I have a real problem, I'm not going to call them bastards. Until I have a problem, of course...
I do hate the BS in advertising 'unlimited' plans, but having them smirking in their headquarters as they say to themselves 'but we didn't say at what rate...'
On the other hand, people downloading movies over cell frequencies aren't exactly providing solutions to the problem either...
rubbachicken said:
GrooVe IP is actually the only thing i've bothered to use because it worked well enough, I havn't put it to test over 3g... In the future, you can root the phone and update it to sprint PRL (Their towers instead of VMU) - People have reported up to like 6-900kbps doing this... I would suggest to not factor this last suggestion in yet as you won't be extremely comfortable with your first smart phone being messed with (But a possibility nonetheless)...Android is supposed to self manage tasks and processes... realistically you just have to make sure not to leave your bluetooth wifi and gps on all the time... Also taking the screen brightness down a fuzz from max will help batt life tremendously... Android will suspend a process and kill an activity when you return to homescreen....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, thanks very much. For this and all the information. Colossally useful.
Groove IP is actually having a problem today due to some change in the Google servers. Hope it's resolved soon as I'd like to get this running.
Quick confirm: Triumph is LCD and not AMOLED, Correct?

[Q] Location Based Automation

Any apps out there that will allow me to control various toggles based on location (WiFi on at home, but when I leave, turn it off), etc...?
Yes, it it's called Tasker, and it's explained here:
http://tasker.wikidot.com/
Gesendet von meinem HTC One S mit Tapatalk 2
Microsoft's on{X} will also let you do actions based on a location.
Apparently I haven't posted enough time to supply a link. Search for "on {X}" on the play store and it should be the first link that pops up.
azmodiusOG said:
Microsoft's on{X} will also let you do actions based on a location.
Apparently I haven't posted enough time to supply a link. Search for "on {X}" on the play store and it should be the first link that pops up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10 posts required to post links iirc,
here is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.onx.app
Does require Facebook login for whatever reason but other methods incoming soon according to MS.
OnX is the right idea, but the recipes are very limited at this point; and I am not a coder.
Try Llama - Location Profiles. I turn off WiFi when I leave Home. I enter a silent profile at Work. I go back to a normal profile when I leave Work. When I get home, WiFi turns on.
Areas can be defined by towers seen and by GPS. Defining them is very easy -- you just tell it that you'll be in that area for however long and it learns the area.
It's very easy to set up and add actions based on conditions. One tweak that involved a tiny bit of diggings was that I made the GPS defined area around Home smaller than the default setting.
I read about one guy that set up an action to automatically text his wife if he was at work past a certain time to let her know he was staying late. Then he had it set to automatically text her when he left to head home when that happened.
[Edit]You can check out the author's blog for additional info.[/edit]
I used to use Juice Defender Ultimate and the location based WiFi worked perfect for me.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using XDA
AutomateIt, Easy Profiles and many others.
You can find AutomateIt user guide and thread on XDA in my signature

Recommend me some Apps, Please

I'm swapping from Android to Windows Phone, and was hoping if anyone is bored enough to read this they might suggest some Windows Phone Apps that might suit my needs.
In no way do I expect anyone that hops in to respond to each type, or google around for me, but I expect I'm not the first person to make the Android -> Windows phone swap, so maybe some of you will have a quick idea of ones to try out. You don't need to spend a lot of time explaining every app, if you're busy. Every platform is different though, so rather than spend 10 hours looking for something that everyone in the community already knows, I thought I would just toss out some quick questions.
1. RSS feeds. On Android I use gReader Pro. It's a pretty basic app that allows easy setup for RSS feeds and syncs them with your google reader account. Not very exciting, but it's easy to use because my feeds are already set up via google, so a decent app that can do the same would be nice.
2. Google Voice. I'd like to make and receive texts, as well as make calls on wifi (receiving calls isn't a big deal, but would be a plus). I downloaded GoVoice, which seems like it will be pretty decent, but am open to suggsetions.
3. Podcasts. I used Doggcatcher on Android, which allows you to stream, download + save, and sync podcasts. It has a decent search function to help you get started.
4. Tasker. This one is more difficult to explain, but essentially it allows you to program a set of tasks, like a macro function. Essentially I have it set up for "Off" (as in data/wifi/bluetooth/gps/gsm disabled), "Data" (same as off but wifi enabled), "Loud" (same as data but with notifications and media volumes all the way up), and "Car" (same as Loud but wifi off and speakerphone and GPS enabled). Basically I use this to change the state of the GPS, WIFI, and volumes, so that I can quickly switch a number of settings at once. Great app, if you have some patience and have an Android kicking around.
5. Astrid Tasks. A pretty basic reminder app. I'm sure there are plenty of these for Windows Phone, but any suggestion would great. If it can store backups to the computer, or sync with a cloud based system, that would be a plus.
6*. Something to show running applications quickly. I'm not sure if this is actually an issue for Windows Phone, but sometimes apps go "rogue" on Android, so being able to make sure that a particular app isn't a battery drain would be nice. I was using System Panel on Android. If this isn't needed, disregard the question.
7. A good alarm app. I was using Gentle Alarm on Android, which has a widget to show you the next alarm that will go off, and allows easy creation of various alarms, which can be set for audible, vibration, specific days of the week to repeat on, etc. You can also ensure that alarms will always be audible, regardless of if everything else is muted, which is nice for at night when you don't need an email waking you up, but need to make sure the alarm is at maximum volume in the morning.
8. Anything else you can think of that is a must have for daily use. I'm a student and don't really have a lot of time to play with the phone for games, but hey, we all have to pass the time every once in a while.
9. Onenote. I like how this app syncs easily, but I can't view my handwritten notes that I write on my tablet. Is there a workaround that allows you to see these?
------ I'm only using this Lumia 710 on WIFI, essentially as a PDA + GPS, so anything handy that can prevent battery drain is a plus, as I don't require GPS to constantly be on, and I certainly don't need phone/data(non-wifi) to constantly be on.
In short, I appreciate any input you might have, even if it's only for one of the things I have listed. The phone seems great in general, and had most of the important things already installed (the email, calendar, navigation, office, etc., is fantastic as is, which is a great bonus compared to Android, where I had to use 3rd party apps for most of the core aspects).
Regards,
--bb
Weave
Skype
Music and Video with Zune
Not possible
Ask Ziggy
not needed
Default alarm
Board Express Pro
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------
Nokia Drive
Crackle
Nokia Creative Studio
Contract Killer
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ----------
Box
SkyDrive
MetroTube
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
pvt_nemesis said:
Weave
Skype
Music and Video with Zune
Not possible
Ask Ziggy
not needed
Default alarm
Board Express Pro
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------
Nokia Drive
Crackle
Nokia Creative Studio
Contract Killer
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ----------
Box
SkyDrive
MetroTube
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all of the suggestions. That should keep me busy for quite awhile. :good:
Try also fantasia painter for photo editor. Is awesome and free. The only app i am missing since switching from wp7 to android
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Before I get into my list, I'm just going to run down how apps and multi tasking work on WP7 in case you don't already know.
#1: No app can truly run in the background. The only way to get an app to continue running is either to have it up and prevent the screen from turning off, or (if supported by the app) allow it to run under the lockscreen, which means when you press the power button, only the screen turns off, the phone does not enter a sleep state.
-----------------The exception to this rule is when an app is playing music. If the app dev has done it correctly, he should have handed the music playing off to the system, so once you set up the music source in app, you should be able to minimize it and use the next/previous/play/pause controls. In fact you can even go to grooveshark's beta html5 in internet explorer; HTML5 can plug in to this system media playback! I was very excited to learn that. But at least on grooveshark, next/previous controls don't work.
#2: HOWEVER each app can have a "daemon" which is essentially a set of tasks that are run periodically by the system (minimum of every half hour). So if you use google latitude, latitude apps will only be able to update your position every half hour (or at longer intervals, but no shorter). This system of background daemons is actually very very good as it encourages unique thinking from the developer side, and still gives the user the benefits of true multi tasking without the battery drainage. What a daemon can do isn't that limited, but it's the fact that no internet connection can remain active in the background that poses a lot of problems (for example, IRC clients cannot have multi tasking for this reason). Since things can only run every half hour, you don't have to worry about things like turning off your gps, since nothing is allowed to just turn on the GPS and keep it on.
#3 : Also there's still push, of course. Lemme break that down for you: push notifications can either be through the live tile (rather than having a background daemon update the tile, things are pushed to it immediately as they arrive), or push can be used through statusbar notifications. One unfortunate oversight in this system is that if you have an app that you do not pin to the start menu, and if it has a notification and you did not hear it... there is no list of missed notifications. This doesn't come into play that often; for me it only happens with eBay, where I don't want to bother having that on my start screen but I might miss some alerts.
#4: Battery Saver mode is YOUR FRIEND. You can get nearly another day out of your phone (or I can with my Titan) when battery saver kicks in. You can enable it so that it turns on when the battery is low (%20), or manually. However, it disables all background daemons and push notification in order to save battery.
#5: Multi tasking and switching between apps. Hold down the back button to see the list of the last several apps you used (or in the case of my unlocked ROM, all of the apps you have used since boot). When you minimize an app (press the start button), it gets "dehydrated" which means it's just suspended to RAM. It works like you'd expect; start typing something in one app, switch over to another to look something up and switch back to the first to resume typing. To remove an app from the list, or "exit" the app (since it isn't actually running the only thing this does is remove clutter or perhaps free up some slots), you "back" out of them. Press the back button until the app goes away.
One of the reasons, in my opinion, that windows 8 is getting a lot of negative flack is because people don't know that live tiles are good. It doesn't help that, last time I checked, there were no useful live tile apps in the 8 marketplace yet. So frustrating! People hate what they don't understand, because hating on the internet is the standard state of existence. I encourage you to think about what you do on the internet every time you sit down on your computer, and see if you can find an app with live tile to do it for you. For me, I had a routine of checking my email(s), going through a lot of webcomics, reading news feeds, etc. That was my daily routine. Now with WP7, I have each aspect of my routine as a live tile, so I can literally replace that entire process with just looking at the start screen.
The other thing about live tiles and metro that people fail to understand is that active push notifications, where unnecessary are BAD, for a few different reasons. Push notifications are "active" and live tiles are "passive". This is because live tiles do not make any noise or otherwise prompt you to look at them; they are simply there and deliver content when you pull out your phone. Let me put this in perspective: say I pull out my phone to look up something on wikipedia. I can see that I have 2 new emails, some new RSS articles and a facebook notification. Number 1: I don't feel the urge to go and clear the unread count of all of these things, as I would if they were all aggregated in the statusbar like on android (because you need that statusbar for things, and if it's cluttered and you don't keep up on it, it quickly fills up and becomes overwhelming). I can leave them alone for now and go to wikipedia. Now if this were an android/IOS device, I would have gotten an audible notification for each of those three things, and I would have taken time out of whatever I was doing IN LIFE to tend to my phone.
Some points about stressors here (and when I say stressors, I don't mean overwhelming stress you can feel, but stress in the clinical sense, which is objective): having your phone beep at you constantly stresses you; for most people it's difficult to put their phone out of their mind until they have seen what the notification was. This is not good.
Moreover, feeling the need to go and clear unread counts/managing your statusbar is also somewhat of a stressor; if it starts overflowing you'll either learn to not use things that create notifications (somewhat limiting your experience with a smartphone), give up all hope and never look at the statusbar again, or just clear it out and miss out on things you wouldn't have if the information was presented in an orderly fashion.
Live tiles, being passive, are also more efficient in terms of time spent on the phone and your phone's battery life. Notice how in my example, I observed the new content only when I was already pulling out my phone to do something else. With things aggregating in bulk, I can view them in bulk at points of the day where I was already on my phone. This is opposed to pulling out my phone every 15 minutes because something new happened... which wastes time pulling your phone out of your pocket many times a day, wastes battery when turning the screen on/off many times a day, and if you use wifi; wastes even more battery when the wifi radio is turned on/off sporadically many times a day.
So yes, live tiles are an objectively less stressful approach to mobile devices and less distracting from tasks at hand. The same concepts can be applied to windows 8; rather than having popup notifications for all your facebook, email, rss, etc bombard you while you're trying to write a paper... all of that information is silently aggregated for you in the background.
------------The List-------------------
For alarms,
627.AM
Built in Alarm app.
For task / project management
Tasks by telerik
Or just use the built in calendar app
Or use Onenote and Pin your task list to the start screen.
For RSS
Wonder Reader hands down, none of the other google reader clients are quite as fully functional and polished.
Fuse is pretty but I never got the hang of using it.
For Wifi Video calls
Tango. It's pretty limited in that the android and IOS client are updated with better features, and you can only call other people with tango... but the service itself is more efficient and more reliable than the skype app was last time I tried it. Moreover it supports push for accepting calls, something skype doesn't. Also I like the concept of not having "online / offline" states. You call someone, and they choose to answer it or not. Why would I need to log into a phone...
I used to take notes on a tablet at school, and ran into the same problem as you. Only solution I know of is to print your notes back into onenote. You'll have duplicates of everything unfortunately.
Podcast functionality is built in.
For random recommendations...
das Image (Better image search)
Image Map (Renders all of your pictures on a map based on GPS loc info)
Dynamic Background (Unlock) (Updates the lockscreen picture every half hour choosing randomly from a pool of selected images)
Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)
EnClock (there is no stopwatch built in to WP7, and you never know when you need one)
eBay
HandyScan (Helps you take good pictures of papers, backs up to skydrive. Better to keep documents in here than with regular pictures).
Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)
Nokia Drive (Unlock unless you get a nokia device)
MetroPaper (Read it later / pocket)
Metrotube + Supertube (youtube apps. 1 is awesome, 2 lets you download videos and even create offline "music" playlists)
Photo2cloud (back up full res photos to skydrive independent of PC)
Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)
WeatherLive (There are plenty of other weather apps... but weatherlive works, it's incredibly thorough, updates live tile using GPS location, is pretty, etc)
Zite (Gives you news articles based on google reader feeds and who you follow in twitter, good for every time I go to the toilet )
If you use IRC or SSH
The SSH Client Pro
TinyIRC
And now that you are a part of the WP community, you should invest in AND pin the live tiles of each to your start screen:
WPCentral
WMPoweruser
Games! I Don't like to play serious games on my phone; I like something I can whip out at any time and turn off at any time, no consequence. That said, I make an exception for the Final Fantasy updated / rerelease for WP7
COLLAPSE (Probably my favorite mobile game. It's an easy puzzle game, but satisfying to plow through at ludicrous speed. There are some very hard rounds with special conditions though.. story mode is dumb but it has unique challenges and you need to play through it to unlock all the quick play modes).
Final Fantasy
Wordament
Fruit Ninja
Dodonpachi Maximum (Genre: Bullet Hell. If you don't know what that means then try it before you buy it. If you love bullet hell; buy this. It's by CAVE).
Wizard's Choice (A casual text adventure).
link68759 said:
Lots of good info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the detailed response!
I've started using Onenote as a to-do list, but I made a recent post as to why that's causing me problems (or so it seems).
I seem to be syncing everything from onenote, and my device has basically filled up overnight as it downloaded my files. Microsoft told me to contact Nokia about it, and then disconnected?
It seemed like a good plan to me as well. I don't really need to see detailed graphs and notes on the phone, just a couple simple folders.
I may just reset the phone and give the other apps you suggested a shot, and not connect with my microsoft live ID at all. I went from plenty of space on the device to none, in a matter of days.
I'm not sure if podcasts were an issue as well, and how it saves and deletes them. I only stored what I would consider a small amount, maybe 200 megs or less.
Nokia drive works great. It takes up a lot of space, but I have it on my feature phone as well, and the GPS acquisition time on the Lumia 710 blows away my E5-00, and my Droid X. It's just incredibly fast at locking in.
I'll do a reset tomorrow and give the other apps a shot, and try to avoid anything that could be crushing my storage. All I really need for storage is email, nokia drive, and basic apps/news/podcasts, which on my android (nav aside) shouldn't really take more than 1 gig of space. A few small games to pass the time, and some apps for productivity, and I should be back in business.
Unfortunately I can't seem to find a way to determine what is using X amount of space, so I'll have to do a full wipe and install items slowly, to sort it out.
There isn't a proper app to view this kind of thing, is there?
Regards,
--bb
I'll reply to your other thread about one note.
You can't not connect with your live ID if you plan to download apps unfortunately.
For viewing used space, Zune does divide it up for you, I don't remember how specific it gets but it should be divided into space used by music, videos, podcasts, apps. I don't think it's possible for an app to view usage, because each app is sandboxed; that is they have their own folder on the device and they are not allowed to leave it.
Nokia Drive shouldn't need to take up a lot of space; you can just download the maps of where you live and where you might possibly go spontaneously, as opposed to your whole country XD. Yeah I've had good luck with my phones and GPS, WP7 in general does an excellent job with GPS.
Oh I forgot to mention in my first post; WPCentral and WMPoweruser are good because they do a lot of app/game reviews, usually the reviews are on new apps in the market. This is pretty much the only way I discover new apps
link68759 said:
I'll reply to your other thread about one note.
You can't not connect with your live ID if you plan to download apps unfortunately.
For viewing used space, Zune does divide it up for you, I don't remember how specific it gets but it should be divided into space used by music, videos, podcasts, apps. I don't think it's possible for an app to view usage, because each app is sandboxed; that is they have their own folder on the device and they are not allowed to leave it.
Nokia Drive shouldn't need to take up a lot of space; you can just download the maps of where you live and where you might possibly go spontaneously, as opposed to your whole country XD. Yeah I've had good luck with my phones and GPS, WP7 in general does an excellent job with GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha!
I will look into setting up a new windows live account for OneNote to-do type lists. I know Office sometimes used to have issues with multiple live accounts on the same computer, in Windows 7, but I think that's mostly fixed now. I use google calendar anyways (to sync), so realistically it's not the end of the world for me to keep the accounts disconnected from my school Onenote live account.
I guess I synced all of Nokia North America at once (1.9 or so gigs of a download). I certainly don't need more than 20% of it. In fact, my whole state, now that I look at it, is only 36 megs.
Now that you've given some ideas of how to approach it, I'm liking this more than any of my other previous phones (iPhone, BB Bold, Droid X, etc). It needs some time to grow as an operating system, and Nokia really needs to put an LED notification light on future models [shakes tiny fist], but I think they're back in the game!
Thank you very much for all of your help.
//Edit: I read your other post responding to mine. I think you're right. I could probably do a wipe, use the same account, but move the basic to-do lists to a separate folder, pin them, and make sure to never ever open the school folder itself in Office on the phone. That sounds like it would work ok as well, as I must have opened a school folder that overwhelmed it and just started syncing massive amounts of pdf's, inking, and so on, along with the simple things.
I just wanted to also mention that all that you typed out would make for a great sticky. That's a ton of great info.
Thank you again for all of the feedback.
You made some excellent points about how smartphones add lots of unnecessary stresses when they're constantly distracting us with notifications, as well as how live tiles really help ease you into information you need, and information you might not, but are willing to take a brief glance at. I'm a big Windows 8 fan, and have used RP, RTM Pro (currently), and RTM enterprise. I think Live Tiles are fantastic, whether it's on my phone, my convertible laptop, or my desktop. I think you're absolutely correct about how people just don't quite understand how handy it will be yet.
//BTW: I bookmarked your post as a sort of "zen" explanation I can refer back to, or link to a friend, so they understand the unity and purposes in the next stage in Windows products.
///Afterthought: I still would like a notification LED on the phone, as long as it's customizable. On Android and Blackberry I would always disable the light for all of the nonsense things, but keep it enabled for things like a missed call (because that could be my son needing a ride, or something else that's important), or for a severe weather alert. Random emails would just have to wait until I turned on the screen.
Sorry to bump my own thread again, but I have a question about three of the apps that link68759 mentioned.
"Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)"
"Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)"
"Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)"
By "unlock" I'm assuming he meant an unlocked bootloader, and not locked to a cellular carrier? I did the basic test today, and mine appears to be locked, which is a shame because both of those functions would be great.
As far as "Keep Alive" goes, I can't seem to find that specific app/dev combo in the market. I don't use 3g/4g data on this phone, or any phone anymore, so is that an app that is better than keeping the scanning on, or is it a battery drain? I'm just not sure I follow the concept, because I can't find a description of it.
Regards,
--bb
bladebarrier said:
Sorry to bump my own thread again, but I have a question about three of the apps that link68759 mentioned.
"Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)"
"Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)"
"Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)"
By "unlock" I'm assuming he meant an unlocked bootloader, and not locked to a cellular carrier? I did the basic test today, and mine appears to be locked, which is a shame because both of those functions would be great.
As far as "Keep Alive" goes, I can't seem to find that specific app/dev combo in the market. I don't use 3g/4g data on this phone, or any phone anymore, so is that an app that is better than keeping the scanning on, or is it a battery drain? I'm just not sure I follow the concept, because I can't find a description of it.
Regards,
--bb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need to flash a custom ROM, which you can luckily do on your 710.
The a wifi radio turning on/off takes more power than one that is idly connected. So if you use the phone frequently, it's better to stay connected. If you aren't going to touch it for many hours at a time, better to let it disconnect and turn off.
But if you aren't using cellular then you'll need wifi to update information in the background.
Some more here
Dialpad7
Handyscan
Photogram
Skype
Sleep Bug
Tango
UC Browser
whatspp= messenger
Yelp = to find nearby things

GPS tracking girlfriend and myself

Hi!
I'm looking for a really simple app or hack to track an android. There are way too many apps out there to find the right one and the ones I tried were horrible (big, advertising, data collection...).
The built in "locate my android" through google devicemanager works as of now, but we would like an app that does the following:
- displays a track on a map with dots with timestamps
- keeps a history of the track - a few days is enough. More than 5min update intervall isn't necessary and only when moving.
- updates ideally only when actively using GPS or after it detected movement for an hour or so, stays quiet and doesn't consume battery and activate GPS unnecessarily.
- doesn't do anything when not asked for (except sending updates of position if position changed), like notifications, activating GPS, ads
Purpose is to see quickly where people are or last were. Precise times and locations are only needed for moving targets (and then navigation is likely being used and GPS active anyway) so you can tell when someone will arrive roughly.
I have Xprivacy and could control rogue apps to some extent, but my girlfriend doesn't and I'd like an app that doesn't need accounts and wants access to other data.
Molvol said:
Hi!
I'm looking for a really simple app or hack to track an android. There are way too many apps out there to find the right one and the ones I tried were horrible (big, advertising, data collection...).
The built in "locate my android" through google devicemanager works as of now, but we would like an app that does the following:
- displays a track on a map with dots with timestamps
- keeps a history of the track - a few days is enough. More than 5min update intervall isn't necessary and only when moving.
- updates ideally only when actively using GPS or after it detected movement for an hour or so, stays quiet and doesn't consume battery and activate GPS unnecessarily.
- doesn't do anything when not asked for (except sending updates of position if position changed), like notifications, activating GPS, ads
Purpose is to see quickly where people are or last were. Precise times and locations are only needed for moving targets (and then navigation is likely being used and GPS active anyway) so you can tell when someone will arrive roughly.
I have Xprivacy and could control rogue apps to some extent, but my girlfriend doesn't and I'd like an app that doesn't need accounts and wants access to other data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This kind of thing not authorized here on XDA.
Ashwinrg said:
This kind of thing not authorized here on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean? I thought this is Q&A for questions like this! Nothing unethical here, as I said there are tons of apps for family/friends tracking. I just want a very simple one with mapview and a little history. And I got frustrated with trying out contenders which didn't do anything close to what I wanted in a simple way. So I hope someone had better luck than me and will share their experience.
Something like Life360 might be what you're looking for.
Try browsing around other related apps on the play store.

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