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My friend hates his Sprint Touch Pro and blames me 4 selling him on HTC.
If anyone can offer any help or fixes, I would greatly appreciate it.
I am going to e-mail him a link to this thread.
Thank you.
The following in quotes is the e-mail he sent me.
Here's the low down on my HTC Touch Prop Experience thus far and why I will
sell this turd on ebay...
Cant type first and last name into messaging "to" field (once you hit the
space bar for the last name it selects the first 'josh' in your phone book,
etc.)
Cant search by company name in the address list (I need to look up account
in my phone all the time by company name)
Some names do not appear in contact list search at all but I know they are
there and can get to them manually
Cant search first and last name in contact list (must type one or the other)
GPS won't automatically drive to calendar appointment when the address is in
the appointment or give the option to drive to the appointment
GPS won't give you the option to drive to an address in your address book
GPS freezes up and stops navigating when you turn off the screen (to save
the battery). Won't start again until you close the app and restart.
Several times the phone has frozen up and the touch screen would not
respond...cant get into messages, can't get into contact list.
Auto backup fails every night (third party app but the best one on the
market)
every day the phone freezes up in my contact list...multiple times every
single day. I have over 1700 contacts....I have reset my phone at least 5
times already today.
using three fully charged new batteries a day...I am on my third battery
today as of 5pm and yes I bought three freaking batteries
T9 text input randomly turns itself on and I have to manually turn it back
to ABC input
Facebook and twitter apps suck to the point of being unusable (Facebook app
is the brand new one from Microsoft's upcoming windows mobile 6.5 OS)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put Juicy 8 on it and it's a whole new experience.
dwizzy130
Wow, i hate lists, but here i'll try to help with some limited knowledge from a touch pro owner since october (my first real smart phone)
use arrow keys left/right to select next person in list when starting to type name
cant help you there, i look up by person's name. There may be alternative software out there for a different address book connected to the main one? SPB mobile shell might have something. Found it! you can do it by going to contacts - then in the menu view-by and select company
maybe those numbers are listed on your sim card and not on your phone book, in the options there should be an option to show both address books
shesh you're picky again, Name one example where you actually need to type both to find the person you want! (i can't think of one example)
Wow, you really think windows thought of everything didn't you? GPS can't do squat without GPS software
This is most likely due to a problem with your firmware - update your ROM and see what happens
Update your ROM - i suggest a nice EnergyROM 2.0 or 1.3 - it is pretty damn stable and bug free - most of your issues from here out sound like things that can be fixed by wiping your phone and installing a better rom than the junk tossed together by the service provider
Why does it fail? What is the backup software? PIMbackup is a pretty solid one, and why do you need to backup nightly? I sync my contacts and calendar with google sync. Thats the only vital data i don't want to loose that changes daily (except for tasks, still waiting for google sync to add tasks)
Again - update your rom! Imagine a car torn apart by a kid in his first year at auto school, and then trying to put it together in a month. That is what the hack jobs who work as rom chefs for service providers do to these phones when they add in their junk bloatware. (Also HTC provided an update with new features, most providers now have released revised versions with their bloatware added of course, but they still work better than the original firmware that comes on the phone)
Battery life depends on use. How often do you have it check for email? My battery lasted only half a day when i told it to check every 5 minutes. Then i realized i really don't care about checking email (and nobody important emails me that often) so i set it to 4 hours - battery life went up drastically. Also turning down brightness, and turning off wifi will save a LOT of battery life. I get a sold day and a half out of my phone now. (with pretty decent amount of use)
Can be another issue with the firmware you're running. There is an app called Advanced Config Editor, I think there is a setting to disable T9
Sigh, indeed, applications are still a work in progress, before the iPhone, there was very little competition for slick applications, but consumers will prevail in the end. For now - its all about keeping up to date with your favorite phone blogs to find out about the latest software available
In all honesty, the TP and other windows mobile phones are not for everyone. They work great if you know what you want to do with them but if you expect to just pick up a phone and go, buy a freeken iPhone and enjoy your watered down smart phone for braindead people. (Hey, i bought my mom one for christmas, she's all happy that she changed the ringtone for me.... despite the fact her past 5 phones could also do that in less than 5 buttons......)
HTC makes a wonderful selection of mobile devices, I have always been pleased with their products.
Cant type first and last name into messaging "to" field (once you hit the
space bar for the last name it selects the first 'josh' in your phone book,
etc.)
Cant search by company name in the address list (I need to look up account
in my phone all the time by company name)
Some names do not appear in contact list search at all but I know they are
there and can get to them manually
Cant search first and last name in contact list (must type one or the other)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can do all these things by default in the stock WinMo contacts on my HTC Fuze
GPS won't give you the option to drive to an address in your address book
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Know nothing about the Sprint GPS nav app (I assume that's what he's using?) but Garmin Mobile does this, and I suspect most other GPS nav apps do as well.
As far as crashes and battery usage go, the only fix is to flash a different ROM without all the provider bloatware. Sounds like most of his gripes are related to Sprint's implementation of the device, not about HTC or the device itself. In any case, he'll probably never be happy with it - tell him to get an iPhone where he can blithely ignore all the missing features and lack of flexibility.
The iphone was very easy no matter where you were in the phone: double click on the home button and you were presented with your list of favorite phone numbers. Very quick and easy. With android, the best I can come up with is Home -> Phone -> Favorites -> Swipe to the right of a favorite contact.
I must be missing something here.
lebe0024 said:
The iphone was very easy no matter where you were in the phone: double click on the home button and you were presented with your list of favorite phone numbers. Very quick and easy. With android, the best I can come up with is Home -> Phone -> Favorites -> Swipe to the right of a favorite contact.
I must be missing something here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my most dialed contacts saved as shortcuts on one of my home screen panels. There are probably faster ways using apps or downloadable widgets, but for now this is working pretty quickly.
if you go on the phone keypad and press the setting butto you can configure speed dial numbers
Beats me, this is something I was wondering myself. I have done it both ways. Added my most called people to my "Favorites" list. Also, I put a shortcut to a few of my closest friends on one of my home screens.
But you're right, the iPhone made it much easier. This is something I realized last yr when trying out a Moto Droid. I see Android hasnt made it any easier yet.
There's so freaking many ways to do this on Android it's ridiculous.
One option is using Launcher Pro and making items of the dock shortcuts to your contacts.
Another option is creating icon shortcuts on your homescreens.
Or a shortcut to your contacts.
Tons of ways to do it.
TexUs said:
There's so freaking many ways to do this on Android it's ridiculous.
One option is using Launcher Pro and making items of the dock shortcuts to your contacts.
Another option is creating icon shortcuts on your homescreens.
Or a shortcut to your contacts.
Tons of ways to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just basically restated what we had already stated. Its a few extra buttons to push to make a call in android vs the iphone favorites list.
derek4484 said:
You just basically restated what we had already stated. Its a few extra buttons to push to make a call in android vs the iphone favorites list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you've got to do two taps to get the iPhone favorites versus having them on your homescreen... Seems like Android results in less taps to me.
It was two taps until ios4 came out
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I usually like to just "star" the contact... Or just add an icon to the home screen
Sent from my Samsung Captivate(tm) on AT&T
madjsp said:
It was two taps until ios4 came out
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I think it's three, actually... So thanks for reminding me.
I remember setting my iPod to two taps and iOS4 reset that... Without warning. Apple is just one of those companies that doesn't give a damn about compatibility or anything.
Contacts is the first thing I noticed when I got the phone. No simple import from Outlook. I bought the Captivate yesterday, coming from an iPhone 3G and may exchange the Captivate for an iPhone 4. I'll give it another few days to get used to the phone before I decide.
I wanted to back up my phone before I started playing with it too much but can't get Kies to work. It's a common problem.
The iPhone UI is way more mature and elegent than the Samsung. You may be able to take some time and customize the Samsung the way you want it but the iPhone is pretty much the way I want it already. The iPhone apps are more consistant with the UI and don't generally look as amateur as the Android apps.
BTW, my 3G was jailbroken so I could pretty much do what I wanted with the iPhone (wireless tethering, non Apple approved apps)
oldfossil said:
Contacts is the first thing I noticed when I got the phone. No simple import from Outlook. I bought the Captivate yesterday, coming from an iPhone 3G and may exchange the Captivate for an iPhone 4. I'll give it another few days to get used to the phone before I decide.
I wanted to back up my phone before I started playing with it too much but can't get Kies to work. It's a common problem.
The iPhone UI is way more mature and elegent than the Samsung. You may be able to take some time and customize the Samsung the way you want it but the iPhone is pretty much the way I want it already. The iPhone apps are more consistant with the UI and don't generally look as amateur as the Android apps.
BTW, my 3G was jailbroken so I could pretty much do what I wanted with the iPhone (wireless tethering, non Apple approved apps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you confuse two different things. It's hard to believe that Apple developed iPhone GUI "the way you wanted it". It's just a matter of familiarity. It's always easier to use the tools/GUI you already know than the ones you do not know. It probably took you 3 years to get there and now you are familiar and comfortable with iPhone. It's true for everyone. Give it a week or two and you'll learn how to use Captivate too. And BTW, I am knew to Android myself and I am going through the learning curve too. My first impression was - how the damn phone could be so complicated! But after a day of use I am thinking: and that's all? There is not really that much to these smart phones after all. I think that all these interfaces are about the same. It's impossible to compare familiar interface with an unfamiliar one. In the latter there is too many annoying things (that is until we learn why the things were designed the way they were and use them right).
As far as this specific issue is concerned, as I understand the standard interface on Captivate is just as good as on iPhone. To get to the list of "friends":
* Home
* Phone
* Favorites
This gives you the list of favorites and the list of most frequently called persons. BTW, I just learned this myself
oldfossil
I traded in an iPhone 4 yesterday for the captivate and have to say yesterday was a bit frustrating. Using an iPhone for the last year and a half from Windows mobile had caused me to be stupid. Its not that its harder but a different mindset. On the iphone there was one way to do something while on android many ways to skin the same cat. I personally enjoy my new freedom. Give it 30 days and if you truly don't like it trade it in and get the iPhone 4.
When I got my iPhone, I picked it up and started using it. There was no real learning curve really. Imported my contacts from Outlook (there were there from my WM6 tilt phone), put in my email accounts, synced my bluetooth, and started using the phone.
I find the Captivate to be kludgy, but yeah, if I spend some time with it I may be able to get to work the way I want. And if I get rid of the phone and FroYo is all that it's supposed to be I may wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. In the mean time I can't even get Kies to connect to my PC on the damn thing.
oldfossil said:
Contacts is the first thing I noticed when I got the phone. No simple import from Outlook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screw Outlook... Start using GMail and then use Google Sync to just have all your stuff synced over the air, and then you also gain the ability to use Google Voice as well, which gains you visual voicemail and transcription messages.
I used to love Outlook (still do) but when Google's stuff works so well together it just doesn't make sense.
Now, maybe you're in a business environment and don't have that flexibility, but IIRC there are easy sync Outlook tools out there.
oldfossil said:
The iPhone UI is way more mature and elegent than the Samsung. You may be able to take some time and customize the Samsung the way you want it but the iPhone is pretty much the way I want it already. The iPhone apps are more consistant with the UI and don't generally look as amateur as the Android apps.
BTW, my 3G was jailbroken so I could pretty much do what I wanted with the iPhone (wireless tethering, non Apple approved apps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I question why you left the iPhone then?
I'd also venture to guess you're just "used" to the iPhone. I think after you learn Android and how much more flexibility you have you'll gain more usability out of it.
rsohne said:
On the iphone there was one way to do something while on android many ways to skin the same cat. I personally enjoy my new freedom. Give it 30 days and if you truly don't like it trade it in and get the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. There's at least half a dozen ways to quickly access contacts... That might seem "complicated" (maybe it is), but... You get to CHOSE what you like. It's not just what Steve Jobs tells you what you want to use.
The menu system is also very easy to use as well... Alot like the iPhone, but I think it's even easier IMO.
oldfossil said:
In the mean time I can't even get Kies to connect to my PC on the damn thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn on USB debugging mode and use that... Simple Drag+Drop.
Shortest Alternative
lebe0024 said:
The iphone was very easy no matter where you were in the phone: double click on the home button and you were presented with your list of favorite phone numbers. Very quick and easy. With android, the best I can come up with is Home -> Phone -> Favorites -> Swipe to the right of a favorite contact.
I must be missing something here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen a response that spells this out, so:
Tap and hold an open space on your home screen, and wait for the menu to pop up.
From the "Add to Home Screen" menu, choose Shortcuts
Choose Direct Dial from the next menu
Now select a contact, and then the specific number you want to use
It will create an icon on the home screen, using the contact's avatar image if they have one, that will immediately dial the selected number when tapped.
You can place such direct-dial shortcuts on any of your home screens.
I used an iPhone for almost three years. Don't give up on Android too quickly, as it has really grown on me in the last 6 weeks.
All you have to do is purchase on phone and sideload it, it will let you download data directly from tablet, at 1mb per second, it took about 7 mins for the whole process, 400mb download and data install. Go buy now, best 5 bucks ever spent.
Ps. I bought using my evo 3d, which also runs the game perfectly.
Edit: before you start asking, how to sideload it:
Dropbox, gmail, titanium backup, blue-tooth, etc. It also verifys market, so make sure you buy it.
excellent news, I did download the app, but got error parsing package message. Also says incompatible with my p6200, lets hope for the best for us 3g guys.
chrisrotolo said:
excellent news, I did download the app, but got error parsing package message. Also says incompatible with my p6200, lets hope for the best for us 3g guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try downloading with phone, then sideload it. It should work since it works for dell streak, even though it is android 2.3, it is a 7 inch tablet. It worked on my SGT7+ wifi, it should work on Tmobile. Just make sure you purchase it.
Downloaded but seeing quite a bit of lagg. Replacing user data files with GSII files now hoping that they will fix it
Which version do you have? Wifi or 3g? Also did you just sideload apk, and download data from tab, or copy both. Mine has no lag whatsoever with the data download directly to tab. I also have no lag with the data downloaded from my evo 3d. They both work perfectly. I also recommend using the analog steering and driving controls.
I sideloaded the .apk and let it download, had lag, so I replaced the data files with ones for the GSII from a site I found. No lagg now, just had to reset the controls as it aligned them for the S2's resolution. I don't have another Android device so I had to go the less legal route to get the APK, but I have bought the game on the iPad so I don't feel bad about it. Thumbs down to Rockstar for not having the compatibility in order
Cptnodegard said:
I sideloaded the .apk and let it download, had lag, so I replaced the data files with ones for the GSII from a site I found. No lagg now, just had to reset the controls as it aligned them for the S2's resolution. I don't have another Android device so I had to go the less legal route to get the APK, but I have bought the game on the iPad so I don't feel bad about it. Thumbs down to Rockstar for not having the compatibility in order
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come one bro, dont include those details, as it can get you booted.
Also what type of lag were you referring to?
FPS issues in the entire game, basically. Driving around was very laggy and basically unplayable
The game is great and works better on 7 inches than the 10 inch iPad imho... just hope rockstar gets a grip and fixes compatibility settings. As a new Android user I can't even begin to express how utterly idiotic this issue with erroneous compatibility blocks is
Cptnodegard said:
FPS issues in the entire game, basically. Driving around was very laggy and basically unplayable
The game is great and works better on 7 inches than the 10 inch iPad imho... just hope rockstar gets a grip and fixes compatibility settings. As a new Android user I can't even begin to express how utterly idiotic this issue with erroneous compatibility blocks is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok, mine still seems very responsive, Ill try other data file from other phones i have. Ill post results later. Yup, thats the problem with android fragmentation, but either way any android phone beats an iphone.
No...it doesn't. Believing that is just pure bias as there is no, and probably never will be, an OS that beats the other on everything. That's why I have one of each.
Youre still very new to this community, give it some time, to the infite modifications and freedom android gives you.
Customizing something all the way to Mars is nice, but still doesn't make up for lack of apps. I've been using the iPad in ways that physically aren't possible on Android because of the lack of certain apps and types of apps
give me an example and Ill try to tell which apps are available. I have over 400 apps installed. I go thru the apple catalog and I only see nonsense apps, or social apps, how many of those do you need. But its true there are more apps, but almost all are already in android. Maybe not the market but getjar, amazon market, appbrain and more.
Ok, here's a challenge for you, and if you do manage to find an app, you will be my hero:
One of my most used apps on the iPad is a certain type of note taking app. I say a certain type rather than a specific app as there are quite literally dozens of these available on iOS now. This type of app will let me import documents - minimum requirement is PDF, but more types is better - and write on top of them. So far Android has alternative. Then you get to the most important feature, magnification mode. The way this works in all of said dozen apps is that you have a window at the bottom of the screen that shows a small portion of the screen magnified. This allows you to write big letters and have it be shrunk down. These boxes are resizable and can be set for various zoom levels. They also have auto-advance, meaning that when you get to the end of the box it automatically moves it so you just write from the beginning again. This way you can write sentence upon sentence just as you would on paper, and just as accurately, even with a normal capacitive stylus. Other features that are often in these apps include the ability to insert images, machine text, web clips, audio recordings etc. You will also need to have the ability to export PDF. There are apps on android that can annotate PDF, but not at that level. All semester I've been using the iPad and nothing but the iPad both in lectures and outside, scanning paper documents using Scanner Pro and an external camera, annotating them (this is why just text editing is useless - I need to be able to have 100% control over size, placement, angle etc of the text on a page, underline and make arrows and drawings all over the place, not just write some text down) and storing them for reading. Just had an exam with 900 pages worth of curriculum and notes, all read on the iPad, and created on the iPad to begin with in the case of notes.
That kind of app in particular is crucial, and it has to be able to do exactly what I mention here, no "almost" with missing the magnification mode etc. They even provided all the lecturers with iPads this fall, and they've been using the same types of apps connected to projectors via VGA (try finding a VGA adapter for the galaxy tab, btw ).
This is just the ultimate example though, as it's not only the type of app I've used the most, but it's an app that is 100% productivity. No widgets, games or anything like that - it's a productivity issue, and an issue for Android's usability in settings outside of people who like to watch videos and play with ADWlauncher (which also includes me in my spare time, hence why I have an Android tablet).
Other examples off the top of my head: Splashtop's secondary product, xDisplay. It doesnt exist on Android (yet), and it's an example of an app where I don't care if there are "similar products" - it's the system I'm invested in and missing apps from major services like that is an issue. I could also bring up apps that have some sort of equivalent, but far from anything that works as good. Goodreader on the iPad -> ezPDF on Android, much less powerful app. Scanner Pro -> CamScanner, same thing, and they even broke 7.0 plus compatibility in the last update. There's no direct access app for the educational system my school uses, Classfronter, which isn't really an issue due to browser access but still an issue as it's slower. No good alternative to Reeder either, not that I've found anyways.
Education in itself is an interesting field. There are so many apps that make the iPad a powerful tool for both teachers and students on iOS. How about the ability to annotate documents wirelessly using Syncpad, an app that streams the image on screen to any HTML5 browser that's connected to the internet (not just local wifi)? Used that one a lot. Replaynote, letting you do notes and commentary and have it automatically turned into a video that you can send off to help people. Dictionary apps; when you study ENglish like I do, "a dictionary" isn't enough. You need as many as possible. That's iOS, not android.
Enough productivity. Fun apps. BBE's app has brought a music enhancement technology, that so far has only been licensed to Cowon for portable use, to iOS. There's no comparison to EQs in apps like Poweramp. Flipboard, awesome RSS reader that I use instead of Reeder when I want to relax, not read feeds for work. Tried Pulse, not the same, or even close. Neither is Currents. Zinio is luckily on both OSes though there are several magazines that are only available through Newsstand. Connecting the iPad to a synthesizer via USB and playing around with it on an amateur level is always fun.
Enough examples.
I love my 7.0 Plus. I love how personal the homescreen is after tweaking it, Google Talk on it is awesome, it's the device I reach for to check email in the morning, I love using a Wiimote for games, i use it as a mouse and keyboard for my PC in bed, remote control utorrent, browse the web, as a flashlight at night (LOVE that), video support makes me weep tears of joy, read books that aren't scanned A4 documents (and hence possible to reformat for 7 inches) etc. It's a great device, which is why I have it. However it isn't perfect. There's plenty of room for both OSes in my life, for the exact reason that neither is perfect.
Repligo reader for first, lets you write on top of pdf files (shapes, text,highlight, selections,w/e), I use it in class alot, but also lean to quick office since I just use camera to copy what i dont feel like typing.
Currents instead of pulse, much better. Also with repligo everything should be capable to be done, what ios app are you refering to which can do all that.
splashtop is on android also.
I think I answered what you needed, to long to read over again, while trying to study for nueuro final.
How did you get the GTA apk to your Tab? I tried AppInstaller, but I get an "access denied" error when I try to export it?
*edit* Nevermind. I was able to get the apk using Root Explorer. Can't wait to fire it up!
theundeadelvis said:
How did you get the GTA apk to your Tab? I tried AppInstaller, but I get an "access denied" error when I try to export it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need root, and you can use root explorer to copy, to sd card. Make sure you click on r/w to be able to write and copy.
So I picked up a new gray One X today, at Costco. Some impressions and questions:
- Costco charges $10 than the regular price, and throws in a leather sleeve case, a leather belt-loop case (both really not so great, to be honest), a car/home charger, extra usb cable, and a couple of screen protectors. Not a bad deal.
- The phone is very attractive, I don't feel that its too big, and using it is very responsive. The main camera has a great image, the front camera isn't very good quality, but its there if you need it.
- It seems pretty stable and like most things work well so far. I noticed that the google voice input doesn't work for languages other than English (it says "audio error" when you select them manually), though multiple languages do work for google voice search. It'd be nice to be able to dictate in multiple languages. Anyone have any ideas on this?
- Tethering doesn't work because I haven't paid at&t for it, but I noticed there is an app called "TetheringGuard" - force closing the app doesn't help, but maybe if it were unistalled? Haven't been able to test it yet, but might be worth trying.
- I installed Skype, which works fine. I can't, however, set the dialer to either use skype by default or to prompt me. When traveling this is very useful, and it worked perfectly on my Samsung Captivate. "App Associations" won't let me change the dialer, and doesn't even have an entry for SMS. I don't notice any defaults set in the dialer apps that I can clear, which is how I did it in the Captivate. Any ideas?
- When you click the screen to focus the camera, even if focus is already good it goes out and back into focus, and the camera clicks. Is this normal behavior?
- I have a lot of contacts on my Captivate. Is there a preferred way to move them over to the One X? They're just stored under "Phone", not in Google Contacts. I don't see any way of moving the phone contacts to google. Do most people use google contacts to keep things online? It always seems a little weird, also Google has a strange habit of adding every person you've ever emailed, so you end up with hundreds of contacts that you don't want.
- Should I use the screen protector costco provided? It seems like the glass is so good now that its not really necessary, and would just hurt the visibility and responsiveness, but I'm curious what others do.
Thanks all!
CrimsonJD said:
- I have a lot of contacts on my Captivate. Is there a preferred way to move them over to the One X? They're just stored under "Phone", not in Google Contacts. I don't see any way of moving the phone contacts to google. Do most people use google contacts to keep things online? It always seems a little weird, also Google has a strange habit of adding every person you've ever emailed, so you end up with hundreds of contacts that you don't want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Google backup for my contacts, but just an fyi, usually in the contacts app, there is a setting for Display Options and a check mark that you can check to show contacts with phone numbers only. (not sure if the setting is there on the One X, but it should be).
otherwise, thanks for the quick review. mine should be delivered today!
Should be able to check contacts in the sync options and it should copy them over to google for ya when you sync it
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