What to look for in a new phone? - General Topics

Hello!
I hope this is the right sub for stuff like this, i looked but didnt find any better. (scratch that i just learned that questions are not to be posted here, ill try to find out how to delete this)
When i was talking with a friend about me planning to buy a new phone he told me about CFW and xda.
Now, with all the new possibilities for android that i learned about, old criteria for choosing a phone, like a good interface or nice apps seem redundant.
Is there any stuff i should specifically look for in a new phone if i plan to flash it?
Greetings
Joe

Related

Dev G1 question

Ok, I dont wanna be "That new guy that doesn't use the search". I used it and haven't been able to find a relevant thread.
I am brand spanking new to the Android scene, but I have lurked around a couple of boards, and have been doing a little research. I opted to buy a Dev G1 for my first android phone. I have always used WinMo.
My question is probably a simple one for someone who is familiar. With the Dev phone, will I be ready to install and use themes out of the box? Or will I need to do anything special to it. It is my understanding that these Dev phones are basically "rooted" out of the box.
I appreciate your help in advance!

Do all these new ROMS (HERO - ION etc) have Android Marketplace

Perhaps it's completely obvious that they do but I just wanted to check before I flashed my phone later as I really like the Android Market.
Cheers, Roy.
Ok first of all. Try look at the forum name, it is called Sapphire android development. Your topic has nothing at all to do with it.
Second of all, why would you think the other ROMs would NOT include the market?
First of all, I put it in this section as it relates to the ROMs being cooked here. Silly of me to think it may be related.
Second of all, it was a simple question, I hadn't seen it mentioned in the threads for the other ROMS and just wanted to double check before I flashed my phone. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Third of all, Bulbasaur beats Squirtle!!
Yes they do include the android market. If needed use market enabler to show paid apps if not supported in your country.
There, that wasn't hard to answer was it. So many quick to criticise on here instead on helping. I remember when it was a community...(drifts off into fond memories of the WM forum days with my XDA II)
I know mate. Back when I used to use this forum to Flash my HTC touch diamond people were always more then happy to help.
At the end of the day, if I've got a question then I'm going to ask it. Better I do that rather then I don't ask and end up bricking my £200+ phone!
Anyways it's Friday
Agreed. Anyway, the dev forum is usually the most active, and most likely to get your question seen,
Cheesebaron said:
Ok first of all. Try look at the forum name, it is called Sapphire android development. Your topic has nothing at all to do with it.
Second of all, why would you think the other ROMs would NOT include the market?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realy dont know why if you dont like the question dont answer it, its not hard
politeness hurts no one.
I am yet to find any rom without Market and doubt I ever will
This forum is getting flooded by the same questions over and over again, because people can't find out how to use the search function, also that question - if you think about it was a bit stupid. Seriously why would a ROM maker NOT include the android market? None of the ROMs I have tried includes it. And IF it was excluded it would be easy to take the apk file from another ROM and just put in the /system/app folder - how hard can that be?
I advise you to try it the hard way, you always have the possibility of doing a nandroid backup and restore it.
Cheesebaron said:
This forum is getting flooded by the same questions over and over again, because people can't find out how to use the search function, also that question - if you think about it was a bit stupid. Seriously why would a ROM maker NOT include the android market? None of the ROMs I have tried includes it. And IF it was excluded it would be easy to take the apk file from another ROM and just put in the /system/app folder - how hard can that be?
I advise you to try it the hard way, you always have the possibility of doing a nandroid backup and restore it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now now no need for all that! use a bit of tact mate. the guy asked a question and yes you answered but in the wrong way! yeah he should have searched and maybe thought before asking but he did and he didn't need to be told off. man this place is rapidly going down hill and its sad. back in the day people could ask whatever they wanted over and over again and the reply was always friendly. its a matter of choice so refrain from responding in future in sort a manner....... seriously don't defend your actions just realise they were a bit harsh and chill! this is a share and help forum and people seem to forget that!
Bad day.......
Cheesebaron said:
This forum is getting flooded by the same questions over and over again, because people can't find out how to use the search function, also that question - if you think about it was a bit stupid. Seriously why would a ROM maker NOT include the android market? None of the ROMs I have tried includes it. And IF it was excluded it would be easy to take the apk file from another ROM and just put in the /system/app folder - how hard can that be?
I advise you to try it the hard way, you always have the possibility of doing a nandroid backup and restore it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

droid / forum newbie

ive had a droid for a month or so. i was a big blackberry guy and have heard all the great things about droid so i used my upgrade for a droidx. ive been told this is the forum to really get the most out of you droid. i am semi literate with this phone (not nearly as much so as my blackberry) but won't the most out of it ... how should i start, what should i do / download. i want a fast different look that my otr droid friends will be envious of
thanks for the help
new member,
jgo113
Hi, welcome to the forum!
It can be massively overwhelming for new users here to know what is acheivable and what isn't, especially if you're not too familiar with the OS on the device you are using.
I would suggest getting to know the forum and learning which sections are relevant to you first. Browse around for a while and read some guides. What really helped me was to focus on the 'Post your Home Screen', screenshot type threads where people showed what they had done with their own phones. This way you can see what is acheivable and start leaning how to get there yourself.
FAQ/Guides/Wiki stickies are a good resource and are found in most of the forums.
Well for starters decide if you want to root your phone or not - read about what's that about, how does it "liberate" your device (AND YOU) from the tyranny of evil phone produces, just how badly you can break your device (the warnings), etc. After that you can begin trying different ROMs (custom firmwares) for your device, until you find the one, that suits your needs. Then learn BASH and begin writing scripts, hacking the living hell out of your device...
...or just use a custom "launcher" app, if you literally want your phone to look different. You can find some at the Market.
PS: Either way remember, the search bar is your friend. Before posting check if anybody has asked the same question - at least 95% of cases you'll find more about your problem/question, just by searching.

My first smartphone, the HTC ONE X (at&t)

In an attempt to not step on the lawn, I am going to try and make my first post useful to other noobs, regardless of my own ability level.
I see that others have made a "my first phone" thread in other sections using search, and I did not notice one in this forum yet. I don't know if this post will make it past muster or not, or if it will be the same as other kinds of posts, but the way I see it, it would be rad if I came to xda/htc/attonex and found a post identical to this one, that had started a couple months ago. Alas, time travel isn't available.
My problem is that I am literally experiencing this phone as my first smartphone ever, and I am too ignorant to even know what a good question is. So I find myself with a quandary. On the one hand, I am tech savvy enough to know that my phone is capable of more than at&t/htc wants to let on, and I know that there is this sea of people that know a lot about this stuff. On the other hand, I don't even know what phones can really do, why I would want it to do those things, or how to go about learning the smart and safe way to do those things without fear of "bricking" my new toy.
It's really daunting to look at this forum for a noob. I need some good info on android as well as good info on my phone, and just browsing the forum for the last few days has led me to more questions and more complex questions before I have the basics, and I feel like that's going to get me in trouble here.
If people could do the following in response to this post: point me in the right direction for informative posts/websites/forums/etc on android, specifically basic OS functionality & rooting basics for people who do not understand/use linux; point me to informative beginner oriented (not just reviews or w/e, but basics) posts/websites/forums/etc on the at&t1x, specifically anything that is not on the htc site or the at&t site, which is basically my understanding level right now; if i ask stupid questions about your thought-out posts in here and i totally miss your point, please be patient with me; point me to apps and app stores, I have only used the play store - I know there is more out there, but freaked out about viruses and stuff.
I know I'm asking for a lot of hand-holding, but I promise that after the movie we can make out if you want. I'm not stupid, but I am certainly ignorant about androids. HALP.
YouTube is you friend, there are some great walkthroughs on there. Along with read,read,read. Welcome to XDA, ENJOY your time here, you are off to a very advanced start, great phone choice along with grea first post...the force is strong with this one:thumbup:
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
@MichaelHaley
You wouldn't happen to be from Buffalo New York would you?
Sent from my Rooted Hox
What I did when I started was just look at posts and any word or anything at all that I didn't understand i just Googled it. I learned alot like that.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
http://droidlessons.com/
E.Cadro said:
@MichaelHaley
You wouldn't happen to be from Buffalo New York would you?
Sent from my Rooted Hox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. California.
bradleyG said:
What I did when I started was just look at posts and any word or anything at all that I didn't understand i just Googled it. I learned alot like that.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a problem with understanding words, but thanks.
filthyfnj24 said:
droidlessons - link which i can not post yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for, I figure people here would know which ones like this are quality vs. time wasters. This level and slightly above is about where I'm at. Thanks a lot.
MichaelHaley said:
Nope. California.
I don't have a problem with understanding words, but thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think he meant basic words. But stuff like adb shell. Asop. Root. S off. S on. Just to name a few. If you don't know this basic words, your time here will be a pain.
Sent from my HTC One XL using XDA
tae_254 said:
I don't think he meant basic words. But stuff like adb shell. Asop. Root. S off. S on. Just to name a few. If you don't know this basic words, your time here will be a pain.
Sent from my HTC One XL using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lists of useful words and terms are awesome! Thanks! Please add!
MichaelHaley said:
Lists of useful words and terms are awesome! Thanks! Please add!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're still missing bradleyG's original point. If there are esoteric terms you don't understand, just Google them. This will help you out:
http://bit.ly/KSfCM7
Boom. That was easy.
Seriously, Google is your friend, as is the XDA search. You're not going to think of a question that hasn't already been answered at length on XDA. Maybe not for the One X, specifically, since the device is so new. But for general Android stuff, just doing a general search using the XDA function, of Googling will probably get you an answer within a few minutes. For that matter, just spend some time browsing through the General, and Q&A forums, and reading the threads that look of interest to you. In no time at all, you'll have some decent working knowledge. The learning curve may look intimidating from where you are. But don't worry, its really not that bad. Seriously, just a few hours of reading on XDA will probably put above the knowledge level of the majority of smartphone owners.
If you are truly stumped after searching and reading on your own, post a question in Q&A. But do your due diligence first. Simple reason for this is that the forum would become useless if it was clogged up by every single question that beginners think up.
And welcome to the club. The One X is a helluva first smartphone.
redpoint73 said:
You're still missing bradleyG's original point. If there are esoteric terms you don't understand, just Google them. This will help you out:
http://bit.ly/KSfCM7
Boom. That was easy.
Seriously, Google is your friend, as is the XDA search. You're not going to think of a question that hasn't already been answered at length on XDA. Maybe not for the One X, specifically, since the device is so new. But for general Android stuff, just doing a general search using the XDA function, of Googling will probably get you an answer within a few minutes. For that matter, just spend some time browsing through the General, and Q&A forums, and reading the threads that look of interest to you. In no time at all, you'll have some decent working knowledge. The learning curve may look intimidating from where you are. But don't worry, its really not that bad. Seriously, just a few hours of reading on XDA will probably put above the knowledge level of the majority of smartphone owners.
If you are truly stumped after searching and reading on your own, post a question in Q&A. But do your due diligence first. Simple reason for this is that the forum would become useless if it was clogged up by every single question that beginners think up.
And welcome to the club. The One X is a helluva first smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ai ai ai. Thanks for the help dude, but my whole point is that I don't even know enough to know what kinds of questions I should be having. Once I get started, I can use forum searches and google well, so for specific questions I will need very little help. I'm just not coming up with any questions.
Picture me sitting there, staring at the phone, hoping it will do something, looking puzzled when it doesn't, and then start posting links.
I see what you're saying. What you are asking for is really too broad a topic to write a guide or anything like that. As a start, just try looking through the threads in the various forums. Development subforum has mods (modifications) and stuff along those lines. The Themes and Apps subforum will give you some ideas on some cool apps and widgets. You'll quickly get a good idea of what possibilities are out there. And trust me, plenty of specific questions will pop up in your mind soon enough.
Since you are brand new to the smartphone world, apps is a good place to start. Just Google around for best Android apps and see what interests you. Even the Play Store has some issues with malware and other malicious software. But these are usually less popular apps, made by shady software developers. If you read up on best apps at reputable websites like PCMag, Gizmodi, CNET, you shouldn't go wrong. The more popular, tried and true apps tend to be very safe. Lots of the best functionality of smartphones is through apps, so this is a good place to start.
My advice would be to use the device for a while, and see what it can do running stock before you think about rooting and other mods. Unless you are looking at specific mods (removing bloatware or adding back some of the things that AT&T removed like FM radio and flashlight) you probably shouldn't be considering root just yet.
Android Central is a good website with lots of information that you should find interesting if this is your first android device. They have put together a really good android dictionary which is found here: http://www.androidcentral.com/dictionary
They also run an android a to z series on their blog which has a ton of info and goes a little more in depth than just giving definitions.
Enjoy your phone, for a first smart phone you picked a serious winner! There are a few quarks (which are all outlined pretty well in this forum) but for the most part this phone is great.
bradleyG said:
What I did when I started was just look at posts and any word or anything at all that I didn't understand i just Googled it. I learned alot like that.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant beat this advice. Read everything, assume your questions has already been asked. The more you read, the more questions you'll have and then the more reading you'll want to do to find the answers. This website is really a PHENOMENAL resource, but I find myself constantly googling terms/comments/procedures that I dont understand. I'm quite technologically inclined but relatively new to the android world and have only been using XDA for a couple months. However, I find myself mostly only posting on very topical threads. For the hardcore technical research and development, I prefer to sit back and just read about the amazing work that the developers are doing. Welcome!
I'll second what everyone else said. I was where you were a few months ago. Though I came from four years on iOS, I was an Android noob. I've been reading and browsing xda and other sites just trying to get my bearings. It's very intimidating at first, but you've just got to start somewhere. Start reading, trying to get the general gist of things before worrying about the exact terminology. Bit by bit things will start sounding familiar, and you'll have some context to start framing your searches. Really, they're not kidding about 99.99% of noob questions being already answered somewhere; you've just got to know the right way to ask.
Just be patient and don't give up. Three weeks into my One X ownership, I'm rooted and gradually getting some confidence in modding my phone. (I was an experienced iOS jailbreaker, but life is different over here in a lot of ways.)
redpoint73 said:
You're still missing bradleyG's original point. If there are esoteric terms you don't understand, just Google them. This will help you out:
http://bit.ly/KSfCM7
Boom. That was easy.
Seriously, Google is your friend, as is the XDA search. You're not going to think of a question that hasn't already been answered at length on XDA. Maybe not for the One X, specifically, since the device is so new. But for general Android stuff, just doing a general search using the XDA function, of Googling will probably get you an answer within a few minutes. For that matter, just spend some time browsing through the General, and Q&A forums, and reading the threads that look of interest to you. In no time at all, you'll have some decent working knowledge. The learning curve may look intimidating from where you are. But don't worry, its really not that bad. Seriously, just a few hours of reading on XDA will probably put above the knowledge level of the majority of smartphone owners.
If you are truly stumped after searching and reading on your own, post a question in Q&A. But do your due diligence first. Simple reason for this is that the forum would become useless if it was clogged up by every single question that beginners think up.
And welcome to the club. The One X is a helluva first smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I meant. There is no all powerful guide that will teach you everything you need to know. It takes time to learn all these things and only diligence will prove to give you what you need. I remember when I first got my g1 I didn't know anything. I started looking for mods/hacks I could do to it and stumbled upon xda. Then I found out about rooting so I looked up stuff about rooting like what are the benefits of it, the risks, and tutorials. Then one thing leads to another rooting leads to ROMs and kernels, kernels lead to overclocking, etc. You'll soon be an expert and have advice to give other people. The more you read, the better. But you will never get to a point where there is nothing new to be learned, you will eventually make a habit of looking up different things after you do it for so long. Just stick with it and you will get the hang of it.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
redpoint73 said:
I see what you're saying. What you are asking for is really too broad a topic to write a guide or anything like that. As a start, just try looking through the threads in the various forums. Development subforum has mods (modifications) and stuff along those lines. The Themes and Apps subforum will give you some ideas on some cool apps and widgets. You'll quickly get a good idea of what possibilities are out there. And trust me, plenty of specific questions will pop up in your mind soon enough.
Since you are brand new to the smartphone world, apps is a good place to start. Just Google around for best Android apps and see what interests you. Even the Play Store has some issues with malware and other malicious software. But these are usually less popular apps, made by shady software developers. If you read up on best apps at reputable websites like PCMag, Gizmodi, CNET, you shouldn't go wrong. The more popular, tried and true apps tend to be very safe. Lots of the best functionality of smartphones is through apps, so this is a good place to start.
My advice would be to use the device for a while, and see what it can do running stock before you think about rooting and other mods. Unless you are looking at specific mods (removing bloatware or adding back some of the things that AT&T removed like FM radio and flashlight) you probably shouldn't be considering root just yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thank you for that, I know that apps are about my speed right now but my sights are set UP!! Hehe. I really was trying to figure out about the flashlight and FM radio already, but couldn't find a setting in the phone. Is that a root thing? I also hate bloat ware, even if i can disable it, i know MOG Radio & AT&T IdiotWare is there, just taking up space, and it bugs the hell out of me! I also want to do things like check out vanilla android so I can know what sense is, but i understand that requires a bootloader? Which I am reading about.. but that seems like some pretty advanced stuff.. I'll get there hopefully.
bmolloy said:
Android Central is a good website with lots of information that you should find interesting if this is your first android device. They have put together a really good android dictionary which is found here: http://www.androidcentral.com/dictionary
They also run an android a to z series on their blog which has a ton of info and goes a little more in depth than just giving definitions.
Enjoy your phone, for a first smart phone you picked a serious winner! There are a few quarks (which are all outlined pretty well in this forum) but for the most part this phone is great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thank you very much, this is exactly the kind of specific stuff I'm looking for, not that general advice isn't great too!
bradleyG said:
This is exactly what I meant. There is no all powerful guide that will teach you everything you need to know. It takes time to learn all these things and only diligence will prove to give you what you need. I remember when I first got my g1 I didn't know anything. I started looking for mods/hacks I could do to it and stumbled upon xda. Then I found out about rooting so I looked up stuff about rooting like what are the benefits of it, the risks, and tutorials. Then one thing leads to another rooting leads to ROMs and kernels, kernels lead to overclocking, etc. You'll soon be an expert and have advice to give other people. The more you read, the better. But you will never get to a point where there is nothing new to be learned, you will eventually make a habit of looking up different things after you do it for so long. Just stick with it and you will get the hang of it.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I may have come off more adversarial to you than I meant to.. I wasn't trying to minimize what you said.. Of course research is essential, and I plan to not bug you guys with stupid questions as much as possible.. I'm just trying to build a repository of reference for complete noobtards like me here in this thread so it's all in one place. When I have specific questions about terms and things I will of course employ due diligence before I bring that stuff to the community, but like I said, I'm not even there yet..
OK so I have a question that I tried to search for and came up with nil. Every so often, when I run this or that program, or sometimes on start up, some of my icons do one of two things: 1.) they lose the text under the icon, 2.) they lose the text under the icon and the icon turns into the generic android icon.
Wutdo?
MichaelHaley said:
OK so I have a question that I tried to search for and came up with nil. Every so often, when I run this or that program, or sometimes on start up, some of my icons do one of two things: 1.) they lose the text under the icon, 2.) they lose the text under the icon and the icon turns into the generic android icon.
Wutdo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restart/ force close the launcher. Or get a new launcher like go or nova.
Cryosx said:
Restart/ force close the launcher. Or get a new launcher like go or nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like a complete tard, but after searching and finding nothing, I can't figure out how to do what you're saying.
Cryosx said:
Restart/ force close the launcher. Or get a new launcher like go or nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that just like the proper way to say restart the phone?

hi!

my name is dale,
sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum, ive been looking for a newby forum and wanted to introduce myself however its friday and im starting to get tipsy! this site has helped me upgrade my battery pack, and internal memory on my htc hd7, and even replace my screen! i just wanted to say thank you and contribute where possible. ive been looking at wp8 and think its awesome! considering my 3 year old wp7 keeps up with quite a few modern phones with its mods i cant wait to see what the wp8 does. i just wanted to say THANK YOU XDA! no one will even try to argue with me about phones anymore... they only know how to buy them.
i read on a random thread while looking for the newby forum that i can take 10 questions that will show m not a spammer, would anyone mind helping me out with that? this site is HUGE! and also does anyone know of a screachingly fast single core processor/motherboard that will fit my phone? its about due for an upgrade too! or if someone has found a twin core+ that will work with windows 7 devices i'm open for ideas! no unlocking though, im not willing to deal with all of the glitches that come with that.
thanks,
dale
Sir, there is a thread in place to say hi. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=961655
Here are some reading since you are new:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1699450
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?a=81

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