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The All-Inclusive Android Thread

post #1 of 1899
11/7/09 at 2:51pm
Thread Starter 
Picked one up yesterday. I've been a Verizon Wireless member for more than 5 years, and I've been satisfied with their service. While the iPhone is an attractive option, I wasn't planning to jump ship with AT&T, nor will I ever.

The design is sharp and sleek, Google Maps is incredible on its own, and the ease of customization and navigation is quite welcome. A common gripe in reviews I've read is that the keys on the physical keyboard are too close together, but, honestly, after a good 3 hours of playing around with some of the features I got used to it. Unless your fingers are the size of Andre the Giant, touching the keyboard will likely become second nature in a short matter of time.

And I gotta mention the audio. It's phenomenal. As is the voice control. The first two sites I tested were CHUD and Rotten Tomatoes, and they both appeared immediately on Google after saying their names.

If you're like me and tend to carry your cell phone in your side or back pocket, I'd make sure to purchase a rubber slipcase. The touch screen and keyboard won't be obstructed in any way. Plus, if you drop it on concrete, you'll have peace of mind knowing your investment wasn't damaged in any way.
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post #2 of 1899
11/7/09 at 4:40pm
Just got one, boarding from it right now!
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post #3 of 1899
11/7/09 at 5:18pm
Holy shit, this phone.

EDIT: And the keyboard's surprisingly easy for my clumsy sausagefingers.
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post #4 of 1899
11/8/09 at 9:40am
Complaint! I cranked it up this morning to check my GMail and I'm getting a Connection Error message with an option to Retry, but it keeps eating itself. I tried Google's solution, and nothing happened. Have you had any problems with it, Ray? Also, how often are you setting GMail to sync? I've got mine to sync manually because I don't want to waste a ton of battery power just to get e-mails about private messages on here/new stuff from the Mystery Bookstore/etc.

EDIT: Disregard, I didn't follow their directions right and cleared the data on the GMail app instead of GMail Storage, which was clearly their suggestion.

Also, find PDANet 2.01 and get it. You can tether! The voice search app is GREAT, I tried Car Mode and did a voice search for Pharmacies in Los Angeles 90025, and had about 20 results in 2 seconds, all mapped out and ready to choose a destination.
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post #5 of 1899
11/8/09 at 12:19pm
We took my Mother-in-law out to get one for her birthday on Friday. I'll likely be playing with it over the next couple weeks as I decide if I want one as a Christmas present.

So far, my Mother-in-law is liking hers, but she says it isn't as intuitive as she had hoped. She was using an EnV2 (and she had an EnV1 before that), so I don't know how much is actually the interface or if it is just that it is different than what she has had for the last 4 years that makes it seem less intuitive.

App-wise, I've been trying to recommend her apps. So far, I think she only really tried Barcode Scanner and Locale (and hasn't really used Locale much).

She also LOVES the google maps/GPS integration.

What phones were people coming from? I had an EnV and now a Versa, so this would be my first smart phone (but the Versa is very much a "smart phone light" in my opinion, and I really love it).
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post #6 of 1899
11/8/09 at 1:29pm
LG Dare. It's like going from not having a dick to having a dick AND getting laid.

And the Droid is definitely intuitive, so I think it's just a matter of her being used to Verizon's cripple-OS.
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post #7 of 1899
11/8/09 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
Jake, I did have some connection issues yesterday morning when I tried to get on Google and certain internet sites. The message said to "try again later" or something of the sort. I know Verizon's site was down for a period of time yesterday. I couldn't connect on VCAST even with my old phone.

And, yeah, the Google Maps/GPS is AMAZING. I also bought a car mount phone holder that acts as a GPS monitor. Haven't tried it yet, but when driving long distances to places I'm not familiar with it'll come in handy.

This is my first smart phone. I previously had a Samsung FlipShot SCH-U900, so this is a huge jump for me. I'm glad I waited until Verizon finally got their act together about getting on board with an Android design.

What I was really concerned about was carrying the DROID around in my pocket. I wasn't sure if it would be too bulky and/or heavy, but it fits in my back/side pocket like a charm and feels pretty light, actually. This phone is constructed with the utmost care, but is light as a feather.
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post #8 of 1899
11/9/09 at 10:53am
I'm sitting here hoping I don't miss the FedEx guy when he buzzes my apartment this morning. I'm coming from an EnV2. KungfumonkeyMike, I'm sure your mother-in-law is just getting used to the Droid--Verizon's OS for their dumbphones is about as clunky and unintuitive as it gets. I'll eat my Droid if it somehow works less intuitively than that mess.
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post #9 of 1899
11/9/09 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Floyd View Post
I'll eat my Droid if it somehow works less intuitively than that mess.
Haha. You might want to order out for lunch, because this definitely isn't a problem. I don't remember right offhand, but the ENV2 wasn't touch-capable, was it? I had the Dare, which was, and it was almost as agonizing as the original EnV.
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post #10 of 1899
11/9/09 at 11:14am
No, it's not touch-capable. It does have a very nice hardware keyboard, actually. It just takes a minimum of eight button presses (using the Message shortcut) to get to the text box of a text message. I don't have the slightest clue how to use the music player on it either.

My roommate had a Dare and loathed it.
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post #11 of 1899
11/9/09 at 12:14pm
I have an iPhone and a Droid. I just got rid of a Blackberry Storm to get the Droid. There is NO comparison between the Storm and the Droid. I wish the Droid had a unified inbox like the Storm (e-mail, texts, IMs, and facebook messages all in one inbox is great - the android "drawer" is a poor substitute), but the Droid is so superior in every other sense that it's practically comical.

As for droid v. iphone, it's a toss up. Because Gmail and Google Talk are integral parts of my day, I'm leaning towards the Droid as my favorite. But, if you're not that married to Google Services, the iphone has a lot of advantages. The lack of media savvy may end up hurting the Droid by comparison.

Oh, and the screen...so BEAUTIFUL.
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post #12 of 1899
11/9/09 at 12:19pm
I plan on getting this in the Spring. I want to wait a few months for the kinks to work out.
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post #13 of 1899
11/9/09 at 12:44pm
Speakin' of which, if someone's got a Google Talk invite I'll gladly take it off your hands or perform some bizarre, borderline acrobatic sexual task for it.
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post #14 of 1899
11/9/09 at 12:55pm
Google Talk or Google Wave?

What apps do you guys use so far?

Twidroid is solid for Twitter, Nesoid is a great emulator (though the phone is not great for gaming), Greed is the absolute BEST Google Reader app I've ever seen. Other than that, the great stuff seems to be few and far between.
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post #15 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:07pm
Talk! I already have Wave.

My current apps list:
Twidget (I wanted the Twitter widget on my Home page and couldn't figure out how to get Twidroid to do that - is it in Pro?)
Advanced Task Killer
Slacker Radio
Pandora
ASTRO
EBuddy (which is kind of awful, going to delete it and just go with MyAim)
NewsRob (Google Reader)
DaraIRC

NewsRob is okay, but I'll give Greed a shot too.
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post #16 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:12pm
What is ASTRO?

Also, I have to be honest, this phone fucking chews through batteries like nothing I've ever seen.
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post #17 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:17pm
ASTRO is a file management program that's gotten pretty solid reviews - I grabbed it because I got so used to programs like FileZ on the Treo that I figured a backup would be good.

What all do you have set to sync? I have manual sync for pretty much everything and it's all going pretty well. Also, if I'd stop screwing around with it, my batteries would last longer.
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post #18 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:19pm
I pretty much let everything go auto. I prefer it that way (and I don't really have that much running). I think that Google really needs to code their own file manager and process controller, because the current system is a bit arcane.
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post #19 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:22pm
To those that have the phone...

How's the battery life?

What kind of phone/data plan do you have?
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post #20 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
I pretty much let everything go auto. I prefer it that way (and I don't really have that much running). I think that Google really needs to code their own file manager and process controller, because the current system is a bit arcane.
Yeah, having that limited access to it through the Settings menu is kind of ridiculous. I'd love to let everything run auto, too, but I remember what it was like on my Treo to do all that - totally murdered the battery. Plus I have to do occasional run-arounds at the hospital and don't really want it to sound like I have a Furby in my pants while I'm just waiting on a call.
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post #21 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:32pm
The mute function on the home screen is nice, though.

I think I'm going to buy the dock today. It's too cool. If my car didn't have navigation, I'd buy the car kit, too.
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post #22 of 1899
11/9/09 at 1:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
The mute function on the home screen is nice, though.
How do I do that? I'm missing something.
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post #23 of 1899
11/9/09 at 2:59pm
I may have been unclear, because I was really talking about the Unlock Screen. But, when you turn the screen on, you can swipe to the right to unlock the screen. However, if you swipe from Right to Left, you automatically mute the phone. It's handy, though not as good as an actual mute button.
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post #24 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:02pm
Oh yeah, got that. I set up my phone to where you have to draw a pattern through the nine dots in order to unlock it because that "slide it sideways" unlocking thing strikes me as way too easy.
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post #25 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:04pm
Alright, my turn: HOW YOU DOES THAT?
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post #26 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:09pm
Home page > Menu > Settings > Location and Security Settings > Screen Unlock Pattern.
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post #27 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:13pm
That is damn interesting. This is a phone with a lot of little rewards to offer if you dig in.

Not among them: the Facebook widget. What a piece of garbage.
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post #28 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
Not among them: the Facebook widget. What a piece of garbage.
It's eye-rapingly gigantic, pretty ugly, and hasn't updated since I put it on my home page yesterday. Useless. Hopefully they'll get it fixed quickly.

Does Twidroid have a widget feature that I'm missing somewhere?
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post #29 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:30pm
No, it doesn't. Kind of baffling. Now I'm running Twidgit AND Twidroid.

I have to say, conceptually, widgets are a great idea. But, outside of things like weather, stock quotes, and scores, I'm not sure they're going to be incredibly useful for the way I use my phone.

Also, I think it's worth mentioning that AmazonMP3 is just as awesome on a phone as it is on a computer. And the fact that the marketplace gives you a refund if you uninstall a paid program is pretty much just amazing.
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post #30 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
And the fact that the marketplace gives you a refund if you uninstall a paid program is pretty much just amazing.
WHAT? Holy shit.
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post #31 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:33pm
You know, this is making me think I should pick up the Android dev-kit again. Developing for a multi-device OS certainly seems better than getting locked in to Apple (and having to do development in Objective C). Plus, I don't have a Mac at the moment so I couldn't do iPhone development anyway.
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post #32 of 1899
11/9/09 at 3:56pm
Please do, because there are very few good apps (particularly games) available on the thing.
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post #33 of 1899
11/9/09 at 4:01pm
Also, if you're looking for discussion and so forth, this forum has a wealth of info. Almost to the point of being oversaturated.
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post #34 of 1899
11/9/09 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
Talk!
I suck, wasn't caffeinated enough, no wonder your reaction was borderline "wtf is he on about?"

I meant Google Voice.

EDIT: Speaking of Google Talk, though, is there any way to link my AIM and MSN accounts to it so I can just use that? Using these third-party IM apps is like having cigarettes put out on my dick.
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post #35 of 1899
11/9/09 at 4:37pm
I do, in fact, have a google voice invite. PM me.
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post #36 of 1899
11/10/09 at 12:29am
Thread Starter 
One of the coolest apps I discovered today: i Music. You can download an enormous amount of mp3s on your phone and use them as ringtones. There's also Ringdroid, where you can record ringtones using the speaker. This is all free, mind you. Each and every time. Amazing. You can also splice which parts of songs you want to use as your ringtone.

I was kinda bummed when I found out that the DROID didn't support VCAST, but these two apps have made me a happy dude.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD
And the fact that the marketplace gives you a refund if you uninstall a paid program is pretty much just amazing.
Wow. I second Jake's "Holy shit."
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post #37 of 1899
11/10/09 at 12:35am
My only major complaint is still the camera as well as uploading images via the Facebook app (they're all TINY), but apparently the camera's gonna be fixed via an OTA update on December 11th, so I can live with that. And from what I remember, the iPhone Facebook app was shit when it first kicked off, so I'm sure it'll be fixed too.
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post #38 of 1899
11/10/09 at 10:50am
I asked the DROID to navigate me to the nearest White Castle and it did. I AM LIVING IN THE FUTURE
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post #39 of 1899
11/10/09 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Floyd View Post
I asked the DROID to navigate me to the nearest White Castle and it did. I AM LIVING IN THE FUTURE
But how well does it pick up on a slurred voice?!?!
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post #40 of 1899
11/10/09 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Abed View Post
One of the coolest apps I discovered today: i Music. You can download an enormous amount of mp3s on your phone and use them as ringtones. There's also Ringdroid, where you can record ringtones using the speaker. This is all free, mind you. Each and every time. Amazing. You can also splice which parts of songs you want to use as your ringtone.
So, I Music has to be just FLAGRANTLY illegal, right? I want it, but I'm also a bit scared of it.
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post #41 of 1899
11/10/09 at 12:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
But how well does it pick up on a slurred voice?!?!
Sounds like an experiment. For science!

Seriously though, the voice recognition is amazing.
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post #42 of 1899
11/10/09 at 12:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Floyd View Post
I asked the DROID to navigate me to the nearest White Castle and it did. I AM LIVING IN THE FUTURE
We truly live in a new golden age.
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post #43 of 1899
11/10/09 at 12:51pm
My mom is still in the dark ages as far as her cell phone goes, and has been wanting a new phone for a long time. She won't go to AT&T for the iPhone, which I don't blame her, so I am thinking about getting her a Droid for Christmas.

So, my question is, is Android 2.0 easy to navigate and work with, especially for a mid-50s technonub? The one thing I like about the iPhone is my mom can easily work the app store and all the apps, but she was confused by the layout of Android 1.0 on my sister's G1.
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post #44 of 1899
11/10/09 at 12:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyG View Post
My mom is still in the dark ages as far as her cell phone goes, and has been wanting a new phone for a long time. She won't go to AT&T for the iPhone, which I don't blame her, so I am thinking about getting her a Droid for Christmas.

So, my question is, is Android 2.0 easy to navigate and work with, especially for a mid-50s technonub? The one thing I like about the iPhone is my mom can easily work the app store and all the apps, but she was confused by the layout of Android 1.0 on my sister's G1.
I guess it's easy enough to handle the phone and e-mail functions, but android is not super intuitive for new users. It's a hybrid of iPhone and Blackberry techniques, so if you're familiar with smartphones, it's second nature. Do I think my mom would "get" it? Probably not, and she's fairly computer savvy.
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post #45 of 1899
11/10/09 at 1:00pm
Hmm disconcerting. When ya'll picked yours up did Verizon have a demo out?
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post #46 of 1899
11/10/09 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
I guess it's easy enough to handle the phone and e-mail functions, but android is not super intuitive for new users. It's a hybrid of iPhone and Blackberry techniques, so if you're familiar with smartphones, it's second nature. Do I think my mom would "get" it? Probably not, and she's fairly computer savvy.
Yeah, this. My mom's really technologically inept to the point that I almost just told her "Fuck it, get a Jitterbug" when she was looking for phones that were "simple" because she didn't like all the menus. Something like this would probably give her a nervous breakdown.
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post #47 of 1899
11/10/09 at 1:02pm
It's not to say that it's user-unfriendly, it's just that there's SO MUCH phone here. If she just wants to text and make calls while sending the occasional e-mail, maybe try the Droid Eris? The interface is supposed to be a bit more intuitive, and it's $100 cheaper.

But, yeah, there are tons of demos in the store.
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post #48 of 1899
11/10/09 at 1:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
So, I Music has to be just FLAGRANTLY illegal, right? I want it, but I'm also a bit scared of it.
Ha! There's actually a "warning" right before you download the app. In essence, it says to immediately delete the files once you use them. I was a bit scared, too, actually. Just cover your tracks (no pun intended).
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post #49 of 1899
11/11/09 at 11:38am
I was being cute with the White Castle trip before, but seriously the Maps/Nav/voice search integration is unreal. By far the most impressive thing about this sucker.

After two days, the battery is juuuuuust about making it from morning to night, but I was abusing it last night with an extended IM conversation and general fucking around. After the novelty wears off you can probably squeeze 24 - 36 hours between recharges.
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post #50 of 1899
11/11/09 at 11:45am
Same here with the battery. I've been dicking around with various apps, Meebo, DaraIRC, and decided to go ahead and plunk down for the Where's My Droid app since I'm notorious for leaving my shit on vibrate/silent and then promptly losing it.
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