users comments on various android cell phone implementations

[woodsmoke]

Hi
I started a thread like this at another forum, the thread is long gone, that was, basically, a commentary on the android operating system on a cell phone and also comments on different applications on the system with which various users had experience. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

So, I thought I would try it here.

Please remember:

a) the comments should be from your personal experience
b) please name the "version" of the Android OS, you can find it in about phone or maybe just "the latest version as of this date" or "this version is probably two years old".
c) name the phone itself because there are different "versions" of the basic version.

and, if there are no takers, the mods can feel free to remove the thread.

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

Re: usrs comments on various android cell phone implementations

I'll give an example:

This is on the absolute latest version of Verizon Samsung Galaxy S running the Android OS.

Three good things:

a) Voice dial works extremely well, it learns your commands, and they are simple like "call Johnny" and after you teach it whether you want mobil or house or whatever, it works very easily and naturally.
a 1) as a subset of this voice "messaging" is quirky in how it sometimes interprets what you say, but then is almost jaw dropping about how it correctly messages complicated words.

b) although I can get "on" inside my college building in the basement, for some reason, it will drop service completely outside the building, so part good, part bad.

c) Google Maps and "Places" used to be separate apps, of which I have used both extensively traveling across several states and they work as promised. Now they are bundled, when you download maps Places comes along with it. It is very good, there is a menu of things like restaurants, hotels etc. you pick what you want get directions, reviews, etc.

Of course if the "place" has not placed itself in the system or if someone, like a customer, has not done it, then it is not, of course, in the system.

Two bad things.

a) There are apps, such as NFL Madden 11 football game trial on it that one cannot get rid of so I moved them to the very last screen.
b) Some apps, like Skype, which you cannot uninstall and cannot change "settings" for ..always want to try to run in the background even though you did not turn it on. One has to go through settings applications, running and tap it to turn it off.
Apps running in the background will drain the battery more quickly.
If anyone has a way to get rid of the thing, I'd be glad to hear of it.

woodsmoke

[67GTA]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

I've been wondering about this subject. I am going to be in the market for a smart phone this year, and was wondering which phone to choose based on openness. I hate having to hack my phone just to browse the files, etc. I read recently that HTC was going to ship their phones with unlocked bootloaders to make it easier to run what ever you wanted on them. Then you have each company putting their own spins on android it's self, so which ones let you update android manually?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

I just wandered over here and saw this thread; I'm surprised it's not busy!

I have a Motorola Bravo phone, running Android 2.2.1. When I was planning to buy a smart phone, I--as a die-hard, Linux-only person--specifically looked only at Android phones. The Bravo seemed like everything I wanted, so I bought it. I'm very pleased with it and recommend it to others. It's small, which is what I wanted, but there are times I'd like it to be bigger--like when I'm playing games on it.

For my purposes it does everything I need. I rarely use it as a phone--I have AT&T and get absolutely ZERO bars when I'm at home--but when I do its sound quality is very good. I use it much more for things like watching the live feeds from Big Brother, playing games, and listening to music, all of which it does spectacularly well.

[woodsmoke]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

lol you don't use your phone much as a phone! ...kind of like some of my students! thanks for the post!
woodsmoke

[dibl]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

I'm a proud owner of a 2003 Motorola Razr phone, and a service plan that costs a little over $30 per month, including fees and taxes.

However, I was ogling the Samsung Nexus S, with Android, the other day, and I must say it's tempting. The only part holding me back is that it will double my monthly cost, even if I don't get carried away with extra services.

[bra|10n]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

After crushing the screen on my old Nokia I had to buy a phone reasonably quickly and went with an LG-P350 clam running Android 2.2.1.
It all works well but its battery life could be better.
Pardon my ignorance here, but tethering to a PC was something I anticipated being a relatively simple task. Not so!
To my dismay the bundled PC software required to do this properly was Mac/Windows only
I don't know if this is just LG that does this or other manufacturers too.
So I'm left with just dumping files to a 'Downloads' folder and having to manually move everything.
When I think of the running app's on this phone (mostly not required), it's difficult to call it a smart phone.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

lol you don't use your phone much as a phone! ...kind of like some of my students! thanks for the post!
woodsmoke

Yep, it's true. I use it for everything imaginable...except as a phone! I keep it connected to my wireless network at home, so I have full use of its Internet-related features without worrying about usage overages. I did actually use it as a phone today! I had a doctor appointment, and when I went outside my car's battery was dead. (I hadn't driven since the first week of May due to illness...and I forgot to start the car up...and its battery was dead. *sigh*) Anyway, I managed to get enough of a signal in my driveway to make a call to Allstate Motor Club, and they came and jumped the battery and I was off to my appointment.

[woodsmoke]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

Hi guys!

Nice comments both!

I recently went from the "original" android to a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S.

I'm not really stuck on any particular photo manager and when I tethered the phone, Fspot took over and "saw" 1,259 "SUB-files" that were, I guess, connected to other things on the phone! Offered to download all of them! woah!

However I closed F-spot, and as bra noted did a manual search and found the DCIM folder on the phone and there were the images that i had taken, which I could manually transfer through the tether.

two notes:

a) I can easily move photos using the phone with my g-mail account.

b) it is possible that Picasa would automatically handle this. Don't know, possibly someone that uses Picasa could comment.

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

I picked up a T-Mobile G1 the day it came out. As soon as people figured out to root it, I did the same to mine and went through a number of OS upgrades by flashing several ROMs. I followed the same pattern with the T-Mobile G2, which I'm currently using. I've flashed various versions of Android that include HTC's Sense UI, but it's way too heavy for me. I'm not into constant social networking nor am I addicted to blingy weather animations (um, I look out the window?). I used MIUI for a while also -- fast, lean, kind of iPhone-ish, and lots of configurability. Right now, though, after being away from it for a while, I've gone back to CyanogenMod 7. I flash from the daily builds, usually every other week or so.

By far the best place to learn about Android, find out how to root and flash your phone, and obtain alternate OS builds is the XDA Developers site. Their wiki is thorough and their forums are very active. From there I learned how to root my G1, my G2, and my Nook Color. Like many online communities, the forums aren't without drama; while most people are helpful, some truly mean bastards lurk there and seem to enjoy criticizing the work upon which they freeload. People occasionally take their balls and go home (i.e., some other forum) only to return a few weeks later. Developers eventually move on to newer phones, and those left behind express outrage at feeling slighted. Nevertheless, it's the place to go for all things Android.

Once you root your phone -- which really you have to do if you want to take control of it away from your telco -- certain tools will help bond your relationship with the little green robot.

• Titanium Backup. Besides backing up full partitions and the entire OS (useful if you hork a flash or want to return to some other build), this app is essential for deleting carrier bloat or anything else you don't want.
• AutoStarts or AutoRun Manager. Android exposes "intents" that applications can hook. Whenever one of these intents fires, a hooked application will load. Frequently these are unnecessary. For example, apps that want to run at boot will hook the "BootReceiver" intent. If you don't want an app to run at boot, you need to unhook the intent. Either of these utilities will do the job. Caution: you can render your phone unbootable if you go crazy unhooking stuff! You can always reflash to get out of a jam, though. Or you can ask me -- I'm pretty familiar with these babies by now. Judiciously unhooking certain hogs (like Google Maps) from some intents will prolong your battery life.
• Rom Manager. Allows you to view and download most ROMs for your device (if the dev consents to having it listed). More importantly, it's the easiest way to install the Android recovery utility. Recovery mode is what allows you to back up your ROM, flash a new one, or restore an old one.
• Watchdog Task Manager. Older Android versions kind of sucked at memory management. Combine that with low amounts of RAM in older phones and you end up with a need for a task killer of some kind. Phones these days have plenty of RAM and current Android (Froyo and later) manage memory pretty well, so there's no longer a need for task killers (some people still argue this point; don't -- running a task killer now will surely exhaust your battery). That said, some apps misbehave in other ways, either running too often or consuming too much background data. Watchdog helps you identify these outliers and take corrective action.
• SuperUser. Android has no sudo -- it's an su-based OS. Apps that manipulate the OS need to su to root. Fortunately, every developer includes a superuser utility in his build, so you don't need to install this on your own.
• Root Explorer. Android lacks a file manager. The market overflows with choices; don't waste your time with any of the others. You'll feel right at home with Root Explorer because it follows Linux paradigms best. You have complete control over all files on every partition, you can edit text files, and you can view SQLite databases (SQLite is all over Android). Root Explorer is a critical element in any customizer's toolkit. Since I abhor ringtones of all kinds, one of the first things I do after every flash is purge the bloody noisemakers from /system/media/audio.
• SetCPU. Most Android kernels include a variety of governors. You'll need some way to select between them and adjust CPU frequencies, though. CyanogenMod 7 has basic governor control. If you want more flexibility, you'll need an external utility. You can configure separate profiles which help extend battery life. For example, I've set the default governor to on-demand with a minimum frequency of 245 MHz and a maximum of 960 MHz. I have a screen-off profile that uses the conservative governor with a minimum frequency of 245 MHz and a maximum of 368 MHz -- no sense burning a hole in my pocket.
• Terminal Emulator. Get the one by Jack Palevich (the other is garbage). Your Android phone is a Linux-like computer, so of course you need a command prompt! Nothing like a white $ on an empty blue background shows the world your true geekness. Some ROMs already include this.
• Wi-Fi. Not an app, just something good to do. If you're at home or work or a hotel or Amtrak or wherever there's wireless, use it! The wireless radio consumes less power than the cellular radio for active data communications. If you're in an area where there's no wireless, though, prolong your battery life by disabling wi-fi.
• Tethering. Most non-carrier ROMs include a built-in tethering app that works over wi-fi and bluetooth. You can turn your phone into a wi-fi hotspot. To keep fellow bus passengers from mooching off your data plan, be sure to enable WPA2. Carriers are getting smart about this, though, and can detect when you're tethered (probably by measuring data volumes per minute, it's far easier to generate traffic on a full-size laptop). Some carriers throttle you when you tether, others don't care (thank you, T-Mo).
• Widgets. This is one thing I'm mildly critical of. Widgets are mini apps that you place on your home screen for reading news, displaying photo frames, gathering weather info, and just about anything else you might imagine. They devour memory and electrons and bandwidth faster than many people realize. Avoid the temptation to tart up your screen with widgets, because usually you'll find yourself heading into the full app anyway. I use only two: Smooth Calendar to display my next appointment (because the default Android calendar widget is flat ugly) and Aix Weather to view a rolling 24-hour precipitation prediction.

Most of what I've listed here comes in free and paid versions. Free versions are often ad-supported and sometimes have fewer features. I'm partial to the paid versions. Useful Android apps generally range between one and four dollars. People pour vast hours into creating amazing apps, I believe they should reap reward from their efforts. So if you can afford it, I'd encourage you to get the paid versions of apps you use regularly.

Also, remember that Android is a Google product, so you should feel somewhat comfortable living in their world. While I use Gmail and Google Reader and Google Finance, that's my extent of being a Googler. I keep both location trackers (GPS and wi-fi/cell tower) switched off, which mildly reduces my phone's utility. I keep a shortcut on my home screen that takes me to the settings page so I can quickly enable location support when I need it.

And finally, have fun. Be willing to experiment. Rooting your phone and flashing ROMs isn't completely risk-free, of course, but the devs on XDA Developers have managed to figure out how to unbrick some truly borked devices. If you can follow advice well -- don't go deviating away from the listed steps during the rooting process, especially -- you'll learn about a well-executed Linux derivative that's backed by an enormous enthusiastic user community.

[woodsmoke]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

Hi steveriley

GREAT post! I'll probably not root my phone but I WILL remove the widgets on home page! thanks.

woodsmoke

[kjjjjshab]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

Sorry, no experience with this yet, but just noticed this today and thought I'd share:

http://code.google.com/p/android-notifier/

Related blog post

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

I picked up a T-Mobile G1 the day it came out. As soon as people figured out to root it, I did the same to mine

I haven't rooted my phone yet, and don't know when/if I will. It's weird because I have NO FEAR when it comes to computers and *nix; I know that no matter what, no matter how badly I screw things up, I can always fix a *nix computer. I'm totally comfortable at a command line, where I learned how to do everything, including reconfigure the kernel, back in the '80s. But my phone? That's foreign territory! I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up and not be able to fix it, and end up with a pretty black paperweight. I WANT to root it, as I strongly dislike the limitations it has now--like not being able to use my standard set of commands in a terminal--but I'm just worried that I'll irrevocably screw it up...

[SteveRiley]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

But my phone? That's foreign territory! I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up and not be able to fix it, and end up with a pretty black paperweight. I WANT to root it, as I strongly dislike the limitations it has now--like not being able to use my standard set of commands in a terminal--but I'm just worried that I'll irrevocably screw it up...

Rooting isn't the alchemy it appears to be. The pioneers who risk their devices to brickage are the ones who take real risks. Once they document how to do it, the rest of us benefit.

I had never seen Linux before I bought my G1. So not only was I learning the OS, I was also learning how to override boot sectors, install recovery partitions, and flash ROMs. Surely most of us here can follow step-by-step directions, no? Just head the XDA wiki page about your phone, read read read, and then give it a try. Once you unlock your Android, you'll come to appreciate how flexible the little guy really is. You'll wonder why you waited.

[dibl]

Re: users comments on various android cell phone implementations

@steveriley, thank you for posting this excellent information!