Droid X

[Guest HerculesCzar]

Got it about an hour ago. Seems really cool, but I was wondering what pro tips droid-owning WATTMers have. I still don't understand how it works.

 

P.S. I write like David Foster Wallace

[Guest Z_B_Z]

ive got a droid.

 

thats about it i dont do much with it but text and check email.

[kaini]

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/07/15/1317205/Droid-X-Self-Destructs-If-You-Try-To-Mod

 

booo, motorola. boooooo

[Guest Gary C]

An App Killer is essential to really close apps after you've used them.

[EnjoyableFog]

I got a Droid. I'm assuming that it'll do much better than my 2.1 version (still waiting for 2.2). I still cannot send mp3 or ringtone attachments via MMS. And sometimes my phone hangs when someone is calling me and i'm trying to slide the 'answer' button over.

 

Yes a task manager of some sort is essential. I use Advance Task Killer.

 

For Xbox users that would like to see if their friends are online I use 1337pwn.com XBOX Live Friends List

 

Sometimes I like to jot down notes like a notepad: AK Notepad

 

I like to have some kind of file manager: ASTRO

 

If you play an instrument and want a tuner I've used gStrings. Its pretty good.

 

Mabilo Ringtones is a good app to get a selection of ringtones.

 

Shazam is another app that is decent to find the name of the song by placing it up to the speaker.

 

And if you are a person that tends to lose your phone, get Where's My Droid app. You can have another person text you with a phrase and that triggers the phone to ring even if you have it on silent.

[Guest HerculesCzar]

Great, I went ahead and downloaded Advance Task Killer.

 

I'm having trouble syncing it up with my computer. When I go into Media Share it says that my memory card is missing. I took the back off and fiddled with the memory card, trying to get it out to have a look at it. I gave up and I'm assuming that has something to do with my problem now. I just want to try taking the sandisk out and putting it back in. How do I make that happen?

[Guest Gary C]

Apps I have:

 

Advanced Task Killer

AIM

Choice of Broadsides (text-based adventure game Iain C suggested this morning)

Fish Food (really addictive, try it. My high score is 20k+)

Gameboid (Gameboy Advance Emulator, £3, with Mario Kart, Pokemon and WarioWareInc downloaded on my laptop and then saved on the SD card)

Goggles (take pictures of stuff and it gives you information about the item)

Google Sky Map (rarely used, but an interesting idea on starry nights)

Jewels (connect the jewels game)

Newton (£2, really tricky trajectory/gravity game)

 

When linking up to your computer, keep an eye on your phone. An option will pop-up asking what you want the device to act as.

[QBLA]

i'm due for a new phone... this will probably be the one for me.

[Guest HerculesCzar]

I told it USB mass storage. Is that correct? I just want to drag stuff and put it on my phone.

[Guest Gary C]

I told it USB mass storage. Is that correct? I just want to drag stuff and put it on my phone.

 

I have a HTC and that works for me. There are only ever 3 choices for me though, HTC Sync (using the program, which is crap), USB device or battery charging.

[Guest HerculesCzar]

Okay, good. How do I take the SD card out?

[Guest Z_B_Z]

take the back off. thats how it works with mine anyway

[Guest HerculesCzar]

Got it. Now is there any trick to getting my mac to recognize the droid once it's plugged into the USB outlet?

[chaosmachine]

task killers are a waste of time, there's no need for it.

 

http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

[Guest Gary C]

Okay. Instruction manual.

[Guest Gary C]

task killers are a waste of time, there's no need for it.

 

http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

 

Interesting, I might delete my Task Killer for a while and see if I notice anything running more smoothly.

I tend to do something on my phone and instinctively run a App wipe before I put it back on standby.

 

In the past couple of weeks my phone has almost completely reset itself a couple of times. Not turning itself off and on, but just reloading all my e-mails, weather, text messages and bookmarks again.

 

Maybe not fucking around with App Killer would stop that.

[Brandi_B]

I've got a droid, the lg ally running the latest droid os. But I wants a droid x, i guess they are out now *goes to the store*. I love the thing. I've played with many iphones, and other phones. Droid is where it's at.

[kaen]

unless anything better from htc comes out before sept ill be upgrading from a se c905 to an htc desire

[kokoon]

Desire user here, Hero before that. That new motorola looks good. I'm very happy with the Desire, can't wait for froyo!!!

 

You don't need to use task killers on android, unless some app gets stuck. But definitely not to "close every application".

[BCM]

Got it. Now is there any trick to getting my mac to recognize the droid once it's plugged into the USB outlet?

 

I suspect herein lies your problem - you're using a mac. don't get me wrong - I have a mac and love it, but I have found problems getting it to recognise non-apple external devices... you might need some kind of firmware update or something... seriously though, if you own a mac and want a smartphone, you're best off choosing an iPhone... I know this will annoy a lot of people, but unfortunately that's just how it is...

[bubbhasdance]

Stinks about Droid X's security measures, though. I mean, come on:

 

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/14/droid-x-actually-self-destructs-if-you-try-to-mod-it/

[plstik]

games:

- robot defense

- shoot u!

 

useful:

- juice defender, safes a LOT of your battery life, unless you have to be online 24hrs. My GT-9000 now lasts up to 3 days instead of 1 1/2.

- swype, makes typing on a touchscreen way easier/faster

[Guest heliumbaboon]

This is what I've learned after a week of Evoing. If you tag your Google Reader podcasts as 'Listen Subscriptions' they appear in the Listen app. You can stream them whenever & won't need to sync to iTunes or anything. Subsonic is great for streaming your home computer's music into your phone. Slidescreen is a very slick homescreen replacement, but the Facebook feed is broken right now. Layar is a rad AR thingy. Other cool stuff: Springpad for notes, Slacker for internet radio, Drop7 for puzzling, Vignette for hipster camera filters, Google Sky Map for stargazing. I second that emotion about Swype being awesome for typing.

 

It's great that the Market lets you refund apps withing the 1st 24 hours. I've done that a ton already.

[sysyphus]

just fyi for you android noobs - previous android phones have had countermeasures to ensure the recovery partition is not modified. this is no different. just like everything else involving android, it will be cracked, rooted, custom recovery, and there will be roms. don't believe the 0-day assnews of the world. i rooted an evo 4g last weekend and it took 4 hours to circumvent the stupid ass htc recovery in adb shell. GOOD TIMES

 

edit: more info http://bit.ly/9g37cP

[bubbhasdance]

just fyi for you android noobs - previous android phones have had countermeasures to ensure the recovery partition is not modified. this is no different. just like everything else involving android, it will be cracked, rooted, custom recovery, and there will be roms. don't believe the 0-day assnews of the world. i rooted an evo 4g last weekend and it took 4 hours to circumvent the stupid ass htc recovery in adb shell. GOOD TIMES

 

edit: more info http://bit.ly/9g37cP

 

Of courze, but many rooting teams have refused to work on this one out of principle, so it will just take a bit longer for people with no rooting know-how. All I'm saying honey :)