Just got the phone, have a few questions

[iceman718]

Hey guys, I just picked up the Captivate on Friday from Costco for $150. I had been reading these forums quite a bit before I bought, so I knew pretty well what I was getting myself into, but I do have a couple questions.

1. One of the first things I did (instead of a factory reset which I forgot to do) was setup my email using the default email client. There were dozens of messages on the server for it to download, and it started doing it. Most of them I had already seen, so I immediately began to mark them as read and send them to the deleted items folder. I did about 25 at a time, and it just took forever. I'd normally never have to deal with that many at one time, but I figured it'd be faster. Like it took maybe 25 seconds to mark them as read, and even more to delete them. Is this a phone issue or a stock email client issue? I know most people don't like the stock one, so I'll probably try another in the future.

2. I have 2 email accounts set up, and when viewing the screen that lets me choose which inbox I want to look at, it has wrong numbers out to the side of one of them. It shows 0/25 when there are only 4 messages in my inbox. Any way to fix this?

3. When creating shortcuts to apps on my home screen, it takes quite a while to load the list of applications to choose from. The phone seems pretty fast everywhere else - scrolling, launching apps, browser, etc so this lag and the email lag really stand out. This doesn't even seem like something that one of the 'lag fixes' would help. Or is it? Anyone else experience something similar, especially if you have a lot of apps?

4. Is there any way to change the icon labels on the home screen? Instead of Music Player, for example, I'd just like it to say Music, so the last part of the word doesn't get cut off.

5. Would you recommend doing one of the ext2/3/4 lag fixes? I see almost everyone notices a great improvement, but I've read that ext2 can lead to file corruption and ext3/4 are bad for your memory. Anything else I should do to speed things up?

I'll probably have more later, but if you guys could help me out with these questions, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Loremonger]

1. I only use Gmail, so I actually deleted the stock client hoping I could put Gmail on the dock instead. It didn't work, btw.

2. See number 1.

3. I've noticed the same thing on my phone. Not sure why, but I was assuming it's normal.

4. The quick answer is, probably. I'm actually using Launcherpro, which I highly recommend. Customizable dock. Zoom out to all 7 homescreens. Vertical scrolling in the app drawer. Awesome widgets if you unlock the paid version. The homescreen apps don't have labels at all. If you wanted to keep the TWLauncher, you might be able to fiddle with it somehow, but your best bet is to look into other launcher apps. (also, Panda Home, aHome, many others).

5. Don't bother. This phone is pretty zippy, though you will have a few hangs here and there. At least wait until after Froyo comes out. After that, I don't think you will see any real-world improvement with those lag fixes. What you WILL see is a process that is hazardous and limits the available space for apps. And higher Quadrant scores. Not worth it, IMHO.

 

[snapper.fishes]

3. It's even longer when you try to load the list of apps in the settings menu. I assume that it really is loading a lot things. A much faster way would be simply to find the app in the app menu, press and hold it, then drop it onto the home screen.

 

[iceman718]

Thanks for the reply. Is Gmail the only mail app that will put a little bubble of how many new messages you have on the icon? I really like that feature, but I have a school-specific email and my personal verizon email and I don't really want to have everything forwarded to a Gmail account. Also, is LauncherPro the only way to have this same new message bubble on the text message icon?

Re: #3/4 I've been messing with the TouchWiz launcher, LauncherPro, and ADW Launcher. I just began testing ADW this morning and there was no lag opening the application list to add a shortcut.

.... actually just kidding. This morning none of the launchers have any lag when adding an app shortcut.

So far I think I'm liking LauncherPro the best. I was about to complain about there being too much vertical space between icons when removing icon labels, but then I remembered the option to add an extra row and now it's great.

Now I'd just like a good, small [free] weather widget. I don't want one with a huge clock on it, since there's already one on the notification bar.

 

[ardyer]

1. I only use Gmail, so I actually deleted the stock client hoping I could put Gmail on the dock instead. It didn't work, btw.

Are you sure you did it right, because it worked for me.

 

[ewingr]

For the apps/icons/names....there are a couple solutions. The one that stands out for me is Apps Organizer. Must faster folders than native folders, and customizable names and icons.

 

[iceman718]

Downloading Apps Organizer now. Another question:

When I open the contacts app or contacts from the phone app, it displays what I want (only phone contacts or only SIM contacts) but in the text messaging app, it displays both, which is really annoying since it will show two of everthing... one from the phone memory and one from the SIM. Any way to change this?

Also, any way to have the number of new messages bubble appear at the top right of the stock email (i.e. not GMail) icon?

...

So Apps Organizer seems nice, but is there a way to change the label for a single icon? I haven't decided if I like home screen icons with or without labels yet, so for example I'd like to make the Music Player app just say Music. With the organizer, all I can seem to do is create a folder labeled Music with one app in it - Music Player.

 

[Loremonger]

Are you sure you did it right, because it worked for me.

Cool. How did you do it? I was approaching it as an old iPhone user, so I was just trying to drag the Gmail icon to the dock. Then I went to Launcherpro, so I haven't messed with it since then.

 

[iceman718]

Another question along the same lines.. any somewhat easy way to change app icons? I don't want to just create folders with different icons and labels and stuff, but change the actual app icon/label. Possible?

 

[jfLip]

Did you upgrade your phone and keep your data plan? And did Costco give you a free accessories bundle?

 

[Dennis_Bham]

Cool. How did you do it? I was approaching it as an old iPhone user, so I was just trying to drag the Gmail icon to the dock. Then I went to Launcherpro, so I haven't messed with it since then.

When using TW, you must put the app drawer into custom order mode and then you can move any app to the TW dock ...

 

[iceman718]

Did you upgrade your phone and keep your data plan? And did Costco give you a free accessories bundle?

This is my first smartphone so I had no data plan to begin with. And yes, I got a free accessory bundle which included earbud headphones w/mic, carrying case, and car charger.

 

[ardyer]

Cool. How did you do it? I was approaching it as an old iPhone user, so I was just trying to drag the Gmail icon to the dock. Then I went to Launcherpro, so I haven't messed with it since then.

Applications->Settings->View Type->Customizable Grid->Settings->Edit, and the drag the email off and Gmail on should do it.