switched from a iphone to HTC Hero with Android

[rabyburns]

Hi there, i last week took a HTC hero out on contract and switched from my iphone 3g, which i loved dearly reason being i wanted to use spotify to its full potential without having to shutdown etc.

It's definately the best decision i ever took, i absolutely love the android platform and would recomend anyone else thinking of doing the same.

A few question thought i have about the Hero;

1) battery life, seems pretty short? can i buy a better battery without having ot change the back cover? I like the idea of being able to carry a spare?

2)When on the internet/browser it always opens pages zoomed in, i find it pretty hard to use compared to the iphone, can i set it so that it open the page like a normal pc/iphone?

3)And how do i know i'm getting a 3g signal ?

4)Upgrade for Android? How do i get them? I read there is a better version but how do i upgrade it?

thanks in advance

 

[BiGMERF]

welcome to the forum!!!

 

[G8D]

Hi there, i last week took a HTC hero out on contract and switched from my iphone 3g, which i loved dearly reason being i wanted to use spotify to its full potential without having to shutdown etc.

It's definately the best decision i ever took, i absolutely love the android platform and would recomend anyone else thinking of doing the same.

A few question thought i have about the Hero;

1) battery life, seems pretty short? can i buy a better battery without having ot change the back cover? I like the idea of being able to carry a spare?

2)When on the internet/browser it always opens pages zoomed in, i find it pretty hard to use compared to the iphone, can i set it so that it open the page like a normal pc/iphone?

3)And how do i know i'm getting a 3g signal ?

4)Upgrade for Android? How do i get them? I read there is a better version but how do i upgrade it?

thanks in advance

Battery life is miles better than my iPod touch, even with excessive app usage and full brightness.

You can't set this, maybe in the next update or try Dolphin Browser from the Market.

If you are getting 3G it will tell you up the top (it will have 2 arrows bellow it)
Signals work like this H>3G>E>G in order of speed.

This depends what you are on just now, you may be able to upgrade but its nothing amazing (unless you experience lag). Next update will be to 2.1 but as of yet we have no date to expect it.

 

[rabyburns]

Battery life is miles better than my iPod touch, even with excessive app usage and full brightness.

You can't set this, maybe in the next update or try Dolphin Browser from the Market.

If you are getting 3G it will tell you up the top (it will have 2 arrows bellow it)
Signals work like this H>3G>E>G in order of speed.

This depends what you are on just now, you may be able to upgrade but its nothing amazing (unless you experience lag). Next update will be to 2.1 but as of yet we have no date to expect it.

it's really annoying when trying to get online, i spend more time just now trying to zoom in and out, its very slow i think. But its not a big deal in the sense now that i use mostly apps for things rather than the internet, i liked it for BBC news but, engadget seems to hangup when loading..

I wasn't sure if android was like windows and you just upgraded online or something.!

thanks very much for the explanation of the download speed, i was confused. Not to start a iphone v android debate but i think android if leaps ahead of the iphone in many many ways, the fact apps run in the background like spotify is iphone destroyer i think, the widgets are brilliant too!

 

[Xyro]

Try dolphin browser from the market. It has pinch to zoom like an iPhone which is much more convenient.

As for updates, you have to download new versions from HTC (or your mobile network) and install them via a PC. If you go to Settings > About phone and look at your 'Build Number:' the latest version will have 2.73 at the start.

 

[lekky]

1) battery life, seems pretty short? can i buy a better battery without having ot change the back cover? I like the idea of being able to carry a spare?

it depends tbh, but if you listen to spotify a lot then that will drain the battery i would think.

2)When on the internet/browser it always opens pages zoomed in, i find it pretty hard to use compared to the iphone, can i set it so that it open the page like a normal pc/iphone?

Can't help as I've never used the stock browser after finding Steel. Steel is basically the same but much faster and more intuitive, try it out.

3)And how do i know i'm getting a 3g signal ?

The signal bars will say 3G above, when it says H you are in luck as this is even faster than 3G Check out the guide link in my sig as this contains an image explaining all the signals.

4)Upgrade for Android? How do i get them? I read there is a better version but how do i upgrade it?

You haven't updated since you got it? Is the phone branded with a network? This can tell us which update you should apply.

 

[james]

Try dolphin browser from the market. It has pinch to zoom like an iPhone which is much more convenient.

Yeh but.. so does the stock browser..

 

[mmusaji]

You can double tap the screen to zoom in and out. So if page is zoomed in, just double tap screen and it will zoom out.

 

[capuman]

there are a few threads about battery life, have a quick search and you should be able to improve it so you only have to charge every 3 days or so.

Basically dont leave wifi on, turn off the 'enable always on' option and make sure updates to social networks etc only happen every few hours.

 

[randynef]

If I turn off the "enable always on", what am I actually turning off?

 

[bbrosen]

there are a few threads about battery life, have a quick search and you should be able to improve it so you only have to charge every 3 days or so.

Basically dont leave wifi on, turn off the 'enable always on' option and make sure updates to social networks etc only happen every few hours.

Ok why does this os randomly run programs if they are not needed, wanted or used?
Seems a silly waste of resources on an !lready strapped phone.
Why does.the user have so little control over something especially when it can Incr #ata charges

 

[bbrosen]

I did not buy 5his phone to turn off features thats for sure.

 

[rabyburns]

I bought it on Orange, i'm in the UK. I find the web browser hard to use as its always zoomed into pages and isn't that responsive i find compared to my old iphone. I've tried to delete apps i downloaded by holding them then dragging them to delete but they reappear? Am i that dumb? See apps like facebook on android do they update feeds themselves even though im not in the app? if so that's pretty cool

 

[james]

I bought it on Orange, i'm in the UK. I find the web browser hard to use as its always zoomed into pages and isn't that responsive i find compared to my old iphone. I've tried to delete apps i downloaded by holding them then dragging them to delete but they reappear? Am i that dumb? See apps like facebook on android do they update feeds themselves even though im not in the app? if so that's pretty cool

If I understand you correctly, you're talking about the icons on the home screen. Dragging these to delete doesn't delete the program, only the shortcut. To uninstall apps you need to go in 'My Downloads' in the market and uninstall from there.
Apps don't update themselves to new versions, again if you go to 'My Downloads' in the market it will show you if an update is available for an app, then you can install the new version from there.

 

[Xyro]

See apps like facebook on android do they update feeds themselves even though im not in the app? if so that's pretty cool

Apps can run in the background whilst you do something else, so you can set twitter/facebook/email and so on to check for feed updates even when you're viewing another app.

 

[rabyburns]

If I understand you correctly, you're talking about the icons on the home screen. Dragging these to delete doesn't delete the program, only the shortcut. To uninstall apps you need to go in 'My Downloads' in the market and uninstall from there.
Apps don't update themselves to new versions, again if you go to 'My Downloads' in the market it will show you if an update is available for an app, then you can install the new version from there.

i wasn't uninstalling them, that's what the problem was. And its really good having apps running in the backgroud, i like it! Overall i'm really happy with this phone, i'm starting to get used to the browser too, i just hope i don't regret it when the nexus comes to the UK

 

[Bunjiweb]

In regards to the battery life I have noticed mine improve quite a lot since I first got it. I charge it every night for about 6 hours, regardless of the battery life, but I seem to be getting nearly 2 days on a full charge if I need to.

Also I highly suggest putting the wifi on/off and mobile internet on/off widgets on your home screen, When you are at home or in a wifi hotspot you can switch it on, when not you can switch to mobile internet, and when not in need of connection you can disable both. This certainly has an affect on the battery life if well managed. There are also apps like Locale which do this for you via GPS but I prefer to do it myself, after all its not much work...

If you are getting a 3G signal it will say at the top right of the screen with up/download arrows beneath. If you don't see this you either aren't in a 3G area, or have mobile internet disabled.

If you are on Orange, make sure you go to http://www.htc.com/uk/supportdownloadlist.aspx?p_id=283&act=sd&cat=all and get the Orange users ROM upgrade. In the next month there should be another upgrade to Android 2.0 / 2.1, but if you follow these forums you will be sure to know as soon as it arrives.

Ben

 

[Champmoney]

I noticed when i leave wi-fi or mobile internet on all the time my battery drains really fast. I only turn these on when i want them. Makes a big difference.

Yes you'll see the 3G on the top of yr phone. When you see the "H" that runs on the HSPA network. Faster than 3G. If you see an "E" than it's running the EDGE network. Slower than 3G.

Enjoy yr Hero. I know I do.