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Help New Bionic Owner/Android User looking for help and advice

Oscello

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Jan 9, 2012
2
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I just got my first smart phone yesterday and to be honest I'm a bit overwhelmed by it. I am surprised by the lack of a users manual that comes with these things and also by the "helpful " videos.

My first concern with getting a smart phone was the battery life. Obviously I will no longer be able to go a week without charging my phone but I was a bit worried by all of the 4g phone reviews mentioning the terrible battery life. So as soon as I got my phone, I turned on the Power Control widget. But I'm not sure what each of the 5 buttons are. I think they go in this order from left to right 1. Wi-Fi 2. Bluetooth 3. GPS (I think) 4. not sure 5. Screen Brightness.

Once that was done, I removed a lot of the unwanted icons from the home screen and customized it to fit my needs. All that is currently on my home screen is the power management widget mentioned earlier, Quick contacts, Gmail, Voice mail, Browser, and data usage. Which brings me to my next question. Why are so many things running when I look at the manage apps screen? All I have to do is power up my phone and I have the following running.
Data Manager Service
Settings (its open)
Text messaging (im not sending one)
Weather (The widget is not open)
backup assistant (what is it?)
Google services (what is it?)
IM (I have not set this up and I dont think I ever will)
Sync Service
Market (not open)
Voice command (I have not ever used voice commands)
File (Why is this a process and a service?)
Preset (what is it?)
Multi-Touch Keyboard (I guess this is the touch screen itself?)
Maps (seems to like to use the battery so I always stop it)

Nothing is running so I have no clue why all of this is loaded and in the running section.

Also when I did turn on the weather widget and tried to enter my zip code the city service was not running so it would not complete the setup. I have no clue what its talking about so I don't know how to fix it. I restarted the phone and it worked.

I also do not understand the market and the warnings that are shown before downloading an app. Are these related to one time use or does a flashlight actually need full internet access? How do I tell which Apps require internet access to use them and which just require internet access to download them?

My last question would be where would you recommend I look for some Android 101 reading. I don't know what I'm looking for so its hard to search a forum but I would like to learn more about why the phone does what it does and how to fix it. I feel like you need to be a computer engineer to know what to do or just simply not care about what is being transmitted and why.

Sorry for the Rant/Questions but this is all new to me. Thanks in advance for the help, its a big step to upgrade to a Bionic from a G'zone.
 
I just got my first smart phone yesterday and to be honest I'm a bit overwhelmed by it. I am surprised by the lack of a users manual that comes with these things and also by the "helpful " videos.

My first concern with getting a smart phone was the battery life. Obviously I will no longer be able to go a week without charging my phone but I was a bit worried by all of the 4g phone reviews mentioning the terrible battery life. So as soon as I got my phone, I turned on the Power Control widget. But I'm not sure what each of the 5 buttons are. I think they go in this order from left to right 1. Wi-Fi 2. Bluetooth 3. GPS (I think) 4. not sure 5. Screen Brightness.

Number 4 is autosync. If you turn that off, your Google account sync (calendars, gmail if you are using a gmail account, contacts, Google+, Google Books, etc.) will stop automatically syncing, and will instead sync on demand. Other apps will also stop syncing - I think all of the social apps (Facebook, Twitter) that you set up in settings->accounts. This actually does save a lot of battery, though, honestly, one reason why I carry a smartphone is so that I can get these things updated when they change. That may not be so important to you.

By the way, if you have access to WiFi at home/work/etc., use that for networking - it uses less battery than mobile data (both LTE and 3G).

I leave the GPS radio on myself - it only uses battery when an app that uses GPS calls on the service. Leaving it on in the power control widget merely says that it is ok to use it in an app like Maps. Bluetooth, however, I toggle on only when I am using it.

Once that was done, I removed a lot of the unwanted icons from the home screen and customized it to fit my needs. All that is currently on my home screen is the power management widget mentioned earlier, Quick contacts, Gmail, Voice mail, Browser, and data usage. Which brings me to my next question. Why are so many things running when I look at the manage apps screen? All I have to do is power up my phone and I have the following running.
Data Manager Service
Settings (its open)
Text messaging (im not sending one)
Weather (The widget is not open)
backup assistant (what is it?)
Google services (what is it?)
IM (I have not set this up and I dont think I ever will)
Sync Service
Market (not open)
Voice command (I have not ever used voice commands)
File (Why is this a process and a service?)
Preset (what is it?)
Multi-Touch Keyboard (I guess this is the touch screen itself?)
Maps (seems to like to use the battery so I always stop it)

These apps are started and stay open - though not necessarily actively running - in the background. Many of them are in an inactive state until they are started again. Text messaging is listening for new texts sent to you. The market is looking for updates to your installed apps (you can change this in the market app with meu->settings.) Backup Assistant is Verizon's contact backup service (I do not have this activated myself - the app is inactive, though started, on my phone.) Multi-touch keyboard is not the touch screen, but the virtual keyboard that you type with.

There is rarely any reason to stop an app like Maps in the background (unless it is a badly designed app that consumes resources), and all that you are doing by stopping it is wasting battery as the app restarts itself in the background.

It's really best just to let Android itself manage your background apps - trust me.

I also do not understand the market and the warnings that are shown before downloading an app. Are these related to one time use or does a flashlight actually need full internet access? How do I tell which Apps require internet access to use them and which just require internet access to download them?

Permissions are the permission required to use them. I would never use a flashlight app that required internet access (though I would never use a flashlight app, so there is that.)

My last question would be where would you recommend I look for some Android 101 reading. I don't know what I'm looking for so its hard to search a forum but I would like to learn more about why the phone does what it does and how to fix it. I feel like you need to be a computer engineer to know what to do or just simply not care about what is being transmitted and why.

It does cost $9, but I understand that this is a good resource: Complete Android Guide | Kevin Purdy

As for managing memory apps, etc., this is a good, free read: RAM: What it is, how it's used, and why you shouldn't care | Android Central
 
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It is a fairly simple OS to learn, much can be learned from searching this forum for specific subjects. If you can't find it...just ask.
BTW, if you use WiFi, aside from saving battery, you'll get a much faster data connection.... I get about 20M down & 15M up as compared to 5M & 1M on 3/4G.
Welcome & good luck.
 
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in your app drawer is an app called help center, it includes video tutorials, guide, tips and support sections. the guide is the owners manual. this is a great little bit of what we commonly refer to as bloatware. be sure to check it out, there's a world of info there for a newb (and also for some of us that have been around awhile).
 
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Thanks for the help.
4G is not available in my area yet but its getting close. Its about 45 min. up the road from my house. For now the 4g is turned off.

I just thought it was odd so much was running in the background that I currently do not use.

The flash light was just an example, I guess that's just saying that its going to have advertisements in the app.

Speaking of bloatware.... is there anyway to remove the apps for kindle, blockbuster, NFL etc..... without "rooting" my phone?
 
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Speaking of bloatware.... is there anyway to remove the apps for kindle, blockbuster, NFL etc..... without "rooting" my phone?

Not in general.

If you do decide to root to get rid of the bloat you should "freeze" and not "delete" the app. Future system upgrades can fail if they look for some bloat that has been deleted.

Visit ... Bionic - All Things Root - Android Forums ... for more information.

... Thom
 
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