How to get more out of vz GNex

[tuggy24g]

Well I have owned the Verizon Galaxy Nexus for almost a year now and really love the phone. There are no problems with mine at all and works like a charm. All the Apps work great on it with almost no lag or issues with them or anything for that matter.
Now my phone is all stock with no upgrades at all other then what comes from Verizon/google. Since this is stock android at it's core there are tons of things I feel I am missing out on. I do not know what to do to get more out of the phone. Should I root it or should I leave it stock. Should I download some free themes. What can I do to get more out of this awesome phone?

 

[quickaudi]

What do you want the phone to do?

 

[Tim K]

I think just reading the "post your home screens" thread. You'll pick up lots of neat Widgets and learn about features of many replacement launchers. You can do all that without root. Honestly, unless you feel you're missing some features, if you haven't missed root yet you can live without. I've been rooted since the start but other than a couple of system related apps that I barely use I don't really need it. Roms are great if you are into that. I'm not.

 

[tuggy24g]

What do you want the phone to do?

I do not really know. That is another problem I have. I guess I want something that can or maybe can or sorta umm I guess I really do not know.

I think just reading the "post your home screens" thread. You'll pick up lots of neat Widgets and learn about features of many replacement launchers. You can do all that without root. Honestly, unless you feel you're missing some features, if you haven't missed root yet you can live without. I've been rooted since the start but other than a couple of system related apps that I barely use I don't really need it. Roms are great if you are into that. I'm not.

Thanks for the info, but I still feel like I am missing something. Like the phone is perfect, but if I added or did this the phone would be better. Like people who root or add themes to them. I feel like with android there is a whole vast amount of things you can do and with a pure google phone there is even more. It is just that I am not sure what that thing is.

 

[tube517]

Root is one option but theming the phones is something you should experiment with. Different launchers and widgets, etc. That does not require root. Like Tim said, experiment a little. It's a great phone and it can do so much.

 

[Dmeeks90]

I root all my phones the day i get them lol

 

[droidobsessed]

If you do decide to root check out JB sourcery in the all things root thread. That ROM is full of options and extras and supported very well by the developer group.

 

[tube517]

I root all my phones the day i get them lol

Me too:smokingsomb:

 

[Outatime]

Before you take the plunge and root, just try a launcher. I bought Nova Prime because I love it, but I've used Apex too and it's awesome. The level of customization you get is sick. Then just play with it. I have had so many variations on what my layout looked like I've seriously lost count.

 

[trophynuts]

i agree try a launcher first. Get your thrills out of it. Then save Rooting/Romming for last. The reason i say that is because personally even that gets old after about 6 months for me. However you will get the most enjoyment out of it when you start rooting and romming. That should hold you off till it's time to get you another phone.

 

[aurora40]

Well I have owned the Verizon Galaxy Nexus for almost a year now and really love the phone. There are no problems with mine at all and works like a charm.

So, what is the problem you are trying to solve??

I guess if you feel like you are missing out on the excitement of constantly futzing with your phone in order to try to get it to "work right", you could start flashing some custom ROMs to it. There is a whole section here devoted to that for the VZW Nexus.

Personally, I only ever did all that because the phone I started out with was a piece of crap, and I was trying to fix it to be usable. The GNex has been exceptionally usable out of the box, and I have no intention of trying to undo that...

 

[CharlzO]

Like the phone is perfect, but if I added or did this the phone would be better.

If only we knew what your THIS was, we could help! Just picking. I know what you mean though, that feeling of "I'm sure I'm missing out on SOMETHING, I just don't know what it could be. But, when I figure it out, I'm REALLY gonna want it!"

I had a Thunderbolt for a while, and with that, I did a lot of theme-type things. I changed launchers (Used Go Launcher for that phone, with a lot of their other apps, like Go Weather, etc). Another thing you can do, is use things like beautiful widgets to get some variety of those things, and also minimalistic text/desktop visualizer, and icon packs, to change the look of your phone to something customized to your likes and tastes.

And a lot of launchers and things will have themes you can use too, that will do the same throughout the phone.

From there, then yes, you have Root options. I had never done it until a couple months after my Nexus. But after doing it, would be hard pressed for me to never root another phone. The amount of custom features built into some ROMS (I'm on Sourcery as well) is staggering. From custom backgrounds on your pulldown shade, different toggle options, and a TON more. And, of course, you can do your other theme ideas and tweaks on top of that. With the newer 4.2.1 ROM, I just installed, I haven't gone back through, but I have some custom icons and text labels to make for my stuff, to get it unique to me again.

If you haven't checked yet, read some of the ROM threads in the Root section, many of them outline the features they have, that you might not on a stock device yet. That will let you know what you will gain by rooting. Launchers and stuff will let you change the look of your phone just fine, but Rooting adds the possibility of extra features (different battery icons in your status bar, to name one common one).

It's a wide world But if you DO root...you'll be hooked. Don't say we didn't warn you.

 

[Jay3]

To the OP, have you switched your music collection over to Google Music in the cloud? It's pretty cool when your phone is cloud-synced like that.

Also, audiobooks. The Audible.com app is pretty good for Android. I use it every day in the car to play books.

Podcasts on Google Listen or some other app. Another way to use your phone daily.

How about getting Google Wallet going, and trying to pay for some stuff with the phone at participating locations?

 

[tuggy24g]

I have not switch my music over to Google Music in the cloud. I do not get any signal in my work to even be able to access them so no go on that. Also I do not listen to pod casts that much at all. Also I do not pay to many bills right now so I do not need google wallet plus verizon does not approve of it.

 

[Jay3]

I have not switch my music over to Google Music in the cloud. I do not get any signal in my work to even be able to access them so no go on that. Also I do not listen to pod casts that much at all. Also I do not pay to many bills right now so I do not need google wallet plus verizon does not approve of it.

Your music is hosted in the cloud, but there is a simple toggle on every song and playlist to "Make available offline." It then puts it on your phone. What I do is use Google Music for the whole collection, but then set all playlists to "Make available offline." So any song that I'm aware of enough to put in a playlist, is there whether I have signal or not. Good for airplanes, to.

 

[tuggy24g]

WOW I need to get hooked up with that since I found out this new info!!

 

[Thats]

Best thing I've found to get the most out of my Old Gnex: In Car Stereo.

 

[teddyearp]

tuggy24g, I agree that the first thing you might want to try is a custom launcher. They will give you many more options than stock and root is not required.

But from what I gather from your posts, you are experiencing something else that the total awesomeness of owning a developer type phone does to a person. I experienced it with the OG Droid, as it was a developer type phone as well. A developer type phone is one that doesn't have an encrypted bootloader and as such is easily unlocked, rooted, many custom recovery's, and rom'd; and as such is pretty hard to brick if you are just a bit tech savvy.

Your totally awesome phone is whispering to you: "root me, rooot me, rooooot me!"

The only drawback is one: if you're not a bit tech savvy it can be pretty daunting. Two. You will never want to own another phone that is not a developer type phone.

good luck

 

[tsilvernail]

So I recently purchased a gnex off of eBay because I couldn't afford the overpriced nexus 4s on eBay and I refuse to wait 2 months for a phone. As I type my phone is somewhere between Florida and Michigan and should, with a little luck be arriving at my doorstep tomorrow afternoon.

I already have a few apps which I plan on using such as wave launcher and beautiful widgets but I'm wondering what other suggestions people may have for getting the most out of my gnex. I do not do a ton of gaming, however my phone is my primary Internet device (my wife has a nexus 7 I use occasionally and I have a cr47(?) beta chrombook I love, but I hate carrying it around)

My top priorities are ease of notifications on my lock screen and giving the nexus an overall minimal feel(I hate icons on home screen, I've been on apple for a year I'm sick of icons lol)

I want to be able to use one hand to do most anything on my phone and I want it to have reasonable battery life. What options are available for a good replacement battery?

Any other suggestions?

I do not plan too root my phone unless there are some mindblowing apps I must have.

I may flash it too unbuntu once it's released but I doubt I'll keep it that way.



Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

[Turdbogls]

wave launcher is probably a good idea for keeping it minimal.
i would also suggest a launcher (apex, nova) as they allow some serious customization
get the 4.2 keyboard or swype or swiftkey flow for one hand use

stock lockscreen from 4.0 and above support notification viewing and erasing and taping so you are good there.

 

[03063]

I just want to be able to use NFL Mobile :-(

 

[jhawkkw]

You will never want to own another phone that is not a developer type phone.

Quoted for truth. I will never own another locked down, bloated, carrier controlled phone again. It will be Nexus phones from here on out.

 

[AnotherFatalEpic]

I'd say ROOT! Or at least unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery, that way when and if you do decide to try custom roms you don't have to worry about losing your data.

 

[breadnatty08]

While I love rooting and ROMing, I know it's not for everyone.
Check out this post for some fun tutorials on what you can do with some third party apps that don't require root:
http://androidforums.com/android-th...-work-really-well-non-rooted.html#post5365644
Haven't tried them myself, and I know it's demo'd on a Note 2 so can't guarantee it'll be as smooth on the Gnex.

 

[Frisco]

Two "how to get the most out of GN" and "what do I do to get more out of my GN" have been merged, both threads being rather short and very much on the same subject and with overlapping ideas being brought up (to root or not to root being one ).