A few HTC Hero questions

[StuartTheFish]

Hi all, I'm new on here as I only got my HTC Hero the other day, and while trawling the internet for answers this place kept coming up.

I have a few questions about this phone, or more to the point, the android OS running it.

I see that it only has android 1.5 on it at the moment, and there are no newer upgrades available yet. That said, I've read in numerous places on the net that android 2.1 is coming to the HTC hero at the end of this week or start of next week depending on your network, is this true? What would this upgrade actually improve? My new phone seems pretty stable and usable as it is already, wasn't voted best phone of 2009 for nothing I guess!

My second query is about the apps from the android market. When this 2.1 upgrade comes, I expect it'll wipe the phone clean and reinstall with the newer OS. If any apps are already paid for, will I have to pay again to download them a second time? Or is there any way of me backing them up first?

And lastly, it's only a little niggle, but as soon as I'm on a call, the touchscreen keypad disappears, stopping me from going through automated systems and the like. Is there just some setting I can change, or is there an app available to stop the screen from doing this?

Thanks.

 

[mpw]

...as soon as I'm on a call, the touchscreen keypad disappears, stopping me from going through automated systems and the like...

I'd like to hear an answer to this too if anybody has one, it's one of my few niggles also.

...depending on your network, is this true?...

On a realted note, why is the update dependant on what network I'm on? My Hero isn't a UK handset, so was never locked and just runs hTC's version of the OS; will my update add a network layer to it? or can I update straight from hTC(or elsewhere) earlier?

 

[heingericke]

And lastly, it's only a little niggle, but as soon as I'm on a call, the touchscreen keypad disappears, stopping me from going through automated systems and the like. Is there just some setting I can change, or is there an app available to stop the screen from doing this?

Thanks.

There's an app called CALL LIGHT in the market. Down it and start the service once and your done. Also, you may want to stick it in your ignore list of your current task killer if you have one.

Here's the link. http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-mindistic-android-oncalllight-xtDt.aspx

 

[StuartTheFish]

Nice, call light fixed it straight away! Thanks mate! Now the screen doesn't automatically shut off when the other person answers, I can confirm there is indeed a button on the bottom left of the screen to bring the keypad up. Brilliant!

One other thing, when signing back into here just now, I noticed another thread about it which has reminded me about it. I'll post in that thread too, but basically MP3 playback stutters sometimes. It's nothing to do with headsets or earpieces, as it does it with the normal loudspeaker too. It's software, as it seems to do it most when it has just changed to the next mp3. Could it be some other application hogging resources too much, or is there simply a better player available on the market which handles playback better?

 

[StuartTheFish]

On a realted note, why is the update dependant on what network I'm on? My Hero isn't a UK handset, so was never locked and just runs hTC's version of the OS; will my update add a network layer to it? or can I update straight from hTC(or elsewhere) earlier?

According to the info I've seen, there are different versions depending on which network you're on. That said, my HTC IS a 3 phone, yet the only 3 related stuff I've found is a pair of bookmarks and extra widgets to link me to planet3 and my3.

 

[TheBrit]

According to the info I've seen, there are different versions depending on which network you're on. That said, my HTC IS a 3 phone, yet the only 3 related stuff I've found is a pair of bookmarks and extra widgets to link me to planet3 and my3.

That's pretty much what the customisations are. Mine has a couple of links to the equivalent T-Mobile services.

Also, the phones mobile internet settings a pre-configured.

 

[TheBrit]

HTC Hero - Software Download you just enter your serial number on there,

That is indeed the place to go BUT there's no Android 2.1 there yet as they have not released it to the masses (for the HERO).

 

[StuartTheFish]

Yep, it's still 1.5 on the HTC support page.

 

[TheBrit]

Yep, it's still 1.5 on the HTC support page.

If all the indications are correct there Android 2.1 should start rolling out in the Hero in the next couple of weeks.

 

[StuartTheFish]

That's the general info I keep finding mate!

 

[StuartTheFish]

Quite disappointed now, I've just seen that 3 also offer the HTC desire too, which according to the info on here seems to be better than hero. Is that just because of the firmware difference, or is the hardware better too? Is it worth the extra

 

[StuartTheFish]

So I should see if I can change it for a desire then before my 14 days is up?

Is there anything the hero does that the desire can't?

Is the desire the best of them, or is the legend better still?

 

[StuartTheFish]

Thanks, I'll call them tomorrow morning and see what they can do. I'll lie and say it's laggy due to it's slower cpu and smaller ram or something.

 

[StuartTheFish]

In fact, I've just looked on their website to see the difference in price for the packages with these handsets. The hero is free with the monthly contract, whereas the desire is at least

 

[lekky]

In fact, I've just looked on their website to see the difference in price for the packages with these handsets. The hero is free with the monthly contract, whereas the desire is at least

 

[StuartTheFish]

Like I say, I'm not about to pay up front for a phone when I'm already paying on contract anyway. But since my last post I've kept looking online, and it seems that 3 DO actually offer the desire without any one off payment? Even if that's wrong, some other networks do so I might refer to these other offers to see if 3 want to keep my custom! Can't call them until 8am tomorrow, so I'll see what happens. Fingers crossed.

 

[andy d]

go for it, the desire will also run full flash on websites, where as the hero probably wont.

Look at it this way, the Hero is over a year old now, the Desire came out last week.

The Hero is not over a year old as it was released in June.

 

[StuartTheFish]

Well, I called them. Seems they'll go for it, but it's not even actually released on 3 until the 16th, so I've got to call back then. I'll still be within my 14 day return period though, so with any luck I'll upgrade to a desire.

 

[StuartTheFish]

In the meantime, or if I end up staying with the hero anyway, I've got another quick question. Does anyone know why when I get a message or email it vibrates first, and then plays the notification sound about half a minute later? Shouldn't it do both at the same time? Is it a performance issue delaying the audio playback, or is there a setting somewhere to adjust the delay?

 

[superlinkx]

In the meantime, or if I end up staying with the hero anyway, I've got another quick question. Does anyone know why when I get a message or email it vibrates first, and then plays the notification sound about half a minute later? Shouldn't it do both at the same time? Is it a performance issue delaying the audio playback, or is there a setting somewhere to adjust the delay?

I think that this is a problem in 1.5 and hopefully will be fixed in the official 2.1 builds (though my 2.1 isn't helping it). There is no setting and it is definitely annoying, but hopefully it will be fixed soon. As for the person asking about rooting. That is the linux equivalent of administrator priveledges. Basically, with root you can make changes to the operating system. Most people use this to load custom ROMs that are either optimized or are hacked newer versions. I am running 2.1 on my Hero thanks to this. Go to forum.xda-developers.com and look for the Hero to get more info.

 

[StuartTheFish]

Is it just a hero performance issue or is it an android "quirk" no matter what phone it's running?

And thanks for the rooting explanation, it was me asking. Thought it might have been something along the lines of admin privileges. Don't think I'll be rooting mine if I'm trying to exchange it for a desire though, I expect it voids the warranty!

 

[daveybaby]

no point rooting unless you have a need to do it...ie you have a reason

Does "because it's possible" count as a reason?

As for the desire - it is indeed a VERY nice phone - much nicer to use than the hero in terms of responsiveness (and the screen is fantastic), but at the end of the day theyre both running the same OS (or will be once the hero gets 2.1) and thus run the same apps, and the hero is still a brilliant phone in its own right regardless.

One thing i have noticed from people i know who have the desire is that the battery life isnt anywhere near as good as the hero. People seem to struggle to get to the end of the day on a charge (mind you theyre playing with the phone a lot cos its new).

@Lekky: how have you found the desire compares to the hero in terms of battery life?

 

[StuartTheFish]

I can live with the battery life, I've already found how poor the hero's battery life is! As said, that's mainly down to playing with the phone all day long, so now I've gotten it all out of my system I can just get the desire and quickly set it up the same as my hero now I know which apps are worth getting, etc. The only other thing that'll eat the battery is a nice live wallpaper, that seeds of life one looks brilliant! If I close some of the programs running in the background though then that'll save power a little wouldn't it? Like I don't need the browser running in the background for example. I always knock the screen off when I've stopped playing anyway, which will help.

A quick question since you've had both the hero and the desire, is it noticably smoother with the better cpu and ram? Does the mp3 player still skip when changing from one file to the next?

Rather happy today anyway as 3 have agreed to exchange the hero for the desire! Just got to wait for them to have one in stock since today's launch day on their network.

 

[lekky]

@Lekky: how have you found the desire compares to the hero in terms of battery life?

About the same, possibly slightly better. The Desire doesn't get good battery usage until about a week, its terrible for the frst 7 days then seems to settle down. Like I said, same usage, seems to be the same or slightly better.