Help how to install content to my phone?

[vt6spd]

Hello all,

I know, as a noob, I should search the forums and what not for answers, but really, some questions are too simple to just answer than go through pages upon pages of stuff that doesnt' really answer your question...

Here is my question;

How do I install programs/recommended downloaded content to my phone? I mean, SDK? db? APK? What is all of this?

I have tried to install things from my computer- like market enabler, but my phone doesn't even see it. I can drag the file from my computer to my phone, but where am I supposed to put it in my phone?

Please help? How do I install content/files on my phone?

 

[speedfreak32]

Sideload Android apps all you want with the Sideload Wonder Machine | Android Central

This will become your new friend...

Some apps will require root so think about rooting.

 

[sremick]

99.99% of what you want to install on your phone will be available in the Android Marketplace and doesn't require any special software, tools or methods to install. Just browse/search to find the app in the marketplace. You should have an icon that looks like a green and white shopping bag called "Market". There are other 3rd-party apps for exploring the marketplaces, such as AppBrain App Market, AppAware, AppsFire, My Market, etc.

See the Captivate FAQ:
App Management - CapFAQ

 

[vt6spd]

My phone was rooted. That was interesting. Last night while in the forums I was playing around with some of the features of those aps we find in the market place. Titanium backup- I have had this for sometime and didn't realize you could delete ATTcontent from the phone! How cool, not! I ended up having to do a master reset on my phone and now I cannot download anything from the market place. When I try to download my old aps, the download says it will start, but it just sits there and nothing happens. Any thoughts on how I could fix this? UGH.

Ps. Thank you for your replies. I will, in the future probably just stick with the Market place for my aps...and learn a little more about my phone capabilities before trying anything else.

 

[sremick]

Titanium backup- I have had this for sometime and didn't realize you could delete ATTcontent from the phone! How cool, not! I ended up having to do a master reset on my phone and now I cannot download anything from the market place. When I try to download my old aps, the download says it will start, but it just sits there and nothing happens. Any thoughts on how I could fix this? UGH.

Just because an app lets you do something doesn't mean you should. Plenty of times in this forum it's repeated over and over that you should not uninstall the stock apps due to hidden inter-dependencies. By "freezing" them, you disable them while leaving yourself the option to get them back if you make a mistake (TB doesn't back up the stock apps, so you can't restore them).

This is also mentioned in the Captivate FAQ:

Uninstalling stock apps - CapFAQ

All the more reason it's important to read read read before doing stuff.

 

[saintdanbert]

...
All the more reason it's important to read read read before doing stuff.

There was a time when there would be extensive documents that were mostly well written by people who understood the products and its intended use. More recently, the documents were superficial inventories of buttons to push and lights that flicker. The lucky reader learned not only about those buttons but why one might push them. Sadly, today we are lucky to get 100 words describing a downloadable application -- those words are often the result of a machine translation among several languages and English.

I would love to "... read, read, read ..." but I have yet to find much worth reading.

Bonne chance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

 

[vt6spd]

There was a time when there would be extensive documents that were mostly well written by people who understood the products and its intended use. More recently, the documents were superficial inventories of buttons to push and lights that flicker. The lucky reader learned not only about those buttons but why one might push them. Sadly, today we are lucky to get 100 words describing a downloadable application -- those words are often the result of a machine translation among several languages and English.

I would love to "... read, read, read ..." but I have yet to find much worth reading.

Bonne chance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

You have hit the nail on the head. I have spent over 7 hours between here and XDA looking for answers and no one seems to really be able to describe step by steps processes and what they mean or do. I have read over and over looking for answers but I can't seem to get a good explaination. And, what really gets me is the instructional write ups are merely somoene just sayinig, download this ap, install with side load and then type this in command promt. so, this makes it hard to know really what one is doing. My issue, I just cant get the market place to work any more. If I could just get my phone back to working like it did 18 hours and 6 minutes ago I would be very happy.

"What does it all mean!?"

 

[barr08]

99.99% of what you want to install on your phone will be available in the Android Marketplace...

Citation needed.

In my personal experience with the Captivate running stock AT&T OS (disclaimer: it has been an incredibly negative experience), I have found that roughly one third of the apps I want to install are unavailable. The sideload wonder machine is fantastic, but not everyone has the technical knowledge to find and/or operate this application.

Types of blocked apps I have run into are: new keyboards, tether apps, Adfree, some file explorers, most root applications, satellite radio apps, etc...All legal apps that other carrier's phones have full access to.

Oh, and let's not forget that they blocked a very basic function of the Android OS - installing apps from apk's - arguably one of Androids biggest advantages.

I will defend AT&T if/when they deserve it, but defending their Android Market policies is blind fanboyism.

 

[sremick]

I would love to "... read, read, read ..." but I have yet to find much worth reading.

The Captivate FAQ contains info on loading apps from both the marketplace and how to sideload apps via multiple methods, including the Sideload Wonder Machine. This FAQ is in the sticky on this forum, in many users' signatures, and mentioned in almost every thread.

While you might focus mostly on replacement keyboards (of which there are some in the Marketplace), tether apps, and other advanced topics... the average user does not care about these things and will find most (if not all) of what they want in the Marketplace.

I am not defending AT&T and their blocking of installing APKs, but simply pointing out that the need to is somewhat fringe, you are not in the majority, and the instructions are indeed out there.

 

[saintdanbert]

The Captivate FAQ ... is in the sticky on this forum, in many users' signatures, and mentioned in almost every thread.
...

Is there some app or other access to the CapFAQ on my Captivate?
I know I can use a browser, but I wonder if there is a CapFaq reader
or similar app. Alternately, are CapFaq snapshots available as PDF
or other e-book documents?

~~~ 0;-Dan

 

[sremick]

Is there some app or other access to the CapFAQ on my Captivate?
I know I can use a browser, but I wonder if there is a CapFaq reader
or similar app.

Nope, sorry. It's just a volunteer project. It works just fine using the browser.

Alternately, are CapFaq snapshots available as PDF
or other e-book documents?

No. Not really suitable for a wiki that changes frequently anyhow.