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Need help with new Droid

brnr17

Android Enthusiast
Dec 30, 2009
309
17
Wisconsin
hey guys, new member and i just got the droid today. i had a few questions about some of the apps. ive already downloaded some but i have the default theme and everything. am i able to get a widget for weather instead of having an app? Do widgets constantly run and therefore drain battery quicker? what all does a theme change exactly? thanks for the help, i'm gonna have a few questions about this phone i think :)
 
Widgets can be set to run constantly or get updates often, but the weather widget I use has never had even the slightest impact on battery life.

The biggest things to affect battery life are usually:
- screen/brightness
- wifi
- gps
- sync
- listening to music
- playing games
- phone calls
- watching video
- using the camera
- browsing the web

Widgets usually dont even come close to any of the above activities.

I personally use "Weather Widget" which is an app from the market. It works just like a widget. The difference between an app an a widget is really not much, so I wouldn't worry. The only difference is widgets usually do something on your desktop whereas apps open up to do stuff.

But some of the apps you can download from the market are really just widgets. Anyways, confused yet? Don't worry if you are, the distinction is kinda blurry and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.


edit: and welcome to the forums :)

.
 
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You may also want to consider WeatherBug (I have the paid for elite version) and also the very popular (although a change in style has led to some controversy) Beautiful Widgets (combinea a digital clock and weather widget with nice animated graphics - comes with other useful widgets). I have used both of these and the drain on my battery has been minimal.
 
Upvote 0
Widgets can be set to run constantly or get updates often, but the weather widget I use has never had even the slightest impact on battery life.

The biggest things to affect battery life are usually:
- screen/brightness
- wifi
- gps
- sync
- listening to music
- playing games
- phone calls
- watching video
- using the camera
- browsing the web

Widgets usually dont even come close to any of the above activities.

I personally use "Weather Widget" which is an app from the market. It works just like a widget. The difference between an app an a widget is really not much, so I wouldn't worry. The only difference is widgets usually do something on your desktop whereas apps open up to do stuff.

But some of the apps you can download from the market are really just widgets. Anyways, confused yet? Don't worry if you are, the distinction is kinda blurry and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.


edit: and welcome to the forums :)

.
haha yea its easy to get confused with all this new stuff! thank you for the descriptions tho!
 
Upvote 0
You may also want to consider WeatherBug (I have the paid for elite version) and also the very popular (although a change in style has led to some controversy) Beautiful Widgets (combinea a digital clock and weather widget with nice animated graphics - comes with other useful widgets). I have used both of these and the drain on my battery has been minimal.
i tried searching for beautiful widgets in the marketplace but didnt find it. Could you spell out exactly how i should type it in to find it please?

Also i was playing with my gf's htc eris and i really like how she has one screen with nothing but toggle widgets so she can toggle on/off gps, connections that kind of stuff. ANy idea how to get that with the droid?

also i came from a blackberry, is there a way i can get something on my home screen to switch the droid between vibrate, ring and silent mode without having to go through the settings everytime?
 
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i tried searching for beautiful widgets in the marketplace but didnt find it. Could you spell out exactly how i should type it in to find it please?

Also i was playing with my gf's htc eris and i really like how she has one screen with nothing but toggle widgets so she can toggle on/off gps, connections that kind of stuff. ANy idea how to get that with the droid?

also i came from a blackberry, is there a way i can get something on my home screen to switch the droid between vibrate, ring and silent mode without having to go through the settings everytime?


The Droid has a better built in widget (IMO) than the Eris. Long press on any empty space on the screen (you actually need 4 empty spaces across) and select Widgets > Power Widget.

As for going into Silent mode, I use a program called Quick Profiles. It's free on the market.



.
 
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The Droid has a better built in widget (IMO) than the Eris. Long press on any empty space on the screen (you actually need 4 empty spaces across) and select Widgets > Power Widget.

As for going into Silent mode, I use a program called Quick Profiles. It's free on the market.



.
thanks ill look for that. as for the power widget i just displayed it on my screen, i know all the icons execpt for the circle with the arrows, it's the second from the far right. what's that for?
 
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i tried searching for beautiful widgets in the marketplace but didnt find it. Could you spell out exactly how i should type it in to find it please?

Also i was playing with my gf's htc eris and i really like how she has one screen with nothing but toggle widgets so she can toggle on/off gps, connections that kind of stuff. ANy idea how to get that with the droid?

also i came from a blackberry, is there a way i can get something on my home screen to switch the droid between vibrate, ring and silent mode without having to go through the settings everytime?

You are right. I just did a beautiful widget search and could not find it. They might have pulled it or are getting ready to update. As for easily toggling settings, use the built-in power control widget (bluetooth, wifi, gps, screen, rotation). It should fit the bill.
 
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so just figured out the direct message feature, that works pretty slick. i thought i'd never use 3 screens but its getting to look like im gonna need more! do i need to download a theme in order to get more? (i.e. gde or home++ ... those are themes right?) Im just using the power control widget that it came with, seems to be working ok.
and thanks for all the help guys, this board is great!
 
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when i open my media gallery i get 6 folders: camera pictures, camera media, all pictures, all videos, sdcard, and movies. It doesnt give my any choice on how to customize these for example to only show me all videos and all pictures. I also can't figure out how to get my pictures to only save to the sd card. any help here please?
 
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Pics should save to the SD Ward by deafault I thought. As for the gallery, yeah, it sucks. They completely revamped it in android 2.1 though, and the Droid is rumoured to get 2.1 on January 22nd. So you won't have to live with that crappy gallery for long.
nope, i've taken a few pics and none show up in the sd disk folder, the only picture in their is one i dragged on the disk when it was usb'd to my computer. im getting frustrated because i know it shouldbe something simple but for the life of me i cannot find where to make the camera change the save directory
 
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