Help Use Droid Eris without cell service?

[EricBaenen]

I currently have a Droid Eris phone - but I'm thinking of switching carriers and won't be able to use the Eris on the new carrier. What I'm wondering is - could the Eris still be used with WiFi only, without any cell service?

For example - with no cell service and only access to WiFi access points - could I...

- access gmail or surf the web
- access the Android Marketplace for new apps or updates

Basically I'm wondering if the Eris could be used by my son as a sort of Android based iPod Touch.

Thanks,

Eric

 

[scary alien]

I currently have a Droid Eris phone - but I'm thinking of switching carriers and won't be able to use the Eris on the new carrier. What I'm wondering is - could the Eris still be used with WiFi only, without any cell service?

For example - with no cell service and only access to WiFi access points - could I...

- access gmail or surf the web
- access the Android Marketplace for new apps or updates

Basically I'm wondering if the Eris could be used by my son as a sort of Android based iPod Touch.

Thanks,

Eric

Eric,

Welcome to the Android Forums!

Yes, you sure can...I use a Droid X as my day-to-day phone, but I still have my Eris and can use it for music, checking Gmail, etc. I did learn a trick last week that I didn't know about before: since I don't want it searching for cell service, you can turn on Airplane Mode and then just turn on wi-fi to be able to surf the web (or download apps from the Market).

Good luck and cheers!

 

[Kevkelsar]

Eric,

Welcome to the Android Forums!

Yes, you sure can...I use a Droid X as my day-to-day phone, but I still have my Eris and can use it for music, checking Gmail, etc. I did learn a trick last week that I didn't know about before: since I don't want it searching for cell service, you can turn on Airplane Mode and then just turn on wi-fi to be able to surf the web (or download apps from the Market).

Good luck and cheers!

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was curious if there were any limits to apps on the market if an Eris (or other Android phone) is used in this manner. I had seen somewhere that an Android device with no service plan would not be able to purchase paid apps.

 

[scary alien]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was curious if there were any limits to apps on the market if an Eris (or other Android phone) is used in this manner. I had seen somewhere that an Android device with no service plan would not be able to purchase paid apps.

Hey, no problem. I actually have a Droid X as my main phone. My Eris has been de-activated since July 15th, but I still use it for testing various Android-y things with .

When I flash a new ROM and re-enter the Market, all of my paid apps are still there. I don't think I've purchased a new app from my Eris, but I'm pretty sure the purchases are tied to your Gmail account and not your phone. I have downloaded lots of new, different free apps on my Eris. Totally different setup than my Droid X.

You should only be limited by the amount of app memory on your Eris.

Cheers!

 

[Kevkelsar]

Hey, no problem. I actually have a Droid X as my main phone. My Eris has been de-activated since July 15th, but I still use it for testing various Android-y things with .

When I flash a new ROM and re-enter the Market, all of my paid apps are still there. I don't think I've purchased a new app from my Eris, but I'm pretty sure the purchases are tied to your Gmail account and not your phone. I have downloaded lots of new, different free apps on my Eris. Totally different setup than my Droid X.

You should only be limited by the amount of app memory on your Eris.

Cheers!

Thanks! What about GPS? Or is that only usable (for like Navigation and such) with a 3G or WiFi connection? I'm looking to get a Droid X or Droid 2 off craigslist, my wife wants to use my Eris as her own device without the cell/3G service.

 

[scary alien]

Thanks! What about GPS? Or is that only usable (for like Navigation and such) with a 3G or WiFi connection? I'm looking to get a Droid X or Droid 2 off craigslist, my wife wants to use my Eris as her own device without the cell/3G service.

Well, I haven't tried the GPS with my de-activated Eris... It can proabably receive the GPS signal okay without that ability to translate that to a map (i.e., using 3G), it might be as useful to you.

I did have a conversation with a co-worker on Friday about a mapping/driving app that he was telling me was very large (12MB or more)...the reason for this was that it contained all of the mapping info for all of Indiana and he wanted to be able to use it if he lost 3G. I'm also sure its a paid app too (I can ask him what the name of it was if you want or maybe a few Google searches will yield the answer).

Cheers!

 

[richg67]

I currently have a Droid Eris phone - but I'm thinking of switching carriers and won't be able to use the Eris on the new carrier. What I'm wondering is - could the Eris still be used with WiFi only, without any cell service?

For example - with no cell service and only access to WiFi access points - could I...

- access gmail or surf the web
- access the Android Marketplace for new apps or updates

Basically I'm wondering if the Eris could be used by my son as a sort of Android based iPod Touch.

Thanks,

Eric

I have an Eris that has been rooted and flashed with Cyangenmod. I do not use a carrier. I just use it as a WiFi device. The GPS works fine with no internet. Certain map apps need internet to get you the satellite pics but as far as a GPS device goes; as long as you started with WiFi to begin the journey. the map will continue to scroll with you to your destination. WiFi works OK when inside the building (weaker than a cheap USB WiFi). Other things it can do is voice to text (internet needed). Anything time you speak to the Eris it has to be connected to the web. I have flashed it to use Cricket awhile back but that went south. Something about my area being tri-band and the phone only working in Roaming mode. I might give Boost Mobile a try...who knows. Forget about Google Voice. That only works when you have a carrier.

 

[scary alien]

I have an Eris that has been rooted and flashed with Cyangenmod. I do not use a carrier. I just use it as a WiFi device. The GPS works fine with no internet. Certain map apps need internet to get you the satellite pics but as far as a GPS device goes; as long as you started with WiFi to begin the journey. the map will continue to scroll with you to your destination. WiFi works OK when inside the building (weaker than a cheap USB WiFi). Other things it can do is voice to text (internet needed). Anything time you speak to the Eris it has to be connected to the web. I have flashed it to use Cricket awhile back but that went south. Something about my area being tri-band and the phone only working in Roaming mode. I might give Boost Mobile a try...who knows. Forget about Google Voice. That only works when you have a carrier.

Welcome to the AndroidForums, Rich!

That's cool info and good to know about how the Eris behaves on GPS without a cell signal (I've always wondered that). I know that there are some offline GPS apps, too, that will pre-load all the maps you might need (obviously a with a bigger memory footprint).

I've still got my Eris and I pull it out occasionally for some testing and reminiscing .

Cheers and again, welcome to AF--glad you signed-up with us here.

-SA

 

[KNUCKLEHEAD1]

This thread answers all my questions except one: we recently upgraded our phones and have 2 old Droid Eris's that we'd like our kids to use on wifi. The problem is they still have access to our email, calendars, etc over the wifi.

So my question is: Can we wipe the phones and start from factory settings with new gmail accounts specific to them, and NOT activate the phones with verizon, or is that somehow going to mess up using the phones going forward? I do NOT want the kids to have cell phones, just wifi devices exactly as noted in this thread - but without our emails/ calendars, etc still showing up on the phones.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for resurrecting such an old thread.

 

[Demache]

This thread answers all my questions except one: we recently upgraded our phones and have 2 old Droid Eris's that we'd like our kids to use on wifi. The problem is they still have access to our email, calendars, etc over the wifi.

So my question is: Can we wipe the phones and start from factory settings with new gmail accounts specific to them, and NOT activate the phones with verizon, or is that somehow going to mess up using the phones going forward? I do NOT want the kids to have cell phones, just wifi devices exactly as noted in this thread - but without our emails/ calendars, etc still showing up on the phones.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for resurrecting such an old thread.

Sure you can. I'm pretty sure that you can get past the activation screen by touching each corner of the screen starting with the upper left corner, then upper right, lower right, and lower left.

At least I think that's how it goes.
-----
I keep finding it amusing up until this point, scary alien was the only one responding to questions in this thread for almost 2 years.

 

[doogald]

This thread answers all my questions except one: we recently upgraded our phones and have 2 old Droid Eris's that we'd like our kids to use on wifi. The problem is they still have access to our email, calendars, etc over the wifi.

So my question is: Can we wipe the phones and start from factory settings with new gmail accounts specific to them, and NOT activate the phones with verizon, or is that somehow going to mess up using the phones going forward? I do NOT want the kids to have cell phones, just wifi devices exactly as noted in this thread - but without our emails/ calendars, etc still showing up on the phones.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for resurrecting such an old thread.

Sure you can. I'm pretty sure that you can get past the activation screen by touching each corner of the screen starting with the upper left corner, then upper right, lower right, and lower left.

At least I think that's how it goes.
-----
I keep finding it amusing up until this point, scary alien was the only one responding to questions in this thread for almost 2 years.

Unfortunately, the four corner trick does not work with the stock Eris OS.

The easiest way to get past the activation after a factory reset on the Eris at initial setup is to allow it to start dialing to activate, then immediately - as soon as you hear the tone that the phone is trying to connect - disconnect the phone by pressing the end call button. The phone will try dialing two more times, then give a message that it cannot complete activation but will allow you to go forward with setting up using WiFi (which is what you want.)

 

[dlwills]

I gave my son my old Eris as a WIFI only device. Somehow he downloaded an rogue app that would re install itself on the home screen. So I did a factory reset on the phone. I was able to set up the WIFI due to the above suggestion but now I can't seem to get the Market to work so I can get his applications back. I get "a server error has occurred. Retry, or cancel and return to the previous screen."

Any suggestions?
Leah
PS, miss my old Eris, loved the size of it but don't miss the lagginess of it.

 

[doogald]

I gave my son my old Eris as a WIFI only device. Somehow he downloaded an rogue app that would re install itself on the home screen. So I did a factory reset on the phone. I was able to set up the WIFI due to the above suggestion but now I can't seem to get the Market to work so I can get his applications back. I get "a server error has occurred. Retry, or cancel and return to the previous screen."

Any suggestions?
Leah
PS, miss my old Eris, loved the size of it but don't miss the lagginess of it.

You may need to try a factory reset again, but one thing to try is to go into (from home) settings->applications->manage applications. Wait for it to refresh, then try to find "market". Tap it and, if there is a button, tap "clear data". If that still does not work, go to the same screen and look for a button that says "uninstall updates" (if there is one) and tap that.

Again, if that does not work, try the factory reset.

(Though, just to ask the obvious, can the phone browse data on the browser, or is there also an error message there? If so, perhaps there is an error with WiFi?)

 

[dlwills]

The browser works fine. Last night I tried a work around by going via the internet to the Google Market to reinstall the applications on the phone. It didn't work. I will try the factory reset again and report on what happened.

<edit> FYI, the second factory reset did the trick and I was able to get back in the Market download section to re-install his apps. Thank you for checking back to the old Eris page and helping me out!


Thanks.
Leah