Initial Thought and Questions - X10

[nb_mitch]

I have been a Blackberry user for the last 6 years (4 different devices), but wanted something with a bigger screen and something a little more capable. I originally was looking at the Dell Streak then the Samsung Tablet, but couldn't handle the price or lack of phone functions on At&t. I have been studying the devices, apps, Android since April, before I finally dove in and got an X10 this week. I have been building a list of Apps on Androlib to download once I got a device.

My issues to date:

1. Amazon sent me a bad SIM card but my current SIM seems functional, new one in the mail.

2. Finding Apps: I just assumed I would point the device at Androlib.com and would download the Apps from my favorites (sort of like the App Loader on BB) but no it doesn't work that way, you have to search for Apps on the Market provided on the phone. The Search feature is a pain, even if you know the exact name of the App, it can be near impossible to find. Some I can't even find, but the major ones were located.

3. The keyboard, use to a physical keyboard, this has been a pain. Having to swap back and forth for the numbers and the vertical keyboard, I just don't get it, don't know how anyone can type on that thing.

4. K9 email polling (lack of), I have had a Yahoo email account for 10 years and really don't see switching to gmail for my primary account, I can manually get the email to work but I can not get K9 to actually "poll", the status is constantly "Polling(off)". I can go with another mail client, but I need one that actually works.

6. "Beautiful Widgets" - I bought this one because it seemed like a great app for clock, weather, widgets, etc. The Set-Up seemed simple, but I can't seem to get it to replace my home screen. At least that is what I expected it to be.

7. I am not getting the whole navigation thing, 3 home screens, but the center one is "full", this the whole drag up from the bottom a list of Apps and drag down from the a list of running apps (maybe) and these widgets that scroll sideways around the bottom of the screen that At&t seem to load that I don't even want. On the BB I could "hide" pre-installed stuff I didn't want but couldn't delete.

8. Wunder Radio (an App I used on my BB, so I know how it works), loaded, everything is fine, but I can't get any sound out of it while on wifi (never tried it on 3g yet).

9. Missing the Blackberry for the basics. I knew from my research over the months that it was going to be different and some of the issues, but I really didn't believe how much different it would be. It would take me an hour to get as far I have so far in 3 days with a BB. The basic setup for email, loading apps, navigation, hiding stuff I didn't care about, backup/restore that actually works. etc.

10. OS 1.6 I didn't realize until after I order the device the 2.1 for At&t was not obtainable, not sure if there are rooted versions out there yet. I really don't care about the new features, but I had hoped to upgrade the OS before I started working with the device, so I didn't have to re-learn stuff all over again.

11. Home Screens. I really expected to be able to wipe the home screens off (and maybe that is what rooting is for) and be able to create a page of work apps, games, net stuff, tools, etc. I have a App Manager which sort of does that, by creating folders on the Left home screen, but I wish I only had one home screen, without the at&t preloaded stuff.

I not giving up and I am sure that allot of this will eventually come to me, but I never thought it was going to be that hard to pick it up. Maybe I am just too old for new things, but I am a computer geek of 30+ years, you would think this stuff wouldn't be that hard.

 

[D3sRtH4mmR]

Welcome to Android.
I think it's unfair to expect the same "service" from Android if you compare it to a Blackberry device.
Android is infinitely customizable; you're just going to have to get your feel of the operating system and your device.

I'll try to answer your questions one by one to the best of my ability. I'm sure other members will also weigh in with their views.
1 seems to be on its way to being resolved.
2 Go to Appbrain
There you can browse online, add apps to your installation queue and sync with your lists. You do have to have a Gmail account.
3 If you want a physical keyboard try the X10 mini pro or some other Android devices with a physical keyboard. Basically I think you just need to get used to it. We all use the various Android keyboards and are quite happy with them.
4 There's a Yahoo Mail app. Will that work for you? You don't need a Gmail account as your primary email. I only use the Gmail account for Market and Appbrain, nothing else. I don't sync my contacts with it, nothing.
5 There's no 5
6 Beautiful Widgets isn't a home screen replacement. Try ADW Launcher, HelixLauncher, Launcher Pro, many more.
7 You can have your center screen empty if you wish. Get Titanium Backup and you can uninstall/freeze any apps you don't want. You can move apps across all 3 or 5 (2.1) screens. I suggest you root your phone. Rooting is basically like the iPhone's jailbreaking but Android doesn't make you seem a criminal for doing it!
8 No idea
9 Get used to the OS and in a couple of weeks you'll be gliding through everything. Android is sweeping through the smartphone market share for a reason.
10 You can easily flash a 2.1 ROM on your device. You don't need to wait for the official AT&T 2.1 update if you don't want to.
11 See 6 and 7 above.

Give it time, Mitch, and work with Android with an open mind. It's a fantastic OS. I always say the future is touch and the future is Android. Relax and enjoy the experience. These are just teething problems.
Once again welcome to Android.

 

[rosered]

I will just add that you can clear all the stuff off your three screens by long pressing on any icon until it vibrates slightly and then drag and drop it in to the trash can that appears at the bottom. You are not uninstalling it, just moving the icon off your desktop.

Once you have plenty of room you can then put your Beautiful Home widget on by long pressing in a blank area and then select widget then Beautiful Home Weather. It takes up about half the screen.

I like K-9 and not had any probs with it, I know others like Maildroid. They are free so give them a try first.

Plus 1 on appbrain, but you need their app on your phone first too then you sync and can install what you have added to your list online. The search function, especially for a google company, is rubbish. What happened to sounds like?! The other thing you can do is get a barcode scanner and scan the QR codes (black and white box picture) from your online source for apps and then it finds it on the market on the phone for you.

Hope it helps and if I can think of anything else, I'll add it later.

 

[nb_mitch]

I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your answers. It isn't like I am giving up on it and going to trade it in on a Fruity substitute, although I came close to getting a BB Torch instead, but I just wanted a bigger screen. I also agree the the future is Android and it will just take some getting use to it. Maybe I spend some time reading an owner's manual as I think a better understand of how it works will go along way.

It has been somewhat more difficult, because I use my BB for on-call and I am on-call for a very very large retailer from T-day to Monday. Since my SIM was bad, I have to keep swapping the SIM from the BB to the X10 and back and it is a pain to get it out of the X10. Once I get the new SIM or Monday arrives and my On-Call ends, I can activate the X10 and spend more time on it.

Welcome to Android.
I think it's unfair to expect the same "service" from Android if you compare it to a Blackberry device.
Android is infinitely customizable; you're just going to have to get your feel of the operating system and your device.

I was hoping it would be better and ultimately I believe it will be

I'll try to answer your questions one by one to the best of my ability. I'm sure other members will also weigh in with their views.
1 seems to be on its way to being resolved.

Yes, it is coming, not a complaint about the X10, just documenting my experience

2 Go to Appbrain
There you can browse online, add apps to your installation queue and sync with your lists. You do have to have a Gmail account.

I do have a Gmail account and I used it to sync all my contacts which worked great.

That is what I expected with AndroLib, I guess I picked the wrong App to use I have got most of my Apps loaded and it helped me get more use to the keyboard

3 If you want a physical keyboard try the X10 mini pro or some other Android devices with a physical keyboard. Basically I think you just need to get used to it. We all use the various Android keyboards and are quite happy with them.

I want a virtual keyboard, just not real happy with the stock keyboard, I hope to eventually go to Swype. This is the one part of this transformation that I expected to take time. I spend allot of time erasing letters because I "missed" by one letter to the right or left. Maybe my fingers are just to wide

4 There's a Yahoo Mail app. Will that work for you? You don't need a Gmail account as your primary email. I only use the Gmail account for Market and Appbrain, nothing else. I don't sync my contacts with it, nothing.

I know, I have it saved in my Favorites on Androlib, but can't find it in the Market on the X10. One of the frustrations with the Market.

5 There's no 5

Just testing to see if you were actually paying attention Things aren't as bad as they seem, my list is only 10 items

6 Beautiful Widgets isn't a home screen replacement. Try ADW Launcher, HelixLauncher, Launcher Pro, many more.

Sad, I had hoped it would be or at least I could replace the clock and weather Apps of the stock device. I think I have found my answers to how to do that, so I think I am good. Launcher Pro is in my favorites, but can't find it on the market.

7 You can have your center screen empty if you wish. Get Titanium Backup and you can uninstall/freeze any apps you don't want. You can move apps across all 3 or 5 (2.1) screens. I suggest you root your phone. Rooting is basically like the iPhone's jailbreaking but Android doesn't make you seem a criminal for doing it!

On my Favorites, but can't find in the Market I think I am rooting much sooner than I expected. I don't know what jailbreaking is, I didn't know Apple made phones

8 No idea

I have contacted the developer for help, hope it isn't just the 1.6 thing.

9 Get used to the OS and in a couple of weeks you'll be gliding through everything. Android is sweeping through the smartphone market share for a reason.

I sure hope so

10 You can easily flash a 2.1 ROM on your device. You don't need to wait for the official AT&T 2.1 update if you don't want to.

I have updated my BB OS from other sources, because I was tired of waiting on At&t, just didn't know if anyone has created a ROM yet, also not sure that is something I am up to right now. Maybe give me a week

11 See 6 and 7 above.

Give it time, Mitch, and work with Android with an open mind. It's a fantastic OS. I always say the future is touch and the future is Android. Relax and enjoy the experience. These are just teething problems.
Once again welcome to Android.

I sure hope so, life can't be this hard. I do like the device and feel once I get more comfortable, it will get allot better.

 

[nb_mitch]

I will just add that you can clear all the stuff off your three screens by long pressing on any icon until it vibrates slightly and then drag and drop it in to the trash can that appears at the bottom. You are not uninstalling it, just moving the icon off your desktop.

Thanks, sounds like hiding it on a BB, that is what I need. Can I also do that to Apps on the thing at the bottom, I think it is called a drawer that rotates horizontally?

Once you have plenty of room you can then put your Beautiful Home widget on by long pressing in a blank area and then select widget then Beautiful Home Weather. It takes up about half the screen.

That sounds just like what I want. Thanks

I like K-9 and not had any probs with it, I know others like Maildroid. They are free so give them a try first.

I like it too, nice that it gives me all my folders, etc. I just need it to poll Using the device while I am on-call in the future, it is critical that I get the email within 5 minutes or someone will not be happy Supporting a global company can be challenging at times, but we had no issues and a Great Black Friday. (it is always great when you don't get woke up in the middle of the night, even if my day did start early at 4am

Plus 1 on appbrain, but you need their app on your phone first too then you sync and can install what you have added to your list online. The search function, especially for a google company, is rubbish. What happened to sounds like?! The other thing you can do is get a barcode scanner and scan the QR codes (black and white box picture) from your online source for apps and then it finds it on the market on the phone for you.

Hope it helps and if I can think of anything else, I'll add it later.

I have a price barcode scanner loaded, tried the scan thing, but maybe I need a more generic barcode scanner that isn't trying to look up a price

I will give the appbrain a try, now if I can just find it on the Market, maybe if I spell it backwards, it can find it. A "exact match" on name would be a great option

 

[rosered]

On the keyboard front sadly you can't get what I consider to be the best cos AT&T don't let you side load apps, but @Gunny5821 on here is a gentleman user with AT&T and I know he uses ThickButtons keyboard for his big ole man mits!!

Hopefully with the other advice you will get your phone set up as you want it, it just takes a bit of doing and some time to get used to it coming from a completely different style of device.

If you think of anything else as you go along, just holler and someone will no doubt chip in with their two cents worth.

Edit on the mail thing, you need to go into your settings... Menu>More then Settings then Account Settings then Fetching Mail and then select Folder poll Frequency and you can have it from 1 minute upwards.

 

[nb_mitch]

On the keyboard front sadly you can't get what I consider to be the best cos AT&T don't let you side load apps, but @Gunny5821 on here is a gentleman user with AT&T and I know he uses ThickButtons keyboard for his big ole man mits!!

I will try that, thanks

Hopefully with the other advice you will get your phone set up as you want it, it just takes a bit of doing and some time to get used to it coming from a completely different style of device.

Today as been a great day, I was able to clean up the home pages, just can't figure out how to find the BW Time/Weather widgets to get them onto the home screen. The trashcan is my friend

I created an AppBrain account and it is so much easier, great App, loaded it on my phone, in 15 minutes I was able to build a wish list of the 30 apps I am trying to load. Only problem is when I "sync" the device, only Apps that show up in the At&t Market show up

Do I have to Root to get past this?

If you think of anything else as you go along, just holler and someone will no doubt chip in with their two cents worth.

Edit on the mail thing, you need to go into your settings... Menu>More then Settings then Account Settings then Fetching Mail and then select Folder poll Frequency and you can have it from 1 minute upwards.

I don't see those menu options am I in the right place?

When I hit the left button to get a little menu in K9, there is a settings>global settings, which lists:

Display
Interaction
Network
Miscellaneous
Privacy
Debugging

I have been through them all and don't see anywhere to set Frequency?

TIA

 

[charlyee]

Hello and welcome from an ex-BB user.

In k9 mail, go to accounts and choose the one you want to change. Then go menu>more>settings, and then choose Account Settings. The option that rosered mentioned is in "Fetching Mail".

Hope that works.

 

[rosered]

Have you tried long pressing and selecting widgets from the pop up and then finding Beautiful Home Weather from the list that then appears. They aren't an install type item or an icon in your app drawer.

And yes to get around AT&T restrictions rooting is the only way. Miss Charlyee is the lady for that advice, if I remember rightly she is an AT&T gal that debranded and rooted to get round the aggro.

 

[D3sRtH4mmR]

Just testing to see if you were actually paying attention Things aren't as bad as they seem, my list is only 10 items

In the words of the immortal Spinal Tap, "This one goes to 11".

 

[nb_mitch]

I have almost got it working completely, just a few issues.

Got K9 sync working now, even though I only have one email address entered, I needed to select that email before going into settings. Set it up for every minute and will see how it goes.

Got Beautiful Widgest on Home screen, nice app, great looking lady in a bikini in the background I like the nice shortcuts to the calendar, weather & alarm too.

Is this the Google calendar that I can sync?

Issues remaining:

In AppBrain, I have a list of 7 Apps that won't install, get an error of "There are no matches in Android Market for the search: pname: com.fede.launcher" etc.

Currently Apps in error are:

Adobe Reader
RedBoxer
LaucherPro
E-Mail Notifier
EasyTether Lite
Urbanspoon
ADW Launcher

I execute Z4root, but when I execute an App that requires root, it says I don't have it. Any Ideas? Z4root seemded to execute ok, rebooted the device. Do I need to uninstall the app and reinstall them?

 

[rosered]

It could be that these apps aren't available in your area or with your carrier.

You could try to search more generally on the type of application to see if there is an alternative. For example I have OfficeSuite pre-installed on my phone which lets you view pdf files.

ADW is under ADW.Launcher but may not be available - it's not available in New Zealand or Greece for example, there are other home launchers... Helix, Panda, GDE for example.

And yes you can sync with google calendar, I use an app called Jorte rather than the stock app cos it looks better imho, its a freebie from the market if you can find it.

 

[nb_mitch]

I want to thank everyone again for the support yesterday, I made the unofficial conversion from BB to X10 last night when I left the SIM in the X10 and used it for business pages. I didn't get an actual page, but I tested it allot and it seems good to go. So my only real issue now is that I can't get WunderRadio to work.

The list of Apps I can't load are ok, not that I planned to use them, except the REDBOX App would be nice. I found an alternative to the E-Mail notification which is working well and allowed me to convert from my Blackberry.

The Keyboard is still a work in progress.

I do have one more question, I guess it is bloatware related. When I go into ATK and get a list of all "executing or loaded Apps" there are a whole list of Apps which I have installed but never used. I would assume after a reboot an App isn't going to start unless I open it. I can understand email, monitoring type apps starting up, but ebay, market, games, etc I would not expect to be in the list until I use them?

Is there a setting I need to turn off for each one that starts automactically or a startup folder like on a PC I need to clean out?

TIA

 

[rosered]

I just let my system sort itself out, don't task-kill these days. If the app is programmed to start automatically then all you do by killing it is make the phone work harder cos it will start back up again. Leave it idling in the background is my 2cents worth.

There are a number of threads on task killing and it divides opinion so maybe do some reading when you get a few minutes spare and see where you fall on it.

 

[nb_mitch]

I just let my system sort itself out, don't task-kill these days. If the app is programmed to start automatically then all you do by killing it is make the phone work harder cos it will start back up again. Leave it idling in the background is my 2cents worth.

There are a number of threads on task killing and it divides opinion so maybe do some reading when you get a few minutes spare and see where you fall on it.

I have read those threads, and there seems to be those that believe in killing everything and those that don't. I am ok with leaving them alone, I was just surprised that games I had never opened would start automatically.

I have removed some duplicate Apps and will just see how it goes now. Any thoughts on a good sleeve type case? It sort of fits in my BB case, but it is about 1" long.

 

[D3sRtH4mmR]

Any thoughts on a good sleeve type case? It sort of fits in my BB case, but it is about 1" long.

Take a look at some of the cases on this page.

As for task killers I stopped using ATK and I find my phone working fine without it. Just check the running processes under menu-settings-applications-running services and you'll see which programs are running.

 

[madmurdoch]

Take a look at some of the cases on this page.

As for task killers I stopped using ATK and I find my phone working fine without it. Just check the running processes under menu-settings-applications-running services and you'll see which programs are running.

ATK uses more battery than the apps it closes. It's a waste of time and I've proved this for my X10. I have 'autokiller' installed which uses memory more efficiently and reduces memory usage, and so also battery usage, dramatically for apps not being used etc...

 

[nb_mitch]

My battery has been ok, I haven't charged it since Saturday with lite use. What was a shock to me was the data usage I was getting even though I have never left the house with it and it has been on a Wifi network the whole time.

I am trying to reduce my 3G data usage so that I can ultimately change from the $30 unlimited plan to the $15 200M plan. But I can't do that if it constantly flips to 3G. According to 3G I have used 12M in 4 days, not horrible, but it should be closer to zero.

What I finally realized was that, that when the device goes to sleep, it turns off the Wifi and goes into 3G mode. I found a Settings options under Settings/Wireless Controls/Wif_fi settings/Advanced/Wi-Fi sleep policy which I changed to NEVER and hopefully this will fix my issues.

I wish I had a 3G option to "ask before connecting" that I could set off and only need to allow when I leave the house. Since I work from home that isn't too often

 

[D3sRtH4mmR]

Try this to control your 3G access.
I just turn off data access in settings and only turn it on when I need it.

 

[spikeithard]

Dont know if this is a random question thread but ill ask a few here...

When im using Jorte calender and Im adding a new event... i type in the event name in the top entry field but then i want to press done to finish it i cant move the darn keyboard out of the way? the only i did it was to click the time entry field than press back. And its not just about jorte, but any other app or feature that you need to get rid of the keypad at the bottom of the screen to get to a button needed. any advice?

and last question. All my voice messages are being sent to me in the way of a text message. I went to settings and all that but couldnt find a way to get rid of it. I talked to rogers and they said i have enhanced voicemail plan. any help on this?

thanks so much

 

[Smoked]

My battery has been ok, I haven't charged it since Saturday with lite use. What was a shock to me was the data usage I was getting even though I have never left the house with it and it has been on a Wifi network the whole time.

I am trying to reduce my 3G data usage so that I can ultimately change from the $30 unlimited plan to the $15 200M plan. But I can't do that if it constantly flips to 3G. According to 3G I have used 12M in 4 days, not horrible, but it should be closer to zero.

What I finally realized was that, that when the device goes to sleep, it turns off the Wifi and goes into 3G mode. I found a Settings options under Settings/Wireless Controls/Wif_fi settings/Advanced/Wi-Fi sleep policy which I changed to NEVER and hopefully this will fix my issues.

I wish I had a 3G option to "ask before connecting" that I could set off and only need to allow when I leave the house. Since I work from home that isn't too often

Hey, thanks for the tip on Wifi sleep policy... That always annoyed me and I didn't know how to prevent it.

As for monitoring your 3g, I installed a widget called "Toggle Data" and it allows me with one-touch to disable the 3g. It works great...give it a shot if that meets your needs.

 

[Smoked]

OMG Appbrain is awesome! I've had this phone since april and I'm still finding new ways to customize the crap out of it Android definitely appeals to the tech-geek in me.

 

[nb_mitch]

Dont know if this is a random question thread but ill ask a few here...

You would probably be better starting a new thread or finding a thread on the subject matter.

 

[nb_mitch]

Today had it's ups and downs in my Android world. On a possitive side, my 4 days of on-call for work ended at 8am this morning

Then I realized that my k9 lost all my account information and I had to set up my 2 email accounts again, luckily I didn't get a page the last night. Not sure why it disappeared, but when I opened K9, it acted like it was the very first time.

Second, my WunderRadio started working It would switch between channels and played great until I swapped the SIM Does the SIM have anything to do with license agreements on the products you buy, etc?

Next my new SIM came in the mail and I put it in and got the same "SIM card faulty". I got on-line with At&t and they said there was nothing wrong with the SIM, it just needed to be activated. OK, why didn't they realize that 5 days ago, before they wasted their money sending me a new one She activated the phone and I am now a full fledged Android user

After the new SIM was installed, I didn't see any difference But it worked all day, no issues, except my WunderRadio hasn't started to work again.

 

[rosered]

Ooooh K-9 has always behaved very well on my phone, that is strange! If you continue having problems then switch to Maildroid, pretty much the same when I had a look at it. I know a couple of other AT&T members are using this quite happily.