past iPhone user learning the ropes

[phandroid23]

I finally dumped iPhone and got myself an Evo for Christmas. Goodbye Steve Jobs and 1984!

I'm pretty excited about it so far, but there is much to learn. There are few things that are simply making me crazy and I need to learn how to customize it to get around them. Overall, I feel like I have to click everything so many times to get basic functionality out of it. Can someone chime in to give me tips for correcting these issues. Oh yeah - I've already bookmarked many tips-and-tricks pages to learn more droid stuff, but these simple things I can't get around. I'm using HTC Sense right now.

1. The notification light won't quit blinking. I went into setup and unchecked everything under "Notification Flash", but it still keeps blinking. I've cleared my text messages, read my email, and checked my phone calls, but it won't quit blinking. Shouldn't the fact that I unchecked everything in the Settings page turn it off for good? It certainly isn't helpful when it never turns off.

2. The open screen tells me that I missed a call, but not what time they called. I swipe down, then click "Phone". It shows me a list of phone calls, including the ones I missed, but still no time. I then click the phone button in the bottom right corner and it tells me the time. So many clicks to find out when someone called! Can I get it to show the time someone called on the phone's main list?

3. I want to make a call to a friend, but I have 500+ contacts in my address book. It takes five buttons to get to my friends list. What the hell? (Press Phone, press bottom right corner, press group button, press friend list, scroll down list to find the friend, press the friend's name, then press the number to call. What a nightmare!

4. On the iPHone contact list, I didn't have to scroll all the way down the list to get to a name. It has all the letters on the right hand side and I can jump to a letter. Is there an app for that so I don't have to scroll through 500 names?

5. Is there a guide for what all those icons mean at the top of the screen. Sometimes they make sense and sometimes not. Right now I have a large green G, and I thought it meant that I have new Gmail. I went to my gmail account and read some emails, but it's still there. Seeing a list of all the possible icons and their meaning would be great (as well as how to get rid of them).

Sorry for so many questions, but it just feels like I have to work really hard to do some basic tasks. I'll never buy an iPhone again, but when EVO takes me all these clicks just to see when someone called or to to call someone on my Friends list, it gets frustrating . Thanks!


Brian

 

[avenuePad]

Hey! Welcome to Android, phandroid23!

I don't own an Evo, so I can't really help you with any of these particular issues. However, you'll probably get more help if you post this thread in the Evo 4g specific board. Just scroll down on the Forum homepage and you'll see a huge list of phones. Just find the Evo link and you're all set.

 

[TheCowGod]

3. I want to make a call to a friend, but I have 500+ contacts in my address book. It takes five buttons to get to my friends list. What the hell? (Press Phone, press bottom right corner, press group button, press friend list, scroll down list to find the friend, press the friend's name, then press the number to call. What a nightmare!

If you just start typing the name of a contact from within the dialer using the phone keypad it will start showing only contacts that match that name or the number you started dialing. That is usually the easiest way to find a contact...

 

[rkkeller]

Download the user guide and that should help answer all your questions especially #1 and #5.

http://support.sprint.com/global/pdf/user_guides/htc/evo/htc_evo_ug.pdf


For your #2, when you miss a call, there is "sometimes" a display at the bottom of the screen showing who called and the time. This depends on if the phone is locked or what your doing so its not always there. When I miss a call and this display is not there, I simply swipe down at the top notification area and it shows me who called and the time. One swipe down, I dont think it can get easier than that.

For your #3 and #4, its one press. Press the "phone" icon on the bottom of the any home screen and just start typing using the keypad there. Type the first or last name or phone number. Much simplier and quicker than scrolling thru 500 contacts like the iPhone.

The EVO can do so much more than any iPhone and so much more customizable. Android lacks the sheer number of apps but you should be able to find all the main popular ones.

 

[lunatic59]

1. The notification light won't quit blinking. I went into setup and unchecked everything under "Notification Flash", but it still keeps blinking. I've cleared my text messages, read my email, and checked my phone calls, but it won't quit blinking. Shouldn't the fact that I unchecked everything in the Settings page turn it off for good? It certainly isn't helpful when it never turns off.

The blinking light is there to alert you to a new notification. Even if you answer the event, if you don't clear the notification it will continue to blink. Pull down the notification bar and select clear. That should stop it. If you want to turn it off completely it is under menu>sounds>pulse notification light. Usually the blinking light is also able to be turned on or off at the app level.

2. The open screen tells me that I missed a call, but not what time they called. I swipe down, then click "Phone". It shows me a list of phone calls, including the ones I missed, but still no time. I then click the phone button in the bottom right corner and it tells me the time. So many clicks to find out when someone called! Can I get it to show the time someone called on the phone's main list?

Time is right there to the right of the caller's name.

3. I want to make a call to a friend, but I have 500+ contacts in my address book. It takes five buttons to get to my friends list. What the hell? (Press Phone, press bottom right corner, press group button, press friend list, scroll down list to find the friend, press the friend's name, then press the number to call. What a nightmare!

Open your contact list, touch the contact you want and click on the star to the right of the picture. When you have your friend's list starred, go to a homescreen, long press and select folders. Choose starred contacts. Then all you have to do to call them is open the folder, scroll a much shorter list and select the contact. If you always call the same number, then you can create a new folder and put direct dial shortcuts in it. I am sure there are a number of other ways to streamline your friends through apps or widgets. Find the one that works best for you.

4. On the iPHone contact list, I didn't have to scroll all the way down the list to get to a name. It has all the letters on the right hand side and I can jump to a letter. Is there an app for that so I don't have to scroll through 500 names?

Google is all about search ... open full contact list then press the search key (magnifying glass) and select the first letter of the contact ... it will filter the list for you.

5. Is there a guide for what all those icons mean at the top of the screen. Sometimes they make sense and sometimes not. Right now I have a large green G, and I thought it meant that I have new Gmail. I went to my gmail account and read some emails, but it's still there. Seeing a list of all the possible icons and their meaning would be great (as well as how to get rid of them).

Apps will have their own icons, too.