Hi. I am new on here and totally new to the world of the Droid. I got my new Droid 3 yesterday, after having been a loyal BB user since the trackball came out. I am trying to learn as much about how to really use my new Droid, by reading forums online, asking people, etc. I am seeing different comments about messaging apps? Any info you might care to pass along to me about my new phone would be much appreciated. Anything from getting my email to work as a pop3, messaging apps, setting custom ring tones, etc. Private messages would be most excellent if you have any tips to offer. I keep reading about rooting/bootloaders and, to be honest, I don't have much of an understanding as to what that is. Again, any info would be much appreciated. I am feeling a little guilty for leaving BB after so many years, but I am also excited about my D3. Thanks in advance!
-JJ
I was a long-time BB user and fan. I slowly got fed up with BB's for a few things, especially:
- Having to restart my phone regularly because RAM was exhausted
- Voice dialing failures (more than half the time)
I tried a used Droid 1 beginning in February and LOVED it. Two days ago I upgraded to a Droid 3, and I love it even more.
The only things I can say that BB may have over Android phones are:
- The physical keyboard. BB really excels here. The Droid 3 has an excellent physical keyboard, but it's still not as good as BB's.
- Corporate email integration (or so I hear).
- BlackBerry Messenger doesn't have a true rival in the Android world. (Though I've read BBM may be made available to Android this year.)
Here are a few things a former BB user should know:
- The Android Market has a lot more apps available.
- The open aspect of the Android OS has pros and cons (way more pros in my opinion, but it has it's problems, too). One of the big benefits is that so many people can create apps and improvements to the existing system. One of the drawbacks is some inconsistency from phone model to phone model.
- If you like voice dialing, it's MUCH MUCH better on Android.
- Touch-screen interface is much better than the BB Storm.
- Browsing the web is much better.
- Gmail app is much better.
Now some specifics.
Browsing: Unlike BB, you can replace the stock browser. I recommend Dolphin HD, which is free. Some like Firefox; I want to like Firefox because I use it on my PC, but I find it's slow on my phone. But note that if you want to put a shortcut to a website on your home screen you'll have to setup a bookmark in the stock browser; the home screen's shortcut function won't read Dolphin bookmarks.
Email: I use Gmail for my corporate email. For me, the Gmail app on my phone is outstanding. Others use K-9, but I don't know much about it.
Typing: I recommend setting your keyboard input method (
Settings | Language & Keyboard | Input Method ) to Swype. It'll take some getting used to. Instead of typing letters you drag your finger across the keyboard and Swype figures out what word you want. Once you're used to it you can do this very quickly.
SMS: I think many people get a replacement SMS app. I use Go SMS Pro (again, free). I like the interface--though I confess I can't remember why I didn't want to keep using the stock browser.
Battery Life: There's a lot of discussion on this all over the place, so I won't go into much, here. But a couple notes for BB users:
- Turn off radios you're not using. WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth. Also, if you're in the U.S., in
Settings | Wireless & Networks | Mobile Networks, set Network Mode to "CDMA".
- I recommend getting "WiFi OnOff", "GPS OnOff" and "Bluetooth OnOff" widgets from the market. Add them to one of your home screens. They'll make turning those radios on and off much easier.
If you have specific questions, PM me and I'll do my best to answer.
-boster
