New Android user (Thunderbolt)

Greetings and Welcome to the Forum!

I was a long time BB user as well so we have similar backgrounds.

Now I have several Android phones, (it's addictive) all on active lines. There is so much that one can do it's a lot of fun.

First, I compliment you for taking the right approach and asking, if more people did that in the beginning they would have a lot more fun with their phones and far fewer problems.

Here's my suggestion, spend some time exploring around here and reading up on Android, this forum alone has a tremendous amount of great learning resources.

Next, avoid downloading any apps that you do not absolutely have to have for a few days until you get used to your new phone. The phone you have chosen is a really great model and is outstanding right out of the box.

Do NOT download an App Killer. They are not needed for a phone like yours.

If you're not already using Evernote, it's a free app that you can keep notes, photos and other things in, and access it from any other device or computer you have. I will put a link at the bottom of this post. I use it daily and it's fantastic. They are constantly updating it, and it remains free.

Remember Google is your friend and using it with to search for specific issues that may come to mind, as well as posting your specific questions here, is a great way to go.

Right now when you are new the biggest favor you can do for yourself is to resist the urge to immediately start to modify your phone. What you want will change as you learn more about Android, so instead of getting into trouble , learn about the specific version of your OS.

Enjoy your new phone



Remember Everything | Evernote Corporation

welcome to... android and this forum

aatos gave you some good advice...

there is a subforum just for your phone:
HTC Thunderbolt - Android Forums

lost of good info there.

Moved

Welcome to the boards! I was using a blackberry courtesy my old company for 2 years. It was my first smartphone and it served me well (especially since it was free). However, after starting at a new company, I didn't get the free phones anymore and to be honest, was quite happy as I could get the phones I wanted. At first I went to the Motorola Atrix but after some frustrating weeks with the scum known as AT&T, decided to turn my phone in to get the tbolt and have never been happier. Here are some tips off the top of my head.

1. Your battery will suck if you're on 4G at all times, turn it on to 3G or get the extended batteries (there is a 1700 mah battery that just came out and does not affect your phone size and also a 2750 mah battery that increases the size of your phone).

2. Go to the android market. This is really where android/iphone outshines blackberry. The amount of app availabilty really doesn't compare. When I like to do is view all apps in the market, and then click on top free as those are the top downloaded/rated apps out in the world so you know some of them have to be useful. Same with top free games.

3. Make use of your 7 home pages. These home pages set android apart from iphone in a great and better way. Whereas on the iphone, your home page is just all your apps (and folders if you choose), you can set your home pages to display so much more. This includes weather, stocks, news, your email, mint.com if you use it, your music player, contact shortcuts etc. I would spend some time adding widgets to your home page to make it the way you'd want.

4. Animated wallpapers will pwn your battery life.

You can look on YouTube for app reviews and "how to" videos. I learned a lot just by watching other people interact with their devices.

Check the permissions of apps you download. If something seems to seek more permissions than needed, you may not want to go that route.

Evernote is recommended above. I have no doubts that it works well, but read the fine print. Everything you put in Evernote becomes the property of Evernote. Including photos, contact infomation, etc. That bothers me.

AustinTech said:

Evernote is recommended above. I have no doubts that it works well, but read the fine print. Everything you put in Evernote becomes the property of Evernote. Including photos, contact infomation, etc. That bothers me.

Click to expand...

that is crazy... is that true?

One of the tricks I like to use frequently with my Tbolt and even previous android phones is the voice search.

I was driving home from work last week trying to decide what to have for dinner. I got in my head that I wanted some Buffalo Wild Wings. Well being that its a bit hard to type in the search while driving (unsafe too!) I grabed my phone hit the google voice search mic icon and told it "buffalo wild wings, Southaven Mississippi. . . . . It searched, listed the phone number, I tap the number and call in my order!

Just a closing FYI, from web pages you can tap on phone numbers to call or addresses to navigate to also.

If you have friends or family thats got an android device I would also recomend the free app call Tikl. It is a push to talk app that works just like walkie talkies. I THINK it may work cross paltform to Iphones now too, but dont hold me to that part.

If your car has the AUX port for plugging in an MP3 player, you can use it to play the music off your Tbolt. . . .

Like everyone else has said, explore the app market. Find out what works for you. Be sure to read reviews of the app before downloading. A lot of times you can find out that app wont even work with your model phone or any other usefull piece of info related to it.

app market..

one small note:

you have 15mins to evaluate a paid app..
if you dont like it.. uninstall it before the 15 mins is up....
get full refund.

dan330 said:

that is crazy... is that true?

Click to expand...

It's your property, but it is also theirs when you put it in Evernote. They have your permission to do whatever they want with that note, photo, document, contacts, etc.

It's a data mine app. It works well. While it's robbing you.

AustinTech said:

It's your property, but it is also theirs when you put it in Evernote. They have your permission to do whatever they want with that note, photo, document, contacts, etc.

It's a data mine app. It works well. While it's robbing you.

Click to expand...

if i save it on my phone.. the app will still send it out to the dev?

the TB is also my first droid, so coming from a feature phone was hard. the "menu" button on the bottom of the phone is your friend. i learned that it helped me on a lot of the pages/screens i was on. also, sometimes when you press and hold on something instead of just clicking, it offers more options as well. for example, in text messaging, if you press and hold a txt msg, it gives you options. txt msging isn't the only place this works.

i didn't go crazy with apps, but some that i think are nice for us newbies are:

circle battery widget--tells you exactly how much battery you have
audio manager console--easily change your audio at any time on ur screen
call confirm -- it asks u if ur sure u want to call (i kept accidentally calling people)
easy reminder -- coming from a feature phone, i had beep reminders for missed calls n txts, so this was something i still needed
movies -- just because it's a great app!
ringdroid -- now u don't have to buy ringtones like u did with ur old phone, all ur music can be downloaded on ur TB and u get to choose ur ringtone or notification from it
where's my droid -- you can find ur phone when it's lost or u've missplaced it...will even ring if the ringer is off AND can tell u it's location of the phone (address) if it's not with u

there are many more, but this is a start. also, check the htc.com website and look up the thunderbolt manual. it's over 300 pages, so probably won't print it off, but definitely helped me with a few questions i had. i just go to the index, look for what i need, then go to the page.

hope this helps


Edit: also wanted to add to get a barcode scanner, not just to scan barcodes for groceries, but to scan the QR code for apps that will enable you to directly download the app into ur phone. if u look in these forums, some people have graciously put the QR code right there so all u need to do is scan it to get that app.

Keep in mind... it is new to you... and you are still excited. And can't put the thing down.

You are not using it... how you would a normal phone.

I have an Evo... and get more than 20 hrs. I have only 4G and bluetooth off.

Your phone should be more power effecient.

The Bolt is my first droid as well. I will warn you though. Do not do the following:
Root
ROM
Custom Kernel
Themeing
ANY TYPE OF ADJUSTMENTS
Dont look in the app store

Doing ANY of the above drags you deeper into the fun addiction that is Droid. haha.

And for heavens sake dont read ANYTHING on the forums! It will just lead to wondering and thinking and trying new stuff and will lead to you having a goofy smile on your face when you find new toys to play with on your phone. lol.

Also, the 2750 Extended battery is a MUST HAVE. Its worth the 40/50 that you pay for it.

^ +1. Seriously check out what this forum has to offer and learn everything you can. Then make it yours and do what you want to it. That's the great thing about android.