Doing it wrong? or There's an app for that?

[wadergirl]

So, I just got my new Mesmerize on Saturday, and unfortunately so far I have to say I hate it. I'm switching from a Blackberry Curve and iPod to the Mesmerize, and there are some features that I'm missing that are just killing me. Now I'm wondering if its something that I'm doing wrong (i.e. not finding the correct setting) or if I just need an app to do what I want it to.

In this game, I'll describe what I don't like, and you guys tell me, "You're doing it wrong" (and tell me how to fix it) or "Theres and app for that" (and tell me what to download... paid apps are okay as long as they get the job done).

1. The power button is the only way to "wake up" the phone. One my BB and iPod, I would hit one of the buttons on the front of the device, and the screen would light up so I could unlock it. I liked this because I could just leave them on my desk at work and when I wanted to look at something, it just stayed there. With the Mesmerize I have to pick it up and push the home button, or it goes skittering across my desk because theres nothing to push against.

2. It is really inconvenient to switch "profiles" (i.e. vibrate, silent, normal, loud, etc). In face, I'm not sure that such profiles are available. From what I can tell I can have "Normal" or "Silent". I used to have an app that would automatically switch my phone from "Normal" to "Silent" during work hours (I had to manually program into the app what hours I wanted) but I cant find anything like that for the Mesmerize. I don't want one of the "Flip the phone on its face to go into silent mode" because I want to SEE my phone while at work and still have it in silent. I also cant figure out where I might find a profile for "Loud". Say, when I have it plugged in next to my bed charging, but I'm in the computer room playing games, I might not hear the normal ringer, but I'd hear it on Loud.

3. This one there is probably an app for. Facebook and Twitter automatically update their feeds. Now not a totally bad thing, I don't want to have to go in and tell it to update constantly, but it means that FB and T are always at the "top" of the feeds (i.e. at the most recent post). I hate it though because if I'm say, too busy working for the past half hour, I have to scroll down to where I left off, and then scroll back up to the present... except most of the time I'm not sure where I left off! My BB used to automatically go down to the last post I read, and I would only have to scroll up from there.

4. When the Mesmerize is "asleep" (the screen is dark and locked) there is no way to tell if you have a notification come through (at least on silent mode). My BB had a light at the top that would flash when an IM or SMS came through so a quick glance would tell me whether or not I had to look at my phone or leave it alone.

I hope someone can help me, I really WANT to like the Mesmerize, but so far I don't. I also hope this is the appropriate place for this kind of help!

Thanks in advance

 

[LaTuFu]

First of all, welcome to the Forums, and congrats on buying the Mez. I also jumped over from a Blackberry Curve. I had 4 different BBs over the last 5 years before making the jump to Android. The first piece of advice I can give you is going to be the hardest: Forget everything you remember about how your Blackberry worked. If you try to make your Mez act like your BB, it will A) be very frustrating for you and B) won't unleash all of the potential of this device.

The biggest difference between BB and the Mez (and Android in general) is that the BB had one way it did things. Granted, it wasn't bad, and they thought of a lot of nice ways to make the device helpful and useful. But if you wanted it to be a little bit different (like, say, go into silent mode by turning it upside down) that was too bad. They were too busy figuring out how to make the Curve in a green color to make improvements to the OS. With Android, they don't make any assumptions at all about how you want to use your phone. They leave it up to you to customize it. Blackberry's available apps are limited and tend to be 3rd party apps like Dictionary, Travel, Expense Keepers, Passwords, etc. Things that help you integrate your life into the phone. Android has all those apps, too. More importantly, they also have apps that let you turn the phone into YOUR phone. What that means to you, right now, is that all of the functions you were asking about (most likely) aren't available on the phone you have in your hands right now. The great news is, it won't take very long for you to customize it so that it does.

Trust me, I fought with mine for the first two weeks because I was trying to find the settings in it like I would on my Curve. Once I stopped doing that, and started asking "what do I really want the phone to do in this situation?" the apps I could find to help started falling out of the market. Most are free, but there are some really excellent ones that you may want to consider purchasing.

Now that I've passed that along, here are some of my suggestions for your items:
1. That might be "there's an app for that". There are apps such as Tasker that will allow you to customize virtually every aspect of your phone. If you really don't like the functionality difference, you might want to take the time to create that ability. If you don't want to take the time, there is a whole community of tasker users that might be willing to do it for you.

2. Definitely an app for that. So many, in fact, that you will want to check out a few of the free ones. Tasker does it too, if you go that route, but it does not have any "built in" so you'll have to create them first. I would not buy a profile control app, because the 2.2 update we'll be getting next month will allow you to control all that from the status bar. In the meantime, some of the functionality is available from the status bar. Swipe down from the status bar to open it up and see those options. I can't remember which ones there are (I'm already running 2.2). Many profile managers will set up automatic times for when each profile is active ("work" "sleep" etc) so you can make them do whatever you like. I used to keep one active all the time, but the 2.2 update has a "quiet time" period that turns everything off at night. The rest I can control as I need.

3. Facebook/Twitter: So many apps, you can take it in whatever direction you like. I run my feeds through my Launcher Pro app. I hardly ever use the stock facebook app because I'll just read the updates in the widget feed. There are a number of other ways to manage it. Surf through the market options to see which ones you like best.

4. Definitely an app. You can go the notification app route, or you can go the "entire messaging app" route to help with that. I use Handcent for SMS, and it will notify with a pop-up on the screen that even has a quick reply option in it. There are a few IM clients out there (Palringo is pretty good) that will do the same thing.

There is a learning Curve (pun intended) to transition over to Android. Don't get too frustrated yet, and give it a couple of weeks. You'll find that the Mez is much better, easier to use, and so much more customizable that you will enjoy surfing the market for new toys before you know it.

I highly recommend:
Swiftkey keyboard (best $4 I have spent for an app)
Launcher Pro
Handcent SMS
Evernote
Gtunes
PowerAmp (another "pay for" that is totally worth it, IMO)
Silencr Pro
Opera Mini Browser
Beautiful Widgets
Bump

Good luck and keep asking questions!

 

[wadergirl]

Thanks for the advice. Part of me knows not to expect out of a Droid what I got out of my BB, but part of me wants to stick with what I was comfortable with. I think I was expecting more of "A BB with extra functionality to do better and cool stuff" not "A whole different kettle of fish".

 

[Rjdriver]

I have to agree with you there is a learning curve I had a moto Q (windows based) the came from a BB and I will admit there was a learning curve I got mine right after they came out in Oct. but now I will say I wouldn't trade it for the world .....it is really functional and best of all it is what you make of it..... what I did is sit with my laptop working the phone in one hand and google searching for things that I needed or thought the way things should be with the other.... stick with it ....and I know you won't look back ....it's kind of like learning windows then having to learn mac OS or linux you have an idea what you want to achieve but just can't figure out how to do it.....I feel for ya.
best
Rob

 

[wadergirl]

Well its been a couple more days now, and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. Found some apps that do what I want... or at least mostly do what I want and it has helped. It still seems to be a struggle, but at least not so badly that I'm going to throw in the towel and exchange phones like it was before.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[LaTuFu]

Before long you'll wonder why you were so attached to your BB. Pinky promise.

 

[jc3191989]

If u like to have an LED indicator for messages I use the app NOLED which has a small blinking light for when u miss calls, texts, etc. different color for each. if u do get this I would make sure to turn on the proximity sensor so the indicator only blinks when out of your pocket or when its right side up. I say this because the mez doesn't have an led indicator and must turn on the whole screen even to blink one led. You can't tell the screen is on during the day because it is a black screen. At night you can definitely tell. Using this app you can set the home screen to "wake" the phone before you unlock it when you have a notification