Newbie help?

[sarahsunshine]

My DH and I are going to get into this century and get a smartphone (because it costs just as much as our ancient cell phone plan!) - likely the LG Optimus One from Telus, or the LG Shine. We are in Canada. We are also thinking of getting 2 of them (another in a couple months) and getting rid of our land line. Could you help me with a couple things - or point me in the right direction?

1. We will use them as our personal/home phones. I make lots of long distance calls, in Canada (I'm from the other side of the country), and have several friends in the US. What is the best phone app to use to get easy/cheap calls without paying through the teeth through Telus/Bell/Rogers whatever. I've heard of Skype, but are there better apps?

2. What are the most "important" apps to have on a smartphone. The uses I can think of right now that we'd use our phones for would be:
-email
-GPS
- surfing for info
- you tube/videos
- camera/photos
- transfering files from home to work computers

3. I assume that viruses are a thing to worry about... what's the best way to protect a smartphone?

4. I read somewhere about splitting the "hard drive" and saving apps... what exactly are they talking about (if you understand what I'm asking LOL!) is it necessary (like on my computer), and how is this done?

5. Can apps for iphone be used on smartphones?

6. I'm a total newbie, what else should I be asking?

Thanks!

 

[sitlet]

1. We will use them as our personal/home phones. I make lots of long distance calls, in Canada (I'm from the other side of the country), and have several friends in the US. What is the best phone app to use to get easy/cheap calls without paying through the teeth through Telus/Bell/Rogers whatever. I've heard of Skype, but are there better apps?

Google Voice

2. What are the most "important" apps to have on a smartphone. The uses I can think of right now that we'd use our phones for would be:
-email
-GPS
- surfing for info
- you tube/videos
- camera/photos
- transfering files from home to work computers

Those you listed all come stock on an android phone. As for other popular apps, there are many threads on here that list those.

3. I assume that viruses are a thing to worry about...

not really. Just dont install any apps that aren't from the market.

4. I read somewhere about splitting the "hard drive" and saving apps... what exactly are they talking about (if you understand what I'm asking LOL!) is it necessary (like on my computer), and how is this done?

Apps are installed to either the internal memory, or the sd card. If the phone you are looking at has Froyo (android 2.2) it has the ability to move apps to the sd card. The only advantage here is you save space on the internal memory.

5. Can apps for iphone be used on smartphones?

No, completely incompatible. However, most apps that are available for the iphone are also available for android. And if not, there are usually similar apps for android.

6. I'm a total newbie, what else should I be asking?

Just spend a few hours browsing around the forums here. When I got my first android last year, thats exactly what I did, and I learned a lot about it just by browsing.

 

[sarahsunshine]

OK, so I'll just keep asking questions...

1. I'm comparing phones to buy. Some say they have 16G/32G external memory, others 16G internal. What's the difference in terms of how the device works?

2. So, basically it doesn't matter how many phone minutes I get because I can use Google Voice instead?

3. If I understand correctly, if I get free Wi-Fi, then I don't really need any dataplan either because if I'm in my house/ live in a busy city, then likely I have WiFi everywhere anyway...

4. Is there an app that can automatically cut off if I reach my data/phone limit? What would it be?

5. What is rooting?

 

[mrsbelpit]

1. Internal memory is the phone itself. External or expandable memory is the sd card. so a 16gb internal is expandable to 48gb, while if a phone has 2gb internal you can expand to 34gb. The differece is, not everything can be stored externally, so big phone memory is a major plus.

2. Depends on your provider, most providers charge you minutes with google voice. I think it's mostly used to disguise your number. You may also need the internet to use gv, I'm not sure, maybe someone else can weigh in.

3. I don't know about your city, but in mine all the wifi is locked except Starbucks. You could try it without a data plan and see if it works out.

4. You can download an app that will tell you how much data you have used (not sure what the app is called, there are many), or your provider may text you when your close to your limit.

5. Rooting gives you superuser access and the ability to delete apps and install custom roms among other things. Check the thread on these forums called "all things root"