Can someone please make this sticky. Thanks
It seems that lots of people are having problems with battery performance and buggy keyboards on their X10, as I'm seeing multiple posts and threads regarding these issues (The 2 main issues with the handset in my opinion).
You'll be glad to know that they can both be resolved (to great effect) with the help of a free app and a little manual installation guide. Read on...
Battery Performance
The X10's battery can run down real quick, especially with all that thirsty hardware (4" screen, 8.1mp cam etc) as well as the constant sending and recieving of data (via your 3G/GPRS (APN) and Wi-fi) in order to keep your Timescape and other widgets up to date. With all this going on, you'll be lucky to get 8-12 hours from your 1500mah Battery, which can lead to some people asking why they bothered buying an X10 in the first place (Because it's awesome, of course )
Thankfully, there's a really helpful (and Free) app you can install called Juice Defender. This is a fully automated power management app that has some great features for saving power. It also comes with some great widgets, one of which keeps you up to date with how much extra life you're achieving from your battery (mine is around 2.6x... but some claim as much as 4.0x!!).
It works by switching off your 3G (APN) while your phone is idle. This of course leaves you with the basic GSM/CDMA (2G) connection so you can still receive calls and texts, but it will switch your 3G (APN) back on for 1 minute in every 15 so that you can still receive e-mails, MMS's etc. When you unlock your screen, the app will instantly switch your 3G connection back on so that you can update your widgets and browse the internet without having to over-ride any settings. There's also a widget that is basically a 3G (APN) on/off button so you can quickly over-ride this action to save even more juice.
There's also some other cool features of the app, like one that will switch your Wi-fi off when you're out of range of a recognised hot-spot/router, and another that switches your 3g (APN) off completely when your battery is down to less than 15%.
It's a fantastic little app. I had to charge my phone twice a day before installing this (I'm a heavy user) but now I can go all day and still have 20-30% charge by the time I plug it in at night time.
This is an absolute must for any X10 owner and is available via the Android App store
Edit: It should also be noted that simply fully recharging/discharging your battery a number of times (5 or so) will also improve battery performance to a degree (some claim a big difference).
Keyboard Issues
Lets be honest, the X10 keyboard is very disappointing (and buggy as hell), and while the stock android Keyboard is an improvement, it's still not that great. I'm not a fan of HTC's sense UI but the HTC Keyboard is highly regarded as the best Android keyboard around, and I whole-heartedly agree.
So... sucks if you don't own an HTC, right? ...WRONG!
There's a helpful guide on how to manually install a modified version of HTC's little gem, and after doing so, I noticed a HUGE, HUGE improvement over the X10's pre-installed Keyboards. It's very easy to install and literally only takes a few minutes!
Click me and your problems will magically disappear
Hope this helps.
Please leave your comments below
-pup-
Again, can someone please make this sticky? thanks.
It seems that lots of people are having problems with battery performance and buggy keyboards on their X10, as I'm seeing multiple posts and threads regarding these issues (The 2 main issues with the handset in my opinion).
You'll be glad to know that they can both be resolved (to great effect) with the help of a free app and a little manual installation guide. Read on...
Battery Performance
The X10's battery can run down real quick, especially with all that thirsty hardware (4" screen, 8.1mp cam etc) as well as the constant sending and recieving of data (via your 3G/GPRS (APN) and Wi-fi) in order to keep your Timescape and other widgets up to date. With all this going on, you'll be lucky to get 8-12 hours from your 1500mah Battery, which can lead to some people asking why they bothered buying an X10 in the first place (Because it's awesome, of course )
Thankfully, there's a really helpful (and Free) app you can install called Juice Defender. This is a fully automated power management app that has some great features for saving power. It also comes with some great widgets, one of which keeps you up to date with how much extra life you're achieving from your battery (mine is around 2.6x... but some claim as much as 4.0x!!).
It works by switching off your 3G (APN) while your phone is idle. This of course leaves you with the basic GSM/CDMA (2G) connection so you can still receive calls and texts, but it will switch your 3G (APN) back on for 1 minute in every 15 so that you can still receive e-mails, MMS's etc. When you unlock your screen, the app will instantly switch your 3G connection back on so that you can update your widgets and browse the internet without having to over-ride any settings. There's also a widget that is basically a 3G (APN) on/off button so you can quickly over-ride this action to save even more juice.
There's also some other cool features of the app, like one that will switch your Wi-fi off when you're out of range of a recognised hot-spot/router, and another that switches your 3g (APN) off completely when your battery is down to less than 15%.
It's a fantastic little app. I had to charge my phone twice a day before installing this (I'm a heavy user) but now I can go all day and still have 20-30% charge by the time I plug it in at night time.
This is an absolute must for any X10 owner and is available via the Android App store
Edit: It should also be noted that simply fully recharging/discharging your battery a number of times (5 or so) will also improve battery performance to a degree (some claim a big difference).
Keyboard Issues
Lets be honest, the X10 keyboard is very disappointing (and buggy as hell), and while the stock android Keyboard is an improvement, it's still not that great. I'm not a fan of HTC's sense UI but the HTC Keyboard is highly regarded as the best Android keyboard around, and I whole-heartedly agree.
So... sucks if you don't own an HTC, right? ...WRONG!
There's a helpful guide on how to manually install a modified version of HTC's little gem, and after doing so, I noticed a HUGE, HUGE improvement over the X10's pre-installed Keyboards. It's very easy to install and literally only takes a few minutes!
Click me and your problems will magically disappear
Hope this helps.
Please leave your comments below
-pup-
Again, can someone please make this sticky? thanks.