Help Question Thread for Smartphone and Droid Incredible Newbies

[alison03]

As an aside: I just noticed something: when I turn my phone off and on, it makes a little ringtone. When my fiance turns his off and on, it's silent. Am I missing a setting that I have checked or something? It doesn't really matter, I just wanna know what I'm missing.

Does anybody also know the answer to this? I went through all the settings on both of our phones and it's identical, yet mine makes a little notification sound upon shut down/start up my my fiance's is silent.

 

[bjc70]

Does anyone know why can't I open
attachments in my emails?

 

[bjc70]

Oops...

 

[Liz0311]

Thanks for this! However... when I swipe up, it still answers! This is a tad distressing. I am finding that the actual phone functions are the hardest for me to figure out and it is making me feel pretty dumb! Has anyone else had this experience? Thanks!

From manual, another option:

If the display is off, the display will turn on showing the Lock screen. While the Lock screen is showing, press MENU, and then tap Decline to reject and send the call to your voicemail.

 

[IncrediblyCool]

is 3g the same as mobile network?

 

[Musky]

is 3g the same as mobile network?

Yes

 

[MTC]

what does rooting a phone actually mean and what are you capable of doing with a rooted phone

 

[JeeperDon]

what does rooting a phone actually mean and what are you capable of doing with a rooted phone

There is a really great 'Why Root' thread somewhere on this site, but I couldn't find it. In general, think of it as logging onto your windows desktop with Admin privileges. It allows you to have access to all files, so can do a full backup or tweak some file a general user can't, like to alter the main user interface system or whatever.

 

[ilovehouses]

There is a really great 'Why Root' thread somewhere on this site, but I couldn't find it. In general, think of it as logging onto your windows desktop with Admin privileges. It allows you to have access to all files, so can do a full backup or tweak some file a general user can't, like to alter the main user interface system or whatever.

I read through the "root" thread, and I opted to not root my phone. The guy did a really good job of explaning that it's like admin privileges, but with those you could really screw up your phone if you don't know what you are doing. When the OP said something about maybe never being able to get the phone working again, even with someone as knowledgeable as him about the whole thing, I chose to just to be on my resticted way. (btw, I'm pretty computer savvy too)

 

[sucker4pa1n]

oh yea, is there a way to decide whether or not you want to visit a mobile site vs the full site? i type in espn.com and it takes me to the mobile site automatically

No. It does the same thing on my iPod Touch. The best thing to do is to go to the bottom of the page and click on espn.com logo..it will take you to the full version. Then bookmark that full version.

I haven't read this whole thread so this could be redundant, but I believe the website hosts (ie. google.com, espn.com, etc.) all check to see your browser/OS when you request the initial page from them, and then the server runs a script like (

http://detectmobilebrowsers.mobi/

, which I found from a google search of "autodirect website based on mobile browsers")...

So basically, more and more big websites are detecting what browser you use, and trying to customize your experience based on what they see you are using. If you're using mobile, you get mobile... Facebook does it too, but they have Touch, Mobile, Lite, and Full versions. Which is a pain.

I thought I remembered reading something about browser settings, and adjusting the "user agent" or something, because if the server doesn't detect what browser it is, then it can't custom-feed you to a different site...

 

[AllezDada]

Actually, with the web browser if you select 'menu'>'more' there is an option to check or uncheck 'mobile view'. Unchecking it gets you the regular web page.

 

[mremole]

This may be impossible, but there are some people that I text with often which leads to large numbers of messages in threads (I'm currently pushing 2700 messages for one thread, which means that opening that is incredibly slow). Is there any way to archive that thread and start a new thread of texts with that person? Or do I have to delete that thread in order to not have a ridiculous lag (the screen shuts off before it fully loads)? Is there an app I can download which can archive the thread?

 

[jfunk]

This may be impossible, but there are some people that I text with often which leads to large numbers of messages in threads (I'm currently pushing 2700 messages for one thread, which means that opening that is incredibly slow). Is there any way to archive that thread and start a new thread of texts with that person? Or do I have to delete that thread in order to not have a ridiculous lag (the screen shuts off before it fully loads)? Is there an app I can download which can archive the thread?

There are quite a few apps on the market for archiving SMS messages. I haven't used any myself so I can't give a specific recommendation, but if you search for "sms archive" you'll find plenty to choose from.

 

[tennisgopster]

Just got a Droid Incredible, and I am teeming with questions. Is there a way to get all my emails and texts sent to the same general mailbox (like a blackberry)? instead of switching back and forth between my gmail inbox and sms text inbox. Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

[dgwood12]

I believe pure messenger in the app market will allow you to have a widget on your screen that combines texts and email (at least gmail)
Pure messenger widget - Android app on AppBrain

 

[Musky]

Also, I believe the stock "HTC Mail" Program will allow you to set up mail accounts from different servers.

 

[mremole]

I ended up downloading the SMS Backup and Restore app off marketplace and it did everything I needed it to. Thanks for your help!