Help android noob!!!

[jayjeff20]

so im having a hard time trying to figure out a few basic things on my fancy new hero (which is amazing in so many ways ) any help would be greatly appreciated.

1. how do i check what apps are running in the background ( which ones didnt close kinda thing )

2. how do i see how much free memory i have?

3. wouldnt a battery meter app just drain the battery faster?

4. will the hero be able to upgrade to android 2.0?

sorry if these questions are dumb to some of you, this is my first android phone and im still really new to all of it. thanks again for any help

 

[ERDude]

1 & 2 are answered here http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero/782-improving-battery-life-your-android-device.html

3. I don't really see the need for a battery meter and yes if a program is running it's going to drain resources.

4. Only time will tell

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

1. Download a task manager program from the market. Look at ERdude's post here: http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero/782-improving-battery-life-your-android-device.html

2. from the homescreen: menu>settings>SD Card and Phone Storage

3. All apps and widgets will drain the battery. You have to decide if the tiny drain from a battery monitor is worth it to know the stats of you battery at a glance. I just look in menu>about phone>status and get the % if i need to know a more accurate number.

4. It should. No word yet if HTC is going to put out supported version of 2.0, but certainly you'll be able to load some flavor of 2.0 on it if you like.

5 no question is dumb.


Ask away if you need clarification on anything. Lots of folks here that can help you out.

 

[jayjeff20]

thanks for all the info guys helps a lot. to clarify one thing though. what i meant in question 2 is how do i know how much ram the phone is currently using, like on a blackberry i could check and it would let me know how much ram my apps are using so i know why my phone may be running slower and what not ( my hero doesnt run slow at all just for the record ). i hope thats comes across a little better. thanks in advance

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

1 & 2 are answered here http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero/782-improving-battery-life-your-android-device.html

3. I don't really see the need for a battery meter and yes if a program is running it's going to drain resources.

4. Only time will tell

LOL I swear your post wasn't there when I started typing

thanks for all the info guys helps a lot. to clarify one thing though. what i meant in question 2 is how do i know how much ram the phone is currently using, like on a blackberry i could check and it would let me know how much ram my apps are using so i know why my phone may be running slower and what not ( my hero doesnt run slow at all just for the record ). i hope thats comes across a little better. thanks in advance

from the homescreen: menu>settings>SD Card and Phone Storage

its listed as Available Space... Under the Internal Phone Storage header at the bottom

 

[ERDude]

LOL I swear your post wasn't there when I started typing

I've had that happen to me before. I swear though it didn't take me 6 minutes to type that post. I'm slow but not that slow

 

[alottabull]

LOL I swear your post wasn't there when I started typing



from the homescreen: menu>settings>SD Card and Phone Storage

its listed as Available Space... Under the Internal Phone Storage header at the bottom

I have the same question. Maybe I am just dumb but since you have said it twice can you explain why Internal Phone Storage is being considered the amount of active ram in use? Sounds more like amount of storage space used to me than amount of ram used.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I have the same question. Maybe I am just dumb but since you have said it twice can you explain why Internal Phone Storage is being considered the amount of active ram in use? Sounds more like amount of storage space used to me than amount of ram used.

Heh. You're right. My reading comprehension skills must be dusty. I assumed the OP meant how much storage memory is left, and even after reading his second post it still flew right past me.

The only way I know to see how much free ram is left is to use a third party app. Might be a way, but I've not stumbled across it. Maybe one of the GSM guys who've had the phone a while knows?

In any case, OP ignore my advice At least the bit about the memory.


@ERDude - this time it could have been me. Lol about 15 windows open and Witty chirping like a canary on meth here tonight!

 

[jayjeff20]

im sorry for the confusion ill try this one more time haha. so when im using my laptop i only have 1gb of ram which of coarse means i can only have so many programs running before it says something like OUT OF VIRTUAL MEMORY. so my question is how do i check that on the hero. like i said previously i could check it on my blackberry. every time i had an app running the amount of available memory would go down. im not talking about storage space here. i really hope this makes sense now haha sorry again for the confusion

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Wasn't you causing the confusion It's a case of me not paying attention.

AFAIK you'll need a 3rd party app to tell you free RAM. Any of the task managers (like the one ERDude recommends) will tell you this info, and I believe Spare Parts will do the same.

 

[jayjeff20]

thanks a lot guys. seems like that would be a standard function on an OS like this but 3rd party works for me. one more question though. i cant seem to get video on to the phone. i put it on the sd card but it doesnt show up anywhere and i dont see anywhere it could show up. what file types does it support?