So I just got the Droid Turbo, and it's my first Android phone evar.
I'm just curious what I should do to set it up. As in, what apps to download, what apps to disable, what settings to change, et cetera. I'm particularly wondering about the lock screen (the one where it's just a clock and lock), because it never seems to go away. And when it does, the slightest movement from dust on the moon turns it back on. I don't imagine it's too bad for battery life, but it's not going to help.
Any advice is appreciated!
For setup, first make sure you enter a Gmail address. Many of the advanced features of Android depend upon a Gmail account, particularly the "Google Now" feature (activated by swiping up from the bottom of the screen or by downloading the Google Launcher and making that the default launcher.
Tip: store all of your contacts etc in your google account. You may need to export from your sim; or even the phone storage itself, and then import to Google. Keeping contacts stored in Google will keep them backed up, and make it easy to switch devices in the future.
Also, setup the Moto app suite. You may have already done this when you first turned on the phone. If not, go to "Settings:Moto" or go to the app drawer and open the Moto app. You can program your personalized launch phrase, set quiet modes, driving modes, meeting modes etc. These are features that are provided by Motorola to help make your phone a tool to make you more productive.
Regarding disabling apps: You really don't need to do this. The Turbo has LOTS of memory. For the most part, it doesn't make the phone run faster (some might beg to differ). However, some of us don't like to see apps we don't use cluttering up our app drawer. In that case, you can drag the icon to the top of the screen, to "info" and then you can select "disable". You may need to uninstall updates before you get the option of disabling a particular app.
Some apps come installed by default, and then received updates from the Play store. The original app is stored in the "ROM" memory, and the updates are stored in the regular app memory, thus there is some little bit of extra storage being wasted. When you uninstall updates, then disable an app, you eliminate the 2nd copy (the updated/downloaded copy), and disabling hides the original app, and prevents updates from downloading for that app.
For the most part, Verizon apps that you don't use can be disabled, as well as some extraneous Android apps (Hindu or Korean input for example). A few verizon apps can't be disabled (ie. voice mail). It might be possible to disable an app that another app that you still use depends upon. So it might be best to go slow disabling apps, and watch for unexpected behavior after.
Regarding the phone turning on the lock screen to display notifications, you can disable the sensors, but that disables one of my favorite features. It is designed to "watch" for you reaching for the phone or when you move the phone, and then turn on the screen so you never need to hit the power button. No other phone (other than other Moto phones) does this. The screen uses no power to display the color black, so the lockscreen or notifications, which display 90% black, really don't use much power at all. The proximity sensor on the front of the phone disables the lockscreen from turning on when it senses something close (like being in a pocket or purse), so if you turn the phone upside down, it will disable the lockscreen/notifications from turning on.