In simple terms how can I....

[crester]

I had a VZW S3. They let me out of my contract because so many calls were being dropped. They came out and checked and said I was in a poor reception area. I bought the new S3 at Metro PCS because they were offering it for $519. It seems to be working somewhat better than Verizon did. I still have the old S3 in case I have to go back to VZW but so far things are going OK.

lol... you're not hearing me... before you bought ANY Samsung Galaxy S3... what NON-GALAXY S3 phone did you have?

 

[dee632]

Oh sorry. I had a Palm Treo.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Don't know how their battery life is, but I know when I went from my T-Mobile Dash to my first Android, I had to get used to a different battery life.

 

[crester]

Oh sorry. I had a Palm Treo.

Yeah... there's alot more going on in the Galaxy S3... so getting a day out of the S3 is actually pretty normal. I remember when I had my Blackberry I could stretch to nearly 3 days at times while still using it alot. But sadly that doesn't happen with the current generation of smartphones.

 

[dee632]

Yes the Treo had good battery life but would I go back...never. Love my S3.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Yes the Treo had good battery life but would I go back...never. Love my S3.

After I got used to Androids, the S3 has GREAT battery life compared to the Android phones I've had in the past, so I'm thrilled with 18 plus hours

 

[KreepyKen]

Lookout seems to be eating a bunch of the OP's battery.

Lookout performs a weekly scan of all the stuff on your phone. It will use a couple % for that. Typically, it's not even in the list..it only kicks on when you install an app or when it hits it weekly time to scan.

 

[KreepyKen]

Thank you Evil. I guess because it's a new phone I was worried about it, but after reading all these posts, I guess I'm pretty normal. That is a good thing!!! Now I can relax and enjoy my wonderful phone.

Just one last thing I'd like to ask: How often do you reboot your phone? Sometimes if it's been running for a few days, apps can crash but leave some process hanging that makes the phone act weird or burn through the battery faster. Every once in a while, my wife comes to me and asks, "Why is my phone acting all weird? I won't do something all of a sudden." I'll ask, "When was the last time you restarted your phone?" Her answer is always, "...........(long pause).....I don't remember." After she restarts, the weird new problems go away.

If you don't already, I'd suggest restarting the phone every day or two. It might help with the number of apps running in the background. I have the mysterious plummet issue, so I routinely restart my phone when I get out of my car at work each morning. I generally don't get any random wonkiness unless I'm installing and/or uninstalling a bunch of apps.

 

[dee632]

Yes I noticed that Lookout scans apps when I install them. I haven't used it very long but I think I like it. I like the idea that it could find my phone if lost.

 

[dee632]

I shut my phone off every night when I go to bed and start it up in the morning. Is that what you mean?

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Yes I noticed that Lookout scans apps when I install them. I haven't used it very long but I think I like it. I like the idea that it could find my phone if lost.

I shut my phone off every night when I go to bed and start it up in the morning. Is that what you mean?

I use Lookout for scanning apps and actually like the paid version of Wheres My Droid for locating my phone. It will GPS it down to the exact coordinates and I can message it from my computer or text it from another phone and if it is on silent or down low, make it start ringing with a special tone, vibrating, the flash will flash, for 10 minutes straight.

I never cut my phone off at night, really don't ever cut my off, just do a reboot every couple of days.

 

[KreepyKen]

Yes I noticed that Lookout scans apps when I install them. I haven't used it very long but I think I like it. I like the idea that it could find my phone if lost.

Yes, it's an excellent app. You're better off with it than without it.

I shut my phone off every night when I go to bed and start it up in the morning. Is that what you mean?

Yes, that counts. I just asked because some people will go two weeks without restarting and wonder why the phone is suddenly doing weird things.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

You can also wipe your phone or lock it with Wheres My Droid and make it take a picture (with either camera) and you can have it online if someone has your phone.

 

[KreepyKen]

You can also wipe your phone or lock it with Wheres My Droid and make it take a picture (with either camera) and you can have it online if someone has your phone.

Yeah, WMD also allows you to trigger events (starting a siren, lock or wipe phone, etc.) by using text messages.

Another option is Plan B by the makers of Lookout. You can install the app on your phone AFTER someone steals it (by pushing the install from the Google Play web site on your computer).

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Yeah, WMD also allows you to trigger events (starting a siren, lock or wipe phone, etc.) by using text messages.

Another option is Plan B by the makers of Lookout. You can install the app on your phone AFTER someone steals it (by pushing the install from the Google Play web site on your computer).

Yeah I saw Plan B a while back. I've had WMD for a long time now, because I don't have a home phone and I'm forever not being able to find my phone at home lol.

I got the paid version so I could use a custom ringtone when I couldn't find it and got a very, very loud mp3 online for free. Used to I would text my phone from my email, but now they have that Commander and I can tip it there to set it off if I can't find it and do everything from another phone or the Commander if the phone was stolen. You can also set it up to call a specific number if someone removes the SIM or changes the SIM. I never set that up though.

 

[dee632]

I think I'll look into WMD to see what it looks like. The only thing I've been wondering is what happens if you leave your phone (say in a public rest room) and you don't have someone's phone to use. If you're not near your home to get to a computer are you out of luck?? I don't know how that works.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

I think I'll look into WMD to see what it looks like. The only thing I've been wondering is what happens if you leave your phone (say in a public rest room) and you don't have someone's phone to use. If you're not near your home to get to a computer are you out of luck?? I don't know how that works.

if you are in a business and can't find it, someone will have a phone they will let you text and set off the sirens. if you get home and left it somewhere and don't know where, you would have to get to a phone or computer and text it or send a message to GPS it. you will then get like about 4 messages back, the last one will have a google map with the location pinpointed where your phone is.

 

[dee632]

I actually hope I never have to use it. lol

 

[Kelly Kearns]

I actually hope I never have to use it. lol

I use mine all the time for finding it at home or if I'm at a friend's house. I'm forever putting my phone down and not sure where it is lol

 

[PATTY PERRY]

i use an app called android assistance,i love it,its free,and works great,try it,you wont be dissapointed,i promise,it shows you whats running on your cell and it also turns off things that are running that you dont want to run ,there are alot of andoid free apps out there to also help you with improving battery life ,hope this helped,good luck and always be very careful what you force close like evilmonkey said,it could screw up everything,you dont want that,theres a reason why it says force close,anyways,hope this helped,and there are aloso more apps that can help you,just take your time and look around,i also have this security on my phone,if an app is bad,it wil ltell you it is and you have a choice to keep going or stop ,here is that app also ok?there are a few of them,and there free,but my favorite one is called lookout,it scans every app you try to install on your cell,i love it,i feel very safe with it,also there isanti virus free,thats the one i used for almost a year,never had a problem,ever,i really dont know why i switched,but anyways,also there is antivirus &mobile security,its free also,there all in the andriod store,good luck