Any tips for a WebOS user trying out the Shift?

[travistyofjustice]

Been a Pre user for 1.5 years and it looks like I have to leave WebOS because Epocrates hates WebOS. I bought a Shift yesterday and have been doing my best to get used to it. I did a lot of patching on my Pre to get it just how I wanted it and I just wonder about Android in that capacity.

What I like... TONS of apps. Maybe developers will get involved in WebOS someday but there are like 20x more apps for Android. The device is way smoother at 800mh than my Pre is when clocked to 1gh. The on screen keyboard is a lot more easy to use than I expected... may switch to an Evo and drop the horizontal slider... I really prefer a vertical keyboard anyway. Its a solid phone that really outperforms my overclocked Pre.

What I don't like... Email and messaging on the Shift. WebOS naturally integrates all your email addresses into one inbox, is there a way to do that I just haven't found? If a contact sends you a text, an IM, and another text from a different source WebOS makes that one conversation by default, can this be done on Android? Scheduling application starts or system setting changes (like turning services on or off automatically)... is this possible at all?

I don't mind voiding my warranty if I decide I don't want to take the phone back in my 30 day window so if anyone has any thoughts let me know.

Thanks!

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

See my signature.

Sent from my myTouch 4G

 

[travistyofjustice]

Thank you for the link! The information in that is very good but doesn't answer my questions. It may be that I am asking for Android to do what it doesn't do and I just want to know if that is the case. I want to know what I have to get used to and what I can change.

 

[travistyofjustice]

Also... the top bar... can the battery icon be changed to show a percentage rather than use a widget?

 

[falz]

I also switched from the Pre to Android when the Shift came out. Messaging is up there as one of the things that WebOS did *much* better. I looked around for any messaging app that integrates IM with SMS but none seem to exist.

I'm sure ill get used to it eventually but the interface as a whole was far more intuitive in WebOS. Too bad Sprint seems to have moved away from Palm.

 

[travistyofjustice]

Thanks Falz. I think most people dont realize how much better WebOS is at messaging. Perhaps if they did devs would work at it. The email thing is very frustrating. I am required to have 4 email accounts and not having an integrated inbox is really annoying. Maybe I just haven't found it.

 

[LancerzRalliart]

I just came from a palm pixi, and the messaging and email is definitely better on webos, even the gmail on webos comes thru instantly. Seems not to push through instantly on android, takes a min or 2. But maybe this thread will help you http://forum.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/33254-palm-webos-homebrewers-guide-android.html

 

[travistyofjustice]

I forgot to mention the coolest thing about converting. Because I went through the infamous Palm profile failure I set my contacts to google. I didn't even have to ask the sales rep to move anything over. It's like having a different version of the same phone. Cloud data ftw!

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I believe there is a guide for webOS users.

For mail you can try maildroid. I don't use it anymore but when I did it was awesome. I also haven't found a program that does messaging like webOS.

I use Handcent for SMS/MMS. I don't really IM that much, and when I do it's gtalk which has it's own app.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Here's the guide...

http://forum.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/33254-palm-webos-homebrewers-guide-android.html

 

[travistyofjustice]

I'm hoping someone will post something saying there is something I can do. Right now I feel like this is a really awesome phone that does some things I never knew I wanted, does all essential processing tasks well, but doesnt do communication well at all. I don't care about call quality but email and text need to be natural. If I can't find a way to one thumb both easily I just cant do it.

So... All you Android pros... Ideas? I'm leaning towards taking the phone back and buying an old droid for Epocrates on wifi.

 

[travistyofjustice]

Thanks iamlilysdad. I dont send messages from different sources but I recieve them from different sources. WebOS tosses the recieved messages in the same conversation and while I never wanted to change the sending account its always an option. Its just a little unruly to deal with 4-7 people that all contact you from 2-3 sources via text. I actually didn't notice until i got off WebOS... they said something and I said something back. Now in one day I have had to read multiple conversations 8 times just to respond. Its on the level of having to shift your car twice every time you need to change gears... do-able yes... practical no. I'd pay for an integrator.

 

[travistyofjustice]

Thanks all. I run my devices hard. I use a lot of features and communicate by txt and email constantly. 26 hours to the first fail. it became super sluggish (like more than a minute response) and pulled up apps that were not opened within the last 10 or 20 (camera for example). malware?

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Maybe a rogue app. It shouldn't get super sluggish like that, but a restart will clear the RAM. Yeah you shouldn't have to, but if you're opening THAT many apps in a session than it might be best in your particular situation. Is this typical? No.

 

[travistyofjustice]

Thanks for having a response every time iamlilysdad. Is there an app that schedules restarts? I may have to root I know. I have no problem in compiling a list of root items that I need to make the phone work the way I want. I am making my decision based on #1 text, email, internet, #2 cool apps, #3 hassle (how many things do I need to manually do to keep the device up). As far as Android goes perhaps someone needs to slap me across the face and say I can't do what I want to do. Shame there are like 50 separate forums and like 50 devices. It makes the development and help hardware specific.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I'm not sure the bootloader has been cracked yet, but I could be wrong. I'm sure you can find an app that will restart the phone on schedule. I don't know of any off the top of my head. You can post that in the apps section if you want.

And development and help IS hardware and software specific, so we have to have separate forums for each phone.

I also came from webOS and I know that the messaging was strong on that platform. You can adjust to Android, and IMHO the strengths still outweigh the cons for Android vs webOS.

If you aren't happy with the default browser I'd personally recommend dolphin broswer mini. It's fast and full of awesome.

Also, depending on what type of email account it is you can just forward it over to gmail and set up a label for that account. I have a gmail and hotmail account but have all my hotmail forwarded to my gmail. It's not instant (because gmail doesn't constantly check hotmail) but when it hits my gmail it's instantly pushed to my phone.

 

[Tomeygun]

Also, depending on what type of email account it is you can just forward it over to gmail and set up a label for that account. I have a gmail and hotmail account but have all my hotmail forwarded to my gmail. It's not instant (because gmail doesn't constantly check hotmail) but when it hits my gmail it's instantly pushed to my phone.

thats what i did for 3 accounts, works great

 

[geoff2k]

I'm also a (soon to be former) Pre user and I played with an EVO shift in the local Sprint store yesterday and could not get used to the keyboard. I guess I'm used to a smaller keyboard with better defined keys (e.g. Pre and the Treo I used before it).

Have you had any issues transitioning to the Shift's keyboard?

 

[Tomeygun]

I'm also a (soon to be former) Pre user and I played with an EVO shift in the local Sprint store yesterday and could not get used to the keyboard. I guess I'm used to a smaller keyboard with better defined keys (e.g. Pre and the Treo I used before it).

Have you had any issues transitioning to the Shift's keyboard?

I haven't got used to the hardware keyboard but really like the software keyboard, mostly in landscape

 

[falz]

Same keyboard issue. My fingers were a bit big for the pre and I thought landscape-keyboard would be much better but it seems like there's too much distance for ones thumbs to travel for it to be efficient. I've had the shift for almost two weeks now and my opinion hasn't really changed.