New to Android with the Photon, just a few questions...

[Walter E Kurtz]

What are the essential apps for this phone? Some I want are:

1). Emulators
2). Games
3). Somehow to watch movies (I can't find the app on the phone itself!!!)
4). Anything else I need...
5). Also rooting, can someone give me a brief description of this? *I just need to know if it's worth it for me. *What exactly can I do with it?
6). Is there a way to import ringtones? *I wanna use the MGS codec sound for incoming texts. (is there a way to differentiate these sounds? *Like a text from an update.)
7). Good browsers?

Thanks!

(Also I am having a few problems. One is addressed in the forum, the wifi is not connecting all the time and disconnects constantly. Sometimes if I reboot it'll change that, but not always. Also today I tried making calls and not only could I not hear anything, but they couldn't hear me, even though it said connected. I resolved the issue by rebooting the phone, does Android always have these issues? I've rebooted the phone for problems like 3 times now and I haven't had it for 48 hours!)

 

[Citizen Coyote]

What are the essential apps for this phone? Some I want are:

1). Emulators
2). Games
3). Somehow to watch movies (I can't find the app on the phone itself!!!)
4). Anything else I need...
5). Also rooting, can someone give me a brief description of this? *I just need to know if it's worth it for me. *What exactly can I do with it?
6). Is there a way to import ringtones? *I wanna use the MGS codec sound for incoming texts. (is there a way to differentiate these sounds? *Like a text from an update.)
7). Good browsers?

Thanks!

(Also I am having a few problems. One is addressed in the forum, the wifi is not connecting all the time and disconnects constantly. Sometimes if I reboot it'll change that, but not always. Also today I tried making calls and not only could I not hear anything, but they couldn't hear me, even though it said connected. I resolved the issue by rebooting the phone, does Android always have these issues? I've rebooted the phone for problems like 3 times now and I haven't had it for 48 hours!)

1 and 2: check the Market. There are a ton of good games and emulators out there. Angry Birds is ever-popular, as is Fruit Ninja.
3. If you're a Netflix customer, you can use the Netflix app.
4. Explore! It depends on your needs and wants. Some apps I like to use include Dropbox, Evernote, aCar (for keeping track of auto maintenance), Southwest's app, WiFi Analyzer, Fandango, Soundhound, and GPS Test.
5. Check out this thread. Instructions are specific to the HTC Evo 4G, but a lot of the general info applies to the Photon.
6. You should be able to use any ringtone or notification file you can find, just stick it in the proper folder on your phone after you connect it to your computer (select the option to use the SD card/media area as a drive). I don't think you can specify notification sound behavior without an app, I haven't really tried.
7. Dolphin Browser, Opera, and Firefox all work well if you don't like the stock browser.

The "silent call" bug is a known issue with the Photon and Sprint/Motorola are working on a fix, but it is not normal for Android. If you're having to constantly reboot your phone, I would exchange it for another while you're still in your 30 day window.