newbie help/faq/definitions/native functionality

[cordsig79]

Ok, so I am a week into my phone and I have questions, feel free to answer or post more....

OTA, over the air, does this mean any new android updates, including gingerbread will just appear via regular syncing? Or do I need to be hooking this up to my computer to facilitate?

I am slowly learning swype and its tricks, like do a circle around a letter that is repeated, like in look.

Rooting.....I am guessing I need to hook up my android to my mac, download and app that will help me remove bloat.....?? I need a rooting 101 thread for this please....how it works blah blah.

Best battery practices......turn off gps, wifi, 4g*(enable 2g only during the day), turn off syncing, and lower the screen brightness to the lowest tolerable visual level.....*also gives you privacy at work.

Apps.....what are some must have apps on a non rooted phone....I tried out speed test, and american airlines, priceline, and southwest airlines.....then i realized I am already subscribed to email deals and have google to search or follow up with so I deleted the apps for redundancy.

Where can you find more USB to mini hdmi cables??

Can wifi be enabled when it detects wifi but still revert to 2G automatically without having to change back to 2g manually? this transition helps me between work and home....

What do I need to know about security, my android system, and public wifi or just using 4g.....like I have a password protected log in when I put the phone idle. What is vpn, how should I further protect my phone and data stored on it if I want to log into banking info etc? Just make sure I go to a secure website/app and be on 4gonly??

more to come I imagine...

 

[benoit808]

I am no Android expert and never rooted so I can't answer all of your questions but here is for what I know:
- OTA: yes, the update will happen automagically. You don't need to hook up your phone to anything, all you need is patience while you wait for your turn to get the update. And this is also true for Gingerbread
- Best battery practices: turn off everything you don't need. There are some apps that allow to automate this, for example Juice Defender will turn off your data connection while phone is idle. You can also use apps like Tasker that will allow you to turn things on and off based on a bunch of events (e.g. time, location, etc...)
- Apps: too broad of a topic. How can we recommend from 100s of thousands of apps without knowing what your interests are
- Enable wifi: you can keep wifi on, and when you move away from your wifi signal, it will revert back to 2G/4G. Again, you can use apps like Tasker to have the switch based on location or time

Hope this helps even though I didn't answer all your questions

 

[r3g]

You actually dont need to disable GPS when not in use. The GPS doesnt pull battery unless something is acually using it. No GPS icon at the top means nothing is using it which means it uses no battery.

 

[benoit808]

You actually dont need to disable GPS when not in use. The GPS doesnt pull battery unless something is acually using it. No GPS icon at the top means nothing is using it which means it uses no battery.

You are right but I like to keep it turned off so apps don't try to use it when I don't really need it. There are a bunch of apps that use location but I don't really care to have the GPS accuracy. By having it off, those apps won't use GPS and drain the battery

 

[cordsig79]

thanks all for the good insight so far.........really want to clarify if dormant apps that reactivate, will start sucking battery with GPS enabled...

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

thanks all for the good insight so far.........really want to clarify if dormant apps that reactivate, will start sucking battery with GPS enabled...

GPS is only being used when the icon shows up in the notification area.

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