Setup Advice

[dts317]

Hi - just picked up this phone, my first Droid and/or smartphone so there will be a learning curve for sure. I come from a Samsung Rogue , so really this has to be better, but losing the keyboard hurts a little. I'm sure I'll catch on quick.

For starters, I want to set up Twitter/Facebook and anything else that might be useful. Any suggestions on what apps to use for these, or should I just go with the standard versions that these sites suggest?


Thanks for any advice.

 

[whitenessj]

go with the standard versions at first many people will come ut and give reasons for other apps, but until you find a flaw or charismatically you dont like with the stock one then why just start changing for no reason.

Many people spend so much time changing things on the device they never really settle into it. Spend some time setting up the sync features for your accounts (settings>accounts and sync) and play with the options first.

If you come across a feature or frustration with a particular thing on the device search this forum (or place a new thread) and I'm sure you will get a good answer

 

[dts317]

go with the standard versions at first many people will come ut and give reasons for other apps, but until you find a flaw or charismatically you dont like with the stock one then why just start changing for no reason.

Many people spend so much time changing things on the device they never really settle into it. Spend some time setting up the sync features for your accounts (settings>accounts and sync) and play with the options first.

If you come across a feature or frustration with a particular thing on the device search this forum (or place a new thread) and I'm sure you will get a good answer

Actually this is great advice. I think I'm mainly just a little overwhelmed by the fact that there are apps and options with this phone lol

 

[deadpenguins]

First, I'd like to say welcome! Second, I find it hysterical that I literally just posted on another thread about how I just came to a Charge from the Samsung Rogue and nobody probably even knows what that is.

Anyways, I am learning like you, but I have spent hours upon hours obsessing over androids for over a month before I got my device, so I started a little ahead of most in terms of knowledge. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

One suggestion I have: download the app BatteryIndicator (no space). It gives you the exact battery amount remaining on your phone in a little bubble in the top left of your notification bar. The reason I say this is because I thought that I had rather poor battery life until I got this app. For some reason, when you charge your device the battery icon on the top right of your screen *appears* to be full once it reaches 81% charge, when it really needs more time to get to 100. Plus, I think it's nice to see an exact value of how your battery is draining.
Your other option around this is to just turn your phone off while charging because it shows the charging bar more accurately.

Good luck!

 

[dts317]

Facebook

So far so good. However, one thing I am confused about is the Facebook (for Android) app.

All I can view is the latest updates, not "top news" as you could flip to on a PC or such.

Also, if I want to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to SMS updates, I'm not sure how to locate that. I looked all over but do not see it.

Finally, I want to be able to get to my Pages, as I admin several of them, but cannot locate.


Looking around, I see FriendCaster and/or Flow are some alternatives, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Any input?

 

[deadpenguins]

Facebook - hit the back arrow on the news thread, it'll bring you to the menu.

SMS updates (for stock messenger) - go into messenger, hit the menu button (leftmost physical button), turn off notifications.. you can use this button to look up the settings for all apps when you're in them.

As for the pages thing, I am not sure.

 

[dts317]

Facebook - hit the back arrow on the news thread, it'll bring you to the menu.

SMS updates (for stock messenger) - go into messenger, hit the menu button (leftmost physical button), turn off notifications.. you can use this button to look up the settings for all apps when you're in them.

As for the pages thing, I am not sure.

Hmmm...I tried both of these suggestions and failed (go ahead and laugh ). I managed to turn notifications off, but didn't see where it changed anything within the apps.

I also believe I have too many items items running in the background...I'll have to inspect these and see what they are all about.

 

[deadpenguins]

After doing a bit of research to see what you meant by "top news" for facebook, as far as I'm aware that option is not available for the app. However, you can go to the site directly (make sure the mobile version of the site isn't loaded - if it is, you can change to full at the bottom of the page) and the option will exist there.

Maybe I understood your SMS question wrong. You are talking about texting, right? I thought you installed a third-party app and wanted to disable your phone from notifying you when you had a text in the stock messenger app. If this is not what you meant, clear it up for me what you meant specifically.

 

[deadpenguins]

It took me a while to get settled in comfortably with my charge as well. I never really had any lag issues, but I still have some battery issues I'm trying to resolve. Word on the streets is that some Charge owners are getting significantly less battery life than some others, and people are starting to wonder if there's a defect with some batteries.