Two questions from a Droid newb

[SCampbell27]

I just got the Thunderbolt yesterday, love it so far. This is my first time using a Droid as I have been a life long Blackberry user. I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with it so far. The only thing that frustrates me is that there's so much to learn about this phone, where with the BB I pretty much could do, alter, enhance anything I wanted with it in my life (through years of experience, obviously..)

So to get to the point of this thread...

I'm in Maryland right now, but my phone is telling me that I'm in Brooklyn, (NY.) as much as I have always wanted to go there -- I'm not there. So the location/weather under the big clock at the top of my main screen is out of wack right now. How do I correct this? It had me pin pointed in the right location all day yesterday.

Second question is what are the essential apps that I should download to get the most out of my phone? I may download a few games here and there, wallpapers, fun stuff, but right now all I want to do is enhance the phone to it's fullest potential. So far I've downloaded

Advanced Task Killer
Battery Doctor

And finally, how do you delete all these useless apps that come pre-installed? Like fore example "Let's Golf 2" or "Rock Band" I don't even see the option in Advanced Task Killer to kill them.

Thanks

 

[major_works]

Welcome aboard. As to the weather widget, I work in Manhattan and live in northern New Jersey, but I've had it tell me I'm in places such as: Virginia Beach, Boston, Honolulu (I wish!), etc. The fix is to tap the weather widget and hit the refresh button at the lower left.

I'm just about as new as you are, but I'll tell you that the only way to get rid of what some term "bloatware" is to root your phone. There's tons of threads on this forum that will explain that process if it's something you really want to do. I'm not ready to go that way yet myself.

 

[Mordecaidrake]

The HTC widget unfortunately has limited weather 'hubs', I'd try entering your ZIP code and see what it says is the closest location. As for the essential apps, I'd recommend ESPN ScoreCenter, Movies, IMDB, Pandora, Tinyshark(Grooveshark, free app replacement for the official one), and the rest is all personal preference stuff like games. I'd uninstall the Advanced Task Killer, it's been found that the services will continue to start up and in the long run it will use more battery to start the app than it does to sit inactively in the background.

 

[scottstatn]

Well to try and help for starters I would dump the task killer app from what I have read they do more harm than good. The other apps Like rock band and let's golf cannot be removed unless you root your device.

I am not sure maybe someelse can help out but the clock may have an option to set it and keep it up to date with you current location and not a city that may be in there by default.

Lastly essentials apps would probably be up to your preferences and what you use you phone for. I know there is another sub-forum listing everyone's top 5 apps.

Hope the info helps please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[prakash99]

I haven't had to deal with the first part of your problem yet so I don't know how to deal with it but I think the problem has already been discussed here on the forums.

Secondly, I would advise you to get rid of the task killers. Those are more of a nuisance than help. Any task that you did not start yourself, the phone starts it again on its own after the ATK kills it so the cycle keeps going, taking its toll on the battery. The same goes with battery boosters.

And third, it is an ANDROID phone not a DROID. Droid is a brand name given by Verizon to certain android phones on its lineup. Which means all Droids are android phones but all android phones are not Droids.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[SCampbell27]

How would I go about removing them completely then? The Task Killer that is. Do you just hold the widget down on the phone, and then drag it to the remove bin? Does that completely remove it?

Thanks

 

[Mordecaidrake]

How would I go about removing them completely then? The Task Killer that is. Do you just hold the widget down on the phone, and then drag it to the remove bin? Does that completely remove it?

Thanks

Menu > Settings > Applications > scroll down to the app, click it and hit uninstall.

 

[tropper]

Also the GPS location error Ive found is due to a large magnectic field close by. I work next to a large power substation an it takes nearly a minute an half to get a lock, when I do its off by a mile or so.

 

[SCampbell27]

Thanks for the quick responses, you guys have helped me nail every issue I've had so far. I can't get the location for my weather forecast to change unfortunately, but I won't let that kill my overall mood towards the phone. I'm sure it will set it's self back once I get out and about.

I'm just curious, which Twitter app do you use from the market? I see the traditional Twitter, but I see that TweetCaster has a higher rating.

 

[Rem]

I'm just curious, which Twitter app do you use from the market? I see the traditional Twitter, but I see that TweetCaster has a higher rating.

I know this thread isn't TB-specific, but: Vote for your favorite Twitter app

There's decent input there on a bunch of different ones. Myself, I've been using twicca for nearly a year now, but if you have more than one Twitter account it may not be for you.

 

[SCampbell27]

Thanks Rem! Guess I will just play with a few of them and decide which one I like the best and ride with that.

Is there a way to organize your app widgets (I think that's what they're called?) and put them in the order you want them in, instead of the default ABC order they automatically get placed in

 

[Rem]

Thanks Rem! Guess I will just play with a few of them and decide which one I like the best and ride with that.

Is there a way to organize your app widgets (I think that's what they're called?) and put them in the order you want them in, instead of the default ABC order they automatically get placed in

Sure thing! That's the best way to do it.

I think you're referring to the icons in the app tray, correct? The menu that says "All apps" at the top? With the stock Sense launcher the only option you have there is list or grid view - they will always display in alphabetical order. But there are a handful of third-party launchers that allow you to move them around however you'd like. Hopefully someone else will jump in and give you some recommendations there since I personally don't use any.

 

[SCampbell27]

What's a widget then? I obviously have had a completely wrong idea of what it is.

 

[Rem]

What's a widget then? I obviously have had a completely wrong idea of what it is.

Widgets are interactive and/or display live info (music players, weather, social networking feeds, etc.) right on your home screen. They can also act as shortcuts to an app but the general idea is that you can use them or get info from them without having to ever tap an icon/actually open the app itself.