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Calendar takes 2 seconds to start and if I use the navigation keys to skip from day to day it takes more than a second to move to the next page. I've pinned it down to the number of appointments I have (with less appointments it seems faster) but still I think that's hardly an excuse. My ancient palm VX (20mhz) was always lightning-fast no matter how many appointments. This device has a far superior cpu and a memory capacity.
I've tried many tweakes, ROM's and even though many parts of the OS seem to run faster after each of these changes the Calendar stays at this annoyingly pace. Is it not buffering all apointments? are there any Calendar specific tweaks to make it "usable"?
Just wondering, having you tried your Calendar just after hardreset? This can rule out the posibility that other software (background) is causing the slow down.
If you really want to, you can try the overclocking option. Overclocking your unit from 195 to 240 should improve the Calendar performance. And since the OmapClock can be used specifically an app, you only be overclocking it on Calendar not other software.
Thanks for the reply. Calendar slows down after first sync and filling up. I've tried overclocking and it gives a little more speed. I guess it bugs me my old palm was way faster then this device. I hate it when I click and I have to wait when using calendar. Especially when I am browsing through various days to find an open spot I miss the speed.
Is there any way to make Calendar "buffer" more of the appointments database to improve scrolling from day to day?
My Calendar is also slow. Overclocking to 240 MHz helps, but not significantly. I did the "improve performance" tweaks, have not noticed a significant improvement either. I found that the number of appointments makes a big difference. After hard reset with zero appointments the Calendar flies, but what's the point? I have about 360 appointments, of which about 180 are recurring. Have not tried any unofficial ROMs, maybe that will help.
Still, shouldnt a device with these specs be able to handel a few thousand appointments easily? 360 isnt much...
What helps a little is making sure no tools close it down. I use spb pocketplus and noted it down as an exception to the close button. I am not sure, but i think poutlook needs to be made an exception as well.
Is there an easy way to see the # of appointments or is 360 a guess? Could check how many I have...
I also think 360 is not much at all.
You can count the number of appointments in the PC's Outlook. Click on Calendar, then go View - Current View - By Category. I personally have only two categories ("None" and "Holiday"), and it tells me the number of appointments in each.
I agree about not closing the Calendar but minimizing it instead. It cashes something, and it starts working noticeably faster after a while. That, plus overclocking, plus performance tweaks makes it not too bad, although not ideal.
I have 4300 items in outlook. Guess my history goes a long way back. Still I don't think much if this gets synced. Most of it is way too old (2002-2003 etc)
Hi all,
I am at the end of my contract term with T-mobile and was potentially waiting for the Compact V (HTC Dimond 2) or the N97 or Iphone 3GS, currently have a Nokia 5800 which was bought on PAYG.
I went past a vodafone shop in town and played with the HTC Magic they had on display and it was really fantastic! I was really suprised how smooth the WEB experience was, the screen was super sharp. I tried typing a text message and the keyboard seemed alot better to use then the Nokia 5800 with a built in spell checked (5800 doesnt have that).
So what do you guys think of the HTC Magic? I can get the phone free on a £30 a month tarrif with 600min and unlimited text which is a pretty good deal.
My main usage for my phone is Music (a2dp) at the Gym and WEB browsing and email. Oh and also as an alarm clock to wake me up (which is actually VERY important!).
I really like the way that Nokia have the today screen which shows Calendar appointments but i dont think this is possible on the HTC Magic right?
Any comments or recommendation would be greatly appreciated
If you use Gmail as your main email account, then the email experience on Android is as good as it gets. If you use something else, then the email experience on Android is pretty second rate. Not horrible, but definitely not among the best experiences out there.
The Web Browser is great, on par with iPhone and Palm Pre. I've got no complaints, just don't expect to watch videos other than YouTube because the browser doesn't support Flash yet.
The music player is pretty bare-bones but I don't have any complaints about it. It obviously doesn't have robust desktop syncing software like iTunes or Zune Marketplace, but if you're just listening to albums and simple playlists then it gets the job done just fine. Just keep in mind that you're going to have to supply your own storage for music. I got a 16gb card for about US$50. Vodaphone may include a memory card with their version, I'm not sure, I'm using the unlocked Google version in the US.
The A2DP compatibility, in my experience, has been really great with a newer set of headphones. When I tried to pair it to an older set (about 3 years old) I had a really bad experience, it was difficult to pair and playing music through them rendered the rest of the system nearly unusably slow. I'm honestly not sure what the difference is between them, so your mileage may vary on A2DP depending on the headphones you're using.
The virtual keyboard is pretty great, I've seen a few reviewers who think it's better than the iPhone, so it's definitely about as good as it's going to get right now. I think the screen is a tad too small to use the vertical keyboard comfortably, but the horizontal keyboard (available almost everywhere except the home screen) is fantastic. It's also super-easy to teach the automatic spell checker new words, just type it in and long-press on the word until the "Saved" message pops up.
Just keep in mind that getting an Android phone without a physical keyboard means certain applications aren't going to work, including a lot of games and game system emulators that require more buttons.
The alarm clock is fine, the speaker is nice and loud and you can set multiple alarm times.
There is an included widget for the Home screen that shows your next calendar appointment, but as far as I know there isn't one that shows multiple upcoming appointments yet. There may be something in the Market, I haven't checked.
Overall, I love mine. I don't have considerable experience with any of the other devices you're considering, but I think you really can't go wrong with the Magic, especially if you're a Gmail user.
thanks for the info, i have a few more questions.
Does the alarm vibrate? As in can you make the device vibrate while playing the alarm?
With Nokia devices, you can set the alarm and turn the phone off and the phone will come on automatically, can this be done with the HTC Magic?
The next question is quite important. I am a GMAIL user however, at present, i sync my 5800 with two Outlook accounts. My home outlook is used to store my contacts (i guess the device will sync this with google contacts) and my work outlook is used to sync work calender appointments. I have read about some issues with syncing outlooking, so can my work laptop be synced automatically with google calendar and thus getting the appointments on my Magic?
Are there any turn by turn navigation softwares out for the HTC Magic? I guess this isnt a deal breaker but would be nice to have some navigation
Oh, one last thing, my Nokia 5800's browser vibrates slightly everytime a URL is clicked, can this featuure be present on the HTC Magic?
Thanks
-c
You can easily sync your Outlook Calendar to Google Calendar (2-way if you want) with the Google Calendar Sync tool.
chefgon said:
There is an included widget for the Home screen that shows your next calendar appointment, but as far as I know there isn't one that shows multiple upcoming appointments yet. There may be something in the Market, I haven't checked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have checked, and there is only QuickCalendar that, while nice, is far from being a complete solution.
The lack of possibility to show upcoming appointments on Home screen is what still keep me away from Magic, otherwise a great device.
Sad thing is that I read quite a few people, most coming from Windows Mobile, missing this very same feature.
It should be implemented by default, but nonetheless I would pay to have it and get a Magic.
ceanth said:
thanks for the info, i have a few more questions.
Does the alarm vibrate? As in can you make the device vibrate while playing the alarm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can make it vibrate with the alarm if you want to.
With Nokia devices, you can set the alarm and turn the phone off and the phone will come on automatically, can this be done with the HTC Magic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It goes off when the phone is on silent. Not sure about turned off though.
Are there any turn by turn navigation softwares out for the HTC Magic? I guess this isnt a deal breaker but would be nice to have some navigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there are free ones in the Market. Try AndNav (and AndNav2) and Nav4All.
Oh, one last thing, my Nokia 5800's browser vibrates slightly everytime a URL is clicked, can this featuure be present on the HTC Magic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The browser has a lot of settings but that isn't one of them!
yes it has widgets for weather calender stock etc that you can download from the android market and put on your homescreen...but if you want to get the best out of your magic..root and put the superhero rom on it..it has a flash player, multitouch (yes pinch zooming like the iphone), custom htc widgets that look brilliant, great music player (alot better than the default android one and much more
Are you still considering this phone ?
You can get, I think, a cheaper offer if you get it online.
Also note that this phone has only 192Mb of RAM compared to unbranded HTC Magic that has 288Mb of it!
This could severly impact the Sense UI if it ever comes out for this phone.
Non-Sense UI ROMs run very nice, though...
You can have the alarm vibrate.
But it looks like it doesn't work when the phone is off, which is a real shame!
Aniello
ceanth said:
My main usage for my phone is Music (a2dp) at the Gym and WEB browsing and email. Oh and also as an alarm clock to wake me up (which is actually VERY important!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be aware that Vodafone currently has a 500Mb Fair Use Policy on their 'unlimited' internet package, which makes using it for streaming music somewhat impractical
Anybody got a view on this phone, mine arrives on Monday and just wondered what any current owners think.
also... Woohoo first post in the Tattoo forum!
james194zt said:
Anybody got a view on this phone, mine arrives on Monday and just wondered what any current owners think.
also... Woohoo first post in the Tattoo forum!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not an owner but I'm not too fond of all the buttons it has..... The layout mostly.... But overall I think that this is a great entry-level smartphone to buy. Especially since it runs android. Low Cost, powerfull, and it will appeal to a wide variety of people.
Congrats on the purhase.
i want one too~
I have been using my magic about half a year now...
i love the phone, but the wifi problem that it has annoys me too much~
i think is about time that i switch to the new tatoo..
by the way.. where did you get the phone and how much was it?
I have had a Magic now for about 4 months, has been a great phone especially love the ability to hack it to bits! Just want Rosie and the Tattoo looks like a great phone with it installed natively.
I am looking forward to the Tattoo just a bit worried about the QVGA screen and its support of current applications, other than that it is the perfect Android phone. Especially love the 3.5mm jack on it for my car!
Vodafone UK have it available now, I have had to wait a week for it to appear on Vodafones Business user tarriffs but our account manager confirmed it on Friday and shipped us a couple out.
I have the tattoo and i gotta say i like it. I was worried about the small screen and lack of apps but the screen is very responsive and the phone is running great atm, no freezing ect. There's been about 30-40 new apps added to the store since i got it so i guess more will follow. All in all im happy with it
adwin said:
I have the tattoo and i gotta say i like it. I was worried about the small screen and lack of apps but the screen is very responsive and the phone is running great atm, no freezing ect. There's been about 30-40 new apps added to the store since i got it so i guess more will follow. All in all im happy with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen a few videos and the screen looks really responsive. Almost more responsive than my TD2. With that said Resistive screens have come a long way since the TD2. And the TD2 is really resistive. I'd love to compare the 2 screens.
With Andoid 2.0 aren't all apps supposed to be able to support all resolutions?
No real complaints yet
I have had mine for 3 days now and so far not had any real issues. Going from a LONG TIME as a Windows PDA user to a new OS & way of doing things is always going to be interesting, but for the most part very intuitive and good fun!!
So far there are a few things I have found to be a bit annoying;
- I cannot seem to access files / folders directly on the SD Card or the phone itself. The media player picks up any music put on the card automatically as does the picture album app, but if I want to save text files / PDF's etc. and view later that isn't much help.
- The on-screen keyboard isn't as good as some I have used, especially for those of us that have fat fingers. turning it sideways brings up a bigger keyboard in landscape mode but I have had to revert to using an old stylus on the screen if I am writing anything particularly long.
- There seems to be no Task Manager program built in, though the TasKiller app is fantastic and does a good job, that should have been something that was built in. It would also be nice to be able to say which programs are allowed to run at start-up and so on.
All in all a very good phone, my iPhone loving friends have been very impressed, especially when I told them how cheep it is!! I know the Android OS is still very young compared to some of its rivals, but there are a few important things that it seems to be missing and I am loosing that functionality.
Hope this helps
Rob
I got one. It's really nice. The only problem is the market.
Since market 1.6 they created flaggs for the screensize (or it refers to it anyway, I think they're id'ing by phone, not screen). Unless you compile your app with the latest sdk and added the small screen flagg the app will NOT be visible in the market for tattoo's.
You'll have to get those apps in another way.
Imo very bad advertisement for the android os and a really big precedent but what can you do.
Had my Tattoo for a week now. I have only a couple of issues.
1. No Auto focus, so apps like bar code scanner do not work (though the 2d codes work?)
2. Not as many apps on the store due to 1.6 OS and QVGA screen
The Tattoo is brilliant compared to my WM based HTC Diamond.
My Tattoo is 5 days old now.
In short .. I love it. I love how fast the Android is.
But I furious to know that my Tattoo is not came with Market apps. I think I have to re-flash the ROM with another Tattoo ROM.
Pretty good but.....
james194zt said:
Anybody got a view on this phone, mine arrives on Monday and just wondered what any current owners think.
also... Woohoo first post in the Tattoo forum!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my girlfriend one on Orange (I Have a Hero).
1. Most noticable difference is screen quality. Nothing to do with it being resistive, its just smaller with a lower resolution.
2. There is something strange going on with the Market. There are loads of apps missing that should be there. Not sure if this is a Donut, Orange, Google problem. I have heard that there have been similar issues with other new devices on release. Is it a screen size issue? That would suck.
3. Orange (cos they're daft) have removed the Gmail app (anybody got an .apk that'll work on the tattoo) from they're version! Hard to believe I know, incredibly there is no way to sync your Gmail account or read your Gmail (ok I know you can use HTCs widget but I find the exchange support for Gmail to be a bit flaky). Proper google account sync is a key feature of an android device and Orange have removed it!
Anyway rant over. GF seems happy with it but she deffo wants access to the same apps as I have on the Hero.
Had my Tattoo now for a few days and i love it... Much more smooth running and quicker then the Diamond or the Touch HD (blackstone)...
Good value for the pricetag.....
hp1 said:
2. There is something strange going on with the Market. There are loads of apps missing that should be there. Not sure if this is a Donut, Orange, Google problem. I have heard that there have been similar issues with other new devices on release. Is it a screen size issue? That would suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the screen issue. Tattoo came with 240x320 screen resolutions while almost all the application in the market was set to higher resolutions. Just wait, I think they will update it to support lower android resolutions like Tattoo.
IN regards to the email, I just set up new IMAP account (not exchange) for my gmail, and it works perfectly,
hp1 said:
3. Orange (cos they're daft) have removed the Gmail app (anybody got an .apk that'll work on the tattoo) from they're version! Hard to believe I know, incredibly there is no way to sync your Gmail account or read your Gmail (ok I know you can use HTCs widget but I find the exchange support for Gmail to be a bit flaky). Proper google account sync is a key feature of an android device and Orange have removed it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have setup IMAP on my gf's Tattoo and it works ok but still Orange are complete muppets for removing the Google Mail app (and Google talk and Youtube!).
Hi there,
my dad sold his iPhone 3GS for a Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Coming from an iPhone, I first had to show him the amazing richness of possibilities you have on Android compared to an iPhone and after he overcame his old knowledge of "one button, one app", he was quite pleased with some of Androids merits. However, all in all, he's missing some important features he used to have on his iPhone and he has some problems:
A) Most important of all, pretty much a deal breaker if he can't get it fixed soon: SIP. We tried several different clients, and for example we even tried the latest (non-market) version of csipsimple and we found bug reports for the Galaxy S and adjusted the mic/speaker volumes accordingly but it's still really bad: For local calls the quality is reasonable. It's a bit stuttery at times but people can talk. It's much worse than on his iPhone though. But what's really annoying him is the fact that calls to foreign countries are a no-go. The added quality drop to long distance calls make it very hard for the other party to hear him (All over wifi btw). Please, does anyone know a sure-fix, exact-settings-listing for some SIP app for Android?
B) Also a very important thing to him is a calendar. But both the Samsung calendar as well as the original Android one don't have a good week-view. The original one doesn't have one, the Samsung one doesn't show titles on tasks. I find it ludicrous, it's just boxes without titles... Ideally, he wishes to have a week view similar to what I have on my N900:
Sorry, can't embed the image because I'm a new user:
h t t p ://login.icu.uzh.ch/~archer/Screenshot-20101116-182459.png
There's more but especially the SIP is really bugging him. He absolutely needs it to work reliably or he'll need to sell the device.
Thanks.
TB2 said:
Hi there,
B) Also a very important thing to him is a calendar. But both the Samsung calendar as well as the original Android one don't have a good week-view.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Try Calendar Pad from the market in week view
What exactly is SIP? According to wiki, it's just a voice over internet protocol. Can you not use skype?
my wifi signal on 2.1 and 2.2 are the same. cellphones are not the same as laptop that has higher power to transmit data far away and and large space for antennas for receiving signal. if you look at wifi routers they got huge antennas. i don't think you can fit that in a phone.
i read a few months ago that iphone has problems on signal bcause of bad design : )
if you want software you've got a lot of choices in the market.
Try Sipdroid.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/sipdroid-voip-video-calling/org.sipdroid.sipua
all off topic comments trashed
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=9283203
Um... Poor daddy? Sorry cheeky I know but sgs is for people who like to tinker and find cool mods even simple apps like the plethora of gre calendar apps he could use right now. Seasoned iphone users especially of the older generation often don't get, the nerdy thrill that we do with the customisations and work necessary to fully realise the potential of sgs and andriod in general
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
TB2 said:
Hi there,
...................
A) Most important of all, pretty much a deal breaker if he can't get it fixed soon: SIP. We tried several different clients, and for example we even tried the latest (non-market) version of csipsimple and we found bug reports for the Galaxy S and adjusted the mic/speaker volumes accordingly but it's still really bad: For local calls the quality is reasonable. It's a bit stuttery at times but people can talk. It's much worse than on his iPhone though. But what's really annoying him is the fact that calls to foreign countries are a no-go. The added quality drop to long distance calls make it very hard for the other party to hear him (All over wifi btw). Please, does anyone know a sure-fix, exact-settings-listing for some SIP app for Android?
......................
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Sipdroid and VYKE as SIP provider. No echo, no cutting and only 30 seconds to set up. Can use WiFi or 3G. I do not use any PBXes.
the latest custom ROMs are really showing Pro
and performances are very quick
I'll recomend installing the DOC's ROM for SGS and use SipDroid for the voice chat
there are tons of Calendar options in the market, just take your time to review which one you like best
TB2 said:
Hi there,
..................
B) Also a very important thing to him is a calendar. But both the Samsung calendar as well as the original Android one don't have a good week-view. The original one doesn't have one, the Samsung one doesn't show titles on tasks. I find it ludicrous, it's just boxes without titles...
..............
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Egg 'n stone CalWidget. You can customice as You like. Size the Widget 4x1, 4x2, 4x3, 4x4......, choose a calander to view (MyCalendar, Google Calender.....), how long time ahead, layout and colors as You like, transparancy, and it's free.
I guess if Your father is a former iPhone user, he does not know how a widget work, try to explain to him.
Allright thanks everyone for the suggestions!
Dad's pleased with CalendarPad. Nice overview and the widget does a good job as well.
We installed sipdroid today and for local calls it seems to work well. Will check soon if we have the same problems as with csipsimple regarding long distance calls.
By the way... What is it with the "want an iphone, get an iphone" attitude in this forum. I clearly mentioned that he likes some of Android's merits and I asked two specific questions which I think I can expect from any modern smartphone, not just the iphone (working SIP and flexible calendar), the second of which btw is a downside of the iPhone because of all the sandboxing going on on an iphone. Anyway, you seem to be pretty quick on the "it's an iphone-loser" button.
Anyway, I've got a third and fourth question:
C) Is it normal that the battery lasts about 1.5 days with no IM or SIP services running? Only a calendar and the shipped-with weather widget. Is there some hack to improve battery life beyond just turning all the features off?
D) He's having serious stability issues at times. It happens that the device freezes when plugging it into USB or at different random times. At those times, the button lights would stay on with the screen being black. Long-pressing the power button fixes it. At different times it's a bit jerky. For example you would unlock the screen (gesture code) but then the screen would remain black for a few seconds and maybe the lock screen would show up again. Is this normal on android in general or has it to do with what Samsung pushed into its distro? Btw his mobile is branded by Orange and ships with some additional crap. Could this cause the problem? What's the easiest way of getting a fresh and simple Samsung or pure Android distro on it? I see there are lots of "mods", but I think we don't need any sort of mod, just a plain and stable OS.
Thanks.
To improve battery life, try turning off "Wireless location" in settings. However the battery life, even with various optimizations, is nowhere as good as iPhone 4.
The delays and stuttering you are experiencing is probably due to file system lag. Samsung uses RFS which is their own version of file system based on FAT32. Unfortunately that causes the phone to lag from time to time, usually when opening new applications or performing multiple I/O tasks. This can be fixed by installing one of the many lag fixes available. I use "One click lag fix" which you can download from the Market, but you will need to root the phone to apply it. There are several other alternatives which you can find in the "Development" forum.
Jamm59 said:
Try Egg 'n stone CalWidget. You can customice as You like. Size the Widget 4x1, 4x2, 4x3, 4x4......, choose a calander to view (MyCalendar, Google Calender.....), how long time ahead, layout and colors as You like, transparancy, and it's free.
I guess if Your father is a former iPhone user, he does not know how a widget work, try to explain to him.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly is google calendar, cant find it in the market. It would be great to have a calendar sync with my google account like my contacts as I've missed a couple of appointments when switching to a new phone and having no backup on calendar...
TB2 said:
Allright thanks everyone for the suggestions!
By the way... What is it with the "want an iphone, get an iphone" attitude in this forum.
C) Is it normal that the battery lasts about 1.5 days with no IM or SIP services running? Only a calendar and the shipped-with weather widget. Is there some hack to improve battery life beyond just turning all the features off?
D) He's having serious stability issues at times.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, glad CalenderPad worked out for your dad.
At times, android lovers seem to suffer from the Calimero effect
Your battery life could be a bit better, but not much. 1,5 days is considered normal, most of us have the goal to get through a full working day (and tinkering evening...) with one charge.
The stability issues are 90% Samsungs fault, because they did a less than perfect job on the software. HTC does a better job out of the box software wise. Indeed, a lagfix will most probably cure the symptoms, i have good experience with the Voodoo Lagfix. Instructions are easy, and can be found at project-voodoo.org.
To get rid of the Orange branding, you could flash an unbranded stock Samsung Rom from samfirmware.com (Link, you need to create an account for the link to work). The first time i flashed a ROM, it was nerving. But as long as you know how to get into recovery mode (and checked that Recovery Mode is available!) you should be fine. Just remember to disable/revert any lagfixes before flashing another ROM or Kernel to be safe.
I know a lot of people totally hate Blur. I just want to know what exactly do you guys like and don't like about it? I really don't like Blur too much, but it does have a lot of features I like. I personally like a little Blur in my ROMs.
The only thing I really liked about Blur was the change in appearance to the text message conversations. They were little bubbles, which I personally thought looked cleaner than the current text message style.
That, and also for some reason with the stock Blur on my phone, my D2 never made a noise when connecting to USB charging. Now that I have Fission ROM, it makes a notification noise every time.
Small things, and I'm much happier without any Blur.
These are the droids you are looking for
I love the dialer and the email client
I like the rich text in the email client. Unfortunately, the rest of the email client is awful. Unless I just didn't dig deep enough to find it, I couldn't find settings for update and notification for individual email accounts. So, I was stuck with the same polling schedule and notification scheme for all of my accounts. Also, I didn't like having text messages in the same interface as email. I understand that people may like that, and there are plenty of apps out there to do that. I don't want that to be the default behavior on my phone.
I really do like the text select. It's pretty smooth. From what I've seen, Gingerbread is using a pretty similar text-selection style. This is probably Blur's biggest (only?) real positive.
I despise the Facebook app. Or maybe it's the Accounts app. I only want to sync Facebook contacts that have a contact in one of my other accounts (gmail, corporate, etc.). So, I was stuck with all Facebook contacts even though I really only cared about 50 of 'em (Hey, I know I'm not the only one).
I do not like the accounts app. When attempting to set up an Exchange account, upon failure, I had no options. Under stock Android I have the option to modify some params - like the login domain (an essential change with my company's Exchange setup). With blur, I can't use my company email/calendar without some other app (like Touchdown). With stock android, it only takes a few seconds to update a connection param to something non-standard to get it working.
The worst thing about Blur is the set of services running on the device for the blur apps. They take up processor time and memory even when you're not using any blur widgets or blur applications.
The onscreen keyboard is slightly better than standard, but I've got a physical keyboard so I really don't use the onscreen one except for the most simple of inputs.
I don't like the image gallery. Lots of people seem to like this and I suppose I can understand. It's a good app, overall. I'm just used to the stock gallery.
And of course there's the bloat. Devices with Motublur come with a helluva lot of apps that I really have no desire to ever use, but there they are taking up space. In some cases, they run in the background sucking up memory. At the very least, they take up a MB or two that I could user for an app that I actually want.
So, overall, I really don't like Motoblur.
I really wish manufacturers/service providers would stick to base Android. If they really want to differentiate themselves via software I think they should have an installation package that would add their own apps (and/or replace default apps).
The hardware is great, but I really don't want those damned motoblur modifications. So, I'm glad that there are devs creating vanilla roms for moto devices.
I like the dialer and contacts apps a lot with blur. That's about it though. The bloatware and extra useless processes on it slows the phone down noticeable. Switching home screens is laggy and choppy with the blur launcher. I honestly don't need 50 widgets to see what everyone on facebook is doing seeing as how I'm not 14 years old.
And THANK GOD this phone doesn't have full blur or it would be so slow it would be unusable...
Sent from my Motorola Droid 2 with Fission 2.4.1
i like the social networking status widget. thats about it. lol
I love the resizable Blur widgets a lot, and I love the idea of linking different source of contacts. But I still have a lot to complain about the contact app:
* It mix social network with my contacts without clear visual clue, like colored tags, for me to distinguish them easily; (I withdraw this point now)
* It does not offer necessary filters like 'sort by family name' and 'hide contacts w/o phone number' ;
* It does not support non-english names as well as the stock app: for example, Chinese names are totally unordered;
* When sms is deleted, it's still in the contact's history, WTF!
If moto would fix theses small but fraustrating issues, I would love to use Blur-enhanced phone.
Sent from my MotoA953 using XDA App
Where are you guys getting that you can't hid fb contacts? Hit menu->show/hide->and the click your fb account and uncheck all contacts. It will hide any fb contact not linked to an already existing contact
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@Botnryan
Thanks, but I was trying to mean that tags should be used to give user a better clue when showing all contacts. Anyway I agree that's too picky, and I would withdraw that point.
botnryan said:
Where are you guys getting that you can't hid fb contacts? Hit menu->show/hide->and the click your fb account and uncheck all contacts. It will hide any fb contact not linked to an already existing contact
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is that option? It was certainly not on the Facebook app on the D2G before I rooted and installed a vanilla rom.
I came from stock android on the original Droid to Motoblur on the D2G. Within the stock facebook app, under options, there's a simple selection about what you want to sync: all, only existing contacts, none. I assure you that these options do not exist in Motoblur. Now that I'm on the Fission 2.4.2 rom, I see the same old options and can sync contacts the way I want.
The biggest reason I removed it was battery life. My battery life is almost twice as good after removing blur. Although I did kinda like the launcher and the contacts, it wasn't worth my phone dying halfway through the day.
Oh and I almost forgot about the alarm! Oh how I miss how the alarm slowly got louder. It was awesome! I need to look for a new alarm app....
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Putting blur on the phone is like putting a 500 pound man in a Ferrari.
You are not going anywhere with any sort of speed whatsoever.
zse45tgb said:
Where is that option? It was certainly not on the Facebook app on the D2G before I rooted and installed a vanilla rom.
I came from stock android on the original Droid to Motoblur on the D2G. Within the stock facebook app, under options, there's a simple selection about what you want to sync: all, only existing contacts, none. I assure you that these options do not exist in Motoblur. Now that I'm on the Fission 2.4.2 rom, I see the same old options and can sync contacts the way I want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in fb app. In the contacts app..hit the menu soft key and then show/hide
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blur is not so bad as features, but slows the phone down and uses a lot of cpu
ive not really had anything to compare it to but i dont have a problem with blur at the moment. ive dragged all the blur social widgets off of my homescreens as i dont use them. from the screenshots ive seen i actually prefer the green call button and blue contacts button over the standard android ones. the contacts app is nicely laid out, but dont know if thats motorola or just how it is anyway on android.
dont have a problem with the messaging app since ive got Handcent sms installed instead which is awesome and i cant recommend it high enough.
for peace of mind i would of liked to be able to uninstall the stock music player and other stuff i dont use.
also, if you dont want to use motoblur you dont have to sign up for the account. just hit the squares button and select Skip setup when you first set up your phone...
milestone 2.
I like the SMS app alot except no notifications when receiving MMS. Checked my settings and they are setup right so I just see it as one small flaw. Other than that blur can go away
If you've never experienced the phone without blur you wouldn't know you were missing anything. I mean they didn't put out an incomplete thing it's just not that efficient. That's why the Developers have made their stuff so that we can experience new software on the phones. I really like the speed of everything besides stock and the themes and animations make it all just click.
I don't mind Moto Blur. It doesn't have to be visible and some of the widgets are clean looking and ok well.
Count yourselves lucky you weren't a Xperia x10 owner like I was. You'd have a stupid timescape app that was poitnless compared to an app and it would automatically start up from time to time and your android version would be mutalated to the point where you expect features to be missing rather than included.
Moto Blur just need to suck less power that's all.
"Most truths were once deemed Blasphemy"
Blur eats resourses which drains the battery and it's laggy. You really need to try a Blur-free ROM just to see for yourself the difference in performance.
<insert plug for Fission here>
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