Database Users

X10 - Need convincing and set-up help

Hi,
I hope I am adhereing to Forum 'etiquette' here.
I've taken ownership of an X10 on Monday, after having experience of the iPhone. First impressions are 'I hate it' in capital letters... I just can't get used to it and have a number of annoyances.
I'm hoping this is a case of user error as some of this forum users seem to think it walks on water, so apologies for this, but a few questions
1) Is there a recommended set up? It is currently configured as it was out of the box
2) Android App Store - I don't want to register for a google email account that I'll never use, do I have to? Can I not access a full app store online via the web?
3) I find the bundled Sat Nav useless... It can't ever find my current location.
4) I really miss the 'notification' of the iPhone, the little red number when you've got a text, facebook update, missed call etc. Timescape does not replace this as it constantly updates and my phone is always on silent 8-6 every day so I'm missing calls, messages and notifications.
5) Recommended apps?
6) Battery Life... I've hardly used the thing today, yet its used nearly 75% of the battery life and I've made 2 calls, a little bit of Facebook and 4 text messages.
7) Any general recommendations?
At this moment, I really am close to sending this back (7 day trial) and getting a HTC Desire or going back to the iPhone.
Thanks in advance
Stuart

1) Is there a recommended set up? It is currently configured as it was out of the box
Unlike the iPhone, Android allows you to configure and personalize your phone as you like, what recommended setup are you looking for ? I have disabled Timescape and use handcent/K-9 for SMS/Email, though I still find Mediascape the best media player.
2) Android App Store - I don't want to register for a google email account that I'll never use, do I have to? Can I not access a full app store online via the web?
To use Googles Android market you do need a Google ID. I have never used mine to send email and it is only used for the Google applications I have downloaded. I only ever registered an Apple ID to be ableto download apps from the Itunes App store.
3) I find the bundled Sat Nav useless... It can't ever find my current location.
Have you got the GPS switched on ? My X10 locks onto GPS faster than my iPhone ever did. Download Google Maps.
4) I really miss the 'notification' of the iPhone, the little red number when you've got a text, facebook update, missed call etc. Timescape does not replace this as it constantly updates and my phone is always on silent 8-6 every day so I'm missing calls, messages and notifications.
These appear in the 'notification' drag down at the top of the screen. I prefer them to the iPhone as they stay there until I decide to clear them.
5) Recommended apps?
See other thread for this.
6) Battery Life... I've hardly used the thing today, yet its used nearly 75% of the battery life and I've made 2 calls, a little bit of Facebook and 4 text messages.
Wait a week or so, battery does improve and should improve further after the next firmware update in the next week or so. The X10 has a much more powerful processor than the iPhone so does use more battery, but having used the phone for a month I actually find that the battery lasts longer than the iPhone, although it does take longer to top-up and recharge.
7) Any general recommendations?
Use it, play with it, get used to it. Android is so different to the iPhone that it does take some getting used to. I personally love Android as it allows me to customize and personalize my phone far beyond what the iPhone allowed me to do.
At this moment, I really am close to sending this back (7 day trial) and getting a HTC Desire or going back to the iPhone.
The majority of the issues you raise above, you would also find on the HTC Desire.

Thanks for the reply, I just wondered whether there was a standard set up that most users used, seems not.
One final question;
There are far too many apps that I'll never use that I don't seem to be able to uninstall... E.g. I've got the Mail app, Google Mail and Moxier Mail... I'm only ever going to want one of these.
I haven't a clue what the Moxier things do full stop mind you, and I don't want GoogleTalk for example.
Is there a way to un-install or hide the ones I don't want?
And can I re-arrange apps, e.g. bring my Facebook onto the 4 icons you have on the homepage.
Sorry if this all sounds picky, I just want the customisation I'm used too.

"Is there a way to un-install or hide the ones I don't want?"
Not yet. We need to be able to root the device. (Like jailbreak on Iphone)
"And can I re-arrange apps, e.g. bring my Facebook onto the 4 icons you have on the homepage."
Press and hold on whatever icon you want to move.

StuartBrookes said:
Thanks for the reply, I just wondered whether there was a standard set up that most users used, seems not.
One final question;
There are far too many apps that I'll never use that I don't seem to be able to uninstall... E.g. I've got the Mail app, Google Mail and Moxier Mail... I'm only ever going to want one of these.
I haven't a clue what the Moxier things do full stop mind you, and I don't want GoogleTalk for example.
Is there a way to un-install or hide the ones I don't want?
And can I re-arrange apps, e.g. bring my Facebook onto the 4 icons you have on the homepage.
Sorry if this all sounds picky, I just want the customisation I'm used too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many of the pre-installed apps are not possibile to un-install. But if you load other mail apps then it will ask you which is the default mail app you want to use. The apps themselves take up such a small amount of space that you don't need to worry too much if you don't want to use them. Moxier etc are primarily used to access work/exchange email. There are many on here who are desperate to delete them but I have no real problem with them.
To add apps to your homescreen, just select he app in your app menu, hold onto it and drag it upto your homescreen. With default Android you have three homescreens to organise and you can add app shortcuts to any of these. From any homescreen, press and hold in an empty space and it will then ask which shortcut/app or widget you need to place there.
My own Android app whinge is that I cannot reorganize the apps in my app page, they are always displayed in the alphabetical order of whatever the developer has decided to name them.

Once we have root (jailbreak for android phones), we should be able to get rid of most of the unwanted apps that came pre-installed.

If those are the annoyances you are talking about, then the Desire won't fix anything because almost all of those "problems" are with android itself.
Battery life isn't much better on the Desire and the GPS is insanely quick to get a lock on almost everyone else's handsets.
I also wasn't aware that the iPhone was customizable...

Use Navigon for GPS navigation. Its by far the best for Android, similar to iGo & Tom Tom. Its also free if you know where to look! ;-)
Also make sure you turn GPS on and off when its used from the settings menu as it can drain battery. A-GPS also helps lock on as it uses the internet to track satalites positions for start up.

Whats your favorite google reader client?

Hi everyone,
I'm searching for an efficient, fast, and well designed google reader application but have not come across one that is really good.
What I'm looking for area these:
- the first level should show the folders, such as Android folder, economy folder, technology folder, etc.
- When I click on the folder, I do not wish to see the feeds such as CNN, engadget, but to the items list. I want the option to say how many items I want to show, and whether to show only new (unread) or all item.
- I want to be able to mark the items as starred item with merel one swipe, or to unmarked it.
- I want a to with one button indicate all e item on the screen as read, and fetch the nest batch of unread items. I want another button to mark all items in that folder as read although they have not been listed on the screen yet.
- when I click on the item, I want to read part of the news. Then I want to be able to swipe to the next item or go to previous item. I also want to be able to share that item to facebook, to mail to friend, etc. And I want to be able to bring up my default web brewer to go the the original web page.
More importantly, I want all these operations to be instant, without lag.
For those of you coming from iPhone background, you will recognize this as the RSS g Flash application.
I love that design very much and hope to get something like this from the market place, or as close as possible.
Could anyone help? TIA.

I use Feedr its simple yet powerful can sync folders structure. Try it

Try Newsrob.

You want NewsRoom. I found it does everything I wanted from an rss reader... it's now on my first homepage.

Thanks guys. Keep the suggestions coming. I'll try everyone before deciding which one will stay on my desktop.
Cheers.

eaglesteve said:
Hi everyone,
I'm searching for an efficient, fast, and well designed google reader application but have not come across one that is really good.
What I'm looking for area these:
- the first level should show the folders, such as Android folder, economy folder, technology folder, etc.
- When I click on the folder, I do not wish to see the feeds such as CNN, engadget, but to the items list. I want the option to say how many items I want to show, and whether to show only new (unread) or all item.
- I want to be able to mark the items as starred item with merel one swipe, or to unmarked it.
- I want a to with one button indicate all e item on the screen as read, and fetch the nest batch of unread items. I want another button to mark all items in that folder as read although they have not been listed on the screen yet.
- when I click on the item, I want to read part of the news. Then I want to be able to swipe to the next item or go to previous item. I also want to be able to share that item to facebook, to mail to friend, etc. And I want to be able to bring up my default web brewer to go the the original web page.
More importantly, I want all these operations to be instant, without lag.
For those of you coming from iPhone background, you will recognize this as the RSS g Flash application.
I love that design very much and hope to get something like this from the market place, or as close as possible.
Could anyone help? TIA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for Feedr....

Tyxerakias said:
You want NewsRoom. I found it does everything I wanted from an rss reader... it's now on my first homepage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same, i like the look and feel of it, very nice
it has that elegant yet simple clean look, that makes reading feeds and news update a joy.

+1 for feedr

+1 for NewsRob

I've tried a lot of the client apps but they all take too long to sync (and I don't like things like that happening in the background).
I've yet to find anything as good all-round as the mobile webclient from the browser.

Is there a trial version of feedr? I would like to try first before I buy.
I love the interface and response time of newsroom. It's just a pity that I can't view it by the google reader folders. I would also love to be able to see the item list first before going down to the article itself. On my iphone and iPad, I usually skim through a couple of thousand articles each day, some are repeats, or articles that don't interest me. I've also no time to read all of them. So the item list view is useful.
The news-rob is so slow I don't think it's useable for me. Too much waiting at the black screen and syncing takes too long to complete.
I've also tried out gReader which is also incredibly slow.
News reader, together with browser, music players, picture viewers, and YouTube, are among the extremely high usage application, and I don't mind paying good money of it if it is really good. But I must be assured that it meets my expectation first.
Any other recommendation?

Best Notes app - Would prefer a Sense-like Widget...

Anyone point me in the right direction, I really like the HTC Sense Notes Widget found here However, I cannot get it to work because I've removed sense.
Any ideas or replacements - Thanks

jaypeezee said:
Anyone point me in the right direction, I really like the HTC Sense Notes Widget found here However, I cannot get it to work because I've removed sense.
Any ideas or replacements - Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now I use two things - evernote and notification notes. Notification notes is great for quick little notes...in my case, I usually use it for shopping lists. It holds the note in the task bar until you delete it, which makes for really easy access
Evermore is a cloud based note storage service that allows you to store text or media notes from your phone or pc, and will sync them between whatever devices you use it on.

XM Notes.
8pen from my supersonic yea....

david279 said:
XM Notes.
8pen from my supersonic yea....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After posting, I came across XM Notes - I like the interface but dislike appearance of the widget. My search continues

Have you tried GTasks? It does the trick for me.
Supa Sonic Sent

I really like OnePunch its free off the market and places editable sticky notes on your screen or you can just use it as a note app and not bother with the sticky note feature. If you do like the sticky notes you can change the colors of them as well as edit them without worry of the need to delete and recreate them from scratch. I myself have one of my pages devoted to sticky notes.

Use Catch Notes (formerly 3banana) here.. Good stuff.

Evernote. Use it for all my lectures.
Sent while sitting on the toilet.

Note widget is the name of the one I use. Can have it have transparent background. It's also free.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Thanks everyone for the great input...
Some of your suggestions, although great, were a little more than what I was looking for. After some extensive market searching I found one that I really enjoy. Its called Staesj
I should have been a little more clearer on what exactly I was looking for. I was looking for a note app that would allow me to place a nice looking widget on one of my home screens, which ultimately would allow me to click on it and immediately edit it using a keyboard or a finger to scribble. I don't plan on using it as a to do list app or storing important notes but mainly for quick entries when on the road or on the phone (i.e. a phone number).
Staesj is a very simple, yet effective little app with a very small footprint. I came across other apps, specifically Multi Memo, which did EVERYTHING i wanted however I noticed a few drawbacks. 1) The app pulls a GPS location for every app entered (boo). 2) a separate widget app is required to display the notes on your home screen 3) seemed rather large for its purpose

if anyone comes across anything better, im always up for suggestions thanks.

App folders?

Hi all. Sorry if this has been asked but I have not been able to find anything.
I was wondering if it is possible to add folders or group apps in the big app list?
Sent from my LeeDrOiD Desire HD using XDA App

Not that I know of. And one of the main things I'm missing from Android. Hopefully in 2.3... In the meantime you can create labels and folders based on them using for example Folder Organizer, but only on the launcher (desktop) screens. Better then nothing I guess.
Sent from my Desire HD

yeah I got the launcher folders set up. Just the main app list is just all over the place. Would be good to organise it better.
Sent from my LeeDrOiD Desire HD using XDA App

Agreed, ive been looking for something to do this with..

I'm really happy and impressed with Android and DHD, but in this field Android is so behind, that even apple with its simple folders is better (and the more apps you've got, the more akward and confusing it gets. Still hoping it's not Androids limitation - otherwise the only option would be a hack, or a "work around".
Ps. The other great addition would be a native, and launcher independent, "recent tab" ( like i.e "Go Launcher"). And honestly for a company who's mostly known as search engine and tag-aware ads system company - then why such a poor tagging implementation in Android (same goes for Android Market - let developers add tags to their software and based on that, automatically create folders). Just limit tags to specific number (3? first one being category type and based on that folder name - limited list), otherwise some devs in order to promote their soft will start adding tens of tags, creating even more confusion.
Sent from my Desire HD

I'm pretty shure we will soon see some improvement on this part of android

Its something wich is really needed! The apps like folder Organizer takes CPU and ram! not so fun. but coustmization of the folders is nice.

GO Launcher EX

How can I add folders to my dock? If anyone can help me out that would be great, thank you!
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App

I use GoLauncher Ex and I've never applied a folder to the dock. I don't think you can,correct me if I'm wrong but you can only add to the screen which I have two folders on mine. Just long press on any free spot on the screen till you have a pop up you will have options to choose ie.,Widgets, shortcuts, applications,and folders choose folders you will get another popup asking what folders you want,contacts ,starred folder , new folder ect. Choose new folder it will exit back to the screen you choose you will see a plain square then hit your apps drawer long press your apps drag to the bottom of your screen where it says add to home screen once that is on your screen drag that app to the folder(plain square) and release it. Now its your folder repeat the process for your desired apps or for as many folders as you want. Hope it helps.

That won't help you with GO EX,but with ADW EX you can put Folders in Dock
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

Thank you and some discovering I did
Hey, thank you so much bullswife98 and mblaster4711 for giving that advice.
I must say since I left that last post, a lot has changed with GO Launcher EX now. They came out with a beta a couple weeks ago and its great! It allows you to do exactly what I had wanted to do, but it doesn't have the feature to let you put folders into folders, but its cool, I love this new one now.
After I posted that question, I had decided to look for the best folder organizer out there that worked well with me. I did find a app tool called, Folder Organizer 3.4.3. That allowed me to not only put folders created within that app on the dock but I was also able to easily change the folders icon and also put folders within folders! I had a it for a good while, but I still had to do some discovering. I tried out ADW Launcher EX but it didn't work so well for me, it just didn't have enough the customizing features like GO Launcher EX did. I like a lot of things about adw but I was just more comfortable with GO more then anything. I tried a couple other launchers but found myself back with my usual. lol.
About a week ago I found a app tool called Elixir2 and I'm so glad I found it because ever since I started messing around with it haven't been able to put it down, literally. It makes you think for sure. It has features like allow you to put customized widgets on your screen, you can find out pretty much anything about you phone from that app. It's very useful and clear for anyone. I'm still learning about all of this stuff so I have found it very helpful and useful. The app also has add-ons that give you other features. You should check it out if you're interested because I know I haven't even said everything that it can do. Plus the best thing is.. it's free!
Once again,
Thank you very much.
Market
Android Authority
Myspace page
Facebook page as well.
and
Appbrain
(I was going to post the links, but I wasn't aware that it wasn't possible until there are at least 8 posts. But that where some of the places has some info in there).