Database Users

Post your ideas of how to customize stock (non rooted) vibrant

Hi everyone...
Im looking for suggestions on how to customize my stock vibrant and try all col things with this powerful phone... So far I have launcher pro and a beautiful widgets... And some games like need for speed shift demo... Anything else cool and exciting I can try or download on my phone w/o rooting it? Or screwing up ota uodates in the future?... Like changing tmob boot up screen or any suggestions at alll...
Thanx
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

In the settings you can change the "font style." (New fonts can be downloaded for a buck.) It can have a significant effect on how things appear. Some suggestions from the tips thread are Helvetica Nue, Soho Gothic, Frutiger and Felbridge. I'm digging Helvetica a lot.

Thanx for suggestion.. I forgot to mention I downloaded a few flip fonts I love how it changes the look of the phone.. Any other suggestions? Or performance boosters?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

you can not change the boot logo (or shutdown) if you are not rooted. If you are rooted, you still get OTA, but once installed it will unroot the phone

No problem do this
Fancy Widgets
Pure Messenger/ Grid Calendar and an Agenda app... (can't remember the name)

I am running Agenda Widget and liking it ok so far. I am always looking for a better one.

Launcher Pro or ADW, Beautiful Widgets, change the font style.
Here is a link to a thread with a plethora of Flip Fonts to choose from. Just download the .apk. locate and install on your device. Go into settings and change the font, restart and there you go
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=748916

Don't mean to pick on the op but I'm curious why people don't want to root.
I did the day it was possible and haven't looked back. So many things you can do to customize all reversible if you have to. Just don't try doing really crazy stuff unless you know what your doing but most things in the stick under the root section are easy and awesome.
Anyway I'd love to understand why people don't just do it.

Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.

drhonk said:
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more awesome thing to do with root. I don't get why you wouldn't.

joshthewaster said:
One more awesome thing to do with root. I don't get why you wouldn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get why people who don't root their phones go on XDA. XDA is a place for rooting and ROM development. Not a user-friendly website for non-rooters. But yeah definitely root, you can customize a lot more. Customize the notifications bar, I don't really big the light gray and blue 3G icon

I've gone from a few different Nokias, to a Motorola Razor, to a Blackberry Pearl and now finally to a Samsung Vibrant. I'm pretty good with computers and software so I know I could get rooting/recovery/flashing down, but this is my first time with a mobile device I could hack.
Whenever I do research on the topic I find multiple threads with multiple ways to root. The whole directions/concept just isn't crystal clear with me yet, despite how much I've read. And, there's always posts at the end of each thread by users with unanswered issues/problems.
I guess, I'm just taking the slow cautious route, enjoying stock android eclair for a while. I do have the itch, but no apps or issues with my phone have pushed me beyond curiosity and into the experimental, so to speak.
What is the top main reason you have for rooting your vibrant?
Edit: to point out, I know I could've "hacked" my previous phones, but not the way you can with an Android phone, you know what I mean...

trunkstar1 said:
I've gone from a few different Nokias, to a Motorola Razor, to a Blackberry Pearl and now finally to a Samsung Vibrant. I'm pretty good with computers and software so I know I could get rooting/recovery/flashing down, but this is my first time with a mobile device I could hack.
Whenever I do research on the topic I find multiple threads with multiple ways to root. The whole directions/concept just isn't crystal clear with me yet, despite how much I've read. And, there's always posts at the end of each thread by users with unanswered issues/problems.
I guess, I'm just taking the slow cautious route, enjoying stock android eclair for a while. I do have the itch, but no apps or issues with my phone have pushed me beyond curiosity and into the experimental, so to speak.
What is the top main reason you have for rooting your vibrant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Allows access to applications that require root access (e.g. Titanium Backup, SetCPU, AdFree (not suggested since it helps developers), metamorph, etc)
- When you root, you have the ability to flash a custom recovery that allows custom ROMs. This allows nandroid backups, restores, and more.
- Remove bloatware that comes with the phone (this one DEFINITELY)
- Screenshots

See, I get confused. All I've read about recovery was people talking about "booting into recovery. The only thing I thought you flashed were the custom ROMs. And, I thought you only needed the backups and restores so you could get back to an unrooted state in case you needed warrantee work, or messed up your phone somehow.
What are the major bloatware items on the stock t-mobile vibrant?

trunkstar1 said:
See, I get confused. All I've read about recovery was people talking about "booting into recovery. The only thing I thought you flashed were the custom ROMs. And, I thought you only needed the backups and restores so you could get back to an unrooted state in case you needed warrantee work, or messed up your phone somehow.
What are the major bloatware items on the stock t-mobile vibrant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Account & Settings on the App Drawer
Gogo
Amazon Kindle
TeleNav
T-Mobile Voicemail
MobiTV
Memo
AudioPostcard
(and many more)
... oh yeah and with root (and installed clockwork recovery) you can apply the Captivate camera which its interface is easier to apply different scenes.
And no.. you can restore non-root with Odin and nandroid backup (JAC's thread has a unrooted backup online). But yeah you do backups before you apply hacks to your phone incase anything happens

drhonk said:
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get the app called Battery Status Pro. That gives you what you want.

zephiK said:
Account & Settings on the App Drawer
Gogo
Amazon Kindle
TeleNav
T-Mobile Voicemail
MobiTV
Memo
AudioPostcard
(and many more)
... oh yeah and with root (and installed clockwork recovery) you can apply the Captivate camera which its interface is easier to apply different scenes.
And no.. you can restore non-root with Odin and nandroid backup (JAC's thread has a unrooted backup online). But yeah you do backups before you apply hacks to your phone incase anything happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying to figure out how to remove bloatware was THE reason I found xda and rooted. I had no idea what I was doing but it is ULTRA easy. Download update zip-boot to recovery-apply-enjoy. That got me discovering all the other awesome things I can do.
You will always see people who have problems with anything in the threads. This is why you make backups. Once you have those you can do a lot more with a lot more confidence knowing that if you make a mistake you can correct it - mostly. And you can unroot if you have to.

drhonk said:
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Love having it.

Come on guys lets talk about stuff you can do for non rooters please. I did root my phone but I took it to far and bricked it. I'm not doing it again and I know that xda forums lean more to rooting then not. I thought a thread that talked about non rooted phones was a great idea but its been taken over. So I'm bringing it back.
There are a lot of good lockscreen apps to look at for changing your lockscreen. I've used some of them just haven settled on one yet. So no need to root just have fun with it the way it is.

spacecasespiff said:
Come on guys lets talk about stuff you can do for non rooters please. I did root my phone but I took it to far and bricked it. I'm not doing it again and I know that xda forums lean more to rooting then not. I thought a thread that talked about non rooted phones was a great idea but its been taken over. So I'm bringing it back.
There are a lot of good lockscreen apps to look at for changing your lockscreen. I've used some of them just haven settled on one yet. So no need to root just have fun with it the way it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx for staying on topic... no offense to others... where do i find different lock screens?

[Q] low ram or is it normal??

Okay so when I first got the phone I usually had around 100mb of ram avalible and now I am floating in the 40s and even that seems really low to me I have two widgets beautiful widgets and a to do list and I don't have many apps on the phone overall my question is having 40mb of ram really low or is it normal??

Not sure what is norm mine is. Mine very seldom drop below 155 and rebuild fast. Have 3 Windows of widget close 200apps. Rooted and romed using Darkslide v4
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

so idk what could be wrong...like im always in the 40's

rayne58 said:
so idk what could be wrong...like im always in the 40's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check the programs that are always updating such as wx.msg.news. and so on.
The Android pretty much controls the available memory so don't run on and add on a "Task Killer".
I didn't catch what Rom your running but VZW crapware is a memory leach.
Time to start snooping around and get that phone working for you.
Best to ya...

yeah im not rooted or anything so I am running stock just using launcher pro

I recommended root the phone with Z4root app and install Autokiller. Preset it at Extreme or Ultimate. Note: Auto Killer is NOT same as Task Killer. Is similar but they are not same app. If you have low RAM, it tends to delay or freeze the phone. Auto Killer will definately help. Odds are you have too many apps running simultaneously.

I want to root but tbh im a little scared to if someone could answer these questions haha I will most likely do it lol
around how long does it take?
when a new update comes like do I have to wait for an updated root to be released?? or does it just update like normal
im not afraid to brick my phone cuz that isn't too common it seems but what does Verizon do if they know that you are rooted??
once I am rooted then what?? I know about roms and stuff but what about root only apps?? is there a seperate market or something??
do I have to re do all the apps and settings that I have or can I restore my old stuff once I am rooted
my main concern though is with the updates and with Verizon im not sure what happens with both of them?

It's normal. I'm completely stock and I hover in the 40s as well.

just bumpin so hopefully someone could be so kind and answer my questions

rayne58 said:
I want to root but tbh im a little scared to if someone could answer these questions haha I will most likely do it lol
around how long does it take?
when a new update comes like do I have to wait for an updated root to be released?? or does it just update like normal
im not afraid to brick my phone cuz that isn't too common it seems but what does Verizon do if they know that you are rooted??
once I am rooted then what?? I know about roms and stuff but what about root only apps?? is there a seperate market or something??
do I have to re do all the apps and settings that I have or can I restore my old stuff once I am rooted
my main concern though is with the updates and with Verizon im not sure what happens with both of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting start to finish can be under 10-15 minutes pretty easily.
When new updates come, usually you must un-root (at least I did to get this last update with Madden, etc), get the update, then re-root again. It's fairly simple.
Once you're rooted you can do additional things you couldn't do previously, remove bloatware (VZN crapware), do things like WIFI tether, and also install themes, remove ads from free/trial apps, etc. I am rooted and only did it for WIFI tethering and honestly use LauncherPro so don't have a need for themes yet. I may actually re-root only because I'm not taking full advantage anyway. The nice thing here is it is ALL at your discretion. Once rooted, you would continue to use the Market as you did previously, nothing changes there to get apps and such.
Rooting is not the same as "flashing" a ROM if you came from Windows. All it does is unlock it somewhat to allow for additional SuperUser permissions. None of your apps will change unless you change ROMs.
Go for it, just make sure you read lots before doing it. If all else fails, remember you can reverse what you did!

rayne58 said:
I want to root but tbh im a little scared to if someone could answer these questions haha I will most likely do it lol
around how long does it take?
when a new update comes like do I have to wait for an updated root to be released?? or does it just update like normal
im not afraid to brick my phone cuz that isn't too common it seems but what does Verizon do if they know that you are rooted??
once I am rooted then what?? I know about roms and stuff but what about root only apps?? is there a seperate market or something??
do I have to re do all the apps and settings that I have or can I restore my old stuff once I am rooted
my main concern though is with the updates and with Verizon im not sure what happens with both of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting is VERY easy and allows you root level access to the system. You can install apps, ROMs, themes, etc that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
Shoot me a PM. I'm always glad to lend a hand.

How is the phone running? If its running fine, i'd say just let it be.
I've seen it in a few posts around the forums, "free memory is wasted memory" the Android OS should make room for itself. In some aspects you are better off having the apps you use the most running, meaning you don't have to wait for them to load.
I'd say if you are having some performance issues, then look to rooting/removing apps, otherwise, let the ram do what its supposed to do and hold data.

sprint bloatware

just curious what you guys consider sprint bloatware? and what you consider good sprint software?

The only sprint software I keep on my phone is nav and football. And even football is going bye-bye after Sunday.

I classify all applications that are not detrimental to the operation/function of the phone and can't be removed as "bloatware/crapware".
Sprint NAV
Sprint TV
NFL
Nascar
TouchWiz
Amazon MP3
Games
Allshare
etc...
Don't get me wrong, I DO use some of these applications, but I would like the option of removing them from the system without rooting.
Personally, I feel the phone should come with vanilla Android. Then, phone manufacturer's should give us the option to download and install their applications from the Market.

It's been so long since it's been on my phone I almost forgot about them. I would say NASCAR, Sprint Football, Amazon mp3, and any game that is a demo only. Sprint Navigation(telnav) is actually pretty nice but unneeded since we have Google Navigation. Obviously this just my opinion and these apps might be useful to others.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

call me noob , but i like Touch wiz , at first i didnt , but now its cool it grew on me, and your right allshare is crap , I absolutly hate it. I could never get allshare to work as it should with my pc , it woudlnt play any windows files or any video, they made me put pc share to be able to play some files

Any sprint app minus sprint nav. That one actually comes in handh
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

OregonLAN said:
Don't get me wrong, I DO use some of these applications, but I would like the option of removing them from the system without rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my definition. I like Sprint Navigation, and probably wouldn't uninstall Sprint TV. But I would still like the option to uninstall them if I decided I wanted to.
That's the difference between something being defined as a "value added pack-in" and "bloatware". I hope someday the carriers realize this.

well heres my thought on it
they should just clone bruce lee. that would solve all the issues with sprint

Bloatware:
1.Everything Sprint, Except the sprint updater and android extension which i dont know that this does?
2.Touchwiz Widgets
3.The regular android launcher considering launcher pro is simply the best and most customizable.
4. Asphault Demo (Seriously who wants to keep a stupid demo on your phone and waste space.
5.Amazon mp3, i mean its on the market if you want it and the one on the phone is probaly outdated. But this is crapware to me.
6. Media Hub: If you use it fine but again it is probaly outdated and is also on the market. I consider it crapware, waste of money to rent small screen movies or even buy when i can take any movie i have an convert it.
7.My files is bloatware., Astro is way better!!
8.Buddies now, another TW application. i dont like.
9. Email Client ( i only use gmail and have my aol accounts pop email set up on it.
10.Sprint mobile hotspot considering 30 bucks a month is rediculous considering we have a premium data fee already. I have mobile ap in replace of this
11.Qik= Sucky and outdated and is on the market. i never had any luck with video chatting very well, i use tango.
12. Youtube: The Evo Youtube is better!
13: All the live wallpapers: There are more awesome one on the market.
14: The Touchwiz Launcher: However i keep it so i can make my Mobile ap work and themes that use this framework.
Things i like that came with the phone:
Calendar
Calculator
Alarm Clock
Allshare
Memo
Music
Think Free office
Voicemail
Gmail
And any other things that came with the phone and arent listed here or on the things i consider bloatware.

A phone with android OS. Everything else is bloatware. If it is good software they want me to try then there should be a list of recommended software it should never be preinstalled much less preinstalled with no means of removal. I think good Sprint software are the plugins used for accessing their network.

Effectively, anything that can't be removed without rooting is bloatware..I personally don't mind if a carrier pre-installs bloatware..BUT it should have the option to remove it and add it any time..I mean its silly that you gotta reinstall all the "bloatware" just to update android officially via OTA...
I do not think "recommendations" to download from the market is the way to go as most consumers are average consumers...and if carriers did that it would make android sales worse in general..BUT they should give us the ability of removing them and re-installing them whenever we please without need to root...
As for the Asphalt demo...thats pure crap right there...ALL the Galaxy S come with free FULL version of Asphalt 5 available via Samsung Kies...and Sprint shafts us with a Demo preinstalled with no way to remove >.>

so in order to remove it , it must be rooted right? and from my understanding , cyanogenmod is the purest form of android ? sorry but sometimes hard to understand and see the differences between all the roms

You know the phones with the sprint id have the option to install clean which has no sprint bloatware. Kind of a step in the right direction.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Yea I saw that on my wifes lg optimus s. although kind of odd, is sprint id in a way themeing it?

boominz28 said:
so in order to remove it , it must be rooted right? and from my understanding , cyanogenmod is the purest form of android ? sorry but sometimes hard to understand and see the differences between all the roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frankenstein is very clean with nothing installed. You can pick and choose which apps to install.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=884075

All of it sucks to me except calculator, memo, calendar and gmail. TW grew on me too, but now I use Zeam and I can never go back to TW now. Allshare, buddies now, all the sprint stuff, music player...it stinks. Not that everything is bloatware. Some people find some of it useful. Just not to me.

For those that still want the Sprint NFL app, you send a text message to 7777 and put NFL in the body of the text message and Sprint will send you a download link.
*edited for typo

[Q] safe to install the Total Equipment Protection App?

Do u guys think its safe to install Sprint's new Total Equipment Protection App? Im kinda worry that with the app they could tell our devices is rooted and refuse to give us a new device if needed.
I wanna use it because it coz has cool stuff like GPS ur device online and stuff

cocochannel said:
Do u guys think its safe to install Sprint's new Total Equipment Protection App? Im kinda worry that with the app they could tell our devices is rooted and refuse to give us a new device if needed.
I wanna use it because it coz has cool stuff like GPS ur device online and stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Epic isn't supported. Go on the website. As of Monday, the Epic was the only Android phone not supported by the app.

Eh, it's on the supported devices page, but they have the wrong picture and say only 2.1 is supported.
With that said, I have it installed on my stock EB13 with no problems, and I just tried the "locate my phone" thing and it worked just fine. Unfortunately I have no idea if it would be able to tell if you are running a custom ROM or anything, but I plan to uninstall it before I root and load up a new ROM again, just to be safe.

well it is possible that they can see what os we are running as it pulls the info from the device. websites do this all the time. we hear reports of an android version like 2.3 or 2.4 showing up in access logs of who visited the site... i would think the app would do something like that also. so i would not use it... i use lookout mobile security.

To be honest, that app scares the crap out of me. I don't need Sprint telling me they will not support my device anymore cause they had an application that told them what was happening on my phone. I would much rather use another application. Would suck if I had hardware failure, and they decided they will not replace it under warranty because of the evidence they have on hand to show that I was using root and foreign Roms.

I installed the app on my rooted dk28 epic and ill let you guys know. I'll know in the next couple days.

It does not work on my custom rom. I'm running Nebula, which declares itself in about phone. TEP program probably checks version numbers.

AFAIK this app won't run on a modded Epic for some reason. I hear it runs fine on the Evo roms.

i wounder if sprint can tell if your rooter and custom from just connecting to data services such as 3g and or 4g? They could pull simple things like version numbers... we could blame it on the 20 apps that google pulled that rooted phones....

dzuchowski said:
i wounder if sprint can tell if your rooter and custom from just connecting to data services such as 3g and or 4g? They could pull simple things like version numbers... we could blame it on the 20 apps that google pulled that rooted phones....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is another thread hanging around that would be of interest to you. Try the search
Sent from Bonsai 6

So I just rooted my phone, what now?

Ive been reading about the possibilities of rooting and why its a good thing.
Well I finally rooted, but what should I do now?
I've already removed the bloatware and im not interested in themes.
As for ROMS/CustomOS, there hasnt been any ROM that sets it that much more better then the stock 2.2firmware that came with the phone. Aside from the possible swipe texting, is there any significant benefit from using a custom ROM as oppose to the standard OS?
Also what are some must have apps for rooted phone?
Feels like the only real benefit from rooting (if one is not interested in themes/looks) is just removing bloatware

Same boat
So I just rooted my phone too, I was hoping to gain the ability to remove the bloat ware and maybe free mobile hot spot, but im such a noon im too worried about bricking my phone so really all I've done is the initial root, I did download the liberty 1.5 and saved it to my memory card but I don't really know if I did a full backup or not. I downloaded the titanium backup app that specifically says root on it and did what I thought was a backup in preparation for putting the liberty rom on my phone. Do I automatically gwet free mobile hotspot or is that a separate app all together?

Rhill051 said:
So I just rooted my phone too, I was hoping to gain the ability to remove the bloat ware and maybe free mobile hot spot, but im such a noon im too worried about bricking my phone so really all I've done is the initial root, I did download the liberty 1.5 and saved it to my memory card but I don't really know if I did a full backup or not. I downloaded the titanium backup app that specifically says root on it and did what I thought was a backup in preparation for putting the liberty rom on my phone. Do I automatically gwet free mobile hotspot or is that a separate app all together?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not sure about titaninum backup or the liberty 1.5 youre trying to install.
However, I can hopefully share with you what I know about the free mobile hotspot. If by that you mean tether, than yes, you do need a seperate app. In fact the app is the only thing you need, no need for roms and what not. Some of the tethe rapps are PDAnet, easytether, and wireless tehter
theres probably more but those 3 are the ones I see most mentioned and hear success stories with most of them

alot of the Roms out there include a wireless 3g hotspot app in them, for example the rom im rocking is Darkslide 4.2 and it includes the app, and always remember to give credit where credit is due ^_^ and always thank the devs for doing this for free

Oh for sure, I appreciate the help info ethus site is the bomb and the dev's here kick butt. So I was using pda net before I rooted but I was told by someone that you can get the wireless hot spot by rooting. I might check out that dark sliders rom too. Is it a lot of work tojump between roms?

Just remember than Verizon is now monitoring rooted phones and they can send you a bill for data. I would suggest against it but it depends on where you live as to if they are monitoring.

droid_freak said:
Just remember than Verizon is now monitoring rooted phones and they can send you a bill for data. I would suggest against it but it depends on where you live as to if they are monitoring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do they even know that a phone is rooted? Im guess I don't know what to think of that.. I know its a service you are supposed to pay for but isn't that kinda along the same lines as apple or google monitoring you? Do we know what markets Verizon is monitoring? Is it something where they pick the people who are using gig's of data, I've only used maybe a couple hundred megabytes

Rhill051 said:
How do they even know that a phone is rooted? Im guess I don't know what to think of that.. I know its a service you are supposed to pay for but isn't that kinda along the same lines as apple or google monitoring you? Do we know what markets Verizon is monitoring? Is it something where they pick the people who are using gig's of data, I've only used maybe a couple hundred megabytes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's confusing Verizon with AT&T:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/...-using-unauthorized-tethering-methods-to-pay/