Going to get my driod today!

[SCCSURF]

That's right, what should do first? Any recommended must have apps?

 

[brendanstl]

Go to the Market and get "wheres my droid" helps you find it if its lost or stolen. Then pick up an app called "handcent", its a must have.

 

[Martin030908]

Handcent

EStrong File Explorer (my recc.) but any 'file explorer' to manage your SD card. It's a must!

Quick Settings - app that allows one touch toggles for wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, network, and ringer settings. All from one convenient screen... without multiple toggles on your home screens!

 

[monschein]

Definitely get a file manager - I have Astro installed, it gets the job done. Advanced Task Killer is also another useful app, I use it to kill processes that linger in the background that can potentially eat up battery life.

 

[cereal killer]

What should you do first? Take it all in : )

I agree with the others, grab Handcent first off. It's a must have on the Droid in my opinion.

As far as all the other apps. Thats such a wide open question but whatever you are looking for to customize your device is probably available in the Marketplace.

Another app that I really like, that is stupid fun is iFight Pro ($.99)

It's got guns, pistols, whips, swords, booty slaps, fists and 9 or 10 dramatic music tracks to keep you occupied with senseless fun : )

It's really good. Well I think.....

 

[SCCSURF]

Well I was up almost all night learning about my new phone, man is there a lot of things on there. I love this thing, well worth the wait to get it. I have a couple of questions,

I already had facebook on the phone when I bought it, and I synced my contacts with it. What does the other facebook apps do? Should I be using on of them verus the standard one on the phone?

Also how should I manage folders on my home screens? I'm still not sure what to do there?

Thanks, this phone is awesome!!!

 

[thelion]

I prefer the FB app on the phone. The other ones look different and some offer chat and the like. Some of them also take up a huge chuck of the screen with recent postings right on your home screen etc. It is all about what you need and want. Try a few out and see what works.

When D/L apps, be sure to read the comments. I have found a few that are incompatible with Droid (VERY few but still...) so you might just want to read a few user reports. Also, be sure to keep wifi and gps off when not in use - they drain your battery quicker than you might think.

I am glad you enjoy it. I love mine. One of my favorite features is the integrated Google search. I stop there whenever an issue comes up - use it whenever you can and it will save you a lot of questions.

Happy Droiding.

 

[SCCSURF]

Thanks, I turned of WiFi and some of the snyc options but I'm not sure how to turn off GPS.

 

[thelion]

You know...I think I was thinking of Bluetooth. My toggle switch is for Bluetooth not GPS. Sorry about that

 

[dezymond]

Handcent

EStrong File Explorer (my recc.) but any 'file explorer' to manage your SD card. It's a must!

Quick Settings - app that allows one touch toggles for wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, network, and ringer settings. All from one convenient screen... without multiple toggles on your home screens!

+1

I use these apps the most actually and they're great. Handcent especially

 

[LordKastle]

Also take a look at the default widgits that come with the phone by long pressing the home screen and following the directions. Something might catch your eye that you want on your homescreen. (Such as the Power managment widgit that allows quick toggles for wifi, bluetooth, gps, sync, and brightness.)

 

[Laurence5905]

I use AndroZip for my file manager. I like the fact that, in addition to the usual file-manager stuff, you can create or unpack .ZIP files (and .TAR files). Not sure if most other file-managers can do that or not, because I tried AndroZip and liked it right off the bat. Never used another file-manager app.

Other free apps that I've installed:
SportsTap (keeps track of your favorite teams, NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAA, NBA, etc., etc... Pops up notifications when scores change.)
Battery Widget (a power-management widget that takes up only one single spot, rather than 4 like the built-in one)
Talk To Me (a translator -- speak English, and the phone translates and speaks the language you selected.)
WiFi Analyzer (awesome tool for checking which WiFi Channels are in highest use, or how good/bad the local WiFi signal is)
SleepTimer (automatically shuts off Music Player and/or WiFi after a time limit that you select.)
The Weather Channel (widget that shows up-to-date weather data on your home screen)
WaveSecure Beta (if your phone is lost or stolen, this will lock it down, and allow you to erase it remotely.)
MotoTorch (uses the Camera LED as a flashlight.)
Google SkyMap (Shows you the position of the stars and planets, based on your current GPS location.)
RealCalc Scientific Calculator (SOOO much better than the built-in calculator).
Barcode Scanner (Scan barcodes of just about any sort. Easily transfer contact info, too, via bar-codes on the screen.)

Games that I've installed (both free and paid):
UNO (the classic card game -- well done, although not quite perfect. But they're issuing updates regularly. Paid app.)
Solitaire MegaPack (36 different solitaire games built-in. Works perfectly. Paid App)
Sudoku Free (Name says it all. It's Sudoku, and it's free. Premium version is available if you want to donate to the developer.)
Jewellust (Ever played Bejeweled? Same game, different name. I think it was a paid app, but I can't remember offhand.)

Best thing to do, though, is spend some time in the Android Marketplace. Look around, read the reviews of anything you think you might like. There's usually a 'Lite' version of any paid app so you can try it out for free first, before you go spending your money. (And if you uninstall a paid-app in the first 24 hours, you automatically get a refund).

Also how should I manage folders on my home screens? I'm still not sure what to do there?

What I've done, is created folders on the main home-screen, that say "Phone", "Internet", "Utilities", "Games", etc., etc... Then I drag (long-press puts you into drag mode) the icons from the Applications Menu into whatever folder I want them in. This leaves me plenty of room on my main home-screen for The Weather Channel Widget, the SportsTap Widget, and the Google Search Widget.

To create a folder, long-press on a blank area of the screen and select Folders, then New Folder. To rename the folder after it's been created, open the folder and long-press the title-bar where the name of the folder is. It will then ask you for the new name.

But the best thing, by far, about the Droid, is you can customize the home screens ANY WAY YOU WANT! You can put the folders/shortcuts/widgets YOU want on there. Play around with it for awhile... You'll see just how amazing this phone can be -- as you use it, you'll see which apps/widgets are most important to you, and you can put them where you feel its best to have them.

 

[vzwmandroid]

hey ppl. try these apps.
backgrounds - free
weather widget - free
retro clock - free
mini info - free
battery indicator - free
task panel - free
moto tourch led - free
i music - free
google sky map - free
frg lite - free
space war - free
air attack - free
klondike solitaire - free

as you can see you dont have to spend a dime to make your droid experience a lil better
:beer2: