Introducing Myself as a Member

[jimbo111]

My name is Jim; I am on Pacific Time (U.S.A.) and have a new Motorola Droid 2 Global (with Verizon). I am completely new to all of this and want to learn a few things along the way (though have no aspirations of developing the kind of in-depth expertise that many of the members have).
I do have a few beginning questions:
1. This forum seems a lot like Android.net/forum. It is the same thing with two different names or are they related somehow (other than both being about Android phones)?
2. what is a good source to know good programs from bad ones? The Android Market seems to have everything.
3. is there a way to search more specifically for applications in the Android Market? There are these broad categories (like Tools) within which there seems to be no internal organization---just hundreds of applications listed, seemingly randomly. Maybe there is an order there I just have not discovered. In Blackberry App World, each major category (such as Utilities) has some sub-categories---and within each one of those one can select an order in which to view the listings, such as alphabetical, newest first, or (my favorite) user ratings. Is there a way to access Android Market listings that way?
4. does anyone know of a good anti-spam program (like SpamFighter) for e-mail appearing on an Android? I see programs to fight spam on SMS but not yet on e-mail.
5. I was interested in an application called Smart Keyboard (in Android Market) but in installing it, there appeared a warning, something to the effect of caution, this program can access all your personal information . . . The Application, in its instructions, said there would be such a warning and to ignore it as it is just sort of a boilerplate that appears in any keyboard type of program. Is that true? Is it OK or should one steer clear of the application?
6. is there a section of these forums for beginners---sort of For the Android-Challenged?
Thanks.

 

[Hawaiian Princess]

Welcome to the forum! Great to have u here. One thing u would have to get used too, is the researching and the tons of reading, understanding what ur phone can do. I have the Global as well as a DX. Ur list is very long, lol, so basically I'm just gonna send u a few links.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-2-forum/

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-faq/


http://www.droidforums.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1097257


http://forum.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/31622-getting-started-android-tips-tricks.html

sent from my Hawaiian Xoom...ALOHA

 

[CJM]

:welcome: to the forum. I'll try to answer your questions:


1. Android.net is a sister forum to Droidforums.net. Some of the members here are also on that forum.

2. The way I found out was to try them. You cant always go by the ratings in the market. But if the app has the majority of 1 star or 5 star ratings, it gives you a good hint.

3. It is sometimes hard to find a certain app in the market if you dont know the name. Using AppBrain or Google around for an app can help.

4. Dont know.

5. I understand why, but not sure if I can explain it clear enough: Some keyboards read your texts and other info on your phone to help predict what your going to type. If you look at the permissions of some keyboards, you'll see that most of them are the same. Pretty much the the same permissions as the stock keyboard. But you didnt see those because that came pre-installed on your phone. You can check that by hitting menu then settings/applications/manage applications, hit the "all" button at the top, then look for "Android Keyboard", hit that then scroll to the bottom of the page and look at the permissions.

6. You found the beginners section and those links that our Hawaiian Princess posted will help. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Theres always someone willing to help