Just got my first smart phone for college

[xmichiganfanx]

I'll be heading off to the University of Michigan in a few weeks so I decided to get myself a Droid X. This i only my third phone ever and first smart phone. I consider myself pretty tech savy but I don't know a whole lot about smart phones.

So what are some good apps to get start? Like the essentials. I got the app killer and some other basic ones already.

Also Android 2.2 isn't out yet right? I thought I read some where on here there was a live tv app a guy hd but it was 2.2 only. Is it just out on some phones now or what?

I can't wit to really get some time to play with this phone and figure out everything it can do.

 

[zerosouls]

welcome to the android family... smartphones are k-rad

 

[DrScrubs]

Welcome to the Android world! Smartphones can make your life so much easier.

First, delete the app killer, unless it is System Panel. Auto killing apps does more harm than good. Then, since you mentioned you are heading off to college, I suggest Study Droid. Great way to have flash cards on your phone.

I am sure others will suggest many other apps to you. Good luck with the new phone! And good luck in college as well.

 

[xmichiganfanx]

Is system panel another app that turns off other apps?

What is the harm that app killer causes? I figured it just turning everything off would be good. I really have no idea, just trying to find out.

 

[gujupmp88]

i agree with deleting the task killer, it's just not needed. depending on how it handles things, it can actually decrease your battery life and make your phone slower. I suggest getting LauncherPro as a home replacement, a lot more customizable then any stock launcher and usually faster. Astro is a good file explorer, and one of the more popular apps on the market. I don't play many games, but the couple that i have are Alchemy, HomeRunBattle, Speedx 3D and Titres(i think this was pulled off the market though)

 

[xmichiganfanx]

i agree with deleting the task killer, it's just not needed. depending on how it handles things, it can actually decrease your battery life and make your phone slower. I suggest getting LauncherPro as a home replacement, a lot more customizable then any stock launcher and usually faster. Astro is a good file explorer, and one of the more popular apps on the market. I don't play many games, but the couple that i have are Alchemy, HomeRunBattle, Speedx 3D and Titres(i think this was pulled off the market though)

ok thanks. I'll check these out. I just use the app killer by cliking it when I am done with my phone. I mean right now I don't have a lot of apps but that's all I do with it.

 

[gujupmp88]

ok thanks. I'll check these out. I just use the app killer by cliking it when I am done with my phone. I mean right now I don't have a lot of apps but that's all I do with it.

the thing is, android keeps apps in the system memory for when they are needed. these apps though aren't using any, or very little, cpu power or battery. app killers say they are open, but in reality, they aren't doing anything but sitting there in idle. If you use a task killer to kill off apps, two things will/might happen.

the apps that are "open" will just open back up 2 seconds later because that is what they are designed to do, therefore using power/battery. the second thing is if a certain app is necessary for certain things, like informing you of a text or updating a certain widget, it will be turned off and that part of the phone will cease to function.

either thing is bad and will be avoided if you don't kill anything off, unless it is freezing or acting up.

 

[xmichiganfanx]

ok thanks. I'll check these out. I just use the app killer by cliking it when I am done with my phone. I mean right now I don't have a lot of apps but that's all I do with it.

the thing is, android keeps apps in the system memory for when they are needed. these apps though aren't using any, or very little, cpu power or battery. app killers say they are open, but in reality, they aren't doing anything but sitting there in idle. If you use a task killer to kill off apps, two things will/might happen.

the apps that are "open" will just open back up 2 seconds later because that is what they are designed to do, therefore using power/battery. the second thing is if a certain app is necessary for certain things, like informing you of a text or updating a certain widget, it will be turned off and that part of the phone will cease to function.

either thing is bad and will be avoided if you don't kill anything off, unless it is freezing or acting up.

Wow dude thanks a lot. I'll make sure to get rid of that thin right away. I love having email on my phone now too, as soon as you reply my phone goes BING and I know to check it out.

 

[xmichiganfanx]

Just wanna say this launcher pro is pretty awesome.

Also, I'm still exploring my phone and found the preferences button. Under general setting it says Motorola Droid hack, what is that? Sounds dangerous

 

[gujupmp88]

Just wanna say this launcher pro is pretty awesome.

Also, I'm still exploring my phone and found the preferences button. Under general setting it says Motorola Droid hack, what is that? Sounds dangerous

the preferences are for launcherpro only, not the entire phone. in the preferences you can customize the launcher a lot. the droid hack, i believe is for the original droid. you can keep it on and turn it off and see if there is a difference. play around with the settings, especially the memory usage under advanced because that can really optimize the way the launcher works. if you have any questions directly about the launcher, ask here or go to the forums on launcherpro.com

 

[Tanknspank]

Just wanna say this launcher pro is pretty awesome.

Also, I'm still exploring my phone and found the preferences button. Under general setting it says Motorola Droid hack, what is that? Sounds dangerous

It is a tweak for the regular motorola droid users so they can have increased performance. Wouldn't try it with the x right now...

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[xmichiganfanx]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Just found out The Michigan App is only on the iphone though, kinda bummed. Hopefully the university can get on that.