slow_mo_panda
New Member
Hey-lo, I am new to the forums, new to a 'droid phone, but I have had an android tablet before, a Pandigital, which I also rooted successfully, but got tired of. I was originally into just ebook readers, and that's the reason I got a tablet also, but I was hoping to have something to play videos on, and the PanDigital was very heavy and bulky and had low battery life. I was browsing for something like an iPod/iPad (but I wouldn't get ANYthing from Apple, no worries!) that I could use for vids and books, when I saw the reviews on this phone on the walmart site. I have been using Straight Talk anyway, with the most basic, boring flip-phone you could get, and I was dying to upgrade that, so this phone seemed perfect! I can get UNLIMITED talk (U.S.), text, and data/web for just $45 a month, which I hear is super cheap. I am on a really tight budget and am still anxious about what buying this phone is going to do to my bank account, but I had to get something!
So anyway, I do have some issues, I guess I can mention them here? I searched the forums before joining and couldn't find ANY forum topics about this phone! So I hope someone can tell me what to do! I will try making another post in the help forums, too, but here's the gist of it:
-Battery life!! I have the screen OFF, I close ALL apps before turning off, and only use the phone maybe a total of an hour a day (messing around with it, texting) and possibly another hour of calls. I have to plug this in EVERY night, and unplug it around 10am. I tried the Juice Defender app, which brings me to my next issue:
-APPS! I read that UNinstalling JD will save battery, but when I go to Settings>Apps>Manage Apps>Juice Defender, the 'Uninstall' button is grayed-out. This is the same with most all of them, it doesn't give me the option of clicking Uninstall. So HOW am I supposed to uninstall it? I already stopped the app, so it shouldn't be running.
-Apps: How do I prevent them from running in the background, or close them so they stop running when finished? When I am done with Facebook, for example, there's no button (even on the menu when I pull that up) to exit the page, and I always find multiple instances of it running on my task manager. I know some apps need to run in bg, but I would like to be able to close the browser/app from where it is open.
-WiFi/Apps: I have wifi in my apartment, through ATT, and I mostly use my laptop which I have plugged into my HDTV for a super-sized monitor! (I've become so addicted to having this huge hi-def monitor now, I can't hardly function on the main laptop screen!) Is there a way to set my phone so that it ONLY uses the wifi, and then stops using the 3G? Like, is there a pre-installed function to just push a button to switch back and forth, or is there an app I can use? I noticed when I turned the wifi on it still has the 3G icon running also, which I assume just uses the battery faster...
-An Apps/SD Card issue: I replaced the 2gb standard card (after 'safely removing' it) and put in a 16gb, but my phone does not give me the option to move any apps or anything onto the card, and my basic phone memory is filling up fast! I know the card is empty, I just bought it for the phone. I want to put any apps that can still run from the card onto it, as well as video/music/wallpapers/etc... Is there a tutorial or something?
-What is the tiny icon bar in the upper-left top of my screen on the home page? It has a little red circle with a number on it (2 at the moment), and other symbols, usually multiple envelopes, right now it has 2 downward-pointing arrows and an envelope... Is there a way to remove this feature??
-How do I prevent my screen from turning off during a call? I usually use the speaker phone but it still goes black after a few seconds during a call, even though I have the timeout set at 10 minutes. (I use the power button to put the screen back 'to sleep' as soon as I am done so it's not on for 10 minutes at a time anyway.)
-I heard the included power plug is not adequate enough to charge the phone fully without draining the battery. I have the Motorola plug that came with my old phone, which is an actual plug and cord, and just a plug to put my USB cord in when I want to charge, like this new one is. Any suggestions on which one or what else to use?
-I bought a pair of JVC 'Marshmallow' earphones with a mic, but then saw that it's 'compatible with iPod, iPad, iPhone' so do I need to exchange them, or will they work with this phone?
-Are there any sites for good, useful, FREE apps?? I can't use my bank account for small charges for apps or ringtones, etc. because I deplete the account for bills, so charging anything like this would cause overdrafts. I use Myxer for ringtones, usually make my own. I also don't like how LOUD the lowest volume setting is for my ringer!
Ok, I think that's it for now! I will just edit my post if I think of anything else. I have more personal info in my bio, so... Thanks guys, I hope I can also be of some small help to somebody!
ETA: I have downloaded a few ringtones, but as of yet haven't found them on my phone. Does anyone know how to set each ringtone to a certain caller ID? I got these silly little 'Mom' and 'Dad' ringtones but I have no clue how to do such a thing.
ETA2: I found the ringtones and moved them to my microSD, AFTER I read the 'FAQ' post about how to set ringtones. I guess my phone is different, it had none of the options that were described in the FAQ post...
So anyway, I do have some issues, I guess I can mention them here? I searched the forums before joining and couldn't find ANY forum topics about this phone! So I hope someone can tell me what to do! I will try making another post in the help forums, too, but here's the gist of it:
-Battery life!! I have the screen OFF, I close ALL apps before turning off, and only use the phone maybe a total of an hour a day (messing around with it, texting) and possibly another hour of calls. I have to plug this in EVERY night, and unplug it around 10am. I tried the Juice Defender app, which brings me to my next issue:
-APPS! I read that UNinstalling JD will save battery, but when I go to Settings>Apps>Manage Apps>Juice Defender, the 'Uninstall' button is grayed-out. This is the same with most all of them, it doesn't give me the option of clicking Uninstall. So HOW am I supposed to uninstall it? I already stopped the app, so it shouldn't be running.
-Apps: How do I prevent them from running in the background, or close them so they stop running when finished? When I am done with Facebook, for example, there's no button (even on the menu when I pull that up) to exit the page, and I always find multiple instances of it running on my task manager. I know some apps need to run in bg, but I would like to be able to close the browser/app from where it is open.
-WiFi/Apps: I have wifi in my apartment, through ATT, and I mostly use my laptop which I have plugged into my HDTV for a super-sized monitor! (I've become so addicted to having this huge hi-def monitor now, I can't hardly function on the main laptop screen!) Is there a way to set my phone so that it ONLY uses the wifi, and then stops using the 3G? Like, is there a pre-installed function to just push a button to switch back and forth, or is there an app I can use? I noticed when I turned the wifi on it still has the 3G icon running also, which I assume just uses the battery faster...
-An Apps/SD Card issue: I replaced the 2gb standard card (after 'safely removing' it) and put in a 16gb, but my phone does not give me the option to move any apps or anything onto the card, and my basic phone memory is filling up fast! I know the card is empty, I just bought it for the phone. I want to put any apps that can still run from the card onto it, as well as video/music/wallpapers/etc... Is there a tutorial or something?
-What is the tiny icon bar in the upper-left top of my screen on the home page? It has a little red circle with a number on it (2 at the moment), and other symbols, usually multiple envelopes, right now it has 2 downward-pointing arrows and an envelope... Is there a way to remove this feature??
-How do I prevent my screen from turning off during a call? I usually use the speaker phone but it still goes black after a few seconds during a call, even though I have the timeout set at 10 minutes. (I use the power button to put the screen back 'to sleep' as soon as I am done so it's not on for 10 minutes at a time anyway.)
-I heard the included power plug is not adequate enough to charge the phone fully without draining the battery. I have the Motorola plug that came with my old phone, which is an actual plug and cord, and just a plug to put my USB cord in when I want to charge, like this new one is. Any suggestions on which one or what else to use?
-I bought a pair of JVC 'Marshmallow' earphones with a mic, but then saw that it's 'compatible with iPod, iPad, iPhone' so do I need to exchange them, or will they work with this phone?
-Are there any sites for good, useful, FREE apps?? I can't use my bank account for small charges for apps or ringtones, etc. because I deplete the account for bills, so charging anything like this would cause overdrafts. I use Myxer for ringtones, usually make my own. I also don't like how LOUD the lowest volume setting is for my ringer!
Ok, I think that's it for now! I will just edit my post if I think of anything else. I have more personal info in my bio, so... Thanks guys, I hope I can also be of some small help to somebody!
ETA: I have downloaded a few ringtones, but as of yet haven't found them on my phone. Does anyone know how to set each ringtone to a certain caller ID? I got these silly little 'Mom' and 'Dad' ringtones but I have no clue how to do such a thing.
ETA2: I found the ringtones and moved them to my microSD, AFTER I read the 'FAQ' post about how to set ringtones. I guess my phone is different, it had none of the options that were described in the FAQ post...
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