I always end up being an unofficial technical support for about 15-20 of my friends, family, and co-workers. So I sent this out to all of them in an email. Thought I would post it here as well, let me know if you see anything I should add/change:
Guide to set up your droid when you first get it
Step 1 plug your phone into your computer via USB, on the phone pull down the notification area, touch the USB connected and choose MOUNT.
Now on your PC open the SD card and create a new folder called Media inside that folder create the following folders: music, notifications, ringtones, alarms
Now you can add music ringtones or message notifications from your computer, or when downloading them from the phone put them in these folders. If you put the ringtones and notifications in these folders they will show up in the list when choosing custom rings.
Step 2 If you are using Outlook (not corporate exchange) download google calendar sync Getting started with Google Calendar Sync - Google Calendar Help follow the instructions there.
Export your contacts to gmail follow the instructions here Exporting contacts from other mail providers - Gmail Help
(I recommend doing this BEFORE you get your droid if possible)
Step 3 On your phone preferably on the right or left screen touch and hold, choose widget, scroll down and choose “power control” move it where you want it. Now hit the menu button> sound and display > Brightness, and uncheck Automatic brightness. Now you will use the power control widget to adjust your screen brightness along with the other things it lets you turn on and off. The Automatic brightness feature doesn’t work well on any phone, and seems to cause problems with the face detection when on a phone call.
Step 4 Open the Market and search for Barcode scanner install it. Now when you see the square bar codes people link you can just scan it and get the app
Step 5 Download a file manager, I would recommend Astro or ES file manager
ES file explorer
Astro
Android does not have a native file manager so you’ll defiantly want one.
These are the main things that I think everyone should do to get started, the following may not be for everyone, but you might want to try them out.
Step 6 Download Handcent sms
Now open the messaging app and click settings, scroll down and uncheck Notifications. Go into the Handcent app and play around with the settings, you can customize just about everything. This program will also let you speak your text messages
Step 7 Make your phone your own, menu > wallpaper change it to something you like there is an app in the market called backgrounds or download some from here http://www.droidforums.net/gallery/
Some other tips:
Set up custom ringtones and notifications: Touch contacts > select the contact you want to change> Menu> Options> ringtone select the one you want.
Set up 1-touch dialing to a contact: press and hold in an open screen space, touch shortcuts> direct dial> choose contact.
Bring up a quick launch of the last 6 used apps: Press and hold the Home button.
Check out www.androlib.com from your computer to find apps, check under top of the day.
I keep getting asked why when you hit the voice search button you can't call contacts: The Voice dialer app is towards the bottom of the applications list, if you use it often I would recommend moving it out to the main screen. It works for calling contacts or opening applications.
Guide to set up your droid when you first get it
Step 1 plug your phone into your computer via USB, on the phone pull down the notification area, touch the USB connected and choose MOUNT.
Now on your PC open the SD card and create a new folder called Media inside that folder create the following folders: music, notifications, ringtones, alarms
Now you can add music ringtones or message notifications from your computer, or when downloading them from the phone put them in these folders. If you put the ringtones and notifications in these folders they will show up in the list when choosing custom rings.
Step 2 If you are using Outlook (not corporate exchange) download google calendar sync Getting started with Google Calendar Sync - Google Calendar Help follow the instructions there.
Export your contacts to gmail follow the instructions here Exporting contacts from other mail providers - Gmail Help
(I recommend doing this BEFORE you get your droid if possible)
Step 3 On your phone preferably on the right or left screen touch and hold, choose widget, scroll down and choose “power control” move it where you want it. Now hit the menu button> sound and display > Brightness, and uncheck Automatic brightness. Now you will use the power control widget to adjust your screen brightness along with the other things it lets you turn on and off. The Automatic brightness feature doesn’t work well on any phone, and seems to cause problems with the face detection when on a phone call.
Step 4 Open the Market and search for Barcode scanner install it. Now when you see the square bar codes people link you can just scan it and get the app
Step 5 Download a file manager, I would recommend Astro or ES file manager
ES file explorer
Astro
Android does not have a native file manager so you’ll defiantly want one.
These are the main things that I think everyone should do to get started, the following may not be for everyone, but you might want to try them out.
Step 6 Download Handcent sms
Now open the messaging app and click settings, scroll down and uncheck Notifications. Go into the Handcent app and play around with the settings, you can customize just about everything. This program will also let you speak your text messages
Step 7 Make your phone your own, menu > wallpaper change it to something you like there is an app in the market called backgrounds or download some from here http://www.droidforums.net/gallery/
Some other tips:
Set up custom ringtones and notifications: Touch contacts > select the contact you want to change> Menu> Options> ringtone select the one you want.
Set up 1-touch dialing to a contact: press and hold in an open screen space, touch shortcuts> direct dial> choose contact.
Bring up a quick launch of the last 6 used apps: Press and hold the Home button.
Check out www.androlib.com from your computer to find apps, check under top of the day.
I keep getting asked why when you hit the voice search button you can't call contacts: The Voice dialer app is towards the bottom of the applications list, if you use it often I would recommend moving it out to the main screen. It works for calling contacts or opening applications.
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