The Undeniable Awesomeness of Android

[breachless]

There has to be a few people here by now that are rocking a smartphone with the Android OS. As you can probably tell from some of my other posts, in addition to fishing, I tend to be an obsessive tinkerer of all things electronic, and it seems like I learn something cool everytime I talk to another Android user. There are so many great apps out there and strange uses for these phones that you just never know how someone else might be using theirs.

I will start. I have the Motorola Droid 2. I LOVE this thing. The first thing I did when I got it was rooted it so I could run things like Ad Free, and so I could overclock it. After a few months, I now have my Droid 2 with the Liberty ROM installed, safely overclocked to 1.3 GHz with no loss of battery life, and it runs 10x better than my wifes Droid 2 that is still using the stock Moto ROM. If you have the Droid 2 or Droid X, I highly highly highly recommend looking into flashing the Liberty ROM. It's fantastic.

Another thing that you tinboaters would probably love if you don't already have it is the Navionics Lakes app for your region. I have the US North one, and it is actually very useful. I think it came out to like $14 US dollars, and I got more lakemaps than I will ever touch for about half the price of one of those books you buy with a few counties. To top it off, it also integrates with GPS so you can mark hotspots. It's a great app. I have only used it for icefishing so far, but I see this being pretty awesome for open water fishing as well.

Of course, I also LOVE my emulators. For the Droid 2 (and a handful of other Android phones with slide-out keyboards) there is something called the Game Gripper. It looks kind of cheap, but it actually works really well. Its just a piece of molded plastic with buttons that clamps on over your phones physical keyboard that gives you a d-pad and a bunch of buttons. With this, I have every Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Genesis, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, and even PS1 game I could ever want to play ready to go with actual controls. Very cool for wasting time.

So what are you guys using on Android? I am always curious to hear about apps that I haven't heard of but that I need...

 

[perchin]

Oh yeah... I've been rocking the droid for a while now. Rooted, themed, so so many rom choices, emulators... fun stuff for sure :mrgreen:

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15545&p=159029#p159029

 

[G3_Guy]

I have had the Samsung Fascinate since it was released late last year and love it! I rooted shortly after getting it and run the Ad Free software as well. I have not tinkered with ROMs or overclocking at this point as there have been not released as of yet that I am all that interested in. Plus, I am eagerly awaiting the release of 2.2. As for apps, I currently use the following:

- AdFree - Used to remove ads from from free apps.

- Amazon - Used to shop and compare prices of things I am interested in purchasing.

-AppBrain - Dedicated app site that allows you to sync your current apps on your phone with your computer. Great for keeping track of what you have, what needs updated and searching for new apps.

-Astro - File management software

-Barcode Scanner - I use this when shopping... scan the barcode of the item you are looking at and then search Google to see if you can find it cheaper at a different location.

- Beautiful Widgets - Great clock and weather app. Lots of customizable options.

-Bible - This is a nice Bible app from YouVersion.com.

-Bubble - Nice level app.

- Craigsphone - Nice craigslist app.

-Custom Car Home - Nice app for utilizing multiple application while your phone is in it's GPS dock.

- DailyBible - This is a nice Bible app that sends a daily verse of scripture to your phone to view and read each day.

-Dictionary.com - Self Explanatory

- DroidTV - An app that lets you download certain shows to your phone so you can watch them on the go.

-Dropbox - Great for storing and sharing info on other computers or with other users.

-Facebook - Self Explanatory

-FireFox - Beta version just released that is utilized the same way as your FireFox browser on your PC. You can now also sync the information from FF on your PC to your droid phone.

-Grooveshark - Free music streaming app that allows you to search for specific music, listen to it and create your own playlists.

-Google Maps / Navigation - Gives turn by turn directions just like a stand alone GPS

-Key Ring - Allows you store the barcodes for all of your Value Cards for different retailers (i.e. - BassPro, Kroger, Dick's, etc.)

- Movies - This apps allows you to keep up with what's in theaters around your area as well as rate movies you have seen.

- My Tracks - Great app for hikers as it tracks you location, speed, elevation on a map.

- NewEgg - This is the app to access the NewEgg website. Which is a create site for electronics!

- Photoshop Express - This is a nice app that offers a few extra edit functions to the pictures you take with your camera phone.

- Redboxer - This is similar to the Redbox app for iPhone but not as functional yet. Still a nice app though.

- ROM Manager - Self Explainatory

-Our Groceries - Lets you keep multiple shopping lists and sync them between multiple phones. My wife loves this one as she can create a list at home, sync it to my phone and then call me to pick everything up.

-RingDroid - Allows you to clip specific parts of a song to make ringtones.

-Root Explorer - A more powerful version of Astro.

-ScoreMobile - This is my favorite sports app. Gives me access to College FB, BB, NFL, Nascar, Etc.

-ShootMe - Allows you to take a screenshot of your phone.

- TapTalk Pro - App that allows you to view multiple forums in one location and respond as needed. Forum must use TapTalk for it to be available on the app.

- TuneIn Radio - This is an awesome app that lists numerous radio stations in your area and allows you to stream them through your phone uninterrupted.

-TV Listing - Allows you to select you TV provider and see a listing of shows for the stations you have. Station listing is customizable.

-VCast Song ID - Allows your phone to identify the name and artist of the song you are listening to by holding the mic of your phone up to the radio.

-Weatherbug - Allows you to see the current weather in your area and other areas by entering in the zip code of the location you are interested in. Includes maps and extended forecasts.

-Wireless Tether - Use your phone as a wireless network for up to 5 other devices.

-Wordfeud - Great little game for Droids similar to scrabble.

You might also want to check out these sites if you have not already done so...

https://www.android.net
https://www.androidcentral.com
https://www.xda-developers.com

 

[wasilvers]

I just got a Samsung Captivate before Christmas (After I bought the wife an Iphone4)- Took me about 2 weeks to root it, then it was off to the rom races. Finally found a stable rom (Ultimate) that kicks the original's rear (double speed).

My most used apps besides the obvious ones are:
Moon Phase Pro - get all the moon phases for fishing/hunting plans
Bible from youversion
Facebook
Google Maps - use it a lot for traffic
Zillow - find homes for sale around me
Calorie Counter - find out just how bad that fast food really is
Tapatalk Pro - So awesomely easy to surf forums
PicSay Pro - to edit my photos before posting to FB
Barcode Scanner to comparison shop (anyone else feel guilty about using this in the store?)
Shootme for display captures
ESPN SportsCenter for scores
Radar Now for immeidate weather
Pandora, Cube palyer, Itag, Cover art Downloader
Weblinks of OCRonline and ESPN/Sports streaming (pm me for the link - need Flash 10 though)

Love Android!

 

[Waterwings]

My wife and I have decided that next year, right before I retire, that we're stopping our phone accounts (her iPhone, my Razr), and going with pre-paid Tracphones, or something of that nature. Gonna start cutting-back on the little nice-to-have extras that we really don't need.

 

[richg99]

I recently bought a droid Samsung Captivate. Not doing 5% of what you guys are doing, but love it. GPS; maps; weather; best fishing times (times2fish); compass.

Most used item is "color notes" . I have set up various "to do" lists; shopping lists; WeightWatchers results; exercise regimen and results...etc.

I used to carry a small notebook around to supplement my slipping memory. Now I have the droid.
Best purchase I made recently..IMHO. rich

 

[dixie_boysles]

Ok this is for you Android geniuses. I have the Samsung Mesmerize/Fascinate on the US Cellular Network. I love my phone, but I too have a few quirks that aggrevate me t death. One is RAM. This thing is pretty fast and has that Hummingbird fast processor. However it seems almost 75% of my ram is always being used. I downloaded the app killer but just like all the reviews say once you kill the apps they come back. Also if you kill say uour email app you won't gwt any emails until uou open the email program back up. Its ki dly aggrevating whe The phone lags because of it. Any fixes?

I do not really want to root because I know it voids warranty and all. I'm sure rooting is nice and I could figure it out but I'm still too nervous to do it. I'm sure its nice and stuff though. Other than those few thngs I love this phone!!! Any help would be nice in speeding this thing up. Or maybe just permantly freeing up ram. The other tung that aggrevates me is for some reason when roaming I don't have internet service! I have the box checked for data when roaming but it doesn't workm I dk if its a phone problem or network problem.

My favorite apps are:

PayPal
banking app
Colornote
scoremobile
Color flashlight
NFS Shift game
Avg antivirus
angry birds
Runkeeper
etc...

 

[perchin]

This thing is pretty fast and has that Hummingbird fast processor. However it seems almost 75% of my ram is always being used. I downloaded the app killer but just like all the reviews say once you kill the apps they come back

A lot of your problems are coming from the app/task killers themselves. Believe it or not, the Android OS is designed to take care of freeing up memory as it needs it, all without the help of a task killer. Basically, the task killer is constantly running, and fighting against the OS, taking up more memory, and killing your battery faster. Most people refuse to believe this, because there is just so much bad info. out there.

Here is a good read on it...

https://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/65483-task-killers-answer-google-developers.html

The other tung that aggrevates me is for some reason when roaming I don't have internet service! I have the box checked for data when roaming but it doesn't workm I dk if its a phone problem or network problem.

I believe that maybe your provider has screwed up your roaming capabilities. I would give them a call and let them troubleshoot this with you.

 

[breachless]

Indeed: the taskkillers are kind of pointless.

My phone had abysmal battery life out of the box... I did a couple of things that helped. There should be a widget you can add to one of your home screens called "Power Control". All that does is add a widget that allows you to toggle wifi, bluetooth, GPS, and Airplane mode, as well as change the screen brightness. GPS, Wifi, and Bluetooth all eat up a fair amount of juice just by being turned on (especially GPS). I turn off Wifi if I am not at home since I don't really typically connect to any other Wifi Hotspots, and I keep my GPS turned off unless I am actually using it. Same goes for Bluetooth, which only gets turned on when I am in my car using my Bluetooth Speaker phone.

Another thing that hits your performance as well as your battery is running a ton of widgets. They look pretty, but I try to use as few as possible. I have the aforementioned Power Control widget running, and I keep a clock/weather widget running on my homescreen and that's about it. Finally, it's a good idea to reboot your phone once every day or so. Not all apps are coded with your batteries life in mind, and will often still be running in the background after you think you have closed them. A reboot helps with that, as well as just helping your phone run better.

Having said all of that, none of the things above come even close to having as much of an impact as rooting and installing a custom ROM. The great thing about custom ROMS is that they usually have all of the fat trimmed out. You won't find a ton of apps that your carrier loads on there to bog down your phone. You are basically getting a version of the Android Operating System running the way Google originally intended it to run. Nice and snappy! That being said, there are some custom roms out there that just don't work as well as others. I actually flashed a few Custom ROMS to my phone and then went back to the stock Moto rom within a day or two because one thing or another just didn't work the way I wanted it to. But when you DO find the right ROM, it's pretty incredible how much of a difference it makes.

Just make sure that before you get into custom roms that you understand how to recover from a bad flash BEFORE you install it! Clockwork Mod/ROM Manager is going to be your very best friend after rooting your phone. That is the tool you can use to create a "Nandroid". A Nandroid is simply a snapshot of your phones current configuration. As long as you have a good backup, you can recover from almost anything. Another one to grab is Titanium Backup, which will allow you to backup all of your apps. Finally, get My Backup Root, which will allow you to save all of your text messages and calling history. You can also use it to backup your contacts, but in my experience, this caused some issues: using your gmail account to sync your backups is a much better solution for this. Trust me: once you sort out all of the details, rooting and flashing your phone isn't nearly as dangerous or as intimidating as it first seems... Of course, this is all based on my experience with the Moto Droid 2, and I can't say much for the other Android phones out there, but I would assume the process is pretty much the same.

 

[dixie_boysles]

thanks perchin!

 

[richg99]

Oh, yea...the other thing that I did that has been very good...is to go on EBay and buy a combo of two extra batteries and a wall charger.

I checked at Best Buy and they wanted $49.00 in the store for ONE battery only. On EBay, I bought the two batteries and the charger for well under $20.00 ... shipped to my door.

Now, I keep one battery running in the phone; another one as a back up in my pocket or van...and one charging ( or charged already) at home.

I downloaded Kindle for Android ( free) and now read a number of books when I am waiting someplace. That extra time was eating into my battery power. The two extra batteries, always available, have taken away any issues there.

Also, I found out yesterday that my son's big, bad IPhone doesn't have any provision for a handy replacement battery. It can only be charged IN the phone! His phone's battery is slowing getting old and weak. He has to send it in to Apple to get the battery changed out!
regards, Rich

 

[wasilvers]

Indeed: the taskkillers are kind of pointless.

yes they are. I keep one around in case a program bombs badly, but otherwise they eat as much battery as they save

Another thing that hits your performance as well as your battery is running a ton of widgets.

x2 - if you don't need TWC running close all the time, just put a shortuct in it's place

Having said all of that, none of the things above come even close to having as much of an impact as rooting and installing a custom ROM. The great thing about custom ROMS is that they usually have all of the fat trimmed out. You won't find a ton of apps that your carrier loads on there to bog down your phone. You are basically getting a version of the Android Operating System running the way Google originally intended it to run. Nice and snappy! That being said, there are some custom roms out there that just don't work as well as others. I actually flashed a few Custom ROMS to my phone and then went back to the stock Moto rom within a day or two because one thing or another just didn't work the way I wanted it to. But when you DO find the right ROM, it's pretty incredible how much of a difference it makes.

I found one that is 2x as fast and EVERYTHING works for my captivate. It runs like a well tuned motor, and gives me more battery life than then original!

It took me over 3 hours to root my phone (a one minute process). But I read a lot and watched several youtube videos on the subject. Very helpful info and seeing someone else do it eased the distress level. The next day I flashed my first rom - another 3+hours of prep time for a 10 minute process. Now I have felt comfortable enough to flash them at 11:30 at night while laying in bed. It really is a steep learning curve, but not continuous.

IS flashing worth it?!? ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

[wasilvers]

Just took up some application programming for Android and thought I'd post my first app here.  Please let me know what you think of it.

Basically it's an app to link to open a webpage directly to some of my favorite streaming channels like ESPN, CNN, Top Gear, and others via Justin TV, via another grouping TV site.  Not all of the channels work all the time, but most work most of the time - does that make sense?

Requires Flash 10!!!  

Just load the Mindless.apk to your android phone and be entertained!  Note that these pages are usually Flash 10, so you might have to click on the box to start it going.  Also a double click on the screen will make the video go fullscreen.

https://www.silversstars.com/forumposts/Mindless.apk

Here's a few screenshots I took while streaming via 3g (it looks better on screen):