Verizon iPhone 4 or Droid X

[MightyMoose]

Hey guys, just thought I would mention I just found out that Amazon has an Android App Store now. They do have free apps on there as well as paid and Angry Birds Rio is available for free right now. It looks like Amazon screens the apps so you don't have to wade through all the junk on Android Market.

PS I hope the mods don't consider this spam. I just learned about this today and wanted to tell my fellow Thunderbolt owners about a resource.

I downloaded Rio for free yesterday as well.

They apparently have 1 free pay app per day.

Indeed, I am female lol

I have looked into the Incredible 2 but its release date is up in air and it does not seem that it will have the 4LTE radio inside. The HTC Merge...who know when that's coming out? I like that it has a physical keyboard. I've never used a touch screen keyboard and is it just me but does Swype actually look more difficult to use?lol

I think, I will need to visit a verizon store and take an up close and personal look at the T.B. I was actually worried about the device possibly fitting into the pocket of my skinny jeans if I forgo a purse for a quick trip to the convenience store. I think I can get over the size if the T.B. is as awesome as everyone claims.

I ready to move on from my blackberry!

Is it spam if I say that for all those interested in the T.B.,Amazon is selling the T.B.($179) for much cheaper than Verizon($249)?

I hope I don't get banned

I remember thinking the exact same thing before I actually started using swype. Once you do the tutorial, you'll never worry about it being more difficult again. It is a lifesaver. I can type full emails in about 1/2 the time now that it would have taken previously with a std. keyboard.


By the way... You're both going to get banned!!!

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[JonnyL]

If you like simple and user-friendly phone, go with the iphone. If you want the limitless freedom and customization to your phone, go with android.

 

[MightyMoose]

If you like simple and user-friendly phone, go with the iphone. If you want the limitless freedom and customization to your phone, go with android.

I have yet to understand where these statements come from... What is difficult about the android phone? It is modeled after the simplicity of the iphone...

I hear this argument all the time, but I'm guessing it comes from people who have never used an android phone, or from those who have an iphone and say... "Ooooh, your phone is a little different than mine and I don't know what these buttons do... So... Um, your phone is soooo hard to use..."

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I have yet to understand where these statements come from... What is difficult about the android phone? It is modeled after the simplicity of the iphone...

I hear this argument all the time, but I'm guessing it comes from people who have never used an android phone, or from those who have an iphone and say... "Ooooh, your phone is a little different than mine and I don't know what these buttons do... So... Um, your phone is soooo hard to use..."

I'm still rocking a non-smartphone as I haven't seen a need for a smartphone currently. Then I read this thread that one can use the phone's connectivity in place of broadband internet. Is this reliable, even for someone who does a little bit of gaming?

 

[MightyMoose]

I'm still rocking a non-smartphone as I haven't seen a need for a smartphone currently. Then I read this thread that one can use the phone's connectivity in place of broadband internet. Is this reliable, even for someone who does a little bit of gaming?

I have been told that it will work well for gaming, but I haven't tried it out myself yet. I'll let you know when I give out a shot though. Based on speed and connection alone it should work well.

 

[JonnyL]

I have yet to understand where these statements come from... What is difficult about the android phone? It is modeled after the simplicity of the iphone...

I hear this argument all the time, but I'm guessing it comes from people who have never used an android phone, or from those who have an iphone and say... "Ooooh, your phone is a little different than mine and I don't know what these buttons do... So... Um, your phone is soooo hard to use..."

I have an android. I personally think iPhones are overrated but it's obvious the iPhone is easier to use for the average smartphone user mainly because everything is basically standard and fixed. Even with jailbreaking going over the boundaries is limited compared to Android Phones.

Android phones are built with simplicity of the iphone sure, but there's much more potential with an Android phone given a little more effort than going to settings and changing your wallpaper. There's things you have to download and set-up in order to the get the phone the way you want it. The iPhone on the other hand, there is barely any customization--as I mentioned before, almost everything is standard and people who like the iPhone just the way it is likes that. That's Apple's selling point - simplicity and user friendly. You're going to have a little bit more knowledge with an Android phone if you want it at it's full potential.

 

[MightyMoose]

I have an android. I personally think iPhones are overrated but it's obvious the iPhone is easier to use for the average smartphone user mainly because everything is basically standard and fixed. Even with jailbreaking going over the boundaries is limited compared to Android Phones.

Android phones are built with simplicity of the iphone sure, but there's much more potential with an Android phone given a little more effort than going to settings and changing your wallpaper. There's things you have to download and set-up in order to the get the phone the way you want it. The iPhone on the other hand, there is barely any customization--as I mentioned before, almost everything is standard and people who like the iPhone just the way it is likes that. That's Apple's selling point - simplicity and user friendly. You're going to have a little bit more knowledge with an Android phone if you want it at it's full potential.

Yeah, I can see what you're saying. The android does take a bit of downloading to customize it the way you want it. I suppose I also make quite a few setting changes as well to optimize my phone. These changes are just so easy to make that it is hard for me to view as difficult, but if I use the "mom test" she might find it more difficult to use an android than an iphone, at least in terms of customizing them. However, the androids still work perfectly well straight out of the box, which makes me feel like they are both equally easy to use, but the android just has more customizations available if people want to use them.

 

[Postal]

the iPhone is easier to use for the average smartphone user mainly because everything is basically standard and fixed.

This is so true and exactly why I'm getting the iphone for my mom, who isn't as tech-savy as much as I consider myself to be.

 

[Torr]

I have an android. I personally think iPhones are overrated but it's obvious the iPhone is easier to use for the average smartphone user mainly because everything is basically standard and fixed. Even with jailbreaking going over the boundaries is limited compared to Android Phones.

I was under the impression that a jailbroken iPhone is pretty much equal to a droid regarding its "customizability". What features are more customizable in a droid compared to a jailbroken iPhone?

 

[MightyMoose]

I was under the impression that a jailbroken iPhone is pretty much equal to a droid regarding its "customizability". What features are more customizable in a droid compared to a jailbroken iPhone?

Flash, various software compatibilities, and the phones own dynamic flexibility.

 

[HockeyDr09]

I was under the impression that a jailbroken iPhone is pretty much equal to a droid regarding its "customizability". What features are more customizable in a droid compared to a jailbroken iPhone?

Flash, various software compatibilities, and the phones own dynamic flexibility.

Flash as customizable , and dynamic flexibility

I'd say the biggest difference in O.S customization would be that android has widgets which are pretty useful, and toggles that could be used to turn off 4G, Wifi, etc (not sure if the ipod has these yet, you can still get sbsettings and set up the swipe toggles). You can also flash ROMs on android which allows you to really mix it up (little advanced to do in my opinion). In the end I prefer the jailbroken Iphones OS and customization abilities, but I have an EVO for flash and screen size. (Also 4G, if I ever get it).

 

[Torr]

Flash as customizable , and dynamic flexibility

I'd say the biggest difference in O.S customization would be that android has widgets which are pretty useful, and toggles that could be used to turn off 4G, Wifi, etc (not sure if the ipod has these yet, you can still get sbsettings and set up the swipe toggles). You can also flash ROMs on android which allows you to really mix it up (little advanced to do in my opinion). In the end I prefer the jailbroken Iphones OS and customization abilities, but I have an EVO for flash and screen size. (Also 4G, if I ever get it).

Thanks HockeyDr. I really haven't had any complaints about iPhone customization but I'd like to try out a droid sometime to really see what I'm missing (other than flash).

The prob is I was given my iPhone already jailbroken and don't know how limited a regular iPhone is in comparison. I've always had SbSettings and didn't realize till just now that it isn't standard .

Sidenote: You've got 2 dancing monkeys!! I think I should add a few more as Fall approaches .

 

[MightyMoose]

Flash as customizable , and dynamic flexibility

I'd say the biggest difference in O.S customization would be that android has widgets which are pretty useful, and toggles that could be used to turn off 4G, Wifi, etc (not sure if the ipod has these yet, you can still get sbsettings and set up the swipe toggles). You can also flash ROMs on android which allows you to really mix it up (little advanced to do in my opinion). In the end I prefer the jailbroken Iphones OS and customization abilities, but I have an EVO for flash and screen size. (Also 4G, if I ever get it).

That would all be included under dynamic flexibility. Basically you can adjust the phone itself to function in a number of different ways, where the iphone still functions just like it always did (minimal customization).

In terms of flash, it's not a "customizable" feature, but it's certainly something you won't be able to get with the jailbroken iphone, which is what I was under the impression the question was really getting at.

 

[HockeyDr09]

That would all be included under dynamic flexibility. Basically you can adjust the phone itself to function in a number of different ways, where the iphone still functions just like it always did (minimal customization).

In terms of flash, it's not a "customizable" feature, but it's certainly something you won't be able to get with the jailbroken iphone, which is what I was under the impression the question was really getting at.

I was under the impression that she/he wanted to know specific customizable aspects of the phone. Not just a broad term and the general differences that were already discussed earlier in the thread. My mistake if she/he wanted otherwise.

 

[HockeyDr09]

Thanks HockeyDr. I really haven't had any complaints about iPhone customization but I'd like to try out a droid sometime to really see what I'm missing (other than flash).

The prob is I was given my iPhone already jailbroken and don't know how limited a regular iPhone is in comparison. I've always had SbSettings and didn't realize till just now that it isn't standard .

Sidenote: You've got 2 dancing monkeys!! I think I should add a few more as Fall approaches .

You got it pre-jailbroken, what a perk!
SBsettings is definitely essential, I'm also a big fan of lockscreen info, glovepod, and installous. The only thing that is annoying is that when you want to upgrade the OS you have to hope there is a new jailbreak. I'm using 4.2.1 now and I don't think i'll be changing anytime soon.

I was so pumped when I got accepted, I had to use two monkies to describe the awesomeness.

 

[Torr]

I'll take the blame on that one. I should have said "specific features". My bad!

But yea, I wanted to know what specific things you can do to the droid to personalize it which you cannot do on the iPhone. Maybe someone who has used both phones extensively would be able to add to what's already been said.

 

[HockeyDr09]

I'll take the blame on that one. I should have said "specific features". My bad!

But yea, I wanted to know what specific things you can do to the droid to personalize it which you cannot do on the iPhone. Maybe someone who has used both phones extensively would be able to add to what's already been said.

I've had both, and I currently use a jailbroken Ipod (which uses the same O.S as the Iphone) and HTC Evo for the best of both worlds.

This is my opinion but as far as customization of the way things look, the Iphone crushes android if it's jailbroken. There are a TON of themes in cydia that can change the fonts, icons, pattern of the icons, colors, lockscreen info (which allows you to place your email/weather/todo list/ calendar on your lockscreen) , how many icons can fit on the dock (make the dock scrollable, make pages vertically scrollable as well as the normal horizontal scroll.). Winterboard allows you to customize the media player, SMS settings, Phone Dialer, and allows for panoramic backgrounds etc. Then you have access to installous for all applications. Android is not even remotely close (in my opinion) to having these features incorporated as easily as they are in cydia/winterboard. You can also SSH your Iphone which allows you to treat it the same way as if you had mounted an android device. I have not even touched on how nice SB settings is to use. You can hide any icons and use toggles.

For android if you really wanted to fully customize, you could dig around the android market, or flash a ROM, but it's honestly a lenghty process (in my opinion) and a lot could go wrong.

This is coming from an Android user, who likes android devices better than apple (for phones). If the Iphone incorporated flash, had a removable battery, and used 4G I would probably be all over it. My point is that the Iphone (Jailbroken) is far more customizable than an android device, and it's much easier (IMO) to do so on the Iphone.

Edit
To answer your question specifically for what the android can do that the iphone can't.

Widgets- Allow you to have large icons which give you live information on your homescreen / other main pages, without having to open an application (think HTC weather clock). You can have widgets for pretty much everything, email, facebook, RSS feeds, weather, sms. It makes your main screens look alive, and allows you to take in a lot of information without opening apps directly.

Flash ROMS- Basically use a completely customized versions of Android O.S'es.

Thats all I can think of that an Android can do that an Iphone (jailbroken) can't in terms of customization. I'm sure I am missing something, so other people can chime in with anything else.

In my opinion, most of the perks for having an android phone are not in it's ability to customize.
The post by elementals on page 3 sums it up nicely (with some things I do slightly disagree with)

Caveat: I really hate Apple *LOL*

That said, any modern Android device >>>> iPhone, imho. Here's why:

1) Ability to install what apps you want, not what Apple says you can install.
2) Corollary: full flash video, divx, skype, google voice, etc.
3) Natively syncs across google. You never have to dock your phone again, ever. You can even get a free app that lets you transfer MP3s across wifi.
4) Load whatever files you want onto the phone. No need for iTunes if you don't want it.
5) You can still use iTunes if you want - there are apps that'll let you.
6) You can swap your own battery.
7) MicroSD means you can swap storage in and out, load files directly from the SD reader on your computer, etc.
8) USB tethering as well as mobileAP wifi for free (at least on T Mobile) means you never have to pay for wifi on the go again.
9) Ability to attach whatever file you want to to an email -- share your MP3s, pictures, apps, docs, etc.
10) ability to use remote connection to access your desktop computer -- free
11) Just feels faster to me, imho
12) No ridiculous antenna issues with even more ridiculous responses from Steve Jobs ("Just don't hold it like that!"). I mean, seriously? He's not just going to tell us what we can and can't use our phones for, we also have to hold it a certain way?

-- all of which adds up to a smartphone that can actually do most of the things a laptop can do with far fewer limitations and marketshare-protecting restrictions than iPhone 4 has. Honestly, all iPhone4 has going for it is the hipster iPhone "image". Which is ironic as ****, since there's nothing more conformist than an Apple fanboy.

1) Same with jailbroken, you can download third party apps not approved by apple (granted they need to be in proper format)
2)Completely True
3) Same with jailbroken
4) Same with jailbroken
5) Same with jailbroken
6)Completely True
7)Completely True
8) Same with jailbroken
9) Same with jailbroken
10) Same with jailbroken
11) I personally think iOS is faster but to each his own. It's really up to the phones hardware, if anything.
12) Completely True


Not as different as initially stated.
That gives you, Android has flash, you can remove the battery and SD card, no crappy antenna issue.

A lot of people wind up picking sides instead of seeing the best of both worlds. Just choose a phone that fits into what you're looking for. For me, it's using both . Hope this helped.

 

[Torr]

Thanks HockeyDoc!! (sounds quicker in my head so therefore I wrote it out this way).
Didn't realize you were doing both .

Except for SSH, I use pretty much everything else you've mentioned!

Nice summary.

 

[MightyMoose]

I'll take the blame on that one. I should have said "specific features". My bad!

But yea, I wanted to know what specific things you can do to the droid to personalize it which you cannot do on the iPhone. Maybe someone who has used both phones extensively would be able to add to what's already been said.

Nah, it was probably me... I work with a bunch of "iphonies" and I feel like I'm constantly defending the Android OS. So, I have resorted to general terms and mumbling under my breath, which apparently has carried over to my posts. haha.

Anyway, that's a nice list HockeyDr09.

 

[Helen Wheels]

I downloaded Rio for free yesterday as well.

They apparently have 1 free pay app per day.

Got the free Rio download, too.

Battery life is a big difference from my five year old non-smartphone. I started out Tuesday morning with a full charge. I had the phone on standby and was too busy to do anything with it until early Wed evening. It was totally dead. I dunno exactly when it died but it did not make it 30 hours on standby which kind of surprised me. Thinking of getting that App Killer App... and a car charger.

 

[MightyMoose]

Got the free Rio download, too.

Battery life is a big difference from my five year old non-smartphone. I started out Tuesday morning with a full charge. I had the phone on standby and was too busy to do anything with it until early Wed evening. It was totally dead. I dunno exactly when it died but it did not make it 30 hours on standby which kind of surprised me. Thinking of getting that App Killer App... and a car charger.

I actually had to reread that, because I thought it might have been a typo when you said you checked the phone on Wednesday! haha.

The battery life really isn't that good. If your phone had turned on, it would have almost been dead.

There are some keys to minimizing the battery drain, but even with those I would not expect to leave your phone for 2 days and still get any type of good use out of it.

Here are some great tips from http://www.droidforums.net/forum/htc-thunderbolt/132327-tips-help-improve-battery-life-thunderbolt.html

If you easily get a full day's use with stock settings, then ignore this. But the ThunderBolt is a powerful 1GHz smartphone made by HTC with a fairly small stock battery, large 4.3" screen, LTE capability, and Sense UI, so battery life may be a concern to you. There is no magic app or single technique that will make your battery last all day with heavy use, but if you utilize some of the following tips you WILL notice a significant increase in your battery life. Everyone's use is different, so 6-9 hours on one charge may be enough for some while others need 12-15 hours. Some of these may not be necessary, appropriate, or desirable for all users, so just pick which ones work for your purposes and preferences. You might prefer to keep using some of the particular features mentioned, as the benefit for you might outweigh the minimal savings in battery life. The point of this is to show people how to disable or limit features they don't need, not force them to shut down everything. Feel free to add your own suggestions as well or ask any questions about the techniques.

.1. ..Settings: (use an app or widget that helps you quickly toggle them, eg. built-in widgets, or from market such as Elixir, Quick Settings, or MySettings).
.a. ..Screen –go to settings/display, turn down Brightness (20-30%), set Timeout to 30 secs., .manually turn off by quickly pushing top button when not using anymore (instead of waiting).. I have personally found that I like setting timeout at 1 min better, and manually turning off the screen with the top button every time I am done using it before I put it down or away in my pocket, that way it doesn't waste itself timing out or shut off on me when I don't want it to yet.
.b. ..[COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]GPS..[/COLOR][/COLOR] – always turn off when not using.., and plug into car charger (or car dock if you have one) during extended use.
.c. ..Bluetooth – always turn off when not using.
.d. ..4G – always turn off when not using, only use when you need the speed, (the TB will get a toggle either in an update or in app form at some point, in the meantime there are several methods to accomplish this).
.e. ..Mobile hotspot – always turn off when not using, plug into charger when in use if you can.
.f. ..WiFi – turn off when not near a WiFi signal for an extended period of time, but always use when available (faster than 3G, uses less battery), go to settings/wireless & networks/WiFi settings, press menu button and tap Advanced then WiFi Sleep policy and select.."..Never..".., this sounds counter-intuitive, but it actually uses less power because when WiFi sleeps 3G or 4G wakes up to sync, get email, and retrieve other data (WiFi connection disables 3G/4G).
.2. ..Background/wallpaper - use a static image instead of a live wallpaper (but these are cool, so use one if you really want to, they only drain for the short amount of time you are looking at the launcher screens).. Many say the live wallpaper drain is minimal, but I noticed a significant amount while using a live one so I went to static. Have any of you tried both and noticed much of a difference yet?
.3. ..Window animations – go to settings/sound & display/animation and select.."..no animations..".
.4. ..Keyboard vibration – turn off vibration function (haptic feedback) for when you hit a key (helps with speed too), go to settings/language & keyboard/touch input/text input and uncheck vibrate when typing., .you can disable haptic feedback in other areas of the system by going to settings/sound, and uncheck vibrate feedback.
.5. ..Notification lights – unless you really want/need to know when something happens on your phone when you are not looking, go to settings/display/notification flash and uncheck all the boxes.
.6. ..Vibration – unless you really want this function, go to settings/sound, and uncheck vibrate.
.7. ..Monitor battery use - go to menu/settings/about phone/battery use, this will show you what is eating the most battery, uninstall troublesome unneeded app.., use ..Running services widget by going to shortcut/settings (helps identify processes running in the background and foreground), if you want more detail check out SystemPanel in the app market, if you want to be alerted to "rogue" apps check out Watchdog Task Manager in the app market.
.8. ..Disable.."..always-on mobile data.."..– go to settings/wireless & networks/mobile networks, uncheck .."..Enable always-on mobile data,.."..you will still receive emails, texts, and phone calls, as well as internet usage, but it may cause connectivity problems in some third party apps (use manual refresh feature when opening apps to update online data).
.9. ..WiFi and [COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]4G ..[FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]network.[/COLOR].[/COLOR][/COLOR] notifications – go to settings/wireless & networks and uncheck Network notification box (so phone will not constantly scan to look for open networks to tell you about).
.10. ..Background data – if you are not using [COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]Google..[/COLOR][/COLOR] life-management services, go to settings/accounts & sync and uncheck Background data box (so that apps cannot sync, send, and receive data whenever it wants to, even if not currently using them). Add a homescreen shortcut to quickly toggle this (allows you to update/sync only when you want/need to)..
.11. ..Auto-sync – uncheck Auto-sync in settings/accounts & sync, or at least limit what apps are set to sync, it is better to manually sync/update/refresh in the app when you open it (set to update at launch)., .set update/notification frequency (polling schedule), if you do not want to turn off auto sync, just change widget or app update/notification frequency (refresh interval) in settings/accounts & sync to 30 mins or 1-2 hours, or better yet set it to update at launch., .useful for Facebook, Twitter, [COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]Flickr..[/COLOR][/COLOR], news, weather, Google apps, and stocks.., be sure to manually sync/back up your contacts every once in a while in case you lose your phone or break it.
.12. ..Email – change sync option in settings, set email check frequency to 30 mins or 1 hour, or as items arrive, or better yet set it to never and manually refresh when you want to check/read your email.
.13. ..Camera app(s) – make sure they are not running in the background when not in use, exit/close when done.
.14. ..Video chat app(s) – make sure they are not running in the background when not in use, exit/close when done.
.15. ..[COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]Streaming..[/COLOR][/COLOR] app(s) – make sure they are not running in the background when not in use, exit/close when done, try to limit use or plug into a charger during use if you can.
.16. ..[COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]Google ..[FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]Talk.[/COLOR].[/COLOR][/COLOR] – press Menu then tap All apps/talk/menu/settings and uncheck automatically sign in, make sure you exit the [COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]application..[/COLOR][/COLOR] by going to menu/more and selecting sign out when you are done (exiting the app by pressing home or back keys will not sign you out), if you want to receive IMs just open the application again.
.17. ..Adobe Flash Player – open browser, hit menu key, go to settings/enable plug-ins and set it to.."..On demand.."..(this way the browser only loads flash content when instructed to do so).
.18. ..Update apps – hit menu key and to go My Apps to check for updates, even if you have selected.."..update automatically.."..because some apps require you to manually install updates (apps often get updated to use less power).
.19. ..Location settings (updated) – go to settings/location settings. It is ok to have all of these checked, because it is the apps that use the GPS and consume power, not having these settings selected. GPS is only active when apps using it are in use..
.20. ..Task killer – do not use them, uninstall if you currently have one, can harm phone and consume battery, just use back arrow key to exit apps instead of home key, simply monitor rogue apps instead and uninstall/replace.. These are especially bad on pre-installed apps and services (many things rely on each other), so never "auto-kill" or "kill all." If you must use one, only use it on apps that you have installed that are misbehaving, otherwise let Android do it on its own.
.21... Anti-virus – do not use them, uninstall if you currently have one, only download and use periodically or when you suspect a problem, do not download suspicious apps (check reviews and rating in market first).
.22... Ad blocker – do not use them, uninstall if you currently have one.
.23... Battery meter accuracy – go to data/system and delete.."..batterystats.bin.."..after you have charged your phone to 100%.
.24... Tasker – can be used to automate settings (eg. based on time of day or app launched).
.25. ..Juice Defender + Ultimate Juice – can be used to automate settings (eg. based on time of day or location).
.26. Screebl - keeps backlight on while holding phone in "use" (vertical) position and turns it off when laying flat
27... Rebooting - reboot phone every few days.
.28... Delete unnecessary apps – determine which apps you do not need or use anymore and uninstall them, determine which apps you keep are causing the most battery drain and see if a comparable replacement from the market will do better.
.29... Widgets – turn off animations, do not use too many of them (choose them wisely), and delete unnecessary ones, they pull data in the background. At least make the interval/frequency of sync/updates longer for the ones you have. It may be better just to open some apps themselves instead of using the widget. D..isable auto-updates on HTC Weather widget or at least set it to every few hours, manually update by tapping update icon on bottom of widget. Note that widgets that display battery, [COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]CPU..[/COLOR][/COLOR], and memory utilization consume some power because they are polling the system for information..
.30... No service – turn off phone or go into Airplane mode when you are in an area that does not have cell service.
.31... Chargers – have them handy at home, at work, and in car, and plug in when available.. Try to get a 1A charger (same as included wall charger), many cheap aftermarket car chargers are only 500mAh and will not be enough to handle the GPS. VZW's car charger is 750mAh.
.32... Rooting – (there are a lot more techniques that can be used with a rooted phone, but I will save that for a later thread).
.33. If all else fails, buy an [COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]extended ..[FONT=inherit ! important][COLOR=#812528 ! important][FONT=inherit ! important]battery.[/COLOR].[/COLOR][/COLOR] or have a spare handy just in case..

Update1 - I came across another technique, it sounds a little strange but it apparently came from HTC regarding the EVO...some users appeared to have experienced gains from it:
34. "Calibrate" battery - (1) Turn device ON, charge it for 8 hours (or until LED turns green), (2) unplug and turn it OFF, plug it back in and charge for 1 hour (or until LED turns green), (3) unplug and turn it ON, wait 2 minutes, turn it OFF, plug it back in, and charge for 1 hour (or until LED turns green), (4) unplug it, turn it ON, and use normally. Repeat once a month or so.
Update2 - I found a few more things to suggest
35. Blockbuster app - open app, download update from market, then go to menu/settings and tap "disable movie updates." The app is set to automatically periodically scan for updates by default, and requires the new update to turn this off.
36. Friendstream - delete the widget from your home screen, open app and go to menu/settings and select update when opened. This way it isn't constantly refreshing, but rather only does so when you want to look at it by opening the app.
37. Signal strength - whether 3G, 4G, or WiFi, if whatever you are trying to connect to has a low signal strength the TB's battery will be draining trying to connect. Keep an eye on your connections, and try to be aware of when you are in poor signal areas and toggle off or switch connections if you can. Also keep in mind where your "fringe" areas are (ie. bounces between 3G/LTE/1X)
38. Apps - not all 3rd party apps are optimized for the TB, be sure to read reviews/ratings in the market to see what problems other users have had with them. Monitor your apps to see if any of them are hogging system resources (eg. CPU, RAM) and draining your battery, and delete or replace them accordingly. And remember to set the sync/update/notification frequency at longer intervals in settings within the apps that connect to the internet frequently.
39. Power saver - go to settings/power, and check enable power saver, the go to power saver settings and tweak (basically does a lot of the things we've talked about here for you automatically when you get low on battery, in case some things are left on or on higher settings than needed)"

.

 

[JonnyL]

I was under the impression that a jailbroken iPhone is pretty much equal to a droid regarding its "customizability". What features are more customizable in a droid compared to a jailbroken iPhone?

Here are a FEW examples

- You can change the complete look of your phone's UI on an android (ex. you can change it to look like Window Phone 7's UI if you wanted to) On a jailbroken iphone, all you can do is change the wallpaper and a few icons but that's about it.

- You can EQ music on an Android but you can't on an iPhone.

- iTunes is required to sync music on an iPhone. Android can use iTunes or almost any other method to sync music. There are ways you can sync music into an Android without even connecting it to your computer!

- To add onto the point above, Android supports more Audio files than iPhone.

 

[MightyMoose]

Here are a FEW examples

- You can change the complete look of your phone's UI on an android (ex. you can change it to look like Window Phone 7's UI if you wanted to) On a jailbroken iphone, all you can do is change the wallpaper and a few icons but that's about it.

- You can EQ music on an Android but you can't on an iPhone.

- iTunes is required to sync music on an iPhone. Android can use iTunes or almost any other method to sync music. There are ways you can sync music into an Android without even connecting it to your computer!

- To add onto the point above, Android supports more Audio files than iPhone.

It is my understanding that a jailbroken iphone can do this as well (could be wrong though...).


On an aside, are any of you experiencing a strange powering off your phone? I believe it is when my phone goes from 4G to 3G at work (Steel encased, lead lined building, but it has phone access routed for 3G). The problem is, once I turn it back on some of my applications aren't working (swype, etc.). It's odd... Anyone else experiencing these issues?

 

[HockeyDr09]

Here are a FEW examples

- You can change the complete look of your phone's UI on an android (ex. you can change it to look like Window Phone 7's UI if you wanted to) On a jailbroken iphone, all you can do is change the wallpaper and a few icons but that's about it.

- You can EQ music on an Android but you can't on an iPhone.

- iTunes is required to sync music on an iPhone. Android can use iTunes or almost any other method to sync music. There are ways you can sync music into an Android without even connecting it to your computer!

- To add onto the point above, Android supports more Audio files than iPhone.

Sigh. Does anyone read any of my posts lol. So much misinformation.

 

[MightyMoose]

Sigh. Does anyone read any of my posts lol. So much misinformation.

It would be an interesting forum feature where you could flag highly relevant or more meaningful posts and they would move to the top of the thread. That way people wouldn't miss them in all the minutia.

However, they would have to have a tab that said something like "review newest posts" for the thread otherwise people might miss them if they are in a constant state of flux.

 

[Postal]

It would be an interesting forum feature where you could flag highly relevant or more meaningful posts and they would move to the top of the thread. That way people wouldn't miss them in all the minutia.

However, they would have to have a tab that said something like "review newest posts" for the thread otherwise people might miss them if they are in a constant state of flux.

Filters. That's actually a great idea. I vote for that.

View newest
View Oldest
View by most helpful
View by least helpful

 

[MightyMoose]

Filters. That's actually a great idea. I vote for that.

View newest
View Oldest
View by most helpful
View by least helpful

I like it! Let's suggest it!

 

[HockeyDr09]

I like it! Let's suggest it!

I agree, it would be extremely useful. I have used forums that use the same template as these and have a rating system which can rate posts and add thanks to users. It should be pretty easy to implement if that's the case (see notebook review). I think it would help people discern good information/users from bad. LizzyM would be rocking a +1600 rating .

 

[Helen Wheels]

I actually had to reread that, because I thought it might have been a typo when you said you checked the phone on Wednesday! haha.

The battery life really isn't that good. If your phone had turned on, it would have almost been dead.

There are some keys to minimizing the battery drain, but even with those I would not expect to leave your phone for 2 days and still get any type of good use out of it.

Here are some great tips from http://www.droidforums.net/forum/htc-thunderbolt/132327-tips-help-improve

Ha! Yes, I went about 30 hours without touching the phone and it was dead. I noticed this just as I was leaving work and my only thought was "Oh, this is great. I am paying all this money to carry this fancy phone and if I get a flat tire on the way home tonight I am screwed."

Thanks for the tips on saving battery life, Moose!

 

[Helen Wheels]

Sigh. Does anyone read any of my posts lol. So much misinformation.

I read your posts hockeydr.

jailbroken iPhone >> Android >> iPhone


Where does a rooted Android fit in?

 

[HockeyDr09]

I read your posts hockeydr.

jailbroken iPhone >> Android >> iPhone


Where does a rooted Android fit in?

, not exactly what I meant. It's really dependent on what you're looking for. If you're looking for absolute customization, and by absolute I mean the ability to use wildly different variations of an O.S, then go with Android. There is a caveat with that however. You really have to know what you're doing to take advantage of flashing ROM's, and your phone needs to be rooted (which is not all that difficult). Flashing ROM's is pretty dangerous, because there are many ROM's that are in Beta, and that honestly just suck.

With the Iphone you don't have the ability to flash a different version of the O.S. But the comments that you can only change just the background and a few icons with a jailbroken iphone are borderline ridiculous. I'm not going to go into it again, but if you read my lengthy previous post, you can see all the details you can change. You can change just about anything. Anyone who says otherwise is not familiar with the capabilities of a jailbroken Iphone. Another thing to take into consideration is the ease of rooting and flashing vs the ease of jailbreaking. To jailbreak, you download a file, turn on your ipod and click jailbreak. 30 seconds later, it's done. You then download cydia, and from there you have everything you need. The rooting process for android is simple, but flashing ROM's becomes far more complicated for the average user and usually leads to buying backup programs and flashing programs for you phone.

This is why, in my opinion, the Iphone slaughters android in terms of the ease and depth of customization for most users. But when buying a phone, it's not all about customization, it's also about the hardware. When you start talking about hardware, the android phones take names. Dual-Core processors, 4.3 inch screens, removable battery, removable flash, 1080p video, HDMI out, 4G, variations in RAM, soon 3D and I could go on. There is no question who wins the hardware battle in my mind (which is why I have an android phone). To me, hardware and it's capabilities are more important than customization, but when people come in and blindly defend android claiming that the Iphone is barely customizable, and does not have a slew of capabilities that it most definitely does have, it just annoys me. Both have their own reasons for being awesome. Choose the one that fits your needs.

My opinion,

Very techy people = Android. They want bleeding edge hardware and the ability to flash ROMS that they probably designed.

Never used a smartphone before = Iphone (my opinion obviously). The UI is easier to navigate, and with an app store that's fiercely guarded, odds are they won't destroy anything downloading some app that no one has ever heard of.

Anything in the middle of the spectrum has to weigh the pros and cons of everything that has been stated in the thread and make an educated decision. Ignore the fanboy's of both sides and try and stick to the facts, either way you'll have an awesome phone.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I like it! Let's suggest it!

Going to reference your last post just so I can direct this at you (though anyone that can answer this it'd be great).

I did a speedtest on my broadband last night and for d/l and u/l speeds the results in this thread just kill my broadband. The funny thing is though my broadband gives me about 45ish ping whereas I see the pasted results here giving 100-150. So ping is stand alone from d/l and u/l speeds? I figured it would have at least some correlation.

 

[Dchurch]

If you like simple and user-friendly phone, go with the iphone. If you want the limitless freedom and customization to your phone, go with android.

Or you can just jailbreak your iphone 4 like I did, easily making it the best smart phone out.

 

[elementals]

The thing about jailbreaking is, it's going to mean you'll always lag the latest iOS by a few months, and also run a slight risk of bricking your phone every time. I had an iPhone 3GS for a long time -- eventually the hassle of having to jailbreak just to get the phone to work the way I wanted it to was no longer worth the trouble.

With Android, you get all the features you (or I, in this case) want right out of the box. With Apple, you have to just hope jailbreaking works for you.

 

[HockeyDr09]

The thing about jailbreaking is, it's going to mean you'll always lag the latest iOS by a few months, and also run a slight risk of bricking your phone every time. I had an iPhone 3GS for a long time -- eventually the hassle of having to jailbreak just to get the phone to work the way I wanted it to was no longer worth the trouble.

With Android, you get all the features you (or I, in this case) want right out of the box. With Apple, you have to just hope jailbreaking works for you.

I see what you're saying, but usually the latest iOS upgrades are useless. One, I believe 3.1.2 to 3.1.3 was just an update to prevent a specific jailbreak. Another was just to add Verizon hotspot. If you want a major upgrade then you want 3.x.x to 4.x.x to 5.x.x. All the other changes are pretty minimal. That happens once a year. If you're rooting your android want to upgrade you have to reroot as well to flash ROMs. It's honestly the same for either phone. Personally, I don't believe an unrooted android has all the features I want (wireless tether (free), CPU tuner, ROM's). In my experience it's much easier to brick your phone flashing then jailbreaking, which again goes to my point that it's just much easier to fully customize an Iphone.

Also, there have been jailbreaks out the same DAY as an O.S upgrade. I think the longest period was maybe 2 weeks for a major update, not a couple of months.

 

[MightyMoose]

Going to reference your last post just so I can direct this at you (though anyone that can answer this it'd be great).

I did a speedtest on my broadband last night and for d/l and u/l speeds the results in this thread just kill my broadband. The funny thing is though my broadband gives me about 45ish ping whereas I see the pasted results here giving 100-150. So ping is stand alone from d/l and u/l speeds? I figured it would have at least some correlation.

Ping is really just how long it takes your device to communicate with the hub (where ever that is), so I believe it is a matter of latency between data packets. With that in mind, it seems that 4G on Verizon uses larger data packets than than broadband (if that's possible). Don't quote me on this, but that's the only thing I can guess as to why the speed is so good, but my ping is ehhhh.

The ping changes on your area. I'm in the midwestern states, but my closest hub is in San Fran, which is why I believe I get a ping consistently between 110-120, the key though, at least for gaming, is that it's consistent, which it is.

Now if you live in CA, or by another hub (which apparently I'm smack dab in the middle of some.. then your ping is much better. If you look at Willen's below you'll see he is right around 50. So, I think ping via 4G is very area dependent.

All of this is just speculation though.

Speeds just obtained via my hotspot to macbook pro

test 2

 

[Helen Wheels]

There is a 99 cent Android app on Amazon called SeekDroid. It looks pretty useful. It allows you to locate your phone if lost or stolen and even completely wipe the memory. I esp like that you can have your phone display a message to whomever has it or send an "irritating alarm sound."

 

[MightyMoose]

There is a 99 cent Android app on Amazon called SeekDroid. It looks pretty useful. It allows you to locate your phone if lost or stolen and even completely wipe the memory. I esp like that you can have your phone display a message to whomever has it or send an "irritating alarm sound."

I didn't even know that feature was on there. I downloaded that app yesterday, since I didn't go with the insurance on my phone...

I had to erase it though, because I'm swapping my phone (It's having issues switching from 4G to 3G - It turns off)... But I'll be reinstalling it on my new one tomorrow.

 

[Torr]

There is a 99 cent Android app on Amazon called SeekDroid. It looks pretty useful. It allows you to locate your phone if lost or stolen and even completely wipe the memory. I esp like that you can have your phone display a message to whomever has it or send an "irritating alarm sound."

Is that for real? That sounds awesome. Wish I had that app when my phone was stolen a few years back with hundreds of pics on it .

 

[Sesom]

Here are a FEW examples

- You can change the complete look of your phone's UI on an android (ex. you can change it to look like Window Phone 7's UI if you wanted to) On a jailbroken iphone, all you can do is change the wallpaper and a few icons but that's about it.

- You can EQ music on an Android but you can't on an iPhone.

- iTunes is required to sync music on an iPhone. Android can use iTunes or almost any other method to sync music. There are ways you can sync music into an Android without even connecting it to your computer!

- To add onto the point above, Android supports more Audio files than iPhone.

My iPhone can mimic Windows Phone 7 UI, get with the times yo.

 

[Helen Wheels]

Is that for real? That sounds awesome. Wish I had that app when my phone was stolen a few years back with hundreds of pics on it .

I installed it today and tested out the features while my phone sat next to me. It does seem to work. Yeah, it occurred to me how much info is on a smartphone. Old cell phones just had people's names and numbers. Smartphones keep you logged in to email accounts and accounts with linked credit cards. It would be awful to lose a phone with all that stuff on it.

 

[Dchurch]

I installed it today and tested out the features while my phone sat next to me. It does seem to work. Yeah, it occurred to me how much info is on a smartphone. Old cell phones just had people's names and numbers. Smartphones keep you logged in to email accounts and accounts with linked credit cards. It would be awful to lose a phone with all that stuff on it.

You can't brick your iphone jailbreaking, only unlocking. And after jailbroken, you can do anything you want with it. NES, SNES, Gensis emulators.....hacking pandora to remove skip limit and ads, run window 95 (no purpose for this really, just funny). Point is, the jailbroken iPhone is the sheeaattt. All other phones are just iPhone wanna b's

 

[Torr]

You can't brick your iphone jailbreaking, only unlocking. And after jailbroken, you can do anything you want with it. NES, SNES, Gensis emulators.....hacking pandora to remove skip limit and ads, run window 95 (no purpose for this really, just funny). Point is, the jailbroken iPhone is the sheeaattt. All other phones are just iPhone wanna b's

I complain about the iPhone but the truth is I don't keep up on new apps and features enough to fully appreciate its coolness.

Sidenote: you have a rrreeaally big avatar, Dchurch .

 

[Humanz]

I have the DroidX. Bigger Screen, Better camera. Cons: No "skype" camera (but really...??).

I'm 100% sold with the DroidX.

 

[Torr]

This is random but maybe someone here knows the answer. Is there a way for droid phones to see Emoji symbols (emoticons) sent by an iphone?

I love using my emoticons but I can only use it on friends that have an iPhone as well.

Any apps similar to Emoji that are compatible between the two?

Note: I think emoji may have changed it's name, not sure, but might be called something else now

 

[futuredoc4432]

htc thunderbolt. amazing.

 

[Postal]

htc thunderbolt. Amazing.

+1

 

[HockeyDr09]

Android is really growing on me. I finally took the time to customize my lockscreen (Below). After finding a solid ROM I think I'm sticking with android permanently. I'm thinking Evo 3D for the future, although my contract isn't up until next year so I'm sure something even better will be out by then.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

I've been messing around with Winterboard a lot on my iPhone lately and have a really nice and elegant (IMO) theme set up now.

 

[HockeyDr09]

I've been messing around with Winterboard a lot on my iPhone lately and have a really nice and elegant (IMO) theme set up now.

I'm a huge fan of Illumine icons. I have them on my ipod now. If you use Winscp and SSH you can mix up the icons even more.