Intro - and first question...

[jeremyabel]

Firstly - Hi! New to the forum, although I have been lurking for a while.

Got my Hero on Wednesday from my local Orange shop - they only got 3 in so I was lucky. By the time I had finished signing up, there were two other people in for the others. And the staff had taken a few phonecalls from others... this phone is gonna be popular!

I've been having a good play with it. In fact it's fair to say I've hardly done anything else since I got it - thank god I'm on holiday. And I have to say it's all I expected AND MORE! Having said that it is my first smart phone, but it runs rings around others that friends have, including (dare I say it?) the iPhone. Getting a few jealous looks!

Can't say I've noticed any real lags when using it. Some of the "reviews" that came out were pretty negative, but it's just been awesome to use.

So anyway, on to my first question which is aimed at other Orange UK customers - can any of you access paid apps in the Market? I've downloaded quite a few free ones with no problems at all, but I can't even see the paid ones, never mind buy them. I emailed Orange customer support yesterday and just waiting for an answer. Just interested to know if anyone else has the problem?

Cheers,

J.

 

[noonehereyet]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

[Rob]

Welcome... congrats on both your first Android phone AND your first smartphone!

You MAY want to ask other HTC Hero owners by visiting the HTC Hero Forum here... that is probably your best shot at getting an answer. Is your GMail account synced with your device? I'm pretty sure you need this equipped in order to purchase apps in the market.

If that doesn't work, take your question over to the HTC Hero forum and see if someone can't help you there. Welcome again, goodluck and see you around!

 

[jaybea830802]

So anyway, on to my first question which is aimed at other Orange UK customers - can any of you access paid apps in the Market? I've downloaded quite a few free ones with no problems at all, but I can't even see the paid ones, never mind buy them. I emailed Orange customer support yesterday and just waiting for an answer. Just interested to know if anyone else has the problem?

I have not had any problems, but I think that you might need to set up a Google Checkout account first. I already had one, so I did not need to do anything to purchase applications.

Was out in the garden last night trying Sky Map (free).

Jules

 

[jeremyabel]

Hi,

@Rob - yeah all my google mail (and other app, calendar etc) are synchronised fine. However...

@Jay... - Your suggestion seems to have helped, kinda. I've set up Google Checkout and I can now see paid apps. I haven't tried to buy one yet cos for some reason the one I'm after (PicSay Pro) still isn't showing up. I can see the free version fine, but the paid for one is still not there. Hmmm... but thanks for the tip anyway.

One thing which I thought would help, but didn't was to phone Orange customer services and have them remove the parental controls blocker in case they deemed pay sites for over 18's only. As I say It didn't help, BUT it did allow me to access these forums on my Hero. Before it stated that Android Forums contained material unsuitable for under 18's. Imagine...

Anyway, thanks for your help guys and I will keep plugging away at the PicSay Pro problem and in the meantime might find another app to buy just to test the checkout is working.

Cheers,
J.

 

[jaybea830802]

I can only find the free version of PicSay in the Android Market on my phone and I don't have any parental controls set. I assume that it is not there yet.

Jules

 

[jeremyabel]

@Jules,

Thanks for that - at least it's not just me. It shows up when checking the market through Cyrket - Android Market Browser (a great tool) but obviously not working in the UK market. Will email the developer and find out. In the meantime the free version is pretty good to mess about with.

And thanks for your tip with the Google checkout - can now get paid apps.

Oh, and forgot to say I downloaded and tried out Google SkyMap too - it's awesome. Astronomy is a hobby of mine so this app would have sold me on android even without the other benefits.

Other great free apps I've been using are (amongst others)...

Astrid (task/to do list)
Barcode Scanner
Flixter (movies app)
Google voice search (works VERY well!)

Worth trying out...

Cheers,
J.