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Help First android, and smartphone. Tips please!

K

Krieger91

Lurker
Hey guys, I have my first android and smartphone on the way from amazon, I ordered an LG Optimus S.


Anyway, what should I know going into this platform and what can I do to keep my phone running well. I don't want it getting bogged down by bloatware or spyware. Are there any free "Need to have" apps that I should know about?


Also how often do you guys turn off your phones, if you do at all?
 
Hey Congrats on getting your frist android OS Device!
You should defineatly download Advanced task killer... I use this alll the time
And auto brightness.
Also i have lookout, great app, you have probally seen it on the commericals
For Fun 2 really good games to pass the down time are Slice it and Angry birds!
All of these are free!

And i never turn off my phone ever.. something that I recomend is make sure you have a car charger.. and carry your charging with you if you are going to be out of your house for a long time. and not in your car.. Unfortuneatly if you use you phone alot it can really drain your batterie!

other than that! enjoy!
 
Do some research before you use Advanced task killer, I am in the camp that thinks it's bad for your phone.
These are from just the 1st google page for android task killer.
of course, it's completely up to you if you want to use one.
Also, I think your phone has Froyo, and I don't think you can run ATK with Froyo.
Myth: Android devices need task killers | Smartphones - InfoWorld

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

AndroidSPIN Why you don’t need a task killer app with Android.

I reboot my phone every couple of days, simply to put my spare battery in when I haven't charged the phone.
 
Great choice, Optumis S is a great entry level android. Coming into android you just want to play around with your device and learn it. Don't download apps just yet, get familiar with settings and the overall functionality of your phone. In settings there's an SD and internal memory category, keep an eye on this as you download apps, I like to be safe and keep plenty of internal memory available (at least 50mb). That should help keeping performance up. You should also try power cycling your phone at least once every few days.

Most people don't believe in task killers... so I'll leave that up to you if you want to install one. For me it works great helps kill apps in the background along with ending processes for apps that may be acting a little funky.
 
I don't use a task killer and I don't seem to have any issues with battery drain. But when it comes to this task killer issue there seems to be two sides with equally valid points. So I think it would probably come down to HOW you use task killers. But I would definitely read up on it before using it.
 
Krieger91 said:
Hey guys, I have my first android and smartphone on the way from amazon, I ordered an LG Optimus S.


Anyway, what should I know going into this platform and what can I do to keep my phone running well. I don't want it getting bogged down by bloatware or spyware. Are there any free "Need to have" apps that I should know about?


Also how often do you guys turn off your phones, if you do at all?
Click to expand...

Hello Krieger. Welcome to Android and the forum.

Congrats on the LG, I've heard good things about the phone. We do have a forum just for the Optimus S and you can take a look through it for specific information related to the phone. LG Optimus S - Android Forums

As for must have apps, it really depends on your needs. I can recommend a few that I use on a regular basis though.

Barcode Scanner for QR codes
Shop Savvy for price comparison
Audio Manager Widget for quick volume adjustments.
Key Ring Reward Cards so you don't have to carry them with you anymore.
Shazam for song identifying.
Live Scores if you want to keep up with your favorite sport(s).
Angry Birds is addictive and fun.
Kindle or Aldiko if you are a reader.

As far as keeping it clean and running right, just use the back button or look for the exit/quit option in some apps and things should be fine. Bloatware will mostly come from the carrier and there isn't really anything you can do about it in the beginning. Spyware isn't really an issue at this point for Android either.

I don't really ever turn my phone off, but I will power it off and restart it about once a week.
 
Things to know:

A task killer will make your phone run like crap. You'll get random force closes all the time, and it's just not good. Another thing to note, 2.2 dos away with them. Just let your phone run, and don't worry about how much ram you have free. Contrary to popular belief, in android, the less that's free, the better.

As far as games, I love fruit ninja, need for speed shift, angry birds, mini squadron, and hyper jump. Emulators are nice too, but it's not the same without a keyboard. It takes getting used to.
 
if u need audio/visual notifications for missed calls and texts i suggest flash notify. it gives u cotrol for frequency of notification and duration
 
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