First Impressions and Questions Thread

[drexappeal]

Just some things that might help eliminate the things that you "hate" on the phone.

HATE

1. The stock dock. Why, Moto, why did you put that nasty white bar behind the dock? Would it have killed you to allow us to make it transparent at least?

The stock dock on the homescreen of the UI was just "alright" for me. I didn't hate it because it was at least transparent for the most part, but not customizable at all (but definitely less "in your face" than Sense UI's dock). That said, maybe it's time for one of the alternative launchers:
http://androidforums.com/motorola-p...rmarket-rooting-not-required.html#post3087410

2. Moto widgets. I tried to like the social app and widgets, I really did. But they're garbage. I couldn't find an easy way to look at my whole Facebook stream, only "recent updates" and those would vanish once you looked at them. Eventually I gave up and just installed the Facebook app. Also, the flat white theme of not-Blur just makes me sad, although I am currently using the calendar widget and the 4G toggle (because I can't find anything else that works). The clock is terrible, too.

Yup. I agree. Coming from the Sense UI Widgets (as far as OEM is concerned), there aren't any stock launchers out there that have as nice looking widgets as HTC's Sense UI widgets.

Launcher Pro Plus, IMHO, has the NICEST looking widgets of all the other non-OEM launchers...and, you can easily download skins that will customize the look of the widgets that are set up very similarly to Sense UI. There are these app alternatives for widgets that I do believe work with stock UI's if you want to check it out.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.snowbee.colorize&feature=search_result

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.rdr.widgets.core&feature=search_result

3. Camera options. The camera itself doesn't seem too bad, but the options leave much to be desired. The Evo was never known for its great camera, but I was able to get some quality shots thanks to being able to tweak white balance, ISO, and the like. The Photon's camera app leaves me feeling a little cold. Also, why isn't the camcorder 1080p?

Yeah, I noticed that there were less options on the Motorola Camera app, but I actually feel like it takes better pictures than my EVO did just on regular settings. Especially in complete darkness, it seems to capture images more clearly than the EVO did. I've never messed with camera apps before, but I know there were a lot of our former EVO comrades that swore by some aftermarket camera apps that apparently made using the camera 10X's better? It was never a big issue for me, so never ventured in that direction.

The 720p video recording was always being reported as what will be available on the Photon. That said, from what I've read and understand (could be wrong), the 1080p recording capabilities could be added via software update later down the line.

I wouldn't be surprised, if that is definitely a possibility, if an update is pushed to the MoPho for that capability considering the Droid Bionic is being rumored to have 1080p recording capabilities. At first, I thought the back label said 720p HD recording, but it only specifies HD recording, so I'm hoping with Google's vested interest in Motorola that we'll eventually see a software update that'll allow for 1080p recording.

From what I understand, even the EVO 3D was mis-reported to have 1080p video recording capabilities (ended up being 720p recording). I can't confirm because I haven't looked in the 3D forums as much as prior to release.

4. Charging cable. Why is it so dang short? My Evo's cable is a foot longer!

I noticed that too. Thing is, the HTC cables seem to have the same amount of charging power, so you can always try connecting the HTC cable to the AC adapter. I've used several non-Motorola adapters already and haven't had an issue at all.

5. Elimination of some stock Android apps. Where's my Google News/Weather app, aka Weather Genie? I did find it on XDA, but it should not have been removed in the first place. Also, doesn't Android come with more stock wallpapers?

I could be wrong, but wasn't the News/Weather app a HTC app? Nontheless, that's never been an issue for me, so can't really help you out on that one.

6. The cramped keyboard. The keys are much smaller than on the Evo, which makes typing harder. I use the Swype keyboard, which makes things a little easier, but the keys are still smaller and harder to hit for when you need to type.

Yeah, I've seen many people complain about the stock keyboard. Pretty sure XDA had several keyboard APK's for the EVO, so maybe someone over there would be willing to make the same ones compatible for the MoPho.

 

[drexappeal]

Touch Calendar is working and zooms as advertised - thanks

No problem. Glad it worked for what you were trying to do.

It's funny because as the Android Market grows, in terms of apps that are available, my "key word" searches have become better and better as far as finding useful apps are concerned.

All I did to find that one was type in "Calendar Zoom" and from there, I just filtered by popularity.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

The stock dock on the homescreen of the UI was just "alright" for me. I didn't hate it because it was at least transparent for the most part, but not customizable at all (but definitely less "in your face" than Sense UI's dock). That said, maybe it's time for one of the alternative launchers:
http://androidforums.com/motorola-p...rmarket-rooting-not-required.html#post3087410

Oh I already replaced it, so no worries there. Just needed to vent.

Yup. I agree. Coming from the Sense UI Widgets (as far as OEM is concerned), there aren't any stock launchers out there that have as nice looking widgets as HTC's Sense UI widgets.

Launcher Pro Plus, IMHO, has the NICEST looking widgets of all the other non-OEM launchers...and, you can easily download skins that will customize the look of the widgets that are set up very similarly to Sense UI. There are these app alternatives for widgets that I do believe work with stock UI's if you want to check it out.

Yeah, HTC does know how to make truly beautiful and functional widgets. Even though I didn't use many of them on my Evo, I still liked their overall look. I haven't looked into Launcher Pro Plus, I might check it out and see what their widgets are like. Thanks for the links.

The 720p video recording was always being reported as what will be available on the Photon. That said, from what I've read and understand (could be wrong), the 1080p recording capabilities could be added via software update later down the line.

I think you're right that the Photon was never reported to have 1080p recording (unlike the Evo 3D, which was first labeled as 1080p before it was redacted), but it should be capable of it. I hope it can be implemented via software update, but if not it's not a big deal. Just something I noticed (and to be honest, it should have gone in the "not love but no hate" category).

I noticed that too. Thing is, the HTC cables seem to have the same amount of charging power, so you can always try connecting the HTC cable to the AC adapter. I've used several non-Motorola adapters already and haven't had an issue at all.

Yep, the HTC cable works like a charm! Still doesn't excuse Moto from including such a dinky cable as not everyone has an extra lying around.

I could be wrong, but wasn't the News/Weather app a HTC app? Nontheless, that's never been an issue for me, so can't really help you out on that one.

You might be right, but I could have sworn I saw it on the Nexus S 4G when I was considering that for my upgrade back in June. At any rate, the thing I really missed was the ability to see the weather forecast by the hour simply by dragging your finger along the chart, that was slick.

Which reminds me, I still need to install that apk I found. We'll see if it's actually what I think it is, and if it works.

Edit: Hooray, it works! It's transparent, so the news looks a little strange but the weather bit works perfectly. If you want to check it out (or want the non-transparent version), see this XDA thread.

 

[Whiskeypawz]

Coming from the Evo I initially thought the Photon was pretty plain, almost boring. The more I thought about it I realized maybe that was intentional. Look at all of the time we spend customizing our phones. Why bother putting all of that extra stuff on there (fancy clock for example) when we're just going to download a different one from the Market? I'm sure not everyone does that but I think many of us do. We each have our own preference for a clock for a weather app, a dialer, etc.
I now see the Photon as more of a foundation for me to customize to my preferences.

 

[snowcrash]

finally got my Photon yesterday. I am coming from a Samsung Moment, so I have been grinning for the last 24 hours. That said, I got my daughter an OG EVO, so have used that a little. Initial thoughts.

1. wow the battery meter isn't really moving that much...I mean I am using the hell out of this thing, and I still have a ton of battery life. I ended up putting it back on the charger last night when it still had 40% charge on it! Thought about letting it run to zero and then full charge to condition it like I had to do with the Moment, but decided against it.

2. Very snappy...more responsive then even the EVO...very quick to install apps and play media. Browsing with 3G is much faster then Moment, and faster then Evo as ell.

3. much better reception then the Moment, and better then OG Evo as well...did a side by side test. That assumes that the number of bars mean the same thing on each phone, which may not be true.

4. it is much thinner/lighter then I expected, and the shape is different then the EVO because of the screen dimension change. It fits my hand better and feels less brick like then the EVO.

Issues:

So far only 1....the built in video player doesn't seem to have a lot of Codecs...tried playing a couple of DIVX files that I have; one played with video and no audio, and one with audio and no video!! I will probably put on something like Xyplayer and see if that fixes it. What is everyone else using to play Divx files?

Oh one minor confusion for those who may not have bought one yet. If you put in your own micro SD card, the instructions make it sound like you have to lift the metal piece that the card slides into...do not do that!!! you just lift up the littler rubber piece that is covering the SIM card so that you can lay the SD flat and slide it right in. Took me a minute to figure that out.

Another thing I don't like (o.k. that is two) is that it is a pain in the butt to get the cover off....easy to put it back on, but getting it off I felt like I was going to break it. Not a good back cover design.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Another thing I don't like (o.k. that is two) is that it is a pain in the butt to get the cover off....easy to put it back on, but getting it off I felt like I was going to break it. Not a good back cover design.

Another poster once compared opening the Photon's cover to opening a coconut... except that coconuts are easier.

 

[drexappeal]

What I find the funniest thing about "first impressions" is, I was at lunch waiting for my food "to go," and some random guy that was waiting to order asked me what Android phone I had. I told him and then he proceeded to ask me if it had 2.3 on it...LOL. He asked me how I liked it and of course I raved about how I like it better than my EVO and I loved the EVO. Then, his last comment was, "Man, that screen is amazing."

HAHAHAHA...Just goes to show you, even with the "screen door" effect, the common folk (even those that know about the Android version numbers) can't really tell (and mine is pretty obvious when the auto sensor turns up the brightness.

 

[burgertime]

What I find the funniest thing about "first impressions" is, I was at lunch waiting for my food "to go," and some random guy that was waiting to order asked me what Android phone I had. I told him and then he proceeded to ask me if it had 2.3 on it...LOL. He asked me how I liked it and of course I raved about how I like it better than my EVO and I loved the EVO. Then, his last comment was, "Man, that screen is amazing."

HAHAHAHA...Just goes to show you, even with the "screen door" effect, the common folk (even those that know about the Android version numbers) can't really tell (and mine is pretty obvious when the auto sensor turns up the brightness.

The thing I love about it after having it for a few weeks now is that it's the best "pure" phone I think I've ever owned. It's just perfect for business and pleasure. A great mix. I had forgotten how much a good speaker phone comes in handy even just around the house. I'll admit at first the sound of phone calls with it being so loud was kind of a turn off but now I love it. Another thing that would happen with my OG Evo was that my ear would hurt after a long phone call but not with the MoPho!

I used to miss my Palm Pre once I moved to the MoPho because the Pre just had business stuff down like with email and other things. Well this is like a good mix of both. Seriously I have been nothing but impressed and that is with having to do a factory reset because of some crazy issues.

 

[drexappeal]

The thing I love about it after having it for a few weeks now is that it's the best "pure" phone I think I've ever owned. It's just perfect for business and pleasure. A great mix. I had forgotten how much a good speaker phone comes in handy even just around the house. I'll admit at first the sound of phone calls with it being so loud was kind of a turn off but now I love it. Another thing that would happen with my OG Evo was that my ear would hurt after a long phone call but not with the MoPho!

I used to miss my Palm Pre once I moved to the MoPho because the Pre just had business stuff down like with email and other things. Well this is like a good mix of both. Seriously I have been nothing but impressed and that is with having to do a factory reset because of some crazy issues.

SO true burgertime. Speaking of being a great business integration tool, mixed with personal, I absolutely LOVE the Universal Inbox. Only thing that the Universal Inbox doesn't do that I wish it did, is integrate with my gmail accounts as well!

But having that, makes it so easy for me to reply to emails, when I don't have a chance to. I have 5 different email accounts, all for different purposes, as well as facebook and twitter. The Universal Inbox allows me to look at all the messages and click/reply to the individual messages (w/ exception to gmail accounts) and not have to worry about it replying from a different account or having to go into each account, just to reply. That's something that Moto added that HTC should figure out how to do. And now that Moto is owned by Google, I hope they do figure out a way to integrate Gmail into the Universal Inbox.

 

[Androidalltheway]

why is it that when I check my regular gmail there is nothing there, but when I click on my priority inbox it shows unread emails, am I missing a setting here?

 

[Androidalltheway]

It is the best sounding phone I have ever used on Sprint, call quality is crystal clear, and volume is perfect. It feels great in the hand, very responsive, screen looks great, battery life has been very good, average 15-18 hours with light to moderate use, of course this is with gps off, and I have no 4g, so thats always off. The only thing I really notice is my gmail studders a bit, meaning when I click on an email, and click back, their is a slight delay, nothing major, but noticeable. Overall IMHO, it blows the evo away, and is the best calling phone Sprint has. I do find the UI a little boring compared to sense, but thats preference. Gaming is awesome for this phone, it is made for gaming! The internet, well, I use Opera and it is much faster then the stock browser. One thing I notice is the oinch and zoom is not as smooth as the evo or the evo 3d, but thats minor. I like the fact that when someone calls, and you decline the call, it gives you the option of a menu whenre you can click "I will call you back:, "sorry I missed your call", etc... very intuitive, I love that. The speakerphone is the best I ever used, so clear, can;t even tell your on speaker phone. The camera is ok, not great, I am not a fan of their camera app, compared to htc, but it gets the job done. The kickstand is very sturdy, much sturdier then the evo, by far! I do notice the phone gets very hott with continuous use of either dloading multiple apps, or playing games for 30 minutes straight, but my evo 3d did the same thing. The battery cocver squeaks, and feels a bit loose, but thats minor, more just annoying then anything. I like the dialer a lot better then htc, you can dial quicker, htc tends to lag a bit. I do not like the stock keyboard, too small, too easy to make mistakes, but I like swype better then the evo, seems a little smoother. Overall its an excellent phone, and anyone that makes a ton of calls, and likes gaming, this is your phone, enjoy mophos!

 

[drexappeal]

why is it that when I check my regular gmail there is nothing there, but when I click on my priority inbox it shows unread emails, am I missing a setting here?

Do you have your gmail account set to have the priority inbox separate from your regular inbox? If you do, you can set your priority inbox as the primary inbox to display. When the priority inbox first became available as an option for gmail, I made the settings so that my priority mail was not separated from my regular mail.

 

[drexappeal]

It is the best sounding phone I have ever used on Sprint, call quality is crystal clear, and volume is perfect. It feels great in the hand, very responsive, screen looks great, battery life has been very good, average 15-18 hours with light to moderate use, of course this is with gps off, and I have no 4g, so thats always off. The only thing I really notice is my gmail studders a bit, meaning when I click on an email, and click back, their is a slight delay, nothing major, but noticeable. Overall IMHO, it blows the evo away, and is the best calling phone Sprint has. I do find the UI a little boring compared to sense, but thats preference. Gaming is awesome for this phone, it is made for gaming! The internet, well, I use Opera and it is much faster then the stock browser. One thing I notice is the oinch and zoom is not as smooth as the evo or the evo 3d, but thats minor. I like the fact that when someone calls, and you decline the call, it gives you the option of a menu whenre you can click "I will call you back:, "sorry I missed your call", etc... very intuitive, I love that. The speakerphone is the best I ever used, so clear, can;t even tell your on speaker phone. The camera is ok, not great, I am not a fan of their camera app, compared to htc, but it gets the job done. The kickstand is very sturdy, much sturdier then the evo, by far! I do notice the phone gets very hott with continuous use of either dloading multiple apps, or playing games for 30 minutes straight, but my evo 3d did the same thing. The battery cocver squeaks, and feels a bit loose, but thats minor, more just annoying then anything. I like the dialer a lot better then htc, you can dial quicker, htc tends to lag a bit. I do not like the stock keyboard, too small, too easy to make mistakes, but I like swype better then the evo, seems a little smoother. Overall its an excellent phone, and anyone that makes a ton of calls, and likes gaming, this is your phone, enjoy mophos!

I downloaded dolphin at first, but I liked Opera mobile better (it says it's ideal for fast connections, but still works faster than stock for sure). The only thing I didn't like is for whatever reason, Opera was not syncing my bookmarks from the stock browser, so even though I use the bookmarks widget for Launcher Pro Plus (and set Opera as the primary browser), when I'm actually on the browser and go to the bookmarks, none of the stock browser bookmarks show up (even after I've used the "link" option).

If you have any tips on how to get the stock browser bookmarks over to Opera, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[mgiven]

Agreed...best pure phone I've ever owned. Perfect mix of business and pleasure with lots of cool dock toys thrown in.

Also agree about liking the universal inbox, but wishing gmail was incorporated. However, I went all in with gmail and put ALL my POP accounts into Gmail, so that pretty much IS a universal inbox itself (I know..without the text msgs)

 

[Androidalltheway]

is the phone supposed to get really hot after 15-20 minutes of non stop use? mostly when playing games

 

[drexappeal]

is the phone supposed to get really hot after 15-20 minutes of non stop use? mostly when playing games

I did notice that this phone does get a little warm, but I can say that it doesn't get anywhere near as warm as my EVO got when it was being used heavily...and the Epic really gets hot at times. But in my experience with smartphones, that seems like something that happens under heavy usage.

 

[nykspree8]

Is anyone else's vibrate kind of weak? When i put my phone on silent, i don't even feel the vibrate at all when I get a text. Any ideas?