Help SGS2 and Android questions

[simonh94]

Hello!

My current phone is SE K810i and for a few days ago I ordered a Samsung Galaxy S2 (I hope I get it this week). So it's a big step for me and I haven't used any smartphone longer then a few hours. So I'm quite new to this, so I have a few questions.


Questions
-I hope I get my phone this week, what can I do now to prepare? I've downloaded Kies, is there anything more I can do?

-Is it okay to use your phone while you charge it for the first time? OR should I charge it full before I use it for the first time?

-Is there anything I should do first time I use it? Factory Reset? Check for SW updates?

-I've unlimited internet, but I can only use 500mb/month with full speed, when I've used that, then my speed will be decreased. So, what can I do to use as little as possible?

-About widgets, is it possible to do so they only updates when I'm on wifi? And maybe 1 widget that updates it self either way.

-What can I do to decrease the battery consumption? Use a dark wallpaper?

-What NES, SNES and N64 emulators do you recommend? (I prefer free ones)

-What gaming controller is the best one? Does the controller works on every emulator?

-Do you have any other tips for a new smartphone user?

These are the questions I have now, I will probably get more questions soon. And especially when I've got the phone.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Hello!

Hello!

-I hope I get my phone this week, what can I do now to prepare? I've downloaded Kies, is there anything more I can do?

Head to XDA-developers and download Odin, Chainfire's kernel, read up about Rooting the phone. Make sure your music collections tags are imaculate (I'd use mp3tag).

-Is it okay to use your phone while you charge it for the first time? OR should I charge it full before I use it for the first time?

No need to condition the battery, I always use mine out of the box, hasn't ever harmed by battery life.

-Is there anything I should do first time I use it? Factory Reset? Check for SW updates?

Good idea to make sure you're on the latest firmware, and flash to it before doing your device setup (even though it should retain settings and apps between firmware updates).

-I've unlimited internet, but I can only use 500mb/month with full speed, when I've used that, then my speed will be decreased. So, what can I do to use as little as possible?

Turn off background updates in settings and within individual apps. You can use Tasker also for very powerful data management options.

-About widgets, is it possible to do so they only updates when I'm on wifi? And maybe 1 widget that updates it self either way.

Some widgets will have settings that allow for this, otherwise Tasker should be able to sort this out.

-What can I do to decrease the battery consumption? Use a dark wallpaper?

Lots of things you can do, a dark wallpaper is one of them. Limiting sync activities is another, and it sounds like you'll need to do that for other reasons anyway.

-What NES, SNES and N64 emulators do you recommend? (I prefer free ones)

YongZH's emulators are the best, you can get them from the SlideMe market, since Google pulled them from the Android Market.

-What gaming controller is the best one? Does the controller works on every emulator?

I like the Phonejoy, it works with all the emulators. The iControlPad also works with them, but is very pricey. The Zeemote is cheap, but doesn't have enough buttons to be worthwhile for stuff the N64 with lots of buttons on the controller.

-Do you have any other tips for a new smartphone user?

Tasker. Best app on Android. Wee learning curve, but worth taking the time to sort out!

 

[ElasticNinja]

Get Yonghz's emulators ASAP, going paid in a few days
They are very good.

 

[simonh94]

Thanks for the posts!

I know a bit what rooting is. Since the phone is quite expensive then I'm afraid to perform actions which could lead to breaking the warranty. Okay, then I'll check for sw updates.

Alright, then I start to use it while I charge it for the first time.

Then I'll turn off background updates. Gonna take a look at tasker.

Okay, so then I'll use a dark wallpaper. I also gonna try to remember to shut off things I don't use, like turning off wifi, bluetooth and gps when I don't use them.

I have downloaded all the YongZH's emulators from slideme. What I need to do to install them is:
1. Allow third-party apps
2. Copy the apk files to the phone
3. Use a file manager to install them.

Correct? Does My Files that comes with the phone works? Or do I need astro file manager? Are there any good alternatives to astro?


shadowninty, thanks for info. if you hadn't write that I probably would have waited a while before I downloaded them. And who knows, maybe they wouldn't have been free then.

I've downloaded psx4droid from: psx4droid 3.0.0 is out. Download here.
So it would be awesome to have a controller with analog stick, does it exists? But if not, then Phonejoy looks really good.

I'm so excited about this

 

[NZtechfreak]

They are working on a revision to the Phonejoy that has analogue sticks

 

[Jacmeister]

Definitely dark screensaver, and do not use a task manager they use too much battery imo.

Let the system do the work, enjoy your new phone, its killer

 

[ElasticNinja]

Rooting does void the warranty technically.. *but* they don't care, its easy to unroot, and they can't blame a bad earpiece on sweet modification.
You may as well root now, you've come to an online forum so its somewhat inevitable

 

[KING LUFF]

I think it's not good advice to tell someone that is new to smartphones & android to root straight away without telling them that it voids the warranty and is potentially harmful

Get the phone and enjoy it as much as you can. When you get a bit bored then root it if needed but in all honesty you'll probably never need to.

 

[simonh94]

They are working on a revision to the Phonejoy that has analogue sticks

Alright, sounds good. Too bad it's not a product where you can buy in stores. So, a good controller where you can buy everywhere would be awesome.

Definitely dark screensaver, and do not use a task manager they use too much battery imo.

Let the system do the work, enjoy your new phone, its killer

A task manager is? On windows, you can easily kill processes. I can't see why a function like that in android could drain battery. Oh, is it a app that's working in the background and freeing up memory earlier than the OS itself?

Rooting does void the warranty technically.. *but* they don't care, its easy to unroot, and they can't blame a bad earpiece on sweet modification.
You may as well root now, you've come to an online forum so its somewhat inevitable

I probably won't root it. Maybe I can do that when the warranty expires on this phone.

I think it's not good advice to tell someone that is new to smartphones & android to root straight away without telling them that it voids the warranty and is potentially harmful

Get the phone and enjoy it as much as you can. When you get a bit bored then root it if needed but in all honesty you'll probably never need to.

I would probably manage to root it without any problems. But I'm always afraid of doing things that could void the warranty or maybe breaking it. That's why I haven't overclock my CPU (AMD Phenom2 X4 965 3,4GHz BE) even though I really would like to do that hehe

New Questions
- I would like to start creating widgets to android and then maybe start to create apps. What things do I need to know to be able to create widgets?

- Do you have any links to some really good tutorials?


Btw I'm a hobby web developer, I have knowledge in HTML, CSS and PHP. So I'm not new to programming

 

[ElasticNinja]

Christ if you're a hobby web dev you should really root it
You can see my post about the warranty
Apps like DroidWall and AdFree need root BTW
If you are thinking of deving, you can use ADB or a terminal app to print logcats
ADB is using the terminal on your phone from your PC

 

[simonh94]

Christ if you're a hobby web dev you should really root it
You can see my post about the warranty
Apps like DroidWall and AdFree need root BTW
If you are thinking of deving, you can use ADB or a terminal app to print logcats
ADB is using the terminal on your phone from your PC

Hehe maybe when the warranty is gone and I have a new phone. Then I can play with this phone.

I have no clue what you just said, but I guess I should read this:
Android Debug Bridge | Android Developers
logcat | Android Developers

I'm definitely gonna create a few things and then we'll see if I continue or not.

 

[simonh94]

The phone is at the pick up place now

About, DOA, what things should I check on? If the screen is yellow to the left? Something more I should look for?

Now a really dumb question:
Can you have your phone in your pocket? haha every smartphone looks so thin and not so durable

 

[simonh94]

About many games don't work, is it something samsung can do to solve it? Or only the game devs?