Android noob...a little lost.

[KeithTalent]

Awesome Drop

Install on your phone.

Go to the website from any computer (labs.dashwire.com), enter 4 digit code seen there on your phone

You can now start dragging and dropping files from the PC and they are copied over to your phone immediately. Useful in situations like when you're on a PC that doesn't have Dropbox, etc.

Wow, cool. Grabbing it now. Thanks.

KT

 

[Red Storm]

Gesture Search (by Google)

Let's you search your phone for contacts, bookmarks, apps, and music by drawing letters and/or numbers. A quick way to find what you need from one location.

 

[KeithTalent]

Hmm, interesting. I'll try that out, but not sure how much I'll use it.

I tried using that Swype thing, but I have no idea how that works so I just turned it off. It made no sense to me and I could not see how it could be any easier than just typing. :hmm:

KT

 

[vshah]

swype works amazingly well for long words. it does take a few days to realize the benefits...but i can easily "swype" 30wpm or more.

people are amazed when i'm chatting with them and I tell them i'm on my phone.

 

[KeithTalent]

I guess I'll have to give it another try. I was totally lost with it when I tried it, I just ended up typing gibberish. :hmm:

KT

 

[Red Storm]

Hmm, interesting. I'll try that out, but not sure how much I'll use it.

I tried using that Swype thing, but I have no idea how that works so I just turned it off. It made no sense to me and I could not see how it could be any easier than just typing. :hmm:

KT

Over time as you accrue more and more contacts, apps, and songs, it will come in handy, trust me.

Swype is very useful for fast typing as vshah said. It lets you be a pretty fast one handed typer, which is really nice when you're on the go or in a rush. You just drag your finger to each letter in the word you want to type. Lift your finger and proceed to the next word, no more pressing space every other word.

Edit: Also check out SwitchPro Widget. It gives you quick and easy access to a lot of things that are normally buried in settings/apps. You can customize it a good deal too (I remove the background on mine so it keeps a minimal look and feel). It's nice having access to Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, flashlight, brightness, screen rotation, vibrate/ringer, and volume controls right on my homescreen (and there are more options to choose from like airplane mode, sync settings, etc.).

 

[Anubis]

Edit: Also check out SwitchPro Widget. It gives you quick and easy access to a lot of things that are normally buried in settings/apps. You can customize it a good deal too (I remove the background on mine so it keeps a minimal look and feel). It's nice having access to Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, flashlight, brightness, screen rotation, vibrate/ringer, and volume controls right on my homescreen (and there are more options to choose from like airplane mode, sync settings, etc.).

powerful Switchman is another option, i have none of the issue some of the reviews do,

https://market.android.com/details?id=cn.opda.android.switches&hl=en

 

[Red Storm]

powerful Switchman is better then Switch Pro
https://market.android.com/details?id=cn.opda.android.switches&hl=en

its also free

Can I make that awful background go away? For me that's 1st priority with any widget under consideration.

 

[KeithTalent]

Cool, thanks.

What's the difference between an app and a widget? They sound like the same thing to me, just different terminology?

KT

 

[s44]

A lot of the switch widget stuff is built into the Touchwiz notification bar (yes, CM7 stole it from Samsung).

A widget works straight from your home screen, whether displaying info or letting you press. Don't have to actually enter the app environment.

 

[Red Storm]

Cool, thanks.

What's the difference between an app and a widget? They sound like the same thing to me, just different terminology?

KT

An app is an application, that loads up when you select it. Widgets are things you can place on your homescreen. They give you info without needing to leave the homescreen to load an app (for example).

Your phone will come with widgets already. To try one out, tap and hold down on an empty portion of the screen, you'll see the option to add a widget.

 

[Anubis]

Can I make that awful background go away? For me that's 1st priority with any widget under consideration.

yes look at the pic link of my phone in my sig. I have the widget on the 3rd screen from the left

 

[KeithTalent]

Ah ok, that makes sense. Thanks for putting up with all of the nub questions.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

By the way, for those that mentioned them and to any other Canadians, the Amazon App market and the Google music cloud do not appear to work for Canadians. Sucks. Hopefully one day they will come up North.

KT

 

[QueBert]

Swiftkey X > Swype, don't listen to anyone who says Swype's better.

 

[Red Storm]

Swiftkey X > Swype, don't listen to anyone who says Swype's better.

Swiftkey's word prediction is pretty damned impressive, but until it let's me swipe to type, I'll stick with Swype.

 

[Anubis]

By the way, for those that mentioned them and to any other Canadians, the Amazon App market and the Google music cloud do not appear to work for Canadians. Sucks. Hopefully one day they will come up North.

KT

i know you can install the gmusic ap if you are in canada using Market Enabler however im not sure that measn it will actually work

 

[KeithTalent]

i know you can install the gmusic ap if you are in canada using Market Enabler however im not sure that measn it will actually work

I did not look too far into it, I was just searching around to see how it all worked and I saw several Canadians complaining about it not working for them. I'll have to take a closer look.

KT

 

[s44]

Swiftkey X > Swype, don't listen to anyone who says Swype's better.

Haha, it's the Android keyboard wars.

I'm a Swyper, but some people prefer FlexT9. Also, I believe Samsung-included versions of Swype have been better than the "official" builds.

 

[KeithTalent]

Over time as you accrue more and more contacts, apps, and songs, it will come in handy, trust me.

Sorry for doubting you; just tried this and it's extremely cool and useful.

KT

 

[AstroManLuca]

Haha, it's the Android keyboard wars.

I'm a Swyper, but some people prefer FlexT9. Also, I believe Samsung-included versions of Swype have been better than the "official" builds.

I tried FlexT9 a little and I still prefer Swype. I've also tried various other swiping keyboards - Shapewriter, SlideIT, and TouchPal, but I always go back to Swype.

For a while last summer the beta builds of Swype were pretty bad, making certain browsers unusable in conjunction with it, but they've fixed that issue and I'm back to using the latest beta release (3.26) on my phone instead of the preload version.

 

[zinfamous]

Awesome Drop

Install on your phone.

Go to the website from any computer (labs.dashwire.com), enter 4 digit code seen there on your phone

You can now start dragging and dropping files from the PC and they are copied over to your phone immediately. Useful in situations like when you're on a PC that doesn't have Dropbox, etc.

what's the difference between this and Kies Air, which is native to SGS2?

 

[zinfamous]

Hmm, interesting. I'll try that out, but not sure how much I'll use it.

I tried using that Swype thing, but I have no idea how that works so I just turned it off. It made no sense to me and I could not see how it could be any easier than just typing. :hmm:

KT

SGS2 should have some tutorials to get you started. For me, it's a godsend. I much prefer the physical keyboard, but swype has replaced that need for me.

There may be something better out there, I guess, but I'm currently satisfied with swype's ridiculous accuracy.

 

[Red Storm]

what's the difference between this and Kies Air, which is native to SGS2?

I'm not sure, I don't have an SGS2 nor have I heard of Kies Air.

 

[zinfamous]

Haha, it's the Android keyboard wars.

I'm a Swyper, but some people prefer FlexT9. Also, I believe Samsung-included versions of Swype have been better than the "official" builds.

I don't knwo if it's part of the Samsung version or not, but the voice key placed next to the "." is incredibly annoying. I activate it nearly 40% of the time, and unlike with swyping all the other keys and the software singling out words from those patterns, the voice key is an instant activation when you swype over it. very annoying.

That's my only complaint with swype.