My Current Android App Inventory
So, what I’m using lately?
After a brief time using the new Work Email for Exchange email, I went back to K-9 Mail. It does IMAP well, it has a good feature set, It keeps my email in sync with Exchange (which Work Email didn’t do frequently), and it’s free. If you have to do Exchange, do it with K-9.
I keep going back to the Weather Channel app. I’ve tried WeatherBug, Accuweather, etc. But, the Weather Channel app works the best. However, it now features adMob ads at the bottom. It doesn’t help performance.
I still use Greed regularly. I still like it. And the price has gone down, so it’s an even better deal.
Locale still works well for managing my ringer volume, etc. depending on my location. It’s a little funky to set up, but it works well when you figure it out.
I’ve been using AppManager and TasKiller for a few weeks, and I like both. I recommend both apps.
OI Safe still has custody of my passwords, but I’m looking at alternatives.
T-Mobile MyAccount is an app I don’t use a lot, but I like having it.
I’ve been using the new FaceBook app. I’m not much of a FaceBook user, and it works well enough for me. I’ve tried several Twitter clients. Twitdroid and TritterRide were on my phone for a while. But, as little as I use Twitter, I found it was easier to just put a bookmark on my home page and use the web site directly.
And lastly, Mobile Defense by Neevo. I like this app so far. I’m looking forward to the backup option and remote wipe. For free, it’s a start.
Probably the thing I use the most is the Cyanogen ROM image. It brings the MyTouch apps to the G1, including the very nice power control widget. Along with the CM Updater, it was worth the upgrade.
Oh, and I can’t forget the Retro Clock and Retro Date widgets. They bring back that 1978 vintage “digital clock” look. If only I could get that annoying “bleat” alarm sound for my phones alarm…
My New G1
It’s actually the same T-Mobile G1 i’ve had since last November. But, it acts like a new, better phone.
How?
By rooting it and flashing it with a modded ROM.
Why now?
I’ve been annoyed by how sluggish my phone has been responding. It has been slow to acknowledge touch screen input, and even the hard buttons. This has gotten worse as I have added new apps to the phone. Some of the apps are running background tasks that are sucking up CPU cycles, most are just occupying the limited memory of the G1. Less available memory, less performance.
There are a lot of articles/posts/etc. on the internet with instructions to ‘root’ your G1. This opened up all kinds of hacking opportunities, but doesn’t address many real features. Plus, the process was complex, error prone, and tedious. So, I stuck with my stock phone with the OTA updates.
A couple of days ago I ran across an article on lifehacker: Five Great Reasons to Root Your Android Phone. The number 1 reason? Performance boost. But, the best part was a link to blog post: How to Root a T-Mobile G1 and MyTouch3G Android Phone, which detailed the easy two step root method, as well as the traditional downgrade root method. The instructions were clear, complete, correct, and not written for a Linux kernel hacker.
While looking through the instructions and checking out the links to other posts/sites, I found the 6th great reason to root your G1, App2SD. If you use the right ROM (Cyanogen!), and partition your SD card appropriately, new apps are installed on the SD card keeping your main memory on the phone free, which helps performance.
So, I charged my phone, gathered microSD cards, card reader, card adapter, usb cable, Macbook Pro, charger, Laz-E-Boy, and beverage.
I won’t go through the details. It went fairly smooth and fairly quick. Except for the ring tones. There was one. Apparently, the Cyanogen ROM does not include the original ring tones in the ROM, they have to be loaded separately. A minor issue, easily fixed.
So, the results:
It’s not a speed demon, but it is significantly more responsive. Battery life is similar to the original, so far. I haven’t reloaded all of my apps yet, so we will see how it responds. I am finally able to use the SD card for something useful!
My Favorite Android Market Apps
I’ve downloaded and installed numerous Android apps on my T-Mobile G1 since it arrived. There are several that I use several times daily, some that I use once a day or so, and a few that I don’t use much, but I like having them available. Here are my favorites with a short review:
- Ring Control – This was the first app I installed. I am biased, a good friend of mine wrote it. It’s still one of the most useful Android Market apps.
- Weather Channel – My current cable TV provider (AT&T UVerse) doesn’t supply the localized “Local on the 8′s” information from the Weather Channel. But, now I can just whip out the G1 and get more information without waiting 10 minutes. Very nice, my favorite app.
- PAC-MAN by Namco – I was in high school when Asteroids arrived. I watched the rise and fall of the arcade era. This app is a faithful port of a classic, and it works well with the track ball.
- Password Safe – It’s not as nice as eWallet on my Windows Mobile for Smartphone T-Mobile Dash. It works well, it’s secure, and it’s infinitely cheaper(free) than eWallet.
- Quote Pro – Nice details, that are easy to get to.
- Sky Map – Very cool use of the platform. It needs a setting to damp the movement, it can get jittery and not respond.
- K-9 – An improvement over the default email app. Still not perfect, but better. We need an IMAP client that can set notifications when the screen is locked!
- ConnectBot – On the rare occasions that I need to SSH into a server, and my laptop is miles away, this one works.
Ok, those are the ones I use regularly. This next list is those apps that are too new to have made the first string, or I just like having them around.
- Handstand – Another app from my friend. I only installed it a couple of days ago. But, I have been using it more each day. This one will probably make the first string. It’s a good source of quick news.
- handyCalc – I will always need to be able to do conversions and more advanced math functions. This one does it.
- Life – What programmer hasn’t written at least one implementation of Life? My first one ran as a batch job with each iteration printed out on greenbar. This one is better.
- Hold’em – I am a bad poker player, but I still like to play a quick hand or two online or against the computer, or phone.
- ShopSavvy – Cool app. I have used it some, but not a lot.
Wow, that’s not even all of the apps. I guess there is a third list, apps I downloaded but have never used, but plan to someday.
One Week With A G1
It’s been one week since my new T-Mobile G1 Android smartphone arrived via the man in the brown suit. I had to order it online, because T-Mobile has not rolled out their 3G network in the Kansas City area yet. The roll-out has been delayed to January. As a result, the local T-Mobile stores are not selling the G1 yet, and the local WalMarts have recalled their stock until the roll-out. I didn’t want to wait, so I ordered online.
So, this ‘review’ is based on T-Mobile’s EDGE network connectivity, not 3G.
It took several hours to get the phone activated. I went online and switched my phone and activated a G1 data plan. It told me it had added the plan and removed my previous non-G1 data plan. Perfect. Except that it didn’t remove the old data plan. I had switched my SIM card from my old phone to the new one, but no joy trying to activate. I waited a while, tried again, nothing. Finally, I called customer service. Well, I called after I switched the SIM card back to my old phone so I could use it. My wife and I have gone wireless, and canceled our land line, so a working cell phone is the only ‘home’ phone we have right now. I called, got a place on the call back queue and waited for the call back. The agent fixed the data plan issue and told me everything was set up, and that I should be able to activate it shortly. I checked online, and couldn’t access my T-Mobile account info for an hour or so. When it was available, I was able to swap SIM cards, again, and activate the phone.
I tried out all of the basic functionality, checked my email, surfed the web, etc. All of my Google stuff was sync’d fine. I then hit the ‘Android Market’ to download some apps. The first I download was ‘Ringer Control’, and app written by my friend Kelly. It either turns off the ringer, or sets it to vibrate when the phone is face down on a table, or upside down in a pocket. I also downloaded an SSH client, and proceeded to log into a work server to check on it’s status. There is a good selection of apps and games, a few really nice apps, and all free (for now). The download/install process is pretty painless, and Android tells you what services and information the app will have access to before you start the download.
Overall, I give Android a B+. It is fast, stable, and the UI is pretty decent. I give Microsoft Windows for Smartphones a D, at best. So, this is a big improvement. I haven’t had to reboot the phone to fix any weird problems, or reclaim leaked memory. It’s not as stylish as the iPhone UI, but it works.
Google integration rates a B-, maybe a C+. I can’t send an email to one of my GMail groups. When I hit the search key while in the TO: field of the gmail client, it does a search of all of my emails, instead of putting me in my contact list. Pocket Outlook got this one right. This knocks it down a level on the ‘Just works’ list. There is no easy way to send an email to multiple recipients, other than start typing addresses and select as it searches.It won’t search by name, unless it’s part of the email address. That sucks. I’m thinking C+.
Speaking of email, and such. Why do I need 3 different clients for gmail, other email, and text messaging? And why does the IMAP/POP client utterly fail to send notifications of new email when the screen is locked? The Gmail client and messaging client can do it. Messaging, overall, is a C-.
I was able to set up the IMAP client to pick up my work email. Actual Exchange integration would be nice. Even if it isn’t ‘push’ email. But the least you can do is actually set an alert or notification when I get new mail. Even when the screen is locked. It’s been done.
The hardware is decent, the form factor works better for me than my Dash. The screen is nice, clear, bright, and the touchscreen works pretty well, even with a protective cover. Only time will tell if the moving parts hold up. Battery life is OK, no worse than my Dash. The keyboard is fine. I like the layout, other than the period key which is not where I’m used to it. But, it works. The keys are flatter than on my Dash, but spread out more. I haven’t typed enough to get used to the new keyboard, I think I will like it.
At this point, I will still give the phone a B. But, there is work to be done…
