Finally upgraded to an Android phone, help me get acquainted.

[Andrewr05]

It's an older phone but it is MILES better than the blackberry I was using.

 

Original HTC Desire if you're wondering.

 

Too bad I can not for the life of me get this effing touchscreen to cooperate, it's ridiculously touchy...

 

That being said, what are some must have 'apps' or some cool things to try out?

 

Running stock (2.2) ATM as well, gonna root and flash it with a ROM at some point as well.

 

 

Also, does anyone know how to get mobile FF to open links in a new tab? and select links on forums easier?

as of now I have to practically zoom all the way in just to select something, kind of a pain in the ass. Maybe I,ll just stick with the stock browser or switch to Mobile Opera?

[Waco]

What specific phone is it? A lot of advice will be dependent upon which manufacturer it's from. IE: My HTC has a completely different layout compared to BluePanda's Motorola.

 

 

EDIT: Oh, you want the Amazon Appstore app. They give away a paid app every day. Lately they've been pretty crappy but every once in a while they give away something great.

[Andrewr05]

updated original post

 

 

I'll try the Amazon one as well, thanks.

[Waco]

I love the interface on my HTC phone. The stock browser is actually pretty capable too. I never really bothered with changing it. The touchiness when clicking on things seems to be pretty common among all the phones I've messed with.

[Deathmineral]

I'd recommend Mobile Opera, that's my favorite, another one worth trying is Dolphin, a lot people really like it.

[TheHippi]

Try Dolphin Browser. Its what i used before i switched to my Nexus and it ran ok on my very old HTC Eris, so it should do quite well on a Desire.

 

As for ROMS, Cyanogenmod should work great.

[aaron6581230]

If you're gonna be rooting it and installing ROMs, might as well do that first. A lot of ROMs ask you to wipe all your data, so unless you want to use backup applications (Titanium Backup), I'd advise you to try that first.

 

In terms of apps, try out Ubermusic (a cool Metro-interface music application) and Widget Locker

 

In terms of ROMs, look at MIUI (it looks kinda like the iPhone interface) and Cyanogenmod (looks more like stock Android)

[96andrei]

There is a nice app free on the play store called WinRemote, it lets you create your own PC remote(on pc) and upload it to the phone, it's very useful if you don't have a wireless mouse. You can create buttons of many kinds(volume up/down, play/stop/pause, shortcuts, links etc.) , a touch pad to control your pointer, some options to shut down the pc ,WakeOnLan and even a remote desktop(useful to control your pc from other rooms). It works very fine via WiFi.

 

I like the Dolphin Browser HD. It worked great so far.

[IVIYTH0S]

Not Rooted:

AirDroid

AndieGraph

AK Notepad

Astrid Tasks

ConvertPad

Dolphin HD

Ebuddy

ES File Explorer

Elixir

Flashlight

GasBuddy

Gensoid

Gameboid

Kingsoft Office

Meridian Player

Mobile Document Viewer

Nesoid

Portal Radio

QuickPic

Shazam

Shopper

RingDroid

Steam

TeamViewer

Ticker

WeatherBug

Where

Wifi Analyzer

Wikidroid

 

 

Rooted:

Titanium Backup

Drocap

 

 

That should get you well started

[wevsspot]

I think you'll love your Droid. A few months back I switched over to a Samsung Infuse 4G and I'm so happy I made the switch. Great thing is that there is a wealth of information around the net to help you do just about anything with your Android phone. Must have apps for me where;

 

Bookmark sort & backup

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.happydroid.bookmarks&hl=en

Allows you to alphabetically sort your bookmarks and back them up

 

GPSTest

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=en

A simple, free accurate GPS app for your Android phone

 

Pandora

[Andrewr05]

I'm a bit overwhelmed, I'll have to check all of this out later.

[Guest_Jim_*]

Wish I saw this thread earlier, so I'm not bring up a topic from earlier. On my Droid Incredible my preferred browser was SkyFire. Worked very well for me, was fast, and I liked the interface better than anything else, including FF mobile and Dolphin. On my Galaxy Nexus though, I just use the stock browser as it works great for everything I do.

While my GN is running stock, I put Cyanogenmod on the old DInc and made it into a WiFi music player (using Google Music). Works really well and I do like many of the options CM gives me, such as control over the CPU governor.

When you try rooting the Desire, check out what HTC has on the phone, because they've been releasing utilities to unlock bootloaders. Not sure if they released something for the Desire, but it is worth looking into. You can also check out Unrevoked, which is a one-click root for many HTC phones.

It is a little overwhelming for now, but don't worry, it'll get worse as you learn more about rooting, then it will get easier.