Android and other phone gossip

[Gavin Scott]

I just CBA doing the developer update and installing everything again on my HTC.

Am I right in thinking that a later build will leave apps intact, or will I be doing it whatever happens?

Given the style of the build I suspect it'll wipe it no matter what. Certainly the way I sped things up was after installing Facebook via the phone I used the website at http://market.android.com to install the other apps quicker than faffing on the phone.

The speed and battery improvement I've seen over the past two days is *very* impressive however.

Its the damnedest thing - I used to have to charge mine daily at my desk, but someone nicked the cable some months ago. However, I never have the need to any more. I listen to spotify (or Youtube music) on the way into work, and back home again, yet my charge always seems pretty full.

That's the opposite of what I would expect after all these months of use.

[marksi]

So any issues Gavin? Did it install ok and are you also finding there's more room for apps?

[Gavin Scott]

So any issues Gavin? Did it install ok and are you also finding there's more room for apps?

Oh I haven't done it yet. My battery life comment was purely an observation of how my HTC has been behaving lately, and as my iPad is my app device now, I haven't had the issue of lack of space.

Sorry for the confusion.

So on that basis I don't know if the benefits outweigh the hassle.

[Pete]

btw, one top tip that i don't think has been mentioned yet is to install the android-sdk, and run this rather snazzy command

Code: Select all

adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2

this pretty much forces every app bar those that explicitly refuse (maps / gmail) to move over to the SD card (using the lovely app2sd program).

Three points
1 - full instructions are at this site, HOWEVER note that the adb program is now in the folder platform-tools rather than tools.

2 - some apps will act up or just break if you try. This seems to be trial and error tbh. Facebook works perfectly, twitter works perfectly, and then out of nowhere forgets your login details ever so often. The McDonalds finder app completely spazzes out if its not on the phone and cannot find local branches until its moved back.

3 - I forgot the third point. Can't have been that important.

[marksi]

Right. I'm far from technically stupid, but the myriad of options for rooting the Desire have me confused. There appears to be no right way to do this, and it's impossible to tell which of the guides are from people who know what they're doing and which ones are from arseholes. I've tried a couple of the (apparently) easier options and achieved nothing other than minutes of worry while I think I've buggered the phone (I haven't, but I haven't rooted it).

I'd like to try and keep this phone usable for a while longer by installing a clean ROM, but frankly I've got to the point where I think I might just buy a new phone.

[Sput]

I know what you mean. I'm writing this from the iPhone 4 I bought a month ago.

[Gavin Scott]

My contract is up on 3 February.

I'm probably switching to 3 - I've done a coverage test on a PAYG phone, and it looks pretty fullsome in all the areas I frequent.

I want to have an iPhone 4/4S, but I dont want to convert my music to iTunes.

I like the look of the HTC Sensation XL. It seems to be very well spec'd (lots of storage space - finally), dual core, 4.7" screen, and 8mm thick.

I believe I can get around £80 for my Desire, so that should defray some of the handset cost - and I'm keen to utilise the unlimited data plan - perhaps creating a hotspot for my iPad, and dispensing with its £10 per month SIM cost.

Anyone seen an XL in action?

[all new Phil]

I went with 3 last year and, apart from them cocking up and billing me twice for the first few months, I've had a pretty splendid and trouble free time with them. Was with T-Mobile before, and coverage now seems slightly better than I had. The mobile internet included in the package is fantastic.

[marksi]

Service provider-wise I'm with giff-gaff. Runs on O2 and for £10 a month I get 250 mins, unlimited texts, unlimited data and free calls to other giff-gaff users.

No issues at all - if you are thinking of joining tell me and I'll send a referral link...

[Critique]

I'm up for an upgrade in June, so a while yet, but I'm thinking of getting an iPhone 4/4S, as it should tie in well with all the content on my iPad, and maybe iCloud will be useful?

However, looks too expensive...

[Pete]

I'd also love to root my phone to try and get some more space. Am having to clear data at least once a week now and its just bloody tedious.

I note the replies to our collective moaning on the HTC facebook page are utterly useless.