Little things in Froyo that you like

[MotoCache1]

I'm actually running the leaked FRG22, but I assume that FRG22 is principally bug fixes to FRG01B and doesn't contain any actual "features" per se, so I'm guessing any features I see in FRG22 are in FRG01B as well.

That disclaimer aside -- there are lots of big features to like about Froyo, but most of them have been discussed at length ever since the leaks first came out. This morning I found a little feature that I really appreciate. I use the "Power Control" widget that comes with the OS to control the status of WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Syncing, and Brightness. It has always annoyed me that the Brightness button had only a dim, medium, and bright state, but no "auto". I like to use auto a lot of the time, but like using the widget to choose another brightness if auto is "hunting" or if I don't like auto's decision. Before, if you used the widget to adjust and wanted to go back to auto you had to go into Settings to do it. Well, now the Brightness widget has 4 states -- the ones it had before, plus automatic. Yay! dancedroid

The other "little improvement" I like is having 5 home screens instead of 3 and the little dots in the corner to let you know where you're presently at within those 5 screens. Along with that, if you long-press the Launcher icon you see thumbnails of all 5 panels and can tap the one you want. Nice.

I guess while I'm at it -- little changes I don't particularly like are:

The new Car (Dock) Home sucks. I hated it so bad I ended up switching to Custom Car Home from the marketplace.

I don't particularly care for the inability to shortcut directly to the alarm clock. Now you have to go through the clock to get there. I understand that something like Anycut would work around this. I also don't particularly care for the layout of the panel where you edit the alarm settings. There is a big fat band across the bottom of the screen with the time in it. That isn't a problem when in the portrait mode, but when in landscape the band takes up a good chunk of the screen and editing the times requires scrolling which is klunky. "Fine, so edit your times in portrait" you say. True, but when are you most often to be editing your times? When you go to bed and the phone is in the "Multimedia" dock -- and oriented landscape.

OK, so what "little things" have you all found that you like or hate in Froyo? For guidance in keeping on topic, I'd save the bigger things (like tethering, etc.) for separate topics.

 

[Feoen]

Great topic; I didn't know about holding down the middle button at the bottom to show all the screens.

I also thank you dearly, because you just helped me find what I think is a major inconsistency in FroYo, which you can read about here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...-no-alarm-clock-shortcut-help.html#post722350

I DO NOT like how there is no separation between Silent or Vibrate mode anymore. I have to go into the options to change that. I liked having Vibrate mode one notch above Silent mode. I don't know why they removed that feature.

I love how speedy it is, but everyone loves that. I like how all the apps have minor facelifts, such as Calendar now being a bit more "professional" looking and also having a line showing you what time it is.

USB connection is great, since it basically makes it one-touch without having to deal with an icon for it.

They desperately needed the Update All button in the Market, though I'm finding it to be quite buggy. I had 42 apps that needed updating, and it crashed the Market when I hit Update All. It took me several times of doing this to get them all updated. Though, I am impressed that you have to do the ones with permission changes by hand. Great going, Google

The change to having the Phone/Apps/Browser at the bottom is excellent. Frees up some space for me.

EDIT: Just tried the camera. SO MUCH FASTER. Wow, that was one of my major complaints on the Droid, the camera was way too slow/buggy. This snaps things very fast, and I'm in the dark. Very nice. I love the new controls too. Much less clunky.

 

[Detonation]

Of the small things, I like how gmail now has next and back buttons while reading an email, instead of just an "older" button.

+1 on the camera as well. Much faster and the on screen settings (along with the slick orientation transition) are awesome.

And as of now I've stopped using Launcher Pro or ADW and I'm going to try stock for a while, since most of their best features are in froyo (without the memory instability)

 

[lyam]

Of the small things, I like how gmail now has next and back buttons while reading an email, instead of just an "older" button.

+1 on the camera as well. Much faster and the on screen settings (along with the slick orientation transition) are awesome.

And as of now I've stopped using Launcher Pro or ADW and I'm going to try stock for a while, since most of their best features are in froyo (without the memory instability)

Agreed with most everything, but I could never go back to the stock home/app launcher. Launcher Pro just has to many customizable options including the awesome new swipe gestures and the ability to have custom icons in the dock bar. So good!

 

[Jerrod6]

I am not sure what I like or dislike yet because I don't really know what all of the new features are. My phone was updated yesterday OTA. Is there a thread on this forum that discuses the new features and explains how to use them? I get that there is now a launcher or something at the bottom of the screen, and there is a button that will show you all of your aps, but I could just scroll to see them before.

 

[backlash]

Of the small things, I like how gmail now has next and back buttons while reading an email, instead of just an "older" button.

+1 on the camera as well. Much faster and the on screen settings (along with the slick orientation transition) are awesome.

And as of now I've stopped using Launcher Pro or ADW and I'm going to try stock for a while, since most of their best features are in froyo (without the memory instability)

Agreed with most everything, but I could never go back to the stock home/app launcher. Launcher Pro just has to many customizable options including the awesome new swipe gestures and the ability to have custom icons in the dock bar. So good!

Agreed. The Froyo stock home is just horrible. Launcherpro is awesome.

 

[DF Smod]

The Froyo stock home is just horrible. Launcherpro is awesome.

Droid 2 FroYo 2.2 Stock Launcher 7 Home Screens and Smooth as Silk

 

[alm0614]

+1 for losing the vibrate/silent options, i hate going into settings to change from vibrate to silent

 

[kyoo]

+100 for separating silent and vibrate

 

[cchhiipp]

I DO NOT like how there is no separation between Silent or Vibrate mode anymore. I have to go into the options to change that. I liked having Vibrate mode one notch above Silent mode. I don't know why they removed that feature.

How did you change the settings to get it back to the way it was?

 

[DocWalt]

I have everything set to vibrate, so silent and vibrate is no huge loss to me, but the option to go totally silent would be nice to not waste battery vibrating. I didn't know about the launcher trick, that's pretty cool. I like that my keyboard works again, and that I have 5 home screens default now. The power control widget finally got auto brightness, so now I actually use it. I noticed a few little things here and there that haven't been mentioned, I'll see if I can remember them.

 

[DocWalt]

You can now swipe upwards over the top edge of the keyboard to get symbols and numbers. I don't know if it's been there all along, but it's certainly easier to activate because of how much smoother the keyboard runs now.