Noob Apps questions... ADVICE PLEASE!!!

[ecsnead69]

First I am running stock 2.1 rooted with Helix 1 and ROM Manager (I love both).... I want to get the most useful apps for the tasks listed below with as little duplication as possible. I like to keep my phone lean... all you pros give the noob some tips, recommendations, etc.... THANKS!!

1. File\system management (It seems Root Explorer is the most talked about but does it allow for changing icons for apps/folders like File Organizer?)
2. Apps management...
3. Texting...
4. Battery (best app/widget to keep up with charge, temp, etc...)
5. Browser (stock, xscope, dolphin, other???)
6. Video playback...
7. Backups (apps, etc.) I have ROM Manager but it will only do system backups. I have heard good things about Titanium Backup but I think it may be the same thing as ROM Manager??

I am not looking for all free apps, I will pay for what I like. If its the best its worth paying for to me...

So there it is, any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated by a semi-droid-literate noob!!!!

Also feel free to throw in any apps that you just can't do without.....


Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ecsnead69]

Bump for help?? Anybody lend some advice/recommendations??? Thanks!!!

 

[tameone]

First I am running stock 2.1 rooted with Helix 1 and ROM Manager (I love both).... I want to get the most useful apps for the tasks listed below with as little duplication as possible. I like to keep my phone lean... all you pros give the noob some tips, recommendations, etc.... THANKS!!

1. File\system management (It seems Root Explorer is the most talked about but does it allow for changing icons for apps/folders like File Organizer?)
2. Apps management...
3. Texting...
4. Battery (best app/widget to keep up with charge, temp, etc...)
5. Browser (stock, xscope, dolphin, other???)
6. Video playback...
7. Backups (apps, etc.) I have ROM Manager but it will only do system backups. I have heard good things about Titanium Backup but I think it may be the same thing as ROM Manager??

I am not looking for all free apps, I will pay for what I like. If its the best its worth paying for to me...

So there it is, any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated by a semi-droid-literate noob!!!!

Also feel free to throw in any apps that you just can't do without.....


Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

1. I use root explorer. don't know about icons
3. there's an updated mms.apk floating around here with a few added features such as changing LED colors. It comes in some ROMs like cyanogen (I think) and bugless beast (for sure).
5. I use stock with a little skyfire on the side for viewing flash videos. Dolphin HD is nice with tabbed browsing, but nothing worth swapping for IMO. xScope should load pages faster, and pinch zooming is top notch.
7. titanium backup will backup individual apps. when you restore, it will also restore MARKET links which is awesome.. if you backup with something like astro, the link to the market will be broken and you will not be able to update the app unless you reinstall from the market.

 

[Teammudd]

i can't give you more than a new-b recommendation on the battery widget.

batterylife app, here's a description BatteryLife v1.3.3 Application for Android | Tools

hope that helps out some.

 

[ecsnead69]

Thanks for the info guys!!

 

[thecrazing]

Titanium backup not only backs up the app, but (I'm pretty sure) backs up the app's data. Which is key.

In terms of market awareness, sometimes between switching roms and apps2sd and backups and etc, etc, something will still hiccup. One app I can recommend, all the moreso for any non-rooted users reading this, for that is aTrackDog and its SD variant (especially if using Astro.) Sometimes it catches wind of a non-public beta and thinks there's a new version available that isn't really available to you, but it still works well for the overwhelming majority.

3. Handcent. YMMV, but it's one of the rare apps that has stuck with me since the first week of ownership.
4. Battery Left. Customizable widget, can do the temp and everything you're looking for. Not only that, but it will start to learn how quickly you go through your battery. After a few days of watching your usage, it can then start to guess at where you are between the 10% increments. What I mean by that is, while my phone says my battery is at 90% right now, Battery Left has decided I'm probably actually closer to 94%, and displays 94% on its widget.
5. I'll probably go back to stock too, but for the moment I'm using Dolphin HD. I want to say that tabs and gestures are really nice, but the truth is there's just not that much screen real-estate to really get the most out of a fuller-featured browser like that.
6. Meridian. While there might be something better, it's probably arguable. Moreover, any app that claims to support codecs that the stock doesn't, as of this moment, probably does a poor job at it. Things might get better in time, but I think the safer bet is hoping that manufacturers start shipping phones with more codecs out of the box, and by the time our contracts are up and we're looking at a new Android phone, we'll have less need for transcoding all our junk.