[Closed] New Desire HD - Apps required

first two things you need are advanced app killer and unistaller pro

app killer improves battery life and speed of operation

I currently have on mine (which I got last week) - great phone btw

Juice Defender & Ultimate Juice - my battery life sucked before I installed this

Barcode scanner - for easier app d/l's

Advanced task manager - to easily control high drain functions - you get wi-fi, Bluetooth, screen brightness adjust and a couple of others on one toolbar to easily switch on and off

GPS Tracker

A few internet radio stations - Absolute is a good one, with Absolute Radio, Absolute 80's, Absolute 90's & Absolute Rock

Talking Tom Cat - which I don't actually use, but may be fun for stressed out office types

Sky News, Ebay & Youtube (but I think they may be on there already).

I think that's it for now

well the ones i use the most are the most boring ones probably. Got some apps which are no longer available through app store (but can be downloaded if you google- the joy of android over iphone!)

Beebplayer
TrainTimes

Also use drivesafe.ly for when useing heaphones whilst riding. Reads your texts to you and manages your calls handsfree.

Astro for a windows explorer type view of whats in your phone and backing up apps

BatteryTime for a better idea on battery levels left

MetOffice weather forecast

tv-guide

just got angry birds- only game on my phone, but it is addivtive when on the train

these all sound great, cheers

Cheeky, but any links?

Tank Hero
Rocket Bunnies
Angry Birds
ES File Explorer
3g Watchdog
Yahoo Mail (if you have an account)
My Player
Google Earth
Photobucket Mobile
Google Sky Map
London Underground (Visual IT Ltd) if you use the Tube
Tune In Radio (internet radio)
Compass (catch.com)
Time Lapse (Lite)
Note Everything
Rain Watch
RAC Traffic
Ringdroid
Instant Heart Rate
My Tracks

Movies.
Endomondo.
ESPN goals.
Tune in radio.
Google sky map.
Gesture search.

Love my due too....

Google Sky is amazing, you can space out and see Venus.

ruminant - Member
these all sound great, cheers

Cheeky, but any links?

You should have a 'market' icon on one of your screens. That'll take you to the Android Market - just search on there....

What I've got:

Games:
Angry Birds
Spaghetti and Marshmallow
Flight Control
Robo Defense (paid)

Apps:
Winamp
TweetDeck
Astrid Tasks
Springpad
LightMyWay
MyTracks
Aldiko and Kindle

Widgets:
Wifi widget
Battery widget
Retro clock

Edit: forgot Yahoo Mail and Handcent SMS

first two things you need are advanced app killer

Last thing you need is a task killer. Do not use a task killer on Android.

I see you mentioned Ebooks - do you know there's a reader & a few books on there already? It links to the bookstore as well

Last thing you need is a task killer. Do not use a task killer on Android.

Why?

Why? + 1

Yes why, I nearly got it.

Loving the barcode scanner, yes sad I know

Aye spotted the books, but was after some more free, maybe sci fi/comics that sort of thing

+2
I didn't get one as I wasn't sure exactly why you would need one, but why so adamant that you don't need one especially if it does improve battery life?

Android is designed to sleep its apps, task killers are pointless. Plenty of discussions on Androidforums about this.

My must-have apps:

Tasker
Dolphin HD
Vignette
Brightness Widget
Silent Boot

Also good:

iNap
MyTrails
Glympse
TweetCaster
RadioTime

If you're into music, Spotify is amazing (though it'll cost you £10 a month).

eBay app
MyTracks

The sat nav in Google Maps is pretty good if you like that sort of thing.

From what I briefly read on the HTC forums, app killer messes up the operating system, and the way android works, there is no need to force close apps. Then I found androids oun setting screen for closing apps if you absolutely must already built in. Don't use it and my battery lasts days. It was poor when I first got it, but it seems to get better over the first couple of weeks use.

There's a pre installed widget for controlling wireless, Bluetooth, brightness etc too, so again, no need to use third party stuff.

Also, do the Desire battery trick to improve charging effectiveness.

1. Fully charge overnight, with the phone switched ON.
2. Switch OFF, and plug into charger for an hour.
3. Switch ON for 10 mins or so
4. Switch OFF, and charge for an hour again.
5. Switch ON and use.

Doing this saw about a 30%ish improvement in capacity. Does need re-doing every now and then.

Brightness Widget is much better than the stock one, you can customise the three levels it cycles through. I like having one at zero for use in the dark and one quite low for daylight use without canning the battery. The display is quite a heavy power consumer. The middle setting of the stock control is needlessly bright imo.

The Desire HD come with android 2.2 as standard. Task killers effectiveness has significantly been reduced with enhancements to the os. Aside from the fact that the task killer is always running monitoring your system looking for things to close (and using your battery) killing process can have negative effects on the applications killed. Android 2.2 knows how to deal with low memory, rogue processes and will do so in a manner which will allow them to be restarted properly.

One of the apps I installed which improved my battery was timerrific. Effectively a profile manager that changes bluetooth, wifi, screen brightness, airplane mode based on time of day.

In addition to much of the above, I use;

Flashlight, just makes a white screen at max brightness, pretty good torch in an emergency

Good Beer guide, GPS route finding to the nearest CAMRA real ale pub. Genius!

Plus, Android is now outselling i-phone, so up yours Steve Jobs 😉

APF

Going back to Ultimate Juice that I mentioned - you can schedule with that as per timeriffic, but also it learns your wi-fi locations - for example it shut's down wi-fi when not needed, but when I get home, it fires it up

Great response and no cynicism, which makes a refreshing change for this forum.

Think I,ve got enough to go on.

especially liking the Good Beer Guide 😀

Thankyou

Task killers. Read this.

http://www.droid-den.com/android-guides/android-guide-should-i-use-a-task-killer

It was written by a regular on the Android forums after someone posted "I've just got a Desire, which task killer should I use?" for about the hundredth time.

Short version - Android does its own memory and app management so a task killer isn't necessary and, in some cases, actually interferes with Android and stops it doing its job properly. It monitors tasks so any battery life you might (theoretically) gain is exponentially negated by the stupid thing running constantly and emptying your battery.

If you want to see the resulting debate, the discussion thread is here: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/161151-should-you-use-task-killer.html

Games
Glyder 2
Angry Birds
MiniGore (not on the Market)
OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon)
slice it
Brain Cafe

Apps
Google Goggles
Multicon
vplayer
Rmaps
Barcode Scanner
dropbox

And if you want to get a bit more fancy with your phone have a look at getting it rooted Rooted,

Google Goggles
Drop Box
Movies
Google Earth
Google Sky

If you make sure that you turn off GPS, Wi Fi and Mobile network when not needed it really helps battery life.

Is Google Goggles any good now? I had the Beta installed and it was pretty poor TBH.

even though ive yet to find a practical use for it i love
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