April 2, 2012

My phone is smarter than me

I'm having a lot of fun with my new phone! So much so that I may be thankful that my husband is gone for a few days so I can play on it guilt-free tonight. Is that horrible?? If so, just kidding. Moving on...

I need a few tips though. See, I was very comfortable with my old, stone-age phone. I knew all the ins and outs (all 2 of them). This phone is crazy. I have a Droid just for reference, since I know y'all are all the best blog readers ever and will come to my rescue. Help a sister out..

1. The Battery. Oh my.. it drains fast! Here's what I've learned so far:
I know I need to keep Wi-Fi off when I'm not using it. I even keep the 4G thing off. So that doesn't take up too much juice anymore. As a side note - do you all keep your wi-fi off? I know people who are constantly in the know with all the social media. How do you do that without killing your battery every 3 hours??

Someone Trey works with showed me this Task Manager thing where it ends all the apps that I was using. Okay that's fine.. but I thought if I just shoot back to my home screen after scrolling through Twitter (why, yes, I'm a tweeter now. Feel free to follow me and let me know to follow you. I'm sick of reading about people I don't know) that the app ended? I have to physically go into the task manager and end it? Plus, when I go into said Task Manager, it tells me apps are running that I never used in the first place. Over and over again.. even after I end them. Am I focusing too much on this? Or is this a real thing?

2. Speaking of Apps...
Give me the goods! Share with me all of your faves! I want to know the ones you just love and the ones you don't know how you ever lived without. There are so much to choose from in each category!
I have discovered Goodreads and the Bible app. I'm enjoying those. And some kind of weather app. But I want more. Anything that entertains your kid, makes your life easier, or helps you pass the time when needed. Which free ones to take advantage of and which ones are really worth paying for. Let me have it!

I think that's all for now! I'm sure I'm either forgetting something or there will be more to come! I'm really looking forward to your responses!

Oh yeah.. don't forget to go here and enter my giveaway for a free kids' meal from Chick-Fil-A. You don't even have to have a kid! You have until noon Thursday and I'll announce a winner on Friday!

4 comments:

Mel said...

OK...I have a Droid so here goes...

1. The battery thing is probable not going away. Yes, keeping your WiFi off helps, and I tend to do that, but for any longer days, where I know I will be using it, I will bring my charger and plug in (before 3PM, easily.)

The task manager can be set to automatically "kill" any running apps. That way you don't have to go in and kill them manually. I have mine set to kill apps every 3 hours.

If you have apps that are set to give you notices (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or another mail service) those apps are going to "run" even if you didn't "use" them. It's the nature of the beast.

Finally, my app recommendations:
1. Pandora - you can listen to the radio and create "stations" of music that fits your mood. Great for walking to the park or cleaning the house with headphones while Andrew is napping.
2. Shopping List - It stores lists of groceries and anything else you need to pick up. I also write down songs, books, etc...that I like and want to return to later. Basically, it can create all sorts of lists that you might want at your fingertips.
3. Google Reader - All your blogs in one place? Yes! Of course, you have to have a Google account for this, but that's easy!

JG said...

Your battery will last longer if you don't play on your phone during the day ;) I do keep the wifi on *when I'm home* but turn it off when I'm out. And I don't get notifications for facebook, twitter or any of that. I usually do have to recharge my phone in the afternoon and then I plug it in every night. But that's pretty much it.

As far as apps....Barcode Scanner (or something similar) which is great for shopping. You can scan the barcode of any packaged item in a store (like a book or a box of crackers) and then it searches online to compare prices for you, both online and in stores. Love that. The Ft. Bliss phone number list app is also handy. Does your phone come with Ringdroid? If not, you MUST get it. You can put any song on your phone and then use Ringdroid to make ringtones. SportsTap we use constantly during football season. And I've been playing a lot of Oregon Trail recently. But that's pretty much it beyond the regular stuff it comes with.

Amber said...

I like ColorNote, because I'm forgetful and lose things, and this stays on my phone. I like Google Sky Maps, because I enjoy the stars. Google Maps is nice, because it's free navigation. Tip Calc is awesome, because I suck at math, and of course, my USAA app.
And I agree with JG on the Ft. Bliss app. Finding phone numbers is nice.

Ashley Gaetano said...

Yeah, I'm not really the person to answer this question...I love my Blackberry, but I know I'm not using it to it's full potential :/ I never turn my Wi-Fi off...maybe I should start doing that!

JG, I'm very interested in the Ft. Bliss App, I wonder if I can get it? Also, is there anything for BBs like the Ringdroid? And, P.S., I love Oregon Trail! I used to go to my local library and play it on the computer :}