Other uses for droid?

[thinkxingu]

So, I finally bit the bullet and bought a droid- didn't want the extra bill, but did want a new toy. In any case, lost power an hour ago and here I am playing with it in the dark. Just watched a couple youtube videos, checked out some truck accessories, and now playing here.

Any cool apps or uses for your smartphones?

S

 

[Exmasonite]

Back up flashlight... look for "Droid Light" app. Runs the flash as a torch with touch on/off. Pretty nifty and handy.

Found a cool knot tying app... there's also one out there on tool/knife steel characteristics i need to track down.

GPS function is awesome... used it (had a tech savvy friend do it, actually) to plot boundary points for my property. Might be nice for people with big lots to mark trees for cutting, deadfalls, etc.

Don't know if there is one but somebody should make a tree/wood identifier app or at least list characteristics of leaves, bark, etc. May already be one out there, will have to check around.

Lots of games, of course.

Btw, i'd say to install 2 important apps:

1) App Brain (lets you sync your apps remotely so if your phone gets reset/wiped out, you can reload all the apps very easily

2) Lookout mobile security. Combination of anti-virus and lojack/theft protection. Also has option to log in from a website remotely and delete entire phone memory in event phone is stolen.

Good luck!

 

[nate379]

Hell if I know. I had to google what a droid was even!

 

[fyrwoodguy]

i've been havin' a lot of fun with mine!!....it will be a long time 'till i gett'r all figured out. i bought 2,and gave 1 to my 15 year old son (i needed a tutor ! )
these things sure are handy. i recommend them to anyone who wants to try the latest,and see if they are what they are cracked up to be.
and they are and then some!

 

[southbound]

I would like to have one myself...

But I am cheap so I just got a nokia E71 and $45 unlimited...

 

[velvetfoot]

My wife's the one with the Droid. The app that id's songs is pretty neat. Agree also about GPS. She go some cheap extra batteries, which are good when the main one runs out, but don't last as long. When she does web searches, etc, she talks into the phone and it recognizes her words. She's still trying to figure out how to extend battery life. It's like 90 bucks a month - too much for my liking.

 

[southbound]

There should be a app you can configure to save batt juice.... There is on built into my nokia.........

 

[Beetle-Kill]

"R2D2! You know better than to trust a strange computer!" C-3PO, circa-a long time ago.

 

[Exmasonite]

Keys to battery conservation:

1) Keep screen dim as possible... one of the widgets on my motorola is a screen dimmer. Usually keep on lowest settings except in extreme sun. The screens on these guys suck a LOT of juice

2) Keep wifi/GPS off unless absolutely needed. another big battery drain.

3) if you're trying to conserve juice, turn off the "auto refresh" email check and only do it as needed/on command.

Aside from that, i stay away from the task killer apps. I have a droid x with android 2.2 and supposedly the later versions of the android OS do a much better job at managing memory/energy and the task killer apps do more harm than good. Don't have the tech background to support that statement but my bro works for verizon and has personally found better battery performance once he turned off the task killing apps. Don't delete them... they do come in handy when you have some runaway app that's frozen and you can't turn off. Then again, i usually restart the phone at that point.

 

[thinkxingu]

I've heard the same thing about task killers. I get about two full days on my droid x, with moderate use of wireless features, which is what kills battery life. Keep gps, wireless, bluetooth, and even the cell signal (airplane mode) off when signals are low or not being used. Also, check your cases- mine had a magnet in it that was turning my phone to dock mode every time I put it in the case, which meant it would be on all day. I was wondering why I only got one day of battery!

Oh, and if you've not downloaded angry birds or swype, get 'em now!

S

 

[twitch]

My tracks is cool. It shows you a trail of where you have been when the gps is on. I also like the digital compass, weather channel app, and I found a units converter vConvertit. It does bar to psi c to f and a lot more. Sundroid for sun and moon rise and set.

 

[homebrewz]

"R2D2! You know better than to trust a strange computer!" C-3PO, circa-a long time ago.

"These are not the droids you're looking for"

 

[nate379]

I bought this phone about 3 years ago and it's still in great shape. My other phones prior to this, I was lucky to get a year out of them.
(broken link removed to http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SGH-A837DKAATT)

My only complaint is the speaker needs to be able to go louder. I can't use it in my truck since I can't hear what someone is saying over the road noise.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

homebrewz- you nailed it! :lol:

 

[xbunzx]

For all you Droid X hunters I got a free app called time to hunt, tells you the best time to hunting moon phase the whole thing. Real fun to play with and keeping track of day to day and time of movement I can say it is spot on.

 

[FuzzyOne]

I have a Craigs List app which is excellent. I use the keyword "firewood" and have it search in the free section. It alerts me when someone posts free wood....which seems to be less and less. Love my Droid X.

 

[Battenkiller]

Unit converters, level, protractor, plumb bob, flashlight (mine has an LED which is very bright), calculator, Dragon voice search (unbelievable), MP3 player, voice memos, compass, guitar chord and scale encyclopedia, Kindle reader, Google maps, GPS are some of my favorites. I also have a chess app that beats me every time, and a digital guitar that I can strum to annoy the little old lady counting her pennies in front of me at the checkout line.

 

[mayhem]

Got my wife a Droid2 Global last month and frankly I can't put the thing down. I'll be moving to a Droid Bionic later this year when it gets released...basically its the next version of the X...my brother-in-law has an X so I obviously CAN'T get one.

- Get Angry Birds.
- Get Fruit Ninja for when you get tired of Angry Birds (has yet to happen to me)
- Mag Lite flashlight app is great (there are dozens of flashlight apps, most turn on the flash LED, but some turn the screen white).
- Google Sky Map, possibly the coolest app ever.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

iCoaster

 

[Highbeam]

I like the weatherbug weather app, great forecast

The live background "Grass" is my favorite.

minigolf programs are great

pandora for internet radio.

My phone is the "Incredible" and my fat fingers aren't so good at writing using the touchscreen keypad.

 

[mayhem]

I like the weatherbug weather app, great forecast

The live background "Grass" is my favorite.

minigolf programs are great

pandora for internet radio.

My phone is the "Incredible" and my fat fingers aren't so good at writing using the touchscreen keypad.

I have weatherbug on my Blackberry and like it, wife's Droid 2 came with weather built into one of the 7 homescreens and it works well, though it isn't weatherbug...seems to pull its data from the same sources though.

Try out taptalk for the virtual keyboard, I don't use it but I see alot of people do.

Pandora is great too.

 

[Jutt77]

You can use the "Shooter" app to help setup your kit for your sniper missions.

 

[CodyWayne718]

There is a pre installed widget to save the battery. If you want a good time wasting addicting app download angry birds!

 

[leaddog]

I don't have one but think I might use it to talk to people.
leaddog

 

[CountryBoy19]

My wife has a droid. I just use hers if I have a real need for a droid app. For anything else I can do just fine with a regular cell-phone. The best thing about the regular phone is that the network and battery technology is advancing fast enough to keep up with smartphones, but the regular phones literally sip on the battery.

My Samsung Convoy routinely goes 7-11 days between battery charges, and that is quite impressive considering my usage area. At work, where my phone is normally on, I barely get service, it's always fighting for signal. That normally drains the battery. But for some reason the convoy just keeps on ticking. Right now I'm approaching 9 days on my most recent charge and I'm still at 3/4 battery. I think this one may set a record for battery life.