Apple Fan Boy Just Bought Dell Streak. What are some cool things to do?

[alfa147x]

I am a self label Apple Fan Boy.

My phones so far:
2008 iPhone 3G
2009 Blackberry 9700
2010 iPhone 3G
2011 Dell Streak / iPhone 5

My iPhone 3G is on it's last legs and I need a new phone between now and when I the iPhone 5 comes out. I really like iOS and never thought of moving away from till i realized my iPhone's battery doesn't last more than a hour and the camera is broken and the rocker barely works. New phone time.

I jumped on the $200 Streak deal with no contract this will act as my phone till the iPhone 5 comes out then I'll either give it to my sister or GF. I might even sell it.

It come in next week. What are some cool things I can do with it? Must have apps? On my iPhone I only use FourSquare and TweetDeck. What are somethings that I must know coming from iOS?

Any worth while hacks?

 

[Ns1]

sell it on eBay


No seriously I got in @ $100 and had no intention of keeping it. Let's see if this thread changes my mind haha

 

[tatteredpotato]

I used Twidroyd for twitter on Android.
Winamp is a good media player IMO.
All the Google apps naturally.
If you like hacking, rooting/roming is fun too.
Dolphin HD for web browsing.
Handcent SMS for texting.
I like swapping launchers (Launcher Pro or ADW Launcher are both good).

 

[alfa147x]

sell it on eBay


No seriously I got in @ $100 and had no intention of keeping it. Let's see if this thread changes my mind haha

I might do that one the next iPhone is announced. I do need a phone for the time in between

 

[poofyhairguy]

1. Keepass to store internet passwords.
2. Quick Profiles (to set up ringtone profiles similar to the Blackberries)
3. Widget Locket (put shortcuts on your lock screen)
4. Awesome Drop (drag files into a browser on your pc to put them on your device)
5. Key Ring Rewards - To keep all those grocery store rewards cards on your phone.
6. Easy Reminder - get a beep and/or vibrate to notify you of missed calls or texts.
7. Doodle Bowling - really fun game
8. tv.com - many TV shows
9. Dolphin HD - best browser
10. Cordy - another great game

 

[alfa147x]

Thanks guys. Also how instant are emails? I like to be notified about an email ASAP. I have 7 email addresses I need to check. All on Google Apps

 

[Chapbass]

Thanks guys. Also how instant are emails? I like to be notified about an email ASAP. I have 7 email addresses I need to check. All on Google Apps

Mine are all within 2-5 seconds. Thats guesstimating, but its basically instant. Coming from my Droid X. I almost got a Streak, but I couldn't give up VZW.

 

[alfa147x]

Mine are all within 2-5 seconds. Thats guesstimating, but its basically instant. Coming from my Droid X. I almost got a Streak, but I couldn't give up VZW.

That's awesome. I can't give up having a SIM card though :\

 

[cronos]

Congratulations! I love my Streak. You got a really great deal. My heart skipped a beat when I saw this in SD this morning. I paid a handsome ~$460 for mine (and that's with almost $100 off the original no-contract price with EPP + AAA discounts!) back in October.

Apps are pretty much the same for all android phones so I'll let the others tell you about those.

Things that are specific to the Streak:

First of all: get a case! and get a good one, like Otterbox or the like. It's thin and very wide and it's kind of heavy. You really don't want to drop this thing or bump it into something without a good protective case.

Jenn Lee of Pocketables maintain a great website/blog for the Streak at http://www.streaksmart.com (tons of info about the Streak here, dating back to its release in the UK early last year)

If you are into custom ROM, there's only one for the Streak, it's called the StreakDroid by this awesome developer nicknamed DJ_Steve. You will find info about it (and tons of discussions on the Streak) on XDA/Modaco and also the Streak's Pocketable forum:
XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=698
Modaco: http://android.modaco.com/category/436/dell-streak-streak-modaco-com/
Pocketables: http://forum.pocketables.net/forumdisplay.php?f=97

(I'll add some more info if I remember anything)

Just so you know, coming from Apple-build hardware you may find the quality control of the Streak as not so great (read: terrible). My first one died in less than a month because of overheating. My second one was working just fine for a few months until finally that one too failed to boot because of a bad/dead internal SD card (people say it's a known issue for some of the batches). Dell replaced these without a lot of questions other than making sure that they are dead, but it's still a pain in the butt.

I do have at least two close friends with the Streak that never had any problems though, and many people are actively 'abusing' their Streak (flashing ROMS every week or so, etc) for more than a year without adverse effects, so just pray that you're lucky and received one of the good units

 

[sjwaste]

Funny, I thought about jumping on this deal too. I just don't know which provider I could activate on and actually save any money.

 

[vshah]

adw ex launcher for super sexy smoothness.

air attack HD is killer on a big touchscreen

 

[zerocool84]

adw ex launcher for super sexy smoothness.

air attack HD is killer on a big touchscreen

I prefer Launcher Pro but both are good substitutes.

 

[ultimatebob]

I heard that the software on that phone used to suck... Did the 2.2 upgrade help with that?

 

[BenSkywalker]

I see a lot of reccomendations for different launchers, I run them on a lot of my devices but the Streak's Stage UI is actually rather useful due to its' size IMO, not sure I would want to get rid of it for that device(the 5" screen really makes usability more akin to tablets then phones). If your device ships with 1.6 make sure to update the stock ROM before swapping to a custom one, really the Stage UI is rather decent(not saying better then ADW/LP- but I find it superior in terms of usability for the Streak).

 

[vshah]

I prefer Launcher Pro but both are good substitutes.

in adw ex, the app drawer scrolling is silky smooth. last time i tried launcher pro, it was pretty much the same as stock/regular adw (i.e. slightly jerky)

I should give LP another shot though, its been a few months since I tried it.

 

[boomhower]

Don't forget about market.android.com It is a ton easier than searching through the market on your phone.

 

[alfa147x]

Thanks Cronos for the detailed write up.

Need to try out multiple Launchers. Also how Mac happy is the android platform?

 

[sjwaste]

Thanks Cronos for the detailed write up.

Need to try out multiple Launchers. Also how Mac happy is the android platform?

Works fine with the Mac. I have mine rooted, and getting the Android SDK set up and adb up and running was really easy.

Android is built on Linux. Remember, there's no desktop-side sync solution for Android, at least not officially. So no iTunes equivalent to deal with.

 

[alfa147x]

I'm currently working on a GPS app for my iPhone (personal use)
It will be interesting to porn that over.

Stupid question: To be able to use the Andriod SDK I need to first root my phone?

I like what iTunes has to offer on the iPhone. I'v never have had a problem with it.

 

[alfa147x]

Also does this phone have the "live" wallpaper capabilities?

 

[vshah]

AFAIK, it should. long press on a blank area on the home screen, click wallpapers, and then you should see an option for "live wallpapers"

this may be different if you're still using the stage UI though.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Just so you know, coming from Apple-build hardware you may find the quality control of the Streak as not so great (read: terrible). My first one died in less than a month because of overheating. My second one was working just fine for a few months until finally that one too failed to boot because of a bad/dead internal SD card (people say it's a known issue for some of the batches). Dell replaced these without a lot of questions other than making sure that they are dead, but it's still a pain in the butt.

I do have at least two close friends with the Streak that never had any problems though, and many people are actively 'abusing' their Streak (flashing ROMS every week or so, etc) for more than a year without adverse effects, so just pray that you're lucky and received one of the good units

Seeing how many people were on their 3rd Streak on XDA gave me pause, at least Dell support is reasonable about warranty issues.

If it supported "4G" I'd have bought one by now (or if I could catch a blowout deal like the OP got...)

 

[s44]

One of the big Android freedom things: try different keyboards. Swype, Thumb Keyboard (with its Streak-specific layout), and, oh yeah, the voice entry options.

Btw, SDK *lets* you root your phone. Or is one of the most universal ways to do it, anyway.

I suggest TPU cases for all phones, including this one.