first time android user - need some help - samsung captivate

[Nvidiaguy07]

Ive been waiting for a decent android phone to come to ATT for a while now (almost caved on the nexus one) so when i heard about the samsung captivate i made sure i got mine on the 18th.

I guess im really behind when it comes to knowing tricks and stuff on android phones. Plan on rooting but i dont know where to start - or if my device will really benefit from it.

More than anything i think i just need to be pointed in the right direction. Ive been trying to read old gizmodo and lifehacker posts to try and catch up, but theres gotta be a better place for new android users.

For example, is using the google snyc a better option than using the phones email program? (gmail seems instant compared to the other one).

Also has anyone tried using any GPS feature on this phone? I think ATT is trying to push thier att nav because whenever i run maps, att nav also loads up. Plus my GPS will continuously say searching for gps. It makes it seem like i need to get att nav to have any GPS functionality.

I have a feeling ATT is kinda screwing with my phone so im guessing rooting will allow me to get rid of anything they have on there.

Also will rooting have any effect on my battery? and can i use the cyanogen mod that everyone says is so great.

Is i was interested in installing a "clean install" of andriod, is this even possible? I know something similar can be done to the nexus one, but im guessing you have to root to accomplish this.

Is swype availiable for all rooted phones? I dont wanna lose this if i root - i absolutely love swype. - coolest thing on the phone.

how can i maximize battery and make sure i dont have any crappy apps running in the background.

Ive seen about a million android sites and forums, but im not sure which one to look in. More than anything i just need a starting point, so if anyone can give me a place to start it would be a great help.

(sorry the post is so unorganized - i have so many questions though!)

 

[JimmiG]

It's pretty confusing in the beginning since Android phones are almost like computers, but it all quickly starts making sense.

Don't worry too much about rooting. Android is already pretty open. For example, you can install programs from unknown sources (outside of the Android Market) by just checking a box. Only reason would be for unofficial ROMs. Personally, with my HTC Desire, I'm waiting for HTC to release their own customized version of Froyo. Later, when they stop releasing official updates for the phone, I might consider it.

I store all my contacts on Google now. That way I have them in my Gmail account when logging in from a computer. I don't have to worry about syncing since it happens automatically. The only problem was that I got tons of duplicate and triplicate contacts when I tried migrating from the internal phone memory to Google. So it's probably better to decide on one way to store contacts and use that from the start.

The Gmail app is better and more usable. POP mail kind of sucks on phones since many ISPs only let you use their own SMTP-server, which is fine when you're at home over wifi but creates problems when connecting to other networks.

You will *always* have apps running in the background with Android. From the user's point of view, all applications are always running, all the time. Behind the scenes, android will freeze, kill and unload apps as necessary.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html

Don't bother with "task killers" either. Unless your phone has very little RAM, they are more trouble than they're worth, and they themselves will use up the battery. You can however download "OSMonitor" to make sure no faulty app is locked at 100% CPU or something. Just exit the program from the menu when you're done.

Other than that, make sure no widget (weather, stocks, facebook etc.) is constantly updating. Set the update intervals to a couple of hours. Also put two widgets on your home screen to toggle WiFi and GPS. WiFi uses a bit of battery even when not connected, since it's constantly scanning for AP's, and GPS totally kills the battery. Better use cell tower triangulation unless you need total accuracy.

 

[BenSkywalker]

First off, rooting your phone may take a little while. To be honest I haven't researched your model yet, but some phones take quite a while to root, some have been out for a long time and have yet to be rooted. This isn't necessarily a big issue unless you have some exacting need(which honestly it doesn't sound like you do although that may change).

For a good general place to start that is rather tricky with Android. The openness of Android is a bit of drawback in this area. Today you can get a phone running Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1 or 2.2 depending on which model you buy. Not only that, but you also have the Sense/Blur/TouchWiz(what you have) and the default UI. Add up all those different flavors of all those different OS versions and you have a market that is rather diverse which makes it hard to point you to a good spot for starting out. As a general example, the default keyboard on the standard Android OS sucks, but Sense has a decent one as does Blur although they both suck in comparison to Swype if your phone has it(just using that as a generic example, you can change that around to media players, default widgets etc).

Honestly, your best bet is probably right here(or another comparable forum).

For example, is using the google snyc a better option than using the phones email program?

Not sure what email client your phone has installed by default, but it's hard to imagine it working much better then GSync if you use GMail.

It makes it seem like i need to get att nav to have any GPS functionality.

Not sure if Sammy's UI is messing with it, but GMaps shouldn't require any other GPS software to be used. I know the Moto phones ship with another GPS app they try to get you to subscribe to but if you ignore it GMaps gets the job done without issue.

Plus my GPS will continuously say searching for gps.

Do you have GPS turned on(in system settings, it is off by default for several phones- drains the battery a bit faster when it is on).

Is swype availiable for all rooted phones?

If you root your phone there is a version of Swype you can use, but I'm not sure if it is exactly the same as the one you have now-

http://www.gadgetsdna.com/how-to-install-swype-on-android/1146/

Swype is still in beta so you need to bypass AT&T's side load lockout which I assume rooting the phone would do(if that's the way you decide to go).

how can i maximize battery and make sure i dont have any crappy apps running in the background.

Is battery life an issue for you? I was worried about this at first and tried setting my phone up to minimize battery useage, then I realized I was still @55% charge at the end of the day so set up everything for maximum performance and haven't had it die on me yet in a day(although I do charge it every day). Obviously there are big differences depending on the useage and particular phone, but your phone has gotten decent marks for battery life so it may be something you don't need to be terribly concerned about.

For example, you can install programs from unknown sources (outside of the Android Market) by just checking a box.

Last I was aware, that wasn't possible on any AT&T Android phone.

 

[notposting]

Couple points from above post: yeah please doublecheck if you can install programs from unknown sources. If you are at the home screen you should be able to hit the menu button, select settings, then applications, the check box should be right there. If not, AT&T is a bunch of hosers. I use that capability a lot.

The Nav programs getting included isn't a Moto thing, it's a carrier thing--I had the Devour and VZW had their infernal VZ Nav (requires subscription) and VZ IM (uses texts instead of data) linked to everything, had to launch Gnav directly (instead of going directly from a contact).

Check out the settings menu carefully to see if their are options...also under Applications, find and clear the defaults for AT&T nav, that may present you an option next time bringing it up to choose between AT&T or Gnav.

I would use the Gmail client for gmail...everything else works fine in the Email app, though there are alternate options available.

As far as rooting goes, well if you find an app you want that requires root, I guess you want it. Otherwise it doesn't have much to do with flashing new ROMs to the phone (though they usually come rooted).

Quick definition list, if I get any of these wrong someone correct me, I'm pretty new to it myself:

root -- it's linux, and you're running as root. In Windows terms, an Administrator account instead of the Limited one we never used
ROM -- the whole OS image, includes kernel, theme, apps etc. You need to a) get into recovery at bootup and b) have a recovery that will allow unsigned updates to be flashed to the phone
kernel -- can be changed out, generally for higher speeds, lower voltages, additional file system support etc
theme -- will skin the ROM with a different look.
odex/deodex -- odex is (more or less) the compressed and non modifiable version of an app. deodexed is when the bits are broke out more. You're standard manufacturer updates will be odexed...most custom ROMs are deodexed so you have some more freedom with themes etc. Take up a bit more room however.

Supposedly the Galaxy S line should be easy to flash new software to, but not sure how far they have gotten on it, or if AT&T's version will be harder. I've been hitting mydroidworld and droidforums but I have a Droid, not sure how big their communities are for those new phones yet. They are both friendly though.

As far as CM, I believe if they find someone to run that version it will be coming to your phone.

edit: battery life, doublecheck your sync settings for everything (I usually go every half hour) and check out JuiceDefender from the Market. Pretty good app, it will toggle your data radio on/off on a schedule when not in use (so mine kicks on every half hour instead of having things constantly checking in with the mothership).

And just demonstrate how fun things can be...yesterday I was mucking about in my Yahoo account online (on the computer) as they have basically flipped everything to "share with everyone especially spammers and the IRS". So I was locking it down (except their servers kept taking a crap when I tried to change my profile hmmm) and going through the 600+ email in the inbox. Sorting them out to different folders, deleting, etc (their webmail interface sucks hairy goat schlong btw, no wonder I don't use that account much anymore) and mysteriously, the email app on my phone started to FC (force closing, another term you will get to know). Through 4 different ROMs including complete wipes each time, every time I added the Yahoo account it will FC now. I hate Yahoo.

 

[JimmiG]

Last I was aware, that wasn't possible on any AT&T Android phone.

Well, it's possible they restrict this, but Android itself does not. On HTC Desire, it was just a matter of going into options and enabling it. If that is an issue, then it might make sense to root the phone.

 

[ponyo]

I got my Tmobile Vibrant yesterday so I'm new to the Galaxy S line but here's what I know from reading the past couple of days:

Both Captivate and Vibrant can be rooted. You will need to root if you want to install non-Market apps on the Captivate since AT&T has disabled that option. Rooting Captivate is super simple and takes less than couple minutes. Google rooting captivate and you should find easy instructions. Basically requires you to download update.zip and save it to the internal memory and run it. That's it. There are currently no Cyanogen mod yet. Galaxy S was released in like 110 countries so it should see plenty mod support.

Rooting will not affect your battery. It gives you superuser status. Check out xdadevelopers for Captivate and android forums.

Make sure your GPS is turned on. TouchWiz 3.0 has Wifi and GPS toggle built in to the notification bar. Simply pull down to check and toggle on or off. I've read Galaxy S doesn't have a good GPS. I've yet to test mine out.

Rooting does nothing to Swype. You'll still have it. I like it but I like Samsung keyboard as well.

If you want more stock look, try ADW launcher or Launcher Pro. There's a program you can use to have multiple launchers loaded and easily switch on the fly between them but I can't remember the name offhand.

 

[dougp]

Ok, I'll post since I own a Captivate and I've already rooted it, along with uninstalling AT&T bloatware. Your best reference is going to be XDA - you have the Android Development and Hacking and the Samsung Captivate forums.

If you check the Android Development forum for the Captivate, you'll see a few posts on rooting, which is rather simple, along with how to unblock sideloading of apps.

 

[sciwizam]

First off, rooting your phone may take a little while. To be honest I haven't researched your model yet, but some phones take quite a while to root, some have been out for a long time and have yet to be rooted. This isn't necessarily a big issue unless you have some exacting need(which honestly it doesn't sound like you do although that may change).

The Galaxy S phones are already rooted.

This one guy on HardOCP, has this mini guide on "How to root and de-crapify the Captivate".

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1533766

 

[BenSkywalker]

The Galaxy S phones are already rooted.

Heh, damn that was fast. I guess Samsung not supporting their phones is easily overlooked if they made it so easy to root it goes down in days. Now if only Moto would follow suit.

If not, AT&T is a bunch of hosers.

There isn't much of an 'if' on AT&T being a bunch of hosers

More apps are available from the Android Market, but once again, AT&T has blocked the ability to install third-party apps on the Captivate by removing the Unknown sources option under Applications settings.

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-captivate-at-t/4505-6452_7-34121737-2.html?tag=rvwBody

Unless you root it, no go for side loading apps on the Captivate unfortunately.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

my main reason for wanting to root is to get rid of ATT's bullshit (apps they put on there, apps they block, pushing there shitty nav service etc.) I guess secondarily i would want it for custom roms and kernels (thanks for the definitions notposting). If i do root and flash - would i ever be able to go back to stock if i decide i don't like it or mess something up? (i guess by stock i just mean touchwiz and swype, not the ATT apps)

Gmail - I think ill continue to use the gmail app - i just saw that there may be an option to use IMAP in the andriod email app, id say using pop for that would definitely be out, just thinking that IMAP might be better. On my blackberry i preffered using their email over the BB gmail app, only because all i care about is getting emails on the device, i do all my emailing at home. Also would ATT's network allow imap.gmail.com to access my email?

As for Gsync i do think it is awesome and have been using it for probably close to a year now, but i have to agree it is very quirky and im constantly exporting my gmail conacts because i get phantom deletes every once in a while. (For example the entry for my aunt kept copying to the point where she had 5 of the same entry, so i deleted all of them and then just put her number under my uncles "notes" section and planned on making a new entry for her in a few hours to see if it would keep duplicating. Then i went to check a few hours later and my uncles entry was completely gone. So i lost 2 numbers.) Besides crap like that though I love it and was one of the reasons why i wanted an android because i figured it will work better on andriod than any other platform - same with Gvoice.

GPS- At first it didnt work at all, then i had to go into setting and enable it and allow programs to use it. Then it worked for a little while and i notced ATT nav running, so i clicked it and selected "reject" when it asked me to accept att nav terms of use (i think they want me to pay for it). Once i completetly quit out att nav it killed my Gnav as well and my gps access when im in google maps (im dying without it!!!!!! at least this worked on my BB!!) Cleared everything in ATT nav - still no GPS. Maybe the GPS does suck in the captivate

So i shouldnt be using any task killers? I see alot of apps open after i use them and regularly kill them out. I dont see any option to completely close these apps besides the task killer. i figure this is saving on battery. Im not worried about memory use since the captivate seems to have more than enough.

Touchwiz - absolutely no way i want to lose this, can i find out what version i have and see if it will run on other roms? Is there any difference in the versions? BTW i might prefer this over a hardware keyboard, its awesome.

battery life- i dont think its gonna be an issue for me. It is running all the way out now, but thats only because im in the honeymoon stage of owning this phone and cant put it down. Im sure once i settle down it should be fine.

Notposting- when i go into settings>applications> i see 4 options, manage apps, running services, development, usb settings (btw why the hell would ATT make the default service samsung kies when they dont even bundle it with the phone and it is pretty hard to find for the average consumer, when i first plugged my phone in to the computer it locked out until i changed it to ask me everytime what to do).

DougP and sciwizam- sweet, im gonna check those out right now

Sorry my response is so long lol, and thanks to everyone for all the good info!

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

also on a side not why do i have to do everything twice on this phone - for example ill get an email, pull down my notification bar click the email, read it, exit out, and the notification is still there, i need to read it twice for it to go away. Also when i get a text ill click messages and itll take me right to that text, if i want to just go to the messages folder and look at another text i need to click it twice and press back and then it finally bring me to the main messages folder. Not a huge deal but just kind of annoying, is this a touchwiz thing?

 

[abaez]

I think that's an Android thing and a bug. I read it should be fixed with 2.2.

 

[Glitchny]

also on a side not why do i have to do everything twice on this phone - for example ill get an email, pull down my notification bar click the email, read it, exit out, and the notification is still there, i need to read it twice for it to go away. Also when i get a text ill click messages and itll take me right to that text, if i want to just go to the messages folder and look at another text i need to click it twice and press back and then it finally bring me to the main messages folder. Not a huge deal but just kind of annoying, is this a touchwiz thing?

I've never had the dbl email thing, unless you are using gmail and another email program at the same time. And yea the texts thing can be kinda annoying, you can get back to the main screen buy doing menu->view all threads, or menu->more->view all threads

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I've never had the dbl email thing, unless you are using gmail and another email program at the same time. And yea the texts thing can be kinda annoying, you can get back to the main screen buy doing menu->view all threads, or menu->more->view all threads

nope just using gmail. I dont click archive or delete though, just the back button so i can see it thinking i didnt fully read the email and keeps it as new. But then when i pull down the bar and do the same thing it finally goes away. weird.

 

[zsdersw]

Seems like a big facepalm moment for Samsung with this phone.. no flash for the camera.

 

[dougp]

Seems like a big facepalm moment for Samsung with this phone.. no flash for the camera.

I'm not missing it. The one phone that I did have flash on, the Sanyo M1, I never used it enough. Did you complain about the 3 previous iPhones that didn't have a flash? Or how about the other 'droid devices that didn't?

 

[zsdersw]

I'm not missing it. The one phone that I did have flash on, the Sanyo M1, I never used it enough. Did you complain about the 3 previous iPhones that didn't have a flash? Or how about the other 'droid devices that didn't?

I'm not a fan of any phone that has a camera without flash.

 

[dougp]

I'm not a fan of any phone that has a camera without flash.

So you like missing out on great hardware because of something that's not much more than a gimmick? LED flashes blow.

 

[ponyo]

Seems like a big facepalm moment for Samsung with this phone.. no flash for the camera.

I never had a phone with one so I guess ignorance is bliss. I find the picture quality more than acceptable and low light shots look fine. It has nightshot mode which helps in low lighting situation.

I still can't get over the awesome 4 inch led screen. I'm sitting at the beach right now in direct sunlight and it's still more than usable and actually looks good. I'm thoroughly impressed by this phone.

 

[zsdersw]

So you like missing out on great hardware because of something that's not much more than a gimmick? LED flashes blow.

Great hardware? Lots of phones have "great hardware" and a flash for the camera.

I won't be getting a new phone until early next year anyway. I'm not at all interested in compromising what I want by settling for what's available now.

 

[zsdersw]

I never had a phone with one so I guess ignorance is bliss.

I've always had one.

 

[dougp]

Great hardware? Lots of phones have "great hardware" and a flash for the camera.

I won't be getting a new phone until early next year anyway. I'm not at all interested in compromising what I want by settling for what's available now.

Good for you, but no other phone has better hardware than the Galaxy S line - and the only two with a flash are on CDMA networks.

 

[zsdersw]

Good for you, but no other phone has better hardware than the Galaxy S line -

That's nice, but what will the options be in spring 2011? The same as now? I highly doubt it.

 

[zsdersw]

I know you're locked in "defend the purchase" mode because the phone is so new and you just bought it, but seriously.. there's no good reason for smartphones to not have a flash these days.. and Samsung is dumb for not including it in all Galaxy S phones.

 

[preslove]

I know you're locked in "defend the purchase" mode because the phone is so new and you just bought it, but seriously.. there's no good reason for smartphones to not have a flash these days.. and Samsung is dumb for not including it in all Galaxy S phones.

What the hell is the matter with you? Stop threadcrapping and go away. He's already bought the phone, so calling him stupid for buying a phone without a flash isn't going to help anyone or change anything. You're just being an ass.

God, some people on this forum are just pathetic.