Android has challenges; the openness allowing it to be utilized on hundreds of different devices presents issues with hardware compatibility, standardization across implementations and assuring that applications run well. In the best-case apps work great, in the worst they run slowly, crash, or eat your battery.
With the Galaxy S II (referred to as S2 from here out) Samsung has significantly improved their stock/included software over the original Galaxy S. Within a month of acquiring my Galaxy S I was looking to format and install Cyanogen on the device, whereas with the S2 I have had no such desire yet. It runs well out of the box.
As with all devices it is not perfect, below I highlight apps I’m using to cope with some of these weaknesses and create a functional work environment. A few of the tools will require you to Root your device, which is a fairly simple process. When in doubt, a Google search or browse through XDA-Developers should enlighten.
What Samsung Did Right:
In the default software Samsung includes an acceptable email, calendar and Task list client. These three items mean my corporate and home life tracking tasks are performed adequately, even if they still need some work. For those that want better Email I have heard good things about K-9 and Touchdown, although I have not used them. As mentioned above the Galaxy S2 included software is a huge improvement over the original Galaxy, partly due to the advancement in the core Android software over the last year and partly due to Samsung’s additional effort into assuring the end product is polished.
Features Requiring Help:
Notification Light/LED Addition:
This has been a complaint of mine since Apple made minimalist phones trendy. The exclusion of a notification LED was a bad move, which we are still suffering from years later since almost every manufacturer uses Apple as the standard-bearer for design decisions. I like to see whether there are notifications waiting on my phone without turning on the screen.
Solution: NoLED or Backlight Notification (BLN)
NoLED:
NoLED uses the main display to show notices. Due to the AMOLED display technology used in the Galaxy S/S2 a black screen consumes almost no power since each pixel is individually lit. NoLED uses a small portion of the screen to show notifications and moves the notices around as to not create burn-in, something OLED displays are prone to do. It is a super sexy application but if you set it up be conservative in how long you show notices for – this app can consume significant battery if constantly displaying information.
Backlight Notification (BLN):
BLN uses the backlit soft buttons at the bottom of the screen to indicate when there are notices waiting. One disadvantage of BLN is that you need to have a kernel with BLN support, which might be beyond some folk’s comfort level. On the S2 I had to take an additional step and find a liblights library, which supported BLN and load it onto the phone. With this said, if you desire notifications and want minimum battery use BLN is a simple, winning solution.
Launcher Replacement:
A Launcher on Android is the main interface you use for navigating the phone and launching applications. Samsung includes their own launcher by default, which is not bad but is not as customizable as many of the aftermarket products. On my S2 I have been using ADWLauncher EX as my launcher replacement with the ADWNotifier add-on. Many people will never see a reason to do this since the default launcher is pretty good.
Home/Summary Screen:
I’m a fan of having a homescreen, which displays my calendar, voicemail snapshot, phone status, etc. without having to unlock the phone. WidgetLocker acts as a front-end for your phone when the power button is pressed, presenting you with a screen of apps or widgets you choose. You can then select your app, which is followed by the password prompt (if configured). It provides me with the snapshot I’m so often looking for without having to unlock my phone. The widgets I have configured on my home screen include: CalWidget, Beautiful Widgets clock/weather, Google Voicemail listing, weather and Juice Defender.
Battery Management:
I hate battery management. Hate is a strong word, one I use for having to plug in my phone any time between getting up in the morning and going to bed in the evening unless I’m obsessively tinkering with something or playing a game. With the Galaxy S I had things tweaked so that I didn’t have to mess with it too much but once my local cell provider turned up 3G/HSPA+ service I could hear a giant slurping sound from my phone battery, which could also stand-in for a pocket warmer.
Juice Defender in its most basic form enables and disables the various radios in your phone in an attempt to conserve power and in the most advanced form actively manages everything from display brightness and processor speed to whether or not your phone is connected via EDGE (2G) data, 3G/4G or Wifi.
Before Juice Defender my phone was hitting 50% battery no more than 4-5 hours into the day. Since my days are longer than 10 hours this is not acceptable. Now that I have Juice Defender running and customized my phone is down to 25% battery on average when I go to bed. If I plug in once in about mid-day I can go to bed and still have 60-75% battery.
I think Cell phone manufacturers need to give up on the crazy small phones if it means a phone that must be plugged in during the day. I had an extended battery on my Galaxy S to cope with the crazy short battery life. On the S2 I’m attempting to avoid that scenario, which has meant using tools like Juice Defender and keeping power plugs nearby.
Locating/Erasing a Lost Phone:
SeekDroid has only a few functions but very important ones. It allows you to track and remotely wipe your phone if needed. Samsung has included similar functionality in the S2 but I have not enabled it yet. This application is not going to be as effective with JuiceDefender shutting down the data radios in the phone but is a nice feature to have.
Replacing the Stock Samsung Keyboard:
The stock keyboard on the Galaxy S and S2 are poor unless you like Swype. For four years Apple has offered a touchscreen keyboard with better accuracy and text prediction. Some people love Swype (where you slide your finger around the screen to the letters you wish to spell) but that is not me, I prefer to touch type on my phone keyboard, which means I test the ability of the phone to predict exactly what I wanted to say.
Three suitable alternative keyboards I’ve found are the stock Gingerbread keyboard, which is pretty good for someone who types on their phone, the A.I. Keyboard, which attempts to predict what you are going to type and present those options and SwiftKey X, which is pay for play but a usable, configurable keyboard. Right now I’m using SwiftKey but may go back to the Gingerbread keyboard at some point in the future.
Syncing Audio with iTunes:
Currently I’m using TuneSync to perform this function. It took a little work to setup since the error/lack of error messages are vague but once working it synced with our house iTunes library over Wifi, enabling me to carry a little slice of music heaven around with me. I have not experimented with Podcasts yet but that will need to come at some point in the future.
Playing Audio:
I’m using WinAmp to perform this function today. It does a good job of automatically locating my audio on my phone and supports the playlists that TuneSync places on the device. I might switch players eventually but I like whipping the Llama’s ass.
File Synchronization:
Dropbox is how I move files to and fro these days. It is easy to setup and has clients for just about every platform imaginable. On top of it many of the Office and other applications have native support so that they can access files with no additional hoops.
File/Folder Navigation and Management:
This is something Apple really tried to get away from – having the user manage files. On Android it is a must for anyone who considers themselves a power user. For this purpose I’m using Root Explorer today, although I switch back and forth between Root Explorer and Astro depending on the day and need.
News/RSS Feed Reading:
I use NewsRob for news consumption on my Android devices. It does the job so well that in the last year I haven’t even thought about trying out any of the competition.
Backups:
I have a preference for my phone/tablet to perform on-device backups. Rarely do my devices get plugged into a computer so relying on a computer connection to assure a backup is current is a pain. On Android I use Titanium Backup and Rom Manager/CWM to do backup duties. I know other apps exist but these two apps have served my purposes well.
Barcode Scanning/Price Shopping:
With the number of cameras on phones and barcodes out in the world it should be expected that all phones should now include a barcode/QR scanner tool and perhaps some price shopping capability. Luckily Barcode Scanner, RedLaser and the Amazon mobile app are just a download away.
A few honorable mentions: Recently the only games I’ve spent any real time playing are Gurk and Realms of Fortune. I have a bunch of games but those are the only two that are keeping my attention for any length of time. I’m sure Solitaire, Mahjong or Hold’em will make a reemergence at some point. If you are new to Android be sure to download the Amazon App store app and grab some freebies, over a period of weeks you can greatly expand your app collection.
