New to the HTC Hero - Would like some advice please! - Hero, G2 Touch Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
Just updating this as a little source of info incase anyone else searching finds my experience helpful!:
- Rooting: Decided not to do this until it's clear if offical updates work with it or not.
- Contacts: Created a google account which now syncs perfectly with the phone. All contacts are stored on the web account, so clearing the phone during resets isn't a problem - just put the Gmail details back in and everything is cool again
- File Manager: Using ES File Explorer from the market place (Free), works perfectly and lists all the files on the SD card.
- Network Usage: Using NetCounter from the market place (Free), works perfectly just keeping tabs on how much data has been sent over the cell or Wi-fi; breaking it down for usage on a daily basis, weekly, monthly and total. Also seems to support alert notifications so you can have your phone warn you when you've reached a certain amount of data.
- Case / Screen Protectors: Found a few online and Amazon however yet to purchase any (there are some reviews saying the rubber cases are too tight on the phone and start rubbing the surface colour off them.
Original Post
=========
This is somewhat crossposted as I don't know if this is a more suitable board.
Anyhow! I've been stuck with a XDA Exec for a number of years however today, after it started sending emails with text messages, I've ordered a new HTC Hero on Orange in order to replace the rubbish WM OS which was giving me no end of problems.
To cut to the chase I'm wondering when I get my device is there anything in particular worth doing, newbie questions I know but we all have to start somewhere! For example:
- Is it worth rooting? What exactly does rooting the device then allow me to do? (I've come across the process for doing it multiple times but I'm still none the wiser as to what this enables the handset to do)
- In line with the above is there anything worth doing to the device during setup to improve it's overall usability / performance?
- Are there are any particular apps that are worth putting on to improve performance? Giving control over the CPU maybe?
...etc
Any general advice for a new handset would be appreciated as I know there are some brilliant minds here (just finding all the relevant information is sometimes tricky!)
All the best,
Temjin

Yes a few things
before you start up the device create a google account online first, ie create a google email address eg. [email protected]
Then make sure you setup the phone with this address when it starts up, otherwise you may have problems accessing the market like me haha.
Copilot is a must its an excellent program, just as good as tomtom if not better.
i installed solitare as well cos i missed it off my old diamond.
As for rooting i as yet have not done so because there seems to be no real reason so far, installing apps and modding the phone is simple by adding widgets etc.
The phone runs as smooth as day straight out the box for me, but my phone is unbranded.
Hope that helps

Not much point to rooting yet, unless you want to have hundreds of apps installed (app2sd).
I would recommend that you remove the "people" widget as it is really not hugely helpful and slows the phone down a lot, especially when swiping from screen to screen. If you experience lag, you can also try removing the large clock widget and peep. Without these, the phone is much faster. (it's kinda sucky having to remove them but to be honest I'd rather a more responsive phone, personally). Check out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=544958
Try to avoid using task managers and task-killers as these will cause more trouble than they are worth - let android manage processes and memory by itself.
Finally, don't go wild installing apps. Certain apps such as monitoring widgets cause havoc with the battery life, so install apps one or two at a time so that you will notice if performance or battery life suddenly plummets.

kiz said:
Finally, don't go wild installing apps. Certain apps such as monitoring widgets cause havoc with the battery life, so install apps one or two at a time so that you will notice if performance or battery life suddenly plummets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you advice if NetCounter or BatteryWidget eats a lot of battery?

mystaka said:
Can you advice if NetCounter or BatteryWidget eats a lot of battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NetCounter is OK, I haven't noticed any drop in battery life using it.

Oh when hard reseting
When you hard reset your phone if you ever need to, remove your simcard then put it back in after the reset, otherwise you lose you sim contacts like i have!!!

Hi guys!
I got my Hero on Tuesday and so far I'm absolutley loving it (although coming from WM 5.1 doesn't take much to beat ).
I've got a few more questions:
- When synced with Google Contacts a home address on the Hero is listed under "Find Home". This cuts the address short, is there a way of making it making the address field more presentable?
- Is there any native way for seeing how much data has been downloaded (gotta be careful of my tarrif limit!) or is there a simple app for this purpose?
- Is there anyway of browsing file directories?
- Is there any sort of protective cases or screen covers for the Hero?
In case it helps any other people who are looking for starter information:
- Rooting: Decided not to do this until it's clear if offical updates work with it or not.
- Contacts: Created a google account which now syncs perfectly with the phone. All contacts are stored on the web account, so clearing the phone during resets isn't a problem - just put the Gmail details back in and everything is cool again
Thanks!
~ T

Temjin said:
- Is there any native way for seeing how much data has been downloaded (gotta be careful of my tarrif limit!) or is there a simple app for this purpose?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NetCounter is lightweight, to the point and very effective
Temjin said:
- Is there anyway of browsing file directories?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need an app, there is no native explorer. I have found ES File Explorer to be the best free explorer. It supports SMB network shares with ease too. No need to go through the hassle of connecting by USB and mounting the SD card to xfer files... you can just pull files directly over your network.

Hi Kiz,
Those two apps work fantastic! Thanks!

Related

G2 (Hero) runnins slow - apps not closing / opening themselves

Hi guys,
Have had my Hero just over a month now and love the thing to bits...
The one thing (battery life aside) that pees me off though is that the phone can be slow at times...
It seems to stem from apps either opening themselves and running in the background, or not closing properly when I select to close them.
I seem to spend half my time using the phone in TaskKiller getting rid of everything that shouldn't be running before I can do anything.
Has anyone got any smart ideas on how I can improve the problems above?
I've also noticed when I switch the phone off and back on a) it improves things slightly, but b) it also runs lots of things that I don't need open so is there a way to stop things running on start up?
Thanks for the help guys.
To show you what I mean, I just restarted the phone and killed everything except:
WaveSecure Beta
com.google.android.apps.mapssomething that goes off the screen) - can't kill this
HTC Sense
Touch Input
com.htc.provider
Go back to it 10 minutes later and I also have the following open:
Settings
vizBattery
Wi-Fi Status
Google Mail
Thats without me touching it at all.... if I had also used the Twitter app, Facebook, messaging etc then they would all still be open, the browser and music player would probably be there too.
It's normal fo it to start some apps on its own, for example peep (htc's twitter program) the music player (only if you have a widget on one of the homescreens)
same goes for calander etc etc google mail is push so it has to be opened to recieve messaged realtime.
Things like batterystatus thingy's often drain your battery and sometimes slow down your device I suggest removing that.
Also I don't know about wifi status but can imagine that draining battery to since
I don't think that will be running without your wifi being on. When continuosly searching for networks your device also will slow down, and drain the battery
My english isn't perfect so I hope you understand what I'm saying.
edit: do you use the official t-mobile rom or a custom? Don't know if htc released the last update for t-mob devices. That update really improved almost everything
so if you don't have that it's ''normal'' for the device to lag.
Some apps register themselves to start automatically. Obviously Gmail needs to run if you're syncing a Gmail account.
There's at least one app (paid) that can override this - I believe it is called Startup Auditor.
However, for the most part, it doesn't really matter since many of the apps that appear to be "running" will not be consuming any CPU time (and by extension battery life) unless they are designed to run in the background.
In addition, as Stafflover has already said, I'd also suggest you try removing vizBattery - whilst I've no specific experience with this app, I've heard that many battery status widgets drain the battery significantly.
Regards,
Dave
foxmeister said:
There's at least one app (paid) that can override this - I believe it is called Startup Auditor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AutoStarts does the same job, also paid. using it for weeks, works great.
programs starting up
gk141054 said:
Hi guys,
Have had my Hero just over a month now and love the thing to bits...
The one thing (battery life aside) that pees me off though is that the phone can be slow at times...
It seems to stem from apps either opening themselves and running in the background, or not closing properly when I select to close them.
I seem to spend half my time using the phone in TaskKiller getting rid of everything that shouldn't be running before I can do anything.
Has anyone got any smart ideas on how I can improve the problems above?
I've also noticed when I switch the phone off and back on a) it improves things slightly, but b) it also runs lots of things that I don't need open so is there a way to stop things running on start up?
Thanks for the help guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Pal! I had the same problem then I got into a bit of app development and understood. Some service need to be "broadcasting" and some other to be "listening". Best you can do is sometimes tell them how often to "wake up and check". But if you think about it, a program MUST be checking on a few things, at least sometimes, to give you the "android experience". Also, no matter how much you care about that number you see in the "free ram" widget (assunming you use taskiller with the widget), it is not very important until it REALLY does slow your phone down. Some apps are worse than others at clogging up or draining your battery: try them, weigh how useful they really are for you and then decide what to keep (running) Ciao!

Problems with after freesh installation of VillainROM 6.1

Hey,
I've installed (several times actually) VillainROM 6.1 today with full wipes of everything before hands and all. Great job and thank you for putting so much effort in it! I do have few small issues however. And would appreaciate if somebody would knew and shared a workaround or fix. ^__^
1. The ROM is quite sluggish. It's not slow per se but it's not snappy either. I suppose it's due to the problem of it being a memory hog. I mean I use Task Control to kill all the unnecessary apps during regulas usage and use to use a widget for it as well. In stock 1.5 (don't get me wrong, I do not wanna go back by no means) when using many apps my memory went down to about 55-65MBs and on a regular usage it stayed around 80-90MBs of free memory. In VR6.1 when I use it heavily memory goes down to 10-30MB and on a regular usage it floats in the vicinity of 40-50MBs tops. When I kill all the apps however I get anything between 80 and 90MBs of free memory. For about two minutes, cause even if I don't do anything it the device restarts all the services and is back at 40-50 in no time. Is there a way to deal with that or shall I just learn to live with it?
2. There's many apps that I don't and won't use and would like to remove those but when I do so through adb shell I start getting Force quites on GoogleApps and can't use Market at all. I wanna get rid of Adobe Reader, Footprints, Friend Stream, Java, News and Weather, PDF Viewer, Quick Office, Stocks, Voice Dialer, Voice Search and Weather, so if anyone knows which ones are safe to remove without compromising systems stability, I'd appreciate all the help.
3. I've also followed your guide of partitioning SD card for apps2SD that was supposed to work out-of-the-box when partitions are done right. At the moment they don't work at all as my space have rapidyly gone dow in a moile when I wasa installing them. How can I make sure that they work. I don't mean checkSD here I'm after a list of adb sjell commands to have it working or any other way really?
4. And last but not least... I'm not even sure if it's a problem I'm experiencing or is it something that is not supported but I've downloaded Overclock widget and it's not working as if it was not supported by kernel. I've used it on other ROM and it was fine so I don't know if it requires any tweaks or is it just not usablle in VR6.1?
I did not write all that to point out problems with the ROM or to say that I hate it - I like it and that's why I'm not switching to another one but seeking help in improving my experience with VR6.1. ^__^ Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
jump over to villainrom.co.uk
they have these known issues reported and have fixes to most. Plus 6.2.0 is out so worth upgrading to that!
kad3t said:
Hey,
I've installed (several times actually) VillainROM 6.1 today with full wipes of everything before hands and all. Great job and thank you for putting so much effort in it! I do have few small issues however. And would appreaciate if somebody would knew and shared a workaround or fix. ^__^
1. The ROM is quite sluggish. It's not slow per se but it's not snappy either. I suppose it's due to the problem of it being a memory hog. I mean I use Task Control to kill all the unnecessary apps during regulas usage and use to use a widget for it as well. In stock 1.5 (don't get me wrong, I do not wanna go back by no means) when using many apps my memory went down to about 55-65MBs and on a regular usage it stayed around 80-90MBs of free memory. In VR6.1 when I use it heavily memory goes down to 10-30MB and on a regular usage it floats in the vicinity of 40-50MBs tops. When I kill all the apps however I get anything between 80 and 90MBs of free memory. For about two minutes, cause even if I don't do anything it the device restarts all the services and is back at 40-50 in no time. Is there a way to deal with that or shall I just learn to live with it?
2. There's many apps that I don't and won't use and would like to remove those but when I do so through adb shell I start getting Force quites on GoogleApps and can't use Market at all. I wanna get rid of Adobe Reader, Footprints, Friend Stream, Java, News and Weather, PDF Viewer, Quick Office, Stocks, Voice Dialer, Voice Search and Weather, so if anyone knows which ones are safe to remove without compromising systems stability, I'd appreciate all the help.
3. I've also followed your guide of partitioning SD card for apps2SD that was supposed to work out-of-the-box when partitions are done right. At the moment they don't work at all as my space have rapidyly gone dow in a moile when I wasa installing them. How can I make sure that they work. I don't mean checkSD here I'm after a list of adb sjell commands to have it working or any other way really?
4. And last but not least... I'm not even sure if it's a problem I'm experiencing or is it something that is not supported but I've downloaded Overclock widget and it's not working as if it was not supported by kernel. I've used it on other ROM and it was fine so I don't know if it requires any tweaks or is it just not usablle in VR6.1?
I did not write all that to point out problems with the ROM or to say that I hate it - I like it and that's why I'm not switching to another one but seeking help in improving my experience with VR6.1. ^__^ Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said above, if you pop over to villainrom.co.uk, we can get you sorted out. 6.2 is out with fixes. As for 3, there is a great guide under "Guides" that will get A2SD checked and fixed.

[App] SwitchMe needs some Prime testers

Hi everyone. Im one of the developers of SwitchMe, and app that allows multiple secure logins into separate installations of android on a single device. The pr is after the break.
I really need a few people to check into some issues people on the original galaxy s have been experiencing. There are some warnings involved:
- testers must perform a full nandroid backup before using the app, it is not our responsibility if you start getting boot loops
- if you report results or bugs, please use the "Write to us" function in the app whenever possible, and always describe the issue in the header of the logs you send
- if you post here, bes sure to include your device type and rom
- if you have apps installed on sd, be sure to mention that as well
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SwitchMe is a unique application for root users that allows you to log in and out of multiple installations of Android just as you would on a desktop computer.
The technology behind SwitchMe saves all of your applications and data, protects it and stores it as a file in memory. You can then log out of an
account and log into a fresh installation of Android or another account with its own unique content.
You may create as many profiles as the memory is capable of holding. Some of these may require very little free memory because they contain few apps,
others will be larger as they contain many applications and lots of cache and data.
Why is this functionality useful?
Privacy - the most obvious benefit is that you can securely share one device among multiple users, which gives you privacy and peace of mind.
Testing - if you are a developer, you can use profiles as clean sandboxes to test your applications and their interaction with the system.
Gaming – with multiple installations of Android on a single device, you can now play online MMOs as different characters.
Speed - the games your kids play slow down your tablet, but with SwitchMe you can easily create profiles without games or instant messengers.
Battery life - when the battery is low but there are important emails or documents to edit later, switch to a profile which only contains these essentials.
These of course are only suggestions - there are plenty of other uses for the functionality SwitchMe offers.
Market link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.switchme
The Lite version allows the creation of two profiles, enough to test on.
Screens:
You had me all the way up to "testers must perform a full nandroid backup before using the app, it is not our responsibility if you start getting boot loops". That's when you lost me.
Hi,
I'm using the app for some days. First version works fine but I was not able to generate a cloned profile, the new profile was always empty. Next version was able to generate cloned profiles, but after installation of the update I was stucked in my second profile because the switch button don't work any longer. Todays update fixed these error.
I have a Prime 32 GB with dock, ICS 4.0.3 and I love this app. Now I can share my tablet with my wive without having trouble with emails and highscores.
ftgg99 said:
- testers must perform a full nandroid backup before using the app, it is not our responsibility if you start getting boot loops
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah we can't make nandroid backups just yet
ill test as soon as we can run full backups, hopefully in the next month or so
I have this running without any issue on ICS. Fast switching appears to work fine too. Great application.
I am a little nervous not having nandroid backup!
Here's the link to the post for the application! I Enjoy
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1465661&highlight=prime
I was nervous trying this app without a backup, but it worked great.
Sweet app!
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Sounds like a good app. Bump
I have been running for 3 days with no issues, AND without the nandroid backup. So far no issues and it works a treat.
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions or want me to test something.
hairdewx said:
Yeah we can't make nandroid backups just yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry guys, i spent my cash on a 7.7 instead so there isnt a Prime in the office yet and i wasnt aware that you had no fully working recovery.
In any case, Titanium and the stock recovery should be just fine in terms of fixing the device if you have any issues!
No issues here for 3 days.
I get the pro version
Let me know if you have any issues please!
Just finished my backup with titanium, I just hope you are right with the stock recovery in case of problem! I will post comment soon!
Arsenick said:
Just finished my backup with titanium, I just hope you are right with the stock recovery in case of problem! I will post comment soon!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recovery is recovery. This app will not affect it...
Good news
I just bought the app, because this is a feature requested in android since a long time and I think this is a really good start and I want you to still improve the app! Like switching without reboot or have a lockscreen with the possibility to switch profile
It's just bad that the average people can't use it because it require root, but I understand you have to follow Android limitation... Anyway, you did a good job!
Here's my test so far:
Clone current profile => Woking ( takes a while but I had a lot of apps )
Create new profile => Working
Fast Switching => Working
Problems or questions:
- Bubbleator "live wallpaper" seems to crash after a "profile switch" but to be honest it can crash by itself easy... lol
- Is it normal I can Access pictures/video folders of other profile ? ( if it is, that could be great to have an option to "lock" a folder so only the "owner" will be able to access the files )
- The "Asus" apps installed by default like SuperNote or mylibrary (ebook reader) seems to have access to notes or books stored in other profile ( again maybe this is normal )
I don't understand how the space usage is displayed..In one of my new blank profile there's 53.29mb available for apps same for data and same for Dalvik and it's filled at 84%. In another new blank account it's 246.54mb available for every categories.. So why the space allocated to each profile is different and when/how this is determined ? Is it fixed ?
That's pretty it, thanks for this good work! And thanks in advance for your answer!
Is there anything else to test ?
Problems with games
Hello,
I haven't try games in my previous test. After few profile switchover I can't play all fullscreen games.
I got problems with:
Tinytower (not tablet optimised), Zen pinball, Shine runner, they all crash at sometimes during the loading, 2-3 seconds after the program start or during game play. I can't say if it's the game itself having problem, but I can tell you tinytower as never crashed on my device before and I have played Zen pinball 2-3 times and it was ok.
Example of game that still work: mx moto, Angry Birds, Tank Riders, Air Attack HD, SiegeCraft THD. So far I haven't got any problems with normal apps other than games...
Most of the games seems to run ok... I don't understand why few of them are crashing.
Does SwitchMe will use more "ram" for other profile or it just don't have a footprint at all once you switch and "reboot" ?
Fullscreen games? Maybe you have them on the SD in some broken ways? For me every game works just fine.
Galaxy Tab 8.9, KANG
Yeah forget about the fullscreen.. lol it's just my bad english. I tried to reboot the device and the games worked again. It appear to happend when I do several consecutive profile switch. I will try to reproduce tonight and let you know if this happen again. The games wasn't on the sd because I have no "external storage" on my tablet.
I have been using the paid SwitchMe for a week or so now and have 3 profiles. One for my wife and me along with a "guest" account, so far its been great, I would, however, like to have an icon or section that would show the memory taken per user. That would be killer for me to see it visually at a glance like that.
My one question with the app as is I get toast notifications granting the app superuser access from time to time long after booting. It's the only app I have that does that. Not a problem at all, just curious about it.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Works great here
Hello,
Succesfully rooted and created 3 profiles with switchme.
Everything works smoothly, from clone to fresh profile.
Fast switching works great, no problem so far...
One question though: I though there was a widget to switch profile... I need to go to the app (through notification's bar shortcut) to switch profile. Anything like that planned?

Huge list of disabled apps! 180+!!!

There is an issue with the latest list so don't copy it completely. I got a bootloop after restarting my phone today and I had to factory reset... this is as of 10/8/16 at 12:50pm. The list from the 5th of October on back should be fine. I'm currently trying to sort out the issue.
................................
Here is a list of apps and services which can be disabled on the Note 7 while still maintaining stability; Data, Calling, Texting, MMS, Wi-Fi, Tethering, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync, Camera, EQ, HD Calling, Always On and all the S-Pen features work, but most other things are turned off like Fingerprint, Iris, NFC, Edge Panel, Pay Services, etc... This list isn't meant to be copied exactly by everyone because we all use our devices differently but you can pick and choose what you want to get the optimal performance from your device.
As of 10/6/16 I have 180+ apps and services disabled and today I got over 8 hours of SOT with 11% battery left (over 9 hours projected of SOT based on the days' usage). I didn't use any power saving modes and kept my brightness at a reasonable level so using the device was easy and not annoying due to the brightness being so low. I had location and sync enabled and wasn't doing any unnatural things trying to squeeze out as much battery life as I could. This was real world usage with all the necessary features and background processes running so using the device felt natural and functional. I say this so people don't think I fudged these numbers by doing things like letting my phone sit with the screen on while at the lowest brightness and not using it, or that I was using some power saving modes to squeeze out as much life as possible. My phone ran at full power all day. I've never even toggled power saving mode on my phone before.
Due to XDA's limit on the amount of image uploads I'm going to create two post with the complete list of disabled apps and link them here in the OP.
I'm using EZ Package Disabler (Samsung) from the play store to disable these apps and services. I bought that one because it had the highest rating.
Below here are some updates I posted during the process of figuring out what to disable. The post with the latest date is always going to have the most current and relevant information.
9/30/16 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68930083&postcount=16
10/2/16 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68950934&postcount=23
10/3/16 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68972097&postcount=26 / http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68972131&postcount=27
10/5/16 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68999679&postcount=33
[UNSTABLE something in this list caused me to bootloop]10/6/16 - 184 Disabled Apps & Services List Part 1 Here and Part 2 Here XML Export File List Here
Why do you bother to own this phone when you disable most of what makes this phone so great? It has a tonne of RAM, tonne of storage, not sure what you are trying to achieve by disabling so much?
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
tonymy01 said:
Why do you bother to own this phone when you disable most of what makes this phone so great? It has a tonne of RAM, tonne of storage, not sure what you are trying to achieve by disabling so much?
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, most of the features are still there. I bought it for the S-pen features and all that is still there. Did you go through the list and see what I turned off or are you just replying to reply? If you read my OG post you'd see I said that my goal was to keep the functionality of the device.
This phone is loaded with bloat and useless services and apps that most will never use. All these things can cause battery drain, cpu usage, ram usage, hardware heat, among other things. So why not turn off what is not needed? It doesn't matter how much ram the phone has, why run stuff that doesn't need to run since you aren't using it?
Fingerprint,shealth, Android pay, software updating, iris scanner, gmail, standard email, game launcher, Samsung cloud (much more useful than Google backup as it supports call logs, sms and other recoveries), the emergency alerts, car mode(for operating in car potentially with different launcher suitable for vehicle use) the list goes on and on and I did look, I don't post for no reason.
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
tonymy01 said:
Fingerprint,shealth, Android pay, software updating, iris scanner, gmail, standard email, game launcher, the emergency alerts, car mode(for operating in car potentially with different launcher suitable for vehicle use) the list goes on and on and I did look, I don't post for no reason.
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, I bought it for the S-pen features. What I disabled I don't use and have no use for. Also If I want to use them at any time I can just reenable them. So let's go through your list. Fingerprint, I use swipe or a pin or a pattern. S-health, I use google fit, or nothing since I don't need a smartphone to tell me how to be fit. Android pay, I use cash. Software updating, if I want an update I can manually grab it, I don't need a service running constantly checking for them. Iris scanner, it's stupid and I'll never use it. Gmail, I use inbox and Alto. Standard email, I only have gmail accounts so don't need other email services. Game launcher, I don't play games. Emergency Alerts, seriously? You are just looking for things to justify your post, EA's are useless and annoying when they pop up and have never benefited me once. Car mode, I have no use for it since I drive a 2000 windstar minivan and waze provides me with all I need in a car. Also, you didn't name one thing that makes this phone great but rather things that are basically on all Android's. Again, I bought the phone for the S-pen, all that is still there. Why are you even doing this? your post are as useless as the apps and services I disabled.
Troll flushed where it belongs. Goodbye, no need to be so rude about it.
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
It may be more useful to state what battery usage difference has been found / before and after
bonerp said:
It may be more useful to state what battery usage difference has been found / before and after
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree. I will try testing N7 when I get mine. First factory reset it out of the box (maybe get the update first then factory reset it with recovery). After that set it up keep all apps and see how battery is... the try the disabler I loke to debloat because phone looks much more cleaner then. And any debloat list is totally personal that why I used TB on my rooted devices, this time won't rush to root
Just disable the damn phone, turn it off and stop using it lol
Sent from the Mars Rover
Why all the hate?
I really don't get when people post about disabling certain features that others get upset. Or use power saver, etc.
This is one of the great things about Android, the ability to customize and mod our phones to our liking. Try doing any of these things with an Iphone, you can't. So this particular user wants to disable Gmail and messages because he uses other services (Inbox is awesome). He reports back that things still seem stable? Great! I am interested in updates to see if he runs into any problems etc
Let's talk about the great features we have, which include the ability to replace core apps if we desire. Don't jump on someone for doing so.
A mouse running into a room at a party doesn't cause chaos, how people react to it does. We are all responsible for our own actions. You don't like how someone else customizes their phone, who cares? Move on to the next post.
Sent from my SM-N930W8 using Tapatalk
jmitr said:
Why all the hate? I am interested in updates to see if he runs into any problems etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Used the phone very heavy today and ran into no real issues. I had to reenable one service because I tried to use the built-in EQ and it made settings crash. I was able to find the cause in less than a minute and reenable it The service that needs to run for the EQ to work is "SoundAlive" on page 8.
Also got 2.75 hours of SOT and 3 hours of gps use and was right at 50% battery left. At the end of tomorrow I'm going to post some screenshots.
Thanks for the list OP, I probably won't be disabling as much as you have but it's great to know what I can kill without messing up the phone. (when I finally get it)
Mdizzle1 said:
Thanks for the list OP, I probably won't be disabling as much as you have but it's great to know what I can kill without messing up the phone. (when I finally get it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. I plan on trying to get more added to the list. Once I know what I've added so far is safe and doesn't cause any issues I'll slowly add more.
I appreciate the list too. It is good to know what can be safely disabled and then we can decide what we want to keep or give the heave ho.
Smithfolk4 said:
I appreciate the list too. It is good to know what can be safely disabled and then we can decide what we want to keep or give the heave ho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done another day of heavy use today and I'm very happy with my results. I had over 3 hours of SOT using auto brightness which stayed on max brightness most of the time since I was outside and I still had over 40% (I estimate I was on track to get very close to 6 hours SOT with max auto brightness!!!) battery left when I got home. I also used GPS for about an hour along with installing app, and constantly doing other stuff on the phone. I'm going to update the OP with some more screenshots. But from these past two full days of very heavy use and no force closes or issues to speak of (other than having to turn SoundAlive back on for the EQ to work) I'm going to say what I've disabled so far is safe and causes no dependency issues. Also, the phone runs very smooth and doesn't get hot at all. Even today with basically 3 straight hours of SOT and max auto brightness the phone never heated up.
Oh! I'm at 101 things disabled now (not including my downloaded disabled apps) which is how I ran it all day today. More to come! Once I feel like I've found everything I can disable safely I'll do a new updated OP with all I found.
9/30/16 screenshots just showing some battery and cpu use stats. In the future I'm going to add some temp stats. If anyone has a good app for monitoring temps let me know even if it's paid. I don't mind buying apps that are good and useful.
Awesome the list is identical to what I disabled excluding iris, finger print, Samsung app store, gmail and sound alive. I can tell my phone lasts longer on a single charge and everything works just as if everything were enabled. For some odd reason I don't like seeing my RAM going over 2GB lol I know I know unused memory is a waste in Android OS.
NIKKOTUASON said:
Awesome the list is identical to what I disabled excluding iris, finger print, Samsung app store, gmail and sound alive. I can tell my phone lasts longer on a single charge and everything works just as if everything were enabled. For some odd reason I don't like seeing my RAM going over 2GB lol I know I know unused memory is a waste in Android OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always hated automation. I can't stand things running without my permission! I've had all startup programs on windows disabled since 2003 Back in the day on Windows XP I got my active running services in task manager to below 20. I'm now at 101 things disabled on the note 7 and I know there is a ton more I can turn off but I'm going about things slowly. I've confirmed that the 101 things I've turned off so far are safe and the phone definitely runs better in every way.
As far as the ram theories and myths about Android it's mostly people repeating their misunderstandings. Of course if you are using the apps in the ram a lot it's good for them to be there because they will load faster but if you are never using those apps and services and they are still sitting in your ram then it's not productive and a waste of resources which will cause the phone to not run optimally. These phones (and computers) come preloaded with tons of stuff running because they are targeted at the average user and not at the power/informed users. Anyone who knows much of anything about computers and how they are setup from the factory knows they are not configured for performance but rather a balance between performance and usability. Of course Android is getting better and better at managing apps and putting them to sleep but there still is nothing better than completely disabling things you don't need and will never use and thereby freeing up resources you can use for things you are actually using...wow! what a concept, have resources there to use for things you actually use! Genius! People seem to act like having ram full just for the sake of having it full is a good thing in Android when that is completely false. Even Android likes to have resources free that it can use for other things.
142 disabled apps and services
So I'm now sitting at 142 things disabled. I'm going to run my current setup for a couple days and see how it goes. I'll report back the results. Hopefully in a week or so I'll have a full list of what can be turned off without having issues.
Looking forward to your end results. Thank You for sharing your experience debloating.

Are there any deal breakers in this gorgeous device?

I was waiting to buy the upcoming iPhone (Blasphemy!) but I just love how unique Find X is. It is going to be up for pre-order next week and I need some advice from you users.
- How durable is that 'mechanism'?
- Are you guys able to replace the stock launcher with something like Nova or Ruthless launcher with google now feed?
- Does the surface of the retracting mechanism get covered with dust over time?
- Have any other serious complaints about the phone in general?
Thanks in advance. Will really appreciate your input. Cheers!
prophet558 said:
I was waiting to buy the upcoming iPhone (Blasphemy!) but I just love how unique Find X is. It is going to be up for pre-order next week and I need some advice from you users.
- How durable is that 'mechanism'?
- Are you guys able to replace the stock launcher with something like Nova or Ruthless launcher with google now feed?
- Does the surface of the retracting mechanism get covered with dust over time?
- Have any other serious complaints about the phone in general?
Thanks in advance. Will really appreciate your input. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- How durable is that 'mechanism'?
Seems pretty solid but we won't know for a while!
- Are you guys able to replace the stock launcher with something like Nova or Ruthless launcher with google now feed?
Try looking in the forum, about three posts down in the "Killing apps" thread
- Does the surface of the retracting mechanism get covered with dust over time?
Not so far but, it looks pretty easy to clean the dust away
- Have any other serious complaints about the phone in general?
Power management is a B*&CH. See the same thread about "Killing Apps"
https://forum.xda-developers.com/find-X/help/killing-apps-screen-off-arghh-t3818105
Monty Burns said:
- How durable is that 'mechanism'?
Seems pretty solid but we won't know for a while!
- Are you guys able to replace the stock launcher with something like Nova or Ruthless launcher with google now feed?
Try looking in the forum, about three posts down in the "Killing apps" thread
- Does the surface of the retracting mechanism get covered with dust over time?
Not so far but, it looks pretty easy to clean the dust away
- Have any other serious complaints about the phone in general?
Power management is a B*&CH. See the same thread about "Killing Apps"
https://forum.xda-developers.com/find-X/help/killing-apps-screen-off-arghh-t3818105
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the response. I have used ColorOS recently (Oppo Realme 1) and the Background app management was too aggressive.
prophet558 said:
Thanks a lot for the response. I have used ColorOS recently (Oppo Realme 1) and the Background app management was too aggressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's on some sort of power trip (literally, in both senses of the phrase). That said, if you read through the thread i created, following a firmware upgrade yesterday and after a "settling period" things have been almost faultless today. My phone has been faultless and even thrown in a couple of reboots to challenge it and still been OK. My last problem of Gmail being forced to drop to 15 minute syncs instead of Push also seems to have resolved itself.
Now, i'm not sure if this is some sort of OS learning which apps I use, the firmware or just plain luck (or a combo) but, i'm now very happy with the device.
If you want your own launcher, it is entirely possible, as is removing the bloat (i'm running Nova) and there is no need to register with Oppo either. The link to achieve that is also in the thread I linked to.
I have no idea about battery life as when I'm at work it sits in a dock and then when i'm at home, it's also mostly in a dock so, battery life isn't really a concern but, i guess I'll find out this weekend!
prophet558 said:
I was waiting to buy the upcoming iPhone (Blasphemy!) but I just love how unique Find X is. It is going to be up for pre-order next week and I need some advice from you users.
- How durable is that 'mechanism'?
- Are you guys able to replace the stock launcher with something like Nova or Ruthless launcher with google now feed?
- Does the surface of the retracting mechanism get covered with dust over time?
- Have any other serious complaints about the phone in general?
Thanks in advance. Will really appreciate your input. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1: The mechanism feels very durable, and 95% of the time the camera pops up fast. I have encountered 5% of time when the camera would pop up but the camera app takes an additional second or two to load.
2: nope. Unable to use nova launcher unless you into adb and do all types of advanced phone geek thing or something.
3: there's noticeable dust on my camera module but doesn't seem to be a big deal.
The big issue with this phone you should take note is, like many Chinese roms, push notifications are delayed or broken if the app has been closed or in background too long. There is a work around for this -- you have to go to settings and turn battery optimization off AND lock the app in the app overview window. This is of course, not ideal and annoying as hell. Currently I only have crucial "must get notifications on time" apps locked, such as whatsapp, wechat and Gmail. So for the most part I can use the phone fine. But I do miss all other notifications such as airbnb messages, Facebook messages, LinkedIn messages, until I open those apps again. I could lock all of them down too, but I don't want to have like seven apps running in background at all times.
This is a problem with many Chinese version of Chinese phones. I don't know why they think battery optimization so aggressive it kills notifications is a good thing.
prophet558 said:
I was waiting to buy the upcoming iPhone (Blasphemy!) but I just love how unique Find X is. It is going to be up for pre-order next week and I need some advice from you users.
- How durable is that 'mechanism'?
- Are you guys able to replace the stock launcher with something like Nova or Ruthless launcher with google now feed?
- Does the surface of the retracting mechanism get covered with dust over time?
- Have any other serious complaints about the phone in general?
Thanks in advance. Will really appreciate your input. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Stock Android provides for incoming notifications to be seamless (automatic by default, individual 3rd party app settings may be different by default, but, can be easily toggled on). Oppo has severe restrictions on this, limiting to 5 user installed apps to start automatically on boot & 5 apps total to be locked in recent memory.
So, a high horsepower phone is basically muzzled, if you can deal with the angst of wondering if you're going to get timely notifications...... Perhaps if you use the stock email & messaging apps, these will likely work, but, I would steer clear of those....
2) No NFC, so, no tap to pay apps will work.
3) No VoLTE, no VoWI-FI
4) No status bar notification icons, no LED notification indicator.
5) If you use T-Mobile Digits & it isn't a top 5 protected app/one of your precious 5 to auto start on boot, it will log you out of the app on reboot & it will not work until you set it up again, resulting in missed messages & phone calls.
6) 3rd party clock apps: Again, if it's not a protected top 5 app, it will not keep proper time, resulting in missed alarms..... The stock clock works, but, it is a bare bones app at best, no snooze adjustment, locked into 5 minutes, SERIOUSLY?
7) Ad Blockers will work, but, intermittently, again, the top 5 protected app thing & even then, Oppo will kill it off at some point, resulting in having to restart the blocking.
8) If you choose to use a 3rd party launcher, you again lose some functionality. I use Chrome & frequently place shortcuts on my desktop from it.
NOT ON THIS PHONE, another swing & a miss....
9) Bluetooth devices:
Generally they work fine,but,if the device has a companion app,prepare for it (the app) to not work properly.
Example(s):
I have a pair of Jabra Elite Active 65t earbuds,pair-up & work fine,but,the companion app will not work,as it requires a plug-in app to fuel it. These various "plug-in" apps are typical & the companion apps work fine elsewhere,but,not on this phone.
Reason being,the "plug-in" app does not have a user interface,so,you cannot make the app a top 5 protected app to gain functionality,it simply won't work at all.
Ditto for smartwatches such as the Samsung line-up, for the same reason,no notifications,worked one day for me & broken the next,before & after the most recent Oppo update. That results in the Samsung smartwatch getting a lobotomy,only able to keep time & nothing more.
10) Package tracking apps:
Again,the top 5 protected thing,no timely updates & even then,mine simply did not refresh automatically,had to be done manually.
I could go on, but, in a nutshell, you're forced to make sacrifices as soon as you start using the phone. If this was a entry level/low storage/low RAM device, that's one thing.
But, it's not, basically a Lamborghini running on two cylinders, that's not what I paid for & why I sold mine 5 days after the most frustrating phone experience I've ever seen....
Sent from my HUAWEI BKL-L04 using XDA Labs
Monty Burns said:
Yeah, it's on some sort of power trip (literally, in both senses of the phrase). That said, if you read through the thread i created, following a firmware upgrade yesterday and after a "settling period" things have been almost faultless today. My phone has been faultless and even thrown in a couple of reboots to challenge it and still been OK. My last problem of Gmail being forced to drop to 15 minute syncs instead of Push also seems to have resolved itself.
Now, i'm not sure if this is some sort of OS learning which apps I use, the firmware or just plain luck (or a combo) but, i'm now very happy with the device.
If you want your own launcher, it is entirely possible, as is removing the bloat (i'm running Nova) and there is no need to register with Oppo either. The link to achieve that is also in the thread I linked to.
I have no idea about battery life as when I'm at work it sits in a dock and then when i'm at home, it's also mostly in a dock so, battery life isn't really a concern but, i guess I'll find out this weekend!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very reassuring for me. Are you able to view the screen on time in this device? (Dunno why colorOS hides that).
radioraheem2 said:
1: The mechanism feels very durable, and 95% of the time the camera pops up fast. I have encountered 5% of time when the camera would pop up but the camera app takes an additional second or two to load.
2: nope. Unable to use nova launcher unless you into adb and do all types of advanced phone geek thing or something.
3: there's noticeable dust on my camera module but doesn't seem to be a big deal.
The big issue with this phone you should take note is, like many Chinese roms, push notifications are delayed or broken if the app has been closed or in background too long. There is a work around for this -- you have to go to settings and turn battery optimization off AND lock the app in the app overview window. This is of course, not ideal and annoying as hell. Currently I only have crucial "must get notifications on time" apps locked, such as whatsapp, wechat and Gmail. So for the most part I can use the phone fine. But I do miss all other notifications such as airbnb messages, Facebook messages, LinkedIn messages, until I open those apps again. I could lock all of them down too, but I don't want to have like seven apps running in background at all times.
This is a problem with many Chinese version of Chinese phones. I don't know why they think battery optimization so aggressive it kills notifications is a good thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. Hope backgeound app management better with the Global ROM.
The international version goes on sale in India and the Philippines today. We should soon get an idea of what the phone is capable of when it isn't hobbled by the oppressive Chinese firmware.
KOLIOSIS said:
1) Stock Android provides for incoming notifications to be seamless (automatic by default, individual 3rd party app settings may be different by default, but, can be easily toggled on). Oppo has severe restrictions on this, limiting to 5 user installed apps to start automatically on boot & 5 apps total to be locked in recent memory.
So, a high horsepower phone is basically muzzled, if you can deal with the angst of wondering if you're going to get timely notifications...... Perhaps if you use the stock email & messaging apps, these will likely work, but, I would steer clear of those....
2) No NFC, so, no tap to pay apps will work.
3) No VoLTE, no VoWI-FI
4) No status bar notification icons, no LED notification indicator.
5) If you use T-Mobile Digits & it isn't a top 5 protected app/one of your precious 5 to auto start on boot, it will log you out of the app on reboot & it will not work until you set it up again, resulting in missed messages & phone calls.
6) 3rd party clock apps: Again, if it's not a protected top 5 app, it will not keep proper time, resulting in missed alarms..... The stock clock works, but, it is a bare bones app at best, no snooze adjustment, locked into 5 minutes, SERIOUSLY?
7) Ad Blockers will work, but, intermittently, again, the top 5 protected app thing & even then, Oppo will kill it off at some point, resulting in having to restart the blocking.
8) If you choose to use a 3rd party launcher, you again lose some functionality. I use Chrome & frequently place shortcuts on my desktop from it.
NOT ON THIS PHONE, another swing & a miss....
9) Bluetooth devices:
Generally they work fine,but,if the device has a companion app,prepare for it (the app) to not work properly.
Example(s):
I have a pair of Jabra Elite Active 65t earbuds,pair-up & work fine,but,the companion app will not work,as it requires a plug-in app to fuel it. These various "plug-in" apps are typical & the companion apps work fine elsewhere,but,not on this phone.
Reason being,the "plug-in" app does not have a user interface,so,you cannot make the app a top 5 protected app to gain functionality,it simply won't work at all.
Ditto for smartwatches such as the Samsung line-up, for the same reason,no notifications,worked one day for me & broken the next,before & after the most recent Oppo update. That results in the Samsung smartwatch getting a lobotomy,only able to keep time & nothing more.
10) Package tracking apps:
Again,the top 5 protected thing,no timely updates & even then,mine simply did not refresh automatically,had to be done manually.
I could go on, but, in a nutshell, you're forced to make sacrifices as soon as you start using the phone. If this was a entry level/low storage/low RAM device, that's one thing.
But, it's not, basically a Lamborghini running on two cylinders, that's not what I paid for & why I sold mine 5 days after the most frustrating phone experience I've ever seen....
Sent from my HUAWEI BKL-L04 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really appreciate the response. That seems a lot of sacrifices which I can make except for the Smartwatch thing. Do you think the Wear OS watches will crippled the same was as the Gear ones? (Despite Wear OS being a single app with no companion apps unlike the Gear)
prophet558 said:
Really appreciate the response. That seems a lot of sacrifices which I can make except for the Smartwatch thing. Do you think the Wear OS watches will crippled the same was as the Gear ones? (Despite Wear OS being a single app with no companion apps unlike the Gear)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't make it a "Top 5 Protected" app, count on it not syncing properly/automatically.
krabman said:
The international version goes on sale in India and the Philippines today. We should soon get an idea of what the phone is capable of when it isn't hobbled by the oppressive Chinese firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have given a tentative delivery date - 5th of August on Flipkart (India).
Screw it I just pre-ordered it (Bordeaux Red). Shipping starts from 4th of August. Hope the phone gets relatively better with the Global Indian ROM. Thank you all for your inputs.
Does it has hi dac like vivo nex ?
rowihel2012 said:
Does it has hi dac like vivo nex ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't.
KOLIOSIS said:
If you don't make it a "Top 5 Protected" app, count on it not syncing properly/automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a Wear OS user (Polar M600) i can absolutely CONFIRM what Koliosis is saying and this is not just limited to Samsung Watches.
That said, my watch has been fine now for 2 days and, even after a reboot, the same apps are still auto-run and remain locked. I actually like this solution now BUT, why the FRACK have they restricted it to only 5 apps!?
Anyway, as an example, my locked and running fine apps are:
Wear OS
The Crypto App (so it's widget runs OK - take note, to run a widget, the PARENT app needs to be locked sometimes)
WhatsApp
Gmail
Google Calendar (again, for it's widget)
Now, for me, this is perfectly OK and I have no need to even want to lock other apps (like Facebook) as i'm not interested however, you need to assess YOUR needs which may be more apps.
edit: Oh, oddly, i've got the Sony Experia clock widget installed and that runs perfectly even without being locked and I've no idea why!
Also, I've got the red and it looks stunning. Easily the best looking phone i've ever owned. You'll be happy with the physical design.
prophet558 said:
They have given a tentative delivery date - 5th of August on Flipkart (India).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, will share my inputs once I receive the device :fingers-crossed:
Funk Wizard said:
Same here, will share my inputs once I receive the device :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to it....
I'd be open to getting the phone again,provided the version you'll be getting won't be locked-down,as far as Auto-Start/RAM/recents/app permissions go.
If you've perused the threads here,you're aware of the limitations the users have with the Chinese version,I sure hope your experience is leaps & bounds better.............. :good:
KOLIOSIS said:
Looking forward to it....
I'd be open to getting the phone again,provided the version you'll be getting won't be locked-down,as far as Auto-Start/RAM/recents/app permissions go.
If you've perused the threads here,you're aware of the limitations the users here have with the Chinese version,I sure hope your experience is leaps & bounds better.............. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If these restrictions do not exist on a non-Chinese version, I'll be flashing as soon as it is possible and a method is detailed!
KOLIOSIS said:
Looking forward to it....
I'd be open to getting the phone again,provided the version you'll be getting won't be locked-down,as far as Auto-Start/RAM/recents/app permissions go.
If you've perused the threads here,you're aware of the limitations the users have with the Chinese version,I sure hope your experience is leaps & bounds better.............. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am positive for a better experience on the Indian version which is already better in terms of bloat and hopefully we can do a workaround for the other issues. I will keep you posted. Currently it's a long wait as the tentative delivery is 5th August so I'll share my inputs after playing with the machine for a couple of days
Many thanks for your inputs so far and the adb workaround for bloat.
Sent from my OnePlus6 using XDA Labs

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