First Photo with the 8 MP camera on HTC Thunderbolt. Dawn.Source: Xenonlit
Introduction
As with any serious computer, it is all about the hardware when purchasing a smart phone.
Afterward, it becomes all about the software. Smartphone software is all about the applications that are already installed and that are available in the applications market. Most users head straight for the market.
When web enabled devices are also very smart computers, the applications are the key to personalizing the device. The right collection of specialized applications can support every field of endeavor. Physicians and medical students have applications that are critical to their work. Business people who need to stay in touch have applications that make communication easier. Shoppers can collect incredibly advanced and helpful applications. Travelers or people who sell and ship a lot of products can find incredible help in the applications markets.
The Thunderbolt and other Android smart phones are expected to get the latest Android Operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich sometime in the first quarter of 2012. This operating system upgrade may open doors for even more advanced applications development. As a result, owners need to stay in touch with the markets to determine whether new or improved applications are available.
In order to get the device to a state where it fills a full set of personal needs, visit the Android apps market, read the tech articles, and ask questions in the Android forums.
What Application Permissions are About
First, download a smart phone security app, before going to the market.
Never install an app if it asks for more permissions than it should have in order to operate.
Permissions are supposed to give the application access to parts of the phone that are needed. Some apps need to use the GPS system in order to find the nearest restaurant, for example.
Some applications turn themselves on in order to stay updated with information from the web. Weather, Facebook, Hotmail and other applications are in this category. Don't worry. For battery control, it is easy to turn these off, to set them to update only every 4 hours, or to set them to update only when used.
Here's the big warning about permissions: some permissions try to get the highest level of access, which is system administrator authority. The service providers do not like this because the application can take control of the device. This control may give access to the service provider's business or install malware and viruses. Any applications are set up to "root" or "jailbreak" the device and should be avoided. There will be more about rooting and jailbreaking.
Most permissions gather non personal information that is then sold to marketing firms. This is relatively harmless, and it helps the developers to get paid.
Do look out for sinister permissions that will try to grab personal information or take over the phone. Read the permissions carefully and avoid the ones that want inappropriate or intrusive access.
The general rule is: "No word game should be allowed to take over my phone!" In other words, compare the application and its function with the permissions that are being requested. If there appear to be excessive permissions, say so in the application review and demand a reason before downloading and installing the app.
Avoid third party markets. These are a gateway for malware, viruses and other nefarious schemes. The tendency is to feel that the cool people get third party apps, but the reality is that these markets can lead to hacking, heartbreak, broken warranties, identity theft, frozen phones, and a host of other problems.
If the application roots or "jailbreaks" the phone or requires any rooting or "jailbreaking", then the application wants system administrator access. Most people who do this have paid the full price for the phone and are not under contract. The carrier can void the warranty, have the phone frozen, and cause other grief. A person who jailbreaks their smartphone is taking matters into their own hands and had better know what they are getting into.
Avoid applications that have data hogging or annoying advertising. It is fine to put up with the ads for a while while trying out an app, but the paid versions are cheap and should be ad free.
Here's an example. With its insanely popular Angry Birds game, Rovio has infuriated many with its badly placed advertising and refusal to allow players to pay for the game and get rid of the ads.
There are no final rules for putting up with ads to avoid the small fee, but a lot of Android users will dump an application if it has bothersome advertising.
Sometimes the developer ask for users to help out by "paying" with donations. As long as the requests for donations are not annoying, it is good to give a donation for a favorite app.
Another problem is the "iPhone has it, so I want it, too" game. This is where users are driven to third party markets in order to have some of the super hot iPhone applications that have not made it to the Android markets yet.
The safest option is to wait until a version reaches the Android market.
Applications can disappear from and Android phone without notice. Do not freak out when this happens. This means that Google is a pit bull when it comes to developers who violate their terms of agreement. If an application goes missing, then someone broke the law of Google. The removal is for everyone's protection.
Look for apps that monitor other apps permissions and give a rating or warning.
Strategies for using the Android Market
The beauty of the online Android Market that a search for one app will bring up similar apps. This makes comparisons much easier. Plus, shopping and reading is much easier on the larger PC or home computer screen.
The Android market home page will feature apps that are most popular, most downloaded and so on.
The star ratings are only to be used as a general guide to the quality of the app. There is no need to put up with an application that has less than four full stars. The Hotmail app is one of the few exceptions.
Use the ratings and reviews. The market is full of real people who actively rate and review the apps, make complaints, and speak their minds...mercilessly in some cases.
Look for a sizable number of reviews. A thousand or more is good. This means that real customers downloaded, used, and wrote about the app, not just enemies or friends of the developer.
Read more reviews. About two or three reviews will show on the first page. Click on "more" to see what others have to say.
Look for complainers to identify their specific device. One of the weaknesses of the customer complaints is that most people forget to identify their smart phone. With so many makes and models on the market, this is critical information.
Look for the fatal complaints: Multiple incidences of fatal complaints include:
App shuts down, freezes, or has to be force stopped.
App will not load and run.
Ads are intrusive and annoying.
Multiple complaints of app not working on your make and model of device.
Multiple complaints that the app does not work, is junk, or that there is a better app that does more.
The app asks for inappropriate permissions.
See if the newest reviews disagree with the star ratings. This means that a recent application update has created more problems than it solved...or the update resolved some major complaints. Read more reviews to see if the reviews were fine prior to a certain date.
Do not permanently reject a desired application! Keep checking up on the application to see if any improvements have come along. It is a major job to develop a sound application that will work perfectly on every device or after every upgrade. Applications do get better (or worse) over time.
Use the Android forums. It is easy to search for information or to ask a question at these two sites. Someone eventually comes along with an answer, and a lot of questions have already been taken care of.
Watch out for the rooting and jail breaking advice, though.
The Writer's Recommendations
Some of the recommendations are old favorites that have served well for over two years with a basic Droid. Some new apps were chosen to go with a fuller featured HTC Thunderbolt. All of the apps offer great support for a host of needs, and have never failed.
Lookout Security: Here is a free version and a paid version. Both will backup data, find the phone and check each and every download for safety. This is one of the first and is still among the best of the mobile security applications.
Advanced Task Manager: is one of the best apps killers around. It will stop apps that insist on starting themselves up, slowing everything to a crawl, and eating the battery all day.
Color Note: This little wonder simply takes notes and keeps them. There are a few colors that can be chosen. Nothing more is needed.
Beautiful Widget: This is a new one for the HTC Thunderbolt. The beauty of this app is in the many styles for weather, clock, battery and more. It is not bloatware since only the desired designs are downloaded and used. It has an add on for animated styles, but those can drain the battery like crazy.
The Battery Widget: is essential! This tells the battery level. Other styles tell the temperature and condition of the battery.
Google Reader is best for subscribing to all of the world's newspapers and presenting the information in a readable form. There are other good news reader apps on the market.
Google Books, Aldiko Premium, Barnes and Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle are great for downloading free or paid books and carrying them anywhere. Even the smallest smart phone screen produces amazingly readable text that can be modified with "text settings".
Slacker and Tune In are two good radio apps, but be careful if the data plan is limited. Radio and streaming video are the biggest bandwidth hogs.
Voice recorder comes with the Android and is not in the market. It is a perfectly fine recorder that does what it should do.
Calculators: There may be scientific calculators, tip calculators and currency calculators, but Basic Calculator does the simple job without fail.
Evernote: This writer has already written about this incredible cloud file storage,management and access application. Put Evernote on everything and find everything from everywhere!
Converter: This little gem will convert units of just about anything into units of just about anything else. Miles to kilometers; killobytes to gigabytes, fractions to metric, you name it and it can be converted!
Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus. These apps are essentials for getting quick access to all of the social networks on one home screen.
Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, GMail: These are great for checking all the email accounts frequently and in a snap.
A flashlight: is a cool way to light up the joint with a choice of three light levels. This app needs to be chosen for the individual make and model of smart phone, but the app that comes with the phone is just fine.
Pro Zoom Camera 5X, Photography Trainer and Photobucket are great enhancements for the camera.
"Dropwords" is a great word game and "Cut the Rope" is a hilarious replacement for the irritating, ad laden Angry Birds bloatware game.
All right, all right. The truth is that Angry Birds is the best game ever invented.
Do explore the applications market, try the free versions out before paying if possible, and have a great time!
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