Shutting down apps

Just got my phone. My Goodness... LOVE IT! I have a lot of questions. Ordered the user manual. But for now...(and I did do a search before posting!) LOL

How do I quickly close an app? Don't want anything running that I'm not using

What is 'Swype'?

There are so many applications, should I keep them all?

Is there an easy way to turn the camera on, besides using the launcher icon?

how do I customize my gmail page? It says to go to settings,themes...I don't see settings

I do apologize for all these questions, but I do appreciate your help SO much! Linda

Accepted answers

MrMikeM513

Congratulations on your Droid X!

A couple items:

You quickly close an app by opening another, mostly. Some applications do have options to close, like Glob Traffic and eBuddy. But for the most part, well-written apps stop using the processor when you move to another.

You can quickly open your camera by long-pressing the camera button.

The pre-installed apps cannot be removed {edited to comply with Terms of Service}

or installing a 3rd party launcher like Launcher Pro (which I swear by). Launcher Pro lets you hide apps you never use from the app tray.

Do not ever, ever, ever install an automatic bulk task killer. Such software actually interferes with and can badly slow the Android OS. The Android OS doesn't work like Windows, where more free memory is better. Android uses RAM as a place holder for non-active apps, and dumps less frequently used, lower priority apps from RAM as other, more accessed apps demand it. Interfere with that, and apps can slow down because the elements they need to access to do their jobs aren't there any more. This can drain you battery even faster as the apps have to re-assemble crucial parts.

You can use the Settings/Applications section to kill a rogue task chewing up your processor cycles (and thus sucking up your battery). You can also use a third-party file manager with task killing features to tame badly behaving software.

How will you know your processor is running amok? Your battery will drain super-fast and it may get pretty warm. I use Astro File Manager, which includes a subprogram that lists running processes and tells me how much CPU power they use. When something I'm not currently running shows a consistent 20-40% processor, I kill the task. Then I try to repeat the problem. If it shows up again, I uninstall the app and let the developers know about it.

Swype is absolutely kick-{word filter avoidance}
. You can also tweak its performance in the Settings/Language & Keyboard panel to make it behave the way you want it to.

If you figure out a way to customize the Android gmail app, I want to be among the first to know.

Enjoy.

All comments

mortb

How do I quickly close an app? Don't want anything running that I'm not using

What is 'Swype'?

There are so many applications, should I keep them all?

Is there an easy way to turn the camera on, besides using the launcher icon?

how do I customize my gmail page? It says to go to settings,themes...I don't see settings

Let us start with your last question first. Tap on the menu key. That is the key with the four blocks on the botton left. You will see "settings" as one of the options in the menu.

As far as closing apps. Don't worry about it. Droid does a good job of that. As far as getting rid of the pre-installed apps forget it, you can't. they are forever, as it stands right now.

You can also install Advanced Task Killer to take care of the apps as well. However, since it too is always on, it will drain battery some. There is a controversy whether it's worth it or not.

Swype is a way of typing where you do not remove your finger from the keyboard. It's a great system, I love it.

Finally, hold down the red camera key and the camera will come on.

lindamcd

Thanks so much! That cleared up everything except, the 'settings-themes' for Gmail. I found 'settings' on the phone, but no 'theme'

AZ8

You will love Swype! Im actually faster with that than regular typing. And this coming from someone who always used a physical keyboard!

And please....don't download Advanced Task Killer. It will reak havoc with the OS. Android takes care of your apps automatically, shutting them down as needed when not in use. Android does this seamlesly.

My buddy has the exact same phone as me. He downloaded Advanced Task Killer. I didn't. He had many issues with his phone rebooting, phone turning off or freezing. Email apps not synincing...all kinds of stuff. I've had NO issues! NONE! Finally convinced him to uninstall ATK. Guess what? ALL his issues dissappeared! His phone is running great now.

Really, its not needed. ATK is a bad app for android. They don't play well together.

Anyways...good luck with the phone! Its an amazing phone with tons of great things.

Good luck.

Cody21

I agree re: ATK ... I think you should just leave the phone manage it's own APPS. Frankly I think ATK requires a bit of knowledge to use or you can really screw up your phone... Just let it manage itself !! and be smart about the APPS you install.

LoydroidX

AZ8 wrote:
You will love Swype! Im actually faster with that than regular typing. And this coming from someone who always used a physical keyboard!
And please....don't download Advanced Task Killer. It will reak havoc with the OS. Android takes care of your apps automatically, shutting them down as needed when not in use. Android does this seamlesly.
My buddy has the exact same phone as me. He downloaded Advanced Task Killer. I didn't. He had many issues with his phone rebooting, phone turning off or freezing. Email apps not synincing...all kinds of stuff. I've had NO issues! NONE! Finally convinced him to uninstall ATK. Guess what? ALL his issues dissappeared! His phone is running great now.
Really, its not needed. ATK is a bad app for android. They don't play well together.
Anyways...good luck with the phone! Its an amazing phone with tons of great things.
Good luck.

A tech at Verizon added ATK for me when I was having battery life issues. This was not a salesperson, but an actual "certified" tech. He uses the HTC Incredible for his personal phone, so I'm fairly confident that he knows Android well. My battery life has greatly improved - but he did do some other tweaks (including a new battery), so I can't say for sure that ATK helped, but if someone who is well versed in Android says to use ATK, I guess I will. He set it for manual kill, so I might try not killing apps and see what happens.