Monday
Nov242008
Top 5 G1 Tips and Tricks
Monday, November 24, 2008 at 9:21AM
Some say it's easy to turn a trick but that's not always so when it comes to technology (see what I did there?). Sometimes the architecture of an OS and software applications are too locked down (ahem, Verizon comes to mind) but that's not the case with the G1.
After having the phone for a little over a month and spending countless hours poking and prodding away at the device, these are the top 5 tricks I've come up with. Share some of your if you got 'em, please.
After having the phone for a little over a month and spending countless hours poking and prodding away at the device, these are the top 5 tricks I've come up with. Share some of your if you got 'em, please.
- Free Wifi - Many people know of the free wifi that comes with the G1 data plan. This means that anywhere there is a TMobile hot spot but something neat I learned was to install the HotSpot Locator app from the Market. It automatically connects to any TMobile hot spot that it sees and no login necessary!
- Task switching saves time and your "Home" button - The application, Task Switcher, in the Market allows you to press the Camera button to switch between applications instead of going to the home screen. In addition, I put a Camera icon on the home screen so I can still snap pictures of my kitty. In addition to this, hold down the "Home" button for a couple seconds and see the 6 most recent apps listed.
- Email from multiple accounts - I wanted to be able to send email from multiple from addresses and the built in GMail client doesn't allow this. So I installed K-9 and set them up so they wouldn't auto-retrieve my email. This way when I want to send email from the work account, I just tap that name and hit Compose.
- What's next on your schedule? - I find this out the easy way with the Background Calendar application from the Market. It posts your upcoming agenda onto your wallpaper of the phone. It would be nice if I could customize what screen it shows on since I leave my third screen (the one to the right) blank so I can always see what's next.
- Use your phone as a modem - Tetherbot was written for Android and the G1 to let you use it as a modem (of sorts). Once the application is configured and your computer is setup, you should be able to browse the web with a USB cable to the phone -- FOR FREE.
Reader Comments (4)
[...] srcasm) - Automatic hot spot login Free Wifi - Many people know of the free wifi that comes with the G1 [...]
Cool
So what your saying is if I download the app Tetherbot and I use the usb cord to connect the phone to my computer, I can get internet on the cell phone for free?
I believe what they mean is if your computer or laptop does not have internet and your phone has a data plan (Internet) then you can plug the phone into your computer/laptop via USB and then you'll have connection. Hope this helps!