Develop Bugs

Is anyone else getting bored with their Evo?

Maybe its just me... but I'm becoming quite bored with my Evo. It doesn't matter what ROM I'm using, I am just getting over Android. Sure it boots fast... but my battery won't last even a full day with heavy usage and its tedious changing them all the time, the touchscreen is way too sensitive at times, and since FroYo, I've had way too many freezes and reboots to count.
I'm honestly ready to jump on the Torch or just go back to using my Bold 2... I could pound the hell out of my Bold 2 and it would still last a day and a half minimum, I rarely, if ever, had it freeze, and it did most things I needed it to.
Am I missing something here? Because Android is turning out to be pretty boring. I hate the fact that I can't have a full desktop replacement like I could on Windows Mobile, I rather dislike having to select one e-mail at a time to delete it, and the customization is just not there...

you had me until you said you'd go back to blackberry.
Boring? Bb may be the most boring thing ever

But yeah maybe android isn't for you if you think you can do most things on your bb.
I like mine still and gingerbread will make it more interesting.
That said it gets stale at times but so did iphone os and web os
All things do. Bb got stale 5 years ago

I said I'd go back to Blackberry for stability purposes... not because its not boring. Plus I wouldn't have to buy another phone... I already own a Curve 8330 I can use on Sprint and my 9700 is on ATT.
Its either that or back to the Mogul or Touch Pro 2... I'd rather shoot myself.
I guess for me it would be more useful if I had a hardware keyboard...
EDIT: I guess I was expecting more... You know full flash is great and all... but without proper 3D acceleration it runs like ****. Same goes for the games on the Evo. 43FPS on Antigen? Are you kidding me? The Evo should absolutely SPANK that game...

Dude, if you like stability, unroot your phone and use stock 2.2. Stock = Stability. Period. Also, how does one get "bored" with a phone? As far as I'm concerned it's a tool you use to make calls, browse web, send texts, etc. Do you ever get "bored" with your laptop or your tv because it does what it's supposed to do? Please.

I hear you and don't totally disagree
Android platform is still young
Maybe windows phone 7 can bring something new along but I doubt our as they are blatantly copying iphone os 3
Its tough to keep pace nowadays with users demands for new stuff. I include myself as one of those users
As far as bb I was questioning why you'd buy the torch but if you are saying just a phone you already have that's a different story

zeuzinn said:
Dude, if you like stability, unroot your phone and use stock 2.2. Stock = Stability. Period. Also, how does one get "bored" with a phone? As far as I'm concerned it's a tool you use to make calls, browse web, send texts, etc. Do you ever get "bored" with your laptop or your tv because it does what it's supposed to do? Please.
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I do get bored with my TV thanks and my laptop and my desktop can both be upgraded to extend its capabilities. I run multiple operating systems on both machines.
And stock isn't stable. I've seen people ***** about stock just as much, if not more, than rooted. FroYo is just trash.

Jsimon9633 said:
I hear you and don't totally disagree
Android platform is still young
Maybe windows phone 7 can bring something new along but I doubt our as they are blatantly copying iphone os 3
Its tough to keep pace nowadays with users demands for new stuff. I include myself as one of those users
As far as bb I was questioning why you'd buy the torch but if you are saying just a phone you already have that's a different story
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Click to collapse
I don't have high expectations for WP7. I would love to be proven wrong but I don't even enjoy that particular interface on my Zune...
The Torch is something new and it fixes the main *****es that I had about BlackBerry - boot times and the web browser. Plus ATT offered it to me for 214 even though I only became a customer in January.
On the same token though I think its absolutely appalling that RIM is using the same 624MHz processor that my Bold 2 has and the Bold before it did as well so that would definitely factor into my decision to most likely not purchase the device.

EtherealRemnant said:
I do get bored with my TV thanks and my laptop and my desktop can both be upgraded to extend its capabilities. I run multiple operating systems on both machines.
And stock isn't stable. I've seen people ***** about stock just as much, if not more, than rooted. FroYo is just trash.
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Lol I do get ya man I also get bored with my gadgets
Just a nature of the beast
I tried iphone 4 and was bored after a week
Android is new completely to me so I'm still having fun with roms and kernels, oh my
But I'm sure I'll get bored at some point I just hope gingerbread is out by then
I've not had stability issues though barring some mistakes I made as I learned how to properly flash roms

If I can hold on til Gingerbread (provided the Evo has the horsepower to run it considering it has no dedicated graphics processor and Gingerbread recommends it) I might be fine... I guess one of the biggest annoyances for me is the difficulty in finding apps. The Market is a huge mess. On my berry, I search appworld for a term and it searches the description as well plus gives me options to organize by price, popularity, reviews, etc... Unless I am blind, there is no way I can do this with the Market...

Market
EtherealRemnant said:
If I can hold on til Gingerbread (provided the Evo has the horsepower to run it considering it has no dedicated graphics processor and Gingerbread recommends it) I might be fine... I guess one of the biggest annoyances for me is the difficulty in finding apps. The Market is a huge mess. On my berry, I search appworld for a term and it searches the description as well plus gives me options to organize by price, popularity, reviews, etc... Unless I am blind, there is no way I can do this with the Market...
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Click to collapse
The market definitely sucks
Have you tried app brain
It haas helped me find cool apps more than the market

App Brain?
No I haven't ever even heard of it.

I'm waiting for some real games to come to android too but I'm not that in need since I have my ipad for gaming not to mention my itouch
I do want facebook connected scrabble for android though and bejeweled blitz also with fb connect would alleviate these horrible games I see for android

EtherealRemnant said:
If I can hold on til Gingerbread (provided the Evo has the horsepower to run it considering it has no dedicated graphics processor and Gingerbread recommends it) I might be fine... I guess one of the biggest annoyances for me is the difficulty in finding apps. The Market is a huge mess. On my berry, I search appworld for a term and it searches the description as well plus gives me options to organize by price, popularity, reviews, etc... Unless I am blind, there is no way I can do this with the Market...
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Click to collapse
The Evo does have a dedicated graphics processor. In fact, the adreno GPU is quite capable for a mobile device. Games just need to be re-written to support it (Nova is an example of this, it used to run like crap, now runs beautifully). Sure it's not as powerful as the SGX series, but it's certainly not that underpowered.

EtherealRemnant said:
App Brain?
No I haven't ever even heard of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Find it in market and download it
Its an alternative app store same apps but more easier ways to find them

Jsimon9633 said:
Find it in market and download it
Its an alternative app store same apps but more easier ways to find them
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Thank you! THIS is what I was looking for! It uploaded my list of installed apps and recommended new apps to me based on that. FANTASTIC!
I wish they had rep here because I would totally give you rep for that!

EtherealRemnant said:
Thank you! THIS is what I was looking for! It uploaded my list of installed apps and recommended new apps to me based on that. FANTASTIC!
I wish they had rep here because I would totally give you rep for that!
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Your welcome and I'm glad to pass on the recommends I myself received when I first got my evo
Its not a flawless app but it beats the heck out of the stock market app
And yeah thee sync feature is sweet

Jsimon9633 said:
Your welcome and I'm glad to pass on the recommends I myself received when I first got my evo
Its not a flawless app but it beats the heck out of the stock market app
And yeah thee sync feature is sweet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just installed like 20 apps I didn't even know existed - like StumbleUpon, for example, which is apparently a brand new app (less than 50 downloads)

EtherealRemnant said:
I just installed like 20 apps I didn't even know existed - like StumbleUpon, for example, which is apparently a brand new app (less than 50 downloads)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope this improves your android experience
The community around thee android platform had really impressed me
Especially on this board!

I honestly don't see how you could possibly get bored... You have roms and kernels to last you days of flashing...
Like gambling? You can play Live Poker.
Like racing? You can play Asphalt
Like reading quotes, books and newspapers? theres an app for that.
Like porn? well who doesn't? There is even an app for that.
Craving some super mario or final fantasy? You have emulators.
Like listening to music? You have pandora and a bunch of other radios...
WTF MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT? Some people are just never satisfied.
like honestly...I just don't get it. If your having trouble finding a stable Rom try evios latest and use one of kings kernel. Im easily getting 15 hours on a single charge with moderate-heavy usage.
P.S the latest app thats been keeping me busy is Akinator. That sht is crazy!!! the first time I used it I literally dropped my phone.

[Q] A few noob questions.

Oh hello. I'm absolutely new to the forums because I decided to register so I can ask some questions about the Iconia A100 because I need them answered because I want to get the tablet soon.
Soo, here we go. About the screen size and resolution; I never had any Android device so it might sound stupid but... if you try to run an application or a game or whatever that's been made for lower resolution than the tablet's, will it run in a smaller "window" or something, or just won't run at all? The same goes with applications made for 1.x or 2.x version of Android - will they launch on A100's Honeycomb?
I also worry about the battery a bit - not about the battery's life because that seems just fine for me, but what happens if the battery breaks? You can't really replace it at home without breaking the warranty (I suppose you cannot open it) so will they replace it at some authorized-service-or-something? Or do you need to get the whole tablet replaced? I'm probably over-worrying this a bit because none of my phone batteries ever broke but still... Hehe.
Oh and I also wanted to ask about Gorilla Glass... Is it featured on the A100? On their website it says it is, I just want to get it verified by someone who owns it.
That's probably all for now, thanks very much for any replies.

Paturata said:
Oh hello. I'm absolutely new to the forums because I decided to register so I can ask some questions about the Iconia A100 because I need them answered because I want to get the tablet soon.
Soo, here we go. About the screen size and resolution; I never had any Android device so it might sound stupid but... if you try to run an application or a game or whatever that's been made for lower resolution than the tablet's, will it run in a smaller "window" or something, or just won't run at all? The same goes with applications made for 1.x or 2.x version of Android - will they launch on A100's Honeycomb?
I also worry about the battery a bit - not about the battery's life because that seems just fine for me, but what happens if the battery breaks? You can't really replace it at home without breaking the warranty (I suppose you cannot open it) so will they replace it at some authorized-service-or-something? Or do you need to get the whole tablet replaced? I'm probably over-worrying this a bit because none of my phone batteries ever broke but still... Hehe.
Oh and I also wanted to ask about Gorilla Glass... Is it featured on the A100? On their website it says it is, I just want to get it verified by someone who owns it.
That's probably all for now, thanks very much for any replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kept the A100 for a while before returning it but I'll share what I know about what you ask.
I'm not a gamer per se. Angry Birds is about all I've found interest for. But if an app is designed for lower resolutions often you will see FCs or other odd behaviour. Try to select compatible games for HC 3.2 and you should be fine. If a favorite game is FC'ing on you...drop a note to the developer. Oftentimes you can get great insights that way.
The battery is non-replaceable meaning if it ever pooped out on you, your only recourse would be RMA.
Yes, Gorilla Glass is a feature. But, know this. Gorilla Glass is "scratch-resistant" and not "scratch-proof". Huge difference. If you keep it, cover it would be my suggestion.
The A00 is a nice little tab. Well built but not real flexible. If you can swing a bit more $$ there are much better options out there.
HTH

Thank you skeeterpro. I've a few more questions though - what exactly is "FC"? I'd say it's Friend Code, but that doesn't really fit well...
I also want to ask what better options would you recommend, and why exactly did you return the tablet? I'm sorry for lots of stupid questions, but the tablet seems just fine to me and I don't wanna pay ~200$ more for a 10" Samsung tablet.

FC is short for Force Close. If an app quits responding, it is Android's way of killing it. Most times it will give you the option to Force Close an unresponsive app or wait for it to respond. Other times, it just closes it on its own.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

Paturata said:
Thank you skeeterpro. I've a few more questions though - what exactly is "FC"? I'd say it's Friend Code, but that doesn't really fit well...
I also want to ask what better options would you recommend, and why exactly did you return the tablet? I'm sorry for lots of stupid questions, but the tablet seems just fine to me and I don't wanna pay ~200$ more for a 10" Samsung tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! Ask away. Two things. Questions are what this forum is for and two, we were ALL new at one time!
FC - Force Close. Android-speak for crashed! (Yours seems more positive though!)
Be happy to share what I think on recommendations but the bottom line is what YOU like and does what YOU want and, last but not least, what YOU can afford. If a tablet you have seems fine to you...keep it. Everyone has different needs/wants and therefore goals. List your priorities in a tab then jump on it.
My opinions on available 7" tabs I've tried:
A100: nice overall tablet. Good build just "feels" good in hand. Slippery back though. Screen viewing angles are really not good (looking at screen from the sides). Straight on the screen is acceptable. Battery life is weak. Depending on use it's highly doubtful one would get a full day on a single charge. Not many accessories available. There are rumors Acer may be getting out of making tablets. Not good as support would wither out. And that would mean no OS upgrades. Small dev support. (Not many on Xda own the darned thing). Buying something that is EOL (End Of Life) can be good but seldom is. There is the ability to root the A100 but no verifiable Recovery yet. And rooting voids one's warranty so a fail-safe Recovery is VITAL. The measly 8GB internal storage is mitigated by the uSD (micro SD) availability.
Amazon Kindle: Not a real tablet computer really. An e-reader that runs android which is fine but not really the same "animal" as a full on android tablet. Same with Nook Tablet. Nice units for reading/movies though. But locked into Amazon/Barnes and Noble content.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus: best 7" tablet available today bar none. Downsides are price. It's spend-y at $399 but you get what you pay for. Accessories are few but in the pipeline I am told. Best/fastest processor on the 7" tab out there. Screen isn't IPS but viewing angles and much better than the A100. Charger port can covert to a USB host. Both root and recovery are available but recovery is still being tested AFAIK.
Samsung has a 8.9 screen tab out if the 10.1" screen is too large for you. It has some drawbacks and the biggest IMHO is no uSD. There is a 7.7" tab from Samsung coming that is said to be freakin' amazing but no word on when or if it will be released in the US.
*whew* Hope the about helps at all.
Raise your hand if you have questions? lol

Thanks very much for both replies!
skeeterpro said:
There are rumors Acer may be getting out of making tablets. Not good as support would wither out. And that would mean no OS upgrades. Small dev support. (Not many on Xda own the darned thing).
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That would be bad. However, I read there will be ICS update for the A100 in 2012 so I don't know.
skeeterpro said:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus: best 7" tablet available today bar none. Downsides are price. It's spend-y at $399 but you get what you pay for.
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$399? It's impossible to buy it here (Czech republic) for that price. Even A100 costs $340 here, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus wasn't even released here yet and it will cost $700 at launch. Yes, 700 bucks.
You kinda scared me with the Acer-will-stop-producing-tablets thing (I know it's a rumour, but I'm paranoid as hell ). I'd love to invest into a Samsung tablet and be sure there will be lots of official support for it, but it's way too over-priced here (and that goes with everything in Europe).

Acer is not getting out of the tablet game. They have already announced the A200. The A100 and A500 will get Android 4.0 the latest version of Android in Janurary.

IHaveCrayons said:
Acer is not getting out of the tablet game. They have already announced the A200. The A100 and A500 will get Android 4.0 the latest version of Android in Janurary.
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Good to know! Of course, articles posted by the various websites should always be read with a grain of salt!
---------- Post added at 08:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 AM ----------
Paturata said:
Thanks very much for both replies!
That would be bad. However, I read there will be ICS update for the A100 in 2012 so I don't know.
$399? It's impossible to buy it here (Czech republic) for that price. Even A100 costs $340 here, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus wasn't even released here yet and it will cost $700 at launch. Yes, 700 bucks.
You kinda scared me with the Acer-will-stop-producing-tablets thing (I know it's a rumour, but I'm paranoid as hell ). I'd love to invest into a Samsung tablet and be sure there will be lots of official support for it, but it's way too over-priced here (and that goes with everything in Europe).
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Click to collapse
$700? Jeez. Actually the $340 for the A100 is about what I paid here when I first got it to try out. That sort of pricing seems to explain why so many from Europe purchase devices when on holiday here to take back.
Glad ihavecrayons found the source on Acer. I'm sure some manufacturers will stop producing tabs as the market floods with devices. The A100 (barring the irritants to some people) is a fine little tab really. Once a verifiable/reproducible Recovery is developed it will lend itself to serious modding! Now hopefully there will be increasing love for the device on Xda.

Thanks again.
If you don't mind one (probably last) question... What is this "recovery thing" that everyone's talking about? Resetting the device to its factory state including the default ROM for warranty purposes?

Moderator Message
Alright guys, party over...
@OP... you need to read mate!!
THREAD CLOSED!

I feel like the only one who likes the Fire Phone as-is

Ok, so not 100% as-is. I sideloaded Google Play for a couple apps, namely Gmail and Line. But nearly everything else I've installed has come from the Amazon store. Unlike others, I don't feel like the phone is trying to sell me stuff, but when I do want to buy something, the process is super-simple. I actually love Firefly, and I love that it's one button away, even on my locked phone. I regularly find a new product in a store and wonder about the Amazon price. Now, it's incredibly easy to check.
Granted, I got one of the 3.6.8 firesale phones, and I think that update addressed many of the early reviewers' concerns, but it really seems like a great phone for, in essence, $100 unlocked, no contract.

I actually agree. Sideloaded play store... started with buzz launcher until I actually decided I like the Fire Launcher better. This thing performance wise in antutu is seriously a tiny tic under the S5... for $100? I'm very happy.
Sent from my SD4930UR using XDA Free mobile app

I'm really enjoying the phone without having it rooted and modded, which is a shock to me. Given that this replaces an HTC G2 (I know, ancient) I'm loving the capabilities as far as streaming audio and video - yes, video is much better on a tablet or my 45" tv, but it shows quite well. Having as much ram as it does available for running processes is pretty amazing for me. My only complaint is having to scroll through apps, books and audiobooks to find anything I haven't pinned to the front. I'll have to look into creating collections to make use easier. All in all, I thoroughly enjoy the phone.
ETA - the camera takes great pictures for a non photographer such as myself.

+1
I made the switch from a Galaxy Note II and have been an Android user since I got my first Google G1. As first I found it a little odd, but I really enjoy FireOS now (having added Google Play store for a few oddball apps). I'm actually more productive and can multitask much faster on the Fire Phone than any other Android that I've used. They have a few bugs to work out and some needed features, but not a bad start!

Same here, loving it, after Sideloaded Gapps and google now launcher (i rather have no wallpaper than use buzz launcher) overall its an amazing device for the price!

I agree. I purchased this phone for $200.00 with the one year of prime that I would have bought anyways. I'm coming from an old LG p930 that was getting slow even with Cyanogenmod installed. The battery life was awful.
This one, with update 3.6.8, is super fast, great battery life, and does a lot more than I expected. A few apps weren't there, so I side loaded them and installed the playstore. I, like most people, hate change - so was after getting an android launcher installed. I thinks this might have been the fact that i felt forced to use the Fire Launcher. I now came back to the Fire launcher, and I love it now that I have a choice. I disabled auto updates in google play as it was replacing some amazon apps that used the Fire widgets.
I really hope more apps start building for the Fire Phone as the Fire widgets are super cool, such as reading emails from the home screen, text messages, weather, etc. My only complaint right now is the fact that you cant' easily install an alternate keyboard. When I open the browser it adds the .com and makes the space bar smaller. This bugs me as I'm always either slamming it or the period instead of space when messaging or browsing. Amazon told me there has been a lot of feedback, and they design this phone to be similar to the Kindle. They assume an update will be pushed out in January that will address this, and other issues, as the Kindle allows you to change the keyboard.
Other than that, I wish I could sort my apps in the grid. Outside of those simple things, now that I can side load a few apps I used on a day to day basis, I love this thing! (I do miss Cyanogenmod from time to time though.

Mine is stock except for loading the Play Store and Play apps like Play Music, Play News Stand etc. I also use the Google Now Launcher as I like using the hands free "Okay Google" functionality to send emails and texts without touching the device. Great while driving.

Thanks for all the replies! I stand corrected!

llllI said:
Thanks for all the replies! I stand corrected!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fairness, "as is", isn't a fair statement. Like others, I have sideloaded google apps and use the google now launcher. I find the stock launcher to be counter-intuitive (scrolling down in apps instead of sideways, and not having the apps in alphabetical order in the app drawer).
I wish I could root it and run CM11. I would rather have the same hardware without the dynamic perspective (and the extra cameras) for the same price. It's a neat "show off" feature, but it serves no actual purpose to me. I'd rather have a bigger screen in place of the 4 extra cameras.
The UI reminds me a lot of the WebOS from the HP Touchpad I had. I liked WebOS better than Android, but the app support for it was crippling. The same can be said of the Fi re Phone.
Of course, had they left it with vanilla Android, unlocked bootloader and root access, we couldn't have bought the phone for $200. The launch failure is what allowed us to get such a "deal" on the phone. If they'd given us all the features without loading all the stuff that made it Amazon-centric and breaking a lot of the apps, it wouldn't have been such a flop and they'd have sold out at a higher price. So, overall, the ONLY reason we got the phones so cheap is because of the stuff Amazon did to it.
I had a Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, and I miss the huge screen, but a functional phone with GPS and wif i that don't regularly die is what I wanted and what I received.
I really believe that a lot of the haters out there are simply looking for reasons to hate a device they've not used. They wanted to not like it and they succeeded. I wanted a cheap phone with great specs and I got just that.

[Q] So who was crazy enough to buy one of these??

That would be me!! lol. Amazon made me an offer I couldn't refuse -$159- I got the free year of prime- I paid for it last year by accident and ended up getting a lot of use out of it, so this made it easy. And the phone was $60 (after putting $99 towards prime), and I opened an amazon CC which gave me $40 in an instant credit- so this phone was $20 in the end!! plus taxes of course.
Before I pulled the trigger I looked to XDA to see where development was for this phone- and it looks like it is picking up and starting to move- so I will be getting this new fire phone tomorrow!!! I have to confess I have been using an iphone 5s (JB of course!) for the last year and a half and have been missing the challenge of rooting, romming, and making the best out of the hardware that is lacking due to poor software.
My plan is to put on the latest update and add google play market- leave it unrooted for now and see how it goes. But I am keeping my eye on beta CM11 and seeing how far it goes with CM 13 possibly in the future!!
@ggow- you seem to be very ambitious with this phone!!!! You are doing some great work and I am following your development closely :good::highfive:. I have never used safestrap before, but I may just have to give it a whirl. You make it very tempting
Why was I interested in this Fire Phone??? I bought a kindle 7 hdx last year and hacked that to run google market and it turned out to be a pretty great tablet that I also got a great deal on. It has the fire OS running along side google market with a great launcher running to swap back and forth. So kindle, instant videos, amazon music, and all the google apps too. It's specs were very close to the ipad mini and was a third of the cost. I gave it to my daughter to use in NYC running on att and she has had no complaints with how I modded it. And she is not very techy! :silly:
I am getting a little bored with my 5s and wanted a bigger screen- I passed on the 6+ since we are no longer getting subsidies and $850 for a phone seems ridiculous!! I don't know if 0.7 inches will make much of a difference, but for $20, I just had to find out
I have a Fire Stick TV also and I want to see how they work together. Very excited to receive this phone tomorrow.
Even after all the horrible reviews I read and watched on you tube!! Hopefully these modifications developed here will make it great!

Geez!!!! 75 views and no comments? Come on people- loosen up and let me know if you love your fire phone or hate it or Hate me cause I got it so cheap:silly: Please share your experiences with your Fire Phone. By now it's a year old, but still looks like a great phone for $60. I am basically a really cheap bargain hunter and wait for things to go on sale. This was really a good one.
Share what you did to make it a great phone! Would love to benefit from your experiences.:highfive: Do you love the Fire OS? Do you love the Market? Or CM11? Please share And I thank you in advance:good:

Great phone for the money. If throw yourself into the Amazon ecosystem the fire OS works quite well but I think only Jeff Bezos has done that so far. I'm using it with a custom launcher at the moment but when cm11 is final I might adopt it.

sashusmom said:
Geez!!!! 75 views and no comments? Come on people- loosen up and let me know if you love your fire phone or hate it or Hate me cause I got it so cheap:silly: Please share your experiences with your Fire Phone. By now it's a year old, but still looks like a great phone for $60. I am basically a really cheap bargain hunter and wait for things to go on sale. This was really a good one.
Share what you did to make it a great phone! Would love to benefit from your experiences.:highfive: Do you love the Fire OS? Do you love the Market? Or CM11? Please share And I thank you in advance:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you asked:
The hardware is incredible for the price. The antutu benchmark puts it slightly faster than a galaxy s5. However, the bells and whistles (extra cameras, 3D, etc) are irrelevant at best. -- The os is terrible. It works well enough but is far behind other smart phones' os. Also, Amazon's wish to completely control your "experience" gets in the way of good hardware. If you root and then add gapps and the google now launcher, the phone is better to use, but still feels wrong, especially when certain apps can only be added through amazon's app store. -- Finally, I'm still irked by the locked bootloader. It was at this stage I put it in the drawer to use as an emergency backup - or maybe a "mini-gamer" for kids.
Then came ggow and his work to bring CM11 to the phone. Thanks to him, I now use it as my daily driver. I have added Xposed Framework with a few modules, all my favorite apps, and the phone is great! The only annoyance is that there are very infrequent random google play services stops which quickly correct themselves leaving a msg that needs to be swiped away. This is no big deal and ggow might have this fixed by the time you read this. Ggow also mentioned bypassing lollipop (CM12) and looking to "M" for his next major upgrade. How this will happen with a locked bootloader I don't know, but all praise to the person who brought my firephone backed to life.
Enjoy your firephone.

I bought the Fire Phone 6 months ago (I think, don't remember), when it was $189 (and a year of Prime). Having a phone with those specs at $90 was a great deal and hard to refuse. Bought it, got it, and the first day of using it I was amused with how different it was from stock Android. I had a Nexus 5, which got stolen, and I wandered with a low-end phone until I bought the Fire Phone. The Fire Phone couldn't be more different from the Nexus 5, software-wise. I saw the lock screen, toyed with it and thought: "Wow, it moves depending on where I look it from, nice!" (my first lock screen was the one with the time made from the stars and the moon with below it) but also "Did Amazon really need 4 cameras just for that? It might drain my battery" and "Which real-world use could I give to this feature?"
Yes, it was nice to see how things moved thanks to the Dynamic Perspective feature, at least at first; then, like all novelties, my attention to it faded and eventually I disabled it. Having my battery drained wasn't worth for a feature I wasn't paying attention to and which the only real-world use I could think of was showing it to some friend to surprise them a for a little time. And because this phone doesn't have a removable battery, I couldn't afford to lose it for some gimmicky feature.
Then I saw the Carousel, which is the home screen where the most recent apps are shown, with the notifications below it. They were affected by the Dynamic Perspective too. I hated that dotted pattern they used for the Carousel, and then I tried to change it for, say, whatever picture this phone could've come with.
I went to Settings, and was surprised to see, first, that that annoying dotted pattern was there too, and then that there wasn't a way to change the wallpaper. I thought "Come on, it's 2015, every OS in the friggin' world has a way to change the wallpaper. It's the most basic form of customization. Even Apple (which I don't hate), with all that walled garden feeling, allows you to change the wallpaper." But Amazon's FireOS didn't (I haven't ever seen a Kindle Fire tablet). My phone shipped with version 3.6.8, and we had to wait until May to see such a basic feature with the upgrade to 4.6.1. I got annoyed by that, but there was nothing I could to about it.
I checked the pre-loaded games, which make heavy use of the same Dynamic Perspective. I half-liked the Planet Blocks game and played it for a while. After that, I forgot I had it and remained hidden.
Then I went to the Appstore to see what was new. I knew the Appstore didn't have any Google app, and understood it. Amazon had an equivalent to every Google app and, even though I didn't like how they looked, they got the job done, and that was what mattered. Downloading and installing was what I was used to, and updating was a breeze.
But I guess I missed some apps that weren't on the Appstore and was lazy to not sideload all of them. I needed to see good ol' Google on this phone, so I went to XDA and checked if there was a way to sideload Google Play Services. After all, underneath all the Amazon skin and no traces of Google, FireOS was Android at the heart (3.6.8 was based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which was pretty outdated even then). There was a way to install Google Play Services, and there was a way to root the phone too, but only if you were brave (and foolish) enough to downgrade to 3.5.1 (it was a bad idea, because if you did that, there would be problems with the Amazon account registration and also some nasty overheating issue). So, I stayed with just installing Google Play Services. It went smoothly and finally got Google. With the Play Store I'd be able to download and install SwiftKey and maybe Google Now Launcher or Nova Launcher.
I got no luck with SwiftKey. It installed, but then you couldn't use it unless you activated it via ADB. After that, got SwiftKey. And about launchers, they worked, except for widgets (which weren't supported in FireOS) and the wallpaper (there was a way to change the wallpaper in Nova; you could choose the image, but it never worked; you had to like the black background because it was the only option). I checked other launchers, some supported widgets (not all widgets, but some) and some found a way to change the wallpaper. I stuck with Buzz Launcher, which made the phone look and work most similar to Android.
I hoped Amazon would sometime hear what users here at XDA (and everywhere else) had to say. The Fire Phone was a great piece of hardware, but its software was a bummer. People were trying to google it but all you could do was sideload Google Play Services. The bootloader was locked (and still is), and the Towelroot method for rooting didn't work for 3.6.8, so downgrading was the next stage for googling up the device. I remember seeing some guys here at XDA offering some money to the first person to unlock the bootloader, and some people sending a letter to Jeff Bezos himself to unlock it and then also a Change.org petition, taking the example of the HP TouchPad tablet (it saw new life after HP unlocked its bootloader, after which people flashed Android instead of the built-in webOS, becoming the second-most selling tablet of 2011). It never happened.
Then it was the question if the phone would ever receive a FireOS 4 update (based on Android 4.4 KitKat), given its lackluster sales. It finally happened on May, and came with very necessary changes to help customize the phone.
This new version would eventually be rooted via Kingroot, which is a very shady-looking app for rooting. It worked, and then there was a way to change it for SuperSU, a more reliable root app. With all the long wait, knowing a developer found a way to flash a ROM even with the locked bootloader was a relief. I flashed it as fast as I could. Now I'm using Cyanogenmod 11 and it's great (no trace of Amazon). It's still beta (the developer uploaded the first build just 4 days ago), but it works pretty well right now, and it'll only get better.
Now we can use a phone that has a great price and good specs with a great OS to match. To the people out there wondering if the phone is worth the price (right now it went back to $449 and comes with a year of Amazon Prime, with $99 alone, so the phone's real price is $350), no, it's not, you could get a OnePlus One at that price (which comes with Cyanogen OS), or a Moto X, or a Xiaomi Mi4, or many other great phones below $350 (and then if, and only if, you want Amazon Prime you can subscribe). When it gets a big discount, which happens from time to time (last one was this week and the price went down to $159), it gets more attractive (especially if you were going to subscribe to Amazon Prime). The phone has many gimmicky features which are really useless, uses an OS that is difficult to adapt to, and is overpriced most of the time (no wonder Amazon failed to sell it at launch at $199 with AT&T contact, or later at $649 unlocked, or now at $449), but may be a great deal when bought at discount (this week the real price of the phone was $60, and at that price you cannot get any smartphone off-contract) and if you're willing to tinker with the phone and flash a ROM (Cyanogenmod 11 is the only one right now, but might be more in the future), it makes a pretty good phone.
A quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera and 2.1MP front camera, 1080p recording, 32GB of built-in storage and now the ability to flash Cyanogenmod 11 for just $60? I'd buy it.

Wow!! Great responses guys. I thank you for taking the time to offer your opinions and I really look forward to receiving my Fire phone

Got my Fire phone!!
I really like the screen- overall size of the phone is not really bigger than my 5s but the screen real estate is a little bigger. It's not so lite that you will drop it or so thin you will drop it either. When I use my 5s bare, I have a hard time hanging onto it. It's in a wallet case that I can get a good grab onto. I like a little heft to it and it does feel good in your hand.
I have the incipio folio case on this fire phone that I got for $10 from ATT online store. That was a really good deal. Also did a screen saver just because I like them and the protection from minute scratches they provide.
So, on my Amazon account it was registered to me and the free prime was added on. When I went to set up the phone it requires you to register again to your account and I got all errors that it couldn't be done at this time, blah blah blah. I researched it and apparently this was a big problem at launch too.
So I updated it to the latest of 4.6.1 (820) and tried again, same deal. It just wouldn't register. So I de-registered it on my computer, and tried again on the phone, no go. You can't use the phone without it being asso. with an amazon acct- no apps at all are usable, even the preinstalled ones. So I chatted online, they couldn't help me and wanted to have their Fire Team support call me back- but I couldn't at that time so I will deal with it tomorrow. I'll have to search this forum and see if there's any info about it.
In the meantime I got the google apps working so now I at least have a pretty good list of apps, but no amazon services working yet. I still have to add a sim card and check the basic call functions- since it is a phone.
The benefit of picking up a phone that is a year old is you guys have already tackled the tough parts of rooting, modding, roms, etc. I checked out this forum before purchasing and was pleasantly surprised that you just made the break through just this week for CM. I may have to check that out! I have the att Mega and that poor orphan phone is so crippled most guys just walked away. I Love it for it's 6 inch screen size. The iphone 6+ was in my thoughts but can't justify that price tag. My mega was a penny when we still did subsidies.
I thank you all for your perseverance and hard work and your stick-to-it-ive-ness:good: This could actually be a decent phone with all the modifications. I am hoping I can leave it as is and swap between the Fire OS and the Nova launcher. Hopefully I'll get it registered correctly tomorrow. It's nice getting back into android after apple. I like them both- but I do get bored.
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So even though it is 3 am here, I just got off the phone with fire phone support and I was told it was a system wide outage and there are many people having this problem. They will get back to me!! I won't hold my breath here
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Talked again to amazon and I am "on the list" to have this registration fubar sorted out. She took additional info- my mac address on the phone specifically, and supposedly this will be fixed OTA magically. We'll see.
I do have a working sim in and phone calls work fine. I have issue with the tinny sounding speakers that are suppose to be stereo- Sounds terrible- especially with music clips ringtones. Pandora sounds bad too. I did read the reviews about the sound and it appears to be true.
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So Amazon finally fixed the registration problem OTA. I can now access my Amazon stuff. Problem solved.

Still using?

Hey anyone still using this bad boy? My screens got some cracks. Anywhere in Australia can get it fixed? Awesome tablet.

I still have it but do not use it too often, just keeping it updated and sometimes play some retro games on it.

Still use it everyday. Bought a Brand New Google Keyboard Cover on eBay a few months ago for real cheap (like $45 lol) and now it's even better. Typing this message on it now.
Thinking of doing a factor reset and starting fresh, but not sure what that would gain me.

I just picked one up used with a keyboard so I will be using it for the foreseeable future. What's the best ROM and kernel?

Use it every day, all day. It's my main Android device. Love it and don't see anything else I'd rather have.

I use it every day. Sometimes a lot. As it ages I have become annoyed that my system decided my battery is ruined and so it throttles the SOC pretty badly below ~80% charge and replacement parts are not really available but other than that it's been pretty good to me. I went through 2 magnetic keyboards and both had terrible key repeating problems but I happened to find the folio keyboard at a thrift store and it's been solid ever since. Wish it had GPS, haptics, better touch screen, and exposed more of its hardware to the /sys folder so I could tweak more things with root but that's the ChromeOS blood showing.
Next time I'll go for max storage though. 32gig was a mistake.

pjcons said:
Hey anyone still using this bad boy? My screens got some cracks. Anywhere in Australia can get it fixed? Awesome tablet.
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My daily driver.
I purchased a second on ebay last year for a backup

pjcons said:
Hey anyone still using this bad boy? My screens got some cracks. Anywhere in Australia can get it fixed? Awesome tablet.
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Hey I have the same problem. Been using it for 2-3 years and screen cracks have appeared - don't know how actually. Not found anywhere you can find to repair, regrettably. :crying:

i used mine mostly daily for basic stuff. I have a pixel slate and honestly prefer this. I personally have out I dislike ChromeOS and prefer android. I think its way more versatile.

Use mine all the time. Almost don't use my laptop anymore. Even do word processing on it, Microsoft Word for Android, great program. Very lightweight, comfortable to put on lap, and easily transportable. Not an expert, but as far as I can tell best device that I've noticed even today. Not sure what I'll do when these get too old. Still getting updates from Google. Don't understand how this device didn't get popular. The Google colored line probably should have been in the shape of a G. Hard to tell what brand it is so losing advertising at coffee shops. Search key on keyboard not necessary. Should have been another key, like caps lock. Delete button would have been nice. Has some problems, but overall very nice device and should have been developed. No demand for it I guess for whatever reasons.

I also use mine all the time. Most of the time for basic things like Netflix, reading/annotating pdfs, reading ect. But sometimes also for multitasking, like code reviews and stuff. The best tablet I ever used!

Of course. Nearly every day.

I still use it, bought it as soon as released.
locuturus said:
I use it every day. Sometimes a lot. As it ages I have become annoyed that my system decided my battery is ruined and so it throttles the SOC pretty badly below ~80% charge and replacement parts are not really available but other than that it's been pretty good to me.
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Mine is around 70% ... Nothing to do to avoid that ?

En Kee said:
I still use it, bought it as soon as released.
Mine is around 70% ... Nothing to do to avoid that ?
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So far as I know a new battery is the only way out of this problem.* Apparently they are out there on the internet to buy. But it looks like the repair is pretty challenging to pull off without breaking the screen.
*Maybe a root solution could be cooked up but the Pixel C does not conform to most other Android systems so pre existing solutions don't often work well.