Life With the Droid

I recently upgraded my phone from LG's enV2 to Motorola's Droid. Wow, what an upgrade. Now, my reasons for wanting a Droid since they've been released is because I've always wanted to have an iPhone but never wanted to have to deal with switching carriers. Not to mention, I'm a computer programmer and the Droid's operating system is open-source which means I can make my own programs for it... eventually. The fact that it's open-source ALSO means that other programmers out there can give away their programs for free, legally.

• [2/08/2010]: It would appear that multi-touch functionality has finally been enabled on the Droid now so, for instance, the reason to use the Dolphin browser (as far as I know) is not so apparent. This also means that Google Maps has multi-touch enabled now (YESSSS!!!), awesome. This update also comes with the notice that Verizon now CONFIRMS that Android 2.1 will be released for this device within this week, again a very enthusiastic, YESSSS!!
• [2/20/2010]: Yeah... it didn't happen. Verizon's response was something along the lines of, "Whoops! Didn't mean to let that slip out yet, but don't you Droid owners worry, it'll be out soon... promise." While it's still reassuring to hear that it's going to happen 'soon', it's really sad to have gone from 'eventually' to 'this week' and then back to an ambiguous 'soon'. I guess I will stop complaining, patience is a virtue and being upset won't get it released any quicker.
• [3/18/2010]: Whelp... I was hoping to make this post today in big capital letters that read: THE UPDATE HAS LANDED! Sadly, that is not the case (though the letters and words are there). Verizon announced sometime this week that the 2.1 update would be released today to the test group and then everyone else over the weekend. Apparently everything went as planned... except that they found a 'major' bug in the system once the test group got their update. This sad turn of events means that this update has gone from 'soon' to 'this weekend' to, now, 'TBD' which is even less comforting than 'soon'. Oh well, I guess... while a sad turn of events, I would rather have a bug-free, solid 2.1 update instead of something that'll destroy my phones ability to function. I can only hope that the fix will be taken care of over this next week. As always, I'll update when I know more.
• [3/31/2010]: THE UPDATE HAS LANDED!!! Yes, the most wonderfully awesome thing has happened... 2.1 has been released, and it is awesome. Wonderfully Google was wise enough to release the update via the internet so those Droid owners that couldn't wait for Verizon to get to them using the over-the-air method, could get 2.1 as soon as they had the time (which was something like 2 minutes from download to installed). Me, I couldn't wait for Verizon to get to me. So I got home from school, mounted my Droid, transferred the update.zip file to the phone, unmounted, rebooted, did the key-combo and BOOM; you select 'update with update.zip'. Easy as pie. This means that, for the evening, I spent my time dealing with/discovering all the new changes. Of which... I may break off into another post, not sure yet.
• The above screenshot is what my all of my Droid's screens look like when put into one continuous image. The way I was able to acquire this image is thanks to the wonderfully simple tutorial found here (for linux-based systems). This isn't what my background is though. I really enjoy the live wallpaper feature that came with the 2.1 update. My favorite (really the only one I like) is the galaxy; which sits on my screen and swirls away. Beautiful!

Home++ makes the whole UI come together and because of that I had to do some trimming to make it just right, the only cost being a little bit of a system performance drop. For instance, I had to take a few items off the 'powerstrip' at the bottom of the screens in order for the strip to not require side-scrolling. Other considerations I made were to make it so the system bar (usually at the top of the screen) is hidden, but this hides the system tray (where the clock, battery meter, notices, etc. usually are) so I had to get two widgets to put on my home screen: Battery Widget and Digital Clock Widget. Both pretty self-explanatory widgets, the real downside to all of this though is that with the use of live wallpapers, the development status of Home++ and the two widgets, I'm afraid that more processor power is being used than should be, all for the sake of having a good looking custom interface.

• [7/29/2010]: Well, I'm creeping up on my first year with the Droid and I still couldn't be happier. I don't have much to say except that it's that time again... update time! Verizon had Android 2.2 slated to come out around mid-July, which came and went; then it was 'late July', now it's 'first week of August'. This latest date is deemed 'most likely' by phone bloggers seeing as it would coincide with the release of the newest Motorola Droid device (either the Droid X or Droid 2, can't remember). I don't know, maybe I'm jaded from the hype of 2.1 and, now, 2.2 will just be a bonus and not something that feels like a necessity. Ironic too considering this is the release that brings Adobe Flash support to the phone, one of the larger differences between the Android devices and the iPhone. I guess I'll wait to be overly excited when I get the update notice on my phone.
• [8/8/2010]: The 2.2 update started being pushed to devices in the first week alright. I must admit, I got sucked into the hype again, hoping that I and my phone would be part of the test batch to get the update. Thankfully, I kept poking around the internet until someone posted the update.zip, allowing users to manually update their phones, making it so they did not have to wait up to a week for the update to arrive over-the-air (OTA). As for what the update brought to the phone, speed of the device seems to be increased significantly. Significant changes to the user interface include buttons for making phone calls, the app drawer and the web browser being integrated into a single bar that persists across all screens. Sadly, even with these changes made I still prefer to use Home++ as my environment.

Now, I want to share with you all what I've found to be must have apps for the Droid, all of which are free:

• ConnectBot:
  Now, this app is for my linux peeps. It's an ssh client for the Droid. How awesome is that? Just get this app, connect the phone to your wireless router and then punch in your login information and IP address of the machine you want and 'POW!' you're logged into your local linux box. So cool!
• PMix:
  For those of you out there that use the Music Player Daemon (MPD) to play your music, this should tickle you. PMix is an MPD client that is currently under development for the Android OS. It'll allow you to be anywhere in your house (while on your wifi-network) and control your music. Edit your playlist, play/pause/skip, volume control it's all there. Now, in order for this to work properly I only needed to change my /etc/mpd.conf file slightly:
  Find the line that says bind_to_address. By default it says "localhost", change this to "any".
  Further down the document you'll see a section with 3 variations of the mixer_type variable. By default they are all commented out, removing the ability for MPD to control the volume of your systems sound. If you want to have volume control via PMix (I suggest it), uncomment the line where mixer_type is set to "software".
• Transdroid:
  If you are an avid torrenter then, in my opinion, this is a must have app for your Droid. It connects to your computers respective torrent client (Transmission, Deluge, BitTorrent, rTorrent, uTorrent, Vuze) and allows you to see their progress. Also, amazingly, this app also allows you to search for and add more torrents to your queue on-the-fly. Now, couple this with a network configured with proper port forwarding and you now have the ability to be out-and-about but as long as you have a wifi connection or at least a 3g connection, you'll be able to connect to your torrent client at home and start torrents downloading, so they'll be done by the time you get back. Ahhh, technology FTW.
• androidVNC:
  As the name implies, this is a VNC client for the Droid. For me this was just a test, something to do for fun... another bit of functionality I could get out of my network and my computer. But the shear realization that this works (and works WELL) is kind of unbelievable. This client works much better than the last one I had in this list though. The noticeable reason for it working better is because it does not display the remote desktop at the best looking resolution which, honestly, isn't much of a problem.
  The next thing I would love to figure out would be some way to make a second X environment on my desktop that would be at the native resolution of the phone so no need to zoom, just be at a 1:1 ratio.
• AndChat:
  Ever wanted an IRC client for when you're out-and-about? Well, this is the one you should use. It's stable, has all the same features as any program you would run on your desktop... except that you can use it when you're not at home. Handy! What I also noticed is that should you get a private message from someone the Droid's status light (green for an unread message, red for a missed call) will actually be blue (not sure if that's program specific or what).

General Apps:

• Mobisle Notes:
  This is a list creating app. You have the choice of just leaving a text-only style note or the ability to have a list created that has check-boxes next to each new item. A great app so you can always have a basic food shopping list, you know, the items you should ALWAYS consider whether you need them when out shopping.
• Home++:
  I have very little gripes about the default look/feel of the Droid's 'Home' but I started to notice that my desktops were getting cluttered with icons and that was getting annoying. Home++ takes the phone's most basic features (phone, voice calling, contacts, process manager, date, battery level, etc.) and puts them nicely in a horizontal-scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen. I find this to be MUCH more preferred to the default method. Since it's a project that's still in production it does have it's faults and will crash every now and then.
• PDX Transit:
  Living in Portland, this is essential. It access' Trimet's databases and upgraded tracking system to bring a VERY accurate way of finding out the schedule of the bus you need. Also, it lists ALL of the bus stops, not just a select few like the schedules at the stops do (sometimes the stop you're at is not even listed).
• DailyHoroscope:
  If reading your or other people's horoscopes is something you're into then this app is really great. Aside from having a new horoscope every day, they also have compatibility evaluations for each sign.

Games:

• Frozen Bubble:
  Those who have played some of the default games for linux will know this game and yes, it has ported very well to the Droid. A must have for fanboys.
• Sudoku Free:
  I <3 Sudoku... even though it can be so frustrating when I get to the last 2 or 3 squares and I end up having an collision and have NO idea where my problem is... still fun though.
• Grid Droid:
  This game is really quite special. It's a puzzle game where you're given simple junction shapes with varying color combinations and you need to make full shapes (ie. ends don't just cut-off, there's a dead-end piece instead). Very interesting and has 3 levels of difficulty, each with hundreds of 'scenarios'. Makes a great time killer.
• Trap!:
  Another unique game in my opinion. You're given a space with several balls floating around and you must build walls in order to close off empty areas. The catch is that, should a ball hit a wall in the process of building, the wall is destroyed and you lose a life. You have power-ups to play with as well, like: ball freeze, ghost ball, extra life, speed, etc. Each level adds more objects and requires more finesse or risk.
• Slide Puzzle:
  Just your basic slide puzzle... nothing too special, but simple enough to be pretty enjoyable.
• Toss It: Preview:
  Another interesting piece of software that I tried on a whim. The scene is that you are in a room and a fan alternates from being on your right or left side and varies it's wind speed. Your goal is to get a ball of paper into the waste basket that's sitting in front of the fan. Flicking your finger across the screen in varying directions allow you to compensate for the strength of the cross-wind and make it into the bin.
• WordGame:
  Basically it's Scrabble but with an infinite set of letters that randomly change as you use them.

Defunct:

• Advanced App Killer:
  The guy at the Verizon store I got my Droid from suggested that I get this app ASAP (I had it installed by the time I got back to my car). According to him, the Droid really doesn't ever stop a program from running so, after a while, the phone will drastically slow down and become unusable. Thus, you run this program and it allows you to clear out the unused programs.
  --> I eventually removed this app because I started whatever Home++ allows access to from the powerstrip.
• Dolphin:
  Now, one feature that many online reviewers of the Droid ache about is the fact that it does not support multi-touch features out-of-the-box (ie. in their default browser). But, thankfully, the phone has the hardware to handle multi-touch so it only took time for the software to catch up. The first ones that I've heard of getting this done are the people behind Dolphin. So, now, you can use the two-finger pinch/pull to zoom in/out just like on an iPhone.
  NOTE: With the pending release of Android 2.1 for the Droid this browser may not be such a must-have app, at least in my opinion. Android 2.1 will introduce multi-touch fully implemented within the OS, including the browser and when viewing images.
  --> As mentioned in the updates, with the pending 2.1 update on the close-but-distant horizon I decided to just go back to the default browser and have been happier for it... most of the time. Honestly, I was expecting to have the update by now and thus have multi-touch abilities in the browser, which would negate MY need for Dolphin as a browser.