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Replacing old wildfire - question about apps
I have an old HTC wildfire on PAYG that's starting to have some problems, so I want to replace it. I'm thinking of switching to pay monthly at the same time.
I've been thinking about getting a Desire S.but am wondering if I could be happier with something cheaper.
I've had a play with my son's Galaxy Ace. There are two things I don't like about it, so I'm looking to see if anyone can suggest apps that would give me what I'm looking for if I moved phone.
1) The keypad on the HTC has "press and hold" for extra characters, which I really prefer to having to switch to a different keypad. I use ' and & a lot, and remember when I first got the wildfire how much I appreciated being able to get them that way. I also have saved spellings for things like B&G, which happen automatically when I type bhg because the & is on the h key. I'm sure that seems like a trivial thing to be fussy about, but I would really miss that if I didn't have that any more. Are there keyboard apps I could get that would do that? I don't mind paying for the app but don't want one that will keep connecting to the network for advertising etc.
2) The HTC comes as standard with a flashlight app that allows me to use it as a torch. When I tried to find a similar app for my son's phone, I found some but they all kept using up his data allowance connecting to their advertising. Can somebody recommend one that won't do that? I don't mind paying if I know the app's going to be worth having when I've got it. I'd like to do that for his phone as well as mine if I end up not getting an HTC of some kind.
Thanks in advance.
I've been thinking about getting a Desire S.but am wondering if I could be happier with something cheaper.
I've had a play with my son's Galaxy Ace. There are two things I don't like about it, so I'm looking to see if anyone can suggest apps that would give me what I'm looking for if I moved phone.
1) The keypad on the HTC has "press and hold" for extra characters, which I really prefer to having to switch to a different keypad. I use ' and & a lot, and remember when I first got the wildfire how much I appreciated being able to get them that way. I also have saved spellings for things like B&G, which happen automatically when I type bhg because the & is on the h key. I'm sure that seems like a trivial thing to be fussy about, but I would really miss that if I didn't have that any more. Are there keyboard apps I could get that would do that? I don't mind paying for the app but don't want one that will keep connecting to the network for advertising etc.
2) The HTC comes as standard with a flashlight app that allows me to use it as a torch. When I tried to find a similar app for my son's phone, I found some but they all kept using up his data allowance connecting to their advertising. Can somebody recommend one that won't do that? I don't mind paying if I know the app's going to be worth having when I've got it. I'd like to do that for his phone as well as mine if I end up not getting an HTC of some kind.
Thanks in advance.
Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
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[STRIKE]Are you not paying far too much for your PAYG if you can get pay monthly with a new phone for the same price?[/STRIKE]I have an old HTC wildfire on PAYG that's starting to have some problems, so I want to replace it. I'm thinking of switching to pay monthly at the same time.
EDIT: my apologies. I misread "at the same time" as "at the same price".
Flashlight is one of the available features of the 'power' ('power control'?) widget. I think all androids have it.2) The HTC comes as standard with a flashlight app that allows me to use it as a torch. When I tried to find a similar app for my son's phone, I found some but they all kept using up his data allowance connecting to their advertising. Can somebody recommend one that won't do that? I don't mind paying if I know the app's going to be worth having when I've got it. I'd like to do that for his phone as well as mine if I end up not getting an HTC of some kind.0 -
Yeah, any Android phone can have a torch app if one isn't included as standard: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=flashlight
As for the keyboard long press, some do and some don't. My phone does it for numbers, but not for other characters. I'm used to that so it's doesn't bother me. You could always install another keyboard that does it though, or get used to another method; I can either press ?123 to get a list up, or for quicker access:
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Thanks. To respond to your points...
I cannot find a power widget on my son's Galaxy Ace. Where should it be?
I've been topping up by £10/month on PAYG for years, which covers my minutes and gets me a free bundle of texts and data each month that covers my usage. If I could get the Galaxy Ace to do everything I want it to do, then I could get it on pay monthly contract for £7.50. I'm not particularly fussed about saving £2.50/month, although that would be nice, but I do want a new phone and I would like to avoid the inconvenience of running out of credit at an inconvenient time and having to top up in a hurry.
I have tried downloading flashlight apps. So far I have tried two that would only work if they were enabled to keep accessing the internet, and used up his data allowance too quickly, and one that doesn't actually turn his led on. I would like somebody who's downloaded one that actually works without adverts to recommend which one would do that, please.
Can anybody recommend a keyboard app that will allow me to save spellings to the dictionary that include special characters, especially &. I can't find out how to get this information without downloading every keyboard out there, so once again I'm looking for specific recommendations.
Thanks.Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.0 -
You can get some of the HTC phones for around the price too. Haven't looked into the spec of them tbh, but like both the galaxy range and all the HTC phones. Like you I love my long keypress for symbols, makes life much easier, and my flash light for through the night. Funny how much we get used to those things isn't it 4 Stones and 0 pounds or 25.4kg lighter :j0
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Er, power widget? You might need to elaborate on that, Android has a 'power controls' widget as standard so I'm guessing you don't mean that.
As for the keyboard, they all share one main dictionary on your phone, and special characters aren't a problem (just checked on mine).0 -
Er, power widget? You might need to elaborate on that, Android has a 'power controls' widget as standard so I'm guessing you don't mean that.
As for the keyboard, they all share one main dictionary on your phone, and special characters aren't a problem (just checked on mine).
OK, so I've done a bit more playing on my son's phone, and enabled XT9, and can now put things with special characters into the dictionary and see them come up when I'm texting, so that's one problem solved. Thanks.
grumbler suggested that flashlight was available on the "power widget" of all androids. I can't find this on my son's phone, so am wondering whether I'm being dim not looking in the right place, or if it's really not there.Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.0 -
Ah got ya, I didn't see that.
But no, it's not built into the power control widget... Galaxy Ace doesn't have one as standard, you'd need to grab one from Google Play.0 -
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I cannot find a power widget on my son's Galaxy Ace. Where should it be?
Yes, I did mean 'Power control' widget - a sort of a bar that can be added to a home screen with various switches. One of the available switches is for the flashlight.Er, power widget? You might need to elaborate on that, Android has a 'power controls' widget as standard so I'm guessing you don't mean that.
Also, my OS has a "Notification power widget" built into the notification bar (if you pull it down) where flashlight control is available as well.0 -
Thanks grumbler. His one of those has five things on it - wifi, bluetooth, GPS, sound vibration and autorotation. No flashlight.
Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.0 -
Mine is customizable. When adding it to the homescreen I am given an opportunity to tick/untick boxes. Possibly it's just a feature of my CyanogenMod OS.
I think it's the same as Extended Controls widget.0
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