HTC Hero

Nonoperational · 07-08-2009 1:55pm

I never knew that, seems a funny move can't see why they cripple them like that.

Professey Chin · 07-08-2009 3:45pm

I cant really see how rooting voids your warranty since its just a software change.I got my G1 fixed under warrenty after I had it rooted.Its not like water damage where they can tell and if theres physical damage you can just put stock firmware back on it

Professey Chin · 07-08-2009 3:49pm

gpf101 wrote: »

So the only way to get apps on an unlocked phone is to root the it(and void warranty)... that is a complete disaster!

You can still access the market and install apps(or just get the apks online and install them via usb).Its paid for apps and some with region licensing(like last.fm) that you cant see by default but thats really a minority of them.

People are really over-reacting here

Professey Chin · 07-08-2009 3:55pm

elderlemon wrote: »

This isn't just a problem with the Hero - if affects all sim free/unlocked android phones and I think its something that Google will have to address quickly. There are more and more android handsets hitting the U.S. and most of these will probably be sim free and I can't see Google turning its back on this market.

The unlocked phone block was a sledgehammer fix for the problem. Google needs to come up with a proper fix.

I didnt think it was affecting every unlocked phone.Thought it was more region dependant to the areas the market has officially been launched in(Ireland isnt one of these).

The only one this did affect was the dev1 phone with paid apps cause it has full root by default and any apks could be easily copied off it but im pretty sure an update sorted out that

EDIT: Can a mod merge my posts.I feel like a post whore

Mr E · 07-08-2009 3:58pm

Is there a place online that sells APKs for manual installation via SD card?

Professey Chin · 07-08-2009 4:07pm

Mr E wrote: »

Is there a place online that sells APKs for manual installation via SD card?

Nowhere centralised that I know of.A lot of the individual devs accept paypal payments and send it out but thats awkward when it comes to updates

elderlemon · 07-08-2009 5:09pm

I was looking at the google forums and apparently it applies to all unlocked handsets. We'll see where it goes.

Anyway I just got my hero today. Loving it so far and don't think I'll be going back to my E71. Super, super phone!

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

I didnt think it was affecting every unlocked phone.Thought it was more region dependant to the areas the market has officially been launched in(Ireland isnt one of these).

The only one this did affect was the dev1 phone with paid apps cause it has full root by default and any apks could be easily copied off it but im pretty sure an update sorted out that

EDIT: Can a mod merge my posts.I feel like a post whore

Occidental · 11-08-2009 8:10am

Is there any other way to close the Browser fully, other than the back button? The Menu button brings you back to the home screen, but if you press browser again, it brings you back to where you last were in the browser.

Mr E · 11-08-2009 8:29am

Nope. Its the same with alot of other programs too....

Search the Android Market for a program called taskiller - it will list all running programs, and lets you kill any programs you want by just tapping on them.

Dingatron · 11-08-2009 11:24am

Very disapointed with this Marketplace issue with paid apps. I'm trying to get a copy of Copilot and there's no way around it that I've been able to find. Yes I probably could root the phone but I'm not willing to just yet. I assume it will be resolved at some stage but it could be a while.

elderlemon · 11-08-2009 11:28am

Me too. This is very short sighted of Google - I'd expect more from them especially if they really want to go after Apple and their store.

I got around it by... took my friends AT&T sim, popped it in my hero and then connected to the market. It only appears to validate you once so then I take out the AT&T sim, pop in my own and away I go.

Dingatron wrote: »

Very disapointed with this Marketplace issue with paid apps. I'm trying to get a copy of Copilot and there's no way around it that I've been able to find. Yes I probably could root the phone but I'm not willing to just yet. I assume it will be resolved at some stage but it could be a while.

Dingatron · 11-08-2009 11:37am

elderlemon wrote: »

Me too. This is very short sighted of Google - I'd expect more from them especially if they really want to go after Apple and their store.

I got around it by... took my friends AT&T sim, popped it in my hero and then connected to the market. It only appears to validate you once so then I take out the AT&T sim, pop in my own and away I go.

I just came across that method a minute ago and was just about to ask if anyone had tried it successfully. That's good to know I assume I can get an AT&T sim off ebay. Meant to post this link for anyone who hasn't come across it yet. Very good for Hero info.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=508

Oafley Jones · 11-08-2009 11:39am

The marketplace situation is a joke alright. A smartphone is nothing without it's apps. To say I'm disappointed in it is an understatement.

elderlemon · 11-08-2009 11:42am

Doesn't have to be AT&T - any sim from a country and operator that's supported on google market should work. Try o2, orange or t-mobile in the UK.

Only reason I chose AT&T was my friend is over at the mo and was playing with the hero - so we popped his sim in.

Dingatron wrote: »

I just came across that method a minute ago and was just about to ask if anyone had tried it successfully. That's good to know I assume I can get an AT&T sim off ebay. Meant to post this link for anyone who hasn't come across it yet. Very good for Hero info.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=508

Dingatron · 11-08-2009 12:04pm

Just ordered one of each of the UK sims free so we'll see if i get any of them.:pac:

Used BT11AA as post code as per other threads.

Professey Chin · 11-08-2009 2:11pm

Meh ive all the apps I want.Hello copilot,hello last.fm, hello to you all :pac:

Occidental · 13-08-2009 8:17am

Mr E wrote: »

Nope. Its the same with alot of other programs too....

Search the Android Market for a program called taskiller - it will list all running programs, and lets you kill any programs you want by just tapping on them.

Well, that's a pile of rubbish. I can just imagine trying to explain this one to a load of corporate GMail users.

Mr E · 13-08-2009 8:25am

Its not that big a deal. Its the same on windows mobile. The last 3 phones I had were WM phones, and I had to use a third party app to kill tasks (later versions of the OS had a task killer, but it was easier to use the 3rd party app). Its nothing new to me.

elderlemon · 13-08-2009 8:34am

The way Apple get around this problem on the iphone is they prevent you from multitasking at all (except for a few selected apple apps). On Symbian (S60) every app has an "exit" option which allowed you close out any app and this worked fine.

I think that newer OS's (webos, the iphone and android) need either an automatic app closing (after x mins of inactivity?) or a way to manually close out an app like on S60.

BTW - I installed Advanced task killer which you can check a box next to each app and it remembers next time. One click and it kills all the apps you've checked.

Mr E wrote: »

Its not that big a deal. Its the same on windows mobile. The last 3 phones I had were WM phones, and I had to use a third party app to kill tasks (later versions of the OS had a task killer, but it was easier to use the 3rd party app). Its nothing new to me.

mobius42 · 13-08-2009 9:16am

elderlemon wrote: »

I think that newer OS's (webos, the iphone and android) need either an automatic app closing (after x mins of inactivity?) or a way to manually close out an app like on S60.

Palm's WebOS has the best approach to this in my opinion. All running apps are represented by cards. You can easily see what's running and can close them by swiping them off the screen.

elderlemon · 13-08-2009 12:53pm

agreed - thats a nice idea and a very user friendly implimentation. Would be nice to see this on Android.

mobius42 wrote: »

Palm's WebOS has the best approach to this in my opinion. All running apps are represented by cards. You can easily see what's running and can close them by swiping them off the screen.

Mr E · 13-08-2009 2:11pm

I'd rather see a flippin' exit button on every app.
Hit menu, select Exit.

I'm not asking for much here.

RapidResults · 13-08-2009 6:22pm

I've had one for a few days now and it's delightful once you get used to the differences with other phones. It makes my old Windows Mobile (HTC TyTn II) look like something from the 80's.

I thought I'd need to kill apps etc, but it's not been a problem. Maybe the memory management is better & automatic. Maybe having to worry about this sort of technical backgroud thing is just a habit we learned from MicroSoft.

HTC/Google have really put the fun back into owning a mobile.

elderlemon · 13-08-2009 6:28pm

I agree (although more HTC than Google). I came from the Nokia E71 but that was a tool I needed to use for business - make and take calls, email etc. The Hero does all the E71 does but is a lot more fun!

RapidResults wrote: »

HTC/Google have really put the fun back into owning a mobile.

mobius42 · 13-08-2009 6:33pm

elderlemon wrote: »

I agree (although more HTC than Google).

In fact, I think it's almost all HTC. Google has really dropped the ball on Android, imo. Before the Hero, Android was pretty poor.

Professey Chin · 13-08-2009 7:25pm

mobius42 wrote: »

In fact, I think it's almost all HTC. Google has really dropped the ball on Android, imo. Before the Hero, Android was pretty poor.

Any reason why you think that?

mkennedy · 13-08-2009 9:24pm

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Meh ive all the apps I want.Hello copilot,hello last.fm, hello to you all :pac:

App fatigue.
I know the feeling

mobius42 · 13-08-2009 9:30pm

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Any reason why you think that?

No multitouch, no attachment support in the email client, poor media player, no handsets with a 3.5mm headphone jack and bad choice of handsets overall.

Professey Chin · 13-08-2009 9:40pm

mobius42 wrote: »

No multitouch : Vastly over-rated(and I have it).There is support for it in the Donut dev branch though
no attachment support in the email client: Attachments are fine for me in gmail and the stock app(i use k9 for my hotmail now though)
poor media player: True
no handsets with a 3.5mm headphone jack: Same as above
bad choice of handsets overall.: Matter of opinion.I think the G1 is a great handset>Havnt played with the magic yet

I think the stock android is great.Much prefer it to the hero build even though it doesnt look as fancy.

Nobrow · 16-08-2009 7:40pm

Now I have two concerns about buying this phone.

Originally I was worried about a comment I read about how the HTC modifications to Android go so deep that upgrades (to Donut for example) will be hard/unlikely.

And now this bull**** about apps being unavailable on unlocked phones. Thats shocking. Somebody said that a work around would be to download to a comp and install them on phone from there, but then there was a remark about how this would again be a problem for upgrading the apps.

Can anyone give me comfort enough to go ahead and spend a chunk of cash on this phone?

Edit: Actually, were I to buy an unlocked phone online, could I then have it locked to the network I choose over here (probably 3)? Would that solve the problem?

HTC Hero

Comments