HTC Hero tips/tricks/tweaks

To quickly add an application shortcut that is on the All programs screen to the
Home screen, press and hold an application icon. When the phone vibrates, drag
the icon on an empty area on the Home screen, and then release it.

Source: HTC Hero Manual (Damn, reading that can be useful :) )
 
izak... there is a widget for turning on background data. i have it on my home screen then at a push of a button i kill my data connection, and so wont be bothered by incoming gmails etc while i sleep hehe
 
kvi said:
izak... there is a widget for turning on background data. i have it on my home screen then at a push of a button i kill my data connection, and so wont be bothered by incoming gmails etc while i sleep hehe
Click to expand...

Oh yeah?! Haven't seen it! Cool thanks.. There's a lot of cool things in the market that we simply do not know of because of the huge amount of applications. ;)
 
no no not in market, hold home screen to add new widget, go htc widget, mobile network
 
Oh I see... Got it now. Lol! But that's not background data that's the whole internet connection. Awesome! And like you said you can disable that when you sleep or have your Notebook in front of you :D
 
under settings data synchonisation, theres an option to disable background data. i have not tried it thus am not sure if its only for google data
 
Yes that's what I talked about in the beginning, helped a lot with battery saving! And all the other applications updated fine (mail, peep, facebook)
 
i have tried that disable background data. and my phone STILL syncs with gmail. so i think that has more to do with sending location data to google etc
 
but is there not an option to also choose the type of google services to sync? or am i misunderstanding?
 
yes you can indeed tell it to NOT sync individual services.... but damn thats getting finicky then. hence for me a simple data connection kill works perfect for me :)
 
Hi

I am looking at getting an HTC Hero and have some questions for SA users.

Do we have access to the full android market yet, including paid apps?
If not, is there a way using a rooted phone?

Can you give me an idea of your bandwidth use - what you use the phone for and the typical monthly bandwidth - I am finding it tricky to assess what my bandwidth costs will be.

Cheapest bandwidth method - bundles, contracts, service providers?

I am looking at buying a new, unlocked phone in the UK (about 50% of the SA price). Any good reason not to go that route?

Do the Google maps also provide voice guidance for driving?
Are the google maps details enough to compete with Garmin etc?

What is the battery life like?

Thanks
Brendon
 
Last edited:
brendonhatcher said:
Hi

I am looking at getting an HTC Hero and have some questions for SA users.

Do we have access to the full android market yet, including paid apps?
If not, is there a way using a rooted phone?
Click to expand...

not sure about this one, but a good question

Can you give me an idea of your bandwidth use - what you use the phone for and the typical monthly bandwidth - I am finding it tricky to assess what my bandwidth costs will be.
Click to expand...

well since its a new toy i expect i will prob do over 250mb this month...typically however i estimate depending on the level of social integration, email updates and other sync services, more than 5-6mb a day would be alot.

Cheapest bandwidth method - bundles, contracts, service providers?
Click to expand...
got my hero with a 2k payin on a vodacom talk 120s

I am looking at buying a new, unlocked phone in the UK (about 50% of the SA price). Any good reason not to go that route?
Click to expand...

the phone will not be supported locally, and no warranties will apply

Do the Google maps also provide voice guidance for driving?
Click to expand...
nope, not in sa afaik, however look over at xda-developers, there may a solution for us non-americans

Are the google maps details enough to compete with Garmin etc?
Click to expand...
dont know what garmin is:D i like my mapbooks.

What is the battery life like?
Click to expand...
new toy, so take with a pince of salt, have been charging every day, however browsing has been extensive using 3g/hsdpa
 
We don't have official access to paid applications, but we do have access via rooted phone and Market Enabler (Application)

I bought a 20MB bundle in the beginning of the month and now have 12MB left. I use all the features like e-mail, facebook, twitter, weather etc. But when I download applications/surf the web I usually switch to my Wi-Fi network rather.

If you use the browser & background data a lot a bundle of around 75mb will be realistic I would think. You can also switch all data usage off and the phone will work just like a normal phone without always on internet.

No reason not to get a phone from overseas as long as it's GSM version.

We don't use google maps for Nav, but rather NDrive which works flawless!

Battery life depends on what you do obviously, I'm getting 2 day's max atm. Others claim to get 4 day's but I haven't seen that. I usually charge daily but never let the battery run down because that's not good for the battery.

Hope it helps a bit ;)
 
might be an issue with the SA HTC suppliers LEAF with a warranty claim?

i know people who have bought cameras and ps3's outside SA and local distributors wont touch them for warranty repairs

cash price for hero is just under 5k i think now. how much uk version work out to?
 
i have a rooted hero ;) and ive been playing around with google navigation on android 2.1

its awesome but once again you are always online
 
@kvi - about R3100 for a new phone sold privately on ebay.co.uk

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Brendon
 
New HTC Hero owner

Hi there all,

I have to thank everyone, as I've found this immensely useful since unwrapping my phone yesterday.

I have a few questions though, and would appreciate any feedback:

1) Is there a way to switch off an App / Program, without going back/ back / back until you are at the home screen again?

2) I understand there is a ROM update. I'm on version 2.73.421.5 - is there a later version, without having to root your phone. I phoned Leaf - but they were very vague on this ...

I'm sure there will be plenty more questions :-)

Thank you!!
MC
 
the ROM update from HTC is not for phones in South Africa.

I would suggest you root your phone and load on Moadaco 3.1 which is amazingly fast.

If you need a guide I will post up the same guide that I wrote on PCFormat.
 
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