Android Software

dtaylorl · 10-16-2011, 12:20 PM

I think there are a fair number of Android users on here, so this seems like a good place to ask this. I recently got an LG Optimus One, which is a low-end Android phone currently running Android 2.2 (although it is supposed to get 2.3 Gingerbread any day). Overall I quite like it, and if I can adjust to a few things I may decide I don't need my iPod touch any more. There are two things that bug me though, and I thought y'all might have suggestions on what I can do - probably by recommending some good apps:

1. Email
All of email accounts are through GMail so I started with the GMail app. Fine, except that it doesn't have a unified inbox. So, I switched to the 'EMail' app. It has a combined inbox, but it doesn't seem to automatically get new messages, even though it says it will. That would be fine if there was an easy may to manually refresh, but there doesn't seem to be any way to do this from the combined inbox. I have to go into each account and hit refresh from there, which defeats the purpose of a combined inbox. So, any suggestions on a good mail app with a combined inbox?

2. Keyboard
It just doesn't seem to be as 'smart' as the iOS keyboard. Part of the problem may be that the Froyo keyboard apparently doesn't support multi-touch. This will be fixed when I get Gingerbread. But still... the suggestions on the keyboard are usually wrong, whereas on my iPod they are almost always right. So, any suggestions on a good keyboard app - or suggestions on any settings I may need to tweak - or reassurance that the gingerbread keyboard is way better?

Cam42 · 10-16-2011, 12:41 PM

For the keyboard, try SwiftKey.

tigerfan88 · 10-16-2011, 06:58 PM

Try K9 mail or MailDroid. Both of those seemed alright, but I never could quite get my Droid to support email as well as iOS does. It might work better for you, though.

DropKick74 · 10-16-2011, 09:41 PM

For the keyboard see if your phone needs the touch to be calibrated. This can be done in the settings area. Some of the phones need the touchscreens to be calibrated to work the best. Other than that you can also download a better keyboard app. Check the reviews. There are quite a few. for the email, I never had a problem with the standard email app on my motorola droid x's and photon. Of course I do not require a unified inbox. I actually prefer knowing what email address I'm working from. With the gmail app you can use multiple accounts and you will still always know when each account gets an email but I understand if you require a unified inbox. everyone is different. I'd google it and see what comes up for apps. There is an app for everything it seems nowadays.

Good luck

dtaylorl · 10-17-2011, 04:08 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, keep em coming. You are right that there are apps for everything, the problem is that there are too many to try to sort through them all. I've had SwiftKey suggested by someone else as well, so I'll definitely check it out. I guess it just bugs me that it might cost money to have a decent keyboard, whereas on my iPod it just worked out of the box. Oh well, I guess its just a few dollars anyway.

***Art*** · 10-17-2011, 04:14 PM

SwiftKey X is amazing. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, you will LOVE it.