The other night on the Android Central podcast a great idea was born. Someone, and forgive me for not remembering who, wanted to know how our phones are set-up. I promised to kick off a series from the various AC staff members showing just what software we have running on our devices. I trade back and forth between the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or the T-Mobile Galaxy S II (dat cam!), but both are set up the exact same way. One is just more TouchWizzy than the other. Hit the jump and I'll break it down.
My ROM
I hate to disappoint everyone who expects me to be running some sort of exotic ROM that prints money, but I run basic stock AOSP. It is properly rooted, and has Busybox installed, but other that that there are very few changes from what you get when you build the code as-is. I need to know what works on stock Android, I like stock Android, but I like to build things myself. Currently I'm just running AOSP 4.0.4 with the kernel and ROM fingerprint from the latest OTA. Sometimes I build my own kernel, and will eventually again, but this just works. I'm too busy to fool with things that don't just work, so I use what the developers in Mountain View wrote for me to use.
The biggest thing I miss while running vanilla is pull down toggles. Luckily, Elixir 2 takes care of that for me. From left to right: Wifi toggle, Bluetooth toggle, rotation toggle, lock screen toggle, and a flashlight toggle. Simple, but exactly what I need.
My home screens
My home screens are probably tamer than many of you folks are used to, but I have a system and I stick with it. You'll understand when you get old. I'm using the stock launcher and have all five screens in use. I almost never have to open my app drawer. Above (left to right) you'll see Pure Calendar Widget (agenda), and a couple app icons. On the next page you're got Astrid Task/To-do list widget, and three other app icons. You don't get to see what's blurred out, because you couldn't handle the awesomeness. For reals.
Here's my main (center) screen, and it has the stuff I'm using all the time. You'll see the apps that populate those folders a little further down the page, and the widgets are TeslaLED flashlight, and Vlingo. When I'm by myself I like to pretend I'm on deck of the Discovery One telling HAL to text my wife or call Phil, and I use the heck out of Vlingo. While people are looking, not so much.
Next up and you've got the Audio Manager Pro widget, the Google Play Music widget, and a couple folders with apps I use fairly regularly. Tunes are a must, so Google Play Music gets a spot and Audio Manager Pro is a great way to make Android silent with one click, and the widget looked cool. On the next page you've got a couple Pulse widgets (Crackberry and Buzzfeed) and my Google bookmarks. I use Currents instead of Pulse on my tablet, but I like the widget so I use Pulse on my phone. Y U NO MAKE WIDGET GOOGLE?
My apps
I'm not the biggest app guy, but I have enough installed that I'm not going to go through them all. I'll just point out some of my favorites and we'll go from there. You don't get to see the blacked out apps, sorry. (Not really -- beta testing and reviewing new apps is great). You'll see a lot of camera apps, it's a work in progress I have going on to tell you guys my pick of the very best. It takes time to test every one of them, but look for it soon. ConnectBot is a great terminal client, with built in SSH login. If you need a terminal, try it. Yes, I still use Flash. Yes I love Pizza.
More camera apps, and a couple must-have utilities here. Light Flow keeps that damn blinking light off when I need it off. Multiple phones + Google Voice + LED = a disco on your dresser at night if someone calls. I hate disco. Yes, I have Lookout installed. you would too if you got unsolicited apk files in your mail to test. It's even found something a time or two. Be smart.
Again with the camera apps, and a couple familiar faces I'll bet a good many of you guys have installed as well. ROM Manager is a nice shortcut for doing stuff in recovery, Schemer has been fun to fool with and Wifi File Explorer Pro is probably the best damn app ever invented if you're too lazy to go looking for USB cables all the time.
And that's how I roll. I've got a few Android phones laying around that I like to mess with, but for the phone I keep in my pocket and use every day this is what works for me. You'll see the rest of us showing our stuff here on the blog, but we want to see yours as well. Take a moment, head to the Android Central lounge and show off your stuff. While you're there, hit the News Tip button for any you think need to be here on the blog, and we'll get with the member who posted it. It's bound to be more fun when we all do it together!
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