Android Questions

[MixedBerryJam]

I just got my first ever smart phone, and have been looking at the post from a few days ago someone started for sbp which I saved a link to because I knew I'd be getting mine soon. This thread, I mean:

pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=46022&page=1

Anyway, I have a couple of questions about getting apps for my Galaxy III. Is there an "app store" somewhere like there is for apple products? I seem to see places say, text xxx to xxxx to get our app. But I'd like to see them all in one place, like, what if there are two apps that do the same thing and I want to compare them before I decide which one to download?

And when an app works by swiping your phone, do you have to carefully swipe where the camera is (or is it another specific spot) or do you just have to wave the phone in the general direction of the other device? Does it have to be an inch away, or can it be 6 inches or a foot? Do I need to worry about an app "working" by mistake when I don't want it to? In my defense, my son's T card (the debit card for riding the subway) has debited from inside his wallet, inside his pocket, which we didn't realize until we matched up travel dates with dates when the card was "used" so I'm inclined to worry about it.

This specific worry stems from the fact that I want the Dunkin Donuts app to get my daily iced tea. I don't want to get charged for the person in front of me, for example, if we're both using our smartphones.

I am also inclined to worry about technology until I understand it, and smartphone technology is a black hole to me.

Can someone please pat my head and say, "There, there. It'll be okay."

[EllieArroway]

The Android app store is called Play Store. It should have came on your phone. You can also download the Amazon AppStore, which does a free app of the day & has some good deals.

As for the DD app, you will have to open the app & let the cashier scan it, so no worries about accidentally paying for someone else's purchase.

[MixedBerryJam]

Thanks, Ellie: And one last question, then I think I'll be able to learn on the job: I open Play Store (or Amazon AppStore or whatever) on my phone, and from that point on it'll be just like downloading apps for my iPad. I wouldn't go there from my laptop and send apps to my phone, right?

So far I've made exactly one phone call and assigned one person (well, the same person) his own ring, and I have a screeching headache. I don't handle change well.

[EllieArroway]

Correct -- open the app store on the phone & download the app straight from there. No need to get on a computer. (Well, I think you might have to go to amazon.com on a computer to set up Amazon app store initially, but once it's on your phone it will work just like the play store & iPhone app store.)

[twotrue]

I just got the same phone last week and an loving it! I still have a lot to figure out but let me know if you have specific questions.

posted from phone

[batsteph]

You actually can send apps to your phone from your computer. If you go to the Play Store on your computer (play.google.com), you can search for and install apps, but instead of getting installed on your computer they get installed on your phone. You obviously don't have to do it that way, though. Installing them from your phone works just fine too.

[basilosaurus]

I've had the s3 for a week now. It definitely has the google play store built in, although you'll need to have a google account to use it.

One thing I'm not liking is that the swype prediction kind of sucks. My old galaxy was much better. I'm hoping it eventually learns me, but I'm not terribly hopeful. For instance, it insists that "got" is really "for". Look at your keyboard, and it makes sense, but "got" should really be an option from the dropdown, and it's not. Plus, after 2 years of having a galaxy, I'm pretty freaking accurate with swype, so this shouldn't be a problem.

[MixedBerryJam]

I still haven't found the built-in play store, but I'm feeling like too much of an idiot to ask one more of these embarrassing questions tonight, and it's charging downstairs, and my headache has only gotten worse, so I figured I'd go look for it again tomorrow, with nicely rested eyes.

Swype is that "you don't have to click the letters, you just slide across them" thing? I'm not very good at it yet, but mostly I've been putting in names. It's gotten a few of my words right, though.

And now that you mention it, why is it that I'm paying the bill, but the teenagers get the two III's and I get stuck with the II? At least maybe they'll be jealous that my swype is so much hotter than theirs?

[basilosaurus]

It's in apps, and it's just called play store.

Swype is not having to type each letter individually, you can just drag your finger. It had been awesome on my galaxy 1, so I don't know why the change.

IDK, you pay the bills, so why don't you take one of their phones?