Finally got my GS II

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

Hi All,

Well I finally got my Samsung Galaxy S II. After a spell with Windows Mobile handsets, HTC Tytn II and Samsung Omnia, I crossed to the darkside of iPhone 3, iPhone 3GS. I was never sure about the iPhone 4, so decided to bide my time and kept the 3GS. I was desperate to play with Android, so leapt at the chance and bought a San Francisco (ZTE Blade), which I thought was awesome.

I finally had my contract update yesterday and decided upon the Samsung Galaxy S II. I had also considered the Motorola Atrix, and the HTC Sensation. From reading the reviews, the Samsung is the best out there so far. I was curious by the LG Optimus 3G, but had a play with one in the shop ... and I hated it!!

So, there's me with my Samsung Galaxy S II., from T-Mobile UK. I spoke to Paul on twitter yesterday with regards to which ROM etc ... and he advised me to update it to KG6 firmware. Which I have done.

I thought I'd start this thread to encourage a little more discussion.

Things I want to find out:

1. Do I need to root? -> Done here : http://android.modac...ost__p__1779271
2. Replacements for all my iPhone apps.
3. Whether to purchase a sat nav app or just to use google maps. (On winmo and iPhone I have CoPilot)
4. Better media player to deal with all video types -> vPlayer or RockPlayer :)
5. Understand which clock replacement I need to allow it to have a "bedside" mode. -> clock app called Bedside Clock. Was hoping for a replacement clock same as on the Blade, but no dramas.
6. Find out if there is a way to enable sound profiles. Eg ... night time = just allows calls and morning alarm clock, daytime all alerts, meeting vibrate only, outside loud.
7. Way to remove all the samsung bloatware, I'm not particularly fussed by the game hub, reading hub etc.
8. Best app for social feed from facebook, twitter etc. Are standalone apps best, or one "social stream" widget?
9. Why does my keyboard still make a noise even when I've turned the sound off ?? Most frustrating!
10. Best voice control app of the lot? Samsung built in one or google? Im referring specifically to using in car and saying "Call Paul O'Brien Mobile".
11. Will the "Beautiful Widgets, animated wallpaper" have a huge impact on battery life? Should I disable? I don't mind eye candy if it isn't going to kill the battery!
12. Car : My current car needs an FM tuner for music, can anyone recommend a good one? I'm later planning to change the car bluetooth kit to one which supports A2DP.
13. Best way to get music from iTunes onto Android Handset?
14. I need a good fast 32GB SDHC card. I'm assuming Sandisk, and a fast speed I'm guessing class 4 (will it handle faster). -> Ordered 32GB Class 4, as the class 10 were twice the price.

Things I've installed (not just apps):

KG6 Firmware

Launcher Pro

Beautiful Widgets

Rooted via http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1103399

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

Just followed Chainfire's guide and rooted the device. Not going to bother removing the yellow warning triangle until I get a SD HC card.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1103399

[Guest fredewis]

Just followed Chainfire's guide and rooted the device. Not going to bother removing the yellow warning triangle until I get a SD HC card.

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1103399

try bln on it ....

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

Won't I need to change the firmware to run BLN ?

[Guest fredewis]

Won't I need to change the firmware to run BLN ?

you need to be in kg6....(latest firmwere)

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

Oh is that it ... well I'm certainly running KG6. Will give it a go :)

[Guest fredewis]

Oh is that it ... well I'm certainly running KG6. Will give it a go :)

let me know if it works .....

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

32GB Class 4 MicroSD card just arrived and installed :)

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

I'd been having issues getting content from my NAS which used Twonky Media Server to play on the GSII.

I've found one solution which isn't ideal, but certainly seems to work:

UPnPlay + vPlayer

That said, I'd still quite like something that works remotely from outside my network too, and streams ... but for now, the above works fine internally.

[Guest Pakatus]

try bln on it ....

Don't you need a custom Kernel for it?

Not everyone works with it...

[Guest Gulzar]

I'd been having issues getting content from my NAS which used Twonky Media Server to play on the GSII.

I've found one solution which isn't ideal, but certainly seems to work:

UPnPlay + vPlayer

That said, I'd still quite like something that works remotely from outside my network too, and streams ... but for now, the above works fine internally.

I use File Expert and vPlayer, which works flawlessly.

[Guest fredewis]

Don't you need a custom Kernel for it?

Not everyone works with it...

If u see a post I made it has all the prosidures...

[Guest skoda60]

Happily owed SGS2 for two weeks. Just upgrsded the KG6 PDA,then rooted with Chsinfire CF-root. Don't border the warning triangle till I got my 32GB card. But my system still in Android system 2.33, What wrong? See attached.

[Guest skoda60]

Happily owed SGS2 for two weeks. Just upgrsded the KG6 PDA,then rooted with Chsinfire CF-root. Don't border the warning triangle till I got my 32GB card. But my system still in Android system 2.33, What wrong? See attached.

Edited August 16, 2011 by skoda60

[Guest artesea]

Things I want to find out:

1. Do I need to root? -> Done here : http://android.modac...ost__p__1779271
2. Replacements for all my iPhone apps. << no idea which apps you had
3. Whether to purchase a sat nav app or just to use google maps. (On winmo and iPhone I have CoPilot) << been happy with Google Navigation
4. Better media player to deal with all video types -> vPlayer or RockPlayer :) << prefer Stock Video, played everything I've thrown at it so far
5. Understand which clock replacement I need to allow it to have a "bedside" mode. -> clock app called Bedside Clock. Was hoping for a replacement clock same as on the Blade, but no dramas. << stock clock is available as an APK from Pauls Stock App thread, or bakeable in an MCR
6. Find out if there is a way to enable sound profiles. Eg ... night time = just allows calls and morning alarm clock, daytime all alerts, meeting vibrate only, outside loud. << you might want to look at Tasker, it can be tricky to get started with, but allows you to build profiles based on location or time, plus hundreds of other features
7. Way to remove all the samsung bloatware, I'm not particularly fussed by the game hub, reading hub etc. << you can freeze the apps to be safe, or just delete the APKs using Root Explorer, or bake an MCR without them in
8. Best app for social feed from facebook, twitter etc. Are standalone apps best, or one "social stream" widget? << for twitter I read it via my own webclient, but have the app installed for the Share with Twitter feature, Facebook I use the app. Everyone is different on this so experiment, lots of free apps in the market
9. Why does my keyboard still make a noise even when I've turned the sound off ?? Most frustrating! << media sound and ringtone sounds are different settings, I've turned off all touch sounds on the screen. Settings -> Sounds -> Audible selection
10. Best voice control app of the lot? Samsung built in one or google? Im referring specifically to using in car and saying "Call Paul O'Brien Mobile". << never liked these, but then my phone is a web device, not really a calling one
11. Will the "Beautiful Widgets, animated wallpaper" have a huge impact on battery life? Should I disable? I don't mind eye candy if it isn't going to kill the battery! << i've found all Live Wallpapers to have an impact on battery, at the moment prefer a nice landscape shot I've taken on the camera as the wallpaper
12. Car : My current car needs an FM tuner for music, can anyone recommend a good one? I'm later planning to change the car bluetooth kit to one which supports A2DP. << not used one
13. Best way to get music from iTunes onto Android Handset? << for music I just drag and drop folders in Windows
14. I need a good fast 32GB SDHC card. I'm assuming Sandisk, and a fast speed I'm guessing class 4 (will it handle faster). -> Ordered 32GB Class 4, as the class 10 were twice the price. << if you only store music and video on the MicroSD you shouldn't really have a problem with the class. For Apps and Photos I store those on the internal SD

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

Excellent reply, thank you.I'm on the verge of installing Paul's latest ROM. I've just been a little busy :)