Chapter 15. Settings
Right out of the box, the Droid 2 is set up for you and ready to go. But what if you want to change the way it notifies you there’s a call, finetune the way its location services work, or alter its music setup? You turn to this chapter, which describes all its settings, and explains what they do for you. To get to the Settings screen, press the Menu key when you’re on the Home screen or a pane. From there, scroll to the setting you want to change and tap it. Head into the chapter for the complete list and advice.
Wireless & Networks
Here’s where you’ll find all the settings for how the Droid 2 handles Wi-Fi, wireless, and network access:
Airplane Mode
When Airplane mode is turned on, all your wireless radios are turned off, as airlines require during parts of the flight. But you can still use all your Droid 2 apps in this mode.
Wi-Fi
Tap to turn Wi-Fi on and off. (You can also turn Wi-Fi on and off from the Power Control widget in the Settings pane. See How the Droid 2 Gets Online for details.)
Wi-Fi Settings
Tap to manage your Wi-Fi connections, including connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots, changing the way you connect to hotspots, and seeing what hotspots are nearby.
Wi-Fi. Turns Wi-Fi on and off.
Network notification. If you don’t want the Droid 2 to display an icon in the Notification bar when an open Wi-Fi network is nearby, uncheck this box. Otherwise, leave it turned on.
Underneath these settings, you see “Wi-Fi networks,” which lists all nearby Wi-Fi networks. Tap any to connect to it. If you want to add a Wi-Fi network that’s not nearby, or that is not broadcasting its name (SSID), tap “Add Wi-Fi network”, and fill in details about the network name and its type of security (Connecting to an “Invisible” Network). And if there’s a network that you automatically connect to when it’s in range, but you don’t want to any longer, tap Manage Networks, and then from the screen that appears, tap the network to which you want to stop connecting automatically and tap Forget.
Note
When you’re on the Wi-Fi settings screen, press the Menu button, tap Advanced, and you’ll come to a screen full of options that only a techie can love, and that let you set advanced options such as whether to use a static IP address. (If you need to ask what that means, you don’t want to use it.) However, there is one useful setting you can use if you find yourself getting disconnected from Wi-Fi networks–Wi-Fi sleep policy. Tap it, and select “Never” and your Wi-Fi won’t go to sleep when the Droid 2’s screen turns off. Select “Never when plugged in” and Wi-Fi won’t go to sleep when your Droid 2 is plugged in.
Bluetooth
Tap to turn Bluetooth on and off. (As with Wi-Fi, you can also turn Bluetooth on and off from the Power Control widget in the Settings pane.
Bluetooth Settings
Tap this to access all your Bluetooth settings:
Bluetooth. Turns Bluetooth on and off.
Device name. Displays the name of your Droid 2. To rename it, tap the down arrow and from the screen that appears, type a new name and then tap OK.
Discoverable. Tap if you want your Droid 2 to be discoverable by other Bluetooth devices (Pairing with a Bluetooth Earpiece). In other words, they can see it and can connect to it, if you let them.
Enhanced stereo. If you’ve connected your Droid 2 to a Bluetooth stereo speaker, headphone, or system, tapping this improves audio quality and helps improve the device’s battery life.
Scan for devices. Tap this option, and the Droid 2 looks for any Bluetooth devices within range and then lists them. You’ll see devices listed there that are either nearby or that you’ve connected (paired) with in the past. If you’re currently paired with a Bluetooth device and want to unpair from it and/or disconnect from it, hold your finger on it, and then choose either Disconnect or “Disconnect & unpair”. (If you aren’t currently connected to a Bluetooth device, but it’s listed, then when you hold your finger on it you’re given only the option to unpair.)
Note
If you choose only to disconnect from the other Bluetooth device, you close the connection, but the pairing will remain. In other words, the initial work you did to make sure the devices can pair will remain, the Droid 2 will remember all the details about the other device, and you can quickly connect to it. If you unpair from it as well as disconnect from it, you’ll have to walk through the steps of pairing all over again.
VPN Settings
Here’s where you can set up a virtual private network (VPN) connection with your workplace or, if you’ve already set it up, change any settings, such as its URL, password, means of authentication, and so on. You’ll need to get information from your company’s IT gurus to make the connection, so check with them for details. See Virtual Private Networking (VPN) for more details about setting up a VPN on your Droid 2.
Mobile Networks
If you leave an area that’s covered by Verizon, you may still be able to use your phone to make and receive calls. When you roam, if you’re outside Verizon’s network, you can instead connect to another carrier, and use that carrier instead of Verizon. Depending on your plan, you may be charged for roaming.
To turn off roaming, tap Mobile Networks→System Select, and then choose “Home only”.
Note
For details about how to enable or disable data roaming—the ability to send and receive data when you’re outside Verizon’s coverage—see Status Bar Icons.
Call Settings
You have plenty of ways to customize the way you make and receive calls on your Droid 2, such as changing the number you dial for accessing voicemail, whether you automatically redial a number if you couldn’t connect on a call, and more. Tap “Call settings”, and here’s what you can do:
Voicemail service. On the Droid 2, this simply reads “My carrier,” which is Verizon. You can’t change it, so don’t bother tapping.
Voicemail settings. This lets you change the number you dial to call voicemail. It’s *86, but if you want to change it, tap “Voicemail settings”→Voicemail, type the number you want use, and then tap OK.
Assisted dialing. When you’re overseas, if you want to get to an operator to help you make your call, tap this and then turn on the checkbox next to “Assisted dialing status” in the screen that appears. On that screen, you also select your home country, and the country from which you’re calling.
Auto answer. If you want the Droid 2 to automatically answer calls when you’re in hands-free mode using a Bluetooth headset, turn on this box.
Caller ID Readout. Normally, when someone calls you, you see the phone number and person calling on the Droid 2, and your phone rings. If you’d prefer that the Droid 2 first speak the name of the phone number or person, you can set that option here by tapping “Caller ID then Ring”. If you want to dispense with the ring entirely, select Caller ID Repeat. From now on, the Droid 2 will repeat the name or number of the caller instead of using a ring.
Auto Retry. Sometimes you make a call, and it simply won’t connect. If you want the Droid 2 to redial the number automatically after that happens, turn on the checkbox next to this option.
TTY mode. Turn on this box to turn on Teletype mode, which lets the Droid 2 communicate with a teletypewriter, a machine that lets deaf people make phone calls by reading and typing text.
DTMF Tones. DTMF tones are the sounds a touchtone phone makes when dialing, and they’re also the tones used to access voicemail, to navigate through a phone tree (“Press 1 to be put on hold forever”), and to perform other kinds of automated services via your phone. Tap this option if you want to lengthen those tones (for example, if you have problems accessing these kinds of services).
HAC Mode Settings. HAC is short for hearing aid compatible. Turn this option on if you use your Droid 2 with a hearing aid device.
Voice Privacy. Encrypts your voice conversation as it’s transferred over the wireless network. It’s automatically turned on, so you shouldn’t need to turn it on unless it’s accidentally been turned off. (There’s no benefit to turning it off.)
Show dialpad. Sometimes you need to use the dialpad during a call—for example, to navigate a customer service phone tree (“Press 2 to be ignored”). You can have the Droid 2 automatically display the dialpad during certain types of calls, for example, when you call toll-free numbers, 900 numbers, voicemail, and so on. Tap “Show dialpad”, and you come to a screen that lets you tell the Droid 2 on which types of calls you want the dialpad to appear. You can even tell it to always display a dialpad when you call certain numbers.
Sound
Here’s where to go to change just about everything about the way that the Droid handles sounds, such as your ringer and playing music, and even the display. Tap Sound to get to these options:
Silent mode. Tap to turn off all your phone’s sounds, except for alarms and media, such as music.
Vibrate. Tap to control when the phone vibrates to indicate an incoming call. It’s especially useful when combined with turning off the ringer for incoming calls, or for when you set the volume to low. Your choices are to always vibrate when you receive a call, never vibrate, vibrate only when you’ve set your phone to silent mode, or only when the phone isn’t in silent mode.
Volume. Tap to set the volume for music, media, and your ringtone when you receive a call. A slider appears that lets you set the volume for each individually. The Droid 2 plays the new volume level when you move the slider, so if you’re not satisfied with what you hear, change it again until you reach the level you want. You also have the option of having your notifications use the same volume as your ringtone volume.
Phone ringtone. Tap this to change your phone ringtone. When you tap it, a list of available ringtones appears, including the one you’re currently using. Browse the list, tap the new one you’re considering, and you hear a preview. Select the one you want, and then tap OK to make it your ringtone.
Note
You can use any music you have stored on your Droid 2 as your ringtone. See More Music Options for details.
Notification ringtone. Sets the ringtone you hear when you receive notifications, such as when new email has been received. You choose your new notification ringtone in the same way you do your phone ringtone.
Audible touch tones. Like to hear tones when you tap the dialpad? Turn on this option. If you’re a fan of silence, leave it unchecked.
Audible selection. Tap if you’d like a sound to play when you make a selection on the Droid 2 screen. This can get noisy, so choose it with care.
Screen lock sounds. Tap, and the Droid 2 will make a sound every time your screen locks, and when you unlock it.
Media audio effects. Want to enhance the quality of the music you play on your Droid 2? Here’s where to do it. You can add effects such as surround sound, use an equalizer, and more.
You get two choices when you tap “Audio effects”—one for wired stereo devices, and one for the phone speaker. As you would expect, wired stereo devices offer more options than the phone speaker.
Note
Wired stereo devices include not just headphones, but speakers as well, so you can add effects to speakers as well as to your headphones.
When you tap “Wired stereo devices”, tap “Enable audio effects” to add any effects. Tap the “Effects profile” drop-down box, and you can choose from a variety of profiles, such as 3D Stereo, Home Theater, and so on. You can also choose Custom, to create your own settings.
Note
For more information about these settings and how best to use them, see More Music Options.
If you make any choice other than Custom, then you can’t change the other settings on the “Wired stereo devices” screen—Surround and Equalizer—because they’re controlled by the effects profile. But if you choose Custom for your effects profile, you can choose the kind of surround sound you want and select a different kind of equalizer.
Haptic feedback. Tap this option if you want to feel a slight vibration when you tap certain keys or take certain actions on the Droid 2—for example, when you unlock the phone, press a key on the dialer or keyboard, or add a widget.
SD card notifications. If you want a sound to play whenever you receive a notification about the SD card—for example, that it’s being prepared for use after you’ve turned off the phone and then turned it back on—turn on this checkbox.
Emergency tone. You can have the Droid 2 play an alert, vibrate, or do nothing when you make an emergency call (such as to 911). Tap this option to choose among them.
Call connect. Want to hear a sound when your phone makes a connection on a call? Tap this option.
Network Lost tone. There may be times when you lose your connection to the Verizon Network. If you want to be notified when that happens, turn on this option.
Roaming tone. To be warned when you’ve left the Verizon Network, and are roaming, turn on this box.
Software update alert. Want to be informed when there’s a new version of the Android operating system ready to download to your phone? Turn on this checkbox, and your Droid 2 will do it.
Display
Change your display options here. Tap to get to these options:
Brightness. Normally, the Droid 2 chooses a screen brightness appropriate for that level of lighting—less light in the dark, and more in sunlight, for example. If you’d prefer to set it at a specific brightness level, and have it stay at that level until you change it, tap this option, and from the screen that appears, uncheck the box next to “Automatic brightness”. A slider appears that lets you manually set the brightness level.
Auto-rotate screen. With this setting turned on, whenever you turn your phone from vertical to horizontal, the screen rotates as well. Unless you’ve got a good reason to change that, it’s a good idea to leave this on.
Animation. At times, your Droid 2 uses animated effects between screens. Out of the box, it shows all animations. Tap this option, and you can turn off all animations, have the Droid 2 show just some of them, or show all animations.
Screen timeout. In order to save battery life, the Droid 2’s screen goes blank after 1 minute. You can change that to as low as 30 seconds, or as much as 30 minutes—or even have the screen never go blank. Tap this option and then choose the interval you want.
Wallpaper settings. Tap this setting, and a screen appears that lets you choose from three different kinds of wallpapers to display on the Droid 2’s Home screen: “Live wallpapers”, which can be animations, or can grab content from somewhere else and display it, such as a real-time map; “Media gallery”, a display of photos that you’ve taken; or Wallpapers, which are static wallpapers like the one that came with your Droid 2.
Tap the one you want to use, and you’ll be able to browse through a gallery of wallpapers and pick the one you want. For more information about choosing wallpapers, see Working with Multiple Photos.
Roaming banner. When you’re roaming and using a wireless provider other than Verizon and want a display to tell you which provider you’re using, make sure this box is turned on.
Data Manager
Here’s the section to head to when you want to control how your Droid 2 synchronizes data and how to control certain aspect of how email works. What’s odd about this section is that when you tap it, you come to only a single entry—Data Delivery. You then have to tap that to get to these settings:
Background data. Your Droid 2 regularly checks whether you’ve got email, looks for the latest weather updates, and sees whether there are updates to social networking sites you use on the Droid 2, like Facebook and Twitter. When it finds changes, it syncs them in the background. That’s a good thing, but uses up a bit of battery life. If you don’t care about having the Droid 2 check for new updates and want to save some battery life, turn this setting off.
Data Roaming. When this setting is turned on, when you’re roaming—connected to a network other than Verizon—you can send and receive data, not just make phone calls. Depending on your service plan, data roaming can be expensive, so check your plan and then decide whether to turn this ability off.
Note
To find out how to turn roaming in general on or off, see VPN Settings.
Data enabled. This lets you send and receive data over the mobile network.
Email and Corporate Sync. Tap it to set a grab-bag of email options:
Notifications. This controls whether you should be notified when you get new email, and if so, whether to use a ringtone (and if so, which to use), or whether your phone should vibrate.
Email delivery. Controls how your corporate email account and other email accounts, notably Gmail, handle getting and synchronizing mail. Tap this option, and you come to a page with three options: “Data push”, “Fetch schedule”, and “Sync over Wi-Fi only”.
To understand these settings, you need to know about something called push technology. Depending on your email service and setup, your Droid 2 may use push for some mail services—that is, as soon as mail is sent to the inbox in your server, it’s also sent to the Droid 2. In other words, the Droid 2 doesn’t have to ask the server whether there is new mail; the server automatically pushes the mail to the Droid 2.
Note
Gmail on the Droid 2 uses push, and if you have an email account that uses Microsoft Exchange, that’s a push account as well. Many other email accounts don’t use push technology, however.
If you want the Droid 2 to check for mail even if push has been turned off, or isn’t working for some reason, turn on the checkbox next to “Data push”. The Droid 2 will then regularly poll your email services to see whether there’s mail, and then fetch the mail for you. If you turn this on, you can set the interval at which the Droid 2 polls for mail, by tapping “Fetch schedule”, and then choosing anywhere from Manually to every 4 hours.
The last setting on this screen controls whether you sync your mail only when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. If you have wireless service based on the amount of data you send and receive, consider turning on this setting if you often send and receive large files, because when you send them over Wi-Fi, it’s not counted against your data plan.
Read options. Tap this option, and you’ll be able to choose the text size, from 12, which is the smallest, to 20, which is the largest. Out of the box, the Droid 2 uses 14.
Compose options. Tap, and you can change the type of font and font size, font color, background color, and so on for the email messages you compose. You can also create and edit a signature that’s appended to the bottom of all your outgoing email.
Default email account. If you have more than one email account, tap the drop-down box to choose which should be the default—the one that you automatically use when you send email. You can always choose to send from a different account when you compose mail.
Multiselect always on. When this setting is turned on, you can tap multiple boxes to select multiple items and do something with all of them at once; for example, selecting multiple emails, and then deleting them all. As a general rule, keep this option turned on.
Social Applications. Tap this and you’ll come to a screen that controls whether you sync your social networking services such as Facebook only when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. If you have wireless service based on the amount of data you send and receive, consider turning on this setting, because when you sync over Wi-Fi, it’s not counted against your data plan.
Backup Assistant
Verizon includes a free backup service that saves a copy all of your contacts on a secure Verizon server. If you lose your phone or buy a new one, you’ll be able to transfer all your contacts via the Backup Assistant. Tap this button to launch and set up Backup Assistant if you haven’t yet used it. If you’ve already used it, tap this screen to control settings such as when to sync contacts.
Location & Security
Plenty of apps, like turn-by-turn navigation and Foursquare, use the Droid 2’s ability to know your location. These settings control how the Droid 2 handles knowing your location, as well as security options, like setting a screen lock.
The top section of this screen is labeled My Location, and it determines how the Droid 2 handles location:
E911 Only. This item isn’t a setting, and you can’t change it—it’s a notification telling you that you can’t turn off the E911 location setting on the Droid 2. With E911 location, when you dial 911, your phone automatically sends your location, so that you can be more easily found by ambulance, police, or other emergency services. (E911 location is permanently turned on on every mobile phone with good reason—so emergency services can locate the caller.)
Use wireless networks. Tap this, and the Droid 2 determines your location by using Wi-Fi or mobile networks, via techniques such as triangulation.
Note
If you turn on multiple boxes in the My Location section, the Droid 2 uses the most precise available method for finding your location. So if you select “Use wireless networks”, and “Use GPS satellites”, for example, the Droid 2 will use GPS satellites when possible, and wireless networks only if it can’t connect to GPS satellites.
Use GPS satellites. Tap this option, and the Droid 2 will determine your location via GPS satellites, which are a more precise means of locating you than wireless networks. GPS uses a good deal of battery power, so turn it on only when you need GPS services.
Enable assisted GPS. Assisted GPS helps provide more accurate location services than GPS alone. GPS can have problems providing the most accurate location possible, especially in cities, where signals may bounce off buildings or become weak when passing through buildings. Assisted GPS uses other techniques to help GPS provide more accurate location information.
The next section of the screen, Compass, has only a single setting: Calibrate Compass. The Droid 2 uses the compass in maps and many other apps, so you’d like your compass to be as accurate as possible.
Tip
In order to calibrate the compass, you need to constantly rotate the Droid 2 for several minutes. Not only do you have a calibrated compass, you’ve just strengthened your cardiovascular system!
The next section, Security, lets you lock your Droid so that only you can use it:
Set up screen lock. When your screen is locked, all you normally need to do is swipe the lock to the right to unlock it—anyone can do it. If you lose your phone, whoever finds it can use it. Tap this button if you want to help make sure that you’re the only person who can unlock the phone.
From the screen that appears, you can choose between a pattern lock, which is a special gesture you make on the phone when you want to unlock it; a PIN, which is a series of numbers that need to be typed to unlock the phone; and a password comprised of letters and numbers that needs to be typed to unlock the phone. If you already have a screen lock and want to disable it, select None.
Note
Before creating a security lock, make sure to set up a Google or Gmail account, because if you want to reset your security lock, you’ll need to use your login information from that account to reset it.
Next comes the “Manage restriction lock” section:
Set up restriction lock. This setting lets you block certain phone numbers from calling you, block text messages, and block your location from being revealed. Tap it, and a screen appears that lets you turn on the lock and customize the restrictions.
Security lock timer. This lets you change how long it takes for the Droid 2’s security lock to kick in if you’ve set up screen lock. When you first set it up, it takes 20 minutes, but tap here to change it from anywhere between two minutes and 20 minutes.
Next is Passwords, another one-entry section:
The final section of this screen, Credential Storage, has four settings that are primarily used in concert with some corporate virtual private networks (VPNs). If they’re required for VPN access, your company’s IT staff will tell you how to set up and customize these settings. Otherwise, you likely won’t need to touch them.
Accounts
Here’s where you make changes to or add new email accounts, Gmail accounts, and accounts for social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It’s also where you adjust the way the Backup Assistant works, if you use it.
Tap an icon for one of your email accounts (aside from Gmail), and you come to a basic setup screen where you can change your basic email settings. You can also delete an account from your Droid 2 by tapping “Remove account”.
General settings. Here’s where you enter your email address, the account name (what the Droid 2 displays for the account—think of it as a nickname that makes it easy to identify the account), and the account’s “real name.” So if you have an email account with an Internet service provider called MyBigISP, the real name of the account would be MyBigISP, but you might want to use the name “Home email.” You can, of course, make the account name and the real name the same.
Incoming Server. These settings tell the Droid 2 where and how to grab email that’s sent to you. You’ll need information such as the type of mail server (for example, POP or IMAP), your user name and password, the port number, and so on. Get this information from your email provider, or from your computer’s email program.
Note
For more information about setting up your email account, the difference between POP accounts and IMAP accounts, and so on, see Setting Up Email Accounts.
Outgoing Server. This tells the Droid 2 how to send outgoing mail. You need the same type of information as you need for Incoming Server, so check with your mail provider or your computer’s email software.
Other settings. Tap to set whether you want the Droid 2 to delete email messages. Your choices are to never delete them, or delete them after a week, two weeks, a month, or two months.
Gmail and Google
The Droid 2 handles Gmail and your Google account differently than it does other email accounts, so they get their own settings. You don’t need to enter information about your incoming and outgoing server, because when you set up Gmail, the Droid 2 handles all that automatically.
Instead, you set whether to synchronize your calendar with Google Calendar, your contacts with your Gmail contacts, and the mail on your Droid 2 with Gmail servers. If you uncheck the box of any service, it won’t synchronize. The screen also shows you the last time each was synced. To sync them all manually, press the Menu key and then tap “Sync now”. To remove your Google and Gmail account from your Droid 2, tap “Remove account”.
If you have a Facebook account, tap its icon if you need to change your username or password. You can also remove the account from the phone by tapping “Remove account”. If you want to change any other Facebook options, you must do so on the Web.
Backup Assistant
If you use Backup Assistant to back up your contacts, tap this item to set options like whether and how to automatically back up your contacts. This setting also gives details about the last time you backed them up.
Add Account
If you want to set up a new email account, social networking account, or similar type of account, tap this button. You come to a page with a list of account types, such as email, Facebook, MySpace, and so on. Tap the account you want to set up, and follow the instructions (which vary for each type of account).
Applications
From here you can manage and uninstall apps, control services running in the background, and more:
Unknown sources. With the Droid 2, you can find and install software not just through the Market, but in other ways as well, such as by downloading it from the Web. Turn on this option if you want to install apps from anywhere, not just the Market. If you’re very concerned about safety, turn off the box, since the Market checks apps for malware.
Quick launch. Tap to create and edit keyboard shortcuts that let you launch apps by holding down the Search key on the Droid 2’s physical keyboard and pressing another key simultaneously, such as the letter B.
Manage applications. This option lets you uninstall apps, manage them, force them to stop running, and more. Tap it, and a list appears of all the apps on your Droid 2, in four categories: Downloaded (all apps you’ve downloaded), Running (those apps that are currently running), All (apps preinstalled on your Droid 2 as well as apps you’ve downloaded), and On SD Card (apps you’ve moved to your SD card). Tap any category to see the list of apps, and then tap an app that you want to manage in some way.
Note
In the Downloaded category, you may see some apps that were preinstalled on the Droid 2, such as Maps. They show up in the Downloaded category because you’ve installed updates to them.
When you tap an app, you come to a screen full of information about it—its size, how much data it uses, the version number, and so on. Tap Uninstall to remove the app from your Droid 2. (You can’t uninstall apps that were preinstalled on the Droid 2. However, if you downloaded any updates to the preinstalled apps, you can uninstall the update and revert to the original version of the app.)
If the app uses your Droid 2’s built-in memory to store temporary information—called the cache—you can free up that memory by tapping “Clear cache”. Some apps are set to run every time you start your Droid 2; if you want to change that so they don’t start automatically, you can do so in the “Launch by default” area. If the app is running and you want to stop it, tap “Force stop”. And if you’re such a big fan of the app that you want to let others know about it, tap Share, and you can send an email or text message that include the app’s name, size, description, and URL where it can be downloaded. (Share doesn’t send the app itself.)
Running services. Tap to see all the background services currently running on your Droid 2, like those for news, Backup Assistant, social networking sites, and more. Tap any to stop the service. Generally, unless you have the technical chops to know what you’re doing, and the consequences of it, it’s not a good idea to stop any running services, because doing so could stop various apps and the Droid 2 itself from running properly.
Development. Are you an Android developer? If not, don’t bother with this setting. If you are, it lets you set options such as for USB debugging and for whether the screen should stay awake when the Droid 2 is charging.
Double tap home launch. When you press the Home button twice in quick succession, the Droid 2 launches an app, such as Voice Commands, the Music app, the browser, the dialer, and so on. The “Double tap home launch” setting lets you choose which app or service should run. You can choose only from the list that appears; you can’t customize it to run any app or service beyond those listed.
Battery Manager
Droid 2 owners, like most people who use powerful smartphones, tend to be obsessive about battery life and want to wring every last minute out of their batteries without giving up any of the Droid 2’s considerable power.
The Battery Manager helps you do that, by letting you choose the best trade-off between battery life and Droid 2 features. Tap it, and you come to a screen that shows you how much power you’ve got left in your battery.
Tap the battery graphic, and you can see what uses up most of your Droid 2 battery life. A helpful chart shows you exactly where your juice is going. Armed with this information, you may be able to turn off various Droid 2 features and options to get more life out of your battery. For details on how to save battery life beyond choosing the right battery profile, see the box on Maximizing Your Battery Charge.
Back on the main Battery Manager screen, at the bottom part of the screen you see what battery mode you’re using. The Droid 2 has three battery modes that balance battery life with the way in which the Droid 2 connects to 3G and Wi-Fi networks—Maximum battery saver, Nighttime saver, and Performance Mode.
In Maximum battery saver mode, your display is dimmed, and the phone stops syncing data after you haven’t used the phone for 15 minutes during both the day and night.
In Nighttime saver mode, the phone stops syncing data after you haven’t used the phone for 15 minutes between the hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. During all other hours, it syncs as normal.
In Performance Mode, the phone syncs without any restrictions during the night and day.
Tap the “Battery mode” button if you want to choose a different mode from the one you’re currently using.
Note
Even after the Droid 2 turns off syncing, it’ll turn back on when you need to use it. When you use your phone, it turns back on.
When you tap the button, from the screen that appears you can also choose to customize battery use. Tap “Custom battery saver”, and then tap the small gear icon to its left. From here, you can change how long it takes the Droid 2 to turn off a data connection after you haven’t been using it. You can choose anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Because you tend to use the Droid 2 more during certain hours than others, you can have the data connection set differently depending on the time of day—for example, you may want it to close a data connection quickly late at night, but more slowly during the day. The “Off-Peak hours” section of the screen lets you set when you don’t use the Droid 2 frequently, and choose a setting for then. The “Peak hours” section lets you choose a setting for your hours of peak usage.
Privacy
There are only three settings here:
Back up my data. This setting backs up your Droid 2 settings and data to Google’s servers so that if you have a problem with your Droid 2, you can restore the settings and data at some later time. Obviously, if you don’t feel safe with your data riding an anonymous server somewhere, turn this option off.
Automatic restore. If you uninstall an app, and then later decide that you want to install it again, if you have this turned on, the Droid 2 automatically grabs the relevant data you’ve backed up using the “Back up my data” option and puts it back on your Droid 2 when you reinstall the app.
Factory Data Reset. If you’re getting rid of your phone, you don’t want anyone else to get all your data. Tap this button and then follow the onscreen instructions for setting the Droid 2 back to the way it was before you began using it. It deletes all your data, eliminates any changes you made to the phone, deletes any apps you’ve installed, and makes the phone look and work exactly the way it did when it was shipped from the factory.
SD Card & Phone Storage
Here’s where to get details about the storage on your phone and SD card. In the SD card section, you see four listings:
Total space. This shows the total amount of storage space on your SD card. The total amount of storage space is somewhat less than the listed specs on the SD card—for example, a 16 GB SD card yields only around 15 GB of total storage because of the vagaries of the way storage is managed and handled.
Available space. This shows you how much space you’ve got left on the card.
Unmount SD card. If you need to remove your SD card for any reason, tap this before removing the card. For more details on how to remove an SD card, see SD Card and Battery.
Format SD card. If you’re installing a new SD card, or if your existing one gets corrupted for some reason, tap this to format it. Keep in mind that when you format an SD card, you erase all of its contents.
The “Internal phone storage” section has only one listing:
Note
Music, photos, videos, and similar content are stored on your SD card. Apps, and often the data they use, are stored in the internal memory of your Droid 2, although you can move them to your SD card. (See Using the Droid 2 Files Application for details.)
Search
Here’s where to control the way you search the Internet and the Droid 2. The first section, Web, lets you customize how Google searches the Web on your Droid 2.
Google search. This controls how Google search works. You’ve got four options here: “Show web suggestions”, “Search history”, “Use My Location”, and “Manage search history”.
When the “Show web suggestions” checkbox is turned on, which it is out of the box, Google suggests possible search terms that match letters as you type. You can then choose one instead of continuing to type. When “Search history” is turned on, as it normally is, when you type search terms, Google displays past search terms you’ve used as you type, and you can choose one instead of continuing to type. “Manage search history” launches the web browser and brings you to a Google page that shows a list of search terms you’ve used and lets you delete any from your history.
If you turn on the Use My Location checkbox, Google will provide you services customized to your location when it provides search results. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Google also knows exactly where you are. If you’re worried about the privacy implications of that, uncheck this box.
Note
The Google search settings apply only to your Droid 2, not to Google searches using your computer.
The Phone section controls how you search for information on your Droid 2:
Searchable items. Displays a list of what you search when you type a search term on your Droid 2. Checkboxes let you choose the items you’d like searched; uncheck boxes next to items you don’t want to search.
Clear shortcuts. As you tap a search term, the Droid 2 lists recent searches you’ve typed in and chosen—these are search shortcuts. If you’d like to clear that list, tap this button, and then on the warning screen, tap OK.
Language & Keyboard
This section lets you change the language you use, as well as various keyboard options, including whether to use the Droid 2’s built-in keyboard or Swype:
Select locale. Tap if you want to change your language. Choose the language from the list that appears.
Input method. You have two choices: either Swype or the multi-touch keyboard. For details about the differences between the two, see The Three Keyboards.
Swype. Tap to change a variety of Swype settings, such as whether to automatically capitalize the first letter of words that begin sentences, how long Swype shows its line “trace” on the keyboard, how quickly Swype responds to your input, and so on.
Multi-touch keyboard. Tap to change multi-touch keyboard settings, such as whether the Droid 2 makes a sound when you tap a key, vibrates when you tap a key, shows suggestions for words as you type them, and so on.
Device keyboard. Tap to change settings for the physical keyboard, like whether you want the Droid 2 to auto-replace mistyped words, automatically capitalize the first letters of sentences, and insert a period when you press the space bar twice.
User dictionary. The Droid 2 uses its dictionary to suggest words to you as you type. If you’d like to add a word to the dictionary, tap this option, and when a screen appears, press the Menu key and tap Add. Type the word into the “Add to dictionary” box that appears, and then tap OK.
Voice Input & Output
A variety of apps, such as the Screen Reader and GPS navigation apps, can read text to you from your Droid 2. The settings in this section control how it works.
Voice Recognizer Settings
Language. Choose the language you’ll be speaking into the Droid 2.
SafeSearch. Controls the kind of search results you get when you search Google using voice commands, by filtering explicit images and explicit text. The Moderate setting filters explicit images, and the Strict setting filters both explicit images and explicit text. Off turns off the filter.
Block offensive words. Blocks the results of a voice search using offensive words. Uncheck it if you don’t want those results blocked.
Show hints. When this option is turned on, suggestions for words you might be searching for—called hints—appear when you search Google using voice commands.
Text to Speech Settings
Listen to an example. Tap to hear a voice read text to you. Yes, it’s robotic-sounding—that’s the nature of text-to-speech.
Always use my settings. Individual apps have a variety of settings for controlling how text-to-speech works. If you want to override those settings with settings of your own, tap this option. You can then set the two options just below it on the list, under Default settings—“Speech rate” and Language.
Default Engine. You shouldn’t have to worry about this setting—it just tells you what text-to-speech software the Droid 2 uses, which out of the box is Pico TTS (TTS stands for text to speech) and the only choice. If you’ve installed other text-to-speech software, that may appear here instead.
Install voice data. This item is likely be grayed out, because the Pico TTS system is already in place. However, after you install another text-to-speech system, you may have to come back to this setting and tap it to complete the installation of the voice data required for that system.
Speech rate. Tap to select how fast the text should be read to you. There are five choices, ranging from “Very slow” to “Very fast”.
Language. Tap and then choose the language of text that you want read to you. In most cases, that’ll be American English. But if someone sends you email in Italian, for example, and you want it read to you, select Italian. That way, the text reader will know the language it’s looking at, and attempt to pronounce the words accordingly. For example, in Italian the letter combination “ci” is pronounced the same way as “ch” in English.
PICO TTS. Lets you choose which language you want the Droid 2’s Pico TTS to use. However, since the Language setting controls this, there’s no need to tap here.
eSpeak TTS. If you want to use the eSpeak TTS system instead of Pico TTS, tap here to download and install it. Once it’s installed, you can set its options here.
Accessibility
If you or someone who uses the phone has vision problems or limitations, here’s where you can choose options to make the phone easier to use:
Accessibility. To use either of the two accessibility services, you need to first turn on this box.
Voice Readouts. Helps those with vision problems navigate through the Droid 2 and launch apps. It reads out actions you take, and then reads the options available to you. When using the Screen Reader, the Droid 2 does things differently than normal. For example, tapping an app’s icon doesn’t launch the app. Instead, the icon turns red, and the screen reader reads the app’s name. To launch the app, double-click it. The screen reader doesn’t read actual contents to you—for example, it won’t read you the contents of an email message.
Zoom Mode. Tap this option, and a box appears that magnifies anything on the screen. Move it around the screen to magnify text and pictures. You can change the magnification level by tapping the + or – signs.
Power button ends call. Turn on this option, and when you’re on a call, you can end it by pressing the Power/Lock key. The screen won’t be turned off as it is normally.
Date & Time
Choose from these settings for the date and time:
Automatic. As long as this checkbox is turned on, you won’t have to worry about setting the date and time—the Droid 2 automatically gets it from the Verizon Network, including your location (to set your time zone).
Set date. If you haven’t turned on the Automatic setting, and want to set the date yourself, tap here to do so.
Select time zone. If you’re not on Automatic, tap here and choose your time zone.
Set time. If you haven’t turned on the Automatic setting, tap to set the time.
Use 24-hour format. Tap if you prefer the 24-hour format—14:00 instead of 2 p.m., for example.
Select date format. You’ve got other options here if you don’t like the U.S. standard (09/22/2011), including 22/09/2011, and 2011/09/22.
About Phone
Go here for more information than you can ever imagine about your phone, including the version of the Android software you’re running, your current signal strength, whether you’re roaming, and much more. Much of what you’ll find here is informational only. It’s also where you go to see if there’s an Android software update for you.
System updates. Tap if you want to see whether there’s a software update available. If there is, follow the instructions for installing it.
Note
Technically, you don’t need to update your phone’s software manually by tapping “System updates”. Updates are automatically delivered to you over the Verizon Network, via what’s called over the air (OTA) update (Make Sure Your Software Is Up-to-Date).
Status. Tap for a mind-boggling amount of detail about your phone’s status, including its signal strength, whether it’s roaming, the battery level, your phone numbers, the phone’s Wi-Fi MAC address (a unique number that identifies your Droid 2), the network you’re using (Verizon Wireless), and a barrage of techie details that only a full-time geek could love.
Legal information. Here’s where you can while away the hours reading Google’s terms of service, and the contracts that govern the use of Android. If you’re not a lawyer, you don’t want to read this. In fact, even if you are a lawyer, you don’t want to read this.
Safety information. Spend enough time reading the information you find here, and you may think the Droid 2 is a dangerous weapon, not a smartphone. This provides safety information about every aspect of using the Droid 2, including repetitive motion problems, glass parts, warnings about small children and the phone, and so on.
Other information. The rest of the screen gives you a variety of very technical information that you most likely will never need to know, such as the kernel number and the ERI version. However, if you ever need tech support, you may need to go back to this screen to read this information to a techie. The only setting to pay attention to is Android version, which tells you the current version number of your operating system.
