[Wildfire General] oscwilde:
HTC Wildfire New User Tips & Tricks

Hi,

Just thought I’d put this together for users of this great little phone. Hopefully it will be of use to someone.

First up, the Wildfire (also known as the Buzz) can run different firmware to that supplied by HTC.

There are several alternative firmware versions available, such as WildPuzzleROM. You can read more about these in the Wildfire Android Development sub-forum.

So why would you want to run different firmware?

One reason could be because you don’t like / have a use for the apps provided by your phone supplier (carrier) or HTC. As examples, many users may not have a need for social networking apps like FriendStream, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Other users may have no need for the Stock or News widgets. Other users are annoyed by all of the marketing-oriented crap from their phone company that fills up their app drawer with useless “apps” (these are often simply links to websites where you can buy ringtones, games, a.s.o.)

If you remove these apps from your installation (generally-speaking, you can’t remove them using the standard - or “stock” - firmware), it frees up a lot of internal memory for applications that you actually want to have on your phone. The other plus is that your phone will have more RAM to work with (because it‘s not running a bunch of default apps / services that start when you turn it on).

As with all computers, more free RAM means a faster, smoother experience and the ability to run more apps.

Another reason for using alternative firmware is to run a completely different interface. While you can install / run several “home” alternatives (basically, a different “desktop”) with the stock Wildfire firmware, the memory used by the default installed (HTC Sense) apps /services can affect the performance of your chosen alternate home.

Speaking of performance, many of the firmware alternatives allow you to overclock your Wildfire (make the processor run faster than the default speed). Some also enable a feature called JIT (just in time). Without getting into a bunch of technical jargon here, JIT can make applications run faster.

As an observation with MY Wildfire and overclocking - it becomes unstable if I use clock speeds over 691mHz - with a low limit of 128mHz. If I clock at 710, 728 etc. up to 768mHz I get lots of “fc” (force close) messages, weird hangs, or the phone simply reboots. Some folks are reporting stable usage at 768mHz, so it seems to be a luck of the draw thing, where some Wildfires will happily run at this speed. Having said that, a speed bump from the default 528mHz to 691mHz is a 31% increase in speed for free - so I’m not complaining.

Warning: As always with overclocking, you are using the CPU outside of spec which increases heat, battery use and so on. This is likely to reduce your phone’s lifespan and - in some cases - can destroy some phones. You’ve been warned of the risks, so it’s up to you to make the call on overclocking.

You can also UNDERclock your phone - using a utility such as SetCPU, which can be downloaded from the Market. This is the reverse of overclocking, where you run your CPU slower than default - which means a cooler phone and potentially much better battery life. This is unlikely to change the longevity of your phone, as the CPU is still running within spec.

Back to the benefits of running alternative firmware - and probably the biggest reason why you should consider it - is because it’s typically based on a more recent Android OS version than the one supplied by your phone company (or HTC themselves). New versions of Android often increase performance or add new features - and provide bug fixes.

In the Wildfire’s case, all of the current firmware alternatives are based on Android 2.2 (Froyo). The default firmware on Wildfire is Android 2.1 (Éclair).

Android 2.2 is faster than 2.1 and adds a feature which allows you to install your applications on the microSD card - rather than in the phone’s internal memory. This lets you install a lot more apps.

So, how do I install alternative firmware?

This involves a couple of steps.

First up is a process known as “rooting” your Wildfire. In plain language, you gain access to the base (or “root”) level of your phone’s operating software. If compared to a standard PC, this is the rough equivalent of the BIOS (Basic Input Output System). The easiest way to “root” your phone is with a utility called Unrevoked. See this thread for details on where to get it and how to use it:

xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=764495

Warning: You should note that rooting a phone is not without risk. You can “brick’ your phone (functionally - turn it into something as useful for making phone calls as a brick). Having said that, many thousands of people have managed to do it by following the instructions / doing their homework BEFORE rooting. Do this, and you should be fine too.

Once you’ve rooted your phone, you need to find / download a firmware alternative. These are known / identified as a ROM. See / read / download from the threads in the Wildfire Android Development sub-forum.

Installation instructions are generally found in each ROM thread.

You can only install an alternative ROM on a rooted phone.

You can only install a ROM which is built for the Wildfire (or “Buzz”). Do not attempt to install a ROM designed for a “similar” phone, or you will end up with an expensive paperweight.

General Tips

Using a non-Sense UI “home” alternative allows you to change the look / general feel (and actual use) of your Wildfire. Among these alternative home apps are:

ADW.Launcher (my current home)

Launcher Pro (my fave, but just a little unstable at the moment….and will become my home when the handful of tiny problems are sorted)

Open Home

Panda Home

…and a lot of others.

These each offer their own unique set of features / way of user interaction and general layout. They are generally faster than Sense. Another plus is that they allow you to do things that you can’t do with HTC’s Sense. These include:

- the use of Live Wallpapers

- the ability to show more icons onscreen - both on the desktop or in the App Drawer.

- themes or skins that not only change the wallpaper, but also (some) app icons, taskbar appearance, and other stuff

There are a few caveats, however, which are due to the Wildfire’s screen resolution, processor, and lack of 3D acceleration. This means:

- many live wallpapers will not run

- changing the number of displayed app icons can look weird / overlap

- fonts can become hard to read

While we’re talking about hardware limitations, you should note that many apps (particularly games) will not run on the Wildfire. In fact, many may not even show up in the Market because they are designed for CPUs / 3D accelerators, or the higher screen resolutions found in “high-end” Android phones.

Many games designed for HVGA resolution (320 x 480) will run on Wildfire, but you might find that the right side of the image is off the edge of the screen.

The screen res also causes other weird quirks. An example is the Google Voice Search feature. When you first run this - a tutorial pops up, but you can’t exit this tutorial because you can’t see the onscreen buttons when in portrait mode. The solution is to rotate your Wildfire into landscape mode…and then you can access the buttons.

Extending Wildfire Battery Life

This collection of tips has been mercilessly plagiarised from various sources on the internet….so I don’t claim them as my own. I just compiled the ones that have worked for me.

Obviously, if there are certain features that you like / need to leave enabled, then leave ‘em turned on.

Settings > Accounts & sync

- Untick Auto Sync and Background data.

Some apps, like the Calendar, constantly sync….which chews through your battery. Some apps - like the Market & GMail - require sync to be active. My suggestion is to use these settings, and enable sync when you need to access the Market / use an app that requires sync to be enabled. Once you’re done, turn it off.

- In the settings of EACH app….NOT the phone Settings menu….you should be able to disable or change the timing of data retrieval or background syncing for apps like email or Twitter clients and RSS or Stock ticker apps.

Settings > Sound & display

- Screen Timeout Interval. Change to 15 or 30 seconds, rather than the default 1 minute.

- Screen brightness. You can manually set this, or use the automatic feature. I leave it on automatic because disabling it affects the way that the backlighting works for the buttons below the screen.

- Untick Phone Vibrate Notification. I can hear the ringtone, so don’t need the phone to vibrate to tell me I’ve got an incoming call.

- Untick Haptic Feedback. A personal choice. I leave it enabled, but it does save some juice if disabled.

Wireless & networks

- Untick Wi-Fi, Bluetooth & GPS. These suck down the power, so disable them unless you need them. As a tip, Android has a default widget called the Control Bar. Click-hold on a blank (4 columns wide by one row high) space on one of your home screens…and choose this widget. It provides a quick way to enable/disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync, & to switch between a few Brightness levels (if Auto-brightness isn’t active in Settings > Sound & display).

Settings > Applications > Running Services > Select and Stop any apps that you’re not using. This frees up memory and saves CPU cycles - and therefore reduces battery drain.