11. Enhancing Your EVO 3D with Apps
In this chapter, you discover how to expand the capabilities of the EVO 3D by installing new apps. You also learn how to browse and make purchases on Android Market as well as manage application icons on your EVO 3D. Topics include the following:
• Navigating Android Market
• Browsing apps by category
• Keep applications up to date
The EVO 3D is not just about state-of-the-art hardware craftsmanship. Your phone’s true strength is in the incredible software that is developed for it. The HTC EVO 3D comes with some truly amazing, preinstalled apps right out of the box, but you can expand its capabilities even further by downloading new apps from the Android Market. You can choose from thousands of innovative apps, ranging from games to productivity apps.
Configuring Google Checkout
Before you can purchase app content on the Android Market, you first need to set up a Google Checkout account. You can choose to set up an account by going to the Google Checkout website on your computer, or you can add your information on your phone when you attempt to make a purchase for the first time. This process involves some typing, so consider setting up your account from your computer with the comfort of a full-size keyboard.
1. On your desktop computer, open a web browser and go to http://checkout.google.com.
2. Sign in using the Google account you used to set up your EVO 3D.
3. Choose your location.
4. Enter the credit card number with which you want to make purchases.
5. Select the credit card’s expiration date.
6. Enter your card’s CVV number (security code). This is a three- or four-digit number on the back of the card.
7. Enter your name.
8. Enter your billing address.
9. Enter your telephone number.
10. Select a shipping address.
11. Click Create My Account to complete the form. Now you are ready to make purchases on Android Market.
Searching for Android Applications
When you launch Android market, there are several ways to search apps from the Home page. The Home page search options change position on the page, depending on which orientation you hold your phone: vertical or horizontal.
1. Tap the Market widget to access Android Market. After you read the terms of service you can tap Accept.
2. Featured applications are listed on the Home page. Scroll up and down the page to review apps.
3. Tap an app to access a description page and read more about the product. You are given the opportunity to either purchase or download the app for free on the description page.
4. The Market home page also makes it possible to browse apps by categories: Apps, Games, and Sprint. Tap a category to browse the list of results.
5. Use your finger to flick through the list of popular apps featured horizontally at the top of the page. Tap an app to go to the product description page.
6. Tap the search icon to enter a search term.
7. Type a search term into the field. As you type, results appear in the list below.
8. Tap a search result to access the results page for that product. For example, if you selected a search for Angry Birds, you are taken to a results page that features all versions of that product.
9. Tap a result to access the product description page.
Finding Great Apps
There are thousands of apps you can download to your EVO 3D, so use your storage space wisely by finding great apps. Finding the best apps might be the biggest challenge of all, as you wade through your many options. The following are some tips on how to locate the highest performing apps.
1. Take a look at the featured apps on the Market homepage. When you access a category such as Apps or Games, review the Top Free and Top Paid categories. Keep in mind that large companies, usually with well-established names, tend to dominate the featured list. But less known developers are also producing outstanding apps, so look deeper.
2. Some apps have trial versions you can test drive before purchasing. Look for “Lite” or “Free” versions of applications to test before you buy.
3. When you locate an app you might want to purchase, scroll down to the bottom of the page and take a look at the Related section to find apps that are similar. Each app’s rating is displayed next to the name of the app. You might find a higher-rated app you want to look into.
4. Check out customer reviews for products, but don’t trust everything you read. Some reviews might not be in-depth or unbiased.
Downloading Paid and Free Applications
Software developers from around the world have developed thousands of apps for you to take advantage of with your EVO 3D. There are many free apps to choose from in the Android Market, as well as a wide variety of more sophisticated apps that are available for a fee. The process for downloading free apps and paid apps is similar, but you need to designate a payment method to make purchases, as mentioned earlier in the chapter.
1. Tap the Market widget to access the Android Market.
2. Locate and then tap the app you want to purchase. The product description page opens.
3. Tap the price of the app to see the permissions for this app. When the app is free, you tap the Free button.
4. Review the permissions and then tap OK to accept permissions. When the app is free, the downloading process begins immediately.
5. Tap in the Pay for This With field.
6. Tap the radial button next to the payment option you want to use.
7. Tap OK after you have chosen an option. If you choose the Bill My Sprint Account, you have to read a Carrier Billing consent form and then choose Accept.
8. If you chose Add a Credit Card, enter your credit card information and contact information into the provided fields.
9. Tap Buy Now to make the purchase and begin downloading the app. The app is downloaded and a shortcut is placed in your menu of apps.
Deleting Applications
There are a couple of ways you can delete an app you have purchased on Android Market from your EVO 3D if you no longer need it.
Deleting an Application Using Settings
You can go into the settings menu and uninstall applications on your phone. The following steps uninstall apps you have downloaded as well as those that were preinstalled on your EVO 3D.
1. Press the Menu button from a Home screen and then tap Settings.
2. Tap Applications.
3. Tap Manage Applications.
4. Select Downloaded to see all downloaded apps.
5. Tap the application you want to delete.
6. Tap Uninstall.
Deleting an Application Using Market
The second way to delete unwanted apps is by using the Uninstall option for the application in the Android Market app. With this method you can only delete apps you have downloaded within the Android Market app.
1. Tap the Android Market app on the Home screen.
2. From the Android Market’s Home screen, press the Menu button on your EVO 3D and then tap My Apps.
3. Tap the application you want to uninstall.
4. Tap Uninstall. A warning message appears.
5. Tap OK in the warning message. The app is uninstalled.
6. Select a reason why you are uninstalling the apps.
7. Tap OK.
Keeping Applications Up to Date
Market periodically searches for updates for apps that you downloaded to your EVO 3D. If an update is found, a notification appears in the status bar in the top-left corner of your phone. You can drag the notifications panel down to reveal the updates. Tap an item in the list to go to Android Market so you can begin the update. You can also update downloaded apps from within Market.
1. Tap Market.
2. Press the Menu button and then tap My Apps.
3. Tap the app in the list you want to update or tap Update All at the top of the screen to perform all available updates.
4. If you tapped a single app on the list, you are taken to another screen. Tap Update.
