HTC Eris (Droid Eris): Wfi-fi apps? Why?

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Topic: Wfi-fi apps? Why?

11 replies / Originally posted by MarkPritchard / Latest reply from DaleDJR6 / Topic is open

By MarkPritchard

Comments: 9
Joined: Nov 19, 2009

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Can somebody explain the purpose of the wi-fi apps available on the Android Market? Why do I need wi-fi on my phone? I don't get it!!

Posted 3 months ago

By deinfinityx

Comments: 4177
Joined: Jul 1, 2009

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What do you mean by wifi apps, do you mean apps that require a wifi connection to work? If that is the case a lot of them stream a lot of content which would eat away at your monthly limit where as using wifi would use nothing from your plan. They are also used since wifi is generally 5 times faster which means better content, especially for streaming.,

Posted 3 months ago

By jestempies

Comments: 16
Joined: Jul 1, 2009

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You may be referring to widgets that let you turn WiFi on/off on the device. WiFi drains the battery so it's better to keep it off when you don't need it.

Posted 3 months ago

By PegLeg

Comments: 5
Joined: Jul 6, 2009

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I don't know to much about Android at this point, but, if I had to use a educated guess I would agree with the two above statements.
Except for the monthly limit part, considering that most people have unlimited data for their smart phones. I don't see that as a reason for an app being wifi only unless the network has put a max data throughput cap for apps, thus requiring the app developer to make the app wifi only.

Posted 3 months ago

By sketchee

Comments: 1
Joined: Nov 11, 2009

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Actually, the "unlimited" plan on verizon is only 5GB

Posted 3 months ago

By DaleDJR6

Comments: 2
Joined: Dec 30, 2009

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Unlimited Data for Smart Phones has no limit, the 5GB limit is for the broadband connect devices.

Posted 2 months ago

By itchyeyes

Comments: 78
Joined: Jul 1, 2009

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Yeah, I think he's referring to the Wi-Fi widgets that let you turn Wi-Fi on and off. MarkPritchard, you already have WiFi on your phone, for the reasons deinfinityx went over. The WiFi apps on the app store are just widgets that put a WiFi switch on your home screen, as turning it on and off without the widgets generally means digging down pretty deep into your settings.

Posted 3 months ago

By MarkPritchard

Comments: 9
Joined: Nov 19, 2009

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OK, let's see if I understand.
1. I can download a widget that allows me to turn wi-fi on and off without digging into the settings app. And The advantage of turning it off is to save battery life.
2. The reason I would want to use an app that utilizes wi-fi, as opposed to using my phone connection on which I got an unlimited data plan, is that wi-fi is faster.

It was number 2 that I was really asking about, but it's good to have the information about no. 1 as well. Thanks!

Posted 3 months ago

By Flashfox

Comments: 5
Joined: Dec 4, 2009

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Another reason is when you travel internationally. Your "unlimited" plan doesn't work outside of the USA. In Canada, you are charged $10/MB while everywhere else it's $15/MB. This might not seem much, but trust me, you can rake-up a $1000+ bill in a few days with an "always connected phone". I turn off all phone based data roaming and use WiFi to sync up while outside of the USA. So in other words, my rooted G1 is a "phone" while traveling internationally. I sync-up data at WiFi HotSpots. Caveat Emptor!

Posted 3 months ago