just got my first windows phone but have lots of questions

[stalemate1]

Coming from an HTC evo 3d running Android, I got my Nokia Lumia 520 today and it's great, I feel like a kid in a candy store with a $1000 budget as I've waited months for this upgrade. The keyboard is surprisingly fluent and easy to type on.

But I just don't know how to do some things. I have used windows before but wp8 is nothing like windows phone 6.5 standard from 2009.

So
1 how do I uninstall apps?
2 how do I remove the people tile from my home screen? I can't get rid of it the same as the others.
3 how do I take a screen shot?
4 how do I get to the keyboard settings so as to change things like spelling correction and layout?
5 how do I update to Nokia black?

6 the media player is terrible, what media player do you recommend ? I need something that will let me search both my videos and music by name and if possible play both music and video in the background (not sure if that is possible in WP)

Thanks in advance.

I will most likely have more questions as I use the phone more and more but those are my only questions for now.

 

[berty6294]

1) long press on the name of the app in the app menu (swipe right from the start screen)
2) you should definitely be able to get rid of it the same way as the others. Long press on the live tile and click on the X
3) press and hold the Windows button and tap the power button.
4) settings > system > keyboard
5) settings > system > phone update > check for updates
6) uh I prefer the caked in player so I can't really suggest anything for you.

Glad you like the phone so far! The more questions you have, the more answers we have!

 

[anon(5349218)]

1. Swipe to the app list. Tap and hold the app you want to get rid. A window of options will pop up, one of the options will be uninstall.
2. You should be able to remove the people tile the same as any others....tap and hold the tile and then tap the unpin symbol. If you just don't like to see all of your contacts pictures popping up on your home screen just do what I do and make it the small size tile.
3. Press the windows button and lock screen button at the same time.
4. Keyboard settings are in settings....scroll down to keyboard. However, the keyboard learns the more you use it. Its very good at predicting what you'll say. You can also add words to the keyboard dictionary...and there are plenty of keyboard shortcuts and tricks.....do a google/bing search or just look at the wp8 tips and tricks forum here.
5. To update your phone you go to settings, scroll to phone update and you'll figure it out from there. If an update is available you'll have no trouble updating your phone.
6. Moliplayer might be your best bet. I personally find the native media player adequate for my needs but ya, maybe you should check out moliplayer....at least I think that's what its called haha.

 

[sym1a1a]

Press and hold app, option screen will pop up to delete, ( note, some SYSTEM apps cannot be deleted)
Press and hold the people tile, press the pin clip with the line through it
To take a screen shot, press power+windows start button at the same time
There are no other lay outs currently for the keyboard, to check for black go to settings, update phone check for update, also goto extras&info to see if it is already running black, lastly moli player is probably the best overall media player

 

[eeewing]

Welcome to the WPCentral community!

1 how do I uninstall apps?

From the Apps list (if on the home screen, "flip" to the right), simply tap-and-hold the app you want to delete, and then choose "uninstall" from the context menu that appears.

2 how do I remove the people tile from my home screen? I can't get rid of it the same as the others.

Hmmm...AFAIK, you should be able to remove it in exactly the same way...

3 how do I take a screen shot?

Press and hold POWER and START at the same time.

4 how do I get to the keyboard settings so as to change things like spelling correction and layout?

There is no direct way to edit the custom dictionary, etc. You can reset it (SETTINGS --> KEYBOARD --> RESET TEXT SUGGESTIONS) but that's about the extent of it for now.

5 how do I update to Nokia black?

The most common way will be for your carrier to push it out to you. At that time, you'll receive a download prompt. Alternatively, you can register for the Windows Phone Developer program ($19/year) and gain "early" access to updates...this involves installed a special app from the store that earmarks your phone as being able to get updates as soon as Microsoft releases them.

6 the media player is terrible, what media player do you recommend ? I need something that will let me search both my videos and music by name and if possible play both music and video in the background (not sure if that is possible in WP)

I agree with the sentiment, but have no suggestions on this front. I wish Spotify would update their pathetic app on this platform, but they've abandoned it. The new Xbox Music beta is fair -- though far from perfect -- but I don't think it'll quite do what you want. It is possible, though, for music to play in the background. Sorry I'm not of more help on this one!

 

[stalemate1]

how big is the black update? I need to know if my small data plan can handle it. Im guessing its about 250mb ? Also what do you recomend for getting wifi, data and screen brightness toogles as live tiles so i can access them quickley?

 

[Laura Knotek]

how big is the black update? I need to know if my small data plan can handle it. Im guessing its about 250mb ? Also what do you recomend for getting wifi, data and screen brightness toogles as live tiles so i can access them quickley?

You can install the update via WiFi. I have an old grandfathered unlimited data plan, but I still did my Black update via WiFi at home.

For the toggles you want, you'll need an app for that. Here is one such app Connection Tiles | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)
A lot of others are in the Store. I have no idea how good any of them are, since this isn't something I use.

 

[James8561]

Battery | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)
this app show battery % and allows shortcut. unfortunately there's no app that direct to brightness I'm afraid. just set it on auto! that works well

 

[Pete]

Apparently, the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update allows you to access specific settings more easily.

As for the music player, I got frustrated with it as well, I ended up buying an iPod Classic and dumping all of my music onto that and using that as my music player in the infrequent times I want to listen to music.

 

[stalemate1]

Ie is brilliant, i dont know why its so underated. But im experiancing a bug with the keyboard in ie as when i click on something to type, the keyboard pops up for less than a second and then closes so i try to open the keyboard again and again but always the same result, anyone else had this bug and how do i fix it ?

also does anyone know of a good file explorer as i cant find one on my phone ?

 

[stalemate1]

Why is it bad to leave battery saver on permanently ?

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

Because it disables a lot of services. That's how it saves on battery.

 

[Checki]

Why is it bad to leave battery saver on permanently ?

It turns off backgound tasks, so no live tile updates / whatsapp msg / mail sync / ... nothing. It would just work manually. I turned it off, because it turns on without any notification (apart from the heart sign on the display). So when im on the road and someone sends me a whatsapp msg, i wont get it until i look and my phone and see "ahhh, low on juice"...

Maybe its best for you to read a few topics here in the forum because you are new. ALL your questions have been asked before...

 

[Jan Tomsic]

Sorry for borrowing the thread, but what is wrong with stock music player? You open Music+Videos hub, press the play icon on the bottom, and put the phone in pocket. You have the shuffle and repeat icons, and EQ is system-wide. Quick toggles in volume menu are the same for every player anyway. I don't find anything wrong with it, it plays music.
I suppose there are more possible options for a music player, like what poweramp offers on Android, but I would never go as far to say its frustrating.

 

[stalemate1]

My experience so far:

I really like the clean simplistic UI which is also used in 3rd party apps as well. This phone and os is supper fast and responsive, Internet explorer is brilliant, I don't known why its so underrated.

sound quality and volume is beyond excellent both in call volume/clarity and speaker phone (loud speaker)

this phone has a pretty good camera too.

one thing I really appreciate is how fast and well this phone works with EDGE (2G) , I don't really need 3G anymore except for YouTube and video streaming. I have however noticed a hiccup (not permanent or bad enough to be called bugs) such as the keyboard flashing in and out the second I open it but it looks like it's fixed now.

but absolutely no laggs or freezes.

also haven't really found any apps lacking that I generally use however I miss opera browser and BS player and what's app was much better on Android as on WP you can't search what's app messages or use a custom background.

as for notifications, I do miss the Android notification tray a little but I'm getting the hang of live tiles, just make sure that all apps that you get push notifications for have live tiles on the home screen or you could experience a little bit of a goose chase finding the app.

although as much as I like it, Android has spoiled me with all the feature ritch apps and available choices and I miss my 3D a little bit so it will take quite some time for me to settle down with my L520.
Copy and paste was better on Android too.

battery life so far is very disappointing as I should get about 5-6 hours of browsing but only get 2-3 so far, I'm not sure if the battery just needs to balance out.

note: my previous phone was an HTC EVO 3D

 

[stalemate1]

Btw, Bing spot is fantastic.

is it normal to have poor battery life with a new phone? If so, how long would it take for the battery to balance out or improve, please I only have a week to trade in if my devices battery is faulty.

I've noticed device gets warm when I use it and very warm when I charge and use it simultaneously.

 

[kingenu]

well tbh windows phone isn't known for its great battery but over time after about 3-4 weeks you should have a bit of a change and yes your phone will get hot quit a lot when gaming and charging or even when gaming or using a big app i.e nokia maps and co so don't worry its a normal thing

 

[Jan Tomsic]

Btw, Bing spot is fantastic.

is it normal to have poor battery life with a new phone? If so, how long would it take for the battery to balance out or improve, please I only have a week to trade in if my devices battery is faulty.

I've noticed device gets warm when I use it and very warm when I charge and use it simultaneously.

Batteries usually take a few charges (like 3~5 rule of thumb) to 'settle in'. First two charges are going to be catastrophic on any device. It will get better.

 

[James8561]

I recommend draining the battery to about 5%, reboot, make sure battery is still critically low, and then charge it all the way back to 100%