Database Info

[Concept] WebOS "cards" style task manager

I would like to to change the task switcher (what pops up when you hold "home") to behave similar to the "home screen switcher". To get an idea of what I mean, think the "cards" view of running apps from WebOS, but in a hexagon. With some obvious differences.
NOTE: By "home screen switcher" I mean the animation you see when that occurs when you "un-pinch to zoom out" on any of the 7 home screens, allowing you to select one (in Senses UI for 2.1). NOT the application of similar name.
Basically replace the homescreens with snapshots of 6 running apps.
If you get what I am talking about, and you know anything about the logistics of making it happen, I would appreciate you input. I don't know the first thing about developing, but I'm thinking about starting this as a learning project. I'm not asking anyone to do it, just let me know how feasible it is, and steer me down the right path. I know this is a development thing, but I spend all my time in this section of the forums, and I wanted ask the devs here first. I've been here a bit and never even opened a thread, so please don't crucify me.
If you ARE interested beyond that, PM me. I came up with this while celebrating 420, and while I was in a creative state of mind I typed up an EXTREMELY in-depth description of how it would ideally behave.

Well, I guess no one is interested. But I've started looking at it, but I'm stuck
running logcat I see this when I "zoom out"
I/ActivityManager( 81): Starting activity: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.HOME] flg=0x10200000 cmp=com.htc.launcher/.Launcher }
W/Rosie_3D( 159): onWorkspaceStopScroll , CurrentScreen = 3, mIsAnimation = false, mStopAnimation = false
W/Rosie_3D( 159): TIME_SHOW_CURRECT_PAGE , CurrentScreen = 3
and nothing when I hold home to make the stock "open app switcher" pop up.
For starters, anyone know if either of these fuctions are part of an .apk? If not, anything would help.

palm web os
now you know what would be sick, if someone ported web os but for the hero, but kinda like an htc version of web os but still had the same exact feature as the palm pre, i own one, i think it would be sick, if im not mistaken doing something like that would be illegal..........

i had a palm pre so i have alot of ideas i can bring to the table.
what i think you should do is this
have a notication up that with the program name
slide down and click it
when clicked all your running apps will pop up in a "card-view"
then you can hold for 2 secs to close or touch to open up...
i believe that's the fastest way to get your apps and open and/or kill them
holding the home key takes to long to pop up but that can be another way to do it.

This would be awesome

Demoyo23 said:
now you know what would be sick, if someone ported web os but for the hero, but kinda like an htc version of web os but still had the same exact feature as the palm pre, i own one, i think it would be sick, if im not mistaken doing something like that would be illegal..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah hp & palm would make you pull this.
this is why i wanted htc to buy palm, i really wanted webos on a htc phone, maybe even port it to a android phone.

its already been done on the iphone, hp and palm wouldnt make you pull crap lol..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=671147
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snXCC9mTvI4 < Iphone video

Have you tried appswipe?

I am no dev either but considering webos is built on linux I would image the right genius (or collaboration of geniuses) could probably pull this off

DirtyShroomz said:
Have you tried appswipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this app takes it out me mouth it just needs to be more tweaked for speed and alittle bit more funtional.

XxsydenxX said:
its already been done on the iphone, hp and palm wouldnt make you pull crap lol..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=671147
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snXCC9mTvI4 < Iphone video
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
holy ****, i wish we had a palm theme that was that functional.

I have not tried app swipe. And im not the genius trying to port webOS, although that would be awesome. I'm really just looking to modify/ reverse engineer a little.

teddypepper52 said:
I have not tried app swipe. And im not the genius trying to port webOS, although that would be awesome. I'm really just looking to modify/ reverse engineer a little.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
app swipe sucks, i just tried it, nothing like webos cards.

fixxxer2008 said:
app swipe sucks, i just tried it, nothing like webos cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not close but show running and recent. Useful until you guys work your magic

fixxxer2008 said:
app swipe sucks, i just tried it, nothing like webos cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TaskOS is the only thing close to web os cards

teddypepper52 said:
I would like to to change the task switcher (what pops up when you hold "home") to behave similar to the "home screen switcher". To get an idea of what I mean, think the "cards" view of running apps from WebOS, but in a hexagon. With some obvious differences.
NOTE: By "home screen switcher" I mean the animation you see when that occurs when you "un-pinch to zoom out" on any of the 7 home screens, allowing you to select one (in Senses UI for 2.1). NOT the application of similar name.
Basically replace the homescreens with snapshots of 6 running apps.
If you get what I am talking about, and you know anything about the logistics of making it happen, I would appreciate you input. I don't know the first thing about developing, but I'm thinking about starting this as a learning project. I'm not asking anyone to do it, just let me know how feasible it is, and steer me down the right path. I know this is a development thing, but I spend all my time in this section of the forums, and I wanted ask the devs here first. I've been here a bit and never even opened a thread, so please don't crucify me.
If you ARE interested beyond that, PM me. I came up with this while celebrating 420, and while I was in a creative state of mind I typed up an EXTREMELY in-depth description of how it would ideally behave.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda exists already its called task OS in the market

Btw with appswipe you can flick to kill too

XxsydenxX said:
TaskOS is the only thing close to web os cards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
too bad it's painfully slow to the point it almost locked up my hero.

fixxxer2008 said:
too bad it's painfully slow to the point it almost locked up my hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's rather zippy on my hero o.o.

downloading now to see how it is.

What's the quickest/easiest way to call a friend?

The iphone was very easy no matter where you were in the phone: double click on the home button and you were presented with your list of favorite phone numbers. Very quick and easy. With android, the best I can come up with is Home -> Phone -> Favorites -> Swipe to the right of a favorite contact.
I must be missing something here.

lebe0024 said:
The iphone was very easy no matter where you were in the phone: double click on the home button and you were presented with your list of favorite phone numbers. Very quick and easy. With android, the best I can come up with is Home -> Phone -> Favorites -> Swipe to the right of a favorite contact.
I must be missing something here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my most dialed contacts saved as shortcuts on one of my home screen panels. There are probably faster ways using apps or downloadable widgets, but for now this is working pretty quickly.

if you go on the phone keypad and press the setting butto you can configure speed dial numbers

Beats me, this is something I was wondering myself. I have done it both ways. Added my most called people to my "Favorites" list. Also, I put a shortcut to a few of my closest friends on one of my home screens.
But you're right, the iPhone made it much easier. This is something I realized last yr when trying out a Moto Droid. I see Android hasnt made it any easier yet.

There's so freaking many ways to do this on Android it's ridiculous.
One option is using Launcher Pro and making items of the dock shortcuts to your contacts.
Another option is creating icon shortcuts on your homescreens.
Or a shortcut to your contacts.
Tons of ways to do it.

TexUs said:
There's so freaking many ways to do this on Android it's ridiculous.
One option is using Launcher Pro and making items of the dock shortcuts to your contacts.
Another option is creating icon shortcuts on your homescreens.
Or a shortcut to your contacts.
Tons of ways to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just basically restated what we had already stated. Its a few extra buttons to push to make a call in android vs the iphone favorites list.

derek4484 said:
You just basically restated what we had already stated. Its a few extra buttons to push to make a call in android vs the iphone favorites list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you've got to do two taps to get the iPhone favorites versus having them on your homescreen... Seems like Android results in less taps to me.

It was two taps until ios4 came out
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I usually like to just "star" the contact... Or just add an icon to the home screen
Sent from my Samsung Captivate(tm) on AT&T

madjsp said:
It was two taps until ios4 came out
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I think it's three, actually... So thanks for reminding me.
I remember setting my iPod to two taps and iOS4 reset that... Without warning. Apple is just one of those companies that doesn't give a damn about compatibility or anything.

Contacts is the first thing I noticed when I got the phone. No simple import from Outlook. I bought the Captivate yesterday, coming from an iPhone 3G and may exchange the Captivate for an iPhone 4. I'll give it another few days to get used to the phone before I decide.
I wanted to back up my phone before I started playing with it too much but can't get Kies to work. It's a common problem.
The iPhone UI is way more mature and elegent than the Samsung. You may be able to take some time and customize the Samsung the way you want it but the iPhone is pretty much the way I want it already. The iPhone apps are more consistant with the UI and don't generally look as amateur as the Android apps.
BTW, my 3G was jailbroken so I could pretty much do what I wanted with the iPhone (wireless tethering, non Apple approved apps)

oldfossil said:
Contacts is the first thing I noticed when I got the phone. No simple import from Outlook. I bought the Captivate yesterday, coming from an iPhone 3G and may exchange the Captivate for an iPhone 4. I'll give it another few days to get used to the phone before I decide.
I wanted to back up my phone before I started playing with it too much but can't get Kies to work. It's a common problem.
The iPhone UI is way more mature and elegent than the Samsung. You may be able to take some time and customize the Samsung the way you want it but the iPhone is pretty much the way I want it already. The iPhone apps are more consistant with the UI and don't generally look as amateur as the Android apps.
BTW, my 3G was jailbroken so I could pretty much do what I wanted with the iPhone (wireless tethering, non Apple approved apps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you confuse two different things. It's hard to believe that Apple developed iPhone GUI "the way you wanted it". It's just a matter of familiarity. It's always easier to use the tools/GUI you already know than the ones you do not know. It probably took you 3 years to get there and now you are familiar and comfortable with iPhone. It's true for everyone. Give it a week or two and you'll learn how to use Captivate too. And BTW, I am knew to Android myself and I am going through the learning curve too. My first impression was - how the damn phone could be so complicated! But after a day of use I am thinking: and that's all? There is not really that much to these smart phones after all. I think that all these interfaces are about the same. It's impossible to compare familiar interface with an unfamiliar one. In the latter there is too many annoying things (that is until we learn why the things were designed the way they were and use them right).
As far as this specific issue is concerned, as I understand the standard interface on Captivate is just as good as on iPhone. To get to the list of "friends":
* Home
* Phone
* Favorites
This gives you the list of favorites and the list of most frequently called persons. BTW, I just learned this myself

oldfossil
I traded in an iPhone 4 yesterday for the captivate and have to say yesterday was a bit frustrating. Using an iPhone for the last year and a half from Windows mobile had caused me to be stupid. Its not that its harder but a different mindset. On the iphone there was one way to do something while on android many ways to skin the same cat. I personally enjoy my new freedom. Give it 30 days and if you truly don't like it trade it in and get the iPhone 4.

When I got my iPhone, I picked it up and started using it. There was no real learning curve really. Imported my contacts from Outlook (there were there from my WM6 tilt phone), put in my email accounts, synced my bluetooth, and started using the phone.
I find the Captivate to be kludgy, but yeah, if I spend some time with it I may be able to get to work the way I want. And if I get rid of the phone and FroYo is all that it's supposed to be I may wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. In the mean time I can't even get Kies to connect to my PC on the damn thing.

oldfossil said:
Contacts is the first thing I noticed when I got the phone. No simple import from Outlook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screw Outlook... Start using GMail and then use Google Sync to just have all your stuff synced over the air, and then you also gain the ability to use Google Voice as well, which gains you visual voicemail and transcription messages.
I used to love Outlook (still do) but when Google's stuff works so well together it just doesn't make sense.
Now, maybe you're in a business environment and don't have that flexibility, but IIRC there are easy sync Outlook tools out there.
oldfossil said:
The iPhone UI is way more mature and elegent than the Samsung. You may be able to take some time and customize the Samsung the way you want it but the iPhone is pretty much the way I want it already. The iPhone apps are more consistant with the UI and don't generally look as amateur as the Android apps.
BTW, my 3G was jailbroken so I could pretty much do what I wanted with the iPhone (wireless tethering, non Apple approved apps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I question why you left the iPhone then?
I'd also venture to guess you're just "used" to the iPhone. I think after you learn Android and how much more flexibility you have you'll gain more usability out of it.
rsohne said:
On the iphone there was one way to do something while on android many ways to skin the same cat. I personally enjoy my new freedom. Give it 30 days and if you truly don't like it trade it in and get the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. There's at least half a dozen ways to quickly access contacts... That might seem "complicated" (maybe it is), but... You get to CHOSE what you like. It's not just what Steve Jobs tells you what you want to use.
The menu system is also very easy to use as well... Alot like the iPhone, but I think it's even easier IMO.
oldfossil said:
In the mean time I can't even get Kies to connect to my PC on the damn thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn on USB debugging mode and use that... Simple Drag+Drop.

Shortest Alternative
lebe0024 said:
The iphone was very easy no matter where you were in the phone: double click on the home button and you were presented with your list of favorite phone numbers. Very quick and easy. With android, the best I can come up with is Home -> Phone -> Favorites -> Swipe to the right of a favorite contact.
I must be missing something here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen a response that spells this out, so:
Tap and hold an open space on your home screen, and wait for the menu to pop up.
From the "Add to Home Screen" menu, choose Shortcuts
Choose Direct Dial from the next menu
Now select a contact, and then the specific number you want to use
It will create an icon on the home screen, using the contact's avatar image if they have one, that will immediately dial the selected number when tapped.
You can place such direct-dial shortcuts on any of your home screens.
I used an iPhone for almost three years. Don't give up on Android too quickly, as it has really grown on me in the last 6 weeks.

[Q] New to Android; need customization tutorial

Longtime WinMo user (now with TP2). Just bought each kid an Android phone.
Been using XDA for a long time to modify my WinMo, add apps, etc...
Not familiar with the Android OS lingo and need to bone up so I can hook my kids up with some cool stuff
Did SEARCH but didn't find specific thread to read. Little help?

DLTempler said:
Longtime WinMo user (now with TP2). Just bought each kid an Android phone.
Been using XDA for a long time to modify my WinMo, add apps, etc...
Not familiar with the Android OS lingo and need to bone up so I can hook my kids up with some cool stuff
Did SEARCH but didn't find specific thread to read. Little help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well..
With android (especially with HTC Sense, HTC's UI) you can add plenty of little things to customize your phone. From the top
You can move application icons from page to page on the homescreen along with widgets. to add an application to the homescreen you can open the app drawer/list and longpress it and drag it to the homescreen. Once on the homescreen you can move it around.
Along with Apps you can add widgets to the homescreen, a widget is an app that runs in the homescreen it can do things like display a news ticker, enable/disable settings (power control widget), and other things like play music and search boxes. these can be very useful for getting a quick glance at information without opening up the app.
To change the background you can longpress the homescreen and select wallpapers.
If your phone supports it you can use live wallpapers, search for them on the market or on XDA.
One tip is dont install lots of apps! dont go and download every app you see it will slow down your phone, also dont use task managers as it messes with android native application closing process.
Also the biggest customization of all if your phone is rooted (IE: full permissions and access to the system) and has a hacked bootloader you can load custom roms that are themed or have a big performance boost.
Best of luck!
If you have any questions PM me and I will be glad to help!

Thanks
I spent the weekend tearing through other forums
Found a program called Sideload Wonder Machine that allows apk files to be put into the Aria without having to "root" the phone or otherwise dcik around with it. Worked pretty good after I found the USB Driver to sync it up with my laptop. that was a bit of a process in and of itself.
At the end of the day (weekend) I didn't really find too much to load into the phone that was not already available at the droid market. Swype, yes, but not for this phone. Loaded F-Secure anti-theft too but that, too, is not for this phone.
I am not sure how business savvy these droids can be but they are cool. Kids love them. The UI operates much like the iPhone and much less like WinMo.
I'll keep dciking around with it and see what happens. Thanks again.

DLTempler said:
Thanks
I spent the weekend tearing through other forums
Found a program called Sideload Wonder Machine that allows apk files to be put into the Aria without having to "root" the phone or otherwise dcik around with it. Worked pretty good after I found the USB Driver to sync it up with my laptop. that was a bit of a process in and of itself.
At the end of the day (weekend) I didn't really find too much to load into the phone that was not already available at the droid market. Swype, yes, but not for this phone. Loaded F-Secure anti-theft too but that, too, is not for this phone.
I am not sure how business savvy these droids can be but they are cool. Kids love them. The UI operates much like the iPhone and much less like WinMo.
I'll keep dciking around with it and see what happens. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can be quite business oriented (IE: Exchange, Calendars, Productivity Apps) If you want help PM me
Cheers,
Cap'n Krtek

Captainkrtek said:
They can be quite business oriented (IE: Exchange, Calendars, Productivity Apps) If you want help PM me
Cheers,
Cap'n Krtek
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree dont let the inteface fool you, android works as a tool just as well as winmo if not better

Question about multitasking

I have a question about Wp7 lack of multitasking. Do you mean its not possible for example to listen to internet radio using a third party app and browse the xda forums at the same time, for example?
Thanks for the clarification.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

i havent heard much about the multitasking.... sorry

That's right. The only thing that runs in the background that i'm aware of is the Zune music player (which has a radio if you want). I haven't found anything else.

sammy_user said:
I have a question about Wp7 lack of multitasking. Do you mean its not possible for example to listen to internet radio using a third party app and browse the xda forums at the same time, for example?
Thanks for the clarification.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Neither can you use it for GPS navigation while surfing the web or speaking on the phone. Your milage may vary as to how much it affects you though.

Well you can do things while calling so at least this is good.

Yes, multitasking is very limited to wp7. I am sure they might add a few features to it so that we don't feel completely controlled.

also the other noticeable thing is the web browser being able to multi task. for example, you can download a large file, and go off and do something else, and it will keep downloading.

For crying out loud! Please stop calling background scheduling for multitasking! Multitasking is, always has been, and always will be, the ability to do more than one thing. WP7 can multitask just fine, and so can apps. Period. They can.
What you're asking about is something completely different, and you're even contradicting yourself. As some of the native apps, and some made by OEMs, can run in the background, there's no doubt about the OS supporting background scheduling. It's there.
What's actually happening is that MS is protecting us from lousy programmers by not letting most programs run in the background. There's mostly no use for it anyway, unless you want some lousy piece of s.... software eating up your battery, devouring your data plan.
Hell, if you want to, I'll be glad to write a program that will fill up the file storage, using battery like crazy and even using way more data than you can afford. Only down side is that it won't run in the background to f.... up the performance of your other apps.

emigrating said:
Correct. Neither can you use it for GPS navigation while surfing the web or speaking on the phone. Your milage may vary as to how much it affects you though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? Am I missing something? Why would you need to use the GPS while you are surfing the web?
From my experience it goes like this: surfing the web->home button->maps[back to home][back to explorer]...and just like that you are back to exactly back to where you were having done MULTIple TASKs at once ; )

tiwas said:
For crying out loud! Please stop calling background scheduling for multitasking! Multitasking is, always has been, and always will be, the ability to do more than one thing. WP7 can multitask just fine, and so can apps. Period. They can.
What you're asking about is something completely different, and you're even contradicting yourself. As some of the native apps, and some made by OEMs, can run in the background, there's no doubt about the OS supporting background scheduling. It's there.
What's actually happening is that MS is protecting us from lousy programmers by not letting most programs run in the background. There's mostly no use for it anyway, unless you want some lousy piece of s.... software eating up your battery, devouring your data plan.
Hell, if you want to, I'll be glad to write a program that will fill up the file storage, using battery like crazy and even using way more data than you can afford. Only down side is that it won't run in the background to f.... up the performance of your other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Show me one app that can multitask please?! and by app I mean any third-party or OEM addon to the core OS.
Sure, on WM and Android there is/was a mantra that everything should run in the background - always. But that's not to say that multitasking is evil, it's not. It just needs to be controlled.
Microsoft could quite easily have allowed third-party apps to multitask (or at least register a small service running in the background) if your app needed it - they have "technical exceptions" when submitting to the marketplace, this would be a great opportunity for you to describe why your app needed real multitasking and it would be up to the testers to [dis]agree.
premiumdude said:
Huh? Am I missing something? Why would you need to use the GPS while you are surfing the web?
From my experience it goes like this: surfing the web->home button->maps[back to home][back to explorer]...and just like that you are back to exactly back to where you were having done MULTIple TASKs at once ; )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was just an example, although it's something that's bugged me more than once. But okay, I'll agree it isn't the most common scenario. How about this instead, you're driving along using Navigon and you want to change your tunes, so you press home, then zune, find an artist/album and press play, go back home and then back to the satnav app only to discover you've missed a turn because it didn't tell you you needed to turn off the turnpike at the last exit. Now you're stuck driving another xx miles to get back to where you need to be.
If you don't drive, perhaps you map your morning runs using a GPS tracker. So you're on your way and the phone rings. Since you've got a headset you continue running while talking only to have your entire statistics screwed up because the phone stopped tracking you while on the phone.
Or even better, you're using some third-party app to sync your Hotmail or Exchange tasks to your phone. Problem is, the app cannot multitask so it will never notify you of [over]due tasks unless you constantly keep the app open...
While I definitely agree you don't need your RSS reader or Angry Birds clone running in the background, all the time, there are scenarios where real multitasking is important.

emigrating said:
That was just an example, although it's something that's bugged me more than once. But okay, I'll agree it isn't the most common scenario. How about this instead, you're driving along using Navigon and you want to change your tunes, so you press home, then zune, find an artist/album and press play, go back home and then back to the satnav app only to discover you've missed a turn because it didn't tell you you needed to turn off the turnpike at the last exit. Now you're stuck driving another xx miles to get back to where you need to be.
If you don't drive, perhaps you map your morning runs using a GPS tracker. So you're on your way and the phone rings. Since you've got a headset you continue running while talking only to have your entire statistics screwed up because the phone stopped tracking you while on the phone.
Or even better, you're using some third-party app to sync your Hotmail or Exchange tasks to your phone. Problem is, the app cannot multitask so it will never notify you of [over]due tasks unless you constantly keep the app open...
While I definitely agree you don't need your RSS reader or Angry Birds clone running in the background, all the time, there are scenarios where real multitasking is important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wholeheartedly agree. Excellent examples. Was able to put myself in those scenarios and see how important deep multitasking is. Thank you for helping me see that.

tiwas said:
For crying out loud! Please stop calling background scheduling for multitasking! Multitasking is, always has been, and always will be, the ability to do more than one thing. WP7 can multitask just fine, and so can apps. Period. They can.
What you're asking about is something completely different, and you're even contradicting yourself. As some of the native apps, and some made by OEMs, can run in the background, there's no doubt about the OS supporting background scheduling. It's there.
What's actually happening is that MS is protecting us from lousy programmers by not letting most programs run in the background. There's mostly no use for it anyway, unless you want some lousy piece of s.... software eating up your battery, devouring your data plan.
Hell, if you want to, I'll be glad to write a program that will fill up the file storage, using battery like crazy and even using way more data than you can afford. Only down side is that it won't run in the background to f.... up the performance of your other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it cannot multi-task anything besides Zune, therefore, I guess technically you could say that it can multi-task like .1% of all the apps available.

MartyLK said:
Wholeheartedly agree. Excellent examples. Was able to put myself in those scenarios and see how important deep multitasking is. Thank you for helping me see that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol,
I think it's as simple as like with Android I can have google maps open and have turn-by-turn open in the background, so the british lady still gives me audio directions while I play Angry Birds or surf the web (as a passenger in a car) like going to a party or something.
Also let's say I'm at the gym and want to use Pandora (which WP7 doesn't even have or I sure as hell can't find it in the app store) in the background while im texting/emailing between bench sets, just simple **** like that I wish WP7 could do.
It's not life or death but it is the reason I use Android more than WP7 on my HD2, although I do like WP7 more at times as well, but it sure as hell can't multi-task for any practical purpose.

orangekid said:
lol,
I think it's as simple as like with Android I can have google maps open and have turn-by-turn open in the background, so the british lady still gives me audio directions while I play Angry Birds or surf the web (as a passenger in a car) like going to a party or something.
Also let's say I'm at the gym and want to use Pandora (which WP7 doesn't even have or I sure as hell can't find it in the app store) in the background while im texting/emailing between bench sets, just simple **** like that I wish WP7 could do.
It's not life or death but it is the reason I use Android more than WP7 on my HD2, although I do like WP7 more at times as well, but it sure as hell can't multi-task for any practical purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya there. I keep the sim card in my HD2...running Android...for purposes of using TbT voice nav and other things WP7 doesn't give me.

MartyLK said:
I hear ya there. I keep the sim card in my HD2...running Android...for purposes of using TbT voice nav and other things WP7 doesn't give me.
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exactly.
I'm glad I've got dual-boot rocking on my HD2, as much as I do like WP7, I don't think I could use it as a daily without being able to restart the phone and load up android whenever I want to, maybe when the OS is more matured and actually CAN multi-task and offer more of the apps I like.

Somebody needs to just make something like the jailbroken iphone app backgrounder that lets you choose what multitasks. It worked fine back before apple had "fast app switching"

Anthonok said:
Somebody needs to just make something like the jailbroken iphone app backgrounder that lets you choose what multitasks. It worked fine back before apple had "fast app switching"
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that's true. I used backgrounder + Proswitcher forever before iOS4 came out and it worked great, smooth, and had awesome palm pre-like task switching, and you could background any app, it really didn't hurt battery life much at all. I would love to see this on WP7 if it could be implemented till MS gets their act together.
kinda like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMAVyaNQdnw

orangekid said:
that's true. I used backgrounder + Proswitcher forever before iOS4 came out and it worked great, smooth, and had awesome palm pre-like task switching, and you could background any app, it really didn't hurt battery life much at all. I would love to see this on WP7 if it could be implemented till MS gets their act together.
kinda like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMAVyaNQdnw
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Yep it was great. I coudlnt live without it. Also this way only people with unlocked phones (thus meaning they more than likely have knowledge of how things work) will be using this and shouldnt complain if there device gets slow or anything. They would know the consequences.

Anthonok said:
Yep it was great. I coudlnt live without it. Also this way only people with unlocked phones (thus meaning they more than likely have knowledge of how things work) will be using this and shouldnt complain if there device gets slow or anything. They would know the consequences.
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well if the 3GS can handle it so well on a 600mhz processor and 256mb ram, I'm sure a WP7 device with 1ghz and 576mb ram could handle it just fine with no slow-downs.

tiwas said:
For crying out loud! Please stop calling background scheduling for multitasking! Multitasking is, always has been, and always will be, the ability to do more than one thing. WP7 can multitask just fine, and so can apps. Period. They can.
What you're asking about is something completely different, and you're even contradicting yourself. As some of the native apps, and some made by OEMs, can run in the background, there's no doubt about the OS supporting background scheduling. It's there.
What's actually happening is that MS is protecting us from lousy programmers by not letting most programs run in the background. There's mostly no use for it anyway, unless you want some lousy piece of s.... software eating up your battery, devouring your data plan.
Hell, if you want to, I'll be glad to write a program that will fill up the file storage, using battery like crazy and even using way more data than you can afford. Only down side is that it won't run in the background to f.... up the performance of your other apps.
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I've seen your post history and, no offense, but you're starting to remind me of the fanboys at MacRumors, thinking that their phones are perfect until Apple changes one thing. Then suddenly it is revolutionary and intuitive.
Multitasking would greatly benefit WP7. Live with it. Apps don't even run under lock properly. But I'd like to be able to run a music app and surf at the same time. Want a gimped experience? Fine with me. Just don't go whining when people want to make the most out of their experience with their phones.

[App][4.3+] Sesame Lock Screen / App Switcher: quick launch everything!

Howdy. My friend Steve and I made Sesame so we wouldn’t have to swipe around looking for things anymore.
It puts your favorite apps in a ranked list on the lock screen along with a keyboard that can filter to pretty much anything in 1 or 2 touches. What’s cool about Sesame is that it learns from your behavior and makes new shortcuts deep into native apps.
This thing is like a power tool for Android. It takes some getting used to but it’s worth it.​
Shortcuts it makes today
All your apps (ranked by how often you use them)
All contacts w/ 1 touch to text, call, or email (WhatsApp too!)
Websites you visit (but not when browsing incognito)
Music library and new stuff you listen to (Spotify only atm but expanding soon)
You can Quick Search: Maps, Waze, Netflix, Spotify, Google Music, Chrome, Play Store, Yelp and YouTube
It makes shortcuts back to your searches
Hangouts conversations, including groups
Alarms you set
Uber/Lyft see live ride options w/ ETA & Surge Pricing
Smart Keyboard
The keyboard is designed to pull things up fast. It’s not swipe, it’s faster. You don’t need to type full words. It understands shorthand, so if I want to play music by Ratatat I can type ’S’ for Spotify then ‘R’ and 'Spotify: Ratatat' will come right up. It also learns from your choices so next time only ’S’ might get the job done.
Lock Screen and/or App Switcher
The Lock Screen version displays your notifications and keeps your existing security 100% intact. Note: some device types see display issues when transitioning from Sesame to the system lock screen. If that happens, you can still use it as an app switcher.
There’s no registration and none of the data leaves your device.
It’s still got some rough edges. If you do try it, give it a shot for a few days. Our test users said it took some getting used to but they’d never go back now. We try to get out 2-3 new versions a week. So please give feedback, we want to make it better!
It’s free in the play store, check it out!

Will take it for a spin and give feedback later. thanks.

Hey, I'm Steve. I'm the developer working on this. Happy to answer any questions on how this works.
Hope you like it!

GerManiac said:
Will take it for a spin and give feedback later. thanks.
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How'd it go?

We pushed a new update. Version 0.5.16 now makes Reddit shortcuts and has an improved keyboard.
This post didn't exactly catch fire irl like it did in my dreams but if you've tried it and want to give feedback, we're definitely listening. Cheers.

Pwallius said:
How'd it go?
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So far so good. I think it's a great idea, and you made the idea into a fantastic app, but I for myself noticed that I hardly launch apps or anything from the lock screen, since I automatically unlock my phone with the fingerprint.

GerManiac said:
So far so good. I think it's a great idea, and you made the idea into a fantastic app, but I for myself noticed that I hardly launch apps or anything from the lock screen, since I automatically unlock my phone with the fingerprint.
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What if you could launch it by swiping from the edge of the screen? I'm thinking the upper right edge is easily reachable and out of the way. You could swipe and pull down to pull Sesame up right away.
Lots of people just aren't interested in changing their lock screen but I do think there's some potential here. Thanks!

Pwallius said:
What if you could launch it by swiping from the edge of the screen? I'm thinking the upper right edge is easily reachable and out of the way. You could swipe and pull down to pull Sesame up right away.
Lots of people just aren't interested in changing their lock screen but I do think there's some potential here. Thanks!
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That sounds good, however, maybe you could give the option to choose from where to swipe, upper right is for me a no go, since I've got a six inch Huawei Mate 8, it would still be reachable but not convenient.

GerManiac said:
That sounds good, however, maybe you could give the option to choose from where to swipe, upper right is for me a no go, since I've got a six inch Huawei Mate 8, it would still be reachable but not convenient.
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Click to collapse
Roger. That can be done.
I think we're going to try to make the Lock Screen pretty first. Something like this.
There are lock screen apps w/ 50MM users that are basically rotating pretty pictures. They get around all the lock screen compatibility problems by building their own security then having the user turn off the system one. This isn't 100% secure, which is why we didn't go that way. But it'd keep out anyone except a motivated hacker. And if the system security is OFF we can build a seamless experience. So maybe that'd open Sesame up to a wider audience. It'd be totally optional, you could still keep the system security if you wanted.
Thanks for the feedback. It def moves our thinking. Let me know if there's anything else we can improve.

Pwallius said:
Roger. That can be done.
I think we're going to try to make the Lock Screen pretty first. Something like this.
There are lock screen apps w/ 50MM users that are basically rotating pretty pictures. They get around all the lock screen compatibility problems by building their own security then having the user turn off the system one. This isn't 100% secure, which is why we didn't go that way. But it'd keep out anyone except a motivated hacker. And if the system security is OFF we can build a seamless experience. So maybe that'd open Sesame up to a wider audience. It'd be totally optional, you could still keep the system security if you wanted.
Thanks for the feedback. It def moves our thinking. Let me know if there's anything else we can improve.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I understand, but you are right you are not going to get the audience you want.
Take for example hilocker I've been watching the locker growing but then it grew slower and slower. however it was not only the app which wasn't always running smoothly, but also the little to non response of the dev.
The features however integrated are great.
Giving the user the option to decide to keep security or to have a better experience at the cost of some security, is a good idea.

GerManiac said:
Yes, I understand, but you are right you are not going to get the audience you want.
Take for example hilocker I've been watching the locker growing but then it grew slower and slower. however it was not only the app which wasn't always running smoothly, but also the little to non response of the dev.
The features however integrated are great.
Giving the user the option to decide to keep security or to have a better experience at the cost of some security, is a good idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. We've got a few cards try to play. Let me know if some insight hits you about this conundrum. Thanks for the legit feedback.
I'll let you know when the next version is out.

No posts in close to three years. Did everyone stop using this? What are you using instead? The googl app?

user2837 said:
No posts in close to three years. Did everyone stop using this? What are you using instead? The googl app?
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I just started using it on my NexS and it's very good. I've always liked these types of apps having used Fastkey Launcher and Launchboard previously. This is much better and very customizable. I use it as a widget and not the lockscreen.