Alright folks, here's my impressions/review of the Captivate after 3 days of use.
I won't go into technical details here, you can look those up elsewhere.
This is just some "real-world" usage info for anyone on the fence or whatnot. Obviously, no iTunes bloatware or anything to screw with. Rooting this took about two minutes once I had all the software I needed installed (which is simply extracting a zip file, so it's not that big of deal, in itself)
The unlock screen is a 3x3 screen that you can set into any pattern you'd like to set. Simply connecting straight lines of dots or doing a big S or something, you can set this pattern however you'd like. Unlike the iPhone, which you have to unlock THEN enter the pass code, you just have to know the unlock pattern to get into this phone, saving a step. Huge advantage just for casual folks.
Granted, the 9 dot (3x3) unlock isn't as numerous in possible combinations as is a custom code, but as I said: "casual" folks, and you can set an additional code there if you'd like.
Second, the Facebook integration (I'd imagine the Twitter/MySpace is the same, I don't use those) is great. Whereas the iPhone really won't integrate much other than photos, you can integrate calendar events, status updates, and everything without ever having to pull up the Facebook app itself. From one calendar I can see both Facebook events and my Google Calendar events... Just little stuff makes you happy. Of course stuff like this is to be expected on Android. I could go on and on of all these awesome little differences, but I'm just picking a few of what I think are popular examples.
Third, the size is just slightly bigger than the iPhone, of course. Thickness is about the same, but the bigger screen means it's SLIGHTLY bigger. IMO this is the PERFECT size of screen for something in your pocket. Looking at the iPhone's is like torture now. Whereas it's still a good size to fit in your pocket.
One note about this phone is that it's LIGHT. Very light, yet at least this ATT version feels solidly sturdy. It's also got the easiest to access battery cover I've ever used.
Tons of customizations. TouchWiz isn't bad, and I like Samsung's Facebook widget better than the actual Facebook widget... But I switched to Launcher Pro simply because it has a ton of options. Displaying your App Drawer in 3D is awesome, for example. You can set number of desktops, etc... Tons of options with Launcher Pro.
Battery life seems to be acceptable. As with many batteries it won't reach it's "maturity" until I've gone through 5 or so charges... Day 1 and 2 I had it plugged in quite often, so this will be my first day going straight through. I can say that I unplugged it 5 hours ago and it's dropped 25%, with moderate (IMO) usage. Again, that can only get better over time. I think it'd be safe to say I can get a whole day out of this phone.
Now the primary reason for this was the Super AMOLED display.
First, sunlight viewing. Here are some pics comparing it to my 3GS. This slightly wins in the sunlight test.
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You can also notice... Images (and everything) looks better on the Super AMOLED. There's debate about text, and I will admit the iPhone 4 is capable of better text display, but when held at arm's (normal) length, I can't tell any quality difference between my laptop and the text quality of the Super AMOLED. IMO if you have to study the display with a microscope to tell the difference, than well... I'll just say it: iPhone users paid a premium for a feature that lacks real-world relevance.
Onto viewing angles. Hands down, the Super AMOLED wins.
Obviously, color reproduction is better. Here's the same pic on both that displays the black levels, however... Super AMOLED again wins hands down:
Tons of advantages here. Android accounts for many of them. This is hands-down the best phone I've used (and yes, the iPhone 4 is included in that).
My only minor gripe is the home screen buttons don't stay lit up for the duration of the display, they time out after several seconds (versus the 30 seconds or so I have the screen set to). Just an annoyance which I'm sure will be fixed at some point, again: this device isn't even released yet and it has some great community fixes going for it already.
For those of you that want an awesome phone that doesn't drop the signal with a fingertip, this is it
Thanks man! Good review, and it is quick and straight to the point!
Great review, thanks for the info . When did you get yours and for how much? (on or off contract?)
p.s. I'd take those pics again for image comparison after you wipe both of those screens off . I think i can see a booger on the first iphone pic. lol jk, but it would really help us see the difference better if both screens were clean
*edit: that is if you care or have the time. Thanks again.
Great work! Quick question if you don't mind. I've heard rumors of not being able to download 3rd party apps from the Android Market thanks to AT&T... tell me this isn't true
Understandably this is Android and even if it were true,there will be a way around it thanks to this wonderful site and its users but I just wanted to know. Thanks
John J
jjimenezjj said:
Great work! Quick question if you don't mind. I've heard rumors of not being able to download 3rd party apps from the Android Market thanks to AT&T... tell me this isn't true
Understandably this is Android and even if it were true,there will be a way around it thanks to this wonderful site and its users but I just wanted to know. Thanks
John J
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah its true but you can still use adb and the phone has already been rooted. Check the Captivate Software Development thread to learn how to do it.
That sucks that its true and great that we can go around it. Thanks for the info
@jjimenezjj 3rd party apps are those not in the Android Market, like betas or test run apps, so anything in the market should be fine. But with the free ADB tool in the Android SDK any app can be pushed to the phone and so "side-loaded. "
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Hmmm. I have all sorts of apps from the Android store on my Captivate. E-Wallet Viewer, Yelp, Documents-to-go, YPmobile. . . .
What I don't like is that AT&T doesn't package any useful business friendly apps on it, like Doc's2Go, so you have to buy those. They need to get rid of the bloatware and add some business friendly apps. Losing a couple of the map apps would be good.
If you use exchange for mail - there are some issues with that also. The mail client isn't a true exchange client. If you have a link in an appointment, such as checking in for an airline reservation like Southwest or American, you cannot click on the link and go to the website from the appointment pop-up. Bad form. Hopefully fixed in A2.2. Also, unlike the BlackBerry, you can't sync personal folders from outlook. Another feature that'd be nice. Customization is amazingly easy. And rooting is really simple.
Otherwise a great phone. Decent battery life, expecially if you don't use an Active Wallpaper. I'm not going back to my Blackberry Bold II. . . . .
systoxity said:
Great review, thanks for the info . When did you get yours and for how much? (on or off contract?)
p.s. I'd take those pics again for image comparison after you wipe both of those screens off . I think i can see a booger on the first iphone pic. lol jk, but it would really help us see the difference better if both screens were clean
*edit: that is if you care or have the time. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was lucky and got mine for 299 off contact.
Really don't care about cleaning the screens off lol. Purpose was simply too compare the two screens.
Related
Hi to All and specifically to Singaporeans,
Do you live in Singapore and are quite peeved that you cant read straits times in your Windows Mobile handset?
Well this is the app for you. With UI similar to metro, it allows you to read full articles without the need to visit Straits Times' website on your phone.
Now with offline reading capabilities for your transit needs!
The app needs CF3.5 and is created with the help of the excellent sliderlist by Obelix_A
Current Features
- read full articles available from StraitsTimes.com Free
- view pictures and captions related to the articles
- change font size for articles
- offline syncing
- low-bandwidth mode (by displaying images only when articles are read)
- auto updater
Planned Features
- reading of articles from a specific date
- bookmarking articles
Known Bugs/Issues
- application is known to crash for Omnia2 and OmniaPro devices, upon a selection of a section
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download fromhttp://appslah.com/stmobile.cab Version 0.694
i would appreciate feedback and feature-requests.
GOOD JOB!
I'm SO downloading this.
thanks for the support
Some initial comments and thoughts about this app:
- The tick at the top right feels naturally clickable. I guess that's because to the average windows phone user, that top right has always either been an "OK" or a "X" so it's somewhat natural to assume whatever icon is on the top right is clickable
- The physics of the flow of the menu items are very very sensitive. If I drag them for a distance equivalent to half of my screen height, they disappear for quite some time before they bounce back. It is also kind of laggy. I understand alot of this has to do with windows mobile OS itself, so I'm not blaming you on this. This is really a good UI effort.
Otherwise this application feels way beyond good comparing with the average windows mobile application. Its metro-like UI is REALLY appealing for a change for my windows mobile device. All functions are working great and browsing the news is a pleasure.
Definitely recommend this app to any windows mobile users in Singapore. I'm gonna spread this app to some friends and partners of mine in Microsoft. I'm sure they will be impressed with this! Good work!
Tested on: HTC Touch Diamond 2 (Topaz) running Windows Mobile 6.5
aeronex said:
Some initial comments and thoughts about this app:
- The tick at the top right feels naturally clickable. I guess that's because to the average windows phone user, that top right has always either been an "OK" or a "X" so it's somewhat natural to assume whatever icon is on the top right is clickable
ahhh its the sync icon. will display some other icon instead of the tick in next releases... did not occur to be since i been using 6.5.3 for some time
- The physics of the flow of the menu items are very very sensitive. If I drag them for a distance equivalent to half of my screen height, they disappear for quite some time before they bounce back. It is also kind of laggy. I understand alot of this has to do with windows mobile OS itself, so I'm not blaming you on this. This is really a good UI effort.
did not really got to test it with resistive devices. But much of the credit for the physics of the slider goes to Obenix. I think he has done a great job with that wonderful control. i would refer to him on the matter of being able to lower the sensitivity for non capacitive models
Otherwise this application feels way beyond good comparing with the average windows mobile application. Its metro-like UI is REALLY appealing for a change for my windows mobile device. All functions are working great and browsing the news is a pleasure. Perhaps an addition of font size option perhaps in the forms of + or - will be good.
i was hugely inspired and loved metro UI when it came out. was around the same time when i was designing the backend, so heck decided it should follow the WP7 design elements.
The A + or - was orignially a feature request from 'wm007' of mobinauts, credits to him for that idea. Will follow your advice and add the option to change the font size for all other windows in the next release as well. thanks
Definitely recommend this app to any windows mobile users in Singapore. I'm gonna spread this app to some friends and partners of mine in Microsoft. I'm sure they will be impressed with this! Good work!
lol chris chin knows about it, am waiting for market place approval before i proceed to submit the other local news outlets apps (unoffical)
Tested on: HTC Touch Diamond 2 (Topaz) running Windows Mobile 6.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the best pillars of this app would not be without the input or ideas of fellow users. thanks once again for the input.
oh ya, and here is the app compared against other variants on other platforms:
I have tried it on Omnia II and the application is well designed but abit of laggyness in scrolling up and down in the tiles section and the stories text section, if u reach the very end of the text, and overscrolls it, it will take a while to jump back to the text area. Overall i find the application simple and light
Btw, i noe the app through aeronex haha...
Wow! Great! Haha I guess the developers network for Windows Mobile in Singapore is indeed quite small! ^^ I know of several other windows mobile developers also working with not only Chris but also many other peeps in Microsoft.
In any case, The HD2 has the most capable processor, so I'm not entirely sure if it's a very fair test, but I can definitely vouch that this user interface is the best I've seen. I love it!
Apologies about the font + and - actually. I just realized that your app already has the small and big "A"s which in my opinion is more than enough. Very strange I missed that just now, apologies ^^
aeronex said:
Wow! Great! Haha I guess the developers network for Windows Mobile in Singapore is indeed quite small! ^^ I know of several other windows mobile developers also working with not only Chris but also many other peeps in Microsoft.
lol ismael? he seems quite busy with WP7 these days
In any case, The HD2 has the most capable processor, so I'm not entirely sure if it's a very fair test, but I can definitely vouch that this user interface is the best I've seen. I love it!
the only other wm i have is a LGKS20, it has the bounce lag issue. Also the part where the screen is QVGA and cannot "sense" the clicks on tiles. news loading times are averge. lol will do a comparison with all 4 devices next time
Apologies about the font + and - actually. I just realized that your app already has the small and big "A"s which in my opinion is more than enough. Very strange I missed that just now, apologies ^^neh, its ok. i kinda feel the news list needs it too... i personally find that font big... others says its small.... might as well leave it customizable per user
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CNA app also done. will PM you when i have a beta of it ready
hazeline said:
I have tried it on Omnia II and the application is well designed but abit of laggyness in scrolling up and down in the tiles section and the stories text section, if u reach the very end of the text, and overscrolls it, it will take a while to jump back to the text area. Overall i find the application simple and light
Btw, i noe the app through aeronex haha...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Known Bugs/Issues
- application is known to crash for Omnia2 and OmniaPro devices, upon a selection of a section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am glad its working for you. i am still trying to find a permanent fix for my other samsung users who face the "outofmemoryexception". Do let me know if the app hangs for your device or what nots errors. So far this problem seems peculiar to the two samsung devices only.
Okae. Yeah, Ismael. The other Chris ^^
lol ya
anyhow, on a side note, got a nice email with some good news from microsoft this morning
Great! All the best for that!
ops, haha after the second try of the app and after i click on a news title to load a full story, i experienced a out of memory exception, it will go on and on even if i restart the application. Would you want the error details?
haha not to worry, am looking into that issue. hope to get it sorted out by this weekend
Congratulations on being featured on the frontpage! Read it on the twitter widget on my nexus this afternoon!
lol did not know until you informed me bro. wow, XDA is as supportive as what i always heard them to be. Thanks
Ooooops... this should be on the general apps forum instead of TOPAZ forum???
DLing....
Think there's more than one thread about this ^^
aeronex said:
Think there's more than one thread about this ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea, did not know the best way to find sg winmo users here... so resorted to that
Fleya is a FREE realtime fluid simulation for your Android phone.
But you don't have to be a physics specialist or an engineer to enjoy it.
Just swipe your finger across the screen to see why.
You can find it in the Android Market as "Fleya", or scan the QR code at the bottom of this post.
The app is also available on SlideMe and YAAM.
Main features:
Awesome fluid engine
Sensitive to accelerometer
Multi-touch (the code can interpret 20 fingers on the screen but it depends on the hardware capabilities of your phone)
Save images to SD, instantly available in image gallery
Option to choose simulation resolution and accuracy (higher settings mean slower simulation though)
Ability to choose your own colors as well as built in color presets
Tech notes:
The fluid engine is written in native code. It's probably the fastest engine currently on the market (please correct me if I'm wrong). A lot of work went into optimizations and now it's about 20 to 30 times faster than it used to be (I started with the theoretical code).
The concept is this:
Your screen turns into a box of 2D "smoke". You inject fluid with your fingers and when your fingers move, the fluid gets agitated. The fluid is colored according to it's temperature and you can choose 5 colors for the temperature scale gradient.
Temperature also influences the fluid when combined with the accelerometer through the Gravity setting. Hot fluids go up, cold fluids go down.
There are 3 fluid presets that ignore temperature and are colored according to density (Smoke, Ink and Cloud). The difference is in the interaction with the accelerometer. They are not pushed up or down according to the static orientation of the phone. They only react to sudden changes in orientation when the gravity setting is turned up.
Feedback:
I have a ton of other features fighting for attention in my head but very little time to implement them. I try my best but your suggestions would really help prioritize them.
For any comments, suggestions or questions, please leave a comment or send an email.
With your help, the best is yet to come.
Check out the official site at fixedpointcode.blogspot.com or find Fleya on facebook.
You can also use this moderator page to submit ideas or vote on other ideas:
http://www.google.com/moderator/#16/e=8bcb1
Support:
This app is totally free and I would like to keep it that way, so please don't complain about the ads. I have made them as unobrusive as possible and they use very little bandwidth.
You see, I have this dream where I could use all my time to build cool free apps and still be able to eat. I implemented ads as a means for you to show your appreciation at no cost.
If you like my work and would like to see more interesting apps support me with good comments and high in the market and recommending the app to your friends or in blogs, tweets and forums.
If you really really like it, donate either here on XDA or on the official site.
If you don't like it, that's just as fine as you can either ignore it or comment and help me improve my work.
Preview:
Check out these pictures for a preview. You can make your own using Fleya
You HAVE to see it running because pictures are worth nothing compared to the live action!
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"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Also, I have never seen it running on an Android Tablet so, if you have any, please tell me how it runs or, better yet, post a video on youtube and share a link.
Update:
XDA user TheGrammarFreak has shared this YouTube video of Fleya on a Galaxy Tab. Thank you very much.
Credits:
Jos Stam - for a very nice paper on numerical simulation of fluid dynamics in real-time (http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/people/stam/reality/Research/pdf/GDC03.pdf).
The worldwide android community - for posting lots of tutorials and allowing me to go from noob android developer to Android market in just a couple of weeks.
My girlfriend - for allowing me some spare time to build this app
My boss - for not noticing my working on personal projects during company time
Download:
Great looking!!!
For someone like me who has a love of physics & engineering, it's great!
Thank you.
This is really neat! Is there any possibility of integrating this into a live wallpaper? That would be bad ass! It could function the same as now with touch. I know there are live wallpapers like Plasma and such but they're constantly moving and don't react to touch or look as great as this.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
5 stars for you! Would make for an awesome live wallpaper.
Would also be cool if the ones like "hot and cold" had 2 point multitouch going on.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
Very cool.
Great App!
Great App! For some reason, its addicting. lol. One of those apps where there will always be a situation that pops up where Fleya would be useful, for us math and science nerds. Thanks for the post!
5 stars!
Would be awesome for this to be a live wallpaper.
Would also be cool if the ones like "hot and cold" had 2 point multitouch going on also.
pretty cool, after a few minutes I tried using two point touch... would probably make it significantly more intensive to program.
thanks for making it, puts a grin on my face
pretty darn kewl.
A few things that might be really kewl.
Multi touch.
More colors.
Random color wheel.
Thanks for the great replies
Wow, quick replies. Thank you all for the promptness and great ratings.
Everything you just said has been considered and will most probably be implemented. Let's take it feature by feature and see when.
Multitouch
This was a feature that was planned from the beginning but I wanted to target Android 1.6 too so no multitouch there. So I decided to build the app with all the rest of the features that I had planned, make it into a working and fun app and then migrate to Android 2.1+. I know I could have made it run on both but I didn't want to sacrifice any more processing power for it from the start. My thinking was...make it run as fast as you can then add features.
I'll be making multitouch my first priority since I've seen a lot of people say why can't I use more fingers?
I'm still unsure if it will be limited to 2 point touch or as many as the phone supports.
Color Wheel
This has most definitely been considered. In fact, the first stable version I uploaded to my phone supported 16 million colors. It simulated 3 fluid densities, the Red, the Green and the Blue so it supported practically any color. It actually started with a picture of my girlfriend and I could drag her nose over her head and see it swirl around, mixing all the colors Of course, by the time it started to swirl, the image was too liquefied to even look like a face.
Anyway, back then(4 weeks ago) Fleya was "incredibly fast". I got one frame every 2 or 3 seconds so I started to optimize code and cut stuff out. One thing I cut along the way was the 3 color channels, now it's only one fluid being simulated as a temperature channel and the colors are all picked from palettes.
You may have noticed that Hot and Cold (read red and blue) never mix into purple, they always go through black. That's because black is the color for the medium temperature. And another thing, if they did mix into purple, the swirls that formed would not be so well defined and would probably not get that "silk sheets" look if left untouched for a while.
But I'm not dismissing the idea; it will be implemented. Unfortunately it will have an impact on performance but I'll do my best to minimize it.
More color palettes
This is the easiest one of all from a tech point of view so it's a certainty that things will improve...I'll be updating the current palettes and adding new ones with each update, concentrating on making them look best. This is also a place where outside ideas are very very welcome.
Live wallpaper
While developing the first draft of Fleya, I had completely forgot about live wallpapers on Android. The code is written to support Android 1.6 so, by default the methods used for live wallpapers weren't even visible. It hit me in the head 2 seconds after publishing Fleya to the market. It instantly hit me harder on the other side of my head that a live wallpaper that is CPU intensive will be frowned upon by most users. I'll be building a live wallpaper version but not right now. I'll be releasing some updates to Fleya first, implement some of these features and then I'll definitely be painting your homescreen in swirls.
Again, thank you all. It makes a BIG difference to know my work is enjoyed by others.
Great, another Romanian developer. I will install it right away Thank you
It runs too slow on my aria, anyway you can fix that? Otherwise I love it xD
Try a lower resolution setting from Menu/Options.
Unfortunately, there are very few things I can do to make it run faster. Even if I do them, you may not even feel any difference.
On high resolutions it's running slowly on my HTC Magic too, but I left the option for higher resolutions because of higher end devices that can handle it.
amazing ! a live wallpaper will be much appreciated ! very addictive app
Loving this, great show-off tool
Thanks
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Will try it now. Looks very nice. Thanks mate!
runs very nice on galaxy tab at 2 settings from full resolution, anything more and its really laggy
reminds me of plasma pong.
one of the bests which uses both pysics and mathematics, unfortunately there is no access to market here
EDIT, 05/15/11:
Note: You will only care about this app. if you own a Sony Ericsson LiveWatch device!
v1.2
* Now with several more, aesthetically pleasing watch faces and hands
* Upload your own png file as /sdcard/livewatch.png (girlfriend picture, pet, etc.) -- Beware! The LiveView device is very picky with encoding, color set, etc.
* Flashligt! (Why not?) Click the select button, then touch the top border.
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
EDIT, 04/27/11:
Make sure you download it from the market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.voilaweb.mobile.liveview.livewatches
***
I am going to talk about a plug-in I wrote for the Sony Ericsson LiveView.
However, if you guys wish to discuss development for that device or how to make it work better, this is also welcome because it is both intriguing and under-represented (and a bit maddening at times)
Anyway, I was flabbergasted when I realized that there isn't any straightforward "watch" plug-in for the LiveView so in a couple hours I figured out how to use the SDK and created one.
I am not releasing it yet and I will only make it available it there is interest for it and I get the appropriate permissions from the people whose art I have used for this proof of concept app.
By the way, more face and hands art would be welcome!
A few (terrible) screenshots:
My LiveView was sent from the website i ordered it from, today=) I would really such an addon=)
And i can make you some artwork if i get something to work with=)
Oh, that's good.
I hope it works well for you. The device losing its pairing can be quite aggravating.
On the other hand it is a breeze to develop for; actually simpler than writing a home screen widget.
A friend of mine got it last week and said that he had lost his pairing once since he got it set up.
To me no development is a breeze i know squat about programing
But as said i would love to make you some graphics you could use so that you can release this=)
^^
I just received a sms from my post office that my LiveView had arrived
and here are a little graphic preview of some artwork you might use(?) It shows the whole thing, background, minute hand and hour hand=)
I really think you should release this addon
Ha! I like it a lot, in fact.
Can you post it as three files as described at http://www.voilaweb.com/lv_faq#createtheme?
Oh, and I updated the OP with a link to the beta apk
Will do, Just have to make some minor changes as the big and short hand are the same. and also added some indicators on the clock face.
Edit: Also, will you support this addon? i mean like bugs and stuff?
I guess, I will have to, yes
So, anyone go any feedback for me?
hey man.
i just installed your app from market and it's looking great.
i guess you can make a clock with digits or maybe a digital one.
it still disconnects but at least i have a watch
one other thing maybe you can ad an always on screen option
MrJay, first off, thanks for your feedback
The "always on" option would be nice but I invite you to think about this some more...say until your device dies on you because its damn battery is already too weak for the plug-in's current version
EDIT: OK I really don't want to sound negative. The device is really nice. I just wish it had better connectivity and battery life.
In fact, the tricks I read on how to force it to reconnect using AutomateIt, etc., end up sucking battery life like crazy.
The only thing i have to say about this addon, is that its a bit slow to update when i wake the screen. might take a sec before the clock shows the correct time.
Other than that, i love it
Thanks Marius.
Yes, I know about the 1 sec. delay it's due to sending as few updates to the device as possible, to improve battery life.
But maybe I could slightly alter this behavior for a "wake up" event.
BTW, I hope you guys are using the version from the market! It's free, but more likely to get updates than the one on my blog.
cyansmoker said:
EDIT: OK I really don't want to sound negative. The device is really nice. I just wish it had better connectivity and battery life.
In fact, the tricks I read on how to force it to reconnect using AutomateIt, etc., end up sucking battery life like crazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i stopped using automateit. it didn't do that much and yes you're right about the crappy battery life .
anyway keep up the good job. it's a nice to have application.
I ordered one of these devices today after seeing this post, fantastic plugin! this is perfect for when I'm at work, seeing as I work outside and don't have time to check my phone for any updates, much less the time. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Where can I order this I'm interested I live in California if that makes a difference
Well, Spitfire, so do I. I ordered from these guys: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004E2V4NM and it was shipped from Florida.
Have you updated this with any new themes?
Ive been away over the easter and haven checked in here for about 2 weeks. also i've been flashing a lot of ROMs lately so havent gotten to hook up my liveview yet. Will look in to it today th0=)
Can someone make a theme like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9GTkImEwQ&feature=player_embedded#at=20
(watch the video it has a bunch of different themes as well)
Droidish said:
Can someone make a theme like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9GTkImEwQ&feature=player_embedded#at=20
(watch the video it has a bunch of different themes as well)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome design. I fear that the LiveView's limited resolution will not be able to display something this complex, though. Not even something as good-looking as a TikTok
Whenever I need to look up on a phone specification, I automatically visit gsmarena.com. They have a large set of devices in their database and the data is presented in a pleasing manner as well. But the problem is that they don't have a mobile optimised page and as a result it is tough to checkout their website from a phone. To read the complete specification, you need to pan from left to right to left. And this worsens when you are trying to compare 2 devices side by side.
With Phone Genie I aim to provide a solution to this issue. This app presents the GSMArena content in a way that is suitable for your device screen. It also allows you to compare 2 devices side by side, without all the left-right-left panning headache. Please checkout the screenshots attached.
Phone Genie is available on Android Market for free for all devices with 1.6 and above. This is only our second app so there will be bugs and we got a lot to learn. Please try the application and post your comments. I hope you guys will find it useful.
Android Market - Phone | Web
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great app
thanks.
great app, thanks alot
Sweet app bro. This was just what I needed.
Sent from my GingerBeast
I've been looking for an app just like this! Thanks a million, this turns all of my mindless bragging into actual facts!
Hey it sounds like a great app but the links wont work for me so could someone post the apk
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
andslide said:
Hey it sounds like a great app but the links wont work for me so could someone post the apk
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search it on market
Thank you
I have 2 suggestions:
1. ability to move to SD
2. Ad-free version at a cost
I would sincerely like to thank author egzthunder1 who wrote about Phone Genie in the XDA blog. It sure gave the opening I never dreamed of.
I also realise that many of you guys tweeted and retweeted, passed the word to friends regarding the app. Phone Genie crossed 3000 downloads in the first 3 days. It may not be as big as some of the apps posted here but this being my 2nd app, the confidence this download count gives is immense. Big thanks, guys.
@nicky041192, I thought the app being around 350 KB will comfortably fit within internal memory. If the data part gets bigger and bigger, I shall enable App 2 SD. And I would love to offer an ad-free paid version but I am not sure if GSMArena will like the idea. Moreover Android developers from India cannot sell apps yet.
Apptuners said:
I would sincerely like to thank author egzthunder1 who wrote about Phone Genie in the XDA blog. It sure gave the opening I never dreamed of.
I also realise that many of you guys tweeted and retweeted, passed the word to friends regarding the app. Phone Genie crossed 3000 downloads in the first 3 days. It may not be as big as some of the apps posted here but this being my 2nd app, the confidence this download count gives is immense. Big thanks, guys.
@nicky041192, I thought the app being around 350 KB will comfortably fit within internal memory. If the data part gets bigger and bigger, I shall enable App 2 SD. And I would love to offer an ad-free paid version but I am not sure if GSMArena will like the idea. Moreover Android developers from India cannot sell apps yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you just not add App2SD in anyway? I like to move as many apps to my SD card despite the size.
Contact GSMArena for permission. You could always give them a small percentage of all sales. I just think the ad takes up a bit of room.
I found a bug,I have lock orientation on. It locks the orientation on the main screen but after I had made a search, it rotates, even though I have orientation lock on... Kind of annoying... I'm using my HTC Wildfire with official froyo.
nicky041192 said:
Can you just not add App2SD in anyway? I like to move as many apps to my SD card despite the size.
Contact GSMArena for permission. You could always give them a small percentage of all sales. I just think the ad takes up a bit of room.
I found a bug,I have lock orientation on. It locks the orientation on the main screen but after I had made a search, it rotates, even though I have orientation lock on... Kind of annoying... I'm using my HTC Wildfire with official froyo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright I will enable App2SD in the next update. In the meantime, if you have rooted your Wildfire, you can forcefully move apps 2 SD by installing one of those Move2SD Enabler apps that require root.
I am planning to get in touch with GSMArena once the user verdict of the app comes out. Judging by the current response, the app is a success beyond my expectations. Phone Genie has crossed 5000 downloads in 5 days. The only promotion we got so far is the article on XDA blog. The power of XDA community is quite visible.
Regarding screen rotation, the device comparison screen needs landscape mode as you cannot fit specification tables of 2 phones side by side in portrait mode. Now when you press the back button, it takes you to the previous screen, which is the compare search activity. Now if we did not enable both orientations for that screen, the user will have to go back and forth from portrait to landscape to portrait, every time a comparison is done. This issue was indicated during the beta testing among friends and family.
Many people lock orientation on their phones to prevent other applications like SMS clients, ebook readers, news apps etc from switching to landscape while reading in bed. But generally everyone liked the idea of Phone Genie allowing both modes as orientation will change anyway during comparison screen, while still allowing the users to keep orientation lock intact for other apps. Which is why I had to override the lock mode. If more people find it inconvenient, I will set it to obey orientation lock.
Just dropping in to say I released a new update today which will enable Move to SD card option. Along with that are some bug fixes and minor UI changes.
How about removing ads during the landscape screen mode when comparing phones? Even on a big 4.3" screen, the ad really messes up the view.
Ads on normal portrait sections of the app is fine. I know you need the ads for income.... Just think about it. Thanks.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
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Hey people,
I want to introduce you a suite of Android apps I've created under the Simple Mobile Tools brand. As of writing this it contains 13 apps: App-launcher, Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Draw, File-manager, Flashlight, Gallery, Music-Player, Notes, Thank You.
They are all open source, contain no internet access, no unexplainable permissions, no ads. That makes them perfect not only for the casual users, but also for the privacy concerned ones. They are available on f-droid too, sources are on Github. They contain customizable colors (including the app launcher color), dark theme is used by default.
I created them 2 years ago and by now they have roughly 6 million downloads together, so they are fine-tuned for the most part already, it isn't something fresh and rough that just came out of a school project. I'm actually working on them even more than full-time by now, so they can't just disappear or become abandoned. They are translated in up to 32 languages, translations are done by volunteers. The most popular app is the Gallery, the next ones are Calendar and Contacts.
Google keeps pushing developers to be more transparent with handling user data and they will also make their requirements more strict this year. App updates will have to target SDK 26 (Android Oreo) starting November 1 and while my apps are already doing that, it will cause a lot of troubles to other big players. Among many other things they will have to implement runtime permissions and not take every listed permission granted by installing the apps. That is one of the reasons why I think my apps have a tremendous potential.
Even though I have published app privacy policies as needed at Google Play, many people ask me what data do I collect. Well, since the apps are offline, I'm not collecting any data whatsoever. And since there are no ads, there are no marketing companies tracking you either.
The great benefit of using the apps isn't just the security, but also the consistent user experience, that I miss so much in Android. In my apps I'm reusing as much as I can. Not just actual functions, but also icons, actions, sometimes whole screens. Whenever possible, I'm using the Material icons provided by Google, so they should look familiar and you shouldn't be wondering what will happen once you press them.
Instead of typing out everything here, let me redirect you to my Medium article Why did I create Simple Mobile Tools.
I wrote an article about the first 2 years of my journey at Medium too, it is called 5 million downloads on 2nd anniversary. What now?
In case you want to read some user feedback, a Reddit article has been written too by a user (I'm not involved in that at all).
There are many new features/bugs/improvements/apps on the roadmap and while I already have around 20k installs a day, the best is yet to come!
Stay tuned,
Thanks!
( First ? )
Good to see you on XDA, indeed.
Thank you for keeping your software clean, with no analytics, no tracking, no data mining, and also for the enormous amount of work over the years. ( Been following on GitHub for a while. )
(っ´▽`)っ
tibbi2 said:
[IMG="Simple Mobile Tools cover image"]!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I was looking for a substitute for quickpic (best gallery ever unfortunately buy and let die by cheetah mobile). Simple gallery lately have improved a lot but have some big lackness to be good as quickpic.*
Here the problems that quickpic doesn't have:
1- can't rotate image using simply two finger. //*
2- when you move an image from internal storage to SD (and viceversa) it change the date of editing, if you use that to order it will be the first. Make it optional //*
3- when you edit and image it change the edit data and the image became the first if you use it to order. Make it optional*
4- slow loading time. //
I really, really hope this will can be my the sostituite to all people still use quickpic even if it's not updated in years
I also suggest to add the possibility of draw in the photo editing.*
Good luck with this beautiful app.*
Ye improving those is on the roadmap, stay tuned
tibbi2 said:
Ye improving those is on the roadmap, stay tuned
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this thread after sending you the mail. [emoji28]
Is good to see that the answers are so fast
Tapatalked with A8 2018
Working on Simple Webbrowser?
not really, a browser wont be added anytime soon
Great work on the apps.
One small thing I've noticed, in the Gallery app, list view.. There is a minor misalignment in the thumbnails. Hopefully that's an easy fix?
Otherwise really nice, keep up the great work.
of course, there are Donation links mentioned everywhere. It is at https://simplemobiletools.github.io/donate/
Thanks
Beautiful Icons
Really love those icons. Pretty
the stranger94 said:
Hi, I was looking for a substitute for quickpic (best gallery ever unfortunately buy and let die by cheetah mobile). Simple gallery lately have improved a lot but have some big lackness to be good as quickpic.*
Here the problems that quickpic doesn't have:
1- can't rotate image using simply two finger. //*
2- when you move an image from internal storage to SD (and viceversa) it change the date of editing, if you use that to order it will be the first. Make it optional //*
3- when you edit and image it change the edit data and the image became the first if you use it to order. Make it optional*
4- slow loading time. //
I really, really hope this will can be my the sostituite to all people still use quickpic even if it's not updated in years
I also suggest to add the possibility of draw in the photo editing.*
Good luck with this beautiful app.*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any progress with these?
Tapatalked with A8 2018
Hey, some of those things have already been fixed, but you will have to get the Pro version at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro . Im working on rotating with gestures already, it just isnt that simple. Im getting there step by step, some initial implementation might be added in 6.5.0 released soon.
Will you be updating Simple Camera or it will turn into a pro app?
Sent from my Sony Xperia XA2 using XDA Labs
I dont really want to work on that app. There are so many things handled differently per manufacturer and per OS version that I just cannot make it work reliably. Now that there are devices coming with multiple cameras, Im actually always further from making it a compelling app.
tibbi2 said:
I dont really want to work on that app. There are so many things handled differently per manufacturer and per OS version that I just cannot make it work reliably. Now that there are devices coming with multiple cameras, Im actually always further from making it a compelling app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I understand.
It just a shame that there are not any other Camera apps which are simple like Simple Camera that I know of.
Sent from my Sony Xperia XA2 using XDA Labs
Great work man, love the philosophy and hard work behind your apps, been a long time user of simple gallery as I used to use quickpic (before cheeta mobile ruined it), and google photos sucks for quick offline use. Got simple gallery pro a little while back and I just got your thank you app too. Anyways, great work, glad to see you on xda, cheers!
thanks, enjoy
First I want to thank you for the apps. I've used most on and off over the past couple years. I currently use calendar and gallery only though.
My suggestion to you, from an end user, is to focus more on the style and layout of your apps. The clock, for example, doesn't resize to be large enough and forces info the user may not wasn't, e.g. PM...and contacts shoves things together, name and phone number, leaving lots of empty space yet cramped together info, calendar widget text size doesn't fit with event list though they're defined by the same setting. In other words, your use of negative space to create a more appealing look & feel to the app could use some work....please don't take this as a negative. Your work is much appreciated! Just constructive criticism.
ye sure, any feedback is appreciated. I will consider it, but for now I generally want to focus on the functionality. It looks not that bad Thanks
Could there be an option to show the actual size of an image in the Gallery application ? ( If there is, I haven't figured it out... )
It particularly affects small images, like pixel art or icons, that are blown up many times their size and distorted.