Hello all
I recently switched from AT&T where I had an IPhone to Verizon Droid X. I love the android system and all the cool things you can do with it. The one thing that is really bothering me though, is the lack of a USER FRIENDLY magnification accessibility option. I know that the DX has a square magnifier in its options, but the extreme distortion and lack of options virtually makes it useless as a daily driver. How can a company like Google ignore this issue, and don’t say it’s because of hardware because Apple has been doing it since they first launched the IPhone.
Is there a way an app could be written that can do full screen magnification like the IPhone or is it possible that a custom rom could be written with this feature. After doing a lot of searches on the subject I know my disappointment is felt by many others, but I have not been able to find a single person that can:
A. Explain why this is something that Google Devs have overlooked.
B. What are our options as a community to fix this; are there android devices with full screen magnification like the IPhone already? If so, why isn’t it on every phone and what rom do I need to flash to get it. If not, can a rom or app be written with this functionality.
We all know that Google and the community can make awesome looking notification bars and widgets to keep the geeks in all of us happy, but where is the actual stuff to improve the OS for the everyday consumer?
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tl;dr I'm new, I'm not a very knowledgeable developer, I have an idea that I want your opinion about.
Heyo Peoples,
I'm new and I like to think a lot about cool new stuff with mobile devices (web, software, hardware, etc). I've been thinking a lot recently about how people like to use mobile devices, and how we might use them in the near future--thinking past what's being done now, and into what comes next.
I've been wondering for a while why there isn't an existing piece of functionality on mobile devices that allows a user complete control of the device and every piece of information on it. Imagine a GUI except instead of graphics, it's like interacting with a person. (aside: first person to say Siri should be shunned like an Amish girl who went to a movie theater).
Is it outrageous to say that you should be able to pick up your phone and have it find anything, from anytime in the past that you have done with or on it? I know that would take mountains of data, but is it silly? In it's most basic form, this would just be a search feature. In it's most eloquent form it could be an operating system. Imagine being able to ask your phone what you did last Wednesday, or maybe where you were. What if it could recall emails or documents based on date, time, location where you were when you wrote it, keyword, or contact, based on verbal interaction? What if it tracked data usage by application, or allowed you to measure and optimize system performance with a verbal command (ex. "Shut down all apps except for Google Maps" or "How much data am I using per minute").
Is it too early to start wishing for an interface like that computer on Paycheck (horrible movie with Ben Afleck) or Cortana in Halo? Is this type of interface impractical or implausible?
If you were to make something like this, would it have to be a new operating system built from the ground up, or could you develop an app to do this, or could you hack Android to do it? I welcome all of your feedback.
Lots of questions, and I have very few answers.
Jujubes said:
tl;dr I'm new, I'm not a very knowledgeable developer, I have an idea that I want your opinion about.
Heyo Peoples,
I'm new and I like to think a lot about cool new stuff with mobile devices (web, software, hardware, etc). I've been thinking a lot recently about how people like to use mobile devices, and how we might use them in the near future--thinking past what's being done now, and into what comes next.
I've been wondering for a while why there isn't an existing piece of functionality on mobile devices that allows a user complete control of the device and every piece of information on it. Imagine a GUI except instead of graphics, it's like interacting with a person. (aside: first person to say Siri should be shunned like an Amish girl who went to a movie theater).
Is it outrageous to say that you should be able to pick up your phone and have it find anything, from anytime in the past that you have done with or on it? I know that would take mountains of data, but is it silly? In it's most basic form, this would just be a search feature. In it's most eloquent form it could be an operating system. Imagine being able to ask your phone what you did last Wednesday, or maybe where you were. What if it could recall emails or documents based on date, time, location where you were when you wrote it, keyword, or contact, based on verbal interaction? What if it tracked data usage by application, or allowed you to measure and optimize system performance with a verbal command (ex. "Shut down all apps except for Google Maps" or "How much data am I using per minute").
Is it too early to start wishing for an interface like that computer on Paycheck (horrible movie with Ben Afleck) or Cortana in Halo? Is this type of interface impractical or implausible?
If you were to make something like this, would it have to be a new operating system built from the ground up, or could you develop an app to do this, or could you hack Android to do it? I welcome all of your feedback.
Lots of questions, and I have very few answers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is probably not as far off as it seems. The developers of "Utter" have come along way in the right direction. You should maybe approach them with your ideas. Not all of them of course . Save some for yourself.
One problem I see is semantics. "Shut down all apps except for Google Maps" sounds good - but do you really mean ALL apps ? The line that would be walked is one where the developer must train the program to not necessarily do what they ask, but do what they WANT. It gets trickier when you realise that some people who aren't your average users might want to test things and shut down an app (in this case) that an average user would never want shut, where they might mess up their phone beyond their ability to repair if they did.
I think speech is a great tool to interact, though I'm not going to be a person to use it. I don't think speech will ever become a default unless there are other technological advances that change how we interact with the world. It's annoying enough to hear someone gabbing loudly to another human on the phone, do we really want people gabbing AT their phones as a default interface ? I think privacy is a driving factor that will keep sound from being a major interface - perhaps it could work for in home applications, but out in public people may not want to announce to the world who they are calling, what they are looking for, or what site they're logging on to, et cetera. Until there's technology to make voice and sound less "public", I don't see this being the future of phones - it's more of a nice thing to have as an "extra" for when a person is comfortable using it.
But, hey, maybe we'll get used to wearing Google Glass and talking to ourselves all the time - or we'll get in-ear buds or implants where we can choose to hear the outside world or not. Just exploring the possibilities here.
I do think it's a big "outrageous" to have infinite backup. Just take a look at how much data companies like Amazon and Facebook acquire on a per-day basis. Think about how much data you use on a daily basis. I don't have the money or desire to be buying new HDDs every other week. Maybe in the future there will be a technological revolution that allows for mass amounts of data to be stored in even smaller spaces. But current technology in that regard is still very expensive and persnickety - read about high capacity SD cards and how fragile they can be and about data needing to be "refreshed" or they can become corrupt. There are lots of issues that make backing up everything you do impracticable.
And, again - privacy concerns. Do I really want my computer to know what I did last Wednesday and who I was with ? What if someone stole my computer or phone and had access to that information ? If we had the technology to do that, who's to say that current encryption would be "enough" - or that someone wouldn't go ahead and try to hack it anyway if they felt finding out basically everything about you was worth brute-forcing your phone or whatever they'd do in the future ? And have no password or a crappy one - even easier for them to know EVERYTHING about you, now.
Highly visual and talk-activated computers are absolutely great for games, movies, and TV. Why ? They function as narrative devices. They allow the actor to say or explain things they otherwise wouldn't have said out loud for personal, practical, or security reasons. They can become characters in their own right. People like those big screen computer displays where the characters are poking things all over and up and down - it looks cool. But not so cool is having your arms get tired from reaching up and around all the time. Not so cool is having to tell the computer out loud what kind of special images you want to search for when you have house-mates living in the next room over.
Just some thoughts. If you have other or counter ideas, go right on ahead.
Hello, first off I'd like to say I'm sorry if this is in the wrong section, but anyways, I'm trying to get things situated the way I like on my phone and I'm currently trying to figure out how best to achieve what I want while simultaneously having some fun learning and coding. In short my goal here is to combine my favorite aspects of AOSP roms and specifically the LiquidSmooth rom as that is currently one of my favorite AOSP roms I've tried on my s3. Also just fyi I'm currently running CleanRom right now because there are a couple features within touchwiz I'm having difficulty losing and as such I would like to start designing several modifications for a Rom.
The primary thing I really love within touchwiz is the lock screen. I like how I can swipe from anywhere on the screen to unlock my phone as well as the app shortcut mechanism, and while within cleanrom this has changed I also really liked how the sms and missed call notification was separate from the app shortcut bar in order to make it stand out. I'm also a really big fan of the swipe left and right for phone and messages within any samsung app that displays a contact or contact's thread (I wouldn't mind just having this within the people app but either way it'd be nice). There are also a couple motion actions I really like, particularly: direct call (call contact currently open in sms thread or contact card), smart alert (alerts you when you pick device up after a missed notification), and smart stay (attempts to detect if eyes are currently looking at the screen (this one I really just want more in depth look even if I can't incorporate it since it’s rather fascinating). And I also like the power saving profile that is within both the system settings and notification bar that is tied to an on/off switch instead of a change of actual profiles (just a preference here not really a necessity).
On the AOSP/liquidsmooth side of things the first thing is just the clean crisp and quick feel that AOSP roms seem to have (and no I’m not ruling out placebo effect but it does seem to feel less clogged). One of the main areas that I really love within Liquidsmooth is its notification bar. It is a very clean yet still attractive notification bar that is full of features (many AOSP but others that are more attributed to liquid). For example, something missing in CleanRom and potentially other touchwiz roms is the expanded notifications that include buttons such as reply, call etc. Though, one area in which I do prefer touchwiz is how they separate ongoing and notifications. Another thing that liquid has that I haven’t really seen elsewhere is the LTE toggle which I’d like to put in any and all roms I’m running just due to the battery drain caused by LTE radios (also wouldn’t mind adding longpress hidden menu to the toggle). Also I really like the quick reply function in liquid that shows a popup to quickly reply to text messages without leaving your current screen. Another area I feel Liquidsmooth really shines is its integration of settings into a sub menu within system settings because it just feels more natural and organized.
I’m listing all of these things because I’m trying to figure out how you guys would recommend approaching the rather large, for me at least, task here. Of note, while, I understand coding principles, debugging, style, the importance of commenting etc. I’m fairly new to setting up plans of attack on larger projects (my most recent project, designing an audio analyzer on fpga board using vhdl took several weeks to get anywhere major due to a difficulty of mine in finding where to start). That isn’t to say I don’t think I can do it, but I like to be as honest as possible so you know where I am personally. But yeah I would really appreciate any help or direction in achieving these goals. I know these things could probably be achieved by various hack job methods, but I’ve always preferred clean, from the ground up, complete and stable solutions but that by definitely doesn’t mean I’m against building off of previous work and improving the open source community. With all of that said what do you guys think? Should I start this project with a CleanRom base or a LiquidSmooth/AOSP base and modify them from there or start from a more blank slate and compile an entire Rom. Also, I really would like to start getting more and more into the android development scene as well as further my knowledge and skill base. I’m currently a computer engineering student with the intentions of heading into mobile computing either in operating system design or processor design though obviously the specific specialty could change a little though it will likely stay within mobile devices. I would consider myself generally proficient in C (and by corollary C++), VHDL and VB (cue VB flame comments ), but I would consider myself very good at learning new things and I have a very base understanding of other languages. Like I said my main goal with this post is guidance in how to start and in general go about accomplishing the above tasks. This is honestly one of my few forays into larger scale projects and my first android project, so any help, criticism, reference suggestions or advice is more than welcome.
Sorry for being so long winded but I’ve never been very good about keeping discussions about my favorite things short or to the point… especially when the topic is android… But I digress; Thank you those who read this and again sorry for the length…
I'm not a fan of Facebook per se. I don't care for the social media craze that seems to have permiated every facet of technology. When it comes down to it, I see Facebook as an enabler. It allows us insight into the intimate details of people we care about, without actually having to interact with them. It entices us to click "like" instead of personally conveying our appreciation or admiration. To top it off, I'm even less enthralled with Facebook on Android. Update after update that notoriously brings almost no improvement in performance, and many times results in an even worse experience. Not to mention the invasive permissions they keep slipping in with every new feature they implement. So why would I write an article about Facebook Home? Perhaps even more questionable, why in the world would I say they are "Winning"?
For most of us Android geeks/enthusiasts, there's been a quiet war going on behind the front lines of Android for quiet some time. Manufacturers continue to give us devices with their specific flavor of Android such as Samsung's TouchWiz and HTC's Sense, among other variations of Google's "Vanilla" Android experience. Meanwhile Android developers have been working endlessly to bring users more options with modified or custom ROMs such as Cyanogen Mod, AOKP, ParanoidAndroid to name a few. It's about choice - which the manufacturers don't want to give us. They want us to get used to their skins and their custom features, so that it becomes inherently habitual to use them. And we all know how hard it is to break habits.
Regardless of the ROM an Android user chooses, it doesn't end there. Android users are a unique bunch - and most of us want our phones to be unique as well. However, if you have been watching the evolution of the Android user closely (as Facebook undoubtedly has) you might have noticed that despite our yearning to be different, to customize our Android experience to our own taste, there is a sweeping movement taking place within the community: The Android user base has grown so quickly that it is no longer just a haven for the tech-geeks and device tinkerers. There is a large number of users that want to be able to customize their devices without having to learn what rooting is, or how to flash a custom ROM. They have no idea what a bootloader is, or even superuser for that matter. Yet their desire remains the same - to be able to tailor their phone as they see fit. This is where the ROM wars end - and the Launcher wars begin.
When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter if you're running Samsung's TouchWiz or the latest Cyanogen Mod Nightly. You're most likely going to install a custom launcher which will serve as your main user interface. Apex Launcher, Nova Launcher, or perhaps one of the new comers such as Chameleon Launcher or.. yep, you guessed it: Facebook Home.
This is where Facebook's genius begins to show. For the majority of Android users, it's not about what ROM you're running anymore (and for many newer users, it never was). It's the launcher that ultimately defines their device. And when you step back for a second and really dissect what's been going on with Android, it's always been about the launcher. TouchWiz and Sense are just that - launchers. Despite the fact they are deeply integrated with their respective phone's OS version, they're still basically just different user interfaces. Most of what they offer in regard to features can be successfully ported to other phones, other ROMs. The reason for Android user's past frustration with these manufacturer's customizations was their inability to remove them or change them. So where does that leave us today?
Facebook Home is exactly what a vast majority of the Android user base wants. Another option, another way for them to tailor their phone to their own usage habits. And if they don't like it, they can simply change their launcher or uninstall it completely. And let's be honest - there are millions of Android users who are Facebook fanatics. Facebook Home isn't just another app.. it's the new front line of the Android wars. Don't be surprised if you start seeing more of the major social media sites offering their own launcher. After all, it only makes "Sense".
Android has always been about customization not only to users but OEM and even developers too. Some skins comes with features that is not existent on "Stock Android" or "Google Android" like customizable Quick Tiles, better camera experience, battery saving mode, and many more that requires editing the OS deeper rather than "there's an app for that" solution.
I'm getting sick and tired of "If only they'd come with Google Play Edition" comments. It's like saying if every phone comes in Stock Android, people will love Android more. Fact is, the majority of Android users are attracted to the features offered by OEM. Only tech enthusiast prefer Google Android. Hell, even most of them use other custom ROMs like Paranoid or Slim.
So I wanna ask you guys, and do a poll while at it. Which Android skin do you prefer? Also do you think it's a good idea if every phone goes Google Android? I definitely don't think so but it's always nice to have an option to do so.
I’ve been a CyanogenMod user since CM6 for the HTC EVO. While I can’t claim to have contributed much directly to the community (I’m no developer and more of a sys admin kind of guy), I have installed CM on countless phones over the years - basically any friend or family member who sat their phone down long enough. As soon as it was available, I snagged a OnePlus One, and it’s still the phone I have today. While I was initially excited to see where the foundation of Cyanogen Inc. would take the project, I’ve become increasingly disappointed with the direction that things have gone (both CM and COS), and I think my next phone will likely be a Nexus device with stock Android. I’m fairly certain that this post won’t accomplish much (aside from starting a flame-war/trolling/what-have-you), but I thought I would post it just to see what might come of it.
What I initially loved about CM was the fact that it added a number of useful features to stock Android, it allowed a ton of functional customization, it seemed to be more efficient and stable, and it let me continue to update devices that manufacturers had artificially sunsetted. I was impressed by the fact that lead developers were more interested in code quality and security than by shiny features. Amidst the desire to make Android better, there was also a sense of perfectionism to CM as evidenced by the “don’t ask for ETAs” mantra - it would get done when it was ready, and I was always willing to wait.
When Cyanogen Inc. formed, I was curious to see how they planned to make money. I actually decided to be a bit bold, contacted Kirt and Steve via LinkedIn, and offered to share some of my ideas. One of my biggest suggestions was that they should do something to fill the gaping hole left by Blackberry. At that point (and even still today), no manufacturer had really been able to provide the enterprise-grade functionality provided by Blackberry and BES. MDM solutions were (and are) a double-edged sword that are really just a patch for the solution. Given the huge priority that Cyanogen placed on security, I thought it would be a good direction to take. I’ve sent a few other suggestions over the years (including attempting to get the OnePlus One on the shelves at Walmart when I worked at the corporate offices), but it never seemed to go anywhere.
Right now, when I wake my phone, I have a reminder that there is a system update ready for my OnePlus One that will install COS 13.1. This update adds “new mods for Cortana, OneNote, Microsoft Hyperlapse, Skype, and Twitter.” I have yet to hit install. My issue is far less that Cyanogen is working with Microsoft and more with the fact that the company, much like Canonical/Ubuntu, seems to have the not-invented-here syndrome. (Side note: here’s a great article from the Turnkey Linux team that serves as partial inspiration for this post https://www.turnkeylinux.org/blog/ubuntu-not-invented-here-syndrome). Instead of offering new and useful features, Cyanogen is reinventing wheels and cramming the OS full of things that aren’t really at the top of anyone’s list for issues that could be solved or features that could be added. The innovation just seems to be gone. Most of the features that were exclusive to CM and drew me to the project are now part of stock Android. It makes me wish Cyanogen had taken up Google on their $1B offer.
Here are a few examples. Who remembers when ADW was the stock launcher of CM? I do. In contrast, who actually uses Trebuchet? I think it’s a featureless piece of junk. No gestures? No ability to hide icons in the drawer? No useful functionality that really sets it apart from other launchers? Why develop something new just for the sake of doing it yourself when it only provides basic functionality? Right up there with it is the File Manager application. There are plenty of other more feature-rich applications on the market, and I frankly never use the app provided by Cyanogen because it isn’t nearly as functional as something like ES File Explorer.
Similarly (but more egregiously), is the Browser application. Show of hands: who uses the browser provided in AOSP? No? Me, neither. Be it Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or something else, no one uses the browser built into the ROM. Why did Cyanogen feel the need to create another browser that lacks functionality, is rarely updated for security patches like mainstream offerings, and is basically just another piece of lint on everyone's phones? I fail to see the innovation, there.
I initially loved the idea of having a Cyanogen Account because it was pre-Google Device Manager. However, now that Device Manager exists, I don’t see a reason to use my Cyanogen Account because there haven’t been any additional additions to the feature set. I emailed Kirt and Steve once about potentially folding the WebKey project into Cyanogen and linking it to the Cyanogen account. That would provide remote access, remote file management, a remote shell, and countless other features (most or all of which could be made to work without needing root if baked into the ROM). How much would that add to the ROM and set it apart from other offerings? Neither Google, Apple, Microsoft, or Blackberry have anything close, and it would be a game-changer.
The Themes engine. Alright, so some may disagree with me, here, but I don’t really care about theming my phone or my computer. For me, that was cool back when Compiz/Beryl were the hotness for Linux. Now, I’m more interested in function over form. Why spend so much time building this thing when there are actually useful additions that could be made to CM/COS?
In conjunction to this, there are a number of features provided by CM that are now part of AOSP and make me wonder why I'm still on CM/COS. Google has added permissions management. They have included tethering. The majority of Developer Options are baked in. They switched the whole tap/long press to turn on/off/open settings feature in the notification panel. There isn't much to set Cyanogen apart, anymore.
Instead of just complaining, I wanted to start a list of things that I really thought Cyanogen would have provided by now (or would have at least considered). Some of these would provide Cyanogen with a revenue stream so they wouldn't have to keep cozying up to Microsoft, something that I'm sure most of us would appreciate (does anyone actually use Cortana?) I’d be interested to hear what other features the community would like to see added to CM/COS:
WITHOUT root, implement NFC tag actions that are available with the screen off. For example, allow a user to unlock/wake their phone, turn certain settings on or off, switch to a different profile, or perform a set of pre-defined actions by tapping a NFC tag. Obviously, there would have to be some security mechanisms built in order to whitelist trusted tags so the functions can be used with the screen off, but I’ve always wanted to be able to set my phone down on a tag at my desk and have it automatically connect to my company’s WiFi, put my phone on vibrate, etc.
Partner with an existing developer or independently build parental controls into COS.
Add a login manager for public hotspots to accept terms and conditions on subsequent logins after the first connection (would need to use MAC address, GPS, or some other unique identifier since some companies use the same provider, e.g. Starbucks and McDonald's both use ATTWiFi as their network name but have different captive portals)
Make a Kiosk version for customers at coffee shops and the like.
Create a mobile pay kiosk version similar to the Chili’s tablets since Cyanogen is known for security.
Make a version tailored toward the elderly (lock certain features, provide a restricted set of capabilities that are easy to access, etc).
As previously mentioned, build in WebKey or similar functionality that is tied to a Cyanogen account.
Include Tor without needing root.
Allow the ability to modify DNS settings.
Develop AirPlay compatibility for the Cast feature.
Right now, I’m at the point that I was at with Ubuntu about five years ago. Canonical had “improved” Debian into a bloated nightmare complete with in-house developed projects such as Unity, Ubuntu One, the Ubuntu Software Center, Mir, and others that no one asked for or wanted. If Distrowatch rankings are to be believed, Debian (and Mint) is now more popular than Ubuntu, likely as a result of Canonical’s decisions.
This is not a call to arms but rather a suggestion. Perhaps it is time that the community creates, by way of analogy, a Cyanogen Mint. Maybe we need to go back to the foundation of AOSP just like many users have done by going back to Debian. For me, at least, Cyanogen isn’t satisfying the same needs that it did two years ago, and I’d like to have a mobile OS or ROM that does. There are a lot of custom ROMs out there like Paranoid Android, AOKP, and OmniROM, but they are incredibly fragmented in the devices that they support, and none of them have the level of backing that Cyanogen gained. Perhaps as a community, we need to consolidate our efforts, focus on a common project, and bring forth a high-functioning ROM that can fill the void that Cyanogen no longer does.
In light of today's news about the layoffs at Cyanogen, thoughti might bump my thread to see if anyone would be interested in joining this conversation.