Hi all,
I got my WP7 phone for a little while. The UI is pretty nice but it is so hard to find a good app in the marketplace. Do you have any suggestions? What I want most for now is a weather app having tile feature and can automatically update every few hours.
Thanks!
Related
Hi
I was just wondering if it is possible to download new widgets to work with the release of 1.5.
I found the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3681080 thread which is the competition but am unsure how to actually access any of the submissions?
I also found a weather app and can download the .apk file but am unsure where to save in the root?
http://jsharkey.org/blog/2009/04/24/forecast-widget-for-android-15-with-source/
Thanks
mr_sh33p said:
Hi
I was just wondering if it is possible to download new widgets to work with the release of 1.5.
I found the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3681080 thread which is the competition but am unsure how to actually access any of the submissions?
I also found a weather app and can download the .apk file but am unsure where to save in the root?
http://jsharkey.org/blog/2009/04/24/forecast-widget-for-android-15-with-source/
Thanks
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Click to collapse
Im using the weather app, its nice. I just wish it updated more thruout the day and also it showed your current location, however its pretty sweet. all you have to do is download the apk installer from the market, copy the apk to your SD card and then look for it and launch it using the installer.
in the market there is a battery widget a sticky note widget and some others
The submissions for the contest are not public yet.
i am extremely excited about widgets...i have the battery one but cant seem to get the weather widget to work...
also anyone find any other widgets thus far...when does the widget contest end?
I'm not a huge fan of the battery widget. I prefer Battery Status in my notification bar for that.
But the weather widget is superb! And the sticky note widget is pretty nice too. I'll probably stick with AK Notepad and it's ability to add icons for certain notes to the desktop...
But I am impressed that so far they all are visually pleasing. Can't WAIT to see what the geniuses here at XDA (and elsewhere, for that matter) come up with soon!
Has anyone noticed a perceptible difference in resource usage or battery life while using widgets? The android OS is already incredibly slow compared to say an iphone, and while 1.5 and A2SD seems to help a lot i still have to try fairly hard to keep the background processes at bay. Having widgets would be great, but not at the expense of any more speed.
i havent noticed and slow downs and i have the batery widget the search widget and te clock widget...
Hey everyone, I'm posting this to gather information about Android Multitasking.
I have used android since i had my G1, I am now on a g2, otherwise known as the HTC HERO.
In my opinion android multitasks beautifully when we talk about speed! It doesn't however manage it's open applications well at all. I mean switching to a application which is open in the background is tough. Pressing and holding the home button gives you a menu to RECENTLY open applications which doesn't conform to what IS open at that very moment. And the task bar notifications dont really give you a full list of all applications open..only apps that support it.
With the iphone really gathering it's bearings, and beginning to multitask [kinda better multitasking management then android imo] Im beginning to waver in my support for android.
I can imagine if holding the home button brought up a card view like webOS, giving you a preview of all the open applications in the background. Or something similar. I mean if HTC sense has a pinch gesture to view home screen in a hard view environment, i don't see what's stopping android from having a more polished and robust multitasking experience.
What are your thoughts on this?
the iphone 4 implementation looks to be exactly what you are complaining about with android. it offers a list of recently used apps. with iphone none of the apps stay running, they have background services that an app can start but the app will close. Android is similar. the ui for an app isnt necessarily running. it will be killed by the os and started again when you ask to see it.
WebOS does actually show you exactly what is running. I havent used a webos device for an extended period of time, but it dies seem their card metaphor is the easiest to understand for users. if your phone is slow just look at the cards you have open and flick some out.
I agree with your point though, i find the android app switcher inadequate. Far too often the app i want to get back to is no longer in the list. i think the iphone will have the same issue unless their list can grow very long.
It'd solve a lot if the android switcher had a button to pull up the app drawer.
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
hexix said:
the iphone 4 implementation looks to be exactly what you are complaining about with android. it offers a list of recently used apps. with iphone none of the apps stay running, they have background services that an app can start but the app will close. Android is similar. the ui for an app isnt necessarily running. it will be killed by the os and started again when you ask to see it.
WebOS does actually show you exactly what is running. I havent used a webos device for an extended period of time, but it dies seem their card metaphor is the easiest to understand for users. if your phone is slow just look at the cards you have open and flick some out.
I agree with your point though, i find the android app switcher inadequate. Far too often the app i want to get back to is no longer in the list. i think the iphone will have the same issue unless their list can grow very long.
It'd solve a lot if the android switcher had a button to pull up the app drawer.
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
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Yeah I suppose you're right, but i cant help but think the iphone will just be better at it then android.
Other then that. Yes Android really needs to polish it's multi tasking system.
EDIT: Also, I have used WebOS and honestly it's a superior mobile platform to android [imo]. It's community however is not as enriched as the android one and there aren't as many apps available for the palm pre. Palm really screwed themselves over limiting it to one phone...it would have been a strategic move to stop manufacturing phones and start working on EXPENSIVE palm software like webOS
Or maybe you can try AppSwipe!
There's also a nice app (imo) from a user on here, he tried to mimic the webOS cards system, and is doing pretty well until now. No previews yet but its still a nice powerful task manager that views icon in a nice view and has launch on search / camera button press too!
It's called TaskOS!
I've tried both task os and app swipe and still...they are both very unpolished multitasking management systems =/
I hope eventually something will come along.
I came from the Palm Pre before I got my HTC Hero, and multitasking was wayyyy better than Android. In fact, if the Pre wasn't so slow, I would have kept it over the HTC Hero. It took me over a minute to open Google Maps... with nothing else running! (and the keyboard sucked)
hexix said:
It'd solve a lot if the android switcher had a button to pull up the app drawer.
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Click to collapse
Dxtop has a second App Drawer that does just that. It works great.
tdusen said:
Dxtop has a second App Drawer that does just that. It works great.
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Click to collapse
Eh, that shows background services like home and what not..
Personally I'd like to disable the drawer from showing apps on my ignore list
what would be nice is if you held home then cards poped up like in webos and showed your running apps with a preview pic of the app
blaboy51 said:
what would be nice is if you held home then cards poped up like in webos and showed your running apps with a preview pic of the app
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YEah thats something to look forward too.
XxsydenxX said:
YEah thats something to look forward too.
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but for that to happen google probley would have to add that in there rom in a update hopefuly it'll happen
nice idea. I wish i knew how to make it happen.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=668232
Wow i was just thinking the same thing today, (i used to own a pre) But check out TaskOS in the market guys!!! It's legit, almost exactly the same as cardview on webos except it just shows icons instead of real time view.
If you want a nice way to switch apps without the stupid home key crap just install advanced task killer and switch the default click option to switch too instead of select/unselect. Its one swipe down for the notifications, one click on atk, and one more click on the app you want. Its not as good as webOS but its the best method I can find for now. I also leave a shortcut to atk on my home screen.
there is also MultiTask Manager. Once again not as good as WebOS card view but its more like an Iphone multitask thing. I think I like TaskOS the best. Well I'm not allowed to post links because of new member thing so just look it up.
It wouldn't be hard if you can get live preview's of the application windows.
I've been searching google for "android sdk live preview" and the like for a while though and its not looking good
can the current state of multi-tasking allows, for example, one uses the phone with the speaker while trying to look up some info/or do something with another application(eg, look up notes that you have written down from an application)?
cheers
Is there a quick way to make them refresh after a new app is installed?
OK. They finally updated after about 20 min. Which is annoyingly long time to wait right after getting a new app. I would still like to know if I can force them to refresh though.
You have to tell us specifically which widgets are you using and what apps have you installed to interact with them.
As far as I know widgets are real time unless the launcher is caching the screens. So if its not the launcher it may be that the apps you installed have not gathered enough data yet for the widget to display it.
joshthewaster said:
OK. They finally updated after about 20 min. Which is annoyingly long time to wait right after getting a new app. I would still like to know if I can force them to refresh though.
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I also have this problem, and I've just resorted to rebooting my phone. Not ideal, but seems to be the quickest way to update the list.
Just to clarify I meant the ICS app drawer widget selector thing is not refreshing. Not horrible but kind of annoying to have to reboot or wait forever.
Force close the launcher under settings --> applications. When the launcher refreshes you should be good to go.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Hey everyone, while I had a long day at work yesterday, I had vented out my stress and created a launcher concept I thought of. My bad if this thread is in the wrong place, I thought this would be the most relevant place to post this. I wanted it to keep it simple and more swipe gesture based kind of launcher. There's nothing new in terms of design except for a few tweaks nor any crazy innovative ideas. I just rearranged some stuff so everything is 'more available in a single place.' So here's a picture:
Picture
Center Screen
It is the homescreen. I've lost ideas on customization and I dearly miss that Meego homescreen on the N9. I also find myself opening the app drawer a lot so this goes hand in hand. I just added in the option to add apps you want to pin to the top of the app launcher.
Left Screen
Swipe into your app of choice. I choose my text messaging app cause it's my most frequently used app.
Right Screen
It's like a 'center' for giving you quick info about everything all in one place. You get to read news on Flipboard while also changing to your next favourite song and checking Facebook all in one place. You would also be able to add, remove, rearrange your widgets on this screen. How cool is that? Maybe I'm just lame, I don't know.
So that's pretty much it. Quite simple and straight forward. Just wanted to share my idea with an awesome community. If anyone is interested in developing this into an actual app or something, let me know =) or I can just keep this in my little portfolio
Hi guys,
These apps i am about to introduce will change your phone experience for the better not just our phone for that matter but any Android phone.
1. Immersive Mode Manager(Paid)
This app is a must for every Amoled screen to protect your phone from future screen burn, the other thing is you get to enjoy the full screen experience with every app on your phone. I install this app on all of my Android devices.
I have created a thread long ago doing it manually but i think it's too much of work for people who want an app for that, if you want a manual free alternative check it out.
2. Fluid Navigation Gestures(Free/Pro Features)
This is my second go to app which i was introduced to recently. I will dare to say IMPO that it's the best custom gesture navigation app on Android currently.
By the way our Asus gesture navigation is not bad but i feel it's not polished yet. Also by using Fluid Navigation Gestures we can disable the navigation bar in the keyboard so that is a plus. So go ahead and give it a try.
3. JINA: App Drawer, Sidebar & Folder Organizer(Free)
This app is also a recent discovery and i highly recommend it. What the stock rom or custom rom for that matter lacks to date is the ability to access your apps form any app without going back to the Home launcher to access the drawer. With this app you can achieve that and then some more. The only downside of this app is that it's not noob friendly it will take you a lot of time to figure out all the features it has. The best thing about it you can customize every aspect of it and it's free.
4. Glimpse Notifications, Always On Edge - Edge Lighting or Glance Plus(Free/ Free / Free)
So to my surprise the ROG phone doesn't wake the device when you receive notifications like my previous HTC phone, but don't fret because here where Glimpse Notifications solves the problem that is if you just want the screen to simply light up. If you want more customization then the other two apps are great to check out.
5. Blokada(Free)
You must have an Ad blocker on the list if you are unrooted and definitely one of the best open source and free app out there is this one.
6. Popup Widget 3(Paid)
Now this app will get your phone setup to another level, instead of cluttering your homescreen with widgets how about hiding them and calling them when needed only either through your home launcher gestures or a shortcut sidebar ... . Pretty cool right!. Now this isn't a must have app but i had to mention it because it's absolutely amazing. I have an old video featuring it check it out.
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I will keep updating this thread once other apps are discovered or suggested.
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*Launcher used: Nova Launcher
*Icon Pack: Pixel Icon Pack
Here is an updated video to showcase everything
Great List ! Much appreciated !
Thanks
Cool "A Liquid Cloud" live wallpaper. I bought the paid version to support the developer, but the free version is great.
Swiftkey Keyboard
Textra SMS
Firefox browser
I used to use a third party camera, but I like the default camera and love playing with Google Lens
I used to use Apex launcher, but they have gone downhill lately forcing bloatware on you. I might stick with the default. I like the default theme.
I have installed Immersive Mode Manager! Very cool!
is there any app or setting mod that allows can turn the RGB /aura lighting into a visualizer for audio/media playback ? like the audio visualizer chroma app available for razer chroma windows on windows platform ?
spicemaster said:
is there any app or setting mod that allows can turn the RGB /aura lighting into a visualizer for audio/media playback ? like the audio visualizer chroma app available for razer chroma windows on windows platform ?
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I am not aware of any.
Sorry double post!
For nothing