Maps I can help populate? App recommendation. - Android Apps and Games

I am looking for an app recommendation in the way of maps that I can help populate.
The one I am working on right now, for example:
Open Signal Maps - Staircase3, Inc (google market version 1.06)
This app maps out cell towers, and will tell you what towers are around you and which direction the nearest (or strongest signal) comes from.
The more people that use and upload the info, the better the map gets, and it's already got a pretty decent database.
My job requires a lot of travel, as far as 200 miles from the center of my zip code, and so I keep it running while i'm travelling from site to site.
Preference given for apps that allow me to restrict upload to wifi, but I can live without this if it's a worthwhile app.
Recently picking up a gps capable android device has given me the opportunity to help - so here I pose the question - what are good apps that get better with user populated data?
Thanks in advance!

Related

Free android mapping software?

Anyone know of any free software that allows you to enter a destination gps coordinates. The software will then give the direction to that point and distance and log the gps points along the route taken (like a cookie crumb trail). I don't need it to be overlaid on a map but better if it was. I was thinking something like a hiking app would be ideal but I need this to work anywhere in the world without a data connection (therefore no maps or maps stored on the phone).
Hoping to use it when I go on holiday abroad. I would configure all the points of interest from home before I leave and use the software to get to my destination whether I travel by taxi or by other means.
My searching in the market has been unsuccessful so far.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

[APP][2.2+] Onavo Lite 1.0 controls your data usage to save you money

Hi all,
I'm Guy from Onavo, and I wanted to share with you all that after much anticipation Onavo (which was available only for the iPhone till now) has come to Android!
Today we launched Onavo Lite, an app that solves the "Android data leak", as we call it. In the world of capped data plans (not to mention outrageous roaming charges), the problem with the Android ecosystem is apps run constantly in the background, which means they can be using data whether you use the app or not. Users have no control and no way to limit the data that is used. Until now.
Launched today, Onavo Lite puts users in control of their data usage. The app flags 'data hog' apps and allows users to make apps 'WiFi only', effectively stopping the data leakage.
The app helps control data usage and costs through features such as:
- Alerts and warnings: when an app is hogging data in the background, when approaching your cap, or when traveling
- Data hog blocking: can opt to block certain apps over 3G, or 3G data in general once you exceed your data cap to avoid any additional costs
- Tracking: Real-time data plan tracking and early alerts when usage reaches certain limits.
- Advice: Tips on best value data plans based on your actual usage
- Simple set up: Removes all the complexity from mobile data plans
If any of you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way here in the forum. We would love your feedback on our app.
To download just search for "Onavo" on the Market.
I'm happy to see this app finally reach android, but the version for android doesn't do the main thing it does on the iPhone: compress data.
There are already apps that monitor data usage.. so why is this different?
other apps also have notification and that stuff.
So when will the data compressing feature be available?
Hi Ilya,
Compression for Android is definitely on its way, we are working to bring that to you as well. However we realized that to help users truly tame data plans, we needed to deliver a more holistic solution. Since on Android background data usage is a REAL problem (as opposed to iPhone) so we simply couldn't wait to release this to the public and deliver this great value. (Google for "android iphone data usage" to see a post on our blog, from our chief Android guru, on the conceptual differences between Android's and iPhone's data consumption models).
There are some great meters out there, but nothing provides:
a) Real-time alerts when apps are eating up your data in the background
b) Crowdsourced intelligence that lets you learn from our global community and get advance warnings on apps that may be problematic to your data plan.
c) The ability to block apps from using your mobile data in the background.
Add to that compression, when we release that, and you've got a one-stop-shop for all your data usage needs.
I have a few feature requests:
- specify another currency (as I am in a foreign country, it is definitely the wrong one).
- specify the begin of the monthly plan (I can specify this value for the domestic, but not for the roaming plan)
- specify previously used data - I already used some data prior to the installation
After all, looks promising...
Kind regards,
ww
All good points. Quick questions:
a) the app should suggest your own local currency (that of the SIM). This usually makes sense as if you're on your home operator's SIM you pay in your home currency, if you buy a prepaid SIM locally it would be in that country's price. What's the scenario in your case?
b) Can you describe the kind of roaming plan you're using?
Thanks!
Quick answers:
- austrian SIM (EUR), I am in Switzerland at the moment (roaming). Result: currency shown in CHF.
- my plans both begin on 26th of the month. Domestic plan: 1 GB; roaming plan: 50 MB. In the app I can specify the begin of the domestic plan. But: roaming plan begins today from my point of view.
Kind regards,
ww
Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying - definitely stuff we'd like to take care of.
Keep us posted
@webwude - we just uploaded a new version with some bugfixes, among them we have fixed your point #1 about the currency.
Thank your for the information.
I experiencing a strange issue (maybe related to your app):
since this morning, I get timeouts using the standard internet app, k-9 mail, gmail and so on - only a few apps (mail with exchange, provider app) are still working, all other (which I have used in the meantime) seems to be blocked, even after uninstalling your app. Is there any way to reset things as they were before? If I start apps which I haven't used since yesterday, they can connect... otherwise I can see that there is traffic, but browser or market just get timeouts...
It seems, that there is some sort of lock...
I will investigate this furthermore this evening...
Kin regards,
ww
Hi, i have one question. How do i turn the "Roaming, enjoy your trip" notification off? I'm always roaming (it's complicated) so i'm getting a bit annoyed when that notification sticks itself up there and i can't remove it.
Thanks in advance
There appears to be a huge discrepancy between the usage level reported by 3G Watchdog and Onavo - 304MB and 855MB respectively. What's the cause of the discrepancy, and which app would be more reliable?
@webwude - re some apps not connecting, that shouldn't be Onavo (especially not after you removed it). Did you find out what happened?
@BazookaAce - good point! BTW what kind of SIM are you using?
@Kawdess - we're looking into such discrepancies, will let you know what we find.
Tele 2 Sweden, but I live in Norway and my operator is Tele 2 Norway but Tele 2 Norway is roaming on NetComs towers. Tele 2 Norway doesn't have its own yet.
So since the SIM is swedish it "calls home" (to sweden) before bouncing back to norway and completes the call.
So Tele 2 Norway customers roam 24/7. And no, we do not pay more than normal

Anyone know a good cell tower tracker?

I've been searching the market and couldn't find this.
I need an app that allows to track where the phone is (instant location only) and sends this information to a website (no sms or email).
Something like GPS Tracker from InstaMapper LLC, but if possible using cell tower location and working only on request from the person viewing the location (no interaction from the phone), to save battery.
All I found was the gps tracker and real time gps tracker, but I found they are always sending the location and spend a lot of battery doing so.
Does anyone know of any better app for this?
I know this is not what you are asking for, but... You could set up something like this using Tasker. (There is a trial version available from the dev's website.) Unfortunately, you would have to set up your own website to accept the location data.

[Q] Have any circuitous ways been found to feed data to Google Now cards?

I'm new to Android development, mainly because I've been trying to find a small enough project that was reasonable to bite off as a first foray but interesting enough to keep me engaged. I finally found something I think would be a reasonably sized project for starting out and would also actually be useful to me. Unfortunately, in researching it, I ran in to the fact that there is no API for Google Now.
To back track a bit, the app/functionality I want to implement is a modification to cards, or to one of the data feeds Google pulls from to populate Now cards. I commute in and out of NYC via Metro North, but walk to and from the station on both ends, so what I really need is the information for the next 5 trains scheduled inbound in the morning and outbound in the evening between Grand Central and my home stop, along with the track number the train is slated to leave from. This data is available from a datafeed provided by the MTA (and already utilized by an Android app I already use). The transit and commute Now cards don't provide me the information I need.
Since there's no Google Now API, the direct root is not available to me, so I started to try to look in to alternative methods. I came across the Places API and was thinking of trying to use it as a back door to populating the data I'm interested in in to Now (by having a service that pulls the train info I'm interested in from the MTA feed and pushes it to Now as Events at the stations I'm interested in), but since custom Places data is tied to an app ID and only made available to requests from that app, it seems to me that that angle is a non-starter, since I'm not going to have the Now app ID.
I've been trying to poke around for any other viable approaches to the problem, but my search has thus far come up dry, so I have come here. Has anyone come up with any ways to feed info in to Now cards? Are there even any promising areas of investigation, short of hacking Now itself?
Edit: I also considered trying to push the train schedule data to my calendar so it would bubble up in to Now, but that is just a bit too clunky and spammy, imo.
Does anyone know of anything interesting being done in this area? I'm thinking some sort of integration with calendar is the only way to go...

Location based recommendation reminder

I know there are many location based reminder apps which alert you when you have to do something at some place.
What I'm looking for its somewhat different. An app in which I can store things like recommended restaurants and other attractions and then retrieve them based on their distance to me.
Say someone on Facebook recommends a restaurant in London and it sounds interesting. I'd locate it on a map.
Next time I'm in London (or the uk) (or plan to be, this a should work work with virtual presence) I can search this app for recommendations I could fit into my plans.
Is there something out there like this?

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